This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning and welcome. Welcome everyone to this Saturday Dharma Talk here at the San Francisco Zen Center. I welcome those of you here in the building and also... Those of you who might, at some later point, listen to this talk through the miracles of podcasts and stuff like that. So, yeah. Thank you. My name is Jordan Thorne, and I'm a priest here at the Zen Center. I'm the Tanto, a Japanese word, which means, in English, it might mean head of practice. And not wanting to stir up envy on your part, but this is a lovely job.

[01:08]

I have a fortunate, blessed position, encouragement, which is to try to connect with people in their Buddhist practice, try to connect with people so that ethics and concentration and wisdom might be possibly grow in their lives. And, you know, somewhere in some cabinet in this building, there's a job description for me. And Reading it, I might think this type of encouragement of other folks is my special task. That's my job. But I want to say that actually it's our task.

[02:14]

It's your task. It's all of ours' job together to take up what it means to be alive and in this world and with other people in a way that encourages us encourages us and those other people. This is not the sort of thing that's going to be accomplished because someone, for instance, sitting on this seat says, go do it. This is only going to be accomplished by your efforts, by your recognizing that this is your joy, your task, your burden, as well as it's mine. Sometimes in Buddhist text, there's this expression, may all beings be happy.

[03:26]

May all beings be happy. This is perhaps a goal of practice. It's very important to notice it says, may all beings, not may this being be happy, may all beings be happy. And while Buddhism actually has quite a few specific instructions on how to launch yourself towards this goal, towards this may all beings be happy agenda, Buddhism offers instructions on this, but also this is not something that Buddhism has any particular monopoly on. This is, I think, an intention and a goal that other spiritual traditions honor, respect, and aim for as well.

[04:38]

And I want to share with you today, well, various words, but I want to share with you in particular some words from the man whose life, whose personal name gives us this city's name, St. Francis. Maybe, I'm not sure, the patron saint of San Francisco, St. Francis. But before I quote him, I'm going to offer a little bit of history about this person. He lived in the 12th century in Italy. And, well, the 12th century of Italy is a very different time, plays context from the 5th century before Christ in India when Buddha lived.

[05:45]

At the same time, there's some alignments between their two life stories. Just like Buddha had been, Francis was born a child of privilege. And in his youth, in his younger years, before he turned towards practice and trying to be come intimate with everyone, he focused on his own pleasure. He led a sensual, wealthy life. At some point, Francis, I say Francis because he was not then Saint Francis, became transformed by experience of realizing that his special privileges came at a cost, a cost not just to himself but to others.

[06:55]

And he turned towards a way of being with other people that was radical in its simplicity and in its poverty. In his in the thoroughness with which he embraced a simple way of being with people, he was a radical. He was a gadfly to the institutions, the church institutions around him. In fact, he was just exactly the sort of person who can found a religious tradition, who is distinctly, uniquely themselves and can inspire other people. And he did inspire others. A community gathered around him. And in his own understanding of who was in this community, Francis, St.

[08:03]

Francis, included everyone, which meant not just those people who looked like him, but also animals and plants and the poorest of the poor. Making this turn that he made in his life, his father was very unhappy. His father was very disappointed. He wanted Francis to carry on the family business, carry on the accumulation of wealth and the family name. This is also through Buddha. Buddha's father did not want him to leave home. In some ways, there is...

[09:10]

In Buddhism, in Zen, kind of a central metaphor for taking a practice, which is at some point people might become ordained in a ceremony which we call leaving home. This is an important step to actually step forward on your own, to leave home, to stand on your own two feet. And, of course, it doesn't mean we sunder at this time and at this place that we don't sunder, we don't want to separate ourselves from where we've been, where we've come from, but we do need to step forward on our own. So back to Francis. One time he was on a pilgrimage with some students. Students of his were walking someplace. Lucky them, maybe in Tuscany, walking. down the road, and they came upon a flock of birds in front of them. And Francis said to his students, wait a moment, stay there.

[10:13]

And he walked forth and he gave a Dharma talk to the birds. And it's said that they clustered around and flew to him and rested on his hands and shoulders and listened. He had a special talent. When he was on his deathbed, With his students gathered around him, nearly his final words, he expressed his thanks to his donkey, who had for so many years carried him so faithfully. And it's said that when he died, his donkey cried. Just a little bit more history about St. Francis. As he became older, before his donkey cried, before he was on his deathbed, but as he realized that his life was fading, he decided that he would pass on the leadership of his community to one of his students, recognizing that it was important.

