Please chant together with me. An unsurpassed penetrating and perfect dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million kappas. Having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept Live how to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Green Gulch. Thank you all for coming. Beautiful spring mist today. I hope you can hear okay. I'm grateful to be here this morning, grateful that we can come together wherever we are.

[03:43]

I see some more of you here. And in that gratitude and appreciation for you and our shared practice, my heart also is open, opening to the suffering. of this world, this time, maybe all times, but this time, this time, knowing that many of you are suffering and aware of the suffering all around us, in the cities, in the towns, in the country, in the prisons, detention centers, in our nation and in other nations. I find my mind will settle on some image of suffering somewhere, but it's really inconceivable. I can't get my mind or my heart quite around the scale.

[04:47]

I'm not sure we're built to this scale to really get our minds around the magnitude of suffering. But still, we can touch it somehow. Our hearts can open. whatever form that suffering takes, letting our heart open. Even though we don't know what it is, even though we can't know what it is, we can feel it, we can grieve, we can open to it. Let each cell of our body open to that suffering. And with that, as they open to receive and feel and grieve that suffering, There's also there the sound of the bird, the appreciation for each other. They may be noticing that here we are together in little boxes.

[05:52]

And then, of course, our own suffering, easy to forget about. For a moment we think about suffering, we think, often about someone else's suffering. So we can take a moment to and just appreciate our own suffering. Don't need to make it a small thing. Our own pain and loss and frustration. Our own feeling of restriction or being thwarted in some way. Though our most basic pain that What's happening is not quite what we want to have happening. Things are not exactly going our way. So we open to that too, our own dis-ease, our own frustration, our own suffering, and the whole vast ocean of suffering around us. We often maybe think, or one might think, that there, or hope or dream, that there could be one window through which we see the suffering and then some other window through which we see the joy of our life.

[07:16]

And that we'd like to kind of keep the window of suffering a little shaded and throw wide the window of joy. One window that shows death and one window that shows life. But of course, we know there's just one window. And if we want to be open, if we want to live fully, we open to the whole thing. Let the whole thing pour in the light and the dark, the suffering and the joy. And let that openness to the whole thing be the ground of our compassion, our response, our gratitude and appreciation and activity. So I wanted to talk today about the teaching that opens us, that helps us to open this window, that opens us to our life as it is, the whole thing.

[08:21]

And this is an old teaching passed down by the Buddhas and ancestors. And one way that we could express it is a way that we're hearing every day. This teaching has made its way into, it seems, the whole world right now. And that teaching is shelter in place. Shelter in place. Strange to hear this Buddha Dharma, you know, pouring from the mouth. of the worldly leaders, but what they say is true. Shelter in place. So what does that mean? It means suffering beings, when you need shelter, come to this place. If you want to support others, come to this place. Where's the shelter from the storm of suffering, of greed and hatred and delusion?

[09:35]

Inside and outside. It's in this place, shelter in place, right here and right now. So we also call shelter in place, a refuge in Buddha. I go when I need shelter? This place. Shelter here. Means I can trust this refuge, this shelter. Trusting that, coming to that, is to know that we can trust our life. We are held. Life holds us. And when I feel that need for support or for resource, there's somewhere I can go. And that's right here. So I've been exploring this in my practice and invite you to explore it if you'd like. Even right now, if you dare, to shelter in place.

[10:43]

So you are in a place, I am in a place. There's a difference, I'm feeling a difference between just being in a place and sheltering in a place. So wherever you are right now, You feel, well, yeah, here I am. How does that shift when I shelter here? This isn't just where I am. This is where I'm sheltering. I'm taking refuge right here. In this room, in this body, in this breath. I've been practicing this too with my breathing, knowing poignantly, that the, you know, one of the reasons that we're more restricted, many of us, all of us may be more restricted than we were before, is because of this disease that restricts, among other things, restricts the breath.

[11:49]

So I've been appreciating that, opening to that and feeling the gratitude for my breath, still flowing for now. and wondering if I can shelter in place here in my breath. So at the start of my outbreath, to shelter at the start of my outbreath. In the middle of the outbreath, to shelter in the middle of the outbreath. And then of course, at the very end of the outbreath, great shelter Not just breathing the in-breath, but sheltering, taking refuge in the in-breath, taking refuge in the flow of the breath, right at the edge of this time, this now, this place.

