This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. As I joined you this morning for the Stama gathering, I want to thank my gratitude very much for inviting me and having me and all the elders of this community. that have nurtured me over the years and made it able for me to be here. And I thank all my teachers who have been patient with me. And so here we are this morning. Thank you for coming out despite rain and cold. I do... Thank my teachers from the bottom of my heart. And at the same time, I want to also clarify one general misunderstanding that we easily have within Buddhism around the word teacher.

[01:09]

In general, we have teachers in school and in the world that give us knowledge in order to succeed in the world. They're cheering us on in whatever skills we have and develop. In the Dharma realm, the word teacher is maybe a clumsy translation of spiritual friend or master or guide. I'm saying this because often we think there's something to get or some... knowledge to receive that will better our ways. So these Dharma halls are ringing with the teaching of there's nothing to get and echoing it just in the beginning of this talk.

[02:13]

In gratitude for all the witnessing and the care that has been expounded in upholding this teaching. Shakyamuni Buddha, when he was sitting under the Bodhi tree, he was content to the end of his search, which was a freedom from suffering. That freedom he expressed in the words of, I found a nectar-like Dharma that is profound and peaceful. Simple, luminous, and uncompounded. A nectar-like Dharma, what is that? We just vow to taste it. We just repeated that wish of wanting to taste the nectar-like Dharma. So what is that?

[03:16]

It is profound. Profound means it is free of a self. It is free of an inherent existent entity. any conceptual construction. That means it's profound because our conceptual mind cannot grasp it. And it is peaceful, which means it doesn't do any harm. It's free of any pain and harm. And it's simple, luminous, and uncompounded. which are adjectives of an experience, so experiencing that is accessible to us. And today I want to explore with you how that can be accessible to us. In Mahayana Buddhism, we generally use the word and the teaching of emptiness to approach this access.

[04:24]

And there are two ways of talking about emptiness, two ways of contemplating emptiness. The first way is the way of talking about dependent origination. Many of you probably have heard these teachings. When you look at your food and you see all the work and labors that are in there, or you look at this, platform here and you see that the pieces and the construction of it they are just so and there's a name attached to it some call it platform, some call it chair some call it table so there is a certain coming together of causes and conditions and looking into these causes and conditions, looking into the compoundedness of any situation, the compoundedness of objects, the compoundedness of our emotional states, of our mental states, leaves us little to grasp at.

[05:41]

And that experience of not being able to get a hold of a thing called table or a thing called lunch, a thing called person. That's one form of talking about emptiness. There's a lack of inherent existence, people say. There's a lack of a self. A self of person or a self of phenomena. These two types of lacks. that's being talked about in emptiness, and you probably heard about this teaching before. The second way of talking about emptiness is a teaching on Buddha nature. And the teaching came about very early around the Pashna Paramita Sutras. They are an interpretation of the Pashna Paramita Sutras.

[06:43]

And I think they naturally came about because When tragedy happens, and tragedy happens throughout all of human history, it's really hard to talk about emptiness. It's really hard to talk about things being just the panelists, being unborn, not being really created. It doesn't give quite the emotional satisfaction that we seek and the meaning-making that we need as humans. The teaching of Buddha nature have a very powerful function. They help us to continue to explore emptiness in the middle of pain. They also help us to explore experience in meditation. If we sit and really look at our mind,

[07:47]

It's not that we fall into some kind of void if we let go of all the conceptual fabrications that we encounter. We will be met with an experiencing of luminosity, simplicity, uncompoundedness. And And the teaching of Buddha nature helping to dive into that is out falling into the extreme of making that into a thing, making this experience into a concrete entity, or denying it, like we were just saying about the danger that the discussion of emptiness can have. So what is this Buddha nature?

[09:05]

Buddha nature is in the mind. It's a luminous mind that as soon as there's mind, as soon as there's a being, there's mind. And as soon as there's mind, there's Buddha nature. And it also... It's a great equality, which means that Buddhas and sentient beings, Buddha nature is the same. So there's a direct link between awakening and confusion through Buddha nature. Buddha nature is a wording for the Dhammakaya. Buddhism speaks about three embodiments of awakening. One is the Dharmakaya, one is the Sambhogakaya, and one is the Nemanakaya.

[10:10]

And that Dharmakaya is inherent in all minds. And when we talk about Buddha nature, we talk about the mind being covered with stains, adventitious stains. So that's a very technical term. But I'm going to keep unpacking this and we're going to ask questions at the end. So just stay with me a little bit. So what are stains, adventitious stains? Having an experience, a bodily sensation. Having a thought. that there's something out there separate from us. Having an emotion, joy of like or dislike, aversion, any kind of relationship that's as a self and an other,

[11:29]

that's kind of all of that connected to that kind of forms of stains and they're called stains because what's behind it is it's covering it's like the clouds in front of the sun and what the clouds are covering is the sun which is luminous and brilliant and unimaginably big and vast powerful and so to call clouds stains is not a dislike it's not using a word that word stain as a dislike it's just like explaining the function that these emotions and experiences we have are still covering up something that is so much more profound and deeper and vaster and we can have access to it um So the good thing about stains is, the only one good thing about stains is that they're removable.

