Good morning. Before we begin with the opening verse and a Dharma talk this morning, I wonder if some of you are confused to see me sitting here in this seat. We've been looking forward to having a very special guest, Abbot Nicole Bodden, giving the Dharma talk this morning, a Dharma successor of the finder and founder of Green Gulch Farm, Zentatsu Richard Baker-Roshi. And it's been wonderful to have them both here this weekend. Unfortunately, this morning, Baker-Roshi had a medical emergency and Nicole had to accompany him to Marin General. So I'll say a little bit more about that later on. And we can chant for his well-being.

[03:24]

But first, let's do the opening verse. And welcome these wonderful children. Welcome to Green Gulch. We want to hear how it's going. But we'll start with one of our songs. Thank you. I'll show you how I want to change the truth that I want to talk to you about the stories. I know now I'm still surprised as this is a good news for the evening that I remember to give it or not. I think it is a good news for the evening. I don't know where I live in the evening, but I don't know where I live in the night, but I don't know where I live in the night.

[04:30]

I don't know where I live in the night, but I don't know where I live in the night. [...] It's been a great time to grow back in the end of the day [...] Good morning again.

[05:30]

Good morning especially to children who are here. It's very nice to meet you. My name is Ji Ryu. which means friendly dragon. And my teacher gave me that name. I think he saw that I'm kind of like a grumpy toad. And he thought he wanted to inspire me to give me something to grow into. So he said, how about you aim for a friendly dragon? So, so, so, little steps. And I'm the abbot here at Green Gulch, which means I help to take care of the spiritual practice of the community here. I wonder how you all are finding Green Gulch, what you've noticed about being here. Have you enjoyed the sunshine?

[06:32]

Yeah? Have you heard these birds? Yeah? They're loud, the birds. Do you find it enjoyable when they're screaming in your ear or not so much? It's a little too loud. Yeah. The frogs. Yeah, the frogs and the birds. Yeah, the birds are beautiful, but sometimes too loud. Suzuki Roshi, who founded this temple, he liked to say, you know, if you can relax and just let that bird sound, the bird can just come right into your heart. And then the bird is singing through you. The beautiful, beautiful teaching from our founder.

[07:34]

Anything else you've noticed or appreciated about being here? Please. The meals? Did you say the meals have been tasty? Oh, good. Thank you. Okay. I praise. Have you been doing any meditation while you're here? A little bit? Being quiet and listening? Those birds are so loud. They just got louder. I wonder if we could do a little bit of meditation together. There's a way of kind of moving our arms and doing meditation practice that I actually thought I would share with the adults. And maybe the kids, you all can help us and join in this exercise. Does that seem okay for a few minutes and then go outside into the sunshine?

[08:36]

So the first thing is to put your hand, and we could all do this. Put your hand on your belly, on your low belly. And see if you breathe. Can you feel the breath coming? Can you feel the breath in your hand there on your belly? You feel that? You feel it kind of going in and out with your breath? Yeah. Sometimes I think there's like in your belly, there's like a nice little bed and a sofa. For your breath. That's like the house for your breath. Down here in the belly. That's how I think of it. And sometimes say, hey breath, you want to come home? Come home. There's a nice comfy bed. And the breath says, yeah. All the way down into the belly. And then you can feel it come out from there too. You feel that? The breath coming in and out. As you rest your hand on your belly. Okay, then the next one is to bring your hand up slowly and you extend your spine while your hand comes up.

[09:51]

So you can, breathing in, sort of raise up your hand and reach for the sky. You can sort of pull up. Sometimes we say, imagine that there's a cord. You do this, imagine there's like a cord tied to the back of your head and it's pulling your spine, extending your spine so that your spine is like a, holding up the sky. Ah! Okay, so with the hand on the belly, breathing out, feeling that breath go all the way out, and then breathing in, moving the hand up and extending up, up, up, up. Wonderful. And a wonderful thing too, you know, letting your body be tall and big and really take the space, take up all the space that you have You say, I'm here, like the loud bird, taking up all the space it has. Okay, now this is my favorite one.

