Satsang with Mooji . [...] Thank you.

[01:29]

Thank you. . . .

[02:30]

. . . Thank you. bhutsu yo bhutu in yo bhutu en bhupo so en jo rakka jo chon en kamsay an bon en kamsay an shinkhi nen nen puri shinkamsay an namu bhutsu yo bhutu in yo bhutu en bhupo so en

[03:47]

. . . Thank you. shinki nen nen puri shen kan se an na bhutsi yo bhutsu yinyo bhutsu en bhupo so en ga jo cho nen kan se an bo nen kan se an nen ju shinki nen nen puri shen kan se an na bhutsi yo bhutsu yinyo bhutsu en bhupo so en ga jo cho nen kan se an bo nen kan se an nen ju shinki nen nen

[04:59]

Thank you. . [...]

[06:19]

. [...] With full awareness we have chanted the enme juku kanangyo for protecting life. Humbly we invoke the regardor of the cries of the world that she may extend her compassionate aid to the myriad forms of sentient life which make Tassahara their home. And our kind benefactors, the Cal Fire Strike Teams and the Fenner Canyon Fire Crew. What we pray is that the three treasures may watch over Tassaharas and Shinji.

[07:25]

And our Dharma brothers and sisters who are staying there to take care of it. And protect this Buddha field from calamity. May we continue to have calm practice in the face of adversity. May the merit of this practice pervade everywhere. And may we, together with all sentient beings, realize the Buddha way of Buddha and direction. All Honored Ones Bodhisattva Mahasattva Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Mahasattva

[08:32]

Thank you. Well, this is a service that is being chanted at Tassajara each morning. And also, with some slight variation, this is a service that Lou and I chant every morning in here about 8.15. Lately, David has been joining us. Anyone is welcome to join us. The light is on. Okay.

[10:01]

So this is a service that is being chanted at Tassajara every morning. And much similar service, Lou and I chant each morning in here, including our wish for the well-being of all of those members of the Sangha we know who are gravely ill. Okay. As I say, we do it about 8.15 every morning. Please join us if you like. We've been doing this as a well-being ceremony for people who are ill ever since Darlene was first diagnosed with cancer, and Marvin played the mocha gill. It's a little tiring after 21 times. So... is it that long? This August will be two years.

[11:04]

Probably about two years now because he died two years ago this August. In any event, what is this? What are we doing when we do a chant like this? What are we calling on when we call on the great compassionate mind of Avalokiteshvara? I think this is an expression of our faith and devotion and it's a calling forth of the great compassionate mind of each one of us and turning our intention and attention toward whoever we're dedicating it to. It's calling up our compassionate mind. Avalokiteshvara is just the combination of all of the compassionate minds of all of us together make Avalokiteshvara appear in the world.

[12:13]

And it's, you know, it is a form of prayer. We're not praying to something outside. We're bringing forth our intention and our attention and our compassionate mind and expressing it fully. I first became really appreciative of the importance of this kind of practice. When I read a book some years ago by a student of Shignana Graf's up in Toronto, a book called Lotus in the Fire, about his experience. The student's name is Jim Bedard, I think. Jim Bedard. Who suddenly developed acute leukemia.

[13:20]

And... was dying of it. And I recall somewhere in the book he said so bravely to Shinyana, it's okay, I can die now. And she says, no, you can't. You've got a new baby and your wife needs you and you can't. And he didn't. But he describes in it his experience of his struggle with acute leukemia and the really difficult treatment for it. And he talks about feeling, being able to, being aware in his own body and mind when the Sangha were chanting for him and when his Catholic family were saying rosaries for him, that he actually could feel and experience it in the hospital area. And that made a big impression on me that when we really focus our attention and intention in all sincerity, it has an effect on the world.

[14:39]

I was reading in Kadigiri Roshi's book, Returning to Silence, and he's talking about he's talking here about right zazen and says in order to penetrate American life Buddhism must be accepted as a religion and zazen must be practiced as an end in itself he's talking about earlier he was talking about not says Dogen strongly emphasized that Zazen is studying Zazen Buddha. Zazen is not a way to reach the peak. Zazen is exactly that we are Buddha. We are already on the peak.

