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. My name is Domio Burke. It's a great honor to be here. I see many familiar... faces out there. Thank you to Mary Stairs and to Siobhan Cassidy who suggested that I be invited to speak to you all. So it's a great honor. As a little bit of background, I discovered Buddhism in 1995 when I was 24. I was ordained as a priest in 2001 by Gyokoko Carlson. Dharma Rain Zen Center in Oregon.

[01:01]

And it was transmitted as a teacher in 2010. And one of the things that we do in our lineage, because we don't have a monastery of our own, is when you are in a discernment process about whether you're going to be ordained, you have to go to a monastery. So I was sent to Tassajara. So 20 years ago, I spent a practice period and then a summer at Tassajara. And... came to the city center in Green Gulch on your vacation. And, you know, it's pretty amazing to be here after 20 years. You know, having 20 years ago, I was just the wide-eyed student, like, this is where Suzuki Roshi was. And, you know, this is not the Zen center, this is Zen center. And here I am. So life is fascinating. Path of Practice is fascinating. So today I'm going to give you a talk that I am calling A Sermon for Buddhists in a Time of Crisis.

[02:06]

So I'm going to channel some preacher energy in the hopes that there's a strong enough tradition in this country of going to our places of worship and faith and... getting a sermon from the pastor who tells us how it should be. So I'm going to try to channel some of that. I'm going to implore each and every one of you, if you haven't already, to engage in active service on behalf of our earth and all living things because we are facing a climate emergency, an ecological collapse. We need everyone's participation. But before I go into preacher mode, I just want to say two things. First, I want to explain that this isn't my usual mode of teaching. I produced the Zen Studies podcast, and if any of you are familiar with my almost weekly episodes, it's a careful balance between reference to traditional teachings and sources and a down-to-earth, how does this apply to our practice anyway approach.

[03:21]

So I definitely do not usually preach at you. And part of this is, I mean, it doesn't really matter that you know that, but part of me doesn't want to turn you off to my podcast if you don't like today's talk. But I also admit part of me is very apprehensive with speaking with this boldness. Who am I to give a sermon anyway? I worry about alienating and offending people. when my vow is to share the Dharma with everyone and to make the Sangha and the Zen Center as inviting and accessible as possible. I treasure the presence and participation of everyone in the Sangha. And from the beginning, causing divisions in the Sangha has been one of the gravest Buddhist sins. And in addition, one of the primary things that keeps people from really following their consciences when they witness terrible things happening around them, is that they care so deeply about maintaining their personal relationships.

[04:28]

It becomes very difficult to follow your conscience and speak your mind when it puts you really out of sync with your family members, your friends, your sangha members, your wider community. Are we willing to jeopardize our relationships with loved ones for principles, ideals, or strangers? Usually not. I recently watched the Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War and was struck by the story of two different soldiers, and one of them really objected to the war and didn't want to go. This was later on in the whole scene. And at his footlocker at boot camp, he kept his passport and a change of clothes so at the last minute he could escape to Canada if he decided to. But in the end, he describes in his interview that he went because facing the disappointment and sadness of his parents and his community who would call him a coward, he just couldn't do it.

[05:37]

And he went. And he says in retrospect, he says he feels like that was an act of cowardice. And then the other young man, who did go to Canada to escape the draft, and in reflection, he is glad that he made that choice, but it came at quite a cost. The separation from his country and from his family was still a great source of sadness to him. I don't want to alienate... my loved ones, my friends, my sangha members, my students. I don't want to trouble or depress people. I don't want to make them feel guilty or defensive. And so I usually don't speak from my true heart about the crisis that we're in. However, I thought maybe, maybe I could find a creative way to do that today. Maybe I could do something, speak in a way that was honest, and humble and maybe inspiring.

