We will now begin today's Dharma Talk offered by senior Dharma teacher, Agent Linda Ruth Cutts. We will now chant the opening verse, which should appear on your screen now. An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million Kalpas. Having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Green Gulch Sunday morning Dharma Talk.

[15:59]

You know, usually when we were meeting at Green Gulch in the Zendo, I would ask to see for how many of you is it your first time coming to a Dharma Talk. So I thought I'd put you on gallery and just see if... Anybody's here for the absolute first time coming to a Dharma talk. I am scrolling, but I can't tell. Yeah. Well, thank you for being here. For the last three or four weeks, three weeks or so, we've been having Dharma talks that are... flowing from our study of the Lotus Sutra. We did a January intensive, and there was more completion of that yesterday through Noah Bode, studying the Lotus Sutra.

[17:02]

And some of us really soaked in this teaching, I think, for weeks. So today's talk is not... I suppose you could say everything is flowing from the Lotus Sutra, but it's not specifically about the Lotus Sutra. I wanted to talk about Buddha's mind, a description of Buddha's mind, and also our precepts. So tomorrow afternoon, there will be a zaikei tokudoa, staying at home and attaining the way or realizing the way. That's the Japanese words for what we often call lay ordination or receiving the precepts or bodhisattva initiation.

[18:12]

So we'll be having that ceremony. And I believe, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, that that might be the first lay ordination we've done since COVID. I'm not exactly sure, but I think so. We'll be having that ceremony on the lawn, outdoors, and four baby bodhisattvas will be receiving the precepts. I also just wanted to note that on February 12th, we begin the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year, we often call it. And this year, it's the year of the ox. The year of the ox. And I've seen water buffalo and ox being interchanged.

[19:18]

I'm not sure in terms of Lunar New Year if it's ox or water buffalo, but I've seen both. And they are actually different animals. But in Buddha's teachings and stories, also both are used, ox and water buffalo. And I think part of the sense of this glorious, wonderful animal is its reliability and its strength and also a willingness to work hard and make effort and also be corrected, be, you know, tamed in some way. So in Zen, we have the 10 ox herding pictures that some of you may have studied and are familiar with. a kind of visual and allegorical almost story of a path of practice using an ox herder and the ox.

[20:32]

And what is the ox? And what is the ox herder? And how do they come together through these practices? So that's I won't be talking about the ox-herding pictures. Some of you I know have studied them. But I wanted to tell in relation to this description of Buddha's mind, I wanted to bring up some teachings, some stories, some stories of our ancestors in which they bring up a water buffalo and an ox. and or ox. So I've been looking at a particular fascicle from Dogen called Home Leaving, really about the other tokudo, the shuke tokudo.

[21:39]

Tomorrow afternoon will be zaike tokudo, staying at home in a realizing the way, attaining the way. And then Shuke Tokudo is leaving home and realizing the way. And Dogen, our ancestor, wrote a fascicle about the home leaving, this becoming ordained as a priest, bodhisattva, or monk or nun, is another part of our Buddhist tradition. So in that particular fascicle, he quotes the Buddha from the Maha Paranirvana Sutra. And even though there was a citation for it, I was unable to find it in the sutra itself. But in Dogen, the quote is, this is from the Buddha, virtuous relations.

[22:44]

Virtuous relation, excuse me, virtuous realization means having compassion for all beings as if they were babies. Non-virtuous realization is different from this. So this is this quote. And Dogen, after this quote from the Buddha, reiterates it and says, in general, The inherent nature of shukei tokudo, or this ceremony of leaving family life, is, this is the kind of essence of it, is to have compassion for all living beings as if they were babies. And he goes on to say this is having our speech and our actions in mind in accord.

[23:48]

So this particular phrase really struck me. Having compassion for beings as if they were babies. Treating them. Another translation. That was one translation. This is another translation. Wholesome awakening is to have a tender heart. Now, in studying this with someone, and also Dogen uses a phrase similar to this in another place when he's talking about kind speech. He says, It is kind speech to speak to sentient beings as you would to a baby. And, you know, for some people, what this brings up or how they take it or how it affects them is that, well, wait a minute, I don't want to be treated like a baby.

[25:09]

I don't want to be spoken to like a baby, which we might equate with speaking down to me or someone being patronizing or patronizing or not taking me seriously enough, treating me like a baby. However, this is not my understanding of what this teaching is. Instead, if we look to our own experience with being, with seeing babies, not only human babies, but baby animals, children, we might notice, and many of you might be grandparents or parents or or have nieces and nephews that you love dearly and miss seeing probably.

[26:10]

And if we ask ourselves what is the feeling that we have when we talk to children, talk to babies, when we see them, what happens to us? And I think I would venture to say biologically we're kind of built to have a opening, flowing feeling of tenderness and compassion towards these beings, towards babies, without trying, without saying, oh, I should feel this way, or it would be a good thing if I did, but without any... effort even on our part to feel this flowing of tenderheartedness and compassion and love that comes.

[27:16]

And the, you know, in the Sutra of Loving Kindness, the meditation on loving kindness, there's a phrase there. Just as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protects her only child, so should one cultivate this same feeling for all beings and all things, actually. So it's a very down-to-earth kind of teaching, I feel. It's not... kind of a rarefied state that only certain people who have done a lot of meditation or something have access to or something. It is part of our human life, our shared human life.

