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. Good morning. We feel... excited and inspired and very grateful to be here and to share our practice with you. We, Theresa and I, don't often get a chance to be here in Zen Center and to be with you and so for us this is a very special occasion. This morning We're going to explore the role of spirituality in our lives, and especially in today's world.

[01:07]

A world that has become increasingly dependent on technology and material progress. So we're going to be talking this morning about, very simply, what's going on. We all recognize that technology has brought us a number of benefits, innumerable benefits that we could not have imagined 100 years ago. Technology in its many forms has cured illnesses, saved lives, improved the standards of living for those of us fortunate enough to be in the developed world. It's provided opportunities for creativity, for discovery, and for leisure and entertainment. However, we have become more and more dependent on technology in our lives.

[02:15]

And this dependency has allowed technology to slowly overwhelm us. So that today we feel compelled to give it more and more of our time and attention. And the problem there is that when we give technology so much of our time and attention, it narrows our vision and our view of the world. This is the major problem. Because as a result of that, we... feel increasingly separated from who we are in the universal sense. And so, today, we live in a climate where anxiety is accepted as a way of life, and stress is our constant companion.

[03:17]

So, our book, that Teresa and I collaborated on, is about recognizing and expressing our inherent spirituality and its relevance in our everyday life, everyday lives. So, for the next half hour or so, we will refer to essays and interviews in the book as a way of illustrating the... challenges of living and working in the current social and economic climate. The inspiration for the title, A Sense of Something Greater, came from a novel, My Antonia by Willa Cather. Is anybody familiar with a number of the more senior of us who recognize that?

[04:21]

that wonderful piece of literature. My Antonia was written in 1918. Willa Cather herself was born in 1873 in Virginia, and when she was a very young girl, she and her family moved to Nebraska, which was pretty much unpopulated in those days. And her literature, her work, mainly focuses on the beauty and the vastness of the western plain states. And there's a particular passage in My Antonia that inspired this title of A Sense of Something Greater. Let me just read that to you. She wrote, The earth was warm under me and warm as I crumbled it through my fingers. I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen.

[05:21]

I was something that lay under the sun and felt it like the pumpkins and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become part of something entire, whether it is sun and air or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness, to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep. So if you spend time at Green Gulch in the Tassajara, you have a chance to experience what she writes about. But if you live and work in Silicon Valley, you don't have much chance to have this experience. The good news is that every one of us has the capacity for this embrace, all of us.

[06:28]

It comes when we can quiet our mind so that we can recognize and accept reality in a very large way. And this is the role of contemplative spiritual practice, to enable the intellectual machinery of the mind to relax its grip and on mental images and on fixed ideas so that our anxieties can lose their intensity. The other part of the good news is that there is no bad news. Life only asks that we remain attentive, flexible, and dedicated so that reality can appear. However, Our problem is that we think life requires much more of us. So we become overwhelmed by so many activities that wind up distracting us.

[07:31]

In the past few years, in my experience in the past few years, Zen practice and spiritual practice in general has gained interest in the population. The reason is because people are beginning to search for authenticity in their lives. And we see that quite a bit in the high-tech world where we live and work. People feel they have lost touch with their authenticity. And this... seeking, this interest in spirituality is not something new. It's happened before on a very large scale. The first chapter of the book is called, I titled it, The Price of Progress. And it's about the work of a Russian emigre who came to this country in 1922.

[08:38]

His name was Petrim Sorokin. Is anybody familiar with the name Sorokin? Pretty obscure, unless you're an academic. Very obscure. He was a sociologist, and he got into political trouble in Russia, and so he fled there in 1922, found his way to Harvard, where he established the sociology department in 1930. And... Through the period 1937 through 41, he wrote a major, major study that he titled Social and Cultural Dynamics. As he said, a study of change in major systems of art, truth, ethics, law, and social relationships, the whole spectrum of human activity. He created tables and charts and graphs and pictures which demonstrated the cyclical nature of humanity's worldview over three millennia, over 3,000 years.

[09:50]

And he discovered that there are two major trends. He graphically showed three major cycles over 3,000 years, varying cycles of two trends. One he called the sensate, which is the material side of human interest and human endeavor, and the other he called the ideational or the spiritual and religious dimension of human activity. And they tended to swing up and down. And when one was at its zenith, the other was at its low point. And over the centuries, they changed positions and then they swung back. Three major cycles. Let me read to you what I wrote in the book about Sorokin's work. So I described his work in the following way.