[06:41]

I'll try. So the second thing I want to explain before I start channeling creature energy is why, given the great opportunity to speak here at City Center, I chose this topic. So most of us are aware of the dire headlines. Ice caps melting, water shortages, pollution, disruption of food supplies due to droughts and floods and depletion of arable land. We witness mass migrations, which then trigger anti-immigrant sentiment and racism and fear-mongering. Our oceans are acidifying, and if that continues, all marine life will be gone, and humanity depends on that. It depends on that life. Our insects are disappearing at an alarming rate, and we don't even know what the repercussions of that will be. But as worrying as all the regular headlines are, the real situation is worse.

[07:48]

Possibly much worse. The information we're getting at the very least is several years outdated. It takes a while for... scientists to get grants for research. They're limited sometimes in the kind of topics they can get grants for. They have to conduct that research. They have to submit it to a peer-reviewed journal. We do literature reviews and form some kind of consensus. That takes years. Then there's years for government bodies to review that and decide what the official line is going to be. And then they give us reports. And then it has to trickle down into the kind of news and things that we can access. In addition, there are numerous feedback loops, which I promise I'm not going to go on about this forever, but there are numerous feedback loops that are currently operating that threaten to increase Global warming uncontrollably.

[08:52]

Example, this is the albedo effect, where melting ice sheets, the reflective ice, is replaced by the dark ocean, which absorbs more heat, and therefore there's more warming. So it's a feedback loop. And scientists are examining dozens and dozens of these kinds of feedback loops. And one more thing, and I find this the scariest of all. I actually just recently got exposed to this piece of information, but independent scientific teams have studied the previous mass extinctions on this planet, of which there have been five. And it looks like four out of five were associated with really dramatic increases in CO2 in the atmosphere. And the worst of the extinctions, the Permian extinction, where 97% of life on the planet died.

[09:55]

The ice caps melted. There ended up being little difference of temperature between the polar regions and the equator. Therefore, the ocean and wind currents stopped. And then the stagnant water released hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere, and the air became unbreathable for mammals. So if there's even a slight chance that this stuff is going to happen, how can we still be making arguments that taking action is going to compromise our economies or affect our standards of living? So how do we, as Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone put it in their book, how do we face the mess we're in without going crazy? How do we find the courage and motivation to take action? As Buddhists, I think it's by turning to our practice and to one another. So let me start my sermon.

[11:00]

When our great-grandchildren or our great-great-grandchildren look back at our time, let them be able to say the Buddhists rose up. Let them speak with gratitude and admiration of how we willingly sacrificed our own comfort and pleasure for their well-being, for the well-being of our fellow humans, for the well-being of all other forms of life, for the well-being of our living planet. Let them remember how we refused to be too busy. Let future generations ponder with respect. How in order to follow our conscience, we endured for a while that anxiety-producing friction caused by daring to take a different stand than those around us, including our family members, our friends, our Sangha members.

[12:09]

Let them recall how Buddhists spoke up, marched in the streets, engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience. Let the historical photos show Buddhists in their waguesas and ruckusus and robes, allowing themselves to be handcuffed and hauled away in police vans, headed to jail. Let the historical record show Buddhists taking the lead in protests against the treatment of undocumented immigrants, agitating for reform of our justice systems and fighting the corruption of our democracies. in working to preserve our natural life support systems, and in promoting the truth of interdependence through music, art, and education. Let our great-grandchildren recall how Buddhist teachers spurred their sanghas to action from the teaching seat, and how sanghas with racial and economic advantages examined their consciences.

[13:20]

educated themselves, and then ventured into those scary places, long occupied by frontline communities, people of color, new immigrants, indigenous peoples, to learn from them and to support them in their ongoing struggles. Let the future remember how a new movement of Buddhists recognize it was too easy to interpret the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings to mean being nice as we go about our comfortable daily lives. smiling at the clerk in the grocery store, being patient with family members. Let them remember how Buddhists realize it was too easy to think a bodhisattva is only obligated to save the beings she happens to encounter in the course of the limited sphere of her daily life. And only then if it doesn't require too much of a sacrifice. No, the future will learn that a new movement of Buddhists added an aspect of explicit, tangible service to Buddhist practice for everyone.

