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. My arms were big enough I'd gather you and give you a big hug and say welcome. I'm so glad you came. Wow. Look at all the kids. Well, the first thing I'm going to do, now that I've welcomed you, is I'm going to give you a test. Okay? So here's the first question on the test. Are you ready? Do you know what this is? Yeah! And where does a carrot grow? On the ground.

[01:03]

On the ground. And what do carrots need to grow? Water. And what else? Sun. Sun. What'd she say? Carrot, okay. And how does a carrot get to your house? In the store. What did you say? The farmer sends it to the store. That's right. He said the farmer sends it to the store. Pretty good. Water, sun, soil, farmer, store. And then who brings it home and cooks it for you? Mom and Dad. Okay. Or maybe an aunt or an uncle or a grandma or a grandpa. Okay. Here's your second test. Who knows what this is?

[02:03]

A pear. That's pretty good. I wasn't sure you would get that. And where does a pear grow? Tree. And what does a tree need? Yeah. Soil. Sun. Maybe some rain. Some heat. Some cold. And another farmer. Right? Okay. How about this one? No. Yeah, grapefruit. And a grapefruit grows on a? Tree. Tree. Oh, you're pretty smut here today. Okay, here's a harder one, okay? What's this? Yeah. Okay, how many things are in a muffin?

[03:08]

What does it take to make? Wheat. What? Sugar. Eggs. Eggs, yeah. And toppings. Today it's a carrot pineapple muffin. Whoa. Carrot pine. And how did it come together so it looks like this? The oven. The oven. What else? What? Okay. Guess again. Who put these together? Well, there's some liquid in it. Who made these? Flour. Flour. How about Green Gulch volunteers? Yeah. And somebody said the oven, so we've got heat, and we've got somebody who made the oven.

[04:10]

There are so many things in this muffin. So many things. Okay, now here's another question. What does it take to make a happy boy or girl? What does it take to make a happy child? What makes you happy? Reading a book. What does a sad face look like? What does a mad face look like? That's it. Happy. So we've got some more fruit and vegetables here. We've got happy or sad. Can you see the pictures? Can you see? Yeah. And then it says feeling blue or bad.

[05:14]

And then what makes somebody feel better? What's that one doing? A smile? If you're feeling bad and a friend or... A parent smiles at you. Does that make you feel a little better? Yeah. So we kind of know what we can do for other people to feel better. And how about this? When you're making friends with somebody and being kind, especially if somebody's shy. Yeah? Okay. What else do we have here? Uh-oh. Somebody's not feeling included. Yeah, what do you do if you feel... Yeah, what do you do if you want to feel more, have somebody feel more included? Maybe go ask them. You want to come play with us? Yeah.

[06:21]

Uh-oh. Here's somebody getting yelled at. Uh-oh. [...] You want to say it again, please? You said please. That was very good. We don't know why you're getting mad. And then... This is just a picture about different feelings. You have to know your feelings. If you know how you feel and what makes you feel better, can you do that for somebody else? Can you wish that? No? Oh, you're tricking. Okay. And here's the last one. Isn't that sweet? When you have a friend. Oh. See?

[07:24]

When you see something that looks happy, it sort of makes you laugh and be happy. Okay. So everything, lots of moments, however you're feeling, and things that were growing, there's lots of things included in it. Things don't just stand by themselves. So we're asking you now. Ready? If you're feeling happy, you can share it. And if you see somebody else feeling unhappy, what could you do? What would you do? How would you do that? They might need some water. Yeah, you're right.

[08:25]

So when we have on a smiley face or we're feeling good, it actually can make other people feel good too. Yeah? Okay. I'm charging all of you to go out there and make people feel better or help people. You don't have to make them do it. They'll do it on their own. Okay? So you could share your... Your kindness and your generosity and your energy and your goodwill. Yeah? Okay. That's so great. All right. Why don't you go see what's happening with the kids today? All right. Thank you for sharing. Thank you. And for anybody who wants to, this is called How Are You Peeling Book. Okay.

