This podcast is offered by San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning. Today was originally scheduled, today's talk was originally scheduled to include a portion for children, being the first Saturday of the month. So I prepared something, and then I was told, there's no children today. And then Vicki, in her wisdom, said, yes, but we're all big kids, bring it anyway. So thanks to Vicki, you get to see an amazing, marvelous, magical thing. profoundly informative about the nature of existence.

[01:05]

Okay. So get ready. Okay. Now who would that be? Any guesses? Bodhi Claus. Come on, let the inner kid in you, come on, the inner child. Santa. Thank you. Santa Claus, right? Wavy gravy? See, I don't think the kids would have said that. They might, they might have. Okay. Red hat, white beard, ho, ho, ho.

[02:10]

This time of year. Laughing Buddha. Okay. And then with a few mere magical gestures. Who is that? Bald head, big eyes, groggy mouth, frightening brow. None other than the lovely Bodhidharma. Yes. See? For those of you who don't know, sometimes Bodhidharma is called the red-bearded barbarian. The children, of course, would have been awestruck.

[03:22]

Deeply informed about the mere appearance of things, how we tend to get a few details, red hat, white beard, and fill in the blank. And then that would have profoundly changed how they related to reality. But they didn't come, so it didn't happen. On the flavor of things that didn't happen, recently Gil Fransdell, the Dharma teacher at the Insight Meditation Center, gave me this little book that he compiled. It's called Tales from the Buddhist Path. And it's a collection of stories, Buddhist stories. And in the stories, the main character is an abbess in her monastery talking to her monks.

[04:32]

And I read some of the stories, and I said to Gil, oh, who was the abbess? And where was the monastery? And he said, there isn't an abbess. There isn't a monastery. I just made it all up. So I'll read you one of the stories, since you've all been very good. you can decide is this made up is it real is it true or something else at the end of a detailed discussion of the buddhist teaching on self and no self the abbess paused and then concluded we're so alone that we're not even here to keep ourselves company we're so alone

[05:36]

We're not even here to keep ourselves company. The monastics weren't sure they understood what the abbess meant. Later, when they asked her, she replied, the not-self teaching can be challenging until you realize that there's no one to be challenged. Great Abbas said that once. Apparently Gil was there to hear it. So today's the last day of a seven-day intensive meditation. An intensive meditation

[06:37]

is a process whereby continually connecting, immersing in the experience of the moment. It's like we create an alternate reality. Alternate to what? Well, you can figure that out. And then immersing in that reality. in a process, hopefully, of seeing not just the construct of the schedule, of the bells, of the incense, of the formal sitting, of the formal eating and chanting, not just that, but the marvelous activity of making up stories, of getting a few facts and adding

[07:38]

the genius of your own embellishment. Of sitting there and discovering, you need very little external stimuli to make up stories. It's a little bit like looking at the waves on the ocean. Sometimes they're stormy, sometimes there's great peaks and troughs, There's great drama and danger. There's unknown territories to explore, to reach. And then sometimes the waves are small. The wind dies dying. experience something quieter.

[08:41]

And then also, right along with that, there's a way in which there's immersion in the water, not knowing where the self ends and the water begins, not knowing the boundary of the great ocean that you're immersed in. And maybe sometimes discovering, realizing, appreciating the nature of water. I think with our calculating mind we might think, well, that obviously would be success, immersion, realizing the nature of water.

[09:50]

Second best would be when the waves are calm, there's a sense of serenity, and that calm consciousness appreciates quiet waves. And worst of all would be the great drama, the peaks and the troughs, the desperate search for success, and the terrible nature of failure. But in the path of liberation, in the path of awakening, in the path of discovering what does go on in the process of living a human life. They all have something to teach. There's something at the heart of each one of them that teaches us something about what it is that's happening

[11:05]

in the process of living a human life. The stormy seas of success and failure, the tranquility and the peacefulness of settledness, the deep immersion, touching, something beyond thoughts, beyond calculation, beyond our genius for story. they all teach the Buddha way. The way of living and appreciating what's happening that alleviates suffering and helps us see more clearly what it is that's going on. So to my mind,

[12:07]

Wallace Stevens is taking a shot at describing this. I didn't talk to him personally, so this is my notion in one of his poems. The first line, one must have the mind of winter. to regard winter. What actually he wrote was, to regard the frost and the boughs of the pine trees crusted with snow that have been cold for a long time. The last verse. For the listener who listens to the snow, who feels the wind, who sees the snow, experiences the cold.

[13:13]

The person for whom the sense stores the connection, the information available in the moment through direct experience is being experienced. For the listener who glistens in the snow and nothing herself beholds nothing that is not there, Nothing herself beholds nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. What is it to not embellish? To not see what is not there? And what is it to see through? to see through the red hat and the white beard, and to say, you could call it Santa Claus, or you could call it Wavy Gravy, or you could call it Bodhigarma, or Bodhiclaus.

