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 evening. Last week in the class that I'm teaching called study the self i introduced a um they introduced a um a coin the second case in the blue clef records where joe shu says um the great way is without difficulty Just avoid picking or choosing.

[01:01]

I think of this koan in a category of koans that are kind of utterly obvious, you know, in their statement they're making. It's a little bit like this one. It's a little bit like saying, when you're fully enlightened, there won't be any problems with practice. young man says, every day is a good day. Both of these kinds and this category of kind, they state the impossibly obvious and then challenge us to discover and learn how to stay close to What's underneath that obvious statement?

[02:11]

You know, Joshu is quoting the first line of the Xin Xin Ming. Usually called faith in mind. That Xin Xin can also mean deep trust or trustworthy? What is the state of consciousness that's deeply trustworthy? But what is it to approach our life in a way, in a manner that's deeply trustworthy? Yeah. Yesterday, we had strong winds in the building that I'm staying in, I live in.

[03:20]

There's a tree that's close to the building. And, you know, often what happens in this kind of climate, we have a very dry period. And then when we have rains, the trees are very thirsty and they pull up a lot of moisture into the tree. And then the tree becomes like top heavy. And then when you... I don't know what that means. The volume's a little low. So I should talk louder or... Okay. I will endeavor to do that. So the trees become top-heavy. And then when there's severe winds, often it rips off branches or it uproots the tree.

[04:28]

So that's what happened. That's what's in the process of happening with this tree. Its roots started to pull out of the ground and it started to tilt towards the building. And then with every gust, strong gust of wind, it would thump the building. Actually, it made me think of a poem by Jane Hurstfield, who talks about having a little redwood tree, a very young redwood tree, growing beside your house. And she says, softly and calmly. it taps at immensity. You know, immensity taps at the window. This is more like, immensity thumps the building. And I decided, you know, as you can imagine, this is not ideal circumstance, but I thought,

[05:43]

Well, but then I'm going to go to this meeting, and then I'm going to do this. And I persisted. Although I must say, I was... There was a feeling like something ominous is lurking in the background. Yeah. Not so delightful as softly, calmly immensity is tapping. It had more of a thump. But I persisted with my schedule for the afternoon. And ended up feeling... something ominous is unattended to.

[06:46]

And then today I was able to contact an arborist in the park service and nothing tangible has happened, but at least we have a plan. And I thought of this coin. And I thought of my own behavior and thinking. So initially, I had a version of reality that I didn't want to change. I have this meeting to go to, and then I have this to do. And I resent something coming along, requesting or demanding that I give it priority it's something in me it's like i i don't think i was in i was certainly not delighted by the turn of events and then today i could feel something inside of me settled

[08:07]

When we do what we do, give ourselves to it. As Dogen says, we actualize the fundamental point. And I think of Shin Shin Ming, the trustworthy mind, the way of engaging our life however it is and whatever it presents internally or externally, that con is pointing at what is it to actualize the fundamental point. Whether you like it or don't like it, whether it's simple and whether it's easily accomplished, whether it's complicated and going to take quite a diligent effort.

[09:28]

What is that state of consciousness, that disposition, that trustworthy consciousness? that guides us, that we enact, that we remember, that we find support in enacting. And I think that, you know, in the class, I was also teaching Anapanasati. And, you know, Anapanasati, it has a wonderful formulation, you know.

[10:34]

Deeply acknowledge impermanence, that there's no independent solidity to life. It's this incredible... Interplay. Of causes and conditions. You know. The dry period. Followed by the. Saturated wet period. The trees draw up the sap. And when the wind blows. Strongly. Those top-heavy trees sometimes lose their branches, sometimes draw out the root balls, and actually sometimes they become stronger by being challenged like that. Impermanence. And then dispassion.

[11:41]

Think of the Mahayana, the Bodhisattva vow. There's dispassion, and there's the utter passion of, yes, I will. You know, when we have an ordination ceremony, throughout the ordination ceremony, the ordinands, are asked, even after attaining Buddhahood, will you observe this? Will you practice this? And the ordinance say, yes, I will. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. As if This trustworthy consciousness was the central theme of our practice.

[12:52]

We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know when it's going to happen. We don't know how it will impact us and how we'll respond. But yes, I will. just avoid picking and choosing. And Anapanasati is saying, with that willingness, when that yes comes forth, even though there's still within our being, we've entered the stream. We start to feel the influence of yes, I will.

[14:04]

This is the central alchemy of our ordinations. That as we say, yes, I will, something in us is discovering what it is to vow. And then that finds its expression in the endless ways that we express our lives. I notice today, the arborist, who came out to look at the tree, lamented that there wasn't really much option, but the karta actually said there wasn't any option. But his appreciation for trees was obvious.

