Good morning, welcome, and happy Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving weekend. I want to talk today about the practice of Thanksgiving, gratitude and generosity, or dana, which is the first of the bodhisattva transcendent practices. But generosity is informed by gratitude. So Thanksgiving is a... Wonderful Buddhist practice. So I think of this as an American Buddhist holiday. It was my favorite holiday as a child. And actually, I spent a number of summers as a child on Cape Cod and had a chance to go to Plymouth and see Plymouth Rock and where the pilgrims were and that whole mythology. And in terms of history, this is not a holiday for us to really celebrate historically.

[01:05]

The Pilgrims ended up destroying the Native American peoples who helped them survive. And for many Native indigenous people in America, this is a holiday that commemorates the disaster on the beginning of genocide, or almost genocide, it's wonderful and sort of miraculous that there are native spiritual traditions which have survived. So I could say a lot more about, you know, even just in New England, the horrible things that were done, much less in the rest of the country. But I also want to focus on appreciation of Thanksgiving as a practice and as a harvest holiday. We harvest all of the, you know, this season, this harvest season.

[02:05]

We can also harvest all the things and remember the things that we can be thankful for, the good things in our lives. One of the things that Buddhist practice emphasizes is contentment, easing and enjoying that which we have, all the things we have to be grateful for. This goes against these parts of our culture. The consumerism that encourages desire and neediness, which leads to great suffering, and the hungry ghost world, wanting more and more and more. Consumerism leads to that.

[03:08]

We're thinking we need to get all the things on the television commercials and all that. And part of that is the kind of rapacious exploitation of the resources of the world. And so we have, to some significant extent, fossil fuel companies and weapons companies running our governments. It didn't start with our current president, but he's made it more explicit in terms of appreciating Saudi Arabia, despite the murder of a recent journalist and recently in the genocide they're committing in Yemen. But they buy lots of weapons from American weapons companies. So that's what's really important anyway. So that's the dark side of non-contentment. But in terms of Buddhist practice, to appreciate all of the things of the world that are wonderful, and there are all the things in our own lives that are beautiful.

[04:28]

So contentment leads to being Happy with what is, as opposed to needing endless growth. Gratefulness. So the word thanksgiving, as a word, starts with thanks, with gratitude, with gratefulness. That's not in the lists of bodhisattva practices or precepts, but it's kind of fundamental. part of what our zazen, you know, our zazen is complicated. In some ways it's very simple, just sitting, facing the wall, facing ourselves, feeling what it feels like to be this person, this time, right here now, on our cushions this morning, on our seats this morning, and paying attention, feeling what we feel and seeing all the thoughts going through. Just this, the part of that, you know, we can feel the discontent and the suffering in our own lives and in the world, the dissatisfactoriness in our own lives and in the things in the world that cause harm.

[05:48]

But in the middle of that, just being present and upright, We also, doing this practice regularly, we also start to appreciate our gifts, the gifts that we each have, the gifts that have been given to us by the people in our lives, by our world. The gift of Lake Michigan. the gift of the prairies and the wooded spaces in Chicago, the gifts of kindness and generosity. So this gratefulness is really entwined with giving. It is because we feel gratitude that then we want to respond.

[06:53]

and express that. So this Zazen is an expressive practice. We share Zazen heart and mind in our everyday life, in our attempts to respond to difficulties in the world and with the people we come in contact with. Part of thanksgiving is to appreciate the limitation of our generosity. We don't always know how to help or what to give. Sometimes it's a struggle to know when we want to give a gift to someone, what would they really appreciate? What would really be a gift for that person? Sometimes we receive gifts that we aren't necessarily totally grateful for. So it's a practice, thanksgiving. how do we feel, how do we uncover that gratitude?

[07:58]

And then how do we express that generosity as a response and as an equally part of the gratitude? So, you know, there are material gifts, but there are also other gifts like kind speech. So to speak kindly about someone, even when they're not present, benefits them. That's maybe a strange statement, but that's part of Buddhist teaching, that of kind speech. Of course, to speak kindly to someone who's present, you know, we feel good when somebody says something kind and appreciative. And so this is a kind of practice of generosity. This is part of the spirit of generosity. So Dogen says that to offer flowers from a distant hillside to the Buddha is generosity, is giving.

[09:05]

So I give you all Lake Michigan. And to everybody listening, so people listen to our podcasts in distant states. But there's Lake Michigan, not so far from where we're sitting. That's wonderful. It's a great lake. And we can dedicate our practice of zazen to all beings. We can practice this sometimes uncomfortable practice, upright sitting. We can practice this as a gift to the other people in our lives and to the people in North Center Chicago. and to the people on the south side of Chicago, and to people we know all over. How do we dedicate our practice? So it's this zazen sitting, while it does benefit us in terms of helping us to develop some sense of calm and wholeness and uprightness.

