This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. today is today today is not yesterday today is not tomorrow today is today that is all mind is the forerunner of all things the chief

[01:02]

All deeds are led by mind and created by mind. If one speaks or acts with an unwholesome or impure motivation, one way or another, suffering follows as surely as the wheels follow the ox that draws the cart. Mind is the forerunner of all things, the chief. All deeds are led by mind and created by mind. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, a skillful mind, happiness follows like your shadow, unshakable, which never leaves. Today is today. Today is not yesterday. Today is not tomorrow.

[02:03]

Today is today. That is all. This moment is this moment. It's not the previous moment, the future moment. It's this moment, and that's all. This opening of today is today, is not yesterday, is not tomorrow. is today, that's all, was a talk, maybe some of you have heard this reference before, of Suzuki Roshi. And Suzuki Roshi is the founder of this temple, and he had the depth and the courage to offer these words as his Dharma talk, and then he bowed and left. I'm not quite that courageous. It was elegant, and it was simple, and it actually, it's quite rich.

[03:10]

And even for myself, I have kind of a meager, porous memory. I could remember those few words and use them as guides, and maybe that would be for you, too. The second reading, the mind is the forerunner of all things, the chief— is from a Pali text, an early text, that is entitled the Dhammapada. And it contains the verses and teachings of the Buddha. So how I feel about this today is today, is not yesterday, is not tomorrow, is today. You're going to remember this when you leave. I promise you. Or the mind is the forerunner of all things, the chief. I see these as kind of the brackets of today, and the rest is kind of filler. So at some point here I'm going to throw in a story to help illustrate some of this, but now you can just relax, let the words roll in or roll out, and just allow yourself to hear without adding anything to it.

[04:24]

And then... And then, that's tomorrow. I mean, that's later. At the end, we'll have a question and answer. If there's something that arises for you, we can bring it together and volleyball it back and forth. So I'd like to focus the discussion on the transformation of consciousness and the power of intention. And these two are not really separate. And... actually there's no moments without intention. Now for myself, when I said to you, I made this gesture, these two things are brackets, there was some intention there, but I must confess I'm not sure what was happening that proceeded to my doing that. So we're all moving around throughout the day, words rolling off our tongues, gestures falling off our body, and we may not even be aware of what is leading or guiding or we want to accomplish.

[05:31]

There's some intention that brought you here today that allowed you to get in your car or carpool and come here. There was some intention before the intention. that allowed you to make the intention to get in the car, it just keeps rolling back. And some of our intentions, I'm sure you realize, is the culmination of myriad intentions, and some of it is known and unknown to us. So I can imagine, as I was thinking about this talk, or maybe you're sitting out here, out in front of me, that you might think, This is very basic, and everybody knows this on some level. But in some way to know it and then to stick with it and clarify it and deepen it and dive in is maybe another dance step.

[06:37]

And even though it seems very basic and beginning, we... we keep our eye fixed on the path that we might imagine we're on, and we look to the top, the path of the top, and then we don't forget to look of where we are right now. So the last step, the top, the summit, depends on the first step. So that was maybe your decision to come here, or to meditate, or to read Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, or some other Dharma text. And But then we don't think that just because we saw the summit, just because we got ourselves here, just because we're studying, that we're there. So we have to be aware step-by-step of our footing and the next step, and then we don't allow what we're doing to be distracted from the highest goal, whatever that concern or intention is that you may be.

[07:46]

attempting, I would say it that way, to align yourself with. So the first step, the step that got us here, also depends on the last step. So we're... Here we are. First, last. One mile. So I want to just hang in with me a little bit. I want to unpack this. So returning to the mind as the forerunner of all things, the Buddha highlighted the mind, this chief, as the most critical or important mental factor. This intention, actually at this time of year, one of the reasons, well, this is an important part for me, intention. What brought me here was an interest in this concept of the transformation of consciousness.

