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. This talk today is offered to and dedicated to an ongoing effort to realize peace and harmony and especially emphasizing peace and harmony among humans and non-humans who who and when they have very different world views when they have conflicting and opposing beliefs and values.

[01:08]

We have so much appearances in this form of great difference and potentially disharmonious differences. I am very enthusiastic about finding a way to address this situation in a way that is not intending to eliminate different views and make everybody see in exactly the same way and have the same values and same beliefs. I'm not hoping for that. I'm working for that. I'm working for peace and harmony among people and animals and plants that have different views, and also peace and harmony among people who have the same views. So that's kind of something I wish to dedicate this talk and this practice to.

[02:21]

not sure it's appropriate for me to mention but someone said to me that a good epitaph for me might be he loved the Dharma and when I heard that possible epitaph I felt joy it reminded me that I do love the Dharma, that the Dharma is a joy for me. Having it to see and listen to, to remember and success and accept, it's a joy to me. And now we're in kind of the middle of April, and for the first three months, Many of us have been intensively studying the Lotus Sutra, starting in January and continuing to today.

[03:45]

Someone just said to me a couple days ago, this is your new baby, this Lotus Sutra is your new baby. And it is kind of like a new baby to me, and it's also my old baby. I've been cuddling this wonderful sutra for years, more than 50 years. I first started in 1968 because Suzuki Rishi was going to give talks on it. Now, he actually did give talks at Tastahara on the Lotus Sutra in 1968. And I heard a rumor that these talks were not popular with the students there. Yeah. But anyway, I started studying it and I have been continuing to study it and contemplate it since that time.

[04:48]

And this year, partly because of the very difficult times we're in, I felt like the Lotus Sutra is so appropriate when situations are really terrible. and horrible. The Lotus Sutra is self-proclaiming itself for that purpose, for those times. Our great teacher, Ehe Dogen, said in one of his essays, in essays called Only a Buddha Together with Buddha, Dogeni Zenji said that the Buddha Dharma is not understood by a person.

[05:55]

A Buddha Dharma is understood only by Buddha. and only by Buddha together with Buddha Buddha together with Buddha understands the Buddha Dharma not a person but a person being completely herself, together with others who are completely themselves, that conversation, that relationship is only a Buddha together with Buddha. And that relationship understands the Dharma. According to the Lotus Sutra, according to...

[07:05]

Ehe Dogen. And I am holding that up to you and for you, that teaching, which is also the teaching of Zen. Zen, Buddha Dharma, is not understood by a person. Zen, Buddha Dharma, is understood by Zazen. It's understood by our practice, and our practice is not a person. Our practice is how a person is practicing together with all beings. The way we're practicing together is Zazen. The way we're practicing together is only a Buddha together with Buddha.

[08:10]

That conversation between ourselves and all beings, that conversation understands, that conversation is the real Buddha. And that real Buddha conversation understands the Buddha Dharma. And in that conversation, there is the realization of peace and harmony between all beings, some of whom have deeply different views of the world and each other. This is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and a related teaching of the Lotus Sutra is called the One Buddha Vehicle. which the implication of it is that all of us all beings not just humans but all humans and all beings are in the same path and all of us on the path of becoming buddha i mentioned this to someone or to many people and one person said are we

[09:41]

Do we have to believe this? And I don't think you have to believe this. However, I offer it, and it has been offered, as a way of regarding each other. A way of framing the context of our relationships with other beings. That everybody we meet is a future Buddha. Everybody is a future Buddha. Trying on, it's a meditation, it's a thought experiment. I guess it might be needed to believe enough, believe that it would be good to try it, to try this meditation, that everybody we meet is a future Buddha.

[10:41]

And treat everybody as a future Buddha. So we are all, according to this teaching, we are all going to be Buddha. And the Lotus Sutra also tells us, that this teaching, that we're all going to be Buddha, must be taught. Somebody has to bring this teaching up. That's part of the process of us becoming Buddhas. Another way to say it, in the Zen school, it might be everybody, well, in the Zen school, we sometimes call our zendos Buddha-making houses. houses of making Buddhas. But we also call our meditation hall Zendos. So another rendition of this teaching would be all beings are in the path of becoming Zazen.