[14:29]

Not just those interested in activism or social justice work, those naturally inclined as if it was a hobby. This movement took inspiration from Jizo Bodhisattva, who vowed the hells would be empty before he retreated into Buddhahood. Our great-grandchildren will learn we had to shift our thinking about what we thought practice was. But eventually it became really well established and assumed. Oh, you're a Buddhist? People would say, what's your practice of service? Although we realize the ship is sinking, it has not yet slipped below the waves. It would be easy for us to simply hold on to what we have, to enjoy our good fortune up until the last minute. Because the complete breakdown of our Earth's life-sustaining systems may not happen until we're already gone.

[15:33]

But no, we refuse to remain caught in a self-centered dream. Our way is to awaken, to face reality. to face pain, squarely, to see ourselves as inseparable from things as it is. Our way is to take responsibility, to cease from harm and embrace all beings. Zen Master Dogen said, Foolish people think that if they help others first, their own benefit will be lost, but this is not so. Beneficial action is an act of oneness, benefiting self and others together. Our great-grandchildren, then, need not thank us. Because we do what we do, not only because it's right and necessary. We rise up to act on behalf of all being because doing so is, in and of itself, a rich, rewarding life.

[16:44]

enlivening path of practice. Our great-grandchildren should know that although we were willing to sacrifice, ironically, nothing that mattered was lost. Indeed, our path to liberation was galvanized by dedicating ourselves to others. Our common grief and concern strengthened our bonds of community. The impossible tasks before us stimulated our intelligence, our creativity, and a store of energy we didn't even know we had. The crisis made each and every one of us feel needed. It infused deeper meaning and purpose into our lives, which previously, for many of us, had as their high point the satisfaction of our own desires. We know nothing that matters is lost when we engage in active service.

[17:50]

Because the most profound aspects of our spiritual practice are not, as might first appear, incompatible with such activity. As Zen Buddhists, we seek to awaken to shunyata, emptiness or boundlessness. The fact that all beings and things are empty of the inherent, independent, enduring self-nature that we impute to them. This is the critical insight leading to freedom. And we learn to value our meditative practice, our inward turning practices, our study, our mindfulness, because of the way that it helps us wake up from the self-centered dream. It helps us open up to new spheres of experience. But we don't just remain on our meditation seats, waiting for a transcendental experience.

[18:57]

We always maintain space for silence and stillness in our lives, just as a faithful theist always maintains space for prayer in their lives. But when we leave the meditation seat, we leap into activity with selfless love. If you studied Zen long enough, you know being attached to stillness is another obstacle in practice. Based on the delusion that the greater truth we seek will be chased away by engaging fully in our lives. But anything that can be chased away by activity is not the greater truth. So we do not cling to the peace of our meditation or to the spaciousness produced by our quiet inward turning practices. After all, sleep is necessary and restorative, but we don't sleep all the time. Exercise leads to good health, but we don't exercise all the time.

[20:03]

We meditate, sleep, exercise, not only because we enjoy these activities, we might. but to better live our lives. So Dogen admonished us to put aside all involvements and suspend all affairs. Do not think good or bad. Do not judge true or false. Give up the operations of mind, intellect, and consciousness. Stop measuring with thoughts, ideas, and views. But we know he was talking about Zazen. He wasn't asking us to forsake this precious human life. We can't function as bodhisattvas if we give up our operations of mind, intellect, and consciousness. And unless we're teaching meditation or living as an exemplary hermit in the mountains, the beneficial actions we perform as bodhisattvas are going to require involvements and affairs.

[21:06]

In conjunction with our practices of meditation, mindfulness, and morality, bodhisattva action primes us for awakening to emptiness. Who are we anyway? We're a dependently co-arisen phenomenon formed by the sun, the crops, the farmers, the sound of the traffic in our ears. When we serve others with no thought for ourselves, we are remade. We give up the self that we think we are. We're like a drop of water returning to the ocean. And yet we've given up nothing except for the illusion of self-worthiness. An illusion that is sometimes sustained by concern for our own practice, our own realization, let alone our own comfort and pleasure. No, we'll tell our great-grandchildren. At first we worried that responding to the cries of the world would distract or detract from our practice, but instead it transformed it.