[14:37]

To see the appearance what comes into being in a moment. And to see in that it can be named, it can be identified in countless ways. And then out of that, with the utter genius of your being, something appears. For me, that's Santa Claus. That's the real McCoy. There he is. Not that we're insisting something that isn't there is, as Wallace Stevens says. Nothing that is not there.

[15:45]

We're not insisting, this is absolutely Santa Claus. Can't be Bodhidharma, can't be Bodhiclaus, can't be Wavy Gravy. It is absolutely, definitively Santa Claus. Nope, not insisting that. Behold nothing that is not there. And the nothing that is. it can be given so many names, can be identified, related to in so many ways, that it has no fixed being. Seeing the nothing that is So this is the formidable challenge of Shashin.

[16:49]

Actually, this is the formidable challenge of every period of Zazen. Can you sit down and bear witness to the amazing genius of your creativity? You can take a snippet of information, in a rising emotion. You can link it to a story. You can infuse that story with emotion. Well, then surely it's true if it makes you feel this much. And then even more amazingly, you can step inside the story and here and now disappears.

[17:52]

So in a way, this is a form of immersion. But the challenge for us is that in that immersion, we're entranced by our own story. We're like the princess who goes into the trance and sleeps for a hundred years, waiting for the reality kiss of the prince. Or maybe it's the prince who goes to sleep and waits for the reality. And when that moment of direct connection comes, then the challenge is, can it be itself? Or is it just another agent your own dream next chapter three don't get scared it has a happy ending but it better be a quick one huh

[19:13]

The wind of the Zen scope, the character of inquiry of Zen. How do you wake up? How, given this propensity of human existence, how do we not just live a life inside our own dream? looking at the peaks with awe, yearning to reach such a great exalted height, looking at the troughs of the waves with dread, suspicion, hesitancy. I hope that never happens to me. I don't know how I could keep living if that happened. How do we look at this?

[20:18]

creation that we're so prevalent to? How do we engage it? How do we wake up to it and discover the heart of what a human life's about, individually and collectively? So it so happens, Zen teacher and a Zen student talked about this. is that or is that not good news? Once Lecturer Liang from Munxi in the Hong region studied with Master Ma, who said to Liang, what sutra do you teach? Didn't exactly say Are you teaching yourself? Are you teaching someone else? What sutra do you teach?

[21:20]

What lessons are you learning from your life? How do you live them? How do you live your truth? With your body. With how you relate to others. With the intentionality and vow of your life. What sutra do you teach? Byung said, the Heart Sutra. What is it to get in touch with the heart of our life? The most essential aspect of the most important, the most relevant.

[22:23]

You know, make up your own adjective. To my mind, none of those quite do it. No. And what is it to teach yourself to stay true to the heart of your life? So that even though you may be looking at an image and thinking, definitely Santa Claus, or definitely Bodhidharma, that that truth, that staying true, allows that just to be the experience of the moment. To discover Your life does not depend on having absolute truths.

[23:29]

Your life does not depend on having absolute truths. I have to be right for sure before something in me can trust the moment. this delicate affair of the human heart what is it to trust the life for living already what is it to be what's here now what is it to trust the relationships you have to give yourself to them to engage them as if they are your life which they are what is it to be the breath in your body right now. Master Ma said, this Heart Sutra, how do you teach it?

[24:39]

How do you remind yourself of this great matter? How do you live it with your body? with the values and priorities of your life, with how you meet others and relate to others, with how you treat all living things, the great earth, and everything that comes your way. How do you teach? Liang goes for the straight answer. I teach with the heart. How do you teach? I teach with the heart. Master Ma can't resist getting in on the act. The heart is like the main actor. The will, the intention, the vow is a supporting actor.

[25:47]

The objects of the senses are their accompanists. They accompany the heart and the will. The objects of the senses, meeting the moment, experiencing the signs, the smell, the taste, the touch. And trickiest of all, experiencing the activity of mind. Show me a white beard and a red hat and I'll show you a Santa Claus. Or a little more thoughtfully, I'll show you the impulse to conclude from a certain amount of information a definition of reality. In our search for awakening, we can be dismayed by this unrelenting aspect of human consciousness.

[27:03]

When am I ever going to stop making up stories? Like Shakyamuni before his awakening. What if I limited my being? What if I lived a life of great austerity? reduced my diet to a mere speck of food every day? Could I cut off this great storytelling that gets me into so much trouble? Could I stop looking around and seeing mountainous waves about to crash down and destroy me? or uplift me and help me transcend the limitations of my humanness? Is that what Wallace Stevens says, have the mind of winter become like stone, immovable?

