This podcast is offered by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. So, here we are. It's come to this. The whole universe has conspired to bring us to just now, just here. causes conditions, blooming, just like this. So now, what are we going to do? What's our next step? How do we move forward into the day, into our lives? From just this. Good morning.

[01:04]

My name is David Zimmerman, and I am the head of practice here at City Center. And it's a delight to see you all here today, and it's a delight to have the sun join us as well. And I certainly appreciate the rain. A little bit more measurement in all this would be helpful, I think. Many people would appreciate that, but it's good. It's all good. So I imagine that a number of you here today share with me the perspective that we are currently finding ourselves in a time of national political transition that has far-reaching implications for many. And for those of us who are committed to the Bodhisattva path of practicing and liberation for the benefit of all beings, how do we understand our role now in the wider world, particularly given this ground of uncertainty in which we find ourselves now, but really at any particular time?

[02:22]

This is not special. It's always like this. And so how do we deep it into wise and courageous hearts that already know our individual freedom to be inseparable from the freedom of everyone? And how do we live out this knowing living it out, expressing it in a way that is devoted to decreasing harm and suffering and manifesting the wisdom of love. How do we step forward from this place? So I imagine most of you are aware that there are a number of

[03:32]

rallies and marches and other events today, which are in support of the Women's March in Washington. And this march has manifested in many blossoms around the nation and perhaps elsewhere, I don't know. And I don't know if anyone here planning to go to the marches here in San Francisco? The goals of these particular marches, as I understand it, is to show solidarity for the causes and policies that many of us fear that the incoming administration will disregard and dismantle. And so these marches seem to be a part of a movement, a national movement, to unify and empower those who stand for human rights, civil liberties, and social justice for all.

[04:36]

By the way, if anyone is interested in joining other Buddhist practitioners, there will be a contingent today leaving from City Center here on the front steps at 2.30 to go to the rally at City Hall, which is then followed by a march down to... Justin Herman Plaza. Thank you. I actually like to consider these marches and rallies in the spirit of conscious or enlightened society, if you will. A society that is dedicated to creating the conditions for everyone to experience harmony, safety, prosperity, and self-realization. Are these any things that you want in your life?

[05:39]

A few people say, yeah. In fact, Shakyamuni Buddha counseled us to meet regularly with this intention. In the Mahaparinavana Sutta, which was the text of the Buddha's last teachings, he said the following. As long as a society holds regular and frequent assemblies, meeting in harmony and mutual respect, they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as a society follows the long-held traditions of wisdom and honors its elders, can they be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as the society protects the vulnerable among them, can they be expected to prosper and not decline? As long as the society cares for the shrines and sacred places of the natural world, can they be expected to prosper and not decline?

[06:47]

This is the Buddha 2,500 years ago giving us sage advice for how we might take care of our communities and society now. I made it a point to read the guiding vision and definition of principles of the Women's March. And this was a document that was put out by the organizers of the Women's March because I wanted to get a better sense of what it is that was being called for and put forward. And in reading this, I found that many of... these parameters that the Buddha was encouraging us to follow for the awakened society are reflected in this particular document. The document lists the values that are guiding this particular march include taking a firm stance on human rights issues, ranging from productive rights to racial justice to immigration reform, and acknowledges that all these issues intersect.

[07:52]

So the document states directly, recognizing that women have intersecting identities and are therefore impacted by a multitude of social justice and human rights issues, we have outlined a representative vision for a government that is based on the principles of liberty and justice for all. And this document also includes a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, Walk alone. And as we walk, we must take the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. So the call to march and to raise our voices is fundamentally about insisting that our shared human dignity be recognized. And so how can we together acknowledge and uphold the life and dignity of all human beings, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, physical ability, political affiliation, religious affiliation?

[09:19]

All of us, these intersectionalities coming together blooming in our particular being and way so how do we cultivate the sincere intention the fearlessness and the resilience to embrace and align ourselves with fundamental and ennobling truths, even in the face of grave harm and danger, even perhaps in the face of death. What will we rely on to take our next steps? What will you rely on? So in honor of the Women's March, I wanted to share with you today a 19th century Chinese story as a springboard for a deeper exploration on this particular inquiry.

