I'll let you out. No, say it. I don't know why so I do it. Yeah.

[04:10]

Yeah. [...] And I'll Thank you. So glad you did come out again.

[05:12]

I'm glad you made the Houston soap open. It's still nice. It's a nice thing if I haven't made this. I really invite you to do it. I just really want to see what you have. There's some great things about you selling it. Well, that's a good part scenario. I hope I will make it a point. Beautiful. All right. Thank you. I don't know.

[06:13]

I don't know. I don't know. Thank you. Thank you.

[07:24]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to do it. Yeah, I'm going to do it. Yeah, I'm going to do it. .

[08:50]

. . . Thank you. ... [...] Yes.

[10:18]

Yes. That's good. Oh, yes. Sorry about this, please. Don't close that up. Yes, press. Thank you. [...] .

[11:45]

. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. . [...] Thank you.

[12:53]

Excuse me. My name is Cotto. I'm the doan for the ceremony hour. Eno is in the procession. Just a couple of quick notes about the process of this ceremony. For the first section, everyone will be standing. Following a five-person offering, you will hear some very familiar bells, including sit-down bells. And we'll all take our seats at that time. Something that's less familiar is that the assembly does not bow along with the Doshi at the beginning or at the end of the Heart Sutra. So the sounds may indicate that you want to bow. It's not the time. The Doshis will bow along. Thank you for being here. And please stand now, as they should be around each other. Thank you. For the last time as abbot, I have walked in this procession, from altar to altar, from the Founders Hall to the residence space, the kitchen and the zendo.

[23:50]

It has been a long journey to this moment, here, now, to face with Buddha in the midst of all of you. This is it. So wonderful to see all of you here for this ceremony.

[27:40]

Seems like only yesterday, but it was nine years ago, that I was standing here on top of this mountain. And for nine years I've been abbot, first five years as abiding abbot of the city center living and practicing intimately here in this temple with all who came, a warm, Beginner's mind intimacy. Then I started four years of Central Abbott with exciting projects and dreams, many that have been delayed or changed as we turn toward the pressing challenges of the pandemic. These challenges deepened my trust in the Dharma and in the ability of the Sangha to meet the moment. I am deeply grateful to the residential Sangha and the wider Sangha for their commitment and generosity.

[28:46]

I believe in Suzuki Roshi's innovative and expansive way and the importance of this institution to express and embody it. I've tried my best and now stepped down with great confidence in the next generation of leadership to further this great venture. With a pocket full of shame, a pocket full of sorrows, and a heart full of gratitude, once again I stand alone at the foot of the mystic peak.

[30:44]

There is nothing left to be done but this, incense in homage to the Buddha, bowing in homage to the Dharma, and chanting in homage to the Sangha and its sacred song. All my ancient twisted karma from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow. Swim like fish and birds fly like birds.

[34:24]

We walk barefoot along polished wooden floors in an entire lifetime, adding less weight than those dust bunnies we religiously sweep away. And facing you from the top of the mountain, the whole of my life is visible right here. Reaching into the pocket of shame, I offer regrets for any harm I have caused you. Reaching into the pocket of sorrows, I promise to follow this ancient way to the end of my days. And reaching into my heart, there is only profound gratitude for my life in this Sangha and for the teachings of our ancestors and for the awakening at the core of all things. Zazen on Qingting Mountain. The birds had vanished down the sky. Now the last cloud drains away.

[35:28]

We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains. Thank you.

[41:31]

Thank you. Right, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, [...] The events in itself form sensations, perceptions, foundations, and consciousness are also like this. I read it from all time by the sun, but I am taking a slave. Then my world rise for seaside, never defied. No, no, no, no, no, no

[42:58]

No touch, no, I'm getting down, my, down, around, above, sky, down, around, above, high, consciousness, get everything to see, better, great, no, I'm a rat, just, [...] no, I'm a rat, Thank you. [...] Of stuff I did, without in the prince, without in the prince, there is no fear for me out of all. I'm ready to use one of the lights and scare for one of the blue dots of the past.

