Good evening and welcome back to the Grounded Sleep Podcast.
As I was beginning to record tonight.
My cat,
Whose name is Imagine,
Kept scratching the door,
Meowing.
Meow.
Wanting to come in and go to sleep with us.
So Imagine is here with us tonight for this sleep episode.
She's pretty adorable.
I call her Immy.
And she's about four years old.
And yeah,
She's here with us for sleep.
So welcome.
I hope you're in bed and you're ready to go to sleep.
And tonight's episode is on Zen for sleep.
And we're gonna do some Zen stories.
And for those of you who are supporting the podcast as premium members,
I have created a longer extended version with a meditation in it.
This way we can keep the podcast totally ads-free,
So I don't go off selling you some weird thing.
All right.
When you're ready,
You can close your eyes.
And start to let yourself slowly drift away.
You have total license to fall asleep at any point,
You don't have to hear the end of any story.
And just allow the deep stillness of the night to take you whenever it's ready.
So let's start with some Zen stories for sleep.
And I wanna begin by just sharing a little bit about where Zen originates from.
So the origins of Zen Buddhism.
Really begin in the 5th or 6th century,
When a monk named Bodhidharma traveled from India to China.
Carrying with him some pretty profound teachings that would later become Zen,
Or,
As it was pronounced,
Chan,
In China.
And it came from the Sanskrit word dhyana.
Arjana.
Meaning meditation.
And when Buddhism first arrived in China through the Silk Road.
It encountered the wisdom of Taoism and Confucianism,
And it created a unique synthesis that emphasized direct experience over intellectual study.
And you'll see that theme again and again in Zen.
And maybe that's why I like it,
Because I wasn't the best student.
So the legend is that Bodhidharma met the Chinese emperor Wu,
Who's boasting of his many good works building temples and supporting monks.
And,
Bodhidharma replied,
No merit at all.
And that response in Zen,
They say,
Pointed to something beyond conventional achievement.
And so the emperor asked.
Then what's the highest meaning of the holy truths?
And,
The monk responded,
Vast emptiness,
Nothing holy.
When the emperor pressed further asking.
When the emperor pressed further asking,
Who is that stands before me?
When the emperor pressed further and asked,
Who is it that stands before me?
Bodhidharma replied,
I don't know.
And this very simple,
Humble approach to just being in this moment and not the ego of building temples or having achievements or even identifying with the ego is what Zen is about.
So from China,
This tradition of direct awakening spread to Japan.
It spread to Korea and to Vietnam.
And it really flowered over thousands of years.
And it produced some of the most profound spiritual teachers,
I think,
In human history.
And Zen is not a philosophy.
It really isn't an intellectual exercise.
It's a way of being that points directly to the peace that's already here,
Inside each of us.
And as you fall asleep tonight,
You can even notice that in yourself,
There's a peace underneath all of the noise.
And Zen teaches us that awakening isn't something that we achieve through effort or accumulation.
Or showing the world how many minutes we meditate.
But it's something we recognize by letting go and surrendering to this moment.
It's really the art of seeing clearly and of resting in what is.
So even as you fall asleep,
You're allowing yourself to just rest in what is.
And as I tell a few more stories.
You can let the stories just wash over you.
And help you find that inner peace.
If you don't understand the message of one of the stories.
All that's said,
You just let it go.
And we're going to start with the story of a master named Ban Khe.
And he was a 7th century teacher in Japan.
And unlike many teachers of his time,
He didn't insist his students sit in formal meditation.
And he didn't insist they do difficult Zen Koans.
Which are these contemplations that you do in Zen,
Like thinking about one hand clapping that are very difficult to comprehend.
And instead he taught what he called the unborn Buddha mind.
And Ban Khe had come to this understanding through a lot of suffering.
And it was during a brush with death that he realized the very mind he had been seeking through so much effort was already present.
That unborn Buddha mind.
And one day,
A student came to him agitated and said,
Master,
I have such a terrible temper.
No matter how hard I try to control it,
Anger keeps just arising.
Please help me get rid of it.
