Good morning, everyone, and welcome. This Zazen practice we've just done gives us the opportunity and experience, and doing it regularly allows us to settle and open and deepen our awareness. In our Soto Zen tradition, we also emphasize how we express that not just in our meditation, but in our everyday activity when we get up and go out into the world. This is especially important here in this non-residential practice place, urban practice place where we go off into the world. in some ways, share and maybe test our meditative practice and meditative awareness.

[01:01]

And there are various teachings in our tradition, and in the Bodhisattva tradition, which Zen is part of, the tradition of universal awakening, there are various teachings to help us see how to do this. and be mindful and keep mindful of how to do this. One of them is the ten paramitas, the transcendent practices of bodhisattvas. Sometimes we focus on the six, but I want to talk about two of these. So just to say, well, they all work together, but the 10, and I've talked about these before, so most of you have heard about these before, but talking about them, reviewing them, going over them is part of the practice. So generosity, ethical conduct, patience, effort or energy, meditation or settling, wisdom or insight, prashna, and then skillful means, vow or commitment, powers or using your abilities, and knowledge.

[02:16]

There will not be a test, but just to mention those 10. But I want to talk, focus today on two of them, two that I think of as very important. in Sanskrit shanti and upaya, patience and skillful means. So patience also could be translated as forbearance or tolerance. And it develops our capacity. So patience is an active practice. We often think of patience as passive, but it's really a very dynamic practice. So of course, just sitting, waiting for the bell to ring, getting up, we learn patience.

[03:16]

We learn to sit and pay attention. So patience demands active attention. This is while we're sitting, but also even more so maybe in the world. How to be ready and willing to respond, but often not knowing how to respond, and often maybe not doing anything. Our habits may be too... our habit in our culture often is to problem solve and to try and run out and fix things, to be out doing good works or something like that. But patience is this developing our capacity to be ready to respond skillfully.

[04:20]

So patience and skillful means have this deep relationship. Our practice teaches us that we don't know. We don't know what's happening often. There's certainly some things we do know, but we do not know the outcome of our activity. Suzuki Roshi, my teacher's teacher, talked about non-gaining attitude. It doesn't mean that there are not benefits to this practice, of course. This practice is transformative, but if we are focused on particular outcomes, we tend to miss the dynamics of what's really happening. So nothing ever happens exactly according to our expectations. How can we tolerate the complexity of the reality of any situation.

[05:27]

Sometimes this practice is talked about in terms of forbearance. Shantideva, the great Indian teacher of the Mahayana path and of the Paramitas, talks about this practice in terms of tolerating terrible things. being willing to be tortured and tolerating all kinds of terrible things, forbearance. And this world in Buddhist cosmology is called the Saha world, the world of endurance. So this difficult world, in some ways, is a good training ground in patience. Again, not just passively waiting, but actively, quietly, steadily paying attention.

[06:29]

Being responsive, but not just running around reacting to things. This is very difficult. This is a physical practice. This is, you know, we learn this from sitting, sitting upright. Enjoying our inhale and exhale. Feeling the sensations of our body, our senses. And, you know, there's nothing to do. We may, you know, awarenesses may arise, insights may arise even, that's actually part of settling. How do we keep paying attention? So patience is challenging and difficult, but it requires this active attention, being ready and willing to respond. So part of the practice of patience is to study our impatience.

[07:41]

So when you are when you, if you are taking on this as a practice. And these are all actual practices that you can pay attention to in the world. To pay attention to when you realize, oh, that you're being impatient. When somebody cuts you off in traffic or when somebody cuts ahead of you in line. I was at a wedding yesterday, and somebody cut ahead of me in line. And it turned out to be the father of the groom, and of course. And that was an opportunity for a conversation about the couple. And it was really wonderful. And I could have gotten impatient, because here he was cutting in front of me. But OK. See when you actually give rise to impatience, see when you get upset and become agitated with impatience.

[08:43]

So for me personally, one of the great gifts of the modern world to me, because it really teaches me about patience, particularly my impatience, is computers. because I have so much trouble with them. So some of you work with computers, and some of you are young enough to be skillful with computers, but I'm minor, always acting up, or sometimes acting up. And it's funny to be impatient with a machine. What is that about? I mean, it's just a machine, but I can even start you know, speaking to it with a raised voice, you know. And sometimes I've become a little more skillful at, OK, well, wait a second now. There must be some reason why it's not, especially when I'm trying to do something online and it's not responding.

