Now as you can see this is the first Saturday of the month and this is when the young people join us for part of our morning lecture. So I'd like to ask you, this morning we had memorial service for Mother Teresa and for Princess Diana and the people who were in the automobile with her when she was killed. How many of you know who Mother Teresa is? Know anything about her or Princess Diana? Both of these were unusual people and people who many of us respect and admire and love.

[01:10]

And I think although they were extremely different, they were extremely different but they had one thing in common and that was that they were kind and compassionate and that's I think why so many people love and respect both of them. Because in them we see the kind of kindness and compassion that each one of us would like to express in our lives and sometimes we can and sometimes we can't. But when we see someone who can, who does, it inspires us to make more effort, to try a little harder, to be kind and to be considerate.

[02:14]

Princess Diana was a princess and she lived a very rich and elegant life and yet those things that are most remembered about her were not that are most spoken of now as we hear people speak of why they feel so sad. One of the reasons she had such a great loss was that she held the hand of a leper. She kissed a person dying of AIDS and tried to let people know that you can be kind to people who are ill without being afraid of them. She went to countries where landmines were still there years after wars were over and were still killing people who hadn't even been born when the wars began and urged that governments quit using landmines.

[03:28]

These are the things that people speak of about her that were unusual for someone in her position. Mother Teresa, on the other hand, in addition to being kind and compassionate, decided to live with the poor people, as a poor person, with the people that she was taking care of. And she said, the poor don't need pity, they need love and compassion. And if you don't know them, you can't love them. So I think these two people bring out a lot of admiration in us because they exemplify how we would like to be ourselves and how we are in our best moments.

[04:38]

Those moments when we really feel good about ourselves are those moments when we feel real connection, real connection with people. These are people just like me, but they're sick, or they're very poor, or nobody wants to take care of them. So I'll take care of them because they're just like me. And we have opportunities many times in our life to choose between being kind and not caring. And I think we find that the times that we choose to be kind, we're actually the happiest, because we feel really good about our connection with the people that we're kind to.

[05:52]

And when someone is kind to us, we really appreciate it. And when we see someone being kind and compassionate with others, we admire them, as many people admire Mother Teresa and Princess Diana. I want to talk about one other thing today. It may seem a little mixed up to you, but I think it may be connected. So I want to ask you, how many of you have seen a redwood tree? How many of you have ever been in a redwood forest? They're kind of wonderful, aren't they? You know, the trees need love and compassion too, not just people. Everything that lives, we're connected to, we're part of us.

[07:01]

And in Buddhism we have a precept that says, a disciple of the Buddha does not kill, but cherishes life. Or we sometimes say, I vow not to kill, but to cherish all life. Do you know what cherish means? It means to love and take care of, to really recognize the value of it, to appreciate it. And so I think that's what Princess Diana and Mother Teresa were doing with people, and what we want to do too. But we need to cherish all life. We are connected with all life, because we're living ourselves, right? And that very aliveness that makes us who we are also connects us with everything alive.

[08:10]

Trees, grass, birds, flowers, people, fish, everything in all that lives. So maybe that's enough now, maybe it's time for tea. Thank you for coming to the talk today. So this is kind of a mixed up talk a little bit, it may seem, and I want to try to tie it together through the precepts. Because of the deaths of Mother Teresa yesterday, and Princess Diana earlier in the week, I really wanted to speak of them.

[09:35]

But I also want to speak of the impending death of the last remaining unprotected old-growth redwoods in California, in the Headwinds Forest in Humboldt County. And I think it's not so far-fetched to connect the two, because of our precepts which say, I vow not to kill, but to cherish all life. And Dogen Zenji says, By not killing life, the buddha tree seed grows. Transmit the life of Buddha and do not kill.

[10:38]

And in the Sutra of Mountains and Waters, Dogen Zenji says, The mountains and waters of the immediate present are the manifestation of the way of the ancient buddhas. And the reason I'm particularly talking about the redwoods today is that I was invited yesterday to a gathering of the faith community, of ministers and rabbis and sheiks and me, people from various faith communities, to consider the urgency of protecting these last unprotected forests of redwoods. Because by the first of the year, they will be cut down if we don't do something.

[11:52]

And I don't want to be among other materials that we were given to encourage us to speak to our own communities about the importance of the Headwinds Forest. There are various things there. For example, there's an ad campaign that's developing. Some ad agency has contributed services. There's a picture of a rather critical Jewish mother saying, You never write, you never call, you never say remembrance. And another one of a Catholic nun with a habit and saying something like, If you think I've made you feel guilty before, think how guilty you'll feel if you don't say the redwoods.

[12:52]

So that may be humorous, but I don't want to come across like a Jewish mother or a scolding nun and call on your guilt. I want rather to turn toward the love and compassion and the cherishing all life that are part of our heritage as Buddhists. To have us consider our connection with these forests and how the way in which they're being logged now is dramatically different than the hundred years when Pacific Lumber was a family-owned company, when it was selective logging, maintaining the forests as a renewable resource.

