This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. My name is Greg Fane. I'm the Tanto, the head of practice here at Zen Mountain Center, Tazahara. I'm very happy to be here. I'd like to begin by... acknowledging and thanking my teacher, Sojin Mel Weitzman Roshi, abbot of Berkeley Zen Center. And just to say that my talk is just to encourage you in your practice. I don't have any other aim in giving this talk. And I also, this evening, welcome guests. Welcome. guest season, thank you, thank you guests, and admit to an overt bias in my talk, which is to the students.

[01:11]

We've been working on work practice descriptions lately, some of us, writing these things up, and I've been comparing various descriptions for the position of Tanto. And one of them said that Tanto is the junior teacher of the temple. I like that. I'm the junior teacher. And as junior teacher, my concern is the students. So my talks are mostly for the work practice students, the residents, Hopefully everybody can get something out of it. Hopefully. But there you are. This evening I would like to talk about two of the paramitas.

[02:14]

The paramitas being the practices that bodhisattvas do. Bodhisattvas being people, beings who work tirelessly for the benefit of others. So that's all of you. Classically, there are six of these perfections, these practices, the paramitas, dana, sila, kshanti, virya, dhyana, and prajna. Those are Sanskrit words. In English, meaning roughly giving, generosity, ethical behavior, patience or forbearance. zeal, diligence, meditation, zazen, and wisdom. So I'd like to talk about the middle two, number three and number four, Kishanti and Virya, which is something I've been thinking about and practicing with lately.

[03:22]

How these two inform each other, how these two complement each other, in our practice and specifically in our practice at Tassahara. First, I'd like to introduce a koan, because I told Kimu, who works with koans, she does koan practice, so I said, okay, I'll introduce a koan in tonight's talk. So my koan is case number six from the Blue Cliff Record. Yun-men addressed the assembly saying, I don't ask you about before the 15th day. Try to tell me something about after the 15th day. Yun-men himself answered for everyone.

[04:26]

Every day is a good day. Hopefully we get back to that. Kshanti, the third of the perfections, is usually translated as patience or forbearance. But patience is not waiting for something, and forbearance is not putting up with something. That's not exactly how it's understood as it's practiced. How we practice kshanti. K-S-H-A-N-T-I. Kind of fun to say. Kshanti. My favorite translation, explanation of this word, this practice, is from the Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.

[05:39]

And he calls it inclusiveness, including, practicing inclusion, inclusion of the difficult thing, inclusion of the painful thing. The kanji, the ideogram, Chinese character for this word, in Japanese it's mean, Patience, usually translated patience. It's composed of two roots. Below is heart, the ideogram for heart. And above is this sharp thing. Some people say a sword. Some people say some kind of agricultural implement. I don't know. But it's like this sharp thing over the heart. kind of descending onto the heart.

[06:43]

Ow. Here it comes. Ah. Ow. Can you take it? Can you stand it? Here it comes. So inclusiveness is making room for what's coming up. It's getting your heart big enough to include what's coming up, to include the painful thing, the difficult thing. The doctor's office calls you after some routine tests. we'd like you to come down and have a chat about the implications of these tests, results.

[07:51]

What do you do? Make the phone call go away. That didn't happen. Right? No. It happened. What do you do? Here it comes. Here it comes. Here comes that person you don't want to talk to. Here comes that difficult situation. Here comes that painful situation. Here it comes. What do you do? The Buddha taught a parable about a handful of salt. He said, you take a handful of salt and throw it into a bowl of water, mix it up, you can't drink that water. That water will make you sick. It's poisonous.

[08:56]

You get very, very sick. But if you take that handful of salt and throw it into Lake Shasta, who notices? So what? like that. So how do you do that? How do you do that? Earlier this summer, Leslie was talking about the practice period when Tenshin Roshi, Rev. Anderson, leading the practice period, was saying, relax, relax. That's what Leslie was saying. I remember, I was in that practice period. I remember exactly what he said many times. He said, meet everything that arises with complete relaxation. I heard that, I don't know how many times he said that.

[10:01]

Wow, just like bored into my brain. Meet everything that arises with complete relaxation. I don't think he meant to be lazy Zen students, but I see it as training, as technique for accepting the difficult thing, for growing your heart, for making room. How do you make room? I think it also has something to do with letting go of views you're stuck to. And you can experience this for yourself.

[11:04]

When you see people in a new light, things loosen up. You can make more room. I think a lot of us experience this, for example, the 4th of July, in our parade. Everyone dressed up in different costumes. Here comes the tanto, dressed in drag. Oh! Here comes the treasurer in a fright wig. kind of loosens things up, you know? Get a new perspective. Get a new point of view. In fact, practice what's known as beginner's mind. So that's a help.

