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. This wonderful rainy day. So I'm going to pick up a little bit where I left off a few days ago when I talked about humility. The theme today is related, but it's also different. So I'm calling my talk this morning, The Fragility of Life. And I'd like to start with a poem by Ellen Bass. Ellen Bass is a Santa Cruz poet, and I'm very grateful to have been able to study with her. She's one of the poets I love and respect.

[01:02]

Her poem will speak for itself. It's called Waiting for Rain. And she wrote this in one of the times when we were having drought in California. And I think we've been waiting for this rain because we haven't had so much rain this winter. So that feeling of waiting for rain pervades this poem, but she's also waiting for something else. waiting for rain. Finally, morning. This loneliness feels more ordinary in the light, more like my face in the mirror, my daughter in the ER again. Something she ate, some freshener someone spritzed in the air. They're trying to kill me, she says, as though it's a joke. Lucretius got me through the night. He told me the world goes on, making and unmaking.

[02:04]

Maybe it's wrong to think of better and worse. There's no one who can carry my fear for a child who walks out the door not knowing what will stop her breath. The rain, they say, is coming. Sails now over the Pacific. in purplish nimbus clouds, but it isn't enough. Last year, I watched elephants encircle their young, shuffling their massive legs without hurry, flaring their great dusty ears. Once they drank from the snow melt of Kilimanjaro, now the mountain is bald. Lucretia snows were just atoms combining and recombining, Stardust, flesh, grass. All night I plastered my body to Janet, breathing when she breathed. But her skin, warm as it is, does, after all, keep me out.

[03:09]

How tenuous it all is. My daughter's coming home next week. She'll bring the pink plaid suitcase we bought at Ross. When she points it out to the escort pushing her wheelchair, it will be easy to spot on the carousel. I just want to touch her. And Janet, the person she refers to in the poem, is her life partner. I chose this poem of Ellen's because it opens us to an awareness of the fragility of life, her daughter's life, the lives of elephants, and the life of our planet. It also connects rain in California, or the lack of it, to decreasing snow melt on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Ellen Bass is a master of what she calls the long-armed poem, a poem with really long arms, the poem that reaches out

[04:20]

and sweeps disparate, unexpected things into its net, and yet the elements of the poem have enough magnetic attraction, enough resonance that the poem holds together. Ellen Bass wrote about this poem that what she wanted to do is create enough space with the larger context of the poem so that she could speak personally and intimately about her feelings for her daughter within a larger context. And in my experience, some Dharma talks may be long-armed as well. And it led me to think about how is a Dharma talk composed, crafted. I think each of us who gives a talk has our own way of doing it, our own creative process. But I've found one of the benefits of leading a practice period and giving sishin talks is the frequent occurrence of the talk.

[05:33]

So I've given three Dharma talks in the span of one week and finding that this sishin is a creative time and it allows a theme to emerge, take its shape, kind of like hatching an egg. And what emerges may be a surprise. I think a talk, just like a poem, can be a bridge between the speaker's experience and the listener's experience. And poems, koans, myths, fairy tales, and stories can make the crossing easier. So I'm hoping that my words will resonate with your experience today. And in my talk today, I'll refer... to the Paramitas and to Dale Wright's vision of them and also to talk about the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra and some of the qualities of Samantabhadra related to the fragility of our life.

[06:42]

I'll give a story of someone who I think embodied the qualities of Samantabhadra and then there's another story plan to tell at the end. So one wonderful aspect of Sashin talks is that they can build on one another and refer back to a talk already given because you've heard the talk. You were here. So when I spoke in my last talk about humility, someone brought up a question around the relationship between humility and humiliation. And they both have the same root. Hummus. And this is a person who was experiencing humiliation. Partly, you know, humility and humiliation feel very different. I'm sure we've all felt humiliated at one time in our lives or another. But this person, due to their aging body, was having difficulty with kinhin at the end of the day when they were tired.

