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. Hello, everyone, and welcome. I can tell that I'm nervous this morning because I forgot my kotsu, which is a teaching stick. And I think I can teach without it or share some words with you anyway. My name is Tova Green. I use she, her pronouns. I'm a resident here at City Center. And one of my roles currently is acting tanto. The tanto is the head of practice. And I want to thank Anna Thorne. Our last tanto who invited me to give this talk and lead this one-day sitting feels like quite an honor.

[01:04]

And I'm really happy to be here with all of you. I'm curious if you wouldn't mind raising your hand if this is your first one-day sitting. Well, quite a few of you. Thank you for coming and being brave to... Embark on something you haven't done before. I think of each day, but particularly of one day sitting as a kind of journey. And we set out in the morning. We don't really know what's going to happen during the day. There may be some unexpected things. And we get to the end of the day. And sometimes at the end of the day, I reflect on some of the, I would say, things I'm grateful for that happen during the day and some of the challenges of the day.

[02:09]

And you may experience a mix during this day. And I hope that you will be able to approach it with a beginner's mind, a mind of curiosity and openness. and allow in whatever arises for you. Someone asked me the other day, what is a Dharma talk? So I've been thinking about that. And the Dharma is another word for teaching. Originally it was the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha. But I think of it in a much broader way, that everything, And everyone can be a teacher for us, every experience. And there is a phrase, all things teach the Dharma. And I think we learn from each other.

[03:11]

We learn from trees, from animals, from things that happen in our lives. Our city, our country, our world, everything that we come in contact with or hear about has an impact on us and can be a teaching if we explore it. So the title of my talk today is Walk Like an Elephant. And I borrowed this title from Suzuki Roshi. There's a chapter in a book of his talks called Not Always So. And this chapter, the book was edited by Edward Brown, and so I'm not sure that Suzuki Roshi himself would have named the talk Walk Like an Elephant, but that's what it is in the book.

[04:15]

And he says, our way is to go step by step, appreciating our everyday life. Then we can see what we are doing, where we are. We practice like a cow rather than a horse. Instead of galloping about, we walk slowly like a cow or an elephant. And I think that's especially appropriate for a one-day sitting. I know not all of you here are participating in the one-day sitting, but this may carry over. And also, not everybody online is participating in the one-day sitting. And I forgot to welcome those of you who are online listening and thinking about how might this apply to your lives. But I think this suggestion of walking like a cow or an elephant can help us think about slowing down and not rushing from one thing to another.

[05:18]

having a schedule like the one we have for the one-day sitting where there are pauses, where there's enough time to get from one place to another, can really invite us slowing down, being more aware when we're walking, how we're walking, and being more aware of our body, our bodies, our... our minds, our emotions, and just tuning in. And the silence also helps that quite a lot. So I say we're fortunate to be able to take the time to be together in this way. And for those of you who are only here for the talk, to see if you can somehow carry the spirit into the rest of your day. And recently I house sat for a friend who lives in Point Reyes, and her house has a backyard, and there's a fence you can see through to the ranch that's just on the other side.

[06:33]

And this ranch is a cattle ranch. And when I sat outside in the morning with a cup of tea, The cows, I'm going to wait just a moment. May they get where they're going in time. I heard someone say that once when sirens were going by and I... That's what comes to mind. May they get there in time. And it's in great contrast to this bucolic scene I was talking about, sitting in this backyard looking out at the cows that came very close to the fence and were looking at me and appreciating their slow pace and when they were grazing, just taking their time.

[07:35]

And yet... At the end of the day, I saw them. They were at the far end of the pasture. It was quite a distance away at the base of the mountain, and they were tiny. But, you know, how they got from where I saw them in the morning to where they were at the end of the day, walking slowly, it was a mystery to me. Anyway, that feeling of cows walking slowly... stayed with me, and also that Suzuki Roshi said, walk slowly like a cow or an elephant. And that admonition to walk like an elephant reminded me of a story I heard my teacher, Agent Linda Cutts, read once in a Dharma talk during a sushin, and I'm not going to read the whole story, but I'm going to quote from it. And I really think that the main character in this story, which is a children's book, was a bodhisattva and can teach us a lot, can help us also enter into thinking about some of the qualities that enable us to be awakening beings.

[08:59]

And some of you will know this story. It's called Horton Hatches the Egg. Is there anyone who has never heard of it? A few people. Okay, great. So I'm going to briefly tell this story and share a few stanzas. The story starts, the Horton is an elephant. And he is... just walking along, and a large bird, whose name was Maisie, was sitting on a nest. And she saw Horton going by, and she asked Horton if he would sit on the nest for her because she really badly needed a vacation. And initially Horton was reluctant, but Maisie just... convinced him or cajoled him into sitting on her egg.

[10:01]

She was sitting on an egg in the nest. So he managed to prop up the tree so that he could climb onto the nest. He was very large, of course. And it's not clear where the story actually takes place, but someplace where there are elephants in either Africa or India. And she managed to fly all the way to Florida, And you see her there having a great time and forgetting all about her egg and the nest, and she doesn't go back. And meanwhile, Horton keeps sitting there, and the season changes, and it's snowy and icy. I don't know about in Africa or India, but you have to kind of take it with a grain of salt. And Horton says these words, which I always remember. I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. Very catchy, easy to remember.

