This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. My name is Loud Lee. Kaydu, Lynn Shutt. I want to thank the Tonto, Rosalie Curtis, and Tova Green. Oh, here are Tova, who are... co-leading the practice spirit for the invitation, and of course, thank you to the abbot, Ed, and to my teachers, Blanche and Vicky. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. And to all of you for being here. Is anyone new to the temple? Raise your hand. Not too many, so can you say your names for us? Catherine? Dave? Karina's loud and proud. Come on.

[01:02]

Just me? Eileen? Rachel? I didn't see Rachel. I heard Rachel. Okay. Brian. Don't be sorry. Say it again. Mike. Joanne. Somebody over here. Patrick. Special welcome to all of you. So welcome to beginner's mind temple, or ho shinji. Actually, it's also shin in Japanese, or in Buddhism, heart and mind are not separate. So this could also be called beginner's heart temple. And this is an important point in Buddhism, that we tend to separate things when they really aren't. And you could almost say that it's not the separation itself that's the issue. It's that we do the separation and then we cling to it and we keep on verifying that as opposed to being flexible about it.

[02:07]

So right now, City Center, this is City Center, one of our three places, is in the middle of a practice period, as I said. And the... theme of the practice period is waking up in the midst of our lives, the Bodhisattva way. And as is traditional, around the middle of the practice period is to have a skit night. So last night there was a skit night, no? Isn't that pretty fun, huh? Yeah. And so inspired by skit night, I had hoped to say that, oh, I have some more notes. I have some more notes that I have here. Let's see. What else do I need for this talk? A watch so I can keep on time. What else? A tea bag. This was supposed to be the big laugh, but as you saw, it fell out.

[03:16]

Wouldn't have been dramatic? This big thing coming out of my sleeve. Opportunity missed. What else might be here? What else do I have? Yes. I do have allergies now, so that one goes back. All right, so... These, not just for the fun of it, but they do relate to my talk today, and I'm going to let you know how. So, again, waking up in the midst of our lives, the bodhisattva way. Today I'd like to focus on what the bodhisattva way could be, or perhaps you could say is. How many people here know what a bodhisattva is?

[04:19]

How many people don't know? Maybe that's a better question in this room. All right. A bodhisattva is a... Is that a question or something? Oh, okay. The people don't know, okay? You don't know either, Judith? Right. I don't know either. I don't know either. I don't know either. So I'm going to tell you. I don't know, but I'm going to tell you anyways, because I Googled it. No, I'm kidding. And according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a bodhisattva is a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others and is worshipped as a deity in Mahayana Buddhism. The word bodhisattva is a Sanskrit word made up of bodhi, which means awakening or awakened, and sattva, which means person. So an awakened person, you could say an enlightened person. So this is in the concise encyclopedia, the term for the historical Buddha, Gautama, prior to his enlightenment, as well as for other individuals destined to become Buddhists.

[05:33]

In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva postponed attainment of nirvana in order to alleviate the suffering of others. The ideals supplanted the Theravada Buddhist ideal of the arhat and the self-enlightening. The number of bodhisattvas is theoretically limitless, and the title has been applied to great scholars, teachers, and Buddhist kings. Celestial bodhisattvas, such as Avalokiteshvara, are considered manifestation of the eternal Buddha and serve as savior figures and objects of personal devotion, especially in the East Asia. So here are some of the points I heard in that. One, it's essential to Mahayana Buddhism, of which Zen and Soto Zen is a part of. A bodhisattva aspires to be a Buddha, and yet is not willing to attain that without everyone else coming along also.

[06:39]

And in fact, some definition would say you wouldn't do that until others are enlightened before you. So kind of... Big aspiration, don't you think? This is the main aim of our school, right? And in fact, we chant them, right? The vows. We chant the vows in many ways, especially when we take the precepts. And every time after a talk, we will chant them. So you can follow along if you have it, right? Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. Sounds pretty impossible, wouldn't you say? So you could say that the Bodhisattva way is mission impossible.

