I'm sorry. [...] Good morning, Buddhas. Wonderful to see all of you here on this Gorgeous San Francisco day. I'm surprised anyone's here. I would have been outside enjoying the sunshine and the gorgeous weather.

[02:49]

So I hope you'll have a chance to do that later today. Welcome you who are in the room and you are online and those of you will manifest after this talk. If you don't know who I am, I'm still trying to figure that out. but apparently I go by the name of Tenzin David Zimmerman and I live here at San Francisco Zen Center. I've been living here about 25 years and I currently serve in the role of central abbot, but I'm also moonlighting as the abiding abbot of city center and some other duties. So keep me fully engaged here. Very little time to get into trouble. So, well, This morning, I'd like to explore with you a particular koan. It's always fun to turn to koans and see what they have to offer. And for anyone who's not familiar with them, a koan in the Zen tradition is a... You could say a seemingly paradoxical or kind of enigmatic statement can be a question or a story.

[03:57]

And it's used for, in many cases, a tool for meditation or contemplation. And koans traditionally, they have arisen out of an exchange between a Zen teacher and a student of some sort. And many of the koans that we have, the collections that we have, or in some cases, a thousand years old, right? So there's wonderful ancient stories come together of Zen practitioners meeting. And the word koan literally means public case. So it's like in a court case. And so a koan therefore is a case that needs to be investigated in some way. And so we explore this case and then there needs to be some kind of response. to this case? What do we discover in the process of investigating it? And it's often through this repeated contemplation of a koan that a practitioner can kind of push past the limitations of their conceptual minds and come into a more direct whole

[05:09]

clear, whole-being experience of reality in some way. So that's how koans are often used. And the koan that I want to take up with you today is Case 12 from the Book of Serenity, this title, Dijon, Planting the Fields. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it. Anyone here? One person. Great, two. All right. Anyhow, I hope you'll enjoy it and appreciate this koan like I do. And just so you have an idea, koans, when they're written in the traditional written literature, they have several components. And including there is what's called a pointer or an introduction to the koan. Then there is the main case, the heart of the koan. Then there's often a verse or a poem that has been included by one song or someone else. One song is the compiler of this particular collection of koans the book of serenity and then there's commentary that follows as well by often case leaders and teachers so here is the main case and I'll share other components with you a little bit later Dijon asked Shushan where do you come from and Shushan said from the south Dijon said

[06:34]

how is Buddhism in the South these days? And Shushan said, well, there is extensive discussion. And Dijong said, how can that compare to me here, planting the fields and making rice to eat? And Shushan said, well, what can you do about the world? And Dijong said, what do you call the world? What do you call the world? So this case has been, particularly on my mind recently, due in part to what I perceive as the increasingly distressing state of the world and with its kind of seemingly endless conflicts. Although I just read this morning that there has been a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, so that's a good progress there. We've got, still, there's wars, there's climate crisis, there's ongoing innumerable social and economic injustices, and also what's unfolding here in the U.S.

[07:41]

and all the, what feels to me is unprecedented, rapid, and sometimes seemingly chaotic changes that we've experienced over the last several months under our new administration. And then... we can add to this constant barrage of news and commentaries and extensive discussions about what it all means. For anyone who's tracking social media, you read the newspaper and so on, it's just kind of ongoing onslaught. What it all means, and a lot of it I find does very little to help me make sense of it or to figure out is there anything something that I can do that would truly make a difference in some way and help the world and smear it problems. Do you guys find it helpful to read all this commentary? Does it actually help you decide how to engage with the various circumstances?

[08:43]

Well, I don't know about you, but for me, zazen, or silent meditation, can often serve as a form of refuge from all this, you could say, the onslaught of the world. It's a form of refuge. It offers emotional grounding. I find it to be kind of a sanity check in the midst of any agitation or disease that one might be experiencing due to whatever circumstances that you're encountering, including concern with the state of the world. And yet, some may ask, is it enough? Time and time again, whether it's in practice discussion or sometimes in Q&A after a Dharma talk, someone's going to ask, what's the use of just sitting in silent meditation where there's so much suffering in the world? And, you know, that's a fair question.