[44:06]

I'm ready to send you to the tree, but I don't trust you. I'm ready to talk again, but I'm ready to save you. I'm ready to serve us. I'll be perfect. I'm ready to get four of the clouds. I'm ready to start. The great miraculous mantra, the great right mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable. Bunch of a pitch-free, little soul-suffering and a-striple-dance-fall-spitter-for-la-peat-go-play-blow-prow-shay-la-bot-rall-a-peat-so-bunch of a-bunch [...] of a-b Thank you.

[45:12]

Thank you. Thank you. Our first ancestor in China, great teacher, Bodhidharma. Our first ancestor in Japan, great teacher, Rehe Dogen. All the ancestors who have transmitted the light of Dharma. Our compassionate founder, great teacher, Shogaku Shenyu. The great sage, Manjushri, Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, and the eternal, all-pervading, triple treasure, may we be peaceful and bhakti, stable and fruitful committee, and may we practice joyfully together with all.

[46:20]

Amen. Oh Oh Oh Thank you. In Mondo, we ask and answer in ways that comes from our heart and strike to the core of our life.

[51:46]

This is Kano Doko, Intimate Communion in Paths That Meet. Who is it? What is it? Bring forth your questions. Since you've been an adult, you've walked with Suzuki Roshi. What would he say to you today? That's when I became an adult? Excellent. Probably your cortex finished developing by then. I think it took about three decades after I met Suzuki Roshi to become an adult with his guidance. He would say, thank you.

[52:49]

You've tried hard. Keep practicing. There's no end to it. And now that I've studied with you for nine years, and you've been in this position for that long, what would you say to me? You've tried hard. Keep practicing, especially with me, if you can tolerate it. I look forward to it with great love and compassion in my heart. There is love between us. Congratulations. Great congratulations. Is what is entrusted any different than what is transmitted?

[53:58]

Not for you. Heart to heart makes difference. Congratulations. Right. I say that your way is the way of kindness.

[55:07]

What do you say is your way? I agree. My way is the way of friendliness. Your way is the way of kindness. Congratulations. Great congratulations. There's only one question to ask you before you return to being a modern-day Vimalakirti. What is a Zen Center student's method for entering non-duality? Straight ahead. Don't look back. Constant, warm-hearted effort. Do you know how much you treasure Not as much as I treasure you.

[56:13]

I think this is where I throw away this fourth statement. Thank the four of you for your kind, generous questioning. Questioning that brings forth the best in our practice. I appreciate you. I want to practice with you for the rest of my life. Thank you very much. Dear Dharma friends, please come closer and whisper sweet things that only you and I can hear.

[59:46]

Nine years, I've been out of this green goat farm. What have you learned about working hard without deciding expectation of the desired work. Well, it's the old farm motto, isn't it? That we work hard, we accomplish nothing. I feel very confident. Easy to say. And to do. Congratulations. Great, congratulations. What words of wisdom can you offer for those deep pockets of sorrow and joy as we were living for you?

[61:04]

Well, there's the third one. This one right here. That's how we balance the pockets. So with an open heart, generous heart, kind heart, you won't have any problem. Congratulations. Your teachings have often moved me, sometimes to tears. And now I ask you something that is a burning question for me, and that a monk asked his headmaster. He said, The physical body rots away. What is the hard and fast body of reality? Is there a hard and fast body of reality to alive in this aging body?

[62:06]

Congratulations. Great. Congratulations. Oh, dear. What, if anything, have you learned about the appropriate and inappropriate use of the facial power to be helpful for the commander and every person stepping into your footsteps? Did you hear that? No. I didn't hear the first one. What, if anything, have you learned about the appropriate use of a facial power that would be helpful for this community to know and helpful probably for those stepping into your footsteps tomorrow? Thank you. You have to give it away every single moment. Just give it away. It's not yours anyway. It comes to you. It's given to you by everyone. just to care for it like you would a child, a baby, a friend.

