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 evening. Good warm Tassajara evening. been trekking around on the trails looking at wildflowers and birds with 25 wonderful people. With Diane Renshaw and Gloria Lee and Flip Dibner looking at stars and all kinds of things. So my name is Judith Randall and I've come down to help lead that Bird and Wildflowers of Tassajara Retreat.

[01:02]

And I want to thank the Tanto for inviting me to give this talk. And my teacher, Paul Haller, for encouraging me for many years and supporting me in this practice. I've lived at Tassajara for many years and just In early April, moved to our city temple. So I moved from Zen Shinji to Ho Shinji, from Zen Mind Temple to Beginner's Mind Temple. I think that's the right order. And when I arrived, I thought I was going to be doing one job, and then I found out I was going to be acting Tenzo, so head of the kitchen. city center for a period of time. And if we can, we say, yes, I will, and do what we're asked.

[02:08]

So that's what I'm doing. And in all of our temples, all three of them, and all of, probably many of our branching streams, smaller temples in the a text called Tenzo Kyokun, which means instructions to the Zen cook, and one teacher subtitled it, or how to cook your life. And so that text begins this way. From ancient times, Buddhist monasteries have had six office holders, who as disciples of the Buddha guide the monastic community. Amongst these, the Tenzo bears the responsibility of caring for the community's meals.

[03:08]

The one who makes offerings with reverence to the monks. Putting the mind of the way to work, it says... Serve carefully varied meals appropriate to each occasion and thus allow everyone to practice without hindrance. And there's the gist of it. We're preparing meals, but the whole point is to allow people to practice. That's our reason for cooking. And this... Tenzo is different from an ordinary cook in several ways. The Tenzo, it is said, works to serve the three treasures, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and sees this role as an opportunity for spiritual training, both for themselves and for everyone involved in the kitchen.

[04:17]

So that's really different from, you know, like... Kentucky Fried Chicken Cooks or something. Maybe, maybe they have an intention there, I shouldn't assume. If she fully considers the needs of the monks in terms of quantity and quality of food, if she makes each move with wakeful attention, avoids all waste... comports herself properly with regard to foodstuffs and utensils. Then her kitchen work becomes an exercise of maintaining the mind of Zen in everyday life. Well, let me tell you, that's a tall order. For me, Tenzo is the role I've taken up, but also... the interconnected work of all of us in the kitchen. So I see these instructions as for me, for the people I work with, for anyone who's working in a Zen temple in any role, and actually for any of us who work anywhere and in our lives.

[05:33]

It's a very broad teaching. This piece was written... Kenzo Kyokun, by our founder, the founder of this sect, Peihei Dogen, in 1237. So the question is, how is that relevant now here in the 21st century, in the city center kitchen, in summer work practice at Tassahara? How is it that something written then could help us now? One of the central teachings, of this text is about three minds, and that's the part I want to share with you tonight. Magnanimous mind, nurturing mind, sometimes called parental mind, and joyful mind. Shohaku Akamura,

[06:38]

is a teacher at a community in Bloomington, Indiana, and he's named his community Sanshin, Zen Community. Shohaku is a long-time practitioner and scholar and translator of Dogen, respected and loved by many, many people. And so Sanshin is three minds. This teaching was so important to him that he named his community after them. And he writes a little bit about them that I want to share with you. In Japanese, sanshin means three minds. Dogen Zenji recommended that a person working to benefit Buddha's family, which is how he describes sangha, should maintain three mental attitudes. Magnanimous mind, daishin. Dai is great. Shin is heart mind. It's not like our...

[07:39]

mental faculty alone. It's our whole way of knowing and being. So daishin, magnanimous mind, big mind, great mind. Nurturing mind, roshin, and joyful mind, kishin. He says, magnanimous mind is like an ocean or a mountain, calm and steady, yet accepting and nourishing countless beings and situations without differentiation. The ocean is serene because it accepts the many rivers without resisting. So without differentiation, this mind, without resisting, this mind. And I would say there is... differentiation, and there is resistance.

[08:41]

It comes to us, but magnanimous mind includes it and is larger than just that. Big mind, spacious mind, stable, immovable. Suzuki Roshi calls it imperturbable mind, imperturbable way-seeking mind. And I would say, even in the midst of feeling perturbed, there can be an imperturbability. This mind is swayed neither by enticements nor oppression, not that those things, again, don't arise, but it doesn't buy it. Broad-minded, tolerant. Refusing to take sides. This mind, it's not, I would say, not refusing, but it doesn't occur to magnanimous mind to take sides.

[09:48]

It comes from magnus, great, and animus, spirit. So lofty or courageous spirit, generosity, a generous mind. So this is how the kitchen trains us or any crew we're on or any work we take up if we're cultivating magnanimous mind. Nurturing mind is literally old mind and it refers to grandmotherly mind or kindly mind or parental mind, although that can be difficult because maybe in our experience parental mind wasn't so nurturing. But this nurturing energy is in all of us and available to all of us.

