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. Good morning. Welcome to Beginner's Mind Temple. I wonder if some of you are newcomers here for the first time. Would you raise your hands? Good. Okay. Well, welcome to you, particularly. There's a lot going on here this morning. This is the last day, the third day of a three-day seshin. About... I think 55 of us are down in the zendo, sitting all day today, and some of us have been sitting the previous two days.

[01:09]

And this sushin marks the end of a practice period that's been going on for six weeks here. And the practice period has a theme, which is practicing with intention and making a difference in the world. And I notice that I've had this experience before. Sometimes in a sushin, you sort of lose track of time. But I've never had it happen in just three days before. Usually it happens in seven days that... you come upstairs and the Saturday crowd is here and it's a surprise. But the Eno just reminded me that it was Saturday and I should do the bows the Saturday way instead of the Sashin Dharma talk way.

[02:14]

And still, I came down the stairs and saw the donation box sitting there and thought, oh, what's that doing there? So I don't know if there's any hope for this talk or not. But we'll try. We're here. So today I want to continue exploring a fascicle by our Soto's Zen founder in Japan, Eihei Dogen. and it's called the Bodhisattvas Four Methods of Guidance. And this has been one of the trees that we have hung various ornaments on during this practice period.

[03:15]

So the four methods of guidance are giving kind speech, beneficial action and identity action. And we've already had Dharma talks on giving and kind speech. But I'm still going to say a little more about those two and also something about beneficial action and identity action. This text is framed as a method for bodhisattvas to use in guiding beings to awakening. So it's something they do relative to people that they want to lead to awakening. But of course, there are also methods of cultivating awakening in ourselves. And...

[04:17]

I like this teaching because I think these are intentions that it's very good for us to have. They're simple, there are only four of them, and they're good intentions. And then also, of course, it's a Dogen fascicle, and it's beautiful and poetic. which I always am really drawn to. I was going to say I'm a sucker for. So giving is first in the list because it's regarded as the easiest to practice, the most accessible of the four. And I think it makes a lot of sense for us to begin our practice where it's easy and have some success and encourage ourselves so that we continue.

[05:25]

It's very important to find encouragement and continue. And also, giving includes the other three. So as I was thinking of what to say about kind speech and beneficial action and identity action. Everything I would think of, I would think, but that's giving. So I think giving is really, and they're all interrelated. You know, they're all connected. You really can't separate them out. It's life, and life is like that. So I want to start with the teachings about giving. A bodhisattva gives three kinds of offerings, material offerings, dharma offerings, and fearlessness.

[06:33]

So material offerings might be the necessities of life, food, shelter, and clothing. And sometimes religious organizations offer these things to people, partly to help them because they need it, and also if you don't have your basic necessities taken care of, you don't have any space in your life for spiritual practice. So it's something that many world religions do. Dharma offerings, we teach the Dharma, we spread the Dharma, we're committed to offering the Dharma to people. And fearlessness is given by teaching the Dharma, such as mindfulness especially, and by practicing harmlessness to create safety for people so that they're not endangered.

[07:40]

So those are the three traditional offerings that bodhisattvas make. So I'm going to start in on the fascicle and read Dogen's opening lines. Giving means non-greed. Non-greed means not to covet. Not to covet means means not to curry favor. Even if you govern the four continents, you should always convey the authentic path with non-greed. So I think not to covet means not to jealously want something that belongs to others. And not to curry favor means not to seek favors and protections from others instead of making effort on your own to earn your way.

[08:54]

And all three of the poisons, not just greed, but also hatred and ignorance, are obstacles to the practice of generosity. I think the most important idea about giving in Buddhism is that there's no separation between giver, receiver, and gift. And The classic expression of that is in our Oryoki meal chant. So we chant, may we with all beings realize the emptiness of the three wheels, giver, receiver, and gift. And this is based on how

[10:03]

monks obtained their food in ancient times, in Buddhist time. So at that time, lay practitioners would donate food to the monks either by putting food or money in their begging bowls or by donating food to a monastery. And in return, the monks would give teachings to the lay practitioners. So it was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and each party received and gave something of value. And it's particularly eloquent, I think, that... The gift is food. It makes it so graphically clear here.

[11:07]

The lay practitioners give food to the monks and they eat it and it becomes part of their bodies. They take it into their bodies. It becomes part of them. And nourished in that way, they give teachings. And the lay practitioners take the teachings into their bodies and minds. They become part of them. And the circle is complete. It's impossible to separate out what is the gift and the giver and the receiver. So because it's food, I think it's really clear to see that actually everything is like that. Anything that we give, there's giving and receiving going on all the time. We're part of a network of giving and receiving that's always going on.

[12:17]

So Dogen continues, it is like giving away a needed belongings to someone you don't know. offering flowers blooming on a distant mountain to the Tathagata, or again, offering treasures you had in your former life to sentient beings. Whether it is of teaching or material, each gift has its value and is worth giving. Even if the gift is not your own, There is no reason to abstain from giving. I think this is different from our usual understanding of giving. It includes giving things that don't belong to us or don't belong to anyone or that belong to everyone.

