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 by people like you. Even though we celebrated it yesterday, today is the shortest day of the year, and from today on, for the next six months, there will be a little more light every day. So for those of you who find it a little bit depressing as it gets darker and darker, we're coming up the other side now. And that gives us about 10 days between the solstice and the beginning of the new year. And so it reminds me a little of the Jewish tradition where there are 10 days between the new year and the time when sort of our prediction in the book of life occurs.

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And during that time, we have the opportunity to set some things straight in our life. If there's any disharmony in our life, any ill will, anything that you don't feel very good about the way you've handled it, you have 10 days to really make amends and start the new year on the bright side and I think it works very well to take this time between the solstice and the beginning of the new year for us to do a little just taking a look and see are there any rough spots that we want to smooth out before we start the new year and Because of the way that people react to the darkness, it's not surprising that we have all of these parties where we're supposed to cheer up.

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But really, the best way to do it is to, I think, cultivate loving-kindness and generosity, two of the great recommendations of the Buddha Dharma as far as practice is concerned. Both meditating on loving-kindness and cultivating Dhanaparamita are very beneficial practices. which the Buddha has recommended to us. Some of what I'm going to say is I want to share with you is from this book, which I think is a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. A friend of mine who's been living in Cambodia for about the past 10 years is ordained as a Soto Buddhist priest.

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has been living in Cambodia and providing hospice care with Buddhist monks or nuns and people who want to help, providing hospice care to poor people who are dying in Cambodia. She comes home this time of here for a brief visit, and she stopped by to visit me a few weeks ago, and she brought me this book by Maha Gosananda. I've mentioned Maha Gosananda before. He's a monk by whom I was tremendously impressed on the occasions I've had to meet him in person. He's sometimes referred to as Cambodia's Gandhi. But he, the most, well, first he visited here maybe 10 years ago.

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He stayed here as a guest. And what I remember about him then was as he walked around the halls, if I bowed to him, he always, no matter how deeply I bowed, and I was bowing deeply because I greatly respected him, he bowed deeper. It was amazing. The next occasion I had to meet him was at a Buddhist-Christian intermonastic dialogue at Gethsemane Monastery that I was fortunate enough to be invited to. There were monks there from all of the various Buddhist traditions in Asia from Southeast Asian countries, Mahagosananda was there and monks from Burma and Thailand and Sri Lanka and Vietnam and monks from Japan and Korea and from Tibet and American convert Buddhists of these various traditions as well along with Catholic monks both from all over this country.

[05:51]

and some from the Vatican who had come. And, you know, when the Dalai Lama came in the room, we all stood up out of respect for him. But if it happened that he was in the room when Mahagosananda walked in, he would stand up. So I began to get more of a feeling of the high regard in which Mahagosananda was held by Buddhist monks all over the world. And there was a very interesting moment in that conference where the monk who was there from Korea sort of engaged in a rather angry outburst at the monk who was there from Japan saying what dreadful things the Japanese had done in their country during the war, and why hadn't the Japanese monks insisted that the government apologize?

[06:56]

But it was a very sort of self-righteous, angry presentation. And then someone got up and said that they had had some experience with self-righteous anger, and they had never found it to be helpful in creating harmony. And then one of the Catholic monks got up and said, but surely anger is an appropriate response to injustice. And then several of the Tibetan monks got up and said, no, anger is always an affliction. It's never an appropriate response to anything. And at that time, Brother David Steindelrest, who was the moderator, handed the microphone to Mahagosananda, who was just sitting there quietly, as he always did.

[07:58]

And Mahagosananda took the microphone and he said, when you know suffering, you know nibbana. which is the Pali word. We usually use the Sanskrit word nirvana, but it's the Pali word for freedom. And he handed the microphone back, and there was silence in the room. I think Brother David handed it to him because surely if anybody knew about injustice, Mahagosananda would surely be such a one, since all of the really dreadful He happened to be out of the country at the time that there was a massacre of the Cambodian Sangha. And he led peace marches all over, at the risk of his life, all over Cambodia.

