This podcast is hosted by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening, everyone. It's wonderful to be here at Zen Center. It's been a long time since I lived here in this building, but... It's still the once-go-zen kind of my home center temple, and so it's great to be here. I'm talking tonight about bodhisattva.com. About the values and social. It's still engagement kind of my home temple, and so it's great to be here. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. I'm talking tonight about bodhisattva.com. and social and gay. Good evening, everyone. It's wonderful.

[01:01]

So, to be, many of you know, most of you know, we have Sirit Zen Center. It's been six long, ten precepts in our tradition, ten major precepts, and Dogen added three refuges, and since I lived, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, here, and then three pure priests, building debts, But that'll be right. And it's still kind of my home temple. And so through all of them, I'd like to, it's great to be here. I'm talking tonight about bodhisattva values and to what I'm going to social and say. Thich Nhat Hanh says, always the property, be truthfully and constructively property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on earth. So, Thich Nhat Hanh, but prevent others, 16 precepts are kind of from comments profiting on our 10 major precepts from human suffering.

[02:04]

But in terms of suffering, very of other helpful as specific species on guides, but in some ways are on earth. The basic Thich Nhat Hanh, the value on 16 precepts are kind of, this comes down to our helping rather than harm 10. have the courage to speak out about major priests. Basic Buddhist teaching about situations of unjust harm. That also means, even when doing actively, positively, to be helpful. In terms of so. So in each situation, how to be helpful. These priests may threaten your own safety. Do not live with a vocational body. Not the values I kind of think that is harmful to slander. is not to speak of the faults of others. This doesn't mean we can't speak of harmful actions, but not to speak of them as humans and nature.

[03:05]

There's some sort of blame or demonizing. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. So I have a vocation that we speak about helps realize harmful actions in terms of your ideal of how to help passion. Do not kill. Do not end those harmful actions. How do we help to rather than let others kill, fine. How do we in some ways boil them to ignorance? Count to three, the ten precepts. Help dispenser. Help traps fall as ignorance, related as the guides, but not to slander. In some ways, you're right. So basic we all have is not to speak of the values of other down to. So we all have a part in that fundamental. It doesn't mean that fundamental ignorance can't sense.

[04:08]

How speak of harm do we help to go actions but not to speak of is for the terms of blaming. There's two harmful actions for demonizing. How's the vow to save all living beings? By removing some basic bodhisattva from particular people, offering and providing joy. Only this family style is inexhaustibly values. Dogen has a, how do we speak right and clear? In the lofty mountains, we see the moon for a long time as clouds clear his Dharma Hall discourses in. We first recognize the sky cast loose down the precipice about harmful actions in terms of how the hell the moonlight shares itself with 10,000 points and those harmful actions. Rather than even when clients blame the birds path, how do we...

[05:12]

Taking good care of yourself. Dispatch all it off as spiritual parents. Power. That kind of encompasses our whole practice. But this first said, Heihei Kōroku Dōgen's extensive record that I, that's the family style of all books. So, obviously our meditation, our ancestors, is not first to approach it as the vow to say to all living beings to self-help practice. this transformative function and we all and we all if we it's not just about ongoingly and regularly see psychology its benefits for ourselves of course Zazen it's not just about taking care of yourself so we sit facing the wall and facing the wall It's not, if we engage in this practice, keep people goingly and certain people regular, or the world does have the rolled out seeds.

[06:27]

We don't place the wall as an escape from the world. Transformative function, and we all, bodhisattvas do not build walls to keep out people who are different from us. Benefits for ourselves and people around us who are doing it, but it's not, but to learn from differences. If we engage about, it's not just about us. It's [...] not just about us. We sit regularly, see its benefits for ourselves and people around us who are doing it, but it's not sitting at home when you're not here at Zen Center. We never can sit alone. Everybody you've ever known, everybody you ever will know, it's not just about us.

[07:34]

And faith is not just about, even the people in the wall is just about us. It's not just about taking care of yourself. You don't take care of yourself. No. So we're sitting facing the wall, and with all space, are part of what's happening, and with all time, on your seat. This is... So we sit... So I'll be my deep facing the wall. Yeah, this is deep. Actual communion. And facing your age in this prayer. And with all of all is not just this on God's body of the beings. And with all beings. And with all time. And people. And we start to. And race.

[08:38]

Regularly. All. have some sense of this. This is not to people or when we benefit the world out. It's for ourselves. We don't send people through this practice. I don't face the wall. People around and people are lonely. We're doing it. We don't face the body of all beings. It's not an escape from the communion. about it's not just about us it's not just about us do not build walls not just people who are different from us so we sit but facing the wall to learn from differences and facing the wall is not to keep people

[09:40]

It's not just personal. So actually, the samadhi of all beings is a social practice. If you're sitting up in Tassajara or down in the basement here is strong enough, maybe it can help heal the problem of racism, the problem of climate disruption. I want to talk about both of those tonight. But this samadhi of all beings is a communion with all being in all space and all time. But Bodhisattva practitioners also address systems of suffering in the world. How do we face the wall? So I've been translating the first noble truth. as just facing sadness.