[10:10]

appreciation of our lives. Also, we don't do it just for ourselves. It's not just a self-help practice, as I say many times. But how do we dedicate our practice to all beings? And, you know, I want to hereby dedicate the wonderfulness of this little storefront temple and this sendo to all beings. To all the beings who have ever been in this zendo, and to all the beings who haven't been in this zendo, may it be of a gift to everyone. And I appreciate that, especially as we are preparing in January to celebrate 10 years of sitting in this zendo.

[11:12]

That's wonderful. That's a great gift. So the other thing about gratitude and generosity is that it's a circle. There's a feedback loop. We receive gifts and are grateful, and we give to others, and others give to us. And this giving happens. This generosity, the spirit of generosity, encourages others, as we express it, encourages others to express it, and as they express it, it encourages us to express it. So giving is not, we talk about giver, receiver, and gift in our meal chant. So part of the practice of generosity, of giving, is to receive, and to appreciate, and to be thankful for what we receive, and then we give. So it's this circle. the practice of dana, or generosity. We also need to be generous to ourselves to see that we're not separate from others, that we can pass along the gift.

[12:24]

But also, part of giving to others is taking care of ourselves. for the sake of others and for the sake of ourselves. So just use the benefits of this practice to appreciate ourselves. So practicing kindness creates a world of gratitude and then a world of giving. And there are all kinds of different givings. But appreciating the things that we have to be grateful for gives us energy to respond and give of ourselves, for ourselves, to ourselves, and to all others to see how we might respond to what needs to be changed.

[13:28]

So the Buddhist practice of contentment doesn't mean ignoring the difficulties in the world. So we live now in a time where there is great hatred and aggression in many different ways in our society, in the world. But then how do we even appreciate that as a gift? Because that gives us the opportunity to make efforts to respond. We don't know exactly what to do. We don't, just like we don't always know what is the right gift to give to somebody in particular. But our appreciation and our attention to the realities of our world, to not turn away from that, but to be able to openheartedly face the difficulties as well as the joys, gives us the possibility to help contribute to a world of cooperation.

[14:42]

rather than hatred and aggression, to seeing togetherness instead of separation or combativeness as the gift that gives to all of us. So I've been talking about the possibilities and the promises of thanksgiving as a practice, gratitude and generosity and how they work together. We will have time for comments, discussion, responses, your reflections. This is a time when commonly we remember that which we have to be thankful for. I personally am very grateful for this wonderful sangha.

[15:52]

So many aware, lively, talented, gracious people who come here. Different people on different Sundays, or Mondays, or Tuesdays, or Wednesdays, or Thursdays. All of them I'm so grateful for. We have been doing this together here for almost 10 years now. I'm also grateful to all those who, in these dangerous times, speak truth to power in whatever way they are moved to, that we respond to the powers in our world that encourage hatred and aggression. and speak up for kindness, and speak against harm, speak for helpfulness.

[16:56]

So there are many, many, many people in our country and throughout the world who are doing that. Usually, that's not what's on the front page of the newspapers or the headlines, but there are many, many people doing that in different ways, and it will help make a change. And we need that change. So I'm very grateful to them. I'm grateful to all the people in this room individually. And if I start going around the room, I'll pass on that. But thank you all for being here. Personally, I'm very grateful to be in Chicago. It's almost 12 years since I escaped from California and settled here, and I'm really happy to be here. I'm personally grateful to my wife, Naomi, and our kittens, Bessie and Billy.

[18:06]

and to all the random acts of kindness that happen all around us, and to the beauty in the world. So that's what I wanted to say as an appreciation for Thanksgiving. But if any of you have any comments about the joys or challenges of the practice of Thanksgiving, of gratitude and generosity, or if you have Those who you want to express your personal thankfulness for, please feel free. So comments, responses. Thank you all. Please. I'm also grateful for silence. Bye!

[19:23]

Anyway, the idea of... to become more aware of those things. And it feels to me more. Thank you.

[21:26]

Yeah, just to follow up and add to what you've said, I think to reference the myth of Thanksgiving and the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and all that, and the history of the appropriation of Native lands and Native peoples and the horrible destruction of Native American peoples and culture, you know, is to reference 1620 was when they landed at Plymouth Rock. So we're talking about a long period of time. That's 400 years. And so this collective karma takes a long time to work out. We have urgent problems, climate and nuclear weapons, for example, right now that are urgent and existential.

[22:36]

But also there's this working out of collective karma that does take time. And so we're all part of that. in the little bits of time that we have to be here and to be generous. So yeah, recognizing all of that and that it's not hopeless. Feeling despair is not accurate. We can do things to help and to make a difference. Thank you, Kathy. Other comments? Yes, Nicholas. You may do that. You may do that.

