This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning. Good morning, everybody. What a wonderful surrounding to find myself in. Welcome, especially welcome to the young people who've come today. Thank you, parents, if that's who you are, for bringing them. So I want to tell you a story, you young people, a story, and it has to do with a duck. Does anyone know what sound a duck makes? That sounds right. OK, can everybody make that sound? Great. Perfect. Okay.

[01:00]

So in order to get a little control over this experiment, I'm going to ask you to make that sound when I go like this. Okay? And then when I go like this, you stop. Let's try that, okay? So... Perfect. All right. So you need to help me with a story. So once upon a time, there was a mother duck... who laid five eggs in a nest by the lake. Night and day she sat patiently on those eggs to keep them warm. So what do you think happened to those eggs? They hatched and then they quacked. That's right. So the eggs began to hatch. And pretty soon there were four little ducks. appearing in the nest. But the mother duck had to wait just a little longer until her last egg opened.

[02:02]

A few more days went by, and then a few more after that. Meanwhile, the other little ducks waddled down to the water to go for a swim. Just as the mother duck was starting to worry, very slowly the last egg began to crack and to open. But the little duck didn't come out. She stayed inside the egg, holding the broken shell over her head. So the mommy duck went down to the water where all the other ducks were waiting and called to her. Welcome to this beautiful world, my darling daughter. Come on down and take a swim with us. Which in duck language sounded like this. But the little duck stayed right in the nest, shaking her head sadly, and then she said, but I don't know how to swim.

[03:08]

The other duck said, of course you do, you're a duck. And they all paddled around singing their happy duck song together. Beautiful. Well, hearing about the little duck, No matter how hard they all tried to convince her to come into the water, she sat there quietly in the nest, just shaking her head. So once the wise old duck had heard about this little duck who couldn't swim, she flew over to the nest and spoke to the little duck very kindly, telling her she didn't have to worry because there was a magic stick that she could borrow to hold herself up in the water. The stick was called a sky hook. Now all you need to do is hook onto the sky and you can swim. And then the old duck showed her how it worked and gave the little duck the magic stick.

[04:11]

Okay. Now everyone was so overjoyed as the little duck went into the water with her sky hook and swam just like everyone else all day long. Many days later, while the family of ducks were resting on the grass, a fox came sneaking up behind them. The old wise duck saw the fox and cried out for everyone to jump into the water and be quick. Good. Which they did. But the little duck who couldn't swim forgot to grab her stick and jumped into the water without it. What do you think happened? Thank you, Dad. Exactly. She suddenly realized that she could swim just like all the other ducks, and so she did for the rest of her days.

[05:19]

And they lived happily ever after. Great. So this story is about young people as well, about children. I think all of you don't know yet how much you're going to learn. You're going to learn how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. You already know how to do that. Well, other thing, maybe drive a car, for example. Well, there we go. How about do physics problems? Anyone got those down? Not yet. Okay, you can do those too. Okay. Anyway, grow vegetables and flowers. Be kind and gentle. Help your family. Help your friends. And someday, when you're all grown up, perhaps even have little people of your own to teach and to help to grow. But for a while, little ducks, you're going to need a skyhook. You're going to need your parents and your friends to help support you and hold you up while you learn that you can already swim.

[06:26]

Okay? That's it. All right, so one last time as you go out the door. Out the door. Bye. Bye-bye. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Big ducks, little ducks. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Bye-bye. Plummies.

[07:42]

Plummies. [...] Bye-bye. Thank you. Good one. Bye.

[08:47]

Good morning again. Welcome to Green College. Anyone here for the first time? Oh, great. Welcome. Welcome. It's nice to have you here. So I have another story for you this morning. This one is also about a skyhook, and it's in the form of magical tricks used by the Buddha to help teach us human beings how to manage our lives while learning just like the little duck that we can already swim. This story is called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and it's one of several well-known parables from the Buddhist sacred text. This one is called the Lotus Sutra, the full name being Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the True Dharma. So I think some of you may be familiar with another parable from the Bible by this same name, but this story of the prodigal son from the Lotus Sutra has somewhat of a different message, as you'll hear. The Lotus Sutra is one of the most popular and influential texts among East Asian Buddhists, and it's the basis for all the major schools of the Mahayana tradition, including this one, the Zen tradition.

