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. Thank you. I bet you do. And to Sangha here for your invitation. And to all of you who are here, Thank you. How many of you are new here, first time? Just a few. We're in the same boat. It's an honor for me to be here, so this talk will be an informal

[01:00]

It will be my offering to the founder, great master, Shen Yu Suzuki. Also, an offering to my teacher, Master Shen Yan. An offering to the Sangha and all of you here. Thank you for the opportunity. When I came here, I was very delighted First time being in the Green Gulch Farm community. Especially the gulch part. Because my Dharma name, Guagu, the Gu part means valley, ravine. birth name is always at the peak in translation.

[02:08]

So when I first received this name, I asked my teacher, why did he put me all the way on the bottom? Because he said something very important. That was my first teaching in my teens. He said, your parents put you at the top, but the top will always be lonely. All the nourishment, the rain, will always flow away from you. At the top, unprotected by the elements, and the wind, with nothing to support. For that reason, I put you on the bottom.

[03:09]

The gorge, ravine, dam, valley will receive all the nourishment. All the rain, the flourishing, the green in the green gorge will be able to flourish. became very happy at that time. Guo means the result. So my name means result of the valley. So the name, I have another name that my teacher gave me. It's Zheng Xue. Guo Gu Zheng Xue. Zheng Xue means Correct learning. So it's been my aspiration, principle you can say, of my practice to fulfill my teacher's expectation of me.

[04:26]

Correct learning of being the fruit, the effect, or efficacy of the valley. Or you can say, since I'm here, the green gulch. How many of you have never heard of my teacher's name, Master Shen Yan? Quite a bit. I met him in 1980. He came to the United States, New York. 1976 I met him in 1980 As a boy He passed away in 2009 The temple

[05:38]

or the meditation center that I built in Tallahassee, Florida. It's dedicated to him. After he passed away in 2009, my life direction shifted to repay my gratitude to him. So, I saved up enough money. to purchase a place in 2017. We purchased this large space with three buildings on it. The large one turned into a chan hall. The two smaller ones, kitchen and multipurpose room. The following year, The five acres of land in the middle of the sea became available.

[06:40]

Very beautiful prairie, big old trees. So you purchased that, along with two small houses, transformed into a retreat dorm. And I named the place Shen Yan Chan Yun. Chan, Zen, Shen Ye was my teacher's name. Yuan means cloister. Sometimes it translates as garden. So the Chan, garden, or Zen, garden of Shen Yan. Shen Yan means holy adornment. So that's my way to dedicate. And ever since every teaching that I give, every intense retreat that I lead, It's my way to repay my gratitude to my teacher How's this?

[07:46]

So thank you for the opportunity for me to repay my gratitude to my teacher and also to the three jewels with the Dharma Sangha We just finished the one day retreat here. And my teacher was the lineage recipient of two existing Chan or Zen schools. One is Cao Dong, Japanese pronounced it, Soto. Another one is Linji, which is pronounced in Japanese Rinzai. So he established the Dharma Trong lineage to combine the two. So the way that we practice includes Sikantaza, which I trust all of you are familiar with, just sitting.

[08:51]

In Chinese we call it Silent Illumination. And on the other hand, Huato or Koan practice. Being here in the Soto Temple, Yesterday we practiced Silent Illumination in the tradition that my teacher taught it. And modified it a little bit. Because when he first came to the United States, the way he taught Silent Illumination practice was actually not practicable. He said, when you sit, don't use your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind. So all of his Western students was like, how do you? And then slowly he accommodated to his teacher.

[09:59]

You're allowed one sense faculty. the body so he said the body is sitting the mind is sitting the mind is not minding anything else but the reality of sitting and over the decades I've witnessed him accommodating more and more and more and more So the way I introduce how to do silent illumination or shikandaza practice is to basically I just made it more detailed, more relatable, more concrete. Like sitting. How do you know you're sitting?

[11:04]

Posturing. Relaxed. There's a sense of weight. There's a kind of contact, groundedness. So more cookie crumbs for people to kind of follow and consume. So when you're sitting, it's just embodied experiencing of sitting. And that means embodied experiencing of posturing, the sense of weight, groundedness, and the body may disappear, the weight may become very light. What remains is embodied experiencing of motionlessness, sitting. And even if you look into that stillness, the motionlessness, something is vibrant, something is alive there.

[12:20]

There's a potency, wakefulness, in that experiencing. So the cookie crumbs are the body, The posturing. The sense of weight. The crutch. When you get to the heart of it, it's just that moment to moment to moment, weightful experiencing. Something potent is there in the experiencing. What is that? Wonderment. Not knowing, not giving it a label, no words of language, no container, at the same time, awake.

