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. First, I want to thank my teacher, Norman Fisher, for 25 years of teaching, inspiration, support, trust, and encouragement. And this is actually my Shuso Rakasu. And I wore it because I want to read you what he wrote. This is from... Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm, without looking for the traces I may have left, a cuckoo song beckons me to return home. Hearing this, and... I tilt my head to see who has told me to turn back.

[01:03]

But do not ask me where I am going as I travel in this limitless world where every step I take is my home. And we're all fortunate to be able to call Tazahara our home for at least the number of days or weeks or months or sometimes years that we spend here and that we spend together. Most recently, Norman led the Tazahara winter practice period, which ended just a few days ago. During these three months, 60 of us spent long, mostly cold, and often torrentially rainy days along this valley path, sitting standing, walking, and lying down. We were an interesting collection of new and long-experienced monks, young people, and others who could be their parents or grandparents.

[02:10]

Almost half of our practice period was over 50 years old, and about a dozen were in their late 60s to mid-70s. And some of those were among the 24 Tangario, or first-time students here. People in their mid-70s for the first time doing a practice period at Tazahara. And they did it robustly. Of the 60 students, 45 had received Jukai, and a 46th received Jukai during the practice period. including those of 20 of us who were priests. A third of the 60 of us were priests during this practice period. A couple of them were newly minted just last fall, and others had been ordained 30 or 40 years ago. And those of us in the middle, all in the intervening years. In addition, during the practice period, four of us studied together with Norman and Kathy Fisher,

[03:22]

in final preparation for Dharma transmission, and then engaged in a sequence of serious, challenging, intimate, and transformative ceremonies just last month that comprised the final cycle of transmission, or Shiho. Most of this was conducted away from everyone else, sometimes in a cabin set up for the days of brushwork calligraphy that we had to do. Picture black ink on white silk with brushes, and you've never done it before. White out can help. Meanwhile, in the cold, dark, sometimes rainy early mornings, while everyone else was in the Zendo, we were walking around like a bevy of quails, to many of the altars around Tazahara, quietly bowing and chanting.

[04:25]

Several people told me it was pleasant and touching to hear us outside while they were sitting zazen. So now I show up in new brown gear, and I'm still not sure how I got here, only that I've just kept showing up. Wearing these new robes, I feel more visible, more exposed, more vulnerable, and more accessible. Thinking about the transmission process and the years of showing up that led to this, I'm reminded of Suzuki Roshi's words from a talk in 1965. As to progress, we don't know how much progress we made, actually. But if you practice, someday you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. The progress you make is always little by little. It's like to go through fog.

[05:29]

You don't know when you get wet, but if you just walk through fog, you will be wet little by little. Even though you don't know, it is not like a shower. When you go out, when it is showering, you will feel, oh, that's terrible. It is not so bad when you get wet by fog. It is very difficult to dry yourself. This is how we make progress. So actually, there is not any need to worry about your progress. Just to do it is the way. Just repeating, you will master it. You cannot do it all of a sudden. This is how we practice. little by little, just to do it is our way. The point is to do it with sincerity in each moment. There should not be nirvana besides our practice. And what is our practice? A lot of time and attention is focused on our sitting practice of zazen.

[06:36]

Dogen has very specific instructions laid out in his fascicle, Fukanza Zengi. which we regularly chant during morning service, and includes a quiet room is suitable, eat and drink moderately, cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs, do not think good or bad, cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thoughts and views. Zazen has nothing or whatever to do with sitting or lying down. At your regular sitting place, spread out thick matting and place a cushion above it. Sit either in the full lotus or half lotus position. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left palm on your right palm, thumb tips touching. Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath.

[07:37]

Inhale and exhale. Rock your body right and left and settle into steady, immobile sitting. Think not thinking. How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking, the essential art of zazen. When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Very specific instructions. So now... we arise calmly and deliberately from sitting and continue our practice. Right here, right now, we have just entered a transitional period for Tazahara. Several days ago, we emerged from three months or six months of monastic life. Now, for only a few brief weeks, our practice focus is on working together in myriad ways to

[08:39]

and helping Tazahara prepare to open the gate and welcome summer guests. During these weeks, we're a motley crew of continuing and returning students, work period volunteers, and new summer students who are embarking on a rigorous schedule of Zen meditation and Hot Springs Resort guest services. We're all living and working together in this narrow valley, eating, meditating, bathing, and sleeping in close proximity. Coming out of the intensity and deep silence of practice period, thundering rain on the Zendo and roaring creeks along the path notwithstanding, I have a new appreciation for the difficulty that some continuing students experience as we enter work period. only a few brief days later. My previous practice periods here, 10 years ago with Paul and Heather and Gita and Mako, who was our chuseau, and 20 years ago with Norman, were both in the fall.

[09:55]

At those times, I recall that reentering the world outside our gate required an acclamation period. So now, here inside Tazahara, we're acclimating to an infusion of new people, renewed energy, and it's wonderful what eight hours of sleep can do, heightened activity, and an increased variety and level of sounds. And before we know it, another shift occurs when the guest seasons open and Tazahara functions as two parallel universes, of residents and guests occupying the same space. Now, as I reflect on our recent practice period, I'm deeply moved by how we got wet together. Not so much by those persistent torrential rains, much more by our slowly repeating and learning the heart and body of practices of this tradition.