[10:56]

So we've done the belly and we've done the spine. Okay, now for this, I close my eyes and I put my finger and my thumb together. And I, kind of following the breath, I blow out an exhalation. like I'm pulling the exhalation through my hand as it goes out. See that? You breathe out in that way. Okay, and if you close your eyes as you're breathing out, and you just have all your mind, all of your energy is on that breathing out. Okay? Do that. Do you see that? Okay, now, so hand on the belly, breathing out, then raising up the spine, breathing in, then breathing out, closing the eyes, and just concentrating, concentrating the mind on that breath.

[12:03]

Okay, now breathing in, opening your arms, and open your eyes wide, and as you open your arms, try to bring in the whole world, the whole thing, All the light and all those birds that are annoying and beautiful and everything. And then come into what we call the mudra with your one hand on top of the other and the beautiful oval. So we find our center and then we take our place, extending our spine. And then we clear out our mind. And then we just open and receive all the light and all the sound. Into that space. Should we try that? Can we try that a few times? Okay. So you could do it at your own pace. But we'll do the first one together. So breathing out with the hand on the belly. Breathing in. Lifting the spine. Breathing out.

[13:05]

Concentrating, concentrating on that breath. Then opening the eyes wide. Opening the arms wide. and bringing in the whole field of life, of light. Then you can just rest there. Yes, yes, yes, all of it. And then you just rest there. You just don't have to do anything after that. It's all just welcome. What do you think? Did you notice anything during that little practice? I like to get kind of come into my body, feel my body, and then quiet my mind, and then just open my eyes and ears to what's here. And I call that Zen meditation or sitting. You feel some calm.

[14:06]

Yeah. Yeah. Big Zen. Big, big Zen. Every single thing is welcome and included. Last week I was giving the talk here and somebody, I was sharing that somebody had said when they were a kid, and I wonder what you guys think about this. When they were a kid, the adults were very helpful. with different things. Like they teach us math and teach us how to brush our teeth and stuff. But she said something I thought was very interesting. She said, hardly anybody said, it's so cool to be alive.

[15:10]

Do you ever feel like it's really quite interesting to be alive? Yeah. So when we come to a Zen center, it's sort of like we get together and say, This is interesting to be alive. And then we do this practice of calming down and opening and trying to just appreciate that feeling, you know, of being alive. It's so special and precious. Does that make sense to you? Anything else that any of the kids want to offer this morning or share about how it's going here for you? Yeah? Well, maybe then if you want to go outside and see as you're walking around Green Gulch to just notice and appreciate this is really special.

[16:18]

Being alive even though everybody's running around. This being alive is so special. The light and the sound and the feeling of sensations in the body, it's really special and how wonderful to be able to do it together, to be here together. Thank you so much. Please enjoy the rest of your time here. In one of my favorite teachings from Suzuki Roshi, he says, the talk begins, you know, I came without preparing anything.

[18:37]

I just wanted to share the feeling that I have. And I thought, wow, I am no Suzuki Roshi. So it was just a few minutes ago I learned that Nicole would not be able to offer the talk this morning. we decided to go ahead and put a body in this seat anyway and bring up the Dharma together. And I can say a little bit about what happened this morning. Beka Roshi, either at breakfast or right after breakfast, had a, seems to be a stroke and was not able to speak. So he hasn't up to now been able to speak since then. The ambulance came in with Nicole there at Marine General. She just texted before I came that he may recover. So we don't know.

[19:41]

is of course our situation. We don't know. We don't know what we'll lose or when. So the teaching is that we can just plunge unreservedly without holding anything back into the ungraspable moment of being here. If we knew how, you know, if we knew how it was going to go later, we might want to save some energy for that, you know? We knew there'd be this afternoon, we could, you know, might want to save a little bit of energy for this afternoon. But since we don't know, We just give ourselves fully our whole being to where we are, not knowing what comes next and not really knowing what it is now either.