[11:55]

All beings will become Zazen. We will all become only a Buddha together with Buddha Zazen. And here at this temple called Green Dragon Zen Temple, we have a room for becoming Buddhas, a room for becoming Zazen. It's called the Zendo. Zazendo. It's a room to become Zazen. It's a room to be Zazen together with other Zazens. And to hold up the teaching that we will all become zazen, we make the gesture of sitting to express our intention to realize all beings becoming zazen, all beings becoming Buddha together with Buddha.

[13:07]

Somebody has to hold this teaching up. As we say, somebody has to raise the Dharma flag. And I want to do that. I love the Dharma and I want to raise the Dharma flag because it is necessary that this flag be raised for the sake of all beings becoming zazen. for the sake of all beings becoming the Dharma, for the sake of all beings becoming the Bodhisattva precepts. The Bodhisattva precepts must be upheld, must be taught in this great movement of all beings becoming the Bodhisattva precepts. The Lotus Sutra, and the Zen ancestors are inviting us to take up the task of expressing that we're all future Buddhas.

[14:29]

And if we regard others who have very different views with this teaching, really look at them as future Buddhas and treat them with utmost respect as we would treat a Buddha, not trying to control them. If we meet the Buddha, we respectfully do not try to control the Buddha and tell the Buddha what Dharma talk to give today or how the Buddha should be a Buddha. However, we can say to the Buddha, can I ask you a question? And we can say to the Buddha, may I make a suggestion? And we can say to the Buddha, I'm feeling uncomfortable. We can give the Buddha many gifts. We can give the Buddha our limits, our boundaries. We can ask the Buddha to speak more loudly or more quietly. We can ask the Buddha to stand farther away. We can make many requests of Buddha as gifts to the great Zazen.

[15:36]

And we can treat all beings that way, and they will eventually realize that they are being deeply respected, perhaps by someone who really disagrees with them in many ways and sees the world differently. But even though I see myself as being different from that person and that person being different from me, I can still regard... this different person with these different views, with these clashing views, with these perhaps horrible views as a future Buddha. And they can feel the love of Dharma. Not my love of Dharma. They can feel the love of Dharma and it will, it will make them accept that they are going to become Buddha.

[16:39]

And some people who I practice with have problems with the word Buddha, and I'm one of them. I have problems with the word. It's a difficult word in a way. Now, instead of Buddha, I could have, you can just sort of reframe everything I've said so far today and just make Buddha a synonym for great wisdom and compassion. and unlimited skillful means and virtue. But Buddha's shorter. And Zen's even shorter. But, you know, Buddha has a problem because sometimes we think, oh, Buddha is something out there. But we might do the same with wisdom and compassion. That it's something out there. We are going to become wisdom and compassion. We are going to become great wisdom and compassion. according to the Lotus Sutra. And I'm trying that on, that everybody I meet is going to become great wisdom and compassion.

[17:45]

Hello, this person's going to become great wisdom and compassion. I may or may not say that out loud, but today I'm saying it out loud. I'm singing it from the highest hill. You are going to become great wisdom and compassion, all of you. I'm saying that. And I hope that was respectful the way I said that. Can I sing loudly and respectfully? I want to. Sometimes I'll sing quietly. Let me know if I sing too loud. Am I singing too loud? One person says no. Am I singing too loud? Another person says no. So, am I singing just right? Okay, so we don't need to use the word Buddha. We don't even need to use the word Dharma.

[18:47]

But we somehow need to bring this teaching up. So I'm bringing it up. And our teacher, Suzuki Rishi, asked us to bring it up. Encouraged us. Somebody has to... encourage this teaching of zazen, this teaching of we are all going to be Buddhas. So, one more thing is, you do not have to become a Buddhist in order to be a Buddha. You don't have to be a Buddhist in order to be a Buddha. You don't have to be a Jew in order to be a Buddha.