[10:44]

Usually it's translated as suffering, but just to face sadness. Beneath all the fear and anger and hatred in the world is just pain. It's personal, it's collective. There's sadness. And it's a noble truth because we can sit and face it. we can sit upright and still and be present and face the sadness. And there's a tremendous dignity and power to being able to do that. This is a noble truth. This is the starting point of our practice. It doesn't mean it's not sad. It is. How can we sit and face that? So this is personal and collective.

[11:48]

Of course, we need to face our own personal patterns and habits of greed and anger or hatred or delusion. Become intimate with those structural causes of suffering. Corruption of our society's economic system and political system and justice system. Don't violence, inequality, react and act out based on those habits and cause harm to ourself or others. We acknowledge both personal and collective or societal karma. We have that inequality and justice affect all of violence, inequality, injustice, or ancient racism and injustice to crime and beginningless greed, hate, and delusion. We can pretend they're not there. We can go about our daily lives, but really, they affect us all.

[12:50]

These are part of our collective ancient domestic karma. So I want to particularly talk about really appreciate races. I've been dating the black line and about life's climate tonight. There's so much to say. I'm joining in on actions in Chicago where I live and where my temple is. I really want to encourage people to consider supporting this. This has to do with facing the patterns really a priest of slavery and creating the racism, the black lives of racism and each day in a house built by slaves that are so deeply embedded in our society's karma.

[13:59]

It's not just the White House. Our whole U.S. economy is built on racism. slavery, climate damage, and encouragement of hatred, the many unarmed black people prejudiced by being killed by police, politicians every week, politicians and media, and often the police not being held accountable. They have huge problems. They affect all of us. We can continue with this karma. So how do we stick karma? I can go and talk about movement, our day about race and racism. So I want to particularly, I've been encouraging, talk about racism a lot, and about climate. Talking, just talking about this in my Sangha, how do we talk about this? Of course, there's also the destruction of the Native American people, but in so many ways,

[15:06]

It's our whole economy tonight, a little bit. North and South, really, they're built on joining in and act slavery and the effect of it all. So much to say. In Chicago, and this involves looking at, you know, we have our own, these are part of our personal karmas to look at where I live and where my temple personal history goes. Ancient Twistic. So I've been and really want to encourage people to consider supporting this. This has to do with facing the patterns really appreciating the Black Lives Matter movement. joining in in action.

[16:07]

You know, everything is in Chicago, where I live, and the complicated temple is. But at least in part, the American Revolution had to do with the colonists being afraid because Britain was getting ready to abolish slavery. How do we look at the reality of African American mothers who And slavery was not just important to the South. It was important to the economy. So, you know, history is tricky. So we have to look at all these different sides. We have to be concerned about what happens. How do we talk to both individuals their sons when they go off each day. I did a meditation program for activists a couple months ago, and each of us has some relationship to this problem.

[17:21]

How do we look at this, and how do we... This Black Lives Matter movement, what I've seen of it is really... and I've marched in Chicago, and there's a lot of anger, it's very strong, but it's really nonviolent. And of course, there are eruptions of violence, and there's so much power there, and there's so much difficulty in our society around all of this. So what I'm suggesting is that Because of our practice, because of our ability to face the sadness, we have something to offer. We can participate in a way that is helpful. So there's much more to say about that.

[18:24]

But I also want to talk... We could do a whole practice period on that. But I want to... to also talk about the problem of climate. So I was supposed to go to Tassajara this past weekend, and as you all know, there's a fire around Tassajara, and I guess it's getting better, huh? Slow down. I wasn't able to go to Tassajara. I was going to be teaching some classes there this last weekend, and so instead I was here, and I was able to get some work done, which I'm happy for. for but you know the science says that the fires in California is a product of climate damage and we now know that and we now know that people knew about the

[19:29]

effects of climate damage in the 70s and did actually sponsored research that really showed what was going to happen and but instead of revealing that they spent tens of millions of dollars to cover it up and I want to recommend to people Truthout.org, there's a reporter named Dar Jamal, D-A-H-R-J-A-M-A-I-L, who does monthly reports on each month's new science about climate. So I just want to read a few highlights of his August 1st report. Just a few little bits of what's happening this month with our planet's at unprecedented rates, the side of a mountain nearly a mile high in Alaska Bay National Park, which had formerly been since Glacier Bay National Park, before the glacial ice collapsed completely, the landslide released over 100 million tons of rock, which had formerly been sending debris, the glacial ice falls across a collapsed glacier beneath what was completely the left-hand of the mountain, the landslide released over 100 million tons.

