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 from people like you. Good morning. Thank you all for coming out on this rainy, wonderfully rainy Sunday. And we have the delight of listening to the raindrops on the roof. The rain has been coming down steadily for many days now, and all of Green Gulch, Green Gulch is the name of this practice place, Green Dragon Temple, and the green dragon who has...

[01:01]

sky-headed, sea-tailed, green gulch dragon is delighting in this rain. And the hillsides are just green with grasses and all sorts of new growth. And we're all delighting in this. The word grass in Zen imagery is a word, grass or weeds is a word for kind of the 10,000 myriad things of our life, of our world, all the phenomena, all of our thoughts, the objects of our life, our senses and what comes in through the sense doors, what we hear and see and taste and touch and all that is called the grasses, the 10,000 grass tips.

[02:03]

And one of our ancestors, one of our teachers, Chinese Zen master in the 800s, a direct forefather, foreteacher for this lineage named Dengshan, at a time when his practitioners were, they had been in the monastery practicing for about 90 days and it was time for them to set off, leave that time of practice, that retreat. And he said to them, some of you will go west and some of you will go east, but you must go where there is no inch of grass for 10,000 miles. What does that mean? And then right after there was a pause and then he said, but where there's not an inch of grass for 10,000 miles, how are you going to go?

[03:11]

Where are you going to go? So he kind of answered his own question. What does this mean to go somewhere where there's not an inch of grass, where there's not any of the myriad things? Is there such a place? Do we want to get to such a place? somehow outside of our troubles and struggles and what's going on in the world, can't we just get away from it all? That's a kind of dream we have, maybe a wish, and he told them they must go there, but then how can you go there? This is a kind of Zen story a Zen admonition that you can't understand maybe right away. You have to turn it. You have to hear it and reflect on it and turn it. So I'm going to turn this story with you as we look at together a very, very old teaching that I want to share with you in light of our

[04:23]

situation that we find ourselves right now at these, in this time in our life as we face the ecological crisis and climate change and the climate emergency. This past Friday, I was invited to speak at something called Religion and Ecology Summit, which sounds, you know, the summit. It was a wonderful day at the California Institute of Integral Studies. And I was one of many, many speakers from the sciences, from the academic life, practitioners, artists coming together to look at this integration, really, of spirituality and ecology, religion and the environment, which for years and years has been separated Artificially, I think, but, you know, the scientific and the ecological, it can't be sullied by spiritual concerns.

[05:29]

We have to be, you know, clear about these things. And now, more and more, it's, in fact, now at CIIS there's a master's and doctorate program in spirituality and ecology. I mean, it's, this may be the only way to... respond to the world right now. There isn't just one path. We need to integrate the paths. So one of the kind of marvelous offerings at this summit came right at the end. It was the penultimate event of the day, and it was a woman named an artist named Heidi Quinte, I think it's pronounced, Quante, and Alicia Escott. They're two performance artists and also spiritual beings.

[06:34]

They have set up as a kind of art installation something called the Bureau of Linguistic Reality. And what they're trying to do, and they do this publicly and have salons, is in these times when we're faced with unimaginable change, I mean, the Buddha taught change, all things change in impermanence, but the knowledge that our world... that there may not be a future that is recognizable to how, you know, with the loss of species and famine and drought and sea levels rising, et cetera, it's unprecedented. And we're not actually able to even integrate it in our own psyches, psychologically, emotionally. So there, what this particular Bureau of Linguistic Reality is trying to do is

[07:39]

help beings, help people who are feeling a lot of emotion in this way find words that there are no words yet that have been coined or that meet the emotions that we're feeling right now. And so they help people to describe the emotions and then try to find words that... I'm not crying, my eyes water. Try to find... I could be crying, but... trying to find words to hit the mark. And they asked us for, you know, what we're thinking, what are our emotions. One of the words that they came up with or phrases had to do with, it was January, the sun was shining in San Francisco, it was warm. One of them was wearing a summer dress and just enjoying the sunshine and then realizing, but it... is January. This is San Francisco. This isn't right. It shouldn't feel this way. And having this, I shouldn't be enjoying this.