[28:18]

And for both the Buddha, I had not come upon the Buddha saying this that, you know, we... We should have a tender heart or to wholesome awakening or virtuous realization, which, you know, is how we want to wake up to the reality of our life with a wholesome realization and awakening is... to have a tender heart for all sentient beings as if they were babies. So I'd like us to just turn that and reflect on that, the kind of groundedness and simplicity of that. And also, I would also add the difficulty of that.

[29:21]

Because when we say all sentient beings, All sentient beings, not just our adorable nephew or a family member that we feel so easily, but all sentient beings. Think about some of the sentient beings that we have in our lives, in our world, or the sentient beings that we have inside of us. that we may not have a tender heart towards. We may be extraordinarily harsh with and judgmental and mean to within us and also outside of us. So what would it be like to take this up as a practice?

[30:24]

having a tender heart towards all beings or compassion for all beings as if they were babies. And I do remember, you know, after I had my daughter, I began to see beings as just giant babies, really, like everybody's... I was opened in that way through my caring for her. And I think there's plenty of science around this. The caring for a child and all the things one has to do sets off or is conditioned for a whole chemical change in the body. for both men and women, not just the person who's given childbirth, but the one who does caregiving, takes care of, and oxytocin and other dopamine and other kinds of full body events happen when we care for others.

[31:41]

And it opens our heart, creates, you know, makes We co-create this tender heart. The baby and are taking care of the baby or the sentient being and are taking care of the sentient being is causing conditions in this field of our life together, our interconnected life for tender heartedness and compassion to arise. So we make... one another in this way. So speaking to someone as if they were a baby to me is not condescending or talking in baby talk or not taking someone seriously.

[32:42]

Instead, it's Listening, speaking, caring for someone with great tenderness and allowing for who they are to come forth and listening and meeting them where they are, which is what we try and do with babies, right? My grandson right now is turned two. And he says words, many, many words that you can understand and others that... By listening carefully in the context of what we're doing and what just happened, we can practically intuit what he's saying. And his mother can really, she can really hear, both his mother and father can tell what he's talking about by this deep listening and treating with respect and care.

[33:46]

And being there completely with tenderness. And this tenderness is in voice, in touch, in our bodily posture. And this strict teaching of all sentient beings, all sentient beings being cared for this way. Having this tender heart. I think it's a very strict practice. So I wanted to bring up this description of Buddha's mind, which resonates with these teachings, these very simple teachings. In the 90s, we had, we hosted what are called tokubetsu seshins. These were kind of...

[34:47]

special sashins, where a teacher from Japan came and many other teachers were invited to come to Greenbelt for a month for this special sashin. And we studied various things. And all these teachers who had their own temples and were, you know, fully teaching in their own right, came together and practiced together and served as attendant and did the services, some things that they may not have done for a while. Anyway, in this particular Tokubetsu session, we had invited a Roshi Japanese priest named Narazaki Tsugen Roshi. And he gave a long, month-long teaching on the Dharma transmission. in Soto Zen Dharma Transmission Ceremony. And one of the things he said also, and I think this is, you might say, the mind of anyone entering an initiation.

[35:55]

You know, our four baby bodhisattvas will be initiated tomorrow. I think this is also something to think about. He said, we must become like an infant. So now we have caring for people and relating to people with a tender heart as if they were a baby. And then we too becoming like an infant. What does that mean exactly? This, I think the, sorry. I don't know why that rang, because it's turned off. Excuse me. So becoming like an infant. And then he gave us a description of the Buddha's mind.

[36:59]

And in Japanese, it's Ji-hi, Ki-sha-mu-ryo-shin. So those are the characters for this phrase, which he said describes the Buddhist mind. And I remember thinking, oh, I was very excited. I don't know, to hear a description of the Buddhist mind. So Ji is often translated as compassion. It's one of the characters in my name. He described it as it's sometimes compassion, sometimes love. And he said it's the kind of love as if for your only child, the way you love a child. So I think this is resonating with what the Buddha and Dogen said about, you know, wholesome realization is treating each person differently.

[38:06]

having a tender heart towards each person. So the first of Buddhist mind, the first is the love or compassion love combined that you would have for an only child. Your only child, even as a mother at the risk of her life, watches over and protects her only child. So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living beings. There it is, again, the same teaching. in the loving-kindness meditation with a boundless mind. This is Buddhist mind. So G, this love, and if you turn that and can imagine that, or maybe that's true for you. The second G, he, this he is translated as concern. compassion, again, the worry and concern, and it never leaves you, this care and concern for a child, if you're a parent or a grandparent, or this is what the admonition is to, just like that, to care for sentient beings.

[39:27]

So this... you know, the worry you have that never ends. It doesn't matter if your child is 60 years old. I was reading where someone was saying that this wanting to protect, wanting to save from harm and suffering never ends. And the pain that we have for all of the world's children, of the world that we're leaving them, you know, denuded of forests with animals, you know, having been species, untold numbers of species being, you know, disappearing. And our beloved, you know, the animals we know and love will be in storybooks. This pain of this when we think

[40:28]

when we think of our world, and do we have enough time to turn that around? These last years, as Joanna Macy said, these last 20 years, this will tell whether or not we have a world as we know it in any sense of the word. So this worry, concern, care, Caring about so deeply is the he. Ji, he, ki. The ki is joy, joyful mind. And this joy, Narazaki Tsugen Roshi described as the joy you have when seeing your children are having fun or their well-being or Or that they're happy. This is sympathetic joy, which is, you know, it's one of the four Brahma Viharas, one of the four heavenly abodes.

