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. My pronouns are she and her. I'm zooming in from Great and Rancheria land, otherwise known these days as Monterio or Guerneville area. And I'm... Thanks to Sangha member for the access to this place. And just to clarify, because it sounded a little odd to me, and I don't think that was intention, but my mission of Access to Zen is to break down barriers to Zen, not necessarily. It sounded a little bit like we're for the barriers, but no. The Dharma gates are open to everyone. All right. I wanted to talk about how we could practice together in difficult times, because for many of us, it's still difficult times.

[01:05]

I think with the rise of COVID again and just the shifts in transition, I think it's a hard time. And, of course, with everything that's going on in our country and in the world, the wars and cultural wars also and political wars that we're having. conflicts if you want to go all the way to war. So there's still, I think, a lot of suffering in the world. And so I always think it's my job to provide some kind of encouragement. So I know that for many of us, myself included, I just came out of retreat and I was really happy to be doing it. Because in difficult time, I'm like, I need more, you know, meditation. I need more zazen. I need to practice more. And I think it's a useful practice for sure to find more grounding. And I really want to bring in that.

[02:08]

How do we balance the sense of personal practice and a sense of stability for ourselves? And how can we also get that in interaction? So I wanted to talk. about that today. So this is from Gil. He says, this is from the IMC site. He says, it can be easy to think Buddhist practice is individualistic and solitary. Teachings on being mindful of oneself and taking responsibility for one's actions can seem to emphasize a focus on oneself. The practice of sitting in meditation with one's eyes closed in their tradition, open in ours, can also suggest that Buddhism is about separating oneself from society. Certainly, an important part of practice is personal and inwardly focused. This is only a part of what Buddhist practice is about. A much more significant part of practice is interpersonal. It concerns the rich world of our relationships with others.

[03:12]

In fact, the interpersonal teaching and practices of Buddhism create the context, and the foundation for the inner personal practice such as meditation. So I think it is true that in Western convert Buddhist centers, we focus much more on meditation, on the mind and mental development, otherwise known as bhavana, whereas in a lot of Buddhist countries and Buddhist communities, heritage Buddhists, the emphasis is much more on actually on dana, generosity, and sila, or virtue, or ethical conduct, as the beginning of practice. And we actually see it on a lot of lists that the Buddha gives for ways of practicing. So the three practices for lay people, or otherwise known as the three bases of merit, is giving, and then virtue, and then mental development.

[04:16]

Ten virtues of a ruler. Giving, virtue, altruism, honesty, kindness, self-control, non-anger, non-violence, patience, uprightness. Sometimes I wonder if we had a Buddhist leading the country or in the halls of powers in this country, how it might be different. And maybe that's just a... hope for wish on my part. To continue the list, there's 10 wholesome actions to cultivate or to purify one's karma. And again, giving virtue begins that. Mental cultivation, another way to put meditation. Humility, service, sharing merit, rejoicing in the merit of others, listening to the Dharma, teaching the Dharma, straightening out one's views. And then, of course, in the six paramitas, It's giving virtue, patience or tolerance, diligence, contemplation, and wisdom. So, of course, in the Zen tradition, we focus on six paramitas as ways in which it's really as a character development of a bodhisattva or Buddha.

[05:29]

So, Robert Aitken, in the Practice of Perfection, the Paramitas from a Zen Buddhist perspective says... So again, let's begin with dhana. Generally, dhana is the spirit and act of generosity. This dhana is intimately tied with karma, cause and effect, while its neglect, too, has inevitable consequences. It is the dhana paramita that the Buddhist teaching of universal harmony is put into practice. Mutual interdependence becomes mutual interdependence. I'm going to repeat that. Mutual interdependence becomes mutual intersupport. This practice that is not only Buddhist, but perennial as well. The earth itself flourishes by what Emerson calls the endless circulation of the divine charity. The very stars hold themselves on course through a mutual interchange of energy.

