warm in here today. Out there today. My name is Robert. How many people are here for the first time? Welcome. Welcome to Zen Center. Together is my temple. I've been sick for the last couple of days. And there was a tendency, not too sick, but just a little bit sick, and there was a tendency to kind of like get smaller, you know, kind of like go inward, get smaller. But I'm trying to counteract that with my intention to get bigger.

[01:11]

To be big. To be bigger. Yeah. I don't know what that means, but that's my intention, okay? So I want to talk about... in the spirit of this practice period which is going on now and many of you are a part of I wanted to talk about the practice period is led by Abbot Steve Stuckey is about Hinayana practice with Mahayana mind So my effort to get big today is to talk about power.

[02:14]

The power of the Mahayana mind. Which is not the usual kind of power that we might think of, that we might experience. It's a different kind of power. But it's a power. So I want to talk about that today. Hopefully in a very simple way, a traditional Zen way, telling some stories. too long of a way so that we can have time for some questions at the end. So if you have any questions that come up during this, actually at any point during this you can ask a question, I don't mind, but then we can also have some questions here at the end and then after here in the dining room together.

[03:25]

For people who don't know, I'm the I have an administrative position at Zen Center. I'm the president of Zen Center. And it was tempting because I don't get these opportunities so often. It was tempting to come up here and tell you about all kinds of things that are happening at Zen Center and what we're up to. But, you know, that's not, I think it's better if I just stick with the power thing, you know, and get in kind of just in some simple, Way just... Yeah. Try to get big. So I'll start with... I'll start with... The founding practitioner of this school of Zen was a guy in Japan in the 13th century. In the 13th century, about 1244, he moved from the city... out into the mountains and a wealthy supporter of his built a temple for him.

[04:40]

And at that time, he gave many Dharma talks to a small group of monks at this temple and they were recorded, fragments of them were recorded And they're in a book here that was put together by a Zen Center priest. And here is one fragment of a Dharma talk that he gave in probably 1244, 1245. That's over 760 years ago. He says, Within 10,000 forms I appear alone. In other words, I am me and you are you. Above the hundred grasses, we meet each other.

[05:45]

Here, we meet each other. I do not see beyond my portion. The other does not see beyond his portion or her portion. We only see with our own eyes, our own life, our own experience. For 30 years, I have not been able to give a coherent explanation. Throughout the 24 hours, nothing hits the mark. So it is said, this is not divine power or wondrous function. So it is said, This is not divine power or wondrous function and is not the Dharma as such. At this very moment, how is... So, at this very moment, it is not the divine power and is not the wondrous function.

[07:01]

It is not even the Dharma. So how is it? Any thoughts? I have an idea. I think for some people it's not so good. I'm not talking about any of you, but I'm talking about in the world, out there, it's not so good for some people. It's hard.

[08:03]

It's stressful. It's difficult to know what to do. There's an election coming up. There's a lot of uncertainty. It's not easy to know. It's not easy to know how to use your power. It's not easy to know how to help others. sound familiar to anybody?

[09:19]

Yeah. So Suzuki Roshi, who's the founding teacher of Zen Center, came to America in 1959. He was a concerned about, or he was dedicated to helping us, helping people understand how to help others. And he was a small person. He wasn't a big, powerful person, didn't have any money to give anybody, any real influence. to work with anybody and you would think he didn't have any power whatsoever to help.

[10:36]

It's as if you or I showed up in Sri Lanka one day or, you know, some random place. He came to He came to help a small community of Japanese Buddhist practitioners. And he came with his traditional practice, you know, his traditional way. And he taught what we might call the Himyana side of it. He taught us how to, not us, not me, some people in this room, how to wear their robes, how to bow, how to hold their hands, how to sit. But he also taught how to access your true power.

[11:45]

each individual and the power that helps others. So he taught a traditional way that we continue here. But the traditional way is not a robe or bowing or sitting or any particular way. The traditional way that Suzuki Roshi taught was the traditional way of all practitioners. You know, I once asked my teacher, are we trying to become a Buddha? And my teacher said... he said he said first he said no he said we are we do not we say when we talk about our practice we say Buddhas and ancestors and we say Buddhas and ancestors because it was not it was not the Buddha not just the Buddha but there were ancestors real people real people who

[13:24]

followed on the path. Real people living real lives. So, Suzuki Roshi taught us that the traditional way, the Mahayana way, the traditional mind, is the mind that goes beyond the traditional way. The mind that is not the traditional way, in the sense, It is your way and your way and your way and your way. He said to understand what the traditional way of Buddhism is and to actualize it in our lives are the most important points for us. But he didn't mean any particular way. He meant that the traditional way of the Buddhas and ancestors He's letting go of the traditional way.

[14:31]

The traditional way is to come forward into this present moment completely. That's the traditional way, but that's the way that's beyond the traditional way. That's the place where you actualize your true power. So at some point yesterday, I started looking through my Buddhist books and I was looking up powers and stuff like this. There's all kinds of powers. There's lists of powers and there's powers to see the future. There's powers to see a person's past lives, see your own past lives.