[21:10]

Well, maybe we could go ahead now. I see many faces here. I think many of you came, or a number of you came, to greet Beka Roshi and Nicole. And so while we're here, and many of you have no idea what I'm talking about, welcome also, and thank you for coming. If we could do a short service now, while Beka Roshi is there in the hospital, we could chant the Enmei Juku Kanon Gyo, invoking the energy of compassion of Avalokiteshvara or Kuan Yin, and just concentrating, dedicating that, the merit of that to the swift recovery of this teacher and successor of Suzuki Roshi, who has been and is such a vital part of this lineage and these temples. being alive in the West.

[22:34]

So we have some chant books that are coming around. And the chant is on, maybe somebody knows what page it's on. Oh Oh Oh

[24:38]

Thank you. Thank you. . [...]

[25:55]

... [...] It can be manifest to the sweet church as their own is mere wisdom.

[27:03]

Having chanted a day and made a book on your full protecting life, we dedicate this merit and virtue to the whole being comfort and complete recovery of our dear friend. that Tatsu Richard Baker Rashi may be deeply supported in the Dharma, peaceful and free from suffering, and may be together as all beings realize Buddha's way. Thank you.

[28:25]

The positive intention of this assembly here in this temple that he found and gathered up into the Zen center, embrace 51 years ago or so. for those of you coming here to hear a little bit about Zen.

[29:37]

You feel the warmth and love for an ancestor, a teacher in our lineage. That may be the best expression of our that there could be I feel that the purpose of our practice our way is to embody come into the body and fully feel, fully be in this body, and to settle the mind, quiet the mind, clean out some of the kind of sticky gunk of old thoughts and feelings, the stuff we're carrying around that is not bad in itself,

[30:59]

but that's just making it hard for us to quiet the mind enough and come into the body enough to really open and encounter directly this miracle that we are finding ourselves in right now, this being alive. So to come into the body and to settle the mind in order to appreciate and enjoy these natural qualities of our being, these natural aspects of our heart, which is a kind of wonder or appreciation for being alive, and a kind of tenderness, a tenderness and love for everything that's here alive with us. So Zen practice isn't about attaining some particular state, or seeing something in particular, getting something in particular, or even learning something in particular.

[32:04]

It's about a kind of training in making more and more room for the natural awe and the natural love that we feel as human beings and that we cover over with all the stress and separation and ideas. And then to trust that we can just live from there And I think, well, I can sit for a minute and touch this wonder and this love, but I can't actually manage my life just by resting in wonder and love. How's that going to, you know, what's my boss going to say to that? You used to be a good worker, but now you're just in awe and love all the time. Yeah. I went to Dharma talk and the teaching came all the way in to the open heart and the empty mind.

[33:08]

And, you know, I'll still write the report for you. But all the way through, it will be a feeling of wonder and awe that there's life and a feeling of tenderness, you know, for each keystroke, for each word, for each encounter. And that this isn't something, the beauty of this practice is that this isn't something that is like waiting for you when you do some training course or something that you have to learn. Uh, that's going to be overlaid on your current confused and maybe harsh mind and heart.

[34:11]

These aren't things like outside us that we have to learn. They're our birthright. They're our innate nature. So that for me is part of the power of this practice of these kind of four points of posture. So I won't speak much longer, but just to say again, and maybe we can sit a little longer in the space of these four elements of our just sitting practice. which is based on just relaxing and uncovering and allowing this welcoming of what's here, welcoming what's here

[35:19]

In the natural spirit of some wonder and awe, what is this light? What is this sound? What is this sensation in the body? In this welcoming, there's this feeling of kind of curiosity or wonder or awe. And then there's this innate natural tenderness in that welcoming. We just know that it's part of us and that we're part of it. It's welcomed like part of our own being. So to support this welcoming, we come into the body and we settle the mind. So you can do it with your hands or not, but feeling that low belly center...

