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 happy to be here. So happy to be talking to you tonight. Welcome. Welcome, everyone. Welcome students, monks, guests, seekers, sages, the lost. Welcome one and all. It's a lovely time to be here. There's wonderful energy in this valley tonight. Wonderful, great energy. Tai Chi. Great energy. So, my name's Greg.

[01:05]

I'm the tanto, or head of practice, at Tassahara. Very happy to be here. I'd like to start by acknowledging and thanking my teacher, Sojin Melweisman Roshi. Thanking him for, oh, so many things. I feel like my mother and father gave me the gift of life, and Sadra Roshi gave me the gift of Dharma, the truth. And I just wanted to say that my talk tonight is just to encourage you in your practice. That's my only agenda. moon in a dewdrop.

[02:18]

Translations of writings of In the domain of Buddha ancestors drinking tea and eating rice is everyday activity. This having tea and rice is has been transmitted over many years and is present right now. Thus, the Buddha ancestor's vital activity of having tea and rice comes to us. Those are the opening lines in Dogen's essay called Everyday Activity, Ka Jo, Everyday Activity. So occasionally when I give a talk, I might admit to an overt bias, being head of practice and all.

[03:34]

My primary concern is the students. So it's wonderful to have our many benefactors joining us. And I hope you can also benefit from my talk. I hope you can also be encouraged in your practice. I might be talking more directly to the students. So I think that between work period and beginning of guest season, a lot of us have been practicing and working together side by side for a little while now. And it might be we're starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm. I hope so. kind of finding our way, finding our practice in this thing called guest season, in this thing called the summer practice period. I don't know, maybe you just showed up yesterday. You're like, well, no.

[04:36]

But anyway, I think for some of us, you know, might be getting into the swing of things, getting into a good rhythm in this life. of this very traditional life of communal practice. Communal practice and communal labor has been carried on for many centuries in the tradition, in our tradition. Basically begun, well, one person who gets a lot of credit for it, his name is Baijong. Baijong Huihai. I hope I'm saying that correctly. who lived in Tang Dynasty, as so many of the other great ones did, Tang Dynasty, China, from 720 to 814 in the Common Era. It was Bai Zhang who established the first pure standards for conduct in Zen monastery.

[05:43]

We call that Xingyi in Chinese as Jingwei, the rules of I talked about this in my class yesterday. The rules that, as a communal body of practice, we agree to. We agree to uphold. And this tradition of living together and working together was what really distinguished the Zen school at that time. Shortly after Bai Zhang's death, it wasn't too much later, 845 in the Common Era was the biggest suppression of Buddhism in Chinese history. Much, much worse than the Cultural Revolution. Many monasteries were completely demolished and smashed. Buddhism, you know, they were trying to completely suppress Buddhism. And it was barely a blip on the radar in the history of Zen.

[06:45]

Because Zen monks were just doing their thing in the mountains. You know? Barely affected them. This was in the middle of the golden age of Zen. Isn't that remarkable? Because they were farming and wildcrafting and taking care of their own practice. So, hopefully, we're taking care of our own practice, working together, living together, sitting together, getting into a nice rhythm of work. practice, rest, you know, some socializing. Doesn't have to be too much socializing. I know people worry about that. Am I socializing enough? Am I socializing too much? I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Try to relax with it. But, you know, a nice, what we call, middle way. Finding that for yourself within this communal body of practice.

[07:52]

And, you know, I think sometimes people get funny ideas about what it means to come to Tassajara, what it means to come to Zen practice. Maybe you've had some special experiences. Maybe you'd like to have some special experiences, some deep awakening, some profound insight. Well, That sounds good. More power to you. I get to hear about that. I get to hear about people's special experiences from time to time and hear about how they'd like to have special experiences. But I'm not quite convinced that's the point of our practice. Not at all. A student I was... talking to not too long ago, told me after she'd been practicing for a while, she found it a lot easier to have special experiences than to work with her bad habits.

[09:03]

Yeah. So don't let that be a distraction. This fascicle, everyday activity, is kind of a tribute to Dogen's teacher, Ru Jing. So he tells a lot of stories about his teacher in this essay, this fascicle. Oh, by the way, I was thinking, you know, I taught a class yesterday. It would have been a Wednesday afternoon class. I realized I was giving the Dharma talk on Wednesday night. I thought, well, that's a bit much. A bit much for you, a bit much for me. So I did the class on Tuesday. And then I was studying about this particular fascicle. I found out this essay, Kajo, Everyday Activity, was one of three Dharma talks that Dogen gave on the same day.

[10:09]

Please. Ehe Dogen, daiyosho. Makes you wonder, did Dogen ever go like, you know, bust that? Probably not. Probably not. Probably that was just his everyday activity. I have to give three Dharma talks today. That's what's happening. So, Dogen quotes his teacher. He says, My late master, old Buddha, taught the assembly... I heard that a monk asked Bai Zhang, What is an extraordinary thing? Bai Zhang said, Sitting alone on Dajang Peak. The assembly cannot move him. For now, let him totally sit. Ru Jing goes on to say, Today, if someone were to ask me, What is an extraordinary thing?