[19:49]

You don't have to be a Muslim in order to be a Buddha. You don't have to be a Christian in order to be a Buddha. You don't have to be an atheist in order to be a Buddha. No. However, no matter what religion you are, you're going to become great wisdom and compassion. No matter what religion you aren't, you're going to become great wisdom and compassion. And I'd also like to mention that being a Buddhist or being a Jew or being a Christian or being a Muslim or being a Hindu or being Zoroastrian or being a Taoist or being a Confucianist,

[21:05]

And be just deeply touching and so beautiful. Some Jews and some Christians and some Buddhists, they're Buddhists. If you ask them, they say, yes, I'm a Buddhist. And they're just, the way they practice is just so inspiring and wonderful. And they will become Buddhists. But you don't have to be like them. You can be like you. You're going to become Buddha no matter what you are. And I am holding that up to you and for you and for us. Many Zen students, if you ask them, are you a Buddhist? They say no. But they love the Dharma. They love the Dharma. And if you ask them, are you a Dharmaist? They say no. No. Are you a Zenist?

[22:14]

No. Do you love Zen? Yes. Do you love the Buddha Dharma? Yes. So again, I don't usually think of myself as a Buddhist, but I do love the Dharma. I love the Buddha Dharma, but I don't think of myself as a Buddhist. And I also don't say that I'm not a Buddhist. I just don't think of myself that way. Also, as you may have heard me say before, I don't think of myself as a Bodhisattva. I aspire to be a bodhisattva, but I don't think of myself, oh, I'm a bodhisattva.

[23:16]

But I wish to be a bodhisattva. And I wish to be Buddha. But I don't think I'm Buddha. I just wish to be Buddha. And I am trying on the teaching of the Buddhas in the Lotus Sutra and the teaching of Suzuki Roshi. which is, you are going to be Buddha. I am going to be Buddha. I try that teaching on. But I have not come to the place where I say, I am Buddha. And I understand that if I were truly Buddha, I also wouldn't necessarily think I'm Buddha, even though I would be. I don't say I'm not a bodhisattva. I don't say I am a bodhisattva. I say I aspire to be a bodhisattva. I don't say I am a Dharma teacher.

[24:22]

I don't say I'm not a Dharma teacher. I say I aspire to be. I don't say I am teaching the Dharma. I don't say I'm not. I want to. I don't say I'm practicing the true Dharma. I don't say I'm not. I say I would love to. How about you? Would you love to practice the true Buddha Dharma? Well, part of practicing the true Buddha Dharma would be, I would say, I suggest, is not leaning into that you are practicing the Buddha Dharma or that you're not. And if you do lean into, I am practicing or I'm not practicing, Then we practice compassion with that leaning and come back upright. I want to practice Buddha Dharma. I want to become Buddha Dharma.

[25:23]

I do. One of the teachings of the founder of Zen Center that deeply impressed me and I bring up often, is he said, our practice is just to be ourselves. Or, our practice is just to be ourselves completely. Or, our practice is just to be ourselves completely without expecting anything for it, of it. So now I hear that this teaching, this wonderful teaching that I practice, which I practice, it's called Zazen, that I practice of

[26:39]

Only a Buddha together with Buddha is just to be completely ourselves. Is to just be a solitary Buddha. And so Tsuzugureshi, I feel, is teaching the Lotus Sutra to us. Also, he brought up some stories about this.

[27:40]

One story he brought up was a story of a monk named Zhu Zhu, Chinese monk. I don't know if Zhu Zhu thought he was a Buddhist. But anyway, oftentimes people would say he was a Buddhist monk. In Japanese, his name is pronounced Gute. And he had a lot of doubt about being himself. He could almost say, I'm having trouble being myself. I mean, I am myself, but yet I'm not really myself. I am myself, but I don't have the spirit to be myself completely.

[28:45]

That's kind of how he was. And then they say a bodhisattva came to visit him, and the bodhisattva's name was... The bodhisattva took the form of a Chinese monk. Again, maybe they would say Chinese Zen monk. And that monk's name was... or Tianlong, Celestial Dragon. Somehow, when he needed someone to give him the teaching, the teaching came. And he told Celestial Dragon, the great teacher, maybe didn't think he was a great teacher, and maybe didn't think he wasn't a great teacher, but wished to be a great teacher for Zhu Zhir.