[13:58]

And those of us who love trees may deploy logging of any kind, but we often live in wooden houses. But the way they're being logged now is rapacious and full of greed. Pacific Lumber was bought by Maxam Corporation and they are clear-cutting. The result of clear-cutting is massive erosion and destruction of the streams and mudslides and landslides that wipe out villages and towns where people have been living for hundreds of years. Because their clear-cutting and the soil is then washed away, all kinds of unwatered vegetation begins growing on this barren soil. And so they are in addition poisoning it.

[15:00]

They're spraying it with herbicides similar to Agent Orange, which then wash down into the rivers and streams that were once used by people throughout this area as their water supply and for swimming and for fishing. So there's been a dramatic change which calls for a dramatic response, I think. And this is why the faith community is organizing in an unprecedented way to support all the environmental groups and the people who live in this area, who are being devastated by the manner in which Maxam Corporation is logging this area. I want to refer in our connection with all life and maybe even in sentient beings,

[16:10]

I want to refer to some stories from the record of Dimshan, the record of the founder of this particular stream of Buddhism which we call Soto. Dimshan first came questioning teachers about something he had heard with respect to inanimate objects teaching the Dharma. Dimshan made a visit to Kueshan and said to him, I have recently heard that the national teacher, Chun of Nanying, maintains the doctrine that non-sentient beings expand the Dharma. I have not yet comprehended the subtleties of this teaching. Kueshan said, can you or Carla remember the details of what you heard?

[17:14]

Dimshan said, yes, I can. Then why don't you repeat it for me? The master began. A monk asked Kueshan, what sort of thing is the mind of the ancient Buddhas? The national teacher replied, it's wall and tile rubble. Wall and tile rubble? Isn't that something non-sentient? asked the monk. It is, replied the national teacher. The monk said, and yet it can expound the Dharma? It is constantly expounding it, radiantly expounding it, expounding it without ceasing, replied the national teacher. The monk asked, then why haven't I heard it? The national teacher said, you yourself haven't heard it. But this can't hinder that which is able to hear it.

[18:17]

What sort of person acquires such hearing? replied asked the monk. All the sages have acquired such hearing, implied the national teacher. The monk asked, can you hear it, Kueshan? No, I can't, replied the national teacher. The monk said, if you haven't heard it, how do you know that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma? The national teacher said, fortunately I haven't heard it. If I had, I would be the same as the sages, and you therefore would not hear the Dharma that I teach. In that case, ordinary people would have no point in it, said the monk. I teach for ordinary people, not sages, replied the national teacher. What happens after ordinary people hear you? asked the monk. Then there are no longer ordinary people, said the national teacher. The monk asked, according to which sutra does it say that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma?

[19:22]

Clearly you shouldn't suggest that it's not part of the sutras. Haven't you seen it in the Avantamsaka Sutra? It says, the earth expounds Dharma, living beings expound it, throughout the three times everything expounds it. The master thus completed his narration. Kueshan said, that teaching also exists here. However, one seldom encounters someone capable of understanding it. Dingshan said, I still don't understand it clearly. Would the master please comment? Kueshan raised his fly whisk, saying, do you understand? No, I don't. Please, Kueshan, explain, replied Dingshan. Kueshan said, it can never be explained to you by means of the mouth of one born of mother and father. Dingshan then asked, does the master have any contemporaries in the way who might clarify this problem for me?

[20:31]

Kueshan said, come here and go to Yushen of Luling, where you will find some linked caves, and living in those caves is a man of the Ray, Yun-Yun. You will find him worthy of your respect. So Dingshan accordingly took leave of Kueshan and proceeded directly to Yun-Yun's. Making reference to his previous encounter with Kueshan, he immediately asked, what sort of person is able to hear the Dharma expanded by non-sentient beings? Yun-Yun said, non-sentient beings are able to hear it. Can you hear it, Kueshan? asked Dingshan. Yun-Yun replied, if I could hear it, then you would not be able to hear the Dharma that I teach. Why can't I hear it? asked Dingshan. Yun-Yun raised his fly whisk and said, can you hear it yet? Dingshan replied, no, I can't.

[21:37]

Yun-Yun said, you can't even hear it when I expound the Dharma. How do you expect to hear it when a non-sentient being expounds the Dharma? You think these guys are in cahoots? Dingshan said, in which sutra is it taught that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma? Yun-Yun replied, haven't you seen it? In the Amitabha Sutra it says, rotor birds, tree rose, all without exception recite the Buddha's name, recite the Dharma. Reflecting on this, Dingshan composed the following gatha. How amazing! How amazing! Hard to comprehend that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma. It simply cannot be heard with the ear, but when sound is heard with the eye, then it is understood. I think what he means by this, not to be too quick to explain,

[22:45]

since all the teachers of yore said, mouth born of a father and mother can't explain it, is that the Dharma is right in front of us. The truth is right in front of us to be seen whenever we are ready to look. And in sentient beings, as well as sentient beings, show it to us. And sometimes we see it more clearly if we don't get all mixed up in words. I mean, I'm here today and it's my job to say something in words. But actually, we come to a deep understanding of the nature of things as it is through our direct experience, without thoughts and without words.

