This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. Thank you for coming to the Dharma Talk tonight. Oh. Recently, someone told me they were watching someone fold their robes right before giving a talk, which they appreciated, and they said it was like watching origami, all these folds and tucks, and then you turn out you have an upright person sitting on a cushion at the end. So I've been preparing for this talk, And I just wanted to start out by saying how happy I am to be at Tassajara, how wonderful it is.

[01:06]

And I just feel all the students who are here taking care of Tassajara are just doing a wonderful job. And I also hear that the students are finding time for study, half-day sittings. affiliate groups, small groups of various kinds. And somehow this summer, more than ever, there's ample time to not only take care of the guests and do all the work, but to replenish the study time with others. So I think that's wonderful. I'm really happy about that. As I was walking here, the song from Gypsy, you know, the musical Gypsy came to mind.

[02:08]

That song, let me entertain you, let me make you smile. And I thought, that comes up when I give a Dharma talk. I want people to be, I don't know, enjoy it, you know. But that's not really the purpose of a Dharma talk. And then as I was walking, I might as well tell you this, it's not in my notes. So I went from let me entertain you, let me make you smile, to remembering Katagiri Roshi, who was the Zen teacher who worked with Suzuki Roshi and then started his own group in Minneapolis after Suzuki Roshi died. And he was invited to... give a talk at the University of Minnesota, kind of a special tea, and the sangha was hoping he would do something particularly Zen, you know, talk about, I don't know what, the aesthetic of Zen, meditation.

[03:12]

It was very fancy, and when it was Karagiri Roshi's time to get up and speak, he started the talk by saying, looking around the room, and saying, you're all going to die. LAUGHTER And I always, I wasn't there, but I pictured people with teacups in hand sort of freezing. So the difference between let me entertain you and you're all going to die, somewhere in between there, we'll see what this talk will be. I'm co-leading a Yoga Zen workshop with Patricia Sullivan, who is over there. I think this is Patricia's 30th year or more, 32nd year coming to Dasar to teach yoga, and we've been doing it together for 18 or 15, something. The name of this retreat is Joyful Ease, Your Own True Body.

[04:15]

Joyful Ease, Your Own True Body. And we can enter that with our yoga practice, our zazen practice. our daily practice. And so what I'd like to bring into this joyful ease is a quote from one of Suzuki Roshi's teachers, actually, a teacher named Nishiari Boksan, a Japanese scholar and Zen person. And the quote from him is, abiding at ease, in the place of non-abiding is forgetting the self. There's a lot packed into that. Abiding at ease in the place of non-abiding is forgetting the self. And when I say forgetting the self, I mean the small self, the grasping self, the self of self-concern and

[05:25]

I, me, and mine, which when we forget that self, we open to the reality of our existence connected with all things. So we've been in the retreat talking about how do you abide with ease in a place of non-abiding? You can't rely on it. You can't rely on anything. So where's the ease in that? one way, and I think this isn't the only way, although when I said that just now, I thought maybe this is, if you completely understand this, what I'm about to say, there is just one way which covers the earth, which is our practice of the precepts. Now, when I say precepts, I'm referring to our bodhisattva vows.

[06:26]

These are vows that arise in a mind stream of wanting to live for the benefit of all beings. And this arising of this thought is an unstoppable strong thought that turns your life around. And precepts and our zazen practice or zazen meditation practice on the cushion and off the cushion are not separate things. The practice of the precepts and zazen are non-dual. And I think a spiritual life and an ethical life, you can't really pull those apart. You can't really have a spiritual life unless you're leading an ethical life. And really, you might just want to lead an ethical life, but it becomes a spiritual life if you're caring for things in that way. So I was reading recently the last lecture that Suzuki Roshi gave, which was August 8th, 1971, which I attended at City Center.

[07:41]

And he was talking about our Zazen practice. And when we first start our Zazen practice, sit down and then We calm down a little bit. And then he used the word bubbles. Bubbles kind of come up, bubble up things. Things that you've done to or haven't done that have hurt other people. Maybe things that happened to you where you have hard feelings and resentments or jealousies and envy and grasping and pushing away. Things will bubble up. Things don't bubble up. if you keep very, very busy and distracted and we keep it at bay, you know, at our own expense, really. But when we sit, these things come up. And this is a chance to grow and mature and deepen our practice life when we practice with these

[08:52]

things that arise for us that feel like difficulties or problems. In that talk, he says, problems are our zendo. We often feel like, I want to get rid of the problems so that I can be calm. And instead, turning that to the problems themselves will deepen, mature, and help us refine our lives in a way that is, you know, inconceivably deep. Often the problems come up and we look around very fast who to blame, you know, and this may be familiar, you know, blame the weather, blame the schedule, blame food, blame anything. We have a tendency to It's their fault. It's their fault.