[11:07]

Sorokin's model of cyclical change offers evidence that the growing interest in spirituality of the past hundred years, including the growth of Buddhism and Zen in the West, isn't just a fad. But this society has reached a tipping point, recognizable by the loss of transcendence and the absence of a sense of inclusion in a larger whole. Since a culture emphasizes objectivity, ambition, power, admiration, entertainment, and other characteristics of individualism, it has overdeveloped to the point of losing its soul and its caring, compassion, humility, generosity, and patience. People are feeling the loss of transcendence and feel separated.

[12:10]

from inclusion in a larger whole, a loss of community feeling, a sense of isolation. This has been the result of overemphasis on the sensate, the material side of human endeavor. The result is that the spiritual or the ideational is now on the upswing while the sensate is beginning to turn down. Examples of this kind of thing appears where we live and work in Silicon Valley. There's a great deal of mindfulness in the workplace activities in companies who are now creating separate meditation rooms. And at Apple, who hasn't heard of Apple? Apple has a Buddhist community of 2,000 Apple workers.

[13:12]

who get together once a month and have a guest speaker or workshop or something. Ten years ago, this was unheard of. But the last few years, something's changed. I'd like to ask Teresa to recap for you one of the interviews she conducted. She conducted interviews with, I think, 14 of our Sangha members. who work in Silicon Valley in various occupations and live and work in Silicon Valley and who are trying to figure out how to bring their Zen practice into their work and family life. Each one of us, each one of them, each one of them is struggling with that. How to bring the practice into their life. And these interviews tell their stories. So Teresa will tell you recall for you one of those stories.

[14:16]

Thank you for having us here today. As Les mentioned, our book includes interviews with Well, as I was saying, thank you for having us here today. As Les was mentioning, our book includes interviews with 14 of our members. They're engineers. Most of them are engineers, and the book also includes interviews with a therapist, a doctor, a teacher. So today I would like to read a little bit of the interview that I did with Bonnie Sarmiento. She's a software engineer at Walmart, and she describes the impact that the practice had in her life and how her practice helped her to deal better with challenges at work. So during the interview, I asked Bonnie, how was life for you before you began to meditate?

[15:43]

And she said, I was rushing always on the go. It was terrible. I would jump into my car, tie my shoes at the stoplight, and then realize my shirt was inside out and I had forgotten my phone, so I would have to go home and get it. It was crazy. I felt so much pressure to do so much all the time. And I realized that if I would take the time to slow down, I would make fewer mistakes, think more clearly, and be happier. I also realized that it wasn't enough to go to a retreat a couple of times a year and let the rest of my life be chaotic as I got sucked back into the culture. It was then that I found Kanondo. Kanondo is the place where we meditate in Mountain View. I began gradually, at first once every few months, then every month, then every week, and now I meditate two or three times a week for 40-minute periods.

[16:47]

On days I haven't meditated, I sit quietly for at least a couple of minutes before I go to bed. I can drop into meditation now whenever I have five or ten minutes, and it's keeping me sane. It is frantic here. The culture is very high-achieving and go, go, go, pushing people to the max. If you don't stay centered, you're less productive, and it is actually not sustainable. And she said, if you give the mind sound rest, you actually work more effectively. Awareness is starting to rise because people are getting sick and burning out. Then I asked her during the interview, anything else that you want to tell me about your same practice that I haven't asked? And she said, we have to remember that we are going to die. Remembering that is not a burden. It's a gift. Because at the end of our life, we're not going to care about what score we got at a performance review.

[17:54]

When you die, none of that matters. What will matter are the relationships we had with people. Did we care for people? Did we love people? Were we loved? That's why I work hard now. Not to get some award, but because I care about the people I work with. I don't want to let them down, and I know they'll do the same for me. And the last question I asked her, and I would like to read you now, is, do you think meditation practice has made you more aware of that? And she said, yes, practice helps us to see the bigger context of things and not to have so much tunnel vision, like I have to have this project done. Everything feels so urgent. Maybe it is important to Maybe it needs to get done, but take a moment to pause and notice a beautiful flower or the sun outside or faces of friends and family members and really be with them, even for a few minutes.

[18:57]

It makes a big difference. Take a few minutes to really connect with how big the world is and how we are connected to everything, past and present. Thank you. Thank you, Teresa. So far this morning, I mentioned a couple of things, spirituality and authenticity, and those are directly related. Our quest for our own spirituality is also a search for our own authenticity, which in turn leads to a building of our character. those three things are closely interrelated. They stand for who we are and for what we value. Zen practice is about expanding our spiritual awareness.