[15:43]

That is the big difference from the usual understanding of Zazen. Even now, many, many people will use meditation as a means to an end or as a way to reach the peak. But Gogan Zenji emphasized that the way is not a means to an end. The way is exactly the same as the end itself. If using the way or Zazen as a means to reach a peak is the basis of our life, there is always a feeling of irritation and uneasiness. We never feel secure. And I'll... It goes on more, I won't... He says, though Buddhism doesn't seem to have prayer, it does have dhyana. Dhyana means zazen, meditation, and dhyana is exactly the same as prayer.

[16:44]

Jackie Muni Buddha says, Dharma is a light you can depend on, and self is a light you can depend on, but this self, is really the self based on the Dharma. So Buddhism is not a revealed religion, but an awakened religion. It is the awakening to the self or to the truth. This is the characteristic of Buddhism. It's saying there, Sazen is prayer itself. So, This putting our heart into our intention, into our compassionate intention, and putting it out in the world has an effect on the world. It isn't that we get what we want.

[17:49]

It's just that we create compassion in the world when we call on our own compassion in this way. So for me, doing chanting like this for friends who are ill or for the safety of our monastery is mobilizes my compassion and puts it out there. And I think we can all do that. And I think it's very satisfying to me. It's sort of like, what do I do when I can't do anything? This is something I can do. I can't go down to Tassajara and fight fire.

[18:50]

I can't go... operate on my friends who are ill and remove the cancer. But I can put my heart into my deep concern for their well-being. And this is not doing nothing. This is doing something. You know, Darlene said to us early on, keep it up. Do it every day. Don't stop. Don't stop until they tell me I'm cancer-free. It works. It's helping me. Do it. Please, do it. So whether it actually affects her cancer or not, it affects her mind.

[19:52]

It affects her experience. It affects her heart. And so I think it's worth doing. And all of us can hold Tassajara in our minds as we sit, hold the well-being of Tassajara in our hearts and minds as we sit. I don't mean getting involved in a lot of conceptual thinking. I just mean holding what we care for in our heart. I know that many of us are deeply affected by the fire at Tassajara. Many students who were living at Tassajara are up here now

[20:56]

because not everyone can stay. And we're all affected by it. Any one of us who has practiced at Tassajara has a heart connection with Tassajara. I don't know of anyone I know who's practiced at Tassajara who hasn't been deeply affected by that experience. So we're all involved here. And I think that we may want to spend some time just sharing our feelings with each other. And for those of you who are not here for the daily newscast at work meeting,

[22:00]

may want to know what is the current status of the fire at Tassajara. I could say something, but I think I would like Paul to come now and join me and help lead a conversation about how this fire is affecting us. And for those people who are not up to date, maybe give them the latest information that we have, which I... you have, maybe more thoroughly than that. Not the first time we've been in this situation. You could let her take care of you, Paul.

[23:09]

Nothing else. Whether it were trees, they were burned dying. It was just hollow where there once was a tree. In 1999, there was another product with the forest with the green load. The previous one was 18 or 19 decades. That one was not so ferocious. And then this one was from 1999 to 08. So apparently, nature cannot be stopped the first thing in between. In both of those, as far as strategy was adopted for the family of Tatsahara and strategy was successful.

[24:20]

This time we had time to procrastinate and need a soldier to prepare with the same strategy, except we had more time to think about it and to implement the necessary pieces of that strategy. In most of those other times, no one across the heart was hurt. No buildings were damaged. There was a lot of dust, a lot of debris, a lot of ash. The whole site was singed. The nature of the vegetation there is such. has evolved so that it's actually a brilliant look. But from this perspective, certainly it's something to be blasé about, but it's very, very unlikely it will be catastrophic.

