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, everyone. Is this sound okay? Yes? Okay. So, it's wonderful to be here at Zen Center. I don't come here very often, even though this used to be my home. So it's wonderful to come back and see new people and see old friends. And thank you so much for inviting me. It's really my privilege to be among you. So, you know, I live in Muir Beach near Green Gulch Farm. And so this morning I was getting myself ready. I had my talk, I had my okesa, but I forgot my robe. And so I thought, oh, okay, well, we will be innovative.

[01:05]

And so I got here and I asked Lorenzo, do you have a robe? And he loaned me his Samoe top. Thank you so much. So... I would like to start with just a little bit of meditation practice. We breathe in the Earth's atmosphere, and by it we are refreshed and enlivened. We breathe out, falling into the Earth by the force of gravity. letting go of everything. Breathing in, we allow breath to lift our body from the inside out. Breathing out, we let go of tension in our neck, our shoulders, our back, allowing it to fall away like falling rain, falling petals.

[02:20]

falling leaves, falling into earth, breathing in the earth's atmosphere, falling into the earth's gravity. This is what we share with all living beings, regardless of religious or political persuasion. We are bound together in these ways that we hardly ever think about. Gravity is an organizing principle for life on Earth. Our size, our muscles and bones evolved in this size and shape because of the Earth's gravity. The largest

[03:22]

land animal on Earth today is the African elephant weighing 5,000 to 14,000 pounds. That's as large as an animal can get living and moving around in the Earth's atmosphere. The ratio of muscle to bone maxes out at that size. A blue whale which is the largest animal ever to live on Earth, weighs 200,000 to 300,000 pounds. So that's 40 to 50 elephants. A blue whale, of course, is buoyant in the water, which allows that animal to grow so large. When a blue whale is beached, it dies of gravity. So this is how gravity is an organizing principle for life on Earth.

[04:31]

Our body is not independent of this world of atmosphere and gravity. The body is of atmosphere and gravity, and this is the basis of our meditation practice. So I would like to change tacks here and tell you that for the last year or so I've been learning about the tradition of Buddhist women ancestors and teachers, the intense discrimination that many lived through, and their stories, often tragic, often abusive, often involving tragic loss and abuse, of how they came to Buddhist practice.

[05:36]

There have been many Buddhist leaders and teachers who have not opened the door for women with the aspiration to practice, yet women have always found a way throughout the history of Buddhism. Shakti Muni Buddha was egalitarian for his time. He did not uphold the caste system in the Buddha's Sangha. And though it took a few years for him to be persuaded to allow women to ordain, and you probably know the story of Buddha's aunt and stepmother Mahapajapati, who with Ananda's help finally convinced Shakyamuni Buddha to allow women to ordain, though he did open that door, And in his lifetime, the community of ordained women grew and flourished. In Tang Dynasty China, which is 7th to 9th century, 7th to early 10th century, it also seems to have been a time relatively friendly to women practitioners and teachers.

[06:54]

So we have a few of their stories and teachings. And today what I'd like to talk about is I'd like to talk from Dogen's fascicle, Receiving the Marrow by Bowing, in which he speaks strongly in support of women's practice. Dogen truly stands out in Buddhist history as a person of the way, supportive of any human being with the aspiration to practice. He was very supportive of women of the way and disparaged people who were not. From his writing in the fascicle, Receiving the Marrow by Bowing, one gets the impression that his acceptance and support of women's practice was not the most common attitude among Buddhists of his time. Here's one statement from the fascicle. Why are men special?

[07:57]

Emptiness is emptiness. Four great elements are four great elements. Five skandhas are five skandhas. Women are just like that. Both men and women attain the way. You should honor attainment of the way. Do not discriminate between men and women. This is the most wondrous principle of the Buddha way. In receiving the marrow by bowing, Dogen says, this is transmitted through our utmost sincerity and our trusting heart. There is no path that comes from anything other than sincere trust. Utmost sincerity and trusting heart is our aspiration for the way. In a passage honoring 9th century Tang dynasties and giant Zhaozhou.

