That's . That's . OK. That's . It is . Hello everyone. Welcome to those of you who are in the room, and welcome to everyone who's online.

[01:55]

My name is Tim Wicks, and I am a resident priest here at San Francisco's Venice Center, City Center, which is where we are tonight. And I also serve as thought-teller or head of practice. So some of you know, somewhere some of you might not know, We're undergoing right now a renovation in our main building, which is right next door. And so we've sort of moved as much as we can over to the conference center, which is where it is that we are right now. And we've also experimented with different venues in the neighborhood, community church, and church. H Street Arts Center, which is where it is, and we'll be having our one-day sit this coming Saturday, which you're all invited to. So we've sort of been experimenting and moving around because we can't go in the building.

[02:59]

Everything's on schedule in early January. We should be moving back into the building again, into a beautiful, renovated new building. But we've been kind of experimenting with venues, but also experimenting with how it is that we teach. And so on Wednesdays, we normally have a drama talk, but a couple of months ago, we tried what Abbot Maka wanted to call a salon, where we serve tea, and the idea was to have a focus on dialogue. And tonight is what Abbot David, we have a plethora of Abbot, Sam St. wants to call an open Dharma circle, which, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a salon, probably without fatigue. So, please, I welcome your feedback. If those of you for the salon, let me know. And if those of you for the open Dharma circle, please let me know.

[04:01]

So, yes. Can I mention that we get to our center back on Monday, so we won't have the building So, in most Zen temples, the day begins with Zazen, seated meditation. And under normal times, we haven't done it since COVID started here at San Francisco Zen Center. We start the day with a half-hour period of Zazen. And then we have a 10-minute period of what's called Kinhin, which is walking meditation. And then that's followed by a half-an-hour period of Zazen. And I'm hoping to get back to that schedule once we move back into the building in the new year.

[05:04]

In kinhin, walking meditation, what we're doing is we're taking what it is that we're learning in zazen about focus and concentration and we're adapting it to physical activity in a coordinated group action. So what happens is we get up from zazen and we form circles, usually four circles in our big zendo next door. And we walk very slowly. Meditative walking is what it is. And then the first words that we say in the day is a chant. We put the robe on our head. This is after the second period of Zazen. And something that I thought was a little strange when I first came to Zen. It still is slightly odd, but I don't... It's something that I'm very familiar with now after doing it for nearly 20 years now. And then we do the rogue chan.

[06:08]

Great rogue of liberation, field far beyond form and emptiness, wearing the Tathagata's teachings, saving all beings. And those are the first words that we say, and that's a chan. Enchanting is what it is that we'll focus on tonight. What is it that we're actually doing when we're chanting? What's actually happening inside of you when we're chanting? So when we're sitting zazen silently, we're asked to open our awareness to other people in the room and to the room itself. We stress, for this reason, sitting in a group. My first practice was vipassana. practice and my teacher at the time he didn't really value group sitting as much as he did just sit go and sit sit as much as you possibly can whether you sit in a group or as an individual doesn't really matter the main thing is just to meditate we really stress sitting in a group we're asked in our in our zazen practice to open our awareness increasingly to include everything

[07:18]

Some teachers of other parts say that this is throwing people in at the deep end to begin with such a vast project as opening up to all phenomena. And maybe it is, but we have some aids to help us along the way. And one of them is kinhin that I already mentioned, walking meditation, acting as a group, acting as a physical group. We take our awareness that we fine-tune in Zazen practice and extend it out to the movement of a group setting. Our awareness is now, or at least it's supposed to be, of group action. I'm here in relationship to the person in front of me and the others in my section of the room. Oftentimes I'll see one person with like a great big gap in between them and the person in front of them, and their eyes are closed, and they're totally blissed out because they really love Kin Hin, just like I really love Kin Hin, but they're not really paying attention to the rest of the room and their relationship to the other people.

