This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. Welcome to Beginner's Mind Temple. Can you hear me? This is the first Dharma talk of the practice period that began on Tuesday. And I'm thinking of mostly addressing the practice period participants as sort of an orientation to the practice period. But I certainly hope that something I say might interest someone else. And it would be a great outcome if even one person who isn't participating in this practice period would be inspired to do one in the future.

[01:11]

That would be very good. So I want to talk about practice periods in general. And this practice period offered in the context of an urban temple and address the theme just a little bit and mention the practice period class that will begin on Monday. So at City Center, we have three practice periods each year, beginning in September and January, and May. And this is the shortest one. So this practice period is six weeks long, and the other two are ten or so weeks. And so that means that it's the easiest one for busy working people in the city who have lots of different things to do to join.

[02:22]

It's obviously easier to carve out time for six weeks to do an intensive meditation practice than ten weeks. And it's also the smallest in terms of number of participants and that has the potential to make it more intimate. And I hope it will be that way for you. I hope that you will feel comfortable engaging in the discussions in an intimate way. This traditional form of practice period is something that's been handed down to us from ancient times. It actually predates Buddha. So when Buddha was beginning to teach in India, it was the custom of spiritual seekers who wandered and begged for their food to stop traveling during the monsoons, during the rainy season, and gather in one place for intensive meditation practice, usually with a teacher.

[03:52]

For one thing, it was difficult and inconvenient to travel in the rain, and also there was a feeling that it was harmful to crops and insects and small animals. So from an ethical point of view, too, it was considered desirable to stay in one place. And this staying in one place and not leaving the container of practice is a feature of our modern-day practice periods. So we do this at Tassajara and Green Gulch. When people apply to come for a practice period, we ask them to please take care of all their personal business. like doctor's appointments and whatnot, before they come, so that once they arrive, there's no need for them to leave before the practice period is over.

[05:03]

So this is literally, physically, taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, which is the essence of an ordination ceremony. When Buddha's son Rahula was about to be ordained, Buddha asked his attendant Ananda to perform the ceremony. And what Ananda offered to Rahula was the refuges. So Rahula took refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And I believe that was the first ordination ceremony, the first Buddhist ordination ceremony. And it became the prototype, the essential core essence of what an ordination ceremony must include.

[06:14]

In Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, people are ordained as monks, maybe just for a practice period or for some short time in their lives, not for their whole lives like we do. And I think we refer to students at Tassajara during a practice period as monks, whether they're ordained or not. Gina's nodding to me. That's comforting. So city center practice offers a more permeable container to accommodate the great variety of lifestyles that people have here. In Japanese, the word for practice period is ongoo. and that means peaceful abiding.

[07:22]

And the founder of our Soto Zen school in Japan wrote a fascicle called ango, or practice period. And in it, he's referring to a 90-day summer practice period because that was the traditional length and length the traditional season when it took place in Japan and that we inherited from the Indian custom. However, since we don't have monsoons in America, we have the flexibility to schedule our practice periods of any length and at whatever time works for us, and still keep the spirit of practice that Dogen was writing about.

[08:26]

So I want to read a little excerpt from his classical. To see a practice period is to see Buddha. To realize a practice period is to realize Buddha. To practice a practice period is to practice Buddha. To hear a practice period is to hear Buddha. And to study a practice period is to study Buddha. Now, a 90-day practice period is the inviolable dharma of all Buddha ancestors. This being so, even kings of the human world, the Indra world, or the Brahma world, should make an effort to participate in a practice period as monks, even for one summer.

[09:38]

To do so is actually to see Buddha. Humans, devas, or dragons, should participate in a 90-day summer practice period as monks or nuns, even if it is only once in a lifetime. To practice this practice period is to actually see Buddha. And all those who have joined the assembly of Buddha ancestors to practice a 90-day practice period have seen Buddhas. If we are fortunate enough to practice a summer practice period before our dew-like life drops down, whether in the realm of humans or devas, we will surely replace our skin, flesh, bones, and marrow with the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of Buddha ancestors.

[10:49]

During every practice period, it is the Buddha ancestors who come to practice with everyone. And everyone who participates in the practice period practices as a Buddha ancestor. So I find it very inspiring and moving to hear from Dogen that the form of practice that I can do here is the same as he practiced in Japan and has been handed down from ancient times by Buddhas and ancestors. When I read stories of the life of Buddha, and study koans and read fascicles by Dogen.

