This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Well, good morning, everyone. It's a joy to be with all of you here today, whether you're physically in the Zendo or at home online. It's not so often that I have a chance to come here to Green Gulch, and even less frequently that I give a Dharma talk here. And so it's, for me, a treat. And I appreciate the hospitality of our dear Abhijuyu and the Tanto and the Eno. Thank you so much for making me feel at home. Please forgive my innumerable mistakes. I've made so many just coming into the get-to-the-seat. We do things a little bit different.

[01:01]

By the way, if you don't know me, my name is Tenzin David Zimmerman. I am a resident of San Francisco Zen Center. I actually live at Beginner's Mind Temple in the city, and I serve as the central abbot for Zen Center. And so I'm familiar with City Center and all the forms that we have there. And our sister temple here does things slightly different, so I get to have Beginner's Mind every time I come here. And Lots of patience with my many mistakes. So thank you again, including forgetting that we chant three times here. So again, to be in this heart, body, mind of the green dragon is quite an opportunity, very auspicious. So I'm here today at Green Gulch in part to conduct a priest ordination that will be happening this afternoon. I'll be ordaining a student of mine, Joshin, And we'll be doing this in the Soto Zen tradition and the Shinriyo Suzuki Roshi lineage.

[02:04]

And so both the Green Gulch Abbot Jiryu and the City Center Abbot Mako will be joining me as the preceptors for the ceremony. Our tradition, we have three people who serve as preceptors to hold the ceremonial space. And so during this ceremony, I will entrust Joshin with the Buddha's robes. the bowls and lineage, as well as with 16 bodhisattva precepts. Just as I was entrusted with these precepts and monastic accoutrement by my teacher, Tia Strozer, almost 20 years ago. This process of ordination and entrustment today is an expression of a deep commitment to the Buddha Dharma. and to the liberation of all beings. And the roots of this trustment go all the way back to the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. And has within it, as if you were to observe it, there are ritual markers denoting aspects of the Buddha's own path to realizing freedom.

[03:16]

And so how fortunate we are that the Buddha, after his great awakening to the nature of reality and to nature of his own being, upon seeing a morning star, agreed to share his wisdom and his practice path with others who were inspired by his way of being. and who, like him, also wanted to be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. So that is part of what is being transmitted today. And so because of this afternoon's ordination, I thought I'd say a few things about the priest path in Soto Zen. Now, I think a majority of you probably don't identify as priest. and may have some limited interest in this particular vocation. But I still think it's quite valuable to understand some of the reasons why one might pursue this practice path and how it might serve to support all of us who are practitioners in the Buddha way.

[04:27]

My feeling is that to better understand the priest path is to better understand the lay path. And to better understand the lay path is to better understand the priest path. So monastic or priest and lay expressions of practice have had a deep and important symbiotic relationship in Buddhism for a millennium, going all the way again back to Buddhist time. So in the Soto Zen tradition, There are two ceremonies that practitioners can undertake in which they make a public commitment to embrace and live by the 16 bodhisattvas, 16 bodhisattva precepts and the path of practice. And does anyone not know what a bodhisattva is? A few people who are unfamiliar. A bodhisattva is anyone who vows to fully awaken to the nature of reality and their own being in order primarily to help relieve the suffering of all sentient beings.

[05:42]

So by awakening to our true nature, we awake to all of reality, see the way that everything arises, and in doing so understand how suffering itself arises, and therefore how we might work to alleviate suffering. So the 16 Bodhisattva precepts or vows provide an ethical foundation for living an awakened life. And they derive from guidelines for living harmoniously in community that arose during Shakyamuni Buddha's time. You wouldn't believe it, but you get a bunch of monks together and they start having little quabbles and fights and disagreements and so on. And then the Buddha had to offer some guidelines for how to get along together in harmony. And arising out of our deepest wisdom and compassion, the precepts provide a foundation for how we relate to others and how we might function in the world. So the first precept ceremony, Zaikei Tokuro, refers to lay ordination.