[12:51]

So sheltering in place, together. I miss your bodies. I miss your bodies in our cold, dim hole. So at Tassajara, many of you know at Tassajara in the kitchen, there's a weather-beaten little painting hanging over the vegetable washing sink. That's the verse of a chant that we offer weekly. And it's a brush painting of a fish and these words. Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? Year after year, working in the kitchen at Tassajara, I would walk or rush by this sign and wonder about it. What does that mean?

[13:57]

Who put that there? Is that supposed to be encouraging? Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? My God, it's hard enough working in this suffocating hot kitchen. And then for encouragement, we have this sign that says, like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? Not much. Thank you. And so now I know or I appreciate that that picture and that verse are about my life. That's about my life, like a fish in a puddle. What pleasure is there here? And maybe you feel that too. Maybe that's about your life, a fish in a puddle. I see you each in your little puddles on my screen. I'm in a boxy puddle in yours. Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? And so we're all really restricted.

[14:57]

You know, mostly our puddles have shrunk. And of course, we know that the restrictions we're under are not equal, and it's good to keep that in mind, to remember that and remind one another, each of us struggling in these restrictions. That doesn't mean that the restrictions are equal. Tragically, again, those most suffering with the restriction, are those with the least resources to survive the restriction, and also those who most need the restriction to survive the restriction. So it's moving to reflect on the side of truth, that is, we are not all in the same boat. And yet for each of us, the spiritual work, the work of our life, is to find our true life within our restriction, within our limitation.

[16:01]

That's not a judgment about the equality of restriction. It's a deep truth about our life that we each find our life within limitation, within restriction. I like a fish in a puddle. What pleasure is there here? So what does the fish do? about this puddle? What do we do about the limitation, the restriction in our life? I have an idea. Overcome it. Break it. Get free. That's our usual way of thinking. That's what the world calls freedom. We overcome. We go beyond our limitation. To be totally free would be to be able to do whatever we want. But we know in this practice that there is no beyond limitation. Do whatever we want is a complete fantasy.

[17:03]

We're all limited, and we're always in limitation. There's no other form of life than a limited form of life. There's a story I often tell about that limitation, and I see some friends here from our San Quentin Buddhadharma Sangha. Pleased to see you. Many years I shared in the Dharma with our sitting group at Tsang Quentin, and once was moved, actually every day was moved, but I once was moved at the words of one of our inmate sangha members, a mature practitioner, who in speaking to the volunteers called us out a bit on a naive view that he felt we had. He said something like, you think that we inmates are limited and that you are not limited, that we're restricted and not free and you are unrestricted and free.

[18:09]

And that's what we're even called, you know, volunteers. Here come the free people, the free people and the not free people. So then he said, well, that's true. We can't go out the gate and you can. That's kind of a big deal. In fact, it's a huge deal. But can you fly? He asked us. Can you fly? Can you see well without your glasses? Don't think that some people are limited and some other people are not limited. We're all within limitation and if there's any freedom, it's only within limitation. You know, the degree of restriction is to be acknowledged. But the existential fact of restriction is universal. So our natural human striving is to overcome the limits, and we include that.

[19:11]

Please, if there's some limit you can go beyond, by all means, do so. It's probably helpful to you and to the world. This is not a practice about being stuck. There's nothing stuck, you know, you read, appreciate, hear the stories of our ancestors. There's nothing stuck about this way of life, about this way of practice. It's completely responsive and free, unstuck. But it's always grounded within limitations. It's absolutely different than a practice of trying to overcome limitations. It's a practice of being fully with our limitation and finding our freedom right there, rather than imagining our freedom on the other side of the limitation. Like a fish in a puddle.

[20:14]

What pleasure is there here? Sekito Oki-san, our great ancestor, says of his grass-roof hermitage, his little room, that he's stuck in. He says, living here, I no longer try to get free. Not trying to get free of his hut. And later he tells us he's not trying to get free of his body either. Just don't separate from this skin bag here and now. So I wanted to say a little bit about Dogen Zenji, or the founder of Soto Zen in Japan. on this teaching of limitation, and then share a bit from Suzuki Roshi, and then say goodbye. So here's how Dogen talks about our basically limited nature. He uses these images of fish and birds.

