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. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, birds. I... Welcome all of you to Green Gulch Farm on this lovely spring day. I welcome myself back to Green Gulch Farm. I lived here for eight years or so, but that was a while ago. I lived here in 1990 to 1998. But also I remember back before that when I first started to come to Green Gulch was in the 70s. along with Fu and other folks.

[01:00]

And I've got to say, that Cloud Hall is such a nice place now. It was a tack room. It was literally, you know, the relics of the... There were harnesses in some of the bedrooms now. And it had a charm. I think it's probably nicer to live there right now. So thank you to all of our donors who... made that possible, a big improvement for the quality of our student life and our practice. Thank you. So my name is Jordan, Jordan Thorne. I'm a priest and a resident in San Francisco, currently. And as I said, I have sitting here brings forth memories. And I'm really happy to be here.

[02:04]

Happy to be here, yes. But along with that pleasure to have this opportunity, I have to confess, there's just a little angst, a little question, a little thing in my heart, which takes the form of the reasonable question, what am I going to talk about? What do I think, what do I have within me that feels real and necessary to say? Sometimes people ask me, like this past week in the city, people say, what's your talk going to be about? And I say, well, it's always about the same thing, right? It's about the path of practice, the path of waking up. But that takes various forms. And so today I'd like to talk a little bit about ethical conduct, and I'd like to talk about the Bodhisattva's vow. I'm going to ask a question, but I also have an answer that I'm going to tell you.

[03:40]

But first the question is, what brings us all here together today in this room? In this beautiful valley, in this fold along the California coast, what brings us together today at this moment? As some of us are friends, I'm sure some of us are strangers, but we're here together on this particular Sunday at Green Gulch Farm. And this is how I understand the answer to that question. What brings us here? We're all here today because we are, each one of us, bodhisattvas. We are enlightenment beings. And each one of us are individuals with separate lives who share something incredible, which is that we are all of us stepping into the way of liberation, stepping into the path of waking up.

[04:52]

And whether we know it or not, this is who we are. I think this is true. I also think it's something we need to be reminded of. We need to be reminded so that we can remember why we're here. What it is we're trying to do here today, but also with our life. Katagiri Roshi was a Japanese teacher who came and helped Suzuki Roshi in the early days. And then he went to Minnesota and started his own Zen Center. And there's a poem he wrote called Peaceful Life. And right at the beginning of it, there's a few lines which I'm going to read. Knowing how to live, knowing how to walk with people, demonstrating and teaching, this is the Buddha way.

[05:58]

Knowing how to live, knowing how to walk with people, demonstrating and teaching this is the Buddha way. So what does it mean to know how to live? What does it mean to know how to walk with people? There are so many practices in Buddhism. It's sort of like in the way that a doctor knows how to prescribe different medicines to cure different illnesses. It's not just one medicine, because it's not just one illness. In the Buddha-Dharma world, there are lots and lots of teachings. In practices, people can commit themselves to lots and lots of schools of Buddhism. There are big libraries full of non-redundant teachings. But one...

[07:07]

kind of fundamental teaching in Buddhism is how helpful it is to find a teacher. Somebody who you allow to know you and that you get to know as well so that they can have so that you can let someone in into your heart. And in all of these different teachings there are within the world mandala of Buddhism and also of Christianity and the whole shebang of this spiritual world we walk amongst, all of them make a special point of talking about how helpful it is to live an upright and ethical life. To some extent, Buddhist practice begins when you take the precepts aloud in front of a group of people.

[08:07]

This is one way we learn how to walk with people, learn how to live. I'm going to change this a little bit. What I really need is a teleproctor. Would you get on it? Yeah. So, core fundamental teaching. of practice of how to live along with other people is to commit to doing no harm in your relationships with others and with yourself.

[09:19]

And this effort starts, well, it starts however you can start it, but it starts with very small steps. Very particular. It starts with things that are subtle adjustments or gross. But I'm thinking actually in my life it starts with small pieces that actually weren't really small at all. They opened up into bigger pieces. It's a little bit like in meditation. When you can drop your wandering mind and focus on the smallest part of your breath, in that instant you become larger.

