Good morning. It's a very crisp, clear, late fall morning. We're about a week from the winter solstice. And we're also, it's hard to, it's hard to take this in, but we're now about a week past Rohatsu Sashin. which seemed like it went on forever. It's actually quite wonderful to be immersed in it, and I think quite a number of you were, and I don't know, I'm very glad that we could have done this together. So this is the last Saturday of our formal program for the decade. I believe this is like, we're coming up on 2020. And I was thinking this morning that 1984 is now 36 years behind us.

[01:11]

Although actually, the reality of it is precisely what we are living now. In any rate, this is the last Saturday of our formal program. Just to say, we will have informal Zazen. on weekdays and probably next Saturday too. And you can sign up on the bulletin board to open up the Zendo to make it available for people just sitting on those days. And also on the next formal sitting indication is on New Year's Eve. And that's always a wonderful event here. There are people who come, I think maybe it's listed in some calendar of events in various newspapers and online, so people come who we don't know and they come and they sit with us and we do Zazen, we have tea and then we have a celebration where we

[02:25]

We write out the hindrances that we'd like to release in the coming year, and we place them in a small ersatz bonfire that we have, and we also consume the name cards of all the people who have died the year before. And they do that after midnight, and then we go and have a relatively low-key party with the only really disturbing substance in that party is sugar. So please come and join us for that. It's really a wonderful occasion and we will welcome you and take care of you. So today we just did the the Bodhisattva ceremony which is repentance and renewal of the Bodhisattva precepts.

[03:36]

And I've been thinking about that and I want to try something a little different this morning with that as a context. So I've been thinking about the the notion of the precepts as our North Star, and this is something that Buddhist teachers have spoken of a lot. So the North Star has a lot of history and cosmological history, social history about the North Star and, you know, astronomy, astrology, cosmology and so forth. And the North Star is also, it's Polaris, it's the Pole Star, and what it's known for is it generally or

[04:42]

holds a position that's very close to, it holds still in the sky in the northern hemisphere. And I saw online as I was researching this yesterday, it's like time-lapse photography What it shows is, if you focus on the North Star, it's in the center, and all of the other stars, their trail as the Earth is going around, is circles around the North Star. I didn't quite realize that. It's really beautiful. So the entire northern sky moves around this point. because it's located nearly exactly at the celestial north pole. So it marks the way due north.

[05:46]

You may remember the hymn, Follow the Drinking Gourd? from that goes back to well it's not clear what it goes back to but it was sung a lot in the civil rights movement it's a question of where what its provenance was but purportedly it was advice to people who were on the slaves who were escaping from the underground on the underground railway who were, they needed to head north. And so they would follow, if the drinking gourd was the Big Dipper, and the two top stars of the Dipper, if you follow their alignment, it points to the North Star. So that's kind of the message of that song, that that's the, That's the guidance, you don't need necessarily a compass, you just need to know where your North Star is to head in that direction.

[06:52]

And also, as you face Polaris, and you stretch your arms sideways, your right hand is going to be pointing due East, and your left hand is going to be pointing due West. And this is true on land or on the sea in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also interesting that Polaris that we look at, we see it as a star. It's like 430 light years away, but it's actually a triple star system. It's, it's three stars. So it's like the three bodies of Buddha, or the Trinity, or in three refuges, three in one. And that's the, that's what we're seeing.

[07:56]

So this cosmology was really important through every culture. and you find it in pre-Buddhist time in India, but then in Indian tantric Buddhism and also in Chinese Buddhism and in what evolved into the Shingon and the Tendai school in Japan, they had a deity, Myoken Bosatsu, who was the Bodhisattva, basically, who represented and resided in Polaris, in the North Star. And Myoken was a protector, protected all of us, and was seen, often depicted,

[09:00]

with a sword, a sword of wisdom, standing on a turtle, so it could kind of get around, but not so fast, but very steadily. At any rate, I'm just being atmospheric here. The real question is, how do we use the North Star? And our teachers, particularly Thich Nhat Hanh has developed this notion that the precepts as a whole are like the North Star. They're guiding, they guide and orient our life. And as Thich Nhat Hanh says, and as Suzuki Roshi says, The precepts are not commandments. They're just guides by which we adjust our minds.

[10:09]

And the North Star is something that gives us direction. It's not a destination. That's a very, that's an important point, that it's not a destination. You know, you're never going to arrive at the North Star. You're never going to arrive in our human bodies at some perfection of the precepts where you never stray from them. But in fact, just like our practice, just like the way we sit with our bodies in Zazen, When our minds wander off or when our bodies wander off, if we can find the North Star, we can return to the direction that we intend to be moving in.

