Good morning. You start reading my teaching. Thank you to always all of you for your continuous effort. Getting into this three week intensive and not feeling, just as we were chanting now, a lot of appreciation for the Buddha's and ancestors and everyone that's from before us clearing the way mapping it out for us I shared in my what's the divine talk for anyone who can remember that now how I came upon practice virtually at the same time as I was asked to write this thesis paper that I ended up writing on socially engaged Buddhism in the environment.

[01:09]

So this is a question that arose for me in my practice almost immediately that saw this great potential for Buddhist practice to fit in the world on a level that's not just individual. So It's a question I hear throughout my practice of how. You guys down here? No? Is that a difference? Not really. Hello? It's just insanity, right?

[02:11]

How is this? I don't have to say. Pardon? I don't have to say. Yeah. There's some signal inside of the head of me. I'm trying to speak up and speak clearly, but please give me the finger up if I'm fading. So this question of how Buddhist practice does benefit the world or can benefit the world, I wouldn't really relate to all some social obligations. It's been a question I've been through almost 13 years of practice.

[03:12]

So I thought I might talk about it. And then I realized I don't know what to say about it. Because it's still something I have not really found an answer to. I found myself in the library just going through the engage. put this section and this really looking for stuff that I could use, you know, and it didn't really, I don't know, it didn't quite skip to me. It's like, I'd just be letting out some doctor to go ahead and read it. Anyway, which might not be very helpful in this situation. So, whatever the answer is, it can't be different than what we would do right now, right here. I was reminded of a story during the practice period of Green Goal was shit. And that we've told the story of the Sushi Herbion Zen Center, the Sushiki Roshi was leading it.

[04:22]

And a student was asking something along the line. We're sitting here all in silence, still. Meanwhile, there were bombs being dropped in Vietnam, and there's people out in the streets saying, how come we're not out there? There's something like that. And she would say, this is her people she got really mad at and scolded the student. I'd be in on that chair. Disresponse. And out of the corrections, it was there, she saw it at the time. He commented on it in the Q&A and said, The top was on the Genjo car. And as we said, sitting in the city is actualizing in front of the point. Being out in the streets, protesting the war is actualizing in front of the point. Sitting in the center, thinking that you should be out on the street is not actualizing in front of the point.

[05:24]

So I thought that was a good point. So the questions I would kind of replay my talk around was more in line with what kind of mind might we approach practice the rest of practice period and the rest of our lives? And how do we relate to our restoration to prove to be of service in this world within this practice? I did bring this to me, though. This Changes Everything. Capitalism versus the Climate by Naomi Klein, a Canadian journalist, social activist. She was recently interviewed in an all-numbered tricycle and also helped work on the Pope's encyclical.

[06:28]

And... It's, the title speaks to you. I highly recommend the book. If not, don't bother. It's quite an impressive, you know, hundreds of pages of facts and references on climate change or economic systems and so forth. And then in the last chapter, which I think is the best one, she goes from this sort of rational, in fact, creates the approach of talking about her own personal journey during the four or five years of writing the book, which is trying to get pregnant and the difficulties around that, and how she can constantly look at our whole society and how we, in the early life, typically get a bad experience. It's just something that they used to be storing with a BP oil spill. She comes across the First Nation Canadian woman who is describing the Anishabi tribes, their systems of governance, as deciding to take care of life, to promote life, and realizing how this is the very antithesis of how much of our society is structured.

[07:53]

She lays out these two different approaches and mindsets. And one is the extractivist mindset, which is defined as taking without taking care, to stealing, to treating people in the world around us and resources. And there's always some sacrifice involved. These places, these people are maybe not as important for some ideas and greater good. And the regenerative mindset is to act in such a way that our actions are growing rather than extracting life. And so what she comes to, which is what I wanted to bring, is to quote as part of what the work ahead is.

[08:56]

She says, fundamentally, The task is to articulate not just an alternative set of policy proposals for an alternative worldview to rival the one at the heart of the ecological crisis. Embedded in interdependence rather than hyper-individualism, reciprocity rather than dominance, and cooperation rather than hierarchy. This is another lesson from the transformative movements of the past. All of them understood that the process of shifting cultural values was central to their work. And so they dreamed in public, showed humanity a better version of itself, modeled different values in their own behavior, and in the process liberated the political imagination and rapidly altered the sense of what was possible. They were also unafraid of the language of morality to give the pragmatic cost-benefit arguments a rest and speak of right and wrong, of love and indignation. So I think I brought this to you.

