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. We just recited a verse. Did you hear it? No? No? Yes. I did too. An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect dharma. This sounds like a celebration, a praise of the dharma. And we also said that such a, unsurpassed, penetrating, and perfect dharma is rarely met with.

[01:03]

Having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Taste the truth of the Tathagata's dharma. When people gather to celebrate the Dharma, it is indeed a great and auspicious occasion. So, we ring the great Dharma bell. Did you hear it? Yes. And our bell ringer, who has not been here for eons, came and rang the bell as of old, rang the bell, the Dharma bell, to tell everybody how wonderful to gather and listen to the Dharma.

[02:08]

It's a time to beat the Dharma drum. It's a time to raise the Dharma flag. It's a time to listen. Now, my words are not proposed as the true Dharma. But while I'm talking, if you're listening, while I'm talking, and while I'm silent, if you listen, you might hear the true Dharma. which many of us sincerely inspire to hear. Attendant, you may come up closer if you like.

[03:13]

Thank you for beating the Dharma drum. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Whenever people gather with a sincere and wholehearted wish to hear the truth, it is an auspicious occasion. To hear the truth, which when we hear it, we will be able to maintain it and we will be able to transmit it. And today is a noteworthy occasion, because as you know, most of you, it has been two and a half, more than two and a half years since people were able to come into this room from over the mountain and through the woods.

[04:25]

So, congratulations on being able to enter the room and listen to the Dharma with, listen for and to the Dharma with the residential community. During these recent times, we've been in a training period here at this temple. We're in a practice period, which is about eight weeks long, and we're in the middle of it now. And the topic of the practice period is the joyful practice of Bodhisattva's great compassion.

[05:28]

I think we also are considering other kinds of compassion, along with great compassion. Many people have not heard about great compassion, have not yet aspired to practice it and realize it. So we're bringing up the teaching of great compassion during this period of practice. Congratulations, Grace. You made it. Thanks for bringing her, Audrey. So I propose to you that our life, our human life, embraces an egocentric consciousness that normally human beings

[06:46]

are given, with their human life, an egocentric consciousness. Human beings almost all have egocentric consciousness. And in this consciousness, things are appearing deceptively. And in this consciousness, there is, well, I should say, in this consciousness, before it's illuminated with great compassion and wisdom, that consciousness, that egocentric consciousness, is more or less painful. It's the realm where we try to control ourselves and others. It's the realm where we try to get things. Or we think there's something to get.

[07:48]

It's the realm that Buddhas talk to and send teachings so that that consciousness can't be liberated. It is a part of our life is that there seems to be a self here. Our life is given the appearance of a self, and along with that appearance of self, we receive affliction. Self, the self in our self-centered consciousness comes with affliction. This is part of what our life embraces, and this this deluded self-centered consciousness, which we all were born with, is given to us.

[08:54]

It's a realm, it's a realm or the realm of human action, human agency, where it appears that we do things by ourself, which is another delusion. We don't do things by ourself. we do things together with everybody. But it looks like I did it. If something good happens, and we think, I did it, we say, I did it. And if somebody else did, you say, no, they didn't, I did it. If something bad happens, we say, they did it. It's a very clever, diluted space. Very sneaky, confused, disorienting and painful. We are given that mind. But that's not all there is to human life.

[09:58]

Human life is also beyond human agency. Human life is also unboundedness. Vast space. and great compassion. Human life is also great compassion. Human life is partly self-centered consciousness, and it's also otherwise. And the otherwise is the way galaxies work, and the way planets are formed, and the way babies are born, the way things actually happen is beyond human agency. even though it includes human agency. And also part of what's beyond human agency is great compassion. It's beyond human agency, but it's never separate from it.

[11:02]

Our life is dualistic, self-centered consciousness, intimately relating with great compassion beyond human agency. It's beyond, for example, one kind of human agency is discriminating things and intellectually knowing them and seeing them and hearing them and touching them and thinking about them. This is human agency, but that human agency does not reach great compassion even when we I think it does. However, all that human agency, all those thoughts about great compassion, are never separate from it. So, within human agency, I am talking with you about great compassion, which is beyond

[12:14]

and free of my talk. However, my talk is a human agency attempt to relate to what is beyond my human agency, to develop a relationship that realizes that my human agency and your human agency are also intimately related. And the way all of our human agencies, the way all of our deluded consciousnesses are intimately related is great compassion. The way we're all related to each other intimately, that is liberating, that liberates us from our egocentric consciousness. without getting rid of it. So in egocentric consciousness, a lot of people have noticed the afflictions around the self.