[07:44]

You guys know what I'm talking about. The TV show. You know, I grew up in Vietnam. I was born in the mid-60s. And my mother, this is my birth mother, obviously, was a clerk at the American Embassy. So, I actually can't remember if it was a daily or what, but whenever it was, not often, there would be an American TV show on. She had a little black and white TV. And I remember the Mod Squad. Ironside, and Mission Impossible. And I love Mission Impossible. You know, for not understanding English, Mission Impossible is like a cartoon almost, right? So there's just a lot of action and stuff. So I was very into it, and I also liked it when, you know, Tom Cruise version came out, right? Now, who here doesn't know about Mission Impossible? Do I have to say a lot about it? Oh, a few, okay.

[08:49]

Well, it's basically the... I Googled that, too, to make sure I got all the pieces right. So Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves originally, and John Voight, is how I say his last name, in the movie, puts together a team, right? And they're called the Impossible Mission Force to... go do impossible things such as, you know, take down warlords or someone stealing some lists from some government and, you know, they're going to go in and they have to go undercover and they have to act a certain way. And often there's a lot of intrigue, you know, the good guys become the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys and you just can't trust anybody. And things keep on changing, right? Right? So I'm going to try to relate the Bodhisattva way to this. Wish me luck.

[09:49]

All right. So the Bodhisattva way, so luckily, you know, when you're not sure how to do something, Dogen will tell you. And so Dogen has what he calls the Bodhisattva Four Methods of Guidance. Right? And I actually first knew of them from Returning to Silence, Kadagiri Roshi's book. And in that, they're put as the four elements are, or methods are giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and identity action. And I will say that for me, they've been some... Some of them seemed more approachable than others, and then a couple of them I always had a hard time grasping. And so in this practice period, when I was putting more effort and study and thinking about it, somehow thinking about certain things helped me to understand it better.

[10:57]

So that's what I'm hoping to share with you. So the first is giving. Often, for me at least, looking at the etymology of words help a lot to give me more sense of what it might mean. So giving is from the Pali word for dana, which is translated often as giving. Other translation could be generosity. Dogen in the Nishijima and Cross, Shobo Genzo version, he calls it giving, but then he calls it free, freely giving. Or, excuse me, free giving. Another way to think about it, that it's non-greed or non-attachment. And, category roshis, there are three ways that you practice giving. One is to give material things, one is to give the dharma, and one is to give fearlessness. This is what a bodhisattva does. Now, I'm going to talk about dharma first.

[12:01]

So when you come here to hear a talk on a Saturday or any other talk on Wednesday, we ask for donation or dhana. That's another translation you could say of dhana. But the teaching's always free in Buddhism. And it comes from this, right? Well, that's my understanding. This is a basis of where that comes from. So we can see that pretty clearly. Now, in terms of material things and fearlessness, this tea bag, Ho Chi Ja, it's a kind of green tea, right? Reminded me of this story. When I went to practice in Vietnam, there's a Vietnamese Zen tradition called the Chuk Lam Zen, and bamboo forest Zen. They're in the central part of Vietnam, in Dalat, which is where my birth parents are from. So I went there, and it's similar to Zen Center.

[13:04]

They have like a five-day visit program. So I went for five days and stayed for six months. And in part, it was to practice with this teacher. So I worked with her every day and translated one of the master's books into English. You know, there they sit two hours straight, three times a day. Straight, straight, right? They still use the stick because we fall asleep a lot, right? You get up at three in the morning, right? Now, they really practice... So another way of thinking how do you practice giving is renunciation, which is really key to monastics, and actually to all of us, but especially so to monastics, right? So renunciation there, they own nothing. of their own, right? They get two sets of clothing. Initially, I only had two sets of clothing when I was there because you had to wear a uniform, basically.

[14:05]

You get a robe that you sit in. You get a robe when you travel or visit the master. And then you get a, as in this kind of robe, not your Oquesa. Everyone had their own Oquesa. And then even your eating bowls, they only have two, but they do put their name on it, but so that they wash it themselves and keep. keep it. So there they, if you are given something, you actually have to give it to the, what's called the storage nun, because you're not supposed to own anything of your own, right? So having like a treat is a big deal, right? And so I, when I was there, I actually got a parasite. Actually, I think I got it in a different country, but It manifested there. And so I had to go out every week to see the doctor. Oh, and they never leave the monasteries for a very good reason, right? So every week I'd be taken out to go see the doctor.