[11:11]

So, it's just a point of orientation. And yet it's very important and it's reliable because whether we're on land in some kind of uncharted wilderness or on the sea, we can always find the North Star and we can redirect ourselves in relationship to that. Where priest, where Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of, he speaks of the precepts as a whole and as a North Star, as a North Star. And something that we've been doing in the Upaia chaplaincy training program where I've been working for the last seven years is holding even a little more tightly

[12:26]

and look at what one might consider one's North Star precept, one's own. The precept that drawing from all of the Bodhisattva precepts which you've just recited and renewed, What is the essence of that in terms of your practice, in terms of how you live or how you want to live? And what's the essence of that as guidance that you can return to when, as is inevitable, we stray away? we lose it. We lose our temper, we lose our composure, we lose our patience.

[13:30]

We speak or act unskillfully. In that, on that occasion, it's really helpful to have something, a principle to return to, and it's also really helpful for me, I find, and this is what we've been doing in our chaplaincy training, to actually have it in words for oneself. To be able to express it to yourself so that you can hear yourself saying it and redirect yourself. So I can give you a couple of examples. For instance, one of the, for me, a North Star precept that has come up and it came up out of dialogue with Lori and out of the sometimes challenging reality of community life.

[14:45]

where there are people, whether they're inside the BCC community or whatever community you're in, there are people who are in need, and they come to your door, or they come to you in the street, or whatever, and their needs seem really vast, and it's it's easy to feel overwhelmed by that and it's easy to to actually feel the ways in which that person may be overwhelmed and we are we're responsive we're sensitive to that we we get that so then The principle that I've been working with, and I think Lori and I both have been in our own way, we don't talk about it very much anymore, because I think it's somewhat implicit, but it boils down to four words.

[16:00]

I will not abandon you. When someone comes in vast need, I may not have the wherewithal to meet what that person feels they need, but I won't turn away from them. And, you know, I make it known I may not be able to meet every need. I'm listening to you, I'm here, and, you know, you can knock on our door or call us at any time. And that's what we can offer. Same thing, I think, is true in the context of Rosendo. The Zen Dojo is not going to be able to supply everyone who walks in here with food and clothing and housing.

[17:05]

But we will not turn anyone away from the practice. And that's fundamentally what we have to offer. So we will not, I will not abandon you. I've heard Sogen say, and I'm not saying that this is your doorstop precept, but I've taken as a core teaching the message not to treat anyone or anything like an object. So, in other words, to treat whatever one encounters, whether it's a person or whether it's this cup, to treat it as part of myself. So, to treat it subjectively. That's an example.

[18:07]

I'm sure there are many examples, and what I would like to do in a little time now is take a few moments, I'd like for each of us to take a few moments and consider what might be your North Star precept, think about it, put it in words, We'll take a couple of minutes to do that, and then I'd like you to turn to somebody who's near or next to you, and we'll take like a few minutes for you to, for each person to share with the other person, and then we'll switch. And then if you're so inclined, maybe we can hear some of them. Find your stable posture and your breath.

[19:14]

And let's just take a couple of minutes in silence, yes. I don't want to do that actually. I just want you to find what is essential, what's central to you as a human being to live. Exactly. Yes. Personalize it for you. Does that make sense? Okay, so let's have a couple minutes of silence and I'll bring you out of that. I think I'm going to play this method for a minute.

[21:20]

Okay, so find someone close to you and turn towards them and let's take about two minutes, take about two minutes a piece to share. You decide which one goes first and share what your North Star Precept is, and if the person, so just hang on a second, if the person listening needs clarification after the first person has said it and maybe explicated a little, it's fine to ask a question or two, but let's limit the time and then I'll give you a cue and we'll switch. Okay, begin. Thank you very much. Okay.

[23:25]

Okay. Please switch presenters.

[25:25]

Okay. When you finish up, just turn back towards the front if you would. Or if you shouldn't, just... feeling the energy in the room and seeing it on many of your faces. So, does anyone have, do people have something that they would like to share? Without a lot of explication, but you can say, you know, if you want to say something about where it comes from, fine, but let's be concise, Kelsey. verbalizing mine into a concise statement. But I think mine is I vow to have confidence in my actions and stand up for myself.