[10:05]

I find maybe more inspiration and my own explorations to this question is not so much as in reading Buddhist writers at the moment engaging in this, but when that time increasingly that there are activists that are pointing out the need for a different worldview and a different shift in our culture values. And I have a sense that although there's some things we can do with Buddhists to try to change policy, think about what work is in there, shifting the way we view the world and the earth and ourselves and these relationships. Which is part of why I brought up, I think, in my first talk. Who are we? This question. So there's two people in our practice period right now who are out.

[11:06]

We're expecting a baby very soon. So their efforts in caring for life can be very directed, very much directed to this one being. And the rest of us can't spread our attention and awareness, care a little. a little wider than other ethnic practices. It's actually not that different. And so the question is, what does it mean to, if you're looking at changing our worldview and how the dominant worldview will probably influence how we approach practice too? then what do the teachings have to say in order to help us make sure that we approach practice from a regenerative mindset rather than extractivist and trying to go in and get something and sacrificing something else in the process how to care for the life of these practices I want to say some things about

[12:31]

And Greg brought up the blood pain to catch Miyako in this talk. And this is the first thing that came to mind, like the depiction of the blood that flows from the Buddha and all the ancestors to us right here in the same document last night. And what he didn't say, but I think who said in her class early was that it then goes up, back up to the Buddha. from us. So, it's the sense that if we care for this practice and feel that we're receiving something from it, we might want to give it back for this tradition to be alive. It needs people to practice it. So, it's the This is something for myself that I feel gradually in my practice is ordaining, is having more appreciative, actually caring for the tradition and not assuming that this is something that's just there for the taking.

[13:50]

And this is the extractivist thing of taking without taking care. We're a training monastery. The training is to be trained for something. There is training going on. Training to care for this practice and being pretty well trained in how to take care of each other too. But all the training really happens by us doing something. It's not like making you something in which you're not, you're actually, you're learning by doing. This is, this is our practice for our practice. So the core of Dogen's teaching, which just has this radical, non-instrumentalist approach to it.

[14:55]

And then then, or if I understand the So does Zen in particular, more than any other Buddhist tradition has this. We're not doing this in order to get that, but our practices right now and what we're doing and just tie back into this regenerative mindset is to just to honor each moment and not treat it as a means to getting somewhere else. just appreciating as one of the very fundamental points of our practice. Tagit Ben Lakeman asks this article in this book on Zen ritual, on Zaten as an enactment ritual, and he points to many of Dougie's quotes of this non-instrumental approach. I'm just going to read you a little bit of this

[16:00]

Tiger's commentary. It says, the point is to enact the meaning of the teachings in actualized practice, and the whole practice, including meditation, may thus be viewed as ritual ceremonial expressions of the teaching, rather than as a means to discover and attain some understanding of it. Therefore, a strong emphasis in much of this approach to Zen practice is a mindful and dedicated expression of meditative awareness in everyday activities. Just coming through renewed appreciation how we're much more about doing and the expression of it. It's not about acquisition. Can you all hear your opinion?

[17:04]

When Chan Master Masu was studying with the Chan Master Nanyuaya, he always sat in meditation. One day Nanyuaya went to Masu and asked him, worthy one, what are you figuring to do sitting there in meditation? Masu said, I'm figuring to make a Buddha. At this moment, Naniye took up a tile and began to rub it on a stone. At length, Masu asked, Master, what are you doing? Naniye said, I'm polishing this to make a mirror. Masu said, how can you produce a mirror by polishing a tile? And upon Naniye replied, how can you make a Buddha by sitting in meditation? Common story in our tradition, Dogen quotes it in several places just there's nothing there's nothing for us to get here there's always something to be expressed and actualized and that is that is our challenge the practitioners to again not treating our practice as something to as a means for something else but as a full

[18:32]

engaged after an expression of its own. One of the benefits, if we can do this, is if we can really engage in each action in our life without trying to get something just for its own sake, then we don't need to be so attached to what the outcome is. not attached at all. Just doing it for the sake of doing it. Gandhi, who for three decades, you know, fighting for Indian independence for such a long time, he based much of his engagement on the Bhagavad Gita and its theories, not the non-attachment to results, run to the additional results.

