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 from people like you. Good evening. My name is Greg Fang. I'm the tanto Head of Practice here at Tassahara. I'm very happy to be speaking to you tonight. I'd like to start by thanking and acknowledging my teacher, Sojin Mel Weissman Roshi. And just say that this talk is just to encourage you in your practice. Hot.

[01:05]

Have you noticed? Around after two o'clock this afternoon, I looked at the thermometer on cabin two, on cabin crew, and it was nudging past 105. That's 41 for all you Canadians. or actually anyone who comes from anywhere else besides the U.S., come to think of it. Some people have been telling me it's kind of an interesting time here in this practice period, Pasahara. We had our mid-practice period event, the big 4th of July blowout with the parade and the skit night and the epic dance party and almost precisely coinciding with the full moon.

[02:27]

Wow. Pretty intense. Maybe a little too intense. I don't know, because then the The waves. Well, it seems like there have been rather a number of little mini mid-practice period events going off here and there. Some of us are having our own mid-practice period events. And that's fine. That's just normal. Some... some people on vacation, on their well-earned vacation, some of your friends, maybe some of your crew heads, and some people gone. Of course, that happens all summer long. But, you know, maybe right now it's a little, eh, a little, I don't know.

[03:30]

How is it? I'm just going by, and maybe you just got here. Who is that guy and what is he talking about? Yeah. So I wanted to share with you tonight my appreciation for some Dharma words, for some practice instructions actually that I really appreciate and that I thought, anyway, were quite relevant to guest season at Tassahara. Maybe even especially relevant to right about now, guest season at Tassahara. Hot. Hot. And these Dharma words, these practice instructions, come from the great master,

[04:37]

Hongzhi Zhongzhuay. My friend, Reverend Lucy Chao, was trying to help me learn to say that. Hongzhi Zhongzhuay, which means vast wisdom, correct awakening, or great will, upright awakening. Who knows? Anyway, Master Hongzhi is... in our lineage, or close, anyway. When we chant the lineage of Buddhist ancestors in the morning, in the Chinese ancestors, we chant, Tanka, Shijun, Dayosho, Choro, Serio, Dayosho. Hongshir was the Dharma brother of Choro, Serio. They were both students of Tanka, Shijun. So he's a Soto Zen master from... Song Dynasty, China, the 12th century, about 900 years ago.

[05:45]

And these practice instructions, they come from the, it's called the Dharma Words of Monk Hongzhi Jungzhui of Mount Tiantong in Ming Province. It's the Record of Hongzhi. But a part of it was translated by Taigen Dan Layton, and published as this delightful book, which he called Cultivating the Empty Field. So this is like just one part, nine parts of the record of Hongshara. This is just one part, and these are Hongshara's practice instructions, which are divided into like 56 short teachings, 56 practice instructions. And I like to use this as a devotional, actually. You can go back to it again and again and just swim in these words. Quite refreshing to go swimming in the words of Hongzhu.

[06:52]

So like I said, they're divided up into 56 parts, and each part has got a little title. So I'm going to share the one that I thought was really relevant to guest season. And since it's kind of short, I thought I'd just read it to you. It's called Graciously Share Yourself. Graciously Share Yourself. share yourself in the great rest and great halting the lips become moldy and mountains of grass grow on your tongue moving straight ahead beyond this state totally let go washed clean and ground to a fine polish respond with brilliant light to such unfathomable depths as the waters of autumn or the moon stamped in the sky.

[08:10]

Then you must know there is a path on which to turn yourself around. When you do turn yourself around, you have no different face that can be recognized. Even if you do not recognize your face, still nothing can hide it. This is penetrating from the topmost all the way down to the bottom. When you have thoroughly investigated your roots back to their ultimate source, a thousand or ten thousand sages are no more than footprints on the trail. In wonder, return to the journey. Avail yourself of the path and walk ahead. In light there is darkness. Where it operates, no traces remain. With the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace, graciously share yourself. Wide open and accessible, walking along, casually mount the sounds and straddle the colors while you transcend listening and surpass watching.

[09:19]

Perfectly unifying in this manner is simply a patch-robed monk's appropriate activity. Okay, what's that got to do with guest season? In the great rest and great halting, the lips become moldy and mountains of grass grow on your tongue. Isn't that a lovely image? That means you can't say anything about it. I should just stop my talk right now. I think to me it means, I relate it to when I say my talk is just to encourage you in your practice.