[07:51]

and found it hard to keep their balance. And they were upset because previously they had been very capable of doing kin-hin and this was a change in the body that was uncomfortable and made this person, or this person responded by feeling humiliated and thought other people were judging them for their clumsiness. And when we talked about it, you know, I was able to point out, and I think the person could see it, that this view that there was something wrong was something that was adding suffering to the suffering in a sense. And can we view our frailty so as we grow older it's not necessarily related to age sometimes we find we can't do something that we did before or it's more difficult and I think the teaching there is to learn to view our frailties as learning opportunities to find ways of meeting them rather than viewing them as failures and

[09:17]

which can lead to the sense of humiliation. And along with that, I helped this person think about what they could do in that evening period instead of kinhin that might not be so challenging. So also, to refer back to the cradling meditation, I talked about the fragility of the hand, how easily our hand could A human hand can be injured, cut, burned, or broken, but also of the strength and skill of the hand and the many ways our hands can be of benefit in the world. And that cradling exercise also percolated in me and led me to a greater experience of the fragility of my own aging hands and a greater appreciation for them. I mean, these hands can still play the cello.

[10:18]

I feel very fortunate. They can sew tiny stitches. They can still bow and gaso. And, you know, we have those two beautiful stained glass windows and the doors connecting the kitchen to the dining room. One of them is Katagiri Roshi's hands, and his hands are perfectly aligned, fingers close together, you know, the way we're taught. The other... Hands are more like this. And those were Suzuki Roshi's hands. Sometimes when our hands age, we can't hold them upright or straight. And those are also beautiful hands. So I think with that meditation, there's a sense of the preciousness of this life we've been given and a wish to use it well, as well as a heightened awareness of the preciousness of other people's lives.

[11:26]

Me also just reflecting on Tuesday night's memorial service, there was a poignancy in that service we did for Itier's brother, it was her younger brother, and made me wonder what is it like to lose a younger brother or sister or for a mother to lose her child. And then I was thinking of the children in high school who lost their classmates and teachers. What gives us the strength to go on living and to find meaning in life despite the grief? And I think that practicing with the paramitas can help us develop the qualities we need in such times, in these times of uncertainty for all of us living on our fragile planet. So I really came to appreciate Dale Wright's book, The Six Perfections, during the practice period, reading it and rereading it.

[12:38]

And then I went back to the introduction, where he writes that the six perfections can be transformative because they shift our focus, our initial focus on self-cultivation, self-awareness, to a concern for others around us and ultimately to the whole of humanity and the world in which we live. So Wright says, making the shift from the primacy of one's own personal development to a broader concern for the well-being and development of all beings is the overarching intention of the six perfections. And he also says there's no end to the need to open ourselves that way to the world. And this involves a process of learning. And he says what matters most is not so much what we know as who we become in the process of learning.

[13:41]

By altering the way you understand the world, you alter the way you live and participate in it. And so as we study and practice with each of the paramitas, we can move from perhaps a self-centered view of generosity or ethical conduct, focusing mainly on ourselves or patience, energy, meditation, wisdom. We can move... with each of those to a more interconnected view. And along the path, it's very helpful to have role models or exemplars as we work with the paramitas. David spoke this week about the bodhisattva Kuan Yin and the perfection of wisdom. And there's another less familiar bodhisattva whose name we chant, Samanta Bhadra. The name means great activity, or the bodhisattva of enlightening activity in the world.

[14:46]

Samantabhadra also embodies, this sounds really beautiful to me, the luminous web of the interconnectedness of all beings and the radiant visions that express it. The name actually means universal virtue or worthy. And this is... one depiction of Samantabhadra in a position of royal ease, riding majestically on an elephant. You may have noticed in the dining room a contemporary version of Samantabhadra, a print by Mayumi Yoda just behind the coffee-tea area on the wall. It's a goddess riding a bicycle with a white elephant, on the handlebars leaning against her. That elephant is Samantabhadra's elephant. So like other bodhisattvas, Samantabhadra can be depicted as male or female or genderless.

[15:55]

They are shapeshifters in a way. And often Samantabhadra and Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, are paired as attendants on either side of the Buddha, on an altar, with Manjushri on a lion, representing the essence of wisdom, and Samantabhadra on the elephant, representing the application of wisdom, actively benefiting the world. I just want to say a word about elephants. Along with dragons, elephants are common symbols in Buddhism for enlightened practice and awareness. In Indian lore, elephants commonly signify royal wealth and strength, and in Buddhism, the elephant's association with sovereignty is extended to include wisdom and knowledge. Samanta Padra's elephant is sometimes depicted as having six tusks, one for each of the six paramitas.