[10:59]

These friendships whether in practice periods or work periods or other sanghas, become the fabric of our lives. It's sometimes said that in the intensity of communal life, where we rub up against each other during our daily activities, this helps to smooth out the rough spots and we become more kind and compassionate people. This, in turn, opens our hearts and strengthens our capacity for joy, love, and compassion, and friendship. Dharma friendship, spiritual friendship, is core in our practice. In a talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi, he says, people new to Buddhism often take the Dharma to be a purely individual path of spiritual development. They imagine that the only correct way to follow the Dharma

[12:01]

is to lock oneself up in one's room, turn off the lights, and devote all one's efforts to practicing meditation. However, if we look at the Buddhist texts, we would see that the Buddha again and again stressed the value of spiritual friendship as a support for the Buddha's path. It's recounted that on one occasion, Ananda, the Buddha's attendant, came to the Buddha and said, Lord, I think that half of the holy life is spiritual friendship. The Buddha replied, That's not so, Ananda. It is not half of the holy life. The entire holy life is friendship. This spiritual friendship means not only associating with good people, but learning from them and emulating their good qualities. Talking about spiritual friendship, Ajahn Amaro has said that through getting to know those who delight in the Buddha's teaching, we create a connection with them.

[13:09]

We establish a support system, a network of spiritual friendship, in which we can actually be with each other. We open ourselves to the other person, ready to notice any grudges that we have or the opinions and obsessions we have about them. as well as the attractions towards them. Then we can enter more into the place of listening, of forgiving, of letting go of the past, and just being open to the present. And this is the most wonderful and beautiful gift we can give. Our practice communities are a realization of Dharma friendship. Vicky Bodhi imagines us crossing the desert in a caravan with Dharma friends. While others help us carry the supplies, we can pause for conversation, we have a sense of sharing the trials along the way, and we rejoice together as we approach our destination.

[14:12]

Kind of sounds like the way we're working around here today. Let's use this work period opportunity to open to new spiritual friendships and reinforce and reacquaint ourselves with those we've had in the past. and learn from each other as we help construct the new upper shack, cultivate the gardens, and deep clean the cabins, prepare food for our meals, and reset the stone office, as well as enjoy conversations, share food, and relax in the soothing waters. And when we travel beyond the Tazahara gate, whether resuming, initiating, or recreating our lives past the 14 miles in the 10 directions, know that it is possible to bring this spirit of friendship, joy, kindness, and acceptance with you. The world can only benefit from shared wisdom, compassion, and equanimity.

[15:18]

These are not separate from who we are and how we live and practice. within and outside of Tazahara, whether we're here for three weeks, three months, or many years of residential practice, we do make a difference, bringing our whole selves into the marketplace. For those of you who will be staying on to work this summer, here are some simple and practical suggestions, which I've mentioned in the past. So I... shared these before to support your practice and encourage you to take advantage of the unique opportunities during the retreat season. And also to help address some difficulties that you might find arising because it does become very intense here with all the activities and the people involved. So here's my little list. One, it really is important to show up.

[16:22]

Follow the schedule and support each other. Two, take care of your body. Make time to exercise, stretch, and avail yourself of the body worker services that are provided throughout the summer. Three, there are classes and discussion groups during the summer. Participate in them. Four, when you need help, instruction or guidance. Ask an appropriate person, not just the person who might happen to be closest nearby or somebody who's a dear friend, somebody you discern as an appropriate person for the question at hand. Five, establish a practice relationship and have discussions with practice leaders. This is a grand opportunity because this is still a monastery and it's a place of our practice. Six, ask to see visiting teachers who offer dokasan when they come to lead retreats.

[17:27]

You're talking from your heart. You're looking for different kinds of responses to questions you may be having. Seven, when teachers and retreat instructors offer a talk, such as the one we're having tonight or ones that may occur in the zendo, try to attend some of them. This can be informative and even inspiring. With all the activities during this work period and through the summer, remember to take one step at a time. Pay attention to the task at hand and use this opportunity to develop skills and spiritual friendships. And please, remember to breathe. So, now we're going to have a little conversation. I'm going to ask you to turn to somebody preferably kind of nearby so we don't have to disrupt the whole room, and preferably somebody you may not know or may not know that well. And then I'm going to give you a couple of ideas of something to talk about for a little while.

[18:31]

So just kind of orient yourself to somebody nearby. Oh, thank you. Lovely. Whoops. More questions? More left? Okay, here's something that came to my mind earlier today. I started college in 1967 as a theater student, and with some of the technical training I had, I got to do lighting sometimes, little what are called trouperettes, little spotlights, at rock concerts, which was really fun. It was that year I didn't have but I had a lot of rock and roll. And on our campus, we had a wonderful concert by the young ones.

[19:35]

So this may be familiar to those of you who were around in the 1960s as well. I'm not going to sing this because I've been losing my singing books in recent years because of a health issue. But I'll give it a moving reading and anybody who knows it and wants to join is welcome. I'm not going to do all of these things. Love is but a song to sing. Fear's the way we die. You can make the mountains ring or make the angels cry. Though the bird is on the wing and you may not know why. Come on, people now. Smile on each other. Everybody get together. Try to love one another right now Some may come and some may go We shall surely pass When the one that left us here Returns for us at last We are but a moment's sunlight Shading in the grass Come on people now Smile on each other

[20:49]

Everybody get together, try to love one another right now. If you hear the song I sing, you will understand. You hold the key to love and fear all in your trembling hand. Just one key unlocks them both. It's there at your command. Come on, people now, smile on each other, everybody get together, try to love one another right now. And that's the core of our practice. 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.

[21:52]

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