Good evening, everyone, and welcome. I want to continue speaking about this samadhi of all beings that we perform here. This zazen, this seated practice we do, and of course, all the practices we do, the chanting, the walking, the bowing, is not something we can do by ourselves. This samadhi, this awareness, this presence or concentration is all-inclusive. We do this in communion with all beings, all space, all time. This is not so much an instruction or some philosophical statement as just, you know, what's happening.

[01:07]

So I talked about this yesterday morning in terms of Zazen and encouraging people to sit regularly, try to sit, you know, numbers of times during the week to sustain this practice. and that we do this together with many beings, with many people, with everybody we've ever known in some way. All the beings you've ever known. Of course, people you've been close with are part of what's on your sitting, that which is on your seat right now. That's in some ways kind of obvious. Your parents, family, friends, loved ones, pets when you were children.

[02:12]

How many of you ever had favorite trees? Yeah, a few hands went up. Our favorite places you like to just kind of walk around in or, you know, anyway, we are connected with many spaces. So we're in communion with all space. And as I said yesterday, it's not that we're connected with other beings. We are in some real way. The words fail. We are in communion with, we are in league with all space and all time. This is not something we can control. This is not something that controls us. But right now, it's connected to all times. So I want to focus on time in some way tonight because I want to talk about this, at least in part, in terms of race and racism in our world, which is just one very poignant example of how we are connected in time.

[03:31]

But really, this time, This inhale, this exhale is connected, is part of, again, I'm in the habit of talking about it in terms of connection, but this next inhale, I hope you will all inhale again, totally is dependent on every inhale you ever took, is part of every inhale you ever took. And each one is unique. So we can't control this. We can give ourselves to it. We can choose to say, yes, yes, here I am.

[04:35]

And each one of us, each in our own way, is a product is an agent of all time, past and future, and all other times. So one way Buddhism talks about this is karma, that there is cause and effect. That's maybe, you know, an easy way to see this, that things happen and they have some relationship to other things that happen. I think it's probably more complicated than that. But the example of race and racism is very present in our society and in our world today. It affects all of us here in Chicago and here in the US of A.

[05:39]

And there's a long, we call this history, but history's a pale word for the reality of, well, slavery and African people being brought over and jammed together in the holds of boats and being beaten and tortured and brutalized in various ways. And all of us who think we are white, whatever that is, we're all sort of mongrels as human beings, but anyway. Some of us are privileged to be quote-unquote white, and we benefit from this history. But it's more complicated than that. So there was a long history of what's called abolitionism or abolition.

[06:49]

There was an underground railroad. All of this is part of our reality now, as Michelle Obama talked about last week. She lives in a house that was built by slaves, and her beautiful black daughters play in the yard. And so this is very poignant. And we have the reality, and we've talked about this here before, the Black Lives Matter movement and black people, young black men, but black women too, being brutalized and killed by those who ostensibly protect us, the policemen. We have it now, you know, maybe this kind of lynching goes back to slavery and Jim Crow and so forth. But now we have these cell phones so we can see it on video.

[07:54]

But this is one story about this. It's so complex. And So this is about how we are right now in all times. We can look at the karma of this, how it affects us, how it gives rise to fear, how it gives rise to anger on various sides. We can also, we can sympathize deeply with the fear of Black women seeing their sons go out day by day and fearing for their safety. And we can sympathize with the fear of white policemen who react badly sometimes. And so we have this whole world of fear.

[09:00]

And it's not, this time is connected to so many other times. We are in all times right now. So there's many stories we can talk, we can tell about this right now. And we are part of that story of abolitionism, about... fighting for freedom about the Underground Railroad, about the Revolutionary War and how that produced, inspired other revolutions and how, in part, that was a war to protect slave owners because the British were going to abolish slavery. It's complicated. There's so many factors. We can't tell a simple story of causes and effect, of causes and condition. So there's so much more to say about this. And partly, and I've been talking about this from time to time because I think it's important in our society now that we talk about it, that we face this reality.

[10:10]

I could talk about so many other ways in which we're connect, we are all times right now. So there's the, situation of race and racism. There's the situation of climate and how that takes us into a whole much wider context of all time right now. What's happening in Alaska and in the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica and glaciers that have been there for tens of thousands of years, maybe hundreds of thousands of years melting and the effects that is having on the planet. And here we are, right now. So geologic time is here, right now. More carbon dioxide in our atmosphere now than in 15, I'm really bad with numbers, 15 million years, or is it more than that?

[11:13]

Anyway. Okay, so. I've talked about this and I'm going to try and not talk so much tonight so that you all can talk, but all of this is about the First Noble Truth. And often that's translated as the truth of suffering, dukkha, dissatisfactoriness. But more and more I feel like it's the truth of sadness. And it's a noble truth because we can face that. That we can actually engage the process, the reality of grieving. for all of this situation, for the difficulty we have with race, no matter what race we think we are, for the difficulty of our climate and our natural environment.

