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 evening. So I want to thank you very much for inviting me to speak today. and acknowledge that I feel very honored to give the Dharma Talk, and particularly with my Dharma relatives here. I have some Dharma relatives here. Here's my sister, Linda. And I don't even know how to describe our relationship, but Cynthia and Sarita is in my relationship. And, of course, family relationships.

[01:03]

And, you know, and with your mom, of course. I've known her since she was born. And with teachers who I've studied with from the beginning of my yoga teaching career. Donald is sitting... anonymously in the back students friends companions on the way and it's the summer practice period which is usually not called a practice period but it is and you know there are people here who have come here specifically for the summer practice It's an extremely important cultural event for not just within Tassajara, but for our country and for the world.

[02:14]

And at the beginning of practice periods, winter practice period and fall practice periods here at Tassajara, my Honshi, which means true teacher, my root teacher, Sojin Mel Weitzman, when he was abbot, used to give a talk at the beginning of every practice period that he ran. And he would say something like this. Your position, whatever it is in the practice period, and usually this talk would follow the announcement of positions for the practice period, your position. in this practice period is the center of the practice period. And when you come here, so when I say welcome here or thank you or I feel honored, I want to acknowledge that every single person in this room is the center of the summer practice.

[03:23]

And several people who aren't in this room because they're at meetings or washing dishes or you know, flat out exhausted or have colds or whatever, that they're also the center of the practice. Not being in the room doesn't, it doesn't disqualify anyone. Every position is the center of the practice. And from every position, we must be ready to tell the whole story of practice. Luckily, Suzuki Roshi very much valued beginner's mind. Because doesn't it sound like if I say you're the center of the practice, I mean, some people will go, yeah. But other people will go, there's a variety of people in this room. You know, the position of Tassajara dad or Tassajara kid is the center of the practice. You know, the position of Tassajara guest.

[04:28]

or Tassajara guest practice or guest student, or dining room, cabin crew, flower chiden, head doan, as well as eno, or the head of the meditation hall or the head of the practice. Both the ones that we think of as being in charge and the ones that we think of as not being in charge are the center. Now, how is this our practice? How does this help us in life? Well, we're here. I'm here. Donald and I are here. And the retreat that we're leading is called Readiness, Emptiness. The Lifestream of Yoga retreat is, the theme is readiness or emptiness this year.

[05:29]

And we've been thinking about what is it that creates readiness in the body for anything that can occur. Because this is really part of practice. You know how if you're playing a game and people are throwing balls at you, you have to be ready to catch them from any direction and throw them back. And that's called readiness. And if people throw events at you, or issues at you, or dirty dishes. In the summer, I sometimes feel like people are throwing an endless stream of used dishes and compost and all sorts of things coming my way. But the main product of Tassajara is happiness, not just clean dishes. So people come here from all over the place, and something magic happens, and they go away and distribute happiness around the world.

[06:38]

I think that's pretty magic. Well, Suzuki Roshi gave some teachings on emptiness or readiness in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, that talk about this. You know, we usually think of emptiness as being empty. But actually, in Buddhism, emptiness is not empty. Emptiness is full. The meaning of emptiness is that we usually think the ball is going to come to us in front, but it can come from anywhere. It's not what we think. You know? So we think it's going to happen a particular way, but then it happens another way, and we have to be ready. So we think that our practice is a certain thing, but it isn't. We think that other people are a certain thing or a certain person, but they're not.

[07:40]

People are different than we think. That's kind of a rule, I think, in Buddhism. And often that's the source of suffering. You know, we want people to be a certain way, We want practice to be the way we think it should be so that we're prepared for it. And then when it shows up as itself, we have to cope with that. Anyway, Suzuki Roshi said a lot of very interesting things, way too many to go into by 915. But he said one of the interesting things he said is... The important thing in our understanding is to have a smooth, free-thinking way of observation, of seeing the world around us. We have to think and observe things without stagnation. We need to accept things as they are, without difficulty.