[22:17]

For too long we strove for greater wisdom and compassion, while quietly sick at heart. We labored under a sense of horror and shame. as we participated in a system based on greed and exploitation. We went about our daily lives as our neighbors were hauled away simply for not having been born in the right country. We saw the corpses of seabirds and whales engorged with our plastic. We felt horrified powerless, indignant, but in despair. But our practice helped us face our pain and confusion without being overwhelmed. In the midst of our fear and anguish, we came to understand the wisdom of our ancestors, the Mahayana Buddhists who opened up the Bodhisattva path to everyone.

[23:30]

Previously, it was looked at as like a superhuman path, right? For the really special practitioners. But the Mahayana Buddhists said, this is what all of us should be doing. Trying to free all beings along with ourselves. We found relief from suffering and dissatisfaction by giving up our fruitless desires for things to have turned out any other way. So we faced the truth of dukkha. but as Norman says, our hearts knew the world could be otherwise. And inspiring visions would move us to tears. And irrational hopes sometimes would swell in our chests. We made a certain kind of peace with the possibility that all life on our beautiful planet could be wiped out by human greed. But we also knew murder is a tragedy and a crime. Even upon awakening to the preciousness of life as it is, each breath is a miracle, no matter what.

[24:37]

We also experienced the truth of interdependence, and our hearts broke as we witnessed all the destruction. And so, as with many things in practice, we've found the way through this apparent contradiction of by letting go of trying to make any sense of it with our minds. Instead, taking a deep breath and inhabiting our whole body and mind experience. There, we found, it is indeed possible to practice, as described by the Prajnaparamita Sutras, which describe bodhisattvas laboring tirelessly for the welfare of all beings without, for a moment, conceiving of self and other beings. We found a place of true liberation in practicing for our own peace of mind but then risking it all for the sake of others.

[25:43]

We should admit to our great-grandchildren that we would have chosen to live our lives in peace instead. if that had been an option. It would have been joyous to bear children with the great hope for their future and have a sense that you're just adding wonderful resources to the world, not burdening those resources. It would have been lovely to dwell happily on our families and careers, hobbies, art, passions. During a time of relative stability and peace, It would have been nice to know that other people were busy bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice, so we could just enjoy this moment. But that was not our karma. Instead, we lived at a time when the negative effects of 150 years of plundering the Earth's resources accumulated to the point that we could witness

[26:53]

changes in climate over the course of years. We lived at a critical moment when we could make radical changes to mitigate the worst effects of what's to come or take all life on the planet down with us. Still, even before we know whether we succeed, we will not despair. Through practice, we know that the world can be transformed by changing the only thing we can, which is our own mind, heart, and body. However, this transformation is not based on a limited idea of mind, heart, and body that has the boundary of this skin bag. Myself is the whole world. Dedicating ourselves wholeheartedly to whatever we can do, we free ourselves from the anguish of sitting on the sidelines.

[27:54]

Doing everything we can, there's no room for guilt or cognitive dissonance. Motivated by love, the bodhisattva shuts nothing out of her heart and therefore is free. Theoretical physicist and climate scientist Kate Marvel admits she has no hope. to offer people, given the climate and ecological crisis we're facing. However, she says, quote, the opposite of hope is not despair. It is grief. Even while resolving to limit the damage we can mourn. And here, the sheer scale of the problem provides a perverse comfort. We are in this together. The swiftness of the change, its scale and inevitability binds us into one. Broken hearts trapped together under a warming atmosphere.

[28:57]

We need courage, not hope. Grief, after all, is the cost of being alive. We are all fated to live lives shot through with sadness. And are not worth less for it. Courage is the resolve to do well. without the assurance of a happy ending. So who is better equipped than Buddhists to respond with courage the way Marvel describes? The Buddha's realization, after all, was that life is marked by suffering and dissatisfaction, and yet there's a way to be free from it. The traditional Buddhist cosmology depicts a cyclic process of birth and death driven by the three poisons of greed, hate, and delusion. Buddhism is never promised a happy ending in the form of a permanent heaven or a messiah that's going to come and fix everything.

