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. Good morning. I mentioned on Sunday... that I wanted to bring some of the practice period teachings into the sashim, and that we had been studying Shantideva's guide to the way of a bodhisattva, and hadn't had saved, actually, the meditation portion of it to consider during sashim. So we talked a little about that on the first day, and I want to continue in that vein to talk about a form of meditation.

[01:10]

And the teachings about how to be a bodhisattva are a rich field, and there are many different ways to talk about how to be a bodhisattva. There's this text by Shantideva, and there are the precepts, and the paramitas, or perfections, and Tegan Leighton's book, which Tova has been using, Bodhisattva Archetypes, and lots of different ways to pursue thinking about how to be a Bodhisattva. But What attracted me to this particular text, I'll have to admit, was that I think it's really helpful as a way to work with the kleshas. So kleshas is the Sanskrit word for difficult emotions.

[02:16]

Anger, hatred, jealousy, envy, resentment, grief, sadness. those are things that give us a lot of trouble in the world and that have given me trouble in my world. And I first became acquainted with this text some years ago when a friend of mine was teaching classes on Chapter 6, which is the Patience chapter. And we call it Patience, but Kama children's subtitles it, working with anger. And so that's another aspect of it. It's a way of working with the difficulties in life. And these classes that my taught, oh, by the way, my friend was kind of an angry person, seemed to be the consensus. And these classes were very well subscribed over and over again.

[03:21]

People would sign up for them. And I didn't know the text at that time, but actually chapter six is the most famous part of the book, and it's often taught as a standalone. So I have had times of distress in my life because of anger and not getting what I wanted. and being jealous and things like that. And I want to read one of the verses from chapter 6. Those tormented by the pain of anger will never know tranquility of mind. Strangers they will be to every pleasure. Sleep departs them.

[04:21]

They can never rest. And that seemed to be a pretty good description of the state that I was in at times. Something would happen that upset me, and I would be agitated and floor-paced and not be able to sleep and be... strategizing about how I should respond to the situation, what I should do to turn it my way, to set things straight. And that was really a great burden to have to think that way. And one of the difficulties with anger, there are some good things about anger. It can get us energized to change our life, or change a negative situation. It's not always bad.

[05:23]

There's righteous anger. But one of the dangers is that anger can turn into hatred. And I think that's never good. I don't think there's any good use in the world for hatred ever. That's a very strong statement. I know that on multiple-choice tests, if it says always or never, it's the wrong answer. But that's what I think. And also expressing anger becomes a habit, so it becomes a way of life. And I think that's how some of these people get to be known as an angry person, you know? It just becomes a way of response to things. So in the Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva enunciates lots of ways to reconceptualize our understanding, to tell ourselves a different story about what's happening, to find a story that's more useful or helpful.

[06:41]

in doing so to avoid getting hooked by the pleasures. So, for example, he frequently suggests seeing everything as having the potential to help us grow or practice. For example, seeing our enemies as doing something for us that our friends can't do. you know, triggering us or mirroring us in a way that our friends can't do for us so that we see things about ourselves. And he says this is valuable and important, and we should treasure these people. Ways to use the pain of our experience to benefit everyone. So not only to see what's painful in our own lives, but to see it in other people's lives and have compassion. That's how we have compassion, when we feel pain ourselves and see that it extends beyond us.

[07:47]

I think that helps us a lot. So since so much of our life is not within our control, It's a big relief not to feel like you have to respond in some big way every time something goes wrong. Sometimes the best thing to do is just accept it and sit with it. And actually it can be sort of a relief to feel that it's okay to do that. Or at least that's my feeling. So here's another verse that I like from chapter 6. If there is a remedy... when trouble strikes? What reason is there for despondency? And if there is no help for it, what use is there in being sad? So I find all this a relief in the same way that I find the Four Noble Truths really relieves me of a burden.

[08:53]

It's exactly the same thing. It is reassuring to me to know that for everyone's life, we alternate between pleasure and pain and loss and gain, praise and blame, fame and disrepute. Even if we're smart, even if we're doing things right, those things still happen to us. So we don't have to respond to not getting what we want by looking for someone to blame or something to do about it, which is a real burden because often there's nothing you can do about it. And why race around and be unhappy? So it was news to me that acceptance is actually a skillful response and not just a failure to stand up for myself.

