Good morning. Good morning. Hello. Welcome to all of you, familiar and unfamiliar faces. Good morning. Today, I'm going to talk about the Four Noble Truths. And today is also not quite the conclusion, but approaching the conclusion of a practice period which has taken the Four Noble Truths as its theme. Actually it ends tomorrow. These four statements that Shakyamuni Buddha made later called Noble Truths by his students are first, there is the fact of suffering and distress in our life.

[01:15]

Two, there is a cause for this distress. There is an origin, originating cause. Three, there is the possibility of ending the our experience of distress, aka suffering, aka you name it, the third truth. And four, in order to accomplish this cessation, one needs to undertake a journey down the path or along the path. And These four statements were in fact what Buddha said in the very first flush of his awakened teaching career. Sometimes called the first turning of the wheel of Dharma because they mark the first occasion when he gathered with some students and taught from his seat.

[02:29]

And while Buddha lived for maybe another 40 years after this first Dharma talk he gave on the Four Noble Truths, he many times during those 40 years said that all he really talked about was understanding the suffering and how to end it. the Four Noble Truths again. First, the first teaching is that there is an experience which, using the Asian language, almost current at the time, called dukkha, there is an experience of something called dukkha, which is that conditioned things are just a little bit unreliable.

[03:34]

conditioned things are ultimately might be seen as unsatisfying. And part of this first statement, this first truth is while everyone, while it might be perhaps accessible and easy to understand that some things are not particularly reliable and some things are not particularly reliable auspicious and advantageous. Also Buddha lumped into that category of dukkha things that you and I might think were good fortune like the opportunity of our birth or if we were today to win the lottery or etc. etc. etc. So dukkha is not just those things that are patently awkward, but also describes a very thorough experience of those things that we actually expect as humans.

[04:45]

The second truth. There is a cause for our experience of dukkha. And that cause is something which might be akin to a profound thirst, an instinctive, nearly ineradicable hunger we have in us for experiences. It is... The second truth is the origin of suffering is caused by our craving, by our thirst. And the third truth sometimes is summarized as the truth of nirvana. The truth that one can awaken.

[05:50]

And the fourth truth, again, that one needs to, in order to accomplish this third truth, needs to set off on the path. And in a helpful gesture, Buddha described one possible path. He described the eightfold noble path. And that in a continually helpful gesture, that eightfold path is sometimes described as a threefold way of ethics and concentration and wisdom. And that also sometimes we might, you know, I don't want to take the time to say what eight things are on the eightfold path right now, because in fact there are many paths. You can divide it into the six parameters of the eightfold path, the four noble truths, or the five secundas.

[06:58]

We're taking the three refuges. Each one of us has one place where we start on our path. And that one place is a sufficient beginning. That one place that we find... to root our practice is sometimes also understood as the moment when we awaken bodhicitta, when we awaken the thought of enlightenment. Now, these four-level truths, which I think, you know, five or so minutes into this talk, I've already reaped recounted twice have a kind of a special quality to them which is that on one hand they're actually accessible and understandable and can be conveyed without too many words but another part of them is that they deeply reward reflection and investigation and the

[08:16]

more time one spends considering them and actually asking the question of whether they're real, true, valid truths in your life, whether you can work the Four Noble Truths, they become more nuanced and become more, how dare I say, profound. Maybe I can, I'm not sure I can say profound, but I will certainly say they become more complicated. And one part of the complication of walking a path of trying to understand the Four Noble Truths is that right at the beginning there's something humbling that happens. Because One needs to take a kind of backward step and realize that those things that you and me and we have focused on as the aspiration of our life might not in fact be the most useful things to focus on.

[09:38]

The happinesses that we have gained are might not actually really be useful. There's a question that needs to be asked of ourselves when we consider, for instance, the first noble truth. As I said, it's not just that death and illness are dukkha, but good fortune and even being alive has an aspect of deeply synonymous with the experience of this first noble truth. Suzuki Roshi said 34 years ago in a talk over in Japantown at Tsukoji Temple, he said that why Buddha told us about the Four Double Truths is to destroy our easy way of understanding life. Buddha wants to undermine our scientific understanding, our philosophical understanding.

[10:52]

Suzuki Roshi goes on and says, without any effort you can read books. Even though you're laying down on your back, you can read books. But you know, it's easy, but it may not help you. If you realize what will help you, then that is called right view. That is the beginning of the path towards ending suffering. And right view is... The first of those eight old steps described in the fourth noble truth. So Sussaculati said, if you realize what will help you, that is right view. And then he went on, why we suffer is because everything which will give you suffering is something created by your mind. is something created by our mind. When we say suffering, that is your suffering.