[06:50]

And the Japanese term is Zaikei Tokuro translates as staying home and receiving the precepts. or another way of framing it is attaining liberation while living at home so you don't have to go to a monastery to achieve liberation you can actually stay home and live your life in that way and it's still possible sometimes here we refer to that particular ceremony as bodhisattva initiation or lay initiation and sometimes you'll also hear the word jukkai which is apparently not necessarily always the correct term to use. So we're having a discussion in the abbots group about what is the best term. So the other ceremony is shuke tokuro, which refers to priest or monastic ordination. So the word shuke means leaving home in Japanese. So shuke tokuro signifies the act of leaving home to fully dedicate oneself to Buddhist practice as a monastic.

[07:55]

Now, while the bodhisattva vows taken in both zaike tokodo and shuke tokodo are fundamentally the same, someone ordaining as a priest also receives a full set of robes and eating bowls because they are either literally or metaphorically leaving home. And so they're renouncing, I'll say a little bit more about this, giving up everything they own and they come bare, if you will, into the priest's path and are supported by the sangha with the essential accoutrement. And they're doing this because they're dedicating their life to be of service to the dharma and to the sangha. So they don't need anything else but their robes and their eating bowls. Definitely not a hairbrush. There are a number of ways that we can think of this leaving home that a priest undertakes. It can mean to literally leave our physical homes and our family obligations, just as Siddhartha Gautama did to seek his true home.

[09:05]

It can also mean leaving the home of our familiar habits and mindsets, of making a shift from being attached and identified to our conditioned ideas of self and other, to loving freely and taking care of nourishing relationships in a liberating way, a way that is not so transactional. Can we relate to others in such a way where we don't expect to get something back in return? We're just being present and engaging from this open heart of boundless generosity. A home-leaving monastic vows to live for the benefit of all beings, and not just themselves or their immediate loved ones. and they leave home and entrust themselves to the universe, to give yourself over to the universe, to have faith in the universe, vowing to follow their inner way-seeking heart-mind. And we might call this heart-mind by another name, called Buddha Nature.

[10:13]

So whenever we are present and available to... things as it is to reality, to this moment, not being clouded by reactive thinking or emotions. This Buddha in nature is able to express and manifest itself freely and fully. So it never goes away. It's just a matter of it gets obscured by the clouds of thoughts and emotions at times. Now, the thing about this home living is that it entails a lot of not knowing. You have to be ready to give up all your ideas of what it means to be a priest and perhaps, frankly, what it means to be a human being, to really ask yourself, really, what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to live this life? And then make your way on the path with an open heart and a curious, receptive mind, what we often refer to here as a beginner's mind.

[11:21]

And there's a document that's often handed out to people who are interested in ordaining. And this document's titled, Being a Priest at Zen Center. And this was something that Norman Fisher, I don't know how many of you Norman, Norman used to be an abbot here at Zen Center. And when he was abbot, he thought it was important to try to be more explicit about some of the things that are expected of a priest. And I like that the document, it begins with an antidote. in which Sojin Mal Weitzman, who was Jiru's teacher, once asked Suzuki Roshi, right before he received Shuke Tokido, I think this was 1969, he asked, what does it mean to be ordained as a priest, as a Zen priest? And once ordained, what should I do? And Suzuki Roshi replied, I don't know. And of course, Mel, not feeling like he was getting a clear, satisfactory answer, decided to go to another senior priest in the temple at the time, it was Karikiri Sensei, we know him now as Karikiri Roshi, and asked the same thing, and Karikiri said, uh, oh, I don't know.

[12:38]

So, there you are, you know, who knows what it means to be a priest, you know, but... You could think of it in a different way. Being a Zen priest is a condition about which nothing can truly be said. It's a process in the dark in which we are always kind of feeling our way through our lives with others. So anyone considering ordaining is invited to respect this process, respect what Mao also called it's a koan, to figure out what it means to be a priest, and to understand it to be the deepest view of what being a priest is, not knowing. It's actually the deepest aspect of our practice always, right? Now, one thing I think we can safely say about priest ordination in the Sotostan tradition is that it is a public declaration and dedication to making the practice of Zen

[13:43]

and the sustaining of the Buddha Dharma be the central focus of one's life. So rather than your personal family, your job, your home, all those aspects, you instead make the Buddha Dharma and all expressions of the Buddha Dharma the primary focus of everything you do. And so while a lay person and a priest both commit to having the bodhisattva's precepts and the vow of living and being lived for the benefit of all beings be an internal framework for their lives, a priest takes it a step further by also committing to making this vow their primary vocation and expression of service in the world. So befitting being a priest at Zen Center, that document, there is a section titled, What is the Commitment of a Priest? And I'm going to read it to you because I find it very inspiring.