[10:00]

And so Shanti Deva's text fairly consistently throughout the book is about how to conceptualize things and tell yourself a story that actually works for your benefit and other people's benefit. And there's a form of, so he talks about shamantan meditation and tanglan meditation, which is, I'm not quite sure exactly what you do, but you breathe in other people's suffering and breathe out refreshment or relief. I've never done it, actually. But there's a form of meditation that I really love that I think harmonizes very well. with Shantideva, and that's loving-kindness meditation, the four Brahma-Vaharas. So I want to talk about that today and introduce a little of it.

[11:03]

How many of you have done loving-kindness meditation? Okay, so I don't have anything new to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. So the four Brahma Vaharas, Vahara means dwelling or abode. And so the Brahma Vaharas are the abode of a Brahma or where a Brahman lives. And that means it's a good place to live, a place where you'd like to be, a place where you can end up if you do this meditation. And the four are loving-kindness and poly, that's metta, compassion or karuna, sympathetic joy or mudita, and equanimity or impecca.

[12:07]

And we certainly don't have time to talk about all four. We'll just talk about loving-kindness today. So I think this is another toolkit for working with difficult emotions. And meta practice rests on emptiness. It rests on the fact that we have no control over a lot of our lives, that everything is impermanent, that good things happen and bad things happen, and there's no self that we're the owner of. that we can control everything about. We don't have the owner's manual, you know? So these four also are a big antidote to the places. And they all, especially loving kindness meditation, actually all of them, when we do them as a meditation, they overcome our feelings of separateness.

[13:15]

and fear, which I think is what's at the root of a lot of unhappiness in the world. And this is what Shantideva is talking about, too. But this, I think, is a much gentler approach. And it's positive. Instead of telling you over and over again about the terrible states that you'll get into if you don't practice, this offers a more positive effect. This is how you can practice good qualities and develop good qualities and live in the world in peace. So I like it better in that respect. And when you do the meditation, you focus on connection, on what you and everyone has in common, which includes the desire to be happy, and the wish to be safe and free from fear, our wish for love and appreciation.

[14:22]

We all like to be recognized. We want friends. And we like being heard and understood and then still accepted for what we are. And we all, I think, wish for physical comfort and well-being. So it is a meditation, and it has the advantage that it works very well either on or off the cushion, I think. So it can be done anytime, anywhere. And... To use it as a meditation practice in the Zen Dao, for example, doing this Sushin, I think it's an excellent concentration practice. I find it just as good as any concentration practice I've ever done. So I want to do a little guided meditation, if you'd be willing to follow along with me.

[15:26]

So please get into whatever is the most comfortable posture you can have in this room with the stuff at hand. I care more about your being comfortable than looking perky or good. Just, I want you to feel good as much as you can. And you can have your eyes open or closed, whichever you prefer. So settle into your body. Take a few deep, slow breaths. And then let yourself fall into your usual rhythm of breathing.

[16:45]

And connect with your body. Scan your body. See if there's something that feels good if there are places where you're comfortable. And if you find some pain or tension, try to release it and let it go. And think about a time when you were happy. Try to call to mind a time when you were happy

[18:07]

and a memory of what that felt like. Maybe you imagined the scene or what you looked like or what you did, but mostly what your body felt like. Can you wish to have that feeling? Continue your breathing. Be relaxed. And say to yourself, may I be happy.

[19:12]

And imagine yourself being happy, feeling good, being content. May I be happy. May I be safe. It's a wonderful feeling to feel safe, to feel free of fear and away from danger, to know some safety and security.

[20:16]

We all want that. May I be safe and imagine what it would take to make you feel safe. May I be So if you have buoyant and energetic good health, can you feel that and be grateful for that health? And can you be happy for any health that you have? Think about your

[21:21]

best current health, your good days when you're feeling good, and wish for that kind of day. May I be healthy. Visualize yourself being healthy, doing what you would do. felt that way. May I be peaceful and at ease. So imagine yourself calm and poised with some feeling of general contentment with your life, being at peace with the world around you.

[22:33]

May I be peaceful and at ease. May I be healthy. May I be happy. May I be safe. Continue to have a feeling of those states of mind as you say them to yourself, what it feels like to be in that state.

[23:45]

May I be peaceful and at ease. And now I'd like you to think of a friend, someone you feel good about, a real friend, somebody that you, as unreservedly as possible, wish goodwill, wish good things to happen to that person, wish them success. And visualize that person. And bring to mind some sense of what it's like to be with that person.

