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. I'd like to begin by thanking and acknowledging my teacher, Sojin Roshi, the abbot of Berkeley Zen Center. Also, I'd like to thank Abbas Cristina for inviting me. And thank you, Shuso, for your leadership in this practice period. And of course, I want to say my talk is just to encourage you in your practice. I have no other agenda. So welcome to day four of Rohatsu Sashim. The secret word for today is surrender.

[01:07]

Surrender, in the sense I mean it, does not mean defeat. It's more like what Sojourner Roshi always says, I've heard him say this so many times about seshin, in advance of a seshin, when people will say, you know, what can I do to prepare for seshin? He'll say, don't do anything. Don't make any plans. Just show up. Or as the Eno and I said, I believe, I believe we said, in the Tangaryo orientation. Doesn't that seem so long ago? So long ago. It was so warm then. Now it's all brr, shiver.

[02:17]

We said don't strategize. Don't strategize. Obviously, do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Take care of your body. Do what you need to do. Figure that out and do it. But notice when you get caught in bargaining or negotiating. Just kind of be aware of that. And then surrender. Because there's no winners and there's no losers. There are no winners and there are no losers. Last summer, Reverend David Zimmerman was here. He gave a talk. Oh, this is nice and warm. Thank you. Warm beverage.

[03:20]

Excuse me. Reverend David Z. gave a talk. He talked about having no argument with life. Having no argument with life. That's the sense in which I mean surrender. Have no argument with life. Because life is a trip. In case you haven't noticed. Life is going to blow you around with the eight winds. You know about the eight winds, don't you? Nichiren Daishonin, a great Buddhist teacher in a different tradition who lived about the same time as Dogen, wrote in a letter, Worthy persons deserve to be called so because they are not carried away by the eight winds. Prosperity and decline, honor and disgrace, praise and censure,

[04:30]

pleasure, and suffering. They are neither elated by prosperity nor grieved by decline. The heavenly gods will surely protect one who is unbending before the eight winds. Or maybe, you know, maybe you bend a bit. Maybe you get blown about. You get blown about a bit by the eight winds. I do. I sure do. But, you know, we come back. That's Mel's dharma. You come back. You just come back. Over and over and over again. No winners. No losers. Because, who knows? This is...

[05:31]

There's a famous, thankfully short Chinese folk tale. You've probably heard it before, but I'm going to tell it anyway because I like it. It's about a man and his son who lived in the northern plains of China near the Great Wall. And... They were horse breeders. They were horse people. And the man, horse breeder, one day, one of his servants left a stable open and his favorite stallion ran away. And all his neighbors said, oh, what a shame. What terrible luck. That's too bad. I'm really sorry.

[06:36]

That was really bad luck. And later on, the stallion came back and brought with him a rare and beautiful white mare. What a thing. Brought the white mare back, and now the horse breeder had his favorite stallion back, and this beautiful white mare. And all his friends said, wow, what good luck. That's great. And the horse breeder says, you know, good luck, bad luck. Who knows? Good luck, bad luck. Meh. He was pretty equanimous about it. Later on, His son was trying to break the mare for saddle.

[07:41]

Training up for saddle riding. And of course the mare was pretty wild. And gave the boy a hard time. And as the young man was trying to break her, she fell. Fell on his leg and broke it. And then the guy, he was lame. His leg didn't heal right. He was lame. And all the horse breeders' neighbors were like, oh, that's terrible luck. That's too bad. Too bad. Some of his neighbors suggested that they kill the mare out of revenge or sell it. you don't want to keep that horse around.

[08:42]

That's really bad luck. And the guy said, eh, good luck, bad luck, who knows. Two years later, there's a big war in the plains, and the military comes around and conscripts all the young men for service. But the horse breeder's son, because he was lame, was passed over, unfit. unfit for conscription. And when all the other young men in the area died in this terrible, terrible war, he lived and survived to take care of his father, show his filial devotion in a happy old age, which is the Chinese version of they all lived happily ever after. You just don't know I think any of us who've done some living have probably got similar stories.

[09:49]

When I was working for Alta Bates Medical Center, they were taken over by this big corporate health care conglomerate, Sutter CHS, and the Sutter managers, the top execs, looking at Alta Bates, the way it was run. How can we make more money? They said, lose 50 managers. Just like that. They let the word leak out so that people would be prepared. Everyone was kind of looking around, kind of nervous. Then we got even more word. The scuttlebutt was four managers in my department, nutrition and food services. Like, okay, I'm a manager in my department. Maybe I'll be one of those, you know.