[41:40]

Sympathetic joy where you are suffused with joy for another person's good fortune, another person's. It's not that it happened to you personally, but it is personal because of our interconnectedness. This is sometimes not so easy to practice with our adult family members or work partners and office mates. But with children, to see a happy child running and doing what they do and laughing, or when a child begins to walk, You know, the sympathetic joy flows unbidden, you know, it just unreservedly flows. Nobody's thinking, well, nobody's, you know, clapping for me when I walk or having jealous and envious feelings.

[42:46]

It just doesn't happen. It's just plain old joy and happiness. when you see a child having joy. So this is, under this description of Buddha's mind, it's saying that's the kind of joy, that's Buddha's mind. The joy of seeing children who are happy. And the next, so we have Ji, He, Ki, and then Sha. Sha is giving. And It's a kind of spirit of giving where you want to give everything. You want to just give it all away. Take it, please. It's yours. It's kind of a throwing away for beings, this kind of generosity. I remember the first time I gave a Dharma talk.

[43:48]

When I was the head student at Tassajara, this was in 1980, I hadn't given a Dharma talk to a public group and the practice period gathers for the Dharma talks and the head student, the shuso, gets to give a talk for the first time. And what came up in me was wanting to tell the assembly, the sangha, the group that was there, wanting to tell them every single thing I could think of that had been helpful for me in my practice that I had learned that, you know, supported me. It's just like I wanted to just give that to people, which I think would have been a kind of disaster had I even been able to or tried. But I... In reading this today, I remembered that feeling of just, I mean, this description, giving, like in the spirit of giving everything away.

[44:52]

Truly wanting to give everything away. Sometimes this happens where someone thinks they want to give everything away, and then they have giver's remorse or something, or... It was some idea they had maybe about what that would be or that that would be a good thing. So this is different. This is unreservedly no remorse, no regrets. Ji-hi-ki-sha. And then the next part is mu-rio. The mu is no. And the rio is measure. So it really means without measure, no measure. And then the shin at the end is heart or mind, heart-mind shin.

[46:01]

So ji hi ki sha murio shin in the... So I've gone through the characters and the translation is, this is Narazaki... Putting it into a sentence. The heart mind. This is now again. Just to say again. A description. Of Buddhist mind. The heart mind. Is the shin. The heart mind of love. Concern and compassion. Filled with joy. And giving. Beyond measure. And. This was another attempt at translating that phrase. Loving, compassionate, concerned, joyful, generous, beyond measure, heart, mind. So this. This. Way of.

[47:06]

assessing it or entering what this is, what this could be, how I might practice this, or feel it or recognize it even, I think for me was helped by this careful going through the parts of this phrase, the description of Buddhist mind, and having the focal point, the turning center of it be this connection with babies, child, children, and what we do know about from our own experience that's not reserved for bodhisattvas of some lands far away or something like that. This is very much grounded in our life, our life's experience.

[48:13]

So, you know, the first Sunday of the month, for years, I've lived at Green Elch 27 years, for 27 years, we've had, unless it was a sachine, kids lecture, you know, kids talk. And It's, I always have found it to be really fun, really joyful to see. And in these last years, actually, in the last couple years, we've had 50, 75 children show up of all ages, babes in arms and toddlers and little older. I think somehow at around eight or nine, I think the kids don't want to come anymore to the talk. But we haven't done this now since the lockdown. And I think the adults enjoy it too because the children come and you get to watch them scooch around in the Zendo trying to be quiet and the bells are ringing.

[49:29]

And then we tell a story after the speaker comes in. Then they tell a story. trying to relate it to the kids program that's going to happen after they leave the Zendo. After about 10 or 15 minutes, they go down to the farm. So kind of in honor of this theme of this Dharma Talk today, and also because it is the first Sunday of the month, and because I've been thinking about and this... this year of the ox or year of the water buffalo, I wanted to tell a Jataka tale. These are, they're like a cross between a fairy tale and a myth. And they're tales of the Buddha's past lives when he was a Bodhisattva, Shakyamuni Buddha's past lives. And

[50:29]

They have teachings embedded in them, wonderful teachings of compassion, and they're perfect for the kids. Many of them, some of them are a little difficult. But this one is called, which I wanted to tell you, Great Joy, the Ox. So this is a story about an ox. This is in honor of the new year, the Lunar New Year. So once upon a time, a long time ago, the Buddha was reborn as an ox when he was a bodhisattva. And a farmer in payment for a debt that he was owed by another farmer received this baby ox as payment. And he cared for this ox, fed him, groomed him. And the ox grew into a very big, strong, beautiful animal with big horns, as oxes or water buffalo have.

[51:40]

And he was very powerful, very strong. And the farmer just loved him. And he named him Great Joy because he was such a joy to be around. And they worked together. Ah. So one day, great joy was thinking to himself, this farmer who is, you know, takes such good care of me is so poor. I would like to do something to help this farmer. He's so kind to me. He's always been so kind. How can I use what I have my great strength to help this farmer? So he thought about it. Great joy thought about it and hit upon an idea. So he ambled over to where the farmer was sitting in his little hovel, his little farmhouse with a, it says a kind of crooked table. He was sitting there and the ox put his big head kind of inside the window. And he said, dear, dear farmer, you have been so good to me and so kind to me.