[08:24]

It's with this opening awareness that we begin to chant. First the robe chant, as I mentioned, and then we come upstairs to our Buddha hall, to do morning service where we chant multiple chants. In chanting, we are physically and mentally practicing both our separateness and our interconnectedness. We give our separate voice over to the group. We say, chant with your ears. This means to take your separate voice and harmonize it with others. Join together a separate voice to make one voice. We're physically practicing both relative and absolute, both small mind, as Suzuki Roshi called it, and big mind. Scientifically, a lot of work has been done in recent decades to study the benefits of chanting, for chanting is something that is universally taken up

[09:28]

in almost all cultures in one way or another. So I'm just going to kind of run through a list of some of the things that have been discovered and are continuing to be worked on as far as research is concerned around chanting. There's a vibrational frequency and resonance effect. Vocalization and vibration. When you chant, the vocal cords produce sound vibrations. These vibrations resonate throughout the body, particularly affecting areas like the chest and throat. This resonance can stimulate the vagus nerve, which plays a crucial role in regulating the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to relaxation and reduced stress. There's frequency matching which occurs. Different sounds or mantras have specific frequencies, that can harmonize with the body's natural frequencies. This concept is akin to how certain frequencies can stimulate brainwaves, enhancing mental clarity or inducing relaxation.

[10:40]

There's breath control and autonomic nervous system effects that occur. Controlled breathing, chanting often involves deep, rhythmic breathing. which can influence the autonomic nervous system, particularly by enhancing parasympathetic activity. This can lower heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and promote a state of calm. Oxygenation and carbon dioxide levels are affected. The pattern of breathing during chanting optimizes oxygen intake and carbon dioxide expulsion. contributing to a sense of well-being and physical relaxation. There are neurochemical effects. Endorphin release occurs. The repetitive nature of chanting can lead to the release of endorphins, which are natural painkillers and mood enhancers. This is similar to the runner's high experience during prolonged periods of exercise.

[11:45]

Dopamine and serotonin are affected. Chanting can also elevate levels of dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that play a key role in mood regulation, leading to feelings of happiness and well-being. There's brainwave synchronization that occurs. Alpha and theta waves are affected. Chanting can induce a state where the brain produces more alpha and theta waves. Alpha waves are associated with relaxation, while theta waves are linked to deep meditation, creativity, and intuition. Mind-body synchrony is affected. By engaging in chanting, individuals can synchronize their body's rhythms, like the heart rate and breathing, with their brain waves, promoting a unified sense of peace and focus. Psychophysiological effects occur.

[12:49]

Stress reduction. Regular chanting can lead to lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress. This reduction can enhance immune function and overall physical health. There's an emotional release and catharsis that happens during chanting. Chanting can provide a form of emotional release. The act of vocalizing can help express and release pent-up emotions, leading to a sense of emotional purification. Embodied cognition and symbolism. Meaning and intention is affected. The sounds or words chanted often carry symbolic meaning, which can reinforce cognitive and emotional states. The intention behind chanting can shape the body's physiological response, enhancing the effects of the practice.

[13:50]

And finally, social and communal bonding. Synchrony and unity is affected. When chanted in groups, the shared rhythm and sound can lead to a sense of connectedness and unity among participants. The social bonding has psychological benefits such as increased feelings of safety, trust, and belonging. So what I would like to do now is chant. And I thought that we would chant the Heart Sutra. And Kevin has agreed to play the Mukugyo. Thank you very much. Let's see, where is the Heart Sutra? It is on page 8. And Kevin, would you mind doing the introduction as well? Yes.

[14:52]

So chant with gusto. Chant with your ears so you're tuning yourself to the rest of the group. But try and put some energy into it. Thank you. Heart of grace, perfect wisdom, Sutra. Oh, oh, oh, oh And I'm going to go to the next episode.

[16:21]

Our eyes, our skies are near the earth, if I have no idea where you please, Lord, you please, therefore, you can't be, please, there is no force, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness, no ice, [...] I don't know. Obligate me, and I feel the most afraid I love, [...] and I feel the most afraid

[17:51]

There is no fear for me, but I'll get my ears with you, so I'll reveal that this is near my love, but I'll be the realest of the past. My best friend's friend is here to never be, but I know that this is near my heart, but I'll be the realest of the past. My best friend's friend is here to never be, but I know that this is near my heart, [...] . . . . Thank you.

