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. So this morning we held the 49th annual memorial service for Suzuki Roshi. Maybe actually it was the 48th. It's 49 years since he died. And it was wonderful to... Hear various people recall his memory and his impact on them. And wonderful for me to think about him. So I may bring him into my talk some today because he's on my mind. But today we are continuing with our talk on Dogen's, the Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance, or the Bodhisattva's Four Embracing Actions, which are giving, kind speech, beneficial action. identity action.

[01:00]

So, the first three were covered by David and I earlier in the session, and so today I will say a few words about identity action. This is a translation of goji, which is not easy to translate into English. Do means same or identical or similar, equal, common. And Ji means thing or matter or affair. And when they're put together, there's various different ways of translating them. Reverend Okamura suggested identity action is sharing the same goal. So you're sharing the same goal. Nishima translated as cooperation. You're cooperating. Heejin Kim translates it as cooperation. Identity with others and Domio preferred, which I thought was interesting, being in the same boat. If you're in identity action, you're in the same boat. It's kind of like sharing the same goal. If you're in the same boat, you do want to get to the shore safely or whatever other objective you have on the boat.

[02:14]

And so you're sharing a similar goal together, cooperating together. And you must be identifying with the fate of others if you're in the same boat. And Kaz, of course, chose an identity action. He kind of felt that was like represented a different connection to reality than just cooperating together. And Shoaka Okamura, when he sort of pulled it all together, he said, identity action is a practice for benefiting both self and and others simultaneously so it's the practice for benefiting both of the self and others simultaneously and this is possible because all of us are interconnected with all beings within as okamura says true reality within the true reality of our connection with each other allows us to practice a benefit of both of us simultaneously

[03:16]

So that's the title, identity action or being in the same boat or sharing the same goal. And here's the first sentence. Identity action means non-difference. It is non-difference from self, non-difference from others. Also, identity action means non-difference. Well, that's sort of like saying, if you were to put it in the positive way, identity action means being one with. other people, not being separate from them. So that's non-difference. And then he says, it's non-difference from self. So you go, what do you mean being, how am I different from myself? I must be myself all the time. But on the other hand, we notice quite often we're sort of standing outside ourselves saying, oh boy, I was a real schmuck when I did that. That was really a stupid thing to do. How could I have been so stupid about that? That's like somebody, you know, not being different from yourself, you know, stepping outside yourself and being different.

[04:24]

So this, he's saying in this non-difference from self, if you're practicing identity action, you're with yourself, you are yourself. And then he goes on to say, it is non-difference from others. Well, so maybe I can get around to trying to be, you know, one with myself, but can I get around to being one with others? We talk about that all the time, but what does that actually mean? So Okamura uses the example of the fingers on the hand. This is one of his favorite examples. Yeah, we are completely different. Each one of us is completely different from each other. We're totally separate, just like each finger on the hand is different and has a different function and moves in a different way. And yet the fingers are connected through being part of the hand. And we're also similarly connected to each other in some ways that are both mysterious, in some ways that are very real, as we're familiar with recent neuroscience stuff.

[05:30]

We're marrying each other all the time. There's many ways of the ways that we're connected. So identity action means letting go of our sense of separateness from others, including our sense of competitiveness and the delusion that our long-term well-being can come at the expense of others. And recognizing that we all share the same aim, you know, namely to seek happiness and avoid suffering. And the deepest, truest lasting happiness comes through spiritual practice and learning to let go of the craving that causes our dissatisfaction. So we all share this together and we have a great common goal or aim. So the text continues to expand on this theme. When we know identity action, self and others are one. So what this means in practice is working to let go of our judgment of people we encounter and of ways that they're going about seeking happiness.

[06:37]

We're judging them too much. What's revealed is a measure of empathy for people. We may disagree with their opinions or actions, but at the core, even the worst person has a desire to be happy, safe, taken care of and loved. The one thing that you hear the Dalai Lama always saying is all people want to be happy. And so, if we can recognize that, then we can, you know, make an effort to empathize with them and to become one with them. Of course, people may hide their tender and vulnerable core fiercely and act in destructive ways to themselves and to others. making it very difficult to practice oneness with them. I'm reminded of this story, and I may have told it earlier in the practice period, I don't remember, of Suzuki Roshi down at Tassara.