[19:41]

He formulated and called it the Gita theory of action. In his own words, throw the right stone in the right pond and let the ripples take care of themselves. Reflecting on that, we make our best efforts. in the right direction and then we let go of the results. Once the stone has left our hand, we trust for dependent polarizing to do its work and not trying to control the outcome. Also reminds me of one of my favorite teachings of Suzuki Roshi, which is saying that if you're becoming discouraged in your practice, it's a sign that you're too idealistic. You have some gaining idea and your experience is not needing this. This is actually encouraging because you get to see this part of the self is trying to get something.

[20:46]

It's not to be discouraged by discouragement. This teaching of this is nothing to get to hold on to that was really nicely illustrated last personal day i was sitting just before dinner and then dining room with ian and we were sewing our satsus and you know i'd watch my bowls and my class and taking good care of my you know oreo key and then they'll come in here and there's pizza in the medicine bowl It's so perfect. So what do you do? Oh, you enjoy your meal and then you clean your bowls.

[21:49]

It's the biggest to take and take care. It's part of our practice. It does bowls, me watching all the time. And if we're somehow finding that we're getting frustrated with, you know, our senses getting solved, then that is the indication that we're holding on to something that we're trying to, or something low to pure. And there's an opportunity to let go. Taigen ends his article in here. essay. This is great. It says, the enactment ritual approach to Zazen expounded by Dogen may serve as a helpful antidote in me particularly eliminating to Western cultures dominated by materialist and consumerist orientations where bias towards acquisitiveness often can call it even spiritual activities.

[22:59]

I like what he says. It may serve as a helpful antidote. It's not like we're getting Oh yeah, that's fine. You still get some grape to address that either, but it may be service enough for not to just don't hold on to it. Another way I was thinking about how our practice may be a benefit, uh, rather than this instrumental first, we do this and then that makes us ready to do something good afterwards is, is, uh, is through our rituals and, and maybe there's, rather than as, you know, maybe there's some non-sequential and immediate benefit or the merit that we're dedicating really does reach those places where we, yeah, intend for it to go.

[24:06]

Uh, part of me pondering this question has been through my experience of being just over. One of the expectations of this is though, is that after you ring the wake up bell every morning to you, it's a short morning service you do. And I do in the Chisop cabin, uh, which is for the wellbeing of our Abbas for, for all of you and, and my spirit, it's for all beings in the 10 directions. And I confess that for the first month, I was only doing this sporadically. Nobody could, you know, there wasn't anybody taking on it. And it felt like I wanted that time when needed it. That felt to me to just do my own little stretching and take care of myself. And we were all falling sick as flies during this time, you remember. And I wasn't feeling guilty, but I think my not really taking it on was coming from this, you know, understanding this prevalent in our society, you know, this scientific, like, you know, with those rituals that happened that bring about some physical well-being for somebody else that's magical thinking or superstition.

[25:34]

I could see there was a mindset of that. But from being expected to do these ceremonies and not doing them, what came out was I felt more in touch with people's sickness than I think I would have done otherwise if this had not been a request for me. Since the beginning of February, I started doing it regularly every morning. It's just five minutes. It's this little effort. And if I'm putting it in, I've really been looking for, like, well, is this... Is there a benefit to this, you know? And what do the teachings have to say? And so far, I haven't found any advice, you know? Even if all the Buddhas in the Ten Directions are as inimitable as the Sands and the Ganges, accept their strength with the Buddhas. The Buddhas' wisdom try to measure the merit one person doesn't.

[26:37]

they will not be able to comprehend it. It seems to say there isn't a benefit there, but it can't be comprehended. And I keep doing it, and I think it's for a few reasons. The possibility that this is actually does have some benefit is, you know, beneficial outcome, but for the possibility, but also it's bring my practice alive to imagine that that's actually so. And similarly, I would rather, much rather live in a world where my express intentions can bring benefit to others. So I do want to express that. And the last reason is that it doesn't necessarily feel good to do the service, but somehow if it feels right to just set those five minutes of my day, say, I'm not going to dedicate these to my own personal wellbeing.

