Welcome, everyone. So this is an important day for our ancient dragons and the Sangha. Some of you remember our old temple on Irvine Park Road. We had to give that up for COVID. Anyway, we... have not had, so this is the third day of three-day Sesshin. We've not had a multi-day Sesshin gathering of Mahantars in Zazen since December 2019. And here we are, we're back. So this is also kind of the culmination of our two-month practice commitment period, which actually doesn't end formally until next Friday, but we're doing this three-day session this weekend.

[01:09]

We've been practicing together, working together, supporting each other, and also studying the Vimalakirti Sutra. So The first two days of the session, I talked about themes from that sutra, basically how to practice in the world. So the sutra is about, excuse me, Vimalakirti, a great awakened lay person of Uttar Pradesh, who was totally involved and enmeshed in all kinds of activities in the world, but used those as opportunities to help awaken others, to help believe something. And our practice here in Chicago, joined by folks from all kinds of other places. I see California and Indiana, for example.

[02:13]

Anyway, our practice is to be in the world. We all have our lives in the world. We're not a residential community. So how do we practice in the world? And how do we do the Buddha work, which I talked about yesterday? So the Sutta talks about inconceivable liberative practices, skillful means, how to be helpful in the world, how to be effective in the world. This is a great challenge. Our world is in great need, of course. How do we find a balanced way to help in the world? And a lot of people on our side are doing all kinds of wonderful, helpful work as school teachers, as therapists, as chaplains, as attorneys.

[03:21]

Anyway, we're here in the world. And one of the things that the sutta focuses on, and I keep mentioning, is in Sanskrit, anupadagadamakshati, patience or tolerance with the ungraspability of things, of events, of anything. The unknowability or the birthlessness, it's sometimes translated birth, everything in the world and this implies that the world is alive modern physics quantum entanglement is verifying that everything is alive we don't see the world as dead objects and our Zazen supports that we see how we are a product of and a function of and an expression of everything in our lives all the people we've ever known

[04:26]

All the people who have known us, even if we didn't know them. So, to be patient with this inconceivability of reality itself, of things, of the world, is also to understand that we don't have total control over anything. I mean, there are many skillful people here who have control over various things, but Yeah, we can't control the world. Everything is changing. Everything is alive. This is the world we live in. So how do we do the bodhisattva work, the work of helping to awaken each other and ourselves and all beings, all beings, nobody excluded? How do we speak out against powerful and cruel policies or systems without hating or despising personally any of the people who are involved with that.

[05:38]

So this is a big challenge. Yesterday in our discussion, I think it was Douglas who brought up the Shisho Bosatsu, this running by Eihei Dogen, who was the founder of our tradition in Japan in the 14th century. which is one of the essays in And that's all I want to talk about that, that essay today. Because it's practical counsel on how to be helpful in the world. So when he used the Tom Cleary translation, he calls it the four integrative methods of Bodhisattvas. I'll tell you how she translates it. I think it's the four guiding methods for Bodhisattvas.

[06:40]

But the title of this, Shisho Bo, Bodhisattva Shisho Bo, is literally four dharmas for guidance. So the word dharma is As it seems, at least in East Asia, I'm not sure about Sanskrit, but plow or bow is also a way of doing something. So back at San Francisco Zen Center, we used to talk about so-and-so has the dharma for that. So for example, Jerry has the dharma for how to look the lights in the center. Wade has the dharma for how to do the techno positions, how to recruit people online. And I hear that my address is the Dharma for making corn muffins.

[07:43]

So anyway, so the translation method is a little funny for me. It's the way of doing something. It's knowing how to do something. So even though the world is alive and we don't have total control over it, all of you have areas where you know what to do, that's something. So anyway, that's what that's the title of this essay. And so I'm going to read from it. Again, this is a clear translation. But the four, these four ways, these four ways of expressing violence and integration and helpfulness to what we saw before. First of all, giving. Second is kind speech. Third is beneficial action.

[08:46]

And then in the fourth we talked about yesterday, they were translating as, translating as cooperation. As identity action. And it says cooperation means non-opposition, or in Casa's version, our identity action means non-difference. So I want to talk about that, how we practice cooperation, you know, as opposed to our culture's value of competition and Doing it to others before they do it to us and all that. How do we practice cooperation? How do we see ourselves as others in our situation? But first I'll say a little bit about the first one. And the first one is generosity of giving. Which is also the first of our six or ten transcendent bodhisattva practices.

