Witness Work

Good evening!

We have a nice evening together here, in quiet sitting. But when we look into our lives,
we find all kinds of problems and sufferings. We call these the four sufferings and the
eight sufferings.

The four sufferings are birth, aging, sickness, and death. The eight sufferings are added
on to these: not fulfilling desires, parting with the loved, meeting with the hatful – in
short, all five aggregates rampant.

We have not only our individual problems and sufferings, but also the big problem of
all beings: our life system itself is in a mass extinction process. Our own species cannot
escape it.

For several millennia, we’ve been seeing men’s militaristic exploits with power
pyramids. Some outstanding people aspired to solve the suffering, both natural and man-
made, of all beings.

The Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and others acted to bring universal truth and peace in
this world. They advocated and actualized awakened life, compassionate society, loving
relations.

Later generations followed them, but often fell into karma: self-centered systems. The
masses talked about these great ones but did not walk with them, living in the same ways.

We are now facing not only individual decay and death, but also global mass
extinction. We must witness and work with universal truth, peace, beauty, goodness, and
holiness.

A disciple of Confucius said, “Your ideal is great, but I can’t do it.” Confucius
said, “Have you ever tried it?” The first and foremost stumbling block is not even trying
and starting.

We must first aspire, then actually try, even if our efforts are difficult or fail. If we
continue trying, we can’t stop and give up. We must continue cultivation; then only can
we verify perfection.

How can we perfect? We realize truth. Truth is not an abstract thing outside. In his
Fukanzazengi, Dogen said that the root of the way is penetrating, pure, and freely moving
right here now.

But he also said that we miss it with the slightest discrepancy. Why? We are so caught by
individual and shared karma that we can’t witness and work with the universal truth.

So it is essential to stop our karma and return to truth, become one with it, where our
delusions, desires, sufferings, sorrows, fears, doubts, and so forth cease.

We must work not only individually, but also with all beings, because the truth is
penetrating, pervading, and interconnected. We can’t escape from this shared world.

The solution totally depends on how we work individually, socially, and ecologically. We
must try, continue trying. We know there is a way to solve problems and sufferings.

Note: Dogen wrote his Fukanzazengi (A Universal Recommendation for Right Zazen)
soon after his return from China, empty-handed, knowing only “eyes horizontal and nose
vertical” (the truth).

3/10/11