[13:20]

A lot of people have noticed that the self is a focal point of misery and tension, etc. And so the thought arises in this afflicted situation surrounding the self, I'm sick of myself. I want to get rid of myself. So people try to get rid of the self in hopes that they will also become free of the afflictions that embrace it constantly. That's not going to be helpful. Now, if we practice compassion with this affliction, and this compassion is practiced wholeheartedly, we will realize our intimacy with great compassion. In our human realm, we can try to be kind, for example, to our suffering.

[14:29]

And we can try to be kind to the way other people's suffering appears in our dualistic human consciousness. We can practice kindness towards all the misery. That begins and promotes a relationship with the actuality of our life. And the actuality of our life is great compassion. Great compassion is the truth of our life. Which Buddhas seek. and their seeing of it is inseparable from great compassion. And then there's other ways to, in addition to bringing tender care to all suffering beings that we can see, which means doing that in the realm of human agency,

[15:41]

to make more and more our human agency acts of kindness to all beings. All beings means all the humans that are appearing to us, all the animals that are appearing to us, all the plants that are appearing to us, the earth, the water, the air, the mountains, to extend tender care to all beings, which is a learning process because sometimes, in the realm of human activity, we are resisting extending tender care to some beings who appear to be humans, animals, or otherwise. We also sometimes have trouble extending tender care to our own pain, and also to extend tender care to worrying that we're not doing enough to help people.

[16:53]

But the worry about not being helpful enough, or the worry about being too helpful, or the worry that other people are being helpful to somebody other than us, all those worries are beings who are calling for compassion. All beings that appear in consciousness are calling for compassion, even though they don't sound like they're saying, please listen to me with ears of compassion. They don't sound like they're saying that. They may sound like they're saying, I'm a bad person. I'm worthless. You're a bad person. So you're a bad person is really saying, please listen to my suffering. When I say the words, I'm a bad person or you're a bad person, when I say I'm evil or you're evil, those are beings that are calling for compassion.

[18:01]

And we are encouraged by great compassion to extend... compassion to those beings, all those beings, in the realm of human agency. Now, we're also encouraged if someone calls to us for compassion, which means if something happens, which is calling for compassion, which is everything, and we don't understand that, and we miss the opportunity to to be kind and tender and respectful to this phenomenon. If we miss the opportunity and we wish to practice compassion towards all things, then we have come up short from what we aspire to. So, once again, if you wish to realize great compassion, which liberates all beings,

[19:09]

then do you also wish to extend kindness and compassion to all beings, which means to everything? Do you wish for that? Do you aspire to that? Do you aspire to learn to do that? Even though right now, There may be some people who you're somewhat resistant to extending, loving, wholehearted, tender care. Now, if you discover that resistance, then we have another practice of compassion, which is be kind to your resistance to practicing compassion. And acknowledge it. This is particularly for people who aspire to learn to be compassionate to everyone.

[20:15]

This is for such people. Now, if such people resist what they aspire to, then it is encouraged for them to acknowledge, I am resisting what I aspire to. I am resisting doing the most important thing in my life. What a funny person I am. And I regret resisting what I most aspire to, which is to be compassionate to all and every being, appearing to me outwardly and appearing to me inwardly. I also wish to be kind to the appearance of inward and outward being separate. That's also painful. I aspire to be compassionate to every moment of experience. we have a chant we do, which part of the chant is, it's invoking great compassion. And part of the chant is, moment by moment by moment, day and night, recall great compassion.

[21:26]

And again, oops, I forgot to recall it for quite a while there. I wasn't regarding what was happening with eyes of compassion. I acknowledge that and I'm sorry. This is another way to be tender with resistance to tenderness. And some of us may have experienced in the past, even though we want to be tender with people and respectful and honor them and protect them and live for their welfare, we sometimes get distracted. That's not the end of the world. That's just another opportunity to extend tender care to our forgetfulness. And then another way, which we're working on during this practice period, to develop a relationship with... What's it called?

[22:39]

Great compassion? Another way is to remember it, to pay homage to it. In a sense, again, ringing the bell pays homage to it. Beating the drum pays homage to it. Before this talk, I bowed to pay homage to great compassion. This relationship of paying homage to this thing, which is beyond human agency, promotes realization of the intimacy which is already the reality of our life. We are already intimate with great compassion. We're already intimate with it. But unless we practice, we don't realize that we're intimate. just like in the human realm, you're already intimate with all other beings, but if we don't respect them, we don't realize the intimacy.