[14:44]

A Zen priest makes a lifelong commitment through Shukai Tokudu's ceremony to the following, accepting Shakyamuni Buddha's way as the primary commitment of one's life, making this inner sense of renunciation explicit by wearing the okesa, Buddhist robe, like this robe here, and being held accountable for living in accordance with the Bodhisattva vow and precepts, dedicating one's efforts to realizing the formless essence of the Buddha way through Zazen, engaging in the forms of Soto Zen, training and studying with the teacher, and awareness in everyday life, supporting and encouraging everyone to be free from suffering, and to awaken to their own true nature, engaging in Zazen and other forms of Soto Zen as the embodiment of Buddha nature, ensuring their continuity from generation to generation, and making available to the Sangha the rituals and ceremonies that honor significant life transitions.

[15:55]

Proceeding in this endeavor with Suzuki Roshi's spirit of complete adherence to the essence of Soto Zen practice, while adapting its manifestation to the needs of society. So, I find that very encouraging. How about you, Judy? Was that encouraging? Yeah. And it's actually, as I read this again, I can appreciate how well it communicates much of what compelled me... 20 years ago, over 20 years ago, to ordain and make a similar commitment. Now, to expect that those who consider the path of ordination have varying reasons and aspirations for doing so. And each time you ask a different priest, you might get a different answer. The root of my own aspiration to become a priest was an innermost request to live both an authentic and meaningful life, as well as to live a life of service.

[16:57]

And this aspiration, the seeds of this aspiration were laid in me when I was very young, kind of between the ages of seven and 10. And I was living in a Mennonite children's home in Pennsylvania. And I was deeply influenced by the way in which the Christian Mennonite staff of the home, and most of them happened to be women, regarded their work of caring for their children as a means and an expression of their faith, of their love for God and their desire to live in such a way that manifested the love in the world through the way in which they lived. And there was a very tangible sense that they were attuning to and serving something larger than themselves, and to which they saw themselves collectively embedded, embraced, and beholden. I too, in time, felt a yearning to live in such a way.

[18:00]

However, as an adult, I spent my 20s and 30s, early 30s, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. And particularly regarding what kind of career and purpose I dedicated to myself. Anyone else go through that? Or is still going through that? Yeah? Yeah? I spent more than a decade working for not-for-profits and healthcare and education. And while I really believed in the value of the work that these organizations were doing, I continued to feel that somehow it wasn't touching something deeper or greater. And... So I eventually, and I still couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I was all over the place. So I decided to either take another approach. Rather than focus on what to be, you know, what to be when I grow up, I thought I'd take some time to figure out how to be. You know, how did I want to be in my life, in the world? And with the hope that having figured out the how to be, that the what would organically come out of that, or at least be more apparent for me.

[19:09]

And so with this in mind, I decided to forego graduate school because I'd been considering going to Berkeley for graduate school. And instead, I decided to intensify my practice by becoming a resident at San Francisco Zen Center. And I thought I'd do this two or three years. I thought, okay, two or three years, I'll figure it out, and then I'll get on with my life. You know, because this was just going to be a way station for a little bit. And, you know, so I didn't move into Zen Center thinking that... I'd be a priest one day, or for that matter, I'd be a Dharma teacher, much less an abbot. Even now, I'm still wondering, what am I doing here, right? And yet, as I continue to deepen my practice and my understanding of the Buddha Dharma, and the way that I observed other teachers and priests that I admired, I realized that being a priest was a vocation that I also wanted to take up. And because I saw it, it would challenge me to be of service to something larger than myself and my personal needs and interests.

[20:14]

Because if I just left it to myself, I could probably be a little lazy and not really be as focused and committed. So I needed something to hold me in that way. And those two to three years of, you know, checking out Zen practice deepening just happened to turn into 25 years. Here I am. And 20 of those years again, I've been a priest. And now I am steeped in this powerful 2,500-year-old tradition and trying to discern how to meaningfully uphold the tradition and the practice and express it, particularly in these contemporary times and conditions, which I confess is not always so easy. It takes a lot of thought and consideration how to translate. into these current times, 2,500-year-old spiritual tradition. Now, when considering might be the primary difference between lay and priest practitioners, I resonate with Norman Fisher's take that is one of archetype.

