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. Mountains, rivers, earth, and so forth, neither exist nor do not exist. They're neither large nor small, neither attainable or unattainable, not knowable or unknowable, not penetrable or impenetrable. They neither change with realization nor change without realization. Just wholeheartedly accept with trust that to study the way with mind is mountains, rivers, and earth. Mind itself thoroughly engaged in study the way. So that clarifies it, right?

[01:01]

No. And then he goes on and says, distrust, you know, distrust, the trust to study the way he liked that. So it's always a challenge for us. How do we take the Dharma, however we read it? Whether it's early canon, whether it's multiple translations of the Shobho Genzo, whether it's a commentary, whether it's the insight that arises in our own mind. How do we draw it into lived experiencing? And in this fascicle, that's what Dogen Zenji is calling learning.

[02:09]

And he's saying, without a certain kind of engagement, it doesn't come to life. It doesn't become an experienced event. And without a certain kind of awareness of that experience, the Dharma doesn't unfold. I skipped a large section where he makes all these beautiful allusions to different koans, different teachings. I would sometimes think, I wonder if he gave this as a talk and all the monks sat there thinking, what's he talking about? He'll give like one phrase reference and it comes from a quote from a Zen teacher who was referring to a period of time in the Tang Dynasty when a certain historical event happened.

[03:21]

So it's a reference of a reference of a reference. So I'll spare you all that and instead read you a Seamus Heaney poem. But sorry, no accent today. Well, maybe because this one is called In Iowa. in Iowa in Iowa once among the Mennonites in the slaughtered blizzard conveying all afternoon through sleep glint pelting hard against the windscreen and the wipers strong absolving slumps and flits I saw abandoned in an open gap of a field were wilted corn stalks flagged with snow and a mowing machine snow brimmed

[04:29]

in its iron seat, heaped each spoked wheel with a thick white brow, and took the shine oil off the black-toothed gears. Verily, I came forth from that wilderness as one unbaptized who had known darkness at the third hour and the veil in tatters. In Aya, once, in the slush and rush and hiss, not of parted, but of the rising waters. Our life is full of creation that we participate in. When I read this poem, I think, oh,

[05:30]

Farm boy knows a farm when he sees it, even if it's halfway around the world from the one he grew up on. Even if he's been heaped with accolades about how wonderful and erudite and poetic he is. Even if it's snowing like crazy, still... He has an intimacy with the mowing machine. All the time, we bring all that we are to bear in what's being created in the moment. And I think in our practice, sometimes that perplexes us.

[06:36]

I'm having the wrong experience. This should read more like Dogen. It is and it isn't. It arises and it doesn't arise. It's penetrable and impenetrable. It's far and near. characteristic of each experience is that it's itself and the Emperor asks Bodhidharma and what about this one who just said that no recognizing course we take the experience or maybe not of course but mostly we take the experience and we want to recognize it we want to put it into relationship with our view of the world that's a lovely day

[08:02]

how Seamus Heaney doesn't go there. He says, nope. I didn't get it. I didn't own it. It owned me. I was in the wilderness. In the majesty of that moment, event spoke. The event declared. When the world comes, Dogen Zenji says, when the world comes forth and confirms the self, that's awakening. Yes, his background, his familiarity with farm equipment that notices what's growing in the field. The weather is highly relevant when you live on a farm.

[09:22]

His experience helps co-create the moment. But that moment can be exactly itself. can register. As many of you have heard me say, notice, acknowledge, contact, experience. I don't know if register is sufficient. but experienced in a way that something is learned. Rather than this experience is just, goes unseen, unheard, unfelt, or this experience is categorized and placed neatly

[10:51]

inside some recognizing. Oh, it's a farm. Yeah, I've been on farms. What else? So for each of us to venture into new territory, we have a repertoire of references. How could we not? We've lived life this far. We've had all sorts of experiences, all sorts of imprints, psychosomatically, all sorts of being shaped emotionally, neurologically, physiologically.

[11:52]

How could we not contribute to dependent co-arising. And then to say, unbaptized, uninitiated, a kind of not-knowing. Oh yeah, I know all about this. has never happened before and what is the turning of the heart the mind the chitta there are daya the ridda that enables such an engagement this is to study the way

[12:55]

whether we like it or not, most of our study is catching ourselves on and noticing when we didn't do that, that we were off on something that was dissociated from what was in the immediate now. And in that noticing, in that noticing great patience, in that noticing a benevolence that says, but it's still my best effort at being alive, right? what I have to offer in the realm of co-creation.

