Good morning, everyone. Good morning. So I've been asked in a couple of weeks to be one of the presenters at an evening event at DePaul University about Buddhism and politics, mindful social engagement during an election year. So I wanted to talk a little bit about some of that this morning. And I want to talk about it in terms of our bodhisattva precepts. So we do this sitting meditation, sitting upright facing the wall. facing ourselves. The wall is not to block out anything or anybody, but it's kind of a mirror to see ourselves.

[01:10]

It's kind of a window to see our connectedness to all beings. So settling, doing this practice regularly, settling, having a sense of openness, and there's also as part of that settling. It's wonderful. But then what do we do when we get up and go out into Chicago? So this is, you know, as a non-residential lay practice center, this is particularly our concern. And there's this rhythm of turning within, facing ourselves. being present and upright, and then how do we express that in the world. So the Bodhisattva precepts are guidance in how to express zazen mind or heart in our lives, in our everyday activity. And the precepts we use in our tradition from

[02:18]

Dogen, who founded this tradition in the 13th century Japan, and was brought here by Suzuki Roshi to San Francisco, my teacher's teacher. We have 16 precepts. They start with taking refuge in Buddha and Dharma and Sangha, which is to say, taking refuge in awakening, taking refuge in reality or truth, and taking refuge in community and collaboration. And then there's three pure precepts which include, I vow to embrace and sustain all beings. So this kind of sense of inclusiveness. And then there's 10 precepts that include things like a disciple of Buddha does not kill. Disciple of Buddha does not take what is not given. Disciple of Buddha does not at harbor ill will, does not turn anger into resentment and grudge. Disciple of Buddha does not misuse sexuality. Disciple of Buddha does not lie. or intoxicate the mind or body or self or others.

[03:23]

So these are not like Ten Commandments. They are suggestions or guidances in how to express this deeper zazen heart-mind that we connect with in our Sunna practice in the world. And we recognize them when when we see something we have a problem with, whether it's, you know, getting caught up in anger, or whether it's, one of them is, Disciple of Buddha does not speak of faults of others, or intoxication, not just from alcohol or drugs, but many things can distract us from being present. And all of these precepts have a positive aspect, too. Disciple of Buddha does not kill means that we try to support life. And I would say that in some ways they come down to, all of them come down to just respectfulness and respecting all beings and not causing harm, but helping.

[04:42]

So it's in that context that We're living in a difficult world, and the point of our practice is not to escape from the world. It's maybe sometimes to find some respite in some other space of calm or clarity or kindness. But how do we engage in all of the issues and tensions difficulties and even hate speech that comes up in the context of our quadrennial election year in this country, national election year. One of the things to say right away is that staying engaged, being helpful in our world, mindful social engagement is not just a matter of elections. maybe real change doesn't happen through elected leaders.

[05:53]

With elections now, in some ways, it's not controlled very well, manipulated by masses of money from those who have that. Social engagement comes in many forms. Popular movements, People power maybe is more important than, you know, who's in some particular office. And we've seen that in many ways in terms of the influence in our society of the Occupy movement and now of the Black Lives Matter movement calling attention to injustice. But how do we engage in, whether it's between elections or during elections, and I think it's I would encourage you all to vote in the elections this year. So there's some guidelines to be had from our precepts.

[06:55]

And maybe first and foremost is not to get caught up in hatred. Not to hate anyone. Suzuki Roshi's widow, who lived at San Francisco Zen Center for more than 20 years after he passed away, recently died at the age of 100 almost 102 in Japan, and one of the things she suggested for longevity is to not hate anyone. That doesn't mean we can't disagree with things that are happening and disagree with the activities or policies of people, but we don't have to hate them. This is really important. and kind of subtle. So in addition to the 16 Bodhisattva precepts in our Sutra Zen tradition, I'd like to refer to the Precepts of Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh, a great Vietnamese teacher.