[25:20]

It's extremely unlikely that Kata Hari would look like, extremely unlikely, given our previous history. within our current level of preparation for what will come. So please know that. When it will come, we don't know. It depends on Mother Nature. Right after the forest fire, through mysterious circumstances, It was burning the Xenu, but the Xenu branch would get burnt. We were actually in a show sensor. And we looked at the door and we went, looking at the door, six feet up, and it burned for three minutes. We had to put dinner in the oven. with a ceremony, so after we tried to put out the fire and it burned it, it closed it to the ground.

[26:27]

We washed up, and had to up there. The next morning, we picked the site for the news angle, we marked it out, and we started calling Carpenter's . About six weeks, we had . The temporary Zendo, as I recall. The temporary Zendo that almost exactly 40 years. We're still sitting. So I want you to know how I think about it is that every morning we pass a fire with a work circle for 500 years, 40, 50 years. Work the circle. the change, the work circle continues, and the devotion and the attention and the resilience of the people in that circle.

[27:30]

That's Buddhism. That's what that's art is. There's no fire that can distort that. There's no building that's essential to that. and we'll build and we'll just sit on the earth. You have to leave with it. And so it's certainly high. Currently, the fire is being dictated, the course of the fire being dictated by the weather. The weather has been milder, not so hot. and not so windy, which means the fire has been milder, not moving so fast, and not bursting up, flaring up so intensely. And under those conditions, it's hard to know when we reach Tassajara and with what level of intensity.

[28:34]

It's forecast that towards the weekend, where the temperature will start to rise again. These things are very important. They thought of all these scenarios, they thought of how they would respond to, not rehearsing their responses. So, this is our practice with everything in front of us. practice a wholeheartedly in a beautiful way, that's exactly what you're doing. And the consequences of some people having to leave, having to cancel workshops, cancel the summer. That is being worked with by other people with exactly this wholeheartedly.

[29:42]

We're kicking that on as an expression of supporting That's happening, too. So thank you. I'd like to know now if there are any questions that people may have or comments or points that people may want to bring up that are concerning them that we may be able to address together. Yes?

[30:56]

S-F-Z for SanFranciscoZentCenter.org for those of you who didn't hear. Are there any other questions or comments or feelings that want to be aired in response to this situation? Well, I'm very glad to see that people all seem to be doing okay with it. Yes, Barron. Still, I'd like to ask if I'm saying people are disconcerted or people are not here to not be integrated in law.

[32:21]

This question for you and the law that we have to reflect to us with the bigger spiritual may have something to say. I would say if people are not feeling so integrated yet, you're talking about people who come up from Tassajara who are here in the city and are not feeling so well integrated in the community here, what would we advise? Well, As you know, my general medicine for all ills is be sure to sit zazen and notice, pay attention to what's happening in you.

[33:24]

Pay attention to any distress or disturbance that you may find as you sit and breathe with it and breathe to it and talk with a practice leader about what feelings you're working with if there is some disturbance. You know, the Sangha is a treasure. I mean, it's not just haphazard that the Sangha is called one of the three treasures. And so I strongly recommend that you trust the treasure of the sangha and talk with your friends about what's happening with you if you're feeling some distress. And not just sort of sit on it and think it's just your problem and nobody else cares about it.

[34:31]

This is This is a time of some distress for all of us. And as Paul said, some of us have been through it before. It can be somewhat reassuring, perhaps. But it's also, when the Sangha is under pressure like this, it's also a great bonding time. It's a time when we really can make connections with each other in a way that... that we often don't when things are just rocking along smoothly without any difficulties. When you're going through difficulties and you're all working together on some difficulty is exactly a time when you make the closest bonds within the sangha. So, please... be willing to talk with your friends about what's happening with you if you are feeling some disturbance around the fire.

[35:44]

Do you have anything you want to add, Paul? I think I was talking from the side of trusting my wooden age, letting our vow, the practice of whatever it presents itself, you know, shine on lots in front of us. and inspire and direct us on how to practice it. But that doesn't at all negate our human side. That when things like this happen, we're shocked, we're confused, we're distraught. That they stir up our anxieties. And just as Watt says, that's why we need each other. That's why it's skillful and important to both respect our own feelings and acknowledge them. and to be there for each other, to listen for each other, to listen to how we can be back in each and every one.