[28:36]

What I would say about verbalizing, to me, verbalizing is useful because in the situation where there's say, a conflictual or a contentional energy, you need to be able to give yourself a clear message. And so, from my experience, that works for me. It's like when I get in a tangle, is there something clear that I can say to myself that reorients me? Yeah. Yeah. I'm not saying you didn't do it. I'm just I'm just saying why it's I'm encouraging people to find it in words, not just in a feeling. Yeah. Well, we all are works in progress. Jake. I will not turn away. Yeah. Thank you. is medicine, and mine is to expound the dharma with this body as foremost.

[30:03]

Yes. Food, yeah. So Ben says food is medicine, and Kipra says to expound the dharma with this body as foremost, right? Yeah, food is medicine. I was thinking, that's another drama talk that I want to give about Monica Osmonda, who was saying, what's the most important thing? The most important thing is eating. But that's another talk. OK. Yeah, you go. Something I've been working with for about 30 years. I am free. I am clear. I am healthy. I am here. I can do it in my walking, in my cycling, in anything rhythmic. When I'm doing Kin-Hin, if you listen to my brain, it would be going, I am free, I am clear, I am healthy, I am here. Good. That's very, uh, euphoric. I am strong, I am courageous, I am loved, I am whole. Came in about ten years ago.

[31:05]

Uh-huh. Good. Thank you. Take care of each moment with love and gratitude. Take care of each moment with love and gratitude. Good. Karen. In the context of an aging body, finding joy. In the context of an aging body, finding joy in every moment. So that's another part of it, to slow down enough to see that joy. It's all of us. Yeah. Thank you. I try my best to bring a small piece of magic to every interaction that I have.

[32:09]

You want to try your best to bring a small piece of magic to every action? Interaction. Every interaction. Okay. So you believe in magic. Of course. Good. Others? Yeah. Tiffany. I'm going to repeat them. say to myself, I am kind. And if when I'm not, if I can get in touch with the kindness I have for myself, then kindness flows through me. So you're saying the message to yourself is that I am kind. And then in situations where that's not immediately obvious to you, you let the kindness flow through you. Yeah, that's good. Well, this is good. Well, yes. I thought of it as, what do you do when the sky falls down?

[33:20]

Well, you fall down too. So when the sky falls down, you fall down too? That's like, that's like Vimalakirti, no, Vimalapalm and his daughter, when he falls down, she throws herself on the ground and he says, what are you doing? And she says, I'm helping. That's one of my favorite Zen stories. Yeah. Actually, there's another story like that that I heard about. Some, a few people at CCLA knocked, or turned the mirror, they knocked their chopsticks, their chopsticks fell off the tan. And after what happened three or four times, Maizumi Roshi flicked his chopsticks onto the floor. See, he's helping. Yes, Liz?

[34:22]

Maybe you can tell me where this quote is from. I do not seek after life and only cease to cherish your opinions. That's what Sojin is lecturing on. You should have been there. Why weren't you at Sushin? He lectured on that for three days. It's from the Shinshin-min by the Folian sister? Yeah, third ancestor of Zen. Yeah, great. Anybody else, Lori? As soon as you started, I could see where this was going. Two words popped into my mind and they did not make room for any other. Straightforward and steadfast. Straightforward and steadfast. That's good.

[35:24]

I think some people would describe you that way. I would. Maybe one or two more. Embrace what I hate. Embrace what I hate. I hate saying that. So can I ask a question about that? Go ahead and try. I mean, this is a dharma inquiry, so I don't, you know, maybe it's not appropriate, but I wonder if we need to embrace what we hate. Think of what I mean by embrace. I could have said embrace what I resist, and then that would have sounded like good Berkeley psychology, but I decided to say it stronger, embrace what I hate.

[36:34]

And I mean extend my arms wider. Thank you for that clarification. Yeah, thank you. I will not run away from this. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's, yeah, that was sort of mine and Jake's, I think. But it's true. I'm doing this too. Yeah, it's, it's hard, because these are, I mean, it's, we have to redirect ourselves when kind of all of the urgencies and patterning within makes one want to, makes one to want to run away.

[37:48]

And that's not even to deny the wish to run away, but to be able to stand, whoops, To be able to make time stand still. Just to stand your ground and find comfort there. It's hard. That's really a strong practice. It's quite wonderful. I think it's a wonderful way to interact this last weekend of the year, of the decade. I'm not sure that anything else needs to be said about this. So thank you very much. I'm planning to enjoy the interim, even though the truth is, when we have interim,

[38:52]

I feel a little lost, so I may try to come to the Zendo, which is where I feel more or less found. Thank you.

[39:04]

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