[08:47]

So in order to do that, you have to have some practice or some intention. And the word intention is also related, or sometimes in the text referred to as volition, or in Pali, chetana. So this is the way the water runs down the mountain of your mind. So the heart of the Buddha Dharma actually is our ability to choose these actions and then to some degree have some influence on the quality of our present and our future. function of intention. Oh, I know what I was going to say is that also I'm using the word intention or volition or chetana. That's kind of local language. But I think at this time of the year, people are also thinking about New Year's resolutions. Some of the, we might be reviewing how this year has been, how we are now, and what we would like to, in what way we would like to move into the future.

[09:57]

our future, the future of our local community, of our country, of the world. We're challenged. But actually, we start here. So the power of having a resolution or an intention is that it keeps you on the path to actualizing your goal. And So this intention, if we remember it, now I have the opportunity to bow in most mornings with a wonderful group of people. And when we bow in, sometimes I suggest that at the bow... Can you hear me in the back? I'm watching meow you. Can everybody hear me okay? Yeah, great. I suggest that they might want to think about an intention that they would like to... relate to during the day as we were washing dishes or putting things away or sweeping the floor.

[11:07]

You could think about that actually when you walk and say, oh, I need a bathroom break. So you've got to go from one point to the other point. In what way are you carrying your body? So we do that at the bow in. And then maybe 15 or 20 minutes or 30 minutes later, I might say... Any of us remember our intention? So having the intention or making the resolution is a first step. But then how are you going to keep it close? How are you going to keep it close? So we continue to gather. I think we start the day, maybe you start the day with your intention. Maybe you write it down somewhere. At lunchtime, maybe you pick your own times of the day or a coffee break, maybe you remember again. And then before you go to bed, before you lie down, maybe you re-mind.

[12:09]

Again, take into your mind your intention and allow it to register. Maybe I would say that. Not grasp it, but just allow it to register. So all of our intentions, however, even though today is today and not yesterday, there is an accumulation of intentions, an accumulation of these known and unknown factors that bring us into a certain expression of body, speech, or mind. And maybe some of those, as we sit, come to us and we think, not quite on point, whatever on point might mean for you. So, excuse me, whatever's happening is not happening right now. Even my speaking is not happening in isolation.

[13:12]

It's the gathering of a lot of forces that led me to say yes. And to be here and to continue to say yes, not to back out and say, somebody else has to do this. But to say yes and show up and meet with you and meet with the moment. So all of this intention has the power to create what in the Dharma is sometimes called a fruit or a result. And these... fruits or these small actions, they seem small, but they're like a little seed. And in these seeds, if any of you are gardeners or even just witnesses of our flowering garden and farm, know that these seeds have a lot of energy and potential. And even though we might not be able to see it in the spring or later in the summer, we get this eight foot tall sunflower that looks down on us.

[14:17]

or we get some chard, or we get a great oak, that great oak that's sitting in the parking lot, or we get one of our ancestor redwoods. So this all starts with something very, very small, very now. And not only this now, it's not just the fruit of now, but some now, as I might be connecting with some of you, or maybe you're taking a nap, these have the possibility to create other fruit or other seeds. So there's a very carefulness that we need. I don't know if we need it. You might want. There's a very carefulness you might want as you're sitting in... this moment. And the, let's see, let me just check in here with myself.

[15:22]

So this volition, so also this is about this intention, volition, chaitana, resolution, all of this creates what we call karma. So if... I'm not going to unpack karma right now, but if there's some questions about karma, we can look at that later. And this karma is created by your motivation. So moving motivation is a crucial point. So I want to... I'd like to move out of this theory for a moment and... to speak with you about a story that came to my mind. And I went a little bit, I think, look at my notes so I don't get too carried away, but I might. So the story of this season is a Christmas carol, and it's a story about Ebenezer Scrooge.