[08:47]

Our mind should be soft and open enough to understand things as they are. When our thinking is soft, It is called imperturbable thinking. And this kind of thinking is always stable. This is called mindfulness. Thinking which is divided in many ways is not true thinking. Concentration should be present in our thinking, and this is mindfulness. Whether you have an object or not, your mind needs to be stable. Your mind should not be divided. So I thought that was interesting. How does this relate to everybody being the center? Why is this summer training so important? In Zen practice, there are two kinds of transmission that are honored in our tradition. You probably think they're going to be a certain thing, but I'm going to say that there are

[09:57]

vertical transmission and horizontal transmission. Vertical means through time and horizontal means through space. So the Buddha gave teachings about how to relieve suffering. Those teachings were passed to Ananda and so on all the way up to the present day. That's called vertical transmission. And the people you see who are wearing this kind of big robe are ordained priests and our job, I think that an important part of our job description is to try to reinforce or to try to make in our own bodies the physical shape that has been passed on by the tradition so that people can see us and hear us so that we can faithfully offer the teaching that has been given to us generation after generation and make sure it's not like a game of telephone where the Buddha says one thing and then by the time 92 generations come around to me I'm saying the opposite thing that would not be ideal even though it's not the way we think it still has to be faithful

[11:23]

So that's vertical transmission. And the winter practice period, I think, has an emphasis on vertical transmission. There's an abbot or a headteacher who's giving teachings. They have the most airtime, usually, in the practice period. And people are supposed to listen and embody what they say. They're giving guidance for everyone. Of course, Vertical training and transmission is not the only kind that happens in the winter. Horizontal transmission occurs too. Because horizontal transmission is really the basic type of transmission there is. Everyone and everything, just as it is, is of the nature of awakening. It's called horizontal transmission. But in the summer... when there's a lot more variety about what gets done here and who comes and why they come and the conditions under which they're allowed to come and to stay.

[12:33]

That is horizontal transmission. Everyone who comes here has a unique offering to give to the practice. I often think that the winter practice is like breathing in. And the summer practice is like breathing out. If we just breathe in all the time, things would not go well. We have to breathe out as well as to breathe in. And a specific kind of training that allows us to understand and appreciate variety is essential for the Dharma in America. And particularly... gives an example for lay practice and how lay practice might be. You know, with the tradition as a support, the form of a lay practitioner is the form of your relationships, the form of commitments, the form of loves,

[13:49]

you know, interests, events. And the main question of lay practice is, in this form, just as it is, how does the dharma arise hand in hand with everyone and everything? That's horizontal transmission. And for it to occur... it has to be seen and understood that each person, the person right in front of me, is of the nature of awakening. And so to look at each other and to see a potential Buddha is the gift of summer practice. It's the unique gift of summer practice. It opens the heart and mind to possibility.

[14:52]

So, for instance, when I come here from the city and, you know, let's say I'm kind of downtrodden by breathing in pollution and fighting off would-be muggers. No, that's not the only thing that happens in the city, but you know. Telephone calls, traffic, construction, all kinds of things. occur in the city. The freeway entrance is a block from where I live. Cars go back and forth. It's kind of semi-dangerous to cross the street. There's lots of kids who have to be pulled along by their parents to cross the street safely where I live. And so it can be jangly. It's not that here it can't be, really. It can't. But I come here, and there's something about my body that disbelieves in awakening.

[15:57]

It's been hardened by living in city conditions, by being turned around and turned around so much. It's like one of those kids' games where they turn you around and around and around, and then you're supposed to walk in a straight line. It's hard. And then I come here, and suddenly I can breathe. It's great. And then I go home. And for a while I can breathe. And it's great. You know? So for someone... For me to walk into Tassajara and someone to see me with the eyes of Buddha is amazing. It's something that's so unlike, you know, someone... giving me a rude gesture when I try to exit my driveway. It's such a different event. It is so safe here. Even though no place is safe, you know, we had to rebuild the baths because the 1989 earthquake came and suddenly there was a big bite out of the hill and it could fall down on the baths at any moment.

[17:10]

So we rebuilt the baths. So there's no safety, really. You know? Things happen. But it's as safe a place as it can be. And it's wonderful. And to give that and to receive that and what is being given and received are all Buddha. And that's actually... You know, we often think that... We love some things and we hate other things, even in a practice place like this. But to do this is to practice love as an activity, as an action, deliberate action. Okay, how am I doing on time? 13, 14 minutes, great. It's a good stopping point, actually.

