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. Morning, Bodhisattva. It's good to see everyone and to see the new space. Hmm. I want to thank Tim, the Tonto, for the invitation to speak today, to Abbot, David, and Mako, for also the invitation. My name is Reverend Kedu Lian Shutt. I'm from this lineage. My pronouns are she and they.

[01:03]

And I came down from Coast Miwok territory, which is Petaluma. And yeah, let's just take a moment to say hi to each other. Everyone just turn to each other. And if you want, you can say hi, Bodhisattva, or however you like to greet each other. Hi, Bodhisattva. Also want to thank my teachers, Shosan, Vicky, Austin, and Gail Fransdahl for, you know, supporting me. Without them, I would not be here. Also want to just say hi to my friend Mukai, Reverend Mukai over there, visiting from the village Zendo in New York. And of course, my partner, Dad.

[02:03]

I have to say that getting ready for this talk, I actually thought, what can I say? How do I help right now with things, the way things are in the world? to me in particular, in what's happening in Gaza. And I know I have a lot of trepidation for January 20th and the aftermath. And then, of course, very recently, all the fires that are raging right now in the LA area, which has impacted My sangha, access to Zen, very directly as one of our members who live in L.A., last family home.

[03:09]

So it's a difficult time, or at least it is for me. And so, you know, when I have a difficult time, I look to the Buddha, for our answers. And that was really brought forth in a really beautiful way. Here's the other thing I really want to kind of point towards and make sure to say is that in the midst of difficulty there's wondrousness and beauty. As we were just talking, okay, before he came in, you know, he came from New York where it's really cold and here it's just sunny and warm. So one of my students, who doesn't live in that area anymore, but did get his lay ordination upstairs a few years ago, sent me a little video of his child.

[04:18]

And she's like two years old. And so... She's being videotaped and she's going to a door. They're following her to a little door. And she touches the door and she says, Uta. And it leads down, I've been at their house, it leads down to where he has his office and meditation space, you know, with an altar. And so then, you know, she's like, oh, would you like to go find the Buddha that's on the refrigerator? And they follow her over. And there's a little postcard that they hand down. And I'm like, who is that? Who is that? She looks at her and she goes, Buddha. Buddha. And I was like, oh, why are you seeking mine happening already? Do people know what way-seeking mind is when I say that?

[05:21]

Should I say a little more? Yeah. So for us Buddhists, and I would say my exposure to way-seeking mind is in Zen, and the idea is that our mind, which by the way in Buddhism is heart and mind, the word shin means heart and mind, so it's complete, right? That our mind, Heart-mind is actually seeking the way continuously. Or another way to say that is the way is seeking us continuously. Or another way to put that is, I would like to say, is that we seek to know that we're already part of the way. In fact, we're never apart from it. And so... As I was looking at all my stuff, trying to figure out what to talk about, I will say that I came upon and kept coming back to this talk from Suzuki Roshi, the founder of this lineage, in Sashin in 1969.

[06:34]

And it's called Wayseeking Mind. A wayseeking mind is Buddha mind. And our practice is... This is from a transcript. Makes sense when you practice with Buddha mind or way-seeking mind. But usually when we say the way-seeking mind or dou-shin, dou is dao or the way, and shin is mind and heart, it also means bodhi or bodhisattva mind. Bodhisattva mind. to not only to help ourselves, but also to save or help others. Strong nuance of this kind is always there when we say dou shin. And I have to tell you, as I was preparing, I thought, you know, we throw the word bodhisattva around all the time in Zen.

[07:41]

And I really thought, is a bodhisattva. Right now I'm just going, what is that exactly? What does that mean? What is that right now in my life? How does that manifest? How does that show up? What does that mean? And this is from H.O. McMullen, who's a friend of ours. The classical definition of a bodhisattva is a being who is on the path to awakening, And who dedicates that path to the welfare of all beings? Bodhisattvas are both archetypal and actual beings beyond our grasp. They offer an image that not only inspires us, but also mirrors our life back to us. This is kanodoko, or sympathetic resonance.

[08:45]

Anodoko, sympathetic resonance. We are moved by the image of the bodhisattva, and in being moved, we respond. Their way of walking becomes our way of walking. We live out the bodhisattva life in which all beings participate. The suffering of beings call forth the response from bodhisattvas. So I think, I know for me, when I'm exposed to or when I'm aware of and when I see difficulties, in particular extreme crises and difficulty, I respond to that. And for me, that sense of compassion that's very natural can sometimes be really hard to navigate in real time. And so we look for ways in which we can mirror.