[11:29]

So the Sutra begins in Chapter 1 with a gathering on Vulture Peak, during which the Buddha has entered into a deep meditative trance, at which time the earth shakes in six ways. When the Buddha then brings forth a ray of light from the center of his forehead, which illuminates thousands of Buddha fields throughout the universe, so it says, the bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri, indicates to those assembled that this means the Buddha is about to expound his ultimate teaching, the highest meaning of the holy truths. In the second chapter of the book, the Buddha explains that he too uses skillful means, skyhooks, to adapt his teachings to the capacities of his audience, such as telling a story to young people about a little duck. The Buddha then tells the people that the ultimate purpose of all of his teachings is to cause sentient beings, that's us, to obtain the insight of the Buddha and to enter the pathway

[12:43]

of an awakened life. In other words, not only to teach them, but also to show them, as the wise old duck did, that they were born to swim. In the next few chapters of the sutra, the Buddha begins to use parables to illustrate various aspects of his teaching, given to help us gain confidence in ourselves. And then he promises us that through our efforts and through our willingness to be taught, we will realize what is most deeply true about ourselves. And it's this very truth that brings joy to humankind. So part of the great popularity of the Lotus Sutra is this very promise that all beings have the same potential to become Buddhas, to awaken in this present lifetime. The lotus flower itself symbolizes how we human beings who are rooted in the mud of our delusional thinking Come to flower above the water into the open air of enlightenment.

[13:45]

I can swim, says the duck. You can indeed, says his mother. In chapter 4, called Faith and Understanding, is the parable of the prodigal son, as told to the assembly by the senior disciples of the Buddha who have just had a great realization about themselves. They've come to realize that they themselves had wandered away from the promise of Buddhahood, had become neglectful of their own bodies, and had mistakenly thought of enlightenment as a formless void, immaterial and without function. And then they congratulate themselves on having come to understand the Buddha's skillful teaching, thereby acquiring, as they proclaim, so great and good a gain, an invaluable jewel, and yet without any seeking on our parts whatsoever, that jewel of perfect understanding, of complete awakening, which had been there all the while.

[14:50]

So this radical teaching of the Lotus Sutra not only includes the fact that all beings have this potential to realize Buddhahood, but that such realization is available to each of us right here and right now. There is no other time, no other place, and no other person. Where else could enlightenment be? The parable itself is quite simple, and it's easy to understand. In fact, I often tell the students here at Green Gulch that this parable is the basis of how we train here at the Zen Center, that this parable is the sky hook for the Zen tradition. So here's the story. And I also want to say that I've noticed and you'll notice that most of these stories involve males, not much about the daughters. This is about a son. So just read into it, all you daughters.

[15:55]

This is a story of the daughters as well. Once upon a time, a man who in his youth leaves his father and runs away... dwells so long in some other country that he forgets who he is, until eventually growing old and becoming needy in every way, he wanders inadvertently into his native land. Meanwhile, his aging father, never ceasing trying to find his son, has grown rich beyond measure. Gold, silver, coral and amber, crystal and other gems, granaries and treasuries overflowing, numberless, elephants, horses, carriages, cows, and sheep. His revenues and investments spread to other countries and his traders and customers, many in the extreme. His father, who has never forgotten his son, thinks, I have all this wealth, granaries and treasuries overflowing, but I have no son. Someday my end will come and my wealth will be scattered and lost.

[16:58]

If only I could get my son back and commit my wealth to him, how contented and happy should I be with never any more anxiety. Meanwhile, the poor son, hired for minimum wages here and there, unexpectedly arrives at his father's house. Standing by the gate, he sees from afar his father seated on a lion couch, his feet on a jewel footstool. revered and surrounded by noblemen and noblewomen, attendants and young servants of every kind. Seeing this man and not knowing it is his own father, the poor son is seized with a terrible fear and thinks to himself, this must be some king or something. It is no place for me to obtain any benefit from my hire for labor. I had better go to some poor hamlet to hire myself out. If I tarry here too long, I may suffer oppression and be forced to work against my will.

[17:59]

Having reflected thus, he hastily runs away. The father, meanwhile, recognizes his son at first sight and with great joy reflects, always I have been thinking of my son, with no means of seeing him, and suddenly he himself has come and my longing is satisfied. He then dispatches his attendants to rush after him and fetch him back. The poor son, surprised and terrified, cries aloud, I haven't done anything wrong. Why should I be arrested? But the messengers hold even tighter to him and compel him to return. The poor man now thinks, believing himself innocent, that he will be imprisoned and that will certainly mean his death. So all the more terrified, he faints and falls to the ground. Seeing this from afar, the father tells the messengers to leave him alone, sprinkle cold water on his face to restore him to consciousness and not to speak to him any further.