[52:46]

I'd really like to do something for you. And I have an idea. And the farmer said, well, how wonderful of you. What is your idea? And he said, tomorrow, go to the town and tell people that you have a marvelous ox and a very strong ox that can pull 100 carts filled with with gravel and stones, 100 carts. And the farmer said, but that's impossible. How could that be? And he said, trust me. Great joy said, just trust me. And it can be done. The farmer said, it can't be done. And he said, no, no, it can be done. So the farmer thought, well, great joy has been so wonderful and working with me and always.

[53:48]

done his work so well and taken good care of the land and his plowing. And so I'm going to go to town and do what he says. So he goes to town and he enters the marketplace and he sits down at a little table and a wealthy merchant comes in into the square, the town square, and they sit down, they have some tea. And the farmer said, I want to tell you something. And the farmer, The merchant said, well, what is it? And he said, I have a very strong ox. And the merchant said, well, you know, oxes are really strong. I have a whole team of oxen. I have strong oxes as well. And the farmer said, no, but this is really a strong ox. Well, how strong? What do you mean, really? And he said, your ox could not be as strong as mine. It can pull 100%. loaded with gravel and dirt.

[54:51]

And the merchant said, that is impossible. And the farmer said, do you want to bet? Because great joy, I said, bet on this. Make a bet that I can do this. And he said, I'll bet 1,000 pieces of money that my ox can do this. And the merchant said, well, you're on. You've got to bet. I'll see you tomorrow when the sun rises above the highest mango tree in the square. So they came. He got up in the morning, and the farmer did. And he groomed great joy. He rubbed him, and he combed him, and he fed him. And they walked into the town right when the sun was right above the highest mango tree. And they came into the square and they saw, the farmers saw those hundred carts, big carts filled with gravel and stone.

[55:55]

And he thought, oh, no, he really had second thoughts. What have I done? I don't know if this is possible. So the wealthy merchant was there. They took the great wooden yoke and they put it around him and they tied on all the carts. And everything. And he's the great joy stood there and the farmer went up to him and took his whip and began beating, beating great joy. Move, move, move. And great joy looked at him and couldn't understand what was happening. And he dug his four hooves into the ground and would not budge, would not move no matter what. And the townspeople laughed, oh, such a strong ox.

[56:57]

Well, and he lost a thousand pieces of money. And it was a very, it was a travesty. And they walked back home to the farm. And And the farmer was so angry and so sad. And he said, how could you let me down like this? How could you do this to me and make a fool of me and lose all this money? Why did you do this? And great joy said, I did not let you down. Have I ever done anything to hurt you? Have I ever... toppled over things or run wild in the fields or done anything. Have I ever done anything to merit how you treated me? And the farmer realized and said, oh, you did not let me down.

[58:06]

I let you down for treating you this way. And I'm so sorry. He realized. that it was he who had lost faith and turned on his beloved great joy. So great joy with his generous heart and patience said, well, how about this? Why don't you go back to the town and again say, make a bet again, make a wager. again, for 2,000 pieces of money that I can pull 100 cards. And this time, the farmer went back, filled with a kind of faith. And he was laughed at, the merchant laughed at him.

[59:06]

You want to do this again? Are you nuts? Sure, I'll take your bet, fine. So the next day, they came back into the square. And this time, he had groomed and brushed him and taken good care of him, and they put on the heavy yoke, and a big crowd was there. And there were no threats and no yelling and no hitting. He just took a big wreath that he had made of flowers, and he put it over him. Great Joy's neck, his big neck. And he just allowed him to make his effort. And Great Joy began to strain and pull and pull and pull until creak, creak, creak. The wheels started turning and turning.

[60:07]

And the hundred carts began to turn. And he pulled. walked and then trotted around and around the square with pulling the hundred carts. And the townspeople were amazed. Everyone was amazed. And not only that, but this Bodhisattva, the Buddha, as this ox, in their eyes became bigger and bigger and shinier, and the horns became wider and wider, became... a huge and powerful ox. And the crowd laughed and followed them and cheered at his great strength. That is the story of the Buddha when he was great joy, the ox. I think the last thing that I want to say kind of ties up something for me.

[61:24]

And one of our Zen teachers, Chinese Zen masters named Guishan, who was a wonderful teacher, and he and his Dharma brothers started the Guiyang school, one of the first of the five schools of Zen. This is from 700s, said that to his community, he taught on Mount Gui. His name was Guishan Linggyu. He said, after a hundred years, meaning after I have died, I shall become a water buffalo at the foot of Mount Gui. This is what he's telling his students. And on my left side, which I think of as the heart, where the heart is, there will be five characters on my body saying, meaning on this water buffalo will be these characters saying, his name in the mountain where he taught.

[62:42]

At that time, you may call me the monk of Guishan, but at the same time, I shall also be a water buffalo. When you call me water buffalo, I am also the monk Guishan. What is my correct name? So this water buffalo, That is both just the monk Guishan, just a patch-robed monk who practiced and lived and tried to bring his practice into his everyday life, taught students, tried to help awaken them, and cared for them. He was just a simple and wonderful teacher, but when it comes down to it, it's a simple,

[63:45]

human being. And at the exact same time, he is water buffalo. He is water buffalo and a simple monk. What is water buffalo here? What am I talking about? He's a water buffalo. He's going to be born as a water buffalo. And I think my understanding of this is this is, you might say, the reality of his being, his suchness, his thusness, his big mind, as Suzuki Hiroshi would say. We're saying ox or water buffalo. And at the exact same time, that big mind, which is formless, empty of separateness, he's also... That big mind, that water buffalo is being expressed as Monk Goishan.

