This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning. Can you hear me? A little bit loud. How about it? Good? Okay. I worry because my general state of voice is loud, so I don't want to be too loud. That's my concern. Thank you, everyone, for being here this morning, gathering in Zendo, as well as on Zoom. And also, thank you, the GGF Arbes and Tanto, for the invitation to present.

[01:01]

Today's Dhamma Talk. Our full practice period of 2021 started on October 16th, and it will soon come to the end in December. Before we complete the practice period, we will perform a seven-day session. which will start this evening and ends on December 5th. This sesshin in December has a special Japanese name called Rohatsu Sesshin. Many of you already heard about that. The word sesshin is composed with two Japanese kanji characters, or Chinese. Tzu and Shin.

[02:02]

The character Shin means heart and or mind. I have heard some translation of Sessing as touching heart or touching mind. It is a beautiful translation and probably it is correct. Growing up in Japan for the first 20 years, however, I have a slightly different feeling for the first kanji character, Setsu. We don't usually use this character, Setsu, for something actually touching. We have another character for that. That is called Shoku or Soku. To me, the word sets means more like being very close to something or standing right next to each other or welcoming something.

[03:13]

Therefore, I would like to translate seshing as standing very close to our heart or welcoming ourselves. mind. My experience of sesshin has been like that too. Last week, Eijun Roshi explained the rohatsu is a Japanese word for eight days of the twelve months. December 8th has become the day Japanese Zen Buddhist observes the enlightenment of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. On the last day of Lohatsu Sesshin, it is our tradition that those with enough stamina sit in meditation throughout the night.

[04:22]

Today, I would like to talk about our practice. reflecting what we are doing here, which is collectively called Zen, including our Zazen practice. It is a very broad and ambitious topic, and there is a significant chance or risk that the talk is not going to anywhere. We will end with later, But I'd like to try to raise awareness and questions about what we are doing and or what we are trying to do here from the point of view of a Japanese practitioner who met, who encountered Zen in the West.

[05:27]

and is embodied in a female form. I also would like to incorporate some stories about Hoitsu Roshi, who is the son of our San Francisco Zen Center founder, Suzuki Roshi's son. To think about what is Zen, or what is practiced together with you today. I started wondering more about Zen after I visited several Japanese Zen monasteries after the completion of my first five years of police training here at Green Goch. Is there any common sense or collective understanding among us about what is Zen?

[06:36]

When I try to answer this simple question, it almost paralyzes me. Everything that comes to in my mind seems not quite articulate Zen. Some people may say that Zen is Zha Zen, so it is sitting practice. Others may express Zen as drinking tea and eating rice, so it is an everyday life experience. During my Shusui practice period at Tassahara Fall 2017, My teacher, Tenshin Roshi, often, often told us Zen is a face-to-face transmission, which happens all the time in our daily life.

[07:42]

What is face-to-face transmission? I thought it would be a great idea to check the definition to begin with. According to Wikipedia, the term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word chan, which traces its roots to the Indian practice of piano, meditation. Zen emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation practice, insight into Buddha nature, and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others. As such, it de-emphasizes mere knowledge of sutras and doctrine and favors direct understanding through dozen

[08:55]

and interactions with an accomplished teacher. It sounds very likely. Is this something you think about our Zen practice? Let's talk about what we are doing here during this practice period. We sit Zen. We repeat Zen. our daily ritual, such as the form of bowing, chanting, all your meals, it's not all your meals, all your meals, in our daily service. In our daily service, we dedicate our merit to our ancestors, to people who are sick, dying, and extinct. Our lead activity, Yes, all of them are a part of the practice.

[10:07]

But I think there is something more which we cannot define or describe Zen just as a sitting practice of our tradition. In Japan, I did everything we do here. daily service, bowing, chanting, all your meals, tea gathering, Dharma talks, dog-san, dedication to a very, very long list of ancestors and benefactors. Each form was slightly different, but they were not far from what we do here. However, After I came back from Japan, I asked my teacher, is there anything which makes Zen practice unique from other traditions, or something unifying all Zen priests to define us as the Zen priests?