[11:05]

But he just sat there, and he kept sitting into the spring when his friends, all the other animals, were teasing him because he was sitting there, and they went off to play without him. And he was lonely, but he stayed and sat on the egg. And he kept sitting there when some hunters approached, and they aimed their guns at him. It was very scary to Horton, but he kept sitting there. And then they decided, instead of killing him, that they would capture him and take him to a place where they could sell him to a circus. And he kept sitting while on the boat, even though he was seasick, a boat crossing the ocean. And then after landing, this is an amazing story, actually, after landing in New York and then touring to a different city each week, the text says, poor Horton grew sadder the farther he went.

[12:10]

But he said as he sat in the hot, noisy tent, the circus tent, I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%. So then the climax of the story comes when the circus arrives in Florida and remember who's in Florida. So Maisie is still on vacation and she just flies into the tent. where Horton is still sitting on the egg, and at that moment he feels it's hatching, and he hears it cracking, and this egg begins to hatch, and then Maisie says she wants the egg back. It's my egg, she sputtered. You stole it from me. Get off my nest and get out of my tree. Poor Horton backed down with a sad, heavy heart. But at that very instant, the egg burst 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 by.

[13:26]

It had ears and a tail and a trunk just like his. The onlookers stared, then cheered at seeing the elephant bird. That's not part of it. It doesn't rhyme. I'm shortening the text. So he had a lot of support from those who saw what was happening. And then the author, Dr. Seuss, says, 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. And they sent him home happy. 100%. The last drawing in this book, the pictures are wonderful, the last drawing shows him at back where he started from with all of his animal friends and this, I guess you would call him an elephant bird, this child that he, we don't know what happened after that, but I'm sure he raised this child.

[14:38]

So anyway, I'm fairly sure that Suzuki Roshi was not familiar with Horton Hatch's Dieg when he said, sit like an elephant. But hearing the story, it does remind me of particularly the quality of patience. But I thought about all of these six qualities. They're called perfections or paramitas. that can help one cultivate the mind of a bodhisattva, an awakening being. And I'm going to talk a little bit about those six qualities and how important embodied all six, but also then how that pertains to us who are sitting all day today or leaving and going on with your lives, but also may find these, some of you have probably very familiar with the parameters and some of you may be hearing this for the first time.

[15:43]

So I hope there'll be something valuable for everybody. So there are many books about these six qualities and one that I looked at in preparation for the talk, is by Tenshin Reb Anderson, who lives at Green Gulch Farm. And his book is called Entering the Mind of Buddha. And he calls these the six heroic practices of bodhisattvas. And you might think of Horton as heroic in the sense that he overcame many obstacles and was true to his purpose. So Reb writes that these practices invite us to enter the mind of Buddha. They are based on the Bodhisattva vow to become Buddha in order to benefit and liberate all living beings.

[16:50]

So this Bodhisattva vow, sometimes we say it as, I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings. And what does that actually mean? It's how can we benefit and liberate all living beings. And these six qualities are helpful aspects of training ourselves to be ready to respond when we are needed. So the six paramitas or perfections are generosity, the ground of all of them, ethical conduct, patience, joyful or heroic effort, concentration and wisdom.

[17:51]

And Reb sees them as ways of finding a kind response in this world of suffering. And the six principles practices really arise together, and each one includes all the others, but it's also helpful to look at them one by one. So I would say, I'll use Horton as an example, for generosity, you know, responding to a request of someone, responding to a request of a friend, is a generous act. and might reflect on some of the ways you've been generous even today. You know, some people were ringing bells and offering, leading the chanting, Mako opening the Zendo, people cooking breakfast,

[19:02]

the cleanup crew throughout the day. Many people will be generous just by maintaining silence so that all of us can enjoy the silence in the building. For those of you who are online or who didn't start your day at City Center, you can think of some act of generosity you or someone close to you offered this morning. Sometimes we don't necessarily notice, but when you slow down, it's often possible to say, oh, someone did that for me. I'm grateful. That was very kind, generous. So ethical conduct for Norton, I meant what I said. I said what I meant. So his actions and his speech were congruent. with his promise, basically, to sit on that egg.

[20:06]

And Reb's book on the precepts called Being Upright, I really appreciate that phrase. Sometimes our posture can be an expression of that intention to live according to the precepts, including not harming, not taking what is not given, using... right speech, a kind speech. So, and Rev talks about generosity providing a ground for ethical conduct because we want to act and speak in a way that expresses our caring about other people, which I think can be connected to that impulse to be generous. And then the third one, patience, he sat and he sat, he sat and he sat through all these, you could say distractions or challenges.