[09:48]

It really is. Even though it's... kind of usually meant as a kind of a challenge to what some see as, you would say, a certain passiveness in Buddhism. The feeling is, well, just don't sit there, do something. Of course, the world is full of suffering beings in various forms and under various conditions, and even the planet is deeply suffering, in large part to our presence. So given this, shouldn't we do something like maybe having extensive discussions, protesting, coming up with solutions, or otherwise taking proactive measures to address the suffering world? How is living a simple, quiet life of Zen enough? One of the things that I appreciate about koans, including this one we have today, is the way in which they have a tendency to stop the churning mind.

[10:51]

you know, even if just for a moment, kind of in the way that it introduces a momentary pause. And in that pause, there's an invitation, an invitation to ask some essential questions before actually taking some kind of action, right? So there's questions like, where am I coming from? What is my intention? What is the nature of suffering and what is its ultimate cause? How can I help a world I see as separate from myself? Would it be more beneficial for me to deeply understand how the world is not something out there that needs to be saving, that needs to be saved? And if I consider the way that we are all constantly and every moment making the world through every single action that we do, however simple, such as planting the fields or making rice, then I can take right here and now an action about doing something in the world.

[12:07]

And when it's time for another kind of action, one that's not so simple, one that's a bit more complicated and potentially more impactful, Can it be my intention that these actions be grounded in a perspective about the world or what helping is that isn't fixed, isn't premeditated? It's more a spontaneous response to what it is that's arising. I think it's safe to say that a majority of religious traditions You'll find a certain dynamic tension between those who are discussing the teachings and those who are living the teachings. So here's the pointer, the introduction to this particular case, which I think addresses this. Scholars plow with the pen. Orators plow with the tongue. We patch-robed mannequins lazily watch a white ox on open ground, not paying attention to the rootless, auspicious grasses.

[13:17]

How to pass the days. So in other words, different people have different ways of living this human life, and each of them are taking up different kinds of work and different kinds of tool as they make their way in the world. So scholars use pens. orators use the tongue, and so on. What is the Zen way? What do we use? Well, here it says, we patch-robed mannequins lazily watch a white ox on an open ground. Now, patch-robed mannequins, for those who may not be familiar with that term, means monks or as Zen practitioners, and those of us particularly who wear particular garments or robes, such as an ocasa, or a rakasu, which are pieces of fabric that had been patched together, as was done in the Buddhist time. But it can also refer to anyone who is trying to live a simple, ordinary life.

[14:23]

And then here, a white ox represents the self. It's our true self, our Buddha nature. So Zen practitioners, we watch the self, and we study our true nature, and we're supposed to do it in a relaxed way, a relaxed fashion, just allowing it to reveal itself on the open ground of our life. So sometimes people feel like they have to get really tight and tense about how they're observing themselves in their life. They're sitting on the cushion going, straining. That's not... our practice, right? If anything, it's the exact opposite. Relax, open, release, continuing to open and open, let go, right? Any aspect of struggle in there is usually some manifestation of a sense of a separate self. So relax in your zazen, enjoy your zazen. I particularly appreciate the question that the point here ends on, how to pass the days of

[15:28]

how to pass the days. This is a koan in and of itself. How do you pass your days? To quote Mary Oliver, tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? So our koan today features two Zen characters, Dijon and Shushan. And Dijon was a Chinese Zen master who lived from 867 to 928. And he was the abbot of Dijon Monastery. He had another name. His given name was Luauhan. Guichen, please excuse me if I mispronounce that. Dijon was generally known by the name of the mountain where he taught, which is very common in those days. And the name Dijon means earth store. So it's similar to, in Japanese, Jizo, as in Jizo Bodhisattva.

[16:32]

Now, Dijon was also the teacher of a well-known later Chan teacher, Fayan. And Fayan actually ended up founding the Fayan Zen School. And there's this famous exchange between Dijon and Fayan that comes from the Transmission of Light that maybe you've heard before. It goes like this. Dijon asked Fayan, where are you going? And Fayan answered, around on pilgrimage. What is the purpose of pilgrimage? Dijon asked. To which Fayan replies... I don't know. And Dijang says, not knowing is most intimate. So perhaps don't know would also be Faiyang's answer to Dijang's question of Shushan, what do you call the world? I don't know. So there's some preface or backstory to this particular koan, which appears in Wansang's commentary in the case.