[09:01]

In honoring his aspiration for the way, he quotes him, I will ask about dharma from anyone who surpasses me, even a seven-year-old. I will teach anyone who is behind me, even a 100-year-old. Dogen goes on, when asking a seven-year-old about dharma, An old man like Jaodro bows. It is an extraordinary aspiration, the mind art of an old Buddha. I love this phrase, mind art. That's from Kaz Tanahashi. Mind art is a clear and beautiful expression of aspiration for the way and of the craft of our zazen practice. Dogen says, practice with heart, practice with beyond heart, practice even with half a heart.

[10:06]

So Dogen is finding inspiration in such Tang Dynasty Zen giants as Jiaojo, who express the courage, commitment and trust, deep love and sincerity that Dogen expressed so radically. and beautifully. Dogen presents the stories of two influential women, teachers of the Tang Dynasty. The first story is of venerable woman teacher Moshan Liao Ran and venerable teacher Jur Xien, who after leaving his teacher, Linji, went to see Moshan, the woman teacher. Moshan said, where are you from? Zhirxian said, from the entrance. Moshan said, why don't you close it off? Zhirxian was silent. He then bowed and expressed himself as a student of Moshan.

[11:14]

Then he asked, how is Moshan? Moshan said, it does not show its peak. Zhuxian, who is the person inside the mountain? Mushan said, it is beyond man and woman. Zhuxian, how come you don't change? Mushan said, I am not a wild fox spirit. Why should I change? Zhuxian stayed at Mushan's temple. as the head gardener for three years. And I think he eventually became abbot of that temple. Dogen's comment is, the fact that Jerushian bowed to Nun Liao Ran of Moshan and asked for dharma was an excellent example of aspiration. A model for latecomers.

[12:16]

It should be called hammering open the gate bar or breaking through a bamboo node. I love that. I don't know exactly what that means. And I might have it wrong. But I'm imagining that breaking through a bamboo through the node would be really difficult. As would opening a gate by hammering open the gate bar. And it reminds me of my dear tortoise. Myrtle the turtle the tortoise was her name. She died a few months ago. She walked around our house and sometimes she would get to a wall or a door and just keep walking into the wall or into the door. She just kept walking.

[13:18]

She would not turn right or left. She wouldn't stop walking either. Well, sometimes she would. After a while, she might fall asleep and turn right or left when she woke up. But for the longest time, she would just keep walking into the wall no matter what. Something about her walking into the wall was always inspiring to me. She didn't seem to have a sense of needing to change her aspiration just because of a mere wall. She did not seem to be focused on outcome or accomplishment or destination, just seemed to be simply acting on pure aspiration to keep walking no matter what. That spirit reminds me of Dogen. He says, look to trees and rocks, fields and villages to expound the Dharma.

[14:24]

Ask pillars about dharma and investigate with walls. Such a visceral statement about zazen practice, not metaphorical, abstract or symbolic, just pointing to the actual moments of our lives. Your utmost sincerity and trusting heart. There is no path. that comes from anything other than sincere trust. This is the spirit from which Dogen speaks about women's practice. Moshan Liao Ran was a disciple of Dayu. According to Andy Ferguson, she is the primary remaining example of a prominent female teacher among the early records of the Zen school. In the conversation with Jershian, she says, I am not a walker. a wild fox spirit.

[15:25]

In other words, I do not employ magical powers to conform to the custom of having to be a man to enter nirvana. Our practice is not like that. It is inclusive. It is radically inclusive. Beyond inclusive. Investigate with walls. The next story Dogen tells in receiving the marrow by bowing is of Miao Xin, a venerable woman teacher. Miao Xin was a student of Yangshan, 9th century Tang Dynasty. Yangshan was a student of Guishan, and both of them were famous and influential in their own time. They were founders of the Guiyang school. which was one of the five schools of Zen from the Tang Dynasty. The two remaining schools of those five are what we now know as Rinzai and Soto.

[16:32]

However, the five schools changed and morphed, so it wasn't like a straight line through from Rinzai to the present and Soto to the present. Miao Xin was appointed director of the guesthouse by Abbot Yangshan. and according to Dogen, she had everyone's support. Dogen tells the story in which 17 monks came by looking for a teacher and stopped at the guest house, where Myashin was director. In the evening, the 17 monks were discussing the story of Huinang and the banner in the wind. You know the one. Is the wind moving or is the banner moving? Hway Nung comes along and says, it is your mind that is moving. Mya Shin, overhearing this discussion, says to her attendant, how wasteful. How many pairs of straw sandals have these 17 blind donkeys worn out?