[19:12]

So, just like last week, what I'd like to do is split up into small groups of no less than four. And for 20 minutes, you can discuss, for those of you who want to discuss, what your experience was just now. What was that like? Challenging. And then at about 10 or quarter past eight, we will open up into the bigger group and have a group discussion until 8.30. So last week, a group went into the back room. So let's see if we have one, two, three. There's four back there, five back there. So why don't you guys break up into a group and you be a group here.

[20:16]

And the rest of you, if you want to go into the back room, you'll have a... I'll ring the bell if you can, and I'll let you know when it's the last one. I bet you wanted to. That might be the end of that. You can slide your own. There you go. Yes. We'll let me up from here.

[21:20]

Thank you. Thank you. At least I have to do it. So I'm going to say, I've got to raise it in the middle of this. Yeah, I was going to say, I've got to raise it in the middle of this. Yeah, I was going to say, I'm going to raise it in the middle of this. Yeah, I was going to say, I'm going to raise it in the middle of this. Yeah, I was going to raise it in the middle of this. I was going to raise it in the middle of this. I was going to raise it in the middle of this. It's hard for me to connect. I didn't check enough.

[22:28]

It's just the language that I'm using. I think it's supposed to change the answer. I don't understand it all. Now I appreciate it. That's what I, you know, now it feels. When I first came here, that's what I thought. When I first came here, that was my each other.

[23:32]

I've called John Leeson to the house. That's a very different experience. I don't expect you to be able to see that. Oh my God. Yes. chapter, like you said.

[24:49]

So that'll always be with me, and I'll never do it properly. So in a sense, it's a good point. There's a chance to refer you to the on Sunday or go from the practice list. You know what? What is salient? I don't know. [...] Then I noticed things start to gather. It's kind of interesting that starts to fix the way that they have to scale. But it serves the way that they have, as far as my posture. Someone told me that they were on such things. So if you have your actual average, I need to like read. And this thing is like a fourth. And I know this is what's after doing that. And I sat down. I saw you in the first place. I saw you in the first place.

[25:49]

I saw you in the first place. [...] What was that? I've graduated from maybe some of that. I always remember that. I've seen him ask me about it, but I do notice that. I've forgotten some of the chants. [...] Yeah. I wish it could be realistic.

[26:52]

I wish it could be realistic. I wish it could be realistic. Not a place, like a house, but a place inside itself. I think that's part of the role of Koki at all.

[28:02]

It's the setback. [...] It's like, really? They're all struggling in rhythm and like, what person is from three words ahead? Actually, I kind of valued those. It was like, I can really feel a rapid connection that's sort of embodied into it and subtracting. Because they're playful about that. It sort of resonated with the first 40 years, or at least I was. Some of us have quite a nice story, so we don't know where we're going.

[29:02]

We're going to start. [...] Just draw the sign. Just draw the sign. Just draw [...] the sign. is there a big difference between maybe generations and generations of practitioners that chanted these same sounds with a particular attention which is connected with that history and attention was like I don't think so I don't think so but it's helpful but it's

[30:13]

Dirty Shindorani usually is used as a sort of boring or... But your great spirit changes as I like it. And I expect time to look to bed now. There's a little bit... Spirits of beings are mixed now. They work as a... It's a bit out. It's different. It's different. Well, at the moment I'm teaching a class on the day, he shouldn't do that, so it's like, baby, I'm fine. ... [...]

[31:19]

Yeah, we did all that, two jobs, we did all that, three jobs. I got to wait for that. That's the thing I wanted to wait for it. It's the worst stories, but... They say they don't fall asleep as much. Well, they had a bunch of actual stuff. Chanting, like, like, only doing that. Yeah, yeah. Just like, right after us, that's it. It's not, it's not necessarily... It's really insane, really. Yeah, exactly. That's not the word, too. I was like, please me out. I was like, wait, it's not that spot. It's [...] not that spot. Yeah, we started to have something to see in what you know. It was originally different.