[28:19]

Become like stone, impermeable. untouched by the moment. And then marvelously for Shakyamuni, a little girl came along and offered him some yogurt and rice. of strangers the gift that's at hand can we see in our life that which supports us can we accept the support of others whether it's the tree

[29:29]

swaying in the wind. Or someone who gives up their lunch so we can eat when we're hungry. Or someone who gives up their temple in rural Japan and comes to the United States to the 60s on Haight Street. and has the utter foolishness to think that he can teach Zen. Can we accept the gift already given? Can we take it to heart? And the amazing thing is, something in us knows.

[30:37]

Something in us recognizes that when we see a white beard and a red hat, something in us knows, oh yeah, sure, yeah. It can be called this or not. And it is this. if we call it this. Once my niece asked me when she was six, is there really a Santa Claus? And here was my answer. I said, most definitely. I said, there are many things in life hard to know if they really exist. Many things, especially in the realm of spirituality and religion. But the one thing you can know for sure is that Santa Claus exists.

[31:41]

And your mother gave me a funny look. So I said, how else? How else in this world of suffering, how else in this world of being entranced by the activities and imaginings of human consciousness could kindness, could generosity, could caring for others, could supporting others come into being? How else could the great Shakta Muni have given up his desperate, determined asceticism and discovered the way, if not for Santa Claus appearing in the guise of an eight-year-old girl going on her way to feed the oxen.

[32:55]

So I would say, with or without his white beard and his red hat, Santa Claus takes his many, many forms. And what is it to be available to receive? What is it to open? And what is it to be available to give? What wisdom of the human character that in the time of cold and darkness will conjure up a mythology? But when it gets really cold and really dark, a lovely person appears. And his vow is generosity.

[33:56]

And his nature is warmth. And he gives to everyone. How could that not be true? So the sutra of the heart, who teaches it and who listens and who learns? And how is that sutra discovered? How is it brought into being in a way that it can be read and listened to and felt and acted upon? And then strangely, paradoxically, within the Buddha Dharma, it's not

[35:12]

out of our great accomplishments, our perfections, our extraordinary virtue, that these teachings, that these gifts of giving and receiving arise. They arise from our very humanness. Right in our practice, we sit diligently and we see the impulse, the propensity to conjure up stories, to grasp them, to get stuck in them. And it's the very seeing of that that teaches us that it's not the genius of our creativity that's the problem, it's what we do with it when it comes into being. that when we get entranced in it, there's a way in which we lose connection.

[36:22]

We become separate. We're no longer capable of receiving the great gift or giving the great gift. Our inner Santa Claus is asleep, dreaming of Christmas. In noticing that, in noticing that entrancement, in noticing that separation, we learn something about reconnecting. We learn something about being awake. When you start to feel the tension in your shoulders, already you're learning something about releasing. When you notice your separation from others. Already clues, teachings about connectedness.

[37:31]

When you notice your anger, your resentment, your tightening around your own pain, already learning something about releasing, about compassion. from the end of a David White poem called The Song of the One Who Goes On. To everything that is, I give everything I am not. To the life through which I have walked blindfold, I give it to sight of my weakness. To life, I give thanks for this. One strength through great failure with marvelous opportunity for all.

[38:48]

Let me read that again. To everything that is I give everything I'm not. To life through which I have walked blindfold, I give it the sight of my weakness. To life, I give thanks for this. One strength through great failure with marvelous opportunity for all. In our innate wisdom, in our deep sincerity, in our great vow and intention, we can conjure up the ideal. Be present, be open, be generous, give and receive. Greet each being as Buddha.

[39:54]

Live authentically. But this messy old human existence, this messy old heritage of endless imaginings and creations and struggles, prompting us to conclude such marvelous and awful things. when we notice the tight fist, already we're learning something about the open hand. So not so much to say, ah, failure, as to say, truly, at the heart, there is a teaching.

[40:58]

The tight fist does not lead to happiness, does not lead to liberation, does not illuminate the nature of what is. But in noticing its appearance, we learn something about how we can mislead ourselves, and marvelously. we learn something about how to not mislead ourselves. So we make our truth with our body, but it's not a perfect truth. It's not an absolute. It's just what we're capable of on that day, in that moment.

[42:01]

When we sit down to do Zazen, yes, be fully and completely present and non-separate from what is. And then we miss the mark, and we miss the mark, and we miss the mark again. And in the noticing, we learn something about releasing forgiving, releasing, missing the mark, forgiving this story that's been conjured up, and learn something about the path. It's the very nature of our imperfections that teaches us how to practice. So the Heart Sutra is not some pristine perfection. The Heart Sutra includes and holds all of our human life. This is its boundless generosity.

[43:08]

This is why whatever comes up for us is within the realm of practice. However we choose to act or turn offers the next step on the way. So you see, of course there's Santa Claus. How else could life be so generous in how it teaches the Dharma? How else, in the middle of our unrelenting self-centered thinking, could we be capable of such nobility as generosity and kindness.

[44:10]

How else in the middle of our perplexity could we have the wisdom to vow to wake up? Thank you. 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, please visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[44:51]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.37