[09:51]

And there must be some place on this screen where there's something that I can do that actually will maybe make it work the way I think it should. And it's really a challenge. It's really a challenge. And I see my impatience. So it's a wonderful opportunity. So I think computers were invented to help me in my practice of patience. I feel that. And even more than computers. voice recognition on the telephone when I'm trying to call to do something and they say to say, and there's a machine there. Now again, it's so funny to get impatient with a machine. I mean, you know, and there's no person there to hear me say nasty things to them, you know, and yet I can get, that's probably the most upset I ever get during the course of a month or whatever is when I very clearly enunciate to the voice recognition thing who asks me to say whatever and I say it very clearly and it gives me some

[11:08]

It says something totally different. Like, where do you want to go? Philadelphia. And it says something. And it says Dallas. I don't know. Anyway, that's a bad example. But some of you may have had this experience with voice recognition software on telephones. And it's just, I don't know why that should upset me. It's just a stupid machine. Excuse me, I didn't mean to call out names. But anyway, that's a minor example of how I get to see my lack of development in the practice of patience. So, and I, some of you know Kevin, who's one of the founding members of this sangha, who works, who's actually, his work is development. I don't know if he still does that, you know? He used to be, he used to work at voice recognition, so I've never, so I don't, you know, I don't know whether to, I've never yelled at him about this, but I don't know if he, maybe he's, I don't know if he's still doing that or if, anyway.

[12:15]

But that's just an example of seeing my own impatience. It's really silly. Why would I get upset with a machine? But I can get that. So how do we see our own impatience? That's how to study and work with the practice of patience. How do we develop our own capacity and tolerance? And not just tolerance, like tolerating it. OK, it's a stupid machine, and I'll be OK. but actually appreciating. Somebody really worked at developing this machine to be able to take care of, well, maybe it costs some human being a job, but maybe it's also making things more efficient. And anyway, how can we actually not just tolerate things, but appreciate? So the practice of patience is actually a practice of appreciation. of extending our awareness and seeing the world more widely.

[13:28]

Now, all of these practices are related. The practice of patience supports the practice of energy and effort, but how do we develop this patience and Again, it's not about, it's not passive. It's about being willing and ready to respond when there's something to do. So, you know, our government now also is a great, is a great gift in terms of developing our practice of patience. How do we be patient with all of the, horrible things that our federal government does and supports and in a way that allows us to look at it and see how can we respond in an effective and positive way. And there may be ways we can respond through contacting Congress people or

[14:30]

going to demonstrations or whatever. But anyway, the practice of patience is to look and see what is it that's going on, to see our own impatience, to actively look at this. And it's a physical practice. It's not something theoretical. It's watching when you get impatient. So as you're sitting, These are all practices that come out of our sasana. When you feel like, oh, the stupid dowan has fallen asleep and he hasn't hit the ... and the bell is late and why isn't he hitting the bell? Where do you feel that? Do you feel that in your shoulders or in your throat or in your elbows? Feel how that feels. What is it like when you feel impatient? So I'm working at trying to feel what it's like when I feel upset with my stupid computer for not being obedient to my wishes.

[15:41]

How do we breathe into the situation that allows us this opportunity to develop our capacity to be aware and responsive and interactive with whatever is happening. And again, part of patience is actually realizing that we don't know the outcome of our efforts or what's happening in the world or whatever's going on. How can we be patient with that? And some of you have heard me say this wonderful Sanskrit term, anutpadaka dharmakshanti, which is the patience with the unknowability or the ungraspability of things, of anything.

[16:47]

How can we be develop the capacity to be patient with, are not having control over everything. Of course, you know, there are some things that we can control. We can set our alarm clock so that we get up in time to get to Ancient Dragon on a Sunday morning. Or we can, you know, there are things that we can control. But there's so much that we cannot control. We all know that. How can we be patient with that? How can we accept, but not passively accept, dynamically accept? Not just say, oh, well, there's nothing I can do. I'll just go with the flow, but actually be aware and pay attention to our

[17:51]

inability to manage and control everything in the world. I don't know if that's, if it's the Western idea of God that, you know, gives us the idea that something, somebody is controlling everything. But, you know, we sometimes wish we could do that, but actually we are part of the process of everything. Can we enjoy and accept that and play our part in that? So that brings us to the second of these parameters that I wanted to talk about today. And then we will have time for some discussion. But skillful means. So again, skillful means does not mean that we can control things. But how do we act skillfully? How do we act? given the practice of patience and paying attention, how do we act in a way that is skillful, that is helpful rather than harmful?

[18:57]

So all 10 of these practices relate to each other. The practice of ethical conduct has to do with being helpful rather than harmful. So how do we be helpful in the world? How do we act skillfully? take care of things. And this is not a practice where there's some instruction manual. This is a kind of intuitive practice. This is something we learn from trial and error. We try things. We are paying attention through this practice of patience, and So as we're paying attention, maybe we see some way we might respond. So to respond rather than react. but to actually be settled enough to say, okay, well, this might be helpful in this situation.