[16:57]

And... In Buddhist scriptures, Samantabhadra appears most strongly in the Avatamsaka Sutra or the Flower Ornament Sutra. The last part of the sutra describes the spiritual journey of the pilgrim Sudhana. And after meeting 52 other spiritual guides, Sudhana wishes to meet Samantabhadra. But it wasn't easy. Samantabhadra can be hard to... fine, hard to see, and Sudhana had to undergo a lot of preparation before he could actually see Samantabhadra. So he worked to develop a mind as vast as space and free from all attachments, immersed in the ocean of all enlightened teachings.

[18:03]

And then he could finally see Samantabhadra, who was sitting on a jeweled lotus flower. From every pore of Samantabhadra's body emanated clouds of light beams that relieve the suffering of beings and increase the joy of bodhisattvas everywhere. Seeing Samanta Bhadra is thus very fortunate and it can lead one to experience heightened awareness. And it's said that even just to hear the name Samanta Bhadra is very auspicious. One of the qualities of Samantabhadra is Samantabhadra's 10 vows. And all of the 10 vows relate to both the paramitas and to practices that we're familiar with. I'm going to describe them briefly.

[19:07]

The first three are venerating Buddhas, praising Buddhas, and making offerings to Buddhas. And these vows show the aspect of the bodhisattva practice of devotion to awakening and to those who have actualized such awareness. But those vows can encourage all of us to be present and to access that ability to or awareness of our true nature, our interconnectedness with all beings, our full... Well, I think David spoke about it beautifully as the illuminated aspect of ourselves, the way we can shine that light on ourselves.

[20:11]

And... Samantabhadra's devotional sensibility arises out of the bodhisattva's humility and heartfelt gratitude. Images of Buddhas or bodhisattvas are fundamentally understood as representations of awakened qualities within our own selves and within all beings. And that is what we bow down to when we bow. It's an expression of prajnaparamita or of wisdom. So making offerings to Buddhas relates to dana paramita, the practice of generosity, and it's the spirit of what we offer that's really important, rather than the quality or quantity of richness of our offerings. And our offerings can take so many forms, listening to someone who's having a difficult time.

[21:14]

appreciating a flower, pointing out something lovely that we see to someone else. It's not necessarily a material gift, and also the gift of courage, which is one of the offerings we can give. So Samantabhadra's fourth vow is to confess his own misdeeds. And this practice of confession can also be viewed as an act of humility. When we chant every morning all my ancient twisted karma, from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow, we openly acknowledge the ways in which we sometimes fail. fall short and things we regret.

[22:17]

And some of these things may lose their power as we recognize them and see how not to be caught up by them. Samanta Bhadra's fifth vow is to rejoice in the happiness of others and in others' virtues. And it's also known as sympathetic joy. one of the four abodes of the Buddha, the Brahmaviharas. When we realize that we're ultimately not separate from others, we sincerely wish that all beings may be happy and we may be able to stop thinking about whether someone deserves their good fortune or not or compare their good fortune to our perhaps not so good fortune or so it might seem at the moment. But... those feelings of jealousy can be put aside in an understanding that we are interconnected and someone else's success or happiness is beneficial to all of us.

[23:24]

So the sixth and seventh vows are requesting Buddhas to teach and not enter nirvana, to stay in this realm. And this was a request that was made of the Buddha when he awoken and had some doubt about whether he could actually be of use in the world of suffering. And he was encouraged to stay and to teach. And they stressed the value of a Buddha's presence in the world because of the fragility of the world and the importance of the mentoring role of teachers. And I think for all of us, we... sometimes may question what is the value of our practice or what is the meaning of choosing a path of practice or finding ways of bringing practice into our lives. It's helpful to remember that our practice has a ripple effect and we can't really know all the ways in which our

[24:37]

practicing with precepts and being, our practice with generosity, our effort, our patience can be a benefit to others. And without, you know, I think still seeing this in a humble way, I think our practice is needed in the world. There's so much suffering that it's not that it can be alleviated by our... Well, yes, it can't be eliminated. I think it can be alleviated, it can be perhaps lessened by our sincere effort in meeting each person and expressing our...

[25:38]

concern for each person that we meet. Samantabhadra's eighth vow is to study the Dharma in order to teach it himself. Samantabhadra reads, recites, ponders, and questions the sutras in order to be ever more fully in accord with awakened compassion and wisdom. But Samantabhadra also finds ways to share his study with others. either by expounding the teaching explicitly or by expressing it in his daily activity and bearing in a way that allows other students to inquire and learn about the practice. Then the dharma that Samantabhadra studies includes teachings not only from sutras, but teachings that are available in everyday activity, in sitting and in the wonder of all of life's teaching. The ninth and tenth vows are benefiting all beings and transferring one's merit to others.