[19:01]

Knowing that his son believes himself inferior and that his own high position is causing his son's distress, he tactfully tells no one that this poor man is his own beloved child. When the poor man awakens, he is overjoyed to be free. and goes to the nearby hamlet in search of food and clothing. So the rest of this story has to do with the father, the Buddha, setting up some skillful devices to attract his son, you know, that's us, starting by sending two men in disguise to offer the poor man a job at double wages, cleaning the filth out of the stables. The poor man agrees, saying, now that's something I can do. Sometime later, the father, too, disguises himself as a work boss, goes to the stables, and in a stern voice pretends to admonish the other workers not to be lazy. He then tells his son that he has not been lazy, has never been deceitful, angry, or complained about the work, unlike those other laborers.

[20:05]

And because of that, he will from this time on be treated like his own begotten son. So little by little, the poor man is given more instructions and responsibilities, first for the stables, then the household, the granaries and investments, and finally the entirety of his father's estate. And even so, the poor man still continues to live in the stables, unable to abandon his sense of inferiority to those he imagines to be more worthy than himself. Even so, the father, knowing that his son's ideas about the world have been enlarged and his skills well-developed, commands his son, along with all his retainers and ministers, to assemble around him. Seeing his own end growing near, the father tells the entire assembly, this really is my son, and I am really his father. Now all the wealth which I possess belongs entirely to him. When the poor son hears these words from his father, so great was his joy at such unexpected news, he thinks thus, without any mind for receiving them or effort to do so on my part, these treasures now have now come to me of themselves.

[21:25]

Having told this story, the four disciples now declare to the Buddha, the very rich elder in this story is you, dear teacher, the world-honored one. And we are as your children. You have always declared that we are your children. But because of the three sufferings of greed, hate, and delusion, we have borne all kinds of torment, been deluded and ignorant, and enjoyed only our attachment to trifles. So with the simplest element of this story in mind, that being the use of skillful means, you know, the skyhook, I want to talk a little bit more about the value of training, such as the elder gave to his prodigal son. Here at Green Gulch, which is also known as Green Dragon Temple, we consider the primary value in all of our activities to be training. We often refer to ourselves as a Zen training temple, training in order to reveal confidence.

[22:27]

not only to ourselves, but to one another, those essential values and skills conducive to true happiness within the constraints of this human life. In one of his earliest teachings, the Buddha said, I teach just two things. I teach suffering, and I teach the end of suffering. And so he did. Suffering isn't so hard for us to find or to understand. It comes with the territory. the territory that we traverse from the day of our birth until the day of our death. And it comes in a familiar and repeating set of conditions. These conditions were outlined by the Buddha in his very first sermon called Setting, Rolling the Wheel of the Law. The law in Buddhism is also called the Dharma, or the truth. And this truth is for each of us to validate for ourselves. As the Buddha told his own disciples, try it out, and if it doesn't work for you, let it go and try something else.

[23:33]

So here's what he said about the truth of suffering. Birth is suffering. Aging is suffering. Sickness is suffering. Death is suffering. Sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering. Association with the loathed is suffering. Dissociation from the loved is suffering. In short, not to get what one wants is suffering. So I would imagine that all of these examples of suffering in varying degrees are familiar to everyone in this room. In fact, it's doubtful that we ever get through a single day without one or another of these conditions depriving us of what would otherwise be a life of unending and seamless pleasure. Or so we dream. It's therefore that the Buddha went on to say that suffering is caused.

[24:36]

And this is the hard part. It's caused by how we think. And how we think... is driven by our desire for things to be the way we want, by our preferences. In the Buddha's own words, it's craving which produces the cycle of suffering. Craving, accompanied by relish and lust, relishing this and that. In other words, craving for sensual desire, craving for being, for existence, for life, or craving for non-being, for non-existence, for death. In other words, wishing, scheming, and planning for things we must have, or on the other hand, must eliminate, is the source of all of our suffering. And what are those wishes, schemes, and plans made out of anyway? They are made out of ideas, notions, thoughts, and words. We build our house of cards out of our thinking, out of our minds, which indeed we often are.

