And as I travel through the practice period, Ireland and Slovenia, I find each place creates its own way of dealing with practice, its own way of expressing it, and its own way of calling it forth. So if you can think of yourself as you engage, and maybe there's some intentionality, but there's also something that arises within you. Can you trust that? Can you trust that something in you? beyond what your mind might generate, practices, learns how to practice, and brings it forth.

[01:16]

Thank you. We do have time for a few questions. If anybody has a question, please raise your hand, and I will bring the microphone over to you. Any questions at all? Thank you, Paul, for this talk. This is maybe more of a comment than a question, but I'd be interested in your response. What I find helpful is to very loosely, softly welcome, generate an attitude of kind of spacious kindness.

[02:32]

and welcoming to this whole process. So whether it's a feeling of fear or whatever, it doesn't matter, just that idea of welcoming. And I have an image of a child reaching out their hand to another child to accompany them or be with them or be their friend. So that attitude. It's kind of encircling, supporting is some kind of kindness and acceptance. I think that's a marvelous practice. And with many aspects of practice, can we hold it in a wide way? By that I mean, can we watch when we do it, when we give over to it, and learn about giving over to that kind of spacious expansion?

[03:44]

And then can we also watch and acknowledge when we don't do it? And can we learn from that? Whether it's just the... learning about some way in which we contract. But also there's probably some, when we don't do it, there's probably some profound teaching that would be helpful for us to see into and learn from. Thank you for your comment. We have a question online.

[04:46]

The first one comes from Griffin. Let me see if I can just... Hello. Okay, we can hear you, Griffin. Thank you so much for an opening to this too as a teacher. I have an inquiry into... moments where I am both aware and completely helpless to a moment when, you know, I wake up in the midst, mid-scream of a new moment of being even more not in control, body and mind, than I've ever experienced before. Being aware, but having no body and mind to even find my own breath.

[05:57]

You know, how to, is it possible, or maybe it's not possible, to be patient and wait for a more possible moment, if you could address that for me. Thank you. Nice to hear your voice, Griffin. Thank you. I think it's helpful to remind ourselves that undoing the structure of the self is a delicate business. Like when you were saying that, I was thinking, yes, sometimes... discovering in an intimate way that we're not in control can be a very vulnerable and challenging experience for us. Even though we know it intellectually, and I think the challenge for us in those moments is

[07:11]

How do we not, sometimes in a subtle way, and sometimes in a blatant way, how do we not panic? How do we not sort of short-circuit our aliveness and just freeze? And even that, we're not in control of. It reminds me of Suzuki Roshi saying, when he was talking about his own imminent death, he was saying, I will be a suffering Buddha. I will suffer, and I will be a suffering Buddha. I think as we take up that kind of challenge,

[08:20]

There's no simple remedy. But to find within ourselves, in the other moments in our life, some way to, in a more moderate way, in a more manageable way, that we learn about opening to what's happening now. I think that's our challenge. And then remind ourselves there will be moments that will demand of us going beyond our manageable moments. So thank you. You seem to take note of the different practices in Northern Ireland and Slovenia, and I'm wondering if you could elaborate a little bit and also how you see American practice.

[10:05]

Hmm. Dare I try to do that? You know, when I said that, what I was thinking of was... There's a way in which our mind says, okay, this is how I'm practicing, and this is what practice is. But when we give over to the process, something emerges. I think my perception of Northern Ireland is influenced by my deep association with it. Even though I left when I was 21, 22, I've been going back for the last 25 years. And I still see the after effects of 30 years of violence and post-traumatic stress.

[11:13]

And then a certain kind of Irish, what I think of, this kind of Irish way of understanding the nature of suffering and that in a way it can be taken up as a spiritual practice. And then in Slovenia, And maybe it's just the people who come to Shishin in Slovenia. I don't sense that previous tragedy, tragedy seems to be woven into the history of Ireland.

[12:20]

And it doesn't seem to be such, and it doesn't manifest as such in the people of Slovenia, the kind of issues they have are more everyday issues. That was my experience of practicing. But as I say, the point I was making earlier was, when we engage the practice, something emerges. And can we tune into that? And can we learn from that? Because as we learn from it, we can formulate a definition of practice that is so idealistic that we always find ourselves falling short. Whereas when we have an idea of practice that's in harmony,

[13:21]

and enhancing our aliveness, then it feels more like a refuge. Thank you. That is all the time we have. Thank you, Paul. Thank you. what do we do now we bow just bow okay ... [...]