[64:50]

What is his true name? What are our true names? Because each of us is sentient being and Buddha. Our Buddha nature is sentient being and Buddha. This is Lotus Sutra. This is our deep teachings. I've always gotten tears in my eyes somehow when I've read this about him saying to his community, after I'm gone, I'll be reborn as a water buffalo, but my name will be on it inscribed. Each of us has our names inscribed on the field of our being.

[65:52]

And the baby bodhisattvas tomorrow for their precept ceremony will have a chance to bring this vow and wish and their practice of zazen into the practice of the precepts as everyday life. This virtue cannot be denied, it says in the precept ceremony. This virtue cannot be denied. So I think I should leave you there. very much. Please join me for the closing verse.

[67:04]

May our intention equally extend to everything and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. I want to thank everyone for coming today. Please know that we do rely on your donations now more than ever.

[68:08]

If you feel supported by the Dharma offerings of our temples, please consider supporting San Francisco Zen Center with a donation at this time. Any size is gratefully appreciated and a link will show in the chat window now with different ways to donate. We will also take a five minute break and return for Q&A. If anybody who needs to sign off now, please feel free to unmute yourself. Thank you, Linda. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda and everyone. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, all. Thank you from Venice, Linda. Thank you.

[69:09]

Thank you, Linda from Green Gulch. Okay. I'm going to take my little break. I'll be back. We'll come back at about 1115. You have to be quiet because I don't want background noise to get to your mic.

[72:25]

Welcome back, everyone. If you would like to raise your hand, there's a few changes to Zoom. There's a Reactions button at the bottom of the Zoom window in the toolbar. And if you click on that, there's a Raise Hand button. For some older versions of Zoom, the Raise Hand feature is in the Participants window under the More menu. And on your phone, it should just be in the toolbar in the more settings. If all else fails with the raise hand feature, which we've had some problems with, I will scan the video feeds and you can just raise your hand and I'll add you to the list or you can send me. Sorry, last one for a second there, but in case you can please send me a chat and I can also call on you then.

[74:20]

Looks like our first question is from Frederick. Hello, Linda. Hello, Frederick. Thank you so much. Your discussion with highlighting children and little people brings fond memories of my first Sunday's experiences at Green Gulch. How appropriate. I loved your conversation. It seemed to be so appropriate for this time because of our derisiveness and the divisions that we have. And I'm probably like many people on the board this morning here in our community that participate with boards and communication on the internet. And I would dare say that I fall into the unhealthy habit of not speaking in a kind hearted manner that you discussed today.

[75:40]

but it seems to be the call for me to embody that in this year of the ox with the new year beginning February 12th, to make that commitment actually beginning now to take on, because it feels twofold for me to be healthier and more relaxed, to not look at that derisiveness. And then secondly, if I want to be an advocate for you know, a healthy like democratic capitalism in our economy where we have a more fair and just society and the earth is protected. That's going to happen more easily if I can reach, you know, that practical sense that we, most of us want regardless of where we fall on the spectrum. I hear that as a vow for this starting now and may it,

[76:41]

May it be so. May you work on that. I think it is, you know, there's so many people who, I mean, using wit and sarcasm and all sorts of stuff at our disposal, and it can be disseminated all over. And, you know, I have my fair share of laughing at some of the spoofs and stuff people do. However, I think there's another way. And this concern for beings that I mentioned in the, and wanting to give, it's like all beings, you know, even, and how do we do it in a scope of way? Like, how do we have concern for a mob, you know? What does that concern look like? And rather than threats and I mean like that poor farmer who out of fear lost it you know and yelling and threats and fear you know so I really appreciate your taking this up and let us know how it goes it feels important to do that it feels like we have an administration that would like to

[78:07]

They have a clarion call, it feels like, that we are all called toward this. And I do take it as a vow, Linda. Thank you very much. Thank you. Anybody else? Jenny? I don't see anyone at the moment. I'm having some issues with my internet connection, but I'm looking at another screen to see if I can see anybody's hand. Linda, can you put it on the gallery and just see if somebody puts their hand up? It looks like we have a question from Lynn. Okay. Okay. And I'm getting, I'm not allowed to unmute. I hear you. Can you hear? Oh, okay. Okay, good. I felt as... Hi, Linda.

[79:12]

Hi, Linda. I enjoyed the story so much. I also remember the kids' Sunday mornings fondly. I thought when I was thinking about the story, when he started to whip the ox, it also seemed as if... if you look at it in an inner way, he lost faith in his, in the joyful nature or something like that. He, yes, was afraid and everybody was, it looked scary. And then he lost faith in his great joy friend or in himself in a way. Yes. Yes. I think you're right. And that kind of withering, you know, that happens inside when we are afraid. And, yeah, it's like our thoughts and all just kind of wither.

[80:20]

And then we do something that's not so skillful, you know, based on that fear. Yeah. So that if you're, if it was joy that was, always present, great joy, you lose that, in a way, out of doubt. You can lose that so easily by doubting yourself, in a way, or doubting your ability to, you know, keep having that kind of compassion that you were talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's said about compassion, It doesn't flow over still waters. It flows over precipitous straits. The boat, the boat of compassion does not ply the waters of a calm sea over precipitous straits. You know, so our compassion is tested. You know, it's not going to be always smooth sailing sometimes.