[09:01]

Chanting the Buddha's teaching on... Hate is never overcome by hate. Only by love is hate overcome. This is one of the things I wanted to share with you. There's a prayer for peace here. Mahagosananda says, Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Mahagosananda, and I'm a Buddhist monk from Cambodia. The people of Cambodia have known great suffering. I pray that, like millions of peaceful Cambodian people, All people will find strength and compassion in their hearts and guidance in these words of the Buddha. In these words of the Buddha, in those who harbor thoughts of blame and vengeance toward others, hatred will never cease. In those who do not harbor blame and vengeance, hatred will surely cease.

[10:10]

For hatred is never appeased by hatred. Hatred is appeased by love. This is an eternal law. Just as a mother would protect her only child, even at the risk of her own life, so let one cultivate a boundless heart toward all beings. Let one's thoughts of love pervade the whole world. above, below, and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity. As long as one is awake, one should maintain this mindfulness. This is to obtain the blessed state in this very life. And then he said, the suffering of Cambodia has been deep. From this suffering comes great compassion. Great compassion makes a peaceful heart.

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A peaceful heart makes a peaceful person. A peaceful person makes a peaceful family. A peaceful family makes a peaceful community. A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation. And a peaceful nation makes a peaceful world. May all beings live in happiness and peace. Amen. The last time I saw Mahagosananda, who died just this past year, was at a gathering of Buddhist teachers from a variety of traditions. that was sponsored by Green Gulch and Spirit Rock, and was held at Spirit Rock, oh, about six or seven years ago, I think. And at that time, Mahagosananda was there, but he was suffering from some senile dementia, I think.

[12:29]

He was... there was someone assigned to kind of keep an eye on him to be sure that he didn't wander off and get lost. And at the close of the conference, which went on for about three days, he led the assembly in taking refuge, and Jack Cornfield had to gently remind him a few times because he kind of lost his place. So he was... He was having... some, but he was sitting there looking very happy. And what I remember most is he was sitting by the window looking very happy and peaceful, and I went over to pay my respects, and as I approached him, you know, maybe I was as far as from here to Tova, I felt this palpable wave of loving kindness.

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I mean, it was physically palpable, just emanating from this fragile, aged monk. It was astonishing. He had practiced loving-kindness meditation so much that it was just emanating from human waves. So he talks about loving-kindness here in this book. No boundaries to loving kindness, he said. There is nothing more glorious than peace. When we stabilize our posture and calm our mind, we can realize peace within ourselves. Then we can radiate loving kindness to those around us, our family, our community, our nation, and the whole world.

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We can meditate like this. May I be happy. May I be peaceful. May I be free from anger. May I be free from suffering. Why must we love ourselves first? because peace begins with the individual. It is only by loving ourselves first that we're able to extend love to others. Charity begins at home. By protecting ourselves, we protect the whole world. By loving ourselves, we love the whole world. When we say, may I be happy, We are speaking for everyone. The whole world is one. Life is one.

[15:36]

We are all of the same Buddha nature. Loving kindness is a very powerful energy. It radiates to all beings without distinction. It radiates to our loved ones, to those toward whom we feel indifferent, and to our enemies. There are no boundaries to loving kindness. The Dharma is founded on loving kindness. The Buddha saw the whole world with compassion. And so our prayer for personal happiness naturally grows into a prayer for everyone. May the whole world be happy and free from suffering.

[16:39]

I'll come back to this, but I want to read you a poem by Hafiz that a student at Tassajara gave me the last time I was down there. Papias was a great Sufi, mystic and poet. And he says, Edward something. Everyone you see, you say to them, love me. Of course you don't say this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops. Here, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect. Why not become the one who loves with a full moon in each eye, that is always saying with that sweet moon language, what every other eye in the world is dying to hear.

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Why not become the one who lives with the full moon in each eye that is always saying with that sweet moon language what every other eye in the world is dying to hear? So he's saying, noticing that we want to be loved. Why not be the one that starts the ball rolling? Why not cultivate love for all beings everywhere, as the Buddha recommended in teaching the meditation on love and kindness? So he goes on to say about Buddha teaching love and kindness, Buddhist scriptures describe the merits of loving-kindness meditation. They tell us that those who practice loving-kindness sleep well.