[07:59]

And he says about Well, the hatred has to do with our precept about anger, not to harbor ill will. So, you know, what's the bumper sticker? If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. There's lots of things that can allow us to feel our own anger. The way Thich Nhat Hanh says it is, do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and to transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. as soon as they arise, turn your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the nature of your anger and hatred and the nature of the persons who have caused your anger and hatred. So, you know, this thing about not hating is really important. When we look around and see people who disagree with us in whatever way, or even who are involved in activities that harm us,

[09:05]

Hating them individually is not helpful and it's not really the point. So part of what I want to talk about is speaking truth also. But how do we listen to the people who are caught up in hatred? How do we actually really listen to them? So Laurel gave a good talk last Sunday. that was partly about deep listening. How do we listen deeply to those who are caught up in fear, in anger and hatred? How do we recognize their pain? So there's some suffering or pain behind that kind of thing. We don't have to agree with them, but we can listen, we can hear. And if we listen well enough, maybe they will give us a turn and listen to us. That doesn't always happen.

[10:08]

But getting caught up, turning anger into ill will and hatred isn't helpful. Another way that Thich Nhat Hanh talks about this is not grammatical. So he talks about right view, whatever our truth is, to not see that as the only truth. heart of deep listening is to know that there's more to hear. And we can, to not hold on to our views. We can speak truth to power, we can speak our truth, but then we have to be willing to shift. Thich Nhat Hanh says, do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. through the systems of thoughts are guiding me. It's not absolute truth. Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views.

[11:13]

So being non-attached to your views and being willing to learn more. He even says, do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, tell others to renounce fanaticism and narrowness. So that's really interesting. When we look around, a lot of the difficulty in the world comes from some kind of fundamentalist, you know, holding on to some particular truth, or some particular idea, or some particular practice even, in a way that is, you know, opposed to everybody else. In a way that feels like, you know, the other side is the infidel. So, you know, in some ways,

[12:15]

I'm going to express some of my opinions today, but that's not ultimate truth. It's just trying to look at current issues in terms of precepts, and part of what I'm trying to encourage here is to have some discussion and for people to express other, you know, varying views. But, you know, it seems like the Islamic jihadist fundamentalists who hate the West, have something in common with Christian fundamentalists who say we shouldn't let any Muslims in the country or something like that. How do we not impose our views? I don't care if you're a Buddhist or not. You're welcome to come here. And there are people who practice here who are Christians and Muslims. And it's okay if you want to be a Buddhist. We can talk about that. The point is, how do we practice awareness?

[13:18]

How do we settle and learn our own deep inner dignity and calm? And then how do we express that in each in our own particular way in the world? So again, not being caught up in fanaticism about any particular view. Listening. to others. We don't have to necessarily agree with them, but what's going on? What's the pain involved? And then in the context of elections and discussions about all the problems of the world, how do we find our way to speak truth? So I want to talk about a few particular issues that I think are very important this year, and I'll express them in terms of how I see them from my understanding of Buddhist precepts. I think we need to be able to talk about these things, but how do we talk about them in a way that's not about hating somebody who disagrees with us?

[14:21]

So this thing about speaking truth, one of Thich Nhat Hanh's versions of the precepts which has to do with our not speaking of faults of others and our not lying, but speaking truth. He says, do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things of which you are not sure. So, you know, this is a good reminder to pay attention, really learn. But then, always speak truthfully and constructively, and have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety. So Thich Nhat Hanh developed these out of his experience of being a Buddhist teacher in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. And both sides of that war ended up, you know, wanting to harm him.

[15:25]

He ended up having to leave and come to the West. So, how do we find a respectful way to speak about important issues that do concern us all and affect us all in our everyday activity? Especially when these issues are kind of in front of us in our society. So I want to talk about, a little bit, just a little bit about climate damage, I want to talk about injustice, economic and racial injustice, and I want to talk about peace as ways of, you know, and this is what I hope to do at the Paul event, to open up discussion. But again, it's not about, you know, hating some person who's doing evil, it's about how do we together see what is true and what is helpful?