[10:57]

It's kind of, hmm. And sure enough, I was laid off. And, you know, it felt bad. It felt bad. I loved that job. I loved working for, you know, even though this is a big 500-bed hospital, complete, you know, full-service hospital, it really did and still does have a family feel to it. Alta Bates is a wonderful place to work in spite of Sutter CHS. So I was, you know, I was pretty bummed. And, you know, I'm cleaning out my desk, you know, the last day of work, cleaning out your desk, and people are like, they don't know whether to make eye contact with you or not. More to drag, you know.

[11:59]

And especially my peers, you know, the ones who didn't get laid off, you know, it's like, Am I better? Is he worse? What did he do to get the axe, as they say? The local 250 shop steward comes up and says, Mr. Fane, I want you to know I think you've got a bum deal. I was like, Mr. Fane? I thought you hated my guts. So sweet. So sweet. And then I left. And then they had this professional firer. This professional layer-offer. That was this person's job. Called in. And this is like a day of laying off.

[13:01]

So this person came into the hospital and she's just laying people off one after another. Next. Turn in your ID. Turn in your pager. My pager. Turn in this, that, and the other thing. She's got two envelopes on the desk across from me. I'm like, hmm, envelopes. At one point, because she's talking, I can't remember a single word she said. It was just so boring. I'm sorry. At one point, I even reached over. She's like, not yet. They gave me the sweetest severance package. Unbelievable. And then... I was sitting pretty. I was like, okay. I'm a resident at Berkeley Zen Center. I'm just going to practice Zen. Make tofu. Hang out.

[14:01]

Study the Dharma. I did that for a while. And then... My supervisor, the head of my department, got back in touch with me, and she said, Greg, I'd like to hire you back on a per diem basis. This happened pretty quickly. You could manage the department at Herrick Campus, which is downtown Berkeley, and I'll pay you more. but it'll be per diem basis. You won't have benefits and so forth, but you still got your benefits from the severance package, the Cobra, and so forth. I was like, sounds good, but I'm still enjoying the severance package. I don't really need the money. Can you talk to me in about six weeks? And she said, okay. She said, okay. So when my benefits ran out, I went right back to work. Very funny.

[15:03]

For more money. So, in the words of the great Chuck Berry, it goes to show, you never can tell. When I left Herrick, to come here, by the way, to come here, I had a big going away party at the Herrick campus. And I got all kinds of presents and gifts. And then there's another bigger going away party at the Ashby campus. So wonderful. And all the people were so, you're going to live in a monastery? That is so cool. And I confess, I confess, I was, I had to tweak my peers. in my department a little bit, just a tiny little bit, just a little bit.

[16:05]

I said, well, basically I'm retiring. It's 43. They did not like that at all. I'm sorry. I think that's funnier than anyone else. It goes to show you never can tell. And why is that? Why is it that you never can tell? Try this on for size. I don't speak Sanskrit, and I don't think any of you do either, but I bet some of you know what I'm saying. Shunyata Lakshana. O Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness.

[17:08]

Sarvadharma Shunyata Lakshana. All dharmas are marked by emptiness. They neither arise nor cease, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. Emptiness. Emptiness, baby, it just means nothing's fixed. It just means everything changes. You can't pin it down and say it's like this. You can't say you win and you lose. You can't say this is good luck and that's bad luck because you don't know on account of emptiness. Like this weather we've been having. A very good example. You know, the temperature gets down to the 40s and we're all burr shiver. You know, and everyone's putting on their woolly hats and gloves and scarves and so forth. Then the temperature goes down in the 20s. Then we're like, really? Wow, this is really cold.

[18:09]

Hard freeze. We haven't had such a hard freeze in a long time. Too bad, so dry. Snow would be nice, but anyway. Then we're like, really? And then what? The temperature goes back up to the 40s and we're like, huh, yeah. It's warmed up. You think it's warmed up, you know? Put on summer Karamo and so forth. Yay! It's true, you know? Compared to Minnesota, this is a balmy day, I suppose. And it's sweltering compared to Jupiter. Canada. So Sojin Roshi says you should talk about what you're practicing with.

[19:26]

So I'd like to talk a little bit about reconciliation and peace and harmony in the Sangha and in the world. The theory of reconciliation, the practice of reconciliation, peace and harmony in the Sangha and in the world. I'm not going to say that this is a continuation of Christina and Linda's talk or that it dovetails neatly with what Linda was saying about connection and Curtis's question. But if it does, well, won't that be jolly? But anyway, we'll see. Reconciliation, reconcile, means to bring together again.