[30:03]

And yet it still presents this human life as a precious opportunity. And the resolve to do well without the assurance of a happy ending? the very definition of a bodhisattva. So there's a story from the Vajrayana Mani Kabum about the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Demonstrates the kind of resolve we need while also making it clear we don't forsake our loving heart in the process. So out of great compassion, Avalokiteshvara felt compelled to liberate all sentient beings from suffering. Using his supernatural powers, he gazed out on all the beings in the universe and observed how countless numbers of them were trapped in suffering by their attachments and delusions. Avalokiteshvara saw that their desires are like the waterfall. Their hatred is like a blazing fire.

[31:05]

Their ignorance shrouding them like clouds of darkness. Their pride is as solid as a mountain and their jealousy as rapid as the wind. The chain of self or ego ties each and every sentient being to the cycle of birth and death. So Aulokiteshvara was filled with such sorrow and compassion that tears flowed from his eyes and he begged the Buddhas to tell him how he could help. And the Buddhas replied, if you wish to benefit all these sentient beings, you must be motivated by loving kindness and compassion. Do not be tired of this work. Do not give up. So Avalukiteshvara then vowed, from each and every pore of my body may I manifest Buddhas and Bodhisattvas according to the needs of all sentient beings. With these manifestations may I liberate all sentient beings without leaving anyone behind. If I have self-clinging, may my head crack into pieces.

[32:08]

So he then worked tirelessly for a very long time and helped maintain you know, countless numbers of beings to escape suffering. And at some point he figures he must have made some progress. So he uses his supernatural powers to gaze out over the world again and he sees the number of suffering beings has not decreased. And then he recalls the Buddha's told him that, you know, suffering beings are infinite. So he thinks, this is impossible. I... I think I better give up and just save myself, at which point his head cracks into a hundred pieces. And the Buddha Amitabha appeared, and he collected all the fragments of the head, and he assembled them into, and you may have seen this image, of the eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara. So he gave Avalokiteshvara eleven heads, one of them with a wrathful expression, so he could better do his job. And then he warned the bodhisattva, saying there is no end to the world of suffering.

[33:16]

There's no end to the world of suffering. You must benefit sentient beings until the world of suffering ends. So like the bodhisattva, we will tire and feel discouraged at times, perhaps often. but our practice is to keep going and to increase our capacity as best we can. Now, one thing our great-grandchildren may not appreciate is how much effort it takes for many of us, many of us, to translate our concern for living beings and for life itself into action. We know the Bodhisattva path is not just a metaphor. But the transition from the ideal to the actual can be bumpy and full of disillusionment. Our hopes for the great benefits that we might be able to offer are rarely fulfilled.

[34:20]

We're not able to make much of a difference on our own, so we have to cooperate with other people, which is rarely an easy or straightforward endeavor. Our best intentions are often met with skepticism or disinterest or outright opposition. At times we may even face ostracism or attack. And yet, as Buddhists, we have only gratitude for disillusionment. It means the end of illusions. And at some point, there has to be a first time. Now, some of you may be very familiar with this, but I know for myself, I've only recently started on this journey. There has to be a first time, just as the first time we sat down on a meditation cushion, the first time we walked through the doors of a Zen center and got our intro to meditation and sat, there has to be a first time that we show up to a protest, a first time that we show up to a meeting of a social justice group

[35:31]

see what they're about. A first time that we show up to a town hall for our member of Congress and demand that they take action. A first time that we venture into unknown territory to register underrepresented groups to vote. Or go into an immigrant detention center to offer some hope. Or participate in street theater meant to raise consciousness of climate change. some point we have to decide to do this first thing on Wednesday at three. And we have to rearrange our schedule. We have to forego some other activity. We have to explain to our family why we're not going to be home at the usual time. We have to answer their questions about what on earth is this, endure their lack of understanding, maybe even their resentment. And we have to walk out the door of our home, and come face-to-face with other human beings trying to help.

