No Abode Lay Disciples Gathering

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A virtual Dharma talk by Tenshin Roshi for an online gathering of lay-ordained disciples.

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no
so can you see me okay
and hear me okay

i met
a tempo call know about hermitage
this is the first time we have
john zoom meeting had no abode

i
i feel moved to carefully acknowledge
that various news sources
have projected have declared
that
we have just elected the first woman vice president
in us history
and the first person of a woman of color in us history
and we have also elected
joe biden as president
and
i know many people are feeling very relieved
and i think many other people are not feeling relieved
i think about seventy million people voted for
donald trump to continue as president
and i think each of us could possibly say a lot about the issue that seventy million people voted for him
about seventy five million people voted for biden and harris
we had before us in this world
a very important
seventy million people to try to be friends with and work together with in the future
don't we

so it's a moment of relief and it's i'm also a moment when weekend have a meeting here today
and talk about our practice of the buddha way

i often have this echo in my head of a of aretha franklin singing
when i look out upon the morning rain i used to feel so uninspired
ah looking out upon the morning sun here i do not feel uninspired
i do not feel uninspired
i feel inspire to practice with you
and i also feel concerned
because are looking forward
ah it seems that this pandemic is gonna continue probably for a while so
i will not be able to meet with you as a group
for some time
so i'm concerned with how we can support each other
to practice through the coming winter
how we can continue our practice through the difficult times ahead

and how we can ask for help to continue our practice and offer help to support others to practice with us
so i for the first time invited
a subgroup of the saga
those who have received the bodhisattva precepts
to have a meeting
to discuss
how to take care of
the responsibility
for the practice of these precepts

so you are group and you are individuals
who have asked for the body sought for precepts
of the particular lineage of this temple
and of the san francisco zen center and other zen centres and
you have asked for them and you have been given them and you have received them and you have committed to observe them
to contemplate them to remember them
so since you have made this commitment i wanted to meet with you today to talk about how ah to enact your commitment to the precepts in the times to come
as i understand all of you have gone through a formal ceremony of receiving the precepts

and this receiving of the precepts
he's also called
attaining liberation
by receiving the precepts in that ceremony you all attained liberation
you are now free
to take care of these precepts and to share them with others and transmit them to others through your daily life

so i had some ideas that came into my consciousness one of them is perhaps we could have
a perhaps i'll i got a winter practice session
perhaps starting today

november seventh and perhaps going to february seventh
and during that time
maybe we could
imagine ways of practice and make commitments to them for the next period of time

so i can imagine from myself
oh that i will be living
under the protocols
of the green dragons zen temple green gulch farm
for the next three months
which allow me to some leave green gulch
wearing a mask
and social distancing
outdoors
or indoors with with not nobody else
so i can do that so i can come to know abode and also i could meet with people of doors with masks social distancing at no abode
so i personally will
try to find a way to meet with those of you who can who wish to and are able get some of you i have the would like to come here to meet but you live in other countries so it's an impractical but some of you live not so far away and you may
they want to come and meet face to face with masks at know about and will try to work that out how to do that
also i will be practicing at green dragons zen temple every morning will actually six days a week we get up at four thirty i will go to the zendo
add for thirty or four forty five and i will sit in the gringo zendo
as long as i can
it's getting colder we had the doors and windows open ah and were social distancing with mass in the zendo and i commit i joyfully commit to continue that practice
for the next three months
and
also i will you can see on my teachers getting a lie will offer a zune talk next weekend it through the zen center website and following weekend i will offer another zoom talk i'll come back here and try it again here
and then there be two more talks
during december
and then they will be a january intensive
and during that time each week i will give five
meetings i will give five
dharma talks and discussions
in relationship choose it lotus sutra of the true dharma
so that's my basic commitment that i'm gonna be trying to exercise for the next three months
and i would like all of you to think about
to on
express your commitment to the body sought the way for the next three months
and hot is and is there some ways other than
sitting by yourself
at home that you liked to engage him
as i understand right and i think there has been or still are in this group here to study groups
ah one led by are organized and led by pam walter is that right them

