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. Morning. Good morning. You signed okay in the carnage? Yep. Good. This morning we did here in the Buddha Hall, about three hours ago, we did a memorial for the people who were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I think 78 years ago. I was thinking.

[01:00]

Afterwards, I was thinking about it in terms of what do we do? Do we blame others? I wasn't there. I didn't pull the trigger, drop the bomb, make the decision. Do we shift responsibility to others and declare our innocence? Or do we... think of ourselves as part of United States and hold responsibility as a shared thing. Or do we step even further back and think of the human condition and its

[02:02]

odd penchant for violence to create an us and them and within that us and them declare that the ends justify the means. I think that's one of the most dangerous concepts we've ever come up with as humans. The ends justify the means. And then I thought, well, isn't this all of our lives? Aren't there things that happened in each of our lives that we think? Should I take responsibility for that? Or shall I give responsibility for that to somebody else? If only. Yeah. only this person hadn't done what they did.

[03:11]

Several years ago, I heard a Japanese Zen teacher talk about the Second World War. And he said, if I'm remembering correctly, he said something like this. He said, I completely and wholeheartedly disapprove of things that happened during the Second World War. And yet, I do not stand in judgment of the people who enacted them. They were in a time and place under the influences they were under, and they did what they did. And he was actually talking about... There were some notables and teachers of that time in Japan who seemingly endorsed the war.

[04:18]

I add the word seemingly because at that time, if you spoke out against the Japanese involvement in the Second World War, you could be killed. You could be executed. And... Some monks, Buddhist monks, spoke out against it and indeed were executed. Maybe it's good. Maybe it's helpful. Maybe it's encouraging for us to have an impossible... I suspect that nobody in this room was actively involved in the decisions to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[05:25]

And yet, does that absolve us of any blame or responsibility? Or does it teach us how to approach and live with and find our ease, our uprightness, our validity of being in a world such as the one we live in? every day, some atrocity is happening somewhere. And yet, we simply burden ourselves to the point where the vitality of our life

[06:39]

or enthusiasm of our life, the existential wish to live is thwarted. Have we really helped anything? My understanding of Mahayana Buddhism, which Zen is part of, is something like this, that yes, indeed, Terrible things happen every day. And we live with the consequences of them. And sometimes knowingly and intentionally we participate. Sometimes unknowingly we participate. Sometimes we rail against them, trying to change them. And can we hold all of that? all the different ways we can think about it, can we hold it in a way that it's a teaching?

[07:48]

Of course, there can readily be for us an impulse to attribute blame. We're all culpable. We live in this nation, and this nation has benefited from... the dropping of those two terrible bombs that wiped out in an instant. Well, both of them, they were a week apart or somewhat close to a week. They instantly wiped out 120,000 lives. And then there were those who died from radiation over the next year, 10 years, 20 years, who knows? Can we not only remember, can we not only acknowledge, but can we learn?

[08:59]

And there's a particular term, In Buddhism, it translates into English as something like way-seeking mind. Or to put it in existential terms, how do we live in this world with an uprightness, a dignity, and dare we say it, an enthusiasm for being alive? And that's what I'd like to talk about this morning. And then, I'd like to begin talking about it by referencing myself. And often, this is part of the Buddhist way.

[10:09]

Start with where you are. and how you are in this moment. You know, actually, over the decades, I've sat here and gave talks. And initially, when I would give a talk, I would be quite intimidated by the process of sitting here offering some kind of version of Buddhism. And then as I started to notice that, I thought, well, what if I spent less time thinking about how is this for me, or feeling how this is for me, and spent more time thinking about what would be a helpful thing to say? What would, in this time and moment,

[11:13]

What would help others relate to their lives? And even though I started with those ferocious questions, and maybe that's where we all start. We all start, where do we feel the pressure, the consequences of what's happening? In our life. And how do we relate to it. In a way. That allows it to teach us. And show. Illustrate for us. The path of liberation. For ourselves. And everyone else. And while we're at it. For all beings. Including. The animals and the birds. And the insects. And the fish. All beings.

[12:17]

So in my own way, I started to think, what can I say that's helpful? And then it alleviated some of what I think of as the existential concern about my well-being, my survival. which in a way we're hardwired to do. If you don't get air, if you don't get water, if you don't get food, your system lets you know that it's missing something that's precious to it. It's an essential ingredient of its well-being. And then from there, If we don't get love, if we don't get a sense of security, if we don't get a sense of belonging, that also distresses us.

[13:32]

And usually, we're so much caught up in those issues that we don't notice how we're caught up. You know, it just becomes normal. It becomes normalized. And then normal is taken for granted. And maybe things like a memorial or Hiroshima and Nagasaki, maybe it's to... remind us, you know, don't be so casual about normal. And can indeed, can it stir within us concern for the needs of others and the well-being of others.

