Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. I will begin our Dharma talk today offered by senior Dharma teacher, Ajan Katz. We'll begin with the opening verse, which you should see on your screen if you'd like to chant along with me. An unsurpassed penetrating and perfect Dharma. is rarely met with, even in a hundred thousand million kalpas, having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept. I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good morning, everyone. Hope you can hear me okay.

[01:31]

Welcome to our online Dharma talk. I wanted to acknowledge that today is Mother's Day. And I wanted to use that partially as a theme for what I wanted to talk about today. And we'll see where it goes. I just wanted to acknowledge that I'm sure many of you are experiencing difficulties, loss, maybe loss of loved ones, loss of livelihood, loss of activities that you enjoy. And we all share this together. We're all experiencing this. There's no one who's outside of this right now.

[02:35]

I also wanted to acknowledge my gratitude for all the beings throughout the world who are helping, trying to help take care of each other, take care of one another in all the myriad ways, all the countless ways. That we're able to help one another at the risk of one's life, actually. For many people at the risk of their life. Just a word about Green Gulch. Right now we're in the growing season and the fields are being planted. We have. Community work Wednesday morning. Everyone goes. with our masks down to the fields for hoeing and weeding and helping to plant and care for the plants.

[03:38]

And we have a new group of eight people who've come up from Tassajara to join Green Gulch and to help Zen Center at this time. It's very quiet here, although the wildlife is wild. Someone, one of our residents saw a mountain lion up on the mountain while he went for a walk at dusk, right around dusk. And there's a bobcat that is sauntering through the garden and through Spring Valley that really allows you to watch him, doesn't disappear, which is kind of thrilling, really. So For me today, I realized that the Dharma talk, there's different kinds of Dharma talks that one can give. One is sometimes called more of a discourse or an explaining of the teaching.

[04:45]

The Japanese word for that kind of Dharma talk is hogo, Dharma talk, Dharma discourse. And there's another kind of offering Dharma talk called Te Sho. And Te Sho, the two characters of Te Sho, the first Te has carrying and just as it is as kind of part of the kanji, part of the character. And then the Sho part means a shout or maybe a chant or a yell. So So it has this feeling of just full expression of what's happening right now, just fully let it out in an expression which expresses the teaching. It's not that you veer from the teaching, but it expresses it in a slightly different way. And I realized I have some sense of wanting to fully express

[05:54]

some things that are going on for me and feeling a resonance with others as well about what's going on. So we'll see what happens with this Dharma talk. Just a word about Mother's Day. So Mother's Day we know of now as a kind of, actually it's a day when more phone calls are made than any other day of the year. I read that. So this greeting, sending gifts, taking one's mother out to brunch. So all these things are what Mother's Day has become in the last many decades. But the origins of Mother's Day were quite different. It was... an expression by Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and another woman later on named Anna Jarvis.

[06:58]

But Julia Ward Howe in 1870, coming right after the Civil War, and then a new war began in 1870, the Prussian War, Franco-Prussian War, and more carnage was happening. And she felt that it was partially for women to have a voice in politics, that they had no voice, they didn't have the vote, and that mothers of the world, she saw it as an international rising up of mothers for peace and to find other ways to settle disputes and conflicts. rather than mutually arming one another and killing. So that was of origins from 1870. And later it became, in 1914, it became a national holiday and it didn't go all that well, this international peace movement.

[08:04]

And so it became closer to what we know of. But there is a kind of Mother's Day in many, many countries celebrated at different times of the year with different kinds of festivals. One of the practitioners who I'm speaking with regularly told me that around the corner from her where she lives, there was a big sign in a shop that said in great big letters, I miss my mother. I miss my mother. And, you know, for many of us, our mothers are no longer alive. But for others of you, if you're taking care of an older person, if your mother is an older person, then you may not be out of compassion visiting her, seeing her face-to-face, having physical...

[09:09]

expressions of affection. And I think this, you know, when I say mother, I want to use this word mother in various ways today. I think there is mother and mothering and the mother as a principle, as the the genitrix, the creatrix, the great mother, you might say, as a principle of life, life and death, and the matrix, which comes from the same root, out of which the source, out of which everything arises. You know, just for today's lecture, well, I want to think of that as... in the archetypal sense of the word mother, which doesn't depend on and it doesn't matter what our individual mother was like.