[15:39]

Suzuki Roshi actually, at one point in a lecture in 1964, he talked about six powers that each one of us have. The first power is the power of mind that is the capacity of sight. We can see. That's the first The second power is the capacity to hear. The third power is having the cognitive ability to understand the words that were said. The fourth power is to understand what was said by the words, the definitive meaning of the words. The real meaning behind those words, that's the fourth power.

[16:43]

The fifth power is to comprehend the mind of the person who's speaking. So have some maybe sympathy, empathy, some ability to understand the person who's speaking there their suffering, their place, where they're at. And finally, the sixth power. The sixth power is the power of the Mahayana mind. The sixth power is the power to see things as they really are. right now. To see things as they are.

[17:45]

To see all things as Buddha. That's the sixth power. That's the power of the Mahayana mind. There's an old Chinese story It's an old Zen story about some Chinese Zen masters, and the Zen master is sleeping up against the wall. Face turned towards the wall, and one of his disciples comes into the room, and the Zen master turns over and says... The Zen master turns over, and the disciple, the student, says, Oh, I'm sorry. please go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you up. And the Zen master pops up and he says, I just had the most wonderful dream.

[18:51]

Can you guess what it was? And the disciple turns away, goes out the room without replying and comes back with a bowl of warm water and a clean towel. And sets it down. And the master washes his face and wipes it off with a clean towel. And he goes, ah, wonderful, wonderful. Just about that time, another disciple comes in the room. And the master says, I just woke up from my nap. And I had a wonderful dream. Can you guess what it was? And the disciple goes out the room. comes back in a minute later with a nice bowl of fresh, warm tea, sets it down, and the master says, wonderful, wonderful.

[20:02]

When I was a student, kind of a new student at Tassahara, Maybe in my second year, I went to a teacher and I had a private conversation with him, a very intimate conversation with the teacher. And I was thinking I was going to say something to the teacher, show the teacher my understanding of something. And he... he looked at me and he said, well, he asked me a question. He said, are you devoted to all beings? And I didn't know what to say. I didn't have an answer. I finally said yes, but I didn't mean it.

[21:08]

And I knew I didn't mean it. Because I knew I didn't mean it, it has some real power in my life. So, I had to ask myself, what is it? What is the mind of being... devoted to all beings, and why would I not be? You know, I had the opportunity, I was only there doing one thing, you know, practicing day and night, so I had the opportunity to kind of ask myself a deep question, a really deep question, and stick around for the answer. Slowly, slowly the answer came.

[22:13]

Why wasn't I devoted to all beings? Because I was afraid. I was afraid. I was afraid somebody may not be devoted to me. You know? And I was thinking I had something to protect. I had something to hold on to. Some idea of myself that might be lost if I let myself be just devoted to all beings. But I stuck with it and I experimented and I remember just kind of walking through the community and asking myself, can I be devoted right now to whatever happens?

[23:37]

Can I be open and ready to help whatever happens right now? Right now. And as I, the amazing thing happened, as I did that, and sometimes I would just go, and there's a kind of a central courtyard area, and I would just stand there. And as I stood there, I just said, I'm just going to stand here and see what happens and be open to what happens. And invariably, something would happen, somebody would ask me to do something. Somebody would be coming by with a tray of dishes or something, and can you help? And I'd go and I'd help. Or somebody would come up to me and say, I need help with this, or I'm struggling in this way.

[24:40]

What do you think? And it happened over and over and over again. And I realized that if I show up, if I let go of my own, I'm doing this, and I'm doing this to get this. I'm doing this in order to gain something from my side. wasn't so helpful. If I even had an idea about how I could be helpful, I started to see that that wasn't so helpful. That idea, even if it was like one of my best ideas, was like limiting myself, limiting my ability to respond to the situation.

[25:42]

So the minute we limit our ability, the moment we are concerned about just ourselves in a situation, we limit our ability to be helpful. That sixth power, the power of the Mahayana mind, is the power of our true nature. You know, that Zen story was kind of a simple story, but it's a very deep story. And these are very deep questions for us.

[26:54]

You know? how to help ourselves and how to help others. It couldn't really be a deeper question than that. There's another Zen story. It's in a collection of stories called the Blue Cliff Record. And this is... 100 cases? Anyways, this is case 39 of the Blue Cliff Record. Ungan asked Dojo. The great bodhisattva of compassion. This is Avalokiteshvara. And Avalokiteshvara has a thousand arms and a thousand eyes.

[27:56]

And is constantly, forever, moment by moment, hearing the cries of others. So Ungan asks, the great Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, how does she manage to use those hands and eyes? Dongo answers, it is like reaching behind our head in the middle of the night for a pillow. So we may think that we need some special power to help people.

[29:02]

We may think that we need some special education to help ourselves. We may think that we need to acquire something before we actually have the ability to help others, to help ourselves. But in this practice, it's like behind ourselves in the middle of the night for a pillow. It's just that simple. It's not so complicated. It's simple. There is helping. There is people who have skills and know how to do specific things and help people in specific ways. But to truly help happens in the present moment. Always in the present moment. And that ability to help with the power of Buddha mind happens in the present moment when we can just show up.