[27:48]

I'm going to do it for the well-being of others. It feels like it reminds me of my vows actually are and that I do want to express them. So Yeah. Similarly, speaking in our services, you know, all the intentions that we express there, it's like, may our intention equally extend to every being in place. It may be waking Buddha's passion and living in a swoop mirror wisdom. In the countermong, whatever virtue and merit this produces, be completely transferred and dedicated to the unsurpassed awakening, the total clarity and wisdom of the whole Dharma realm of true reality, that all may speedily attain Buddhahood without incurring any other destinies. May all sentient beings of the Dharma realm take advantage of this teaching to quickly attain Buddhahood.

[28:53]

Do any of these words reach their direction? I think if we're just repeating them, even, you know, repeatedly, they do have some impact on, on ourselves, on our own lives and consciousness and unconsciousness that kind of seeps, that seep in it. But I think even more so if we can express them with real attention, how, how much, much more so. And, and maybe, maybe they do even reach, you know, inside this room. That's my sincere wish. I've also been appreciating the practice of Thay. Just lately, now, when we come into this room, the vow that we do to the Buddha is the same one as we do to our seat and to be a zombie.

[30:01]

We'll turn around and let's just That's an expression of respect that we treat our seed and each other express the same kind of respect to these as we do to Buddha. Again, it feels like it's just take and taking care or receiving and taking care to honor the relationships all that's around us. The grass trees and walls. Oh, it's a gardener. You know, in what feels like a previous lifetime, uh, it was a young, young man in a year old, I would date this to four B.E.B.D.

[31:25]

This year four before and found ring the Buddha Dharma. And then the age of 21, I lived on the Greek island of Crete for a summer season, five months with two of my best friends. And like a lot of the Mediterranean towns, it's during the summer and Victoria season that immediately come alive and a lot of partying going on. And we were at it more than I've been at any other time in my life for sure. So this is one night towards the end of the, you know, the season has started to trickle down. It was, you know, going into September, I think, and me and my There was a lot of dancing going on, you'd be very happy. Yeah. So we were out in the disco. It was late at night, but it wasn't that late, relatively speaking. And it just started to dwindle down, people leaving.

[32:30]

And that same song that they play every night that was just kind of annoying, and it came on again. And we all looked at each other just like, maybe it was time to just go. For some reason, we were like, no, let's just go for it. You know, just pour ourselves in here, into this. And just, yeah. I don't know where it came from, but it was totally fascinating because we started just dancing, you know, over-entusing, actually not caring about the song, you know, just like playful and fun and or seeing Carlin Martin going for it, you know, got my energy up. So it went from, I don't like this, you know, song, I don't like these moments, to like feeling kind of liberated, set me out of my own self-identity and lack and dislike.

[33:33]

And then, oh, this just had these big windows, you know, so I don't know if people could see what's going on in there and the other people, just people started pouring in and it was like, just a real party started going in there. People were up on the bar dancing, you know, the owner kind of knew us and he totally inspired what was going on, so me and my friends, we get free drinks to do. So, and it lasted for maybe an hour and then the energy faded and We went home and slept and dragged ourselves to work the next day. And, uh, but I, I got sharing this story on, there was two lessons from me was this, you know, almost like instantaneous, instantaneous liberation. But when I was actually stepping beyond that, oh, this moment isn't good enough. And, you know, isn't certainly what I wanted to like, I'm going to put my bed separate in here. And, you know,

[34:35]

not care about this. And the second one was the attack and the surroundings, just even a small group of three, you really feel a fuse, something much larger with all this energy and joy. And sharing that is a feel that we're in a stage in the practice period is maybe not so different. It's feels like it's kind of going towards the end. might see in ourselves, our energy is dropping a little bit. And I've certainly, I feel for myself that I kind of feel I hit a wall like 10, maybe 12 days ago where initial, you know, like my enthusiasm is a little lower. It's harder to get out of bed in the morning and my mind is tempted to go to the future. Just, you know, it seems it's the illusion of, you know, this is kind of predictable now.