[09:53]

And to turn that and study what it is, what the difficulty is, without running away or blaming, the problems themselves become like gold for us. It's hard to hear. Sometimes we feel we can't take any more problems. Like, isn't there a Bible story about Job? Doesn't he keep getting more and more terrible things happen to him, you know? This isn't exactly like that, but sometimes we feel that way. On top of this, then there's this. So when we, this is a Japanese saying, fall down eight times, fall down seven times, get up eight times. Fall down on the earth seven times. get up eight times. And the earth that we tripped on or fell on is also what we use to get up, right?

[11:00]

Like in yoga, you know, you don't just pop up somehow magically. You use what you have. And the same thing with problems. So we need an enormous amount of patience and sincerity, really, sincerity in our practice to be able to continue because when we quit due to stop practicing either meditation, zazen, or practicing off the cushion, that could be a kind of running away from our lives. So this kind of practice with our problems, with the problems with other people, our own selves and all the different things that are non-abiding, that are changing all the time. This practice of the precepts is a help for us, is a guide for negotiating the way.

[12:14]

Now that's one way of talking about that. another way of talking about them is that they are just the precepts of compassion. Compassion for ourselves and all beings and the earth. The precepts from the Lotus Sutra, the precepts of compassion roar like thunder. So taking up the precepts as we take up Zazen is a way of living in the world with compassion and a power, really. Roar like thunder the precepts of compassion. Now, when we practice precepts in this lineage, it's 16 bodhisattva precepts. Some of you know them by heart. Some of you have received the precepts. The word precept means to take beforehand. Precept, to take beforehand. So in some ways, to take the precepts or receive them in a ceremony, it's confirming that

[13:18]

already the way you exist, aligning yourself with the truth of interconnectedness and wisdom and compassion. And along with precepts comes what happens, how do we feel when we don't observe precepts? You can't separate that because precepts such as embracing and sustaining right conduct, embracing and sustaining all good, embracing and sustaining all beings. You know, we may admit to ourselves, acknowledge to ourselves that we're not practicing that way. We're not observing the precepts. So coming along with our wanting to practice the precepts, the other side of that is that we aren't able to, that we have difficulty doing that, that we... Don't observe and don't follow and choose something else.

[14:24]

And often when that happens, we have sorrow because not practicing some of the other precepts, not taking, not killing, not taking what is not given, not lying, not misusing sexuality, not intoxicating mind or body of self or others, not slandering. and more. And we know that when we don't observe them, something happens where we feel there's a result that's not so wholesome, perhaps. So right along with receiving precepts is this sorrow that we have that we're not able to practice them. The two are, you can't pull them apart. So along with our vows, taking precepts is are saying we're sorry and acknowledging something that was harmful, that didn't go right.

[15:26]

Maybe at the time you didn't have a wide enough view and so you said that or did that. So this is a big practice actually for us, for practitioners, the vows and the I'm sorry I wasn't able to act in alignment with them. It comes together. So we call that this admitting and acknowledging and actually feeling. We do feel sorry. We feel remorse. Remorse means to chew again, morsel. We chew it over and realize that wasn't skillful. So there's practices of doing that in community, doing that with a friend, doing that with a teacher, where you admit that and acknowledge your limited human life and that you want to come back into alignment.

[16:27]

We call this repentance, which means to be sorry, really. It means to be sorry. Now, there's two kinds of repentances, and one is just a formal, stating that we saw our actions were skillful and we don't want to continue acting that way or perpetuating that kind of karma of body, speech and mind. And we make amends, we repair. And that's a formal, we voice that where there's chants that we do together. There's monthly ceremonies where we acknowledge this And we do it also in different ceremonies. Before receiving precepts, we first start by doing this practice of admitting that we're human, limited. And that's a refreshment, really.

[17:31]

It's like a re-consecration, a grounding. That's the form. Repentance. Ji-sang-ge in precepts. in Japanese. And then there's also what's called the formless repentance. And the formless repentance, this comes from the sutra, Samantabhata Sutra. The formless repentance is ri-sange, ri-sange, and it has to do with our actual life, which is both small mind and big mind, or partial and universal, or conventional and absolute. at the same time. And the foremost repentance is sitting upright in zazen. Now one might think, well, what do you mean by that? And we don't say anything.