[21:17]

So fish are restricted. They're confined to the water. And in his usage, at least, birds are also restricted. They're confined to the air. Zen students are great. You know, they're always questioning. No, they're not. Birds can land. Okay. It's true. Birds can land. But for this image, the birds are stuck in the air and the fish are stuck in the water. A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims, there is no end to the water. A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies, there is no end to the air. However, the fish and the bird have never left their elements. So no matter how far they go, they don't surpass their limitation. And he makes the point that they have everything they need within their limitation. There's not something for the fish somewhere else, or for the bird somewhere else.

[22:24]

This must be a children's book, but the obvious question is, what happens to the fish who wants to get free of the water? What happens to the being that wants to be free of limitation? If the bird leaves the air, it will die at once. If the fish leaves the water, it will die at once. You can imagine the fish, how wonderful it will be to be free of this limitation of water. If the fish leaves the water, it will die at once. Water is life and air is life. So our limitation is our life. There's no other life but the limitation that we find ourselves in. So this isn't just a practice of resignation. The fish needs to just resign itself. to being forever in the water. It's not like that. The limitation of the fish, the water is the life of the fish.

[23:34]

Water is life and air is life. The bird is life and the fish is life. Life must be the bird and life must be the fish. So embracing, embracing the limitation as our life. There's no other life but this, in this puddle, in this restriction. Not resignation, it's absolute celebration. If a bird or a fish tries to reach the end of its element before moving in it, this bird or this fish will not find its way or its place. When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. When you find your way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. And so, shelter in place. The fish in the puddle sheltered in place.

[24:38]

Dogen also says of the fish, the water is clear right down to the bottom. A fish swims just like a fish. So there it is, free. So how about me, right? How about you? Are we sheltered in place, completely within our limited element? Or are we striving to reach the end of it, trying to reach past the limitation in which we find ourselves? Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here? How about shelter in place? So some of you know that Sojin Mel Weitzman and I have been working on a new compilation of some of Suzuki Roshi's talks, a project I'm excited about and have not been contributing much to lately. So this is Mel's project, and I'm in the wings supporting as I can, given the limitations of my life and my understanding.

[25:48]

But there's one of the pieces we've been working on is about this point, and I wanted to share it. It's short. It's a talk from Suzuki Roshi almost 50 years ago. February 7, 1971, at City Center. And he's commenting on case 18 of the Blue Cliff Record, which he's also translating and interpreting. So I'll just read from Suzuki Roshi's short talk and offer some of my thoughts on it as I go. Suzuki Roshi says, A famous teacher... Eichu Kokushi, Nanyo Eichu, was one of the disciples of the sixth patriarch of Zen in China and a very good Zen master. He didn't have many descendants, so we don't know much about him. When he was dying, the emperor asked him what kind of a tombstone they should make for him.

[26:56]

What kind of tombstone shall we make for you? Eishu Kokushi told the emperor's messenger, ask my disciples. I appreciate that response. What do I know? Ask the people who will be alive. That's for living people to figure out. Or, you know, if you're asking about my teaching, then ask my disciples about my teaching. Don't ask me about my teaching. Look at my disciples and there it is. So Eshu Kokushi told the emperor's messenger, ask my disciples what kind of tombstone to make for me. Before they made a tombstone for him, his disciples had a discussion about it. as disciples do. I'm picturing them now on Zoom as all of our meetings of disciples currently are taking place.

[28:13]

All of our in-person harmony and bickering has now moved into Zoom harmony and bickering. And I sweetly think of these disciples too. I'm convening a Zoom room and having trouble connecting and discussing what kind of tombstone shall we make for our master. One of them One of the students said, it should be as big as this country. So sweet. They really love their teacher. This tombstone should cover the whole state south of Lake Tan and north of Lake Tan. Just a huge tombstone. And then another student said, no, it will include the whole world. This whole thing is the tombstone for our great teacher. It should be boundless. This tombstone should be unlimited. And Suzuki Roshi says, but I would rather say, as their teacher Nanyo said when he was asked, any stone will be good enough.

[29:19]

Even a small stone can be good enough for me. Which do you like? The whole world or a small stone? That's Suzuki Roshi's question for us. Which do you like, the whole world or a small stone? Saying, would you like to be boundless or limited? Would you like to be restricted to an element or go beyond it? Fish in water or fish out of water? So Suzuki Roshi continues, Nanyo said... I rather prefer a small stone which we can carry or move. You know what a small stone is. I puzzled over this line a bit. Suzuki Roshi saying, you know what a small stone is. You can get your hands around it. It's sort of like the suffering of the world.