[06:34]

And he goes on to say, From a personal perspective, you will find that it is easier and more natural than the word sacrifice implies. Sometimes we think of dhana as giving up things, right? Also, it is important to take care of one who gives. Otherwise, the flow dries up. Recreation, or you also put re-creation, is important for the bodhisattva. Finally, is it compassion, he asks? Yes. but specific kind of compassion that arises with gratitude. The English word gratitude is related to grace. It's the enjoyment of receiving as expressed in giving. It is living, vivid mirror in which giving and receiving forms a dynamic practice of interaction. For receiving, too, is a practice. Look at the Japanese word arigato, Japanese for thank you. It means literally,

[07:37]

I have difficulty. In other words, your kindness makes it hard for me to respond with equal grace. Yet the practice of gift-giving lies at the heart of Japanese culture. The word arigato expresses the practice of receiving. Lastly, he says, Dana brightens and clarifies the Dharma, the Buddha way, and with continued unfolding, it brings natural authority, for more brightening and clarifying. You see its power in those who are acknowledged as leader in traditional society, in Buddhist history. It is Tao Shua, forgive my pronunciation, relinquishing his role of master and returning to practice as a monk. In relinquishing conventional power, he found the authority of the timeless, passes it to us, and with each gift of empowerment, The strength of dhana in the world is enhanced.

[08:39]

The will of the dharma turns accordingly. Gyo, continued from the other part that I started with, says, though many people don't start Buddhist practice this way, traditionally it is said to begin with creating healthy relationship with others. This part of the path is usually called training and sila of virtue. Excuse me while I move, the sun is reflecting there. All right, so we begin with Donna, with this mutuality as a basis of our practice, right? Not that it's only my power that makes practice happen, but how do we make practice accessible to everyone and how do we practice together? And then what supports us to do that in a skillful and wise way is sila for sure, which is the precepts. So traditionally, Sheila is translated as ethical conduct in the precepts.

[09:41]

Other translations are Kamala Masters, who I just finished sitting with online. She's part of the Vipassana Mehta Foundation in Maui. I call it non-harmful living originally, and just now I realize that she has changed it to harmonious living. And I know that Blanche talked a lot about harmony. And of course, the Sangha is harmony from Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. And I think we do talk a lot in Zen about Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. And then we don't actually say a lot how to practice in Sangha. And I think that certainly Dana and the precepts and Kalyanamitra or spiritual friendship, which I'm going to talk about mostly today, our practices of Sangha. So to go back to the precepts, I'm not going to say a lot about it. I just did a whole spiel on it at the end of April at City Center when there was the Jukai.

[10:49]

And in general, I am calling the ethical... conduct section these days, I'm calling it compassionate connection to very much highlight that this is about our interaction with each other and the guidelines of the precepts supports us to live in harmony and compassionately with each other. And the precepts as a practice is for us to actually protect ourselves from our our unawareness of our behavior, our habitual patterns, and how that impacts others. And so when we practice the precepts, we're actually not only protecting ourselves and how we interact with the world, we're also giving a message to others that we are safe people as we're upholding the precepts as a place of refuge for others, right?

[11:54]

And it's the same, ideally, with communities or sanghas, that they can be thought of as safe places for others. And so the third way in this talk is Kalyanamitra, or Kalyanamitta in the Pali. And the translation is usually of a good spiritual friend, or a beautiful, admirable friend. Chupa Rinpoche calls it friends in the virtue. which I think certainly ties in with the precepts. And so it is about how do we live in community together. And that's the precept and Kalyanamitra intertwined. So I'm going to talk about it mostly in the framework of, as Gil puts it, which is that we're going to talk about it as an example, or how to demonstrate Buddhist teachings as... support and encouragement, including feedback.