[08:43]

This is terrible. But her body was loving it, you know, and loving to be out in the sun. But no, no, this isn't okay. And they named that, they gave that a name, which was psychic corpus dissonance. where the body is, but the mind, you know. And she was talking about encouraging people to use these words so that they come into the world. Just like the word smog was a coined word by a doctor seeing these lung problems and realizing this is not fog. So I was asked to, we were all asked to come up with something that doesn't have a name yet. And what I said was, My children are all of childbearing age and all have partners. And I would love to be a grandmother, would love to have grandchildren.

[09:47]

How wonderful, how incredible to have grandchildren. And at the same time, feeling this fear and anxiety and horror, really, at what the world is. and what the world they will be living in and what world they're being brought into. If they were to be born, actually, babies are being born right now. And these two things, when asked, well, is there any intuition you have about what it should be called? And what I came up with was the word in Italian for grandmother, which is nona, and the word in Italian for fear, which is paura. So the word was nonna paura, grandmother fear. And she said, go for it, use it, see what happens. So I'm using it with you, this grandmother fear, nonna paura, for this unnameable, these emotions that we have.

[10:57]

So this... The teaching I wanted to talk with you about today, as I said, is very old. It's from the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, 2,500-plus years ago. And it's said that he gave this teaching basically on his deathbed. It's the last teaching to offer to people, the last, most important, and it's called the Eight awakenings of great beings, the eight awakenings of great beings. And Shakyamuni Buddha, so this was thousands of years ago, this teaching, that feels extremely relevant to right now, right today, with what we're facing, how we need to practice, what can support us. And along with Shakyamuni Buddha offering this on his deathbed, Dogen Zenji, who is a Zen master from Japan, directly in our lineage that Zen Center has, San Francisco Zen Center, he also taught this.

[12:10]

And when he was sick and the last less than a year to live, he also offered the same teaching, the eight awakenings of great beings. So both of these amazing teachers, Buddhas, awakened ones, chose to offer this teaching at the end of their life, and also Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese master, also knows this, not knows it, teaches this, and comments on it, did comment right on this, and felt this was very important. In fact, I think it's chanted at Plum Village, these eight awakenings of great beings. So, in this... Summit Ecology and Spirituality, these eight awakenings of great beings, which some of you have heard, some of you have studied those with me, but they bear repeating.

[13:11]

We can never actually get enough of teachings that meet us in the deepest way. And if we learn them by heart, we can draw on them forever as a refuge. So the eight awakenings of great beings, the first one is to have few desires. I'll just do all eight. To have few desires is the first. To know how much is enough is the second. The third is... the awakening of tranquility and serenity or contentment. The fourth is diligent effort, awakening of diligent effort. The fifth is not to neglect mindfulness.

[14:14]

The sixth is the practice of meditation. The seventh is cultivating wisdom. And the eighth is not to have hollow discussions. And from my point of view, this eighth one always at first felt like kind of tapped on, like, you know, you're talking about mindfulness and effort, and then don't have, you know, frivolous talk and idle chatter. But it's extremely important for all the other ones. And each of the eight, you know, they're not distinct and separate. They all reflect one another and are... They're like 64, really. They each contain one another. So through these practices, we can find an inner stillness. We can be supported. We can awaken ourselves to ways to take up our life.

[15:21]

that will help us as we continue to walk through the weeds and the grasses and tall grasses of our life. So the awakening to have few desires. This awakening, you know, it doesn't say have no desires, like you should give everything away. We have stories about people who put all their belongings in a boat, went out to the middle of a lake, sunk the boat, you know. And that might be a practice you might want to do. Actually, I remember once when I worked in the front office of San Francisco Zen Center in the 70s, I got a postcard, because everything was postcards and mail, and it said, I've sold all my belongings and shaved my head, and I'm coming to Zen Center. And I thought, oh no, you know. And I think they lasted for about a week, you know. So we have to be very careful about these extreme things.