[12:00]

And this may not be just you, but you are acting the main part of the play. You create your own suffering. Originally, he said, originally there is no suffering. But sometimes we want to own that flower. That is the cause of suffering. If you let the flower be as it is, you have no suffering. When you say suffering, it is already the flower which was, which is created by you. So, as Suzuki Risha said, sometimes we want to own that flower. But, you know, it's not just flowers. Sometimes we want to own that nicer pair of pants. That better job. That nicer boyfriend.

[13:07]

And this instinct for possession is for consumption. is fed like a flame by the culture around us and this is also the second noble truth. This is the thirst, the craving that Buddha spoke of. Perhaps it has always been like this. But sometimes I think we're particularly sharpening the fevered pitch of acquisitive behavior. I was Some time ago I was exiting the Safeway Market nearby, the Safeway Market on Market Street. And by the door, exit door, I noticed there was a little stand of little vending machines, like bubble gum machines. And they had, in one of them, they had little rings, plastic rings and little plastic balls.

[14:13]

And in another they had stick-on tattoos. They were on the theme of a children's television show. Power Rangers, I believe. Go Power Rangers. And the little machine said, eight different tattoos. Collect them all. Collect them all. And which is a sort of mantra that we learn. in our youth which becomes not just a mantra for our youth but an inspiration for our life collect them all and in this way we begin to train on believing that our life is fulfilled by these things that we might collect by the

[15:14]

idea that what we really need is something that we can only acquire if we purchase it it's helpful i think it's helpful to see this it's helpful to understand this to have this awareness and when you give up When you start to make the effort to give up the habitual patterns of one's life, in favor of this backward step of looking at what drives us, at first, it might seem that we've received some positive feedback. I think it's so. when we begin to make this effort to examine our behavior at first it seems sensible and we might even feel they were making some progress by this decision but the habits of our training of our life are quite strong the daydream

[16:39]

of our life is in fact our best friend and the inclination that we have to choose limitation is very familiar and in fact comfortable strangely comfortable and I think It might be, I think it's not just might be, I think it is likely a fact that for people who start to practice that at some point we question, are we making any progress? Is it worth it? One more Saturday at the Zen Center. Have I done my laundry yet? As I was reading As I was reading a week or two ago in a book about the Four Noble Truths, a book written by one of the teachers at Spirit Rock, I think Philip Moffitt, I think his name, and I was reading this book and I came upon a story, an anecdote that I'd like to share.

[18:01]

Some years ago at Spirit Rock they had a teachers conference from, this might have been actually some years ago, maybe 10 years ago. And it was not just Spirit Rock teachers, but a group of invited senior practitioners from around the country. And while it was a several day long conference, one day was especially appreciated by folks because on that day the Dalai Lama was going to come and join. with the practice and with the meeting. And the Spirit Rock folks who put on this conference decided, had the thought, a really good thought, which is they wanted to acknowledge the many volunteers who helped to support this and actually made that event possible. They wanted to acknowledge them by having a situation where the Dalai Lama would meet with the volunteers

[19:04]

And just those folks would have a conversation. And all of the teachers could witness it and watch it, but they weren't part of the dialogue. And so everyone gathered together. And the question was, well, does anybody have a question? And some person raised one of the volunteers raised there, and they said yes. He said, this person, not a teacher on one of the high seats, but just one of the volunteers, said, I've been practicing for many years now. I go to retreats. I have a home practice. I keep the ethical precepts. At first, I felt all sorts of changes in my life, but not for a long time now. These days, it seems like I'm not getting anywhere.

[20:06]

in my Buddhist practice. What do I do? And this is a real question. This is a good question. I'm hearing this question in the kind of hubbub of the room because Saika quieted. And I read that the Dalai Lama was silent for a long bit of time. And then he said, I know just what you mean. Sometimes my practice also doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. And you can imagine how people felt to hear that. You know, he said, I know just what you mean.

[21:09]

Sometimes my practice also is not progressing. And then he said, again after a pause, what I do is reflect over 10, 15, 20 years of my life. And then I can see that some movement has occurred. This is an example of the sort of faith. And perseverance. And patience. But again I'll say faith. That's necessary. That's necessary. That it's needed. For all of us to have. It is the simplest thing. And sometimes the easiest thing. To be discouraged. Like. by our life.

[22:11]

In a very real way, we need to understand that this is a heroic, heroic hero's journey they were taking up. made especially noble by the fact that the ultimate beneficiary is not ourselves. This Zen tradition is present here in San Francisco at the San Francisco Zen Center and other places, and it is present in time. In many countries. But it found its root. It found its sort of... Well, in some ways, like Shakyamuni Buddha gave its first turning of the wheel near Varanasi after his awakening.

[23:31]

The Zen tradition first turned its particular wheel. in China, some hundreds, actually maybe 1500 or 1300 years ago. And at the time when Zen moved from India to China, One of the moments where it started to have its own family flavor was when people gathered together in temples that were identified as focused on Zen training. And one aspect of that identification was that rules of conduct that were specific and just for a Zen training center were ripped

[24:33]

marked a kind of one beginning of our tradition and recognized as the first Chinese Zen master who put down a code of conduct for the residents in his monastery was a person named Bai Cheng. And Bai Cheng was a significant Zen teacher. We have many stories in the Koan literature about him. But I'm going to talk about a student of his. I'm going to tell a story about a student of his named Guishan. So Guishan was ordained at 15 years old and was 22 when he met Bai Cheng.