[15:07]

And then because I was also a guest and a foreigner, I got to stop at the market to get some food or whatever, some treat. And so I really like this treat. teacher, and she really epitomized practice for me. So I thought one time that when I go out, I would ask her, oh, and every morning we'd bring a cup of tea in when we went sat down, right? And I had, I'd come from Japan, and I studied tea. So I had bought some really good green tea, right? So I started sharing it with her while we were working. And so I could tell that she really liked it, right? And then she had some black tea that she shared with me. So one time when I went out, I said to her, I said, do you like black tea or do you like green tea better? Which is your favorite? Which is your favorite? And she said, when I drink green tea, I like green tea. When I drink black tea, I like black tea.

[16:08]

I smiled. And inside I was going, oh, my God. This person is, like, so practiced. Who does she think she is, you know? And I hadn't told her I wanted to buy her tea, but in my head I was like, all I wanted to do was buy her something she would really like. That was my intention, right? But I found myself just getting really mad. And for, like, three days I was just fuming, right? Who does she think she is? She's so practiced, you know? And then, maybe it was the six hours of... Zazen every day. I finally had this thought. Is that my angst about it, right? Because if my intention was to give her something that she liked, then black tea or green tea would too. But I really wanted to get the one thing she would really like.

[17:13]

And so it was about me being a generous person. In fact, I had had, you know, my whole idea when I thought of the idea to give her tea was this whole, you know, film in your head that goes, I give her the tea. She goes, oh, my favorite. You know, and then would just show her enjoyment. And then I could just go, oh, yeah. You know? So this is where I think it is about the difference between perhaps just giving and a bodhisattva kind of giving. is that you have to be willing. You have to be willing to really, one, be there for a response that's unexpected. And then to turn and look at yourself if and when there's any agitation that arises. So, You have to be willing to peel through the layers, right, of what you think your intention is or what you think is going on to be able to give freely.

[18:30]

So similar to the impossible mission force, you know, my favorite thing about Mission Impossible, besides the, right, is that almost in every episode of the ones my favorite, they peel off. Some face, you know, they're like the bad guy doing whatever, and then they go into another room, and they're like, rip off the mask, right? And this is what you have to be willing to do. Keep taking off the mask that you think is you in the moment that you're clinging to, because it means something to you. And, you know, that's not a problem with being somebody, but are you able to take it off when it's not necessary? That's the key. So I think the fearlessness is the part where you're willing to look at how uncomfortable the mask is. It really gets kind of hot, doesn't it, behind most masks?

[19:32]

After a while, you're just sweating behind that because it's false. And so are you willing to let it go? It's a renunciation. And then, of course, there's also the fearlessness of understanding that there's nothing to give. It's not really yours to give. And it isn't the giving of things that matter, but the connection you make or that you're looking for. So next, I need to move on probably. Yes, I do. Next is kind speech. So the Japanese word is I go. which is literally loving words, Katagiri Roshi says, it's not ingratiating talk. It's not like a cat purring. It's not a great image. It's not like you're trying to get a favor or manipulate somebody. And Dogen puts it as mutually nurturing.

[20:37]

And the key principle in kind speech is compassion. This is my reminder of compassion or kind speech. Many of you know that I'm a social worker. I've worked with homeless people for many years, since my 20s. And I work with people who are chronically homeless, and there are many reasons why people are chronically homeless. Often it comes from very deep systemic issues, but it manifests itself. on a daily basis often as in behavior kind of issues, right? And so I had a client that he was often not of clear mind. Let's put it that way. And so it's the point actually in which he needed some chemicals to get his base back that he would be really grouchy.

[21:44]

And often when there are choices in which his power would be turned off because he didn't pay his bills. And so he would come to me during those times, and often he's grouchy, so often he would call me names. You can't help me because I can't pay his bills for him. And if he's gone to certain agencies several times, then they... You know, they have a limit how much they do. So often he's displeased when I can't help him. So then he would call me some names. And then, not always, but several times, he would come back like half an hour later and say, you know I love you. You know I love you. I didn't mean what I said. I'm really sorry. And yet it would happen other times. So... Often when we think about kind speech, you know, I know I always start out by thinking, how can I do it?