[13:31]

So, there is simultaneous stillness, and clarity. So usually, when people are still, relaxed, they fall asleep. And when people say they are clear, that means their thinking is clear. So the silent illumination practice is reverting to the The most raw, intrinsic state of being. Relaxed, yet clear. Clear, yet no wandering thoughts. Experiencing. In that. Open.

[14:34]

Without containers. Without words of label. Chan Master Hongzhi Zheng Jue. He has many ways to describe this state. Sometimes he calls it marvelous, marvelous luminosity. When I use the word marvelous, It's a kind of openness feeling tone. It's a way to cultivate ourselves. Marvelous. Sometimes he also phrases it in terms of Gu Shen Gu means valley.

[15:39]

Shen means But that's just a very poetic way of talking about the echoes in the valley It's hollow, yet able to respond Does that make sense? When you call out, it's able to respond It's not dead Still, yet wakeful Open valley Hollow. Empty. Yet responsive. Marvelous. I have a more colloquial way of saying this. I-A-G. It's all good. But it's important...

[16:41]

like green gulch, valley, ravine, embody the spirit of silent illumination. Responsive, yet hollow. Empty. Empty of what? Preconceived ideas. Stories. Containers. that we project onto others. So it's a practice. Practice of being the valley. In the Chinese, the name wogu, the gu, especially, the valley part, is connected to this idiom. It refers to being humble as a valley. Being humble as a valley. So, for me, it's been a practice.

[17:48]

When I first began, started working with the breath, studying with him, and then by mid-80s, towards the end, 87, I was practicing Shikantaza, or Silent Illumination. And that principle is to be humble, receptive, yet not empty like a blank piece of paper, or oblivion. So very clear, freed from notions and ideas, yet respond what needs to be done, what can be done. So my teacher used to teach me, normally, In the secular world, people, when they meet others, either they want to show how much they know with other people, sometimes others, they want to put down others to amplify themselves.

[19:06]

So he told me, as a novice, To always think of what you can offer to others. First response, what can I offer? So that offering is also contained in the meaning of the green gulch, valley, ravine. So far we've talked about a lot of things. Humility. Offering. Being receptive. Open. Yet responsive. The valley or the gorge as the spirit of silent illumination practice.

[20:09]

Beyond the cushion. In the interaction with people. circumstances that we find ourselves in. And that openness, that potency, that receptivity, responsiveness, is called marvelous. You could call it wonderment. The single word gorge, or valley, takes a lifetime of practice. Not only on the cushion, but interacting with people.

[21:11]

If we're full of stuff, notions, ideas, There will be no connection. Whatever connection that we have with people will be very superficial. So in order to be present to people, we have to be absent. Absent of our own judgment. So in that absence, in that openness, Being the valley, the gulch, the richness of those you interact with. And how they feel, they will actually feel seen, heard, cared for.

[22:17]

So the responsiveness comes out of that. So that's a little bit about the name that my teacher gave me and its resonance with this place, when I saw this place. I don't have anything particular that I prepared, which is also in accordance with the valley The Gulch. I understand that some of you will be first-timers, others will be seasoned practitioners. So I thought I'd speak about Gulch, Green Gulch.

[23:21]

and its wider association with being in the valley, the practice of humanity, openness, and responsiveness that comes from this openness. How do we do that? Should we all quit our jobs, avoid competition, give up everything? No. We can do all that. We have our principle, all of you, since all of you are here, you can learn more about the culture. When you are receptive and open at your job, in your life, without any fixations, you will be able to see what needs to be done

[24:52]

What can be done? Working with causes and conditions Other people may be pushing their agenda Maybe selfing You can contribute But only when you are free of any fixed ideas Then creativity comes. Creativity comes. And that comes from being open. That state of wonderment. All the things you have learned in your life, you won't forget. Your intelligence will be more flexible. Your responsiveness will be more accurate. Your perception will be clear.

[25:54]

That is the power of being in the valley. You will recognize all the resources, what needs to be done, what can't be done. Because there's no fixed agenda, ideas. The fixations are your selfie. That's going to block you. You have general direction in your company, corporation, your work, family, what needs to be done. For the betterment of everyone, general direction. But the specificity of the goals, you're open to see opportunities. That is the power. What kind of opportunities? Causes and conditions. causes and conditions. In this world, all things come together because of causes and conditions.

[27:00]

All things change and disperse because of causes and conditions. If our fixations are too strong, we won't be able to recognize what is actually present, the causes and conditions. So, in order to be fully present to what needs to be done, what can be done, we have to put down self. We have to be absent, hollow, open, respect, receptive. Do you believe so? In working with causes and conditions, we have to recognize causes and conditions.