[11:16]

I would say, is anything extraordinary? Do you know what it means? The bowl of Jingzi has moved. I'm having rice in Tian Tong. So this was from a sermon that Ru Jing gave. Ru Jing is mentioning a famous koan about Bai Zhang. the guy I was talking about a minute ago. The story goes, a monk asked Bai Zhang, well, anyway, the story, as it appears in the Blue Cliff Record, it's Case 26 in the Blue Cliff Record, a monk asked Bai Zhang, what's a really special thing? I mean, it's Chinese, so I can translate it any way I want. The monk asked Bai Zhang, what's a really special thing? And Bai Zhang says,

[12:17]

sitting alone on Dajang Peak. Or, you know, he might have said sitting alone in Tassajara. And the monk bowed deeply to Bajang. And Bajang hit him. Pow! That's the whole story. I know. It's like slapstick, some of these stories. They're like the three stooges. That's the whole koan. So Ru Jing tells it a little differently. He says, what is an extraordinary thing sitting alone on Dajang Peak. The assembly cannot move him. For now, let him totally sit. And then Ru Jing goes on to say, today, if someone were to ask me what is an extraordinary thing, I would say, is anything extraordinary?

[13:21]

Is anything special? Do you know what it means? The bowl of Jingzi has moved. I'm having rice in Tian Tong. Okay, so I looked this up. The bowl of Jingzi means that was the temple that Ru Jing was practicing at formerly. And he moved, actually... When he gave this sermon, it was on the day that he'd moved from that temple to take up the abacy at Mount Tiantong in China. So he says, is anything special? Yesterday I was eating rice in Jingzi. Today I'm eating rice in Tiantong. Meh. So what? What of it? No big deal. Also, Ru Jing is kind of bringing this around. He's expounding this koan where Bai Zhang is saying, sitting alone on Dajian Peak is a really special thing.

[14:33]

And Ru Jing's saying, yeah, okay, so it is. And so is me eating rice. so is, you know, everyday activity. So Dovin goes on to say, in the domain of Buddha ancestors, there is always something extraordinary. Sitting alone on Dajang Peak, being allowed to totally sit is itself an extraordinary thing. Even more extraordinary is the bowl of Jingzi has moved I'm having rice in Tian Tong the other day someone asked me about the chaplaincy work I used to do in San Quentin they're very curious about that I was happy to share you know I think they found that pretty impressive okay

[15:42]

So, you know, I was happy to talk about that. When they asked me, what were you doing in San Quentin? I don't know. I didn't even think about it. Just the first words that came out of my mouth were, same thing I'm doing here. Same thing I'm doing here. No difference. Same practice. Same activity. It's extraordinary, but it's just everyday activity. You know? It's just everyday tea and rice. But being allowed to totally sit is itself an extraordinary thing. That's true. That's true. So, you know...

[16:45]

I wouldn't be Sojan Roshi's disciple if I didn't hold up both sides, as Dogen is doing right here. Being allowed to totally sit is itself an extraordinary thing. We are being allowed to totally sit. We are. We have this extraordinary opportunity. We are very, very lucky. We're very lucky. This is really extraordinary circumstances to be able to come to Tassajara. Tassajara Mountain sitting alone on Tassajara Mountain is an extraordinary thing and the way to sustain practice the way we express it it's no big deal it's everyday tea and rice it's just Let's get into a rhythm of activity.

[17:47]

Sitting. Working. Resting. Eating. Sleeping. Together. And let's wake up together. Here's another book on Buddhism. Famous book. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Bet you can't guess what chapter I'm going to read you from. It's called Nothing Special. Suzuki Roshi says, if you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain a wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful.

[18:48]

But after you obtain it, it is nothing special. It is just you yourself. Nothing special. As the Chinese poem says, I went and I returned. It was nothing special. Roseanne famous for its misty mountains, Seko for its water. People think it must be wonderful to see the famous range of mountains covered by mists and the water said to cover all the earth. But if you go there, you will just see water and mountains. Nothing special. My teacher, Sojourner Roshi, says this all the time. Later on in this chapter, Suzuki Roshi goes on to say, so to be a human being is to be a Buddha.

[19:52]

What a radical statement. To be a human being is to be a Buddha. Buddha nature is just another name for human nature, our true human nature. Thus, even though you do not do anything, you are actually doing something. What wonderful advice that is. What wonderful advice. And, you know, what he says is, you are expressing yourself. And what I get from that is, you are expressing yourself now. Just as you are.

[20:55]

You don't have to do anything about it. You don't have to add anything to it. You don't have to look good. You don't have to get it right, as I've said before. You know? You're already expressing yourself. Belkin says, when Buddhas are truly Buddhas, they do not necessarily notice that they are Buddhas. It's like that. Or it's actually a sage named Charles Wright. Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. He wrote this song, Express Yourself. And I think he said it very well. He said, it's not what you look like when you're doing what you're doing. It's what you're doing when you're doing what it looks like you're doing. Yeah. That's right. And Mr. Wright also says, whatever you do, do it good.