[36:34]

Once we do this, though, once we get out there, we understand something of what Swedish teenager and climate activist Greta Thunberg meant when she said, when we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then the hope will come. Of course, as practitioners, we know we can only maintain that hope if we maintain our practice. We stay focused on our bodhisattva vow and don't get drawn into evaluating our success or lack thereof or comparing this action to maybe that action would be better. Again, this is about our practice. And at some point, and I think this is the beauty of it, we commit to our bodhisattva action. And then we count on other people to do the rest. We can only do essentially one thing.

[37:40]

I don't know how many of you are familiar, but the 39th chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra, known as the Gandavyuha Sutra, is about a diligent disciple named Sudhana who really wants to know what is this bodhisattva path all about? What should I do to be a good bodhisattva? So he travels to bodhisattvas and asks. And they say, well, you know, here's what I do. And there's lots of different, they're monks and they're lay people, they're male and they're female. And they're like, well, I do this. I have this, you know, beautiful, wish-fulfilling jewel and I give people everything that they need. Or I, you know, there's various different things that these bodhisattvas do. But after they explain their work, they say, but if you really want to know what it's like to be a bodhisattva, you should go talk to... so-and-so. So then Sudhana goes and he talks to them and then they say, you know, but really, if you want to know how to be a bodhisattva, go talk to that person. So he ends up visiting 52 bodhisattvas over the course of this chapter.

[38:42]

And what a wonderful vision of the world, full of beings, dedicated to their own work and appreciative of the fact that others are doing other things. So the crisis we're facing requires an active response from each and every person who's capable. So I don't know how much this is worth, but please, just please find something to do, some way to serve, some way to put your bodhisattva vow into action. And let us support one another in our efforts as sangha, which I think is so important. We know the centrality, the importance of support of other people and wed our inward turning practice to our energetic bodhisattva service. So I'll set aside my preacher voice for a little bit for the conclusion of this talk because I want to acknowledge the potential awkwardness of our interactions after this talk in the hall and

[39:55]

There are some of you who will be inspired and say, oh, thanks for that nudge and that encouragement. Some people are just like, whatever, this isn't really relevant to me, or I'm already serving. So I guess I hope that if you have any space, if you have any space in your life for this relationship, Or if you feel inclined, if you feel that sickness of heart that I was talking about, that you just pick something. Pick something and go out and do it. And maybe we'll even get together and, you know, we'll do our whole, like, what is your practice of service? And we'll share and support one another in that. That's my little fantasy. And if you're not sure how to hold it, you just open that question. Am I doing enough? could I do more? Do I want to do more? How can I do that? And if you're already doing something, thank you.

[41:00]

And I hope you feel encouraged. But I do want to ask, do you want to tell your great-grandchildren why you couldn't find eight hours a week, two hours a week, one hour a week to try to avert the kind of disaster that they're facing. There are many reasons we're wired to ignore climate change. As eloquently explained by George Marshall in his new book, Don't Even Think About It. So there's no point in blaming or shaming. But Marshall argues that awareness... Just awareness of the ways that we're wired to ignore or turn away from something like this can help us respond more appropriately. Sounds like Buddhist practice, doesn't it? So, I don't see a clock.

[42:10]

Oh my goodness, really? So in terms of practical actions, you might take in the near future. Some of you may know there is a global climate strike happening on Friday, September 20th. And youth have been striking from school on Fridays all over the world for the better part of a year. And on Friday, they are asking the adults to join them. So if you are able to take off from work... or your regular routine, I am sure that there is some kind of thing going on in San Francisco that you could go join. Myself, I'm getting involved with Extinction Rebellion, an international movement started in the UK about a year ago that uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimize the risk of social collapse. And I feel like I've been waiting all my life for this movement to arise.

[43:18]

And I'm really hoping that in the near future, I have the opportunity to be arrested in my priest robes. My practice and my bodhisattva heart, the bodhisattva heart that led me to first study to be a wildlife biologist, are coming together at last. And although the task before us is incredibly daunting, at least I no longer feel divided. So I invite any of you interested in that to explore that possibility. 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.

[44:18]

May we fully enjoy the Domo.

[44:21]

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