[11:22]

When I asked a similar question to Paul Hara, He asked me back, what did you feel when you were practicing in a Japanese Zen temple? You didn't feel you were practicing Zen in a Zen monastery? My answer was, no, I did not feel I was practicing then. What I felt was that I was simply experiencing temple life in Japan. Then I thought, the question was on me. What makes me feel I am practicing Zen? And how do I want to express it?

[12:24]

Some of you Some Western people may think our practice here is more Japanese than it should be. But my feeling is that this is not Japanese Zen. Then, is our practice American Zen or San Francisco Zen Center Zen? Of course, any attempt to try to define or figure out Zen American culture or Japanese culture will lead us to incomplete answers because they are always in progress, so dynamic, so fluid, and extremely complex. When I was visiting several Japanese den monasteries, I thought and still think that Zen in Japan is an old or almost ancient Japanese way, which is sometimes considered traditional.

[13:54]

For example, in most Japanese den monasteries, women and men still cannot practice together, or priest and lay people meditate in different places. Lay people will never have a chance to play any temple instruments, even if they stayed in the temple for years. Junior monks are not supposed to ask questions. to senior monks, but just follow their orders. Even sometimes, some senior monks were breaking temple guidelines in front of juniors. The saddest things was that my sense was starting to be numbed by the power of the norm, state of tradition, and the number of people.

[15:01]

I started to stop questioning and doubting myself as if something was wrong with me. But I had no one to talk about it. When I was at one of the Soto-Shu training temples in Japan, the director of Soto-Shu International Office came to visit us and observe our practice since many international students or people come to the temple. She thought that Zen has to evolve and develop in each country's own culture and environment. Otherwise, Zen will not survive in a well-rooted when Zen is introduced to a new country.

[16:05]

I totally agree with that. Since then, I have been thinking that patriarchy and hierarchy are well established in Japanese culture. Zen in Japan is unfortunately well-reflected and developed in that culture. How about North America? From a non-American and non-white point of view, Americans then appear to reflect parts of the American culture, such as systemic racism, classism, and capitalism, although any religions in most societies are more or less affected by or rely on capitalism.

[17:24]

Another topic she brought into the discussion was that Western Zen is primarily developed among lay culture. I also have been witnessing this Western Zen movement, which is very unique from Japan or other Asian countries. In the West, lay practitioners are interested in the Zen, wisdom study, rituals, and study of precepts, which originally only belong to the monastics. Dharma teachers here encourage lay people to do our primary practice. I think that that is a radical change in Zen Buddhism in the West. And our Western Zen pioneers, such as our founder Suzuki Roshi, maybe had a vision for.

[18:32]

As we see in this Zen-ro right now, the number of lay people outnumber the priest here. This doesn't happen in Japan. Then I wonder, what is the role of Zen priest in the West? I have some sensible expectations Zen priest, and I feel some responsibilities as a Zen priest. Some people may not agree, but in a strict sense, for me, Zen Buddhism is a religion which has specific practices and observances. Practicing our rituals, which have been handed down from the past, provides a sense of continuity of mankind beyond our country or cultural differences.

[19:48]

Both performing and observing religious rituals, such as memorial service or funeral ceremonies, sometimes move us and transform us. It also provides us an opportunity to deepen and express our commitment to our practice and to our life, such as the case of the ordination ceremony or wedding ceremony. forming ben rituals, understanding their meaning and importance, as well as passing on this tradition to the next generation is an important role for Zen priest. I also think that all religions, including Buddhism, including Zen, engage with the large questions like the meaning of life, the purpose of human beings.

[21:24]

Who am I? Where do we go after we die? Zen may not necessarily give us a clear answer to these questions, but rather gives us an opportunity to explore such questions with a guide for our ancestors' words and with them, such as a text of Sandokai you guys are studying during this practice period. and support of fellow practitioners like people in this center right now. So, I think creating and maintaining such a safe place of contemplation and exploration could be another important role for Zen priests, although many

[22:36]

many committed rape practitioners work very, very hard to maintain such place in clear rotations of San Francisco Zen Center. When I think about so-called Japanese Zen or American Zen, This story comes to my mind. Many people may already know, but our founder, Suzuki Roshi, has a son. His name is Hoitsu Roshi. He is the current abbot of Rinso-in in Japan, the temple which Suzuki Roshi originally came from. I visited Rin Soin and Hoitsuroshi's family for the first time in 2011.

