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. Wow. This is the fifth day of a five-day sashim. this evening let's have a show song ceremony. So everyone will have a chance to ask a question. And I will respond. Of course, this is a sashin within ango, within a practice period.

[01:03]

So it may not feel like it's so different, but it's a little different. A little different having the silence of sashin. Actually, we do make an effort that works pretty well to set aside everything that we can So we can just concentrate, gather the mind, and settle into this space. So not everyone knows about this. You really don't know what a sesheen is unless you've been in one, and then you really don't know. Yes. but you may know that you've passed through it later, and other people who have, you feel some bond with, actually.

[02:07]

I guess I feel, oh yeah, I have some sense of knowing, body awareness, body-to-body knowing of people who I've shared Sashin practice with. Sometimes even though I don't even know their names, you know, I sat next to someone for seven days and I go off. I have some feeling for this person. I got a call last night that the Cardinals won the World Series. Important news. Probably many more people are interested. It is amazing to me, actually. It's another religion.

[03:13]

What's her name? Annie in the movie Bull Durham. People know that movie? Some people may know it. She says, I've tried all the religions, and I'm a believer in the church of baseball. But it is amazing when the bat hits the ball. It's not so easy. Very difficult, actually. But the St. Louis Cardinals were the team that, since I grew up in Kansas, I was the closest team at the time. And also, Tony La Russa is the manager. He's, I think, a pretty good guy. He does a lot of work for the humane treatment of animals in the off-season. And then during the baseball season, he's, I think, working for the humane treatment of baseball players.

[04:24]

And then the Tonto just gave me some more news. Michael's father is in intensive care. I guess his life is just on a very fragile balance with ventilation and life support system. They really don't know his condition, whether he's experienced a lot of... neurological damage or not, it's impossible to say at this point. So he'll stay there and be in a vigil, not knowing whether he will recover or die, basically any minute. So all of this is part of our session. And I'm also aware this day, this is the 29th, right?

[05:30]

Somebody know? This is the 29th. So my friend David Cody, who committed suicide some months ago, his ashes were taken to his family back in Boston. And My colleague of mine is a Zen priest, James Ford, agreed to do a service for the family there. So they're actually doing a family service for David today. So I'm carrying some part of that in my heart, in my consciousness. And I know... some of you really feel are still in the grieving process.

[06:32]

And the grieving process is ongoing, as I was talking about on day one of the session. It's a developmental, I think, deepening. More one is willing to be present with simply with the knowledge of the karmic bonds that one carries. So, there's a lot happening this session, I feel. And other people are having difficulties of various kinds, and so... Basic thought is to continue to reframe whatever is arising with the balancing of compassion and wisdom.

[07:39]

Under any circumstances, I think that's our vow and our charge is to cultivate a culture, create a culture of wisdom. and compassion. Wisdom means not to be diverted by things, by substantializing what isn't real. And compassion means to accept the substantializing of what isn't real. and be willing to completely work with it, to respond and be helpful in very practical ways, many times, and also in, say, more subtle, inconceivable ways. So, I thought I'd continue reading the tales of the

[08:51]

transmitting the light folk tales from transmitting the light and say what this has to do with a particular demon and I think if if you are aware of the challenge of setting a period of Zazen you know There may be demons that you have to be willing to meet. But this is a dramatic version. Again, this is my own rendering. So, this is the shapeshifter demon ancestor. Kabimara. This is the story of Kabimara. Shapeshifter demon ancestor. Number 13.

[09:52]

Lucky number. Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Kasi, in the city of Magadha, the city of flowers, Ashwagosa, who in our chanting we call Anabhote, so from now on I'll call him Anabhote, but his Sanskrit name is Ashwagosa, So Anabhote was expounding and clarifying the wonderful Dharma to a gathering of his followers and of local people. Suddenly an old man collapsed to the ground right in front of Anabhote's seat. Anabhote immediately told the gathering, this is no ordinary man. There's something very unusual about him. No sooner had he said these words that the old man disappeared from sight. And in the twinkling of an eye, a radiant golden-hued person sprang up out of the ground. This golden person first looked like a man and then changed into a young girl.

