Good evening, everybody. Thanks for being here. I'm very happy to see you all. Thank you so much. First off, I'd like to thank my teacher, Norman Fisher, who has had great patience and provided great support over many years in many ways. We tangle a lot sometimes. And it's a good, honest relationship, and it's been very fruitful. I also want to thank Greg Fain, who has provided a great deal of support over many years here at Tazahara as Tonto. So I appreciate that a lot. Greg, I hope you're having a good time in San Francisco with Linda. This is great because there are many of you who I know and others who I've been getting to know, and it's very heartening. I was thinking about the song from Oliver about consider yourself part of the family. and how we welcome each other, which is really, really good.

[01:03]

Question, who is here now? I know this came up early last week. Who is here for the first time for this work period or for the summer? Okay, several of you. Good, excellent. Well, welcome. As many of you know also, Tazahara became part of San Francisco Zen Center in 1967, 50 years ago. the same year I graduated high school. And it became the first traditional Soto Zen Buddhist monastery in this country. So we're all part of something wonderful that's been going for five decades and providing great opportunities for many good people. And you're part of it. Everybody here is part of the celebration of 50 years of Tazahara as we are here today to help continue. As we undertake our tasks, some of you are tackling projects and offering your skills.

[02:05]

Others are acquiring new skills that make a difference during this transition from the monastic practice to the summer guest season. Some of you are starting to train in jobs alongside your more experienced colleagues with this experience in the summer, becoming part of a functioning crew, learning to navigate under the influence of our Buddhist monastery. in the somewhat altered state of a summer guest season. Coming together in this way, we're creating and accommodating to being in a community. We're an intentional community as we sit here and eat here and shower here and work alongside each other, which is a wonderful, wonderful opportunity. We're guided in our Zen practice, including Zazen meditation, Buddhist services, silence and functional speech while operating a Hot Springs resort and retreat center, preparing and serving food to our guests in the dining room, busing their tables, providing housekeeping services, making innumerable beds and cleaning innumerable bathrooms, keeping the bathhouse fresh and comfortable, the gardens flourishing,

[03:30]

and the plant functioning. It's a challenging environment even before, as likely this is for those not here before in this week of rather chilly weather, the temperature will top 100 degrees and sometimes stay there for the better part of a week or more. With that said, here are some practical suggestions to support your practice. encourage you to take advantage of the unique opportunities during this retreat season, and help you address what difficulties might arise. One, it really is important to show up, follow the schedule, and support each other. It helps the whole community move forward, and you feel held. Because if you're showing up and supporting others, Others are showing up and supporting you. There are classes and discussion groups that take place over the summer.

[04:31]

You've already heard about the Dogen Reading Group and the Avatamsaka Sutra Reading Group. Others will sprout up in time. There are other particular programs that occur as well. If these are something you've known or something maybe you haven't known, check them out. Try them. It's an opportunity to learn side by side with your other friends here. When you need help, instruction or guidance, please ask an appropriate person. Take advantage of having a discussion with a practice leader. Resident practice leaders here are Greg, Leslie, and Carolyn, and other visiting teachers who come during the summer will be able to offer dokusan, or practice discussions as well for resident students. Consider taking advantage of some of these to have an opportunity to talk about your practice and talk about things that have come up with somebody who you may never have met before or someone you may have heard about, as well as somebody who may be sometimes a teacher for you over this time.

[05:42]

When retreat instructors offer a talk, and there are typically talks on Wednesday nights and Saturday nights, you may have had a long day, as much as possible, try to show up and listen to them because they may be an opportunity to learn something new or to hear something that's inspiring. Take care of your body. This is, as you're already gathering, very physical work we're doing. Take care of your body. There will be sometimes visiting people who come to offer to the resident students Feldenkrais body work, other body therapeutics, and you'll have an opportunity to sign up for them. Take advantage of that. It can make a big difference. Drink water. Even in these chilly days, this is a very dry environment. So remind each other to drink water. It also can make a positive difference. It's dry down here. Okay.

[06:47]

Here are some other words of wisdom from other sources. Eihei Dogen Zenji is the founder of our Zen lineage. He brought Zen from China, where it was Chan, to Japan, and that tradition came forward to us here now. A preeminent fascicle by Dogen, and a favorite of mine, is the Tenzo Kyogun, which is translated as instructions for the Zen cook. The Tenzo is the head cook of the kitchen. Now there'll be references to what I have to say to Tenzo, but think about it in your own environment, in the responsibilities and crew work that you do. In a translation by Uchiyama Roshi, he comments on Dogen's statement that in performing your duties, kitchen practice or other practice is guided by...