[36:48]

How can it not, it's hard to be in a place magical, as beautiful, such a source of energy as Pasapara, not a lover. like to be with that beautiful vow of those beautiful buildings and that beautiful sound affinity for those of you who were in the intensity of this summer practice period to suddenly be wrenched out of it in the midst of silky confusion with the minutes to pack your stuff and ask the lead. How could you not feel the impact of that? I thought it was good. So I really wanted to know that you will lead the peace of the body.

[37:49]

It leads also on deep consent. You are that circle of God that is sort of, you are human. To bring all the children that that, you know, that's what we practice with. That's how we live. You know, that we've done with light of good nature. It takes you forth. That's what we practice with. And just as Blight said, to talk to each other, to talk to practice leaders, to acknowledge our own feelings, to let all that, you know, teaches the trickle of us. And I, you wanted to say something, Rose? I was thinking about, that I grew up in Christian tradition, and I learned about prior, that I have to be very precise with my priors, I have to say,

[39:02]

where they want, where they wish. And, for example, I think it's great, for example, for a great chance to get . It's very important. Helpful look. But what you think about that, you know, you said, I believe because my artisan I think so too, but for me it's not, I have, sometimes I have difficulty to, sometimes it's somehow abstract for me to think about I have the compassion. I have the experience for me, it's more thoughtful to think, to express a wish, a direct wish,

[40:04]

Yes, this is why we say in the dedication, we call on Kansayan to take care of Tansahara and all of the people there and all of the animals there. We speak of Amalekiteshvara as something outside ourselves, but what I'm trying to also emphasize is that Avalokiteshvara is just the kind of totality of the great compassionate mind of each one of us, all collected together into the great compassionate mind of Avalokiteshvara. So... in expressing our deepest concern, we also affect the world by putting our deepest concern out there into the universe.

[41:28]

We somehow meet the spirit of the universe, or the spirit of the universe meets us. I wanted to mention one more thing that's come to my attention, too. Some of you who were at Tassajara and had to leave may feel very sad that you're not there participating in the taking care of Tassajara. And we can't all be there. So please... The circumstances are as they are, you know, just this is it, as I'm always saying every time I lecture, this is what is. The ones who are there are there, and those who are not there are not there. And so I think we each have to accept whatever our part in taking care of tasara is, is just what it is.

[42:35]

And... not feel too bad about not being one of the ones who's down there. Yes? I'd like to expand on that point a little bit by giving a rapid example. During the last forest fire, I was in the middle of Dharma transmission at Tausabhara, and when they came into lunch and said, we have 30 minutes to eat. And I said, I am not going. I'm going to stay out by the fire. And it does that, but it's Dharma translation. And I said, well, Tazapar is more important to me right now than Dharma translation. And Mel down on one side, we'd blanched them on the other side, and they carried me out with Tazapar. With nothing except I wrote this in Dharma translation. Here you are. And it's gone.

[43:37]

And it's not done so much. It was very interesting. But once I was actually here doing dark transition, it was an occasion to throw myself into dark transition with heart and mind, the healthy house of art. So it was pretty far. And it was also Tadwariya, so all the Tadwariya students Yes. I was thinking that we can also expand that fashion to all the peaks, the fiber, all those .

[45:00]

Yes, I mean, there are others. At this point, I don't know what the situation is in New Camaldoli, but... Hmm? Well, Esalen is on the outside of the... Highway 1 is sort of the firebreak, and Esalen, it is threatened, but it's... They were both evacuated, but Esalen is certainly in a safer situation than Nukamaldi is, that's all. I don't know if anybody has any information on Nukamaldi. Anyhow, thank you very much. There are certainly areas of the forest that are more threatened right now, at least, than Tassajara seems to be. all over the state.

[46:08]

Thank you very much. Thank you.

[46:32]

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