[11:02]

This radiant young girl stands up in front of Annabote, points to him with her right hand and recites in verse, I bow deeply to the venerable elder. in accordance with the Tathagata's prediction, you must expound the highest truth right here, right now, in this very place. When I read that, I thought, it's kind of like a hologram, right? So then I thought, I can't help, I can't help, let's say this. I thought, help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Come on, come on. You're my only hope. So then I imagine this golden hologram girl, she repeated it three times.

[12:06]

I bow deeply to thee, Venerable Elder. In accordance with the Tathagata's prediction, you must expound the highest truth right here, right now, in this very place. In accordance with the Tathagata's prediction, you must expound the highest truth right here, right now, in this very place. And then she disappeared. So the whole crowd wonders, okay, what's happening? Anabote explains, he says, well, a demon is happening. A demon will now appear and test his powers against mind. And so then there was the sky beginning to darken and there was a shift in the wind and then there's lightning and thunder and heaven and earth are completely covered in darkness and rain begins to fall. These are all ordinary things, actually. But the timing is important.

[13:20]

So Anabote says, this shows that a demon is coming. I will subdue it. That's actually, I like the word subdue. Actually, the other translation said it is I'll get rid of it or I'll suppress it. Anyway, he does a little more later on. So, a demon is coming. I will subdue it. And he pointed to the dark sky and then a golden dragon appeared and started threshing around and displaying such power that the mountains trembled. Anabote continued to sit quietly with imperturbable mind. And after a while the dragon departed. The sky cleared.

[14:24]

Anabote knew that this wasn't over. So he just continued his samadhi practice, continued sitting. day after day for seven days. So presumably I think each day the people would gather and the assembly would come and be there and then he would teach the Dharma. And on the seventh day Hanabotei sensed something under his seat, a tiny insect, no larger than a mite on a mosquito's eyelash. But he knew it was there. And he caught it in his hand. Reached under his seat. Said, aha. Said, this is the form that clever demon takes from trying to eavesdrop on my teaching. So then he released this tiny insect.

[15:34]

but it couldn't move or make a sound it was just stunned paralyzed and so then he said if you will take refuge in the three treasures you will regain your powers so then the story says the demon regained its original form So I wondered, okay, which is the original form? All the translations just say original form. But I think it just means ordinary human form. Because you have to be in a human form to take the three refuges. So I thought maybe it's the first form of the old man who was in the assembly and collapsed. in the first scene of this story so anyway this human bowed and repented and took refuges so now that the demon has transformed into a human being

[17:04]

conversation as possible and Anamote asks well tell me your name and about your your following some reason they wanted to know so so the person said my name is Kabimara Kabimara, and I have 3,000 followers. Doesn't say what size they are or what shape they are. 3,000 followers. And Anabote asks, well, tell me about your powers. And Kabimara says, well, moving an ocean is easy for me. I can change it into anything I want. So Anabote says... Can you change the ocean of Buddha nature? Kabimara is puzzled.

[18:12]

He says, what do you mean, the ocean of Buddha nature? Panabote says, well, mountains, rivers, the great earth, all appear in dependence, in dependence upon the ocean of Buddha nature. The many kinds of spiritual knowledge, three kinds of spiritual knowledge, and the six super mundane powers, all come from, as a result of, come from the ocean of Buddha nature. So hearing this, Kabimara, about, there's this whole new realm that he suddenly begins to awaken to. And so he becomes a disciple of Anabote.

[19:16]

So these powers here are generally considered to be the powers knowing past lives, having knowledge of past lives, having knowledge of future births, being able to recognize a freedom from defilements, being able to recognize an arhat, basically. So those are the first three, and then the next three aren't clairvoyance, being able to see the future, see, being able to see, and clairaudience, being able to hear, beyond the usual hearing. And, let's see, what was the other one?