[12:37]

So whatever problem in your life on paces, or whatever difficulty and tragedy you find oneself in, or whatever thought occurs to you, you know it's temporary and it can be removed. And in that there is so much liberation and freedom and ease, just knowing that. Just knowing that whatever pain we experience is temporary and it won't last. And it utterly fades in the face of the sun that's so much stronger. There's a liberation there that should be known and can be known by all of us. That's one of the five reasons why the Buddha nature teachings have been taught.

[13:43]

The first is faint-heartedness. It's one of our habits that we have, that we think we can't reach our goals, that we fail what we do, that we're not good enough. kind of shrinking away from the idea that we could not reach awakening in this life hinders us to making the effort needed. But other nature teachings have been explained to us in order to encourage us that we are able to reach awakening in this life. It's very close, very accessible to us. What is accessible? It's a nectar-like Dharma that is profound and peaceful. It is simple, luminous, and uncompounded.

[14:46]

It is the Buddha nature that is inherent in all our minds, and we have access to it right now. Of course, one can also fall in the opposite extreme. from pain-heartedness, which is pride. Any form of pride that has a sense of thinking one is better than somebody else. Any form of holding on to the idea, oh, I'm practicing the Mahayana, I'm a practitioner, I'm better than somebody else who's not practicing the Mahayana or hasn't even heard about Buddha nature. Any form of pride plays a rain check in the Buddha nature teachings. And that rain check is, you think you're better than somebody else and you don't see Buddha nature in somebody else, you're probably off the path.

[16:02]

You're probably not. engaging the nectar-like Dharma. So, that's very helpful. I think it's very helpful to keep contemplating the quality among all minds, breaking down all hierarchies and all forms of emotional barriers. Because if you see somebody behaving in oddly, there's a good chance that that activity is known by you in some way or another. It's something that you can relate to in some way or another. Just simply because you're sharing the same wish for happiness as this other person. But the other three reasons why Buddha Nature is taught, one of which is we take our experience so serious.

[17:11]

In many ways, we are believing they're really real. Whatever is happening is really real. It's the most important thing ever. And that's reifying our experience. It's... giving it more validity than it has. It's forgetting the fact that it's impermanent, that it can be removed. And in order to counteract this kind of form that's called eternalism in the technical philosophical realm, that kind of reification of our experience, Buddha nature is a good antidote because it's reminding us that all experience experiencing is cloud-like, dream-like, temporary. It can be removed. And the fourth reason of Buddha nature teaching is also to counteract any form of disparaging.

[18:17]

Disparaging the fact that there is a profound selfless mind. denying the fact that we all have Buddha Nature. That's kind of a form of nihilism. Coming into situations where we are not seeing the value of it, seeing the value of what's happening as being a learning lesson, as being a way of maturing our minds. We are in a situation where we don't feel engaged. We might want to see if it's not for us and maybe it's for somebody else. And maybe we can support that process for that person. And the last reason why Buddha nature teachings are being taught is because we cherish ourselves extremely.

[19:26]

We think we are the greatest. and special, and things have to happen for us in special ways. And Buddha nature reminds us that we're not the only ones seeking happiness. We can look at an ant and place a finger next to an ant, and you see an incredible creature. You see a personality. Some ants are totally curious and crawl up on you, and some other ants are scared and run away. You can also see like and dislike even a small creature that has mind and that relates to its environment. So we're not the only ones seeking happiness. That kind of Buddha nature teaching is helping us to open, to let go from our self-cherishing, from thinking we are the center and start to serve those around us. So serve the minds and be helpful to the minds.

[20:27]

minds around us. So this is a nectar-like Dharma and of course probably the question is how do we engage it? How do we practice with it? How do we relate to it? And this is a Zen tradition. This is a Zen temple. There are many paths that being taught in Buddhism. There are the paths of the Shravakaryana vehicle, which are the five paths, the ten Bhumis and Levas and the Mahayana. And all of these paths and descriptions are 84,000 different ways of relating to the nectar-like Dharma. All of these can be summarized into study, reflection, and meditation. I heard there is a study focus coming up in this temple.

[21:32]

So I think there's a lot of opportunities to keep studying, listening to the different ways of the Dharma is being presented. Emptiness is being explained and pondered. There's this reflection, which is trying it out. It's knowing that what everyone is hearing is initially conceptual, it's an idea, it's a compound. But these compounds and these ideas are there to challenge us, to really look into our minds, take the inner science up and look at the background of the painting. the wallpapers of our minds that are... So if one, for example, were to move, and you tell the people helping you move to take everything out of the house to move, you would be so surprised somebody would start pulling up the wallpaper, right?