[19:59]

At the same time, it is about growing and shaping our character through our personal effort. Back in August, Senator John McCain passed away, as you know, and beyond his politics, he was remembered and beloved for his character. He maintained the highest values, a quality that people in the United States have been proud of, the values that he maintained. The values that he maintained and his character is felt to be a defining quality of who we are as a nation. But in the last few years, society is feeling a loss of character nationally, a loss of character from our elected leaders, from successful and prominent people, and from ordinary people we meet.

[21:08]

And there's no easy way to reverse this trend and bring back character on a national level. But we do know how to influence character of our own lives. That's something we can do. And I believe that character is dependent on three things. One is... our understanding of the fundamental values needed to sustain and nurture the world. And that includes people and animals and the environment. And second is the determination to make those values our own and not just something abstract. And third is the discipline and the hard work to keep those values and to live them. And that's what our practice is about. When we keep those values and we live those values, we are committing ourselves to something greater than ourselves.

[22:19]

Our character becomes the expression of our inherent spirituality. Last year I read the book The Road to Character by David Brooks. Have any of you familiar with David Brooks' book, Road to Character? A few of you are. I found it very interesting and very inspiring, The Road to Character. And let me read what I wrote about what he wrote. In his book, he profiles several major individuals in the world who he felt demonstrated deep sense of character, and they included Dwight Eisenhower, Francis Perkins, St.

[23:43]

Augustine, George Eliot the author, Samuel Johnson, and Dorothy Day. He describes them as wanting to live in obedience to some transcendent truth, to have a cohesive inner soul that honors creation in one's own possibilities. He selected them for the work they did on themselves to develop their strength of character. And he writes, they were acutely aware of their weaknesses. They waged an internal struggle against their sins and emerged with some measure of self-respect. And when we think of them, it is not primarily what they accomplished that we remember.

[24:47]

It is who they were. He adds, they practiced a mode of living that is less common now. The principle of character was very important to Suzuki Roshi. And through his writings you come across his references to character. In one place he wrote, actually from a talk, He said, Zen is not something to get excited about. Just continue in your calm, ordinary practice and your character will be built up. And in the book, Not Always So, he said, as you work on them, meaning your weak points, your character will be trained

[25:54]

And you will be free of ego. And finally, as quoted in Crooked Cucumber, he said, I think it is almost impossible to change your habits. Even so, it is necessary to work on them because as you do, your character will be trained and your ego will be reduced. Throughout all of his writings and his talks, he acknowledges that we all have weak points. We may never, ever get over them, but keep working on them because that's the way you build your character and that's the way you become free of ego. So books like Suzuki Roshi's books, or like David Brooks' book, and lectures, Workshops, conferences about such subjects, about spirituality and about character, those are not enough.

[27:05]

They do describe qualities and they do inspire us, these books and these lectures and these workshops, but they don't say how to get there from here. That's where the practice comes in. How do we get to be the kind of person that we want to be? We read lots of books about it. And we stream lectures about it. And we go to workshops about it. But in the end, it's up to us. So if I were to meet David Brooks tomorrow, I'd say, Dave, I really loved your book. But now what? this is where practice comes in. This is how we develop our character through our own effort, through our practice. I'd like to tell you about my favorite Zen story, which also talks about character.

[28:16]

You know, the story of Hakuin, who lived, I think it was in the 17th century, He lived in a little hermitage on some property owned by a family who had something like a grocery store, food store. And students came to him and he wrote and he lived a very separate life from everybody. Very simple separate life. At one point, The family included the father, the mother, and a young daughter. Naturally, a very beautiful young daughter, as the story goes. Naturally. One day, she went to her parents and confessed that she was with child. And in 16th century China, it's not such a good thing. And they demanded to know who the father was.

[29:23]

And at first she didn't want to say, but finally she says... It was the monk Hakuin. And of course they were appalled. When the baby was born, they marched down to his hut with the child and said, this is your responsibility. You have to take care of this baby. And he took the baby and he only said, is that so? He took in the baby and he raised it. He nurtured this infant even though he knew nothing about how to do such things. And he was able to get food and milk and some clothing and some tips from the neighbors in the village. And he raised this child. He kept this child for a year and nurtured it. And of course, he grew to love it. After about a year, the young girl felt some remorse, felt a lot of remorse. She went to her parents and said, Hakuin is not the father.

[30:25]

And she confessed that the father of the child was really a young man who worked in the fish market in the village. So the parents were appalled again, and they walked down to Hakuin's hut, and they demanded the child back. And as he gave back the child, all he said was, is that so? He had grown to love the child after a year of raising it, And all he said was, is that so? When we gave this talk about this book at Apple a few weeks ago, during the Q&A period, there were a number of questions about why was that monk so passive? Why did he allow himself to be such a pushover? And there was a very natural reaction from the sensate world.