[16:28]

So, I feel like climate damage is the greatest threat to our world and to humanity and to our planet, and it's happening. We had the hottest year in recorded history last year, and the second hottest year was the year before that. The glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica and up in Central Asia are melting, in South America, and it's really serious. There's mass extinctions happening to many non-human beings. So how do we, you know, it seems to me that long term we have to, long term means maybe Maybe it means in 5 or 10 years, or in 50 years, I don't know, but as human beings we have to shift from having our electric and other energy systems based on fossil fuels, and there are renewables, there is the technology.

[17:42]

And there's also the reality that has been demonstrated now that ExxonMobil, first of all, but actually almost all other fossil fuel companies knew about climate damage back in the 70s. They did good research and they found out what it was and they found out how bad it was going to be. And then instead of letting people know and trying to shift to other systems, they spent I don't know, huge amounts of money, hundreds of millions, I don't know how much money, too many dollars for disinformation. So, you know, I could hate the fossil fuel executives who did this. That's not really helpful. I think it's, you know, people should be held accountable, but that's different from hating them.

[18:50]

But what's really important now is how do we support real change. And it's happening, actually. I don't feel like we're doomed. If we don't act, things are going to get very bad. Things already are getting bad for people all around the world. with and for beings, non-human as well as human. And yet, there's a lot that can be done. And there's a significant movement of people opposing, continuing to depend on fossil fuels and continuing to damage our climate. So there's change that's happening. So, you know, there's a lot more to say about that, but I want to just touch on a few things and then open this up for discussion.

[19:52]

Another huge topic that I think is really important now is, well, I'll just say injustice and inequality. Economic injustice, racial injustice, they're very much linked. I've heard that there are 62 people in the world, individual people in the world today, who own as much as 50% of the rest of the world. That's just, what? The amount of inequality of resources in our planet, amongst humans, is, well, it leads to all kinds of damage to people. what's happened to the water in Flint, Michigan, not so far away. And for a year or more, the people in charge knew that the water was poison, and they're still billing the people for the water.

[20:56]

Anyway, really wild things happening. The level of incarceration and the racism involved in this. Flint is largely African-American community. All the police shootings of unarmed African-American young men, but also women. Now, we could start hating the individual police, but I think when you see this kind of pattern, we know there's some systemic problem. And in all of these issues, in terms of working for equality in terms of the wonderful Black Lives Matter movement that's largely nonviolent and really a testimony to Dr. Martin Luther King and all the people who worked in the civil rights movement a while ago. How do we see the systemic incarceration and

[22:07]

injustice that's happening in our society, and see that we're part of that, because we're all part of this huge karmic legacy of racism and slavery. So these are just realities. How do we each in our own way respond helpfully? How do we not get caught up in hatred, which we can still hold accountable? government officials, city, state, and so forth, who don't work on changing this. But how do we see systems to change this? And that means also, how do we, each of us, see how we've been affected by this prejudice? So again, how do we speak truth about this? How do we respond to it? How do we not get caught up in hatred? It's difficult when we're being attacked

[23:11]

in some ways, it's kind of a biological, you know, it's biology. When somebody infringes on our space too much, we want to, you know, we want to shout, and it's hard. And yet, this practice of being present and upright, and centering and calming and opening up to new possibilities, allows us a space from which to respond. And we each have, there's not one right way to respond. I went to one, and I hope to go to more Black Lives Matter marches, but how do we each in our own situation respond to the racism in our society? It's difficult. So there's so much more to say about that, the inequality and the injustice in our society and the world, of course. And then the last issue I just want to touch on, just to name these things, Just try and say something of how I see them from our perspective of not harming, of helping, of speaking truth, of not harboring ill will, but also being willing to speak.