[18:12]

I think I just opened up what I wanted to talk about. And I have another 15 pages of notes that could be condensed down into the next 15 minutes. But I think I would prefer to hear from you at this point. And let's not call it questions and answers. Let's call it a conversation. I'd be interested to hear if any of this brings up anything for you. And if so, that will help guide the rest of this conversation, which is not a one-way conversation. Okay? If you don't have anything to say, I can keep going until I see everyone's eyes close and start hearing snores. Okay? Yeah.

[19:20]

If you're here long enough to feel like you start taking the safety for granted, usually something happens. Fortunately, there was this guy about 2,500 years ago who taught about that. The basic teaching of Buddhism, he said life is suffering, or dukkha is part of life. But I think the... the modern translation of that is there's always something you know so today I was walking in the central area where work meetings happen and I saw a cart that had someone's possessions in it and next to the cart was a beautiful red ripe apple and on the ground, and the blue jays were fighting over it, and the squirrels were looking like this.

[20:20]

There were big bites taken out of it and had dust all over it. So there's always something. So, you know, the person I was with, and I walked that apple down to the compost area and composted it. And then I thought... Oh, poor person. You know, I looked in the person's cart to see. I just looked in the cart to see if there was maybe a bag lunch, because it's unusual just to see an apple in the road. But I didn't see a bag lunch, but I thought, oh, no, the person's going to get into their car, and they're going to be in the middle of the road, and it's going to be hot, and they're going to say, my apple. And it won't be there. And I don't even know who it was. But anyway, something always happens, right? Or like one day we were here at Tassajara. This must have been maybe, I don't know.

[21:20]

I was here for some practice period. I can't remember the practice period. It was in the, oh, it might have been maybe close to the end of the first time I lived here for a long time. One day there was a rainstorm. And all of a sudden, there was a tree on the roof of the dorm, and it had gone into some people's rooms. There were branches sticking down inches from the head of one of the guys who was taking a nap. Okay? But it doesn't have to be dramatic. You know, you think you're safe, and then someone comes up to you and says... you know, in that ceremony, you totally ignored me and gave me the evil eye. And you say, what? And, you know, something like that can happen very easily.

[22:24]

Anyway, it's not, you start taking the safety for granted, you're immediately, wait a second, for the microphone, that was a finger snap, reminded of how it actually is, which is unpredictable. The Buddha said, just to define the first noble truth, not to get what we want is suffering. To get what we don't want is suffering. To get what we want and know that it's going to end is suffering. So any one of those things is likely to come up. Okay? Sorry to, you know, throw water on your safety. Sarita, yeah. Yeah.

[23:28]

Yeah, I could say more about practice as love. What aspect of that particularly interests you? So if you dislike someone and you're working with the dislike to be present with them just as they are, that is love. Yeah, and actually, we don't really understand the nature of love. It's too big for us to understand. For instance, you know, Parents love their children. And sometimes a parent or a child is actually annoyed with each other. You know, that feeling of annoyance that can come up, like if you don't get what you want or if you do get what you don't want.

[24:33]

But there's some rule, I don't know where the rule came from, that says that we're not allowed to have those feelings. We're not allowed to, if somebody says, How's your relationship with your son? Or how's your relationship with your dad? Or how's your relationship with your mother? My mother, I recently took care of my mother until she died. How's your relationship with your mother? You know, I feel like I'm not supposed to say, it is so annoying to take care of my mother. I'm not supposed to say that. I'm supposed to say, this is the most rewarding thing I've ever done, and I'm so glad that I'm present for her. But what it actually is like is that 60 minutes after I arrived, I would look at my watch and think, oh, I've gained a minute and a half of equanimity for every year I've practiced, and now it's gone. LAUGHTER

[25:34]

So even with people we love, these feelings arise all the time, right? And with people we dislike, like and dislike have nothing to do with love or not love. Practice is love. So being present with things or people just as they are is love. So no wonder they feel loved. Because love is... I'm not going to define love. That's too dangerous. But real love requires presence. That's almost the defining characteristic of it, if there were a defining characteristic. That sense of intimacy is not possible without presence. And we have such big habits of not being present.