[28:03]

Sometimes this is the hardest part. Because we have things we want to do. We need to do. Our opinion. Our views. Sometimes that blinds us to see what's actually present. So learning to diminish, to be able to at least bracket what we want to do, bracket, and see what the available causes and conditions are. So recognizing causes and conditions. Once you recognize, then you will know whether it's time to adapt to causes and conditions. Sometimes it requires us to wait for causes and conditions.

[29:08]

Other times, create causes and conditions. Create to be the change. And this is not linear. sometimes the more we adapt to causes and additions, when we wait for causes and additions, we actually recognize more causes and conditions. And we can go directly to creating the causes and conditions. To give you one example, during the pandemic, when the United States was experiencing the shortage of masks. Do you remember that? Do you remember when automobile companies were starting to make masks?

[30:13]

I don't know if you know that. I don't know how they're able to do that, but because of the political tension between China and the United States, China, prior to the pandemic, was providing more than half of the global usage for PPE, masks, all the different things. More than half, but because of the tension between United States and China, we didn't want to import any of them from China. Yet hospitals were in desperate need That was the condition. All the Dharma centers wanted to help, but the Dharma centers were in isolation from its members.

[31:14]

We couldn't respond to the need. Sometimes members were dying. So facing the causes and conditions in conversation, with my fellow Dharma brothers, who are teachers in different parts of the United States. Recognizing the causes and conditions. From early part of 2019, all the way to April, I was waiting, watching. Observing the causes and conditions. And I had an idea. Because there are Dharma drum centers in China.

[32:14]

So I quickly, within a month, I quickly gathered my students, those who are excellent with web design, My assistants contacted all my connections and their connections. Raised funds to purchase PPE masks, approved masks, directly sent to hospitals. So I contacted East Coast, West Coast, and those teachers... contacted their resources and told me the addresses and contact names for the hospitals, the local hospitals, so we can send directly to them. So within, I had set a very humble bar of $100,000.

[33:26]

to raise. At least all the Dharma centers, and this was Zen, Vipassana, Tibetan, $100,000 to raise that, at least sent to a box to all the hospitals. Within one month, I had to change the bar. Because in two weeks, $100,000. I was like, 200. Within four weeks, we raised over $600,000. And we were able to purchase. So many of the Dharma centers became our satellites for letting us know the hospital. We all worked together beautifully. sectarian boundaries became zero.

[34:31]

And we purchased 1.2 million masks. We sent very quickly, we created a website. We have all the teachers and Dharma centers that contributed, listed, because people want to be listed on the website. And that served as contact points. And we got the direct addresses of hospitals, the names. And we contacted all the other Dharma centers that needed masks. So we sent it out. So working with causes and conditions. And because of our effort, other non-profit organizations that were involved, voluntarily wanted to support us.

[35:34]

This is secular, like shipping companies, like large, like literally ships for crate. What we did is we bypassed the normal route for large crates. Instead, we use UPS, which is directly from China, directly to the hospitals. As opposed to go through the customs, check this, check that, you know, tax of this and that. So it was a grassroots movement, and we called it Dharma Relief. Dharma Relief. And continuing that, George Floyd's murder, the pandemic, we sent masks, we kind of closed the gap between shortage of masks and U.S.

[36:49]

factories trying to catch up on producing the mask in our small way. closed the gap a little bit. And then once the factories created masks and so on, so we, our project was over. And then George Floyd happened. And then the ad hoc advisory board came together, welcomed black donor teachers to come together and then join. And then we rolled out. DR2. Dharma Relief 2. Dharma Relief 1 was a mask. DR2. Supporting raised funds to support black Dharma teachers. They're the minority. So monthly stipend of $1,000.

[37:50]

So they can use it to travel, to Whatever they want So they can spread the Dharma in their respective communities So that's what I mean Working with causes and conditions Recognize Adapt Wait Create Basically these four cover what needs to be done, what can be done. If we have something fixed that we want to do, an idea, then that becomes a block. It's not to say we don't have any compass, we have a general direction. Benefit all beings. Offering support.

[38:50]

Same thing in your work, in your family, in your friendship. We have to listen. We have to observe. We have to diminish self-referential notions and ideas, so we can actually see what needs to be done. And be humble about it. To bring everyone in. So that's the practice of the gorge, the valley. Empty, yet responsive. Silent, yet illuminating. Marvelous. I-A-G.