[63:30]

Thank you. I have another one. I knew you would. I'm sorry. Sabrina and I concocted this one. Anyway, she believes that you believe in reincarnation. I don't think you do, but if you do, please say you do. Well, for her, I do. For you, I don't. Okay. Okay. Then the next question, this is the most important. You talked about sorrow that you may have. We're inviting you to put that sorrow forward in the community. We will help you in any way we can. The family, the sangha, which is your community, we will help you deal with it before you die. Is that a promise, Grace? I'll count on it. You've got it. Thank you. Congratulations. Great congratulations.

[64:33]

My dear friends, everyone, my dear friends, I am so inspired and I appreciate each and every one of you. And I will do my best to stay in connection and practice together to the end of our days for the sake of this world, this troubled world. And please, as we promised, we would do. Thank you so much. Green Dragon Atlas.

[67:24]

You have served the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Swami generously, diligently, and courageously. For this and much more, we are so good. Thank you so much. How many times have you gone down into the green dragon cave? This distress deserves recounting. Clear-eyed, patchful bodhisattvas do not take this lightly.

[68:36]

For those who have no friends, you have been a friend. For those without refuge, you have been a refuge. For those without protection, you have been a protector. For those without a home, you have been a home. Your great loving kindness and great compassion are immeasurable, as is our gratitude. Thank you so much. Read this, graduate on behalf of your teacher.

[69:43]

Congratulations to Ed for nine years of dedicated work as a Biden abbot and then central abbot. It was longer than Ed originally expected, but crisis arose, especially COVID, that he did not anticipate, and he extended his tenure until those crises were resolved. Ed's contributions ranged far and wide. He taught Dharma, trained students, led practice periods both in the city and at Tazahara, at the same time fundraising and helping to reestablish the Zen Center on a solid long-term financial footing, not to mention all the formative work he did to help establish its ability. Ed is a person of many skills and talents, and he needed them all to accomplish what he did.

[70:47]

The talents he brought to his positions flourished and grew. I think in future years, the residents and leaders of Zen Center and its practice places will look back and realize, if they don't already, that Ed's contributions were so great and so varied he can rightly claim the title of founder of this period in Zen Center's history. I have known Ed for more than 40 years. Our work together as Dharma colleagues spanned at least 15 of those years and included our work together in founding the Vimalasanda in Noval, which Ed still needs and which still flourishes. I am retired from my Zen work now and in concentrating on writing and my other applications. I hope that Ed, in his well-earned retirement, can also tend to what he loves and live a more relaxed, less demanding life.

[71:52]

He and Max certainly deserve it. Thank you, Ed, for all you have done for so many people. Rest easy now. Your legacy is in good hands and will continue Thank you very much for your hard work for so many years leading the Zen Center and protecting the Zen Center.

[72:54]

When I see far into the sky, I see many, many mountains, layers of mountains, and most of you have come so far, come over those mountains. You must have had difficult times and also fun times.

[74:05]

Many people's feelings of appreciation Fill this room The voice It's just like the moon shining over the ocean Like white clouds over high mountains. Watch over the center.

[75:25]

My teacher. When he. [...] One of the people ask, when you climb down the mountain, how do you feel? Soしましたら,師匠は言いました. Then my teacher said,山を下りるということは、山を登るということだ。 Climbing down mountains means climbing up the mountain.

[76:35]

For both of you, there are high mountains waiting for you. Please train your body and if you don't, go on. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a great joy and an honor to serve this co-op in the past four years, to be nourished by your practice, your leadership, your mentorship, your love. Just your being who you are has kept me sustained so I can support the Sangha. So thank you so much for this great gift that we have offered of nine years, nine years.