[22:46]

But ultimately, in the moving between the different visions and understandings in... this Buddhist practice path, we all want to question the wallpapers too. And some of the wallpapers are so hidden, you might not even notice that you have them. Two big ones show up in the discussion that I'm having with people. And one is science-based, a lot of believing in logic, almost. and material existence. And there's a lot of discussion already with Buddhism and science. I think they're really having a good time just comparing notes. But science and logic, how it is formed within the sciences, is to discover new things.

[23:55]

And in Buddhism, it's not about discovering a new thing. So that's a difference. The other one are the Abrahamic traditions, where I and maybe many of you have been raised in. And they have ethics as the foremost principle, like following the law and following ethics. And having the ethical behavior will lead to... their liberation, their freedom or their love in their deity. And while ethics has a place in Buddhism, and it's very helpful in the workings of cause and effect, it's not the end of the Buddhist path. The means to liberation within Buddhism is a compassion united with wisdom. And that wisdom is, again, not a wisdom of something, but it's that knowing, that deep realization of the freedom from anything.

[25:07]

And in this way, again, to the path that's being followed here in the Zen tradition, maybe it strikes to many an oddly, you know, having these maybe wallpapers of these values in the background of your mind, if you're instructed to not do anything. Like here we are living in a burning house. There's a lot of topics that are worth paying attention to and a lot of grief. And we should pay attention to grief. It's very important. And yet, how do we know what really helps? How do we really know what is the most helpful thing in the face of pain and grief and what the other person and the other situation need? It's only a Buddha that really knows cause and effect deeply.

[26:14]

It's only an awakened one who knows why something is happening and for what purpose. And it's very rare to meet the instructions on how to find that knowledge, find that insight, that wisdom into cause and effect that's so deep and so penetrating and so perfect. That's really good not to miss this opportunity to look at your mind and find that knowledge. Everything is burning and everything is hurting. if you really want to be free you have to find that knowledge so in this way this is a love song for not doing anything and it's being expressed way better in one verse that I

[27:28]

really treasure in the Uttar Tantra. It's a text way back from India. By the Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha whose love, whose kindness, Buddha is going to come to meet us. He's saying nothing whatsoever is to be removed. Not the slightest thing is to be added. Truly looking at truth. Truth is seen. When seen, this is complete liberation. Nothing whatsoever is to be removed. Not the slightest thing is to be added. Truly looking at truth. Truth is seen. And seen, that is complete liberation. In many ways, there's a Sarsan instruction, I could say.

[28:37]

So in meditation, which is one form of study, contemplation, meditation, in our Sarsan meditation, it's the instructor to look. And in fact, if you come here to sit in Queen Gulch, you'll hear many... So you see many forms and many bells and sounds that keep you on the toad of looking. And when one looks, of course, initially, you know, one needs certain... ethic in order to have a good conscience because that really helps one be settled. Then one needs a certain concentration that helps one to stay focused.

[29:45]

But slowly, slowly through that effort, that's different for everyone. Some people have to make more, some have to make less. That's like some effort involved. once you go there, there is a place when there's fire, kind of a fire of your effort that can turn into effortlessness. So an analogy for that is if there's fire, like a little fire. If it's weak, any wind that's coming, it can blow it out. So if you might have some clarity, you have some insight, you get some concentration, following your prayers, contemplating the Dharma, you might get a little fire going.

[30:53]

But then you have a holy wave of stress about something, it might blow it out. then you're thinking about the thing that you have to do, whatever. So the one path to go is to leave the stress aside for a while. You know things are urgent and burning, but nurture this fire. Nurture it, nurture it. It's that form of, again, having some concentration, having some contemplation. Sharmata Vipassana. Nurture it. And then it then becomes so strong that when wind comes, it actually like bursts a flyer big. And it like all the wood soldiers who like the different ideas that we have that are like trying to like prevent the fire, it's just going to burn it up.

[31:56]

It's just the fire is just... It's just going to burn through them. So what are these wood soldiers, these concepts, these ideas, these constructions? Your insight into non-duality will be done so strong at the time, with shangada vipassana being strong, that it can burn these constructions. And what does it do good for the world? It creates, it helps come with some creativity. It's being able to step outside the boxes. any little boxes of stress that we have, we're able to step outside of it. So in this way, meditation is the big powerful tool that Buddhism has to offer. And it's not a one-time thing. It's become an initial effort, coming to a place where that can

[32:57]

turn into an effortless practice. And that effortless practice burns through naturally the hindrances that we have to seeing our natures. It burns through the clouds and the sun will be able to shine. And the sun is not a personal sun, it's the sun of all of us. So in this way it will be really, really helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[33:54]

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