so you just nod your head is that right you still happening okay and another one with the
oh karen mueller yuki is that right
so those are two reading groups that are happening which you which you are already involved him but i'm asking you to think about
is this
i can't hear you
you need to web
you know if you did

rabbi frequent when everyone else was allowed to unmute you went on to mute so you may have to go to the bottom of your screen
and quickly on mute button
lower left hand corner
there's a microphone icon the line through it that work yeah
so am i invite you to imagine or to look in your heart and see if you would like to get together with
this group of people
or and or invite other people to join you during the next three month to practice in some study groups
or some other ways some discussion groups that would be helpful to form
and participate in during the next month two months or three months and ah so that's my question to you and i don't know
exactly how to proceed but

that's that's what i thought we could do today is for you to start to think about ways that you could form if excuse the expression support groups to study the bodhisattva precepts or studies the lotus sutra i you could form groups to start studying the lotus
sergio right now and be studying it through the fall
the rest of the fall and continue into the january intensive in your study groups and or join the january intensive but you could study the lotus sutra
in groups in small groups whether you participate in the intensive or not
and it is other if it's others studied things you'd like to do you can do that and also what wonder if the current
study groups
if they
if they welcome other people to join
you're welcome people to join pam
yes
and
you can see karen
you're welcome people to join yard so peachy and i can facilitate that group and it's the eastern timezone so here's a timezone issue but certainly people are welcome to join
so there could be up on the also could be a a an england times on or germany sweden italy timezone and so if
if you'd like to do that
before i go further is there anybody in this group right here who does not want their email address shared with this group
please let us know if you do not want your email shared
and i'm i'm one and i invite i'm inviting are wondering if there's anybody in this group who would like to facilitate
dash organize such a study group in addition to we have to now
we'd like to start a new study group
and invite people to join you and again it could be by there could be west coast once midwest ones east coast ones and then to european or one year one or two european timezone set groups

our the vn one but not starting
rab i wonder if not yours or not we can am
respond they're both with swaziland but mean could do work is eileen could open the chats so that we can write down if we can do that or how we want to participate or other answers to your question in which is how will we use this three months ideas anyway so without having to call on everyone if we could
it that might be efficient
so it might be efficient fish itself on
her was tribe

