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. What a beautiful day. Yeah, really lovely. Walking down the street before the Dharma talk, seeing all the little... pink or magenta flowers that are growing alongside the 340 up the street. And I saw a hummingbird. Such appreciation for living in this. I moved here recently from Austin, and I love Austin. It's very beautiful. But something about the Bay Area and this climate that's just so full of life year-round, it's remarkable.

[01:07]

I feel deep gratitude for returning to such a beautiful environment. Today, as many of you probably know, is Earth Day. It's actually the day, today is the... 22nd of April, which was designated as Earth Day. How many years ago? 53 years ago? Wow. 53 years ago, April 22nd was designated as Earth Day, which was born out of... following a 1969 oil spill here in California in Santa Barbara, and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson organized a demonstration, and the day actually was selected to be a day when they thought that the most students could participate because it was halfway between spring break and finals week, and students did.

[02:26]

did participate, the intention of which was to bring awareness and attention to environmental challenges and issues that were becoming clearer and clearer. It said that in that first Earth Day, 20 million people in the United States participated, which was about 10% of the population at that time. Some of the outcomes of those demonstrations and those who participated really urging for change, for regulatory change. In 1970, I believe, it was after the Earth Day, the EPA was formed. President Nixon signed it into law, which was created to legislate the regulations and laws that protect the air and the waterways. from industrial waste and pollution.

[03:26]

The Clean Air Act also came out of Earth Day, as did the Clean Water Act a year later. And just a general increased public awareness from that moment and in successive years to have a date to rally behind and coordinate efforts. In 1990, there was an estimated 20 million people across 141 countries who participated. And then in 2010, an estimated 1 billion people in over 192 countries participated in Earth Day demonstrations. That was out of 6.9 billion people on the planet then. which was approximately 14% of the world's population. So you can see the power of bringing people together and raising awareness and appreciation of the earth, our environment, which sustains and nourishes us and allows us to exist.

[04:47]

really look at it, we are to listen to the overwhelming majority of scientists working to bring awareness to the environmental degradation. This is barely scratching the surface of what we face in terms of the overwhelming evidence that human endeavors lead to human endeavors in particular, leading to the prioritization of economic growth, of corporate profits, of a consumerist culture, hyper-individualism, that these You could say inadvertent, not intentional, maybe. Nobody intends to destroy the planet.

[05:50]

And yet global temperatures continue to rise. We're faced with, here in California, heat waves, drought. Asia is going through a massive drought this week. Many people are unable to go to school or to work. because of the extreme temperatures throughout Southeast Asia and India. We're facing a significant alteration of the natural world of sustainable habitats, the bleaching of coral, rising sea levels. Within the next 40 to 50 years, I think they estimate that the state of New Jersey will largely be underwater. We can see the extreme weather events. the food and water shortages that many countries face, often the countries that are actually doing the least amount of damage, ongoing loss of biodiversity, food shortages, and public health impacts.

[06:58]

And this isn't even getting into things like, oh, how we may be altering the jet stream, right? So all of our efforts are all intended to mitigate or reverse the damage that 200 years of industrial revolution have brought us to this point. And yet, when I look at the climate report, I don't know how many people have looked at the most recent climate report, some of you, it's really hard not to feel completely, utterly overwhelmed. And even just hearing about the accounts of environmental scientists and other ecologists, just the feeling of noticing in themselves a severe cognitive dissonance.

[08:00]

We can't grasp it. Even intellectually. On the one hand, we see statistics. We see the trajectory. We feel it. Maybe we feel it. Some people feel it more than others. I will say that for those who live in richer countries, feel it less. Why? Because they can have air conditioning. not live in areas of cities that have industrial waste. And yet those are the highest consumers, the ones with the riches. So this cognitive dissonance is, I think, completely understandable. It's...

[09:03]

as some psychological mechanism to ward off feelings of extreme hopelessness and despair. Denial and avoidance are the tools, right? Denial and avoidance can be tools to turn away from when we really see the effects of our actions. The feelings that may arise are, It might include grief, profound grief, rage, anger, despair, and shame. And especially when we see, you know, when we are courageous enough to look at the evidence and then also the context, The links of environmental degradation to racial injustice brought about by humanity's penchant for colonialism and white supremacy.

[10:21]

An idea that the earth is there at our disposal. That the resources, the resources of the earth, that it is our God-given right to plunder. All of these things. How do we not fall into a pit of despair? And what can I do? Turning away because it's just too much. It's too much to even... So, what do we do? Well, how many, I wonder, how many of you were able to come to this morning's Earth Day ceremony?

[11:22]

Wonderful. So this morning, I think our Earth Day ceremony began with what we do every Saturday morning, which is sitzazen. So we gather together in the zendo, and we sit on our little black cushions or our chairs, and we turn inward, and we courageously open our heart to feel the feels without turning away or indulging them. is a necessary starting place for being able to mitigate the effects of cognitive dissonance, to fully be able to feel the feelings without judgment, creating a spaciousness that we can welcome them into, not doing, actually not doing anything in zazen.