[20:29]

To regain. To win over again. The re is like again. Again. And conciliate, to make friendly. Conciliar. To make friendly. Comes from Latin, past participle of conciliar, conciliatus, which comes from counsel. Counsel. The body where people come together. and exchange, where people come together and exchange and share thoughts, ideas, feelings, differences, conflict, and settle. To come together call together again the council is the Sangha and Buddhist tradition has a long history of coming together starting with you know the Buddhist time the ceremony of Upasata the full moon ceremony that we still do

[22:01]

With the monks scattered throughout the forest, they would come together on the full moon and renew their vows. Come back together. Reconcile. And those monks who had transgressed would confess. And come forward. And Things would be settled. So the Buddha's Sangha was very horizontal, very inclusive, right? The Buddha was pretty radical that way. In the Visetta Sutta, in the Middle-Length Discourses, the Buddha said, in human bodies and themselves, nothing distinctive can be found. Distinction among human beings is purely verbal designation.

[23:06]

So he included everyone. He included all castes, all types of people, women, everyone. He's pretty radical. Pretty radical. And there were all types in the Buddha Sangha. There was Shariputra, who was famous for wisdom. Magalyayana, the master of supernatural powers. Mahakasyapa, who was renowned for his ascetic training. Subuti, who was famous for expounding the doctrine of emptiness. Ananda, who listened to the Buddha's teachings with a photographic memory and was kind of the recorder of the Buddha's teachings. And Buddha's attendant, his jisha, for many years. Then there was Upali, who was a master of the Vinaya.

[24:07]

And, you know, Upali came from a very low caste. He was a barber. But because Upali was one of the first to be ordained in the Sangha, he sat on the senior staff town, you know, ahead of, like, princes, former princes. The fact that they'd been princes didn't count anymore. You were just in the Sangha. Upali was senior to them in the Buddha Sangha. Then there's Rahula, Buddha's only son that he had with the princess Yasodhara. Rahula was famous for being quite scrupulous and strict and shrewd. Well, there were all types. There were all types in the Buddha Sangha. There was a mass murderer in the Buddha Sangha, Angulimala.

[25:12]

There's another guy in the Buddha Sangha who actively plotted to assassinate the Buddha, Devadatta. They were included. They were all included. They practice together. Here's the Dhammapada. Chapter 15. There are so many different translations of the Dhammapada. This is just one of many. Happens to be Gil Fransel's translation. In this translation, chapter 15 is entitled Happiness. Ah, so happily we live without hate. among those who hate. Among people who hate, we live without hate. Ah, so happily we live without misery, among those in misery.

[26:18]

Among people in misery, we live without misery. Ah, so happily we live without ambition, among those with ambition. Among people who are ambitious, we live without ambition. Ah, so happily we live, we who have no attachments. We shall feast on joy, as do the radiant gods. Victory gives birth to hate. The defeated sleep in anguish. Giving up both victory and defeat. Those who have attained peace sleep happily. Giving up both victory and defeat. No winners, no losers. Surrender. Surrender.

[27:21]

So we live without hate among those who hate. among people who hate, we live without hate. So I believe my interpretation of this is the Buddha was talking not only about the world, there are haters in the world, but also his own Sangha. I mean, after all, Devadatta was plotting to assassinate him. They were people. They were people. We're people. Same. Same. We're just like that, you know. All types. All types. So you might think, you know, well, this one's a piece of work. Or I know what you're like. Or I know what to expect from that one.

[28:26]

And, you know, maybe so. But not always so, because you never can tell. You never can tell. And as we all know, the extent to which we hold on to our views about people, we're going to see what we expect to see and not see what's right in front of us. It's going to surprise and delight us, but we're not open to seeing it too bad. And this could also be applied to, you know, in our own minds. We practice with the many beings in our own minds. We save the sentient beings in our own minds. All these disciples of the Buddha, with their different aspects, their different virtues, their different defects, they're like facets on a jewel.

[29:32]

And we, in this Sangha jewel, are like facets on a jewel. Each of us unique, each of us totally beautiful, each of us virtuous, perfect just the way we are. Facets in a perfect jewel. And so it is even in your own mind. Your anxiety, your joy, your fear, your truculence, your whatever it is. Just facets on a perfect jewel. Right reverence and humility, contentment and a grateful bearing. This is the highest blessing, says the Buddha. Mel talks about humility a lot. He talks about what is true humility. What does humility mean? To practice with humility, Mel would say, is not abasing yourself.