how it might be possible the stars at night list our mailing list in which we could kind of discussed with each other and work out these groups
in
the median settings
another screen to your settings from may or may not work
rad yes am i just can i say something about the group that we have now and then he are okay so the group on the eye and care and yuki is also facilitating this group with me too
meets on the second and fourth thursday of every month and we're reading entering a good as mine are entering the mind of buddha the book the apartment
and we're almost done with that and will probably when i finished that but i would be willing to start another group on the alternate thursdays uk already has another group on the alternate thursdays for at an east coast time but i would be happy to started another one to start the lotus sutra
i'm also happy to step aside and let somebody else do that as well if you know other people in a start
q and pam your pacific time yeah we meet at seven pm on zoom it's from seven to eight thirty
and if i started another group to start the lotus sutra it would be on also seven to eight thirty but it would probably be on the alternate thursdays first and earn and that's when uk has her east coast group to and they're also reading the army does
wow
did the same time is that while we actually different time same day you can talk about that one
what time is that group the east coast group is at seven thirty east coast time seven thirty to nine think you know we do have several people in their time zones also in that group
so you know that fits your schedule you're welcome
i'm east coast right now so
the our we connect with you i guess we're gonna be receiving each other's emails this is sarah norris and i'm on the east coast and me interested in learning the east coast we're we're now in both groups reading the chapter and patients which is absolutely appropriate to the situation
jason in which we find ourselves right now on
so we'd also need to type a little bit about either how to how to serve catch up with a group and commune but yeah
with which version of the lotus sutra were gonna share to read that's another issue
so everyone i tried to enable the chat setting but i think because the meetings live by it's is so far it hasn't popped up
so it may not work for this meeting
when ah when you are a or sonia whoever's gonna send me an email out with people's emails addresses on it can you also recommend the version of the lotus sutra that you might recommend us to read
i i do not recommend aversion okay yes that
wait if you if you have a lot of future study group you have a meeting and you talk about whether you will want agreed on one
translation
i'm okay if you wanna if you in your study groups if you all want to study one translation that of course fine with me
but i'm not suggesting one translation
i'm not going to be using one translation i don't use one translation in my talks i don't go i don't go through i don't read the laura suture line by line i speak it from memory
which is like a rendition of various translations what if a study group wants to choose one translation
that may maybe what you want to do but that that would be up to the study group
so i'm not suggesting one translation
i'm noticing a big difference and translations
and i have not run into a bad one yet
all the ones i've looked at our wonderful is called the wonderful
dharma lotus sutra it's wonderful but there and they're all different and yeah and i look at all of them
and when they're different and often isn't the place it's very interesting
one here an example
s
so the last two talks that are given on line one year one for the disc sanga and then one for the zen center sondra
the last two talks i focused on chapter seven of the lotus sutra
and in that chapter ah is a story about a buddha
whose name is
excellent great penetrating wisdom to togheter
as in that's in that chapter shakyamuni buddha tells the story of this other buddha
and if you want to hear the talks about that
the chapter and about that buddha i think you can get it least a zen center one is still online to to listen to so it's a story about that buddha and that buddha is the buddha with that's referred to in the precious mere samadi poem by dung sean
in the lions which says if you want to accord with the ancient way please observe the ancients
and then it says one of the ancients when about to fulfill buddhahood
sat and faced or a tree for ten yards
like a tiger leaving part of its prey like a horse with a white hind leg
anyway that buddha i talk about in those two talks and what i'm one of the places where i know where i actually had a hard time understanding was in some of the translations it said that when this would have finally decided to teach at after this would have finally attained buddhahood