[21:24]

He describes being a priest as a powerful archetype, one that you enter for better or worse. And so the priest archetype is, of course, a role that involves serving as a spiritual leader and a guide within a spiritual community. You could be generally responsible for performing rituals and providing pastoral care and offering religious teachings. However, because of the potency of the priest archetype, not everyone feels it's right for them to enter. And there are many who have spent many decades at Zen Center who chose never to become a priest because they don't feel it's their particular path. And they continue to have a rich and deep and inspiring practice that supports others who identify as lay practitioners. Norman writes, entering the archetype of a priest, you will become, whether you like it or not,

[22:29]

a figure for healing in someone's life, in someone's psyche, in someone's heart. Or you equally may become a figure of confusion and upset in someone's psyche, in someone's life, for reasons that have nothing to do with who you are and what your personality is or what your actions have been. This is possible. So in other words, a priest is often subject to all kinds of psycho-emotional projections and transference by others. And that at times can be very difficult to navigate and bear. Any figure of authority, that could happen. And then Norman adds, I'm not at all sure what it is. I'm not at all sure that it is the best idea to become a priest, given that there's so much potential trouble with this. There are those who think that we would be better off without the tradition of priests. Okay, now this last point is fodder for another Dharma talk on another day.

[23:29]

But it does raise a good question. And growing a priest is a dependent, co-arisen activity. Just like there's a familiar African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child, so does it take a sangha to raise a Zen priest. While the primary training relationship is between a novice priest and their teacher, and here at Zen Center we often say that training happens four to five years, it's the Sangha that actually and ultimately holds a priest accountable to their vows and their archetypal power. A priest needs the support of the entire community to mature as a practitioner and in their role. and particularly to be a healthy, sane, and trustworthy individual, aspiring to be of genuine service to the Dharma and to all beings. This accountability requires that I, as a priest, not only pay great attention to my conduct and deportment, but that I willingly receive feedback if my behavior or actions are unskillful.

[24:41]

And I'm going to say that all to you now. This one, I welcome your feedback in whatever way. I may not always like it, but it is welcome. It is necessary to help me to be a better practitioner and be a better service to all of you in your own practice. Joshin, too. All right, I'll say this now. I'll say this again this afternoon. Joshin as well. Alas, we've only seen way too often what happens in our Buddhist communities when teachers, priests, and other Sangha leaders are given power without the appropriate checks and balances and pathways for transparency. Speaking of transparency, I often remind lay or ordained practitioners alike that there is no backstage in Zen. There is no backstage in Zen. And this no backstage means having an understanding that everything you say and do is being observed by others. And particularly when living in Sangha, believe me, right?

[25:47]

Everyone knows. You'd be surprised, right? As the Zen adage goes, nothing is hidden. However, no backstage also points to the reality that our fundamental Buddha awareness is always present. always aware of the entirety of our conduct and being, even if we're not cognizant to it being so. As long as we take our stand in awareness and as awareness, then we can be a truly encouraging presence for others. Okay. So now I'm going to switch gears. And for the last portion of my talk, I thought I'd briefly walk through the Shuké Day ceremony for those who are now familiar with it. So you have a little sense of what's going to be happening. What is this process of transformation?

[26:49]

How in this tradition do we take up the empowerment, if you will, of a novice priest? What components does the tale entail? The ceremonies for Saikei Tokuro, for lay ordination, if you will, and Shukei Tokuro are very similar in structure. Although, as I think I mentioned previously, there are a number of additional components that are added to Shukei Tokuro in recognition of a priest's home leaning. So as preceptors... Abbot Jiru, Baka, and I will hold the space in this zender right over there for a transformation to take place, a transformation that judges both to Joshin's deep intention for ordaining as well as to that flame within all of us that yearns to live a life of wisdom and compassion and liberation for the sake of all beings.