[17:38]

And I'm just going to give you a very brief summary of it. It recounts how Shushan and Fayan and others had previously visited Dijang's temple during a storm. And Shushan, they had gone into their house and sat by the fire, warming themselves. And apparently Shushan had ignored his host. Dijong and then treated Dijong rudely when he approached Shushan and his companions with a Dharma question. However, to Shushan's great embarrassment, he wasn't able to answer Dijong's question. So rather than humbly say, I have something to learn here, he insulted Dijang to his companions and kind of basically dismissed him. And in the end, Dijang and the others, just they continued on their journey. to engage in monastic practice, they were going south.

[18:41]

And their companion, our Fayong, ended up staying behind the study with Dijon for a long time. So Fayong saw something in Dijon and really wanted to learn from this particular Zen teacher. So later on, having finished their studies in the south, Shushan and some other companions, they come back up north again. And on the way, they return to Dijon's temple to stay. And once again, Dijon approaches them, maybe while they're sitting around the fire. And he asks a typical greeting question, a kind of an opening question. Where do you come from? And Shushan, perhaps foolishly, you know, responds again on behalf of the group. And he says, from the south. On the surface, the question appears to be a rather simple, straightforward one. Where do you come from? Well, I come from San Francisco.

[19:44]

Okay. However, in koans, it is often the case that it serves a dual purpose, as it's the kind of question a Zen teacher would ask to try to ascertain something of the practice of whoever is showing up, right? So if anyone asks you around here, Where are you coming from? Be on alert, right? So there's a footnote here that says, can Dijong say that he doesn't already know where Shushong comes from? So perhaps the question is more like this. Where are you coming from right now? In other words, from what place or perspective or understanding are you coming from? With what state of mind or perception or awareness are you showing up? In every moment, we can ask ourselves the same question. Where am I coming from?

[20:49]

Am I coming from a place of separation and duality? Of ego and delusion? Or am I coming from a place of clear seeing? interdependence and non-duality. Maybe we're not so sure. Maybe we need to do a little investigation, a little self-inquiry to find out where am I coming from? And this is important because where I'm coming from often determines who and what it is that I will encounter wherever I find myself, right? So in this case, Shushan responds to Dijon's question rather straightforwardly. I'm coming from the South. And so Dijon plays along. He says, so how is Buddhism in the South these days?

[21:51]

And Shushan replies, well, there's a lot of discussion going on. Now, we should understand here that Dijon really isn't interested in what's going on in the South, right? It's just a pretext. pretext once again to test Shushan's understanding of practice. However, Shushan once again dodges Dijang's deeper question and instead mentions with, it feels like a slight boast, all the important discussions about the Buddha Dharma that are happening down south, you know, and which, of course, he apparently is a part of, right? Now, I don't know about you, but I know some people where we can talk about Buddhadharma all day and night. And yet, despite all that talk, nothing would change. Right? And while it can be beneficial to discuss the Dharma and our understanding with teachers, with teachings, with others, as a way to gain deeper insights, the heart of practice goes beyond mere discussions and debate.

[23:01]

So, Bodhidharma... There's this big skull out in the hallway where T is, a Bodhidharma, our first ancestor in China. He taught that Zen is a special transmission outside the scriptures. It doesn't rely on words and letters. It doesn't rely on anything that can be discussed. Now, this doesn't mean that we dispense with speech altogether. Speech is necessary. but we just don't rely on it to really have a deeper understanding of the Dharma. Why? Because speech and words are just mental constructs. And while words may be a way to point to reality, they themselves are abstractions. And as such, they are not the truth in itself. If we take them as truth, we can get into some significant trouble. especially if you take the words of others as the truth.

[24:05]

And particularly because that often does reflect our own direct experience of what is true. There are a few lines from Wansang's verse or poem that speak to this point. He writes, Every story is made up, so is every interpretation. As it travels from the ear to the mouth, every true report... So in other words, anything and everything we can say about the world is a story. It's a fiction. Words traveling from the mouth to the ear do not reach the reality of how things are, how they exist. They're merely interpretations. And the minute they come out of our mouth, their veracity begins to fall apart. They no longer represent reality of truth. And I would actually say the minute they arise in your mind, the veracity has already fallen apart, right?