[77:44]

And it's not been easy, obviously, the way that we have to navigate the pandemic and other challenges and to see your steadfastness your flexibility, your great heart, and everything that you have done to try to sustain a very challenging time. So I have felt well held on both sides as we walk together and try to steer this amazing vessel, garment vessel. So through your wits, humor, your passion, your intelligence, your poetic voice. Beautiful. Thank you so much for those gifts and for all the little laughs that we get to have in our Zoom meetings. I'm sorry we didn't get more one-on-one time in the same room together during this time, but we made it work over Zoom. Thank you so much for just radiating who you are, for playing together in that realm, for

[78:52]

Like I said before, where's the plumbing? It will forever be in my mind as invoking that very important Dharma question when we kind of go through the process. Where's the plumbing? How does all this fit together? How do we know how things connect and be clear about that process? So thank you for offering that. Thank you for also being a wonderful support in the DIA work that our institution has been doing continues. to me to do it very much so. So I hope you will. I know you will be continuing supporting that. Thank you again. And Ed, here's where I get the points. I'm so struck by your humility, your groundedness, your generosity, kindness, friendliness.

[79:58]

There's nothing, there's very little that's extra value. It's just a sense of just this-ness that I really think is you. And I also think there's something of Suzuki Roshi that comes through that, something that you learn, that you've conveyed. And, you know, it's been... a great honor to be able to co-lead with you in times that we've talked together twice. To be able to be able to do that and to, again, just feel the flavor of Suzuki Roshi coming through your TV's during that time. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think you have single-handedly saved Zen from financial ruin through your tremendous business account, your leadership, your savviness, just this kind of Okay, we've got some challenges here. Let's just pull up our sleeves and get to it. And it's been a tremendous gift.

[81:00]

I think, Lou, I just said you have set us on the course for the next number of years just by all the effort that you have made in these nine years. So big shoes to fill, big shoes, but I'm very happy that both of you are not going anywhere, at least for the next year. that will be able to continue to practice together, that you are senior dharma teachers. So I'm grateful for that. Grateful for the ways that I know your dharma, your presence, your love will continue to nourish the sangha and nourish me and nourish these two abbots who are joining me in this impossible task. And you have demonstrated how to do it so well and so beautifully. And I feel like I just received great, I'm sure what the word is, great lesson, great heart, great mind for how to continue to support the Sangha because of what you have shown me.

[82:12]

So thank you very much. And I hope you get a little bit of rest now. I'll bring Ryokan to the room. Relying upon a finger, you see the moon. Relying upon the moon, we understand the finger. Moon and finger are neither the same nor different. And there are no words that can shine like the moon shines to express what I would like to see in this moment. But the finger pointing at the moon can't touch the feeling of deep gratitude for all this year's devoted services, service as abbots to this organization.

[83:15]

And yet, moon and finger are not different. And who you are and the gratitude of this sampler for all the ways you've nurtured us, like the finger, like the moon, are one and the same. Your endless quest to save all beings has started many years before you came adults and will continue for eons in the future. Your devotion to practice and the Suzuki Roshi's way brings forth the light of Buddha's teachings in ways that inspire me and that I know inspire others in their own way. This place of practice has been transformed deeply by your teachings, your kindness, your wisdom. ever-shining Boli Chi. How can we thank you enough? Who thank you deeply for all your service as others of the Green Grand Temple. Like a warm sun in the sky, you have nurtured with your light all the many bodies others have practiced at the Green Grand Front.

[84:25]

Annette, thank you deeply for your years of service to the San Francisco Zen Center, a central event. You have made such an inconceivable gift of nourishment to this organization, and in many, many ways, you're here because you are here. May your future be bright, and may all beings in the ten directions continue to be nurtured by your deep practice. On behalf or the San Francisco Center. Thank you. Thank you. many other times, I've heard you tell the story of your first coming to Tasahara.