[23:39]

You're very welcome. You just made Douglas happy. Yes, Phyllis. I think it put in a lot of thoughts and energy into creating opportunity to ask me for help. Yes, yes it does.

[25:19]

And for me, I'm really appreciative about how Ancient Dragon make it very easy to become a volunteer, so that I can practice my generosity. I can practice giving. So in the same vein, For people who are struggling to open the door, and I get a chance to jump out and hold the door for them. Good example. For them, instead of saying, good job. Thank you, well said.

[26:59]

Other comments? Yes, Chris. First of all, I'm very grateful for this. It's not a small operation. I only discovered it fairly recently. But it's just truly amazing things. Thank you for everything. On the subject of the rapaciousness of consumerism, Black Friday just happened. Sure.

[28:08]

Yeah, thank you. So that was a wonderful meditation on the complexities of the practice of thankful giving, of generosity. Generosity isn't, so to say a kind word may be simple, and thank you for your expression of that. But yeah, it's a challenging practice. It's not a how to be generous, as you were just saying, is complicated. especially when we focus on the limitations of resources. But just in general, how do we balance out when and how to be generous, and what does it mean to be generous in a given situation? This is not just a matter of course. It's actually a practice. It's actually something we have to sit with, pay attention to. The easiest example is homeless people on the street.

[30:40]

Do we give something or not? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But the examples you gave are very good. It's a challenge, it's a practice, it's something we need to, it's an ongoing, lifelong practice. How to be generous, so one side is to be effective, and that's what you were talking about, what is the most effective way to be generous. The other side is just the spirit of generosity and being kind and giving people what they think they want, even if we're not sure if it's gonna be good for them. So anyways, it's a complicated practice. It's an actual ongoing practice, thankful giving. So thank you, Chris. Yes, hi. It's good to see you again. Hi. There are other people here who do that in both of those communities.

[31:59]

that there are probably tens of billions of us. Thank you very much. I could give several Dharma talks about, and have partially, but Climate chaos now is not just theoretical. Fires all over California, enhanced horrible storms and flooding in the southeast. I think what we may end up seeing is polar vortexes as the Arctic heats up, driving I don't know if we're going to have an ice age in Chicago, but anyway, there's already significant damage to agriculture around the world.

[34:37]

The refugee situation from Central America, as well as the effects of our government sponsoring and supporting terrible governments and the stupid war on drugs down there, part of it is climate damage that the coffee crop has not been doing well in Central America. so that people in the countryside are going to the cities where they get caught up in gangs. So all the refugees from Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador are trying to escape a terrible horrible, violent situation, partly caused by climate damage. And recent reports, even from our current government, talk about the hundreds of billions of dollars this is all going to cost, more than that. It's really an existential crisis of, will a habitat that supports human beings and other large animals survive? But to talk about all of it,

[35:39]

in that way encourages numbness and despair and feeling hopeless, and that's not accurate. There are lots of partly in response to what's becoming more and more obvious. And the fossil fuel companies have known about this since the mid-70s. And I've just heard that they knew about it even in the 50s, what was going to happen. So I can talk about all that. But there are people in this sangha who are working on these things, what you might consider working with Chicago350.org, which is working on divestments of fossil fuel investments. That's one strategy. And we're going to make an announcement later about something our song is going to do to try and help support solar. Well, maybe I'll say it now. Even in the middle of our year-end fundraising letter, which provides our budget for the whole year, we are going to try and raise $700 to support two minority people to

[36:57]

a jobs program to develop skill in solar panels and solar installations. So that's something you can contribute to. But anyway, lots of people in our Sangha are trying to work on this in various levels. So thank you for mentioning it and giving me a chance to give my little talk about that. So thank you. And thank you for showing up again. I remember you. One of the things I'm grateful for about this sangha is that there are many people here who have practiced or sometimes still do practice in other Buddhist and other religious spiritual traditions. I think that enriches what is here. So I can start going around the room and giving lots of examples, but other people here have practiced in the Vipassana community.

[38:11]

People here have practiced with Rinzai Zen teachers. People here have practiced with other Soto Zen teachers. People here have practiced in martial arts traditions. Anyway, there's... and in Korean lineage traditions. So this part of what I'm grateful for about this Sangha is that there's a kind of underlying body of real spiritual maturity and awareness based on that kind of interconnectedness. So we have time for one or two more comments. David? And thank you, David, for your steady attendance and helpfulness.

[39:32]

Yes, Dylan. I want to give thanks to my family. About 10 years ago in New York, I hit a deer with a car. And I killed it. Wonderful, wonderful expression of generosity. If there's one last comment, or appreciation, or shout out, or whatever. OK, well, thank you all very much. I'm grateful to each of you. And may we continue practicing generosity and feeling gratitude as we continue.

[40:35]

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