[20:21]

Oh, knowing the thoughts of others. That seems like that would be a lot of trouble. But from time to time, it may be helpful. So anyway, that's the story. By helpful, I mean to help someone else realize their true nature. Okay. So the matter of dealing with demons is presented here and there's the story of Mil Repa, a great Tibetan Dharma practitioner who was doing long retreats up in the mountains in a cave and he would go out each day and gather herbs and come back and

[21:29]

and make his soup. For a long time he lived on nettles. It's said that he turned green while living only on nettles. But he would go out and gather herbs and come back to his cave and make his little herb soup. And one time he came back to his cave and there were demons sitting, standing, lolling about in his cave and so what to do Mil Repa came in and went about making his soup he made his tea lit the fire and there were demons on the pot he maybe had to brush them aside a little bit so that he could stir his soup and the demons And I don't know what they did.

[22:31]

Maybe it's like where the wild things are. You know, they gave their fearsome roars and jumped up and down and did various things, but he just went about making his soup. And eventually the demons kind of just slunk away. And left Milarepa to continue his practice. sitting I think in our practice we say we are having the practice of nothing special Suzuki Roshi also always talked about our practice is nothing special enlightenment is something that's very special to someone until they're enlightened.

[23:40]

After enlightenment, it's very ordinary. Suzuki Roshi says, just like a mother, after she's a mother, it's completely ordinary. But before becoming a mother, it's a big deal. It's kind of a big deal for fathers too, actually. Not quite the same, but my own experience being a father was life, it's completely different. I didn't know that I was completely different until after I was a father. And for a few days, after being a father, I realized it's completely different. My whole the whole solar system has been reorganized. What I was in orbit around before is now different.

[24:44]

It's also like that when you take bodhisattva vows. When you take a vow to orient your life around the awakening of all beings, that's a completely different life. than the usual life, where you are mostly just preoccupied with yourself or those things that you decide to care about or those people you decide to care about. But when you take bodhisattva vows, then you live a life of vow rather than a life of karma. So until this point, you're living a life that you're being driven by karma. When you take bodhisattva vows, then you're living a life of a bodhisattva, which is living a life completely dedicated to the awakening of all beings.

[25:49]

Even though you may forget from time to time. After you've taken bodhisattva vows, you may sometimes forget. And when you forget, it's like a demon. Something comes up and gets hold of you. Something comes up and one begins reacting in a usual, habitual way. Not liking the demon. Feeling that the demon has more power than the vow that I've taken. This is actually a very important point in our practice, to have confidence in Buddha nature. And here, Kabimara is saying, do you know about the ocean of Buddha nature? The demon doesn't understand the ocean of Buddha nature because the ocean of Buddha nature cannot be grasped.

[26:59]

cannot be manipulated. The ocean of Buddha nature is beyond that kind of leverage. It can't be leveraged. So the bodhisattva vow is in service of the ocean of Buddha nature. The ocean of Buddha nature is completely including of all beings. Demons, are simply demons. Maybe something particularly energized, some constellation of energy. If something pushes my buttons, I would say something, people say, someone pushed my buttons. Someone even, sometimes one may think, That person really exactly knows how to push my buttons.

[28:04]

And they're dedicated to pushing my buttons. It's like they like that. They like pushing my buttons. But this is just my own speculation, right? Since I have buttons... then I can be activated, right? I can be reacted. So this practice is actually the practice of letting go of these buttons, the way we grasp our holding onto our own buttons. So demons actually then become an opportunity to deepen this vow. To deepen the vow that is in service of the ocean of Buddha nature.

[29:12]

We say Buddha nature, but we don't actually know what that means. We do know that there is something that we have that is fully functioning. We can feel it. And we can participate with it. But because it's boundless, we can't actually grasp it. We can point to it. So we can say we can point to Buddha nature, we can point to it, but we can't grasp it. So sometimes this feels kind of... Well, this feels kind of pathetic and scary. Oh, I wish there was something that I, I wish I could actually live a life that I can manage, that I can get hold of. So that desire is that it puts us back into a usual karmic life.