[10:18]

Was she nurturing or not nurturing? Was she skillful? Was she there for us? Was she too young? Was she too old? It doesn't really matter. The unique... way that our mothers manifested or are manifesting. Each and every unique mother as a unique expression flowing from this source, this wide, unknowable, inconceivable source that out of which comes the individual expression and activity and skillful or unskillful action. So this is something I've been turning and wanted to turn with you. You know, in Buddhism, the image of mother is used in many different ways.

[11:25]

Some of you are familiar with the chant. the meditation on loving kindness that we regularly recite. And in that verse, it's a long verse, meditation, it says, even as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protects her only child, so with a boundless mind should all living beings generate or... cover the whole world with this same loving kindness, all living beings, whatever their state. And then it lifts high, low, weak, strong. It doesn't matter. So using this term, mother, as a mother at the risk of her life, watches over and protects her only child. This resonates for me with so many of the skillful,

[12:27]

actions that people are doing right now, at the risk of their life, watching over and protecting beings, whether weak or strong, this is from the sutra, in high or middle or low realms of existence, small or great, visible or invisible, this at the risk of our life. And this, you know, This is not relegated, and I want to open this. This is not relegated to mothers in the sense of those who biologically gave birth or are going to give birth. I'm talking about this principle, this source of compassion and wisdom and skillful means. You know... just as a mother at the risk of her life, watches over and protects her only child.

[13:29]

That image, you know, that mother, and I think I've seen this in my own life, there's not a lot of thinking like, should I or shouldn't I protect this child? It's a complete response. It's this is what we do. This is our life's activity and expression that flows. Without a lot of, gee, I wonder if. And, you know, what are my rewards? You know, this is not about receiving back the rewards. It's skillful activity born of wisdom and compassion. There's other places where the image of mother is used in our practice. One is... The wisdom itself, which is called the perfection of wisdom or prajna in iconography, there's different iconographical expressions of wisdom.

[14:35]

One is prajna, which is in a feminine form of wisdom, maybe like Sophia in Catholic. or other wisdom traditions, and also the Bodhisattva of wisdom, who's in the Zendo, Manjushri. So there are different ways that wisdom is expressed. But one is the Prajnaparamita, or the perfection of wisdom. And I just wanted to show you this. This is a perfection of wisdom figure. exceedingly beautiful, and it's in Indonesia in a museum in, can't remember exactly where it is. But that Prajnaparamita, or that perfection of wisdom, is called the mother of the awakened ones, the mother of the Buddhas.

[15:42]

Prajnaparamita is the mother of the Buddhas, meaning to to be an awakened person who lives out their life with wisdom and compassion as expressed through skillful action, the mother of that is called wisdom. There's another, the wisdom of the Buddha, the mother of the Buddhas and the mother of the Bodhisattvas, the the beings who have made a vow to live for the benefit of others. Also, they say Prajnaparamita, this wisdom, is the mother of the bodhisattvas as well. There's another image of the mother, which is the bodhisattva of infinite compassion. Sometimes named, it has many names, this infinite compassion.

[16:49]

One is the one who hears the cries of the world. One who hears the cries of the world. This figure to the side of me is Kanon or Kanzeon or Guan Yin in Chinese. And this particular figure is in the posture. of royal ease, very relaxed. I don't know if you can tell exactly, but she's not in cross-legged position. She has one leg up, kind of one knee up. And the reason for this royal ease posture is that this bodhisattva hears the cries of the world and responds and comes immediately. So she doesn't have to even uncross her legs from a meditation position. She's ready to roll at any moment. This is great compassion that responds thoroughly without hesitation.

[18:00]

And that is also described in other sutras and other texts as the mother of that born of this kind of compassion are awakened beings, born of this vow to live for the benefit of others. So this archetype, you might even want to say, of wisdom and compassion in this image of mother is used and brought forth, of course, not just in Buddhism, in many religious traditions. And I wanted to embrace it today in particular, knowing that so many people might also put a big sign in their house, I miss my mother. And in the widest sense, what is it that we miss?