[07:42]

I was just a sort of a beginning student down there shoveling dirt. But there were staff members that had had a meeting with Suzuki Roshi where they were complaining about probably the guests and complaining about various things that were going on. And Suzuki Roshi, I guess, had been quite strict with them during the staff meeting. And that night during the lecture, he gave a very short lecture about something which I don't remember. And then, you know, he said, some of you must have a question. And then one of the senior staff members, might have been the director, actually raised his hand and kind of said, you know, Suzuki Roshi, I've been practicing for five years and I still find it very difficult to be kind to people. sort of recognizing that he hadn't done so well. And Suzuki Roshi very strongly said, five years is nothing. You don't know how hard it is to love some people. You don't know how hard it is to love some people.

[08:43]

Five years is nothing. So yes, people can make it very difficult for them to love us, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't. make that effort shouldn't continue a practice of trying to be kind to them and not be too impatient with a mere five years of practice. And so, I don't know, for some reason, this story came up too along this vein of identity action. And it's a story about moving a rock for Ed Brown. And this comes from his wonderful book. I think I have it here. uh tomato blessings and radish teachings you know blessings and radish teachings this is a uh it's kind of half a cookbook it's got a lot of recipes in it and it's half a zen book a lot of zen teachings and zen stories and i think that's probably why it didn't sell very well it probably couldn't figure out whether it's supposed to be in the cooking section or the zen section but anyway i love it i love reading it and uh so

[09:46]

This is the story from Edward from Ed's words. One time, she gave me a taste of his mind. I was standing on the bridge with him and remarked that the pile of rocks outside my door, which I was using for steps, was rather unsightly. I explained that I didn't know much about working with rocks, so I just piled them up best I could. Weeks later, when I had forgotten all about the rocks, he stopped me as I was leaving his cabin as though he had just remembered some small matter and said, oh, Ed, do you know that rock in front of the office? I asked Paul Disco to move it to your cabin this afternoon to be your doorstep. Is that OK? I was flabbergasted. The big flat rock outside the office had a central place in the community. That rock, I answered, is a real focal point for the community. And he said, we'll get another one.

[10:46]

Sure enough, that afternoon, there were Paul and Roshi and one or two others moving the rock in place. It was big. It was a big, beautiful, flat, solid rock. Everyone seemed quite happy. I couldn't believe how wonderful and reassuring it felt to step on that big, stable rock instead of that uneasy pile of stones. Nothing wobbled. I felt a tingling and a warm joy as something solid settled into place in me. In and out of my cabin, stepping up and stepping down, my teacher was there for me. My teacher supported me, gazed back at me, accepting me. These are the best gifts, the ones that move us to feel how very deeply we can trust the universe, trust our own body and mind. When the spirit is fed, we grow larger hearted and we want to pass on the gift.

[11:54]

What a... What a wonderful sentence. These are the best gifts, the ones that move us to feel how deeply we can trust the universe and trust our own selves, trust our own body and mind. This is what the Shuso was talking about in his lecture, to trust the universe, your own body and mind, to trust that you have a right to be here. kind of like the moment when Shakyamuni touched the ground in response to Mara saying, you have no right to pursue awakening, and the earth supported Shakyamuni, and the earth supports you. And all of Buddha's teaching says that you have a right to awakening. In fact, trust in your essential Buddha nature is essential in practice. I'm sure all enjoyed working with Suzuki Hiroshi that afternoon. It was quite complex to move the rock.

[12:59]

It had to be towed all the way from in front of the office on a big sled with a huge truck. And then they had to place four by fours out as a kind of railroad track railing and roll it along on solid rolling pipes. It's quite complex. And of course, Paul Disco was a marvelous... builder. He built the stone kitchens down in Tassara and a wonderful person to work with on such projects. And then to have Suzuki Roshi there, what a wonderful afternoon moving that rock into that place and that cabin. And of course, you know, years later, I was at Tassara for four years and one year I lived in that cabin and I stepped on that rock all the time going in and out of that cabin and feeling the beautiful reassurance of such a nice rock that's virtually placed there for all of us to appreciate. Currently is where the director lives a lot of the time.