[16:27]

And one of the things I realized recently as I was talking to different people in the community is actually not everybody knows this story. And not everybody grew up with it. I think even I didn't grow up with it. I'm not too clear on this point. But I noticed one of the reasons I really appreciate and resonate with this story is when I came to Zen Center... I might be exaggerating this, but anyway, I was a very happy little camper, just willing to do anything. And then at some point, something shifted, and I found myself saying quite a lot, ah, humbug. I'm from the Scrooge lineage, you know. And after saying this innumerable times, I was actually listening to myself, and I'm thinking, now, what does this mean? And where does this come from?

[17:28]

And who was Scrooge? And if we believe that things are an accumulation of intentions and actions and life experiences, what is it that led Scrooge to be Scrooge? So that's how I came to take this story in. Because of what we're talking about, I'm going to give you a little spoiler right now. I'm going to go to the end, and then we'll go back. And at the very end, well, not the very, very end, but anyway, he says, Hear me. I am not the man I was, and I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this if I am past all hope? So is he redeemable? Are we redeemable? So briefly, I hope briefly, for some people who might not know the story and maybe just for us to take it in, Scrooge was... He had a partner named Jacob Marley, and they were bankers.

[18:50]

And they... loaned or took money, and they were basically not nice. And they were very miserly. They were not generous. And if people needed something, it was kind of like, too bad. This is your life. And it might even be because they spent their life obsessing over money and mistreating the poor. Marley, Jacob Marley, near the beginning of this movie, dies, or is dying. And Scrooge won't even leave work early to go visit his one and only friend on the planet. Because work isn't over. The day ends at seven. So he gets there at the very last moment, and on his deathbed, Jacob Marley, somewhere in there, we don't really see that, the movie's not about him, he has a realization that they were wrong.

[20:06]

They were wrong. And he was trying to say this to Ebenezer. But Ebenezer was like, not in the moment and kind of moving too fast and not really present. He goes, what, what, what? What do you mean we were wrong? No, no, we were just all in the moment, you know? We were very good businessmen. And he just said, we were wrong, and then he died. So he comes back as a ghost to visit Scrooge. This is his one, they were each one other's only friend. And he It turns out, so we can think about this too, it turns out that Christmas is the most difficult time of the year for this ghost. And it's the most difficult time because people are in need. It's a time when other people are sharing. It's a time when people are maybe exhibiting some kindness. And he realized his life was over here.

[21:12]

And so he comes back, and so he's carrying around... Let me go someplace else. So as he comes through to visit Scrooge, I'm not going into all the details, the 1951 version of this is wonderful. Do you ever get a chance to look at it? Comes back as a ghost, and in his ghostly wandering, He's carrying these heavy chains. I never noticed this until recently. He's carrying these heavy chains and he's got cash boxes and receipts and money and coins. Anyway, it's just very heavy. Many of us have varying degrees of burden by our karma that we're carrying now. We're dragging around our past karma. But we're here, so this is today is today. So Scrooge notices, Ebenezer Scrooge notices that he's fettered, and he says, tell me why.

[22:24]

And he said, I'm going to hope I can get through this talk without crying, but I'm just getting, I might. I wear the chain I forged in life, replied the ghost. I made it. link by link, intention by intention, and yard by yard. I girded it of my own free will, and of my own free will, I wore it. These habits are the chain we forge in this life, the chain that can pull us down or lift us up. And he's saying to Scrooge, so now he's been... gone seven years, he says, I'm here to tell you, to try to save you from my fate. You have a chance. And he said, you have no idea the length of chain that you're carrying.

[23:25]

So this is what a friend can do for us. And a friend is not always the person that says, oh, you're great, you're wonderful, don't worry. I mean, those are friends. But a friend might also say to you, you know, that was a little stingy, I think it was, or you were a little harsh, or maybe you were a little too lax, something that will help remind you of, maybe remind you of where you want to go or if you want to change your direction. So in this story, the way he gets saved, so back to Jacob Marley, he's got to wander around with other ghosts. These are the hungry ghosts. Sometimes we talk about them in October or the Tzijiki ceremony. And he and all the other ghosts are bemoaning their fate because they missed their opportunity in this life.