[10:23]

In that instant your heart can blossom. there's almost no end to what we can understand about ourselves and understand about how to act with others. And we do this, it's actually a very simple thing. Trungpa Rinpoche said, we boldly commit to the Buddhist path. This is not only simple, but extremely economical. There is, in making this intention, by expressing this in our heart, in our life, this intention to live a simple and ethical life, there is an aspect of stopping our search for better ways.

[11:30]

Now, we don't want to fool ourselves and think we got there. We found it. We don't have to wonder about whether this is right. So it's a tricky thing. But we need to recognize that this path is good enough. It's long enough. It's big enough. It can take us all the way as much as we can. In the same way, our breath is big enough to take us to the top of Mount Everest, even while we stay on our cushion. And the discipline, and I say discipline, of taking refuge in precepts is something more than surrender because it's a two-way street. It's not just you surrendering. Something comes back into you. You become almost injected, almost physical, almost at the level of chemistry or DNA that enters your heart as your commitment to openness takes place.

[12:36]

Making this effort, and I say effort, maybe it's easy for some, but making this effort, it's a great help when we understand that our own self-interest and our own wishes are answered as a byproduct of working for the benefit of others. There was a Tibetan teacher who lived in the 15th century, so I never met him, except in his books. His name was Shankapa, and he said, quote, the more a practitioner engages in activities and thought that are focused and directed towards the fulfillment and benefit of others, then the fulfillment and realization of his or her own awakening will come as a byproduct. without making any separate effort.

[13:50]

The more a practitioner, just to repeat it, the more a student of the Way engages in activities and thoughts focused and directed towards the fulfillment and benefit of others, then the fulfillment and realization of his or her own awakening will come as a byproduct without making any separate effort. And this is true. But I encourage you all to find that truth for yourself and not just take my word for it. I said earlier that this helpful advice to live a careful life that honors and respects others and yourself isn't the property of Buddhism.

[15:11]

It is a property of genuine spiritual, cultural traditions around the world. And the Bodhisattva's vow, which we think of as a kind of a hallmark of our school of Buddhism, is also nothing that we hold a copyright on. There is an extraordinary French woman who passed away in 1944, something like that. Maybe I'll have it written down. 1943. And her name is Simone Weil. And she wrote a paragraph in one of her books that I, when I read it, I thought this is the perfect description of the Bodhisattva's vow.

[16:17]

She says, The beauty of the world is the mouth of a labyrinth. The unwary individual who on entering takes a few steps is soon unable to find the opening. Worn out, with nothing to eat or drink, in the dark, separated from our dear ones, separated from everything we love and are accustomed to, we walk on without knowing anything or hoping anything. incapable even of discovering whether we're really going forward or merely turning round on the same spot. But this affliction is nothing compared with the danger of threatening us. For if we do not lose courage, if we go on walking, it is absolutely certain that we will finally arrive at the center of the labyrinth, and there,

[17:26]

Using her Judeo-Christian tradition, she said there, God is waiting to eat us. Later, we'll go out again, but we will be changed. We will have become different after being digested by God. And afterwards, we will stay near the entrance so that we can gently push all those who come near into the opening. The beauty of the world is the mouth of a labyrinth. And once we enter and take a few steps, we soon find ourselves lost. And this is just like our life. We're born, perhaps, with the pure mind of Buddha, but soon we find the world around us

[18:33]

to be an extraordinary attraction. Simple choices we make in our youth, choices we make as adults, they soon reveal themselves as not so simple. They have consequences. And many years later, we find ourselves acting out the reverberations of our life decisions and wondering, how did I get here? I'm thinking of the talking head song. This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful automobile. How did we get to this job, this place, this job, this relationship? And we might wonder, is there any way out of here? Said the joker to the thief. Worn out, as Simone says, worn out with nothing to eat or drink in the dark, separated from our dear ones, we walk on without knowing or hoping anything.

[19:43]

Incapable of knowing, discovering, whether we're going forward or just turning around on the same spot. And when I read that, I thought of something else, which is the very opening lines of Dante's Enormous poem, The Divine Comedy. And it starts with the words, famous opening words of a poem. In the middle of the road of my life, I woke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. In the middle of the road of my life, I woke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. Acknowledgement of being lost isn't a bad thing. One of the metaphors for practice is waking up, or finding ourselves.

