This podcast is offered by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. Yeah, I turned my cell phone. Okay. Hello. Eno asked me what the topic of this talk was going to be, so I told her just sitting. I don't know about that, but... Just sitting doesn't mean just sitting without anything else. Just sitting like everything else is connected to everything. I wrote a book of American Zen Koans, which is called 49 Fingers, and I want to read from it a little bit to start.

[01:21]

First, I'll start with case five in the Mumon Khan, Kyogen's man up in a tree. Kyogen Osho said, it's like a man up in a tree hanging from a branch with his mouth. His hands grasp no bow. His feet rest on no limb. Someone appears under the tree and asks him, what is the meaning of Bodhidharmas coming from the West? If he does not answer, he fails to respond to the question. If he does answer, he will lose his life. What would you do in such a situation? My American Koan, which comes about, is a Woody Allen remark. Mankind, more than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other is a total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. So, I've been noticing lately a lot how everybody kind of exaggerates.

[02:57]

Like the end of the world happens every other week, it seems, prediction. And then... And then there are some that are more plausible, like global warming is going to lead to total extinction. Or now some people tell me that if they raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, it'll kill the economy or something. These are all high-amped issues for some people. It's not just what it is, it's something else, something's added. This kind of exaggeration of idea happened even when the book of, what is this from, this is from the Mumankan, even when the Mumankan was written in the 13th century.

[04:06]

And of course, if people don't exaggerate, they also tend to minimize saying, oh, it's not a problem, it's not going to happen. And of course, that's not right either because things do happen and occur. In fact, the end of the world may happen any day now. But this exaggeration or minimization is not what just sitting is about. To live your life so that you see each thing for what it is and how it is. It's very important. So my commentary to this case was, caring leads to frustration. Caring leads to frustration. Frustration leads to not caring. Not caring is a mask for not trying, which leads somewhere else. Find where you are and swallow the whole world.

[05:13]

Then the verse is, when there is no way out, breathe. When there is a way out, breathe. What do these things have in common? When I, one of the first times I came to Zen Center, Zen Center hadn't even moved here yet. We were still at... Bush Street and I was just coming by for a day. I was still living in New York and came by and came by with a friend and we'd been sitting five or ten minutes a day which was at that time pretty hard because we had no idea that you could sit for any longer. And so we sat and they'd pull up some cushions and we were sitting for 30 and 40 minutes and we sat multiple periods and My friend, and then we left, and my friend saw a headline, and he freaked out.

[06:23]

The headline was ICBM Missile Approved by Senate. And he went crazy. He just thought that was the end of the world. And my opinion was that he'd gotten so open by the sitting that he was very affected, overly affected. And I think we do that. sometimes people exaggerate in order because the people won't listen. So we say, if you don't do this in two days, then something's going to happen. And maybe it will happen, but maybe you're just exaggerating a little bit. So they exaggerate all the time. So don't exaggerate. Try not to. Just see things as they are and for what they are. If something is bad, you say, well, it's bad.

[07:26]

Maybe it's this bad, not this bad. But don't deny it. They say, oh, it's nothing. That's minimizing it. And part of this is related to trying to control everything. Do you do that? I think you probably do. I know I do that. I try to control everything. And of course I can't control anything, but it doesn't stop me from trying. And then other people don't try to control everything, they feel victimized by the world. They're a victim because they're being acted upon by the world.

[08:27]

But the real thing is we participate. Things are good, things are bad, we participate with that. We try and do our best. And some things we participate with just look like they have no result at all. And sometimes if you do the littlest thing, it has the biggest result. So participating is very important. You can't just back out and say, oh, those people are terrible and they're doing this to me. Or, I'm going to show those people. So our ancestors knew this. It's why they're told about the upper tree koan or other koans like it.

[09:30]

And that's why they had the practice of just sitting. Not that it was just sitting apart from everything else, but just sitting was connected to everything. Just sitting with things, see each thing as it is and its connections. first time I heard Suzuki Roshi talk at Sujiji, he said, it was in a tea, he was giving kind of a talk at tea, and he said, when I drink this tea, I drink the whole universe.

[10:47]

The way he did it was pretty convincing. takes both courage and vulnerability to do this practice. Vulnerability to be open to whatever happens. Vulnerability to see and not be run over by your own Run over? Not to be run over by your own weaknesses or faults. But to notice them.

[11:52]

And it takes courage to be vulnerable. To let it in. To see every little thing for what it is. Not the way you want it to be. Or the way you would imagine it to be. Or the way you could muscle up people to react to. So the courage to face global warming head-on, which is to look at the problem, to not exaggerate it, but to look at it very clearly and to see what you can do is good. To say that it's all over, I can't do anything, the world is a mess. The world's been a mess for thousands of years. probably start out as a mess too.

[12:56]

When we vow to save all sentient beings, we vow to get into the mess and keep going. vow to save all sentient beings, we vow to get into the muck of all sentient beings, our own muck too. the courage to see how the world is falling apart and to keep going, doing our best. Are there any questions or comments or suggestions?