[12:59]

And then as how do we have interaction with each other talking about the Dharma. All right. Additionally, he says the idea that good friendships are the precursor for the path of practice. was particularly important in the pre-literate times of the Buddha. No books that would introduce people to the teaching and practice. The introduction always came in person through a good spiritual friend. You know, I just call it a retreat at IRC with Bernie Davila. And certainly a lot of people who come to practice, perhaps, you know, it's true that many of us read books and stuff before and how you actually get to... a practice place is often very much through another person talking about a place. That's why, for most of us, that's why we're interested in trying out a place.

[14:00]

And so the sense of someone as an actual person introducing you or being the conduit, you could say, for you to come to practice is certainly part of spiritual friendship. So again, the first is by example to demonstrate how Buddhist teaching can be practiced and expressed. And for me, it actually started out with the Women of Color group through Spirit Rock. It was Dr. Marlene Jones, who has since passed away, and Dr. Margarita Loinas. The Women of Color Group met at the Harriet Tubman Building in Marin City Community Center, which, by the way, housed African-American shipyard workers during World War II. So, you know, and in some ways the setting one chooses and provides a certain kind of historical access for sure. And... not as a self-promotion, but I will say I did just get to interview Margarita Loinas on the Opening Dharma Access, the podcast that we've started.

[15:12]

So you can find that on the website, a really interesting conversation I had with her about both of us being around for the last, of course, of herself much longer, but in the Bay Area producing since the late 90s. So that's an interesting conversation. Want to listen to that? And then I wanted to talk a little bit about Marlene because it just has brought up in me how much gratitude I have for the people that has brought me to practice. And Marlene has passed. And so this is actually from a talk she gave at City Center in 2009. It's called Savoring. And she talked about her practice. how in the 1970s she started out in yoga and meditation, as in many people. And, you know, she would sit like three minutes, then five minutes, then ten, twenty, until one day she said that a still place in my spirit arose.

[16:18]

And there was no desire to get up. By that she meant to move. And she said that at first, you know, the background in her... in church for her, really brought up in her that it wasn't okay, meditation wasn't okay. And so, as for many of us, she started out with books, she sat by herself, and then she missed community, you know, like at church. And so finally, that's how she came to Sangha and to the Monday nights with Jack Kornfield. And she said that some of the difficulty she had was that At tea time afterwards, you know, people would come up to her and say, what are you doing here? I thought black people like Baptist church, right, or dancing. And so she would sit with her back to the wall a lot. And several times she would get up to leave until one day Jack came up to her and he never talked to her before and said, try to stick it out.

[17:22]

And then she said, and now I teach his class on Monday night. So that has been a big accomplishment for her. And then the two things that she brought up as what she thought was that she had gotten as guidelines or supports of practice is that it's a time for silence and stillness. And that that was an individual practice for sure. And that's also a time for forming and relating to communities. for oneself, or to a specific community, and then, of course, to the bigger Sangha, we like to say, the community of all beings. So, how do we balance these two, right? An individual time for silence and stillness, and how do we relate to each other? Of course, to me, having started on Vipassana, our insight, American insight.

[18:22]

Actually, I find Zen practice much harder because to me, Zen practice is community practice. You know, most of our practice isn't about we're doing this ourselves only. We're doing it together. I know when I was taught Zazen instruction in the days when we still took people down to the Zendo, and I certainly, you know, shadow Blanche as my training and Vicki also, you know, we talked about how when you bow to the cushion, you know, we're bowing to, okay, this is the time in which I'm going to commit to practice. And then when we turn around and we bow to the room, we're bowing actually to everyone else. at this moment, one, that's practicing together and everyone in the zendo. And then we're also, in both of those, really acknowledging all the people who sat on that cushion and that spot and all the beings that have sat with us and at the same time in the zendo as practicing together.

