Good morning. So I wanted to start by thanking my teacher, Rem, for more than 20 years of great patience and inconceivable guidance, and Linda Ruth, our wonderful new Abbess for her kindness in helping me the last two days through with ceremonies and my Dharma sister Maya for coming down to help the past week. But mostly this morning I wanted to thank all of the residents of Tassajara and congratulate all of you. It's an extraordinary thing to be in a practice period at Tassajara. Soon after I started this extraordinary process of the past three weeks, I realized that no matter how strong I was, I couldn't do it.

[01:09]

So many of you have helped me in very specific ways with the jindos or with the bells during the ancestor vows or in various ways, helping me with various chores or just kind encouragement. But actually the most extraordinary thing is just that you are here doing practice period at Tassajara. So Luminous Al was helping me with some calculations yesterday. It's 10 years exactly since I was Shuso here. And my first practice period here was in 1983. And that was the first practice period that Reb led at Tassajara. Linda Ruth was here and Vicky was here. And Luminous Al and I figured out that since the first practice period in 1967, up till that practice period, is the same amount of time as from that practice period to last practice period.

[02:20]

So many of you were not alive in 1967. I think everybody here was alive in 1983, maybe. Actually, there have been some 17-year-olds who have been students, residents at Tassajara in practice period. Anyway, just that Tassajara is here is quite extraordinary, quite wonderful. And that each of you is in practice period here is quite extraordinary, quite wonderful. I know how difficult it can be to live at Tassajara and do this practice. But no matter how you feel and what seems to be happening, just to be following the schedule, doing this practice together is very wonderful.

[03:26]

So I owe you some words of Dharma this morning. I remember my teacher saying once that anything that a Zen teacher says is just a commentary on Zazen. So I want to talk about Zazen this morning. I also remember him saying that it's impossible to say how wonderful Zazen is. But I have to say that I think Dogen Zenji sometimes comes close. So in the self-fulfillment Samadhi section of Bendowa, Dogen says something like, when one displays Buddha mudra, with body and mind sitting upright in this samadhi of self-fulfillment, even for a little while, the whole world becomes Buddha mudra and all space in the universe completely becomes enlightenment.

[04:41]

All space becomes enlightenment. That's so far out. So awesome. Can you hear it in the sound of the creek? So this is not just a matter of our human psychology. This has nothing to do with our views, our ideas. This changes and transforms and awakens the nature of reality itself. So this self-fulfillment samadhi is not about some view of some cherished, dear notion of our inherently existing self.

[06:16]

This is the self that is totally connected with everything. The self that dependently co-arises with the blue jays and the daffodils and the sound of the creek, with all of space. And yet it's just our own, each of us, our own expression of this body, this mind, the particular causes and conditions from the whole universe that allows each of you to be here in practice period of Tassajara. So this self-fulfillment is just the self accepting or receiving its function, the self expressing your own position, who you are, as a unique expression of the enlightenment of all of space.

[07:58]

So this is something we do together with each other and with the whole world. Each of us has our own special gift and you know this was meant to be true. And if you don't underestimate me, I won't underestimate you. I got in a Bob Dylan quote. So we do this together and we each do this on our own cushion. with the sound of the creek, with all the people who have helped us to be here. So just as all of you have, by being at Tassajara and allowing Tassajara to be Tassajara, have allowed me to come here and do this, whatever this is. Everybody who's, who you've ever known,

[09:19]

Everybody who's ever influenced you, family, friends, people you met at a party 10 years ago and never saw again. Everybody is here with you on your cushion. And the blue jay flying overhead. So when we are willing to express this universe with this Buddha mudra in this upright posture facing all of our views, facing all of our deep embedded ideas of inherent existence of self, allowing that to come up and see it and really be with it and study the self and let it go eventually.

[10:38]

When we do that, all of space becomes enlightened. And we support each other in many ways that we can't possibly track or trace. So Dogen Zenji also says that there is this inconceivable guidance when we are willing to just express this deep self, dependently co-arising with all things, that all things in the universe, each of us together, and the daffodils, and the blue jays even, and the sound of the creek, all offer us inconceivable guidance. When we open up to the dependently co-arising wholeness of self and reality, there is guidance.

[12:05]

There is help. The Dharma, the Buddha, the Sangha is the whole world. We help each other. We help the world and the world helps us. And maybe it's particularly easy to see or feel sometimes at Tassajara, maybe particularly this time of year with all the trees blooming and the flowers and the warmth of the sun. But it's true, even when it's raining and pouring, and cold. And it will be true even when you go out from Tassajara, wherever into the world, and find your seat in the world. in the flow of impermanence, in the difficulties of the world of greed, hate, and delusion, still there is a way to sit upright in this samadhi.

[13:27]

And one of the wonderful things about being in the practice period at Tassajara is that you are steeped in this. So you don't have to do anything. Just follow the schedule. Sit on your cushion. Do your job, whatever it is. Take your position. And the sound of the creek is there. So there's also something about taking a particular place.

[14:37]

There's something wonderful, particularly about Tassajara. So I know some of you have practiced in Asia or visited. When I lived in Japan, I lived between two temples that were a thousand years old. And the feeling of that time of practice was quite extraordinary, just the, you know, all the incense offered for that long, all of the bows, all of the chants. So Tassajara has been here for 67, 33 years. And when students come to Tassajara and are in practice period in 100 years or in 200 years or 500 years, part of the space they enjoy will completely be totally interconnected with your sitting here this morning, with your being here this practice period.

[15:54]

So again I congratulate all of you and thank you all very very much for all of your support and kindness and for making it possible for me to come down and reconnect with Tassajara these last few weeks and go through this amazing process. Thank you.

[16:36]

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