This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. It's always delightful for me to come back to Green Gulch. My second session ever, when I was like 20 years old, I sat here over on that tan. And we used to sleep in the zendo at that time. And it was something that a 20-year-old can accomplish. But anyway. Thank you all for being at Green Gulch and taking care of this precious place, this beautiful temple, this place of so many generations of different peoples and plants and animals.

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And now it's being cared for by you. Thank you very much. Sit for a minute or two. You can take a deep breath in and blow out like you're blowing bubbles. Settle in. Inhale. The earth's atmosphere.

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Shared by all beings living and non-living on the entire earth. Exhale falling into the earth by the earth's gravity shared by all beings living and non-living in the whole earth. Allow the earth's atmosphere to lift up. body and allow the earth's gravity on the exhale to fall away into the earth. Lift from the inside out.

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Allow the earth's atmosphere to to lift as it does. Allow falling into the earth by the earth's gravity. Allow tensions in the neck and back to fall. fall into the earth. Over and over again, our whole life, from beginning to end, we breathe in the shared atmosphere and breathe out

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falling into earth. Thank you. You know, is there a timepiece anywhere? Does anyone have a watch on or anything? You never know. You know, I taught school for many decades, so I'm inclined to talk. Although I do know how to stop when the bell rings. Thank you. Yes, thank you.

[05:36]

Thank you very much. So, I've been studying the teachings of Hongzhi this fall, first for the upaya practice period, and now with everyday Zen. And we're especially using Taigen, Dan Leighton's book, Cultivating the Empty Field. the silent illumination of Zen master Hongzhi. So today I'll share with you some of what I've learned as well as my own thoughts about his teachings. Hongzhi was 11th to 12th century Chinese Zen teacher. It's during the Song dynasty. And he was a person of towering importance for Zen for us. He compiled the Koan collection, Book of Serenity, Shoyu Roku. He was abbot of the same temple as Dogen's teacher, Rujing, but he was several generations earlier.

[06:44]

Both Rujing and Dogen taught Hongzhi's silent illumination, which is what we know as Shikantaza, just sitting. In Suzuki Roshi's words, shikantaza, our zazen, is just to be ourselves. When we do not expect anything, we can be ourselves. That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time. This practice continues forever. That was Suzuki Roshi's words. Chikantaza is a practice of utmost sincerity. Nothing to be gained, nothing to get rid of. It's like the sincerity of love. When you love someone, you aren't trying to get something from them.

[07:51]

You're not trying to change them. You're not trying to improve yourself through them. In fact, you may get something. You may change them. You may even improve yourself. But these things occur on their own, not by directing our effort toward gain and improvement. In fact, as we all know, trying to get something from someone we love, using people that way, usually spells doom for the relationship. Because we don't want love to be a commodity. The same principle applies to our sitting practice. If we sit with an idea of what we can attain or experience, exactly that gaining idea will block the way. Because really, we don't want to commodify our practice.

[08:52]

It is our life. Shikantaza is the practice of utmost sincerity. Sincerity means right straight on, no tricks, no sideshows. Showing up moment after moment without judgment or evaluation, regardless of what each moment brings. This requires our utmost sincerity. So in Taigen, Dan Leighton's book, he has many short lectures or essays of Hongjo, and they all have titles.

[10:02]

So here's an excerpt from one called Forgetting About Merit is Fulfillment. Separate yourself from disturbance and face whatever appears before you. Not one iota seeps through from the outside. The two forms, yin and yang, have the same root, and the 10,000 images have one substance. Following change and going along with transformation, the whole is not clouded over by previous conditions. Then you reach the foundation of the great freedom. Wind blows and moon shines, and beings do not obstruct each other. Afterwards, settle back within and take responsibility. Wisdom returns, and the principle is consummated.

[11:02]

When you forget about merit, your position is fulfilled. Do not fall for occupying honorable stations, but enter the current of the world, and join with the delusion. Transcendent, solitary, and glorious, directly knowing that transmitting is merit, but having transmitted is not your own merit. So Hongzhi says over and over again in his talks that we already live in enlightenment, that our practice is to stop obstructing enlightenment. Stop thinking we possibly can obstruct enlightenment. And this thinking that we are so powerful that we can actually obstruct enlightenment, we tend to reinforce in ourselves and each other all the time.

[12:06]

So when he says, separate yourself from disturbance, he doesn't mean turn off the radio and close the window. I think he means separate yourself from the idea that disturbance even exists. He says, face whatever appears before you. And he says, enter the current of the world and join with the delusion. No separation. No disturbance is even possible. In his essay or talk called The Misunderstanding of Many Lifetimes, Hongzhi says, We all have the clear, wondrously bright field from the beginning. Many lifetimes of misunderstanding come only from distrust, hindrance, and screens of confusion that we create in a scenario of isolation.

[13:16]

We do this practice to address our isolation, to tend our hearts which ache from separation. It turns out that there's nothing that needs doing, just sitting right in the middle of it, allowing that which is unnecessary to fall away, striving to change and improve, learning how to meditate, looking for satisfaction, wanting to be a better person, all those aspirations cloud the waters. That which clouds the waters, that is, our old habits of mind, are difficult to spot. Sometimes hiding behind language. Our language creates boundaries, categories, and temporality. That's how it works. And that's what we need from language.