[09:25]

You what? You could share. You could share, yeah. Can I get the other one? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Where are shoes? Because this is indoor feet. So this helps keep the floor clean. That's why we take off our shoes. Why do we meditate slow? It's a very short time. Oh, it's a very short time. Because it's a very busy day. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye. Some people want to move up.

[10:57]

There's room up here. There's some Zafus now and a few chairs. These really beautiful and energetic small ones are part of our future. It's really wonderful to have them here. So kind of a lot of commotion just happened, so maybe you can find where you are again.

[12:04]

And I've taken to, if you're left-handed, you can use your left hand. I'm right-handed. And just kind of put it on your chest and then have your, it's not really push up, but kind of maybe allow your chest to meet your hand so that you kind of open up. and that you become available, that you become a channel in any given moment for what's most important to you. So that's what I'd like to try to speak to today. It's not so much that we become more knowledgeable people, but that we're in wise person training. This Zen practice is about wisdom and compassion and bringing those together.

[13:05]

And that's not a knowing mind, but a wise mind. And here at Green Gulch, we've been doing some study about conditioning. And in our song at the moment, and I think in a lot of different groups right now there's a lot of study going on about our racial conditioning, but our conditioning is much wider and broader than that. And we talk about making the invisible visible. So how can we make whatever is that wise person in us that sometimes gets a chance to show its face? How do we make that more available to ourselves? And how can we listen more rather than talk more? This is not a good example of that.

[14:05]

And how can we remember? How can we remember, especially in those really tight moments, to choose love? And... I think I've had some issues with that word over my lifetime, and I'm coming closer to it. And I think maybe everybody needs, could, you know, if you need to, could think about what that word means to you and more like what it would look like. But, and before I go any further, one of the things I would like to say to everybody is congratulations, because you made it here today. You took the effort. and the time, you had the thought and the preparation to come and be with other voices and other people today. And in my world, in my way of thinking, that already is an action of enlightenment or enlightened practice.

[15:15]

So it's not something that's out there that you need to get or grab, but a a part of who you are and showing up. And showing up here is a place where you're kind of, maybe I could say you're gravitating to a place where there's something that might be not only a benefit for yourself, but for a greater good. And then what is that? And how to make contact with that. So, In some way, now, especially now, people... I only have a flip phone, but I see people with, I guess, iPhones and iPads. And people are walking around, and they're, like, always on their phone, right? And I also... There's, like, a Bluetooth. You know, people are talking. They don't even know if there's people around them because they're having this conversation over here. So there's kind of a sense of a little bit of isolation and aloneness.

[16:19]

And I think coming here where we're gathering so we're more together and there might be a less feeling of being alone and we're not just one voice but we could be many voices and that's a little bit louder and stronger. And I think we're seeing that in action in the world as well. So now I'd like to introduce something that you all know about and I know about but I confess that I don't often or at different times don't often think about and that is we're all going to die it will come we don't know when we don't know how and we don't know how it'll be for us and we don't have to take care of dying because dying will take care of itself.

[17:27]

And the reason I'm bringing this in today is that the pointer there is how will we live? What are we going to do with the time that we have right now? And it's not so much of a what. What I'm calling for today is a how. So... it's still true I don't know how true it is for people in this room but you know it used to be that everybody who or I don't know if it was everybody many people who died went to the cemetery and they got a tombstone and on the tombstone it said your dates when you're born and when you died said your name and maybe it said what your family lineage was, right? And then maybe at the bottom it would say, like, beloved mother or generous person or kind extraordinaire.

[18:34]

But the question is, what is it you would like, or either, what is it you'd like to have on your tombstone? What would they say about you? Or at your memorial would it be? wow, they really had a big house. Actually, they had many houses. They had a lot of stuff. They were so arrogant. Or a lot of money, but stingy, stingy, stingy. Or a little, you know, they were just a little bit hard to get close to. And so... Those are possibilities. Or it could be something like, they were very kind. Or they, you, very generous, very patient, very still. Or I found them to be very wise.

