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. As all of you in this room know, one week ago we started a period of intensive practice. how we've come to, might say, completing first week, which has been one of the longest weeks of my life. And those of you who are observing this situation online, I want you to know that too, that we... that we had started an intensive a week ago, and that during that week, we have been challenged with infections of the COVID virus.

[01:16]

And so all the people in this room, except me right now, are wearing masks because quite a few people in this, Great Assembly have contracted the virus and are feeling more or less sick. Several others who were not sick felt that for their own safety, they were going to leave and did leave. They felt the situation was too infectious. So for their own health... and safety protocols, they decided to depart. So this group is smaller than it was a year ago. I mean, not a real. However, it's still a wonderfully lovely assembly. People who sincerely want to practice the Buddha way.

[02:26]

Sometimes in our little Zen family, we call the Buddha way Zazen. The practice of the Buddha way, we call Zazen. And we also sometimes call it just sitting. Our founder, Suzuki Rishi, said a number of times, we say our practice is just to sit. But that may be rather difficult to understand. It's a simple thing to say, just sitting, but to understand it may be rather difficult. To help us understand more and more fully what our practice of the Buddha way of just sitting is, we sometimes... consult the teachings of the ancestors of our family.

[03:35]

We also sometimes consult the great vehicle Mahayana Sutras. And part of the intention, this intensive, was to look at the great Buddha flower adornment scripture, which describes, which unfolds, which depicts, which sings of just sinning. And as people look at this sutra, they have some difficulty because it's not necessarily easy to understand what zazen is. Not having easy time understanding the sutra is basically not having difficulty understanding what zazen is. And we have been trying to look at these teachings about what our practice is.

[04:40]

I remember Suzuki Rishi saying to me, me in person, particularly, saying to me that the job of a Zen priest, is to encourage Zazen. He said this to me shortly after I was ordained by him as a priest. And a Zen priest, that's their job, he said. And he didn't say the job of a Zen priest was to teach Zazen. But one of the ways to teach zazen is to practice it in such a way that other people are encouraged to practice it and practicing it together with other people. Although the priest may not be doing the teaching, the teaching is happening.

[05:59]

By encouraging others and being encouraged by others, to explore the vast reality of just sitting. In this exploration together, in the intimate communion of encouraging and being encouraged to sit together wholeheartedly, that Dharma is alive in this intimate transmission, mutually, between priests and priests, between priests and lay people, between lay people and lay people, in this intimate, wholehearted, just sitting. The reality of Zazen is manifested. Now, I, what is it? I said that the founder of our temple,

[07:05]

said that the job of priest is to encourage us then. But now today, I would say that lay people can also, it may not be your job, you may not think of it as your job, but you, all lay people, can also are invited to join in the practice of encouraging the practice of the Buddha way, the practice of just sitting. And part of the reason why I think I thought of that point, that lay people can also do that job. Priests, it's their job. Lay people, you could take it on as your job. You could adopt it as your job. And I have mentioned that a while ago there was an article

[08:06]

in Life magazine. And it was, the date of this magazine here is March 7th, 1955. Here's the cover. Can you see it a little bit? I think it's a Buddha, right? picture of a Buddha. And in this magazine, there's also articles on the Cold War, on the arms race between Russia and the U.S. And in this book, in this magazine, it says the world's great religions, part two, Buddhism. And they have various articles on different aspects of Buddhism. The one that caught my eye was the one that, you know, was my karmic affinity was the pictures of the Zen school.

[09:17]

And in particular of a lay person, of a lay Zen Buddhist. And in particular, this picture. Can you see it? It's a person. In the Zazen posture, it's that a person was sitting, I don't know, I can't say for sure, but I think he was sitting to encourage Zazen. And his sitting encouraged me to sit. I thought, that's a beautiful way to live, is to sit that way, to encourage people. to sit that way and realize the Buddha Dharma of the Zen school, which is the teaching of suchness, which is the intimate communion between all beings.