And so his master looked at him and said,
Show me this anger right now.
And the student paused and replied,
Well,
I'm not angry at this moment.
And so,
Bankai then says,
Where is the anger you want me to help you with?
And the student realized at that moment.
That anger only existed when he was actually angry.
And in this moment looking,
There was only peace.
And the master replied,
You see,
Your original mind is unborn and undying.
It's only when you pick up thoughts and carry them that you suffer.
Right now,
In this very moment,
You are already Buddha.
There is nothing to fix,
Nothing to achieve.
The Buddha mind is like a bright mirror that reflects everything without effort,
Without intention.
When something appears in front of it,
It reflects.
When it's gone,
It doesn't hold on to the image.
And so,
Like this student,
You don't need to carry the day's worries into your sleep.
You can let them dissolve into the natural peace of this moment.
And let's go into another story.
Before we do,
Make sure you're breathing gently.
And just letting your body get a bit heavier and start to melt into the bed.
Let your muscles relax.
Let your breath be natural.
So,
The next teacher we're gonna talk about is Master Zhou Shu,
And he was a Chinese Zen master from the 9th century who lived,
They say,
To 119.
That would be nice.
And he was famous for his simple direct teachings and his ability to point to the essence of Zen through the most ordinary encounters.
And so one day,
Two monks came to study with him.
And he asked the first monk,
Have you been here before?
And that monk said,
No master,
This is my first visit.
And Joshua said,
Then go and have a cup of tea.
And then he asked the second monk the same question,
And that monk said,
Yes,
Master,
I have been here several times before.
And Joshu says,
Then go and have a cup of tea.
The temple attendant,
Who was confused,
Approached Joshu and said,
Master,
Why did you tell both monks to have tea,
Regardless of whether they'd been here before?
And Joshu looked at him and said,
You two,
Go have a cup of tea.
Later,
When asked about this exchange,
Joshua explained that if you can understand the one word,
Ti,
You can understand all of Buddhism.
If you cannot understand it,
Even reading all the sutras won't help you.
Joshu wasn't being cryptic.
He was pointing to the simple perfection of each moment.
Whether you're new to something or familiar with it.
Whether you're succeeding or struggling,
The invitation is always the same.
Be fully present to what's right in front of you.
And I have done tea ceremonies.
And there is a beauty in the simplicity and the presence of doing a tea ceremony.
And the tea ceremony would later develop in Japan.
Found its roots in this simple understanding.
So as we allow the night to become more peaceful,
Listening to these beautiful Zen stories,
You can let yourself begin to drift off into the night.
With that unborn Buddha mind.
That's still mine.
So the next story I would like to share.
Is from the Zen poet,
Ikkyu.
And he was a 15th century Japanese master known for his unconventional approach to Zen.
And as I begin to share this story with you,
There's actually a beautiful rain that's started at my house.
And it's nice and peaceful and almost healing to hear it as I guide you here.
So it could.
Was born possibly,
They say,
As an illegitimate son of the emperor.
And he spent most of his life wandering,
Teaching wherever he found receptive students,
In temples,
Tea houses,
And even some unsavory places.
And one day he was caught in a sudden rainstorm,
Which is funny as I share this story,
It's raining.
And instead of seeking shelter,
He stood still and let himself be completely soaked.
And his traveling companion urged him to find cover,
But Iku simply stood there,
Arms open to the sky.
And a passerby called out,
Master,
Why don't you take cover?
And Iku smiled and he replied,
If it rains,
Let it rain.
If the wind blows,
Let it blow.
From the world of passions returning here.
To the world of passions,
There is a moment's pause.
After the storm passed,
Someone asked him why he had stood in the rain.
And he replied,
I was not getting wet.
The rain was not falling on me.
For a moment,
There was no me and no rain.
Only this perfect moment of being.
Ikku wrote in one of his poems,
My real dwelling has no pillars and no roof either.
So rain cannot soak it and wind cannot blow it down.
And I think what he was teaching and pointing to was that when we stop resisting what's happening,
When we stop dividing our experience into what we want and what we don't want,
Something profound can begin to shift.