[14:21]

That's why we created language. But then we get lost inside of language, trapped in the sentence of subject, verb, object, and past, present, and future. Let's take a look at Hongzhu's words and maybe get a hint at how easily we veer off and get confused and distracted. he says in another talk called The Ground That Sages Cannot Transmit. Cast off completely your head and skin. Thoroughly withdraw from distinctions of light and shadow. Where the 10,000 changes do not reach is the foundation that even a thousand sages cannot transmit. Simply by yourself illuminate and deeply experience it. with intimate accord. Cast off completely your head and skin.

[15:26]

It sounds from that sentence like we're supposed to get rid of our head and our skin. This is not about removing our head and skin. Do not rid yourself of your head nor your skin. This is about casting off. Letting go. Trusting. Trusting trust as we fall through empty space. This could mean trusting your friend to pick up your child at daycare when you're busy at work. Trusting the plumber to fix a leaky sink. Trusting your intuition to call your mother. Trusting the pasta recipe from the New York Times. All day long we trust. We trust the ground. We trust the air. So notice trust. And trust trust.

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Trust letting go of the language of repetitive thoughts. Like what I'd rather be doing. Or where I'd rather be. Trust letting go of repetitive attitudes of mind. like judgment and self-doubt. Trust that you will be okay without them, and allow them to fall away, like falling leaves in autumn. Some tumble down your back, some get caught in your sweater, and then eventually fall of their own weight, especially if we don't give them more weight. Hongzhi says, Thoroughly withdraw from distinctions of light and shadow. This sentence is not about withdrawing from light and shadow. It's about withdrawing from distinctions, categories, and analysis of categories composed of language.

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Such activity is our default mode. We learned it in school. I know this well because I taught it in school. And it's very useful to be able to think analytically. And for this, it is necessary to establish agreements on categories using language. This is what we do in science. This is what we do all day. But even in science, the categories are pretty much always provisional, pending additional observation and discovery. This sentence, thoroughly withdraw from distinctions of light and shadow, means to immerse ourselves in light and shadow. Refrain from mental activity of drawing distinctions. Both of these sentences, cast off completely your head and skin and thoroughly withdraw from distinctions of light and shadow,

[18:46]

point to turning toward the immediate sensory moment, hovering there, refraining from the impulse to jump into narrative, to intellectualize and emotionalize after the moment. Refrain from the impulse to engage intellectual and emotional analysis. Stay with, return and return to immediate Sensory contact. That's our practice here. It takes some time to even spot our impulses. We must stay very close. Very close. Each moment. In the last line of that portion, he says, when the 10,000 changes do not reach... excuse me, where the 10,000 changes do not reach is the foundation that even a thousand sages cannot transmit.

[19:52]

A thousand sages cannot transmit because it has no language. In his talk called Face Everything, Let Go, and Attain Stability, Hongda says, You accord and respond without laboring and accomplish without hindrance. Everywhere turn around freely, not following conditions, not falling into classifications. Face everything, let go, and attain stability. Stay with that, just as that. Stay with this, just as this. That and this are mixed together with no discrimination as to their places. Stay with that just as that.

[20:54]

No manipulation. No evaluation. Stay with this just as this. This is the practice of utmost sincerity. Of equanimity. So why are we doing this? I want to share something that I noticed in several of Hongjir's teachings, actually a lot of Hongjir's teachings. So here's a portion from The Practice of True Reality, his talk called The Practice of True Reality. This empty, wide-open mind is subtly and correctly illuminating.

[21:55]

spacious and content, without confusion from inner thoughts of grasping. Effectively overcome habitual behavior and realize the self that is not possessed by emotions. You must be broad-minded, whole, without relying on others. Such upright, independent spirit can begin not to pursue degrading situations. Here you can rest and become clean, pure, and lucid. Bright and penetrating, you can immediately return, accord, and respond to deal with events. Clearly manifesting responsive interaction. Okay, here's a line from his talk called Forgetting About Merit is Fulfillment. Wind blows and moon shines, and beings do not obstruct each other.

[23:02]

Afterwards, settle back within and take responsibility. So here's one. This is an excerpt from his talk called Return to the Source and Serve the Ancestors. Unger says, In a hundred thousand samadhis, all gates are majestic. All dharmas are fulfilled. Still, you must gather them together and bring them within. To reach the time honored, return to the source and serve the ancestors. Join together into unity, scrutinize yourself, and go on. What I'm hearing in these passages are beautiful statements of realization, followed by admonishments to not pursue degrading situations, to take responsibility, to scrutinize ourselves.

[24:15]

That is, realization is the source of our precepts practice. and the true deep source of service as the perfect expression of awakening, enlightenment. Service and precepts practice is our true expression of human life. And we discover this through the work of our meditation practice. Letting go of grasping, letting go of confusion, letting go of habitual behaviors, of emotions that take possession of us. Hongzhi emphasized an upright, independent spirit through which we can begin

[25:20]

To not pursue degrading situations. Not pursuing degrading situations. That is a pretty big and interesting statement. What comes to my mind is our widespread habit of finding fault. Of delving deep in search of our faults. And finding huge underground deposits of faults. connected to other deposits. And getting to the bottom of those massive fault deposits without blaming others is unlikely. Finding fault with myself isn't so different from finding fault with others. And yet, Hongzhi says, scrutinize yourself and go on. So, how can we scrutinize ourselves honestly, transparently, repeatedly, without degrading ourselves.