[35:43]

Like, like that song. It's called Life Have to Love Cheer. It was just hearing that, you know, the hundredth and ninth in a row. Similar, you know, it's just that sitting with that tension in the middle part of my back. period after period, you know, it just seems predictable and it's, it's very panting to wish for that to go away. And, you know, so what I've been practicing with instead is to just, I see that lack of energy and enthusiasm in myself to see if I can put a little more in and just, and go beyond that. I'm not something to this moment in my life. thing. Once I do this service, I feel that I find that the energy, you know, it's not so, you know, just through the chanting along, I can just really bring myself, you know, clear my posture, breathing and my chanting and just exerts an energy there that lifts me up.

[37:00]

It really does. And it seems like I perceive more energy in the room too, coming back to me. And I don't know if people are picking up if objectively there's any difference in your chanting, but I feel even just myself, if I can bring myself to it, then there's some response and some energy that I'm able to do this during morning service that can sustain me until lunch actually. And the thing I've done is waking up in the morning, rather than my mind going to, oh, I just wish I could sleep a little longer. Which is just going through. I'm taking up a practice I was doing years ago, just deciding a gatha, first thing when I wake up. Gatha, take na tans. This morning when I wake up, I smile.

[38:01]

24 brand new hours laid in front of me. I vow to live each moment in mindfulness and to look upon all beings with eyes and compassion. So, and it makes it easier to get out of bed when I have that. I don't really want to get out. It's pretty hard to roll out of there. But if I'm starting the day with a smile, basically, it's quite doable. And similar, you know, during... It's awesome when that spot right here is there again. It's like wishing the period was over and just trying to bring a little extra energy in life right in there. Not wishing for this to be over, but just tending to write this right now. And again, the experience is changing when I do that. Just three weeks, you tell us, it's 24 days with me.

[39:08]

How many of you have been counting down? How many of you knew that there was 24 days left? So, what I want to say is, I'm going for it. That's my, you know, I'm tired, I'm going for it. Will you join me? Yeah. Will you dance with me? Yeah. Yes. And all other moments. Thank you for calling this box. I wanted to end with a, this is a really neat article on the last issue. I mystical communion that deals with some of this, how we really, you know, setting our intention, you know, inquiry out there if we're receptive enough to, as a response.

[40:13]

Yeah. So he quotes Dogen at the end of his article saying, uh, just cast body and mind into the house of Buddha and all that's done by Buddha. When you do so, you're free from birth and death and become a Buddha without effort or calculation. So this is my practice right now. Sticking through it 24 days. Now you can hold me accountable. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? been quite here the first one you said for some of us we haven't done this intensive period before how would you suggest that we enter into this period of intensive practice like with what attitude generosity just seeing what you know how much can i give of myself to this and and yeah stepping beyond the like or dislike seeing is just you know it's exploring what one might let

[41:44]

lay beyond there and don't don't need yourself again you know if there's a physical you know it's not about that sort of denial it's probably the opposite yeah be generous making great effort Being engaged in the Zendo, actualizing the fundamental point of the Zendo, how does that... You're not really anxious, but how does that... So, I mean, it's not really being socially engaged, right? I mean, we're not out on the street like Russia was when this was Hiroshi. So it's like, in a way, being engaged in the Zendo, engaged in every moment, whether you're in the Zendo or not, engaged in every moment, you're on the street, going to the climate march.

[42:45]

but how do you feel that this practice here at least badly actually supports those people out there on the front line yeah that's uh that is one of my my questions that i'm not quite sure the end you know this field one thing this practice is open for any of them to come and join in as they wish. And I feel called to go out to the front line soon and bring it out and just practice out in that way. Hopefully that is still some aspiration to do much more of that than I do do, but I just take care of not judging that is better than this.

[43:49]

I don't know. Does that really answer your question? I think what was coming up as you were speaking was perhaps that's the question is more of how has your engaging in this practice perhaps changed your view of what it means or how you would be or associate the age, you know, as it changes that landscape for you. It seems like it was brought in a way and deepened it and, um, didn't use the speech perhaps around what that actually means. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting because I've held, I haven't held that, you know, work out there as, doing more good at somehow, you know, and, uh, but then I've tried to justify my practice here by, well, I need this so I can go out and do that.