[30:38]

It's not putting yourself in a lower place. It's not being a doormat. It's knowing your place. He said this many times. It's knowing your place, knowing where you fit in, in the Sangha jewel. A few summers ago, Gil Fransdahl was here and taught a dining room class. I regret to say, I can't tell you which sutta it was he was talking about. I've forgotten. Possibly. Thank you. Gill said, you know, it says to compare yourself with someone and find yourself superior is arrogance. To compare yourself with someone and find yourself inferior is also arrogance. It's another form of arrogance.

[31:38]

To compare yourself with someone is and find yourself equal is also another form of arrogance. What's left? Gill says, don't play the game. Don't play the game. Surrender. Don't play the game. There's this teacher in the lineage of Dharma Air of Bernie Glassman the Zen Peacemaker's Order, and her name is Nancy Mujo Baker Sensei. And she wrote in an article, excuse me, a few years ago in Tricycle Magazine, she wrote, one of the worst kinds of elevation of the self is playing the victim. There are times when we actually are victims, when actual blame is appropriate, but to take on the identity of a victim and be stuck blaming is something else. Surprisingly,

[32:40]

It is actually a subtle form of elevation. I'm not responsible. You are. This is giving up all freedom. I think the reason that remarkable stories of forgiveness take our breath away is that we instantly feel the liberation and the lifting of boundaries, the end of separation of inside and outside. That's pretty powerful. She says, this is giving up all freedom. I would add it's also giving up your power. If you say someone else is responsible, you're giving up your personal power. You're giving it up. And the funny thing is, the other person can't take it, actually. Even if you want them to, even if they say they can, they can't take it. And then you just have all parties concerned are powerless. And you're stuck in a deadlock of ickiness.

[33:44]

That's right. A deadlock of ickiness. So we say something's got to give. To give is the first paramita. It's the first of the paramitas because it's the most important. So what do you give? You give up your position. You give up holding on. In my last talk, I talked about Hakuen's Song of Zazen, which starts out, from the beginning, all beings are Buddha. Like water and ice, without water, no ice. Outside us, no Buddhas. So this is a good time to be studying water and ice. I hope everyone has appreciated the beautiful ice sculpture in the lower garden. And I thank the shop for not letting too many pipes freeze and for fixing the ones that did.

[34:54]

Thank you, hard-working shop crew. Yeah, so they cracked open the fire hydrant so the water would keep flowing so the pipe wouldn't freeze and it made this beautiful sculpture. Nice to have water in case There's a fire. Nice not to have frozen pipes. So there's freezing up. There's holding on to your position. There's calling something fixed that isn't fixed. There's looking at emptiness and calling it this is it. This is the thing. It's you. It's this thing. I know what's going on here. And then there's thawing. There's letting go. Mel says the practice of his instant is like water, like flowing water, and it always seeks the lowest place. This is true humility. This is not putting yourself down.

[35:56]

It's just letting go. Surrender. How do you give the gift of non-fear? That's what bodhisattvas are supposed to do when they practice giving. Buddhist practitioners don't have too many material goods, traditionally. They give the gift of the Dharma and they give the gift of non-fear. So how do you give that gift? Reconcile. Come back. Come back to counsel. Come back to communicating. Communication critical starting with apologize if you transgressed confess just do it just do it and get it over with you know it you feel it say it I'm sorry I'm sorry for what I've done I'm sorry for anyone I've hurt if there's anyone here that I've hurt

[37:09]

That was not my intention, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You apologize. When I was in the eighth grade, it seemed like every girl in the eighth grade had this book, this slim paperback love story. I know there's people here my age who remember that book. Yeah? And then there was this movie that got made. It was a blockbuster. Ah, groans! And there was a big publicity campaign for the movie. And what did they say? Love means never having to say you're sorry. Love means never having to say you're sorry. Me too. Yeah. And then John Lennon, John Lennon heard that. And John Lennon said, love means having to say you're sorry every 10 minutes. Yeah. That's what I say.

[38:11]

Love means having to say you're sorry every ten minutes. Just say it. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Can we talk? Can we talk? Reconcile. Come back together. In counsel. Share. Talk. If no talk, you're sunk. Actually. If we can't, Come together and talk. If we can't communicate, we are sunk. Speaking of talking, this is a long talk. Oh, well. I have some more I want to share, so I'm going to anyway. I am a proud member of the AZTA, the American Zen Teachers Association. And the AZTA has this listserv that is well-known among its members.