[09:52]

That's kind of like, you know, we have an example of a being that lives for the benefit of all beings. Sounds great, doesn't it? I want that, and I feel that, but how do I do that? So at first, I would say we try to mirror that. And that in particular is the sense of what's called bodhicitta, when the heart and mind kind of awaken, right? And we awaken to the compassion that arises in response to the suffering of the world. But it also calls for the wisdom, the activation of wisdom that's part of how, the how to best respond. So we have some deities or certain kinds of bodhisattvas that we exemplify for us. And Avalokiteshvara is certainly a bodhisattva that we resonate with, or kanan, and it's the bodhisattva of compassion.

[11:02]

And do people know Kuan Yin, a sense of Kuan Yin, right? is it still upstairs? I haven't been in this building for a while. Of course, there's one at the end of the hallway with lots of arms, right? So a lot of time you see Kuan Yin as, I don't think, there's not one in this. You had to put it away, but it's in here, and I'm going to draw the picture for everyone. All right? Well, I'm going to. I'm going to try. I'm going to try. So often you see Kuan Yin or Kanon as holding like a little vessel of water to soothe things, or a lot of images are also of a thousand hands, right? And sometimes even have 11 heads, and sometimes the hands have little eyes in there. And the story goes is, Kuan Yin is a bodhisattva of compassion, wants to, you know,

[12:11]

alleviate everyone's suffering and then at a certain point though they're like wow i'm struggling how do i like attend to everyone and i guess they're they only had two hand at one point like us and it shatters their hands and then also their head shattered into you know had one head at first and it shattered and some stories that shatter into 11 heads and uh other stories the um Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, which would be upstairs in the Buddha Hall, but anyways, they say, oh, I will give you 11 heads so that you have, you know, it can be in many directions, and then I will give you a thousand arms so that you can do that well. Some images, there are only eight arms, some there's a hundred, so... essentially many, so that we can respond.

[13:14]

I myself really appreciate the sense of the hands with the eyes, because then, you know, both seeing and touching at the same time. So for me, this image really gives us a sense of what it takes that is difficult, that even a bodhisattva that's exemplify for us has difficulties. Compassion, remember I think it's Pima Chodron who says it's like the most dangerous response or the most dangerous emotion, compassion, because it really calls and it's really strong in us. And so it's a hard thing to struggle with how much to help, in what way, you know, you're like, do a GoFundMe, you know, and then there's, with the student, and then we're like asking for how they want things written and stuff, and just as I was coming here, we activated one for this from the Sangha, and then as I came, a friend of theirs also activated a GoFundMe, so it's difficult, you know, there's a lot going on, especially in the midst of real crises.

[14:34]

So the sense that these thousand arms and eyes are helpful but you know when I think about it I myself having been a social worker working with chronically homeless seniors in San Francisco again that struggle is always there and so I was imagining a while back that you know all these hands and arms again most of us think of it as How can I help you? How can I help you? How can I help you? And yet, at some point, some of those hands and eyes need to turn and look right here. I know that's the part I forget about. And that in fact, I need to... that mirror of how am I attending to myself? Because when we can attend to our own difficulties and suffering, and I know that a lot of time when I'm trying to help someone or their stories or their experiences echoes my own, I can be activated.

[15:50]

You know, I'll tell you that I have had Usually I don't forget my dreams for the last week. I have had so many dreams, anxious dreams. And I know that I'm activated because I remember the Tet Offensive and the flash of light and the loud sounds and the fear of death. And so these have been activated. And so how is it that we can also really take care? of our suffering as we respond to the cries of the world. That's another name of Alokiteshvara, the responder to the cries of the world. So you have to remember that turn towards ourselves at time. And that's one. The other is that, you know, as someone who has worked with people and obviously I've had trauma in my life.

[16:53]

I think a lot about how we respond when we're activated. And so, you know, many years ago when I was studying to be a therapist, you know, the image of someone looking out of a window and my memory of that was that it's like, oh, how do you keep yourself away from life? And I When I think about trauma, I think a lot about, do people know what the window of tolerance is? It means that you need to really have a sense that you need to regulate your tolerance of what's happening. And in fact, when you're activated, you need to really pay attention to that. And so I thought, well... So here's one way that I've been taught that if I'm looking at life through a window, that's me keeping it away. But I thought as a form of regulation, as a form of really skillful means.