[10:42]

And the story is recounted in the book The Hidden Lamp, stories from 25 centuries of awakened women. And the story is titled Seven Wise Women in the Charnel Ground. And the story goes like this. Charnel Ground. C-H-A-R-N-E-L. Charnel. It's a ground where a place where people in the old days they would just take the bodies to a particular place to either be burned or to have birds and insects and the rest of life just come and devour and do away with what remained of the bodies. So the story goes like this. Seven wise sisters planned a spring journey. One of them said, sisters, instead of going to a park to enjoy the spring flowers, let's go together to see the charnel grounds.

[11:48]

The other said, that place is full of decaying corpses. What is such a place good for? The first woman replied, Let's just go. Very good things are there. When they arrived, one of them pointed to a corpse and said, There's a person's body. Where has the person gone? What? Another said. What did you say? And all sisters, With that, we're immediately enlightened. I can never get tired of the way so many Zen stories end in enlightenment. But the story doesn't stop there. It continues. Your life doesn't stop with enlightenment, by the way. In fact, it's the beginning. Indra, lord of the gods,

[12:53]

was moved by their awakening and showered flowers down onto them. He offered them whatever they needed for the rest of their lives. One of the sisters replied, We have everything we need. But please, give us a tree without roots, some land without light or shade, and a mountain valley where a shout does not echo. Ask anything else, holy ladies, replied Indra, and I will gladly provide it. But I don't have those things to give you. If you don't have them, said the woman, how can you help others liberate themselves? At this, Indra took the sisters to visit the Buddha. When the Buddha learned why they had come, he said, As far as that's concerned, Indra, None of the arhats, of those who have reached a certain state of awakening but are not yet Buddhas, has the slightest clue either.

[13:58]

Only great bodhisattvas understand this matter. Only great bodhisattvas understand this matter. So, how many of us, if we had some free time, we choose to go wandering casually through a charnel ground instead of trying to find something pleasant and enjoyable to take in. And most of the time we go about our usual affairs and activities, seeking for a certain level of enjoyment, pleasantness, ease, happiness, expecting happiness, that the conditions should somehow deliver these to us. But what would compel us to discern, as these seven women do, to use the time, particularly with our loved ones, consciously and literally wandering amidst the burning, amidst this great matter of life and death?

[15:17]

why would you choose that? I think there's something lovely and special in this image of these seven sisters together walking. I understand that it's much harder for women to be able to walk in the world with awareness, in quiet reflection, unless they are perhaps with others, with either other women or a male friend that they... and trust in some way. Because we live in a society where women are often targeted for violence, assault, rape. And today, the march, even though it's geared towards women, there's an invitation to men to join them, as long as the men are willing to participate as collaborators advocating on behalf of women's safety. And so while it might be unpleasant to address some of life's more painful truths, there is violence.

[16:26]

There is injustice. There is racial discrimination, homophobia, war. These women remind us that there's another option other than turning away from or retreating from these truths. And so with intention and courage and curiosity, and I'm sure a certain amount of trepidation, they deliberately choose to contemplate what challenges most completely the sense of who we are impermanence and death. Just an aside, I want to confess that I was reflecting on this story. I couldn't help but think the image came to mind of the capital, if you will, the nation's capital as a sort of charnel ground at this time in which the bodies of once enlivening

[17:47]

And beneficial policies, such as Obamacare, are now being discarded and pecked apart by certain political birds of prey. So if that offends your political sensibilities, my apologies. It came to mind. Despite any reservations that the other women had about going to the charnel ground for their outing, one woman with wisdom was able to cut through their fear and apprehension. Sisters, just go, she says. Very good things are there. And with that, we are given invitations. an invitation to make a leap of faith, a transforming aversion into trust, even in the midst of great suffering, trusting that perhaps there can be a certain release, a certain liberation, perhaps even joy.

[19:01]

Now these women make the journey that we all make to face mortality. And once at the eternal ground, they see that which we all have in common, a human body prone to sickness, old age, and death. Pointing to her corpse, one of the women asked her sisters, where has the person gone? And with that profound line of inquiry, all the women awake. And in their simultaneous mutual awakening, I hear the Buddha's exclamation 2,500 years ago when he awoke and said, I and all sentient beings on earth together attain enlightenment at the same time.