[25:10]

Any case, Dijon asked Shushan to tell him something about Buddhism in the South as a way to his understanding. And Shushan says there's a lot of discussion going on. So Dijon pushes a bit further, challenging Shushan's rather, you know, lame response. He asked, how can that extensive discussion compare to me here planting the fields and eating rice? In other words, how can extensive discussion, even if it's about the Buddha Dharma, what a worthy thing to be talking about, how can it compare to the direct action of engaging one's life fully? Dijang is pointing here to the practical nature of Zen and to awakening Zen. which is not found in intellectual debates or abstract concepts, but in direct hands-on experience. And Zen is about getting our hands dirty in the soil of everyday life and ordinary activities, mundane activities, such as planting the fields, preparing meals, cleaning the toilets, doing the dishes, sitting zazen.

[26:27]

All of that, right? And it's about taking care of what needs to be taken care of and doing it mindfully and with intention, bringing our whole mind into the activity that we are engaged in. So Dijang here is emphasizing a way of being, a way of living that's practical, that's embodied and wholehearted. And as such, it's deeply satisfying. Several lines from the verse speak to this point as well. Planting fields, making rice, ordinary household matters. Only those who have investigated to the full would know. Having investigated to the full, you clearly know there's nothing to seek. There's nothing special about planting a field or making rice. And yet...

[27:29]

such activity is extraordinary. It's miraculous. It's enlightening, right? Dijon's cultivating the fields and cooking rice is an expression of direct, wholehearted, awakening activity. Whenever we do any activity, even the most mundane, with a mind of oneness, of non-separation, it's a non-dual activity. It's complete. It's perfect. It's a whole being. The whole universe is engaged in that activity. It's no longer us doing the activity. It's the universe doing that activity. Right? And as such, there is no other world. It's just this one. The world of universal and total functioning. But we can only come to this realization through what the verse says is investigation.

[28:33]

And the process of investigation or inquiry is essential to Zen practice. And it's one of the primary forms of this investigation takes that of Zen, Zazen, of meditation. And Zazen is this kind of process of deep inquiry, deep investigation into the nature of experience. Although it's not one that's dependent on words or concepts or phrases. Rather, it's a matter of holding open space, silent, receptive space in our minds and in our hearts. And when we fully investigate our minds and our embodied experience, we come into contact with the fullness of our being. which is universal being, which we often, another name for it in Buddhism is Buddha nature. And it's in this way that we come to realize that there's nothing missing. There is nothing that we need to seek.

[29:39]

There is no other, right? Everything is complete. The idea that something is missing is only another mental fabrication. one in which the belief in a separate self depends. So Dijon asks Shushan, how can extensive discussion compare to me here planting the fields and eating rice? And Shushan seemingly, and once again, he misses the point or he dodges Dijon's point and replies, what can you do about the world? Now, the original Chinese term for the world here is if you were to actually literally translate it, would be the three worlds. And the three worlds in Buddhism are the world of desires or karma, the world of form, and the world of formlessness. And although these three worlds constitute not only the social, physical, and political worlds, but also the psychological and spiritual worlds.

[30:49]

And This is an important concept in Buddhism, yes, but I don't want to go there today because I actually feel like it unnecessarily complicates things in this particular case. It's almost as if Shushan is deliberately trying to bait Dijon into further extensive debate. So let's argue about those three worlds. Let's talk some more here. Anything to get away from actually being right here. So then, what are we to make of Shushan's question? What can you do about the world? On the one hand, given that he was apparently rude and a bit arrogant the last time that he met with Dijon, maybe Shushan is again responding in a similar way, right? Scoffing at the idea of Dijon's simple activity as a farmer as somehow being significant. Yeah... Well, whatever he's saying, right? What can you do about the world, you simple country bumpkin? How can your meager manual labor impact the great problems of the world?

[31:52]

So that's one tape, you know? But what if Shushan is actually this time being humble and sincere? What if his question is actually genuine? What can you do about the world? Maybe saying that the world is so messy and complicated and hard to navigate. Why get bothered? Why get involved? It won't make a difference. But tell me, vulnerable Dijon, how does your simple life of planting fields and cooking rice address the world's problem and its real suffering? I really want to know. How does meditation practice and a Zen way of life help fix this hopeless, broken world? And in many cases, this hopeless, broken person, sometimes it feels like, right? For some, the Zen way can have a kind of a flavor of quietism, kind of sitting around serenely disengaged while the house is on fire.

