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. I'm very happy to be here meeting with you, speaking with you this evening. My name is Greg Fang, and I'm the tanto, or head of practice, at Tazahara. My practice is gratitude. I'd like to begin by thanking and acknowledging my teacher, Sojin Mel Weitzman Roshi, the abbot of Berkeley Zen Center. the old Buddha of the East Bay.

[01:02]

And to say that my talk is just to encourage you in your practice. Happy Pride Month. Yeah, it's Pride Month. We dust out our rainbow flags and fly them high. I'm very happy about that. Much to celebrate. I really am enjoying really deeply appreciating the spirit of this community, this guest season, this summer practice period. It feels quite amazing to me. Now, Leslie James would probably say, you always say that.

[02:12]

Well, maybe I do. But at the moment, I'm really feeling it. I have a lot of appreciation. It feels great. I think, you know, Part of it for me, part of it for me, this is my 15th guest season at Tassahara. Wow. Noticing that, you know, from work period and the gate opening ceremony in the first couple of three weeks, maybe we weren't quite as fully staffed as would have been optimal. I'll acknowledge that. And... A lot of people were pulling together and helping each other and making it happen. And it felt awesome. I'm not saying, you know, that's desirable. We should do that every year. No, I won't say that. But it did feel great.

[03:15]

And I just noticed how much I heard the words thank you and continue to hear the words thank you. in this sangha. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Yeah. Yeah. So that. Sojourn Roshi says I should talk about what I'm practicing with. So I think this evening I'd like to talk about loving-kindness, loving-kindness and compassion, metta and karuna, or maitri and karuna, depending on whether you prefer the dead language of Pali or the dead language of Sanskrit.

[04:16]

Loving-kindness. Some people say that... Zen people don't talk about loving kindness very much. Zen people don't talk about loving kindness very much. Huh? What? Zen people don't talk about loving kindness very much. Mmm. What tasty water. What? Did somebody say Zen people don't talk about loving kindness very much? But wait! This morning in morning service, we chanted the loving-kindness meditation, the Metta Sutta, the Buddha's sermon on the importance of loving-kindness. That's part of our regular liturgy. So, leastways in San Francisco Zen Center, we do that.

[05:22]

I think for kind of traditional Zen, it may be true that don't talk about loving kindness very much, but simply put it into action. Zen is a religion of action. So maybe don't talk about it so much, but just do. That could be. Anyway, tonight I want to talk about it. So the loving-kindness meditation is practice instructions. The Metta Sutta, the Buddha's sermon on the importance of loving-kindness is practice instructions. It starts out, this is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise, who seeks the good and has obtained peace.

[06:32]

Do this, okay? Let one be strenuous, upright and sincere, without pride, easily contented and joyous. So this is what you need, you know, this is how you got to orient your practice. If you want to practice loving kindness, you got to get your act together. You got to be ethical. You got to be upright and sincere. You can't just be all over the map. You can't just be like willy-nilly. You've got to be present. You've got to be stable if you want to practice loving-kindness. Then he goes on to tell us, just do it. May all beings be happy. May they be joyous and live in safety. These are the Buddha's words. His wish for the happiness of all beings and his wish for us to practice for the happiness of all beings.

[07:44]

Suffusing love over the entire world. He says, above, below, and all around, without limit. So let one cultivate an infinite goodwill toward the whole world. This is practice instructions. The Buddha is saying, please do this. Please do this. Why? Very important. The Buddha emphasizes this. This is very important. Please listen to these practice instructions. Please practice loving-kindness. Please cultivate an infinite goodwill toward the whole world. This is what we do. Why? Why?

[08:54]

He says it. elsewhere in the Pali Canon, in the Dhammapada. And you know it well. Hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the truth, ancient and inexhaustible. Period. That's why. You're not going to cure hate with hate. You look around. Look around at the world today.