[19:04]

We miss someone being there for us. We may be content in our aloneness right now and our withdrawal from certain activities. And at the same time, there may be a longing for someone to meet us there. I've been feeling, just to let you know, on the vulnerable side, you know, Various things really, maybe not oversensitive, just very sensitive to things that happen. Music. Or something that someone might say where they didn't mean to be teasing or joking around. But it hits very strongly. The other day I was in a Zoom meeting with a number of people.

[20:08]

And I asked one of the people how they were, we were making, before the meeting started, we were making conversation. And I asked this one person how their household was, how they were doing. And they said they had a roommate and a new puppy. And I said, over Zoom, you know, oh, could we see it? And the person said, no. And You know, at another time, I might have said, oh, come on, let's see your puppy or don't be like that. We want to see it or something. I could have, like, moved with the punches, you know, but I had no, I realized, I have no, I don't have much buffer here. I have no resilience, you know, or no, I was, like, stopped right there and tears welled up. And I muted myself immediately.

[21:10]

I couldn't join for a bit. I had to kind of turn inwards and take care of myself a little bit. So the same thing happened with a text message that someone sent me. And they said this thing that I really didn't understand. And... My not understanding it, it was a joke, but as you know, in text and emails and Zoom even, the nuance is lost. The fullness of our relational life is lost. And I felt that the person was teasing me or making fun of me or mocking me. And the kind of welling up of feeling... alone and disconnected and sad. So I share this with maybe, I don't know, but I'm imagining people are feeling some of those things similarly and have been feeling deeply touched by music, by art, by these things that are meant to touch us.

[22:32]

are meant to allow us to feel who we are and our feelings. And these feelings are our connectedness with beings. Even our vulnerability, my feeling vulnerable, is my connection to that person who I care about who said, no, you can't see the puppy. Even that sadness I felt and cut-offness is a kind of way I know that I am connected. So we also have, you know, bits and pieces of stories of our teachers and their relationships with their mothers. The Buddha, I think last week when Abbas Fu mentioned the Buddha's birth, in the Q&A someone asked, asked about the Buddhist mother dying, and the Buddhist mother did die, not in childbirth, but very soon after, seven days after.

[23:41]

And there is, you know, I've read some essays, you know, about how this might have affected this child, you know. And, you know, whether this is the legendary real events and how they happened, we don't know. But this is the teaching story that's come down to us. And this loss of this source, this source being who is the whole world for this baby. And even though his foster mother was his wet nurse as well and his aunt, even so, how that affects how we are affected by these kinds of losses. how our whole life can be affected, you know, in a profound way, I have no doubt. And our great ancestor, Dogen, also lost his mother as a little boy when he was seven, I think, and then his father.

[24:47]

And he writes about this scene going to the funeral, which we are, you know, not able to do at this time, this ritual of goodbye and care and love. He, at the funeral, watching from the incense, he called it the twin tales of the incense smoke, incense smoke as it went up and up and vanished, you know, this profound feeling of impermanence. Nothing will last. All things are of a nature to come apart. Things that come together will come apart. And this deep experience of this loss of a mother that can never be replaced.

[25:54]

And those of you who have lost your mother, you know, the effect, you know, takes a long time. Maybe never, never is quite mended or totally healed, that sense of loss. So, yes, so Dogen... Out of that deep sense of impermanence, which is a glimpse of dharma, one who sees impermanence sees dharma, is the teaching. Out of that, he turned his life and turned towards the religious life and was ordained, I think, at 13, very young. Could have done other worldly things and chose that knowing. And having experienced this shared impermanence of our life.

[27:04]

Also, just other mothers that... There's other bodhisattvas who take vows of compassion because they had a... One is a... Kashita Garba, the earth store bodhisattva who became Jizo bodhisattva, that bodhisattva had this image of the suffering of their mother and also made these vows to go to the places where people are suffering, to go to the most difficult places, the hell realms, you might say. And I would say that some of our... and our places, our nursing homes, our, you know, places where our prisons are places of such unspeakable suffering and those that vow to enter and do what they can, whether they...

