Good morning. Good morning. When my son was six years old, he asked me, what is God? And I said, God is shorthand for talking about everything all at once. So since he had such a good question, I thought I'd ask if you have any questions. coming to this big barn with all these strange figures. We do different kinds of things. Do you have any questions? Any questions? Well, maybe you should leave this talk then. Okay, I'll tell you a story then.

[01:08]

Once upon a time, actually this took place in about the 9th century in China, which is the beginning of the middle of the Tang Dynasty. There was a man named Seiko, actually that's the way the Japanese pronounce his name, I don't know how they pronounce it in China. But Seiko loved dragons. He collected pictures of dragons, statues of dragons, Pez containers of dragons, baseball cards which had great dragons on it. Everything to do with dragons he liked. In fact, he became so famous for liking dragons that the dragons heard about it. And they said, wow, this guy really likes us. Let's go visit him. So they knocked on the door. Siko opened the door and said, ah! Slammed the door in.

[02:11]

Because the dragon you think is not necessarily the dragon you'll get. So everything is related to everything else. So this is related to us today because this is a dragon temple. And many people come to study Zen. But when Zen arrives, it's not what we think it is. Do you have any questions now? Well, I'll have to come back next time you have questions. Thank you. Come to your lecture, give me an announcement and I'll ask you a question. In fact, I'll ask a question right now.

[03:14]

What's your favorite thing about coming here? Is it the cookies? It doesn't seem like it's the lecture. Talk to the people. You talk about this when you talk to each other later on. And give me a message, okay? Thank you. I think it's time for the kids to go out. And there'll be a lot of space open up front. So if anyone in the back would like to come forward, you're welcome to. I hope you're a little easier.

[05:27]

These days I've been talking about Zen practice as falling down and getting up. It's a lot like bowing. We fall down and then we get up. In fact, if we don't fall down, there's no practice. Do you understand? Do you understand? A Chinese master was asked, what's the proper way? And he said, the first thing is to practice and the second thing is to practice. I was asked if I wanted a chair instead of a cushion. I'm glad you're taking the chair. No, it'll take me forever to get into the chair. Once I'm set, I'm okay.

[06:37]

A Zen teacher of mine, Katagiri Roshi, was in Minnesota. In the early years of Minnesota, they had a difficult time of it, and they needed to raise money. even when you're not having a difficult time, you need to raise money. So they got a hall and they put it, they got flowers and nice paintings and they set it up so it looked nice. And they brought these donors in who were all excited about hearing the Zen master, as one would be, because he was a wonderful man. He came in, and he smiled, and he was very engaging, and then he was asked to give a little talk, and he said, you're all going to die.

[07:56]

It's true, we're all going to die. But when you go to a fundraiser, that's not what you want to hear. But if you come to a fundraiser for a Zen master, that's what you might hear. Because that's the most important thing to know. That sometimes you're going to fall up, fall down, and you won't get up. Another story about category rushing. Well, two stories. One, I went to Minnesota for a week or so to study with him. noticed that in the service, in the morning, they did the repentances.

[09:28]

And that's unusual because usually you don't do every morning the repentances. So I said, are we doing the repentances because we Americans need it more? And he said, no, we humans need it. Another time, I was... often picked him up at airports and took him to the airport when he left. And this was in the 80s, 1980s, 20 years ago. And so I would often have Doksan with him in the airport.

[10:38]

So I said to him, there's something about Asian teachers, even not so good Asian teachers, which is, There's a certain kind of warmth or faith or something. That's what I want to learn. How can I learn that from you? I said, Western teachers I like because they give good examples from their lives, which I can understand. But there's some kind of warmth or faith or something. That's what I want to learn. And Norman was with us at the time in category. She said, did you hear that question? He said, when people see me, Katagiri Roshi, they don't see the time I spent with my teacher just doing simple things. Well, I understood because I had been his attendant and we had a separation of jobs.

[11:52]

My job was to take care of him and his job was to give the Dharma. Excuse me. Sometimes it's not... comfortable to be in my body. And yet what choice is there? Now I don't feel that's so true.

[12:54]

I feel that many Western teachers, it's a matter of years of practice, that after 30 or 40 years, you begin to get something more than just the idea, but the presence. need to sit for a second or two. So that's another thing.

[14:04]

Not only is practice about falling down and getting up, it's about being vulnerable. Now, when I first started to practice, that's not what I want to be. I don't want to be vulnerable. I want to be invulnerable. But you don't learn anything being invulnerable because, first of all, you're not. was quoting Nagarjuna one day and he said, the mind that sees the inadequacy of life is the thought of enlightenment. I said, what? The mind that sees the suffering of life is the thought of enlightenment? There's a friend I have, a student who was at Zen Center for a long time, and he would complain all the time about every little thing, everything he'd fetch about.

[15:48]

Everything. No, thanks. My favorite phrase in... in Japanese is shigata ganai. It means it can't be helped. Thanks. What was I saying before shigata ganai? Oh, that's right. And then once he got really seriously ill, And he was so grateful. He didn't complain at all. And then he got healthy again. And he complained all the time.