[30:23]

Let go of our own self-centered views or our own ideas about how things should be and just show up and be there for others. We all have this power. This is the traditional power of Buddhas and ancestors. About two months ago, maybe two months ago, I was walking with my wife. We were on Mount Tam and we were just walking along and Nothing special. The sun was out and we were talking. And this is our regular hike that we like to do.

[31:26]

And I try to blame this on her and say that she was asking me really hard questions about computers and stuff like that, which I don't know anything about. But all of a sudden, we're walking along and I was trying to answer her question. And I couldn't form the words. It's like the words were coming out. And I tried to kind of fake it for a while. Then I'd try again. Well, I don't know. And it wasn't coming. And then I tried. I can't remember exactly. She stopped. And she turned around and looked at me and so I just tried a complete sentence and it came out total nonsense, gibberish.

[32:27]

And I stood there and I thought, I thought, wow, is it going to be like this now? You know? Is it going to be, is this, is it going to be Maybe I'll never speak again. Thoughts are going to my mind, you know. A little bit of fear now. It's like, hmm, okay, I'll try again. I was mostly afraid because she was looking at me with like big eyes. But I thought, okay, okay, I'm here. I'm here in my body. I could, my brain was working enough that I could... I knew that it was coming out gibberish, but I could think, you know, I could, I still had my thoughts and I was thinking, okay, okay, okay, I'm going to try again. I tried again. And again, it came out.

[33:32]

And then I just didn't say anything. And I really thought, I did have the thought, okay, it's going to be like this. It is like this. It's like this right now. I can't speak. how do I help myself in that place? See, this is the key. Suzuki Roshi taught, you don't help yourself and then you help others, or you don't help others and then you help yourself.

[34:39]

You help both at the same time. You help both at the same time. When... completely present you know how to help both at the same time we already know how to help both when we come completely present and open to what is happening so we're standing there beautiful sun looking out over the Pacific Ocean on this beautiful hillside. And, you know, I can't speak. And then it got a little bit worse. I couldn't say anything.

[35:42]

So we went like that, which is like about an hour. back down the trail to the car and then went to the emergency room. And soon I regained my, more or less, full faculties. And it was a small stroke that could happen to anybody, and they don't know exactly why. But we don't know. We don't know what's going to happen to us. That's the way things are.

[36:48]

None of us know. We're all the same in that way. And because we don't know, we protect ourselves. And we don't open up to the unknown. But all those other five minds, you know, that's That's not such a big deal if we don't have the mind that opens up to the present moment. One last story. There's three animals crossing a river. There's a hare, a fox, and an elephant.

[37:56]

The hare skips very fast across the river. The fox swims fast across the river. The elephant puts one foot in front of the other, all the way down to the bottom of the river. One foot, then one foot. and one foot. And reaches the other side of the river. This is what our practice should be like. One foot, one foot. On the ground. One after the other. In this way we have our power.

[39:04]

This is the power of the elephant. It's our power too. So Dogen says, at this very moment, how is it? And then the interesting thing is, I mean, there's hundreds of these things here and he always answers his own question. So after a pause, Dogen said, today's eating bowl is like yesterday's. Tasting the arising of fragrant winds is itself the wind of spring. Tasting the arising of fragrant winds is itself the warm breeze on the fall day. Right here, right now, is your place to help yourself and to help others.

[40:07]

It is no other place. It will always be in that place. Dongshan says, how marvelous, how marvelous. The Dharma expounded by non-sentient beings is inconceivable. If you listen with your ears, it will be difficult to ever understand. Hearing the sounds with your eyes, surely you can know it. So this is the deep meaning of this practice. You listen with your eyes. You see with your ears. Any questions?

[41:15]

I don't know. How much time do we have? What does that mean? I don't know. Sometimes it ends about now. It continues somewhere else. Too many stories. I know that all of us will face... our own challenges in the coming days. I think whoever wins the election, we will all face challenges. What is it to hear with our eyes and

[42:25]

with our ears. I encourage you to experiment. You might find that you have the ability to be present in some way that you didn't quite know. You might find that when you do that, you can help people just by that. You don't need more than that. I encourage you to try this practice out. And I wish you any wonderful day a good weekend out in the sun and thank you all very much for your practice for coming here today for sharing your good intentions with everybody else

[43:51]

Did you say where they want the maximum killing of the others? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What we cannot do is underestimate the power of our practice. What we can't do is think that What we're doing right now is not, or what we're doing each moment through our day, as we live mindfully present, as we help each other in the small ways, as we keep our feet on the ground, as we put one foot in front of ourselves, we can't underestimate the power of that.

[45:26]

Small things have great power. So it's tempting to think that because we aren't doing something directly, that we are not affecting, we are not creating change somewhere else, sometime else. And it's easy to get discouraged because of that. There are many, many problems in the world that we are, that have their own karmic, paths or momentums we cannot underestimate the power of even just our sitting down we cannot so we can do that and we can stand up and we can go out and help in the ways and what

[46:30]

Basically, what I was saying was, if we're open, the world, our world will tell us how to be helpful. Our world will tell us how to be helpful if we are ready, if we are open. Thank you for your question. Okay, thank you. In our intention.

[47:02]

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