[33:01]

And there is undoubtedly an aspect of Buddhism that has historically favored home leaving, leaving one's home, leaving the world, disconnecting from the world's affairs and settling into a different level of existence and contemplation. But is this what Dijon is actually espousing here? Disengaged from the world in some way? Earlier this month... On May 1st, there were a number of peaceful demonstrations in the Bay Area related to May Day, and I think there were maybe around the country. And they were focused on workers' rights and immigration rights and opposing the current administration. And one of our resident staff members here, who's Hans Amaran senior staff, who wanted to participate in the demonstrations, asked Temple leadership, the practice committee whether we might cancel evening zazen on that day that folks could prioritize attending the rallies. I suggested that we instead give people the option to participate in one or the other, rather than seemingly choosing for them by canceling zazen.

[34:19]

My view was that for many folks, the simple act of sitting zazen can be a valid, beneficial, and powerful political response, perhaps even a form of protest, because it congregously stays near the question of, where am I coming from? While also inviting us to consider an authentic response to the various forms of suffering that I encounter, both inside and out. Each of us has to have the courage to listen to our own internal wisdom regarding how to engage the world and not blindly get caught up in the cacophony of others' opinions and debates about what the right action to any particular problem is. I personally feel that's not the responsibility of a Zen teacher or an institution to tell you how to think or what to do. Rather, they can provide you with a powerful practice pointers and questions through which you might yourself discern, based on your own sincere investigation, a way of truth and action you feel is necessary to pursue.

[35:35]

So what can you do about the world? Shushan asks, what can you do about the world? And Dijon responds with a final turning word. And it's one that I think goes to the heart of the matter. What do you call the world? What do you call the world? Now many Zenkoans are about inquiring deeply into the nature of reality and our engagement with reality, with the world and with things as it is. And Dijon's question, what do you call the world, challenges the notion of a fixed, separate world. And it prompts reflection on the nature of the world and our relationship to it. In other words, the world is not a fixed identity, but rather a concept that we define.

[36:37]

And this highlights the subjective nature of reality. It also implies that you can do something about the world by first transforming your concepts and ideas about it. So Di Shang is saying, Shushan, you're speaking as if we all knew what the world was. But have we really looked? Have we really paid attention? Have we really seen what the world is? Is the nature of the world and reality clear to us? Can we say with any certainty what it is? And even if we think we know, even if we imagine we have a definitive answer, Zen practice requires that we suspend it and inquire further, not sticking to the previous concept. From a Buddhist perspective, when we ask the question, what do you call the world?

[37:43]

We can only really answer that question from the stance of our own subjectivity. And subjectivity consists of the perceptions, the experiences, the feelings, desires, expectations, the personal cultural understandings, and beliefs that are specific to each person. Each of you has a particular subjective view that is a matter of all those coming together. And further, our subjectivity influences and informs our judgments about the truth and reality. It's basically a lens that colors everything that we perceive and how we think about experience, right? And so subjectivity is often contrasted with objectivity, which is described as a view of truth, a reality that is free of any individual's influence. And Buddhism... teaches that our particular view and experience of the world, as well as of reality, are shaped by our subjectivity.

[38:50]

Furthermore, there is no other world per se, except the world as we experience it. There isn't a world that's out there, that's it, that objectively exists and it's separate from our perceptions. Sorry to tell you, if anyone has been looking for it, stop seeking. It isn't there. It doesn't exist. Right? The perspective is a key part of understanding the Buddhist concepts of dependent origination and interconnectedness, where everything arises in relationship to other things and are not fundamentally separate. Right? So you can't see something separate. It's like sometimes the experience of the world comes into view, the entirety of the whole universe all at once, simultaneously, right here, right now. Is your view wide enough, large enough?

[39:53]

And it can't be if you think you are a separate self. The minute you give up the separate self, the entire universe comes into view because it's seeing itself, right? So what is your view? Moreover, the teachings of the Buddha Dharma emphasize that our subjective experience of the world is influenced by factors like ego, attachments, beliefs, which can all obscure our clear seeing and understanding. Therefore, understanding our subjectivity, unpacking and investigating, what is my subjectivity, what lens am I seeing in the world, is very important. how we perceive the world and what we might do about it, we need to study. Where am I coming from here? If I see everyone as kin, for example, I might treat them with the same care and regard as I would a family member. If I perceive everyone as a threat, I'm going to be fearful and perhaps act aggressively.