[85:36]

What was that? 1970? 1970. And your first meetings person to person with Suzuki Roshi. And in fact, how those meetings, that contact, that connection, with Suzuki Roshi's deep Dharma as he expressed it in his clarity and presence and love. Love with each person for each person he met. Clarity and presence as expressed by love, which is love. That is at the bottom of it all, I think. For you. You and I met not long after that, and since then, I have had the very big fortune to be your friend.

[86:46]

Companion on the way. That Dharma of clarity and presence and love is really what's behind the tremendous, really unspeakably big work that you have done. Practice that you have practiced. Benefit that you have provided. And echoing what Lou and others have said, a founding benefit going into the future. And I remember the years, a decade or so, that you were so-called out there in the world. Not as a businessman, but as a business monk. Occasionally, when you were in the Bay Area, we'd go for walks sometimes in the hills around Greenbelt.

[87:53]

And that inspiration of practice was still there. Maybe not so much on the surface, but deep in you, waiting for the opportunity to be realized. And then, you came back. Very unusual. You returned to that center with, as they say, gift-bestowing hands, but ironically, contrary to the tenth oxfordy picture, you were coming back. Let me get it straight here. You were coming from the marketplace rather than going to the marketplace. Your way, your unique expression of the dharmas, your unrelenting, unflagging devotion to others, your curiosity, openness, interest in people, great, friendly,

[88:56]

There's no way that these will change with your stepping down from the central abbot's position. The outward shape of them will change. The outward manifestation of it will change. And that's good. And hopefully this new manifestation will give you a little bit more time. Unburdened time. What a concept. unburdened by the responsibilities you take upon yourself so seriously. Time for more rest, relaxation, exercise. The outward shape will change, but the heart is there. The heart won't change. And as that heart of yours expresses love, so you will receive love back from us, those around you, loved ones, and your friends.

[90:08]

I'm not done yet. I'm grateful to be your friend. that we have been friends since we met 50 years ago. Friends help each other, encourage each other, and as they say, find someone who is there for you. You have been such a friend to me, and I hope that I have been such a friend to you. There for you includes being there with you. As we hike down the steep ravine trail on Mount Hamiltonius, or along the mark, together with you, sitting on a rock ledge above Shadow Lake in the Sierras at 9,000 feet.

[91:13]

To be exact, sitting on a rock ledge above 9,000 feet in the Sierras, consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverage. Watching the sky darken after the sun disappears. That was a moment. This is a moment. We'll continue to be such friends. That's good. Thank you. so many people here have had the opportunity to be with you as a teacher, as a leader, as an atheist, and I've had the great opportunity to be your friend.

[92:51]

I remember when I first saw you at Tassajara and kept leaning down wondering if you had feet as you glided. It's such a graceful And I knew immediately that I wanted to know you. And as it has come about in my life, my relationship with Zen practice has always been solid and steady in my core. But in my institution, not so much. It has been through my friendship with people, my faith in the institution, where it's possible for people. It's been the spirit. For those of you that don't know, the person that you experience as a teacher is the same person as a friend. She is an invitation. She is always making an invitation. She is kind.

[93:52]

She is expansive. She is incredibly humble for someone that has as many years of practice and experience. That is not something that is easy in the world. that is as tumultuous and challenging. And I've never seen you take this path. I've always invited more and more grace, kindness, consideration. I think the most important thing about that is, especially when people don't know, being your friend, I've had the opportunity to see that. And I can only hope that many people that have been touched by you over the many years here will understand that their path has been widened by you, by your great vigor.

[94:54]

When I first met you, I thought, oh, she's just like an ocean of calm. And then I was like, oh, no. She's this green dragon. ferociously kind, tenacious, committed, deep, and such astounding love for people. It has broken my heart over and over to witness you, to watch you step in front, to risk yourself, And as you offered to the question, to keep giving the power of even in times that you didn't have to. I am so grateful to be your friend. And I look forward to much more time as you step down.