[36:28]

bringing the breath all the way down into the belly. As I always say, you know, Suzuki Roshi says this belly center is the main office and the head is the branch office. So you come into the main office. Breathing all the way, all the way in and all the way out from your belly. Pushing a little bit to just feel this... kind of awakeness or energy in your low belly. And then lifting up your posture from that ground. And as I said, taking the space that's yours, this dignified, strong, upright, open posture, extending up Bind the sides of the body, the whole upper body, like a pillar. So being this body.

[37:41]

And then to concentrate the mind, you know, doesn't need to be some big adventure or some, you know, kind of rare skill that some people have. We all have the capacity to concentrate our mind, and it's very useful for just cutting through some of that noise, some of the weeds. So with this exhalation, I like to put my fingers together and just draw out this exhalation and try to have this kind of one point where the mind is just completely absorbed in that exhalation. Maybe there's an inhalation too. Just for a breath or two, fusing the mind, the attention to the breath. Just clear out some of the weeds. And then opening the eyes, opening the arms, and coming into this mudra, you know, this beautiful circle that's circle of the arms.

[38:58]

And the circle of the hands, this projection of welcome, this doorway, this invitation that it's all welcome. So opening the eyes. Coming from this concentrated, clearing the mind, opening into that empty space, letting everything come in. Welcome. We don't have to do anything with it. The body doesn't mind, you know, that we don't know what it is.

[40:18]

And the heart doesn't need so much encouragement, really, to remember that it longs to love each thing without knowing what it is. in our practice in everyday life and this is what we've been emphasizing here at Green Gulch as we move into the growing season. How does it go actually to extend this posture through our whole day, through our whole life? What point does it collapse? We're open for a moment. I hope you felt that possibility of just being completely open to what's here. What makes that collapse?

[41:22]

So we sort of study this. What makes me shut that down and think that there's something else to do than welcome in love and awe and allow my life to unfold together with everything, expressing myself? Does that, do you know what I mean? It seems like it collapses at some point, like moments after leaving the meditation hall. Just go back into the full mind, slumped spine, Tangled breath. So we're studying how can we keep that posture open through the day? What inspires us or reminds us to open that posture back up? To come into the belly, to find the upright spine, to forget whatever's on our mind, and to just open with some awe and tenderness to what's here. We'll share that this morning, a simple instruction in our meditation practice with this wish that we find that, you know, it's very quick, those couple of breaths, it doesn't take long to do them anywhere you are.

[42:55]

Just come back into your belly, find your spine, clear your mind, and just open to the light and the sound and the sensation. And right there you'll find I believe I have experienced this natural love and natural awe. Anyone want to offer anything before we close? Any words of comments? Abby? I would just like to thank you so much, Jiryu, for your teaching this morning and for stepping into this seat under difficult circumstances.

[44:04]

And I'd also like to thank Sentatsu Richard Baker Roshi for this beautiful practice place and thank all of the Roshis who have made it what it is today. I deeply appreciate this opportunity and the sangha. And thank you to Baden Roshi for almost speaking here today. I hope that she will return sometime soon. Thank you. I sort of told her to say that. Thank you, Abby. Encouragement. You know, another favorite and, forgive me, constantly repeated teaching from Suzuki Roshi that I like to share and feel every day in my life is this statement, and I don't think it was written down, but someone said they heard it from him, which is, you're more concerned with your problem than

[45:19]

than with the fact that you're alive. Wonderful. More concerned with your problem than with the fact that you're alive. So when you mention our gratitude for Baker Roshi, you know, in the history of Zen Center, there's the fact that we're alive, and then there's 10 million problems, which is what my day is. as the Avid, you know, welcoming the 10 million problems. There's a problem and there's a fact that we're alive, you know. There's a problem at the temple and there's a fact that there is a temple. So the gratitude, the opening is the fact that we are alive. So hard to remember, so hard to point to. This is why the poetry starts, you know, in Zen. How do you point to this thing that's so obvious? It's the only thing happening, really, which is that we're alive.