[24:30]

And somewhere I read that, so Jacob Marley says, money was his downfall, but mankind was his business. And that was the point that he missed. And somewhere I read that actually John F. Kennedy made a reference to that while he was here, that mankind, person-kind, we may say it that way, is our business. So he gets visited by three ghosts, and this is the ghost of Christmas past, a ghost of the Christmas present, and a ghost of Christmas future. And they go back. So this was interesting to me to see how Scrooge became a Scrooge, to see what was his past, what were the parts in his life that led him to his present. And one of the things he went back to see is that his mother died,

[25:33]

When he was born, his father never forgave him. He was abandoned for a while. He lost his one connection, which was his sister, who also died in childbirth. And then he separated himself from his nephew, thinking that, again, it was the nephew's fault. So that was a repetition of karma in there. And then he found out He was an apprentice in a place that made him very happy. And then I would say, which is not so clear to me, he became fearful and made money his idol rather than generosity and relationship. So he lost connection with humanity. So that was very touching to me to see the pain, some of the pain that some of us carry. I think, just moving in and out of the story, The Ghost of Christmas Past, when we come and sit and still our minds, in the very beginning what happens is we are visited by our past.

[26:48]

Sometimes our great dreams about the future come up, but really, I think first we need to really receive, hold, be kind to and understand our ghosts of Christmas past that have come to make us who we are today. The second ghost was visited. What he was visited by was the ghost of the Christmas present. And he got to see himself — oh dear — he got to see himself and how he related to his employee and to his nephew and the people around him. And it was very painful. So we have the benefit of sangha, in a way, when we come to practice. It might also be your closest friends, right? That's the ghosts, maybe the ghosts, or they're not yet ghosts, but anyway, the vision of your present. So you can kind of get a guide about how we're doing.

[27:52]

And that was very painful to him, to actually stand back and be able to witness himself. And sometimes that's a very painful part in our practice, in our present. Just because we decide to be generous and kind and ethical and enthusiastic, what I notice, it doesn't happen overnight. So we need to be very patient with ourselves. And then in the end he saw the ghost of the Christmas future. And he saw that—I really appreciate it. Let me see if I can find this. Well, maybe I just have to say what I remember. Well, what he saw was that he saw this lonely—this grave that was unattended and that he was unremembered and not held kindly in anybody's mind. And that was very painful to him.

[28:54]

And there was a place in there where he resolved, he made a resolution. This is, please don't tell me that this is my life. Am I doomed to this? So to actually sit, clarify, see, and hold, and transform our present allows us to redeem the future. And I think it's a long path to the summit. It actually doesn't really happen overnight, so we must be really patient with ourselves. So that story comes to my mind, and I feel like it's... It's a... It's a lovely encapsulation and a summary of how our mind forms our present and our future, and how our mind is formed, or our intentions are formed by our mind.

[30:01]

So it stands to reason that we might actually make a commitment to come and sit, and you might sit at home, and not only that, but sitting doesn't necessarily equal 40 minutes. Okay? Does not equal that. It does equal that here. But if you choose a time to sit at home or to pause or set an alarm clock, even if it's just five minutes, seven minutes, to come back, to come back, to come back, to return, to remember, that is, remember is to take into your body and let, again, your intention, your resolution register. you might notice how it changes the next step. It's just coming to my mind as I took a handwriting class from Edward Brown. And supposedly our handwriting reflects us and various qualities and characteristics.

[31:08]

So I changed my handwriting, my signature, not so much. But what was interesting to me was when I would go to the supermarket or whatever, somewhere and I had to write a check, and I would sign, just change my signature slightly, people said, oh, that's really beautiful. I'm like, whoa, what's going on here? So I don't think it's that beautiful. It's clear. It's not one of the current signatures that just go like that. So I think when we make little changes, people notice. People notice. It does not have to go unnoticed. So we pay some careful attention to our thoughts, and as we do, I think we open up. And what I'd like to do is give you a little sequence that I came across that you might use to reflect on that might be helpful. So this is a series of six.

