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. Welcome to Green Gulch Farm. I guess that there are a few people who are here for the first time. Would you like to show hands? How many people? Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for coming. And enjoy your day here with us. So my name is Anna Thorn. I'm serving as the guest program manager here at Green Gulch. And I arrived actually at Green Gulch nearly 20 years ago on the 4th of January, January 4th, 95. I have been a resident for all of this time, but mostly lived at city center and at Tassahara Zen Mountain Center.

[01:10]

That's our monastery in the Vantana wilderness. So I wanted to thank the Green Gauche Sangha, and in particular my teachers, Reb Anderson and Christina Lehnherr, for supporting me through all this time and being patient with corralling me back on the path again and again and making it possible also for me to finally sit here for the first time in this seat. And I wanted to thank the Sangha for our everyday exploration of the Dharma together I think that's just a wonderful space and place to live. So today is December 21st. It's a winter solstice.

[02:14]

It's the moment in time where we have the shortest day and the longest night and we turn basically from darkness It's like a threshold position where the rhythms change into the other direction again. This morning I was actually baffled by the beauty of the ceremony, the Winster Solstice ceremony that we had early this morning here in the Zendo. Everybody holding a candle and people singing songs and playing the flute and saying poems. And this wonderful poem or prayer came up that we all said together and I just wanted to repeat this for everybody who is here today.

[03:16]

It's called The Prayer for the Great Family. It's by Gary Snyder after a more prayer. Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day, into her soil, rich, rare and sweet. In our minds, may it be so. Gratitude to plants, the sun-facing, light-changing leaf and fine root hairs, standing still through wind and rain, their dance is in the flowing spiral grain. In our minds, so be it. Gratitude to air, bearing and soaring swift in the silent owl at dawn, breath of our song, clear spirit breeze.

[04:20]

In our minds, so be it. Gratitude to wild beings, our brothers teaching secrets. freedoms and ways, who share with us their milk, self-complete, brave and aware. In our minds, so be it. Gratitude to water, clouds, lakes, rivers, glaciers, holding or releasing, streaming through all our bodies' salt, salty seas. In our minds, so be it. Gratitude to the sun, blinding, pulsing light through trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where bears and snakes sleep. He who wakes us, in our minds so be it. Gratitude to the great sky who holds billions of stars and goes beyond that, beyond all powers and thoughts, and yet

[05:33]

is within us, grandfather's space. The mind is his wife, so be it. That was our morning prayer today. So the 21st of December is also a time when we approached the celebrations that some people call Christmas. which means it is celebrated in many different ways in different religions and different cultures. But I think there is one piece of it that is prevalent in all these celebrations that seems to be gift-giving. So I would like to talk about giving and receiving as the expression of generosity today. And I think in caring and being aware of how we give and how we receive, we have a good chance to study the self, to study our stories about ourselves, to study our stories about others around us, to see our self clinging, to see our stinginess, to see our preference

[07:02]

controlling our life and to be joyful when this grasp on the self releases and to feel joyful when we can let the gift unfold. So in the Buddhist canon traditionally there are three kinds of gifts and there's I'm sure there is other lists. I'm just going with this one. And the three kinds are material gifts, which are shelter, clothing, food, medicine. And the second is the gift of the teaching. And the third one is the gift of fearlessness. So I think that we are right now at a time of abundance or maybe even exaggeration of material gift giving.

[08:14]

And yet in each conventional act of gift giving is an enormous potential of realizing generosity. So here at Gringosch we just have received two major gifts, the completion of the Cloud Hall renovation, the adjacent building that is one of the main living spaces for resident students, and also Stillwater Hall is just about to be ready, not yet, but about, so I wanted to express my deep gratitude for receiving these enormous gifts in support of the Green Gulch Sangha. It was quite amazing to witness the visions, the plans, and then the final transformation in coming to be into life of these two gifts.

[09:29]

Many skillful workers and contractors and engineers worked together. And we also received many gifts from volunteers who gave their skill and time to put together pieces that were necessary to complete the whole. So I would like to express my gratitude for these gifts. Thank you all very much. May these buildings support the flourishing of the Dharma in this valley. I think there will be an opening ceremony around the 5th of January. So giving and receiving are expressions of dhāna paramita. Paramita can be translated as the perfection of giving, dana paramita, the perfection of giving.

