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STUDENT G I 131mindedly, a gradual unfoldment of your Buddha-heart takes place.This is the expression of living Buddhism, from which grows truegratitude. Moreover, even though you have no desire fo r enlightenment,through earnest and zealous sitting you will develop yourpowers of concentration and gain control over your mind and emotions,with the result that your physical and mental health will improveconsiderably.* * *STUDENT: Before I came to this temple I used to think: "Ifi go toa sesshin and do zazen, I will accumulate good karma." Now that Iam here I don't see where I am acquiring any merit at all.Rosm: Whether you are aware of it or not, you are creating goodkarma all the time you are here. Sitting embraces the three fundamentalelements of Buddhism, namely, the precepts, the power ofconcentration, and sa tori-wisdom. It is obvious, of course, how concentrationis strengthened and mind stability developed; it may beless obvious to you how your eye of true wisdom is gradually beingopened as your intrinsically pure nature is cleansed of its delusions anddefilements in sincere and wholehearted sitting. As for the precepts.clearly one can't kill or steal or lie during zazen. In a profoundersense, however, observance of the precepts is grounded in zazen, because through zazen you are gradually ridding yourself of the basicdelusion which leads man to commit evil, namely, the delusion thatthe world and oneself are separate and distinct. Inherently there is nosuch bifurcation. The world doesn't stand outside me-it is me! Thisis the realization of your Buddha-nature, out of which observance ofthe precepts naturally and spontaneously arises. To be sure, whenyou hav realized your Real-self, all this will make sense to you.but without that experience what I have just said is hard to understand.STUDENT: Well, I have no intention of trying to become enlightened!Rosm: That is all right too. To sit for the purpose of strengtheningone's concentrative powers is also worth while.STUDENT: I think I am better off not seeking enlightenment.Rosm: Zazen is the expression of living Buddhism. Since you areinnately a Buddha, your sitting, if it is ardent and single-minded, is theactualization of your Buddha-nature. That is true, to be sure.