[20:02]

Whether it's some situation in the world, whether it's some situation with a friend or family member who's having a hard time or acting in a way that's harmful to themselves or somebody else, how do you get them to see something different or to act in a different way? Sometimes we say, oh, maybe that'll be helpful. And so we try that. And maybe it's not. Or maybe it's helpful a little bit. So we have to pay attention. And part of skillful means is making mistakes. So it's very important in Zen practice to make mistakes. This also has to do with what's going on in zazen. What is the skillful means when we're feeling some tension in our shoulders? What is the skillful means of breathing into that to release some tension?

[21:06]

For example, or what is the skillful means of seeing how we may be Maybe our posture is slumping. What is the skillful means of bringing some energy to come back to uprightness? Or when our mudra is sliding apart or coming forward, how do we bring that back so that we are upright? What is the skillful means of taking care of our energy in zazen, but also in the world? When we realize that we are feeling exhausted, maybe the skillful means is to get more sleep. So all of these practices interrelate. But part of skillful means, again, is trial and error, trying things, seeing what works, paying attention, being patient with our efforts to be helpful,

[22:13]

But also using what's at hand. So it's not about having. So we all have tools. We all have ways in which we can be helpful. And then I'll come back to that. But also, skillful means is about recognizing differences. So how I might be helpful to Chris's practice might be very different from how I might be helpful for Sid in his practice. For example, each person, each situation is different. And how I might be helpful in a situation with the same person, one day, if there's a friend who's having trouble or a person you're in a relationship with who's having difficulty, You know, what might be helpful one day, what might be skillful one day, might not be the next day.

[23:17]

So to pay attention to the differences. Prajna, our insight, is about seeing how we're all kind of seeing the sameness or seeing the oneness of everything. Skillful means is about seeing these differences, seeing how to try different things. So we all have different tools. We all have different, it's also about how each of us might have different capacities. So each of you has different interests, different skill sets, to put it that way, in terms of skillful means, different ways of responding. Part of skillful means is to see, is also know your own ways of reacting. So that's part of the practice of patience, is to be patient with your own patterns of reacting.

[24:19]

Some of them might be helpful, but often when we were just reacting based on our habits, it's not so helpful. Can you be patient with that and see that and not act out from patterns of reacting? So all of these are, long, long practices that require lots of study, require lots of practice, require lots of just taking the time to pay attention. So how to, when you see a particular kind of problem, how to not just react and try and fix it based on your patterns of reaction, but how to look at it calmly, breathe into it, not just react based on your first impulse, but really look at it and respond helpfully and use whatever tool is at hand. So the bodhisattva of compassion,

[25:23]

Kanon of Alakiteshvara. There's an image of her back there and another over here. And in the Doksan room, there's one with a thousand hands and often has different tools in them. So we all have different tools. What can you use that's at hand to help in a different situation? And Being patient and ready and paying attention, we don't, it's not necessarily something that you have to figure out even. Again, it's a kind of intuitive, sometimes it could be, sometimes you could think through, okay, what would be helpful for this person? or in this situation, what would be skillful? And you might try things, and you might make mistakes, and you might see how did that work.

[26:25]

But sometimes it's just like, oh, how can I respond kindly? sometimes it's just this immediate response of kindness. So one story about skillful means is in our tradition is one of our ancestors asked his brother, who was also a monk, why does the bodhisattva of compassion have so many hands and eyes? So in each of the hands of the thousand hands of the bodhisattva of compassion, there's an eye. And this is to, see from different perspectives. So skillful means looking, even though we don't know ultimately and we can't control things ultimately, to really pay attention and look from different perspectives and try and imagine if somebody's acting in a way that's harmful, what is it that they're afraid of? What is it that they're upset with? How is, what is their problem? Why are they having a hard time? Try and imagine it from their perspective.

[27:28]

Oh, then, okay, how, maybe, if you can see that, what, how can I be helpful for them? And what is it that, what tools do I have to be helpful for them? So this is a very complex, the skillful means practice is very complex, it's not, It's not necessarily simple. Again, it involves mistakes and trial and error. So the one brother asked the other, what does the bodhisattva do with all those hands and eyes? And the other one said, it's like reaching back for your pillow in the middle of the night. It's not something that we have some instruction manual for. It's just this impulse to help. So, you know, you're having trouble sleeping and how do you, and you reach back to just adjust your pillow for comfort. It's that kind of impulse towards kindness. How do you respond with kindness to someone or to yourself or to some situation in the world?

[28:41]

So this practice of skillful means is complicated, and in some ways it's simple. And it's not about getting it right, but it is about being helpful. It is about paying attention, just like the practice of patience. How do we really, you know, if we see some situation of difficulty in ourselves or in a friend or family member or in the world, how do we look closely at what's going on? Well, what is it that I can do that's helpful? Or what is it that we can do as a community that is helpful?