and gave the teaching
many people had great awakening listening to the teacher
and then it said they were able to do that and end all outflows because in one transitions that they did not accept any teachings
and are translated because they did not accept any dharmas
i thought that's a rather strange thing to say and i wonder some other translations and they said because they did not attached to anything such an example of where i looked at three or four translations in the different translations helped me understand so one translation would be you don't access
sept anything neither translations you don't accept and hold onto anything
so again there and often times in places of great intensity in the teaching when it gets translated it goes in several different directions because of the intensity
and this is one example where it's nice to have different translations to kind of triangulate on what might be said so i encourage you to look at different translations especially when you run into places that you see that seems strange or difficult to understand
another thing which i would suggest to up for all of us to do starting whenever you want to
is to great the great project of hand copying the lotus sutra
so are our founding teacher in japan a dog in suggested that one of the things to do in your life
along with
sitting upright and
contemplating the truth of the great teaching is to make a is to hand write they didn't have typewriters back in the thirteenth century to hand write the lotus sutra in this lifetime so this during this winter
i will do i will do that practice i will copy the lotus future
and i invite you to join me is not required is just a part of a life of being a disciple in the lineage that you're in
and you don't have to finish this winter but you might think about
starting
during this winter
during this difficult winter we're going to have a hard time i think we're already having a hard time and i are i already can't get near my grandchildren
it's hard
i can't get near my daughters
i can't get near you i can't touch you i can't shake your hand but i can bow to you with a mask on
from six feet away which you know i'm happy i can do that but it's hard it's hard for me not to be able to practice in person with people
and so it's gonna be hard for me this winter and hygge i'm i'm pretty sure that for me to copy the lotus sutra will help me deal with my sadness
and my pain about the suffering of this world that it will encourage me and uplift me to do the work of practicing these precepts which we are mutually committed to so i recommend that you consider that practice and i recommend that you think about studying the largest suit
dre
and listening to my talks
and or joined study groups of the lotus sutra so i'm kind of suggesting that as a as a possibility for this sanga to do and i'm talking to you who are the senior part of the sanga
as kind of the leaders perhaps and on
during the lotus sutra practice the lotus sutra concentration concentrating on the lotus sutra and sharing it with all beings
so anyway i'm good i i have committed to this study for the next three months i've committed to sharing it with you and i invite you to join that and and also see if you want to form groups in addition to the to we have here if any
have you would like to form groups
you could let us know and one way to let us know would be if perhaps somebody would like to be secretary for the study groups and other words somebody would care to offer to organize the
him
to receive
expressions of willingness to organize groups
let people know that someone's willing to organize it and then let people contact that person and arrange times
to meet and discuss the teachings of the bodhisattva vehicle the lotus sutra is one of the great teachings of
the body sought for way
so that's a bit from me and i see karen yuki has her hand raised yes i would just gonna volunteer to be that organizing person if that would be helpful okay thank you very much and it
if if it gets to be too much for you i maybe you can ask for assistance and so you you you have access now eileen will give you the email addresses of everybody it is meeting you can contact karen yuki mueller and she will receive either
your interest in being in a group and the timezone you'd like to meet in and perhaps your willingness to to lead a group or to organize a group and then yeah and i i will be informed about this and huh
you know i may even be able to join some of these groups
any other ideas of how we might support each other to get through this difficult time this difficult