[09:57]

I think there's ample evidence. Only love dispels hate. This is the truth. Ancient and inexhaustible. So on our altar right now, we have a plaque from the memorial service we did for the victims of Hurricane Maria. And I think Tassajara is a little bit behind in the news cycle, classically. but probably not as much as we used to be because modern world modern communications so the island of Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria last year and the devastation continues actually

[11:27]

the amount that's been done to rebuild Puerto Rico is not so much. The official death toll was given as 64. Then, recently, this paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And I printed the paper and we put it behind the stone office if you're curious. It's a scholarly paper. It's science. It was written by 15 people with a lot of initials after their names. And it's quite convincing. Studying, talking to people in Puerto Rico. and studying mortality rates, is quite obvious that the actual preventable death toll due to lack of access to health care, lack of services, lack of clean water, lack of electricity, was over 70 times what was stated.

[12:53]

And this is an example of hate because racism is a symptom of hate and the neglect, my opinion, racist in origin. And I could get really angry about that. But that's not going to help anything. Hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. But what then? Well, love means connection.

[14:05]

And connection means that my liberation is intimately bound up with yours. My freedom cannot be at the expense of yours. My liberation is intimately bound up with the people of Puerto Rico and suffering people everywhere. This is the Mahayana. This is how we see it. Thich Nhat Hanh says, we need to learn to see with the eyes of interbeing. And then when I turn the light of awareness and look inwardly, I think, as a straight white male, that there's a part of me, when I look closely,

[15:10]

There's a voice inside me, not distinct. It's vague. It's muddy. It's really old, old karma, old, old conditioning. It's saying, well, they don't really count. That's the voice of racism, those people. They're like, they're over there, you know? Like when I talked about it in Work Circle and I said, well, these are American citizens. I had to remind people these are American citizens. You know that. But it's like in here, in here, I have to say these are American citizens. And that's interesting. Some work needs to be done there. The work is love and kindness meditation.

[16:16]

And it's not always easy. That's the work that has to be done. Martin Luther King said, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. You know that one? You heard that one before? He said it more than once. He said it in like, I don't know, two or three speeches he said that. But he got it from an abolitionist preacher. Did you know that? His name was Theodore Parker, a preacher who preached against slavery in the early 19th century.

[17:24]

Did you know that slavery was still legal only 153 years ago? Did you know that in the Soberana's fire, people came out of the woods right here in our backyard, right here in Tazahara. They showed up wanting water, wanting food. Nothing but the clothes on their back. Human trafficking right in our own backyard. 2016. The original quote, what inspired Martin Luther King, Theodore Parker said, I do not pretend to understand the moral universe.

[18:31]

The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight. I can divine it. by conscience. And from what I see, I am sure it bends toward justice. And this work of loving kindness, this work for justice, is responsibility of all of us. because our liberation is intimately bound up with the liberation of all beings. What we're chanting all the time in good old Tassahara, it's not just words.

[19:34]

This is the truth, ancient and inexhaustible. Speaking of cultural humility, switching gears, this is Esalen Land. Did you know that? This is Esalen Land. And Esalen, tribal elder, deceased, I miss him very much. Grandfather Fred, he always said he felt like the Zens were pretty good caretakers. He felt good about us. But it's excellent land.

[20:38]

So his son, little bear, Our neighbor up the road, the Ventana Ranch is the first private property beyond the National Forest boundary. He and I have been working together, and on June 11th and 12th, we're going to have Little Bear and his sister Marion, his wife Cara, and four other women tribal elders to come and offer teachings to two days, the 11th and 12th, the Esalen Tribal Cultural Series of 2018. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to a lot of exchange and learning. And Little Bear says he wants to have tribal teachings and Buddhist interfaith dialogue and

[21:46]

will do counsel out in the retreat hall. I'm really looking forward to that. I just wanted to share that joy with you. So taking it from macro to micro on a very personal scale, on a very personal scale, last night I was on the phone for quite a while with a friend, a spiritual friend who was having a hard time practicing in the midst of great suffering. She was having a very hard time watching her friend, our friend, deal with so much pain, very much pain.

