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. Thank you so much. I am so fortunate to have this beautiful person as my Dharma sister sitting side by side. This is very simple. I hadn't thought of this until this morning, which is that today is March 24th, which was my dad's birthday. He was born in 1917, and he would be 102 years old. now if he hadn't died about 40 years ago.

[01:03]

He taught me how to use shop tools so I could build tree houses and furniture. He taught me how to use a jackknife to play knife games like mumble-de-peg. And he taught me how to shoot a .22 rifle when I was about 10 years old. We shot at clay pigeons and things like that. We would skate and ski together and have loud arguments. I dedicate this talk to him. Norman, thank you so much for everything. It's more than anybody could hope for. Thank you everyone here for showing up and supporting this practice period. It's certainly been cold, dark, and rainy, as well as full of love, pain, and growth.

[02:10]

I want to take a moment just to thank some people. The sewing teachers at Berkeley Zen Center, Jean and Hannah. Peter for providing the fabric that I have here. and J for the Zagoo, which got its color square replaced by Susan in Vancouver. The two beautiful Rakasus I have from Allison and Chris. And all the friends and family who put stitches in these various items. And, Elliot, thank you so much. The first Shiho talks I heard were by Alan Sinaki and May Lee Scott at the Berkeley Zen Center.

[03:15]

I don't know how many years ago, maybe Sue would know, but it was a long time. And I hadn't a clue what they were talking about, but I listened. and it was revelatory, and I hadn't thought about that again until just this week. There's been interest and questions and expressions of support for the transmission process these months here, especially the last few weeks when we were walking around like what I referred to as a bevy of quails to the altars in the cold, dark, and sometimes rainy early mornings while you were sitting zazen. while we were quietly chanting. So now we show up in this new brown gear, and I'm still not sure how I got here, only that I've just kept showing up. Wearing these new robes, I feel more visible, more exposed, more vulnerable, more accessible, and I can only hope

[04:25]

more helpful to all beings. Thinking about the process, I'm reminded of Suzuki Roshi's words from a talk in 1965. As to progress, we don't know how much progress we made, actually, but if you practice, someday you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. The progress you make is always little by little. It is like to go through fog. You don't know when you get wet, but if you just walk through fog, you will be wet little by little, even though you don't know. It is not like a shower. When you go out when it is showering, you will feel, oh, that's terrible. It is not so bad. but when you get wet by fog, it is very difficult to dry yourself.

[05:27]

This is how we make progress. So actually, there is not need to worry about your progress. Just to do it is the way. It is maybe like to study language. Just repeating, you will master it. You cannot do it all of a sudden. This is how we practice, little by little. We do not expect to make progress. Just to do it is our way. The point is to do it with sincerity in each moment. There should not be nirvana besides our practice. I've been walking slowly through this practice since I discovered Green Gulch Farm in 1984. We chant before meals that we reflect on the effort that brought us this food. and consider how it comes to us. When I reflect on the effort and steps along the way, I think of the day I first drove into Green Gulch for a San Francisco Women in Design board retreat and picked up a brochure.

[06:36]

Hmm, this looks interesting. I had no idea of the stormy times that had recently blown through Zen Center. Over the next few years, I returned for a couple of Sunday mornings and a sitting with Ed Brown and Patricia Sullivan. And yes, as a young hippie homemaker in the 1960s and 1970s, I'd used both the Tazahara bread book and the Tazahara cooking book. So this had an air of familiarity. In 1988, I spent a weekend at Green Gulch for a workshop on right speech in daily life, led by Yvonne Rand and Bill Sterling, her husband. And this is what I mark as my gateway into Zen practice. About 25 years ago, after suggestions that I might like to meet Norman Fisher, I attended a weekend retreat with him. In 1998, on the morning of my 49th birthday,

[07:43]

which I saw as the gateway to my 50th year, which I wanted to be a year of intention, although I hadn't any idea of what the intention was as yet. I asked him to establish a formal student-teacher relationship. And the following year, I received Jukai from Norman. Almost a decade later, I was ordained on a dark and stormy day in the Marin headlands. from the earliest years of company time in the 1990s, my life and practicing in the world, I'm sorry, from the earliest years of company time retreats, again as Shouseau in 2013 and continuing to this day, my core practice is just this, living my life and practicing in the world, wherever and whatever that world might be. I've lived at Green Gulch Farm and Tazahara, attended Tazahara workshops as Norman's all-purpose Dharma attendant, and years of work periods.