[09:56]

So a little bit of what Dogen says about generosity. And we, in our MailChimp, talk about the mutuality of giver, receiver, and gift. So giving is not one-sided, like some people have all the gifts and they give it to others. Giving is a mutual expression. There could not be giving without somebody to receive. So, Dogen says, giving means not coveting. Not coveting is not being greedy. In worldly terms, he said that not being greedy means not flattering. Even if one should rule for conscience to provide education and civilization in the correct way, it's just a matter of not being covetous. It says, to offer flowers from a distant mountain to a Buddha, to give away treasures from one's past lives to living beings, in terms of teaching as well as in terms of material things.

[11:03]

In each, our inherent worship involved a giving. So I like this giving flowers from a distant mountain to Buddha, to all beings favoring him. So here in Chicago, we don't have any mountains. We have tall buildings. You know, we can look across this great lake near us and see the waves, and we can offer the waves, and we can offer the birds, and we can offer the fish. That's a kind of giving. That's the spirit of giving. It's not about all being greedy or holding on to, you know. So we've been talking this time about the wonderful boat show around this building the last two days. We give that to each other. The birds give that to us. We give that to the birds. So, Duggan says, the effort must be genuine.

[12:14]

When one leads the way to the way, one attains the way. When attaining the way, the way is necessarily being left to the way. When goods are left to goods, the goods unfailingly become giving. Self gives to self, other gives to other. So, this deep work expression of generosity. It's very different. It's not just giving. It's giving gifts, but it's also giving of oneself. Looking through this book, I found an old line that I'd saved from joining on the Lotus Sutra when I had it. Okay. But it's also about giving. Oh, yeah.

[13:16]

Dogen says, give up holding back your life to hold on fully to your life. So not holding back is a kind of giving. He says, Dogen also says, what is it from? When we begin to transform the mind of living beings, to transform it even as far as attaining awakening, in the beginning it must be done by giving with generosity. For this reason, in the beginning of the transcendent practices, is the transcendent way of giving. One should not calculate the greatness or smallness of the mind, nor the greatness or smallness of the thing, nor the greatness or smallness of gifts. Just to give, just to give has an impact.

[14:21]

He also says, nevertheless, there is a time when the mind transforms things And there is giving in which things transform the mind. So how do we see this mutuality of giver and receiver? So maybe we can come back to that in discussion, this practice of giving. The next one is, the fourth, is kind speech. It says that it means that in looking upon living beings, one should first arouse the mind of kindness and love. and she had utter care in kind words. It was the absence of harsh speech. Conquering of enemies and harmonizing of rulers is based on kind speech, everyone says. She cared kind speech, she wanted space. Latin is the face, the countenance, it pleases the heart.

[15:30]

hearing kind speech indirectly when it's a deep, deep impression on the mind. Kind speech comes from a kind heart, and a kind heart has goodwill, as it seemed. So, you know, kind speech, just to, as he says, just to hear someone say something kind about you, You feel good. Or if we hear that somebody else is saying good things about you to someone else, that also, you know, you feel good. They've done studies, though, having to do with prayer. And, you know, we have a well-being list. It's very, very long. And we chant it once a month. But people who need support. And there have been studies of the kind speech of prayer on behalf of people who are suffering that show that even when people don't know that people are dedicating kindness to them, it's helpful to the person who's spoken it.

[16:53]

I don't understand how the experiment was done, but yes, it's been demonstrated that this happens. So to say something kind about someone, that's an impact. Whether or not they know it's being said. This maybe has to do with speaking earlier in the session about quantum entanglement and how modern science is showing that things happen together At great distances, even. The same time. Anyway. So that's an example. Kind speech about someone. Benefits them. They don't know. So. You know, we. And I've talked about this earlier with Sashim, that even when we are confronted, as we are in our world today, with very harmful systems or policies demonizing certain groups of people, for example, of

[18:13]

We can oppose those policies without personally hating or despising the people who are so misguided as to promote harm and cruelty. So we can oppose cruelty without saying unkind things about the people who are actually creating the cruelty. This is an example of how this unspeakable work works. And of course, this is all complicated and difficult. We could spend a whole practice period on any one of those systems, but I want to get to cooperation, identity action. So, Daubein starts, cooperation means non-opposition. It is not opposing oneself and not opposing others. It's like a human Buddha being the same as a human.