[32:21]

Oh, yes, there's lots of such problems. It explains these works, right? She's great. How to bring the attributes of Shiba in all of this can't be out. What would Robbie for? Yeah, I mean, so it felt like a lot longer than it. Or, I don't know, it would like a lot easier. But there's something nice about it. Just like, really, really nice lighting that I would expect. And, Bob, what's the RG actor? Oh, it doesn't actually have anything to say about you. It works with it protected. It's really, really just, you know, and you're not supposed to... You're just supposed to not try to do that. You're supposed to actually... It was written to...

[33:26]

I hope no one doesn't matter. It's the matter of trying to accomplish a little bit of effort or effort. That's really interesting. I mean, there's a lot of people. Yeah, we agree. It's almost time to get inside. There's a group where it's supposed to want to try, as he says. Tell us about it. You know. We are trying. We aren't told to do that. We aren't told to do that. We're just trying to lose. Yeah, because we are [...] just trying to It's also the same structure that you get amongst the forms. Like, things that are, and then you're like, well, great. It's very important. We just look at this to not be the film. Like when they say, it's a great film. It's [...] a great film.

[34:27]

It's a great film. You never want to. And you're not trying to be behind. Because by then I'd become very into it. Like, you know, like, Artway, Tony, I don't know. Absolutely. Right. I was like, we have to go to some people. They kept asking me, why is there support? Yeah. [...] It was. It was. I went up to the show, Abby. Oh. We thought. Two or three. Yes. Uh, what about me? you know, Tuesday.

[35:27]

Oh, 6. Saturday. That's where it keeps on. It's also just Tuesday. I like to pick up one with you. But Eric won't be on a set as well. I'm wondering if you don't want to give me a six point of sight.

[36:30]

But I'd like to love it. I've seen patients that took like a few years ago. I think some, too. I think some, too. I think some, like, [...] some, Some of it is that we have some little science, but we have one. Just because it's our habit here, where we don't have those so much. I have had an interesting book. Thanks very much.

[37:31]

And I think when I had an accident, while chanting, just looking at it, it was actually the solo of the name that I'm chanting. And then all these letters, I thought, what? Chant the next one. And then I had a very first deal with that. I know it's going to be that one, I know. It's just to get in the next one. Just a really great one. You get my attention. I found part in the room. It's not going to need to be sick. That's why I do a lot. Okay, so it's just five minutes left. You don't let yourself trade before we've dealt with. Yeah. I understand. You're quite valid. But that's three for six. You know, just five minutes left and you're not available to us. You're just too many trade. You're real. But I guess we don't... Just five minutes left. It's very hard for us.

[38:37]

It feels like I do that. Sometimes you get more. Especially actually, it's actually us. And that's why I mean, it's like, you know, we're just, [...] we're just, we're just, we're just, we're just, [...] we're just, That's why it works in the sky.

[40:01]

I find that so cool. I put that also. That was really interesting. And it's just like, it's so long. Just like that. Because that, you can just open it and you can start wherever. And the whole room would be changed in different places. I thought that was, I think it's better. So the idea was in order to cover the whole building. or chant as a figure, I guess. It just started to, it was like, oh, it was PCL. What are we doing? There was the other one, right? I know, if I just lost a sister at one point, she asked me to find a daughter. Yes.

[41:02]

And they didn't use it, but this part was awesome. Yeah. She was trying to do a kitchen. And it was really a lot of fun. I don't think this, so it was the one. She was trying to do it. There was always a period of sex. So who didn't translate that to me, and we left me no chance at this one. And on that repetition, I just felt like I never did it. It was so weird. It was an 18-year-old revival, so they can't marry us, you know, and all the stuff that we get. And made your group pass time. Yeah, it was always like the same. Always, that's so difficult. And I'll have to say that. It's so useful. Yeah.

[42:03]

I would have seen it. It made a feel. But it did look. Yeah. It's a particular thing. I knew what. That was bright. It [...] was bright. That was the first time I just feel like we're going to have to do it. We're [...] going to have to do it. They don't have just others. [...] She needs to look at it. She might have been all there. So, it was dry. It [...] was dry.