[14:43]

And then from there, I noticed In myself. That these two interplay. The issues of the self. The agendas of the self. And. What I've come to think of as. Our collective interbeing. I often marveled. At Thich Nhat Hanh. Coming up with that word. For Buddha Stern. It's usually translated as emptiness. And then I discovered, when I read one of his talks, where he actually asked an audience, he tried out several words on them, and then the audience said, oh, interbeing, that's what we vote for. And he said, okay, interbeing it is.

[15:48]

reminding ourselves that we're in this together and we can do it together. We don't individually have to have all the answers. That there's something in coming together and doing the memorial. There's something in coming together and acknowledging what's out of balance, what's inappropriate within our societal being. And as we do that, we owe benefit. And we can evoke a wisdom and a compassion. And we can be reminded of what we already know. Like when I attended that memorial this morning, And I had those thoughts about what happened tomorrow in Hiroshima 78 years ago.

[17:06]

It wasn't like the first time I ever heard it, but it reminded me of what I already knew. helped me think of the notion of knowing what you already know. Sometimes when we approach practice, we think, well, I need to know the Sanskrit word or the Japanese word or the Pali word. Maybe we don't. Maybe there's something in us that already knows. something in us that's living a human life. And our challenge is to remember. And very interestingly, the word, you know, the Pali word for mindfulness is sati.

[18:12]

And the root of the word sati is remember. Remember what you already know about being who you are. Remember about what you know about breathing. Remember what you know about interbeing. Remember what you already know about not being selfish, caring for others. remember what you already know about belonging you know as we discover collectively through our excesses you're discovering that we belong to the earth the earth doesn't belong to us it's more the other way around you know and since we belong to it

[19:19]

We have a responsibility to take care of it. As it takes care of us. So we remember these basic things that we've known probably since we were seven years old. And maybe before that too. And so as I watch my own process, preoccupation, intimidation with sitting in the Dharma seat, softening it up by thinking about, well, what can I say that's a benefit? And then as they both soften up, watching this interplay,

[20:24]

between what arises in the world of self and what arises in the world of interbeing. And then the notion I'd offer you is, as we go through, as each of us goes through our own version of that process, then this phrase, way-seeking mind, what's happening now, and what's an appropriate way to practice with it. And indeed, it asks of us a radical honesty. It asks of us to remember what we already know about living, about being the person we are, about

[21:34]

inhabiting a planet with 8 billion others. And at the very same time, as it holds us in that request, it also offers us the teachings of liberation. There's a way in which asking ourselves, well, what is it to practice with this? There's a way it holds up and makes available some capacity within us that has integrity, that knows what it already knows, that has integrity. the courage, the fortitude, the resilience, the equanimity to continue living this life in a engaging way that enlivens us.

[22:51]

Yes, we can easily say, Probably most of us do. Oh, yeah, that was history. That was the Second World War and the First World War. And then all the great wars that have been fought because the end justifies the means. But then I would suggest to you, we miss something they have to teach us. We miss something that can inform the intimate workings of our being. Who among us hasn't got annoyed and spoken in giving voice to our annoyance? Calling someone else thoroughly responsible for it.

[24:05]

among us hasn't avoided certain aspects of our collective social way, well-being, just because it seemed easier. And the Bodhisattva vow of Mahayana Buddhism and Zen Buddhism is very interesting because it says, This is impossible. This is impossible to cure. This is impossible to culminate in success. This is impossible because of the endless influences that come to bear on each moment for each of us. It's impossible for us to right all the wrongs of the world. And in the midst of that impossibility, we say, however, that will be my agenda.

[25:18]

Not so much to right the wrongs of the world, but to bear witness to them, to work with them, to let them teach me the integrity, the fortitude, the resilience, the equanimity. the loving kindness of being alive. And what I'd like to talk about this morning is equanimity. I mean, there's many factors officially within the early Buddhist canon. There's either five factors or seven factors. I'd like to talk about two factors that arise within the realm of equanimity. Because somehow, as we start to be honest, and rather than setting up, ignoring, or avoiding, or suppressing, or compartmentalizing, as are how we're going to make our life work.

[26:36]

If we want to be honest about what's going on, then either it's going to overwhelm us, or we're going to find some way to bring some equanimity to it. And in the early canon, the early Buddhist canon, there's two main factors to equanimity. And I'm paraphrasing here, I think in the service of trying to communicate it in a straightforward way. One factor is to see the big picture. And then the other factor is to find a certain resilience and composure as you work with the issues of your life. as you work with the impact of the issues of your life.

[27:50]

And that in a way, these two factors balance each other, you know? If we just take the big picture and think, well, this is what human beings do. they divide themselves into us and them. I remember reading an article by Margaret Mead, a fabulous anthropologist who was researching in Borneo with tribes who'd had very little communication or connection to what we would call our wider society. And even in those small groups, Of 20 or 50 people. They established an us and them. Maybe saying.

