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. Good morning. Welcome to Beginner's Mind Temple. Thank you for coming this morning. Are some of you here for the first time? Would you raise your hands? Good. A particular welcome to you. I hope you enjoy the morning. And for all of us, I hope that we find something in our time here this morning that makes us feel like it was worthwhile to come.

[01:01]

So our schedule today is different than usual because this is the last day of our annual summer residence retreat. And this past week, we've been mostly closed to public events. so that our residents and employees can spend some quiet, quality time together. So today, unfortunately, there will not be a Q&A after the talk, or Zendoform's instruction, or tea and cookies, or lunch. The program will come to an end with the Dharma Talk. However, next week we'll be offering all those things again as usual.

[02:11]

And so I hope you'll come back next week when you can spend more time with us. So this morning I want to talk some about this retreat that we've had. and about the importance of Sangha. So Sangha is a Pali word for the Buddhist community of practitioners. It can be more broadly used for any community, but that's the specific meaning. And in our tradition, if we ordain as priest or lay people, either way, we receive exactly the same set of 16 Bodhisattva precepts.

[03:13]

And the first three of those precepts... the fundamental core of the precepts, the most important part, is called the refuges. I take refuge in Buddha. I take refuge in Dharma. I take refuge in Sangha. This is the essence of a Buddhist ordination. And Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are called the three jewels or three treasures. They're that important. So the Latin word that's the root, the Latin root of the word refuge means to fly back.

[04:19]

So in the context of Buddhism, taking refuge means to return to our true home or our true self, our true nature. And the word refuge means sanctuary, shelter, protection from danger or trouble. And it implies comfort, I think, and comes with being comfortable with ourselves, which is something some of us have a very hard time doing. So taking refuge is an active practice

[05:22]

Buddha is the teacher who found the truth and showed us the way, our example of how to practice. And Buddha is also our true nature, who we really are. Dharma is the teaching, but it's also simply truth. simply the way that everything is, including ourselves. So Dharma is also who we are. So Buddha and Dharma are the same, not two separate things. There is a famous line in the Lotus Sutra, that says only a Buddha together with a Buddha can fathom the reality of all existence.

[06:36]

And it means that we can't possibly do this practice alone. We can't see the truth without others to mirror us and show us the world and ourselves from another angle. What we can see and know through our own bodies and minds is very limited. Just a tiny sliver of reality, really. So we need each other. And sangha is the field of practice. It's our home. It's our community. The place where Buddha and Dharma, teaching and practice, come alive.

[07:45]

Without other people, there is no practice. and no field of practice. We show each other the way. I think most of us in this room are part of a number of different sanghas. We have family and friends and work colleagues and neighbors. but since you are here this morning, you're part of this sangha right now. In my interactions with people at Zen Center, I watch my friends and colleagues and how they behave.

[08:49]

And I'm able to see more clearly in their actions than in my own what brings happiness and what causes suffering. I'm too self-involved in my own actions to observe them in the same way. And I also see and feel their responses to me and how I am and what I do. And I need other people for that kind of mirroring and feedback. So Sangha helps me in that way. Recently, I read an essay on spiritual friendship by Ajahn Amaro.

[09:57]

And he talked about how his teacher, Ajahn Chah, had practiced for many years in the forest monastery tradition. He would go off by himself and meditate in the wilds. And he had interesting spiritual experiences meditating by himself in the forest. But he noticed that when he would go back to be with the other monks, he often lost his temper. He would get irritated and impatient with them and get angry about things. So in his later years, when he was a teacher and he was setting up training centers for his own students, he established his monasteries as spiritual communities.

[11:05]

He said, it's easy for me to be a fierce ascetic and practice all by myself. What's difficult is getting along with others. So even though it's difficult to live intimately and harmoniously with others, and I get impatient or worse with people here sometimes, I do, I'm still very grateful for my life in this sangha. I know that I would never create this kind of life for myself. This is my family, and it's a huge, diverse, interesting, helpful family.

[12:15]

that enriches my life every single day. And I feel very fortunate to have so many Dharma brothers and sisters in my life. There's a famous story about Ananda, who was Buddha's devoted lifelong attendant. So one day Buddha, or excuse me, Ananda said to Buddha, I think the spiritual life, that spiritual friendship is fully half of the holy life. And Buddha replied, no, Ananda, don't say that. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the holy life.