[19:37]

And so much of our practice in Zen is about interaction, right? The bowing. We walk, you know, in a quadrant. And it's not... When I teach meditation these days, you know, I do teach Vipassana, walking meditation. And then I teach also Zen. And I say it's not about how slow do I go. It's about actually keeping that space, you know, equal between the person in front of you and the person behind you. So it... It calls on us to be aware of ourself in relation to other as a community practice. It's not about how slow do I go and then, you know, everyone backs up. And it's about sometimes you can take big steps. You can hurry up a little just to make sure that space between the person in front of you and behind you stays the same. So I think, you know, how do we... really find examples to help us.

[20:43]

This goes into the first part of Kalyana Mitra as an example. And of course, the ultimate, well, I would say one of the ultimate examples of a Kalyana Mitra is the Shuso, the head monk, you know, who shows up. Actually, when I became Shuso, Blanche said, your most important task is to show up. Right? It's to show up and take your seat and be an example. And we go and we clean the toilets, you know, or do the compost at, well, people do the compost at Tassajara. So you do the dirty work, so to speak. And another way you can think of it is the place where everyone has to go. I didn't mean the pun. You know, everyone uses the toilet. So you're there cleaning the space that everyone is in. interacting with, right? And then, of course, you serve tea to people. You're here to find out about others and to connect with others.

[21:47]

And it is a way in which we, in a way, we practice, start practicing, leading practice discussion. But again, practice discussion is really about the interaction. You know, when people, because I do teach in the world mostly and not at temples, people aren't quite sure what a practice discussion is. And I often say, well, one, the tangible is that I'm here to support your practice. And so you bring up questions about, you know, Dharma points or how does it relate to your life? How does practice can be part of your life? And then the intangible part is that it's an opportunity to know that we're... Two people are meeting completely, which the secret, of course, is that we already are, and how do we know it is the container of a practice discussion. That's my take.

[22:48]

And I will say that, as I understand, and in the North American convert community, a teacher is seen much more as your... Kalyana Mitra, like your spiritual friend. Whereas in the Zen tradition, and certainly as I understand it in Japan, when I practice there, is that your teacher is your master, right? And while you can be friendly, there certainly is that whole sense that this master is someone who, there is authority there, and it's someone who has mastered the practice and therefore is an example to you. and helps lead your practice and supports your practice. And then as my understanding in the Vajrayana tradition, the guru is very much another step. They are responsible for you for all your lifetime. That's how committed that relationship is, right?

[23:54]

So of course, now that I'm a teacher, I look back at... again, Dr. Marlene Joan and Margarita Loinas, and Ria Mone, Goodyear Spauldaquin, certainly, and Blanche, Vicki Gill these days, really were good examples for me of ways of teaching. So Kayana Mitras also support and encourage, right? They share the same values. And that can make all the difference in whether we're practicing or not, certainly. I know that a while back while I was at a retreat at IRC, excuse me, at Spirit Rock, you know, there was a question and answer at the end. And in that tradition, they actually suggest that people, when they go back, start a little Kalyana Mitra group as a way to keep on practicing.

[24:54]

And a man in a small town in Texas, you know, literally was crying when he's saying, it took so much time and effort for me to get here, and I'm isolated in this small town. So it's so wonderful to hear that, you know, this is something that I can find other ways of practicing with others. By literally, you know, just putting up a, on those days, we still put up little signs on boards to say, hey, there's a sitting group coming. Come sit with us. And of course, in Zen, it's very important to have teachers. And so Vicky, she's on Vicky Austin and Gil Fransdale, of course, are my support and encouragement. So the support and encouragement can also be feedback. And two ways that Gil talk about it. One is about mirrored by others. And... I think that's really important that the mirroring happens to see others like ourselves reflected up in the teaching seat or in key roles in the sangha.

[26:03]

And certainly, I remember one of my, I think it was my first practice period back from Kasahara at City Center when Jana Draka was the Shusau. And it really... The one thing that really resonated with me and has stuck with me is she said that we ordain to live a life of transparency. We ordain to live a life of transparency. And this also ties in with the precepts. As we practice more and more, we realize that our conduct and we actually teach most by example. And the precepts certainly support us to do that. And so when we're incongruent with our values, it's kind of a natural thing to say, I have nothing to hide, you know. I'm transparent here. Which doesn't mean we don't have privacy. It just means that our conduct is in accordance with our values.