global time this difficult time of environmental crises this difficult time of political crisis this difficult time of health crises how we can help each other to study the dharma
to practice the dharma and to share it with beings during this time any other ideas are welcome now and again you could send ideas you have later to karen
a rap there's some handles space linda has
would you call on people alley
so linda
i thank you out so i have had this still on the topic of discussion groups for the lotus sutra
i have experience teaching you know text and translation from asian languages and on some translations are
really better than others
and so i was going to offer a fit a feudal before be helpful to go through and make a little summary of the different saving the five or ten most likely translation to give a little summary of what i can tell you about them and maybe make a suggestion is
the how we could study it without too much confusion you know like everybody coming from a different translation their ways to do it where we can get input from various translations but we don't have a kind of cacophony of people talking about different things at the same time to read i will do that i will provide oh and i'll ask some of my
scholar friends to earn a kind of summary of different translations in which ones are regarded as reliable and what are the qualities of of various ones and i'll provide them to whoever's collecting them thank you so much so use maybe send that to karen and she'll send it to everybody okay was that
and that could be a resource for anybody who wants to study and or be a group that makes sense everybody
nike lender very much
hey devin
gavin and she wrote and islam i'm so i just wanted to let you know that serve some of us are here today up in meeting with a group that in gambling has been leading and republic of ireland now as the winter practice periods and sitting together and studied
together it may be the most people in our time zone are aware of this book and in case they're not thinking against reopen so to being people being joining a very flexible way that fits their lives their life circumstances okay great piece if you'd like to know more you're welcome to contact me so if you want to know
like that devin's on this list
gavin ashwood
so tracy
as thank you i'm i'm very intrigued by your invitation read rustic consider what with his three month period what could it look like for each of us and i loved the suggestions you've given i'm also really interested in other members the sank ideas for that i'd like i wanna get inside
fire by other people's ideas and i don't know my was thinking maybe since we can do it in the chat maybe we could create a google document and have us all have access to that document and then as we try things or as we have ideas it could just be a resource drove so that's my suggestion and i'd be happy to work with
i lean or whoever to help set up a taxi to okay so once they learn more about that and and again ah
you could work with karen and or eileen eileen you have any comment on that you wanted to work with you and karen of just as can oh it could be a google drive maybe and the other question that will come up is whether it's going to open up to the wider sanga
i would like it opened to the what i would i would wanted to be open to the wider sanga
okay yeah
i'm not saying that you are you people need to have your email open to the wider sanga
yes maybe be allowed in yeah so if we created and google drive or whatever he would be open to the whole entire saga
but it also avoids as am sending eighty nine one another we asked if we go to rather than accidentally hitting reply all in all of a sudden we're all filling our emails a more than we might wish
very good thank you so much
the john
i go on web one thing that i really enjoy about can work practice period was the your actions with saga members and on i was thinking there is a version of zoom available that i participated in in groups where their breakout sessions so the teacher can
give a talk and then pose a question and then you're automatically put it into small breakout groups where the facilitator and somebody's chosen for salted and will group to discuss the question for a five ten minutes and go back to the teacher and on i find it a very engaging sort of our platform
so i just want to suggest maybe that's something maybe an afternoon and i lean and others could look into for january practice for okay thank you john
these a lot
and i'm interested in a study group in europe and and i can no one denies it but i also welcome on this and he going to step forward or jointly
oh
book with that
and it will interesting to see if there is anybody else is interested in in a study group in europe