[10:24]

Because what words can I give you that can bring you any closer to what is already closer to you than your own skin? moving straight ahead beyond this state, totally let go, washed clean and ground to a fine polish. Are any of you feeling ground to a fine polish? Or maybe just ground? Maybe other people see the fine polish and you don't. do you do in that case? Why, you respond with brilliant light to such unfathomable depths as the waters of autumn or the moon stamped in the sky.

[11:28]

Then you must know there is a path on which to turn yourself around. Welcome. Welcome to Tassajara. I'm glad you made it. Some of you took a long time to get here. Some of you might be wondering, how did I get so lucky? Some of you might be wondering, oh, what have I got myself into? What is this place? Well, I'd like to suggest that this is a path on which to turn yourself around. There's a certain way here. There's a way to practice.

[12:32]

It's been laid out. You can avail yourself of it. When you do turn yourself around, you have no different face that can be recognized. Even if you do not recognize your face, still nothing can hide it. Senior Dharma teacher Blanche Hartman Roshi likes to tell a story before she ever came to Tassajara. she was asking Mel, what's this I hear about Tassajara? What's the big deal? And Mel said, well, at Tassajara, everyone else can see your stuff, so you might as well see it too. And the thing is,

[13:43]

I think for the most part, when everyone else is seeing your stuff, what they're seeing is Buddha. Maybe when you don't see it, you have no different face that can be recognized. I don't recognize it. I don't see it. But your brothers and sisters see it. This is like the story of Bodhidharma and the emperor. When the emperor asked the Bodhidharma, who is this standing in front of me? He said, I don't know. I think he just said, don't know. He was kind of a taciturn guy. Don't know. That's right. You don't have to know. This is a time and a place where you can let go of that. Master Dogen wrote an essay called Menju, or Face-to-Face Transmission, and he talks about kasyapa, mahakasyapa, venerating Buddha, bowing and making offerings until his face was no longer his own.

[15:13]

This is penetrating from the topmost all the way down to the bottom. When you've thoroughly investigated your roots back to their ultimate source, a thousand or ten thousand sages are no more than footprints in the trail. You know, we have one of the best collections of Buddhist books available in California, right here in Tassajara. This library right here is an amazing collection. Just about everything worth reading in Buddhism, especially Zen, I think we've got. I might be biased in my opinion. It's really a great library. Please make good use of it. Enjoy those books. Study them. And please know, there are no more than footprints in the trail.

[16:25]

Compared to your own practice, nothing more than traces. They can help, but they can't practice for you. In wonder, return to the journey Avail yourself of the path and walk ahead. That's right. Not knowing, return to the journey. Take advantage of this situation. Like it says on the Han out there, don't waste this precious opportunity. With the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace, graciously share yourself.

[17:36]

Who knew that 900 years ago, Hong Chir would be writing about Tassajara guest season? With the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace, graciously share yourself. This is what guest season is about. What are the 100 grass tips? You know. It's... I know that we're going to run out of pillowcases before the next town trip. I asked for medium chop... and I got three gallons of half moons. How are we supposed to keep fresh flowers in their rooms in this heat when they just wilt right away? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

[18:46]

This is the teaching, this is the practice. that's kind of on offer. In the midst of all that, graciously share yourself. This is why our beloved abiding teacher, Leslie James, has said many times, even if we didn't need the money, it would be a good idea to have guest season at Tazahara. This is the function of guest season. We get to graciously share ourselves and our practice with each other, with the guests. wide open and accessible.

[20:00]

Wide open and accessible. You know, that can be a really tall order when it's hot, you're tired. Or you might be thinking, you know, I tried that once and it did not work out. I was hurt or I was betrayed. I don't think I'm okay with wide open and accessible at the present moment. Yeah, you know, it's true. you might get hurt. Could it be that the practice instruction is to respond to that with wide open and accessible?

[21:12]

Maybe it seems a little counterintuitive. And yet, and yet, Maybe you're experiencing just a little bit of social fatigue right now. Maybe you're not up for it. Well, you know, what occurs to me is we shouldn't be too sure of what wide open and accessible means or looks like. I think a lot of different cultures have different views about that. It's really pointing to the practice that occurs behind the breastbone. What does wide open and accessible look like for you in that place?

[22:22]

And maybe it's just the person that you're having a really difficult time with in your deepest heart Behind all the resentment and the hurt, there's something that is not abandoning that person all the same. Maybe that's the best you can manage. That might be your version of wide open and accessible. And I think we have to trust that that'll be okay. I think we have to trust that people are doing the best they can. I think, for me, it has a lot to do with this word graciously, which goodness knows what it is in Chinese.