[21:17]

And sometimes, you know, being true to something we want to explore or an endeavor that's important. It requires patience, and I'm sure for all of us sitting today will require some patience to be able to... It doesn't necessarily mean not moving when it comes to sasana, so I'll talk about that later. But even with some discomfort, to continue to keep going. Things don't always go the way we want them to, but can we still stay with? something we've committed ourselves to do. And then effort. I like the phrase joyful effort, which I learned from Zen teacher Darlene Cohn, who died some years ago. But even she had rheumatoid arthritis, and she was frequently in pain, and yet she practiced with something she called suffering and delight, so that you can

[22:28]

not push away the pain, not try to ignore it, but also notice the blue sky or somebody's smile and be able to experience suffering and delight. Not exactly at the same time, but one doesn't make the other impossible. So I think of that as joyful effort. Tenshin Roshi Rev calls it heroic effort. And that can help with concentration, which is something we develop in Sazen. And then wisdom, which is basically an awareness that we are totally interconnected with each other and all beings and sentient and insentient beings. Wisdom is... a sense of being part of something much bigger than ourselves.

[23:39]

Sometimes we live in a conventional world with following schedules. We need that kind of clock time to exist together, do our work, and all of that. But that's not all there is. There's another way of experiencing life and the sense that everything is part of us and we are part of everything else. And that's actually the basis from which ethical conduct and all of these paramitas emerge. So, again, just briefly back to Horton. felt concentration and then I think the wisdom was I think there's only one way in which I feel Horton wasn't a total bodhisattva and I don't actually know it doesn't say how he felt about Maisie when she demanded that he get off the nest and this was her egg

[24:56]

But, you know, in a way, he did what she offered. It didn't seem that he was judging or blaming her. And that was also a generous act. But sometimes, you know, wisdom includes the ability to appreciate everyone, even people who do things that we... might not do ourselves that we disapprove of or who we have some judgments about. And I see some people are maybe not feeling so comfortable sitting, so feel free to sit in rest position or move if you need to. Yeah, so just a few more words about patients from Rev. Anderson's entering the mind of Buddha.

[25:57]

So Reb says, patience is the ability to sit calmly in the center of all suffering. Patience is not waiting. for painful circumstances to go away. It's not attempting to control our experience. Patience is not trying to get away from physical or emotional discomfort, and it's not wallowing in them. Training in patience encourages us to be wholeheartedly present with whatever comes and goes. So during a one-day sit, we have many opportunities to be present. with everything that comes and goes. And in the course of an ordinary day in one's life, that's similar. Things will come up that are pleasant and enjoyable, but we can't really hold on to them. And things will come up that will be challenging, and we do our best to meet them.

[27:17]

So... And also coming... Back to Suzuki Roshi's chapter on sit like an elephant. He talks in that chapter quite a bit about zazen. And he said all the teachings come from practicing zazen. So just a few thoughts for those of you who are sitting today. How to sit like an elephant. It's really helpful if you can find a position of ease in your body to be able to have some sense of both being upright and relaxed, particularly relaxing shoulders if you can, to feel supported. It's helpful if your knees don't quite meet, if you're sitting cross-legged and your knees don't touch the Zabatan, you can use support cushions.

[28:20]

To provide support for your body, you can experiment sitting, especially talking to people who are doing their first one-day sitting. And I'll be meeting with some of you after this Dharma talk to talk more about what are some of the ways in which we can sit that enable us to be still, because that helps everything to be still, including our busy minds. And staying as much as possible with your breath and with what arises moment to moment, letting things arise. and fall trying not to get involved in stories uh as you're sitting if you notice you're starting to get carried away by a train of thought to just notice that and find a way to come back either hearing a sound or with to your breath or to uh i often find grounding myself again in my body is very helpful so

[29:38]

Suzuki Roshi said, we do not practice zazen to attain enlightenment, but rather to express our true nature. Even when your thinking is an expression of your true nature, when you are practicing, even your thinking is an expression of your true nature when you're practicing zazen. I think what he means by that is not to be harsh with yourself if you find yourself thinking, Another Zen teacher said that the mind secretes thoughts the way the body secretes gastric juices. And so when thinking, thoughts occur to allow them to come and go. So even our thinking is an expression of our true nature when we're practicing Zazen.

[30:40]

Whatever we do is an expression of Buddha nature. And he also talks about not trying to judge whether our zazen is good or bad. It's whatever it is, is what it is. He also says, when we practice zazen, we're practicing with all the ancestors. If you sit with this understanding, having conviction in your Buddha nature, Then sooner or later, you will find yourself in the midst of great masters. So I find, especially in the Zendo, where so many people have sat before us, sometimes feeling the support of all those people and of all the Buddhas and ancestors. We chanted their names this morning, for those of you who were here. They're with us. They're not people who lived... I mean, they are people who lived ages ago.

[31:41]

And yet, in some way, they are here with us. And they can support us. We can draw from their wisdom and strong practice. And so I would say we... we'll find ourselves in the midst of great Zen masters, including cows and elephants. So thank you very much for your attention. I just want to say that I think actually our Eno will talk about what's next, but I do want to encourage those of you who are sitting your first one-day sit or if you're having any struggles so far, to come back about 10 minutes after the Dharma talk, and we'll have a chance to talk about some of the ways that you might feel more supported during this one-day sit.

[32:46]

And for everyone who's going out into the world, please think about at some point what it means to move like a cow or an elephant. So thank you all for your kind attention. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[33:29]

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