[26:43]

And the bodhisattva vow basically is to be a benefit to others, so to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings, which includes ourselves. But that's the basis for Samanta Bhadra's appearances, manifold appearances in the world. And it implies... helping in personal situations, but also recognizing the systemic problems of society that may produce suffering and finding means of facilitating some of the changes that are necessary. And the tenth vow of transferring merit is something we do at the end of service when the kokyo dedicates the merit of our chanting to all beings. We also do that in well-being ceremonies, memorial services, and that's another way of sharing the benefit of our practice, turning it over to all beings.

[27:53]

Samantabhadra's vows keep him engaged in the world. carrying out programs to transform society and its conditions on behalf of the development and awakening of beings. His vision extends to so-called inanimate objects, so that's trees, clouds, lakes, light beams, flowers, all very much part of the web of interconnectedness. And therefore, Samantabhadra cares deeply about all aspects of animals, plants, mountains, rivers, the air, and may be considered the bodhisattva of environmentalism. So there's a book by Taigen Leighton called Faces of Compassion, which links each of the traditional... bodhisattvas to historical or contemporary artists, musicians, writers, and activists who embody those qualities.

[28:57]

And among those he names who embody the spirit of Samantabhadra are Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, and Mayumi Oda, who is an anti-nuclear activist in Japan. I also think of the person whose life David describes so beautifully, Jacques Luceron, as a contemporary embodiment of Samanta Bhadra. And then there are also many invisible exemplars of Samanta Bhadra. I think of the high school students all over the country who stepped out of school a couple of weeks ago to observe 17 moments of silence and to protest gun violence. And other students, or some of the same ones, who are organizing the March for Our Lives events that are going to occur all over the U.S. on Saturday. And as well, those who organize monthly vigils at the ICE detention center in Richmond, the theme of that is let our people go.

[30:07]

March for our lives, let our people go. It's our lives and our people. We're not separate. So I want to talk a little bit about our former abbot, Steve Stuckey, who had a statue of Samanta Bhadra on his altar and recited those 10 vows every morning. Steve Stuckey received the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in early October 2013, and he died three months later, December 31st of that year. Soon after his diagnosis, he gave a Dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. It turned out to be his last talk. And I was fortunate to be there. And I also listened to it again last night.

[31:10]

If you haven't heard it, you can listen to it after Sushin. It's on the Zen Center website. Steve, in his talk, referred to a Dogen classical he was studying, only a Buddha and a Buddha, which teaches that the entire earth is the whole human body. Each human body is independent, so we have our own unique body, and yet it's the whole earth. We're connected to each other and the earth. He said, a tree is as much a part of me as my shoulder, the sky as much a part of me as my eyelashes. The sound of the ocean is like the sound of my own breathing. So when we have that sensibility, it really expands our consciousness of all beings.

[32:11]

In his talk, Steve expressed gratitude for having been able to go to South Dakota the previous summer to join a Zen priest named Shodo Spring, who organized a walk called the Compassionate Peace Walk along the route of the Keystone Pipeline. And that pipeline, it was in the news quite a bit, and it was the pipeline that would bring... tar sands extracted crude oil to the Gulf. And Steve joined that walk for several days. He said, my feet were sore and I was happy. He saw the walk as a way of bringing awareness to the fragility of the earth, this part of our body. He said the issue around the pipeline, quoting him now, is so big we have to look at it. We don't have the organizational skill to regulate our own greed in this culture.

[33:16]

We need to accept that it's healthier for the whole body to leave the oil in the ground. We must attend to the impact of our actions. Steve grew up in a Mennonite farming family in Kansas. His father was a professor who had summers off And every summer from the time Steve was eight till he was 18, he went with his father to harvest wheat. And they would, the wheat harvest would ripen, or the wheat would ripen first in Texas, and then it would make its way north, and they would follow the wheat harvest, working each day harvesting wheat. So it went from Texas to Oklahoma to Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Montana. And along the way, Stephen, his father, visited some Indian reservations and saw the suffering of Native people.