[30:22]

But a small stone, you know. You can get your hands around it. So Suzuki Roshi says, you know that it is you yourself which will cover everything. But if you think that you need to see the entire universe in order to see yourself, you will be lost. So you yourself, being you yourself in your own element, in your own limitation, that's what includes and covers everything. There's no other way to get at everything. then through this small stone, through this limitation, through this you yourself. That's how you get at the whole universe. And this is why as we shelter in place, you know, shelter in place is how we are with everyone. But I want to be with everyone. Shelter in place. That is how we are with everyone. And then Suzuki Roshi speaks right to us right now.

[31:31]

He says to Minu, you need one small room for yourself. That is very true. When you can really find yourself in the small room, then there is you yourself, and the whole universe is there, and the whole universe makes sense to you. Without your one small room, the whole universe doesn't make any sense. So what you need now is the small room, and what you will need after your death is a small stone. That is the actual reality, which is always true for everyone. Without your one small room, the whole universe doesn't make any sense. So what you need now is the small room, and what you will need after your death is a small stone.

[32:33]

So our practice is about understanding, being in the relationship between limitation and freedom, between the small stone and the boundless. We don't go straight for the whole universe. That doesn't make any sense. We just find ourselves in one small room, sheltered in place, like a fish in a puddle. So Suzuki Roshi says, so I don't talk about the whole universe. or some mystical experience, but just to find yourself in the small room in the practice of Zen under some limitation. It's just about being in a limitation. I don't talk about the whole universe or some mystical experience, but just to find yourself in the small room in the practice of Zen under some limitation. You should cross your legs this way. And he gives some examples of limitation, and Mel edits some of them out. But you see him sort of pantomiming what it's like in a Zen training hall.

[33:44]

Go this way, don't go that way. I came here to be boundless and free, and you're telling me to go that way and not that way. You're telling me to cross my legs just so. Yes, it's about the practice of Zen under some limitation. Usually, we have to tend to make up the limitations. So we say, oh no, hold the bowl like this, not like this. And now we don't have to make up a limitation. The limitation is freely offered. Shelter in place. Wear a mask. Hold the bowl however you want. But don't leave your room and wear a mask if you do. So he continues, under this kind of limitation, you will find yourself... Your real self is there. But because you discuss whether this room is good or bad, big or small, you lose your real room. Before you discuss and before you are caught by discrimination or thinking mind, you own your room.

[34:48]

Under this kind of limitation, you will find yourself. Your real self is there. But because you discuss whether this room is good or bad, big or small, you lose your real room. So this is what many of us are doing, judging our room, judging our puddle. I talk to many people, mostly through Zoom. And I've yet to find someone for whom everything is just right. Everything is just right. There's some, it's too small or too big, the room. Too loud or too quiet. So before we get caught in our judgment of our room, we, he says, you own your room. We're fully here. Soon as we start thinking, judging it, we lose our real room. So we're all stuck in this room.

[35:59]

You know, even if we live in a great palace, we're stuck in this small room of our body and our mind. So then he continues a few more lines. He says, So if you find true joy under some limitation, that is the way to realize the whole universe. There's no other way for us to get an approach to the whole universe. When you exist right here, the whole universe makes sense to you before you think about it. It is important to give up your foolish discrimination or foolish ideas of freedom, like the fishes, foolish idea of freedom outside of limitation. It is important to give up your foolish discrimination or foolish ideas of freedom. This is the way of practice. So we're giving up our foolish idea of freedom and just sheltering in place in this small room under some limitation.

[37:08]

Right there, we're with everyone, and we can find our true joy, which is right there with the true suffering. One window wide open as we shelter right in this place. So I want to practice this. I want to notice my foolish idea of freedom. And when I find myself imagining freedom just on the other side of that limitation, pushing against the restriction to see if I can shelter in place, find that freedom, find that true joy within limitation. And remember, the limitation is my life. fish in the water, like a fish in a puddle, sheltered in place.