[20:46]

and tons of rock, sending debris, mountains, that have been large miles across a covered glacier. He's struck by glaciers for eons, are losing air beneath what was left in their ice, the mountain. He starts off talking about ice cover, and the soggy, unstable mountains in Alaska, that have been large, and underneath is giving way, landslides are usually large enough to cause seismic tremors, covered by glaciers for eons, are losing their ice cover, and does anybody here from Alaska? Soggy, unstable mountains. But I'm just going to read a few things. He interviewed some young people who talked about their anguish in late June. Due to glaciers melting, it are unprecedented being seals going extinct, for example.

[21:53]

One of them talked about one of his favorite things was to go to Juneau and visit the Mendenhall Glacier, but visiting it over time and watching it melt more and more each year. It's the side of a mountain, nearly a mile high. It's now Alaska's small. It's not going to be there much longer. In the United States, heat records have become the norm. Last June, this past June, was the hottest on record and became the second June in a row to hit the record. May was the 13th month in a row for record-breaking planetary temperatures, and I just saw that this last July was also the hottest. The Arctic, hottest month on record. Russian scientists are finding what they heard. So I'm just going to be referred to as... Fountains of gas, massive amounts of methane and carbon dioxide bubbling, which has come from beneath the tundra to the extent that it's causing the Arctic tundra to jiggle like jelly, forming blisters of heat-trapping gases, formerly been supported by glacial ice, collapsing the high levels of carbon dioxide and methane.

[23:10]

As global sea level rise, New York City is planning on spending $3 billion to build a 10-foot high completely. The landslide released over a wall around lower 100 million tons of Manhattan, not to protect it from Mexicans, but from the storm surges and rising seas. In Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is suffering what they call a box-ending debris mildly ecosystems across the collapse. Glacier National Park in Montana, has anybody ever been there? That park used to contain 150 glaciers, now it has 25. The Amazon rainforest is seeing record-setting wildfire season, and experts have also stated unequivocally that wildfires burning across the western United States, particularly in California, so the fire near Tassajara, is being fueled by ACD-amplified factors such as Droughts, beetle infestations, winds, and record-breaking heat.

[24:17]

Siberia has been ablaze throughout most of the summer. An area larger than the state of Maryland has already burned. So that's just a few of the things in the report. Okay. What I really want to talk about, though, tonight is that we hear this stuff and we see what's happening in our society. And it's really easy, it's really available to feel overwhelmed or to feel hopeless. Bad as things are, change happens. This is basic Buddhist teaching. There's so many examples. And usually this... The real changes that happen don't happen because of some elected political leaders, but through the awareness and actions of many people. We could say thanks to Sangha in the widest sense. So in my lifetime, the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union collapsed, apartheid ended in South Africa.

[25:27]

More recently, thanks to the LGBTQ movement, gay marriage is legal in many places. And what I want to say... Couldn't have been imagined 10 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, that that's not... 100 years ago, that's a kind of indulgence. Women were not allowed to vote in this kind of... Now we have a woman running for president. This didn't happen thanks to some men who got elected and said, oh, let's let women vote. It happened because of decades of women marching and lobbying. So change happens. We have to study that history too. I want to read some excerpts from the new edition of Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark talking about how this works.

[26:32]

This was written this last year. She says, This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements that could not be foreseen. It's also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both. The 21st century has seen the rise of hideous economic inequality, perhaps due to amnesia both of the working people with countenance declines in wages, working conditions, and social services, and the elites who forget that they conceded to some of these things in the hope of avoiding revolution. Hope doesn't mean denying these realities. It means facing them and addressing them best by remembering things now. What else the 21st century has brought, including the movements, heroes, and shifts in consciousness that address these things now, among them, occupy the push for marriage equality, a resurgent feminist movement, economic justice movements, addressing and in many cases raising minimum wages, fighting debt pionage and the student loan racket, and a dynamic climate and climate justice movement, and the intersection between them all.

[27:46]

This has been a truly remarkable decade, the decade we're in, for movement building, social change, deep profound shifts in ideas, perspective, and frameworks for broad parts of the population. And, of course, backlashes against all these things. This is what we're in the middle of. We're in a time of change. Among them, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, I don't know, I'm a chain war. The dreamers addressing the DREAM Act and immigration rights. Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, Glenn Brilly, Greedwald. The movement for corporate possibilities for government transparent positive change. The push for... And so marriage equality, what I want to do, a resurgent feminist movement tonight, is encourage you all, economic justice movements, to be part of that. Addressing, and in many cases, reducing minimum wages, talk about the ways in which our practice has something to offer to that.

[28:50]

Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge. And this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial supporting debt peonage in the student loan racket and a dynamic climate and climate justice movement and the inner support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[29:23]

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