[41:02]

Of course, we may ignore... how objectivity influences our perceptions and experiences of the world. In fact, we often do. And when we do that, it causes a lot of problems. We think that our view and experience of the world is the way it is. That's reality, right? And that it's the same for everyone else. Does anyone else have that problem? Am I the only one? Oh, I guess I must be the only one who has that problem. Okay, good for you, right? Of course, Buddhism would say that this is delusion, right? And it's a delusion that can create lots of problems and lots of harm. To think that how I see the world is the way it is and everyone else should see it the same way. Do you know anyone who tells you that? You should see it my way. You should do it my way. Because I have the right view of the world. Hmm. Now, it's the case that we all somewhat share among ourselves a common...

[42:02]

You could say a relative, a rough agreement regarding the world and phenomena. For example, we've been collectively conditioned to perceive the world and call that a mat, if you're an English speaker, or that a bell, or that a statue, or that a window and a door. However, my experience of that mat and that bell, that statue, that window, that door is my experience. It's my world, right? It's particular to my experience. I am the only one who can have that particular experience of that thing that we collectively agreed we're gonna call a mat, right? And your experience of each of these phenomena is particular to your world. You're the only one experiences that way. We each still only know them by virtue of our subjective worlds. Therefore, Studying and investigating objectivity is a way to understand what's going on for ourselves and for others.

[43:08]

So if we have an argument about, that's not a statue, that's not a Buddha, that's something else, then we can maybe explore, oh, tell me more about why you don't see that as a statue. What's going on there? Right? We can find a beautiful teaching on subjectivity in Dogen Zenji's Mountains and Manasutra. And in that sutra, he talks about four views of water. And these four views of water are based on four different kinds of beings. And this is what he writes. In seeing water, there are beings who see it as a jeweled necklace. This does not mean, however, that they see a jeweled necklace as water. How then do we see what they consider water? Their jewel necklace is what we see as water. Some see water as miraculous flowers, though it does not follow that they use flowers as water. Hungry ghosts see water as raging flames or as pus and blood.

[44:10]

Drags and fish see it as a palace or a tower or as the seven treasures or the money jewel. Others see it as woods and walls, or as the Dharma nature of immaculate liberation, or as the true human body, or as the physical form and mental nature. Humans see these as water. So many different views, so many different beings, so many different views of something that we call water. So Dogen offers another teaching on subjectivity in his Facical Gendrakhan, where he talks about riding out in a boat on the ocean, and viewing the ocean for directions. And he says, the ocean is neither round nor square. Its features are infinite in variety. All things are like this. But you see and understand only what your eye of practice can reach. You see and understand only what your eye of practice can reach. So how far does your eye of practice reach? And my feeling is we're always trying to extend how far our practice reaches constantly through zazen, through our day-to-day engagement with each other, through deep investigation.

[45:25]

What is this experience? What is this mind? What am I not seeing? What am I not including? What more? How much more inclusive can this mind and heart, this heart mind be? What am I leaving out? How far can my ayah practice reach? So all this is to say that there isn't a fixed reality that is water, which everyone, everything agrees, that's water. The same thing with the world, right? Water is water according to our particular perceptions and lived experiences. The world as we live it and experience it, it's just my subjectivity. And to erically think, well, I know what water is, and that's the same for you as it is for me, is not only delusional, but it's harmful. And it can be dangerous. The thing that we need to realize is that my subjective world will live and die with me.

[46:28]

All life. my associations, all your associations, all the things that you appreciate and recognize, that you love and value, and how your consciousness has been part of your mind, all that lives and dies with you. And it cannot be shared, it cannot be exchanged. However, that point, even though it might have a moment of, oh my gosh, is actually the beginning of compassion, right? When I realize that I don't experience what other people experience, nor are they what I experience, that we don't experience the same world, then I can begin to make a sincere effort to understand the world as others experience it. Compassion, Latin, with feeling, right? And when I try to understand how others experience the world, It often widens, deepens, and enriches my own experience of what I call the world.

