This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Welcome to Green Dragon Zen Temple. Welcome to this room that we call a Zendo. Yesterday in San Francisco I mentioned to the people there that in 1970 the zendo, the zendo at the San Francisco Zen Center had an opening ceremony and they named the zendo Maha Bodhisattva zendo. Good news is we haven't named this room yet.

[01:09]

So there's a naming opportunity. We named other buildings around this temple. Like the building over there is called Stillwater Hall. And then up on the hill there's another building called Sky Hall. And then... We have other buildings here that have names. The house I live in is called Spring Valley House. So what shall we name this hall? How many people are not familiar with the word bodhisattva? Please raise your hand. Okay, bodhisattva. Literally, bodhi means... awakening, like awakening from the dream of delusion to the mind of enlightenment.

[02:20]

And sattva means being. So bodhisattva could be translated in English as... enlightenment being or awakening being and then Buddha the word Buddha is the past participle of bud which means again it's the awakened one so the bodhisattvas are those who are in the process of awakening of the process of being awakening of being awake and the Buddhas are those who have fully awakened So those who wish to realize Buddhahood in this world for the welfare of all beings and want to and vow to do, we sometimes call them bodhisattvas.

[03:26]

Not everybody who comes to Zen Center wants to realize Buddhahood. They actually confess that. Some people come to me and they say, I don't want to, enlightenment's too much. I don't want to be fully awakened. I don't want to live for the welfare of all beings. Can I still practice here? And again, so far we say, yeah. You can practice here. Still, this is a tradition where the ancestors, the people who have transmitted the teaching, the ancestors, as far as I know, they were all practicing the way of the enlightening beings. They were practicing being awake.

[04:51]

They were practicing, listening to the cries of the world. They were practicing listening to the cries of the world. And these cries they could hear in their own mind, their own mind, they could hear their own mind crying. Constantly. Everything that occurs in their consciousness that was arising, they heard as a call, as a cry for compassion. And when they met other people and listened to other people, they listened with compassion. That is the basic job of the Zen ancestors.

[06:01]

They trained to be able to do that consistently. To not be fooled, if someone would say, Do not observe me with eyes of compassion. I don't want your compassion. Get out of here. Bodhisattvas are not needed in this neighborhood. Move someplace else. We don't want bodhisattvas around here. When they hear such comments, they observe with eyes of compassion. They understand that's... That's the way that person is calling for compassion. Bodhisattvas learn that everything that anybody is ever saying or thinking or gesturing is actually a call, a request, a cry for true compassion.

[07:12]

they would also accept maybe not true compassion, but just sort of, you know, beginner's compassion. But they really would like the true compassion because everybody wants to learn that. If you read Zen books, you might not hear what I said, on every page. There's a lot of Zen books, but if you just open it at random, you might not say, welcome to this page. We're here to listen to you. That's the basic practice. It sometimes isn't mentioned. What's in the books is often the way people are being taught to purify their compassion, to purify their listening, to make their listening wholehearted.

[08:27]

So a person's practicing compassion, they meet somebody else who could be a teacher or not, who gives them something to help them practice compassion wholeheartedly. Because when we first start practicing compassion, we usually do not know how to do it wholeheartedly. For example, when we first start practicing compassion towards someone who is maybe crying, we know they're crying, we still may think that they're not us. That they are other. There is self and other. Other is crying. But we might not understand yet that other is is who we are. We are our self and we are other. And before we understand that, our compassion isn't fully grown.

[09:29]

When our compassion is wholehearted, we realize that all the beings in the world are crying and that's who we really are. And this vision liberates all beings. Once again, a lot of the teachings, the majority of the teachings of Zen are given, I should say, that are recorded. There's a lot of things that went on in Zen monasteries and Zen temples in ancient times and modern times that are not recorded. They don't record that the people are walking around the temple listening to the cries of the world. They don't write that down over and over and over.