[25:02]

Bring them into your presence now. And imagine your friend right across from you. And say to your friend, may you be happy. And you can imagine them happy as you've seen them. Or you can imagine the two of you together enjoying a good time, being happy together. Have some sense of what they... are like when they're happy. May you be happy.

[26:07]

Visualizing your friends. May you be And you can think about what it would take for your friend to be safe. What fears do they have? What dangers are they vulnerable to? And wish that they not have those. So be with the person and imagine them feeling safe May you be safe. May you be healthy.

[27:23]

can think about your friend's physical health, whether they have buoyant, energetic health, whether they have some illness, and wish them their very best health. May you be healthy. Can you imagine them doing the things they would do when they're healthy? Or just being with you? May you be peaceful and at ease.

[28:31]

So I invite you to imagine your friend in a calm time when things are going well, when they seem content, happy, and at peace with everything around them. They're peaceful themselves. May you be peaceful and at ease. Take a few long, slow, deep breaths.

[29:59]

And let your breathing return to normal. And when you're ready, you can open your eyes or come back, bring your awareness back into this room with everyone, sitting as you were before we started Thank you for following along with this. And I want to say just a few things about it, because I want to ask you during Sushin to do some of this.

[31:19]

And I'll say a little more about exactly how. So eventually, you include other people You start where it's easy. So you start with yourself or a very dear friend. For some people, their self is their, well, actually, and then you do it for a neutral person and then a difficult person and then eventually for everyone in the world. And For some people, themselves, they're their own difficult person. And these categories also change. So for example, there have been moments when my best friend was my difficult person. So these things shift.

[32:22]

And don't make it too hard. So pace yourself. You know, do what you're up for. So you might spend weeks just doing it for yourself. If you have a hard time with the idea of you being happy or other people deserving to be happy, it might take some time. And the difficult person, I would say, don't start right off with your nemesis. or your worst enemy. Just pick somebody who's a little bit irritating to start with and see if you can wish them well. And also, don't expect too much. The goal is to do the meditation.

[33:27]

It's not to generate some feeling. because I don't know what feeling will actually happen. It will probably be different for everybody and different at different times and for different people. So you can't expect that you're going to suddenly have a bunch of loving feelings for everybody. But on the other hand, I am deeply convinced that this works and helps our lives. I really recommend it. And in fact, it's scientifically proven, which I'll say more about if you want me to later, but it is. And I appreciate about Buddhism, actually, the fact that the more we know scientifically, the more our practice is borne out. and substantiate it rather than the opposite.

[34:31]

So that inspires me. So this technique is based on the plasticity of the brain. The fact that we know that you can actually change the structure of the brain by the thoughts that you think. That you can rewire your brain with the thoughts that you think. And I also notice in my own life that energy attracts energy of the same kind. So if I walk down the street smiling and friendly, other people are smiling and friendly, and then I get a really nice sense of connection with them and I'm more friendly and it snowballs. And by the same token, if you're sour and dour, that's what you'll run into when you are out in the world. And then you'll see other people be sour and dour and feel more that way.

[35:36]

So what you put out there, you get back, only it grows. Then you put the same thing out there again, I think. I mean, that's not an absolute, but I think that's pretty true. Seems true in my life. And another thing I want to say is that the main beneficiary of this is you. It may feel like you're sending good wishes to someone else, and you are. And I hope they're sincere, and that you believe in it when you're doing it, but the person who benefits is going to be you, because it's a way of changing your mind. And Shantideva is actually exactly the same. That book is about changing your mind. Someone mentioned to me that it's a little bit like behavioral therapy, and I think that's true. And behavioral therapy works to some degree, and I think this is more fundamental.

[36:39]

This is more like a true meditation in the sense of being mysterious, and we don't know quite how it works, but it does. Also, it brings up issues. It's a purification practice. So when you try to send loving kindness to someone, if you feel something like the opposite somewhere in you, that will come up and you'll notice it and be able to address it and work on it. And it's private practice. The person that you do this for won't know about it unless you tell them. So the difficult person, when you get to the difficult person, I suggest contemplating something good about them.

[37:42]

Everybody has good qualities, and it's helpful to see them. It's good for you to see them, and it will make it easier to do this. And it emphasizes what we have in common. So you can remind yourself that they want to be happy just like you. They make mistakes just like me. And they have ignorance just like me. So we're all in the same boat. And that eliminates some of the separation and fear that I think we sometimes feel towards each other. When you're doing meta practice, if it gets difficult, I suggest you go back and forth between yourself and a friend and a difficult person. Just keep going back and forth. And do what you can handle.