[31:28]

And it's interesting to think about Hakuin's response. He was not a passive, and he was not a pushover in the face of injustice. He was simply not being defensive against He was accepting of a surprising new situation. He knew it was something he had to take care of, and so he embraced it. There is a particular attitude that spiritual people have. When something disappointing or difficult arises, do not attack the perpetrator. Instead, take care of the victim. That's what he did. He didn't push back on the parents. He simply said, the child, the infant needs my attention. I have to take care of the child.

[32:31]

What's the point of pushing back on them? So he turned his energy towards the child. So that makes this story of Is That So? a story of love and a story of authenticity. Pacquiao's primary vision was to maintain his authenticity in whatever happened in his life. This is the attitude I hope we can encourage in ourselves and in young people. Unfortunately, the message we get these days too often is, it's all about competition, it's all about ambition, and it's all about you being successful. Some of that's okay. We need that. for progress and for improving our standard of living, but it has major downsides. It develops conflicts. It develops speediness and anxieties, just like the story of Bonnie tells us.

[33:33]

And they, in turn, create harm on the individual and on society. when we emphasize too much competition and striving and ambition, we forget what's really important. We forget what it is that really binds us to each other and to everything. And this is where your practice comes in. So I'd like to take some time now to tell you about my favorite movie. I told you about my favorite Zen story, and here's my favorite movie. It's described in the book under the chapter entitled Lost in Transition. Have you all seen Lost in Translation? That's an old movie by now. As I write in the book, this 2003 film is a portrait of disillusionment, disengagement,

[34:45]

distraction and separation. It portrays two introspective, intelligent, good-hearted people who have lost their moorings, spiritually and emotionally, in a boisterous and speedy world. The film features Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, known as Bob and Charlotte. They're in Tokyo, He's gone there. He's an actor, an aging actor. Pretty famous. Still has name recognition, but his career is fading. Some Japanese liquor company has invited him to come and do a commercial for one of their new whiskeys. So he goes to Tokyo. And she is there because her husband is a photographer and he's on a shoot. And they're both at loose ends. and they're staying in the same hotel, and so what I wrote in the book was, that night, both unable to sleep, Bob and Charlotte meet by chance in the hotel lounge.

[35:59]

She asks what he's doing in Japan, and he says, I'm getting $2 million to advertise a whiskey when I could have done a play. She tells Bob that she came... to Japan with her husband because I wasn't doing anything. When he asks what she does, she says, I'm stuck. I don't know what I'm supposed to be. So in this film, both characters are confused, their lives are adrift, and they don't know who they are in a very large sense. They are full of anxiety and low self-esteem. which I believe is the biggest problem in the modern world. Later on, I wrote in the book, when Bob confesses that he chose to give up the chance to engage in his life's passion for the sake of the money, we get the sense that he has been making this trade-off his entire life, following convention rather than his intuition, thereby consigning himself to purgatory.

[37:17]

Likewise, Charlotte's character, nice enough on the surface, is without joy. On three occasions, we see her being ignored or dismissed, twice by her husband and once by a friend on the telephone. She craves affirmation, but is denied it by the people supposed to be closest to her. As a result, she doesn't know what she's supposed to be. Charlotte's character is a metaphor for the unhappiness created by lack of intimacy, the greatest of human needs. Intimacy comprises acknowledgement, acceptance, trust, love, a sense of connection with others and with the world at large. Without intimacy, we are left with isolation and personal suffering.

[38:19]

In our modern world, we are experiencing diminished intimacy and courtesy, creating anxieties and social problems. I think you all know that and that's why you're here. This is the downside of the growth of technology, automation and global competition that emphasize efficiency and the speediness needed to meet shorter and shorter deadlines. We are allowing ourselves to be distracted, paying less attention to each other, while keeping an eye and ear open for the message that might come through on our electronic device. I gave this talk last night at a small bookstore where I live, and during the talk, this young woman took out the phone, and made a phone call as I was talking about the way these things distract us.

[39:27]

Oh well. So let me just finish by saying that in the modern world we have not been mindful of the downside of affluence and of technology about how these things can spoil us and make us lose sight of what we cherish and what nurtures us. Our culture has allowed our striving for wealth and pleasure and excitement to distort our values. The world is a much better place when people recognize their inherent spiritual nature. When we become awake, to our universal condition, and we see beyond the transiency and concern of everyday affairs. How are we doing for time?

[40:33]

Anybody have a watch? I think we ran over a little bit. So I understand that from here we will go in the dining room and there will be a chance for Q&A. Is that okay? Very good. Okay. So we'll see you again in the dining room. Thank you. 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. 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.

[41:28]

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