This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. 21st of April, right? Tomorrow's the 22nd, and that is a day that, for the last... 42 or 43 years has been celebrated as Earth Day. So it seems like today might be a good day to offer encouragements to the caregivers of the Earth and all living beings.

[01:00]

heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter therefore ye soft pipes play on not to the sensual ear but more endeared ditties of no tone. John Keats. Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. Therefore ye soft pipes play on. not to the central ear, but more endeared, pipe ditties of no tone, pipe to the spirit, ditties of no tone.

[02:45]

The poet looked at a Grecian urn and his imagination was entrusted with the song of the urn. This is not a put-down of the sensual ear. The sensual ear also has a song and its song is unheard. But the imagination is entrusted with the song of our senses, the song of our body, the song of the mountains, the song of the earth. The imagination can hear the song of the mountains and the song of the earth.

[03:53]

And it can echo this song with its song, with its words. And these songs can fill to ripeness, the mountains and the great earth. For the caregivers of the earth, today and tomorrow are opportunities for celebration of the earth. A time to celebrate... listening to the Earth's song with our imagination, listening to the Earth's song, which is a teaching for all living beings, and to sing that song, which our imagination has received, and sing it for the Earth and for all living beings.

[04:57]

As Shelley said... Mountains have a mysterious tongue. Zen ancestors have often, for long centuries, lived in the mountains and let the mountains and the rivers be their tongue, be their song. are the caregivers who are the caregivers of the earth we may think these people are the caregivers and these people are not We may think these people are the caregivers and these people are the abusers.

[06:08]

But the teaching of the mountains is that the accomplishment... the protection of all living beings the mountains and the great earth comes with examination of our own shortcomings not by meditating on other people's shortcomings I shouldn't even say not by doing that but simply that we look at our own shortcomings shortcomings in what shortcomings in what? Who are the caregivers? Who are the disciples of the great caregivers?

[07:28]

Once I heard Suzuki Rishi speak in a talk, was he singing the Song of the Mountains? He said, my disciples... And I wondered, who are his disciples? after the talk was over I didn't want to ask him during the talk I don't know if I didn't want to anyway I didn't ask him during the talk but when no one else was around I asked I didn't say am I your disciple although I was kind of wondering if I was I said who are your disciples And he said, I don't like this, but my mind works like this.

[08:47]

It sees two kinds of students here in this mountain monastery. One kind are here for their own welfare, for themselves. Others are here to help others. Those who are here to help others are my disciples. This is the song of the mountains. I wish to live a life in service of the mysterious tongue of the mountains and the great earth. I don't know If I'm actually living that life, I'm watching to see, to question.

[09:51]

Is my imagination available to hear the ditty of no tone? In 1963, when John F. Kennedy was still alive, a freshman senator from Wisconsin named Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat, persuaded, according to the story. What story? a story I heard, this is a story, a story about what?

[10:59]

It's a story about the earth. It's a story about somebody who wanted to care for the earth. And he persuaded the president to go on a, I think it was called maybe an environmental tour or something like that. And to go around the country, uh, trying to stimulate awareness of environmental concerns. And so the president did that and his talks were, I don't know what to say, not much. There wasn't much of a response. And that was a month or so, shortly before he was killed.

[12:01]

And about six years later, the Gaylord Nelson gave a talk in Seattle. And he said that, he said something like, I'm convinced, I'm convinced, I'm convinced that the same concern of the youth, some people here were youth 43 years ago, or 42 years ago, some people were youth, and Gaylord Nelson was convinced that the same concern the youth had this nation took in changing the nation's priorities on the war in Vietnam and on civil rights can be shown for the problem of the environment.

[13:13]

That is why I plan to see to it that there is a national teach-in, that a national teach-in is held teach in on the environment. And that was in 1969. He gave that talk in Seattle. Did I say it was in 1969? I said it again then. And in less than six months, on April 22nd, 1970, there was this event, this National Environmental Teach-In. And there were 12,000 events. And 35,000 speakers, dash teachers.

[14:20]

And millions of people went to them. And it was organized by a tiny little group volunteers. And this you could say very successful day led to other successful days where millions of people expressed their concern for caring for the earth and the sky and all living beings. They went and they listened to people sing the song of the mysterious tongue of the mountains.