[81:24]

But so. Yeah, and I think in the story, he was tested. and lost faith and then lost compassion for, yeah. Lynn, I wanted to say that I received your news about moving, and I wish you the best. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Talk about precipitous straits. Yes, but thank you, Linda. Appreciate it. Yes, thanks. Thank you. I'll be thinking, yeah, I'll be thinking of you. Looks like we have a question from Mary Ann and Philip. Hello. Hello, Linda. I just wanted to say that, and now that I'm trying to talk, now I feel like I have tears coming up, but that great joy when

[82:34]

He pointed out to the farmer, he said, I've always tried to be good with you and help you and care for you. And you treated me like this. What have I ever done to be treated this way? And then the farmer realized that that was poor treatment. But then, great joy, he didn't stay with that expression. or hold a grudge, he immediately went on going back to being great joy who loved the farmer and took care of him and said, okay, I have a way of going forward. I have a good idea for you to recover from this and for me to do something good. So my point is that it's easy if somebody treats you like that to get angry or to revile them and then get stuck.

[83:42]

But if you just remember that great joy simply said, hey, why did you do this? And then went on and said, however, let's go forward. I've got a great idea and this will take care of things. So if you can just remember, even if you express something, you can change and go forward back in the loving relationship that great joy provided for the farmer. Yeah, I think that's a really good point, Marianne, because right at that place where you are treated poorly, we can get caught there exactly. And then there's resentment. holding, you know, in the precepts, it's harboring ill will, holding a grudge, you know, chip on our shoulder. And our lives are then poisoned by that and hatred.

[84:46]

But it's a very critical point and hard sometimes for people to, I guess you would say, forgive, understand, have compassion for the person and understand how they could have done such a thing. It can be very difficult for people. So thank you for shining light on that spot there where great joy didn't get stuck. He understood what happened. And that wasn't going to get in the way of them knitting back together their relationship. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question is from Shindo. Hello, Agent-san. Thank you so much for your talk. As usual, I just love listening to your stories.

[85:49]

And I really feel your grandson must be, he's so lucky to keep hearing your stories. My question was, you talked about the ox herding pictures in the beginning. And could you talk a little more about how you connect this to the ox herding pictures? I was a little curious about that. Yeah. Well, I mean, the ox and the year of the ox. So I was thinking about oxes. I think one thing about... You know, the Buddha, I think also in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, in talking about precepts, he uses the ox as an image, you know, and you tend it, you herd it, you keep it from going into the neighbor's fields, you bring it back, you tame it, you know. And in terms of our practice, it's a kind of maturing, you know, of watching our actions.

[86:54]

Are they skillful or not? Are we? is this unwholesome? Does this cause suffering? You know, so precepts and this idea of the ox has been put together in the sutras before. So that's one place. And, you know, when I didn't, I chose to tell the great joy story and I thought, I wanted to do this, but talk about this as well, but there wasn't any time. But A number of Zen masters bring up how long they tended their ox until it matured, you know. So the ox herding pictures, you lost the ox, right? And you set out to find it. And then you get a hold of it and you ride it home. And then that circle, that's one of the Enzo ox and herder disappear.

[87:55]

which I think is kind of what I was saying at the end about Guayachan being, I'm Guayachan and I'm in the water buffalo in Guayachan. The emptiness of both those is actually who we are. And then, of course, the last of the ox herding pictures is heading to the marketplace with gift bestowing hands, right? Which is such a happy picture. I mean, there's many different artistic renditions of those 10 pictures, but that last one, often it's a very happy-looking guy, usually a guy, heading off to just be with people, help them in whatever way, with no idea of I'm going to help you, just totally meeting with generosity. Yeah. Thank you. That was so beautiful. Could you tell me again the mind of the Buddha?

[88:57]

Ji, he, ki. Ji, he, ki, sha. Mu, ryo, shin. Mu, ryo, shin. Yeah. Thank you. That was so beautiful. I'm not sure if there's a long line over the ryo. Mu, ryo, shin. Mu, ryo, shin. Shin. And the Mu Ryo means without measure. Yes. Yes. And Shin is the heart mind. Okay. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay, our next question is from Baja. Hi, Linda. Hello. I just... Thanks for the talk, for the story. That's such a wonderful story, the story of the great joy, Walter Buffalo.

[89:59]

My attention was grabbed on two points, one on two dimensions. One was the fact that there was such a huge prize, probably the thousand pieces was a big fortune for that man. So that was... really a story of faith. Yes. Even to undertake it, such an incredibly, you know, risky business, that is huge faith. That really already required a huge faith. And of course, it's the story where he ran out of it under the pressure of this size of the price. So it was, that really grabbed me there. But also the dynamic between the farmer and the grey joy. And that's really amazing because that dynamic is representing our relationship to life. Since grey joy is the symbol of life, of the holy, the wholeness of life, when we are, when we lose faith and become aggressive, ambitious, fearful, graspy, we

[91:19]

destroy the relationship and in a way immobilize life from meeting us in the place where we want to be. That's that point, immobilize, because in the story that was expressed by him digging, he wouldn't move, not even, he wouldn't try, he wouldn't, no, everything stops. Yeah, immobilized, right? Yeah. at the end in the kind of celebration of their relationship and trust and being trustworthy and joyous together, when he puts that wreath, I'd love to see it illustrated like some wonderful watercolor illustrator with this big ox and this flower wreath over his head. You know, that was a very, it just, sung out to me about that real relationship of joy and trust, really, and practicing together.