[20:52]

It's a good thing when we wake up. Yeah, for me, and I'll say just me personally, for me, there have been times in my life that have been difficult. Or times when I felt alone. And maybe even stuck. And more things, too. But in the midst of this, I still walked on. And I walked on without knowing or... hoping anything, but because I had this idea that there is a secret to success in practice, which is to continue, to not stop, even when it's discouraging, to continue.

[22:04]

If it was easier, it wouldn't be so marvelous. And if we don't lose courage, if we have the faith to continue, it's certain, as I say, it's a money-back guarantee, absolutely certain, that all of us will finally arrive at the center of the labyrinth. And one reason for that is because we're already there right now. We are at the center of the labyrinth where we sit, where we walk, where we sleep. The center of the labyrinth is this very moment. This very moment is the spot where our heart blossoms and opens up. This very moment is the place, time, moment when our heart tightens and feels shrunk.

[23:17]

There was a great Chinese master who gave us a bunch of koans and quotes that we will honor and respect. His name is Master Ma. And he said, this very mind is Buddha. And really knowing that this very mind is Buddha is the same thing as God eating us in one bite, digesting us on the spot right now where we are. This very mind is Buddha. not the mind in the next room over. We're not the mind that we need to read a book to learn about. Later, later on, we'll go out again when we realize where we are at the center. And we'll be changed. We'll Stand near the entrance to the labyrinth and gently, that's an important word, gently guide those who come near into it.

[24:33]

And if we do that, if we have that good fortune, afterwards we will be changed. Also, we won't be changed. And this fact that we won't be changed is the challenge that we face in our life. Because the truth, in fact, I say the truth, you know, well, a truth. The truth of our life is that we're stuck with who we are. It's just that who we are isn't who we think we are. In Buddhism, there are two truths. And there's three jewels and four noble truths and five skandhas, but there's two truths.

[25:46]

And one of them is that we're deluded, foolish people, and we need to practice to wake ourselves up from this delusion. And the other truth is that we're Buddha, that this very mind is Buddha. And these two truths live alongside each other comfortably. We are subject to the law of karma. We are every moment living the Buddhist first noble truth that everything is impermanent, dukkha, changing, unsatisfactory. And we are all, just as we are, fine, fully digested children of God, different from the problematic persons we imagine ourselves to be. Afterwards, we will stay near the entrance, gently guiding those who come near into it. Afterwards, we'll stay near the entrance.

[26:53]

So we can gently push all those who come near into the labyrinth of life. Recognizing this, manifesting this, is to come home, to the home we never actually left. A couple days ago, maybe it was Wednesday, but a couple days ago, I was over in the marina district. And on that evening, in the neighborhood where I live, Page and Laguna in San Francisco, where I started off from, this guy was clouded and foggy and gloomy. And as I drove towards the waterfront and came down to the marina, I could see the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of

[28:06]

to the left. Wonderfully the fog lifted. And I looked over the bay and I saw sailboats dancing with their outlined in light, with their sails outlined in bright light. And I saw that gorgeous bridge. Sort of a special end of the day illumination that was So beautiful. As I said, we're sailboats dancing on the water. The headlands were in sight, and I thought, what a beautiful world we live in. What a beautiful world this is. And at that moment, it was clear to me that the world is not just beautiful when we look at the Golden Gate Bridge. It's beautiful everywhere. all the time. We are so fortunate to be alive.

[29:13]

We're so fortunate to live in a world with fog and trees and ocean waves and birds chirping and dark clouds. Our human life is a precious gift. Yes, it is. But it's also complicated. you know, it's also complicated. Because for me, when I stand in front of great nature, even as I marvel at it, even as I appreciate, even as I'm moved by it, I still have my issues. I still have the trajectory of my life, which, well, shall I say it, I still have myself. comes from ancient twisted karma, some of it not even that ancient. I still have myself. And as I thought that, more complicated thought, I thought, yes, the beauty of the world is a labyrinth.

[30:27]

And once we enter it, we can so easily lose our way. If we do not lose courage, if we go on walking, if we continue, it's absolutely certain that we will finally arrive at the center of the labyrinth. And there, this very mind's Buddha will eat us. And then we will be changed, even though we're still who we were when we woke up in the morning. This is the path of awakening, the path of the bodhisattva. This is the gift we all share.

[31:31]

May all beings everywhere, plagued with sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy and be graced with the Bodhisattva's way of life. 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. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[32:29]

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