[29:50]

Zhu Zhir told him about his problem, and Tian Leung raised one finger and pointed at Zhu Zhir. And Zhu Zhir became Buddha. He became Zaza. He became only a Buddha together with Buddha. Jiu Jiu Buddha together with Tianlong Buddha. Discussing this case, which I think Suzuki Rishi often did with laughter, he also brought up another story of one of our ancestors in our, we say, the founder of our tradition in China.

[31:16]

His name was Dungshan Liangzhe. He lived in the 9th century. A monk came to Dungshan, Liang Jie, and said, how can I escape cold and heat? And Dung Shan said, well, maybe you could go someplace that's neither cold nor hot. And the monk said, well, what kind of a place is that?

[32:24]

What kind of a place is neither cold, nor hot. And Dung Shan said, when cold comes, freeze to death. When heat comes, swelter to death. That's the place of freedom from cold and heat. That's the place of being completely yourself. That's the place of expressing yourself fully without expecting anything. That's the place of when it's cold, cold Buddha.

[33:37]

When it's hot, hot Buddha. Cold Buddha without expecting anything but cold Buddha. Hot Buddha without expecting anything but hot Buddha. And we are all going to learn how to be cold Buddha when it's cold and hot Buddha when it's hot. But of course, this is a difficult practice. It's difficult. Not usually when cold comes, we, you know, shrink back and also with heat we kind of like feel like fainting maybe

[34:48]

For the sake of the great program of all beings becoming Buddha, for the sake of peace and harmony, somebody has to teach, somebody has to express, somebody has to demonstrate this. When sickness comes, sick Buddha. When confusion comes, confused Buddha. When pain comes, painful Buddha. When pleasure comes, pleasure Buddha. When fear comes, fear Buddha. When arrogance comes, arrogant Buddha. When shame comes, shame Buddha. When embarrassment comes, embarrassment Buddha.

[36:25]

When I'm sorry comes, sorry Buddha. When loving Dharma comes, loving Dharma Buddha. This is Tenryu's one finger. This is Dungshan. When cold comes, freeze to death. This is Suzuki Roshi's. Just be yourself completely. This is Zazen. And you don't have to be a Buddhist to do it. All you got to do is be a living being, which you are. And when you're completely a living being, you are precisely Buddha. And nothing is harder than you being you. together with all beings, telling you how to do it.

[37:27]

Yeah, and if it was just for me, I don't think I would make the effort. It's just so hard. I might want to check out. It's so hard. But people say, don't go. They can see I'm having a hard time being me. They see it, but they don't want me to go because they want me to show that I'm willing to stay and practice the Dharma of being me completely. They want me to show that I'm willing to do that for the sake of of peace and harmony with them. They also find it hard, and they're thinking of giving up too. They want some people who are going to continue. So as they say, please don't go. We've got your epitaph.

[38:37]

It's a good epitaph. But stay until we're all Buddhas, please. Stay until we all become zazen. And then I think, oh, okay. I'll stay for you. It's too much work just for me, but for you, okay, I'll keep trying to be me. I'll keep trying to be Buddha. I'll keep trying to remember that everybody's a future Buddha. And act accordingly. And be their servant. Just as I would serve a Buddha. Just like I would serve a Buddha. To do that with everybody. Okay. For you I'll continue to try to do that. You know.

[39:41]

It's for you. All of you. And I'll continue to. This. Challenging practice of the Lotus Sutra, of the Zen School, of Dungshan, of Tenryu, of Suzuki Roshi. Thanks to all of them, and thanks to whoever put together the Lotus Sutra over hundreds of years, and whoever's taken care of it for thousands of years. I think I'm ready, if you are, for kind of like you to come forward now and offer your face and your words and your heart and your love of the Dharma. And also, your love of Dharma could include questions about the Dharma and doubts about the Dharma.

[40:44]

That's part of Dharma love. Thank you for listening to this podcast. offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. 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.

[41:19]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.22