[22:47]

How can I give kind speech, right? Take courses, learn certain communication style, my communication style, and I think all those things are useful, without a doubt. And I think the key in kind speech is to, one, be able to receive any kind of speech. and hold it from the place that the potential for kindness can arise? Not necessarily for me, right? But how is it that I can hold curses or displeasure, other people's, or my own, right? Discomfort in a way that gives the potential, right, for a turning of the moment. Because as we all know, right, our mental states, our emotional states change. I think we often get caught in thinking, when we're getting directed angry words or words that we have a hard time receiving, we solidify either as identifying as that or projecting something onto somebody else and making them solid in that way, right?

[24:08]

or thinking it's going to be forever, right? So, the pen is mightier than the sword, right? So words are really important. And, oh, did I already say? This was given to me after one of those outbursts, right? And I also kind of think a pencil, you know, is softer than a pen, and there's an eraser, so you can keep on. You know, erasing it and try again, right? So, the impossible in that, where is my impossible page? Is you have to be willing, like in the impossible mission force, to sometime to be with the bad guys, and maybe even at times, be the bad guys yourself.

[25:10]

The one who says, I'm sorry, I can't help you. And then speak and act sometimes, at times, in conjunction with that. And then know that it changes. So the bodhisattva has to build a capacity to be with uncomfortable feelings and a sense of an uncomfortable identity. And to be able to hold the space in a non-judgmental, open, loving way so that love can manifest. It's always there, so we just need to be able to hold the container for it to arise. And then third is beneficial action.

[26:18]

I will say that the Japanese word, riggio, is literally healthful conduct or beneficial conduct. And the way Kategori Roshi talks about it, what I get from it, is that it's about respect and care. A rubber ducky is my prompt for that and to help me remember. And it brings up a colon story about another duck. So a Zen master and his student, or her student, let's say, just to change it up a bit, were walking in the garden. And a bird flies by. And the master says, what is that? And the student says, it's a wild duck. It's a rubber duck.

[27:22]

And the master says, where has it gone? And the monk says, or the lay person, the practitioner says, it has flown away. So then the master reaches over twist the nose of the practitioner so hard that the practitioner cries out. And some version says he attains enlightenment at that point, or she attains enlightenment. And as they're twisting, the master says, did they indeed fly off? Or other translation is, when have they ever flown away? Now, you know those koans, people are always screaming, twisting nose, hitting, right? And many, many ways to work with koans. But in a lot of them, these actions, which seem really kind of extreme or contrary or odd, are understood to be some kind of skillful means, right?

[28:38]

To help the practitioner be clear about... some issue that we're trying to get across, right, or that's being taught. So these are considered skillful means, right, or beneficial conduct, or helpful conduct. So some ways to look at this koan is that the master is trying to show the practitioner that you and the object of your perception are not separate. Nothing has flown, of course the actual duck has either float off down the way or the wild duck has flown away, but your ideas of it and your experience of it is yours, so it hasn't left. Consciousness only arises when one of our contacts meets an object, and then how we process that

[29:47]

is ours, right, in our mind or heart and hearts, right? So, or another way to put it is from Walter Benjamin. All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation. We only really see something due to our interpretation of it. When I held this up, you all had different ideas of what the stuck meant, wouldn't you say? Some people thought it was funny. Some people go, what the heck? And some people maybe visualize their own rubber ducky at home. Or like this one or didn't like this one. So part of teaching or trying to get across the masters and these stories is to help you to know this. Because when you know that your perception or experience of something or someone else or situation is dependent upon your interpretation and your experience of it, of course, other people are having their own when it's a person, then how can you think or act or behave in a way that's just from your own point of view?