[14:01]

So the next section, getting back to our project today, the next section is one of these marvelous Dogen sections. Lute, song, and wine are one with human beings. Divas and spirit beings. Human beings are one with lute song and wine. Lute song and wine are one with lute song and wine. Human beings are one with human beings. Divas are one with divas. Spirit beings are one with spirit beings. To understand this is to understand identity action. Well, that clearly clarifies it, I'm sure, for all of us. What? What is he talking about here? It's... Dogen, poetic, circular, challenging kind of logic. It's amazing. So anyway, there was another translation of that same paragraph that seemed to shed a little bit of light on it. It goes, harps, poems, and wine make friends with people, with heavenly beings, and with spirits.

[15:04]

People befriend harps, poems, and wine. There's a principle that harps, poems, and wine befriends harps, poems, and wine. And it goes on basically replacing making friends with being one with. And that kind of makes sense, doesn't it? Harps, poems, and wine make friends with people. We can all kind of recall, I assume, times in our life when some music, some wine, and all of a sudden everything friends are saying seems like poetry, and we're just all so friendly with each other. how wonderful it is. In fact, after a while with enough music and enough wine, we feel like we're heavenly beings and we're communing with the heavenly beings. In fact, we're sort of like one with the universe. This is kind of an experience that he's alluding to and seems quite common in our life. And it just turned out there's a footnote in this part of the

[16:08]

the essay by Kaz that points out a little bit more about this. This saying is based on a poem by Bo Yu Tian called Poem of Three Comrades at Northern Window. And here is the poem. Who are the three comrades? Lutes stop playing. Wine is raised up. When wine is finished, the song is sung. Three comrades lead one another going round and round endlessly. Or a slightly modified version. Who are the three comrades? When the music stops, you raise your cup. When the wine is drunk, you sing your song. The three comrades following one another in circles round and round and round forever. Wonderful poem. The three comrades are the lute, the wine, and the song. And this stands for our ordinary life. We are living the life of lute, music, singing, and wine, round and round forever.

[17:13]

All our celebrations, joys, sorrows, emotions, and confusion, round and round forever in circles, embracing ordinary life with all its confusion, joys, and sorrow. This also is identity action. That's what Dogen is saying in this. marvelously confusing, circular, imaginative, poetic paragraph. All of this ordinary life, embracing ordinary life with all its joys and sorrows, this is identity action. And it's kind of a reminder of the time when we studied Vimalakirti, the Vimalakirti Bodhisattva. And it said in that lecture, I said, but a central point of the Vimalakirti Sutra is that the Bodhisattva can only be awakened in the context of intimate contact and involvement with the follies and passions of the world and its beings. We can only be awakened in the intimate contact and involvement with the follies and passions of the world and its beings, round and round and round forever.

[18:25]

All this mixed up with ourself, and ourself is non-different from this. So for the next section, I'm going to use the translation from Nishima and Cross because I liked it a little bit better. This section, Dogan, goes on. Action, the action and identity action, means, for example, concrete behavior, a dignified attitude, and a real situation. There may be a principle of after letting others identify with us, then letting ourselves identify with others. The relationships between self and others are, depending on the occasion, without limit. And this is clarifying that identity action is not just about feeling, feeling some warm feeling for others, but about acting and acting with a dignified attitude and in a real situation.

[19:32]

from a place of benefiting both self and others simultaneously. When you're in identity action, sometimes you will help them, and sometimes they will help you, depending on the occasion without limit. That's what he's saying. There may be a principle of after letting others identify with us, that is, help us, then letting others identify with yourself. So you identify with others, and they identify with you. And this can go on, depending on the occasion, without limit. And so there's a story from the Lotus Sutra, which Okamura felt was appropriate to this occasion. It's a story of a son who ran away from home, leaving his father. And the son lived in various countries for a long time. And as he grew older, he became needier. And by chance he happened upon his father's house, and although the father recognized the poor, destitute son, the son did not recognize his father.

[20:38]

And the son ran away when he saw this wealthy landholder, but the father sent servants to get him back and hired him as a laborer, and they put him to work cleaning the wealthy man's home. And while the son was doing his job, the rich father put on new clothes that were coarse and dirty and became a worker just like him and went out and took a dustpan in his hand and mentioned all the laborers, get to work and don't be lazy. And the father used this and other devices to gain more contact with his son. And gradually he trained his son to be a mature and suitable heir to his fortune. So this is an example of how in practicing identity action, it is possible to first identify with others and and then allow others to identify with us. When the father became just another worker with his son, the son could then relate to him better. So in this story, the rich father first identified compassionately with his son and then worked with him gradually.