[11:27]

that not everything just be on his shoulders. So he selected a student who he trusted and respected and gave him the mantle of leadership of the Franciscan community. And as things sometimes work out, five months later, this student of his died. Died ahead of St. Francis. And... The plot thickens a little bit because after his successor student passed away, reports of miracles started to arise in the countryside. Many of the faithful reported that in the midst of difficult moments and situations, this Dharma heir of St. Francis appeared and rescued them and helped them and offered assistance. and miraculously aided them.

[12:28]

And this was word about this spread through the countryside and Franciscan churches were flooded with practitioners and with devoted students who wanted to kind of take part in this and be part of this and were moved by these stories of miracles. And one might think that this was a kind of success, but Francis was disturbed by this, by the reports of these miracles. And it's said that he actually offered a prayer to his disciple, a prayer that asked that this Dharma heir of his would obey in his death the vow of modesty he had taken in his life and asked that the miracles cease. And it's said that they stopped. You know, whatever these miracles were. And in some ways, after these exceptional miracles ceased, then the extraordinary normal miracle of life was restored.

[13:43]

In Zen, we talk about the miracle of ordinary life with great respect. The spirit of things count enormously, but also nothing special. And everything is important. And meanwhile, we don't give too much importance to anything. This is a thread in our training, in our tradition. There's an important Zen teacher who lived back in the day, whose name was Laman Pang. a book about him, Leman Pong. Leman Pong was not an ordained Zen monk. He was a free spirit. Throughout his entire life, he never entered the Buddhist establishment.

[14:50]

He always stayed at a distance with his wife and family. at a distance, but that also at a distance which allowed him the space and time to practice Zen meditation. And it's kind of a conundrum that some of us who are deeply embedded in this Zen temple's life might understand how this conundrum or contradiction, which is in some ways being independent from institutional structure can provide a freedom to practice, which we might recognize as special, even though we're here in the midst of this structure which supports us to practice. Le Min Pong was someone who lived outside of the temple. And like St. Francis, Le Min Pong came from a wealthy merchant family.

[15:52]

And And at some point, Levenpong had an insight. I'm not sure what he had, but he realized that his wealth was a hindrance, not a support to his life, and he said that he loaded up all of his valuables, put them on a boat, and rode it out to the middle of a lake and sank the boat. After this moment of embracing simplicity and poverty, he traveled, continued to travel as an itinerant wandering person who made bamboo utensils and sold them on the road to support the family. And in his traveling, he arranged himself so that he could visit various Zen teachers and talk to them and express

[16:59]

his understanding and check on theirs. And he said that he became particularly a friend of a Zen teacher named Sekito Kisen. Sekito Kisen is important in our San Francisco Zen Center tradition. He's the person who wrote the Zen poem called the Sandokai, which we recite regularly here, which by some accounts was Suzuki Roshi's favorite text, and in which actually there's a book of Suzuki Roshi's about this poem called Branching Streams, Flow in the Darkness. So Sekito Kisen is connected to our tradition. And Leiman Peng was a friend of Sekito's. There's lots of stories about conversations they had. But here's one of them.

[18:02]

Sakito asked Lehmann Pang, he said, since arriving here to study with me, what are your daily activities like? And Lehmann Pang said, when you ask me about my daily activities, I can't open my mouth. And Sakito then said, it's because I know you're like this that I asked you this question. And then Lehmann Pang offered a verse, which is sort of famous. It's in this book I've got. It's actually sort of famous in Zen circles. He said, my daily activities are not unusual. I'm just naturally in harmony with them. and grasping nothing, discarding nothing in every place. There's no hindrance, no conflict. My supernatural power and miraculous activity is nothing more than drawing water and carrying firewood.

[19:18]

Bang's supernatural miraculous activity was carrying water. I don't think that St. Francis would have had any problem with this sort of miracle. I said earlier that this practice that we undertake when we come to a Zen center or when we make the vow in our hearts, whatever tradition to try to be useful to other people, to other folks. This practice that we take up is common to various traditions. And St. Francis, in the Catholic tradition, offered a prayer which is, I think, very relevant to where we need to come from ourselves.

[20:25]

And so this is a slightly reduced version of his prayer. prayer of Saint Francis. He said, but to love. For it is in giving that we receive, and it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. This is like, well, there's a text at the Zen Center where you say the Metta Sutta is part of our morning service, and we use it in many.

[21:28]

many other times besides morning service. And it says, just a part of it, this is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise. Let one not be submerged by the things of the world. Let one not take upon oneself the burden of riches. Let one not desire great possessions even for one's family. May all beings be happy. May all beings be happy. So, Sekito Kisen asked Layman Pang, what are your daily activities like? And the layman replied, when you ask me about my daily activities, I can't open my mouth. Here's a different story about some other folks, but it resonates, I believe.