[92:26]

Yeah. And humility, because putting a wreath on the head of an ox, it cuts through so many of us mental constructs around importance, status, who counts, who doesn't count, and the humility of seeing that everything about life is totally precious. And, you know, PhDs or titles, it just doesn't matter. Life itself is precious. So, yeah, that's such a loaded story. Thank you so much. I really... I felt tears running to my eyes. It was truly deeply cutting, yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm going to look through the video feeds just in case someone is raising their hand.

[93:29]

I can't see. I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. We have a question from Jenny. Hi, Jenny. I think you're frozen. Can you hear me? She must have... Got dropped, maybe she'll come back. Okay. Well, can you write her Jenny and just see if she's still there?

[94:42]

Let's see, it looks like she's back. Oh, there she is. Sorry, my Wi-Fi is really terrible. I'm going to put it back on just my photograph and see if that helps. Okay. Thank you for your talk, Linda Ruth. So good to hear you and hear your story. One thing that came up for me as I was listening is something that I've always kind of like cringed with, with Zen stories around like physical abuse and And I think in this story, it felt like a relief to hear that, you know, the ox was meeting the whipping with being like that wasn't OK. And why would you do that to me? And but it made me think of so many other stories that I hear of teachers hitting students and it like leading to awakening. And I wonder if you could speak to that a little bit.

[95:45]

Yeah. You're not alone in that response to some of these stories. And there is... The way I have over the years worked with it is... Well, a couple of things. One is... There are different styles of, I don't want to use 2021 eyes, ears, and mind and culture and so forth to see what's going on or make particular judgments about what was going on a thousand or more years ago. At the same time,

[96:50]

The proof is in the pudding, you know, like these things happen. Like Guishan, in fact, who I talked about with the water buffalo. Oh, no, he didn't get hit. Somebody else recently, their door was slammed on their foot and their foot broke. And they, you know, had a major realization. So we hear about the stories where the teacher was. Intuiting. something and acted out of compassion which takes any form in to do this thing to help the student for their benefit to help them wake up but there are probably plenty of stories that we don't hear about because actually the teacher was not skillful or I think there is one story from Hakuin where he was very rough with a student and the student had a kind of breakdown and never functioned fully again.

[97:56]

And Hakuin was very remorseful about that. And there's teachers in this day and age who think it's Zen-like to yell. And I know the story of one teacher who leaped over the orioki meal dishes and hit a server because they, anyway, just totally out there. But thinking, oh, this is Zen. Actually, somebody said about that, that situation at that particular temple was like Vietnam. I mean, they used. So I think it can be lots of misuse. And also there's a style, you know. So, yeah, that's just some commentary about it. I think we have to see, you know, who do we have affinity with and what stories do we have affinity with?

[98:59]

Some stories, it's very hard to learn from it because of our own karmic life. And it puts us off and other ones we're drawn to. So, yeah. So those are a few thoughts. I think, you know, we stopped carrying the stick here for some of the reasons, you know, that it just wasn't appropriate to our practice life to, even though it was very, very helpful to help people wake up. Suzuki Roshi was very skillful. It was wonderful to be hit by him. However, it was not creating causes and conditions for people to be able to practice fully. So we let it go. So I think that's part of San Francisco Zen Center's response to that, those kinds of traditions. Yeah.

[100:03]

Any thoughts further, Jenny? Okay. I can't tell from them. Yeah, hi. Yeah, thank you. I think it's helpful to think about the piece of looking at these stories with the present day 2001 sort of mindset. That's a good reminder for me and taking that into consideration and just the noticing what comes up in hearing these stories and the reminder that there are diverse stories of it having various impacts. And I think the part that's like really like sticking with me right now feels like it's the piece about, you know, just even being able to like have this conversation with you right now to like have those moments of like something comes up from a story and then there's this transmission between teacher and student and question and answer and like that kind of like

[101:11]

face-to-face interaction and intimacy that comes up from whatever is revealed in the stories. Yes. Well, I, I really encourage you to bring it up, you know, these things that don't set right. Like how is this Buddha's way, you know, like what, what gives, you know, to actually ask about the stories and about teachers, about me, about, you know, like I thought you took Buddha's vows, you know, How is that in alignment with that? I mean, I think that's how we safeguard one another and help create the Dharma ongoingly. Yeah, I had a person, I had a little Zen group in Coal Valley in San Francisco in the 90s on Sunday nights. And I wasn't there for one of the evenings. And one of the students, there was a new person who was in a college class and she was going to write a paper about this Zen or something.

[102:16]

And he got very angry that she had come to study the group and he grabbed her by the, by the scruff, by her collar and shook her. And she thought she was being assaulted, which she was. And he thought he was being really Zen. You know, I'll show her, you know, this is a practice group, not a, you can't study this. I tell you, there was, meetings and, you know, we had to work it out, but it like holding to some idea of what Zen is and then sort of hauling that in and using it in situations is, what can I say? You know, it doesn't work. You know, it's, it's not alive. It's that was. And when I asked him, like, what were you doing? And he said, well, I was doing what the Zen story, like the Chinese Zen masters from the eighth century. It was like, oh, no, help.