[19:16]

Because of assimilation to the human world, we know a Buddha must assimilate to other worlds. When one knows cooperation, self and others are one suchness. The music, song, and wine accompanies people, accompanies spirits. People keep company with music, song, and wine, and music, song, and wine keep company with music, song, and wine. People keep company with people. Celestial spirits keep company with spirits. There is such a logic. It is the learning of cooperation. Now, and this goes back to the Maha Kirti, going into all the different realms in Vaishali, the city he lived in, hanging out in casinos, hanging out with bags of nourishings, and wherever he goes, he's helping beings awaken.

[20:38]

So this is a real question. Doing this bodhisattva practice, doing this zazen, this upright sitting, we settle deeper into what is, who we are, how we are connected to everything. And naturally, we want to be helpful to ourselves and others. We want to support each other. That's also what Samba is about, community. That each of us here is supporting everybody else here, just by being here. Whether you're in the center or online. We're all deeply, intimately connected. We can't avoid that. And how do we take care of all the voices? is the practice of identity action or cooperation.

[21:45]

So, what Dogen says about this more, task of cooperation is a matter, is a standard, is a dignity, is an attitude. After regarding others as self, there must be a principle of assimilating oneself to others. Self and others are endless with time. So there are many selves and many others. He is just talking about if we see that there is a Buddha for our world, we see him on the altar, we see him when we're sitting upright, and we practice with Buddha and each other, If there's a Buddha in this world, there's a Buddha in many worlds. So I talked also earlier in the session about Buddha fields. When a Buddha awakens, they constellate a Buddha field.

[22:53]

The space around them awakens. Other beings around them awaken. Beings gather together to practice awakening. so there are many hula fields in many areas we can talk about different solar systems but in in our world too there are many beings many cultures how do you see this so joking goes on an ancient philosopher and i think this is wanzo who was from the Second century, basically, anyway, he said, the ocean does not refuse water. Therefore, it has been able to become immense, so immense. Mountains do not refuse earth and rocks. That is why they can be so high. An awakened ruler or leader does not refuse people.

[23:59]

Therefore, the community can become populist. Know that the oceans not refusing water is cooperation. In virtue of the water not refusing the ocean, too, is complete. Water gathers and becomes an ocean. Earth accumulates and becomes a mountain or a prairie or a school. we implicitly know that because the ocean doesn't refuse the ocean it forms an ocean sorry complicated sentence we implicitly know that because the ocean doesn't refuse the ocean it forms the ocean it forms an ocean the ocean doesn't refuse the ocean so it forms an ocean and it creates an entity Mountains do not refuse the mountain.

[25:01]

It forms a mountain and makes its type. So the principle of bodhisattvas is also not to abandon anyone, to include everyone. We don't practice just for ourselves. This is not a self-help practice. It's the self-love practice only in the sense that this self includes the whole world and all the other worlds. The leader does not reject people. Though the leader does not reject people, that does mean that there are no rewards and punishment. But though there are rewards and punishments, there is not rejected people. Sometimes some people need to be accountable for what they do, but we basically don't refuse any of it.

[26:04]

Everyone's included. So there must be people who seek the right way, even without reward. So we talk about non-gaining mind, it's not that there are no benefits of our practice, obviously, but it's not that we practice to get some reward, some gold star, who knows. Duncan says, this is beyond the conception of the ignorant person. Because an awakened leader is wise, they don't reject people. People always form a nation where they have a mind to seek an awakened leader. Because there are few who thoroughly know the reason an awakened leader is an awakened leader, they only rejoice in not being rejected by an awakened leader.

[27:08]

So I think people are actually actively being harmed and persecuted, and the people who do that also feel like they're being harmed and persecuted. So we have this logic of non-cooperation that's available all around. So how do we express and enact identity action? Because there is a logic of cooperation, cooperation is the practical undertaking of the bodhisattva, when she's faced everyone with a mild outwards or gentle expression. So how will we, this is challenging, because, you know, sometimes, you know, we have positive, negative, and neutral responses to everything. to ourselves, including the so-called other people.