[07:53]

Joyful mind, kind mind, and big mind. If you walk by the kitchen altar, you'll see at the top of the altar joyful mind, parental or grandparental mind, and big mind. Joyful mind is one of gratefulness and buoyancy. It's the mind that rejoices. Uciana states that to achieve a joyful mind, is first to become clearly aware of the significance of the function of your work and then to pour all your life energy into the work itself. Functioning as a Tenzo or as a plant manager or as a crew leader or as a cabin cleaner is just hard and at times painful work. Throwing all your passion for life into that work

[08:53]

That is what it means to have a joyful mind. Kind or parental mind is functioning with the attitude of a parent. And we've been privileged to be present with parents and children and the opportunity for many of us to offer that parental mind to the young people who've been here. Seeing all the people and events we encounter in our lives as our children extending to looking after water and grain or shop and gardening tools, cleaning and bathhouse supplies with compassionate care. Big mind or great mind is the attitude of magnanimity, a mind like a great mountain or ocean, without partiality or exclusivity, being willing to accept and face whatever comes up, Uchiyama also reflects that it seems to me that to really understand Dogen Zenji's remarks on joyful mind, we have to begin by asking ourselves in just what direction our lives are heading.

[10:07]

What are we trying to do with our lives? And what should we really be doing? So we can take that on ourselves. What inspired us to spend this time at Tazahara? What is your intention in being here? What does it mean to sign on for weeks or months of work and practice in this canyon? Creating community. Living together in close company. No email. No internet. No Facebook. No tweeting. An idiosyncratic phone booth. vegetarian food without toast or ice cream, following the schedule, working and sitting together in silence, and chanting together even when we don't understand the words. Also in instructions to the Zen cook, Dogen relates conversations with the Tenzo of Aiwang while traveling in China.

[11:12]

In an exchange he had at Mount Tiangtong, Dogen asked, what is practice? And the Tenzo replies, there is nothing in the world that is hidden. Everything is practice. It's good to remember that whatever we're doing, everything is practice. It is not only sitting down, it's also getting up. An excerpt from the Koan called Everyday Mind from the Mominkan, now you've heard about three different cases collections this week the blue cliff record the book of serenity the momen khan and there's actually a fourth now you know it's called the hidden lamp and it's a hundred it's a hundred stories and koans about women in the zen lineage so in the momen khan i was um so relative to that i

[12:15]

I've practiced at Green Gulch and here at Tazahara, and I was ordained by Norman Fisher, who established the Everyday Zen Foundation after he stepped down as abbot from Zen Center. And that foundation is named for this koan. The players in this case are Zhao Zhu and his teacher Nan Quan. An everyday mind is the way comes from the following dialogue between them. Zhao Zhu asked Nan Quan, What is the way? And Nanchuan replied, Everyday mind is the way. Zhaozhu said, How should I direct myself toward it? Nanchuan replied, If you direct yourself toward it, you will be going in the wrong direction. Zhaozhu said, But if I don't direct myself toward it, how can I know it? And Nanchuan replied, The way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing. Knowing is an exaggeration.

[13:16]

Not knowing is stupidity. When you enter the way, you see it as vast and boundless as space. What does that have to do with yes and no thinking? Xiaozhu suddenly realized Nanxuan's meaning for himself. The meaning I find in this story is that... And as Shuso at Everyday Zen, I gave the theme of that practice period to just this, practice and living my life in the world. How do you experience practice every day? Let's touch base with our founder, Suzuki Roshi, and his talk on beginner's mind, which he delivered initially, as I understand it, in November 1965. If your mind is empty, It is always ready for anything. It is open to everything. In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities.

[14:19]

But in the expert's mind, there are few. In the beginner's mind, there is no thought of I have attained something. All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, We are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless. Leslie mentioned a couple of parts of some phrases that I've heard that have an additional two words, which is everything changes, Everything is connected. Pay attention. Keep that in mind. Keep a joyful, kind, and open mind as you practice.

[15:27]

Now, for those who've heard my talks here before, you know what's coming. If you would turn to somebody who's sitting near you, You're going to have a little bit of a conversation. So you guys get to move a little bit and get near somebody so you can have a little conversation with at least one other if you choose two other people. So do that for a moment. Just kind of turn in your spaces and identify somebody. And I'm going to tell you what to do. I'm going to give you four possibilities and you can invent something else of your own if you like. And I will give you about three or four minutes each. So when I first ring the bell, just take a breath. And I will give you this information. When I ring it again, one of you start and talk and give that person undivided attention. You are offering the gift of attention to this person to be heard.

[16:35]

The gift to be heard. When I ring the bell again, stop for a moment. I'll ring it and then the other person gets to talk without interruption. Okay? All right. Just sit a moment, take a breath. So here's possible things to discuss. What is your intention on spending this time at Tazahara? Or you might consider, what does everything is practice mean to you? Or... How do you practice with beginner's mind? And another possibility is, what else would you like to share about being here now? So one of you go first. Thank you.

[17:38]

So the first person, finish up whatever phrases or sentence you're in, your thought. Take a breath, and then the next person will have an opportunity to offer their thoughts with the gift of attention to their speaking. Okay. few groups have three people so we'll have a few more minutes and if you're in a two person group you can share whatever other follow up you like and then we'll come back together as a whole so

[18:53]

have some thoughts or reflections you'd like to share that came out of that discussion? We were just discussing how this is our first time here and the week has felt like months. so new, we've never experienced pain like this before. We don't really have a choice. You will always have to be there tonight. But day by day, every new thing, even with a new question that's answered, not even verbally by speech. you still have to take a step back and remember that inner flight because, I mean, it's just a little iceberg.