[46:22]

And how is it that we compress around the problem and we forget the situation that we're alive? Or we're angry at our friend for the problem and we forget that we are in this intimate life together. That doesn't mean like instead of the problem. It's just there's a space that the problem is happening in. And our practice is to remember that and to nourish that, to touch in with that now and then, at least. Please. Thank you for allowing the children to come. I now know where the term wiggle worm came from. They were so darling. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, wonderful old tradition at Green Dragon Temple and hopefully will be nourished further.

[47:35]

The presence of children here in the Zendo is wonderful and inspiring. The last question, thank you. Yes, please. Thank you, Jerry. It was really good to hear you this morning. I just wanted to say that Kaz and I are here. Kaz and Richard Baker go back so far. It happened that they were at Zen Center for 10 days, and at the beginning of the 10 days, they were with us for dinner one evening, just at the beginning. And then we were there yesterday when... Richard Baker gave the public talk at City Center. And I just wanted to share that on both of those days, he expressed very sincerely and warmly how good it felt to him to be in Zen Center on Page Street, even though it was also difficult in some ways.

[48:44]

But he said, he kept saying people were so friendly. People are so kind. And he just sort of softened as he said that. And yesterday in his talk he said, we're leaving today and I'm really feeling sad because it's been so wonderful to be here and feel the friendly feeling that everybody has shown to us. So it was really good to hear that. I wanted to share it. Thank you. And friendliness, you know, not as an act or as a should, you know. You should be friendly, people.

[49:45]

You should be friendly. But as the kind of allowing of that innate tenderness. This is Suzuki Roshi's teaching to have the empty mind and the warm heart. So I'm glad that Bika Roshi felt that yesterday. over this visit. Thank you so much for your kind attention today. If you think this is our life of a different universe, [...]

[50:56]

The location of us is waiting in the sun, so I am so low. I am happy to get the rush of the horses to take my wings. The beginning means that I am a very good person. But I pray that you will have no peace and safety for them. The future means that I am a very good person, so I am so low. I am happy to get my life with us here and nothing. If not, but another person who needs to be, this is somewhere around the limits. What happened when I went in my head, I don't know if it wasn't exclusive to the government. But with my perspective, this is a great thing to give us a sense of balance in the world. I don't know if I could get it, but I don't know if I could get it, but I don't know if I could get it, but I don't know if I could get it. I don't know if I could get it, but I don't know if I could get it. I don't know if I could get it, but I don't know if I could get it. It is a little bit short and soft [...] and soft.

[52:17]

Good morning, folks again. I'd like to ask everyone to pass their super books forward, if you would, please. If they're on the floor, please just pass those forward. Thank you so much. I'll ask the residents to please stay behind for 10 minutes or so. If any of our guests would like to help out with that, you're certainly welcome to. If you're seated in a chair, you can take that chair out to the cloud hall and help us to wait where those go. And I can tell other folks who want to stay back how they can help out. Many people like to help out and I appreciate that quite a lot. I want to bring to your attention there's a couple of these announcements outside on the Oryoki table. And this was something that Nicole brought to us.

[54:00]

It's a Dharma event called Engaging the Heart of Wisdom. And this is an online Zoom event. It's free. And it's May 23rd through 25th. It has several teachers here. So it might be a nice way to follow up and to get a little bit of Nicole's teaching since we met this last today. Also, please come back next week. We have 8.15 Zazen instruction, 9.30 Zazen until the dark talk begins at 10.10. So please feel free to come and get some Zazen instruction and join us as early as 8.15. For now, we do have tea and muffins outside, so you can continue to socialize. Jerry will be out there as well. You can find out how to follow up on Baker Roshi's health condition.

[55:03]

Thank you so much, everyone.

[55:05]

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