[16:49]

And now he's in Philadelphia dying. I talked to him on the phone. And once again, he's appreciating things. The religious life sees the inadequacy of things And there's an opening to the absolute. If everything is fine and OK, you don't have any depth. And in fact, that's one of the near enemies of religion is the kind of faith which glosses over. In fact, in the world now, there's a tendency to have either a religion which is fundamentalist and purports to be a religion in the past that never was in the past that way.

[17:55]

Or a certain kind of intellectual, scientific, that denies the unseen. part of our lives. Hopefully we as Buddhists don't do that so much. We have a tradition and we're open to adjusting, changing, meeting new circumstances. Because religion needs both a linkage to the past and an openness to the future. I was asked to give a talk to the kids, particularly about the interconnectedness of things.

[19:30]

I failed miserably. But because things are interconnected, I couldn't do too badly. But my illness today, dragon story and falling down and getting up are all of one piece. When my son asked me, what is God? Well, at first he said, are we Christian? I said, we're Buddhist. Yeah, we're Buddhist, but are we Christian? So Suzuki Roshi said that if you're an American, you should be a good Christian as well as a Buddhist.

[20:32]

But in all words, we're trying to point to something which is one internet connected blob. So for emphasis, we mention one aspect rather than another. But it's all one big thing. You all look quite beautiful out there. So, God may be shorthand for talking about everything at once, and Buddha may be shorthand for talking about the interconnectedness of all things.

[21:44]

Very similar. Very similar. In the East, they think Buddhism is old-fashioned some of the time, and it's just about ancestor worship. But God, now that's an interesting idea. And for some of us in the West, God with the flowing beard upstairs isn't so interesting. But Buddha, now that's interesting. Anything that points to a kind of mysterious, ungraspable, can be your teaching. If you know who God is too much, find a different religion. Excuse me, you don't have to, but... And if you think you know who Buddha is too much, look again. Because Buddha is not always has a smiling face.

[22:49]

He can also... And you may want to come to a Buddhist lecture to hear about how everything is wonderful and the birds are singing. may not want to hear that you're going to die. But she got the ganai. So to be vulnerable and to be okay about being vulnerable, that's very important. If you always try to be invulnerable and not touched, You are an isolated being.

[23:56]

It's our vulnerability which connects us to things. Now you don't have to go to such extremes as me to be vulnerable. Because you're vulnerable even when you're in perfect health, perfectly limber, perfect diet. Something may happen in a moment. One of those moments. Now I'm beginning to get comfortable. I don't have anything to say.

[24:59]

This life is, yes. tell you about the dragon? The dragon is anything that you think you know. And anything you think you know, you don't know it. Buddhism or Dragons may sound very interesting, but when you meet one on face to face, who is the dragon and who is the other one? Dragons, in Chinese lore, not in the West, but in Chinese, a dragon is a being that was originally a fish.

[26:25]

that swam up through nine gates up and for the last gate, it became a dragon. So dragon is, dragon is transformation. What do you want to know about a dragon? you invite a dragon in. This is Green Dragon Temple. And many people love Green Gulch very much. But if you live at Green Gulch, you love it and you hate it because you see all of it.

[27:25]

That's the way when I was at Green Gulch, that's what I felt. I felt it was a horrible place to be, but I didn't want to be any place else. It had everyone's dreams and aspirations and a tremendous amount of work and things to do. I have to confess, my Buddhist name has a dragon in it. My name is Zen and Dairu, Zen, deep, like a pool. Dairu, great dragon. So it's a little bit like the Loch Ness Monster, which comes up out of you. All right.

[28:34]

They haven't known that they want to visit it. They keep their door open. This monster may arise. So do you think everything is the way you think it is? It seems to be? Or are you just very hungry to see what the dragon really is? A dragon is... Okay? So, even though you're going to die, you have a rare opportunity. And if you know you're going to die, you don't have to complain about things.

[29:34]

You can see all the things that you have and all the opportunities that there are and make the best of them. Some of you may notice that if you break your leg, you never knew how much your leg was important to you. So this is a rare opportunity you have right now, right today. The world is open to you. What will you do? What do you want? Who do you want to meet? And by the way, who are you? What a wondrous set of questions. You may think you know who you are, but you know yourself even less than you know the dragon. that's why we have Green Dragon Temple.

[30:39]

For you to find out who you are. And it's a wondrous task. Because you may never get to the bottom of it. Keep swimming. Keep swimming. We have a Shusoh ceremony. And the Shusoh has a staff. And people ask questions. And the Shusoh answers them. But before he begins, he says, dragons and elephants, give me your questions. Dragons, because you're transformation beings. Elephants, because you're hard to move. If you find yourself vulnerable, don't try to cover it up.

[31:58]

Just say, oh, wow, what a jewel. I went to a chouseau ceremony recently, and the chouseau did a wonderful job. But I asked him, where is your vulnerability? And he collapsed. came up. He fell down and got up. People are leaving. It must be lunchtime. So, dragons and elephants. people and spirits, now is the only time you have. And make the best of it.

[33:05]

Because you may die soon. And even if you don't, what's next?

[33:13]

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