[32:11]

You don't have to memorize it. I'll repeat it one more time. that follows on what I think I've been saying. So intention shapes our thoughts and words. Our thoughts and words mold our actions. Thoughts, words, and actions shape our behaviors. Our behaviors sculpt our bodily expressions. Our bodily expressions fashion our character. And our character hardens into what we look like, i.e. Ebenezer Scrooge, past and future. He became very generous. He became very well-loved.

[33:12]

It really did, he really did, yes, he was redeemable. And we might be too. So, even though, because I feel like I, we, some of us, please excuse me if you get offended, but I feel like we're at the baby steps right now. And even though it's true that all things are empty, there's no abiding self, There's merely us putting concepts onto things. All of that is true. But we're at the beginning where we say, my intention is, you fill it in. And that intention comes through in the way we speak to each other, in the way we act, in the way we look, the way we manifest. So this first... This is the first step that I think at the end of this year, the beginning of the next year, and the next moment, and the next moment, and the next moment, maybe I'd say could be held close to our heart.

[34:18]

Because our intentions often live or come from our heart. But from the heart might be where we turn our attention, which is up here. So the heart and the mind are dancing together. And just to be redundant here, there are five remembrances, but I'm just going to bring up the fifth now. My actions are my only true belongings. I keep getting Scrooge in my mind. He's here with us, I think. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand. So in order to transform this consciousness and our thoughts and words and actions and behaviors, we have to have a direction and we have to see where we want to turn our attention.

[35:24]

And I think the gentleness of cultivating a curiosity and interest in a moment, not necessarily towards changing it, but like... Kind of, oh, how did this come to be? And then sweeping. Sweeping it clear. Be ready for the next. Not grabbing, but just be ready for the next. Be ready for the next. So we think about this with a curiosity, an interest, a warm heart, kind heart, and a patient heart. A patient mind. There used to be, maybe there still is, a Jewish traveling theater, and there was a speech in there called Snake Talk. And one of the lines in that talk was, fall down, get up, is one move. So many times we fall down, but getting up and keep going.

[36:29]

Keep going and reaffirm your intention, your commitment. whatever time of day, whatever your awareness is, slowing down to appreciate whenever you can. Because that slowing down, that moment of like just changing my handwriting bit by bit and then falling back, oh wait, I didn't mean to do my O that way. Slowly by slowly it changes. Well, everything is changing. So slowly it changes by your influence, by the flavor, by the perfume, the way that you want to express your life. I think I would like to end with two things, and that is... repeating those six progressions, because they might be helpful.

[37:32]

And maybe you don't need all six. It might be that just one of them speaks to you. So, our intention shapes our thoughts and words. Our thoughts and words mold our actions. Our thoughts and words and actions shape our behaviors. Our behaviors sculpt our bodily expressions, our bodily expressions, our fashion, our character, and our character hardens into what we look like. So if anybody asks you what this path is about, and I can imagine my friend Ebenezer Scrooge bowing to this, If anybody asks you what the path is about, it's about generosity, morality, it's about concentration, it's about gaining insight through focused self-observation.

[38:46]

It's about the cultivation of subjective states of compassion and love based on your insight. And it's about translating that compassion and love into actions in the real world, which is deeply in need. And the world is kind of big if you think about the world. But actually, right now, looking at any of you is my world. And then there's my inner world. So I wish you all a wholesome end of the year.

[39:51]

I wish you all a wholesome and clarifying and refining of whatever it is, whatever it is you want for your future. And may whatever your intention, your goal, your wish be come to fruition and spread many seeds of positive energy. Thank you all so much for coming. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving.

[40:53]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[40:56]

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