[10:40]

And there are six paramitas, and there is the understanding, there is the conventional form of giving, of generosity, which has the potential to develop into the ultimate form of complete, generosity and openness and non-possessiveness, the freedom of greed and possession. So the six parameters are dhāna parameter is the first, shīla parameter is ethical conduct, perfection of ethical conduct, the third one is kshanti parameter, patience, tolerance, endurance, And the fourth one is Virya Paramita, it's energy, effort, diligence. The next one is Dhyana Paramita, concentration, meditation.

[11:44]

And the last one is Prajna Paramita, wisdom. And all of the six Paramitas are deeply interrelated and practiced together and only in practicing them in their interrelatedness, can they mature each by themselves. So Dhanaparamita in particular is the entry gate, is the first one. To me that makes complete sense because that's the one that we have experienced probably from the beginning. I think we grow up by the generosity of our parents. from way back we have some kind of imprint, feeling, idea, concept of what generosity might be. So when I say these are the practices of the Bodhisattva, I wanted to just brief mention for those who might not know what Bodhisattva is.

[12:53]

Bodhi means awakening and sattva is being It's an awakening being and the Bodhisattva lives with the vow, with the intention to not enter final liberation before all beings are liberated. It's an outrageous kind of intention. And I think this intention and the idea of the Bodhisattva just talk about our interrelatedness. It is not possible for us to experience freedom if there is any being that is not free. So I think, for me, it's an amazing concept, this concept of the Bodhisattva. And it's kind of the main anchor point of our practice here.

[13:58]

So I wanted to recognize that there are very different understandings of gift and gift giving. Just to mention the deep misunderstanding between the Indian giver and the white man keeper and these kind of misunderstandings can be very helpful when we explore them in inspiring our practice of giving. So Lewis Hyde describes in his book, The Gift, many tribal forms and understandings of giving. And what I find interesting about his record He has looked at many anthropological reports, and this is an older book by Lewis Hyde.

[15:11]

What I find interesting is that the particularity of a gift is that it is given and given and given, that it is passed on from one party to the next party to the next party, and that it cannot be taken in possession And I think there it meets kind of our idea of developing a wider and open generosity of giving. So he describes, for example, rituals that are meant to balance social exchange or exchange with nature, and I want to just mentioned one example. He talks about a Maori hunting ritual in which, quote, the forest gives to the hunters, the hunters to the priests, and the priests to the forest.

[16:18]

At the end, the gift moves from the third party back to the first in a ceremony called Wang Gai Hao, feeding the spirit. Haidt says, the circle of gifts enters the cycle of nature and in so doing manages not to interrupt them and not to put man on the outside. The forest's abundance is in fact a consequence of man's treating its wealth as a gift. So to think of the ocean as a gift or to think of the earth as a gift that we share changes our attitude towards living on this planet. I think in giving, in our understanding of giving, we mean expressing respect, expressing devotion.

[17:21]

When we give without possessiveness, the boundless abundance of life can flourish and come forward. Giving when it is unhindered and unlimited is an act of liberation. So when we look at, when we try to be mindful in giving, it is important to understand our intention in the act of giving. and we also carefully consider the impact. When we look at our intention, we can see what our attitude is in the moment of giving. And when we look at the impact, we are empathetic with the receiver. So it is important to give, not too early,

[18:29]

and not too late, and wholeheartedly. When we not give completely, the gift cannot completely arrive. And at that point, we might just be generous towards our stinginess. So dhāna paramīdha is not just relating to gift-giving, but it is an all-pervading practice of generosity and of enjoying the richness and mysteriousness of life. Not holding on to what we think we are, not holding on to what we think we possess, not holding on to what we think the other person is. This point I would like to mention teaching by the Japanese founder of this tradition, Dogen Zenji.

[19:38]

He lived from 1200 to 1253. I say that because I'm always amazed when I read his texts how alive they are for me and how important his teaching is and relevant to this time. So in the Shobho Ganso there is a fascicle about the four integrative methods of bodhisattvas where he talks about giving. He says, when one learns giving well, being born and dying are both giving. So we can develop generosity to the extent that we are not afraid of dying or losing our life to the extent that we can experience our life as a gift that we don't possess, that we can't control.