[16:24]

So this is not extreme. This is awakening, the awakening to have few desires, not none. And we do have desires for good relationships, good conversations, food, shelter, right livelihood, all those things. Those are desires too. Those are wholesome desires that support us and each other. What it's pointing out is, what is the problem of lots of desires, overwhelming desires, inexhaustible desires? What's that all about? And then when we get that very thing, we find out we all know this. Once I get that, then I'm going to be satisfied. Then I'm going to be happy. And then, of course, not too long after, it's we're on to the next thing. That's gonna, that, oh, when, if I get that then. And that kind of a mind is scattered, is grasping, is very susceptible to flattery and currying favor and wanting, gaining fame and actually letting go of our precepts

[17:44]

and are wanting to live in a certain way because we desire this and that becomes more important. So in terms of our own integrity, our own gathered body and mind, having few desires is what the Buddha and Dogen are suggesting and many other teachers as well. When we look carefully at where is this coming from, these desires, often there's part of it And in terms of our environment, when we look at the destruction of our world, we can go right to these desires that are inexhaustible and greed and the insatiable quality and addiction to fossil fuel and everything that that brings. What is that all about? If we study our desires and how they come up, over and over, we can go right to the heart.

[18:45]

What is it that we're trying to assuage? What anxiety, what discomfort is there that we think some external object or love object or new items is going to meet? So by practicing with this, we can connect with our own anxieties and our own discomforts. So when we come to see more and more that these conveniences, and I think many of us are privileged enough, not all of us by any means, to get these things that we need without too much difficulty. And this convenience and the material things that we have This is not by our own hard work. These things come to us sponsored by the entire earth and by people that we don't know and their lives are affected by our insatiable desires.

[19:57]

And there's a debt actually we have to beings for this that we don't maybe understand that when we open to it and awaken to it, it can be overwhelming, actually. And we might feel like, well, I can't wear anything or eat anything or do anything, go anywhere, because of this debt that we feel that we can't requite. So bearing in mind these impacts on the world of our desires and the collective And how do we shift that? So this first awakening, the Buddha and Dogen say, those who have few desires are satisfied with what they have and do not have a sense of lack. This is freedom. This is also connected up with being bound by these things.

[21:00]

So our freedom is connected with this too. The second awakening is to know how much is enough. And this is connected with desires, too. Knowing how much is enough or being content. How do we know how much is enough? This is a wonderful question. We have many, many things in our life. Is it enough? Are we taking good care of those things? Are those things... Do we even know what we have? I remember years ago there was a book, kind of a big coffee table book that had pictures of families, I think, with all their possessions in front of their domicile all throughout the world. And some had just, you know, a little blanket with a few things and some had, you know, enormous, just, you know, all the, they took out all the appliances, you know, and everything and put it all out on the lawn, the cars and I don't know if any of you saw that book.

[22:03]

So when is enough enough? Our practice in the monastery or in a practice place of eating with a nested set of bowls called oryoki, eating in the meditation hall in a meditative way. And the name of those bowls means, the translation of it is, a container for the appropriate amount. just enough for supporting life and waking up. We eat to support life and to practice the awakened way. So these bowls themselves are named just enough, just the appropriate amount. So do we know it's enough? Do we even know what we have? And how does that affect our life and our state of mind, really, not knowing what is enough connected up with our desires.

[23:04]

Some of you have probably read this best-seller book by Marie Kondo, The Japanese Art of Tidying Up, The Magic of Tidying Up, The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. And she talks about how you work with when enough is enough. And she has exercises, I'm sure some of you have read it, doing these things, where you, with each item, you pick up whatever it is and you say, like a cup or something. You lift, you hold it and you say, does this spark joy? And you know whether it does or not. You know, that is not a, you know. And if it's like some cup that, I don't know where it came from, you know. I found one of those cups. It had Tam High School written on it. And I was keeping pens and pencils in it. But I didn't like the cup at all.

[24:07]

It didn't spark joy. It was this thing. And by just looking at it and saying, does this spark joy, it allowed me to give it to goodwill. Somebody else can use it. And I found actually a place for pencils and pens that did spark joy. It had an owl on it and it was a gift. I didn't know where that other thing came from, that other cup. So this is a practice. It's an awakening to know how much is enough, to awaken to that in our life and change our life. And this will bring the enjoyment of contentment Contentment goes along with this when we know how much is enough. And then anywhere we are, we can feel happy and content. And if we don't have this quality, we can be in a palace surrounded by delicious foods and wonderful and not feel satisfied or content.