[21:44]

Eventually his son came to identify with him. So another example of this trading places, you know, identifying with the other and the other identifying with you is in the example of the Shusō in this practice period. In the Shusō entering ceremony, the Shusō expressed that he wasn't ready to be Shusō, but after being encouraged, he accepted. And when I said, this monk shares my seat, please give him your support. So he's identifying with being the leader of the practice period. He's acting with me. as a leader of this practice period, as a gate in developing his teaching. And in this role, sometimes I help him, I'm his teacher, and sometimes he helps me, and he's my teacher. And it's the same with you, you know, identity action.

[22:48]

Sometimes I help you, and sometimes you help me. Sometimes I'm your teacher, and sometimes you are my teacher. There are numberless variations of interactions between teachers and students, parents and children, doctors and patients. Sometimes we are like the destitute son in the story, and sometimes we take a role like the wealthy father. Although the relationships between self and others differ in each situation, we must find some way to identify with others and permit others to identify with us in each case. This becomes possible when we awaken to the common ground of interconnectedness where we live together with all beings. So it's a little bit of a commentary on the previous paragraph and now I move on to the next paragraph.

[23:51]

The Gansai says, this is a quote from the next paragraph, the ocean does not exclude water. That is why it is large. The mountain does not exclude soil. That is why it is high. A wise Lord does not exclude people. That is why he has many subjects. That the ocean does not exclude water is identity action. Water does not exclude the ocean either. This being so, water comes together to form the ocean, soil piles up to form the mountains." So this is a story or a poem that Doujin Zenji is quoting from a Chinese classic, Guanzi, which was attributed to a minister of a country back in China in the era 700 BC to 500 BC. And this book is a collection of essays primarily about politics, economics, military affairs, and education.

[24:57]

And before he became a Buddhist monk, Dogen probably studied this text as part of a childhood education designed to prepare him to be a politician. And I know I read through that and I thought, wow, that's interesting. 700 BC? They were writing texts on how to be a minister of a country in 700 BC in China? Because I remember, you know, like... In Buddha's time, all of his sutras weren't written down. They had to be memorized and passed on for 300 years before they could be written in 200 BC. So maybe they were wrong about this. But I Googled it. And of course, China had writing in 1200 BC. And they were already writing documents on running a country way before India learned how to write, which I just, an interesting sidebar there. I'm sure it's something you guys all know about. And the fact that Dogen is studying these ancient texts from China that were 700 BC was impressive about his learning.

[26:03]

Anyway, it's pretty obvious what's going on here. The ocean does not exclude water. That is why it is large. You know, if the ocean sat there and said, well, I'm pretty large. I don't need all these rivers flowing into me. Well, who needs a few extra drops of water from some stream? I'm huge, you know. But if he did that after a while, the ocean wouldn't exist. So, you know, the ocean clearly accepts all the water that's flowing into it from all the streams and rivers. And then he gives it back up into the sky and it goes over and fills all the streams and rivers because the ocean is one with all of these other things. There's no sort of difference between them. And it's the same with the mountain. The mountain doesn't say, oh, I don't want that soil that's coming up from the volcano. I'm high enough already. I don't need it anymore. But if he didn't accept those changes, then he would be down to nothing in no time at all. So this metaphor is pretty clear here. And it's the same way that he's making this, this minister is making the illusion that a wise lord does not exclude people.

[27:06]

That is why he has many subjects. accepts the streams, the wide lord accepts all of his people as part of who he is. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a nation. So that's sort of the main thrust of this. And so it's a passage that discusses the attitude of a good ruler. To become a wise ruler, one must accept and embrace all of the nation's people without discrimination, but should do this in the same way that the ocean accepts all kinds of water. different rivers or the way a mountain does not reject even the tiniest bit of dirt or small stones so we're about halfway through this essay and the essay goes on at great length about the metaphor between the ocean and the mountain and the ruler and all the different ways the ruler has to rule and

[28:11]

I just decided that I would leave that for you to pursue after the sashim and talk a little bit more about some other things. So I'm going to kind of go to an overall comment I have about this whole four-section essay that we've been studying. And just to reemphasize that there's a tendency to think that these four actions are ways in which we as bodhisattvas primarily benefit others. You know, through generosity, through kind speech, through beneficial action and through identity action, we're helping others as that's our bodhisattva activity. But as David emphasized yesterday... as part of the beneficial action talk he gave, the quote from that section of Gogan is, foolish people think that if they help others first, their own benefit will be lost.