[20:42]

And further on, Dogen says, what is difficult to transform is the mind of living beings. This giving is to intend to transform the mind of living beings, to transform it even as far as attaining of enlightenment. In the beginning, it must be done by giving. For this reason, in the beginning of the six transcendent ways, so the six parameters, is the transcendent way of giving. Nevertheless, there is a time when the mind transforms things, and there is giving in which things transform the mind. Which to me echoes the phrase, to carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening.

[21:49]

And this reminds me of a story When we started giving generosity in the city, we went out and each had like a stack of one dollar notes, and we were supposed to give them away to people and ask those who received them to pass them on. And just this little kind of exercise was illuminating about asking one person or giving it to one person, hesitating to give it to another person and all these stories that came up in these little I mean what is money, what is gift what is happening right there so I just thought I'd mention this little experiment so I have mentioned material gifts and I have

[22:51]

just mentioned briefly Dogen's teaching, and I would like to talk about the third kind of gift that I mentioned, the gift of fearlessness. So it's kind of an important piece to me because it's hard to sit here to be fearless in this. spot. So I wonder how we can generate fearlessness when we are so easily afraid. And one way that I have experienced that works is to just stay there right there with it. Feel that trembling feeling rushing through my body and Just stay and see how it comes and goes.

[23:55]

And to see this and to see this kind of impermanence, this moving on, gives me some kind of resilience. Okay, I can stay through this. I can be with this. So that's one way to develop how not to be stuck in the habit of being afraid or being a coward. And I wanted to just tell a story that I haven't asked the other person, who is not here right now, if I may, but I just do it. And it's a little scene in a dokesan room at Tassajara maybe 18 years ago. And Reb Anderson says to me, you are a coward. And I didn't know what the word means. So I say, I have to go to my cabin, I have to look it up.

[25:01]

So I run to my cabin, I look up the word, and I was like, what? And I stand back to the dog's office. I said to the attendants, I have to get in there. They made it happen that I could go again, and I stand in front of Rabbi and said, this is bullshit. I'm not a coward. Now it's so funny to me to look at this. I'd just be totally caught in my self-delusion, standing there in front of him and not wanting to get out of the cage. It's like this. And he smiled, of course, what should he do? Yeah, so that was my experience around being a coward and a warrior at the same time. So I wanted to bring up a story from the Lotus Sutra that I think is about the complexity of giving and receiving fearlessness.

[26:19]

And I think that the story is about receiving insights and teachings at different times and being able to hear them. It's the story of the prodigious son. Many of you might know this story. It's a story that also comes up in other religions. So the story goes. His father leaves his home, goes off to another country, and becomes very poor and very desperate. And after 50 years, which sounds like the timing in the story is a little funny, but after 50 years he accidentally comes back close to his homeland.

[27:22]

Meanwhile, his father has become amazingly wealthy and is in charge of a great household and living a very pleasant life. And through all this time, his father has been wishing for the son to reappear and to return home. So when the son by accident comes very close, and even sees his father sitting on his throne in his precious garments, he also, that moment, becomes very anxious and afraid of being captured and put to work. And he regrets that he has come close to this place. And the father recognizes his son.

[28:25]

The son doesn't know that this is his father. And the father sends his messengers to fetch the son. The son is so threatened that he faints. And the father asks his people to let him go. He recognizes that he is... very insecure and inept and that he has to think of other means to connect to him. So the son goes off to a poor village to find food and find work and the father comes up with an idea of how to entice him to come back home. He sends two people of very It says, miserable appearance.

[29:33]

Two people of miserable appearance. And they are supposed to invite him to work in the stables, to clear the stables of Dung and to earn double wages for that. And the son agrees to do that. So the son starts to work in the stables of his father without knowing where he is. And after a while, the father gets on very dirty clothes and works alongside his son and tells him that he's very appreciated and that he doesn't need to be afraid of his place and his job anymore. And then the son continues to work and it takes 20 years for him until he finally gets used to and recognizes that he has a place to be. At that time, the father is also coming close to his death, and he starts to train the son in running his business and managing his wealth.