[12:31]

just experiencing, being present. Following our sitting this morning, we gathered in the courtyard among the flowers and the bushes and trees and the creeping vines, the sun coming up at that moment, shining through the portico. We offered incense and fragrance and offered our boughs. And then we chanted. And this was my first Earth Day ceremony here at San Francisco Zen Center. I was delighted. I really appreciated what was chosen to chant for this ceremony, which started with the loving-kindness meditation, as many of you know, is founded on the principles of care and gratitude and responsiveness.

[13:41]

It's invoking strenuous, upright, sincere effort and illuminating. There's one piece of it that I always feel is so important to encourage One to be easily contented and joyous. The easily contented, I think, is really key, right? Part of what we are facing in our culture and the trajectory of humanity is this deep delusion that what will make us happy is getting what we want in that moment, right? And leads to a feeling of that... Instant gratification is our right. I'm guilty of this. I can get something delivered to me in two days. So, following the Loving Kindness Sutra, we chanted the Enmei Juku Kanan Gyo, which is a chant that is an invocation of compassion.

[15:01]

Again, something that is necessary to hold close compassion for the suffering of the world and the wish for protecting life. Then we paid homage to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and to our teachers. And I really loved how in the inclusion of our teachers, there were plants and animals. as well as humans. And I would say that when we were chanting it, I was thinking of especially those humans who have lived close to nature. Those humans who feel in their bones the sun's trajectory through the sky, the passing of seasons, the cyclical nature of all of our existence. those who live connected to the land and to the waters.

[16:07]

And then, to end it all, we chanted the immeasurable vows. Three times we chanted the immeasurable vows. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. We'll chant them at the end of this lecture as well. These immeasurable vows are indeed immeasurable, and we chant them often. And oftentimes you'll hear people remark that we are chanting things that are absolutely impossible to do. It's built into them that they're impossible, and yet we still chant. We still vow. And this afternoon, we will have an ordination ceremony where two members of our community will take on these vows, bodhisattva vows, and will publicly state that they vow to live for the benefit of all beings, which is a significant significance of moving from the

[17:28]

living and practicing for me to living and practicing for we cannot say more how important that step is to live for the benefit of all. I recently had the opportunity to visit Tassajara. I was there this past week for the work period, for part of the work period, and I got in sort of late, so it was a little bit dark. And then when I woke up in the morning after Zazen, leaving the Zendo, I was greeted by old friends. It felt like old friends were greeting me as I stepped out and saw the purple irises that bloom this time of year. Turning the corner, seeing the maple tree, the red leaves, hearing the frogs. chirping in the very lush creek, thanks to the rainfall that we received, the canyon wrens that are nesting in the bathhouse, the little grasses growing in the abbot's garden, the kingfishers rattling down the creek, and the students and work period people who I've known for years.

[18:54]

It struck me yet again, every time I go to Tassajara, the feeling of how one lives there in deep connection to the natural world. It's hard to escape, right? It's kind of like, for those of you who've been there, it's like glorified camping almost. This not being insulated from the natural world. leads to, I mean, you can say, well, it's hard. It's harsh. It's a harsh climate, especially if you go through full seasons of the winter and the summer. It gets beastly hot, and it gets frighteningly cold, especially if you don't have heat in your cabin. You're really close. You're really close and connected, which may feel very challenging, and yet I have not experienced any other place in my life where such a profound, deep appreciation bubbles out of that being with that kind of what we call hardship.

[20:03]

When we sit so often, more and more we see how the study of the self, the larger self, not just this body and mind, but this body and mind in connection the way it truly is, To all beings and all things. In Zazen, we have the opportunity to watch our impulses and discern are these wants or needs. And if they're wants and we're grasping, we get to feel the effect of that grasping. And refraining. Refraining from... the wish for instant gratification. And all of this, I would say, is only possible when done out of a sense of love and curiosity. What is happening now?

[21:11]

Who is this body and mind? Developing this kind of appreciation, and of the connectedness that we share with all things, especially within the natural world. This is one way we can hold, on the one hand, the cognitive dissonance and return to the sense of wonder and awe that comes from being. among the trees, deep in the mountains, on the beach, walking down the street, seeing hummingbirds, opening ourselves to experiencing the love that bubbles forth from just being alive with this. There are a couple of reflecting on this feeling like, where have I, other than in nature,

[22:19]

Do I feel this upwelling of love and wish to care for? And I was thinking, I don't know how many of you have seen some of the animated films by Hayao Miyazaki. So one of my favorite directors in a number of his films. And he himself does not call himself an environmentalist. He's not an activist. And yet, his expression of love of the natural world, the impact of sharing that love on me, personally, I'll speak for myself, is unparalleled. So some examples for those who have seen some, if you haven't seen Miyazaki's films, I highly recommend that you do. In the movie Spirited Away, we have the example of the main character, Chihiro, who is stuck in this spirit world.