grizzle of her hand up
loss uncertainty i'd be interested from ireland
could you say you
so on the mailing list there are a the there is a pretty big european saga so are one of the things we might able to do in the future is make an announcement so everybody will see the european soccer
ah betsy
i'll thank you
what we're talking rub you asked about supportive things and i just wanted to mention that every morning i i do a service and i i chant the precepts and i i found it very supportive to do that everyday and the other thing is
thinking about groups i realized with zoom groups i am much more comfortable with a small group and i i'm just putting it out there wandering through the okay if i started a group or someone started a group that specified it was going to be small would that be okay cause i
i just
that works much better for me
i think that's perfectly wonderful gave a smog how you could see if you want to organize it gbf organizing you know so maybe you could tell karen night year you'd like to organize a small group and then you can specify the size
it has it that way
yeah you have my full support to do that thank you
grace
well i know i made this suggestion the green gulch is a whole but for me sitting together on sitting in saga is really important though is that can happen the weekend set from afar by us know in in green gulch during
intensive that would be great we can't do that happy i think all of the us that to platforms we can accommodate hundred people are less we should all submit our email addresses to sonia i'd be willing to do
setting a couple of days with in a very controlled setting
i think green origin
zen center green gulch has received your suggestion and is supportive of it when of having some are online access to the sitting at my on a green gulch xavi talking about like during the intensive right now so i think that's being worked
time and this group could be informed of it i i i don't know how that's gonna work
they but i think ice or i saw your request and i saw other people's positive reception of it and now it's crushing of hop how to facilitate that i will follow up with ah
the counter and dumb
if the answer is has been worked on
but again also the second part of that it's i think the those of us you can accommodate zoom in great numbers because we have that capability about that
we should lighten now it's like sony in our like i lay know if ever it's needed here there's a limit a time limit mouse platform gonna be extended one number one i'm happy to make myself account available number two am also happy
think about doing a small setting few miles from the sanctuary the wedgwood
the court before the january tenth
well me again guitar gives that nap yeah nothing kooky and then she is anybody's interested to join us citigroup and durations going to author
they could do that right
how could you
i have a couple things one is i'm wondering if there's any way it's not too much trouble for the email list the organized by region
so i know typically to know who's in europe many bruce east coast to west coast use midwest it would be helpful maybe for organizational purposes and also for organizing students together and the on the other thing is ah i am i'm just
or if anybody has in the spookiest sanskrit i just ordered a copy of the lotus sutra and sanskrit and i started to make my devotional study to reading and translating slowly and also chanting because it's inverse and also a writing
from the censored
virgin so anybody's interest
the at the next flooring i i i would be really interested in doing with others
sameer
liz hi everybody a hi rob and i'm looking forward to solve the stadiums lotus sutra or with you and had a member of the sanga
i started to write down the lotus sutra few years ago but i haven't finished yet so maybe this will be a beautiful opportunity
i'm practicing with the sangha the new rope or i don't have any skills as an organizer but i really would like to help or
but up at i don't have a new technical urn urn urn skills or ever just
simple organizer skills but i really would like to do something
i'm practicing everyday see some i do says many years and i will continue but if i can share this with other i'm really open
for you
i thought i heard lisa lot to say that she may be the sheep would be willing to do some organizing efforts for the european people here
yes i really would like to work her
participate and and help ease a lot in this in this organization thank you
and
am i wanna thank you read for this offering it really means a lot to me i i have two other tsongas that i'm active with and it's very important to me to keep san fran cisco in the next
and figuring out a way to do that without over zooming myself am
and the lotus sutra for me as the draw or right now with cause you're the only sanga doing that and it's a very meaningful thing i just finished one version reading it out loud and i would like large of patients thank you
and i would like to to throw out the to suggestion that we all read it out loud together at some point like a festival
you're bring it
i mean i do it alone but it would be fun and i don't know if this is what a small group would do like pick their way through a chapter and then read the chapter but maybe all these little satellite groups of lotus sutra as could come together at some point and we could
here it and close your eyes and listen more people need it
okay so that's a huge if if other people would like to form a lotus sutra recitation group
karen miller know right yeah if you show you the one you soon as one person wants to do that online right
yeah
the kid we can't do it in person right now
but maybe it maybe there's a technology which will allow chanting together or reading together or or maybe one person reason the other people listen but if if other people are interested in a
a group that raised the lotus sutra either together or one by one taking turns please
let karen know and also if someone would be willing it would be willing to organize such a group that karen know
okay karen
karen yes i wanted to suggest that maybe of as a place to start if people could let me know what they are interested in organizing or offering and the time zone if that would be a good place to start and then once we knew what was available
other than that information coat could go out more broadly i'm a little concerned about getting email from a you know several hundred people saying i'm interested in such and such a group if it would happen i'm so i'm just thinking maybe to start with the the people who are interested in organizing if you could let me know what that he
years and the other thing i wanted to say and regarding to what and just said i have a dear friend which she and i talk on the phone once a week and we read the lotus sutra to each other
eating and that's a that's a lovely practice in you know two people were can do it really nicely on of a telephone in addition to zoom
that's a small group of to yes it's lovely that that betsy
really low researcher to one other person and having that other person read to you
as a lovely practice
reading it alone reading it with one person reading it with
many
yes i am i just wanted to volunteer to try to organize the email list by region to can will be helpful
so don't know that's just the mailing list of this group or that would be the the broader sanga but
one start with this group okay and go from there
be very much of the game
meet you