[08:52]

For a long time, my primary practice place was Berkeley City Hall, where the influence of practice made a difference in the way I worked and my interactions with others. Both San Francisco Zen Center and Everyday Zen remain my home bases. and the kitchens at Green Gulch, Tazahara, and the Everyday Zen Sachin Retreat Centers proved to be my domain. During a Jukai ceremony, as we'll have this week, we receive a new name, new clothes, and lineage documents reflecting our new family. We've been chanting those men and women ancestors every morning, And these Buddhas and ancestors are a core component of our transmission process, which is a powerful reflection and responsibility. Now, as I look out at my Dharma family here and reflect on our practice period experiences, I'm deeply moved by how we've gotten wet together.

[10:10]

not so much by those persistent torrential rains we've had, much more by our slowly repeating and learning the language, heart, and body practices of this tradition. These friendships become the Buddhas and ancestors of our lives. It's sometimes said that in the intensity of this communal life, where we rub up against each other during our daily activities, This helps to smooth out the rough spots, and we become more kind and compassionate people. This, in turn, opens our hearts and strengthens our capacity for joy, love, and friendship. Dharma friendship, spiritual friendship, is core in our practice. In a talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi, he says... People new to Buddhism often take the Dharma to be a purely individual path of spiritual development.

[11:12]

They imagine that the only correct way to follow the Dharma is to lock oneself up in one's room, turn off the lights, and devote all one's efforts to practicing meditation. However, if we look at the Buddhist texts, we would see that the Buddha again and again stressed the value of spiritual friendship, as a support for the Buddha's path throughout the entire course of its practice. A familiar example of this is recounted in that on one occasion, Ananda, the Buddha's attendant, came to the Buddha and said, this is half of the holy life, Lord. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie. The Buddha replied, don't say that, Ananda. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life.

[12:22]

When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, and comrades, they can be expected to develop and pursue the noble eightfold path. Bhikkhu Bodhi also makes a distinction between two types of spiritual friendship, which he calls horizontal and vertical types. Horizontal spiritual friendship is the friendship between people who are at roughly the same level on the path, and what unites them is a common dedication to following the Buddhist path. Our practice period community is a realization of this type of Dharma friendship. while Suzuki Roshi walks with us through the fog. With Bikyu Bodhi, we're crossing the desert in a caravan. While others help us carry the supplies, we can pause for conversation, we have a sense of sharing the trials along the way, and we rejoice together as we approach our destination.

[13:28]

The aspect of spiritual friendship Bikyu Bodhi calls vertical friendship is the spiritual friendship between people who are at different levels on the path, the bond between senior and junior followers, especially the bond between a teacher and a student. Many, if not most of us here, are fortunate to have such friendship and bond. And I can speak for those four of us. We're certainly grateful of having such a bond with our teachers. Some other delightful thoughts on spiritual friendship come from Ajahn Amaro, who has now returned to England as abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, which is in the Thai forest tradition. And he says, in community life, spiritual maturity is put to the test. We have to open ourselves up to the points of view and feelings of others.

[14:29]

and yet sustain in inner integrity so that we don't wobble, crumple, or sink. Living amongst like-minded people, as we do here, provides a great mirror to see our own preferences, our own fears, and shortcomings. We are given the chance to stand back and to see what we run away from, what we are being pulled towards, what we seek as a place of comfort and safety, what makes us feel good or bad. That kind of objectivity enables us to stop being impressed by our own thoughts or moods. We are able to witness the movements of the mind, and we are then able to transcend them. Thank you, dear kitchen colleagues. See you later. And in thinking about our shared life at Tazahara, here's another comment from Amaroth, after he just learned the word to schmooze.