[10:33]

They may say it once, that's enough. It's going on all the time. They don't mention it. What they mention is the teachings to the people who are walking around or sitting, listening to the cries, they mention the teachings to help those people listen without trying to get anything from their listening, without trying to avoid anything with their listening. just totally listening and this kind of wholehearted listening are in this wholehearted listening an ocean of blessing beyond measure is living

[11:36]

In the listening, there's an ocean of blessing that's living there. And the blessing is all the people, all the beings calling for compassion. That's the blessing. That's the ocean of blessing. Everybody's calling for compassion. And in the ocean of blessing, everybody's listening to the calls. The blessing is the ocean of everybody's calling and everybody's listening. Right now, I'm calling to you for compassion. And I'm listening to my call. Or I should say, there is listening to my call right now. I am calling for compassion, or there is calling for compassion. Now, if I say... I don't want your compassion. That is calling for compassion.

[12:39]

I don't need your compassion. That's calling for compassion. Be my friend. That's calling for compassion. You're my enemy. That's calling for compassion. I want relief from pain. That's calling for compassion. I love pain. That's calling for compassion. Give me more pain. That's calling for compassion. But that's also listening. There's also listening. I'm calling to you right now. You're listening to me. You're calling to me right now. I'm listening to you. I'm calling to myself. I'm listening to myself. Being like this, like what? calling and listening, this is the way of being awakened.

[13:44]

And this is the awakening way of being. I heard a scholar say one time that the Tibetan monks, the Tibetan... practitioners of the bodhisattva way, they recite a mantra, which in Tibetan sounds like om mani padme um. The scholar mentioned, they mispronounce the padme. In Sanskrit, it's om mani padme um. The monks sit in stillness in the Himalayas and they think and they say over and over and over.

[14:53]

The lay people in Tibet do it too. I don't know if they ever forget. Probably they do because the Tibetans are not born doing that chant. They learn it and they practice it up in the mountains. This mantra is the mantra of the being enlightened listening to the cries of the world. It is the mantra for listening to the cries of the world being enlightenment, which is a job. Being enlightened by listening to the cries of the world is a job. It's a job for being enlightened. And it's also the name of one of these bodhisattvas. But this bodhisattva is not something outside yourself.

[16:00]

So sometimes it's calling that bodhisattva into us, even though that way of being is not outside us. When we're listening to the cries of the world, we are being enlightened in that way. That mantra calls and evokes and witnesses and invites that practice, which is the basic practice of the Tibetan monks and lay people and nuns. It's their basic practice. It's also the basic practice of the Zen masters. But the scholar mentioned, but the Zen masters, they sit in stillness and they don't say om mani padme um. They just sit and they're sitting.

[17:01]

They're sitting. They're sitting posture. is calling for compassion. Their sitting posture is listening. Their sitting posture, their body, is listening to the cries of the world. They don't necessarily say, they don't necessarily say, listening to the cries of the world. They might. I do. I say it to myself. even if I'm not saying it, my body, with my legs crossed, sitting up straight, is saying, it's saying, please come, great compassion. It's saying, listen to the cries of the world. It's calling for compassion and it's giving compassion. This is the ocean of blessing where innumerable beings are living together,

[18:03]

Calling for compassion and listening to the calls. Listening to the calls and calling. Both. All the time is the reality of the Buddha. And when the calling becomes wholehearted, the suffering and distress is relieved. And then the next moment. And again. In this temple, we kind of every other day and sometimes more than every other day, we chant a short scripture that has 10 lines. And it's called something like the 10-line scripture of listening to the cries of the world.

[19:06]

The ten-line scriptures of, or for, or to, or by, listening to the cries of the world. Emei juku. Ten-line kanan. Listening to the cries. Gyo. Scripture. The scripture of ten lines listening... to the cries of the world. And it starts out by saying, Kansayan! Kansayan! That's how it starts. Kansayan means observing the world's cries. We say that here. As a group, we go, Kansayan! Kanzayan is an abbreviation for Namo Kanzayan.