[26:38]

And that's what we're here to do, is to understand and create, cultivate presence. Okay? So I also want to say a few words about breathing and love and about breathing and practice because the breathing will tell us whether we're present or not. And so... In our workshop, we've been looking a lot at the diaphragms and the diaphragms in the body and their relationship to the conscious and unconscious parts of who we are. BKS Iyengar has a big book of yoga poses called Yoga, A Path to Holistic Health. And on page 41 of that book, is a section called Yoga and Stress. And he says that the diaphragm is the connection between our conscious and unconscious life in the body.

[27:47]

And that as things happen to us, for good or for ill, the diaphragm selectively hardens. It becomes shaped a certain way. And when it responds in pre-programmed ways, then we feel stress. But when we take the diaphragm through its full range of motion, he said, through asana, but we can also experience this full range of motion, oddly enough, in stillness. But when we take it through its full range of motion, it becomes capable of response. not in a particular way, but in the appropriate way. And he says that is the physical and physiological condition for shunyata, for emptiness, or for what I'm calling fullness, fullness of response. You know, a monk asked, what is the teaching of entire life?

[28:52]

And the answer was an appropriate response. But the Chinese for that, it's a Chinese koan. Chinese is each meets each. Each meets each. So there's nothing in there about like or dislike at all. Yeah, because it comes up all the time, even among people we, quote, love, end quote. Right? Yeah. Anyway, there's great practices here. Like if you do something like forget to ring the wake-up bell, I'm not suggesting that you do this tomorrow, by the way. But let's say you forget to ring the wake-up bell, and then you come to work meeting, and then probably the Eno notices and goes flying around with a wake-up bell, and everybody comes to the Zendo and all, you know, panting and so on.

[29:54]

But... But then at work meeting, you show up and you say, I have an apology to make. I forgot to ring the wake-up bell. And then you bow. And this is a descendant of a practice that's been part of our tradition for 2,500 years, done more formally or less formally at different places. Like, for instance, at Zuoyogi, If you forgot to ring the wake-up bell, that would be very, very serious. But basically, you would apologize to everyone in turn, from the least senior to the most senior. And how you would do that apology would be by dressing up and carrying around an incense box, making an incense offering, and doing a full bow of apology to each person who was affected. all the way up to the abbot.

[30:55]

And then you'd come to morning tea, and you'd make a public apology in front of the group as a whole, and that would end it, if it did end it. Okay? So that was a very formal practice, and it was a very interesting practice. No, I mean, if it ended, it means that if it wasn't inexcusable. I remember one time in tea ceremony, I did something really bad. I'm not going to say the specifics, but... the response was something like, your next step is seppuku. So some things are inexcusable. And it actually is possible to forgive... the inexcusable, to forgive unforgivable acts. It doesn't mean that you condone them or that you're going to tolerate having them happen again.

[32:01]

It means that you reconcile with the person, even though you may not be done with the consequences of the action. That's another practice, that it's possible to really enter in the summer that is more difficult to enter in the winter when there's more hours of silence. So it's another one for here and now. Yes? When you have reconciled with someone but have not finished processing the experience, how do you bring that to useful fruition as opposed to just keep grinding on it and giving it more and more energy? Yeah. So that's another one of these teachings about staying in the moment. So we say, step by step, I stop the sound of the murmuring brook. When you walk along the brook, you hear the water running.

[33:05]

The sound is continuous, but you must be able to stop it if you want to stop it. This is freedom. This is renunciation. One after another, you will have various thoughts in your mind. But if you want to stop your thinking, you can. So when you are able to stop the sound of the murmuring brook, you will appreciate the feeling of your work, which in this case is forgiveness. But as long as you have some fixed idea or are caught by some habitual way of doing things, you cannot appreciate things in their true sense. So... This is a teaching for that particular thing. So the only way to work with it is through renunciation. And it doesn't mean that you banish the thought of consequences. But you have to come from a place of fullness, from a place of full response. That's why forgiveness is really for you. And then you can work out the details with them, if that makes sense.

[34:10]

So you have to separate. the act of forgiveness from the discussion of reconciliation. Forgiveness is the beginning of reconciliation, not the end. Thanks. I'm being given the bedtime call, right? Okay. So does anyone have one word without which this will not be complete? Huh? Thank you. That's a good one. Thank you very much. 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, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[35:12]

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