[28:16]

We don't have to even use the word bodhisattva, but beings that put others before themselves that serve and do it through their vows, through their wishes for beings to be better. So these other bodhisattvas also, there was connections with where does this come from and this primal relationship with And as I say, mother as both, I want to try to integrate, you know, what we may think of as mother immediately, which is our own particular mother and things that might come up when we think of that. And this principle of mother or great mother that is... beyond our understanding, really, that is numinous, that is out of which flows, you know, the source and the activity of our relational life.

[29:33]

So that mother as source, and if I can put these two together, and our own very unique, problematic maybe, Or wonderful, depending, you know, our unique expression of that source in our own mother. Those two things are not separated. This is the interfusion, you might say, of our life. And this is the reality of our life. This is the most... maybe you could say basic teaching, the middle way of the inconceivable source of all things and the unique expression of that, unique appearance in the myriad forms, the myriad mothers and the myriad forms, not just...

[30:39]

but also our own thoughts and our own ideas and our own consciousness, also this unique expression. All the myriad things, the 10,000 things, and this principle, you might say, or this source principle, are interfused. And we can't get out of that. You might think, oh, it's just little old me here. But actually, if you look at that carefully, if you look at anything thoroughly and carefully enough, you see that it is completely, inextricably interconnected and related with all things. And there is nothing outside of that. And out of that... understanding of that teaching out of that experiential maybe response to that teaching, we have skillful activity.

[31:48]

We live for the benefit of others and serve others. We express beneficial action. So this beneficial action, one of our teachers, our founder, Dogen, and she speaks about that in part of his treasury of writings. And he talks about four different activities of a bodhisattva. Bodhisattva as one who has made this vow to live for the benefit of others. And this others. The benefit of others does not mean, oh, and then I don't take care of myself. That's a misunderstanding. This teaching is others and myself are completely interfused.

[32:49]

So helping others is helping myself. This piece on beneficial action, Dogen, I have it here. Dogen says, beneficial action is skillfully to benefit all beings, all sentient beings. That is to care about their distant and near future and to help them by using skillful means. And then he says in ancient times, A teacher took care of a turtle or a sparrow that had gotten hurt with no thought of being thanked or having that animal have high regard for them.

[33:51]

They helped another out of this understanding of beneficial action. They didn't expect rewards. They were moved to do so for the sake of beneficial action. And we are moved in countless ways to help someone, whether there's a thanks or not, it doesn't matter. All of you, I have no doubt, are moved in this way to help beings. And if you're, you know, in your domicile without being able to leave, How do we help through donating, through calling people to check on others? There's someone I know who's from her garden making bouquets and leaving them on her gate for her neighbors to have a spring nosegay. So these kinds of actions are flowing nonstop.

[34:58]

And then Dogen says, foolish people think that if they help others first, their own benefit will be lost. As if there was a scarcity there. If I help, I mean, I help somebody and now there's not anything for me. This is, he says, foolish people think in that way. Beneficial action is an act of oneness, benefiting self and others together. We are all interconnected and interfused. Helping one another is helping ourselves. And not only that, we actually, this vow to help beings and to express it in skillful action relieves us, relieves our heart of the pain and the, you know, grief that we feel. And that we may be feeling now in a heightened way.

[36:02]

Helping another person, compassionate action is for us as well in this circle of giving. It is taking care of ourself. Maybe the only thing really that will really touch our hearts and the pain that we're feeling and the lamentations that So we all have a chance to express this, to bring this forth in our lives. And that's what the world, you know, I feel like we need this. We need this kind of kindness and compassion and empathy for one another. You know. As we know so thoroughly, there are beings who have this capacity has been, you might say, dampened or blocked or arrested, you know, at some time and have a very difficult time feeling what another person might be feeling, being in their shoes, exchanging self for other things.