[20:22]

Namo means something like homage. It means I align myself. It means I give myself to Kanzayan. But the Namo is dropped because it's like... The feeling is so strong, we forget to say, Namu. But then we recover a little bit and we say, Namu Butsu, Namu Buddha. So the chant is actually, I align myself with regarding the cries of the world. I align myself with Buddha. We say that here. Over and over. Until it sinks into our... into our body. And without saying it, it's here. Homage to listening to the cries of the world.

[21:25]

I'm saying this over and over so it will sink into our bodies. So that it's there and functioning all the time. And the chant goes on. But I just like to go to the end of the chant where it says... There's different ways of translating it, but in a way. In the morning, think of Kansayan. But another translation would be... The character is translated as think is a character which has two parts. The top part means now, and the bottom part means mind or heart. So the now together with heart or mind can be translated as think or thought, but it also can be translated as mindful, and it can also be translated as remember.

[22:45]

So the end of this ten lines is, in the morning remember. What? Observe the cries of the world. In the evening, remember. Observe the cries of the world. Now many people think that means remember the great bodhisattva. The great being. who is regarding the Christ of the world. That's fine. Yeah, remember that great being. But also, remember the practice of that great being. That being is calling you to do the practice that that being practices. That being is calling you to call and listen. That being, the great being, is calling us to listen and listening to our calls. to listen. That being is in face-to-face transmission with us all day long.

[23:57]

That being, that great being, is always, never anywhere else but with us. That being is enjoying this practice. It is a joyful practice. It is alive to feel and listen to this suffering of the world. the director of the meditational he's going to help somebody I think he's trying to help somebody with some aids for hearing

[25:08]

this character which I told you, it's pronounced nen in Japanese, and I think in Chinese it's nian, this character which is now mind, now heart, it also means like a moment, a moment of thought. So the last line of the scripture is nen nen. Nen nen. which is remember, [...] Kansayan. Remember, remember, don't get separated from this mind. What mind? The enlightened mind. The enlightened mind, don't be separated. You're not separated from it, but don't forget it. Because if you forget it, it's like somehow you're separated from it. Somehow we're never separated from it, but if we forget it, it's kind of like we are. So the strange thing is we have to work to remember where we are now.

[26:52]

So the instruction is, at night remember listening to the cries of the world. In the morning remember the cries of the world. Remember, remember observing the cries of the world. Remember, remember, don't get separated from the mind. which is listening to the cries of the world. So the Zen ancestors remember stillness and silence. And in stillness and silence, they sit.

[27:57]

They remember to sit and stand upright in stillness. Moment by moment, they remember stillness. They remember silence. And in this stillness, and silence they listen to the cries of the world and in this stillness and silence their body and mind calls for the listening calls for compassion invokes compassion invites compassion and gives compassion which when I just said that, I said, that sounds pretty good.

[29:00]

But that's not the whole story. We also chant, another chant we do here is called The Heart. The Heart Scripture. The Great Scripture. Transcendent Wisdom, Heart Sutra. We chant that here too. And that sutra starts out by saying... I'm translating it in English now. The sutra starts out by saying... Observing the world of suffering. That's how this sutra on wisdom starts.

[30:07]

Observing the world of suffering. Enlightening being. Being enlightened by observing the world of suffering. That's how it starts. It's a sutra about wisdom. The sutra about wisdom starts by talking about the practice I've been talking to you about. The sutra on wisdom beyond wisdom, the heart sutra of wisdom beyond wisdom starts by saying, being enlightened, being enlightened, listening, observing the cries of the world. In Sanskrit, avalokitesvara bodhisattva.

[31:10]

And then it says, deeply practicing wisdom beyond wisdom. This This wholehearted listening, observing the cries of the world, this wholehearted observing the cries of the world is deeply practicing transcendent wisdom. It's from or based on this compassion that enlightening being plunges into deeply the most profound wisdom. If there's deep, if there's wholehearted listening to my own cries, then there is wholehearted practice of perfect wisdom in relationship to my own cries.