[17:35]

I love donkeys. They haven't even dreamed of Buddha Dharma. So Miao Xin's comments are reported to the 17 monks who cleaned themselves up, offered incense, bowed and asked for her teaching. She said, it is not the wind that flaps. It is not the banner that flaps. It is not that your mind flaps. Then Dogen offers this beautiful clarifying statement. When we see the person who has attained dharma, someone who is new and extraordinary sees us. When we see the person today sees today. When we see the person, someone who is new and extraordinary sees us.

[18:39]

When we see the person today sees today. This reminds me of my dear teacher Maureen Stewart Roshi, who was abbess of the Cambridge Buddhist Society until her death in 1990. This is her statement in her book. When you see a flower, really see a flower, the flower sees you. She goes on to say, it's not that the flower has eyes. You and flower together. become seeing, a brand new, never before in the entire universe moment of seeing. Seeing the mind flaps implies a static concept of mind. And we know that mind is not static. So Miao Xin is pointing to the way the monk

[19:44]

to the way the monks were trying to pin down mind as an object of understanding, an object of accomplishment. Miao Xin seems to be saying, no, no pinning down, no accomplishment. Mind does not flap. Flapping flaps. And what is that supposed to mean anyway? These expressions... are at the edge of language, literal and also poetic. Dogen ends the fascicle with these words. Even seven-year-old girls who practice Buddha Dharma and express Buddha Dharma are guiding teachers of the four types of disciples. That means monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. They are compassionate parents of sentient beings.

[20:44]

They are like dragon princesses who have attained Buddhahood. You should make an offering and respect them just as you respect Buddha Tathagatas. This is an authentic custom of the Buddha way. Those who do not know this custom and do not receive it should be pitied. I love this. I'm a retired school teacher, so I've hung around with seven-year-old girls and boys, and let me tell you, if you haven't done so, find yourself some seven-year-olds. And if you can't do that, find your own seven-year-old. That is always present. Here we have Zen language of not this and not that. it is not this, it is not that, and reluctance to say, oh, then what is it? Because what it is is dropping the language of subject-object, dropping the perception of subject-object.

[21:56]

I think we know this experience well, and children live in and out of this place, as do we. But we are all taught and trained to sort the world and our experience into discrete objects and moments, and then to live in this conceptualized world as in a fog, as in a trance. Our zazen practice zazen practice then, is not to make an enemy of fog, an object of fog, or a project of lifting fog, because making an enemy, an object of fog, our delusion, is simply making an enemy, an object.

[23:01]

And we again are engaging our making an enemy muscle. which is already pretty strong, or making an object muscle. More it is to allow fog to be fog. Allow ourselves to be in a fog together with all beings. In the post- And in the postscript of receiving the marrow by bowing, Dogen speaks of treating women as objects of sexual desire. He goes on to say, Women can be such objects. Men can be such objects. Those who are neither men nor women can be the object. Phantoms and flowers of emptiness can be the object.

[24:04]

Gods can be the objects. Demons can be the objects. We cannot finish counting all the causes of pure, excuse me, impure conduct. So this again gives a sense of, you know, we throw our attention to the object, but it's that judgment muscle, that over-exercised judgment or object-making muscle, that is really the craft of our zazen practice. Ben Dogen says, when you see an object, learn to clarify it. I love that. That is, our practice is more to clarify seeing than the object of seeing. When we see a flower, the flower sees us. When we see the person, today sees today. That's what I have to say about the Dogen fascicle.

[25:07]

And now there's, I would like to pivot in another direction, and it looks like I have some time to do so. You ready to pivot? Okay. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live. and what came before you. These are the words of Kamala Harris, May 10th, 2023, on the occasion of a swearing-in ceremony for members of a commission focused on expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic and Latino Americans. And I've been thinking about this in reference to Buddhist practice and our responsibility to care for our practice. and pass it on, as has been done for over 2,500 years.

[26:10]

We practice in a context, a wide, old context, a complex context. As I read these old stories about women finding a way in their lives to embrace and care for Buddhism no matter what, and pass it on. I'm impressed by the obstructions and the challenges to do so in their lives, some similar to ours and many unfathomably different. So I'd like to talk about one of the big differences. And this is the human population. I'm kind of a numbery person. You know, I was a science teacher, so I think about numbers and stuff, systems. So I think about the human population.