[27:09]

Personally, that's how I would frame it. Of course, the Sangha can provide support and encouragement. I want to do a call-out to my co-caretakers, we called ourselves, when the Buddhists of Color started, which we met on Sundays at City Center. Jessica Tan and Lauren Leslie and Evelyn Shin, we were the original caretakers of the Buddhists of Color, one of the first people of color group in the Bay Area in the 90s. And then, you know, I just finished teaching Lotus Rising from the Mud, class series at Spare Rock Online for people of Asian American heritage. And originally originated from, originally from, as a response to all the Asian American hatred at the beginning, in particular, at the rise of it, another rise of it at the beginning of the pandemic.

[28:17]

And then, as I was saying, I was just co-leading a retreat with Bruni Davila, the LGBTQIA2 plus retreat at IRC. And, you know, I know that when I, you know, we do like this opening circle there. And I came in and I, you know, I have taught that retreat one other time with Bruni just before the pandemic. Even since that time, actually, the A and the 2 plus got added to the name because I remember the feedback last time was that, how come asexual is never included? And so that's how. And then I don't know the history behind the 2 plus, but my sense is that it's to be more inclusive. You know, and so I started out by saying, you know what? I might, you know, I've been out as a lesbian for... gosh, almost 40 years now.

[29:19]

But I think I might be coming out on another level because of this retreat. And that is the they part. I have been really, as you can see, you know, today I said I'm a she and a they. And I have thought about being a they before. And for me, the sense is not so much as a binary of gender, though I do think... You know, in the 80s, we didn't have the non-binary, so we said androgynous. However, it's much more about that I've always felt like I've been gender non-conforming, and that's certainly part of the inclusiveness of the deep refuge group. You know, in the EBMC, this is what they call affinity groups, or deep refuge. And I think that really reflects the sense that Because of the depth of our connection, it's important to have these groups in which we can really have a deeper and deeper sense of safety, of not having to explain ourselves or really being questioned.

[30:31]

And though I will say, ironically, that even at this last retreat, there was some talk among the teachers about when we introduce the use of pronouns as an option, that there are still people out there, even within our community, that say, well, whichever. And it isn't really about whichever, which I'll talk a little bit more in a few minutes here. So the feedback that we get can also be explicit. As Skill puts it, by developing friendship, we can create the trust and goodwill that allows for frank discussion about our behavior, our practice, and our understanding. And I will also add a structural sense of whether the practice is accessible to all beings or not, or how it can be more accessible to groups that we have been unconscious about, or that our unconsciousness has brought less attention.

[31:34]

less access to. Gill continues. It is quite common for others to see things about ourselves that we don't see. This is back to a self thing. Having these things pointed out can be extremely helpful. You know, an example I have is when I was back at Tassajara and I was head of the garden. And, you know, I was coming out of our two practice period And I was there for six practice periods, so I can't remember if it was the second year or third year, but definitely into it. And, you know, when you come out of practice period, you're very tender. And as head of the garden, we actually, you know, we had started starters, and then we put them in the ground. And then it was a lot of work because we're in the forest, right? You know, so all sorts of animal eat our starters and we would have all sorts of protection. So it's like a lot of work and a lot of effort for sure.

[32:41]

And so one day, you know, so doing soji as the garden crew, we would go and turn on. all the water so that there would be some watering, right? And a lot of it has to do with if the head of the grounds goes down to the, in those days, I don't know where it is now, to the bathhouse area to turn on the pump, right? And that's how we got the water from the river through all the pipes so that it would go into the, in particular, my memory of this experience, into the lower garden. So I had gone to turn it on and there was no water. Greg Fain was the head of grounds or head of whatever they call him. He was supposed to turn on the pump and he had forgotten for whatever reason.