[39:54]

So, this morning I offer this to all of you. It's a practice of a lifetime. The more you practice this, and it does take practice, to practice, to put down the self. To see what needs to be done. How can it be done? So this goes for when we do sitting meditation too. When we engage with other people. It's the same. When we sit, we offer our body to the cushion, to earth. We're completely grounded. And our heart, our mind, to the practice. Then you have nothing to do.

[40:58]

Let's relax Give everything So When we are with others Absent So we can be completely present So we will be able to see more We will be able to see more We will be able to hear And when we talk with people, we don't just hear superficial words. We start to hear their heart. So, heart and heart start to connect. Being receptive. That's a practice. That is the dynamic, live practice of silent,

[42:00]

All of you have the fortune to be here, to practice here, to support the center. It's a blessing. And the center offers nourishment in your life. This morning I offer this to all of you. If you have questions, feel free to ask. The time is to 11.20. If you have questions, feel free to ask.

[43:00]

Will they have microphone? How many of you, for example, practice Shikantaza, just sitting? This is the Japanese version of silent illumination. Thank you for being here. When you think about your teacher, what's the one sentence that often comes to your mind? How do you normally remember him? I'm very curious. It's been a long time you're with him, so I'm genuinely curious. I think about his teachings. The most important teaching that helped me was body like a rag, mind like a mirror.

[44:03]

On occasion, when I was a novice, he asked me, what is Bodhi mind? Bodhicitta. And I gave him some stupid textbook answer, altruistic mind. He said, no. Body like a rag, mind like a mirror. And that teaching was the teaching that helped me enter the door of Chan. When I was at my low point. 1995. Thank you. You're all welcome to practice that. Now that you have it. What is body like a rag? Body like a rag. use the preciousness of this life to benefit others.

[45:10]

To clean. What does a rag do? Rag, clean. We just clean. And, you know, other people, things that other people don't want to do, things that other people don't want to clean, Especially in the monastery. When I was his attendant, so we traveled 3 months in the United States, 3 months in Taiwan. Continually. So in the United States I had a lot of jobs. Publishing director, attendant, rotating chef. And translator, a lot When I go to Taiwan, there's a lot of monastics, so very free But our Taiwan at that time, Longchang monastery, was basically just shacks All these illegal buildings, not proper, next to this farmland

[46:33]

The only legal part was where the Buddha hall is, but we just kept on building. The bathroom that we had built was made out of cement. I don't know if you know about cement. Cement in a subtropical country. Cement soak up all the humidity. And the toilet is built in the cement building. So what do you think is soak up? So that was the place. It's always wet. It's always wet. So you always need attending. So in Taiwan, my job was basically pretty free. Because he had a tendency to clean. Laundry, doesn't need a translator, doesn't need someone to speak English So they told me to water some orchids, that was my job Then I saw the toilet No one is cleaning the toilet So, besides my everyday I just sat for 6 hours because I got nothing to do with it I just sat in the chon hall Outside of that

[48:03]

where can you find guagu? Toilet. They started calling me the toilet monk. So I'm constantly wet, rolling on my pants, my shirt, I'm constantly wet, sprinkling it, cleaning it, and drying it. I just hung out in the men's toilet for the public, especially Sundays. A lot of people are like, Sundays, a lot of people show up. I'm at the toilet. Things that people don't want to do. Body like a rag. Toilet? It doesn't mean people look down on you. This must be the lowest rung in the monastery. Look down on you because I'm all wet. It's fine. Mind like a mirror. One time we had these officials. High officials brought dignitaries from

[49:04]

foreign countries. And you needed a translator. Where the heck is Guo Gu? Toilet. And these dignitaries go through the toilet. It's all wet. Sweating. Because it's hot. And then they needed a translator. So quickly, clean up a little bit. Go there. People in suits. and they saw me speak fluently in English oh my goodness, Master Shenzhen's disciples even the toilet monk speak fluent English after it's done, go back so they greatly respected Master Shenzhen so things that people don't want to do Things that need to be done and you can't do.

[50:07]

Body like a rag. Mind like a mirror. People laugh at you. Look down at you. You're not oblivious. You know. Just smile. Sometimes you have to fake smile. Because vexations come up. You know. Inner critic. Self-discipline. Disparagement. You want to be correct. I am... Just put it down. So fake it until you make it. So my teacher was very good at that. Poke at me sometimes. Public humiliation. That was his number one weapon. For my... For my... Selfing. Sometimes I come out.

[51:09]

I was young. I remember one time, big auditorium. A thousand people. My teacher was giving a teaching on the Vimalakirti structure. This structure about non-duality and wisdom. And I was his attendant. Teacher goes on stage. I'm the one who follow next to him. You know, prepare. I was getting all psyched, making sure I look good. Stupid stuff. And then on stage, my teacher says, did you bring the notes? And I was like, I'm sorry, teacher. I forgot the notes. And I laughed, bolted. My teacher, also, he practiced that.