[20:04]

So, it's nice to be in a community. I think everybody can take a stop. Thank you, Anna. Yeah. Boundless, accepting, open mind. Because you don't know exactly what's going to happen. Sometimes you think you do because you think you've done it before, but... Something will switch. Something will be different. So you want to be open and be able to kind of roll with that. Any other thought you'd like to share? Yes. Hi. Thank you. Thank you, Ninryu. Yeah. It's a practice we do a lot in everyday Zen and Norman does often in his workshops and retreats and seminars. And it opens that up because, you know, if we all maintain an approach to an intention for a beginner's mind as a group, we all have something to offer.

[21:11]

And we might find little sparks that come up and that, you know, kind of ping in the brain and then something more will grow from that. But you don't know. Unexpected. I mean... Playing with the babies, you get ideas there that you might not have thought about or experienced for a long time either. And if we just consider the joyful mind and the big mind and the parental mind of being compassionate and open and maintaining that joy, there's support and strength in that. And it's going to be very refreshing and very refueling. There's a song just came to mind when Hannah was... mentioning something, by John McCutcheon, which is, the words are, step by step, the longest march can be won. Step by step, doing things one at a time. Drops of water turn in our, no, stone by stone. The idea is that everybody brings a piece together, and together it's a whole.

[22:13]

Step by step, one can be won. Lots of pebbles form an arch, singly none, singly none. One stone doesn't form an arch. And keeping that open and being collective and bringing our whole self to it makes all the big difference. And remember, ask for help, ask for advice, ask for guidance from an appropriate person when that's needed. You don't have to kind of flounder around either. Anything else? Yes, Hiram. Thank you. You're welcome. I got paired up with Lillian. Someone I've kind of noticed since I got here. Just a joyful mind. She just is really enjoying the work period. And I found out tonight that she's been coming here for 21 years. And I'm coming from a place that a lot of like...

[23:16]

struggle and I've rarely been very happy that I made this decision and feel like it's the right thing to do but I've always had a very serious mind and struggled to kind of find joy in life and my sitting practice has started to kind of It started to kind of come out. And there was a day I was coming out of the cabin after doing it deeply. I was just walking out and taking all my stuff out. And Lillian and Susan were sitting on the porch writing. And these birds swooped down. I've noticed so many birds like in yellow and red. And Lillian was gleeful and just said, it's magical, it's magical. I really have a sense of, you know, this is just a really special place.

[24:20]

It is. And it's hard and it's demanding, but it's just, there is real joy in practice. Mm-hmm. Oh, good. Yeah, and what will happen by the end of April when work period ends and the guest season opens is what I refer to as parallel universes. There will be two parallel universes existing together in this one small, narrow canyon because the schedules are different for students and guests. The activity programming is different, and yet we all manage to maintain it together and support one another in many dimensions. So, yeah. Yeah. That's good. Have a good time. Any last one? We're almost out of time. Anything else? Was that a... What? Oh my gosh.

[25:23]

That's interesting. I can understand that. That's cool. Greg, did you have something? I was pointing. Oh, you were pointing. Was anybody not pointing and wanting to be heard? Yes, Jonathan. I thought it might be appropriate that I spoke with Angela, and she's been here many years. I've known her for many years. Yet, see, I don't have much problem with joyful mind. Sometimes it turns into silly mind that I have to call myself inner. And you have many witnesses. Yeah. Yeah. bit about sometimes the strictness of some parts of the practice. Absolutely. And it gets a little bit more tricky and difficult for some people because we want to be really felt good. Right. We need to be a little bit more that way and stand down a little less that way. Well, I'm sorry.

[26:35]

Well, I think that if you consider those as traditional forms, The phrase that's often been used is container, and it helps guide us into being one body as we move through at least the ritual parts, and then even as we move from crew to work meeting to meals. So there's a factor. I could only say that I'd hope that it would feel less rigid than it did containing and encouraging and giving us form so that out of that form you can bring forth... the individual efforts that you make. There's a comment that's made during practice period, which is full of forms and can be feeling rigid with the schedule, as it is very challenging, but that you get to know who somebody is. Everybody's in black sitting robes. Who somebody is from the back in the dark, because everything else just kind of drops away, and you get to know each other. The intimacy of that is very special, and it should...

[27:36]

you know, shifts your priorities. You can let go of a lot of things that you thought might have been really important and let drop it to sit and support each other and to move through the day and retain your energy and take care of each other. So that's what I can offer right now. So what we'll do is we'll do the closing chant for the lecture and then we're going to do the refuges. So I'll get up. If you're in the chairs or someplace where it's not going to be easy to do a full bow, please just do a standing bow, and then we'll close with the refuges together. Okay? Thank you very much.

[28:15]

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