[33:43]

And I was so upset because I was like... These plants will die because you know how hot it gets at Tassajara, right? Water is like precious to these plants. And I was so mad, so mad that I took it into a practice discussion with Leslie. And, you know, and my whole thing coming out of practice is like these plants, these little young plants, they will die, Leslie, without water. Like, this is, like, a huge thing that Greg has done because these little baby plants will die, you know? And that was where I was coming from. And that was, like, my reasoning why I was justified to be so mad at Greg for forgetting to turn on the pump. And, you know, and Leslie reflected back to me that what am I doing in my anger about killing my friendship with Greg? Because, you know, luckily I had... enough practice to, like, have the discussion with her before I went and yelled at Greg.

[34:47]

I think I did leave a note, if I remember correctly. But I restrained myself. And, you know, she reflected back. Like, what about your friendship with Greg? That's also part of what's important here, right? So that was really a really great reflection back about where we might have or I have a sense of justifiable anger that when I opened it up and included all beings, including Greg, as my Kalyana Mitra, then certainly it's another place to see where restraint works really well and to broaden up our sense of understanding. And so, you know, this support and encouragement, we're not seeing what we would call positive at first, right? And here's from Roshi Wendy Ekyoku Nakao. She's the Abbot Emeritus of Zen Center of LA.

[35:51]

And this is on spiritual friendship. She wrote, Kayana Mitra is the Sanskrit word for spiritual friendship. This friendship is something much more than someone to hang out with, but rather connotes a person or even a thing that becomes our guide, a teacher. and serves to inspire us along our path to awakening. There's a common Zen expression that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Ready or not, teachers are constantly appearing in our lives, but sometimes it is difficult to recognize because we are looking for someone that meets our image or idea of, quote, teacher, end quote. Or... We regard this person or thing as an obstacle in our life rather than as something that can awaken us to life's meaning. For instance, we could say that illness is Kalyanamitra.

[36:52]

The death of a sibling can be Kalyanamitra. The birth of a child can be Kalyanamitra. Falling in love can be Kalyanamitra. In short... Anything which shakes us out of our ongoing slumber and creates an opening to a vista beyond our narrow image or experience of self-ego is a spiritual friend worthy of our gratitude. So part of spiritual friendship is actually finding people that we can have Dharma discussions together. And, you know, I will say that, you know, one thing is when I went to Tassajara, I suddenly realized in the student dining room one lunchtime that I found my people. Because in the summer in particular, you know, we talked about movies. Because people got to go out on their day off, you know, to go do a laundry at a laundromat and eat somewhere and then go to the movie because it was air conditioned, right?

[38:02]

Many of us went to the movie. And then you come back and tell people the latest thing about the movie. And we talked about my memory. We talked a lot about movies and a lot about Dharma points. And so it was just like a place in which I felt like, oh, my two favorite things get to come together. Of course, it can be a much more deeper kind of place. interactions. And in fact, at this LGBTQIA2 plus retreat, you know, the great thing there at IRC is that, or my experience of it as really something to uplift, is that everything is volunteer to start with. And for the affinity retreats, They ask that all those, what they call service volunteers, the manager of the retreat, the general manager of the whole retreat, the head cook, the people will help.

[39:06]

If they're not part of the affinity group of the retreat, that... while they're there at the opening circle, then actually then they move back. And they don't even, they're asked not to even attend warning zazen, which is part of the schedule for them, right? Because it then gives this really clear container for the affinity group to practice in a place of safety. And so, of course, it brings up for people, like, hey, you know, what about me, right? You know, a lot of it can be in a sense of, from a place of not that I'm being excluded, but really, you know, I'm questioning this myself, right? Especially, I think, these days, at least in the Bay Area, and I would say, you know, in the country, in the world, LGBTQ rights have really blossomed, you know.