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They have no bad dreams. They wake up happy. They can focus their minds quickly. Their minds are clear and calm. They have no nervousness. No fire, poisons, or weapons will harm them. They can solve all the problems of the world. They are loved by all sentient beings. Their complexion becomes clear. They will attain nirvana. All together, there are 52 blessings derived from meditating on loving kindness, according to the Buddha Gama. When we love all beings, we gain the blessing of fearlessness. Our speech and all of our physical and mental actions become clear and we become free. The greatest happiness is found in living without egoism. This is one of the fruits of loving kindness. Another is contentment with life as it is.

[20:05]

Life often seems burdensome, but it becomes easy when we stop struggling. Moment after moment, step by step, we can experience life as something light and pleasant. There is no need to hurry. With loving kindness we are like a fish in clear water, never submerged by the burdens of the world. We float down the stream easily. We float down the stream of time easily from moment to moment. We have complete peace in our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind because we control all our senses. We have clear comprehension about the purpose of our life. and about how to live happily. We also have clear comprehension about the object of our concentration and about I, my, and me. The Buddha said, there is no I, my, or me.

[21:11]

And this becomes clear when we put loving kindness into practice. We are selfish about our family, money, dwelling, name, and fame, and also about the Dharma. But when we put loving kindness into practice, we become generous. We give food, money, shelter, and the Dharma freely to all. Loving kindness also means friendliness. With loving kindness, all enmity is transformed. Our enemies will no longer hate us and eventually they will return our loving kindness to us as friends. Yes, my friends, this is loving kindness. Well, that is a very high recommendation for practicing loving kindness. And I think that

[22:14]

That is a very good practice for us in these ten days between the solstice and the beginning of the new year. To start our new year out right. To check and see, are we holding any ill will for anyone? You know, we have one of our precepts is not to harbor ill will. You know, it doesn't say Don't ever give rise to ill will. It says don't harbor it. Don't give it a place to tie up and stay. If it arises, see it. Recognize how harmful it is to you and to your state of mind. And really focus on loving-kindness meditation to soften it and let it go. Anger arises, it says in the great Mindfulness Sutra,

[23:15]

When anger arises, the monk says, anger has arisen. We have to notice that anger has arisen before we can let it go. So we pay attention to where do we feel it in our body? Often, you know, there's a physical sensation that accompanies an emotional state of mind. So it's useful to notice, rather than latch on to the emotion and feed it with stories that support it. Yeah, I'm right and they're wrong, whoever it is. Notice, oh, there's a contraction here. There's some uneasiness here. There's, oh, oh yeah, it's anger. Right, I recognize that.

[24:17]

Well, let me give it my full attention. Let me breathe to it. Let me see if I can open up some space around it. Joko Beck has in her first book, I think, Everyday Zen. She has a chapter called ABC, which stands for A Bigger Container. Can you make some space around the anger? breathe to where you're feeling some tension or tightness. See if you can soften it and begin to let it go so that it doesn't continue to poison your state of mind. I'm pretty convinced by this attitude of the Tibetan teachers that anger is always an affliction.

[25:21]

It's never helpful. And the first person that's harmed by it is we ourselves. And you know, from me, from Shantideva in his Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life, in the chapter on patience, I remember reading, you should be very grateful for a good enemy. A good enemy is hard to find. How would you ever perfect the practice of patience without a good enemy? I thought, he's got to be not serious, surely. But I think he was. We really can't cultivate patience until we experience the lack of patience until we experience the aversion. In order to actually make ourselves be a bigger container, we have to become aware of when we close down and work on opening our heart.

[26:44]

In a recent Prairie Wind, the newsletter of the Omaha, Nebraska Zen Center, there's a talk on opening the heart by Katagiri Roshi. It's a beautiful talk. I mean, I would have liked to just sit here and read it to you today, but I didn't think that was... proper thing for me to do, but probably that prairie wind is down in the reading room in the library, and I very much recommend that you check it out, take a look at it. Opening the heart. That's really what I'm talking about. This is really where you let everyone in. This is the practice of loving kindness. You don't make any barriers to anyone. and you recognize the connection that we all have with each other.