[23:45]

I have never met Suzuki Roshi in my life. So what I think of Suzuki Roshi is my teacher's teacher. So when I met Hoitsuroshi for the first time, I thought this person was the son of my teacher's teacher. Although he is now 83 or 84 years old, he is older than my teacher. We did not talk much, partially because both Rinsoyin and Hoitsuroshi were very busy. However, one morning after Zazen, When I went to their family dining room for breakfast, no one was there except Koitsuroshi. He said, everyone else has already gone for whatever they have to do this morning.

[24:55]

So I will make miso soup. I told him I would help him. But he told me that he likes to make miso soup. his own miso soup. So I sat and waited. After miso soup was ready, we sat around the table together. But still, we did not have anything to say to each other. I did not know how to approach Koitsuroshi. And I think Hoitsuroshi was the same way. Finally, Hoitsuroshi started a conversation. So, you came from Green Goji Temple. I visited there once. I remember the poor tree which the big bonsho bell was hanging from.

[26:03]

The tree was bent so badly. I don't think there's much difference between Japanese Zen and American Zen, but Japanese monks don't do that. Even we don't think about hanging a heavy temple bell from a tree. That was the end of our conversation. The year 2017, six years after this conversation, Greengoch was able to obtain the new beautiful bell tower for the poncho bell. Hoitsuroshi and some of his family members came to Greengoch to see the bell tower. Hoitsuroshi truly appreciated the beauty of the bell tower. and offers word of acknowledgement for how difficult it must be for San Francisco Zen Center to gather such a large amount of donation for the construction.

[27:19]

Then he asked me in Japanese, could you take me to a bell tree? We walked over to the tree. When he saw the tree, he tapped the trunk and started talking to the tree in Japanese. ありがとう. Thank you. 今までよく頑張ってくれて本当にありがとな. You did such a great job for such a long time. Thank you very much. This may not be considered as a classical Zen story, but something deep inside me was touched.

[28:33]

Tenshin Roshi is my teacher. Tenshin Roshi sometimes talks about Suzuki Roshi's stories in his Dharma talks and his lectures. I enjoy them very much. The story is about my teacher's teacher and their intimate interactions and relationships. Our tradition and history. I think where our founder came from is equally as important as where Bodhidharma or Dogen came from. When I was at Toshio-ji in Japan, Hoitsuroshi came to the temple every month and stayed there about one week.

[29:38]

to give us a series of lectures and drama talks. In one lecture, he started talking about the time when Suzuki Roshi left for America. Koitsuroshi was 22 years old and decided to go to Eheiji for his monastic training. However, If he goes to Eheji, there was no one to take care of his temple except the old grandmother. His younger sister was in a psychiatric hospital. He told his family and himself, he will spend the minimum training time of six months in Eheji. and come back.

[30:40]

One day, during his stay at Eheji, Inoroshi approached him and asked him, what is his intention to stay at Eheji practice? So Hoitsuroshi expressed his joy of practicing at Eheji and explained, his family temple situation. Then, Inoroshi said, right now, nothing is more important for you to stay here to continue practice. Your temple will be okay with or without you for a while. After this conversation, Hoitsuroshi stayed at Eheji, for three years. During these three years, however, his younger sister, who is the Suzuki Roshi's daughter, committed suicide and died at the hospital.

[31:55]

Koitsuroshi said that it was his fault. She was too lonely without him being around. The next month when Hoitsuroshi came back to Toshioji, I approached him and asked him, I understand that in Japanese temple, we are not supposed to ask questions regarding Dermatogs. But I have a question from the Dermatog you gave us last month. Hoichi Roshi said, Iyo, which means simply sure. So I asked him, when you talked about the time when Suzuki Roshi left for America, you described the situation, but you did not talk about your feelings.

[33:10]

Is it okay to ask you how you felt when Suzuki Roshi went to America? After a long pause, Koitsuroshi said, I did not feel I was abandoned. I really wanted to encourage my father to do what he wanted to do. Yet, I was only 22 years old. I could use his help for sure. I did not know how to run a temple. He asked me, did I answer your question?

[34:19]

I felt embarrassed. I felt my question was too personal and too intrusive, so I apologized to him. Then, Hoichiro said, you asked a question, Hoichi. I gave you permission for and I answered it. No need for the apology. So, coming back to the original question, what is our practice? What is Zen? I have a story. It may not be correct, or some of you may not agree.