[20:11]

And yet the question remains, where has the person gone? Who are we really? If we're not, as Buddhism constantly tells us, we are not our bodies. We are not our thoughts, our feelings, our physical sensations, our perceptions. What are we? What is this person here right now? Immediately after their awakening, the women look to the sky and Indra, the god of the earth, I don't quite get why the god of the earth is in the sky. I haven't quite figured that one out. But he celebrates the women's awakening by showering down on them flowers, a multitude of flowers in celebration. And then he asks them for the honor to take care of them for the rest of their lives.

[21:18]

Well, that's sweet and lined up in package, right? Great. Okay, that sounds pretty good. I just want to point out here that Indra here in this story is the same namesake as the Indra of Indra's net. And for those of you who don't know, Indra's net is a metaphor, it's a Buddhist metaphor for illustrating the concepts of emptiness, dependent origination, and interdependent. key points of Buddhist understanding of our existence together. And yet these wise women, now seeing that they have and always have had everything they need, turn down Indra's offer. What possibly could he give them when there is nothing fundamentally lacking? That which we always are and for which we are never in need of is always already present.

[22:28]

Even in the midst of great distress and loss. Even in the face of death. In her reflection on the story in The Hidden Lamp, Bonnie Myotai Treese advises that in order to connect with the depth of the story here, the gorgeous turning that's about to happen, we have to connect with what is realized amid all the decaying corpses. What state of mind requires no support? What state of mind requires no support? What empowers the women to say to the god Indra that she already has everything he has to give her? We can say that the women in the charnel ground were whole and perfect, but that had been true before they went on their walk.

[23:36]

What changed? When they saw the corpses, when their minds settled, they became, in a sense, beings who are no longer returning from pain, who are no longer turning from pain or mystery. When that occurs, what becomes available? Something invulnerable and inarguable. What is it that's invulnerable? What is it that's inarguable? And how might we discover this and turn to it and unreservedly place our trust in it? And furthermore, who has it and who can give it freely? So there's a dirty little secret in Zen.

[24:43]

And that little secret is there is no truth. Don't tell anyone else, okay? And if you tell them, they're not going to believe you in the first place. There's nothing, there's no truth that can be grasped, I should say. There's nothing ultimately for us to get a hold on or cling to. And so oftentimes the stories in Zen, the teachings, again and again reiterate, you know, even words cannot reach it, cannot reach it. express what we fundamentally are. And no amount of effort that we make is going to capture it or get us there. So all we can do is relax our conceptual grasping mind. Relax the habitual mind that wants to know and simply open. We open.

[25:46]

relax, open some more, relax some more, and open some more. And in the end, all that we're left with, and again, this is just a metaphor, so don't cling to it, is an illuminated spaciousness, a vast mine of not knowing. And in Zen, this don't know mind is an essential aspect of what's called practice realization. Practice and realization, not to. So enlightenment is a matter of suddenly waking up and understanding the way that the world works and what is happening. In fact, it's kind of the opposite. it's abiding in the space of not knowing.

[26:50]

The space of not knowing is what Suzuki Roshi coined, beginner's mind. It's a mind that's free of concepts, assumptions, preferences. One that's open to the mystery. The mystery of simply being with what is. But this profound openness of being, And not knowing doesn't excuse us from acting in the world. As long as we live in the world, we must engage it. You must take the next step. The Buddha didn't stay on his seat after awakening for the rest of his life. He got up and went into the world. But this engagement in the world doesn't need to take the form of reactivity or manipulation or even resistance.

[27:55]

Instead, it can take the form of responsibility. And I like that word because it means the ability to respond. We all have that ability. To actually respond what's needed in the moment. and to do so from a concern that's greater than ourselves. And so while there is no truth that can be grasped, there is still that which is true. And that which is true can inform us about how we respond to events and move forward in our lives. Is anyone familiar with the term Satyagraha? Satyagraha. S-A-T-Y-A-G-R-A-H-A.