[39:20]

There are some really interesting things that show up there. And recently, recent times, obviously, I have not been a member for very long, there's been a bit of controversy, even some acrimony. even some, shall we say, strong disagreement. Can you imagine Zen masters, a bunch of Zen masters, like being contentious and acrimonious? Oh, yeah? She said, oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. Of course. They're people. So there's been a lot of, fortunately, communication about that. And This woman who practices in the tradition of the Korean Zen master, Sung San, up in Seattle, her name is Anita Fung, and she teaches in the Blue Heron Zen community.

[40:23]

She gave these lists of guidelines for communication, and I think I want to post them somewhere in Tassahara. I like it so much. In fact, maybe I want to be like that guy in the movie Memento and just tattoo them on my chest so I remember. There you go. So I want to share these with you. I want to share these with you. Anita offered eight guidelines for communication. One, vow. Resolve that the space between us will be safe. Resolve that our experience together will be met with openness and compassion. Two, listen. 100%. Three, ask questions. Become curious. Cultivate a willingness to go beyond what we know and encounter with genuine interest what arises in the here and now.

[41:31]

Invite the wonder of not knowing. 4. Suspend judgment. Notice reactions and judgments to others and ourselves and let them go. Avoid gossip and also protect the confidentiality of our exchange. 5. Speak from experience. Being ourselves, share the confusion and clarity. Look to our experience rather than our opinions. Avoid leaning on the words of experts and authorities. Six, become new. Behind our habit mind and also our habitual storylines, excuse me, become new. Risk showing up as we are in the moment, leaving behind our habit mind and also our habitual storylines about both ourselves and others. Seven, trust. Pay close attention and trust the strength and wisdom of process.

[42:35]

This is cultivating the spaciousness of a wide mind. Refrain from the urge to fix or give advice. Rather, see and reflect the perfection of each person's situation and condition just as it is. 8. Become equal. Each person speaks with the voice of the whole. Everything that arises within us and within the dialogue is some aspect of the truth. And somebody asked Anita, these are great, where did you get these? And she said, well, I got them from somebody, I think I got them from somebody else, but then they've been worked on, and I worked on them a little bit, and feel free to use them, and if you want to tweak them a little bit, go right ahead. So she doesn't know. And I thought, great. I heard that invitation, so I'm going to add number nine. Number nine, surrender.

[43:38]

No winners, no losers. Water seeks the lowest place. You let go of your position. How do you let go? Love is the answer. Love means having to say you're sorry every 10 minutes. Love will give you the power to let go. Even as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protects her only child, So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things and all people, suffusing love over the entire world, above, below, and all around, without limit.

[44:42]

So let one cultivate an infinite goodwill toward the whole world. The whole world is where we meet. When all waters flow together, they meet in the great ocean. As Master Matsu says, like hundreds and thousands of different streams, when they return to the great ocean, they are called water of the ocean. The water of the ocean has one taste which contains all tastes. This is where we meet. Who here remembers that song by Cheap Trick, Surrender?

[45:46]

Anybody know that song? No? I do. Jeremy does. Well, good. I probably don't run the risk of putting a sound worm in anyone's ear. Anyway, it is not a very tuneful song. The chorus goes... Mommy's all right. Daddy's all right. They just seem a little weird. Surrender. Surrender. But don't give yourself away. I would say the Sangha's all right. The teachers are all right. They just seem a little weird. Surrender. Surrender. But don't give yourself away.

[46:48]

Don't give up your power. I'm grateful to Linda for mentioning the Buddha sitting under the bow tree because, after all, this is Rohatsu Sashin. You touch the earth. I call on the earth as my witness. You have a right to be here. You have a right to be here. The fact of your embodiment. Also here. The sternum. Behind the sternum. Touch that. I have a right to be here. I call on the earth as my witness. I call on my present embodiment as witness this inescapable fact between the Buddha's enlightenment and your enlightenment no separation between the Buddha's Sangha and this Sangha no separation

[48:11]

So happy Rahatsu. I'm painfully aware that I've talked a long time. Thank you for your patience. You might be good and ready for outdoor Kenyan, but maybe if there's a question or two, we can do that. Yes, Grant. Forgiveness is an essential personal part of looking through whatever experiences are. Reconciliation is not necessarily a part of that.