[15:12]

This way in which we inter-be Last night, as the tree was thumping the building, actually it died down as the winds died down. It stopped as the winds died down. And I was thinking, how many people in this city, probably about 14,000, maybe more, every night, There's a thump of insecurity. On what's going to happen. As they sleep on a blanket. Or in a shelter. Or in a tent.

[16:18]

The instances of our life. They're there to teach us how to live. And no matter how we construe what our practice is, there is something raw and powerful about being alive in a conditioned reality. It's simply how it is. Recently, I was reading a book written by Leonard Cohen. If you don't know, he's a songwriter and also quite a devoted Zen student. At one point when he was about 65, he decided he would spend 10 years in the monastery.

[17:23]

He's a Rinzai student, a student of Suzaki Roshi, down in Mount Baldy. And he went to the monastery and spent 10 years there. And while he was there, he worked on a book called The Book of Longing. And when you read the book, When I read the book, it's like reading all the random disconnected thoughts and feelings that go through when you're practicing in the monastery. And then being the person he is, he turned it into poetry. And here's one of his poems. is in your life.

[18:23]

Those that harm you, those that help you, those whom you know, and those whom you don't know. Let them off the hook. Help them off the hook. Recognize the hook. Let them off the hook. help them off the hook, recognize the hook. That way, it's seemingly in our human condition, we're prone to construct intrigues. And the psychologists would tell us, well, yes, some of those intrigues are about love and appreciation and gratitude, but actually the majority have a negative tinge to them.

[19:51]

Come with that. Can we let each other off the hook? Can we help each other to unhook? Can we recognize the hook? What practices, what remembrances, what attitudes, what intentionality draws us forth, helps to create the conditions for just avoiding picking and choosing, for cultivating that trustworthy consciousness. It would be lovely if the immensity of existence just calmly and softly tapped on the window.

[21:11]

But maybe it's very helpful for us that sometimes it just thumps on the whole building. and shakes it and lets us know, no, you're not in charge. You don't define reality. You can't organize it to your choosing. You can't avoid it either. That's how it is. Can that, yes I will, can it somehow in the midst of our conditioned being, can it turn us back towards face to face?

[22:20]

There's a sensibility in Zen where it's like, maybe in English we would say, Meet it head on. But it seems that the Japanese and probably the Chinese expression is, meet it face to face. Become it. Take it on. Suzuki Roshi was prone to say, And the most important thing is. But then he probably, in the course of all the talks he gave, he probably said like 50 or 100 most important things. Like he would follow that phrase by a different admonition.

[23:26]

Maybe we can say, whatever arises, Whatever is met with yes, or maybe, maybe, is the most important thing. And as we pursue it, can we see the ways in which we deviate? the ways in which we either want to control or negotiate or just plan outright, want to avoid. Whether it's arising internally or seemingly arise externally.

[24:33]

How do we stay true to Yes, I will. So the dispassion that's mentioned in Anupanasati, and this is a classic process in early Buddhism, you know, enter the stream, let go of picking and choosing, you know. Let the habit energies of picking and choosing dissipate and fade away. And then immerse, acknowledge, take to heart. Liberation. And maybe given the Xin Xin Ming, we can say and actualize the fundamental point of trustworthy consciousness, of trustworthy behavior, of trustworthy doing what you're doing, of trustworthy meeting face to face, the person, the situation, the complexity of your own being,

[26:05]

And maybe the con is, how does conditioned being give rise to unconditioned response? Aiken Roshir used to like to say, awakening the unconditioned response is an accident. You can't make it happen. You can't manufacture the conditions that make it happen. But you can make yourself accident-prone. We can set the stage. We can let them off the hook.

[27:16]

We can let ourselves off the hook. We can recognize the hook. We can learn something about avoiding picking and choosing. Maybe we can take it to heart in a way that we start to find it in the different modalities of our life. And as we do, then the different aspects of our life have the flavor of koan, have the flavor of being our teacher. We learn something from it. And often,

[28:23]

It's like, oh yeah, I know that. When my daughter, who's now 40, when she was about seven or eight, she said to me, there's a pie and all the different religions of the world are a slice of the pie. But together, they're just one pie. And I said to her, well, religions have their own belief structures. What if you don't have any belief structures? And she said, that's another slice of the pie. That way, for a long time,

[29:25]

We've been examining the calling of life. We've been examining the calling of trustworthy consciousness. We've been examining the calling of the path of liberation. Whether it's an accident or not, As Dogen Zenji says, when we actualize it, practice occurs, illustrating, exemplifying, expounding the fundamental point. This is the nature of khan.

[30:29]

It invites awareness. It invites radical honesty. It invites letting ourselves and letting others off the hook. And then meeting face to face, what's there to be met. 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, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

[31:33]

May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[31:36]

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