[28:59]

Satyagraha was a term that was coined by Mahatma Gandhi. And this was in, I believe, the 19-teens, 1920, around that time. And it represented for him a policy of passive resistance. And this was a method of gaining political and social reforms. And Gandhi deployed Satyagraha in the Indian independence movement and also doing his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights. And this particular theory, the theory of Satyagraha, also influenced Dr. Martin Luther King in his own civil rights movements here in the United States, as well as other social justice leaders. And I find it so interesting that just sometimes it takes one person, just one person willing to raise their voice and make a bold, insistent call

[30:04]

define an alternative direction. One that initiates a powerful journey of transformation and liberation for many. Who are those people in your life? Can you acknowledge and honor those ancestors in some way? So the word Satyagraha is actually a compound from Sanskrit. And the first part is satya, meaning truth. And the second part is agraha, which means polite insistence, obstinacy, or holding firmly to. So satya agraha can basically be loosely translated as insistence on truth. Insistence on truth. And one could say that satya agraha is the activity of upholding truth or being a truth force.

[31:08]

But for Gandhi, Satyagraha went beyond just passive resistance. He saw it as the strength behind practicing nonviolent methods. Gandhi said that truth, Satya, implies love and firmness, agraha, engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. So in other words, rather than relying on passive resistance, satyagraha becomes the force which is born of truth and love and nonviolence. And this idea of force born of truth and love was reflected in Dr. Martin Luther King's teachings decades later. Here's a quote from Dr. King. Power without love is reckless and abusive. Love without power is sentimental and anemic.

[32:12]

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. And justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. So those of you who want to study and learn more about Dr. King's teachings, there was this wonderful Dharma talk last week with Kazu Haga and Tovar Green in which they brought forth the Dharma of Dr. Martin Luther King and particularly talked about his principles of non-violence. So if you have an opportunity and want to watch the live stream session, please do so or read Dr. King's teachings. Very inspiring. Now, Insisting on truth is basically a fundamental orientation in Buddhism. The word Dharma, as in Buddha Dharma, can have several meanings in Buddhism. And sometimes it means truth. Sometimes it means law. Sometimes it means teaching.

[33:13]

And sometimes it can mean phenomena or things as it is. Another word might be suchness. But its original meaning was something along the lines of natural law. and was kind of basically a synonym for truth, or the way it is. And the first part, dham, of dharma, means to uphold or to support, as in that which upholds the natural order of the universe. So you might be able to see in this the seeds for moral or ethical principles. orientation in one's life? How is it that we can be in harmony with the natural law of the universe in order to clarify how it is that we want to move forward in our lives? And it was the Buddha's own insistence on truth that brought him in time to eventually understanding the natural order of the universe, if you will.

[34:25]

and particularly how it is that human beings suffer, and how it is that they may be free of suffering. And his understanding is kind of encapsulated in what is known as the Four Noble Truths. And these truths are truths that can be observed and verified by anyone through their direct experience. They're not secret truths. They are apparent truths. are direct truths, if you will. And so for those of you who are new to Buddhism and don't know the Four Noble Truths, they are basically that there is dukkha, and dukkha is a word that means there is dissatisfaction, unease, disease, or suffering in the world. There is a cause for how this suffering or dissatisfaction arises. There is the truth that this dissatisfaction or suffering

[35:27]

can come to an end, and then there is a path for how to go about ending suffering. I like the way that Dharma teacher Sylvia Borstein kind of summarizes these formidable truths. She says simply, when we see clearly, we behave impeccably, out of love, and on behalf of all beings. When we see clearly, We behave impeccably out of love and behalf of all beings. And so the Four Noble Truths are about affirming human dignity. That's why the Buddha referred to them as noble. The truth of our intrinsic worth and wholeness and liberation is our birthright. No one can take it away from us. I find it interesting that the first half of satya actually is derived from the word sat, which means being.

[36:40]

And this same sat is the root of sat in the word bodhisattva. And a bodhisattva, I would like to suggest, is one who courageously serves truth. A bodhisattva is a lover of truth. Another way to express their particular way of serving is with fierce or insistent compassion. This type of compassion is what compels the bodhisattva into their activity, of working on behalf of liberating all beings from suffering. I want to return for a moment to the story of the Seven Sisters.