[28:55]

There's something. In how we're wired to be. This is what we do. We set up us and them. And then we. Elaborate. On the us and them. It often in negative ways and we become hostile or suspicious or just judge them poorly. So we can take like the big view of that. Okay. And then sometimes we drop atom bombs. Sometimes. We bomb the ports that are trying to export the wheat to the starving people of Africa. Sometimes we pollute the seas or whatever.

[29:59]

That's who we are. But if we stop there, and maybe that can give us some equanimity, but if we stop there, we miss the important ingredient or the important detail that each of us is a living, breathing, emoting human being. That when we know what we already know, Something marvelous can come forth from each human being. When we're less caught up in sorting the issues out for our own benefit, something marvelous comes forth.

[31:03]

There's a way in which we bring forth... the best of what we're capable of. And there's a way in which, when we struggle with our issues, that we need each other's support, that we need each other's compassion, forgiveness, kindness, benevolence, When I first read, the Thich Nhat Hanh asked his audience, which of these words do you think best describe Shunyata? It's commonly translated as emptiness.

[32:07]

And actually it was in Green Gulch form where he asked the audience. Well, according to the article that he wrote, that's where it was. So our interbeing, well, it throws us into the midst of the issues of our individual lives and our collective lives. It also can be... an extraordinary resource. And it's discovering how to work with it that allows it to be a resource rather than simply a burden or an affliction. And then the question becomes, how do we do that?

[33:13]

How do we be honest with ourselves about who we are and how we're being in the world and honest with others and bring forth the virtues that we're capable of rather than the... the ways in which we can get stuck, the ways in which we can think it's a plausible thing to say that ends justify the means. And in the methodology of Zen Buddhism, this notion of way-seeking mind is how we do that. how we allow this human condition that we are, each of us is, that we allow it to be seen for what it is.

[34:26]

And I would say to you, the capacity of being able to see it is the discovery and cultivation that each of us is obliged to go through. The discovery and cultivation of the virtue of being. And I'd like to offer you how a poet spoke to this notion. the virtue of being. This is the last part of a poem by David White called House of Belonging. And this is his version of the culmination of accessing the virtue of being.

[35:31]

This is the bright home in which I live. This is where I ask my friends to come. This is where I want to love all things and people. It has taken me so long to learn to love. This is the temple of my adult aloneness. And I belong to this aloneness as I belong to life. There is no house like the house of belonging. This is the bright home in which I live. This is where I ask my friends to come. This is where I want to love all things and people. It has taken me so long to learn to love. This is the temple of my adult aloneness. And I belong to this aloneness as I belong to life.

[36:36]

There is no house like the house of belonging. In a famous line from one of the Buddhist sutras, the Lotus Sutra, there's a phrase that says, Buddha alone, together with all Buddhas. The Buddha alone being that no one, else can um create the awakening that we're capable of no one else can do it for us each of us is challenged to to take it on to discover within the intimate workings of their being what am i dealing with

[37:51]

How do I formulate the world? What kind of emotions and feelings and judgments and perspectives do I have? Each of us is responsible for that inquiry for ourselves. Now we can support each other. We can encourage each other. We can be kind and compassionate and understanding with each other. And still... There's an individual practice. And then the other part of the saying, Buddha alone, together with Buddhas, that indeed our interbeing, our collective being, also has a modality of our own, an aspect of our own salvation, if we want to call it that. Maybe a simpler word is just nourishing our own life so that we can be fully the person we are.

[39:04]

And I would leave you with the notion of way-seeking mind. What is it to practice with this? you know, in the sensibilities of Zen Buddhism, the more we bring that question to bear on some aspect of our life, you know, what is it to practice with this? You know, the more we renew our intention. And Zen Buddhism, as to my reckoning, all of Buddhism would say that the more we engage this question, this inquiry about practice, the more we call forth the virtue that's within us.

[40:12]

It's not, the virtue within us is not based on what we accomplish. It's based on the good heartedness with which we make our efforts. And still there it is. Hiroshima. Nagasaki. And all the terrible things that have happened in different wars. Can we remember? Can we stay close to what remembering brings up for us?

[41:24]

be translated into simple kindness, can be translated into taking a breath and seeing if whatever conflict is in our world, if it can be resolved with a spacious equanimity. the civil rights worker who marched with martin luther king john lewis said once when asked a question about something that didn't go he was endeavoring to do that didn't go right and that the interviewer asked him well how was it not to have that work and he said i'm in it for the long haul my mind, that's the Bodhisattva vow.

[42:38]

I'm in it, but a long call. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfzc.org and click May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[43:09]

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