[25:09]

So contentment is a state of mind and heart. So knowing this and knowing that not knowing what is enough comes from this anxiety, you know, can come from this anxiety and trying to manage it somehow. And what is this anxiety? Well, anxiety, as I said before, and grief and incredible fear and has to do with what is happening, one of the things, we have many anxieties and difficulties in this way, but a great, huge, and this is, I think, named as a mental difficulty for therapists to know about is has to do with the environment and what's happening with our environment and how it affects us and our state of mind and this anxiety about that there will be no future as we know it.

[26:19]

It's overwhelming. And this powerful feeling of this threat. We keep it at bay and we manage it. How do we manage it? We can manage it by getting stuff. and not knowing how much is enough. So by looking at this, this can support opening our eyes, awakening. It's an awakening to what's going on with us and help us to connect and turn our lives, transform our lives, and feel and deal with the actual thing that's going on, which is overwhelming grief, perhaps, at the destruction of... life and cultures and people and animals. So also this looks at, you know, there's a, in our precepts, the ten major precepts or ten clear mind precepts, the second precept is to not take what is not given, to not take what is not freely given.

[27:33]

And we can Are we in alignment with this? Are we taking too much of the resources of the world? And are we, is there a self, you know, in order to assuage these anxieties? We use the resources of the world and that's part of the vicious circle. So the health of our Earth, our inner health, and the health of the Earth, which are completely intertwined, are really one and the same, call upon us to take responsibility for our actions. And this is one place to look. The third awakening is to enjoy tranquility and serenity. And in the commentary, it says, if you want to enjoy tranquility and serenity, You should be away from the crowds and stay alone in a quiet place.

[28:36]

Now, my sense of this is I don't want to take this too literally. I don't think it's possible for us to leave our family, our friends, our work, and we don't want to. However, how do we find serenity and tranquility and stillness right in the middle of our lives, right in the middle of the weeds? The weeds themselves, if we look carefully enough, there is stillness there in the myriad things. We don't have to get rid of the myriad things to find stillness. So how do we each day find tranquility and serenity in ourselves, on our cushion, on our yoga mats, in our daily activities of gardening and walking and exercise, being in the wilderness, art, writing. Can we find serenity and tranquility right in the middle of our daily activities?

[29:44]

And there's time for retreat. There's time to really be in silence, practice meditation. for the day or the week. Those things are important too. But in and of themselves, by themselves, without bringing that back into our daily life, one might say, well, what for? You know, that's not part of our caring for one another, caring for the earth. We have to bring, we want to bring stillness, serenity, and tranquility into our everyday life of work and engagement. So we don't have to be a hermit, some romantic idea of going off into the mountains. As a hermit, we can make of ourselves, ourselves, our own body, mind, a place of tranquility and serenity that becomes a place of refuge for others, for ourselves. We can draw on it and for each other and for the earth.

[30:48]

So right in our activities we can find a place of practice. And this is not only available to us, not only do we have the capacity for this, this is our nature actually, but I would say it's essential. It's essential for our life and it's essential for the world. And the world is asking us, find this time. Make of yourself a place of refuge. This is the request from the earth. Dogen calls this serenity tranquil and unintentional peace. Not trying to find peace, but this itself is peace. Other ways to find this is with each other with our colleagues, making places for good conversations and discussions, places of safety where we can express ourselves, be ourselves, listen to one another, and relax completely.

[32:03]

And this is the opposite of burnout, I would say. This ability daily to find this kind of rest and serenity and tranquility, then we can continue on. The weeds, all the myriad things, all the struggles, the weeds themselves are appearances of suchness, are dependently co-arisen, brought to you, sponsored by the entire world. And they're Dharma gates. They're ways of entering and engaging with practice. They're not to be pushed away and avoided as like problems, like getting caught in the weeds. The weeds themselves, this is how we develop and help one another. The bright, clear hundred grass tips are the bright, clear mind of the ancestral teachings.

[33:07]

Those weeds themselves are not to be run away from. The fourth awakening is diligent effort. And the definition of a diligent effort is engage ceaselessly in wholesome practices and devotedly. So if we're finding these places of tranquility and serenity, there's a place for ceaseless, wholesome, diligent effort that we can, this supports this kind of effort. The tranquility and serenity and the other, that's what I mean by how they intersect one another. They're interdependent, all of these. So diligent effort in the commentary, it says, does not turn back. when we set out, whatever it is. And I think this is the secret of the arts and our practice and our work, to just continue on as the Buddha, the image the Buddha uses is a thin stream of water falling on rock that over time, as we know, will go through that rock, will break through rock, just ceaseless effort.