[14:09]

It's still the thread of this life being lived moment by moment. Can we appreciate that? And the Genjo Koan Dogen says, when you give it a sideways glance, it seems yo-yo. That's the whole story. When you open up to it, particular... eventful as this experience is it's not the whole story it's just this extraordinary momentary event and what shameless audacity to take it and memorialize it in a poem

[15:41]

offer it appreciation. And so the contact experience, notice, acknowledge, and then the contact experience is not a dutiful task that unfurls the virtue. of your self-worth, or reveal some magnificent world that you'd rather be in rather than the tawdry, impoverished one you're already in. Being in the moment doesn't stop the snow. Sometimes our desperation gets closer, weaving its own intensity.

[17:12]

As each of us gets ourselves into trouble, your body starts to feel a certain way, your mind starts to respond a certain way. That exacerbates the tension, the resisting. And pretty soon you're in trouble. And then it creates its own gravitas, its own intensity that draws you in. Sometimes it just floats lighter than air. There's an inner quiet. There's no need to do anything to the moment.

[18:27]

Maybe we could call that the mind of the eternal Buddhas, the fragrance of eternal spring, of timeless spring. But in the process of learning, to let it register, to let it undo, And then these different attributes, the patience, the benevolence, the willingness, the acceptance, offering up something, informing in a way that words can't reach.

[19:32]

Imagine if instead of writing the poem, Seamus Heaney, who was one smart guy, it seemed like he was conversant with every piece of literature written in the Western world, in English, Latin, Greek, and several other languages too. Imagine if instead of writing the poem, he wrote a long essay, on the implications of having that experience. And contrast it to the humble rawness of, I came forth from that wilderness as one unbaptized who'd known darkness. Dogen says, when Dharma fills your body and mind, you realize there's something missing.

[20:56]

What your mind is helping to co-create is not the entirety of what happens. It's just one afrik. It's just one flower. It has its own beauty. What do we learn? And Dogen Sinji says, trust. Trust this experiencing. Experiencing the experience that's being experienced is a reckless act of trust. What about all the strategies you've learned about how to have a safe life, a successful life, a happy life, a rewarding life, a fulfilling life, an accomplished life?

[22:11]

If you just experience, throw open the gates and experience what's happening, what the heck is going to happen? there's an existential dilemma if you don't throw open the gates your own recognizing creates its own looping it's its own repetitive recreation sometimes we ask ourselves why is it wherever I go it's always like this I was over there and people were like that. No, I'm here and people are like that here too. I guess it's just bad luck.

[23:16]

The trust. The trust. Bodhidharma. He utters what he has to say, and then he says, I'm out of here. My work is done. And the emperor says, wait a minute, wait a minute. Couldn't you give me an exposition and all of that? Or, as it's usually written, apparently, He was just dumbstruck. And his advisor whispered in his ear, did you get that? Did I get what? Fortunately, there's another moment coming along.

[24:34]

There's another Bodhidharma in the wings. him back within a fraction of a second. I don't know where you got that idea. Seamus Heaney met him in Iowa. historian, self-appointed historian, Andy Ferguson, has his own version of all that story. The core is the same. He just gives it a surround. Bodhidharma had come to attend the funeral.

[25:43]

This is Andy's version. come to attend the funeral of one of his leading disciples. And this disciple had gone off and become the teacher in the emperor's court. And having Bodhidharma in the neighborhood, he thought, I'll have a wee chat with him. So he invites him over. Lucy Zhao, who was born and raised in China and has studied and interestingly can read these texts in Chinese and has enough connections into the Buddhist world scholarship in China that you can get good versions of them, she thinks. And this question, the first question the emperor asks,

[26:49]

usually translated as what's the highest meaning of the Holy Truth, can be translated as, there's a phrase, she told me there's a phrase in Chinese that translates something like, what's the first principle of practice? Maybe in our vernacular we would say, What's the point to practice? Or, what's the most important thing? Then you think, well, that's not such a dumb question. What's the most important thing? Why wouldn't you ask Bodhidharma that? I'd ask him that if I met him. Empty. Nothing holy. What would be your follow-up?

[27:51]

Maybe you could think about some moment in your life when you were undone. Where I grew up, we had a local word called, the word was skundered. Did you ever use that in Dublin? No? No. You can introduce it. Skundered. I was skundered. I was... just taken apart by that. Think of some event, some interaction that took you apart.

[29:04]

What happened next? Were you frightened? Were you resentful? Were you amused? Were you intrigued? Did you busily sew the world back together? Let's keep everything... in its right place. And experiencing the experience that's being experienced is reckless. Once I was sitting in the courtyard at City Center and David Chadwick

[30:18]

who some of us know, a wonderfully reckless person. He brought in this person who was in the throes of a schizophrenic episode. And I was sitting in the courtyard and David brought him over and he says, this person would like to talk to you. And then, and left. Laughter And then we had our conversation. And then later I talked to David and I said, David, how come you did that? He says, I just want to see what you do. But David has such a charm. You can't help but love him.