And we can realize we're not separate from life.
We are life itself expressing itself.
So just notice that wisdom.
That you don't need to push away the day.
Or pull towards tomorrow.
And like eco.
With the rain,
You can simply be at one with this moment.
And slowly but surely dissolve into sleep.
This next story.
Is about two Zen monks who are walking by a lake.
At night when they noticed the full moon reflected perfectly on the still water.
And the first monk said,
Look how beautiful the moon is in the water.
And the second monk replied,
That's not the moon,
That's just a reflection.
And an old woman sitting nearby overheard them and chuckled softly and said,
You're both missing it.
The moon in the sky,
Moon in the water,
And the moon in your mind seeing it all.
Where is the real moon?
And the monks looked at each other,
Puzzled.
And she continued,
When you see the moon's reflection in the water,
You don't mistake it for the moon itself.
But when you see thoughts in your mind,
You take them to be reality.
The reflection in the water is no more or less real.
Than the reflection in consciousness.
They are both just appearances in awareness.
And one monk asked,
Then,
What is real?
And the old woman replied,
What is it that sees the moon?
The reflection and the thoughts about both.
That which is aware of all experience but is not limited by any of it.
That alone is always present.
Always real.
This story points to something profound about the nature of reality and of consciousness.
We often divide our experience into real and unreal,
Important and unimportant.
Ourselves and others.
But Zen teaches us that all of these divisions are like ripples on the surface of a deeper unity.
And so this story,
Like many Zen stories,
Is pointing at something beyond the mind and beyond thought.
And as you fall asleep tonight,
See if you can allow yourself to drift beyond thought.
You can notice the awareness that witnesses your thoughts.
He can notice her breasts.
And you can notice her body relaxing.
And I'll share one more story.
So at the end of his life,
The Buddha gathered his disciples on Vulture Peak for one last teaching.
And thousands had come to hear what the great teacher who had been teaching for over 40,
45 years had to say.
And instead of speaking,
He simply held up a single white flower.
And remained silent.
Minutes had passed,
And some of the disciples grew restless.
Waiting for some kind of explanation.
But the Buddha continued to hold the flower in perfect silence.
Most of the disciples as they looked puzzled and anxious.
And impatient.
As they became more irritated.
One student,
Simply smiled back.
And it was a gentle,
Knowing smile.
And the Buddha nodded slowly.
And he said,
I possess the true dharma,
I,
The marvelous mind of nirvana.
The true form of the formless.
The subtle Dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters,
But is a special transmission outside of the scriptures.
This I entrust to you.
And he looked at that monk.
And later,
When he was asked what he understood,
That monk said,
Buddha held up a flower.
I held up a smile.
In that moment,
There was no flower,
No Buddha.
Know me,
Only this perfect expression of what has always been here.
And whether it's Zen Buddhism or another branch of the Buddhist teachings,
You'll often see this theme of going beyond the mind.
That the deepest teachings can't be captured in words.
And live in the space between thoughts.
And just notice as you fall asleep,
Your body knows how to rest without being taught.
And the breath knows how to slow without any instruction.
And you know how to find peace.
It's here.
And as you fall asleep,
You can gently meditate with me.
Just noticing the natural rhythm of your breath.
Almost like the tide of the water.
Laying in and out.
Without any effort.
And every time you exhale.
You can gently begin to release any tension in your body.
Any thoughts?
At arise.
And every time you breathe in.
You can breathe in that eternal stillness and peace.
That all these masters have pointed to.
As you breathe out,
You release.
As you breathe in,
You feel that peace.
And you can let that peace start to fill your entire body.
And whenever thoughts arise.
Just like the old woman by the lake who knew that the moon had risen.
At the reflection on the water.
Is just like.
Our thoughts reflecting in our mind.
What's truly important.
Is that the awareness that experiences it all?
Let your thoughts come.
And go.
Can you allow them to pass without resistance?
Without following them.
You can start to feel yourself sinking deeper.
And deeper into the night.