[12:08]

That's a help. That's a help in meeting everything that arises with complete relaxation. That's a help in making room in your heart. There's a fellow Japanese Nichiren monk named Fukakusa no Gensu from the 17th century wrote a long article, sermon about patience. And part of it goes, patience is not to rejoice when everything goes as you wish. nor to be irritated when everything goes badly. Practicing patience is not to be influenced by the appearance of a face nor the tone of a voice, a rich dwelling or a title.

[13:13]

It's to be in harmony with the place and time. Whether you must live in the depth of a mountain or endure the hardships of cold and hunger, clothed in straw and nourished by grasses. Well, to be in harmony with the place and time. I think that's really what it's about. And I'll say a little bit more about that, hopefully. Living in the depth of a mountain, yeah, well, we do that. Enduring the hardships of cold and hunger, not so much. Hardship of indigestion. But, outside of your comfort zone? Probably. Probably. I like to say, we make everything so perfect. It's paradise in Pasa Hara.

[14:16]

It's lovely. Just so you can get up against your stuff as soon as possible. You should have a sign by the entrance. Welcome to paradise. You will meet your resistance. We guarantee it. Yeah, I know you know what I'm talking about. So, virya, usually translated as energy or zeal or diligence, very necessary for practice. But virya is not just gutting it out or... Striving, striving. Athletic striving. Go, go, go. Do, do, do. That's not the spirit of Virya. Not so much. It's sticking with it with a joyful attitude.

[15:17]

A willingness that isn't forced. Just saying yes. Oh, yeah. Oh, heck yeah. Yeah, I want to do this. Save all ascension beings? I'm up for that. Sign me up. I want to do that. Where does that come from? What inspires that? What inspires that in you? Really good question. Are you all familiar with the concept of found poetry? Words that you find somewhere and you read them as poetry? No? Okay, well, so be it. I call this notes, excuse me, I call this words found on the Tenkin pad. Rest.

[16:21]

Weak. Rest. Need rest. Fatigue. Resting. Overslept. Sleeping. Very sleepy, sorry. Resting. Exhausted. Pooped out. Very, very tired. You know. Greg, I thought you told your teacher that the energy this summer was better than ever. Well, it is. It is. There's just some random ones from the last couple of weeks, but that's every summer. That's every summer. I told you, we should have a sign outside. You will meet your stuff. But you know, how to practice with this. How to practice with this. I was thinking about whether or not I should do this, you know, read these words found on the Tenkin pad, hanging out in the staff office, cabin one, with some people, including Jean Marie, the Fukuten,

[17:33]

Widely acknowledged to be the hardest job in any time of year in Tassajara. And anyway, people in the staff office said, yeah, go for it. You should do that. Yeah, that's fine. It'll be OK. And Jean Marie said, you know, the funny thing is, when you know you don't have to get up, you have plenty of energy. You psych yourself out. You separate. You separate. You're not in harmony with the place and time. I thought, that's great. And she gave me permission to quote her. Yeah, that is really it. You psych yourself out. You're not in harmony. So what gives you energy? What gives you zeal for practice? I'll share a little of my own experience.

[18:38]

Interesting story. When I first came to Tassajara in 2000, I was kind of sick, actually. I had been doing this radical antiviral therapy for quite a few months. It was called combo therapy for hepatitis C. And it's quite difficult. It's usually described as having the flu for a year in terms of the side effects. It was a pretty long road to home. And I was still doing that when I came to Tassajara, and the tanto and director took a chance on me. That would be Vicki Austin and Leslie James. They said, well, you know, we'll give them a chance. Let them do it. And I was so grateful. I was so grateful that I noticed that it was much easier for me to deal with the side effects than it had been prior to coming here.

[19:50]

I was so happy to be at Tazahara and get the chance to practice here that it got a little easier. Still, you know, walking into direct side light, one of the side effects, would still give me like That's why I always wore that big straw Stetson all the time, if any of you remember that. That's why I was always wearing that cowboy hat. But it was much easier. I was just so happy to be here. And, you know, I felt like I had a new lease on life. I was happy about that. Very grateful. Blanche Hartman talks about this, you know, after she had her heart attack. And she said, wow, everything after this is a gift. She's alive. Everything's a gift. Oh, wait, it's always been a gift.

[20:50]

It's always been a gift all along. Just to be alive is a gift. We don't always appreciate it. gratitude, joy, acceptance, being in harmony with the place and time, not separating. When we have Seshin here in Tazahara, we read the admonitions, and one of the admonitions is, Harmonize with the schedule and thus drop body and mind.