[23:47]

If we don't honor them and cherish them and serve them, if we don't, even though we're intimate with everyone, we don't realize it. And so, yeah. And not only do we not realize it, but it's painful not to realize reality. We are intimate, and to the extent that we don't realize it, we suffer. We are intimate. That is great compassion. Our intimacy is what liberates us. At the end of this event this morning, we will chant, beings are numberless. Suffering beings are numberless. Beings who are calling for compassion are numberless. I vow to save them. We say I vow to save them, but the I there, the real I, is great compassion will save them.

[24:50]

I'm not going to save them by my human agency. But my human agency, by saying that chant, can open to me to the way all of our human agencies working together is... is saving all beings. Now, the way, if you and I take good care of our own suffering, however we do that, quite skillfully, very skillfully, not so skillfully, the way we take care of our, the way we practice compassion with ourself is exactly the way we're practicing compassion with others. So if you take good care of yourself, that is simultaneously taking care of everybody else because of reality. Because in reality, when you take care of yourself, everybody is intimately there with you.

[25:58]

And, sorry to say, if I don't take good care of myself, It's a sad situation because everybody's there also not being cared for. Friday evening someone said to me, How does great compassion speak to us? Is that right? So I thought about that and now I would say the way that great compassion speaks to us is the Dharma. The Buddha Dharma that is being given to us moment by moment.

[27:04]

That's how great compassion talks to us. When somebody reads a scripture, while they're reading the scripture, the Dharma is coming along with it. That Dharma is the way great compassion is talking to us. Great compassion is talking to us all day long. And the way it talks to us, we call that Dharma. And if we are compassionate to everything we can see, in other words, if we stop resisting compassion, if we open to compassion by practicing it with everything, practicing compassion with everything opens us to the compassion that's with us all the time. If we open to that, we hear the Dharma. We hear what the compassion is saying to us. It's talking to us all day long. But if we resist compassion, we don't hear it.

[28:11]

Anyway, the way it's talking to us is by giving us the truth. And I'm saying to you that the reality, I'm saying that reality is great compassion. I'm saying that too. But that my words are not Dharma. But you might hear the Dharma when I say that to you. Reality is great compassion. Really, in the eyes of Buddha, what they see is everybody's working together in peace and harmony, helping each other. That's something which is real. That is liberating when realized. When we realize, on reality, which we're good at, for example, that we're not helping each other when we realize that, well, you know how that is. It's miserable. It's misery. However, that's not the end of the story because when we realize, we think we realize, we really don't.

[29:21]

When we think it's true that we're not helping each other, it's really that we're wrong. You cannot really prove that except by suffering. We're good at seeing conflict and disagreement and not helping each other. But if we are helping each other, we're open to the reality that we're always helping each other. We do not make the intimacy of all beings. We do not make it. It's unmade. It's not made. It is dependently co-arising with all of us every moment. rises with all of us, and ceases with us, and rises with us, and is always such. And then the person who asked the first question, how does it speak to us, also said, I think he said, how do you experience it?

[30:34]

And when he said you, Well, I thought, well, maybe he means, how does my karmic consciousness experience? How does my human consciousness experience great compassion? Well, I would say, my human consciousness, I experience it in a very limited way. Because my human consciousness experiences everything in a limited way. It experiences every person I meet in a limited way. So, the way I experience it is in a limited way. That's how I experience it. In other words, I experience it in terms of my own mental constructions of it. Which sounds kind of sad. But... If in my limited realm of understanding and great compassion, if I, in my limited way, pay homage to it.

[31:57]

Praise it. Make my life of service to it. Confess my resistance to being compassionate. even express my resistance to being intimate with all beings, which is the same thing. If I do these practices in my limited realm, I realize that my limited realm, which is a limited version of great compassion, is intimate with great compassion. And that realization of intimacy makes it possible in the restricted, constricted, stressed out human consciousness, it makes it possible in that small little place to be wholeheartedly kind to all beings in a limited way.

[33:05]

And by being wholeheartedly, with no resistance, to every being we realize the intimacy even though it's so tiny it's still the precious opportunity if we're wholehearted with it to realize what is not constricted what is not limited and again that unlimited compassion supports us to be more and more wholehearted with our limited compassion, and be more and more wholehearted with the tiny little things we do for ourself and other. And to be wholehearted with the tiny little good things, or the medium-sized good things you do, or even maybe big good things you do, which are still constricted. That wholehearted kindness

[34:09]

includes everybody, and everybody is helped by it. So I don't know if anybody heard the true Dharma while I was talking. But I pray that it's so. I pray that everybody did. And now, I think the kitchen is going to leave any minute. to go make lunch. But before they leave, I'm going to say, does anybody wish to come up here and have a conversation in our limited little world about the vast, unlimited intimacy of all being? Or something else? Something that's, you know, not included in the universe. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[35:37]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[35:41]

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