[10:38]

In this intimate communion, there is not the slightest difference between you and everybody else and all Buddhas. In this teaching, in this meditation, in this concentrated awareness, of this intimate transmission, there's not the slightest bit of difference between you, the Buddhas, and all beings. And this intimacy is what realizes the Dharma. And it is Buddha. And it is the teaching. And it is peace and freedom. How many people are tuned in to this event?

[11:49]

176. Did you 176 people hear what I said? Did you what? How many are in this room? 60? Did you 60 people hear this? In this just sitting, in this just sitting, my human effort, my human action is included. However, this realm of practice, this just sitting, is far beyond my human agency. But my human agency is completely included and it pervades my human agency, but also it includes yours and pervades yours.

[12:55]

So all together, we are in this awareness, in reality. In this awareness, we are, we are performing the activity of of Buddha. We are maintaining the essential working of Buddha by offering our body and mind to this meditation and allowing our body and mind to receive this meditation of the Buddhas. In this practice of just sitting, we participate, we join and we are joined in turning the great unsurpassable Dharma wheel. We are maintaining the Buddha Dharma. We are receiving the light of Buddha's wisdom and sharing it with all beings.

[14:09]

We are in a realm that is quiet, beyond any nature, And cannot be grasped. It cannot be grasped. However. We can enter it. But not by our own power. We enter it. By offering ourselves to it. And it receives us. And we inherit. The power of this. Samadhi. Of this meditation. And we enter it. And therein. We meet. all Buddhas face-to-face. And to meet the Buddhas face-to-face means that we meet every single form face-to-face and simultaneously meet every not form. Simultaneously, we meet forms, every form, and we also meet

[15:14]

It's lack of form. Meeting both simultaneously, we meet Buddha. We don't have to work at this. We don't have to try to avoid it or get it. We just offer ourselves to this practice. And our offer is received. and responded to by supporting us to enter the practice. I do not, this practice is not something done by one person. It is done by all beings together with all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. That's the practice. And that is rather difficult to understand because usually when we say understand we mean That I, this person, understands.

[16:16]

But this is not understood by a person. It's understood by the meeting of a person with a person. The meeting of a person who is completely devoted to being a person and not a person with another person who is the same. In that meeting, we are entering and living in this samadhi. In ordinary past January intensives, people have had a hard time even when they're not sick. So in this intensive, not only is the teaching of our practice difficult, but just living through a day is difficult for many of us. Even when we're not sick.

[17:17]

So now, in addition to getting through this rather strenuous program, getting up between 4 and 4.30 in the morning and practicing throughout the day till the night together is strenuous. And some people are telling me, which I've heard before, for more than 35 years I've heard this. I'm so tired. This is so hard. Yeah, it is. Sometimes. Not always. But it's often difficult. And if we made it easier, that would become difficult. So we're having a hard time. And there may be more hard times ahead. But.

[18:19]

So far in this first week, all of you have made a great effort. You have been patient. You have been kind to yourself and to others. You have been gentle with yourself and others. You have been respectful. You have been courageous. We do not know what the future holds. But if this intensive continues, I will try to be with you and encourage you to practice this samadhi of the bodhisattvas. I will offer myself to it and to you. I will be available somehow to talk to you. We may have to be outside to do so.

[19:21]

I will talk to you, if you wish, about what this practice is. And if you have a hard time understanding or practicing it, I will vow to wholeheartedly support you through the difficulty. And you might consider supporting me, which you have been doing. So what I mean is, please consider continuing. When I first came to Zen Center, I came to Zen Center to get help practicing Zasana. Before I came, I tried to practice sitting, and I found it difficult. I came to receive support. And I did receive support. I did not come to help others sit. I'm sorry. Little by little, I got the information that my practice was supporting and encouraging people.

[20:28]

And I thought, oh, okay. And that was helpful to me, to know that not only were they helping me, but when I went to sit in the Zendo with everybody, it helped them do this sometimes difficult thing. So again, I will continue this with you to the joyful end. If you are here, if you all leave, I won't. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving, by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[21:34]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[21:38]

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