[23:05]

And she was angry and isolated. I said, I understand. That's normal. That's natural. I can well believe that you're angry and you want to isolate because you're hurting so bad. And I said, this is where our practice comes to the fore. This is what we're practicing for. And she pushed back. But why? I said, well, then I gave the Dharma talk that I've been giving for the past few years. The same Dharma talk.

[24:12]

We sit upright. We sit upright. instability and composure, not moving, staying present, staying present for whatever arises. And this stability and composure gives us great capacity. At the same time, we're cultivating the capacity to stay with whatever arises. We sit upright, ears in line with the shoulders, reaching up long through the spine, lifting our hearts like Prajnaparamita

[25:17]

The mother of Buddhas is gently lifting, lifting our hearts, and we're open like this. We're vulnerable. Our hearts are opened. We're ready for anything. And that presence is what we have to offer. And that presence is the greatest gift you can give. that's all your friend who's in so much pain would ask of you. If you can stand it. That's my story. Zazen is a heart opening posture. Courage.

[26:22]

means from the heart. It takes great courage to practice loving-kindness. It takes great courage to be the one who's gonna be vulnerable first. that's just about most of what I wanted to say. But since I have everybody's attention like this, and I thank you for that, I thought it might be nice to do something really different.

[27:35]

You say, then people don't talk about loving kindness very much. What about guided meditation? Oh, I'd like to do a guided meditation tonight. How about that? This is something... I hear the sound of you sitting upright. That is so great. That is so great. This is something that was written by my Dharma sister, May Lee Scott. May Lee Scott was well known for her social activism. A leader in engaged Buddhist, one of the founders of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Passed away tragically, pancreatic cancer in 2001, much too soon. Great practice leader for me.

[28:37]

My gosh, I learned so much from May Lee. You can ask me some other time for Maile Scott's stories. I have a few. This peace prayer is actually now occasionally part of Berkeley Zen Center's liturgy. At Berkeley Zen Center, they will chant this on occasion. For me, it makes a wonderful guided meditation. So this is May Lee Scott's peace prayer. Please sit upright. Find your center. Connect with your breath. open in your heart, open in your sense gates.

[29:49]

May I be well, loving, and peaceful. May all beings be well, loving, and peaceful. May I be at ease in my body. feeling the ground beneath my seat and feet, letting my back be long and straight, enjoying breath as it rises and falls and rises. May I know and be intimate with body-mind, whatever its feeling or mood, calm or agitated, tired or energetic, irritated or friendly, breathing in and out, in and out, aware moment by moment of the risings and passings.

[31:02]

May I be attentive and gentle towards my own discomfort and suffering. May I be attentive and grateful for my own joy and wellbeing. May I move towards others freely and with openness. May I receive others with sympathy and understanding. May I move towards the suffering of others with peaceful and attentive confidence. May I recall the bodhisattva of compassion, her one thousand hands, her instant readiness for action, each hand with an eye in it, the instinctive knowing what to do.

[32:07]

May I continually cultivate the ground of peace for myself and others and persist mindful and dedicated to this work, independent of results. May I know that my peace and the world's peace are not separate, that our peace in the world is a result of our work for justice. May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful. Earlier, I said that the Sanskrit for loving-kindness is Maitri.

[33:48]

And that's where the name of Maitreya Buddha comes from. Do you know about Maitreya Buddha? Maitreya is the future Buddha. who has yet to arrive. His name means the loving one. Her name is the loving one. Their name is the loving one. One of the names for Buddha is Tathagadha. Tathagata means thus come one, the one who is arriving. Where is Maitreya Buddha?

[34:55]

Who is Maitreya Buddha? Maitreya Tathagata arriving right now. The future Buddha is showing up right now. It's you and [...] me and you [...] and you. When the heart is open, Shows up in you. Thanks for your attention. Good night.

[35:58]

Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma Talks are offered free of charge. 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.

[36:28]

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