[29:55]

And we can try things. So these two practices, you know, go together. I mean, all of the practices go together in different ways, but to be skillful requires patience, requires paying attention, being ready and willing to respond. And in some ways, really being patient and tolerant actively is a kind of skillful practice. It's not just some passive waiting. How do you wait in a way that is skillful and helpful to yourself and the other people around you? So I could keep babbling, but maybe I'll stop and Ask if anybody else has thoughts or reflections or responses about either patience or skillful means or anything else.

[31:06]

Please feel free. Yes, Miriam. It's good that you know that about yourself. Yeah.

[32:37]

Good. Yeah. So that's a good story about making a mistake and learning from it and learning to be a little more skillful. And yeah, but we all have that problem solving. I mean, it's so much a part of our culture. So yeah. Thank you. Yes, Asian. you have to respect your own patience.

[33:45]

Yeah. Yeah. So just so patience is active. If you're just being, so it sounds like you're talking about a patience where you're just going to stop and be passive and just wait it out. Yeah. It gets solidified and then it doesn't work. So the antidote to that might be just really attention and being willing to pop out of your patients, you know, or something. Yeah, it's a good comment on patients, though, because we do think of patients as just, okay, I'm gonna, you know, and maybe in Zazen, too, I'm just gonna dig in and just, but actually, there needs to be a softness to the patients so that you can respond and can pay attention.

[34:52]

That's tricky, yeah. Is that what you're getting at or is there something else? Yeah, it is. What do you do when you just can't be patient anymore? Be stillful, I guess. Well, take another breath for one thing. I have, you know, over 40 years, maybe twice, maybe three times seen people running from Zendos. What's that? One never knows the whole story. They were actually in pretty dramatic situations. How do we not get stuck in our patients? That's a really, that's a good question. How do we, you know, so patients has to be a kind of soft, not kind of rigid.

[35:55]

So that means paying attention, being, this readiness, this responsiveness in the middle of patients. That's really challenging. We can be patient and just wait it out. How to be aware and attentive in the middle of patience. Yes, Brian. Yes. People do that, you know. People do that. Good, yeah.

[37:23]

Good. Seth? Yeah. Buddha nature means that we have problems to solve. Buddha nature doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that Buddhas appear, according to the Lotus Sutra, one of our main scriptures, Buddhas appear because there is, for the single reason that there are suffering beings in the world. So Buddhas and suffering beings go together. Buddha nature is the response

[38:26]

the patient, skillful response to suffering in the world. So Buddha nature doesn't mean that everything is just perfect the way it is. Just like, yeah, I mean, well, my favorite Zen saying from a great American yogi is that if the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. We live in the world of endurance. So that's why we have to practice patience. because there is suffering. So Zen practice is not an escape from the problems of the world. It's about facing ourselves and facing the difficulties of the world. It would be nice if we could just go to some mountaintop where everything is beautiful and wonderful and we have everything we ever wanted, but this is a practice of actually being fully engaged with these difficulties. So buddhanature is to be fully in the world of suffering and somehow enjoy the process of being helpful in that.

[39:40]

You're welcome. Thank you for the question. Yes, Katie? it's a really thin veil over this frustration on the other side of like anger with dependence on technology or the ease of my daily schedule or routine or a desire that I have for pleasure or whatever it may be and so patient is always asking me to like actually deal with the problem as it actually is. And impatience just feels like a good way to kind of push off those realities that my daily life is actually a conjunction of just anger and fear. So I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the question is there. Yeah, yeah, it's right.

[40:44]

So yeah, just to observe that whole thing is the practice of patience. That we do feel the frustration of having to be in this suffering world and wishing for, you know, we do have vision of the possibility of ease. And we sometimes experience that, actually. And then there are all the things that, the obstructions to that. And how do we engage those together? So, yeah, thank you. There were a couple of other hands, but Sid, did you have something? Howard has. Sid's passing to Howard. Good, yes.

[41:49]

But your routines are right there, your mental routines, your emotional routines. Okay. I spent so much time being worried about how much time things take up. You were not enjoying what was happening right then.

[43:32]

Yeah, so we have the opportunity in this practice of actually being present and enjoying just this. But when you were saying that, it reminded me of a time when I was at Tassajara a long time ago during an oyoki meal. And I don't know, one of the dishes in the oyoki meal I really liked And I was thinking about how to eat that quickly enough so that I could get seconds. And I realized that I wasn't enjoying it right then. And I realized that, oh my God, I'm not, so I could slow down and just enjoy it. So we should just, you know, patience is about enjoying this time now with all of its problems.

[44:58]

So thank you all very much for good discussion.

[45:02]

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