[28:13]

But how do we find this basic generosity that includes everyone? It doesn't include everything, all the actions that everyone is doing, but we don't have to fall into hate speech. We can use time speech. So all of this is about what we were talking about last couple of days, liberative technique is now in the future. But what is the skillful means to help suffering beings? And this is a big question. And in our chakra, we have lots of people who are working hard in various contexts to help people, as teachers and psychologists or therapists. And wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whatever work you're doing, what we start to practice, the practice of expressing zazen, is about how can we be helpful, how can we be kind.

[29:21]

And sometimes it's not obvious. So we have to practice patience and pay attention to everything and everyone. And sometimes we can find some skillful response. Or we can, you know, make mistakes through trial and error. Try and find a way to be helpful. Anyway, these four ways of bodhisattva cooperation, cooperation, generosity, kind speech, Beneficial actions, actually helping, benefiting people, beings. And this identity action, this cooperation. This is easy to talk about. How do we do this in our own lives? How do we do this together?

[30:23]

How do we express this posture, this dignity with each other and in the world? that's the challenge we have that this upgrade system gives us our ancestors teachers given us so um there's a lot to talk about um we for the people in the practice and commitment parents the people in the session we will have a discussion period um THIS AFTERNOON OVER TEA, BUT WE HAVE MANY OTHER PEOPLE JOINING US FOR THIS SUNDAY MORNING JOB. ANYBODY WHO HAS SOME COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS, START US OFF. YES. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COOPERATING AND NON-COOPERATING, A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH LANGUAGING, HOW WE USE LANGUAGE. Something that is a B in my mind is, you know, if you go into a store and somebody helps you with something and you say, thank you, they kind of say, no problem.

[31:34]

meaning that you haven't disturbed them, whatever. So I have a personal campaign, which I used at Trevor Joe's yesterday. And I say, oh, really, it's more, or when it's reversed, I say, it's to create a different vibe and the, uh, And it's a relationship that, you know, I help somebody and they help me. And it was a positive thing, the connection. The other way around, it means all your side, you know. So that's my personal struggle. Thank you. Yeah, you know, there's also just the conventional welcome, you know. Right. But I have to make a confession. I think there have been times...

[32:38]

in the last five to ten years when I've said no problem. And I'll try to avoid that in sports. This is a really good example of the nitty-gritty of conspiration and identity action. So thank you very much. Other comments, responses, questions. So you can tell us if people are. How do we actually be helpful in this troubled, crazy world? I know you all care about that it would be. So anyway, please feel free if you have any comment, response.

[33:46]

Now, going back to Bodhisattva Shisho, in the section on giving, Dogen's on something that has always captured my attention, and that is that acts of giving have... infinite, inconceivable, unforeseeable good results that continue so that it's not an act of giving. It doesn't just have some sort of momentum. It has good effects and good effects and gradually tapers off. It's as if the act of giving has a force that continues forever. It's not something that can be shown, of course, scientifically. a few psychological experiments about how people respond to simple politeness and to generosity.

[35:14]

It's not very helpful, but that vision of just the power of goodness to extend throughout the universe is something that's otherwise not very inspiring. Giving and receiving, passing along the gift. I guess there's some idea that if you receive something from someone that you should hold on to. I have trouble remembering. Somebody did. But there's also passing something along. There's a group of islands in the South Pacific. I forget where exactly it's kind of at. It's a bit large group of islands where there's this formal ritual practice you know, if it's once a year or certain times in the year, where the people from one island will give a gift to the people on the next island.

[36:17]

And then after some period, they will pass that along to the next island. And it goes, or maybe they'll pass along something else. I forget exactly how it works, but there's a circle of giving, literally. Yes, sir. I was just thinking with the gifts and receiving a gift is a gift. Yes. Yes, there's an art to receiving. Yes. Yeah, receiving is necessary. So we do this in our real practice, in our real community. to actually learn how to receive and how much to receive, you know, bow to each other after the server and the receiver do this transaction offering receiving food.