[14:37]

Hi. Hi, John. It's been a while. I noticed myself getting kind of looked into arrogance, and it's hard for me to set it down. Do you have any suggestions about this? When I notice it, notice it. Just notice it. Don't do anything with it. Just notice it. Say, oh, I'm doing that again. And don't put yourself down too much. A little bit is okay, but not a lot. And just keep going. I think particularly for you, it's good not to beat up on yourself too much. Yes? Where do you find courage to just face things as they are?

[15:38]

Well, there are a number of ways you could look at it and get at it, but one of them is, what's the alternative? To be cowardly? That's not really an alternative. That won't do you any good. If you see that there's a choice, Make the right choice. I'm sorry that may not be so helpful, but that's what I got for you today. Yes. Thank you. Yes. You write and you paint and you speak about dharma, which takes more courage I don't see them as so different, actually. How are they alike?

[16:44]

Yeah, they're alike. How? You know, that reminds me, I saw a movie. Many of you may know that I like movies, but I saw a movie that got terrible reviews, really terrible reviews. But I had a friend who told me, it was a good movie even though it got terrible reviews, which was The Lone Ranger. It was actually a tremendous critique of America and greed, and actually funny too. But it's so biting that the reviewers didn't like it. I don't know why I told you that, but here it goes. Yes? No. Because they're not getting recorded. Okay. She asked if I always knew what the right answer was. I said no.

[17:46]

But eventually I do. I mean, sometimes it'll take me a long time, but I may be slow, but eventually I catch up to it and say, well, I should have done that. Yes? Is there any point in speaking truth to power? Who are you speaking to? Repeat the question. Can you repeat the question? Is there any benefit to speaking truth to power? You are power, I am power, we're all power. That doesn't mean that we can be stupid about how we talk sometimes, but you're a powerful person, don't think of yourself as weak. Hey. I think we can still just be saying internally that while we are

[18:50]

you know, participating, like doing something else externally, do you think that's also just sitting? I can't repeat that one, but... He said something like, when we're not sitting, is that part of just sitting too? Is that what you meant? Okay. still, you know, you have to find it and be in the end of the world and just say. Sure, but it's a tough road. Yeah. Hi, Vicki. This is a totally different subject, but I want to know who's the guy on the altar over there.

[19:52]

On the what? That one, that little one? The big one? That's called Buddha. That's Shakyamuni Buddha, the big historical Buddha. It's a very old statue. He's a good guy. Yes. I have a question about luck. Luck. Luck. Yeah. And you mentioned, like, you know, sentient beings are innumerable, you know, and you can rather, like, interact or touch with them all. Like, how much luck is too much? What's the threshold of luck? You have to find out for yourself what a true threshold is. Because there are times when you have to say, time out, I can't do this, I've got to take care of myself. That happens sometimes. But that doesn't mean you have to give up.

[20:54]

You just take a time out. It's not exactly a question of luck, it's kind of knowing your limits. You're over there now. You should be over there. Let's see. Now, at this time, I usually think about, did I say what I wanted to say in this talk? know. Your question was something about how did I see art writing in Buddhism or teaching Buddhism or something like that.

[22:07]

than what's ever in front of me is what the next thing is. So I find a little bit about what you're talking about when I become more curious in my behavior, as opposed to just getting caught in a fantasy. As an example, something happens to me that sort of touched a nerve, and I just saw myself wanting to go tell somebody And I just thought they were so curious to notice that instead of just going to tell somebody. And? That's all I got. Well, what have you told them? I never told them. I just saw myself excited to tell somebody something. Tell somebody something. It was useless. I could see that avenue going nowhere. Okay. So you have a perception and your perception is you should communicate and the other perception is it doesn't do any good.

[23:24]

So you should sometimes communicate it and see if it does any good. And if it doesn't enough times, then you don't have to do it anymore. But you should try it a few times. Okay. Okay. All right, going once. Going twice. Sultana in the green hat. No. Okay, so what I want to say is just sitting is very important. Seeing the world, not the way you want to see it, but the way it is. That's so easy. And maybe you don't do it most of the time. But every time you hit the nail on the head, it helps. The other thing I want to say is participate with things. Don't be a victim or don't be in charge necessarily.

[24:27]

I turned it just to see what I should close with, and it's Isan Dorsey, who is a very great teacher who spent some time here. He said, everybody gets what they deserve whether they deserve it or not. Everybody gets what they deserve whether they deserve it or not. First when you observe it, then you name it, perhaps karma. If then you see how it measures up to the name, you become lost in despair, pride, or confusion. But what is acceptance beyond acceptance? What is it that thus comes? Do you deserve it? Do you not deserve it? How is it different if you deserve it or not? Perhaps the law of karma is bigger than your evaluation. The merging of difference and unity is a statement like Issan's. Healthy or ill, it's unmet each moment. Perhaps you deserve more than these meager words, alas.

[25:46]

And my verse was, Old Basho's splash rings in our ears. Whether you like the poem or not, the frog got wet. Okay, 88, not the gate. Bye. 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 sfcc.org and click Giving.

[26:51]

May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[26:54]

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