[17:56]

A bodhisattva responds with skillful means. Or upaya is the word, right? With skillful means, then what about a window? You know, like I think sometimes a window is different from a door. A window, you can still see through. Yes, yes, there's a barrier, but it allows you. You can think maybe a window, I'm trying to put it out like the middle way. You know, how can you skillfully use it as a regulation kind of thing? So, yes, perhaps... It's right now, I can't get quite so close. Or it gives me a sense of how can I be with it, but in a way that gives me a sense that, you know, I can regulate this. Because what else about a window? You can open a window, right? You can open a window. The possibility of being able to be fully meeting situation

[19:06]

is always there. The key is that we have choice and we have agency. The conditions are a building has windows. We don't have to. It's up in the meditation hall. You do not open the window on your own. Only certain people can open the window. But in your house, you have the agency. You have the capacity to regulate how you want to meet. Also, since I'm riffing on window, I just say often there's a screen after you open the window. So yet there's another way in which you could say, okay, how can I just keep on opening up to what's here, be it an internal sense of difficulty or an external sense of difficulty? So I think it's really important as skillful means to really observe ourselves as we're meeting difficult situation.

[20:20]

Really know that we have agency. We have the ability and we can build, we can extend our capacity and that we can regulate that. I know that at times of difficulty and certainly I've talked to people who have been in difficulty and recently and you know often people share that at that moment who have been practicing that there's a real sense of like oh I'm There is fear here, and that I can say, oh, I recognize that this strong, beating heart racing is a fear, and that fear is present, and that's okay.

[21:32]

So the sense of being able to really know what's happening in a very clear way and accept it as part of the experience is something that we can get from practice. Because our practice asks us to really stay, especially in Zen, you know, we sit still. Part of Zen is not sitting still. Yes, we need to work on that as an over-effort, or I've sat still probably too long, as my posture will show you at this point, because now I have a... tattered meniscus, right? And so part of it's working on this effort, but the essence of sitting still is that we're able to meet the conditions of the world, be it, again, internally, externally. So we're practicing, how do I stay still so that I can notice the subtleties? I can notice what's happening here, that this is how fear is. This is the course of fear. This is how fear comes and goes.

[22:35]

So it takes a certain kind of mindfulness to have this awareness. And, you know, mindfulness, and the word gets thrown around a lot these days, but I really want to be clear that, in general, mindfulness comes under the Eightfold Path, which has skillful in front of it all. The Eightfold Path. Should I say what the Eightfold Path is? Yes, okay. All right. So in Buddhism, there are the Four Noble Truths. In life, there's dukkha, usually translated as suffering. I like dis-ease, discontent, dissatisfaction. It means it's the conditions of life. What kind of suffering and how do we deal with it is key. And in particular, the suffering of life, which is... Old age, sickness, and death.

[23:38]

So that's the first noble truth. What are the causes and conditions that bring about the origins? The third noble truth I like to call the good news of Buddhism, which is the end of suffering is possible. And then the fourth is the Eightfold Path, is the steps to... the end or the alleviation of suffering. And they have, while there are eight of them, they're broken into three parts, called the wisdom part, the ethical conduct, classically, I like to say compassionate connection, and then the samadhi or the meditative third. So in the first third, there are two, skillful understanding or skillful view, which is of the four noble truths, and of karma. So when we have a sense of how the world operates, according to Buddhism, the Four Noble Truth, which went through, karma, complex, and we could say in general, because of this, that happens.

[24:48]

And it's actually a teaching on responsibility, in my sense, in my take of it. And in that wisdom stage, then, our grouping, there's also what's... Classically translated as skillful thinking. However, thinking in Buddhism is never passive or the sense of it. Because when we think, what happens when we think? When we think about something long enough, it becomes a belief. And then when we have beliefs, we act on that. And notice... I love the Eightfold Path because it's so elegant. Because those two, skillful thinking, takes us into the next third, which is the ethical conduct, the interactive part, which is skillful speech, skillful action, and skillful livelihood. This is where we interact with each other and the world. So this is where the precepts are. What do you do with your life? You might think, oh, why speech all by itself?

[25:52]

But as we probably notice... these days, through, you know, text and all the other social media things. That's a kind of speech, isn't it? So a lot of us think and then... Right? And so there's a lot that can happen when you don't pause before you think. And this is why speech has its own separate section. But notice then, because our thinking... motivates us. So actually the better word for that second is skillful motivation because it's purposeful. Our thinking is purposeful as it's understood by Buddhism. So it drives us. It provides the drive into how we want to behave. And that's why we wanted to develop skillful thinking or skillful motivation. So then that takes us to the third grouping which is the samadhi or the meditative which is skillful effort, skillful mindfulness, and skillful concentration. Now, notice that while it's classically put in the third grouping, Gil Fransdal actually talks about it.