[35:27]

I feel okay if this will become the beginning of our conversations. We will continue talking, practicing, and figuring out together. I think Zen isn't just sitting meditation, but about how we live, who we are, and how we interact and meet each other. We are trying to figure them out through our Zazen, through our ceremonies, through our rituals. The people who practiced and are practicing them for a long time seem to become more and more themselves, in contrast to the improvement of a person's character.

[36:35]

I think and I hope that Zen teaching and our practice encourage us not to be afraid of who we are, including our edges. Some long-time practitioners, at least whom I am inspired by, seem to be able to do this kindly, without excessive self-attachment. This year, on December 4th, will be the 50th anniversary of Suzuki Roshi's death. How has Zen America been evolving and changing over the past 50 years?

[37:41]

Suzuki Roshi, I want to ask you, If this was your vision for Zen America, I wonder what you think of how we have been doing. I have another thought. I also think Zen practice gives us a place like any other wholehearted practices or sincere devotion, such as music, poetry, movie, dancing, painting, the way of tea, gardening, or farming. The need for belonging is one of the deepest of human needs. And religious practice and forms

[38:49]

sometimes have a power to evoke a deep sense of belonging i have a story about i like sitting but since i have a human body like yours sometimes i am tired and i have a pain in my body or i would love to have extra sleep. At that moment, I think about Tenshinoshi, Hoitsuroshi, or my Dharma brother, Kuchou Henko, whom I respect, who has been practicing Zazen for years, and who put our practice at the center of their lives. I also think about some WPAs in Green Gorge who are committed to come to Zazen every day and show up even on their days off.

[40:01]

Amazingly, it works for me. It gives me energy and sense of responsibility and connection to people. who is not physically present here like our ancestors. I think I cannot sit silently for seven days or even one day just by myself. However, I always have a quiet confidence that I can make it through a seven-day session with other people's presence and effort. Each individual's effort gives me the focus and energy to sit through and watch the mind.

[41:06]

It's not easy. Brother David Standle Rust. I hope I pronounced correctly, who is the Catholic Benedictine monk and studied Zen with Suzuki Roshi in Tasahara, says in his book, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer. Together is the word that makes the goal of religious quest. To find meaning means, finding how all belong together and to find one's place in that universal belonging. Many of our great ancestors and Dhamma teachers have been describing what is our practice or

[42:17]

What is that then? Sometimes in very mysterious ways and trying to encourage us to continue our practice. The next phrase is my favorite. You may have heard about it. I like it because it is a very simple, deep, subtle, and strong statement, yet difficult to grasp. The Japanese Zen master, Kodo Sawakiroshi, lived 1880 to 1965, before I was born. He powerfully revived and popularized the Soto Zen practice of Shikan Taza, or just sitting by bringing the practice outside Japanese monasteries to its laypeople.

[43:26]

The Sawakiroshi often told his students, Zazen is good for nothing. Have you ever heard that, Craig? Zazen is good for nothing. What does this mean? Is Zazen useless? Just wasting our time? If Zazen is truly good for nothing, why did Sawaki Roshi encourage people to sit throughout his life? Why even do we try to sit? for seven days, for nothing. Sawakiroshi continues, simply doing this practice that's good for nothing is the meaning of shikan or just.

[44:37]

Dogenzenji often use this word as just doing or doing single-mindedly. This does not mean experiencing ecstasy or becoming absorbed in some activity, like tazhen. To experience ecstasy or absorption, there is an object. Shikan has no object. It's just doing as the pure life force of the self that is connected with the whole universe. I asked my teacher Kenshinoshita. I thought Zazen is a good practice to study our mind.

[45:44]

However, This thought itself can already be a gaining mind. And if it is so, it defeats the true meaning of good-for-nothing dazen. Tenshin Roshi told me, yes, dazen is a good practice to study the mind. If you study your mind carefully and wholeheartedly, you will realize that there is nothing to gain. You already have everything. You just give yourself completely to the end. I am quietly excited to sit.

[46:47]

next seven days with you, right next to each other, for nothing, to explore this foolish mind wholeheartedly. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[47:28]

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