[40:08]

And so it brought up a lot for people about, oh, well, I'm questioning too, right? And someone came to have a discussion with me. And, you know, on one level, I really celebrated that they were able to say, oh. Is this true for me or not? Because, you know, I have a lot of friends that are queer. In fact, all my best friends are queer and all the best discussions I have about the Dharma with these. And I said, well, I think that's great. And I think it's great that you're questioning. And we want to really think of this or view this on two levels. One is that on a personal level, I really celebrate that you're questioning and that the environment of our culture these days is that it's really big these days for people to say, oh, you know, maybe I'm queer too or I'm not binary or I've been gender nonconforming all these years, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so I can be a they or I can be in this retreat, right?

[41:12]

And I, you know... And I really see it a lot in younger and younger kids, right? For instance, some friends, I know a 20-year-old, that my partner is kind of like her auntie. And, you know, there was discussion about, you know, what do they identify as? And they said, oh, you know, we don't use queer anymore. We use... bisexual. We're pansexual. That's the new term, I guess, for 20-year-olds now around gender identity and sexuality. And I think that's great that the culture has been really open, right? Which also, by the way, one level is great on another. I think certainly homophobia and heterosexism is still around that we even have to kind of As opposed to it being something that we don't have to question per se, but we can just explore openly, right?

[42:23]

However, I think the other piece I want to really point out is that on a personal level, that's great. However, there's real responsibility to claiming a identity of an oppressed group. Because for those in the oppressed group where it isn't a choice or it doesn't present itself as a choice, right? Where your whole being has been oppressed about this, right? And so it's a fear. It's a life-threatening, literally life-threatening. for, you know, the suicide rate is super high in the trans community, especially for trans youth, right? So it's a very different thing, right? And one way that we can frame that is on the individual level, and this is very supported by the capitalists, by patriarchy, by our bigger dominant culture, is that I should have the freedom to.

[43:30]

I should have the freedom to... do whatever I want, call myself whatever I want. I think, you know, on one level, there's validity to that. However, freedom from is what Buddhist practice is about. And freedom from that includes freedom from hatred, greed, and delusion. And so from inside an oppressed group, it's the freedom from. You know, when I assert myself as a they, from inside the community, It comes with it. To me, part of my struggle these years have been because I understand how important it is in the identity, right? Not just as like a self-referencing, but as from the fact that it comes with it. Am I willing to be responsible? And this is what I was talking with this person. Do you understand that? Are you willing to be part of this community and not hide?

[44:32]

not pass if you need to or to assert it when they come for you, right? It's not just a matter of self-identity, right? So it's a real freedom from hatred, from inside and across the group. Oh, I'm gone beyond my time here. So I'm going to actually go past a little bit here and just... just go to the ending. I have a few more things to say, but I'm just going to go to the ending here. Because I really do want to have some interaction with you all. So here's the end of Roshi Wendi Ikioku Nakao writing. I believe it's Susha Shi. So I say, she says, Kalyanamitra. As anything which shakes us out of our ongoing slumber and creates an opening to a vista beyond our narrow image or experience of ego self, says the Great Wisdom Heart Sutra is truly one of the great expression of spiritual friendship.

[45:41]

In this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha expounds the truth of emptiness of all phenomena for his disciple Shariputra. He points Chariputra to prajna wisdom, the unsurpassable wisdom. Anything and anyone who points us to this wisdom is a spiritual friend. But the Heart Sutra does not stop at our own realization. It concludes with the great mantra, the vivid mantra, the unsurpassable mantra of gate, gate, paragate, parasam gate, odis vaha. It means gone, gone, gone beyond. Together, go beyond. This together speaks directly to our most basic vow to save all beings. Our realization only truly comes alive when it is used in the service of others and helping others awaken to life's essential nature, to recognize and appreciate the spiritual friends in our life.

[46:46]

you yourself serving others in this way, and others and things continually befriending you, pointing to the unsurpassable wisdom that is our life. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. 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.

[47:26]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_95.74