[14:46]

I'm not going to be here. It's just so sorry about this. I'm not going to get back. I'm not going to get back. I'm going to get back. Good morning, everyone.

[16:57]

My name is Kevin. I'm the Eno here at City Center, the head of the Meditation Hall of Zondo. I have a few announcements. As always, you're invited to come and join us for everything we have here, Zazen, classes, Dharma talks, and other events. We love having you here. We have regular morning, weekdays, Zazen, 540 in the morning and 540 in the evening. So please come and join us. However, not this Monday. because Monday is Memorial Day and will be closed. So please don't come on Monday. But come Tuesday. Our next one-day sit will be a week from today, next Saturday, June 1st, at the Haight Street Arts Center, which is about a block from here on Haight and Laguna, 215 Haight Street. Because our building is currently under renovation, it's hard for us to do one-day sits here. So we have pop-up one-day sits. You can register for that on our website. The Dharma Talk next Saturday will also be at the Haight Street Arts Center.

[17:58]

You're welcome to come for that, as well as the 6.30 a.m. and the 9.25 a.m. zazens are also open to the public during the one-day sit, so please come and join us. We're very pleased to announce that we're hosting a three-day exhibit talk and book signing this week. It celebrates the publication of the new book, Gardens of Awakening, a guide to aesthetics, history, and spirituality of Kyoto Zen landscapes. Selected photographs will be exhibited to share the experience of meeting a Zen garden in its fleeting moments. All events will take place at the Conference Center, which is 308 Page Street, which is right next door, the building right next door to us. The exhibit opens Tuesday from 4 to 7, and on Wednesday, we're open again 4 to 7, There'll be a special Dharma talk and book signing in person with Kazuaki Tanahashi, who's the author of the book, and Mitsue Nagase, who's the photographer for the book, and that'll be 7.30 to 8.30 in the conference center.

[19:05]

They will talk about the aesthetics, symbolism, characteristics, and history of Zen gardens, as well as stories of making the book and what they learned in their fieldwork. The talk will also be live-streamed. And in addition, the conference center will be open to visitors on Thursday from 3 to 5. And, of course, the book will be available to purchase there also. You can get it signed by the photographer and the author. Also, later in June, I want to announce that calligraphy master Tomoko Ide will be here for the weekend of June 22nd and 23rd. Saturday and Sunday, she'll be leading a workshop in the conference center on the calligraphy of the heart sutra. Everyone can join in writing some of the kanji characters from the sutra. Please check the website for more information. I'd also like to introduce you to Shoko, who will talk about our spring fundraiser, the Zenathon. Hello, my name is Shoko, and thank you again for coming today.

[20:10]

Please be comfortable. So as Kevin mentioned, we are in the middle of our spring fundraiser, which is called the Zenathon here at Zen Center. And I'm pleased to announce that we are halfway to our goal already. And we have until June 15th. So until June 15th, we'll be in the middle of this. As a bit of a confession, the subject of money and fundraising makes me personally deeply uncomfortable. And in true Zen Center fashion, you just might wake up one day as a student here and find out that it is your work practice job, that it's your turn to have this job. It's just the way it goes. And so during this time and having this position, I've had the opportunity to really have a fertile ground for practice and explore my relationship with money and my relationship with a world that must include money.

[21:15]

And I invite you to do the same thing during our Zenathon. as you consider making a donation to Zen Center and your relationship with Zen Center. It's very easy to do. You can go online to sfcc.org, and it's on our main page. Or you'll see these around at Tea and Cookies and out here in the Gaetan. And this little symbol here at the bottom, you can scan it with your internet-enabled smartphone device. and it'll take you to the main page. And we really appreciate your support. We depend on this event to raise funds for our operating budgets and help us raise the next 50%. So thank you for your attention. Thanks. Let's also want to introduce Urban Gates Sangha, who comes here every Saturday.

[22:15]

And... does all the Doan positions for the Zazen period leading up to the Dharma talk as well as the Dharma talk itself. So if the Urban Gate people could raise their hands. So any of these people with upraised hands, feel free to talk to them at Tea and Cookies if you're interested in joining Urban Gate and learning how you can be an active part of the Zendo here. And last but not least, we will have Tea and Cookies right after this. They're in the conference center, again, right next door. Go out the door, make a right up Page Street, very next building. It has a black gate around it. And there's two doors when you walk up the stairs. One will probably be open. So it's the one on the right, 308 Page Street. So, again, thank you so much for coming today. Enjoy your longer weekend if you have one. And thanks for coming. We'll see you soon.

[23:06]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_96.01