[103:18]

Yeah. So, yes, there you have it. It gets misused. And, yeah. And there are stories where, like the one where he slams the door on the guy's leg. And you think, what kind of a thing is that? But there it is. I think it is a koan for us. This very thing you're bringing up is a koan for us in what is Zen and what is our practice. Thank you so much. I think I see anyone else at the moment.

[104:20]

Okay. Well, maybe we're complete. We feel complete. Looks like there's one question from Kate, maybe. Okay. Thank you very much for the talk. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the story. I had never heard that before. I'm pretty new to this, to this practice. I'm very new, very new. So I just was hearing the words that Jenny was offering and really, really relating to Jenny, everything that you were offering, what it brought up for me when I heard you, Linda, was I lost my father recently.

[105:42]

And in our home- I'm so sorry to hear that. Can you hear me? Yes, I'm sorry to hear that about that loss. Thank you. And in our home, there was what would be described as hitting, right? In their parenting practice, my parents use hitting. And I think, and what I know is that my father, who was raised by a violent alcoholic was beaten as a child without mercy. And so what I'm imagining is that to him, comparatively so, his and my mother's behavior toward my siblings and I was not anything in the ballpark of what he experienced. So I think that...

[106:45]

you know, there was that kind of rationalization. However, when he passed, it was in his late 80s. And by that time, I was able to transform enough as an adult to where those last, that last decade of his life, I was able to see him as this wounded child, you know, clearly when we interacted that part of him was so very clear to me. And because I could see that child with the wound, I was able to, for the last probably 10 or 15 years of his life, interact with my father with such deep compassion and such love, really. So talk about tenderness. I would see that child and I just would melt with tenderness. And so, And then I was thinking about Great Joy and his ability, the ability of Great Joy, his or her, to, it seemed to me that Great Joy had some kind of agency or some kind of knew his or her equality with the farmer in order to be able to turn and say, wait a minute, why did you do this?

[108:13]

I've done nothing but serve you and care about, you know, your well-being. And that is a thing that a child does not have. A child does not have the ability to have that kind of, you know, you could not turn on your parents and say, what have I ever done to you? It just wouldn't probably happen. But so these are things that came up for me. And, you know, If you have any words to offer, that would be appreciated. Yes. Well, Kate, thank you so much for sharing that. I feel like, I almost feel like you have been practicing the core of this Dharma talk of seeing people as, just like you said, as the wounded child or as a child, and then feeling the tenderness just flow. even when there was such difficulty that you had to actually find forgiveness and compassion.

[109:24]

But it was through this love and tenderness. And what a blessing to have been able to do that in your adult life and for those last years. Blessing for both of you, I imagine. Can you hear me okay? Yeah, I had to plug in my battery, my charge. Yeah. So that's just a beautiful life story. And you're right. It's like as children, we can't do that. But as adults, we see it and we have agency and we can meet. even people have harmed us in a whole different way and understand. I think that's the thing you understood. You understood who he was and how those things had shaped how he acted and thought and yeah.

[110:27]

And another thing I've just realized listening to you is that had my father passed away at a younger age, he may not have gotten to that place in his life, where he, because he was in advanced years, he was 87, he had gotten to a place in his life where he was expressing vulnerability. Had he passed away at a time in his life where he was more in his working prime and his maybe machismo or whatever, I may not have ever been given the opportunity to see that vulnerability. Yes. Yes. Yes. And that he allowed you to, you know, but he let you in as well. It was mutual. I sounds like because he could have also shut down or even in his vulnerability, but he he didn't. And what a blessing for the two of you.

[111:29]

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Linda. Thank you. Thank you very much. Doing another quick scan. I think I see anybody else's hand up. Shall we close? Are we ready? Am I seeing nods? Would you like to hear a poem by Dogen just to end about a water buffalo?

[112:29]

Okay. So this is a poem. Those of you who maybe don't know who Dogen is, Japanese Zen teacher from 1200, who brought a particular school of Buddhism from China. to Japan, and that's the school that Zen Center is in, the lineage. So this poem was written when he was in China, when he was 26 years old. He died at 57, and was born 1200. So he wrote this when he was staying at a monastery. Below the mountain, I vainly raised a lazy water buffalo. In the evening, playing freely at his whim. Last night, he walks alone, trampling others' seedlings. At dawn, he returns without excuse. In violent wind and rain, he stops, longing for a calf.

[113:33]

With snow and frost deep, his seeking mind's at rest. With nose torn, he has not rope. To lead him. Head and tail both failed. Only poison energy remains. That is a very interesting poem to me. Dogen was a great writer and very prolific and a great poet. And I think he's talking about his own practice. So I vainly raised a lazy water buffalo. Meaning I think his own. His own practice that trampled other people's seedlings and was playing all night. I really don't know what he's saying exactly. Anyway, I just thought I'd share it with you. Just this water buffalo theme comes up with different teachers.

[114:37]

So there it is. All right. Thank you all very much. I didn't mention the Super Bowl, which I totally am not going to be watching or anything, but if you are, and if that's a fun thing for you today, please enjoy that and take good care, take good care of your health. And thank you very much. Thank you, Linda Ruth. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda Ruth. Thank you, Linda Ruth. Bye, Linda. Thank you again, Linda. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Bye. Bye-bye. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Linda. Bye. Take care.

[115:33]

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