[34:34]

And, you know, not overdoing it, not underdoing it. Underdoing it is like putting a pot to cook on the fire and then taking it off and then turning it on, turning it off. The cooking will never come, it'll never happen. So the ceaseless, diligent effort is ceaseless. And my sense of it is becomes more than just diligent effort, like doggedly, it becomes like a vow. to just continue in the face of going through the tallest weeds and the difficulties of our life, continue step by step, walking together with one another, walking through the fog. We don't even know where we're going, but we were continuing. So ceaseless effort, is right now I think hundreds and thousands of people across the whole world are working for waking up to the climate emergency, are doing grassroots, grassroots in the grasses together, helping one another, working together.

[35:56]

to wake everyone up to our situation. And it's going to take that, this kind of transformation, which is happening. There's a lot of optimism, you know, after the Paris conference and the 192, 95 nations coming together to say, we must do something, we will do something, and coming to an accord. There's a lot of optimism right now, joining together and educating one another participating in creative problem solving. This kind of diligent effort is happening, protesting, demonstrating, donating, whatever people can do, all together. And this is taking responsibility for how we've gotten to where we've gotten, which is everyone's responsibility. And those who've contributed the least, you know, are receiving the most. affects the poorest among us who have contributed the least to these situations are bearing the brunt of this.

[37:10]

So our diligent effort is needed and there's a transformation happening, turning away from this strong individualism to our interconnectedness. and a vow, really, to serve life. We have to. The fifth awakening is not to neglect mindfulness. And I know many of you have been practicing mindfulness, are being introduced to mindfulness in many ways at school, at work, in retreats. So this is the Buddha and Dogen mentioned, do not neglect mindfulness. And the way they talk about it is, if you want to seek the counsel of Good teachers and good friends do not neglect mindfulness. They said it's a good idea not to neglect mindfulness. Mindfulness will protect you. You know, the weeds, walking through the weeds of our life and all these myriad difficulties, we can get caught up and get lost.

[38:22]

Mindfulness will protect us and help us in everything we do. And this is mindfulness. Mindfulness is one of the eightfold path. It can't really be pulled out as its own thing, although often it's offered that way. But I think mindfulness is connected with precepts and meditation and right view and right livelihood and right speech. Mindfulness is intersects and flows through all of those things. It can't really be its own separate thing. So our mindfulness of breath and our actions and our speech is completely transformative and endlessly portable. We can always be mindful of breath and body. Always. Even to our last breath. And this brings stability.

[39:25]

to ourselves and anyone who has contact with us, speaks with us, works with us, hangs out with us. When we're mindful of our speech and our actions and develop this, we are someone that people can trust. One of the most difficult things for me has been this revelation that there's been a concerted effort for decades, really, of efforts being made for disinformation about the climate, you know, things that were known in the industries, fossil fuel industries decades ago, and then money, enormous amounts of money spent to basically put out lies and and disinformation and change people's minds so that they don't know these things, lying about climate change, bending the truth.

[40:34]

And I realize I find this extremely painful. I admit this sense of the loss of the most basic shared principles of our life, our human life together. the loss of alignment with compassion, the effect of this, the huge consequential effects of this is, you know, hard to imagine, really, the scale of it. And ignoring this resulting in massive harm. So in terms of mindfulness, you know, I realize these weeds, you know, these things, strong emotions around this and disbelief. I have to come back to mindfulness of causes and conditions, you know, that there are causes and conditions that allow this to happen. There aren't beings that somehow arise in a vacuum and act in this way.

[41:41]

This comes out of the entire fabric of our interconnected codependent, codependently arising, I should say, life. And those causes and conditions can be studied. They can be looked at. They're also vast and fathomless, but you can look. And I have to admit that if I were in those circumstances, brought up in that way, educated in that way, I too would think in that way. I'm not immune. We're not immune to causes and conditions and influences. We are all humbly, I think we have to admit, we are all susceptible to this. So I have to come back to that point over and over or I will create enemies, some enemies in my mind that will not be helpful, you know, will not, this is not how I want to think and act and speak.