[32:27]

If I listen to other people's cries wholeheartedly, or if there is wholehearted listening, then that is deeply practicing wisdom beyond wisdom. perfect wisdom. And in that practice, that deep practice of perfect wisdom, or that practice of deep wisdom, in that practice, based on this listening, there is a revelation of ultimate reality. In this wisdom, the cries become doors all the cries become doors to the ultimate truth. And when the door is open through this compassionate listening, all suffering and distress is relieved.

[33:32]

Listening wholeheartedly, practicing wisdom deeply, the world takes off its mask. And we realize that everybody is our true self. That every suffering is our true self. That every joy is our true self. That every embarrassment, that every confusion, that every fear, that every aspiration, everything is calling for compassion And when we join that, we enter into the practice of perfect wisdom. And in that practice, the world reveals its true message. Listening to the cry wholeheartedly, we hear the cry, and in the cry we hear something else, too. We hear the...

[34:38]

inconceivably wondrous message of the Buddhas. It is in each cry. And if we listen to each cry wholeheartedly, we hear the blessed, unsurpassed, perfect teaching which liberates beings. This opportunity is present every moment with every phenomenon. But it's hard to practice because the phenomena tell us deceptive things. Like phenomena say to us, as I said earlier, I don't want your compassion. I hate you. I hate him. I hate him. Like my granddaughter says, I hate Donald Trump. Maybe that's not so difficult to realize.

[35:48]

That little girl is calling for compassion. Doesn't sound like she is in a way. I hate Donald Trump. Or I hate granddaddy. She hasn't said that for a while. When she was little, I used to go pick her up at daycare. And when she'd see me, she'd say, I don't want granddaddy bodhisattva. Get that bodhisattva out of here. And the daycare people would say, it's okay. He's a nice bodhisattva. And I would just let her not want me. I let her not want me. It's hard to let her not want me. but I know she wants me to listen to her when she doesn't want me.

[36:50]

She really wants her mommy, not me. Of course, if she says, I want my mommy, then most people say, oh yeah, she wants compassion. She wants her mommy. But I don't want granddaddy. That doesn't sound so easy like that's calling for compassion. I'm saying it is. And I gave it to her. And after a while, she said, okay, I'll go with this not mommy. we have some good times. Walking home from daycare. And when she was little, I don't think she does this anymore, whenever we walked by somebody's house who had any kind of a statue, like a statue of a Chinese general or of Mary and Joseph, she would say, Let's go look at the Buddhas. She thought all statues were Buddhas.

[37:57]

All statues are Buddhas. All people are Buddhas. They're wearing a mask called, I don't like you, or I hate granddaddy, or whatever. They don't look like great bodhisattvas. But if you treat them like a great bodhisattva would treat them, their mask will drop away and you realize you have just met your best new friend. This is the ocean of blessing where everybody is your best friend. Where everybody is calling you. for great compassion, for a compassion that wants to relieve their suffering, but also that understands that they're not separate.

[39:10]

Oh, I forgot to say my vow, my vow for today. I forgot to say at the beginning, but I just remembered it. My vow is not to talk too long. I don't know if I made it yet. Did I go over it? If I stop now, I'd be okay. What? Do you want to know what time it is? She hears a cry for compassion, now I do too. Yes? What do you think? Okay. Okay? Now, not everybody knows this, so what do you call it? Oh, you can pass some things out. Yeah. Well, while this is being passed out, can I sing a song? The song is... I am called...

[40:19]

Now can't you hear me? I am calling you. I know you hear me. So what page is it on? Page 10. Now, I forgot my wooden drum. So, I'll use this. Okay? Can everybody see it? Is that what it says? Okay. ready?

[41:30]

Emme juku kanan gyo o kanze yon namu butsu yo butsu en yo butsu en butpo so en Thank you. Thank you. Shon Bo Nen Kan Ze On Nen Nen Jiu Shin Ki Nen Nen Shon Bo Nen Kan Ze On Namu Butsu Yo Butsu En Yo Butsu En Po So En Jorak Ga Jocho Nen Kan Ze On Bo Nen Kan Ze On Nen Nen Shin Ki Nen Nen

[42:50]

shi [...] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center.

[44:02]

Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[44:28]

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