[19:41]

They sort of knew how to be and what to say in a given moment. it seemed like they were in wise person training in this life. They didn't say, oh, some people say really smart, right? But then what did they do with those smarts? So, and every single one of us have our own word and our own place that's close to our heart or to our gut. So, question is, what are you willing, because this will give you courage, what are you willing, it's a little bit of a what, now I'm kind of going to how, how and what are you willing to die for, which will lead you to what are you going to live for. So maybe I'm just going to stop talking for a second and just notice if you had to say what is this great intention, what is this how,

[20:47]

you would like to be remembered. What is this part of you that might be invisible, that you would be joyful to make visible, and that will be your gift? What's your one or two words. I recently heard someone express that this world that we live in on a certain was made out of imagination.

[21:48]

Somebody imagined how we would like to be, and then people gathered, and some polarized, some not, but they gathered together and they put their energy together to make this imagination come forward. So your word, you could imagine a way of being in the world, no matter whether you're cooking, washing, making your bed, cleaning your house, meeting somebody who's like in your face, can you call forth that thing that's the most important to you? So, just letting that register again. I remember at one point I had the idea that there was nothing left to do for me but to be kind.

[22:56]

And while I was living and working at Tassajara and I had a particular job, I would like take a few steps and then somebody would say, can I ask you a question? Sure, okay. And then try to take three more, I'm trying to get across town, trying to take a few more steps. Can I ask you a question? They didn't realize that they were like the eighth or ninth person that had just asked me, could I ask you a question? And at first I was very kind. And as it went along, I thought, oh, it's one thing to be kind when you're in the mood for it. or it's the first or second person that's asked you. But what is it to be kind moment after moment? You know, how do I do that? What is involved in that? And part of it is remembering what I want to be up to. So remembering what you want to be up to.

[24:03]

So if somebody's asking a question, as I'm putting pots and pans away, as I'm doing the laundry, as I'm driving. I was out on the road the other day and a car was going so fast. It came so close to me, I felt like I could feel it, just feel it come right up to my door. And I was like, whoa! And then I saw that they just changed and they tried to speed along. So if I can remember kindness when I'm driving, can I just let somebody in? There's so many ways, whatever your way is. You'd like me to speak up a little bit, wouldn't you? I'd like to hear a little better. A little better. Can you help me? Did you catch some of it? Maybe I could be a little better. Are people in the back hearing okay? Up is better? Okay, thanks.

[25:04]

So... We have a meditation practice here. Some of you came and were sitting before this Dharma talk. And our meditation is not really to escape from the society or from the world. Our meditation here is to get us ready to re-enter so that for a moment you can stop, remember what you're up to in stillness, and then when you get up, you remember what you're up to And you go out the door and you remember what you're up to. And then you start having your tea and muffins and you remember what you're up to. You leave here, you get in your car, you remember what you're up to. And as it goes along throughout the day, we're preparing ourselves. So people who are craftsmen, right, if you need to have the right tools, if you're going to be carving or now just a musician came to my mind,

[26:09]

You know, in order to make great music, you need to have whatever instrument you have and have it fine-tuned, right? In tune. And our sitting helps us keep tuned up, right? It's not to escape. And when we sit here in some of the practices, you know, you close your eyes and you go in. And here what we do is put our eyes at 45 degrees so we're not closing our eyes to the world. We're just giving it a rest and letting some soft vision come in and a wide peripheral view and kind of giving the judging mind a rest. We give that thinking, judging mind a rest so we can get just behind it, just behind that logical mind. so that some other imagination, some other piece of information can be heard.

[27:11]

Are you listening? Are you listening? And it's not listening in a way that's already trying to judge whether things are correct or not correct, whether I should go with it or not go with it. You're just allowing something to arise. There's many things coming in for your wise person training that you both know about and that you don't know about. So we just give it some space to let it come in. And recently I was reminded, so this training, this word, whatever your word is, over and over. And recently I was reminded that of a story about Gandhi and his practice, his word was Ram. And he just said, Ram, Ram, Ram.