[18:32]

We take our posture with our roots in the ground and our stem firm, our spine up, And we allow this very particular being to be completely who they are. And what we drop away is what we repent. And there's a verse I'm going to read you, the re-sanghe, or the repentance of true reality, which is formless. The ocean of all karmic hindrance karmic hindrance would be the difficulties that come from our actions of body, speech, and mind. The ocean of all karmic hindrance arises solely from deluded thoughts. If you wish to make repentance, sit in upright posture and be mindful of the true reality.

[19:38]

All misdemeanors like frost and dew, are melted away in the sun of wisdom. So the formless repentance has to do with our holding to the idea of small self and separate self and acting from there. And we sit upright and are mindful of the true reality. The true reality, you might say, would be that we abide at ease in the place of non-abiding. Abiding at ease in the place of non-abiding is forgetting the self. And I would say that might be formless repentance, sitting zazen, abiding at ease in the place of

[20:39]

non-abiding, no abiding self, no abiding other, and we forget that small self and open to this true reality, this practice of zazen. We're repenting in our zazen, in expressing it in zazen, our self-centered actions based on this delusion of separateness. I do have about five lectures here. There's so much more to, you might want to turn that. But I wanted to move to something a little different and tell a story. Part of what brings us to practice is what's called, in Japanese, kan no doko, kan no doko.

[21:46]

And that translates as, it's very hard to translate in English. And I've got a whole bunch of translations. One is, well, just starting with the characters themselves, the kan means a stimulus or an inquiry or an intuition or perceiving, feeling. And the o, kano, is responsive, responsiveness, responding. There's a poem that says, Inquiry and Response Come Up Together, where there's a stimulus and a response. That's the kano. And the doko is, do is way, and the doko, the ko is communion, is how it's translated. Also, becoming mixed, interconnected maybe, crossing or meeting,

[22:48]

intersection, exchanging. So this kanodoko is, these are the translations, a bunch of them, sympathetic resonance, mutual affinity, resonance of awakening, call and response, inquiry and response, mystical communion, And in the teaching, this reverberating or feeling that you're responding to something comes in four types. There's an imperceptible inquiry and an imperceptible response. There's an imperceptible inquiry and a perceptible response. And then there's a perceptible inquiry and an imperceptible response.

[23:55]

And then there's perceptible inquiry and perceptible response. So those four. And I've been turning those to, like, do I know what that's talking about? And there's this one story that is kind of a wonderful illustration of imperceptible mutual assistance. where you're not even aware you're asking, the person's not aware they're responding, something happens between you, some mystical communion. So this is a story about an older person who decided to be ordained as a priest in his old age. And he hadn't studied Buddhism before, but he wanted to become a priest. And he was practicing... going around alms rounds. It's a Japanese story, takuhatsu, going, a practice of asking for support and alms.

[24:56]

And an old lady saw him and invited him into her house for a meal. And he appreciated that. And after he was done eating, the old, older, old lady asked to receive... some teachings, which is very traditional. You support the monks and the nuns, and they give teachings. It's a very close relationship between, especially in Buddha's time, for sure, and now. People support practitioners, and practitioners support others, the laity, through the Dharma talks, one-on-one interviews. So she asked for a Dharma talk. He was very new to Buddhism and was very, very embarrassed. He didn't know what to say. He didn't have anything to say. He didn't know that much about the teaching. So he sat there just ashamed and embarrassed. And she sat there very calmly waiting with her eyes closed, waiting for the Dharma talk.

[26:01]

And he didn't know what to do. And she nodded off, you know, just sitting there. Nodded off. And he took his... this opportunity to escape out the door before she could catch him and started running away. And she woke up and she ran after him. And she went and she prostrated herself full bound and said, I'm so sorry. I fell asleep in the middle of your Dharma talk. Please forgive me. And he prostrated to her and said, I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to give a Dharma talk. And they both... were completely and utterly enlightened in that instance. This is a story that illustrates imperceptible mutual assistance. They were both in their own limited, and they met each other in this way. This kanodoko, the power of kanodoko, this communion or resonance,

[27:08]

of awakening comes through sincerity of our practice. It's through our sincere hearts that it comes to life. That's, they say, the mechanism maybe of this resonating, summoning and being responsive through sincerity. So in thinking of these four things, I thought, well, how would I talk about this imperceptible inquiry and imperceptible response. So this is the story I made up for Tassajara. So imagine that there's a person, maybe you, who doesn't know anything much about Buddhism, but they've heard about Tassajara, that it's a nice place to go, and they want to bring their friend who's having a difficult time. It's in the mountains, there's hot springs, fresh air, let's go. So they head off, and they actually do feel good here. Calmer, and no cell phones, and the fresh air, and the baths, and they really do feel it's a beautiful, wonderful place.

