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. So what we'd like to do this evening, we will be addressing, for those of you who are just coming for the public talk, in this talk, it's the first talk... in our practice period, which is on taking refuge and creating refuge. And so what Christina and I would like to do, we'd like to take about 10 minutes each and talk about refuge. And then we would like to shift over and talk a little bit about the spiritual dimension of some of the particulars of the program. And then hopefully, there'll be some time left to take some questions.

[01:07]

So taking refuge. In Japanese, refuge is kiei. A ki means. homecoming, returning to your original self, original mind. And A is reliant, taking the three treasures as foundational for your life. You know, for me, often words express something, and then there's something that goes beyond words. And I'd like to try to address that with this short scene. Short scene, which is attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the person who wrote The Little Prince.

[02:22]

And here's the scene. If you wish to build a ship, don't drum up the men and women to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vastness of the endless sea. What did you say, Christina? Could you please repeat it, read it one more time? I will. If you wish to build a ship, don't drum up the men and women to gather wood and divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. think of that as asking, inviting us to conjure up, to remember, to dip down into that aspect of our being, you know, that is saying returning home, you know, that we rediscover, we reconnect

[03:54]

not so much in the sense of doing, that our life is so engaged in, but more in deep appreciation, almost a gratitude for being. There's analogy in Buddhism, where the sea is the ocean of existence. And each of us is a wave on that sea. A wave is created by movement. It's temporary. It's active. It has energy. That's each of us. We arise and we fall well. And we never stop being part of the sea. So that sense of taking refuge as...

[04:57]

remembering, acknowledging, and in a way, immersing in the merciful ocean. This is what it is to take refuge in a fundamental way. This is the way where we We reconnect with something vast within our own being. And something vast within our interbeing. And that is that. When we reconnect, when we realize. That sensibility, that aspect of being. It. It connects to original mind.

[05:59]

Maybe in a more mundane language, we put the stuff of our life, the issues, the dramas, the necessities of our life, it puts them into context. It puts them into context in a way that it gives us permission to exhale. not that it fixes our life. In a deep way, it's inviting us to discover how to heal. That our normal disposition is somehow we get caught up in what would be What way of existence, you know, if I can make a certain way of existence, then I can fully be, you know?

[07:09]

And we yearn to create the positive things, the so-called positive things that would give us that permission to be. And we yearn to avoid so-called negative things that inhibits that, you know? How can we remind ourselves, how can we discover that being is not dependent upon the desires or the aversions of our being, of our existence? This is what it is to take refuge. It's a natural occurrence when something in us exhales. It's a natural occurrence when something in us pauses from the busyness of doing life.

[08:09]

And then from that place, we can engage. It's not that we don't do our lives. Of course we do our lives. But with what kind of disposition? And so in Buddhist practice, it's generally considered that taking refuge is foundational. It helps create a way to hold the circumstances. of our individual life with big mind. That we're not so... We're not so utterly enmeshed in how can I make this life work?

[09:18]

How can I get it to turn out right? What... What additional busyness can I get involved in? And then from that place of something more spacious, the dramas, the activities, our karmic conditioning, then we can hold them in a different frame of reference, quite literally. And then we're more likely to hold them with compassion. To see them, our own personal ones, conditioning, and to see the conditioning of others. These dramas that determine our likes and dislikes and the behaviors that spring from them.

[10:20]

Taking refuge. taking refuge in Buddha, taking refuge in the very process of awakening, taking refuge in Dharma, taking refuge in the insights that arise when we see existence with big mind, and taking refuge in Sangha. Our lives are interwoven. We're all in this together. And even though part of our conscious, our human consciousness is utterly engaged in the self as a separate being, our life is full of teachings and examples of our interbeing. And as we reframe it with reference to taking refuge, that starts to become more of how we live.

[11:35]

So there's some opening, I hope, some thoughts and feelings for you. Thank you. Thank you, Paul. So as Paul said, refuge returning to one's true self, which is realized and embodied Buddha nature, is actually our true nature. And as Paul described, it's covered up by how we tell stories about our life. and what we desire and what we want to avoid. Refuge also means a place going back, going back home to our true home.

[12:43]

And in this practice period, we're exploring how we can create and establish a practice of refuge, and what would it need to do that? It needs an intention, it needs a location or activity, and it needs steadfast application. That is needed for something to become effective, to have an effect in our life. So to have a refuge that actually functions as a refuge for us. And some things have just become refuge in the course of our lives.

[13:44]

So in my household life, I don't wear these full robes. Almost never. When I got ready to move in to the city center for these eight weeks and started to gather the ropes and all the things to live as a resident practitioner, there was such a feeling of homecoming, rising in me. Of... That reconnection to that deep place for which the vows, that's always there, but taking the vows anchored me in that place. There's like an anchor that's set there. And sometimes in my life, I feel the anchor chain. I'm close to it. Sometimes I don't feel it so much. Sometimes I like to be close.