[28:17]

I wasn't there, but I believe this story. Then you can tell me what you believe later. Ram, Ram, Ram, all day long. And in the end, not knowing when he would die or how it would happen, when he got shot, he didn't say, oh, darn, or whoops, or whatever. He said, Ram, because that was part of his practice. So I bring up this practice of our lifetime in relationship to our eventual end so that at the end we can say, it was good, it was kind, it's okay, I'm open. So we're cultivating an openness and a curiosity and trying to understand how to grow old in a way that's and you choose.

[29:28]

This is your gift. This gift of listening to yourself and taking a way to listen, just to listen to others in a way with openness, kind of be open. And there's kind of a tension between being, this part is the being, and doing. So I think in our zazen, in our meditation, we're cultivating a being. And... I've got to find this because I really liked it. Dogen reported... Do I just get to remember this and report it to you the way I remember? Yes, I do. So... there's a fascicle called the Bodhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance.

[30:36]

And in that fascicle, the first method of guidance is giving. And he reports that the Buddha said, when a person who is giving, has been giving, who practiced giving, enters a space, people take notice. A mind of giving subtly communicates with other beings. It's a subtle resonance. So I can say, a mind of kindness. When a person enters a room, people can take notice. When a person of stillness enters a space, of non-judging mind. People take notice.

[31:39]

There's a way of resonating with what's around you. So today I'm encouraging this practice of being, of listening, of making what's invisible in you, that's what's most important to you, to bring that out. So if somebody looks at you and they go, oh, nice to see you. Right? I'm just, and now I'm about to share a little vision that's coming up in my mind. One of our students went to the Pride Parade. I think it was last weekend or two weekends ago. And that student, if some of you have seen it, was wearing the big Buddha head. Have some of you seen that big papier-mâché Buddha head?

[32:44]

He said it's heavy and it's hot in there. And there's just these little slits that you can see, because you need to have people walk along with you, because otherwise it's not so clear where you're going. And what he noticed, so I'm tying this to your being connected with your intention as well, what he noticed is because he couldn't see very well the big crowd, he was looking at each face, and each face just looked so amazing. It was like they were little Buddha faces, they were like these little jewels out there, because all they could see was like, you know, that's where his attention was going. He was wearing the Buddha head. That might be one of you. He's wearing the Buddha head. And when he looked through those eyes, the Buddha eyes, what he saw was just like these beautiful faces. Now how would that be to respond?

[33:46]

And we know that people who are fearful or angry and scared, they act in ways that are like, if I could use my hands that are like this, right? Somewhere in them it's like this. And maybe even you, like when I get tense, like, right? But what would it be to practice open hands? Just walk around with open hands. teacher said that when we change things on this conscious level, what we can do, it changes the unconscious. It changes the seeds so that we have a chance. We have a chance. We have a chance. We have a chance to remember. I'm going to see if this works. You can tell me later if you come back for the conversation.

[34:48]

We have a chance to look at this muffin... We have a chance to look at this muffin and know that there were some volunteers that got up early to come here this morning and make them. That somebody made these little paper cups that they're sitting in. That somebody gathered the carrots. We got the pineapple. We thanked the Tenzo for ordering all these things. Somebody brought us sugar and flour. And in this moment, when we look at this, it's like an appreciation of the whole universe. So we have a chance, yeah, to listen in a way that's open, to remember that moment after moment, I want to be in wise person training, that I would like my life to be a gift, that I hand the baton on, I act in a way that I'm handing the baton on, that I can listen more carefully, that I can remember that we're in it for the long haul, there are challenging things happening,

[36:18]

One of our great senators, John Lewis, who was there for part of the civil rights movement said, we're in it for the long haul. We've gone through hard times and we can come through it. You're going to go through your own difficult times. Remember what's important and keep moving forward. And always choose love. would invite whoever would like to come back and keep the conversation going. We call it question and answer. There's not answers. There's conversation going after your tea and muffins. I would be really happy to see you. Okay, wise persons. Thank you.

[37:24]

Before we hear the clunk, I'm going to stop talking for a minute and circle around and ask if you can remember what that place in you was that you might like to cultivate, stabilize, and realize. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[38:14]

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