[13:19]

So during the final year of his life, when Buddha was already aware that he would soon enter nirvana and pass away from this life and this world, he offered this teaching about the importance of Sangha, which I'd like to share with you. He said to the assembled monks, Good friends in the Dharma, I will teach you seven things that are conducive to welfare, and happiness. Pay careful attention and I will speak. As long as Sangha members hold regular and frequent assemblies, they may be expected to prosper and not decline.

[14:36]

As long as they meet in harmony, break up in harmony and carry out their business in harmony, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they do not authorize that which has not been authorized already and do not abolish what has been authorized but proceed according to the precepts and the rules of training, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they remain mindful of desires that lead to unwholesome actions and suffering, but do not fall prey to such desires,

[15:43]

they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they are devoted to meditation and to letting go of busyness every day, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. as long as they preserve their personal mindfulness, doing what they do with as much awareness as possible, so that in the future, the good among their companions will come to them, and those who have already come will feel at ease. They can be expected to prosper. and not decline. As long as the Sangha members hold to these seven things and are seen to do so, the Sangha can be expected to prosper and not decline.

[16:59]

So I think one could spend some time unpacking those admonitions but I'm just going to let them stand as a backdrop to what I say about Sangha and the retreat that I want to talk about today. Three years ago, here at City Center, when Christina Lanehair was abbess, we realized we were feeling a need for more space to let go of our busyness. We were so busy with all our programs and activities that we felt unbalanced. So we had our first summer retreat for city center residents. And we devised a schedule to enable us to rest and relax and enjoy ourselves.

[18:08]

So we got up later every day. slept longer. We liked that a lot. We sat Zazen more. We had a luxuriously long study period every day. We discussed issues that were important to the harmony of our community. We watched some really good movies. and went to Angel Island for a day and went to the Asian Art Museum one night. So we enjoyed being together and had fun and also had some productive conversations about our sangha and our life together.

[19:10]

And we liked it so much that it became an annual event. So this year's retreat was the third annual summer retreat for city center residents and employees. And unfortunately, some people were still too busy with their work to participate fully. but everyone was invited to drop into the schedule as much as they possibly could. So this year we added a day-and-a-half-long facilitated workshop, and we had a wonderful, skillful facilitator, an outside facilitator. I think we all appreciated him. And this workshop became the centerpiece of the retreat.

[20:17]

So the purpose of the workshop was to promote understanding and deepen relationships among the different members of the city center community through deep listening and sharing. to explore our organizational culture and core values, to make transparent our organizational structure and decision-making processes, and to generate proposals and initiatives to improve and evolve Zen Center. That sounds like the kind of purpose such a workshop would have, doesn't it? So the most important part of it was the invitation to everyone at every level to bring up specific proposals for beneficial change.

[21:30]

And a commitment was made by leadership to enact two or three of these proposals. at the end of the retreat. This was both healing and preventive medicine. Deep listening was emphasized because sometimes people have said that they don't feel heard. And a lot of organizational information was presented because people have complained about a lack of transparency. The invitation to everyone to bring up new ideas is a counterpoint to what has sometimes been seen as top-down ideas.

[22:34]

So this is some background to our retreat. Yesterday morning, we had a full moon ceremony. And in this ceremony, we chant the repentances, and the names of Buddha, the refuges, and the precepts. And the most difficult part of the ceremony for the kokyo or chant leader is chanting the refuges. But it's also the most beautiful part. It's where he or she can shine. And it's the part that attracts our attention. So it's a little like a violin solo in an orchestra piece.

[23:36]

It's what we notice. And I love that our ceremonies so often point in that way to what's most important. So that we feel it in our bodies as much as in our minds. So the refuges are chanted in as a call and response. The Kokyo chants, I take refuge in Sangha. And the congregation responds with, bringing harmony to everyone, free from hindrance. I think this is our responsibility as Sangha members and leaders to aim for harmony and remove hindrances wherever we can.

[24:42]

If someone is feeling powerless, we try to find a way to address that. And if someone isn't feeling heard, we make an extra effort to listen carefully. It isn't just the responsibility of the abbot or the head of practice or the director. We are all co-creators of the sangha, including all of you, even if it's your first time here this morning. We're all 100% responsible for what's happening in this sangha right now because we're here together. I think it's interesting to see some of these issues in the context of this Asian religion, Zen,

[25:56]

which we inherited from our Japanese founder, Suzuki Roshi, meeting and being integrated into Western American culture. Zen is traditionally hierarchical, and American society is democratic. In Asia, seniority is honored and the age of wisdom is venerated. And in America, we place a very high value on youthful energy and initiative. And Suzuki Roshi praised beginner's mind. It's unfortunately the truth that sometimes the immediate needs of the institution take precedence over an individual's zazen practice, either momentarily or for a longer time.