[10:56]

Surely in our lives somewhere we have experienced a nurturing person. That's what this is talking about. It's the spirit of the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva in our tradition embodies and enacts a spirit of awakening and thus inspires awakening in others. The bodhisattva, vowing to help all beings be free of suffering. So nurturing mind is this... Bodhisattva mind. He says it's the mind of a fully mature person. I thought that was an interesting... Are we fully mature people? What is that? Dogen writes, as a parent cares for an only child, keep the three treasures in your mind.

[12:01]

So... care for Buddha, care for Dharma, care for your Sangha as if it were your only child. And he says, when you handle water, rice, or anything else, have the affectionate and caring concern of a parent raising a child. So anything else, the clippers in the garden, the compost shovel, the computer keyboard, all of it, treat it in this way of caring for a child. Every thing, every encounter, every relationship, we can bring nurturing mind to it. And to our own interior life. Not just out there, but here. This parental mind is like unconditional love.

[13:09]

And that doesn't mean that conditioning and habitual thinking don't arise. But through practice, when they arise, we choose to meet them. We pause. We let them register. We breathe into them. We soften into them. experiencing them and holding them in nurturing mind. These responses that come up that we feel like we have no control over. And this is how we're asked to practice in the kitchen. I don't know if you've peeked into the Tassajara kitchen. I think, are there 20 people in the crew, something like that? Lots of activity in a very small space. It's like... It becomes like a beautiful dance. People move in kitchen dance and so much gets done. And our conditioned and habitual mind is right there.

[14:14]

Okamura describes joyful mind. Now this is an interesting one. As the joy that comes from deep in our hearts, even in the midst of difficulty. How can we have joy in the midst of difficulty? He says it arises from the insight of zazen, our seated meditation, that we live together with all beings and are not separate. So this joy... comes through sitting and discovering we're completely connected. It's a mind of gratefulness and buoyancy. It's a mind that doesn't seek a heavenly realm or a perfect life. The mind will tell you, you need this and this and this and if you have that, everything will be great. But this mind is just in the midst of the life that we have, just this life as it is.

[15:29]

This joyful mind is available. Does it always feel joyful in the kitchen or in our work or in our lives? No. It's a quieter, it's a quiet kind of joy. It sometimes manifests as happiness, but I think it's a deeper knowing that everything is whole and complete exactly as it is. There can be a pervasive sense of well-being no matter what's happening. a kind of okayness. And this is a fruit of our zazen. Shohaku Akamura says, together these three minds form the basis of a Buddhist community.

[16:41]

When grounded in zazen, when grounded in zazen, These three mental attitudes allow us to live and work in harmony with others at all times. Can you get that? All times? Quite a gift. What can we actually say about Zazen? Nothing, really. Because it isn't touched by words. and yet we speak. And maybe that's the bodhisattva heart, maybe that's bodhicicca, yearning to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings, as we say in the full moon ceremony. So when grounded in zazen, these minds come from our deep practice.

[17:45]

They are descriptive of our natural state, of our Buddha nature, even though that has been covered by our conditioned life, by our habitual responses. We took up the conditioning as a way of protecting ourselves as we move through our lives, and it's still there. We don't necessarily need it anymore, but it kicks right in when something comes up. And so sitting upright in stillness, allowing whatever arises to arise, noticing when you've left this moment and returning to the pure experience of here and now, this is what loosens the grip of our conditioned nature and our habitual responses. silence, stillness, and simplicity can infuse our whole lives, even in the midst of great activity, great difficulty.

[19:13]

I see this in the city center kitchen. I see it in summer work practice here. I see it in my life. And if you live and work on the other side of the mountain, what is your practice? What supports and nourishes your clarity, your vitality, your dedication? If you don't practice zazen, I know a lot of you do, what is your zazen? What is your work practice? What nourishes... magnanimous mind, nurturing mind, joyful mind, and what inspires you to give it away and help other people.

[20:17]

So three minds, one mind really, take it apart to try to learn how to come back to the idea that it's only one mind. I'd like to hear what you have to say about those three minds, or if you have any questions. What do you do?

[21:43]

Fall down. And then? I've heard it said, fall down 99 times, get up 100. I appreciate and I wanted to share these teachings because I appreciate hearing them, getting them in my mind, finding ways to call on them when I feel that way. I turned to my Dharma friends so they can help remind me. I turned to my teachers. I turned my breath a lot.

[22:56]

And to the things that nourish me. Because it is sometimes so completely in your face, that's all there is. And those sources seem to... It's like those clown dolls that fall over and then they come back up again. They seem to help me find my balance again. And Zazen asks us to sit with that state of mind and heart and... As much as we can stand it, Leslie says, can you stand it in your practice discussion? Can you stand it? Can I stand to sit completely still with very difficult things and breathe into them and soften into them?