[23:27]

I certainly couldn't tell you. But Dan translated it as graciously. It's interesting. graciously share yourself. To me, that means with kindness and courtesy and above all, good judgment. So it might not be the most skillful thing for me to go bounding into your personal space like a happy golden retriever because I want to share myself with you. That might not be so good right now. Graciously, in the fall 2010 practice period with Reb Anderson, he said, I mean, we talked at some length, actually, about giving each other the gift of good boundaries.

[24:28]

And I think we can't really study the truth of interdependence with each other in this sangha without understanding the importance of giving each other the gift of good boundaries. Only then can we really examine how interdependence works in a sort of social setting in sangha practice. walking along. Casually mount the sounds and straddle the colors while you transcend listening and surpass watching. Okay, so, you know, I'm not one of these Dharma teachers who likes to introduce a lot of poetry.

[25:31]

In fact, I don't really care for a whole lot of poetry, to be perfectly honest. But it's a funny thing. These words remind me of a poem that was inflicted on me in high school. Maybe it was inflicted on some of you. It's William Wordsworth. I wandered lonely as a cloud. And the poem is about wandering in the... Lake Country in the west of England and coming across the hillside and suddenly discovering this giant field of daffodils all at once and just having his mind blown. Wordsworth's mind was blown by seeing all these daffodils at once. And he tried to put into words what that experience was for him.

[26:36]

And he wrote, I gazed And gazed, but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought. Yeah, he gazed and gazed. You know, he actually surpassed watching. He let go of thinking. He had to. In just the sheer force of, whoa, all those daffodils that grow wild. Thousands of them, he said. He let go of that, just straddling the colors and transcending listening and surpassing watching. He little thought what wealth the show to him had brought. Perfectly unifying in this manner is simply a patch-robed monk's appropriate activity.

[27:40]

So, if you're here at Tassajara, I think you're all patch-robed monks. Anyway, that's how I see it. Whether you wear an okesa or not, I think of you all as patch-robed monks. And this is our appropriate activity. Sharing. Sharing. Sharing means also asking for help when you need it. This is how we practice together in this valley. Graciously sharing ourselves with the guests, with the other students, with the ones who just got here, with the ones who are headed out the gate. This is why I say, you know,

[28:47]

We're going to start this next series of half-day sittings on the 16th. You can ask me about that, but I'm just going to say they're great. You should ask another student. Ask someone who's been to the half-day sittings. We work with each other. We support each other. Tang Dynasty teacher Yan Do said, let it flow from your own heart to cover sky and earth for me. Let it flow from your own heart to cover sky and earth for me. There's 55 more, just as good as that.

[30:10]

So that's about all I wanted to say about graciously sharing yourself as practice in this valley, in what some of you might be experiencing as kind of a crunchy time in the heat. But I did want to say a little bit more about graciously sharing in general, which is that, well... What came up for me today, actually, in this heat, when it was like the hottest this afternoon, and the wind started to blow a little bit, this like hot wind. And I thought, ooh, fire weather.

[31:27]

And then I thought, gosh, it's four years ago now. Right? Yesterday. Well, it was still burning four years ago. Yeah, four years ago yesterday that the fire came through here. And just walking over here in the twilight, there's just a little bit of haze in the sky. I thought, wow, the light kind of reminded me of what it was like then. So, in the realm of graciously sharing, you should know that Zen Center is in the midst of a capital campaign, in the public phase. Maybe it's not quite public enough, but there's plenty of material about it in the stone office.

[32:30]

And one of the things that we're raising money for, for capital improvement, is massive fire suppression for all of Tassajara. What we did in 2008 was we just quickly put sprinklers on top of all the buildings so we could basically just get everything wet and kind of change the climate in Tassajara. And guess what? It really worked. But we were lucky because we had plenty of time to do that before the fire actually came through to put up these temporary sprinklers. And that's what saved Tassahara. So the idea is, and I think it's a very good idea, to have something in place that we can just turn on the valves, fire up the pumps, and do that any time a fire is coming through. But it's going to take a lot of money.

[33:34]

So I just thought I'd mention that because I was thinking about the fire and I was thinking about the public phase of our capital campaign. And I'm saying that for all of you and also all the people out in podcast land. Just send your checks. to 39171 Tassajara Road, Carmel Valley, California, 93924. Attention, Treasurer. And the memo on the check, Dharma Rain. Okay. Thank you for indulging me. Thank you for your attention. Thank you all for your sincere practice. Going forward, avail yourself of the path, wide open and accessible.

[34:44]

Graciously share yourself. Thank you very much. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[35:24]

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