[49:15]

Well, I'm really nervous about expounding the Dharma according to Cheap Trick. But I think I understand what you're saying or whoever it was who gave the talk saying, you know, I think reconciliation can begin with forgiveness and that kind of letting go, letting go of your position, a kind of willingness to meet can be the beginning of reconciliation. It's interesting that

[50:15]

one of the hotbeds of the restorative justice movement in this country is within prison walls. So it's where I learned about, I never even heard of such a thing as restorative justice until I was doing chaplaincy work in San Quentin. And it's quite amazing. It's revolutionary, is what it is. It's so interesting how hard it is, especially in our current system of contentious or adversarial justice. You go in there and it's just like your lawyer says, shut up, don't say anything. And their lawyer says, shut up, don't say anything. Well, nothing happens. There's a deadlock of ickiness.

[51:16]

And there's a sort of justice happens. I guess we do our best in this country, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement. How often it is that when restorative justice works, it's the victim or the victim's family that can allow it to happen. that they can say, okay, we're willing to talk. Quite often, offenders are really willing to talk. I know one guy who was just like, for years, was so ready to talk to the victim's family, and they couldn't do it. Well, that's understandable, but too bad, regrettable. So yeah, I don't think they're the same thing, but I think they're part of the same process.

[52:23]

I guess I'm going to feel like a domestic health is a safe enough place to kind of explore that and maybe explore reconciliation, but in terms of perpetrator-victim relationship. Possible. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I think that's possible. Yeah. Sometimes someone might be asked to leave. is just too difficult. But that's, you know, last resort. And so sad. Hojo-san.

[53:33]

I felt like, you know, to say, love is to say sorry all the time is true. But I think there's a step if I say I'm sorry, and can you forgive me, which shifts the whole thing. Because often we think, oh, I said I'm sorry, and then that's done. I did my part, I apologize, and that's done. It kind of... But it doesn't really ask for forgiveness. I think it's actually interesting to ask for forgiveness because you can feel how that shifts your position. So I would like to... belong together in some ways. Yeah. Thank you. Also, I could add another element of a great apology. What really helps? I'm sorry. And here's why it's not going to happen again.

[54:36]

Right? That's right. But vow we can state our intention our vow yeah you can't guarantee it but here's what I'm gonna do about it maybe that's what I mean I'm sorry and here's what I'm gonna do about it here's my intention for practicing with Yes, Chris. I find it helpful to say I'm sorry and to ask what I can do to restore integrity. If I just go ahead and this is what I'm going to do about it, it might not be what the other person needs once I have broken down the relationship.

[55:42]

Yeah, thank you. That's good. I should be taking notes. Yes, Jeremy. I'm kind of wondering if I've had this type of interaction where reconciliation is too hard to handle where the other person has a real debt to pay in response to what this person has done. And that person is not urged any of that reconciliation. And then you're kind of like left, looking around. And the only thing you can say is to say, oh, this person are things that are just going to aggravate the problem more so. I think I remember a joke by Jerry Seinfeld where he talks about your cavies.

[56:45]

He's riding in the back seat. He's like, why would he drive my car like that? So he goes crazy. Uh-huh. So I don't know if this is, you know, talking about reconciliation, in some cases, it's just not going to fit the bill. There's no reconciliation possible. The person in here Yeah, maybe. Maybe so. But fortunately, all dharmas are marked by emptiness. So, if you feel that's the case, I would say, don't stick to the view. Maybe, oh, okay, right now, there's nothing, I feel there's nothing can be done and I don't see an opening, I don't see an option.

[57:50]

That may well be the case. I can say from experience. You might have that feeling and at that moment, nothing can be done, but stay open. Stay open. Because everything changes. You wait. Things change. You see your opportunity. You know? You never can tell. Shusul. Just reminding me, I want to say the great Zen masters of Katsi Norman Fisher once said in a talk at City Center, peacemaking begins in your own heart. I think of reconciliation in a sense, maybe it's peacemaking. You can always reconcile here. And I think that's in some ways maybe what you mean by staying open. Where is it? Here we go. All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind.

[58:56]

Speak or act with a corrupted mind and suffering follows. As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox, all experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows. like a never-departing shadow. This is very similar to actually the statement of intention of UNESCO, the United Nations Security Council. Anyway, this talk was long enough. I don't want to make it too much for the kitchen sink, but yeah, it's a remarkable parallel there in our hearts, in our minds. We make peace, and then we extend that peace to the world. Okay. Well, is outdoor kinhen even a possibility?

[60:04]

It's almost 10.30. Of course it's possible. So I wish you all a happy Rohatsu. And please enjoy your enlightenment. 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, visit sfcc.org and click giving.

[60:53]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_91.01