[38:17]

So later on in that same talk, Suzuki Roshi says, the reason you practice zazen is to be filled with the bodhisattva spirit. So I want to end appreciating our bodhisattva spirit and dedicating the merit of our time together. The bodhisattva spirit is, may we awaken with and for the benefit of all living beings. And the teaching is so clear that that awakening is going to take place right here in this small room, right here in this limitation. May we awaken with and for the benefit of all beings. And so all of our practices, we appreciate And we offer with that in mind, may this practice be of benefit to others. May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings find their refuge, find their shelter in place right where they are.

[39:24]

So any good that comes of our gathering this morning, we wholeheartedly offer turnover for others. Thank you. I'd like to chant the closing verse. May our intention equally extend to every being and place. With the true merit of Buddha's way, beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless.

[40:31]

I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. Thank you. Please feel free to exit the hall if you'd like. And if any of you have a question or a comment, maybe have time for a couple of comments. And you could offer something by raising your hand virtually, which means going to the participants field and finding raise hand somewhere. on your device and clicking it. Oh wait, I see Tanya is raising her hand, IRL. Let's see, Tanya, okay.

[41:41]

Did you find Tanya here? Hey, Tanya. Yes. I think you're unmuted, but maybe I'm not going to be able to hear you. I think I need to put my earbuds in. Excuse me. Okay. Okay. Can you hear me? Okay. Maybe I can hear you now. Can you hear me now? Yes, thank you. Excellent. That was so very perfect and wonderful. Thank you so much for your talk this morning. Just quickly, I would like to attend these every Sunday. I used to go to Green Gulch all the time when I lived in Mill Valley like 30 years ago, and I miss it so much.

[42:45]

I live in Santa Monica right now, and I would love to be able to So having these talks on a Sunday at Green Gulch means so much to me via Zoom. It's like I'm transported back there. And I would like to continue with this on the Sunday. And I would like to know where I would need to make my donation to participate every Sunday like this. Well, thank you for asking. This is not a plant, my friend. Thank you. I would appreciate donation to Zen Center. And how would I go about doing that? Well, thank you, Tanya. Oh, here it is. There it is. Thank you. sfcc.org slash give. Okay, perfect. Look at that. There you go. I'm going to write this down right now. Thank you, Tanya. And I will do that and just have it be a monthly donation.

[43:49]

I'll do it that way. And then, and that'll be for every Sunday. That's how I would like to do it. That's all right with you. It's all right. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. And yeah, I think we're all appreciating how many old friends we're able to reconnect with. and to bring back into our Zendo here. So I don't know what the future holds, but how wonderful it would be if we could continue even after we're back in the Zendo, somehow offering these talks. When we all get through this, which we will, my goal is to, as soon as, however this happens, by vaccine or whatever, I am moving back to Mill Valley. to be with Green Gulch again. That is my dream and goal. Okay. 30 years later. And in the meantime, right where you are, practicing with us, right where you are.

[44:57]

Yes, exactly. Thank you, Tonya. Thank you. Thank you so much. Maybe Terry? Oh, yes. Let me see. Hi. Hello. This is the first time I've heard you speak. I live in San Francisco, and I thank you for your expanding on the teaching of shelter in place. I thought it was so great to connect it with taking refuge. I just, this is sort of a weird question. But I'm flourishing with the... Limitation. Yes. The limitation is exactly what I need, or I'm getting a lot from it.

[46:05]

And I also find myself... with so few limitations compared to the rest of the human beings on the planet. How do you do... What does that mean to my practice, or how do I... Yeah, that's a good question. gratitude comes up. Well, yes, I am very grateful, yes. So just gratitude. I wouldn't stop there. Compassion. You know, being able to practice, being supported to practice, and practicing sincerely for the benefit of

[47:17]

of others. Yeah. Yeah, we keep that. Could I ask you something else? Mm-hmm, yeah. When I sit, I offered the merit of my practice for the benefit of a particular person that I harmed. And I, you know, I really don't feel like I can, I've done whatever I can do. It would not be good for her for me to say I'm still feel bad or whatever. Is that an appropriate thing to do with the merit? Absolutely. Absolutely. When we have ceremonies here, and the ceremony is anything that we do with intention and the merit of which we dedicate, anything we can dedicate the merit of, and we dedicate the merit to someone we want to give it to, on the way to all beings.