[37:27]

with understanding this very basic practice of a bodhisattva for some beings is, you know, feels blocked. And that results in such violence, you know, such ignorance and the actions that flow from ignorance and disconnectedness when the actuality and the reality of our life is that we are all so connected. I we need this kindness. We all need this kindness and gentleness and care, tenderness from one another and compassion. And I wanted to share with you this. Something I learned about, which many of you maybe know about it's it's. It's an organization called Roots of Empathy. There's also another organization called Seeds of Empathy.

[38:32]

And it was started by a woman named Mary Gordon. And Mary, she's a Canadian. And I think she was working with mothers, actually, who were very young teenagers, I think, and had been... maybe sent to her as a therapist or a counselor or something because there was mistreatment of their children. And she, in working with these young women, and she says afterwards she loved them. None of them, she said, woke up in the morning and said, you know, I'm going to hurt my child or do something unskillful. Not one of them. That was not... That was not what was in their consciousness. However, they did not have the skills, nor had they had the mirroring and the empathy and the attunement necessary to even learn how to be attuned to their child and the needs and what they might be asking for or why they were crying.

[39:45]

So Mary Gordon started this workshop wonderful program, Roots of Empathy. And what she is doing, it's still doing, and I think over a million children in schools. She brings this program to schools. Each class who's doing the program, they have a mother come with her baby, quite a young baby. And the baby comes once a month. So the baby comes and is introduced to the class and then is placed on a rug, I think, with the children all around the baby. And then the baby just is baby, you know, does what it does, kick or try to roll over or cry or whatever it does. And then the trained leader of it asks the children, what do you think the baby wants? Is it happy? How can you tell? Is it sad? How can you tell? And they begin to learn everything.

[40:47]

and maybe they don't have this in their own home, the vocabulary of feelings from this baby. And I saw some of the videos which you might want to look up yourself. They become very... They love their baby. It's their baby. Their baby comes to visit. And the baby at the beginning is brought around the circle to each child. These are... Six, seven and eight year olds, I think, for roots of empathy and three to five year olds for seeds of empathy. And they begin to be able to talk about they can tell. They begin to be able to tell the baby doesn't want to be held. He wants to crawl. And they do this in depth. How can you tell? Well, he's pushing back or his body is stiffening or she's turning her head away. or these things. And what they found from this program, which I just felt was amazing, several things, but this growth of the vocabulary of feelings for these children, the opening of understanding and having empathy for their classmates, the dropping of bullying, a great reduction in bullying,

[42:14]

And this kind of harmful teasing. And also, this was an unforeseen consequence, but the reportage of child abuse in their own families, because they were able to realize, you know, and identify and accept this isn't okay, or what's happening is, and they brought this forward. So I was so moved by seeing these videos and reading about it and feeling we all perhaps need a refresher perhaps in this, you know, understanding the feelings of one another. And we know people in our lives who we wish they could have this flowing, compassionate mind. And there is a difference between empathy and compassion.

[43:16]

I just want to mention feeling another's pain and having empathy and not being able to relieve it can lead to burnout. We have to take care of ourselves, especially if we're in these helping professions. Compassion, on the other hand, and this wish that all beings will be free from suffering and protected. and healthy, and able to live in safety, having that wish, having that wish arise in your consciousness, and along with that wish, a vow to, whenever possible in your life, make that a reality. That has no burnout that goes along with it. The awakened ones came into this world, the Buddhas. Buddha meaning from the root that means to awaken.

[44:20]

People who are awakened to the reality of their life, which is connected and interfused with all beings. having this vow to live out and live a life of compassion, that does not take energy from you. That is not innervating. That is energizing. And some of you may know of the neuroscience around this, the way we light up when we send our compassionate thoughts. It's not that we can take away the suffering. If we would, we could. But may you be free from suffering. I wish for you, for your pain and suffering to be lifted, for you to be recovered, for you to be healthy.

[45:21]

I wish it with all my might. This can flow and flow and get stronger and stronger. And this wish, I think, meets our innermost desire. So this beneficial action that's available to us all, even in these times, you know, even in these times that feel so, we don't know what's going to be, you know, and this teaching of one of our Zen teachings of don't know mind, having a mind that doesn't leap to, oh, I know exactly what's going to happen or it's going to be like this and I'm going to end up like this. And I'll never, you know, as a grandmother, you know, leaping to some idea, I'll never see my grandchild again or be able to hug him or something like that.