[27:50]

And so we're going to be using ritual, ceremonial objects, chanting, and words to affect this transformation. And we're going to begin by evoking the presence and compassion of our ancestors, particularly those who themselves also took up the path of liberation that the Buddha showed for the benefit of all beings. And there's a phrase in the ceremony that says, in faith that we are Buddha, we enter Buddha's way. And then next we'll pay homage. to our lineage and our teachers. And we'll begin with the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, followed by our founding lineage teachers. So that's from Shakyamuni Buddha in India, to Bodhidharma, our first ancestor in China, and then to A. A. Dogen, our first ancestor in Japan. And then finally, Shokako Shunuyo Suzuki, the founder of San Francisco Zen Center.

[28:52]

And then we'll invite various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who represent key aspects of the awakened mind and function to also join us. And so by evoking these ancestors in this ritual way, we are transcending the boundaries of time and space to abide in the eternal now. So in other words, we're inviting the entire universe to witness this person's commitment to the Bodhisattva way. And with the Buddhas and ancestors present, the preceptors will then speak to the purpose of the ceremony. So we'll say a little bit about why we're here and the students' presence. And we'll reflect on the auspicious causal conditions that have led to this particular individual requesting ordination today as a disciple of the Buddha. You could think of it in this way. Everything that happened in Joshin's life up... until and including this very moment, has laid the foundation for him to be here, including not only his years at San Francisco Zen Center and his practice at each of the three temples, but also the innumerable blessings of his friends and family, as well as the miraculous gift of life itself.

[30:15]

And so at this point in the ceremony, what will happen is Joshin will bow to the senior Dharma teachers and any of their abbots here. And then we'll bow to his family and friends. And it's both a bow of gratitude and it's also a little bit of a goodbye bow, right? And then next comes one of the key components of the ceremony. It's a ritual enactment of renunciation. And this ritual enactment is done by cutting off hair. And this cutting off hair symbolizes cutting the root of attachment, and particularly self-attachment. We are told that this renunciation is not for the sake of renunciation itself, but for realizing the Buddha way. And this ritual of haircutting echoes the Buddha's own path of renunciation and home-leaving. in which he renounced his royal life in the palace and cut his long hair, which was a symbol of his identity and his familiar obligations.

[31:25]

And so in the ceremony, the teacher at this point will say, cutting off the hair is cutting the root of clinging. As soon as the root of clinging is cut, your original body appears. Changing into monastic robes now and leaving worldly passions, you are free. So this renunciation is not only about renouncing or letting go of previous way of life, but also the condition, habit, patterns of mind and body that keep us trapped in a cycle of suffering. It's about becoming free of the various attachments and identifications that obstruct our seeing clearly interconnectedness, respecting all beings, and aspiring to unconditional love. This menunciation that comes with being a priest is also a vow to embrace a profound intimacy and vulnerability.

[32:30]

Again, this vulnerability includes allowing others to point out when we are stuck in our karmic conditioning, in our process of selfing, trying to create a self, and seeking in some way to often case blame others for our pain and our difficulties rather than taking responsibility for how suffering arise by virtue of the way that we perceive and relate to the world and others. The cutting of the hair happens in two stages. So this comes up, there's a little bit of hair cutting, And then the ordinen will be presented with new clothes in the form of koroma. So koromo is this long black thing. There's actually several histories here. There's Buddha's original robe from India, and then the koromo from China, and the kimono from Japan.

[33:32]

Do I have that right? I think so. Thank you. So three layers of history are in these robes here. And then once having done the kuroma, there is another final hair cutting, which is to remove the remaining small bit called the shura. And so while cutting off the shura, the teacher says, I will now cut off your last hair. Only a Buddha can cut it off. Now I will cut it off. Will you let me cut it off? And this is asked three times by the teacher of the disciple, and hopefully the disciple says, yes, I will. And it's done three times to be sure that they understand the gravity of this final act of renunciation, because it requires a significant leap of faith. Everything has been cut away, and you're relying on the profound, boundless heart-mind of Buddha.

[34:34]

Nowhere to stand. Nowhere to rest. And then the disciple says, freed from my ancient karma, freed from my worldly attachments, freed from form and color, everything is changed except my deep desire to live in truth with all beings. So renunciation here, what it does, it makes space for freedom. And when we are making space for freedom, then there's also the space to see truth, to see reality, to see things as it is. Once free of all attachment, the ordinand is now ready to receive a new Dharma name. New clothes and other monastic accoutrements, beginning with a bowing cloth called a zagu. So that was something I bowed on over there. And then there is a larger piece of cloth called a okesa, which is, again, this thing that I'm wearing, brown. And then a small version of the okesa called a rakasu.