[24:29]

It has to do with peace and all the difficulties we have in our world. I don't know. I think we've been at war my whole lifetime. Maybe I wasn't aware of it when I was really young in the 50s. But since the Vietnam War, I think there's been constant wars, pretty much. Our country maybe has had little pauses, and now Afghanistan is officially the longest war in our history. And there's no end in sight. And I'm glad to see efforts at diplomacy that have been made. and that actually bear fruit and dialogue, and we can talk with other countries, and we can try and make treaties, and it's difficult, and I respect the people who work at this very much. And on the other side of that is what

[25:31]

President Eisenhower called the military-industrial, actually he's going to call it congressional complex, and the weapons contractors, just like the big banks have so much control over our economy, it seems to me the weapons contractors have a lot of insolence in the media and in the government. So I'm just, so I think peace would be wonderful, you know. Maybe we can give peace a chance as human beings, as John Lewis said. So all of these are huge issues, and politicians say all kinds of different things about them. So I'm not going to tell you who I think you should vote for. It's up to you to participate in that, but also beyond just elections. The elections are an opportunity to look at really important issues. that affect us, they do affect us. And again, our practice of settling and calming and opening, of being willing to listen to others, of being willing to be a little flexible about our own perspectives and views, and hear other information.

[26:54]

to not, again, not to hate anyone. That's a waste of energy. When you feel angry about any of these issues or anything else, how do we use that energy to commit ourselves to actually respond in a helpful way? First of all, to look and see what's helpful. So all of us can do something about all of these issues. But we each have our own way of doing that, and it requires patience. has taken a hard stop to take a breath. How do we use the energy of anger not to find enemies who we hate and blame for everything, but to say, okay, well, what can we do? What can each of us do? What can we do together, combining with other people in popular movements we respect, but also You know, in our everyday activity, all of this applies too. When we have difficulty with someone we work with, or a family member, or a friend, how do we find the space to listen?

[28:01]

To not fall into hatred for that person, or some version of that, you know, will, whatever. But to actually, you know, what's going on? What is their pain? What are they afraid of? And then, to speak truth. as we see it. And sometimes we have to wait in a particular situation for a while before we can find what to say. But, again, I'm bringing this up and we'll be talking about this at DePaul in the context of all of this political auctioneering talk. But how do we, beyond that, to make, to change the trajectory of climate damage isn't going to be fixed by any elections. It's going to take a long, long perspective and effort to shift.

[29:07]

And we can't just end racism. It's so deep in our country's culture. centuries of slavery and segregation. There's many other issues that are up that I could talk about. We look at the wall not to build a wall to keep people out. So all of us are immigrants in one way or another. Anyway, maybe that's enough for me to say. I want to leave a little bit of time for responses for your comments or questions. This is, you know, there's a kind of obstruction also just even talking about this openly and listening. So, comments, questions, responses, anyone, please feel free to write.

[30:15]

It seems as though a lot of the time I can turn from harboring ill will towards some of the things you suggest, and understanding and engagement with a different spirit. But when I am not able to do that, the interesting question for me is, what's driving my holding on to ill will or resentment? And for me that takes a long time to uncover. there was a situation in which there was a leader in an organization I was involved with who was very divisive and polarizing and demonized people like me and others in the public. And I really held on to an enormous amount of anger about that for a long time until I realized that my own holding on was motivated by a deep fear not be liked, and that he would convince other people not to like me.

[31:30]

And that would be somehow horrible. And once I realized that, I was able to not worry so much about what he said, but still be engaged actively. Yeah, what's hard about this practice is not getting your legs into some funny position, but how to Stay with it. How to sustain awareness. How to sustain the possibility of awakening. And it's worked, because we all have patterns of like and dislike, and anger and confusion, and even hatred, and wanting to be liked, and wanting this and not wanting that. So the real work of this practice is, you know, for people who are here for meditation instruction for the first time today, just to do this, you know, at least several times a week at home in your spare time, one or two, just to stop and sit, face the wall, and breathe, and be upright, and just to see what's actually going on on our seat, you know, apart from our stories.