[30:22]

And then to recall the vow, as we say, every day at the end of Dharma Talk, we say, I vow to save all beings. Countless beings. I can't count them. But how we do it is each time a being appears. Each time something appears. And often the way it appears is right at one of our buttons. something appears right on my button. I feel it. Sometimes it's a button I like. Sometimes it's a button I don't like. But it's a button of some preference. So that's the place to save the being. That particular being. That particular demon. That particular friend. That particular voice.

[31:30]

So this involves maybe our practice of clear audience is to listen to everything with equanimity, to be willing to listen to everything. And then since we're not already caught up in some particular agenda, we're open to the whole ocean of Buddha nature, whatever arises in sound, Whatever we hear, we respond. Sometimes it's a phone call. One of my teachers, Harry Roberts, suggested practicing with the telephone. course here, Paso Haro, we don't have that practice.

[32:37]

Sometime later in life you may have a chance to practice with a telephone. When the phone rings before you answer it, now I just realize this doesn't really work because now the phones tell you who's calling. So without looking, take a moment, who's calling? Then you can check and say, oh, that's very interesting. Some people have a greater capacity innately. But others can cultivate, and it's kind of fun to see, okay, how often do I know who's calling before I pick up the phone the old-fashioned way, or look at the phone with the smartphone.

[33:45]

Now the phone is so smart. It's amazing, right? There have been a lot of changes in this I was thinking about, you know, my mother just died. She is over 90. And during her lifetime, so many changes. I can't even imagine many of the changes of her early life. It's hard even for me to remember the changes just in technology in my lifetime. So we have all these big changes. And we take on huge projects, you know. Like the demon can change an ocean.

[34:48]

And we human beings with our ordinary powers do that, change oceans, divert rivers. But then Mother Nature comes by and is much more powerful, actually. The ocean of Buddha Nature is much more powerful. So it's a wise practice, I think, to consider that and listen carefully to how to be in accord with the totality of things. So this involves a practice of renunciation. Basically, renunciation is not living a karmically driven life. Not living a life based on self-clinging.

[35:54]

And given that, then, to cultivate... the skills to cultivate upaya, to cultivate the skillful means that assist and support awakening. So all of us are here with that intention to varying degrees. Some people may say, I don't even know what my intention is. And if I did, I forgot it on the second day of sesheen. And I've been kind of groping for it ever since. So this is the deep intention that may be more subtle than one can grasp, than one can even put into words.

[37:01]

So I invite you to cultivate the confidence in your true nature. Cultivate confidence in the ocean of Buddha nature, as you said, realizing that moment by moment so much is supporting you. To be respectful and cultivate a sense of gratitude for the gift of this moment, this life, this body that can perceive what there is to be perceived, to let go of the grasping mind that thinks, oh, there's a demon tormenting me. I should somehow get something else accomplished rather than just being fully present in this moment.

[38:20]

It's hard to believe that actually everything happens in the present. If you notice your tendency to believe that you can do something about the past, or you can do something about the future. You can actually stop the whole reactivity of past and future, just now, in the present. So that means then to forgive everyone who ever wronged you, So that when you meet them again, in some form, you can just meet them fresh. Not knowing who this is. And being willing to offer them refuge.

[39:28]

As Kavimara offered refuge to the demon. I mean, as Anabote offered refuge to the demon, Kavimara. Kabimara could become Kabimara. Kabimara later offered refuge to Nagarjuna. So this is not just seeing a demon as a demon but seeing it as Buddha as a part of a manifestation of the ocean of Buddha nature. So this is very difficult because of all of our preoccupations that we tend to believe. It's very difficult to find the stillness of this moment. Having confidence in water nature.

[40:34]

So please continue this amazing practice. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit SSCC.org and click giving.

[41:04]

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