i will lie sure the it's been the practice had was my friend of the small google sailor suit sutra or it could be more sulla for it could be more than two people we have three people right now and you you still phone by follow from the has sheldon ah
so much my you can share and then the were we do is the one percent sigh and the oddest president descent and then cut ten say we history precedent so we'd reassigned of medicine buddhist sutra every day and sir
oh every three day one prison gallery site it maybe can be more than three percent i think because the not a smartphone can you can join my n can name more name something that a conference call so can be more than two people ran always had a see people
yeah as soon as she under the the way more so this has made you can choose was we can contact you if they want to join
oh
we are reset of medicine buddha sutra in chinese
i just such as a we can use diesel our practice them more fought beside the lotus sutra in encourage
and then you're in eastern time zone night
and up by the person i decide to get it was thought ah one one plus one percents in madison wisconsin the other person's is in austin texas
and
yeah i wanted to comment on the the jones the time zones i work with the normal people which is a little late for me as nine at night but
i really feel connected to the with people and i think it would be nice if you would not necessarily limit people to a particular zone but give them the option to join where the a wanna join want my agree on
it isn't so much women
he doesn't say know say you have to go without time zone but rather provide different time zones
so if the people in europe wanna go to the california timezone to be applied that's fine but it might be nice if there was a
a european time that wasn't so late like some people i have one
group of people who had been she's so and they meet on sunday afternoon but that's midnight in germany so some people in germany want to join but then they may give up
it's just too late for them so i agree with you an with the people shoot whatever times on your own you can join whatever time zone that he would be nice to offer west coast
midwest he's caused england and rest of europe was keep those those four time zones or five time zones
karen
this is kind of a change of subject by armed somebody mentioned during service and i wonder rub if you would have been suggested for a form out for people who are sitting at home but would like to do some kind of service is a part of that person you know
he would recommend a woman's or some structured format
one simple structure which i think it's quite accessible to all would be mean
but if you have an altar
that on
you like a candle
offer flowers
offer incense
and then do three prostrations
and then do the formal confession and repentance all my ancient twisted karma and beginning was greed hate and delusion born through bodies beat your mind i now fully avow three times
and then shared the refuges in english for in poly or in chinese or sanskrit
or tibetan or polly
a green gulch we reject them and poly and in english
in english is
why take refuge in buddha
i take refuge in dharma i take refuge in sancho
i take refuge in buddha as the perfect teacher i take refuge in dharma is the perfect teaching
i take refuge in some guys the perfect life
now i have completely taken refuge in buddha
now i have completely taken refuge in dharma now i have completely taken refuge in the sanga
that's english and you can also course we also do poly witches
goydos sought a non on the damansara now
a new song around soda know roger
duty on the
i'm sorry armed got on me
dtm the damansara know
the be a song
tottenham
no mom
todd young and madame sought a non gotcha me ah tian m be damansara non roger
no me da da be a song long sought a no god no
so you could do that as your beginning and then from there
you've got the whole buddhist universe of scriptures you can chant the heart sutra
you could chat part of the lotus sutra
is in in traditionally and num in in soto zen monasteries they every morning they chat the verse section of the chapter on of lucky cashkaro
and the verse section on the chapter on the lifespan of the togheter
they chant chanted so you can also chat that the heart sutra you could shed the precious mere somebody in which there is that phrase but if you want to accord with the engine way please observe the edges of former times
when about to fulfill the way of buddhahood one gazed at a tree for county owns can chant that verse could chat the emerging of harmony and difference
oh so there's lot of you could choose one or more scriptures to chat and then
to make life simple i would say you could just start with dedicating the merit of your chanting by you say may our intention equally extend to every being in place with the true merit of buddha's way beings are numberless each other the for vows
that would be one simple ah
service that i think you could do that all that in ten minutes
where would the road champ fall in that well roadshow would be before
so yeah before you also you know usually in the temple some zen center we usually set the first periods without wearing our rose
but that's what the idea that there's going to be more periods during the day so if you own or sitting in the morning you could wear your robe for you're sitting so then you would put the robe on your head into the rug jet
or you could sit without your robe and then when you finish your sitting put the robe on your head under the rug gent and then do your service we usually wear our robes when reduce service
the first period the morning we don't necessarily where are rose
so will will send a copy of what you just send to everyone great thank you and also regarding the january intensive on
the fee discern center is very open to people they want people to participate in this and they're a very open to how much you pay or whatever the set prices on the website doesn't mean that you have to pay that if if it is not comfortable for
are you so please don't see the fee as a keeping you away from practicing
karen yuki i wonder if you want to give people your email address now so that people who wanted just before they forget be in touch with you today they don't have to wait for any messages to come that they could start
the simplest email address for me is k karen m m at gmail dot com
repeated ten k karen
am am
at gmail dot com