[30:41]

And finally, he invites the king, the nobility, his family, the neighborhood to his palace and he lets them know that this is his real son and that he will inherit all his wealth and being in charge of his house. His son is overjoyed receiving these gifts that he did not expect to come to him. So I think this story tells us that we have, that it sometimes needs some time to grow to receive certain gifts. It points out that we might not feel worthy to receive our birthright, that we might not be able to understand that we are children of the Buddha or endowed with Buddha nature.

[31:44]

We might not be ready to just be awake and present to this moment because it is too scary to give up our story that we are able and in control of our life, which keeps us from being generous and open to what is happening right in front of us now. We keep trying to control our life, although we know that we can't. It takes courage to see that all our stories, all our perceptions, all our ways of establishing meaning are empty of any independent own being. There is no story that is not replaced by another story in the next moment

[32:47]

There is no story that has an independent existence. And entering the wisdom of complete generosity is entering the understanding that the giver, receiver and the gift are empty of any independence. And when we realize this, we receive the gift of fearlessness. is running fast. So sitting still and upright and facing what comes towards us, embracing what we are confronted with, is training fearlessness and training generosity.

[33:58]

Suzuki Roshi expresses this in a piece in beginner's mind. And we should forget day by day what we have done. This is true non-attachment. And we should do something new. To do something new, of course, we must know our past. And this is all right. But we should not hold on to anything we have done. We should only reflect on it. This is our attitude and how we should live in the world. This is dhāna-prajna-paramita. To give something through and through is to resume our true activity of creation. This is why we said, If we do not forget this point, everything will be carried on beautifully.

[35:03]

So towards the end of this talk, I wanted to mention another ritual form of manifesting generosity, and that is giving sanctuary. A sanctuary is built or declared to give refuge and protect beings. It is also initiated to create a container to care for ourselves and the environment. And there are many of these enactments here at Green Gulch, and one of the latest ones is to declare Green Gulch into making it into a wild bee sanctuary. And I just wanted to tell you all about this because I don't know. This is public. And the idea has come up over the years, looking at our beehives and looking at the bees being threatened by bee colony collapse.

[36:22]

and actually being on the verge of being an endangered species. And the wild bees at Green Gauche have been doing quite well. So to have a wild bee sanctuary means that we just give them their space, don't interfere, don't take their honey. And the wild bees have actually developed the ability to coexist with the varroa mite, one of the fiercest enemies of the bees that is certainly part of bee colony collapse. So it has come out that it's actually important for the bees to be able to coexist with those mites in their hives. And bees have been treated with chemicals against these mites, but they have been weakening through this process.

[37:27]

So that's why we now think, okay, give a sanctuary to the wild bees. In the Book of Serenity, there is a beautiful case about installing or making a sanctuary It's a koan and it goes like, as the world honored one was walking with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and said, this spot is good to build a sanctuary. Indra, emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built. The world honored one smiled. So there is like a few parts of the story. The first piece is that basically there is no place to spit on.

[38:30]

There's no place that is not a sanctuary. And the other piece is that it takes an intention to make the effort to give the respect and to make the space for our beings. And the last piece that I find very interesting, that it's a very simple gesture that turns around our attitude and our worldview. And this seems to be very similar to what we did in declaring the white bee sanctuary. The commentary on the case says, boundless spring on the hundred plants. Picking up what comes to hand, he uses it knowingly. The sixteen foot tall golden body, a collection of virtuous qualities, casually leads him by the hand into the red dust.

[39:38]

Able to be master in the dusts from outside creation, a guest shows up. Everywhere life is sufficient in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others. Able to be master in the dust, from outside creation a guest shows up. Everywhere life is sufficient in its way. To recognize the abundance of life at every turn of the dusty road and receive it as is, is receiving and realizing generosity. Welcoming and offering the space that is at hand, we host bees and guests as best we can. We start at not being possessive and not taking what is not given freely. It is a practice of relinquishment. Giving is a type of renunciation, not holding on to our idea

[40:44]

that we possess something. Thank you very much.

[41:14]

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