[42:43]

So I have to be particularly careful around this point. And there's many ways that I, you know, deny or don't look at the truth too, right? Many, you know, thoughts of, well, dismissing that we need to change or saying, well, things have been done already. or things have been done and they didn't work. You know, these are all kind of ways that we can find to not look or saying it's others fault. They did it. And not realizing that we're connected too. Our choices are part of it. And saying it's just going to cost too much to make the changes. So this is not to neglect mindfulness is the fifth awakening, to awaken to being mindful of our thoughts, our speech, our actions in whatever we do.

[43:57]

The sixth awakening is practicing meditation. And the quote, the commentary is to abide in the truth without being confused. or disturbed is called stability in meditation. So many of you practice meditation have been taking this up in your life, some for years, some more recently. And this having few desires, knowing how much is enough, making effort, all of this contributes to a stable mind, to being able to practice meditation. to gathering the causes and conditions to be able to practice meditation and find calmness. So sitting in meditation will help us find stability. That in itself is stability, is a stable body and mind just sitting down. And this will, if we make this a focus in our life, it will help us to find stability in these times.

[45:07]

of great instability and more instability to come that we have no, we can't even imagine, really. So who are going to be those people who can be there for others that can find imperturbability and calm in the middle of a hurricane, literally, figuratively? May that be us. May we take up cultivating meditation, practicing meditation, out of compassion for others, make of ourselves a stable being, calm being. And this will support our life and our work and everything we do. And out of this meditation, we will see the truth of impermanence, that the Buddha taught this life of change and be able to meet change too.

[46:13]

So the Buddha's image for this awakening of practicing meditation is creating, building a roof, a strong roofed house or an embankment that will hold our understanding, hold the wisdom. So we need this to be able to withstand the onslaught of loss and grief and the loss of half the species of the world. There's a prediction by end of the century, half the species of the world. How are we going to meet this with imperturbability? And the world really wants us to do this, needs this. practicing meditation. Whatever lineage or religion, you know. The seventh awakening is cultivating wisdom which flows from all the other ones, as you can see.

[47:18]

And the Buddha talks about three kinds of wisdom. The wisdom from listening, srutta maya prajna, which is coming from listening and also reading. coming in through those sense doors, hearing and seeing, then the wisdom of reflecting Chintamaya Prashna, Prashna's wisdom, reflecting, thinking about it, talking about it with others, discussing, writing about it, what these teachings are that we've heard, and having it, contemplating it. And then the third kind of wisdom is Bhavindamaya Prashna, which is incorporating it, having it become us, practicing what the teachings are so that we become the teachings, so that whatever we say, how we think, expresses those understandings, that wisdom. So these three, the listening, the contemplating, and the practicing or incorporating are these three kinds of wisdoms that is an awakening.

[48:24]

And it In the commentary it says, if you practice these kinds of wisdoms, you will be freed from greed, which brings us right back to the first awakening of having few desires, and the second, knowing how much is enough. Wisdom will free us from these afflictions of grasping after what we think will bring us peace and freedom, and which won't. will not. We know this. We've tried it so many times. But we can't let go yet. Just let me try this last thing. So this wisdom will free us from that to find true peace. This is the teaching. This is the circle of the teaching. So this wisdom also is completely connected with compassion. Wisdom

[49:27]

without compassion is kind of cold, but compassion is the warmth of caring about others, suffering with. And the bodhisattva of the enlightenment being of infinite compassion named Avalokiteshvara Guanyin, the name itself means the one who hears the cries of the world. And that bodhisattva of infinite compassion is, you've probably seen statues where The figure has a thousand hands and arms. Each hand has an eye. That's the eye of wisdom. And the hands carry implements of all kinds to help beings to serve the world. So wisdom and compassion are fused, are really one life that can't really be separated in this teaching. So when we're cultivating wisdom, the Buddhas appear in the world out of compassion for beings.