[26:26]

I think Hongju's whole context for speaking about how we live in realization is to convey to us that our true nature is clean, pure, and lucid. In other words, seeing ourselves and others as Buddhas, Bodhisattvas is an ethical act, an ethical practice. Seeing ourselves and others as worthy and dignified and honorable beings allows us to scrutinize and reflect on ourselves without it being degrading or self-destructive. That's what I mean by it's an ethical act. to scrutinize myself if I don't respect myself, if I don't perceive myself as worthy, strong, and independent.

[27:32]

That scrutiny is likely to be harmful to myself, an expression of self-hatred, disrespect, and lack of self-worth. These feelings then, excuse me, These feelings then of, I was saying, self-hatred, disrespect, and lack of self-worth do not stop with me. They naturally spread to others. So we have a culture of self-hatred, disrespect, and a feeling of helplessness and worthlessness. Again, in Hongjir's words, written almost a thousand years ago,

[28:36]

This is from the talk called The Misunderstanding of Many Lifetimes. He says, We all have the clear, wondrously bright field from the beginning. Many lifetimes of misunderstanding come only from distrust, hindrance, and screens of confusion that we create in a scenario of isolation. These words remind me of a passage from Resmaa Menachem's book, My Grandmother's Hands. This book, I think, was published about five years ago, but for me it's been a wonderful book. And his topic is discussion of the inheritance of either experiencing or witnessing brutality, cruelty and brutality, and how it affects our bodies and how it is carried through the generations.

[29:49]

So this is what he says. Unhealed trauma acts like a rock thrown into a pond. It causes ripples that move outward, affecting many other bodies over time. After months or years, unhealed trauma can appear to become part of someone's personality. Over even longer periods of time, as it is passed on and gets compounded through other bodies in a household, it can become a family norm. And if it gets transmitted and compounded through multiple families and generations, it can start to look like culture. So, Seeing ourselves and others as Buddha is an ethical imperative. To not foster this precious Buddha land and each other and ourselves as Buddhas is to allow and participate in the human legacy of suffering and continuing harm.

[31:01]

So, to foster our Buddha land, we need self-respect. We need to feel worthy, dignified, independent, and honorable. And this self-respect comes from the realization that I am worthy just as I am. I am loved just as I am. Just by being just by virtue of being alive, this is so. Being alive is an expression of love, already accomplished. Nothing more is needed. Nothing needs proving. I am Buddha, and we all live together as Buddhas in this Buddha land of respect, love, worthiness,

[32:06]

born of the simple realization that I am here and I am me, not a poster of me, that is, not a static conceptual self, rather a constantly changing self-specific, returning to fully present right now over and over again. The precepts are our Buddha craft, how we treat each other and ourselves, how we speak to each other and ourselves, how we live together, share space and resources, how we serve each other as ourselves and ourselves as each other, how we cherish each life, each moment of life, and care for each and protect our home, our practice, ourselves, and each other as ourselves.

[33:13]

Our precepts are how we live, an expression of boundless love and service. Hongzhi gives voice with such clarity and beauty the true nature of our human lives, not separate, immediate, and deep with precepts emerging from practice realization. So this realization is already here. Through practice, we can bear down in our effort. It means when a thought of self-doubt, ridicule, distraction arises, Turn gently away. Give it space. Allow it to fall away. Turn awareness toward breath, deep in the belly.

[34:16]

Do this again and again with energy, conviction. Gently, not aggressively. Like rescuing a hummingbird. Gently, with all your attention. Hummingbirds fly into our kitchen. Also other birds. That is until I figured out that I should shut the door. But I've learned how to catch them. They fly in and flutter along the windowsill, which is like about maybe 32 inches from the floor. So they're fluttering along here. One. And... What I do is I come up and I just walk slowly toward the bird fluttering, and I put my hands up like this. And then I just slowly, very slowly lower my hands, and the bird seems to calm down just really slowly until I can touch the bird, and then I gently scoop it up in my hands and walk outside.

[35:28]

And at first the bird is freaking out, and then it calms down. And then when it starts to wiggle a little bit, I open my hand and it takes off. I always feel that when I get to hold a hummingbird, it's some kind of blessing. But this is how we handle the generation of our thoughts of self-doubt, of ridicule and distraction. We hold them gently and release them. Our practice takes all the gentleness, tenderness, and love, all the strength, grit, and forbearance we can muster each moment, our only moment.

[36:29]

So thank you again for all your practice, for showing up no matter what. For the gift we have all to give each other. That we have found each other through practice. And that we gather in this Buddha land over and over again. Though we give everything we've got to our practice each moment until the final bell rings. Our whole world needs our utmost sincerity. our love and commitment to this moment of human life honors. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center.

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Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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