[28:17]

They feel happy. This is imperceptible inquiry and imperceptible response. There's nothing in mind like, just, that'd be a nice vacation. Then the second part, which is imperceptible inquiry, perceptible response. So they're at Tassajara, these guests, and they have nothing much to do in the evening. They don't know about meditation or anything. And they see a sign, Ask a Monk, on the table for the breakfast. And they think, oh, that'll be something to do. Let's go to the stone office talk and go to Ask a Monk. just kind of to pass the time a little. So they go to the stone office and they enjoy the gathering. People are quite nice. They're asking interesting questions and the person, the Tashara student, responds really nicely and ends up giving them this little verse that they had printed up that they gave to everybody, a little teaching verse.

[29:25]

And they don't think that much about it. They pop that little verse into a book, like a bookmark. This is imperceptible inquiry and perceptible response. So then a couple years go by, and this person is home. Here, she's home. And not turning towards practice or anything. And one day, they're just relaxing, and they look on their bookshelf for it. and they take out that book they had been reading, and this little verse pops out, the bookmark, and they read it, and it like strikes them, like as if the teaching in that little verse hit them, you know, and they thought, gee, I kind of want to find out more about this teaching, and they end up ordering some books from the Zen Center bookstore, and...

[30:32]

and go online and listen to some Dharma talks, and they find a group near them. This is perceptible inquiry and a kind of imperceptible response because there's no person who's working with them or anything. There's things there that they're with perception, perceptibleness, are picking up. So eventually, through their reading, this perceptible inquiry... They decide, I really want to speak with a teacher and start practicing more. And they eventually decide to visit their local Zen group or start their own in their living room because they want to sit with people. And they start practicing. And they have this deep intention that begins to arise of turning their life in this direction. And meeting with the teacher, the teacher suggests, why don't you sit every day and study the precepts or whatever.

[31:34]

So this is perceptible inquiry and perceptible response. And how that all works, I found that quite interesting because when students give their way-seeking mind talks, their talks about how they came to practice, Almost all four of these are included. Things that happened in their life that at the time were difficulties or problems, later in looking at it, it turned them or opened them in some way that allowed them sincerely to want to find out more about how to live in a way that's upright and in line with their own precepts, their own morality and ethical life. And with the truth of all things. So we don't know it at the time. It's imperceptible mutual assistance. But it's a powerful communion, summoning and communion that's happening.

[32:39]

And it's brought up. Dogen Zenji, the 1200 Zen master, the founder of this school in Japan, brings it up. And it's brought up in various ways. And people feel it. There's a mystical communion is one with the teaching, with the three treasures. In fact, having that sense of resonating, our own body and mind resonating with the teachings is really our own awakened nature resonating with the awakened nature of the Buddha, teachings of the Buddha. It's like resonating with like, same nature. And it will resonate. And also with different teachers and affinity. So we have affinity through our own karmic life with one teaching or another, one person or another.

[33:42]

I can't remember when I'm supposed to end. Is it time? It's too late. It's already too late, right? I have a few minutes. Thank you, Hiro. So, precepts, form and formless repentance, zazen itself as precepts, as repentance, as coming into alignment with the true reality of our being, which is resonating with awakeness. So the last thing I wanted to leave you with was a story that I told the Yoga Zen group this morning, or the other group. I can't remember what day it was. And it's a story about, oops, that's not the right thing. It's a story about one of our ancestors, Dung Shan, one of my favorite, actually, ancestors.

[34:48]

who was studying, had already left his teacher, was studying with another teacher, this is from 800s, China, studying with a teacher named Nanyuren. And when he took leave of Nanyuren to go on to another temple or on pilgrimage, the teacher said to him, you will go off and widely spread and study the Buddha Dharma and widely benefit the whole world. It's kind of a prediction almost, you know, like a wish for him or what he sees. He sees in Dungsan, you'll go off and widely study the Buddha Dharma and benefit the world, spread the Buddha Dharma and benefit the world. And Dungsan said, I understand about studying the Buddha Dharma. But what do you mean by widely benefiting the world?

[35:52]

And Nan Niren, his teacher said, do not leave out a single thing. Do not leave out a single thing. So this is, that's a big, tall order, right? Because we do want to get away from that and get more of that and not take care of this and disregard that and to have that admonition of not leaving out a single thing in our own body minds and each moment each particular unrepeatable moment to be there present to practice this is widely benefiting the world. This is responding. This is call and response.

[36:55]

And so I leave that with you as really an endless practice, just like our practice with difficulties is endless. This practice of not leaving out a single thing to our last breath can be our practice. Okay, well, thank you very much for your attention. 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 support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[37:46]

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