[34:19]

The Compassionate Peace Walk passed through Pine Ridge Reservation, and there were a group of Lakota people who were opposing the pipeline who joined the walk at that point. And one of the days when they joined the walk, they invited everyone on the walk to join a smaller walk they were doing from Pine Ridge to a town called White Clay just over the Nebraska border where alcohol was sold to the reservation. And this was organized by women from the reservation who were advocating stopping the flow of alcohol. And Steve had an experience at a rally that preceded the walk. He was sitting next to a man who he'd been talking with and a 50-year-old Lakota woman got up to lead a prayer in the Lakota language.

[35:25]

And the man sitting next to Steve nudged him and said, take off your hat. Steve was wearing his Tassajara hat. cap that he had been wearing for the walk. And he expressed his gratitude in the talk that that man whom he had been talking with before the prayer began felt enough connection that he would tell Steve that wearing the hat was inappropriate. And from there the group walked to White Clay and In reflecting on his participation in the walk, Steve said he was walking for the sins of his ancestors. He couldn't solve the many problems on the reservation, but he could let people know that they had some support. He said, growing up a Mennonite kid in Kansas, we felt some righteousness. We were good people. We didn't cause any harm. Yet he...

[36:27]

found out that his own great-great-grandfather had bought land from the Santa Fe Railroad, which was land stolen from Native Americans and led to plowing up the prairie and killing off the buffalo. So Steve closed his Dharma talk, his last talk, by instructing us to move in between taking care of our own internal body sitting still and deeply investigating our body, to move between investigating our body and the bodies around us, our relationships, and ultimately to include all bodies. He said, be able to move your perspective back and forth. It becomes clearer what to take care of and how to take care of it. Whatever you do, make it the most profound experience of your life. So Samanta Bhadra's vision includes caring for animals, recognizing our interconnection, and for that reason many choose to be vegan and avoid eating any animal products, knowing that some of the animals who are slaughtered for food are treated badly, and realizing that animals too can be our teachers.

[37:55]

And there is an elephant in a story that I think is a great teacher, and his name is Horton, and I'm wondering if there are any of you who are not familiar with an elephant named Horton? Some of you haven't heard of him. You have not. So, with your permission then, I would like to tell you the story of Horton. This is a story called Horton Hatches the Egg. And the illustrations in this book by Dr. Seuss are so fabulous. And I can't share them. I don't think we can all see them. But I will leave this book at the end of Sashin. I'll leave it in the student lounge so you can appreciate the illustrations. I think it's appropriate. It's a wonderful book for Sashin. You'll see why. Side Maisie, a lazy bird hatching an egg.

[39:00]

I'm tired and I'm bored and I've kinks in my leg from sitting, just sitting here day after day. It's work, how I hate it. I'd much rather play. I'd take a vacation, fly off for a rest if I could find someone to sit on my nest. If I could find someone, I'd fly away free. Then Horton the elephant passed by her tree. Hello, called the lazy bird, smiling her best. You've nothing to do, and I do need a rest. Would you like to sit on the egg in my nest? The elephant laughed. Why, of all silly things, I haven't feathers and I haven't wings. Me on your egg? Why, that doesn't make sense. Your egg is so small, ma'am, and I'm so immense. Tut-tut, answered Maisie. I know you're not small, but I'm sure you can do it. No trouble at all. Just sit on it softly.

[40:02]

You're gentle and kind. Come be a good fellow. I know you won't mind. I can't, said the elephant. Please, begged the bird. I won't be gone long, sir. I give you my word. I'll hurry right back. Why, I'll never be missed. Very well, said the elephant. Since you insist. You want a vacation. Go fly off and take it. I'll sit on your egg and I'll try not to break it. I'll stay and be faithful. I mean what I say. Toodaloo sang out Maisie and fluttered away. So I think all of the paramitas are illustrated in this story. And the first one being generosity. Hmm, the first thing to do, murmured Horton. Let's see. The first thing to do is to prop up this tree and make it much stronger. That has to be done before I get on it. I must weigh a ton.

[41:03]

Then carefully, tenderly, gently, he crept up the trunk to the nest where the little egg slept. Then Horton the elephant smiled. Now that's that. And he sat, and he sat, and he sat, and he sat. Maybe you can see this picture. It's quite big. He looks quite blissful. And he sat all that day, and he kept the egg warm. And he sat all that night through a terrible storm. It poured and it lightninged. It thundered, it rumbled. This isn't much fun, the poor elephant grumbled. I wish she'd come back because I'm cold and I'm wet. I hope that Maisie Bird doesn't forget. But Maisie by this time was far beyond reach, enjoying the sunshine way off in Palm Beach. And having such fun, such a wonderful rest, decided she'd never go back to her nest.