any other things he like to offer this morning
excuse me i've seen greece damon with her hand up several times i i don't know
grace you wanted to say something just jumping in here

reb i i wouldn't mind if you talk to us a little bit about a way to be in this time of transition where maybe there's a little glee in our heart which were not a fanning and how to be m walk
the path in like this week this week and the next couple weeks i don't know if there's just anything on your mind or heart fit he wanted and part with us as we um grapple with seventy million unhappy people and seventy four million happier people

by the because i often think of what i've been talking about recently
i think of the buddha
in the lotus sutra in chapter seven
and that it's it said that that buddha
ah
sad
at the place of enlightenment

ah the chinese character for that is it's a character for you know the dial
which means that which means the path but it also means awakening
so he said this buddha sat at the and the dial the enlightenment place

and again i emphasize that in the last two talks
if you want to be like the ancient buddha's during this time
if i want to be
like the ancient sages
during this time
i i should follow their example and to follow their example means to remember their example
so i try to remember the ancient buddhist sitting at the place of awakening
and the place of awakening must be where we are now
i'm here at no abode
facing a screen with your wonderful faces that's where i am and i am you asked me how to practice with the situation
and if you put seventy million unhappy people on the screen
and i want to follow the example of the agents than i have to remember that they would sit here they would sit upright and not any place else them where they are
and face seventy million unhappy people and save face seventy four million relieved people
however it also said that this buddha sat at that seat
sat at that place of enlightenment which is where each of us is this buddha is showing us an example of the way to live sit at your place
and then it said he sat there and he it said he he vanquished or he defeated where he subdued the mara the armies of of mara
he subdued the armies of the deadening restricting confining rid rigid
tense frightened energy he he he sat there and faced all that energy which we see in multitude now
so many people are afraid
so many people are terrified of what's gonna happen to them so many people feel unheard so many people feel that aren't going to be able to take care of their family so much fear
and they want they want help
and they don't even know it sometimes
this situation is going to continue these these frightened terrified angry confused beings will continue to surround us
now they are not morrow
but in what surrounds us what is the mara mara is the restricted tense ungenerous on careful way of responding to all this suffering that's tomorrow that's the demon the demon is
he is not relating compassionately to all this suffering
so this buddha's sat where she was and found a way to vitally
compassionately
openly
the present at her place take care of the place she is an open to all beings then mars armies
were defeated
and then sitting in the same place
this buddha was showered with celestial flowers
when we relate all suffering beings properly like the ancients
they are no celestial flowers and celestial music
but we continue the practice just the same as before
we welcome it we opened to it were careful of it were respectful of all each flower the same way we're respectful of each demon
that's what the ancients did we have to remember that's how they related to demons and celestial music in all cases be present
open welcoming and remember the mindful of the ancient example and follow it
in each moment with all beings
this is a teaching from the lotus sutra chapter seven
it's a teaching of an example which are then adds extra said here's an example try that one so i'm trying that example i will community to follow the example of this great buddha
and you'll find that buddhist example in
chapter seven of the lord section also again it's in the precious mere samadhi this example is the buddha example used in our zen verse called the precious mere samadhi
and it's also
case nine of the coin collection called gate lists barrier memon con number nine
that's what comes to mind and if you asked me next week i may have something quite different
but i hope i never forget that buddha
and i hope i never forget you
and i o i want to follow the example of the buddha in the way i relate to you
if you're happy with me if you're unhappy with me i want to relate to your happiness and unhappiness
like that buddha did like the buddha does
that's another version of the body sought for var
and again that buddha was a bodhisattva
until that buddha became a buddha and you're a bodhisattva until you become a buddha
and before buddha's were good as they were just like you
they just like you
they had a seat just like you do
a wonderful that each of us as the place of awakening to practice
by the way
pace of awakening karate that that word don't dial could also be place in practice so the carriage chinese character dow means awakening and path and path means practice so it means pay place of the awakening place of the path and place or pro
cactus
and the funding is also that the chinese character means to speak
so as to place to speak to
it's a place to say i want to remember the ancient examples in this world of suffering and confusion and change and crisis
this is a time for sought for his friends we need bodhisattvas at this time
and you have committed to the bodhisattva vows
right
yeah you have so
that that uplifts me and up the shoe

oh we're almost at noon is there anything else you'd like to bring up today

so again i wish you well at your place in practice i wish you well at your place
of awakening i wish you well in you're remembering the ancient examples and i thank you all for coming and i thank you all for marjorie did you to join
i didn't call your name before you write
then i forget to call your name john did i not see you know review you call i just took a step away for a moment what can i didn't hear the whole time did i call your name into beginning yes you did thank you great plus of us
it's been so long why is i i i just so grateful you can do they thank you so much and i hope you enjoy seeing know about still here in good condition thank you for taking care of it
and
marjorie george's names on the altar can you see it
it's on the altar right there are there
may our intention equally extend to every being and plays with the true marriage buddha's way beings are numberless i wow
how to save them delusions are inexhaustible
i vow to cut through dharma gates are boundless ah to enter them
buddha way is unsurpassable
i vow to recommit

wait he rob thanks red bank rob