[96:00]

What I know is that many, many people will be able to continue to be students this time because of what you have done. It's better. Offer it yourself. There's many of you here that I don't know, but I've heard such fond stories because of who's coming from this, because of her willingness to continue to grow. continue to have faith in what is possible. And I have many times pushed back on institutions and she has had faith in this institution. She has had deep and abiding faith in God. So I am grateful too. But I'm also grateful on behalf of the many people that don't know what an incredible friend or one of the guys accused of.

[97:03]

Thank you so much. for your service. Thank you so much for your teaching. Thank you so much for being with your partner. He always gets me going. Steve and Robin, his wife, has performed our marriage ceremony 32 years ago. So I feel very grateful to him for being such a good fit. As someone reminded me earlier today, at your mental seat ceremony, I...

[98:11]

I said I'd be happy to share you with Zen Center. Now, neither you nor I had any idea we were talking ideas. But, you know, like... I also said something, Paul, about hoping that the drama that people at Zen Center would come to love you. care for you as much as I do. Now, I don't think your feelings for Ed have gotten to the point of wisely. But I do hope that you have come to care for him, to value him, to trust him, to rely on him, to respect him. Almost as much as I do.

[99:19]

Now, today is the day that I'm supposed to be getting Ed back. We all know that's not true. Ed would have sooner linked me than linked you. There's just too much work to do here. Got this sensitive responsibility. Imagine just what a sensitive responsibility would have been left in your life. As will I. And sensitive. So please just take this opportunity as some people have worked it out today. Step back. It's for your own good. Step towards you. When I was sitting in the Zendo at Green Gulch Farm, on one of the first occasions I was there, I remember looking up and seeing you sitting on the tarp.

[100:36]

At that time, I didn't know if you were food or the abbess at Green Gulch Farm. I just knew, in that moment, I just had this strong feeling that I would sooner or later, without knowing how, come to know you. Well, I told my friends, especially back in England, that this Buddhist abbess and I had become partners. They blanched. In their minds, she was a humorless ascetic wearing a hair shirt who would lead me into a severe cloistered life, and that would be the last they would see of me. Honestly, what are they like? All of them are in the world of theater and drama. Need I say more? Of course, to be fair, they didn't know anything about you at the time. And the thing is, you can't really tell people about the person you're in love with without sounding awfully biased. I mean, when you say things like, I am very grateful to have laughed a lot in my life, but I can say I have never laughed as much with anyone without anyone quite as funny.

[101:46]

Or, who is wonderful company? Gracious, thoughtful, interesting and interested, joyful and obeyable, with a fascination for and passionate love of life. She's patient, calm and fair, intellectually curious, with a quirky, delightful mind. But when you say things like that, it just sounds, well, let's be honest, biased, even though it's true. You have to meet the person for yourself, and my friends did, And not only were they massively relieved, they were also massively delighted. And I would say the way that all these attributes I mentioned manifested in your abbacy was that you wore the title of abbess, and all that that carries, lightly. Not lightly in terms of commitment to honoring your values, but lightly as it gently and kindly and generously.

[102:49]

And that is how you've held this community over these years. These years have not been without their troubles. There have been some difficult times that had to be faced during your term. And in your sincere efforts to deal with the tensions, struggles, and heartaches, you have always been most comfortable working collaboratively, sharing power, and seeking consensus, no matter what the issue is. and always for the benefit of the community. I was moved by the profound collaboration you formed with your trusted companions, Timo and Giorgi, along with all the other wise leaders of Green Gulch and the Ags. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that your approach to your embassy, to the position and its responsibilities, is that of someone adjusting their eyes to the darkness. finding your way, rather than knowing your way.