[50:29]

That's the only reason awakened beings appear in the weeds and the grasses to help beings out of compassion. So this compassion is... thought of as medicine for the sick. This wisdom, compassion together is a light in the darkness and medicine for the sick. And it opens our eyes. It opens our eyes of compassion. So listening, reflecting and contemplating and then incorporating in our very own bodies. And this will grow and flourish and be a source, a resource for the world. That's how we will help beings, with our own body-mind. That's all we got. The last of the eight awakenings is not to be engaged in hollow discussions.

[51:33]

And hollow discussions or hollow speeches, frivolous talk and idle chatter, frivolous talk and idle chatter, which basically scatters the mind all over. So, kind speech, you know, our speech is so powerful, we may not realize the power it has to heal, as well as our listening, you know, this practice of listening. One who hears the cries of the world, when we listen to one another, healing occurs, when we completely listen. Even when we're listening to someone we disagree with, if we completely listen, there will be a response that can come. If we don't listen, already we throw in our sense of it, and you're wrong, and I know, and I don't want to hear anymore. We've lost the connection, and nothing will come of it, really, except more ill will, I think, and argument.

[52:37]

So this hollow speech and discussions can be not using kind speech, but using lying, divisive speech, slander, gossip, angry speech. This is — and it arises in us. We hear people speak, and the level of discourse right now that is going on in this country is — it's so painful, it's so appalling. When we hear it, we are affected. We are appalled. I don't know what the word appall means. Appall comes over us. What is appall? Like a death. It does not support our uplifting mind. It affects us so strongly. Kind speech has the power to transform the world and turn...

[53:40]

The nation is in the commentary about kind speech. It can turn a nation, and we know this is true, you know, thinking of the power of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. It changed a nation, it changed the world, and is still changing the world. And also Pope Francis with his encyclical Laudato Si on care for our common home. Those words have been really have made a sea change in the world. Those words about caring for our common home and climate change and those words, these are words, the power of that. So not engaging in hollow discussion. That's not like a little tacked on thing that the Buddha threw on there at the end to kind of keep us from gossiping or something. This is the way we can express our wisdom. and the power of it is untold, really.

[54:46]

So looking at our patterns and our habits of speech, practicing refraining from speech that does not bring, well, does not spark joy, but does not bring healing to our world or bring someone to wake up, And I'm not saying we have to be Pollyanna and only say nice things. That's the tyranny of nice. I'm not talking about nice. I'm talking about true and in alignment with our deepest intentions and powerful speech that speaks truth to power, right? As using an old phrase, it's not just being nice, but it comes from affection and compassion and caring for our common home That's where it arises from. And it may be strong speech, may be hard to hear, but that's not hollow speech.

[55:49]

So when we don't use disparaging words and, you know, lying, divisive speech, slander, we will become trusted. People will trust us and will listen to us, actually. And we are the trustees of this earth. entrusted to us to take care of it. So how do we act that way in all our actions, which just come in three flavors, body, speech, and mind, that's it. So there's no better way to serve the world. So these are the eight awakenings of great beings. And my question is, you might say, well, who are the great beings? And the great beings are those who practice the eight awakenings. Is there anyone left out? Who will take these up?

[56:52]

Now that you've heard this, and Dogen says, it is rare, the people who died before Shakyamuni died, his disciples even, never heard this teaching. this important teaching. Now you've heard it, you know, this is, Dogen says, now you've heard it. So we can take this up. This is rare, you know, this is rare to hear these teachings according to these teachers. So my wish is that we transform our lives and open to our conventional life of weeds and grasses and connect with our life completely because we love this world so much. We are connected already. We are this life and this earth. We are an appearance in this form of this earth, of the great earth.

[58:01]

and the people, animals, and plants, they are under our care. So I'm going to end with a poem from Dogen about this saying about going forth from the gate, and you must find for 10,000 miles no inch of grass. And he says, although wanting it all tied up for tens of thousands of miles, nothing holds. Staying within the gate, do not wait for the brightness of others. Without caring, it is easy to lose the path of active practice. Even those hard of hearing are moved by the sound of the evening rain.

[59:10]

Without caring, it is easy to lose the path of active practice. Don't wait for the brightness of others. if you look to someone else to do it, we'll lose our way. Even those hard of hearing are moved by the sound of the morning rain, of the evening rain. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[60:16]

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