[47:35]

So in closing, I would suggest it's important to investigate and come to know your own answers to Dijon's question. What do you call the world? Because what you call the world will determine the nature and kind of world you will experience. Is it a mean, cruel, divided, lacking world? Or is it a world for beauty, kindness, great potential, and compassionate bodhisattvas? The type of world you have in mind is the type of world you will create and experience. It's a type of world that you will give birth to through your own mind. through your thoughts, beliefs, and mental concepts, because those are what initiate our actions. If you can question and suspend those ideas of what you think is the world and allow them to soften enough for a new world to come forward and be realized, then you and those around you might experience greater ease.

[48:54]

perhaps even joy and liberation. So thank you for being in my world. And thank you for being in each other's world and helping each other to expand your ayah practice together as we continue to plow the Dharma fields, plant the Dharma fields, and get nourished by the Dharma teachings, the Dharma rice, And more importantly, share that with each other. So thank you very much for your kind attention and patience. And I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you. The day of the shrew, who ran every day at the time of the day of the night was destroyed.

[49:57]

The day of the [...] day of If I will not be able to [...] survive, I will not be able to be able to survive, I will not be able to survive, I will not be able to survive. Good morning, everyone.

[52:24]

Welcome to Beginner's Mind Temple. I am Richard. I am the acting Eno, while Kevin is away on vacation, so I have a few announcements. As always, you're invited to come and practice with us regularly in the morning. We've just pretty recently reopened the building after a long hiatus reconstruction. We have a Welcome Center, a big, beautiful Welcome Center. We have a big, beautiful bookstore, which has just recently opened. So please feel free to go to the bookstore and browse around and buy stuff. Please consider supporting San Francisco Zen Center with your donations and presence. Memberships are the lifeblood of Zen Center and help us create and sustain all that we do. There's a donation box out in the lobby with a QR code. It makes it very easy to donate.

[53:29]

The next Dharma talk will be on Wednesday with Takudo Nicole Bahen of the Krestom Zen Center. That will be at 7.30 p.m. here in the Buddha Hall. And on Saturday, the 17th, we're honored to have Richard Baker speaking, former avid of San Francisco Zen Center. They'll be here in Buddha Hall at 10 a.m. There's an upcoming May intensive from May 19th to June 14th, led by Pamela Watts. The name of the intensive is Finding True Refuge. Where do we find refuge in a world on fire, How does Buddhist practice support us in living together well? So you can sign up for that on the website. And we have an upcoming full moon ceremony.

[54:33]

Full moon ceremony happens once a month on the full moon. We don't really worship the moon. It's just basically a marker. For once a month, for thousands of years, Buddhist communities around the globe have gathered on the darkest and brightest nights of the lunar cycle to reflect on our actions, consider our intentions, and recommit to a life of integrity, compassion, and awakening. In Zen, we carry on this ancient tradition through the monthly full moon ceremony. And that's what happened on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday morning, around 6.30 a.m., right after Zazen. We have a one-day sitting coming up on May 24th, and a three-day seshin in June.

[55:37]

I don't have the days for that, but you'll have to check the website. Okay. We have Urban Gate Sangha helps us with the Saturday morning program. Please raise your hand, all the Urban Gate people. If you have any questions about how to participate, please talk to one of those people, or you could talk to me. Urban Gate Sangha is always looking for new people to join the group. So the volunteers meet. every morning, and basically run the show. They do all the bells and whistles, and it's fun. They also meet after the Dharma talk for a Dharma study and have a light lunch together. Zendo Forms is happening this morning, taught by Eli.

[56:42]

Zendo forms is a good way for beginners to become familiar with Zendo. How to enter and bow to your cushion and sit Zazen. Although there's not actually Zazen instruction, it's more like the formal aspects of entering Zendo and how to move about in Zendo. So that will be happening right after this meeting in the lobby. About 11.20 or so. I need the blanket takeoff case before guiding that. But we'll just meet in the lobby here. You'll be able to find it. Okay, 11.20. We have tea and cookies available in the lobby. Question and answers with F. David in the back of the dining room. Thank you all very much for coming. Have a great weekend. Also, if we could have help putting the chairs back to the dining room and putting the Zafus on the racks over here to my right.

[57:54]

Thank you all very much. Fantastic. Thank you.

[58:33]

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