[103:52]

I have never seen you try to stand out. You do stand out, of course, but for your wisdom and your kindness and your presence, and not from your own attention or ego. I deeply respect your commitment to the well-being of your community, to the we, and to your loyalty to Zen Center, because it comes from your heart. and the huge tenderness of patience that you have honed through the years in caring for your daughter Sabrina and for Grace and for this community. I am awe. I actually have never said things like this to you, do I? Enjoy the while you can. So I'd like to end now by reading a poem that honors food and all those like it. It's called... There Can Be Nothing Better by Lynn Cochran. There can be nothing better, surely, than to make sense of your life by trying to do the best for others, to join their struggle, to share their outrage and their dreams, to be their fellow traveler on the journey towards hope.

[105:09]

There can be nothing better, surely, in this life than to stand up and be counted to spend your youth discovering your convictions and then to try to have the courage of it. To ignore the glittering prizes and instead to take up the daily tasks of simply doing the right thing, even if no one will listen, even if your audience is just one person. It would be something to aspire to, even if every day brings a sense of failure and doubt and the feeling that we are too small to change anything, too old and too tired to make things better. It is then the inspiration of others, leading by example, quietly enabling progress, seeking nothing for themselves. And of those people who have given over their lives to the carving out of something better for others, we can say,

[106:14]

She tried to make a stand. She tried to speak the truth. She made something where she might have made nothing. She is a person of principles, and hers, yours, is a well-lived life. It's really hard to say anything after

[107:38]

I have in so much love sent your way in so many beautiful words. I'm just so moved that I tried hard to actually absorb it all. Who knows? Try to get copies of scripts, read them later. Nine years ago, I was asked to step up the mountain, a challenge I never thought or imagined I would be asked to do. It turned out to be the most fulfilling time of my life. I've been supported by many friends that I've known my whole life, and many I met during the nine years. I'd particularly like to thank my wife, Max, without whom none of this would have been possible, your support during the long hours and times that I worked here. I was greatly appreciated.

[108:41]

She did have her solution. When I went to Tassar for three months, she flew to Italy and studied with the South Island, but anyway. My teacher, Lu, translated my Dharma name, Rinso, as Grove of Ancestors. And I have had a forest of ancestors helping me in this journey. Suzuki Roshi has been my inspiration from the moment I first met him. That gift cannot be measured. I thank my Dharma grandfather, Huitu Hojo-san, who has traveled from faraway Japan to help us yet again with another mountain sea ceremony. And I also appreciate Shungo-san. for coming and inheriting this great support. I am grateful for your long and steady support of that center.

[109:46]

Thank you for sharing these nine years with me. We stepped up together, we stepped down together. Now my term as Abbott has ended. I cannot hide my mistakes and omissions. If my words or actions have misled you, please wash your ears out in the pure sound of the present. I will keep practicing. Please keep practicing with me. told that the purpose of the whisk is to wipe away whatever has just happened. I'm not going to do that. Ever. Just such a gift to my life.

[110:54]

And I also want to thank Lorenzo Ann, Abbott, Shimuthan, my beloved teacher, Enjin Roshi, all of you, Sangha, my partner who didn't go to Italy, she went, off to England. But anyway, they know how to take care of themselves in the bathroom. I'm grateful for that. The mountain now stands empty, left for a time to the clouds and the snow and the rain. Soon, very soon, new growth will appear. Xin Mei, how truly grateful I am, as are we all, for the arrival of spring. for the arrival of abiding abbot Jirio Richmond-Weiler and Makla Volkl, and for the continuing guidance of our soon-to-be central abbot, David Zimmerman. On the inhalation, the world arises. On the exhalation, the world descends, like bright green turtles on the open ocean.

[111:59]

Wonderful. Wonderful. Good job.

[114:22]

So now there will be a reception in the dining room and the courtyard. Please join us. Thank you. Thank you. Right.

[115:45]

Right. Right. They're lost. They're lost. . [...] And then you go to this second step.

[117:09]

And then you go to this second step. . [...] And then we should get him. Otherwise, you would be in the chair. And then we should get him. Otherwise, you would be in the chair. I'm sorry. [...]

[117:58]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_54.04