[23:28]

Her parents have succumbed to their greed at the dining table and have become pigs. And she somehow finds herself managing or cleaning this bathhouse that all the spirits come to, to get clean. And a stink spirit... And everyone's just totally, they can't deal with this stench. And I think the stink spirit walks by this bowl of rice and it just decays. And she manages with the stink spirit. And as it sits down in the water and just oozes grossness, she notices it's got a thorn in it. And she pulls on it. She can't get it out. And she... Enlists the help of all the other people, workers in the bathhouse. They're all pulling on this little tiny thorn. And out pops just a river of pollution and trash.

[24:32]

And the stink spirit, which is no longer a stink spirit. It's actually just a pure water spirit. goes away completely purified. In Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind, Nausicaa is a character who encounters, discovers the secret of a toxic jungle, this toxic jungle that is encroaching upon lands in which countries are trying to grapple with and creating weapons, wide-scale weapons to defeat the toxic jungle which is taking over the world. And Nausicaa discovers the secret of this jungle, which is that deep underneath it, that the toxic jungle itself is secretly purifying the waste, the radioactive waste of humanity doing. Reminds me of some of the studies on micro-remediation funguses being able to clean toxic waste.

[25:44]

And reading recently about oysters being employed also as biological agents to take care of humanity's messes. In the movie Mononoko Hime, there are spirits, these tree spirits called Kodama, which are taking care to restore the balance created by wide-scale deforestation. Now, in all of his films, they're not simple. They're simple in a way. The message is very simple, but there's incredible complexity as well. Oftentimes, in stories, we find that there's a very clear good guy and bad guy. Not so much in Miyazaki's films, which I really appreciate. The world is not simple, and solutions are not so simple. And then Miyazaki's first film, which many of you may have seen, is My Neighbor Totoro, which doesn't have a strong feeling of environmental degradation that needs to be combated, but instead it's about a forest spirit that the two girls who move from the city into the rural area encounter.

[27:12]

The movie evokes... a sense of innocence in childhood and the awe and wonder that comes with encountering the natural world. Miyazaki's studio partner, Takahata, said of children who see the film, he said, when they see trees now, they sense the Totoro hidden in them. So when we ask ourselves what is needed to protect the earth, to protect our environment, to protect ourselves from the cognitive dissonance that comes from such despair at the immensity of what lies before us, many of us may turn to activism, to changing laws, to legislation. Many of us may plant trees, teach children to love the environment, telling stories, honoring.

[28:27]

Sometimes we can go, I think, In our activism, we straddle a line of where are we coming from? Where are we acting from? Where is our intention growing? What is it growing out of? I was reading recently an article on an environmental activist named Andreas Malm who wrote the book How to Blow Up a Pipeline. And he... argues that non-violent demonstrations are not enough. That actually the means of damaging the environment need to be addressed by removing them. I thought for a moment that maybe that's similar to the Kodama

[29:41]

tree spirits that, or the, um, you know, in, in Japanese Shintoism, there are many different spirits that work on, you know, to, to protect the environment. And, uh, throughout Miyazaki's films, you kind of get glimpses of them where they just kind of like come in after someone's raised, raised the forest and come in, they just start planting, right? Taking action. but from a place of love and awareness of our interconnection. I wanted to end with a poem by Joy Harjo called For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in its Human Feet.

[30:44]

She writes, Lift to fly to the stars' ears and back. Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a dream planting itself precisely within your parents' desire. Let your moccasin feet take you to the encampment of the guardians who have known you before time, who will be there after time. They sit before the fire that has been there without time. Let the earth stabilize your post-colonial, insecure jitters.

[31:48]

Be respectful of the small insects, birds, and animal people who accompany you. Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down upon them. Don't worry. The heart knows the way, though there may be high-rises, interstates, checkpoints, armed soldiers, massacres, wars, and those who will despise you because they despise themselves. The journey might take you a few hours. a day, a year, a few years, a hundred, a thousand, or even more. Watch your mind. Without training it, without training, it might run away and leave your heart for the immense human feasts set by the thieves of time. Do not hold regrets. When you find your way to the circle, to the fire kept burning by the keepers of your soul, you will be welcomed. You must clean yourself with cedar, sage, or other healing plants.

[32:50]

Cut the ties you have to failure and shame. Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet. Let go the pain of your ancestors to make way for those who are heading in our direction. Ask for forgiveness. Call upon the help of those who love you. These helpers take many forms. animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor. Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse. You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return. Speak to it as you would to a beloved child. Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. It may return in pieces. in tatters. Gather them together. They will be happy to be found after being lost for so long.

[33:54]

Your spirit will need to sleep a while after it is bathed and given clean clothes. Now you can have a party. Invite everyone you know who loves and supports you. Keep room for those who have no place else to go. Make a giveaway, and remember, keep the speeches short. Then you must do this. Help the next person find their way through the dark. Thank you very much. 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 Dorma.

[34:50]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.37