[29:17]

But this is not so. Beneficial action is an act of oneness, benefiting self and others together. And to return to an earlier comment I made on identity action earlier, Identity action is a practice for benefiting both self and others simultaneously. This is possible because all of us are interconnected with all being. So the bodhisattva path is a path of awakening for self and others. It's our own liberation and others' liberation at the same time. That is the bodhisattva activity, liberating others. both people simultaneously. So I thought I would finish with a story, a personal story of an example of identity action that occurred between me and Suzuki Roshi.

[30:21]

Some of you have heard this before because there's some old longtime students of mine in this room today and many of you haven't. So I thought I would finish it up a little bit. So I was 25 and I had finished all the requirements for my Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of New Mexico, everything but the thesis. And at the same time, I'd gotten very much involved in the counterculture. I was very involved in the anti-war protests, the anti-Vietnam War protests, the civil rights movements, the environmental movements, the feminist movements. It was very... So I was all of a sudden feeling some question, deeply questioning what my life was about as I'd spent most of my early 25 years becoming a scientist, a mathematician, and yet... All these other things were drawing my attention. So I decided to take the summer off and go in search of the truth, which was at that time in America, driving to California.

[31:26]

So I sold my Triumph. I bought myself a nice VW van. drove across. First, I did some camping in, you know, the deserts of Arizona and Zion Canyon and Utah. Eventually landed in Los Angeles, where I had a friend who was going to graduate school there and hung out in Venice for a week or so, had a good time. And I was driving up the coast on Highway 1 and did some camping in Big Sur. And, of course, also during the time that I had been, you know, at the University of New Mexico, I'd met a friend who who had studied some Zen and said, Ed, you might like this Zen stuff. And he'd given me Three Pillars of Zen, one of the early books on Zen. So I was reading Three Pillars of Zen and, you know, sitting Zazen out in the woods when I was going out camping. And, of course, he'd also said, you know, and Ed, there's an actual Zen master that's found at a monastery where they're practicing Zen in California. So after I got out of Big Sur and drove up to Carmel, I thought, yeah, that monastery is near here. Maybe I'll go in and check it out a little bit.

[32:28]

And I talked to some people. They said, oh, there's some baths there you could go in for the day and take a bath. So I got in my VW van and worked my way down Carmel Valley, drove into Tassara, totally unannounced, walked up to the front office. But I didn't say, can you give me a towel so I can go to the baths? I said, you know, I've read a book on Zen. I think I have some interest in it. And he said, oh, well, we have a program. If you stay here as a guest student, you'll learn more about Zen in one week than if you read all the books written about it in English. Would you like to do that? And I spontaneously or foolishly said yes. And he said, well, if you've got a sleeping bag, there's a loft up above. You can sleep outside up there. And, you know, at 3 o'clock, go to the Zendo, and they'll teach how to sitzazen. So I did. I went to Zendo, learned how to sitzazen. Pretty soon there I was sitting Zazen in the evening. There's Suzuki Roshi sitting with all of us and everything. And I'm following the schedule and eating weird food, miso soup and pickles with, you know, chopsticks.

[33:31]

And, you know, I'm going along following all of this. And, of course, Suzuki Roshi was, I was curious about him because he was a Zen master. And, you know, I read about Zen masters and all of this. But at the same time, it wasn't just that I knew he was Zen better. There was something about him. that just, I couldn't take my eyes off him. Whenever he was around, and he was around a lot at Tassar. That was the beauty of Tassar. He was just living with us, working with us. And of course he was there sitting zazen and doing service and just around a lot. I was just always watching him, trying to figure, and listening to his lectures. And he was, it was really, I was very curious to meet him. I thought maybe some chance I'd have it bump into him sometime. Anyway, my day off came and I went hiking up upstream long way. And I lost track of time. And all of a sudden, I heard the dental bell ring for service. And I was rushing back because I didn't want to be late to service. I barely got there in time. So she was rushing right past me.