[11:51]

What is depicted is a lot like our practice period practice here. Students gathered to do intensive meditation, listening to Dharma talks just as we do. and engaging in Dharma dialogue with their teachers and their peers. So I think the point of Dogen's fascicle is for us to understand our practice as Buddha's and ancestors practice. And I think that's important. I think sometimes we have the idea that there was a time long ago in some golden age of Zen when practice was authentic and we're not so sure about our own. But when I think of the resources that support our practice here, not just buildings and beautiful places to practice, but

[13:07]

many teachers and many teachings that are so much more readily available than they were in Buddhist time. It's just amazing to me. It seems like this Bay Area is some kind of golden age of Zen, too. And it behooves us to take advantage of it, I think. So this is practice in an urban temple, and we design our programs and our practice periods for people with lots of different lifestyles and schedules. So for example, we have residents who lead very simple lives, who may work seven hours a day inside the temple. And basically the rest of their time is available for doing the things they have to do and practice activities.

[14:15]

And then we also, on the other hand, have residents who have very busy lives taking care of this practice center. And we have residents who go to school or work outside whose schedules and commitments run a range from flexible to very demanding. There are a few commuters participating in this practice period, too, and they may have many commitments that they have to balance with the activities that we do here, family, jobs, school. lots of different things to be concerned about. And we serve different levels of commitment and experience. So some people who come for a practice period are brand new students who are just now exploring whether Buddhist teachings and meditation practice works for them in their lives and helps their lives.

[15:33]

they may be trying to sit for 30 or 40 minutes without moving. And then on the other hand, we have people who have received the precepts as priests or lay practitioners, and people who've done monastic practice periods at Tassajara or elsewhere. So there's a huge range of experience. And our... has to accommodate that, and the presence of those people enriches our practice tremendously. I think life in a monastery such as Dogen had founded and was writing about is much more one-size-fits-all.

[16:34]

than the situation here, which has lots of different kinds of people. So as I mentioned, this particular practice period is short and therefore potentially more inclusive, but it really does offer a taste of immersion in practice and an opportunity to deepen our practice. I think it's really important not to see our effort in terms of black and white, to think that in order to practice seriously, we have to go to a heiji and practice or go to a monastery. Suzuki Roshi said that when you take up the practice of zazen, it shouldn't make you more busy. And I think it's important to remember to live and practice as though what we're doing matters and to discover, not to discount our effort just because we can't do more.

[17:55]

If we do what we're doing, our commitment grows organically And if we keep practicing, we become Buddhas and ancestors. So I want to say a little bit about the theme of the practice period, which is practicing with intention, making a difference in the world. And I hope that theme is relevant to all of our lives and useful every day, and that the practices we do around intention will be useful in our lives. It's become a habit for us to begin our practice periods by asking every participant to state aloud their intention for the practice period. And then at the end we review again out loud how we did.

[19:00]

how it was for us. So I think it's sort of like a New Year's resolution. We want to give intentionality to the period of time ahead. But this time, the whole practice period is focused on intention. And how our intention radiates out into the world and creates our life. So we'll be exploring the onion-like layers of intentionality to find our deepest intention and discover our vow and nurture our vow. Which brings us to something I want to say about the words vow and intention. So I have had some ambivalence about these words.

[20:04]

We talked about this tonight in the tea. I considered calling the practice period theme living by vow. instead of practicing with intention. And I think that some people are inspired by vow. And I am too. And it moves me. And some people say that you really need a strong vow to overcome the three plaisance, greed, hate, and delusion. And I think there's something to be said for that But I also think that most people don't come here looking to vow anything. I think people come because of suffering in their lives and they're looking for a way to alleviate it.

[21:10]

So the word vow has more religious connotations and it's inspiring for some people and off-putting for others. I think Mahayana teachers, and this is a Mahayana temple, talk about vow. And what they're referring to, of course, is the Bodhisattva vow to live for the benefit of all beings, an impossible vow. And Vipassana and insight teachers Theravadan teachers talk about cultivating wholesome intention, which comes from the Eightfold Noble Path. Intention is the second element of the Eightfold Noble Path after right view and before right speech and right action. So it connects our view, our insight, our understanding with our activity.

[22:17]

And the Buddha described right intention as an intention of renunciation, an intention of goodwill, and an intention of harmlessness. So in practice, I think these are not so different, and they're both lifetime projects, I think, to do a practice in a serious way, to cultivate right intention or to practice with the bodhisattva vow. I think maybe we have intention before we have vow, that one turns into the other. That's how it feels to me. And intention, for one thing, we can have plural intentions at the same time, and our intention can change very quickly.