[14:49]

Don't even necessarily like to be close because I would like to follow a desire. That may be not so wholesome. But now putting on these robes is taking refuge. Putting on the ruckus, which I do when I'm at home often, is also taking refuge each time. It's threefold. It's, as Paul said, Buddha is the innate human capacity to be fully awake. Dharma is the wisdom that arises when we see reality as it is. And Saint-Exupéry that Paul quoted from The Little Prince also said, The Little Prince also said, You can only see clearly with the eyes of the heart.

[15:56]

And that's the Dharma. And Sangha is the realization of interconnection of all beings. And I don't know how you feel, but when you look at the screen and go on gallery view and see everybody that's here, Tonight, the number down there says we are 119 listeners and speakers all together, that we are already creating a sangha, a body of practitioners that share an intention, that share an activity in this moment being present for this Dharma talk. And to really take a little moment to feel that, that we are the interconnection of all beings in our times now is so much more apparent because we have people from all over the world that are with us right now here.

[17:10]

Listening, being, being present. And also, refuge can actually be anything. That saying in the case number four of the Book of Serenity is, I read it to you, as the world-honored one, that is the Buddha, was walking with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and said, It's good to build a sanctuary. Indra, emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass and stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built.

[18:17]

So, a spot on the ground. Your kitchen sink. Any daily activity can turn, be engaged as a refuge. There's no limit to how, what can help us be fully present, fully awake, and fully healed. It's that effort to bring your wholehearted presence to us an activity. So, of course, the path root in our tradition is Sazen, sitting still, with no agenda, with no engagement, just aware of what arises without

[19:24]

spinning the story without pushing it away, just being there, being with, as Paul said, exhaling, allowing the settling of the exhale, allowing us to just be alive without having to do anything. That's all I want to say right now. Okay.

[20:27]

If there are questions, the Eno will call on the people. Brian, are you back? Christine, what we had said earlier was that we would talk a little bit about intention. Oh, yes. And establishing our place. Yes. Okay. Okay. So... Even though our practice tells us, as Christina so wonderfully described, that each moment, each activity, when it's engaged, has completely itself. It comes alive. And in that moment of aliveness, as Dogen Zenji would say, Practice occurs actualizing the fundamental point. When it comes alive, the very activity of engaging it is taking, as Christina just said, is taking refuge.

[21:35]

And yet, given our karmic lives, given our conditioned lives, it's often very beneficial to set up your place to set up within your own living situation or somewhere where you can go to on a regular basis, a sanctuary. A place that when you can go there, it's conducive to practice. And when we start to look at our life and the conditioned nature of our life, we start to see the practicality of practicing on a regular basis. Initially, I'm referring to meditation, zazen. To do it on a regular basis, even on a regular time each day, if possible.

[22:42]

To have a formality about it. like some designated place, you know, I go to this place in my dwelling and I have it arranged in this way. And here's my initiation process, you know, like Christina and I, you know, Christina suggested earlier today, well, why don't we start with three vows? Because that's part of the Buddhist tradition that we've both trained in, you know? Let's start with three boughs. And for each of us to discover, and I would say, come at it in a playful, creative, but also opening to that greater being, that depth of a being, that even though we're a wave, we're still connected to the depth of the ocean.

[23:47]

As you design your space, as you craft your space, will you have some icon? Will you have a Buddha statue? Will you simply have a flower in a vase? Will you have... Jesus on the cross? Will you have, you know, Ganesh? In some ways, whatever is evocative for you. Will you ever let something in you connect to greater being? Yeah, and yesterday you mentioned that it would be good to do it in the morning. Go to work and in the evening before you go to sleep. And I would suggest you pick a time, an amount of time that allows, that is sustainable, that you think you can do with not too much effort.

[25:04]

So that you can see that it's possible every day to do because you're... structure of the days allows for that, and then it can grow. That's a more encouraging way to start than to do so much that you get discouraged, you can't do it. And yeah, so. Yeah. And then also, you know, look at the practicalities of your life. Is there someone I need to let them know? Oh, don't call me at this time. I'll be meditating. Is there something you need to say about your own schedule? Oh, well, if I'm going to do that, I'm going to meditate at that time. I'm going to have to do this other thing later or earlier. As much as possible, try to take care of the details of your life.

[26:07]

Because those things you need to do, you know, if you don't do them, well, guess what? You're going to see why they're a part of your life and how it is when you don't do them. If you don't wash the dishes and instead meditate, well, guess what? You're going to have dirty dishes. Living with a family or a partner, it's always helpful to also ask for their support. to share with them what you would like to do, and are they willing and are they able to support you? Because if we are asking for support, that gives the other person the feeling that they're actually participating. They're not just a recipient of the effects that you're not available for certain things or busy otherwise, but they feel actually by... being invited to support you, being participant in the whole process.

[27:15]

I'm sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Please continue. I said we would also put a few of those things that we are talking about right now will be on the online portal for you to go back to and remember. And then the other thing we wanted to mention, thank you, Christina, for that. We wanted to mention intentionality, you know, that there's a way each of us is challenged to discover what inspires our engagement in practice. And inspiration is a very interesting thing. It's different from I should, you know. I should is something we should do that we'll eventually get around to sometime later, you know.