[34:31]

And I was the last in line. I just barely made it. But I didn't get my bath. And I felt kind of bad that I hadn't had a chance to bathe. And so I really started wanting to have a bath. And the next day, I was on a different schedule. I was doing dishes. So I got off a little early and I could go to the baths an hour early, which I was very interested in. So I hurried to the baths. And this was back when the baths were across the stream at Tassar and you went over this bridge and they were there and you turned a corner and went around some soji screens. And I wheeled around getting ready to go into the baths. And all of a sudden... And the baths at that time, there were sort of three rooms. And in each, there were two rooms where there were these plunges, these deep six foot by a foot and a half places that you'd fill with water and you'd get in and bathe yourself. And the tradition in those days is the students all bathed together. So you'd all rush in and take your clothes off and two or three of you would jump in those plunges and wash yourself off of soap. And then you'd go get into the big plunge where the hot water was and you'd sit there together.

[35:36]

So I rounded the corner and there in one of the rooms with these six foot plunges was Suzuki Roshi, completely nude. He had a little stool he sat on and a little pail and he's washing himself off and he was filling the plunge up. And I just was, I didn't know what to do. I just was stunned. I just stopped there. And he looked up to me and he said, would you like to take a bath? Well, since that's what I've been thinking about all day, I immediately said, yes, I'm here to take a bath. Yes. But then my mind was spinning. Well, does it mean I'm supposed to go in and join him just like we do the monks together, you know, bathe off in the plunge together and then go into the big bath? I said, well, maybe that isn't right. So I said, well, I could just go to the plunge, the big plunge over there. And Zikorsi said, oh, usually we wash off before going to the plunge, to the big plunge. Oh, so he's... I guess he's inviting me to come in and join him. This is wonderful.

[36:38]

I'll be washing off with him first and then we'll go to the plunge together. This is fabulous. So I go in and I take off all my clothes. And meanwhile, he's sort of finishing up what he was doing, the plunge. That six foot by foot and a half plunge is all filled with water, the little place we're going to wash off first before going to the big plunge. And I'm undressed and I turn around and I'm still not certain about this, you know, because it seems a little odd, really, because he hasn't quite got in the plunge yet. So I... I kind of look at the plunge, and he looks at me, and he motions, you know, get in this plunge. You're supposed to wash off. So I sink into the plunge there, and I look up, and all of a sudden I notice that magically Suzuki Roshi's all dressed, and he's leaving the room. And I realize at that moment that I have driven him from his bath. And, you know, my mother did not raise me to drive Zen masters out of their bath time.

[37:38]

You know, I was thunderstruck. I was just like, oh, my God, what have I done? The first time I'm meeting a Zen master in person, I've taken his bath. I'm actually sitting in the bath he's drawn for himself. And. He pauses at the doorway. Kind of like. He senses something. He turns around and he looks at me. And he says in the sort of most wonderful way, don't worry. Don't worry. Turned around and left. Identity action. Some kind of thing happened there where we communicated with each other. And the only thing I can say about that is, of course, I washed up. I went to the plunge. I went out to the steam room.

[38:39]

I went and lay in the stream. And as I was lying in the stream looking up through the trees, I was somehow the most settled and calm I'd ever been. I just felt completely fine. I didn't worry because somehow the way he had said it, had eliminated all of that, his act of kindness. And who knows, you know, he could have, when I first came in, said, you know, oh, this is, because this, you know, I learned later, of course, because, you know, you're stumbling around in a monastery for the first time, that the hour before the student bath time was considered the abbot's. private bath time. That's why there was nobody else in there. And I had just, you know, barged in accidentally to that time. He could have said, you know, this is the private habits bath time. You're not, and I would have come back later, but no, for some reason he did what he did. And I think that's when I realized that I had found my teacher and that was the beginning of my 50 year career in Zen.

[39:44]

So. I wanted to share that story with you as a modern example of identity action that is happening all around us, all the time, amongst many of us. And there were many kind moments that I had with Susie Kirschi after that, moments of meeting where he's identifying with me and I'm identifying with him and then there's no him and me and we're not exactly sure what's going on but i would say it's the pure experience of practice that pure sense of connection with another person that becomes practice itself so i think i will end with maybe the last sentence of this essay by dogan which says with a gentle expression

[40:46]

practice identity action for all people. With a gentle expression, practice identity action, maybe with all people would be better than for all people. Well, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure talking with you today and a pleasure enjoying doing this session and this practice period with you. And thank you for your attention and your commitment to practice. We make this practice together. This practice is a joint effort. That's how practice is. So thank you all very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge. and this is made possible by the donations we receive.

[41:47]

Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[42:02]

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