[32:52]

And when we're doing that, then your anger was yours. It wasn't that person's. It was your response, and you saw that eventually. And then we have to forgive ourselves for having the feelings we do, and just see it again and again and again, and breathe into it. And the example you gave, Brian, your anger at what this person was saying and doing, that energy from that anger. It's not that you shouldn't be angry. We have positive and negative responses, but then how do you use that energy to try and speak a deeper truth, to try and connect and hear? Maybe you couldn't do that with him, but with the people who were listening to him. How do you engage? Again, Dr. King said that it's a long road, but the trajectory is towards truth and justice.

[33:58]

So part of our practice gives us that perspective. We talk about Buddhist teachers from going back to the Buddha 2,500 years ago, or Dogen, who I mentioned, in the 1200s, or Suzuki Roshi back in the 60s. We have this practice we're doing that people have kept alive generation after generation for a long time. So we have to see long-term. But also that doesn't mean we should not respond to immediate problems. Gun violence and police shootings, you know? We should respond when we can. So it's not a... Paying attention is important. Listening. Yes? Yes, ma'am. That's fine. so many things to respond to, but I'll just say two things.

[35:06]

One is, I think the precepts are so helpful in doing what I think is the most radical and subversive thing we can do in an effort to change the things that we don't like in our culture, which is just to live our lives daily in a way that follows the precepts not be such consumers and television watchers and those things that sort of the dominant culture pushes us to do that really don't coincide with our deepest values. And then I think you're right that electoral politics has been hijacked by bad money. But I still think for better or for worse, it's what we've got. And one thing we should, I think there should be a Black Votes Matter movement and Latino Votes Matter and Young People's Votes Matter.

[36:13]

We've disenfranchised ourselves and we should not do that because it's the system we have. And so I wish we would So many people just don't participate. The voters are all old white people, apparently, according to all the polls. People over 50 in a certain class, and most other people are alienated and not voting. So anyway, those are my two thoughts. Good. Thank you. Yes, Nicholas. All right. One thing that I noticed. it's there. And really to the extent that I can really hearted kind of way, and then there is the healing tincture of metta, you know, loving kindness that I can offer to myself and to the world in my sitting practice.

[37:53]

Good. Yes, Deborah. Thank you for your talk. I know this has been a big subject. And I think I would add one question to the injustice, looking at injustice. And that would be an internal one. And how do we uncover the ways in which we benefit by light privilege? And I don't mean in a guilt-inducing, beating myself up, but looking at those which are mostly invisible. If I can identify those more within myself, and then I'm willing to give those up. What does it mean to give them up? Give up what privilege? Yes, that's important. Yes, chair. I really appreciate this talk also. I think actually the three issues that you mentioned are very interconnected. and the solutions will be very interconnected.

[38:57]

I've been very involved in the issue of climate change this year. I try to have conversations with people about it and it's like, it's not that they say don't talk about it, it's just, it's hard for any of us to look at it and I think What it arouses in me, as well as in others, is a combination of tremendous amount of fear, guilt, because we use so much of the resources in this country, and helplessness. And so I have to name those feelings, I think, for ourselves and others. But I discovered something just But I think it's very exciting, which is a new field of ecological economics.

[39:57]

It may not be new to other people, but it was brand new to me. And that is the concept of developing an economics model that doesn't depend on growth. Because everything, I mean, you can't listen to the news, you can't hear any of those candidates or anything without hearing growth, growth, growth. And that's impossible. The earth is finite. We need a model of going the other way, decreasing rather than growing. And it's really exciting to me that there's economists out there really working on this. So I thought I would share that. Yeah, I have a few responses. Yes, there's a book, Small is Beautiful, by E.F. Schumacher, a while ago, and Buddhist Economics, and Gary Snyder has written about this too. And yes, how do we have a sustainable economics? Part of the problem is that our current way of measuring economics doesn't factor in the damage that's done to the environment, which affects us, and affects our world.