[24:10]

And sometimes we can't. Then we take a break. We go for a swim. We step back internally from the intensity of it and then come back again with a little help from our friends. Yes. We're after what you're quoting in that book. It talks a lot. I cannot cook for you, and you cannot cook for me, with the Sawaki Roshi quote. But how do you see it with the harmony in the kitchen? How do you see that I cannot cook for you in the kitchen? And sometimes, if you turn back, I will go and take your job. And you see I'm doing your job, and you don't feel. So good. So he's saying that further along in this text,

[25:18]

So Waki Roshi says, I cannot cook for you and you cannot cook for me. And so how in the kitchen is that so? And he mentioned, if I am doing a task and I turn my back and I see you doing it, I don't feel so well about that. I cannot cook for you and you cannot cook for me. He also says, right after that, What about it? We can't even... How do you say? I have to think how he says it. We can't exchange a single fart. So I am completely this one, and you are completely that one, and we're completely interconnected, but this is a unique being, and this unique being... has only her unique experience of the world and of you.

[26:24]

And so for you. And so we live that out and at the same time we embody and enact our interconnectedness. And then we run into Not like that, but like that. And so I think it's inviting us to completely experience our response to someone doing your job. So whatever that is, you know your response might be, oh, how wonderful, I'll go on and do this. Your response isn't necessarily upsetness. But whatever your response is, I think our practice asks us to pause and take that in completely.

[27:26]

Let it register and let, you know, magnanimous mind, as it grows, there isn't so much room in there for knocking up against the walls anymore. It's bigger. And so the more we're willing to... be with exactly what's happening and our response to it, I think the walls move out more in our being. Okay? Where are we? Yes? I know that it's encouraged to look for compassion on all the people and creatures you encounter and those you don't. But in your life, sometimes you have responsibilities, more immediate responsibilities with the nurturing mind to have compassion for your family members.

[28:38]

And when you're not with them, it is easier by yourself to find the compassion and feel it and feel good about it. But then when you're with them, you're wondering where that compassion and the good feeling went. I'm sure there is. Do you have a tip on a skillful means to take that compassion that you can contemplate when you're alone about them? And put it in your pocket so that when you're with them and you actually need to produce the compassion in the circumstance, you can find it in your pocket. That's a great image. Find it and bring it out when you really need it. Yeah. Yeah. I like it.

[29:43]

Put it in your pocket. For me, I go to my breath so much. If I get into a family situation that's difficult, I go to my belly and my breath. And often it's tightened up. My shoulders have tightened up. I've clutched. And it's a... When I can remember to do it, my first response is a physical one. It's releasing a deep breath, letting the body relax so that I can actually be with what's happening the way it's happening and not be pushing it away or getting caught up in my reaction. And that involves seeing myself.

[30:44]

pushing it away and getting caught up in my reaction. And so when this body has settled a bit, I can be more available for what's going on with them. And I think looking for, you know, it's probably not all one way. It's probably not, there's probably compassionate moments there or connective moments. And so... I think when we get in that situation, we tend to generalize it as difficult instead of seeing moment by moment, well, actually, there was a lovely moment of laughter with them and pausing with that. And I also... literally use some of our chants in our practice.

[31:49]

We have a chant called the Enme Juku Kanan Gyo, which is Kanan is Avalokita Shvara, is Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. And we chant it in the morning seven times, faster and faster. And I... Sometimes in situations that feel very difficult, I turn to that because my mind is in the difficulty loop. And I want to cut through that. And so I invite this chant instead. And that often brings me back to myself, back to my body, back to the present, and back to actually what's happening with them. So there's some tips. One more. Yes. I went for a walk today and I put to my phone and I cut my arm on a rock.

[33:05]

I was wondering what mind do you have for the flies that come and try to drink your blood? Eww, that mind. You know, I flick them off as gently as I can. I don't wait long enough for them to dig in, but I really do... prefer that they go back to the grass. I remember we had a work leader here. She was many things here, but at that time she was work leader Kathy Early. And she fell off a ladder cleaning the gutters, which is one of our work leader's tasks. And she broke her arm.

[34:06]

And Later, there's a sutra called the Satipatthana Sutta, the four foundations of mindfulness, and it talks about when a monk is walking forward, she knows she's walking. It says he knows she's walking forward. When she's breathing a long breath, she knows she's breathing a long breath. Kathy said, when I fell off the ladder, I thought... A monk falling off the ladder knows that she is falling off the ladder. So thinking that when you said you fell and hit the rock, that there's that mind, I thought that was amazing. What was in your mind when the flies were there? Yeah? So can your mind be so big that you allow... the thought, I hate these flaws? Or is that thought not okay with you?

[35:11]

Well, that's pretty Zen. Okay. Thank you. 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.

[35:46]

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