[15:34]

He says, I think it is a Yiddish word. It means to hang out with your friends and chat and drink tea, doing nothing very much, just having a good time together. To schmooze is a very admirable and useful activity. And I'm not being facetious here. That's Amarov saying that. It is amazing how often people who are interested in spiritual practice come listen to a talk or do a retreat, and as soon as it is over, everyone goes home. But part of developing our spiritual life is to spend time with each other, to generate... to generate a sense of respect and gratitude for each other's interests and commitment to spiritual values. Through getting to know those who delight in the Buddhist teachings, we create a connection with them, we establish a support system.

[16:37]

It is our ability to strengthen and affirm our qualities of inner beauty, of kindness and generosity, and to encourage those in others. That's what enables human beings to live in a wholesome way. In spiritual friendship, we can actually be with each other. We open ourselves to the other person, ready to notice any grudges that we may have or the opinions and obsessions we have about them, as well as the attractions towards them. Then we can enter more into the place of listening, of forgiving, of letting go of the past, and just being open to the present. And this is the most wonderful and beautiful gift we can give. I'm going to cite just my favorite last parts from the Tenzo Kyokun so Norman knows this is really me giving the talk.

[17:40]

At the end of the Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen talks about joyful mind, kind mind, and big mind. And anybody who has not been through the kitchen, if you stop there and look at the altar, you'll see this placed on the top of the altar. He says, when working in any position of responsibility, not only as Tenzo, but as any officer or assistant, strive to maintain a spirit of joy and magnanimity. along with the caring attitude of a parent. A joyful spirit is one of gratefulness and buoyancy. How fortunate we are to have been born as human beings, given the opportunity to prepare meals and do other work in support of the three treasures. Our attitude should truly be one of joy and gratefulness. To view all things with this attitude is called joyful mind.

[18:47]

Roshin is the mind or attitude of a parent, or we also extend that to grandparent, of which we have many grandparents here. In the same way that a parent cares for an only child, keep the three treasures in your mind. A parent or grandparent, irrespective of poverty or difficult circumstances, truly hopes to love and raise a child with care. In this same manner, when you handle water, rice, shop tools, garden tools, bathing tools, or anything else, you must have the affectionate and caring concern of a parent raising a child. Magnanimous, or big mind, is like a mountain, stable and impartial. It is tolerant and views everything from the broadest perspective. Having a magnanimous mind means being without prejudice and refusing to take sides.

[19:56]

All the great teachers down through the ages have learned the meaning of magnanimity, not merely from writing the character for it, but through the various events and circumstances of their lives. Whether you are the head of a temple a senior monk or other officer, or simply, as most of us are here, an ordinary monk. Do not forget the attitude behind living out your life with joy, having the deep concern of a parent, and carrying out all your activities with magnanimity. Most of us probably won't spend most of our lives in residential practice. such as here at Tazahara or Green Gulch or City Center. We can all reflect with heartfelt gratitude on the efforts that brought us this practice period. This is a precious and privileged opportunity.

[20:59]

It's also important to remember that our practice period extends beyond the cushion, bench, or chair in the zendo. When we are infused by our practice experience, when it's part of our fiber, skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, we begin to understand the meaning of its reaching everywhere. As we go forth in our lives, whether as continuing students and residents of Zen Center or other faith-based temples and communities, or living our lives and practicing in the world, let's keep our hearts open and cultivate and find ways to sustain spiritual friendships as well as joyful, big, and kind minds. Trust that it's possible to bring the spark of practice into other realms in appropriate and tender ways.

[22:06]

and that it does make a difference. Remember, we're walking in the fog, and maybe others who are walking beside us may also slowly get wet too. Thank you all very much. 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.

[22:47]

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