[37:37]

Yeah. So there's no giving without receiving. When I was in a monastery in Japan, the training in Japanese monasteries for generosity is to receive. So there's this practice called . The monastery I was in, this is the food that we ate at the time of the practice period that we received by going out. There are different ways of doing this. There's going door to door and chanting. People in Asian cultures, Buddhist cultures, want to give to the monks, the people who are practicing. So they actually, you know, enjoy.

[38:37]

They feel they get some benefit from doing it. There's other ways of doing it. people who stand on a bridge or a railway station. You wear this conical hat, so it's a straw hat. There's a whole different set of ropes to do it in. But at any rate, it's not personal. They can't see your face when they give. They're giving to someone who's practicing seriously. Although, When the little kids go and look up and if they see a gaijin, the question marks. Anyway, at least that's what it was when I was there. But yeah, thank you. Yes, Ishan. I think sometimes we have to really study someone for a while to understand what we can give to them, what they will receive.

[39:41]

I can think of someone I know who... the best way to give to them is to let them give something to me because that makes them feel, you know, good about themselves and powerful and magnanimous. And for that particular person, when you try to give them something, it makes them feel like you thought they needed it, which is not a good feeling for them. Right. It's subtle and it's an art. Yes, thank you. How to give and receive. Is there anybody here who's received a gift that you never did want? Yeah. So how do you receive graciously even when it's not with them? And then just before, you know, there's the idea also that to try and give effectively, how do you make donations? You know, how do you give in a way that is being produced the most?

[40:43]

But there's also the idea just to give effectively. whatever, general matter, is helpful because it gets passed along. Yes, Wade. This is something that Mike and I have sort of lived with, actually both of our mothers, giving us things that are given very, you know, thoughtfully, very generously, but just things that we have overwhelmed by the materiality and all of this stuff that we don't need. you know, to give it away, to throw it out and it's plastic in a landfill, you know, so we felt very overwhelmed by this. And something that we found helpful is having a conversation with them and say what I would love most for Christmas is to be given the gift of freedom from material items, freedom from having to take care of X, Y, or Z. Here's the way it makes me feel.

[41:48]

So maybe that's something that you can give me for Christmas and my birthday is not having to worry about additional physical items in my life. So some of that. I don't know if that's gracious receiving on my part, but... It's challenging. This is a practice. It's not instant. There's also giving as a kind of business transaction. You give so that somebody else will think you're good or give that to... In Japan, around New Year's, there's lots of gift giving. But they actually... quantify the amount, how much was spent on this gift, and then they have to give back something in the same amount to the other person. Yes, Aisha. I just have to add to this. Last year, for my mom's birthday, I gave her a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant.

[42:51]

And unfortunately, she passed away before she got a chance to use it. And then I was out visiting my dad for my birthday, and he said, Let's go out to this restaurant. He's like, we got this gift certificate. So my mom actually got to give me a dinner at her favorite restaurant. Yeah, so the gift is your hand. Other comments? Yeah. I had a comment following up to that. I was thinking about there have been times when I was younger when my mother gave me gifts for my birthday, typically some that I was not interested in, that I felt fairly neutral about. Subsequently, they were things that I did need. You know, like if she saw me develop over time, she realized my need for various things.

[43:56]

So at the time, I was not excited. Later, I appreciated it. Again, in graduate school, somebody gave me a reference once, a reference book that was totally boring and I did not value it at the time. But later, subsequently, I ended up using it quite a bit and appreciated it. So sometimes we don't realize in the moment something that might be of value. Then the other thing I was going to say is I have enjoyed participating the amount I have in the Sashin and I appreciate other people's willingness to participate in the Sashin because I couldn't have done it without everyone's participation. So I feel like that's a giving and receiving as well. And also a model of cooperation and identity action. Yeah.

[44:58]

Is your head up? Sorry for the distractions. Giving my head a room. Yeah, for all of us, there's a gift. So this is the challenge that our practice gives us. What do we settle? Into ourselves. It's us and it's machine. Awareness is runs and. You see. The situation around us. Let's see. And, uh. the next state, the next county, anyone. So we need to take care of ourselves and to take care of each other and that's that's it. We need to take care of this difficult world.

[46:25]

Any last comments or responses or reflections? Okay, well, thank you all very much for giving this time to talk. And I want to say thank you all. And we'll close with the four Bodhisattvas.

[47:03]

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