[13:28]

such as the flowers blooming on a distant mountain and things of nature. And you don't give just to the people you know and love and care about in your immediate circle. You give even to people you don't know, to strangers. It includes recirculating unneeded belongings so that material energy keeps moving and flowing, benefiting beings. It doesn't get stuck anywhere. So I think these forms of giving help us to see ourselves and experience the fact that actually we don't own anything, or that we own everything.

[14:33]

I'm continuing with Dogen. The question is not whether the gift is valuable, but whether there is genuine merit. I think it's really rare to give without any trace of greed or wanting something. Usually if we look carefully at why we give something, we have some mixed motives. We may want the recipient to love us or admire us. We may just want to think well of ourselves. Maybe we want to cement a relationship in some way. But when the gift is greedy, when there's some desire for a return, the Buddhist teachings say there's no merit. And what Dogen calls genuine merit happens when the gift and intention are pure and selfless.

[15:49]

The first... or koan of the Blue Cliff Record is about this. It tells the story of Emperor Wu, who was an emperor in China who was famous for building and supporting monasteries and sponsoring monks to be ordained. And... he had the opportunity for a dokusan with Bodhidharma. And he asked Bodhidharma, what merit have I accumulated through all my good works? He probably didn't use exactly those words. And Bodhidharma said, no merit. And Emperor Wu said, was surprised and didn't understand. I think merit is a rather odd concept to Westerners.

[16:59]

It's an odd concept to me. One of the dictionary definitions of merit is spiritual credit held to be earned by performance of righteous acts and to ensure that future benefits. And for some Buddhists, that would be such as a fortunate rebirth, for example. But therefore, there's a Buddhist practice of offering our merit to others. And we do this every day at service. We do it three times a day. We offer the merit of our ceremony to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or to people who are suffering, or to someone. And that's what's traditional.

[18:02]

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are suffering beings, but actually you can offer the merit of your good actions any time to anyone. And it's a wonderful practice. So one of my favorite ways of looking at merit is Shantideva's text, The Way of the Bodhisattva, which I am very fond of. And he has a whole chapter about dedicating the merit. It's a book that really deals with the Paramitas and giving is one of them. But he addresses giving in particularly as making offerings to Buddhas and ancestors and making and dedicating the merit, sharing the merit.

[19:08]

So I want to read a few verses so you can get an idea of this. Oh, I should explain. So it would be fun to tell the story of Shantideva, but I think I'll skip it. He was an 8th century Indian prince who, like Buddha, was to inherit the throne, and he left home and instead went... out as a spiritual seeker and ended up at Nalanda University. And lots of things happened, and he ended up composing this wonderful text in verse form. I mean, it's a long book, and it's all in verse form. And he's very passionate, and sometimes too passionate for some people, but I like it.

[20:12]

So here are some of the verses. And he's now dedicating the merit of having written that book to various people and entities, various beings. By all the virtue I have now amassed by composition of this book, which speaks of entry to the Bodhisattva Way, May every being tread the path to Buddhahood. May beings everywhere who suffer torment in their minds and bodies have, by virtue of my merit, joy and happiness in boundless measure. And may the blind receive their sight, and may the deaf begin to hear. And women near their time bring forth like Maya Devi, free from any pain.

[21:16]

Maya Devi is Buddha's birth mother who gave birth standing up with no pain. And may the naked now be closed and all the hungry eat their fill. And may those parched with thirst receive pure waters and delicious drink. May travelers upon the road find happiness no matter where they go, and may they gain without the need of toil the goals on which they set their hearts. May ordained monks intent upon the practice find perfect places for retreat and solitude, abandon every vagrant thought, and meditate with trained and serviceable minds. And that's what we're doing right now. So a whole chapter of the book is these verses, and it seems to me like he's including everyone he can think of, being very imaginative and including everyone he can think of.

[22:35]

And I think that's an interesting idea, and the thing that's interesting about it is that merit is inexhaustible. It's not like it's some bank account, that if you give too much to somebody, you can't give to somebody else, or that it's going to get overdrawn. So who is to say how much merit there is in Shanti Deva's account? from writing this text. And he doesn't seem to be worried about it. So I think that's another interesting different way of looking at giving. And giving in this way, these ways that I've mentioned, focuses us on our gratitude for what we have today. and on others who could use our help and their circumstances.

[23:39]

So I think it helps us cultivate generosity and compassion at the same time. what time it is. I guess it just rang. So what is that? Oh, wow. Okay. So I'm going to skip some things. let's go to kind speech. We could talk about giving forever, and we already did once, so let's move on.

[24:47]

Buddha said that before speaking, we should consider whether our words are true, useful, timely, and gentle or loving. So that's sort of a test that we can apply when we're thinking of saying something to decide whether we really should do that or not. And I want to read Dogen's introductory lines on the kind speech section of this fascicle. If kind speech is offered, little by little, kind speech expands. Be willing to practice it for this entire present life. Do not give up world after world, life after life. Kind speech is the basis for reconciling rulers and subduing enemies.