[46:30]

That is a thought that is not based on the reality of our situation. We don't know. We do not know. And So even in these times that can feel so maybe a variety of things, but there may be a desolation and grief that we're all feeling, that we feel all the time, really, for our world, for this earth. But we're very close to it right now. We're not distracting ourselves. We're not... our addictions to our distractions, and we haven't been able to, or our attachments to our distractions, that's kind of waned because we haven't been able to. And there's a kind of contentment there. And at the same time, this in touch with our grief and our lamentations, even so,

[47:40]

At this time, there are flowers that bloom or what looks like a withered tree. This was the theme of the practice period, flowers blooming or blossoms on a withered tree. This withered tree... This image reminds me of in Hiroshima, after the atomic blast, the trees all around Ground Zero were destroyed. It looked like they were destroyed, but after some time, from what's called the anchor root, from the deep roots, some of these trees, I don't think all of them, but some of these trees... came back, you know, out of the earth. They came again, even in the unspeakable place of such destruction, came again the trees.

[48:57]

So what, you know, sometimes people can't tell the difference between dormant and dead trees. The trees, my sense is there is blooming. There is blooming. And this blooming, as are the myriad ways that we can help one another, is the blooming on this withered tree. The tree is not dead. There is life. There is life arising, pulsing. And... What we want to wither and what we want to let go of are our unskillful actions and our attachments to unbeneficial ways of thinking, which then flow into actions, thinking and speaking and acting. That's what we want to wither. That's what in our practice when we sit, we allow to let that go.

[50:01]

So I think I just have one thing I wanted to add, and then we're going to open it up to questions. If any of you would like to offer some words or have a question about what I've been talking about. I was honored to be at a kind of Dharma talk situation where one of the practitioners mentioned that they had lost their mother to COVID-19. This is someone who has practiced a long time. And in describing what happened, the person was not able to be there, was not able to, as we know, be at bedside, be in the hospital, even speak to her.

[51:13]

The person's mother, they could not speak to their mother. I think the sister of this person, they held up a cell phone and their mother was able to hear the voice of one of her children. And this person who's practiced for many, many years said that grief was so enormous, was so deep, and what this person did not want to have happen, you know, so strongly. with this grief came, and this is what I wanted to share with you in particular, what this person said was that they let go of all fear.

[52:16]

The fear that this person had been carrying vanished in this deep grief, the grief of this. There was nothing more to fear. The worst had happened, you might say. There is nothing that can feel as painful as this. And this fear of what might be or what could be or what the future might be vanished. This is a kind of wisdom, I think. And born of this person's practice, born of her sitting, born of... this person's bodhisattva vow, and to continue being there for others, practicing her meditation, her Zazen mind, met this situation so fully and so thoroughly.

[53:19]

So I wanted to share that with you, and I hope it's all right, but this person, if you're here, I didn't want to reveal something you... wouldn't have wanted revealed. I hope I was able to do that. So thank you very much. And host Jiryu, would you like to take care of the Q&A if there are any? Yes, please, if anyone has. question or comment, if you could raise your hand virtually, you should be able to do so on the menu at the bottom of your screen or in participants. If you go to your name or see an option to raise hand and then we'll unmute you.

[54:21]

So I see Frederick's hand raised. I don't see myself. I see the word Frederick. And now, dear you, the host has asked me to start my video. Okay. Hello, Linda Ruth. Hi. Happy Mother's Day. Thank you so much for that. heartfelt, compassionate, very reaching presentation. Thank you. Thank you for attending. I am most aware, I think, that my perception of what we now go through may be a perception of an advantaged perspective. Advantaged what? Say that again. From the perception of being advantaged or a first world perspective.

[55:48]

Crisis, rather. Let me say that I have long felt the suffering of less advantaged cultures and peoples. We can just simply think of Africa or Appalachia. urban inner America, indigenous cultures, and the suffering that is inherent, as you addressed, that we know is inherent in existence, right? The suffering that is now all the more pronounced to us with an illness that strikes all so many people that is, I feel... a consistency of life of too many people, of people that are living in conditions that are born out of this potentially lack of caring of our earth, of our mother, of the source of life.