[23:29]

It's more fluid and evolving and subtle, I think. We can have deep intentions and shallow intentions. We could say, I think, that our inmost intention is our vow. And during this practice period, that's what we'll be working towards. What is it? How do we discover it? And how can we nourish a wholesome intention and a vow? I also want to say a few words about the relationship between intention and karma. So there's a phrase that I hear often said that we either live by vow or we are dragged around by our karma.

[24:32]

We either are guided by our intention or driven by our desire and conditioning. So in this sense, vow or intention is an antidote to negative karma. It stops the momentum and helps us stop the momentum and change the direction of our activity. change our karma in our life. So for example, someone who was abused as a child may have a conditioned karmic tendency to pass on that abuse. But by being aware, by cultivating awareness of

[25:37]

the harm done by certain behaviors, the suffering caused. And by cultivating a positive intention, that person can turn their karma, turn their activity, and change their life and change the lives of the people around them. So our conditioning, this karmic, that I referred to is both cause and effect. So actions are both cause and effect sometimes. And our conditioning becomes our karma. And we have individual karma based on our own actions, but we also have familial and cultural and national collective karma that we share with everyone. The word karma in Sanskrit means action, and in a Buddhist context, particularly volitional or intentional action.

[27:03]

So we overcome our negative karma through actions based on wholesome intention. And the emphasis when we're studying karma is always on intention. And action has much more karmic weight if it's an intentional action. So this circular... Round and round relationship of karma, action, and intention reflects the reality of our life. That's how it is. It's not that action and intention or cause and effect are confused or random. but they overlap so much that it's beyond our ability to trace them.

[28:10]

So different cycles of cause and effect are happening at the same time so that we can't sort them out and really trace them. And we just have to have faith that, based on what we can observe, that... wholesome intention leads to good actions and happiness, and unwholesome intention leads to suffering. Another way that we can explore intention looking outward instead of looking inward is intention versus impact. So I sometimes have conversations with people about intention versus impact.

[29:15]

Someone may tell me that something I've done or said has hurt them or caused suffering. And I may say, well, that wasn't my intention. And they think it's good that it wasn't my intention, but it isn't good enough. A wholesome intention has to include being attentive to the actual effects of my action, the impact of my action. So our view is never complete, even of our own intention, and we have to Remember that. Keep that in mind and keep our ears open and our eyes open and listen to other people tell us about our effect on them. So I want to just mention the practice period class, which begins on Monday.

[30:29]

which has the same title as the practice period, practicing with intention, making a difference in the world. We're going to be using this wonderful book by Shohaku Okamura called Living by Vow. And it's an unusual book. It talks about the chants that we do every day. So it talks about the four vows. that we will chant tonight. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. You'll chant that before we leave the room. The refuges. I take refuge in Buddha. All my ancient twisted karma. And a wonderful chapter on the meal chant and the whole oryoki meal. So we'll be studying those things. The book is a wonderful book to own, and it also includes chapters on the Heart Sutra and merging of difference and equality.

[31:35]

We won't have time for that. It's only four weeks, but you may enjoy it later. I would have to say it's always kind of surprised me that people come, and the very first thing that happens when they come for a Dharma talk, which is often a person's entry point into life at city center, is that we chant these four impossible vows. And I've never heard anyone protest or get up and leave. So it's always sort of... Amazing to me that we chant these impossible, wonderful vows. Brand new people. And I didn't object either. Maybe I didn't understand. So that's all I have to say.

[32:39]

Let's see what time it is. There's time for a question. Yes? Yeah, the thought that the vows we make are impossible, it seems to beg the question, what's possible and what's not possible? I'm not sure why you say that they're impossible, isn't it? Because if you think about it, everything we're doing in our lives, every intention or vow that we're making is movement towards what we really want in our lives, what we really want deep down inside our hearts. So in a way, aren't we just sort of like playing with the possibility that these vows are things that we can accomplish or at least move in that direction?

[33:48]

I think you're exactly right. I think that's what we do. We take one step and another step and another step in that direction all our lives. And it's so much different because we do that than if we didn't do that. It's a wonderful thing. It's something we should do. But we'll never get there wherever there is, you know? So it's like a magnet pulling us along in a certain direction, I think, and it gives direction to our lives. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you for saying that. That's wonderful. Maybe one more short one. Yes.

[34:50]

Yeah, you could do that or you could register online. Yeah. And you could probably still get in under the wire, you know. We could be persuaded, I think. So maybe that's enough. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost 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. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[35:43]

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