[25:37]

And not long after settling under Bai Cheng, he had an opportunity to be the attendant. Sort of like Lucy is for Paul. Or maybe Jim for himself. He had the opportunity to be attendant to Wei Shan had this opportunity to serve Bai Cheng. And one day He approached Bai Chang's room and knocked on the door. Who is it? He said, it's me. He said, oh, come on in, come on in. And then when he entered the room, Bai Chang asked Wei Shan, pointing to the stove, he said, see if there's any fire left. And on one level, this is a simple sort of question, maybe even a reasonable query.

[26:40]

But in a deeper way, I think one of the reasons this story is still told is because this question is not just about the status of that stove back then, but it's a question about Muishan's state of mind. Is there any fire left? And because the third noble truth is the teaching of nirvana. And this word nirvana in its root, in its native language, means extinction. And the example given to model what type of extinction it means is like when a fire goes out. when a fire goes out, so that when even the embers are cooled. So when Bai Zhang asked, is there any fire left?

[27:44]

We can understand that this was a question also, this student, how are you doing with your situation? And Gu Shan said, there's no fire left. no fire left. Well, his teacher rose from his seat, went over to the stove, took the poker from Raishan's hand and stood deeply in the ashes, stood deeply in the embers, the cooling embers, and found a glowing charcoal piece and brought it forth and showed it to Guishan and said what about this and at that moment in recognition of that hot ember we're told Guishan's

[29:09]

How can I say? Weishan's mind became sufficient. He had an experience for which he felt grateful. And his teacher alongside him felt Weishan's and said to him, what you are experiencing right now is a temporary fork in the road. If you want to really understand the meaning of Buddha nature, then you must look more deeply into the nature, into the truth of cause and effect. in effect.

[30:15]

The next day, the two of those two characters went out of the temple and onto a hillside to gather wood. And Lai Zhang asked his attendant, he said, while they were on the mountainside, he said, did you bring the fire? And Guishan said, yes, I brought it. And Bai Cheng asked, well, where is it? And then Guishan picked up a piece of wood and whistled twice. Then he handed it to Bai Cheng, who said back to his student, you're like a termite. eating wood. That was a compliment. So the volunteer

[31:36]

At Spirit Rock said to the Dalai Lama, I have practiced for many years and these days I do not feel like I am making any progress. Guishan, later in his career when he had many students, had a student named Ling Yun who practiced for many years and felt like he was not making any progress. He practiced For 30 years. And still, after all those years, his heart was unsettled. His heart did not feel sufficient. And one spring day he took a walk. outside of the temple grounds onto a hill and while he was on this walk he looked across on this spring day across to a farm that had a peach tree by the fence and the peach tree was in full magnificent blossom

[33:04]

And upon the sight of that blooming tree on a distant hillside, Lingyun had a sufficient experience. He realized that he did not need anything else. He said in a poem that he wrote to his teacher, he said, For three years I've looked for an answer. Many times, leaves fell. New ones sprouted. Today, one glimpse of peach blossoms. And now, no more doubt. And when Guishan read this poem of his student, he said, One who enters with ripened causes will never go away. He approved of Lingyan in this way, our ripened causes. Our practice is straightforward and apparent and a mysterious skate.

[34:18]

Our practice is something that directly responds to causes and conditions and one that ripens in moments least expected. After 30 years of uncertainty and doubt. We glimpse a tree in bloom and our heart opens. day when we are when we least expect it one day when we least expect it when we are perhaps in the middle of the road of our life we are asked a question and this question can take various forms it might be a sort of Zen question that resonates in our heart or it also might be a question in the eyes of our

[35:38]

child, or it might be a question asked by a hillside of blooming flowers. Or maybe even, and perhaps even more likely, it might be a question that only we hear in our heart, because we realize we have not let ourselves be open to another person asking lots of questions. For each of us, the question that can shipwreck and transform us is unique. For each of us, our heroic quest, our quest, is personal. Our very own, but also, you know, we're not really that special. turns out that this only for us question is one that other people worry about as well.

[36:47]

How are we going to live? How are we going to walk with people? How are we going to repay the gift of our life? Someone said I've been practicing for 30 years. No, not for 30 years. I've been practicing for some time. And I feel that I am not making progress. And the Dalai Lama said, you know, I understand how you feel. Sometimes I also feel like I'm not making progress. not making progress is the middle of the story not the end because if we look from the perspective of the last hour the last ten years from the perspective of this very moment we can understand that something is afoot something is afoot

[38:08]

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