[31:04]

And that's kind of ironic. When you know that it's just your point of view only, that you're understanding of it, then you actually, if you can know that it's a point of view that you're having, and that other people have their own point of views, then you actually are more easeful into other points of view, wouldn't you say? It's when I think my point of view should be yours, that it becomes cause for conflict. So Uchayama Roshi says, It's not enough for a bodhisattva of the Mahayana to just uphold the precepts. There are times when you have to break them too. It's just that when you do, you have to do so with the resolve of also being willing to accept whatever consequences might follow. That's what isai shujo to tomo ni, translated as together with all sentient beings.

[32:06]

regardless of what the hell one might fall into, what hell one might fall into really means. So a bodhisattva has to be willing to engage in activity that may seem contrary, right? This client I'm speaking of, you know, many people other people, not that I... Sometimes certain actions, you know, often people come up to me and they say, well, why aren't you doing something about this? Why aren't you doing something? And there's really limits to what I can do. And often all I can do is offer resources, my own or other agencies, and then... what happens after that, I have to let go of thinking I know what I'll be, right, or how I think it should be.

[33:10]

And that's really difficult to do when true suffering is happening in front of you, right? So beneficial action does not mean to fix it, but beneficial action means to be willing to try out things, of course, with intelligence, hopefully, and experience and, you know, professional understanding. And it's the willingness to let things fall apart. And that I'm not the glue. To think you're the glue. So, in terms of mission impossible, it's the willingness to take on the acts or roles completely. Again, to be the bad guy, perhaps. There's always a moment when you might be discovering these things, right? When they're pretending to be whatever, there's always the tension of the story is always when they might be discovered, right?

[34:16]

And so, but they have to keep acting the part and staying true to the part, hopefully always knowing that they're acting to see through the mission to accomplish what might be done. A lot of the tension of the story and the fun part of the story is that, you know, of course they always have a plan. These people are professionals, right? They have a plan, but then things go wrong. And so how do they just keep on the course, right, with a trust and faith, right, to see it through to the end? All right, the last one is identity action. I will say that this has been the hardest one for me to get. when I read it this way. And then again in the Nishishima and Cross version, when I look closer at the footnotes, it's really good to look at the footnotes, right? In Japanese, the word is doji. In this case, do means same.

[35:17]

Ji means things, matter, or task. In the Pali, the word is samana arthata, which means identity of purpose. And they said that colloquially, it means being in the same boat. So the version of Nishijima and Cross is that instead of identity action, it's called cooperation. And that resonates, and it's easier for me to understand. So cooperation is about togetherness, teamwork, or not being separate. Which brings us to the... deck of cards. Not the house of cards, but the deck of cards. Now, in a deck of cards, you have 52 cards. Notice that in the faces, there's always two of them. The queen is not just one face, but two.

[36:20]

She's connected. And in some games, like the ace is a one, and in some games, the ace It has more points, you say. And if you lose a card, then you really can't play the game, can you? So each card, while it has its own value, is needed for the whole deck, for the game to be played. So when I was first adopted, about three weeks after, we... I lived in Thailand initially. I left Vietnam and went to Thailand because that's where my adopted parents lived. And then three weeks after that, we went to the States on home leave, which means my parents get to visit all their family. I came along and didn't know hardly any English. So when I got introduced to my cousins in Washington, Iowa, we played a lot of card games. You don't have to know English to play card games, right? Oh, maid, no, and war, right?

[37:26]

Interestingly, war. You know, so when you slap, you just see and slap, right? So, our practice, you could say, is like a deck of cards, right? We make up practice, and each of us is our own person, and have our place, our own role in the practice, right? And without each part, the practice can happen. You see that very, very definitely in our forms, right? And all the things that we do that we call form, which on the surface may seem like rules. For instance, you know that when you come to an event in Zen, you should be early or else you're too late. You know that, right? So you have to be there 15 minutes before, right? Especially Zazen. I know when I first came, before I knew anything about Zen, I came in downstairs, I was on time, so I was too late. And nobody said a word to me.

[38:28]

So when I give form instruction, I always say, yes, technically you're late. That's what we call it. But really, we have that time, that three minute there at the end. And the reason for that, you're late, and so you have to wait because a priest is coming in. entering through this door, right, to do a ceremony for us all that opens the zendo to mark that we are together are going to take this period to manifest our awakening together. And yes, it looks like, you know, the priest and the attendant, but really they're doing it for us all. And it's a marker And so by waiting, you're just kind. You too are marking your intention and the container that you're going to enact. So while it may seem like just one person or two people, it really is for the benefit of us all.

