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. I'd like to talk today about a number of Zen heroes. And they all become clear as I talk. The Tale of Two Cities starts off, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And that's sort of the way it is now. This week has been a very active week, week of transitions. started off last Friday night with giving lay entrustment to Marsha Angus, a person who's been practicing for over 30 years.

[01:14]

Over 35 years. And some students and teachers who had been practicing with her for that long came And it was a very joyous celebration. So much in our life we don't recognize and rejoice in each other. And maybe that's okay because we get a little tiresome perhaps. But when we do do it, we do it upright. The next day... Jarlene Cohen was my first transmitted student, who doesn't have that much longer to live. Spent the week until Thursday giving Dharma transmission to her two lead students.

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Dharma transmission is an intense ceremony. And it was touch and go as they did it. This stick, this teaching stick, I cut in half and gave half to Darlene when I gave her Dharma transmission. She struggled a lot of her life with rheumatoid arthritis and in the past few years with cancer. But a courageous, more courageous, joyous person you couldn't come across. And she was flat out giving all she had for this ceremony for her students.

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Next day, Sunday, Jerome Peterson, who first came to Zen Center in 1961, died. Jerome was not an a common person. He was unique. He probably had a, and it was my projection that he probably had a very difficult childhood. And he was, he started off with a clunky body. But his courage and heart carried him through. There's a story about a big earthquake in Japan, and a Heiji, when all the supreme monks left the zendo, but there was one who stayed behind and blew out the candle.

[04:47]

The one who people didn't think much of. That was Jerome. He came in 1961 and had a close feeling with Suzuki Rishi, but he never had doks on him. He was at Tassajara in 1976, I believe, when it was his chusot ceremony. And his was one of the best chusot ceremonies I've ever been to. But still with his freedom of mind and sort of affability. It's almost a contradiction that the Siddiqui was affable, but he was. And people who came to Zen Center who had a difficult time, he always noticed them and tried to help.

[05:56]

And people would come to him to study the Avatamsaka Sutra, which is this big sutra about how big and wide and vast the world is. He had that sense. Jerome was also interesting in that he could talk about the weather in a hundred different ways. Most people may have a cliché about talking about the weather, but Jerome had it down to a whole art. And on... Was it Tuesday? A great teacher, Blanche Hartman, went into the hospital.

[07:01]

We were all very worried. But they couldn't find anything. Her heart was too big for them to find. and she came back the next day. Puzzled, because they couldn't find anything, but she actually, it worked, she looks like she's feeling better. And then Thursday night, Vicki and Darlene called me up and said that they'd finished their Dharma transmission. Vicki was a help. Vicky has helped with more dharma transmissions than anybody I know. And it was joyous.

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I could feel it in their voices. It was a feeling of relief and completion and joy. Sometimes people talk about Zen practices or Zen center as a place that does good works. and has great buildings, and you should support us for that. But I don't blame you if you don't give money for that. It's the heart of the character of the people that are practicing here that should be supported. Fundraising letters are fine and necessary. But it's the maturation of the heart. And it's not predictable. Jerome was not like any other person. Darlene was not like any other person.

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Blanche is not like any other person. They each have their characteristics, but their refinement and their commitment shines clear. And those of you who are practicing here, that's what I wish for you. Not that you get the best jobs or the most robes or greatest sticks. Very nice. Very nice. But it's the heart of the practitioner, it's the heart of the community, which is so precious.

[10:14]

The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Not necessarily the housing. And that needs to be supported. Jerome probably didn't earn much money for Zen Center, but he contributed finally. And for those of you who practiced around here, you may have felt his presence. We now have paths and gates and a lot of psychological expertise, which is necessary and important in America. Jerome wasn't any part of any Paths and Gates process. He just totally committed to being here. And it's interesting to have information about things, but Zen Center is not about putting out some good little Zen student.

[11:35]

who's socially effective. If we should, that's perfectly fine. It's an important thing to be well-rounded. But it's the heart that needs to be, it's the heart that's lacking in America. Or I could always use more of. It's not our efficiency or. And we need to. tell each other how much we appreciate each other more than we do. But maybe not too much.

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That's... You don't do it for the approval. You know, when I... In 1985, when I began to have more responsibility at Zen Center and got some compliments... Moon in the Dewdrop, the first Dogen book that we produced, came out. And in it, Reb wrote an introduction in which he praised all the work I did for it. And I got Reb and I said, I didn't do so much work for this book. And he said, that may not be so, but there's a lot of things you've done that you haven't gotten praised for. So you should take what comes. There's another Rebbe story I'm reminded of, which is Rebbe asked Suzuki Roshi, does his teacher suffer the way his students do?

[13:57]

And Suzuki Roshi says, if he doesn't, he's not good enough. If he doesn't, he's not good enough. Jerome had teas down to a science. Each cookie he know which should go on the roof of your mouth and which goes on the tongue side. That's something that's taught very often.

[15:01]

So how we develop heart in each other, in ourselves, is to be aware of how you're feeling and how other people are feeling. What's the most important thing? in doing something. Zen practice is about two different things which look different but they're the same thing. There's being and there's doing. There's an old saying, just don't do something, sit there. Just don't sit there, do something. That's what many of the koans are about. Are you doing something? or your being?

[16:22]

Is your being passive? Is your doing active? This morning is an experiment in putting this lecture out live. Hello there, unseen. unseen, but your presence is felt. So it's people that make practice in a temple difficult, and it's people that make it period. It's each of our individuality as well as our common effort, which is important.

[17:55]

Suzuki Roshi said, when you all try to do the same thing, I see your individuality. If you all do something different, I can't tell what's unique about you. And we all want to be the perfect practitioners. but very few can, except being totally themselves. That's why courage and honesty are the most important characteristics of a Zen student. Courage to face whatever comes, to learn the truth about yourself and other people, which is not often pretty, but it's not the whole story. and the truth to say, what is really happening? Beside the cover stories that we all have, what is really happening?

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There are plenty of Zen heroes out here in the audience. And his Zen hero does not have medals on his chest or her chest. You can have, but it's unnecessary. So when you come to a Zen center and you practice here, it's okay to come for the ceremonies and for the glitter.

[20:32]

But know that there's something else going on too. Sometimes people come to Zen Center and they feel it's a little too cold and too imposing. But I had a friend come first and he said, I don't see it as cold and imposing, I see it as faith. Faith or trust. Jerome, keep going. There's no place you can't reach.

[21:40]

And to each of you, keep going. Finding your way. Sometimes disappointed, sometimes ecstatic. But stay to the truth and be courageous. And to Darlene. Last time I saw Darlene, We've talked on the phone a lot, but I haven't seen her for a few weeks, and I asked her what I could do to help. She said, you can do my funeral. be present for each other as are present to each other.

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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. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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