[27:57]

We are all living one life together. And we find that this clinging to I, me, mind really causes us deep suffering. And if we pay attention, When the barrier of a closed heart begins to happen, we can begin to let it open. We can begin to let in. This is why he talks about really practicing loving-kindness leads to fearlessness. You know, I remember once reading again from Katagiri Roshi that a monk He's talking about Donna Paramita, the perfection of generosity. And he says, Donna is giving.

[29:02]

But of course, a monk doesn't give material things. A monk is a mendicant. A monk doesn't have material things to give. A monk gives fearlessness. I thought, I'm a monk and I don't know anything about fearlessness. I have to learn about fearlessness. How can I give fearlessness unless I... I thought about it myself. So I really began to pay attention to fear and how it manifests in me. And this teaching that loving-kindness, in fact, gives rise to fearlessness was a great teaching for me here in Maharasananda. And I think that's true. I think that if we think, you know, if we hold ill will towards someone and think of them as our enemy, then we're afraid that they're going to harm us.

[30:07]

When we recognize that we're all living one life, that we're all already connected, and that our effort needs to be to drop this notion of self that sets up a boundary between self and other, that recognizes our connection with each other. You know, as Hafi said in that poem, recognize that great desire to connect. That desire to connect is there because actually we're already connected. You know, for years, when I first started to practice, I wondered, you know, I would sit there, sitting zazen, and thinking, this is a strange thing I'm doing. I don't know anybody, none of my friends do this. What am I doing here? And, you know, why am I doing this?

[31:11]

You know, and at the same time, I was getting up every morning and going to the Berkeley Seto. And at some point I realized, well, I can't figure this out, but there's somebody here that wants to sit because they keep doing it. But at some point I realized that my big inspiration to sit was I wanted to be like Suzuki Roshi because He would tell us, you should see Buddha in everyone. But my experience of him was that he actually could do it. He saw Buddha in me. I could see it in his eyes. How does he do that? Well, he sits on that. I don't want to be like that. Well, sits on that. And that finally answers my question of why I sits on that.

[32:14]

Lou was telling a story that I had forgotten about. somebody asking, saying to Suzuki Roshi, you know, I don't know why, why should I sit sazen? Why do I sit sazen? I don't understand why I sit sazen. And Roshi said to him, you just carry that question. You just continue to sit and you just keep asking that question. And keep asking that question. And the day you sit and the question doesn't come up, then you'll know why you sit sazen. But for me, it's clear that I wanted to see Buddha in everyone, and I was not seeing Buddha in everyone. And I saw that he could do it, and I knew he'd been sitting satsang since he was 13, and so I had a long way to go. I don't think I lived long enough to sit satsang as long as he did, but I may live long enough

[33:19]

to see Buddha in everyone. And that is my effort and that's what I recommend to you, is to notice the fundamental goodness in everyone you see. They may be suffering, they may have a hard time acting on that fundamental goodness, but it's there In each one of us, in each one of us, there is a mind of awakening. And we can cultivate it by sitting. And we can cultivate the mind that sees Buddha in everyone, that can actually practice loving kindness for everyone, including those whom at this moment it seems very difficult for us to wish well because we are holding some ill will.

[34:28]

But I think if we can recognize that each one of us is doing the best we can, and we can recognize it from ourself because we're doing the best that we can. And when we make some mistake and do something unkind, We notice it and we do deeply regret it because we don't want to do something unkind. But sometimes it slips out because of some self-clinging, some notion we have about being separate, some way in which our heart is not yet open. And since we can recognize when we look deeply inside, that there is this mind of loving kindness in us. We can cultivate it. We can nourish it.

[35:31]

We can begin to see it in others and make that connection that we all long for, according to Avis. We can, with that sweet moon language in our eyes, look into others' eyes. And let them see love. Thank you. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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