[37:41]

So when Indra offers these women anything that they want now for the rest of their life, One of the women asks for the following. A tree without roots, some land without light or shade, and a mountain valley where a shout does not echo. In other words, she's asking for things that don't exist. And Indra, of course, replies that he doesn't have any of these things to provide them. And then comes the challenging inquiry from the woman. If you don't have them, she asks, how can you help others liberate themselves? And because Indra is unable to answer this question, he takes them to the Buddha, who again tells Indra, only a bodhisattva is truly able to understand and respond. Only a bodhisattva understands that each of us already has what we need for our own

[38:51]

A bodhisattva understands that and sees clearly that there is nothing that has ever been lacking for us to experience freedom. David Loy, who's a Buddhist writer and a Zen teacher, said in a recent Dharma talk that he gave, The most essential thing about the bodhisattva path is that the bodhisattva has a double practice, or what could be said is a two-sided practice. On the one hand, he or she continues to work for their own awakening. They continue their own meditation and so forth. They work on their self-transformation and thereby realize and get in touch with a dimension or perspective in which there's nothing missing. nothing lacking, no better, no worse, nothing to gain.

[39:54]

But they also realize that the dimension by itself, that that dimension of nothing lacking by itself is insufficient, is one-sided. Although it's important for us to ground ourselves in meditative equanimity, as then we talk about realizing emptiness, it's important that the grounding enables or invigorates us to engage more compassionately and wholeheartedly in social and ecological activities. So when we open up in our practice, when we, what's called, return to the source, return to that boundless, inclusive, openness in which nothing is lacking, timeless awareness, if you will. We then become a vehicle of something greater than ourselves.

[40:56]

We become the instruments of possibility. And then this means that our job is to respond appropriately to whatever is arising from this place. But we can only do this with any measure of sanity and, if you will, deep love, when we practice, take up a particular practice, and I would suggest a practice of meditation, or Zazam. It's a way that helps us to grounder us in equanimity, in the emptiness, if you will, in the fundamental perspective that there is nothing lacking. And when we ground ourselves in this nothing lacking and attend to the world from a place of equanimity, we're able to engage and attend to what we need to tend to without attachment.

[42:05]

Attachment to an outcome or having any resistance to what unfolds next. We just walk step by step into the next moment doing the best we can perhaps with curiosity and with joy. Knowing that anything we do, not knowing actually, if that anything we do actually will make a difference. I liked David Loy quipped that we don't know and that's okay. Knowing is not part of the Daab description of a bodhisattva. So I quickly want to say something about resisting. There's a lot of rhetoric going around right now about the importance of resisting what's been happening, particularly resisting the policies of the incoming administration, resisting or attacking or opposing the normalizing of certain behaviors and perceptions that are divisive.

[43:17]

And while I'm in court with this particular... this ultimate goal of stopping what's harmful, I confess that I struggle a bit with the terminology of resistance, with this kind of adversarial language and stance. Because I actually think when we come from this perception of duality and othering, we kind of just perpetuate suffering. We fall into the same thing that we ourselves are asking others not to do. Don't see me as other. Don't see me as separate. Don't relate to me as something, you know, that's not interdependently co-arisen with you. And yet if we use the mind to see those who we disagree with from a place of resistance, then we reify this contracted sense of self. We perpetuate suffering, you know, in that way. And so, the reason I like this idea of insisting on truth, I find it much more inspiring and ennobling and skillful.

[44:29]

Because it comes from the place of the mind of no separation. And from that place, we can come together in love. If you are going to be marching today, please do so from a place of awareness and love. Be awareness, walking hand in hand with awareness, not needing to know where you're going, only knowing that we fundamentally have everything that we need amidst the flames of impermanence, and the infinite, all-inclusive mind of Buddha, the mind of awakening.

[45:34]

So in closing, I just want to offer a little verse from a poem called Dreams Before Waking. This poem is by Adrienne Rich, and it's from a collection of hers titled Your Native Land, What would it mean to live in a city where people were changing each other's despair into hope? You yourself must change it. What would it feel like to know your country was changing? You yourself must change it. Though your life felt arduous, new, and unmapped and strange, what would it mean to stand on the first page of the end of despair? And then take the next step into not knowing.

[46:38]

So thank you all. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma Talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[47:09]

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