Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘But, you know– so zazen practice is, you know, to mix various understanding in our practice and let it work. How to let it work is our practice. The other day, by some chance, I talked about kerosene lamp. You know, when it– when kerosene lamp is just oil, you know, kerosene oil– it doesn’t work. Kerosene lamp will work when it become– when it is in a state of combustion by aid of air. And even though you have kerosene lamp and air, it doesn’t work. When you using it– use matches, you know, it will work– it will start to work. And this flame of matches is our practice which is transmitted from Buddha to us. By aid of matches, and by aid of air, kerosene will start to work. This is actually our zazen practice.

You may think, you know, “You are just kerosene oil,” you know [laughs]. It doesn’t work. Even though you have– you say, “I have buddha-nature,” you know, it doesn’t work. If you have no buddha, it– it doesn’t work. If you have no friend, no sangha, it doesn’t work. When we practice zazen in this way, by the aid of sangha, helped by Buddha, we can practice our zazen in its true sense, and we will have bright light here in Tassajara zendo.

We will have question/answer the last day of the sesshin– last day of sesshin. Question and answer will be going this kind of question and this kind of answer. Back and forth we should discuss this point. We should know clearly what is our practice and what is our everyday life, and how to apply zazen p- — how to extend our zazen practice in everyday life. When you are practicing zazen in this way, actually you have true practice in its true sense. But why it is difficult for you to extend our practice in city life is because of lack of precise understanding of our Zen teaching.

If you– when you know– when you know why you practice zazen and what is the most important point in our practice, you can practice our way even though your practice is not perfect. You have direction. And you know how to do it. So you will not– you will not be mixed up.

Our life, in short, should be always in complete combustion, you know. We must– we should aim at complete combustion in our life. If the flame become little bit smoky, you know, you should know how to adjust the flame, you know. If it is too long, you should make it shorter. You know, if it’s too small, you should make it brighter. Actually, you know, in your practice, I think you know your practice is– what kind of practice you have– whether your practice is good or bad. You yourself know. But instead of being discouraged by it, you should know how to adjust the flame [laughs].

Before you ask questions, you know, you should know how to adjust the flame. To have a so-called-it enlightenment experience is of course important. But more important thing is to know how to adjust the flame– flame of life in zazen and in our everyday life. When the flame is in complete combustion, you know, you don’t smell the oil [laughs]. When, you know, it is smoky, you will have a kind of smell. You know the, you know– you may realize there is kerosene lamp [laughs]. When, you know, your life is in complete combustion, you have no complaint. And there is no need to be aware of your practice. But, you know, we should know that if we talk about too much– like me– about zazen, it is already smoky kerosene lamp [laughs].

If I– if you see me, you may ask, “Is there lecture tonight?” Maybe I’m very smoky kerosene lamp [laughs]. I don’t want, you know, to give lecture. I– I– what I want is to– just to live with you, moving stones, having nice hot-spring bath [laughs], and eat something good [laughs, laughter].’ (from the Suzuki Roshi archive)

Suzuki Roshi talking about practice-enlightenment.