[44:54]

And it's like, well, actually maybe my real call is to do this practice. And maybe it will lead me out into more engagement, but maybe my calling is to close to the traditional practice. Even if my dogs sometimes seem to think that I'm getting less, you know, distracted by that, I think. Yeah, I don't know. It's not really going to answer your question. John. I want to thank you for the nice points you brought up. I was actually thinking one of these lines was fine for all social ideas. And this idea came to seeing that there's anger or frustration with some of the situations that arise in the world. Kind of thinking, well, is that skillful, that energy within myself?

[46:01]

And also thinking, there's a quote, it's super gross here, I'm not quoting it, but it's probably a quote, accepting things as they are. vast acceptance of what things are and how that somehow frustration with the way the world is is at odds with that and also what's happening still engaging and seeking for change but still haven't accepted this yeah well just to figure out the quote comes to mind that you're perfect just as you are you can use a little improvement and that seems to go for the world as well. And with the anger, this, uh, uh, speaking of this Martin Luther King quote, I think I'll probably quote it in the two talks and put it again, uh, although I don't remember the exact quote, but it's simply about we're not suppressing anger, but we're controlling it, taking care of it and releasing it for maximum effect.

[47:10]

It's not about anger isn't that, you know, but, but Don't react out of it. Put it to work skillfully. There's some good energy there that if you treat it skillfully and wisely, you can have a picked up role to play. Kaishin. There's this priest, there's a white girl. And Brazil, he's fighting slavery. And the slavery was going to Brazil again at this moment. And he was asked, is he doing what a priest would not do? And he said that for Wallace's priests are more contemplative, is that right? And so, are we that way? Is that a drill?

[48:11]

Was that the situation the same? Is it a more contemplative organization? Is there this? There is this Zen Center document on being a priest at Zen Center or something like that. And it's, the options are really pretty wide. Yeah, it's... Well, I'm just wondering myself, I mean, the issue comes up a lot, I think, in our center. You know, as far as what do we declare social engagement as in? And sometimes I see people just chanting in response to... I was thinking of this as whether our rituals and extending merits where it reaches people we intended for not.

[49:14]

In a way, it's kind of perfect to not have the answer because if we were sure that, yeah, this really does reach them. Yeah, but if we really think that, yeah, but if we share that, oh, this is doing so good, then we might be comfortable there. And like, this is our engagement and that's it, you know? And if we're saying that, yeah, I'd like for them to reach, you know, those that they're intended for, but I'm not quite sure that there's more space for, they're engaged in difficulty. Yeah? I was just wanting to say a comment about Edo's question about how, or I think she was mentioning why we, her question being, why we are out on the front lines, or something about being out on the front lines,

[50:17]

I feel like I've had an experience now that I am on the front line. I'm on the front line. Yeah, I just think it's interesting that we could talk about different things right here. Yeah. Thank you. What is just taking from the traditional look like? What would you like to take without taking care of you? I think it's maybe like... I think the way I see it in myself is, well, this is pretty good. Maybe it's pretty amazing, but I'm going to go out and do this other good work later. So...

[51:18]

And this is just a means to get to that somehow. And maybe not being so set on the circuit like everyone is. Yeah, I think so. I'll kind of summarize the extractivist mindset, but it's like take without taking care. If you're taking or receding and taking care, we are in a different relationship. there's what we do in the Zendo and there's these communities that we have that are much more chorus than what we think they are and up there is

[52:52]

there is racial inequality within the Zen Center, and there is, we are using these courses at Zen Center, and so we are very, of course, we are very much integrated with what's happening out there. And I know there are some, we have some groups that are responding to those things, like CISC, What really stands out more to me right now is EcoSacres. We don't have that but I'm curious, if you're familiar, I don't know if you're familiar at all with what those groups, what that group is doing with the world. Yeah, EcoSacres and Greengoes hasn't been particularly active the last year or so uh a lot of what it has done is to raise awareness around various ecological issues around food and energy and waste and water and something else we get to yeah and then this is still the ongoing uh fossil fuel divestment uh and some of some of those uh

[54:20]

So there's a lot of it that's been awareness racing, like the main thing within the community, but also engaging in the Prop 37 for, you know, getting GMO food labels, et cetera. So a bunch of us have gone to occupy San Francisco and cities outside the Federal Reserve once a week a few years ago. So yeah, those have been some of the Thank you very much.

[55:02]

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