[25:41]

Learning to see how our happiness is related to this particular habit of mind called craving is basic training for all those who endeavor to study the Buddha way. In order to understand this training a little better, I find it useful to be reminded again and again that these habits of mind formed from ideas into patterns and shapes are what I am using just like my glasses to see the world. So it's no accident that the ideas that I use to see the world look exactly like the world that I see. The world of my preferences, of my judgments, my limitations, my terrors, and my delights. A world in which not getting what I want is suffering. So I've come to really appreciate a term that's used in the mind-only teachings of Buddhism, which I have been studying this year in some detail. The term is emotionalized conceptualizations, those strong feelings which come up together with our thoughts.

[26:51]

In other words, we believe that how we feel and what we think is simply the truth. However, the Buddha said to the contrary, those emotionalized concepts are the cause of our suffering. For example, the prodigal son who believed he was inferior to his father and fainted in terror when he was summoned to the palace, certain that he would be imprisoned and executed. And how many times have each of us felt inferior to others and behaved in ways that reinforced that feeling, thereby confirming our status as unworthy of admiration or of love? In fact, low self-esteem is one of the most insidious afflictions of our culture and of our age. After detailing the truth of how and why we suffer, the Buddha then went on to teach his second most important message, and that is that there is an end of suffering.

[27:53]

That's the one that got everybody's attention. The end of suffering, he declared, is the fading and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go and rejecting of that attachment we have to our emotionalized conceptualizations. In other words, the end of suffering is to leave the skyhook on the grass and jump into the water with your friends. But before we can do that, we need to make use of the skyhooks, of skillful memes. given to us by wise old ducks and by our wise old elders, just as the poor son did in growing into his true worth as the heir of his father's estate. It was his willingness to be taught, to receive the offerings of greater and greater responsibility that brought him to full maturity as a man. At which point, when the letting go was complete, he himself was Buddha.

[28:54]

So although there's always been some friendly debate within the Buddhist tradition about exactly how to end our suffering, the Buddha did give us a training program modeled on his own way of living that he called the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path is a simple formula for managing ourselves while we come to realize who we really are and how we really ought to behave. Like the sky hook that held up the little duck, We can use the elements of the path to support our own efforts to live a peaceful and productive life with others. After all, ducks don't hang out in the water by themselves. So in brief, here is what the Buddha described as the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. Right view. Right intention. Right speech. Right conduct. Right livelihood. right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration or meditation.

[30:01]

So my favorite image of the Eightfold Path is that of a flotilla of small sailing boats out on the open ocean, endeavoring to navigate by the North Star. Boats can't advance without a lot of adjustments and reconsiderations, and without a lively response to the ever-changing conditions of the weather, of the sea, and of one another. Living with the intention to benefit all beings, the second of the Eightfold Path, is based on developing a clear view, a right view, of who we really are and how it is we suffer. Once this groundwork is laid, we naturally engage in the transformation of our speech, our actions, and the way we earn our living in the world, all of which requires an effort, a right effort. as did cleaning out the stables and managing the estate. Our efforts, in turn, are supported by the development of right concentration and, finally, by right meditation, those timeouts that we take throughout the day to reflect on the ultimate truth.

[31:11]

There is nothing happening. All in all, the cessation of suffering is caused by the complete transformation of the way we live our lives, from selfish to selfless, from greedy to generous, from noisy and restless to silent and still. Masters of tranquility, just like those happy ducks swimming lazily alone. I hope that all of us, as the sons and daughters of good family, temporarily having fallen into poverty, will come to realize our true estate. And that is that there is nothing whatsoever restraining us other than our own ideas of some more perfect and better world than the one we are in. Some more perfect and better freedom. Once the Buddha saw how ideas themselves were all that troubled him, he felt a tremendous relief. He was enlightened up.

[32:14]

And he said things that had never been heard before, as for example, no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no suffering, no cause of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path to the cessation of suffering, no knowledge, no attainment, nothing to attain. This teaching from the Heart Sutra is a declaration of perfect wisdom. This is how the world was for the Buddha when his egg cracked open, and all the colors, shapes, flavors, odors, and sounds of the universe were set free. Inside, outside, and no sides at all. The Bodhi Svaha. Free at last, free at last. May all beings in the universe be free at last. Thank you very much for your kind attention. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[33:35]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[33:38]

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