[27:14]

So here's what I looked up and discovered. The human population during Shakyamuni's life compared to the present, what I found is that the human population in 500 BCE was estimated to be about 100 million. 100 million. So, to give that little perspective, in the present day, the population of Japan is about 123 million. Germany is about 85 million. And Mexico is about 130 million. So that's 100 million. The U.S., of course, is about 342 million. So 100 million times 10 is a billion. So I wondered, when did the human population reach one billion?

[28:19]

And what I discovered is the answer is 1804. 1804 is when the human population reached one billion. and increase by a factor of 10. So, to get from 100 million to 1 billion took... This is for emphasis. 2,300 years. 2,300 years to get from 100 million to 1 billion. 220 years... to get from one billion to eight billion and counting. So the thing about this for me is that numbers are personal. They're not abstract. It's like gravity.

[29:21]

You know, we think of gravity as something you learned in middle school, which is true. I taught it in middle school, but gravity is personal. It's our body's relationship to the Earth day in and day out. It's our body's, you know, our body is an expression of the Earth's gravity. Same with numbers. These numbers are huge and abstract, but it's personal that there are 8 billion people on the face of the Earth. It's personal that, Norman and I were talking, that I think the population has... tripled in my lifetime, more or less. That's personal. That is a personal experience that has all kinds of impacts and ramifications that I could not ever track. I could not ever exactly know. And, you know, this is in the middle of a Buddhist talk, so I'm

[30:28]

hoping that we can, in our discussion, allow time for discussion, sort of connect the dots here. And the ways that 8 billion people is personal, we can list some of them. There's traffic. There's the question of walking into a grocery store where there might be a stranger with a gun. There's our combined contribution to world population and climate change. Untold numbers of suffering people that we can feel but we can't reach. The stress we live and deal with every day that is generated by these thoughts and perceptions is personal. And it's shared. Numbers express a lot.

[31:31]

When we take a deep dive into history, how people lived, what they thought, how they related to each other, what they took for granted, what they believed, what they knew or thought they knew, how they organized their communities. Their motivation was, presumably, to give themselves the best chance of survival. That's the code for all living beings. Each one of these considerations were so different for those people so long ago than they are for us. And so much of the underlying difference has to do with number. For example, in our time, it is difficult to defend a sexist point of view. People do but it is difficult to defend that point of view. But we could view traditional prohibitions of... Let me finish that.

[32:43]

It's difficult to defend a sexist point of view because now we do not need to protect or restrict the activities of females to ensure we'll have a growing population. And we could view traditional prohibitions of homosexuality, transsexuality, masturbation, anal and oral sex, any sexual expression that would not result in population increase as beneficial to the community's survival. We could look at those prohibitions through that lens. And think about encounters with strangers. In the course of our day, most... most of us probably encounter more people who are strangers than who are familiar. Throughout most of the long history of humans on Earth, maybe it would have been rare for most people to encounter a stranger, especially a stranger with different physical characteristics, such as skin color.

[33:51]

We don't know. Of course, we can't assume Such rare encounters would be frightening or dangerous, nor can we assume that there was universal intolerance of various sexual expressions. And I'm not suggesting this point as a justification for human history. It's just that for me, I appreciate a few different lenses to look and think about these things through. The reality for most people in human history and into the present is that survival is difficult and that protecting one's family, one's community, one's clan, and ensuring that they are strong and numerous is more likely to lead to survival. So those strong impulses to fight foes and control the community perhaps have been a matter of survival. Yet, how many stories throughout human history do we know in which the foe turns out to be friendly and the community does not want to be controlled?

[35:06]

We have inherited all those hard lessons as well as those dangerous impulses. And we see them played out today. the hard-earned lesson to trust rather than not trust. So we practice a trusting mind, regardless of the object. We don't trust after we figure out if the object is trustworthy. We carry trust. We embody trust. The hard-earned lesson to open rather than clothes. So we practice with an open heart and open hands. That doesn't mean we're stupid. We have a human mind, complicated and very busy. And we practice with respect for our minds, our Buddha minds.

[36:15]

We set our minds to perceive the beauty that is already given. to trust and to discern and to trust again. So, that is what I wrote. 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.

[37:03]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_98.5