[48:35]

Oh, okay, yeah. We usually include, in our many ceremonies, we name somebody who needs it or who our merit is particularly. They are particularly deserving of merit from us, where we particularly want to offer to this one person and all beings. Okay. So the merit, we don't hold on to it. We don't keep it. It just flows right through us to others. That's the vision of this dedicating merit practice. Please continue to give that over. Thank you. Thank you. Chris? Hi, Chris.

[49:36]

Hi. Oh, there we go. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. It was really wonderful to hear you this morning. what you had to say um you know flowed from just my thoughts and my struggles this morning waking up and feeling the limitations in my life and um but i have this place i get stuck which is um i can feel you know the experience the the truth of what you're offering and uh and yet um there's this passage in George Bernard Shaw's Revolutionists Handbook. And I can't quote it, but the essence of it is that some men are content and others are discontent. And all progress relies on the latter.

[50:39]

You know, this notion of... you know, progress or good coming from people who are discontent with the status quo. And I don't know how to resolve that. Thank you. I don't know how to resolve it either. I hold that as the great, the great bodhisattva koan. the great driver of our practice. So these tensions or strains in our practice are the engine, you know, that drives it. So one of the ways that I'm currently feeling that, well, first off, I would say there is no, from the Buddhist perspective, there is no contented person. There are people who are unaware of the depth of their discontent. And then there are those who are aware of their discontent, and those who are aware of their discontent then wonder about its cause and open to its cessation and find a path to its cessation.

[51:51]

So the contented person is asked in this practice to explore their discontent. And so that's kind of getting to the First Noble Truth is... is important, you know. I'm just, I'm fine. I'm concerned about others, but I'm fine. So that's one part. But another part, I think the deeper part for me is coming to understand in my own life. So we tend to think of contentment and discontent or say, it's okay and it's not okay. which are two, I would say, absolutely true things that could be said about this condition. It's okay and it's not okay. We think of those, because of our limited dualistic thinking, we think of those as taking up the same space. They're on the same plane.

[52:53]

And so then if I'm saying it's okay, I can't be saying it's not okay. And if I'm saying it's not okay, I can't be saying it's okay. And I think the call of practice is not like that. It's grounded in... Contentment. The bodhisattva practices contentment. The bodhisattva is the one whose whole life is dedicated to others. And the bodhisattvas practice, one of them is contentment. So grounded in it's okay, there's all the room for it's not okay. They don't take up the same space. And we have a fear from outside or dualistic thinking about it. or our evaluation, can I trust this teaching, from outside of it, we say, well, I maybe can't because those two things seem to be at odds. But in our actual practice, that, not a shallow contentment or complacency, but the kind of deep being present in our life, being with this breath, being in fully embraced and feeling my limitation, is not a stuck place.

[53:56]

It doesn't cut off this natural, compassionate responsiveness. It's actually the basis for it, the ground for it. So it's sort of like, well, try, try accepting things as they are, say, and then just see, does that practice of accepting things as they are cut off your compassionate action? We're afraid it might, you know, but when we practice it, sincerely does it? And I don't think it does, you know? So, but I think they need to, they need to turn each other. That's why it's the engine. It's the wheel. Right after content, you need discontent. Right after discontent, you need content. And that's why we practice together. One person says, it's okay. The other person says, it's not okay. And we turn each other like that. But I think to, you know, like, what does that mean? Would it be better? Would it be better to be freaking out? Would that be more helpful? Certainly turning away,

[54:58]

It would be better not to turn away. So I vow not to turn away. But does turning towards, but is freaking out turning towards? Not exactly. Is that helpful? Does just really feeling being with, being grounded in this breath, things are as they are. Hongzhi, our ancestor, says accord and respond. So we come into contentment, into accord with everything. as the basis of the responsiveness rather than like accord instead of responding. He doesn't say that. Accord is the basis of responding. But each of us needs to check that out in practice. And I really appreciate this place and time and the relentless challenge that our Zen practice is under is to ask, to show up and to be questioned about right there. Is that contentment, complacency or not? And there's no answer to that. But I would say I vow to practice the kind of contentment that's not complacency.

[56:01]

And please help me when I veer either off of contentment or into complacency. But please keep that call on and keep raising it. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Well, thank you all again for coming today. Please be well and safe and wear a mask and stay at home if you can. And if not, thank you for going out. Thank you to the hosting team, you guys. I appreciate it.

[56:52]

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