[27:00]

He also calls it sometimes as what's the emotional and mental development section. How we effort, our mindfulness, our concentration. And it's, well, it's there, it's actually... He likes to say it's like a bridge. These meditative practices supports us to, as we're meditating, we say, hmm, are my behavior, the ethical conduct, compassionate connection, in accordance with my view of the world, my values of the world, my motivation? Or we sit and we go, hmm, how do I behave in a way that activates my motivation, my values in the world, my sense of compassion, in this case. So these are really important ways of practicing skillful means. Now mindfulness, I also, you know, a lot of people, right now in fact I'm teaching meditation training,

[28:10]

for Zen Center online. And I do do it with Zen and insight practices, which is where the Eightfold Path is talked about a lot more in the Theravon tradition. And the reason that mindfulness, and a lot of people come because their doctor has sent them to learn to meditate, and mindfulness in particular. And it's really useful because mindfulness, as a practice, always at the beginning stage or the early stages of mindfulness, what happens when you practice mindfulness is your sense of witnessing is strengthened. In mindfulness as a practice, there's always an object to be aware of, to actually get closer and closer to an understanding. And that sense of you're aware of that so the quality of mindfulness the skillful quality of mindfulness and this is the part where you hear sometimes you think mindfulness you're just like I'm just here being with things as they are you know and some misunderstanding is well I don't do anything about it I just need to be here with things as they are really practice and Buddhism in particular the Buddha taught that all the practices have an aim and that is for hopeful

[29:36]

or wholesomeness. And so the quality of mindfulness is one in which there's an open awareness that's nonjudgmental. And so we're strengthening that capacity when we take that witnessing. The word witnessing, you witness. You don't have to do anything. But a useful witness is not a judgmental witness. That's not so helpful, is it? When someone's witnessing you, but you could see by their face that they're like, you know, and they're trying hard not to tell you what to do, right? So we want to cultivate that kind of witnessing that's open and curious. I like to say, you know, to me, a bodhisattva needs to have this kind of witnessing ability, right? A bodhisattva is interested. is curious and interested. And that interest is engaged.

[30:38]

You really want to know. It's not like, I don't care, I'm just looking at it. But you want to be engaged. And then you want to know what's the appropriate action. So Gil, in a talk on karma and intention, says, in a number of places, When the Buddha talked about the practice of Buddhism, he used a compound word. The compound word is sati sampajana. Sati is mindfulness. Sampajana means wisdom or understanding or clear comprehension. So mindful in a clear, comprehending way. Mindfulness focuses primarily on understanding what is, on what is going on, and learning how to be present for what is.

[31:39]

That's what we're practicing as we practice mindfulness. I'll say it again because I think it's important. Understanding what is. Not what we want things to be, but what is. What is going on? Not just what things are but what's the processes that are happening and learning how to be present so I like to say that we are learning to identify clearly what's happening and we're practicing to build a capacity to be with it right to be present for what is so we want to be present for our experience this is a huge undertaking because it can be very hard to be present for life as it is, since we have so much reactivity, activation, and so many judgments and interpretations which we overlay on it. The primary task of mindfulness is to understand the way things are.

[32:39]

Sampajana, the wisdom side, has a lot to do with learning how we can respond. to the way things are. So rather than just leaving things as they are, we as human beings have to respond. And we have to make choices about what we do in response. For me, a bodhisattva doesn't just witness the world. We have to be engaged. You know, we take the bodhisattva vow. Zen is completely mahayana. It's all about the bodhisattva vow, which we're going to chant at the end. It takes vow. It takes commitment to respond. It isn't enough to say, oh, I'm here to witness or I'm here to, you know, stand next to you.