[28:26]

Inspires us, draws us in like a lamp draws in the moth, you know. We're just, something in us is inclined to turn towards us. So as we explore our intention, you know, that we keep the notion of yearning for the vast ocean, that we look for this way to cherish this human life and also to hold it tenderly, you know, to hold it with... with a gentleness, a benevolence, and a compassion. That's what's going to draw us in when we think, oh, how wonderful it would be to be nourished by a gentleness, a compassion, and a benevolence. And then our practice is a gift we're giving ourselves rather than some burden that I should do

[29:39]

to fix myself. And so intention, and then there's a way in which intention becomes resolve. It sort of shifts like a deeper into our being. It changes from something in our head to something in our heart, and sometimes something even deeper. And each day, as we take up our practice, both our seated practice, earlier today, Christina and I were looking at seven pages of suggested mindfulness exercises that we created when we were teaching another course.

[30:48]

And we will offer you those as we move along in this practice period. But for now, if you can reflect on that that notion of inspiration, that notion of something that invites you, something that feels more like a nourishment than some way in which you're obliged to fix yourself. Maybe it's more like honoring your being than fixing your being. Maybe it's more about learning to trust, as Christina was saying, an innate capacity. Yes, and I would like to add, so Zazen is our taproot, is really the basis from which this practice draws strength.

[32:04]

And so I would suggest even people that, even Some of you might have a very hard time to sit still. So for you, I would suggest you still create a sitting corner and you sit down in the morning for a moment to just find your most upright position. Follow your breath a few times all the way into the exhale to its still point. Rest there. Wait till the inhale arises for a few times and then bow and stand up. And you can replace sitting meditation with walking meditation. But do both. If you can't, you know, some of you have tried for years, participated and still have not found an entry into the sitting Zazen as a refuge.

[33:07]

Maybe those little moments of sitting and being upright in your body, feeling that and being with your breath for five minutes is possible. And then you do a walking meditation would be my suggestion. You walk slow so you feel back and forth in your corridor or around in your room. a little faster than King Hing, but being really conscious of your, you know, the walking meditation, we're doing the Zendo a little faster, but slower than when you, if you would walk on the road and just feel the movement, feel your feet on the ground, return to your sensation of your movement and your feet on the ground when your mind wanders off. So maybe now, just to help that become embodied, if you can just tune into your body, it doesn't have to be any different from what it is.

[34:31]

And in fact, acknowledging it and experiencing it just as it is, is a wonderful gift. It's like a reassurance. And then ask yourself, what engagement of practice would nourish this body, would nourish this being called me? with the joys of having a chat, you can enter a word, a phrase in the chat, and then we can all just watch our collective consciousness as it stirs up expressions of practice.

[35:52]

If you just click on the chat, you can type in a word, a phrase, what way of practice would nourish my being? Stillness, space, songwriting, gratitude, acceptance, giving and receiving, welcome, life as gift, air, nourishment, peace, self-care, feeding the birds, breath, walking my dog,

[36:58]

creativity, no separation, more calligraphy, approaching gently, joy, love, return, return, morning cup of deep shedding, spaciousness, Listening. Appreciation, bliss, indulging. Feet on the ground, barely touching, ground level out. Yeah. Kindness. No judgment to spaciousness. Non-judgment spaciousness.

[38:00]

Mental attention, remembering to pause to breathe. Tender. Big mind expanse. Equanimity. So thank you. Slowly, smiley. You know, there's a wonderful phrase in the recovery, and it says, it works if you work it. If we can take these beautiful ideas, you know, what arises for you. And sometimes it's...

[39:09]

You know, we hear someone else's way or we read someone else's way and we're inspired. And the beautiful thing is that all these things that have been mentioned are expression of Buddha nature. Yes. So we all touched... aspects of Buddha nature by just following your instructions, Paul. It works if you work it. The gift is given, the gift is received through, as Christina was saying a while ago, the activity of engagement. you'd like to add, Christina?

[40:11]

We have a few minutes left. Well, I really appreciated reading all those words and just feeling the energy field that was around them of compassion and peacefulness and harmony. It was Buddha Dharma Sangha wrapped these words and expressed by these words. So I really want to express that back to you. Yes. And it is a little bit getting used to this format. So it will probably get more fluid and more alive as we move forward together with all of you. And I hope you've all had the opportunity and taken advantage of it to sign up for a small group.

[41:23]

And we will also post in the portal some general guidelines for being part of a small group. But let me just mention one right now, which is deep listening. It's extraordinary when we deep listen. It's like it's such a wonderful gift to the person who's speaking. And it's such a wonderful gift to us too because we hear so much more. We hear the words. We hear the tone of voice. We hear the emotion. We hear the significance for the person. And we'll also post those remarks. And so I hope you will avail yourself of being part of a small group.

[42:26]

And we keep what was written in the chat and put it on the portal. Is that the possibility? I think so. Oh, it's recorded because you read them. Yeah, yes. Well, I didn't read the last one, and the last one is flow, tears, or breath, or movement. 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, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[43:29]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.2