[23:50]

And we come to an appreciation of our vow to cherish all life. Most often, when we see someone who needs our help, or when we're in the beauty and grandeur of the natural world, such as the redwood forests, this is the way in which we actually see and experience directly our real connection with everything that lives, with everything that is. Darshan's poem, later on in his life,

[24:57]

expressing his deep awakening after he left Yunyan, is expressed... I have about ten translations of it, so I'm going to choose the one I want. Don't seek outside yourself, lest you become estranged from it. Alone I go my way, and I meet myself wherever I go. Whatever I see, it is just me, but I am not it. We must comprehend in this way to merge with thusness.

[26:04]

I see myself wherever I go. This deep connection with everything is what moves our hearts to love and compassion. And in finding a way to express in our everyday activity the love and compassion which we feel, this is the direction that gives us joy in our life. This is how we appreciate the fullness of our human nature.

[27:09]

You know, Suzuki Roshi says, human beings practicing true human nature is what our zazen is. Our zazen helps us to become really intimate with our true human nature. And becoming intimate with our true human nature, we become intimate with all things. We see ourself wherever we look. This is the direction we face in our practice. And we face this direction not because anybody says we ought to, but because our heart demands it.

[28:13]

Our heart turns to the world. It directs us in the direction of recognizing ourself wherever we look. Nothing else will satisfy our heart. I don't want to... We were urged yesterday to sermonize on saving the Redwoods and I don't feel that this is my position, sitting in this seat, to sermonize. But I do have a list of elected representatives and federal officials who have something...

[29:16]

who have the encouragement to act, to take care of the entire... 60,000 acres of the Headwaters Forest. And I have a bunch of written material about it which I will put out on the table out here after lecture for those of you who are interested in finding out more about it. I don't have lots of copies, so just peruse it and leave it there for the next person. And I'm sure there's going to be a lot of stuff available. There's an article in the San Francisco Focus magazine with some of the details. Because... it's really heart-rending what is happening

[30:18]

in the face of this real... um... devastation of the forest. And I would really encourage you to... to write and phone and perhaps... go to a candlelight service at Dianne Feinstein's office next Sunday evening at 7. Or... whatever moves you. Whatever moves you to express your concern for these redwood forests. There's at this point only 4% of the original redwood forest

[31:19]

and this is the only forest left that's not protected. So I hope I haven't offended you by being too political but sometimes I can't help myself. All right, all right. I think that this is totally in keeping with our deepest understanding of how we live in the world as Buddhist practitioners. We try to take care of what's right in front of us. And what's right in front of us here and now is February 17th, 1998. The ban on logging will end

[32:20]

and these forests will be logged if something isn't done now. Now... I'd like to say a little bit more about Mother Teresa and Princess Dianne because I'm struck by both the similarities and the differences. In particular, I'm struck by Mother Teresa's radical decision to live with the poor, to really turn her life over to this work which she chose and to...

[33:20]

live in deep simplicity. And I think that most of us find that a kind of a shining example and we can't, perhaps, because the cause and conditions of our lives are all different, choose such utter simplicity as she chose. But we can choose to live our lives lightly on the earth. We can choose to live more simply than the sort of norm of our consumer-oriented society. These are choices that are open to us.

[34:28]

And each time we choose to minimize the resources of this fragile little crust of life that exists on this planet, each one of us makes a difference. Each one of us can make a difference by using only what we need. Dogen Zenji, at Eheiji Monastery, which was founded by Dogen Zenji, there's a bridge called Half Dipper Bridge because he would dip a ladleful of water and use some of it,

[35:37]

and what he didn't use he would return to the creek. Each one of us has the opportunity to choose a half dipper instead of a full dipper many times in our life, many times. And if we use what we need with attention and care and restraint, each one of us will make a difference as to how much of these resources are used up and how much is left for our children and their children. So this has to do with just how we live our life, moment by moment, with consciousness of our connection with everything. And again, I really do not want to be

[36:43]

speaking toward guilt. I want to be speaking toward compassion and love and connection, and speaking toward our vow to cherish all life, not because that's right and not cherishing it is wrong, not because somebody else says so, but because it's what our heart desires. Our heart desires a recognition of this connectedness. We suffer from feeling separated. There is joy in experiencing our connection and interdependence and recognizing that everything

[37:45]

everything that we have is a gift. This life of ours is a gift. To accept what comes to us with gratitude and to recognize that every moment of our life is a constant interplay of giving and receiving, giving and receiving. This is what our life is. And to recognize it clearly and appreciate the receiving and taking joy in the giving, we will really appreciate our life. Thank you very much. Satsang with Mooji

[38:49]

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