[35:37]

You'll see this. It looks a little bit like a bib in our tradition. It's often blue if you're a lay practitioner. And the ruckus is often for everyday wear for one who's a priest. So the okesa, sometimes it's called the kashaya, is a version of Buddha's robe, as I mentioned earlier. And in one of his fascicles, Dogen, Zenshi, pointing out that Buddha's robe and Buddha's teachings are one and the same. He writes, you should know that a kashaya or a kesa is what all Buddhists respect and take refuge in. It is the Buddha body, the Buddha mind. It is the clothing of emancipation, the robe of great love and great compassion, and the robe of unsurpassable complete enlightenment. And then Dogen says that anyone being given the a kesa should receive it indeed with utmost respect.

[36:39]

So the okesa represents great power, great capacity, and great love that's made possible by the bodhisattva vows. Whenever wearing an okesa or a rakasu, we are literally wrapping ourselves in our vows and protecting ourselves from the destructive inner and external forces of greed, hate, and delusion. And so the okesa serves as a protection of from our own minds and the unwholesome qualities that they can fall prey to if we aren't attentive, diligent, and careful. Next, having received Buddha's robes and bowls and a new Dharma name, the Ordinan will then offer incense and receive the 16 Bodhisattva precepts. And this process of receiving the precepts first begins by way of confession and repentance. in which the ordinary acknowledges and avows all their karma and wrong actions in this life and prior by chanting the following, all my ancient twisted karma, from beginningless greed, head and delusion, born through body, speech and mind, I now fully avow, I now fully acknowledge and take responsibility for.

[38:02]

And through their act of confession and repentance, the ordinary goes beyond their karma of body, speech, and mind, are freed from greed, hate, and delusion, and thus, it is said, becomes pure as the full moon in the night sky. Having purified body and mind, the student is now ready to recite the 16 precepts, excuse me, to recite and receive the precepts, The first being the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And then the three pure precepts, which are essentially to avoid all harm, do all good, and sustain all beings. And then finally, the ten grave or prohibitory precepts. And these precepts are the way that we cultivate the roots of a wholesome life. And they entail the following. Not killing life. not taking what is not given, not misusing sexuality, not lying, not intoxicating the mind and body of self and others, not slandering, not praising oneself at the expense of others, not being avaricious or greedy, not harboring ill will or hate, and not disparaging the three treasures.

[39:25]

So again, these things Bodhisattva precepts and vows give us a sense of direction and a pathway for expressing our innermost request. And then after the recitation of the 16 precepts, the new priest is asked, from now on and even after realizing Buddha head, will you continue to observe these precepts? So forever, even if you are a total enlightened being, even if you are the Buddha themselves, will you continue to observe these precepts? Hopefully they say, yes, I will. And then following receiving of the precepts, the Ornanan is then given a Ketchumiyaku or a lineage chart that documents what we call the bloodline of succession, which according to Zen links a student to all the previous generations of practitioners all the way back to Buddha himself. And finally, as the ceremony comes to a close, the preceptor tells the newly ordained priest,

[40:29]

You are a child of Buddha, one with all being. Receiving Buddha's precepts, you are already seated with all Buddhas and ancestors. You are really a child of Buddha. And often, as this line is said, I find myself kind of a combination of wanting to cry and shout out in joy. It's just this feeling uplift, you know, and also release simultaneously. What a gift. And the ceremony then concludes by the Sangha dedicating the merit of any benefits that has come from this gathering together to the welfare of all beings. So, whether or not you will be joining the ordination ceremony this afternoon, if you have never witnessed either a Saikei Tokuro or a Shukei ceremony, I hope someday you will have a chance to do so. because it's a beautiful ceremony, it's a beautiful ritual, marking a powerful transformation, one in which an individual gives themselves over to living by vow, by a deep intention, rather than living by karma or unwholesome mindset, and doing so really for the liberation of all beings.

[41:47]

So I want to thank you all very much for your kind attention and patience and presence. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[42:25]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_95.79