[25:52]

Those who hear your kind speech will be deeply touched. They will always remember it. So if there are any of these that help us to make a difference in the world, I think it's kind speech. Our speech reveals the nature of our heart. So cultivating kind speech means cultivating loving kindness and compassion. That's where kind speech will come from. And in this day and age of instant communication and a shrinking world, I think that kind speech is actually a matter of life and death. Words can travel around the world in seconds and reach complete strangers and influence them.

[26:56]

People that we... have no idea that we're influencing. So I think that kind speech has never been more important, and that includes the written word and all of our electronic media. And I especially like this part that Dogen says, little by little, kind speech expands. And I think that's true. The quality of our speech that we put out there, whatever we put out into the world, is reciprocated and comes back to us. And not only comes back to us, but radiates out to others. So it's very important. And we had a Dharma talk about having difficult conversations that if you're interested in more depth and detail, you might find that on the audio Dharma Talk site.

[28:00]

It was on a Wednesday night. I think it was May 20th, maybe. I'm not sure. So let's go on to beneficial action. And what Dogen... says about beneficial action or some of what he says is beneficial action is to skillfully benefit all classes of human beings. That is to care about their distant and near future and to help them by using skillful means. So when we do this practice it focuses our attention on others to look at them and their circumstances and see what would actually benefit them. And it's a practice of caring for others rather than seeking to be cared for. So in a community like this, if everyone wants to be cared for, it's a lot different than if everybody's seeing how they can care for others.

[29:10]

It makes a big difference in our world here. And we engage in beneficial action by observing, listening, and offering help without weighing whether there's any benefit to ourselves. So I think Avalokiteshvara's job is beneficial action, discerning, hearing the cries of the world, and coming to help. but with compassion, but also with wisdom. So we have to pay attention to the results of our help and study it, you know, study how to be helpful and wise at the same time. Will some kind of help that we want to offer actually be beneficial to a person?

[30:13]

So the most interesting of these four guides is identity action. It's pretty straightforward what the other three mean, and I always have to remind myself what identity action means. And here's what Dogen says. Identity action means non-difference. It is non-difference from self non-difference from others. For example, in the human world, the Tathagata took the form of a human being. From this, we know that he did the same in other realms. When we know identity action, others and self are one. Do you know the graphic representation of the 12-fold chain of causation?

[31:19]

So it's a picture of a wheel, and the center of the wheel is divided into six, and it represents three realms of existence. The human realm, the god realm, the jealous god realm, animal, hungry ghost, and hell realms. And... I think we probably all spend a certain amount of time in those realms, maybe every day, at least once a week. And sometimes it's drawn with a bodhisattva in the middle of each realm. And that's the idea, that bodhisattvas enter hell realms, enter all the realms to help the beings in those realms. So I think that's... some of what he's talking about here, that Buddha or the Tathagata entered the human realm as a human being.

[32:22]

So he probably entered other realms as other kinds of beings. And I think what this teaching means for us on a practical level is that we have to be ready to reinvent ourselves to be what is needed or helpful. And I want to read some Shantideva verses that are about identity action to give you the idea. May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road, for those who wish to go across the water. May I be a boat. a raft, a bridge. May I be an aisle for those who yearn for landfall and a lamp for those who long for light. For those who need a resting place, a bed.

[33:25]

For all who need a servant, may I be their slave. Um... So again, the focus is outwards. It's on looking at the circumstances and people you're with and seeing what is needed or would be helpful. And for us, which is really probably more important, it's having a flexible identity, a larger understanding of who we are and who we can be, because that's very important. open and flexible there are many ways that we can be in the world and I think sometimes we get very narrowly focused and defined so Dogen quotes in this section the writings of Master Guan he says the ocean does not exclude water that is why it is large the mountain does not exclude soil

[34:43]

That is why it is high. A wise Lord does not exclude people. That is why he has many subjects. So if we do not exclude parts of ourselves or parts of reality, then we're whole and we allow wholeness in the world. And this kind of acceptance is nourishing for ourselves and all beings. It enables all of us to realize our identity with everything. So I'm going to stop talking about this fascicle and say something to the practice period and Sushin participants. This afternoon, before dinner, at the end of Zazen, we'll have a closing ceremony.

[35:51]

And part of that ceremony will be to dedicate the effort of the, or dedicate the merit of the effort you've made this week to someone or something or whatever you decide to dedicate it to. It could be one thing or a whole list of things. So you might give that a little thought ahead of time. What time is it? Okay. So I hope that this fascicle and other things that we've studied have given you some ways to practice with intentionality, living an intentional life. making a difference in the world. And I hope you can continue to do that and be of benefit to all beings.

[36:56]

So that's all I have to say. Are there any questions? Take just a couple. Yes. Be aware of it. And practice giving more. So you can practice giving in circumstances where you don't particularly want anything. So you could do the exercise of giving something to somebody every day. And then you'll be giving things that are less charged, you know? And I think just as you continue to sit zazen and work on yourself in various ways, that your self-concern is less. And we don't do just one practice in isolation. Everything happens together. Okay.

[38:04]

Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[38:31]

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