[31:18]

and appreciate his actions. Well, most of them. Some of them. There is a danger to recklessness if it's taken too far. But can we encourage ourselves can we trust ourselves can we remind ourselves that turning towards that opening to is a gift it's sometimes it's helpful to exercise explore this first it's something that's actually pleasant Sit on the bridge when the sun is shining.

[32:32]

Let its warmth sink into you and become you and you become the warmth. And notice how it ripples through your body. that softening body can soften mind. And even soften the urgency and the persistence of thinking mind. And let it teach you. you about conditioned existence. And maybe in a fiercer way, when you have experiences that stir up your energy.

[33:41]

I think most of us, most of our experiences are that are of that nature, it stirs up our energy in an unpleasant way. We're more inclined to want to hang out in that territory. And I'd suggest to you, even just, what did I learn from this? What am I learning from this? can curiosity, can trust, can willingness, can discovering what it is to be alive, what it is to realize the true nature of all being is more appealing than

[34:54]

some kind of emotional tussle with what has knocked us off balance? What am I learning from this? And of course, Remembering that when Dogen, at the start of this fascicle, he's referring to the three minds. The citta, rhadaya, and the vridha. And to be careful, you know, that we don't... I think sometimes we should put, reverse the order. What did I learn in terms of vridha? What did I learn in terms of... deep feeling and sensing that goes beyond ideas.

[35:58]

That mysterious way in the middle of a pretty understandable and maybe mundane notion of Iowa. The corn stalks, the mowing machine, the snow. taking the shine off the oil of the black toothed ears. He suddenly jumps in. Verily, I came forth from that wilderness as one unbaptized who'd known darkness at the third hour and the veil in tatters. Don't ask me what that was all about. It just did me in. Apparently, he survived. He got to write a poem about it.

[37:07]

Trust. So what if it leaves you in tatters? Peacock wrote a poem called Why I'm Not a Buddhist. And at the end of it, after presenting a very good argument in favor of her non-Buddhism, which, of course, was a deep confirmation of the helpfulness of practice, he says, take my tatters, love and compassion.

[38:10]

The kokyo hits the clackers at the wrong spot during aureoki and wakes us all up. Huh? What was that? No. Actually, it looked like most of us were. Our hands went up. I thought it was a beautiful demonstration of action before thought. Wait a minute. What's happening? Where are we? A mistake. brought the moment to life that shook it a little bit, you know?

[39:24]

How was it for you? Did you mentally rebuke the co-kill? Did you sheepishly take your hands down? I was just scratching my face. I didn't put my own self. Ought it be to live in a world where the teachings were constantly being offered. be really helpful in this human life, what would really help us alleviate suffering, our own and others, what would really help us sort of discover what the heck trust is and what would really enrich us in opening and experiencing

[40:43]

to be able to live in the world that was constantly offering us teachings on that. Offering you teachings on how to negotiate your own emotional life. Offering you teachings on how to sustain your own well-being and to offer that to others. This is what Dogen Zenji is trying to offer us, at least to my mind. And to read his words. Had to make a quick decision there whether to read you another Seamus Heaney poem

[42:01]

or actually read the rest of what Dogen wrote. Shims, Heaney, why not? If I could find it. Heaney? Shims? S-E-A-M-U-S. Where I come from, everybody's called Seamus. It's like John. He-ne-he-che-e-a-n-e-y. She was he-ne. Fiddleheads. You know what fiddleheads are? It's when the fern is still shaped like a fiddlehead. Fiddlehead ferns.

[43:02]

Fiddlehead ferns are a delicacy. Where? Japan? Estonia? Ireland? Long ago? I say Japan because when I think of these delicious things, I think of my friend of Toriwa and the surprise I felt when he asked me about the erotic. He said it belonged in poetry and he wanted more of it. So here they are Toriwa, frilled, enfolded, tenderized in a little steaming basket just for you. To let the world teach us, to let our own peculiarities... our own likes and dislikes, our own majestic moments of awakening, and our own stupid mistakes.

[44:12]

To let them teach us, and then to give it away. Send it off to Toriwa in Japan. does seem in this process we're in the middle of that we're deeply, deeply challenged to let something go. The piece I didn't read, Dugan Zenji says about leaving home. For now, I would say this recognizing, this recreating

[45:15]

the world according to me where I abide leaving home and then this other aspect receiving and giving the gift gift of the clackers being hit to our great surprise. And the great gift of that world being cracked open in a split second. and to give each other the gift.

[46:21]

The beauty of, okay, the world's cracked open, and then we just take it, we put it back together, and go on to the next thing. Nothing special. Mistakes are part of the schedule. We just don't happen to know when they're going to appear. So please, watch, listen, learn. else makes sense in human life? Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center.

[47:31]

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 sfzc.org and click Giving.

[47:54]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_94.92