[41:06]

Anyway, there's a lot to say about that. But yes, we need a sustainable rather than a cancerous growth model of economy. Going back to what Nicholas was saying, part of these precepts is not that we should do them perfectly. We can't. So yeah, to see when we're getting caught up in anger and hatred, to see when we're getting caught up in intoxication, Not to be perfect, but as a reminder to help us be more aware. So it's not that we're suddenly going to hear these and that, and then that's the end. It's a lifelong one. And then just one other thing that you mentioned, Joan, is the helplessness. I think that's really available, and in some ways that's encouraged by some politicians or some systems in our culture. And also fear, be afraid. of whoever, immigrants or Muslims or whatever.

[42:11]

But I don't think helplessness is actually realistic. In terms of all of these issues there are positive things that are happening and we can contribute We have time for a couple more, if anyone has anything else. David? Just a couple of things I was struck by while you were talking, also it dawned on me, that this is kind of like Aikido, Japanese martial art, in the sense that in Aikido, if you try to stop somebody head-on, it's whoever is stronger is going to win. But if you get in and let it flow past you, And what Akito, the characters mean, meeting energy. So it's two energies meeting rather than trying to, one, dominate. And so often we get caught in trying to dominate somebody else and not understanding where the other person's coming from.

[43:19]

And this doesn't lead to a resolution, that the way to, they have a better understanding of where the other person's coming from. And then, once you understand it, you might be able to get some type of resolution. Good, yeah. Which is exactly why hatred is not helpful. So, it's not about... So, the example of African American people being shot by police when they're unarmed. It's not about hating individual police. It's not even about hating the state or city officials who cover that up. But it's looking at the whole system. How do we change the system so that not just policemen, but also officials are more sensitive to, how do we include everyone? Because we're all connected. And that's the other thing that I didn't say at the beginning about Zaza. We start to see how actually

[44:22]

everybody you've ever met and know is part of what's on your seat right now. We are connected. So hatred comes up. We get angry and we feel ill will and hatred, but that's not helpful. So what you said about sidestepping that and allow, just let all the hate speech flow. We don't have to hate people who hate. How do we listen Yeah, thank you. Any last other comments? Yes, yes. Sometimes a lot of information that I get on my social media is a lot of people who dislike a certain person and they post a lot of things about this person without knowing that they actually are strengthening that person. So without knowing, a lot of people who dislike a certain person, they are actually making them more visible.

[45:31]

They're creating this kind of propaganda for them, even if it is negative in the way that they put it. So they repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. So I wrote a little note on mine, because what I do is when I see a candidate that I particularly don't find that I like, I delete that. I don't even read it. But if I see something that I kind of did that says something that I like, then I might watch it. Because it's like you're concentrating on what it is that you really want to see the world to go for, rather than trying to show me things that you don't want. And this is something that we don't realize as a human being, that there is this law that we actually just don't even mention their name because you actually strengthen them without knowing it.

[46:31]

Yeah, that's really good that we emphasize the positive. A step further from the perspective of Buddha's teaching, there's the possibility of Buddha in everyone. So I can be I can feel anger at the, for example, at the fossil fuel company executives who hid the truth about climate damage and instead spread disinformation. But personally, hitting them doesn't help. But how do we see the positive qualities? So in terms of people in your own life or people around you, we might have trouble with someone and see that see all the faults. One of our precepts is not to speak of the faults of others. It doesn't mean we have to agree with them, or not see the truth of what's happening. But how do we also, in addition to seeing the fear and pain behind that, how do we see the positive possibilities in other people?

[47:34]

And then respond to that, as you were saying. So this is all really subtle and really difficult, and we can't fix it all. And yet there are possibilities.

[47:46]

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