[21:56]

Harmonize with the schedule and thus drop body and mind. Just forget about your own agendas and throw it into the house of Buddha. That's what's on offer here. shanti and virya willing acceptance energy they balance each other they inform each other they teach us conservation of energy but I don't mean conservation of energy like oh I have so much energy like in a bank account and I can use this much for this And this much for this, it's not that kind of conservation of energy.

[23:01]

It's using energy effectively. It's living your life effectively. It's using the 24 hours and not being used by the 24 hours. Suzuki Roshi used to move these big old rocks You see all over the place. He was really into it. He really enjoyed finding these creek rocks and pushing them around and making these rock gardens. Somebody asked him, how do you do it? It takes so much... Little guy, tiny, tiny guy, right? Big rocks, tiny guy. How are you doing this? And you keep going. It's blistering hot in the summer. He's still at it. He says, I rest on each moment. It's what he told somebody once. I rest on each moment. How do you do that? It's another thing Suzuki Roshi used to talk about is he loved these kerosene lamps, right?

[24:09]

So every guest, when they come to the stone office, when they get oriented at the stone office, you know, you get a Dharma teaching. Turn the wick up too high and it gets all smoky and raspy. And turn it down too low No light. So, to adjust your wick, just so. That's how we practice. That's how we practice Zazen. That's how Zazen informs our practice, informs our life here. Perfect combination of energy, effort, and meeting what arises with complete relaxation. So, back to case number six.

[25:24]

17th century Zen master Hakuin wrote commentaries on every koan in the Blue Cliff Record. And his commentary on this koan is about that short. Here's everything he had to say about it. This saying is cold. It has no explanation. It is hard to penetrate, hard to understand. I totally agree. Because every day is a good day is not like, every day is a good day, man. Have a nice day, man. What do you mean? Every day is a good day. No, that's not what he's saying. I don't think so. to understand.

[26:27]

Hard to understand when the doctor's office calls and says, you know, you better come down here because we need to talk about this face to face. Every day is a good day? What? It has something of the flavor of Jesus of Nazareth saying, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. But it goes beyond that too. Because he says, every day is a good day.

[27:34]

I think it's a little more like Zen Master Isan Dorsey saying, to have AIDS is to be alive. I guess that's pretty much all I wanted to share, what I've been thinking about practicing willing acceptance and joyful effort. I hope your practice may thrive wherever it may take you.

[28:49]

And I wanted to finish with, of course, what else? A poem. This poem I found in some teachings by 20th century Zen master Kodo Sawaki. Sawaki Roshi quotes, he says, a Chinese poet, Haku Rakuten, but that's obviously a Japanese name. Japanese version of a Chinese name I don't know what his name is in Chinese I have no idea who this person is or when he lived I only know I love this poem and it also kind of is a nice poem for my birthday and I want to thank everyone here for making my birthday actually Maybe the nicest birthday of my life.

[29:54]

Thank you very much. So the first line of this poem is, why should I fight with the horns of a snail? Why should I fight with the horns of a snail? You know about snail's horns? I'm afraid it's possible I have to explain this. It's painful to me, parenthetically, I want to say, it's painful for me to think there are kids in this country who are so separated from natural world that they've never had the experience of touching a snail's horn. You know, a snail goes along and their horns are sticking out like this. And you touch it. Right? You ever do that? I can remember like maybe four years old.

[30:57]

So what I make of this line is my interpretation for what it's worth, not much. Say there's a big snail called reality. And here's a horn. I'll call that enlightenment. And here's another horn. I'll call that delusion. Okay. I know that's enlightenment. Oh, well, I know that's delusion. Okay. Why should I fight with the horns of a snail? Why should I fight with the horns of a snail? I am a spark between two flints. I accept fortune. I accept misfortune.

[32:07]

Moreover, I'm thrilled. I stand there with my mouth hanging open. without laughing like an idiot. Want to hear it again? Why should I fight with the horns of a snail? I am a spark between two flints. I accept fortune. I accept Misfortune. Moreover, I'm thrilled. I stand there with my mouth hanging open, without laughing, like an idiot. Okay, that's my talk.

[33:21]

There's time for a question or two, if there is a question or two. Or we can all practice conservation of energy. Oh, yes, please. I find that in this setting like this, in this setting like that, that diligence comes easy. But it's one outside of that. It does not work well. Can you help identify that?

[34:24]

Yes. I can try. I'll do my best. I think this relates to, for me, I mean, because this is what I've been thinking about, making your heart bigger. So you don't think about, it doesn't become anymore a situation of, oh, in this setting it works, and in that setting it doesn't work, because It's a bigger setting. It's a bigger, all-inclusive setting. It's taking that handful of salt and throwing it into Lake Shasta. But in order to do that, maybe you need to spend more time in the setting that supports it, practically speaking. So welcome. OK. Good night.

[35:28]

Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma Talks are offered free of charge and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving.

[35:47]

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