[39:34]

Interestingly, last week, I opened the Zendo before the talk, and I was coming up the stairs. This is just my thinking, right? So part of the, seems like the rule or the form, is when what's called the procession, the doshi and the attendant comes walking. I don't know if you notice out there, when I walked by, all those people out there bowed. You know, and it's not like, it's going to bow. You have to commit, and you bend over 45 degrees. So it could seem at first like, jeez, hierarchy, you know, who the heck, you know. As I was going up the stairs, someone walked by who didn't bow, and I thought, you know, for a little second I'd go, they don't know what they're doing. But really the thought that I had was, I bet if she knew that we're doing that together, do you know that it's not that it's just the rule, but it's just marking together, and now I'm finishing.

[40:39]

Whenever you see procession, they're doing something for the benefit of everyone in the temple, right? So I just had the thought, I said, oh, if she knew, I bet she would have bowed and it wouldn't have been an issue, right? So to me, the willingness, right, this is the mission impossible part, the willingness to be part of a team towards a mission, even if you don't know what the mission is. Or how it will end. Especially, you know, of course, the other great part about the Mission Impossible TV show is that beginning when they give the mission and then they go, of course, if you or any of your team are caught doing this, we will deny everything. This tape was self-destruct in five seconds. Is it five or ten?

[41:40]

Isn't it five? Or is it ten? Anyway, you know then that. Right? So even though you might be denied and hated, maybe even, you have to be willing to be part of that. So the bodhisattva is one who is willing to practice, which means to participate. This is why Zen is, I think, really difficult. We do not just sit down. for our own enlightenment or my own practice, of course it takes effort. Your individual effort makes a big difference. Really, you're doing it, it's team. Everything that looks like rules is... In a way, how, as a group, we move through the zendo together. We turn right. This is what I always say in form instruction. You know how when the two mats, you're going to sit down? We both turn right. We always turn right. Because if we didn't have a rule about which way you turn, then if this person decides to turn left and that person decides to turn right, then it's like, oh, excuse me.

[42:45]

Oh, you know, you hit each other. So first, suffering can happen. And then... Other people sitting in quiet in the room, you break their silence, you break their concentration. So it seems like rule, it seems like we're just telling you what to do, but really we're giving you skillful means, and we're giving you ways in which together we can hold the container of silence, and together we can practice without cause hopefully reduce the cause for harm. All right, I see you're rubbing your knees, so I am going to close up here. By the way, the Bodhisattva way is not a to-do list. It's a way, some pointers, for where you could place your attention and see, right?

[43:50]

and see how perhaps it does cause disease, suffering perhaps, and also ways in which perhaps you can cultivate so that you can be more harmonious and cooperate with each other and yourself. See how it really is teamwork and you're part of it. And I guess I think in that, actually, the bodhisattva way becomes more manageable. When you don't have to think, I'm the one who has to do all this. I have to save every being. That's difficult. But if I'm thinking, I'm here with you all, trying to save all beings. And that just means, really, on a certain level, how do I reduce harm in the world? So the four elements of the bodhisattva social relation means that when we take the bodhisattva vows, you're committing to not just practicing for yourself, but you're practicing in relation to everyone else and in animate objects.

[45:08]

This is why a lot of our forms are how to take care of things. You're eating bowls. Notice Dave carry the flowers and petals in a certain way because he's carrying, not carrying, but caring for it, right? He's not just like, here, pick some flower petals, right? He's like, here, right? So perhaps you could say a mission, our mission is to act a certain way so that we can become more possible. to live by our vow of saving all beings, entering Dharma gates, etc. Notice that mission impossible, the word impossible is I'm-possible. I know, it's almost too much, but... But again, cool, on a certain level.

[46:11]

So my proposal to you is that when I'm... The mission is I'm possible, then it's inconceivable. But if the mission is we're possible, then perhaps it's conceivable and possible. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost 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. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[46:56]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_93.97