[22:04]

Thus, the Buddha ancestor's vital activity of having tea and rice comes to us. Whatever you do, Lord, Lord, do it good. It's not what you look like when you're doing what you're doing. It's what you're doing when you're doing what it looks like you're doing. Express yourself. There's this calligraphy in the kitchen. I was just noticing a few minutes ago, just a little while before I came up here, I was in the kitchen, and a former Tenzo asked our friend Daigaku Rume to write this calligraphy. It says in Japanese, men mitsu no kafu.

[23:08]

And that means taking very... good care of our family way of doing things, more or less. There's a lot of different ways you can translate that. But intimate attention to detail is one thing. Taking very careful, paying careful attention to your way of doing things. Whatever you do, do it good. Do it wholeheartedly. Do it with your complete intention. Bring everything you've got to the fore. Sojan Roshi says, just take care of whatever's in front of you. There really, after all, isn't much to Sojan Roshi's Buddhism. Just take care of whatever's in front of you. You want to smash the prison industrial complex?

[24:12]

just take care of whatever's in front of you. You want to save the earth from environmental catastrophe? Just take care of whatever's in front of you. You want to save all sentient beings? Just take care of whatever's in front of you. Give that your whole attention. Give that your whole heart. and it's nothing special it's no big deal it's just our everyday activity it's just everyday tea and rice You know, what I wish for all of us is that we practice together joyfully and harmoniously.

[25:37]

We get into a nice rhythm of taking care of the practice in this temple, taking care of each other, and taking care of our many visitors, to the best of our ability. It's not about looking good and it's not about getting it right. It's just bringing what you got to the fore and that's enough. That's enough. It has to be enough. Nothing to get excited about. Just our everyday activity. I was in noon service today. And by the way, you're all invited to noon service if you can make it. It's optional, but you're all warmly invited.

[26:42]

Love to see you in noon service. Plug. At the end of the echo, the dedication of merit, the kokyo, the chant leader, chants May this temple, may this temple be peaceful and harmonious, stable and free from calamity, and may we practice joyfully together with all beings. So that's my wish for you and all of us and all beings everywhere. And actually, I think, That's all I wanted to say about everyday activity, everyday tea and rice, the vital activity of having tea and rice. I think it's important that he says vital activity.

[27:43]

But it's nothing special. And for a change I've left plenty of time for questions, if there happens to be one. Otherwise, we can go to bed earlier. Of course not. Yeah.

[28:50]

I think what it means is, to me, that the way, the capital W, way, to practice samadhi and prajna is to not get excited about it, to not set it up as this sort of golden distant, ideal. Because if it's not something attainable, accessible, and expressible, expressible in daily activity, then that's not the samadhi and prajna that I, for one, am very interested in. Does that make sense? In other words, I agree with you. Oh, no.

[30:14]

No, no, no, no. No, I disagree. What it says to me is that breaking leaves and eating breakfast, actually what they say in China is putting on clothes and eating food. Can't get much more ordinary than that. That is awakening. Very special. it's everyday activity yes please sure and you know maybe you can see it maybe you can see it but if you see it all the time as thunderously special that's gonna start to get boring

[31:21]

Nothing can be... The Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu says, high winds don't last all day. Ain't it the truth? It's kind of, I think, why the Buddha put so much emphasis on the middle way and why tonight I'm emphasizing Let's get into a good, sustainable rhythm of life, work, practice, study, rest, enjoyment here at Tassahara. Sometimes it's thunderously special. Sometimes it's just so boring. Okay. No big deal after all. Yes.

[32:28]

I actually taught art theory at San Francisco. Oh. Yes. And I found the students to be very attentive and very interested in the way that your average college student would be. What about your average Zen student? You know? No. No. Ultimately, Zen practice happens only in one place. Right? Behind the breastbone. That's where Zen practice occurs. Although, sitting alone on Tassajara Mountain is pretty extraordinary. practice is completely portable. You can practice anywhere. Yes? It seems obvious to me that as soon as you say nothing special, you're implying that something's thunderous and special.

[33:47]

If everything's thunderous and special, it's obviously nothing special. Still, I'm bored with unnerously special and nothing special. What do you think? Drop it completely. Drop it completely. Don't play the game. Okay. Oh, yes. I guess my wish for you is that they get ordinary as soon as possible.

[35:00]

It's kind of interesting, these funny clothes, because it's just traditional. I think the whole setup as it existed in Japan, which we've more or less imported to the U.S., was a lot more boring, a lot more ordinary, just kind of having ordinary existence as a community and, you know, plain brown wood, plain black and brown clothes, white wall, just, you know, rake the ground. Rice school. Yeah, but you can, I think, you know, because it's a little different from whatever, getting in the car and going to the mall, whatever is the American version of putting on clothes and eating food.

[36:10]

You know, it's maybe easy to trip on. But after a while, I assure you, it'll get ordinary enough. Okay. I say that's enough for us monks, and I thank you for your attention. Good night. 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.

[37:03]

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