[43:04]

It was dry. [...] Yeah. This is some shinsu now. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And then it's a little damn serious on it. They would have left three hits to it. It's always been a lot more tight looking for it. It's a good time. And it's where it is. Just, just I guess we are about to know it's simple.

[44:13]

I will just toss us back. What we can do, they can just be real. We can tell it's hard to do this. . [...] So is there a last name? Ed's in it? No. Let's turn. Is it no? What were some of the things that came up for you all?

[45:38]

How is chanting? We seem to go through cycles here where we'll sit as a group and then when it's time to have service, a bunch of people will leave. They obviously don't like chanting or don't like service. And I know that there's a lot of spiritual trauma around people who've been affected in negative ways by some of the religions of their childhood. But what are some of the things that came up in your groups? Yes. Can you grab just so that people can hear you online?

[46:38]

Yes. Hi, online people. You asked us about how that was for us. That's the last thing before we went in our group. So, yeah, at 7.45 p.m. on a Wednesday after getting up at 4.50, It was like a lullaby and a bunch of other people chanting kind of with rhythm. And then when it was done, I really wanted to go to bed. So, yeah, that's how that was for me. Lots of other things came up in our group, but I'll let other people talk about that. We will have another lullaby because Kevin had the idea of... us closing with the refuges. So that's our traditional lullaby right there, and you will be able to go to bed right after that. So you want to save some time for that.

[47:43]

Yeah, something that came up in our group was I guess a sense of energy. And yeah, I just, I shared how in the particular chant that we did, I was noticing just vibration, just my body, my voice, and then other people's voices and sort of some kind of vibration. But we also talked about other chants at the end that speeds up and how that can, have kind of an energetic quality, as well as the chanting in the morning after zazen and how that can really wake us up. So some of the energy-related things we talked about. Good, good. And many of the chants that we do, the Lekta Enme, is designed to have that energy have a power of healing.

[49:01]

and well-being for people. And it's something I was very skeptical about, but now that I've been doing it for so many years, it really does seem to have a healing effect. And that just blows me away. Anything else? All the way in the back. I find myself feeling into the ancientness of this as an oral tradition and the way we've been, we as in the generations have been chanting this since ancient, ancient times. And not only that, but also how it's a way that it, over time, you know, and of course, speaking for myself, I've memorized some of these and...

[50:06]

they create little, it puts a pin in certain ideas that things start to stick to, experiences and ideas start to stick to. And it just happened, shall I say, in a slow, relaxed, easy way that has come with that ritual. So for your first point there, David, you... you feel as though there's a time element. There's a connection. Yeah, that historical reach, let's say, and the way that before we were reading these things or anything, we were preserving the ideas or the practice. as an oral tradition, and that we continue to do that.

[51:08]

Yeah, those items that I listed from recent studies are really about what happens with the individual in a group setting, but it doesn't talk about how it is that it stretches back through time. And yeah, I feel that as well. I feel a connection to ancestors when I'm chanting. And that's very powerful also. Yes, please, Arlene. I too feel really connected to the ancestors and to the universe. I feel like there is this imminence and transcendence that occurs. I really am grateful for the ritual. It's actually one of the things that drew me into Zen. I find it incredibly... I find it to have mind-protecting properties when it happens, and I really try to tune into that dance of finding my voice and listening to everybody else's.

[52:21]

The drumming really is incredibly powerful, and I really am grateful for it. Did you say mind-protecting? That's beautiful. I have similar experiences when I recite gatas and have mantras that I've learned on this path and that I keep in my back pocket from different teachers and different lectures. You know, his job is to recruit people for the Doan Rio, so it's a fun thing to do as well. And you learn by being on the Doan Rio, which is... Doan Rio is all the people who do the different drums and the bells. You learn on a different level, obviously, because you're one of the musicians.