[38:45]

If it's too much, stop. for a while, and then return to it. So I really hope that you will have a commitment that you'll have an intention to try this and do it during this session. We may, on the next time I talk, talk about forgiveness meditation, which is important when you do these exercises. kinds of meditation to as an antidote to people that you have real issues with real long-standing difficulty with and it's based also on emptiness and impermanence the fact that I am not any longer that person and you are not any longer that person we've all changed since whatever it is that needs to be forgiven has happened

[39:46]

So I appreciate all of these teachings as a way of nourishing the best that's in us, watering our best seeds. And I want to end with a verse from the Dhammapada by Buddha. The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. and the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love, born out of concern for all beings." So sometimes the perfections, the paramitas, are called a character practice, a practice of building character, and so are the precepts.

[40:51]

And that's what these teachings are. So I hope that's helpful. Do you have any questions? Anything you'd like to say or bring up? And you can, if you like, say something about how the meditation was for you. Yes, Maurice. Thank you. I've been having some difficulties. A lot of sight in meditation trying to tap the breath, maintain the mantra. Kind of like exhausted itself, so it became very difficult. Can you talk? I have a little trouble hearing. Yesterday was kind of difficult. It was the first day for me in practice. Thank you. It's nice having new techniques. Well, they're not new techniques. It was pleasant to have a technique reminded for me that I can use again when I go back to meditation today and tomorrow.

[41:57]

Simple practices that are always around this, but it's nice to have a refresher. So thank you. Thank you. Yes, Linda. Is there any place that we keep that last quote? Yes. Yes. In fact, because we've asked people not to breed, I won't do it now, but at the end of the session, I'll put out the phrases, the people you do it for, the different techniques, the sort of cheat sheet, and I can be sure that that quote is on it. Sure. So would you be... Thank you. There are several good questions and answers in there.

[43:09]

So for one thing, I'm just going to ask you to please spend maybe a whole period a day doing loving kindness meditation. It's up to you. Or at least try it. two or three times a day for some part of a period. Give it some effort during this machine. Also, it's a wonderful thing to do when you're not sitting, when you're out waiting in line, taking a walk, driving a car. People that you see on the street can be your neutral person. I think it's really helpful to do that. And Yes, I think it's good to be with that agitation and notice it and notice how uncomfortable it is. And I also think this is a good thing to do. And I think you'll have to work with that balance. But I think this is a good... I would not be unhappy if someone told me that they spent the whole rest of sessioning doing loving-kindness practice.

[44:14]

I don't think it's too much or that it's not as useful as other kinds. Thanks. Yes. Well, just even having said that very last thing, I wanted to testify that I've done several long retreats just using those phrases. And it's an incredible concentration tool, as you've mentioned. So really can center and focus the mind in the way that any other technique can do. Philosophize the added benefit that when you can generate those positive feelings, it is very transformative, and when you can't, it's very insightful. So I am giving my full-hearted personal experience behind what you've just said. Thank you. Thank you for that endorsement. Personal experience. Kugia.

[45:18]

Just a quick comment. I've used that book at Geno, at an anniversary party, a 50th anniversary party, with having people either quietly say it to themselves or at the party, everybody... I'm sorry, I'm not... You said at the meditation or practice at a funeral, remembering the person who is deceased and their family and anybody else that was involved with their life, and then also at a 50th anniversary with the group blessing the... husband and wife. So it can't be public. Uh-huh. Oh, I see. You mean you did it out loud. Yes. Uh-huh. And very versatile. Those are opposite kinds of events. Thank you. Miles. I have a personal experience. My daughter's coming home, my ex-wife, and I kind of got into a tizzy, and it just arose all this malware pushing these buttons.

[46:21]

And I noticed that anger came up. And there was an opportunity when I dropped in to go off at my mom's house to go to the door and meet there. And it took a lot of energy to go to the door, but it humanized her. And I noticed that the space and the dehumanization actually increases the sort of poison. And meeting it was actually the antidote. Just how difficult that was experientially. Great. And you know when something like that is just too hard and you can't do it, I think doing these exercises can get you to the point where someday you'll be ready. So for example, I think it's easier to do this meditation for all the neutral people in the world, and you may have trouble with your mother.

[47:23]

So I think doing it privately can also be very useful in getting ready to overcome some real difficulty with a person. Thank you. Thank you very much. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[48:15]

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