[15:26]

calling for care and reverence for all life. And this led to important legislative action. Political action followed from it, which changed the laws of the country. Now, the environmental movement is vastly... richer and many more organizations have been founded but it's not as successful as it was at the beginning as a result it experienced a great frustrating failure in the summer of 2010 when the cap in trade bill was not even brought to a vote Somehow the political situation of the country is not supporting this concern.

[16:49]

So the Earth Day, it seems like it should be a day of celebration. Celebration of the Earth. celebration of this precious earth and the precious living beings on the earth. The planets in this solar system, as far as we know, this is the only one that has life on it. And anyway, no one can say how precious life is. We are concerned now that the human life particularly is in danger of great suffering that may arise if the planet keeps heating up. How should we live with the earth?

[18:06]

This is a question I have how can we sing the song of the earth to encourage caregivers so it's an opportunity for celebrating the earth but also perhaps a time for grieving the earth and its living beings grieving the suffering that environmental stress is causing Already. And along with celebrating and grieving, there's also opportunity to study. To study the situation. To study the political response. To study the history

[19:11]

of the movement. Some people would say that the science of how to reduce carbon emissions is there, but the politics isn't. And some people would say that the place to work is not in Washington, but is in local and state organizations. Here in this temple, we have a local organization called the Ikusattvas. How are we working locally? What local things are we doing? How are we locally studying and locally listening to the silent tongue of the mountains.

[20:17]

I celebrate that this Zen Center has young adults practicing here. And many of them are here to practice because they want to be someplace where their imagination can hear the song of the mysterious tongue of the mountains. They want to care for the land and the plants that are growing and the animals. They want to do that. They sense their future and the future of this living community. depends on us working locally. I celebrate that. And I wish to do the difficult work of observing my own shortcomings as a member of

[21:37]

of the assembly of living beings. The central ear can hear the child crying.

[22:49]

And it's important that we listen to that cry. And in the imagination, cry is speaking for the cries of the world, for the silent cries of the mountains. The mountains are still standing up tall, saying, please listen to the cries of this earth. Please help us. Please fill us with song and listen to our silent message to you. Listen to our teaching. day long. Please listen to our teaching. It's not any additional work. But it might be additional work to notice that I'm distracted.

[24:10]

Say, oh, I was distracted from listening just now. If we sit still and quiet, we don't have to try. But there may be grieving. There may be tears to shed. All we have to do is sit still and quiet.

[25:18]

And we may be offered a chance to grieve. And then you may be ready to celebrate the present moment and to study it and to listen to its teaching. To be caregivers, but also to be students. To be caregivers, but not just to be teachers, to also be students. If we hear the silent, secret, powerful song of the mountains, we can convey it back to them.

[26:26]

and to all living beings. Our imagination can hear it, can take care of it. And at the end of the ode to the Grecian urn, Keats says something like, Truth is beauty, beauty truth. This is all you need to know on earth. This is all you know on earth and all you need to know. And there's some debate about the punctuation of that. is also the suggestion that by the same poet that the imagination the imagination which hears the teachings of the earth which hears the mysterious tongue of the mountains that imagination seizes beauty

[28:01]

as truth. Truth as beauty. The imagination. When the blue of the night meets the gold of the day. Where the blue of the night meets the gold of the day.

[29:12]

Someone waits there for me. Where the sky meets the earth, someone waits there for me. The sky does seem to meet the earth. Living on this planet, the sky seems to meet the earth. And the earth looms up with a great face called a mountain and tells us that where the sky meets the earth, the sun rises and the moon sets. For the welfare of all beings, may we be mindful

[30:24]

of our imagination, which is receiving this teaching of the mountains, and sing the teaching back to the mountains. May we be mindful of this receiving of the teaching and singing the teaching back and forth all day long. This is how the mountains and the rivers of the immediate present are the manifestation of the path of the ancient Buddhas. This is where the Buddhas sit. They sit where the sky meets the earth. They listen to the song of the earth and they sing it.

[31:28]

from this place of stillness and silence all day long. They grieve anything that we haven't let go of, and they celebrate everything. And they've received the teaching and echoed the teaching with their songs. May we join the Buddhas and listening to and studying the great earth. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize

[32:32]

the practice of giving, by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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