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Attending to Pleasant and Unpleasant (incl. children's dharma talk)
2/2/2008, Ryushin Paul Haller dharma talk at City Center.
This talk centers on the practice of attention, particularly in discerning pleasant and unpleasant experiences, with a significant introductory engagement with children to foster curiosity and discovery. The discussion encourages exploring perceptions and conceptual understandings with openness and creativity, using a practical example involving a mysterious object guessed to be a bird's nest, leading to imaginative ideas about nature and connections to Zen practice.
Referenced Works and Texts:
- Not explicitly mentioned in the excerpt. The engagement focuses on experiential learning and fostering creativity, aligning with Zen practice principles but does not cite any specific texts or traditional Zen figures.
AI Suggested Title: Curiosity in the Art of Attention
This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations by people like you. As many of you know and some of you don't know, the first Saturday of each month, the first five or ten minutes of the talk is dedicated to the children who come. So... Would you all like to come a little closer? You want to come over? Go on. Could you do that little boy? He's very shy. Could you go and help him? Thanks. I have a show and tell.
[01:06]
And you get to try to figure out what it is. You know already? You haven't even seen it. Okay, let's see. Everybody gets to touch it when it's wrapped up, and then we'll see who can figure it out. Who wants to start? You do. Could you pass it to this little boy here?
[02:11]
Could you pass it to that little boy here? You hold it for a minute. Let me wrap it up carefully. No visual clues yet. Okay. Okay. Who thinks they know what it is? Wow. Okay, let's start with you. What do you think it is? Penaya? Penaya. Penaya. Okay, you think it's a penaya. And you think it is? A nut. A nut. A nut?
[03:12]
Okay. Wow. Let's dance together. A honeycomb. A honeycomb. Now, ta-da. Did we get it right? Okay, let's pass it around again. First you get touched, then you get to see. And if you like, you can smell it. Very good.
[04:26]
OK, now what do you say? OK, let's explore it a little bit. What would you think it goes? Do you think it goes this way? This way. This way. Or this way. This way. So it goes this way. And what is it? Just a tag end. Now remember how certain you were before. I said it was a honeycomb. It's a honeycomb. It looks a little bit like a honeycomb. You have to wait because you're the oldest.
[05:31]
I know, it's hard, isn't it? Yes. What is it? Make it up. Make it up. Yeah. What do you make up? Nothing? Nothing comes to mind? Okay. What do you say? A nest. A nest? Hmm. Yes? Yes? I think it's a hummingbird's nest. A hummingbird's nest? What do you say? Hummingbird's nest. Okay. So, now what leads you to that conclusion?
[06:36]
There's a big hole in it and it's cozy. There's a big hole in it and it's cozy. Oh, think about that one. How about honey and egg? Hollingbird's egg, yeah. That's an interesting thought too. Okay. So shall we vote on it? Let's vote on it. Everybody who thinks it's a nest, put their hand up. You know what? So here's the story. Somebody gave me this as a present. And they said it was a bird's nest. But they didn't tell me what kind of bird. Now what you should know, hummingbirds are very small, but there's also other small birds.
[07:44]
So it's a very interesting thought. It's true, if you're going to have eggs in there, you're going to have a little space. And you've got something to feel in there with your finger. Did you feel how... Yeah. It feels kind of a little bit cozy. It's a little bit fluffy. Isn't it? A little bit. Yeah. You want to touch? Good girl. Oh, wow. Thank goodness, huh? Do you guys get the tables with you?
[08:55]
You get the tables with you. Or they have tea. And you can keep thinking about what is it. And then there's all sorts of interesting things you can think about. The whole family of hummingbirds live here. Or just the brothers and sisters. And how many brothers and sisters do they have? And do little birds like hummingbirds, do they have names? And you can imagine all sorts of adventures for them. Like they go out in the world and have a great adventure and then... A dinosaur hummingbird. A dinosaur hummingbird? Indeed.
[10:03]
Okay, who wants to take it where you have tea? Who wants to carry it over there? Okay, how are we going to decide? The oldest. What do you think? Okay, should the oldest carry it? Are you the oldest? Oh, okay. So do you think you can carry it without dropping it? I can carry it without dropping it. Oh, great. That's good to know. Okay. Over there. I can carry it over there. We're going to go right that way. Okay? Okay, so you can all go. And here's what I'm going to do. After I give a child, I'm going to come
[11:05]
and see what amazing stories you made up about it. Okay? Okay? So thank you. You can go. You can go have tea and do something.
[11:23]
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