[52:13]

You know, the kind of smile that you really want to get angry, but you have to smile because there are a thousand people like this. Other people, they don't know what we're talking about. And my teacher, great wisdom. He's able to respond like lightning all the time. So he's opening talk. to break the ice was, thank you for the invitation, thank you for, he was a teacher for three presidents that learned meditation in Taiwan. All these dignitaries. Thank you. My idiot attendant forgot the notes for today. So today's talk will be the overall message of the Pimental Kirti Sutra. And then I was like, oh.

[53:15]

And everyone reckoned, oh, you're the, next time, don't forget. I'm like, yes. So, whenever they're selfing, humility, blow, blow. Whenever too many things are in the mind, cluttering, then you don't know what needs to be done, what can't be done. Because you're just self-absorbed in whatever wandering thought is happening. So that meaning of being the valley, being the gulch, very important. I hope it will be useful for you. So you can embody The spirit of Shinya Suzuki, the great teacher, set up this place. Is there a relationship between the teachings of Zen and the martial arts, such as wrestling, archery, and even swordsmanship?

[54:29]

I think people can relate it if they want to. People can make teachings relatable to anything, basically. Historically, there is the legend. There is a legend of the first ancestral master in China. Bodhidharma, who came to China, met the emperor. Emperor didn't understand his teachings. He kind of left, went to the Shaolin monastery. The monks are falling asleep, lack energy, health is very bad. So eventually he taught martial arts. That's the legend. True, not true. The important part is, not only martial arts, archery, the arts, literature, the important part is, we have to make that connection between Zen, practice, with all aspects of our life.

[55:52]

Not only in this one sphere of skill set. Yeah, you can do it. Other spheres. Cooking. Being. Communicating with others. Open. Receptive. What needs to be done, what can be done. How? Work with causes and conditions. Recognize. Adapt. Wait. create. Two more minutes. Thank you. Well, you spoke of the marvelous and silence that's vibrant, you know, emptiness that's vibrant, and I said, I'm sold, you know, that sounds good.

[57:00]

But And then you also spoke of the cluttering, wandering thoughts and stories. That seems to be a problem. What many of us may not have heard me, like for example, in your talk was, what about all those? What do we do about those? We pick them up and throw them out. We try to kill them. What do we do with those? The marvelous doesn't just come all by itself. Yeah. All those things are marvelous. All those things are marvelous. The notion of good and bad, success, failure, having, lacking, gaining, losing, that all comes from a particular, very specific vantage point. Selfing. And we can turn everything that we need from that self-referentiality we can turn in on ourselves and make ourselves into a thing and attack it.

[58:06]

Not good. You're not good enough. You don't have the skill set. So, wandering thoughts. You know, scatterness. The Chan Zen position is, it's all good. I-A-G. On the foundation of that, with that kind of feeling tone of it's alright. Embrace and transform. Practice necessary, totally necessary. Vexations need to be transformed. But not transformed out of that's bad or that's good. Transform out of you're already good. Let me just work on it. then possibilities will come. If you already have a thing, this is bad.

[59:08]

That's like the self. The mind is not open. If your mind is open, already good. I can put you here and allow you to flourish. Otherwise, the only place, if it's not good, the only place is garbage. If you put weeds, Things that are kind of out of place. Thoughts, you're not supposed to have this thought. You put it somewhere else. Everything has its place. Everything has its place. When things are out of place, then it becomes obstacle. So if your heart is one of the green gulch, One of the valley You see marvelous You see it's all good Are there social injustice Are people dying Lacking masks People are dying in hospitals Yeah It's all good In your heart What needs to be done What can be done We do it Everything will come together So wandering thoughts

[60:30]

We don't, when we sit, for example, we don't see it as bad. We don't try to get rid of it. We don't try to fix it. But what needs to be done in this moment is shikantaza. Does the name mean you have to mind this, mind that, deal with this, deal with that? No. Like wandering thoughts come? Yeah. Daddy is sitting. Today is Father's Day. Sit. Difficulties come? Come this way. Sit. That's what needs to be done. So more and more, the negative emotions, negative emotions, difficulty, the inner critic, more and more, we expose them. We don't suppress them. We don't follow them either. We're not oblivious to them.

[61:32]

We embrace them. At the same time, put them in their place. Right now, we sit. So, this identification with them slowly diminishes. You can see everything. Everything becomes opportunity. 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 the practice of giving by offering your financial support. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[62:36]

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