[57:01]

That were we to have an economics and a culture that was compassionate about all people and from where we extract resources in let's say less developed areas and hopefully we will build now out of this crisis a relationship with our mother in a grander sense which you addressed the mother of creation this may be an opportunity for us as we carry forth and holding the dharma and our vision of what will come next. Thank you. Thank you, Frederick, for your words. One feels the possibility of a turning in this way during this time when everything's come to a halt.

[58:03]

May it be so, I think I have to say, may it be so. And, you know, we're doing a chant once a week on Saturday, actually calling on the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. And in the dedication, one of the things we say, all those who, we dedicate the merit of chanting this, protection for life to all those suffering from physical, emotional, and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and from policies which make some lives more vulnerable than others. You know, these are political and policy questions. And how can we turn this?

[59:06]

What can we do in our lives, in our daily lives that doesn't forget, that doesn't go back into a habitual way that takes this up with fervor, you know. So thank you. Our life depends on it, yes? Yes, it does. Very much so. Very interdependent, not at a distance, but very near to that suffering of all. That's right, yeah. Thank you. I just noticed the time. It's getting a little late. So I see your hand, Kat. I see your hand, but I don't... Go ahead. I think you have to unmute.

[60:06]

Unmute at the bottom of your screen. Sorry, I don't think that... They can. Is that cat? Cat with a K? It's cat with a K. Okay. Yes, you're on now. Go ahead. Oh, thank you. Thank you. I don't see you. I guess I just... Okay. So what about... I'm interested in this compassionate, beneficial action. It's like there is somebody in my life that I feel that I want to talk to about. what I think is a problem. And I'm afraid. I have fear about what that will do with my friend, the relational, how it might hurt my relationship rather than benefit it. Yeah. With that. Well, I think that's where the skill and means comes in, you know?

[61:11]

So what is it that you bring up with this person? I think if, If you bring up, you do this and you do that, and I don't like this and I don't like that, it's going to be, it's going nowhere, you know. If you say to this person, I care about you, we love the same things, or we're related, I don't know who the person is. There's so much connection between us. And I feel this way when such and such happens. I feel hurt. I feel confused. I feel some pain. I feel disconnected when such and such happens. How about you? Do you know what I mean? Or then there's a conversation there between you about what's going on. And often we learn something that maybe didn't even know.

[62:11]

about this person, what's going on with them, how it is they're doing or saying or not doing or not saying. However, starting with we're standing together here in this world. We're not opposed to one another unless we're like two feet who are opposed as you walk. We're together here. And I'm feeling these feelings. So that's one thing. Doorway, yeah. Do you think you could try that? Oh, yes, absolutely. I think it's a matter of gathering my inner self to like, okay, that there's a risk on my, that I'll be taking a risk. I think there's work to be done before you don't just jump into one of these conversations like, oh, by the way, you do your work.

[63:20]

What's going on for me? What do I want to say? Where do we come together? Where are we united? And if you do your homework, the risk is less, I think, of making a mess. And still, you don't know. Recently, someone I know did the work, did a lot of work on it, presented to this person, and the person flew into her rage and said, that's it. We're never going to sign up the phone. That happens. However, the person did her work and felt she did her best. And I think you can start there. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Thank you very much, Sensei. Maybe just one more since it's getting a little late. Or no more.

[64:28]

Maybe we'll end right there. Shall we end with the closing chant? Yes. Our intention equally extended to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delisions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them.

[65:31]

But as the way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it. Thank you, everybody, for coming. Before we sign off, I would like to say that we really do rely on your donations to Zen Center now more than ever. So if you feel supported by the Dharma offerings of our temples, please consider supporting San Francisco Zen Center with a donation at this time. Any size is greatly appreciated. And I'll put a link now in the chat window to make that easier for you. So if you'd like to come on, sound to say goodbye, please do so. You're now invited to unmute yourself. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. It was great. Thank you, Linda. Thank you very much.

[66:37]

Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day. Thank you, Linda. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you from Rome. Please.

[66:54]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.94