[22:41]

And this is a story about the first Zen ancestor in China, a Buddhist teacher named Bodhidharma. And for those of you who want to know what Bodhidharma looks like, down the hallway, right before the dining room, there's a portrait of him. Bodhidharma had a student. And he told this sincere student of his, he said, if you want to enter our practice, then you have to cut yourself off from outward objects and stop your emotional and thinking activities. When you become like a brick, When you become like a stone wall, you will enter the way.

[23:45]

When you become like a brick, when you become like a stone wall, you will enter the way. This is one sort of zazen instruction. And Bodhidharma's student tried to do this. It was a difficult practice. But with diligence and effort and slow steps, a Bodhidharma student finally thought he understood what was meant by this instruction. And then this student named Tai So Eka, our second Chinese Zen ancestor, then Tai So Eka told Bodhidharma that in his life, in his mind, in his heart, there was no break, no gap. no separation at all. He felt that he had reached the place where his intention to practice was continuous.

[24:52]

And then Bodhidharma said, okay, in that case, tell me, who are you? Who does this constant practice? And Taisho Eka said, because I know myself very well, it's difficult to say who I am. Because I know myself very well, it's difficult to know who I am. And Bodhidharma said, that's right, you are my disciple. Because I know myself very well, the Zen ancestors of ours said, because I know myself very well, it is difficult to say who I am. And if we are ever so lucky as to meet such a person, I hope that we can recognize him.

[25:58]

We live, I think, I live, in a time when... We might have lots and lots of social network friends. And this is all wonderful. It's kind of a brave new world. But I worry about something, something which is, well, I read a while ago, a definition of what a bore was. A bore. And this definition said that a bore was someone who served only to deprive us of facing our solitude without providing real companionship.

[27:04]

Someone who deprived us of facing our solitude without providing real companionship. Well, I think not many of us might wake up in the morning and say, okay, today I'm going to face my solitude. It's actually very easy to turn towards these easy, simple, surface relationships that somehow manage the day to go by quicker. There's nothing longer and more drawn out than paying careful attention to this moment. Sometimes a period of zazen lasting 30 minutes seems forever. And sometimes it flies by.

[28:08]

One of the things that makes this taking the time to face our solitude and taking the time to learn about who we are through this, one of the reasons that this is difficult is because all of us actually want to be successful. It's difficult to understand how to measure the success of facing our self. It's easier to measure our success if it's in our bank account, our Facebook friends, or lots of other ways. And we bring this forward into our meditation, this attitude into it. We want to be like a thoroughbred horse that gallops forward, first across the finish line, first to have that decisive, extraordinary spiritual experience that changes us forever. And then, well, things will be good. But actually, well, actually, you know, maybe so.

[29:25]

Practice is more like proceeding forward like a cow than like a horse. Or perhaps it's more inspirational to say it like an elephant. You know, steadily forward. Steadily forward. Always, you know, noticing where you are. where we are. Well, actually, I mean, I know any sort of practice, making this effort is itself positive. And any sort of practice is good. And horses have Buddha nature, just like cows and elephants have Buddha nature. And despite whether we know it or not, actually, we already are interdependently connected to everyone else. We're woven into this complicated world, woven into each other's lives.

[30:31]

We already have within us the heart of Buddha, the heart of Saint Francis, the understanding of Laman Peng. All of the speaking about Zen, all of the teachings of Zen come from Zazen, come from the experience of non-dual meditation. And I can say that to you all like it's... a statement of fact that I know and I'm sharing with you, but also I want to say it with a little asterisk. The asterisk is that, to be honest, I don't understand what Zazen is.

[31:38]

After all these years that I've practiced, actually many years, decades of practice, made an effort to include Zen meditation in my life, whenever I think I have a handle on what it is, if I think carefully, I feel that that handle is not it. Not so. Handle turns to dust. And, you know, In the course of my training at Zen Center, I've also heard many stories about Buddhism and Zen. Stories like I've told you today about Sakito Kisan and Lehmann Pang and Bodhidharma. And rather than settling me down into one place, actually one understanding, these stories have actually kept me on my edge. They leave me wondering, how does this affect my life?

[32:53]

Is this true for me? What is this like? Do I agree with this? What were they getting at? How much of it was culture? How much of it is truth for now? Anyway, how else could it be? In the midst of my life, in the midst of our complicated lives, just the way today was, there was rain and then blue skies and now there's rain again. Somewhere on the other side of this rain there'll be blue skies again and a clear light that shines through windows and dew, glistening on the leaves and grass. We live in a beautiful world.

[33:54]

We live in a beautiful world, a world of wonder. And in this beautiful world, I think there's nothing more we can hope for but to be open to people. and make our life a gift which recognizes what an enormous opportunity we have to be alive. Thank you very much. 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, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[35:00]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[35:03]

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