[53:24]

So you learn on a different level about the different chants that we do. And that's a really great way to... go through the process of memorizing them, which I heard some of you talking about. Memorizing is something very special about memorizing these chants. And if you can do that, it sort of frees you up to focus in a slightly different way. It's not always possible to memorize all of them. I still haven't memorized all of them. And I have a bad memory anyway, so I end up having to read a lot of times. But if you can do that, there really is a special power in that. Anything else? We've got just a couple of minutes left before we close with the refuges. Time for one more at least.

[54:25]

I will say something. Thank you, Beric. When I first came to Zen Center, I remember one of my first times in the Buddha Hall. The thing that stood out to me about chanting was that there was no music really involved in it. As a musician coming from a musical family, I remember sort of like feeling disdainful. towards chanting, because I felt like there was a lack of music, or there's not really melody involved in it. I mean, not notes. But then there are some things like what we're gonna do that does have notes in it. The refuges do have notes, the Pali refuges. And also when we do the, it's a beautiful melody. And the other thing that has a beautiful melody is the, during the moon, full moon ceremony.

[55:28]

When we do the Buddha Dharma Sangha and the Kokyo Chant, it's also got a beautiful melody. So I'm interested in the intersection of different melodies and chanting. And I find that it's even more powerful when there's a melody included in it. Yeah, there's been a debate in the United States as chanting has come, Buddhist chanting has come to the West about whether or not there should be more melody in it. I know that our two head temples who are constantly in debate with each other, Sujiji and Heiji, they do it very differently. And there is, from what I've, heard more melody in the Sujiji chanting than there is in the Heiji chanting.

[56:33]

Yes, Michael. Thank you for bringing that up, Burke. I just wanted to briefly say that in Japan, there is baika, which sounds very similar to Christian hymns. It has lots of melody. in it. And then your traditional chanting is rhythmic and monotone, and they have two different purposes, actually, in regard to teaching. And the monasteries, usually the debate isn't whether or not to do one or the other, it's just the matter of how much to do of which one or the other. And in the U.S., we pretty much have come from a lineage that came from the monotone chanting emphasis, which has a very beautiful teaching in it, but it's not to say that it conflicts with a baika chanting or a melodic or where you have different harmonies.

[57:40]

When I was at the 100th anniversary at the Los Angeles Zen Center, we had some people who were really schooled in Bica that were there. And we did several chants that reminded me just of being back in Christian church that had all sorts of different parts and all the rest of it. But yeah, they're both beautiful and they have different purposes from what I understand. Well... I was afraid someone might ask me that because I'm not an expert when you, you know, I tend to know a lot about, a little bit about a lot of things. But if, it's more like a photogenic memory where I can make everything look good. But the, a lot more of the congregation usually and not as much of the monastics would do like on Sundays or Saturdays would do like the bica.

[58:45]

But it's kind of like trying to bring everyone into harmony for a certain experience for what you are producing together as typically the same thing that you would do with Christian hymns, with a sense of the beauty of doing... We used to do Ode to Joy when I was in church, and I thought that was just amazing. But when you are doing the chant with other people as a meditation, where you're not trying to be higher or... you're trying to just be basically doing it as a meditation as opposed to a production. So there's usually a makugyo, and you are trying not to go faster than anyone, slower than anyone, not louder and not softer. But whether or not you are in harmony with them is irrelevant. And so it's all monotone, and you're trying to be right in the middle of the pack as a meditation, as a group, while paying attention to body and breath.

[59:51]

Okay, thank you. Let's close with the refuges, which are on page two of your suture books. Go ahead and stand up. Shabbat Shabbat Shalom ... ... ...

[61:18]

Dear dear [...] ... [...] Thank you all very much. Thank you. Two minutes. Two things.

[62:20]

Next Wednesday night, there'll be a full moon ceremony. It will be in the Zendo. We've got to find the link through the link page, 730. Everybody is welcome. We've got a lot of chanting in that one. And also, if you can help us put the Zendo back together. Thank you. Right now. This is where you are. I'm relaxing to hold this. Yeah. Good. Oh, that's interesting. It's really, it's probably a way to end over the end just to . If we really are entering normal silence.

[63:32]

Yes. All right. Yes.

[63:57]

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