[27:20]

So these are the cultural tensions that we work with in our sangha practice here. Where all of our conversations led us during this retreat was to a consideration of personal agency. So agency became the byword of the retreat. Agency is our ability to affect the world and our lives. through our own actions and intentions, through our personal effort, through our choices about how to offer our life force in the world.

[28:30]

I think we have all at times felt powerless because we can't control all the circumstances of our lives. but Buddha taught that we can choose how to respond to those circumstances. It's true that our choices are impacted by our conditioning, but with awareness and strong intention and effort, I think it's possible for us to overcome our conditioning. and move forward. When we feel like victims of our circumstances, it's easy to be discouraged and depressed. But we have the right, it's actually our birthright and our responsibility to decide how best to use our lives.

[29:38]

How best to respond to the circumstances our life presents to us. For a long time, Zenke Blanche Hartman, our most senior teacher and former abbess, has had a sign on her door that says, you must be the change you wish to see in the world. It's a quote from Gandhi, and it's a statement about personal agency. I think it was a practice opportunity that during this retreat, we were each invited to consider what we might be able to offer through our own agency that would benefit

[30:43]

and Evolve Zen Center. And there are some wonderful and inspiring examples of how this has worked in the recent past. So a few years ago, we had a big meeting for the staff of all three temples, City Center, Green Gulch, and Tassajara. And we broke into smaller groups representing each location and brainstormed new program offerings. And someone in the city center group suggested an affinity group for younger people. So do you know what I'm going to say next? It didn't happen in five minutes. It took a lot of discussion and arranging.

[31:46]

But Young Urban Zen was born. And it's still thriving and attracts new practitioners. And it's also a venue where our younger teachers can practice their teaching skills. How many of you have been to Young Urban Zen? Would you raise your hands? Great. So it's amazing to me when I walk by the Buddha Hall on a Tuesday night and see all those people in Young Urban Zen. More recently, One of our students here at City Center, who enjoys painting and drawing, invited the residents to join her one night a week in art making.

[32:51]

And so there's a little group that still continues, even though this resident has left. And they make art. you know, once a week when there's time and space in the schedule. And we just had a show in the art lounge or in the student lounge of the different things they had produced in this time. And sometimes someone will come and offer live music too. So I think it's a time when people really enjoy being together. So these are examples of people who used their personal agency to give life to an idea of what they wanted Zen Center to be or include. And many people have benefited. And there are lots more examples that we could look at. I think it's also important to realize...

[33:59]

that when we're asked to brainstorm and offer ideas, not all the ideas can be enacted. It's easier for me to freely offer my ideas if I can let go of the outcome. And sometimes that's not easy to do. If I can let go of attachment to the results. which is always dependent on many factors. So if I'm too attached, then it becomes risky for me to even ask for what I want because I'm afraid I'll be unhappy if I don't get it. So the less attachment I have, the more I can move freely in the realm of contributing

[35:01]

my ideas and effort and bringing my life force into the sangha. It helps me. However good our intentions, we still have to be attentive to how our suggestions or offerings impact others. Even though we have agency and responsibility to make choices about our lives, we have to live in harmony with others and the entire world, or we'll all suffer. So we're always obliged to balance our needs with others' needs, and that's skillful means. We can't just forcefully assert our way.

[36:04]

And our practice as Buddhists, probably the most difficult practice we do, is trying to hold ourselves and others equally, to see ourselves and others as of equal importance. Very difficult to do. And our search for an appropriate balance isn't something that we settle or complete or resolve once and for all. It's continuous. Over and over again, in each new situation, we try to find the sweet spot. The appropriate response. to what's happening in the world right now, the most beneficial way to offer ourselves and our practice.

[37:07]

It's inevitable that Zen Center will change, as everything is always changing. Even if we do nothing, Zen Center will change. But the invitation is to use our agency to bring intentionality and consciousness to shaping what we want that change to look like. To have this community be what we want it to be insofar as that's possible for us to work with, you know? And it isn't completely possible, but we can give it a direction and a shape through our awareness and effort.

[38:19]

I have very much appreciated having this week to explore ways of being with my Dharma family. And I thank all of you for your patience letting us have this time out to spend together. And I sincerely hope that there will be benefits to you, especially, and to all of us. Thank you very much. So let me see what time it is. 11 o'clock? Wow. Okay. I guess we're done. And I hope you'll come back next week and stay for Q&A and lunch and all that. Thank you for listening. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[39:42]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[39:45]

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