[33:42]

How are you going to respond? What will you do? So clear comprehension, sampajana, supports skillful means. Or skillful agency, a sense of that I have choice, that I have will. Karma classically means volitional action. It's not just action, but action that is intentional, volitional. Or another way to put it, How can I engage with a clear heart-mind response? Now, Nyanoponika Thera, a Thirvan monk, talks about equanimity. In the four Brahmavaharas, which are ways that the Buddha taught

[34:47]

has easeful qualities. Metta, which many of you probably have heard, right, is kindness, loving kindness, unconditional friendliness. Then there's karuna, or compassion. And very specifically in Buddhism, compassion is the response to alleviate suffering. It's not just like I appeal for you, right? How do you alleviate suffering? And then there's mudita, which is Usually empathetic, altruistic joy. I like to say inclusive joy. And then the last is equanimity. And again, in the four Brahma Baharas, it's very much focused on the equanimity that comes from karma, from understanding karma, the long view of things. That's the other thing. When we remember that what my action, the impact of my action, no matter my intention, mind you, It's good to know what your intention is, but when the impact happens, we have to remember that if you pause and thought, hmm, let me think about this.

[35:57]

What I do in the impact is going to take a while. It can reverberate, not just to the person I'm acting or responding to, but to the person next to them and after that and after that, right? Then you really want to be careful. You want to be responsible and you want to be accountable. So, Nina Bonica Thera says, equanimity, so this groundedness that comes from understanding karma, furnishes compassion with an even, unwavering courage and fearlessness, enabling it to face the awesome abyss of misery and despair which confront boundless compassion again and again. Compassion... reaches out, sees, and wants to respond. And so it sees the difficulties of the world. To the active side of compassion, he continues, equanimity is the calm and firm hand led by wisdom, indispensable to those who want to practice the difficult art of helping others.

[37:10]

And here again, equanimity means patience. patient devotion to the work of compassion. Devotion is another form of commitment, a vow. Suzuki Roshi in the same talk I think echoes this in this part. So Bodhisattva spirit is the spirit to seek for difficulties and to confront difficulties. With firm conviction, you should venture your life, engage with life. When you have this kind of spirit, you will be a quite different person. Your eyes will change. Your behavior will change.

[38:12]

So when we have that conviction of wanting to help in skillful ways, to respond to the cries of the world with skill on you, then our behavior is in accordance with that. What is a bodhisattva? Here's from Venerable Panavati. How do we recognize a bodhisattva? A bodhisattva shows concern for the world and responds to that concern with powerful tools and actions. A lot of times those many arms have, you know, besides the little jug of water, sometimes it could have striking things, different tools to meet condition and help things as they are. whatever is needed and respond to that concern with powerful tools and actions throughout the teachings the Buddha is showing us how he responds to suffering in the world he asks his disciples for what reason do you leave your home to go into the homeless life when you're ordained you leave home to join the Sangha

[39:39]

Then he answered his own question, to be a refuge. So bodhisattva is one in which offers refuge, and you can come to for refuge. She continues, you're a bodhisattva when you embark on the bodhisattva path. That's what the Buddha taught. So once you have that intention, once you take that action, you are a bodhisattva. It doesn't have to be just thought, it doesn't have to be... that the result is right, mind you. The willingness and the activation of compassion makes you a bodhisattva. There's no way to be enlightened without recognizing our universal nature, our interconnectedness with everything. In that interconnectedness, we experience the pain, confusion, and neediness of others.

[40:41]

I love that, that she says neediness. Usually, I know when I think about myself or other people as needy, I go, right? But this, like, really neediness, that's what it is, right? When things are difficult, you have, you know, talking to people in crisis, sometimes they say, I have a hard time asking for help. But right now, I need help. So meeting that neediness in ourselves is also how we then prepare ourselves to be grounded so that we can respond to the neediness of others in a way that's not about me, but about the being I am helping or supporting or responding to. In that interconnectedness, we experience the pain, confusion, and neediness of others. And as we develop our skillfulness, we automatically respond to that suffering as we would respond to our own, with compassion and with power.

[41:48]

I also love that. With power. With agency. With empowerment. So the way seeking... Heart-mind, or the way-seeking mind, responds to the cries of the world. True. I, or perhaps you, and we seek wisdom from the Buddha and the teachings of the Dharma. And then with practice, we enact it in Sangha, in community. Again, Upaya are skillful means, which is really big with bodhisattvas. Upaya usually translates as skillful means. I would say I recently was shadowing Gil on a retreat, and he says it also can mean wholeness.

[42:53]

Skillful meaning is a kind of wholeness. And skillful meaning and wholeness... We're not just skillful means just so I can say, hey, I'm really good. I'm really skillful. We do it in service to the response of the world. So that interconnectedness, that's life. We're not separate from each other. So bodhisattva are responding to the cries of the world with skillful meaning. You can also say, I'll say it, ways seeking wholeness, ways seeking connection, ways seeking this deep, deep understanding of our interbeing, our interconnectedness. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive.

[43:59]

Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[44:13]

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