[42:14]

So Horton kept sitting there day after day, And soon it was autumn. The leaves blew away. And then came the winter, the snow, and the sleet. And icicles hung from his trunk and his feet. But Horton kept sitting and said with a sneeze, I'll stay on this egg and I won't let it freeze. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. I think you might be able to see this picture too. So... ethical action, I said what I meant, I meant what I said, and also forbearance, patience. So poor Horton sat there the whole winter through, and then came the springtime with troubles anew. His friends gathered round and they shouted with glee, look, Horton the elephant's up in a tree. They taunted. They teased him.

[43:17]

They yelled, how absurd. Old Horton the elephant thinks he's a bird. They laughed and they laughed. Then they all ran away. And Horton was lonely. He wanted to play. But he sat on the egg and continued to say, I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. No matter what happens, this egg must be tended. But poor Horton's troubles were far, far from ended. For while Horton sat there so faithful, so kind, three hunters came sneaking up from behind. He heard the men's footsteps. He turned with a start. Three rifles were aiming right straight at his heart. And please, if you need to, sit in rest position. Make yourselves comfortable. There isn't too much longer of this story. Three rifles were aiming right straight at his heart.

[44:18]

Did he run? He did not. Horton stayed on that nest. He held his head high and he threw out his chest and he looked at the hunters as much as to say, shoot if you must, but I won't run away. So that's an embodiment of courage, a joyful energy of fourth paramita. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. But the men didn't shoot, much to Horton's surprise. They dropped their three guns and they stared with wide eyes. Look, they all shouted, can such a thing be? An elephant sitting on top of a tree? It's strange, it's amazing, it's wonderful, new. Don't shoot him, we'll catch him. That's just what we'll do. Let's take him alive. Why, he's terribly funny.

[45:21]

We'll sell him back home to a circus for money. So I am going to skip a few pages. So they moved Horton and the tree to a wagon and transported the wagon. to a boat and the boat traveled across the sea and it landed in New York. And then Horton was sold to a circus and they traveled around and everywhere thousands of folks flocked to see and laugh at the elephant up in the tree. Poor Horton grew sadder the farther he went, but he said as he sat in the hot noisy tent, I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. And then the circus reached Palm Beach. And who of all... This is the height of the climax of the story.

[46:30]

Who of all... People should chance to fly by, but that old good-for-nothing bird, runaway Maisie, still on vacation and still just as lazy. And spying the flags in the tents just below, she sang out, what fun, I'll go to the show. And she swooped from the clouds through an open tent door. Good gracious, gasped Maisie, I've seen you before. Poor Horton looked up with his face white as chalk. He started to speak, but before he could talk, there rang out the noisiest ear-splitting squeaks from the egg that he'd sat on for 51 weeks. A thumping, a bumping, a wild, alive scratching. My egg, shouted Horton. My egg, why, it's hatching. But it's mine, screamed the bird when she heard the egg crack. The work was all done. Now she wanted it back. It's my egg, she sputtered. You stole it from me. Get off of my nest and get out of my tree.

[47:33]

Poor Horton backed down with a sad, heavy heart. But at that very instant, the egg broke apart and out of the pieces of red and white shell from the egg that he'd sat on so long and so well, Horton the elephant saw something whiz, It had ears and a tail and a trunk, just like his. And the people came shouting, what's all this about? They looked and they stared with their eyes popping out. Then they cheered and they cheered and they cheered more and more. They'd never seen anything like it before. My goodness, my gracious, they shouted, my word, it's something brand new. It's an elephant bird. And it should be. It should be. It should be like that because Horton was faithful. He sat and he sat. He meant what he said and he said what he meant.

[48:37]

And they sent him home happy 100%. So... I'm glad you... Enjoyed that story. I first, as an adult, heard this story in Sashin, read by Linda Ruth, and I've been wanting to share it ever since. So, as we return to the Zendo, please take good care of your body, your internal body, the egg you are hatching. Be kind to your physical body. and be aware of the bodies around you as you move through the day. As Steve Stuckey said, each moment can be the most profound experience of your life. Thank you very much. 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.

[49:44]

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.

[49:58]

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