[12:24]

And of course, each of us for our own personal losses and damage and confusion and anger and fear. So beneath our fear, beneath our anger, is pain, is sadness. And this is a noble truth. Why do they call it a noble truth, that there's suffering, that there's pain, that there's sadness? It's a noble truth because we have this practice of sitting upright. We can be present and we can take another breath, and we can find the dignity and power to be present in the middle of all of this confusion and all of this fear. And we don't have to be pushed around by the politicians trying to encourage fear and anger.

[13:29]

we can use the energy of fear and anger, which are natural human emotions, to look at what's going on, to actually feel the sadness, to actually respond, to be patient, to be patient not in a passive way, but actively, to look and see, okay, how can we respond? How can we look at our anger, use the energy of our anger to face openly the confusion. Our Bodhisattva precepts are about being ready and willing to respond when there's something we can do. And sometimes there are things to do. We don't have to create enemies and evil ones and be judgmental. We can recognize that the fear and anger of those who are trying to create more fear and anger is simply ignorance.

[14:40]

We don't have to buy into it. We can tell the truth about it and about the harm we see happening. But our awakening values, our bodhisattva values are about encouraging awareness rather than ignorance, encouraging kindness rather than hatred. So our precept about anger is that we don't harbor ill will. We look at the anger, we use the energy of the anger to say, okay, what's going on? How can I face this? This is difficult, this noble truth of sadness. It hurts. Sometimes we need to take a break. Sometimes we need to go for a walk in the woods or listen to music. watch an entertaining movie or, I don't know, whatever it is that brings you some relief. We need to be kind and pace ourselves.

[15:47]

It doesn't mean immersing yourself in sadness. It means just being upright in the middle of it. But I think this samadhi of all beings allows us to actually be present with it and be able to look at it and talk together about it. And so that is what I feel is the function of sangha, that we can look at this together. We face the wall not to keep things out, not to run away from the difficulties and sadness and pain and confusion and greed of our world, but to, the wall is a window. The wall is a mirror. It shows us ourselves. It shows us all beings as ourselves.

[16:49]

And we can give ourselves to that. Or we can allow it to give itself to us. So this connection in time the samadhi of all beings as all time right now, we do recognize, you know, so-called other times, the future and how will that be, and we can fear for that, the past and things that happen that, you know, have impact on how we are now. How can we look at that freshly and connect with that?

[17:51]

see that reality in our presence and respond. From a place of dignity, from a place of uprightness, not from a place of knowing, you know, it's not about knowing the answers, we don't know the answers. We can't control, we can't fix it. I mean, sometimes we can fix something, How can we just give our best uprightness and kindness and generosity? So, that's what I'm thinking about after this past month with all the stuff going on. Any responses? questions or comments or reflections, please feel free. Akusho.

[18:57]

Yes, good. One is the most objective and sanctity knowledge, and the other one is the most objective and intimate one. The singular distinction is the abjection. And distract me as you're talking about it. I'm not separate from this.

[20:13]

So it seems like something that this practice can offer. And I've been trying it recently, which is why I was thinking of it today. When I'm reading some news, there's some sort of, something tragic or heartening. And I'm recognizing that to allow myself to most actually sit with that and see what Yeah, and people come to Zazen or meditation or spiritual practice as a kind of escape, as a sanctuary, as wanting to not have to deal with this reality of sadness in the world. But I don't think that really works, you know.

[21:16]

Long term, we can try and do that, but really, we have to feel what we feel. So I think this samadhi of all being is to actually, when we hear what's going on and people spreading hate and people wanting to get rid of other people or whatever, and the brutality and so forth, to allow ourselves to feel it in some way in ourselves, I think helps. I think it's more real. And then, okay, what do we do with that? Well, it takes a while to feel how we can respond. But part of the practice is to become sensitized, tenderized to what it's like to be in this world. So thank you, yeah.

[22:18]

Yes, Ben. So, Teigen, thanks for your talk. When you were talking about connections through space and time and the First Noble Truth, I thought of an experience that I just had. I just got back from almost four weeks in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to host the Summer Olympics, starting the opening ceremony this Friday. And I was spending a lot of time looking at a couple of parts of the city that were affected by redevelopment because of the Olympics. And I spent a bunch of time in the port area, which is not where any events are going to happen, but where they're going to have a bunch of live, free celebrations. Millions of dollars have been spent on renovating the port area. They have a beautiful new art museum, a fantastic museum called the Museum of Tomorrow, which is built by Santiago Calatrava, the famous Spanish architect. And just 500 feet away, when they were doing the construction to redevelop the port, they discovered the ruins of the Valongo Wharf.

[23:32]

The Valongo Wharf, in the beginning of the 1800s, was the wharf where enslaved Africans were disembarked. Brazil absorbed more enslaved Africans than any other country in the world. the Walonga War for the first two decades of the 1800s, maybe as many as a million enslaved Africans landed there. Rio was the largest slave trading city in the world at that point. And these ruins, they wouldn't even have found them if they hadn't been doing this construction. And then about a 10-minute walk further north from there, There's a place where some people were rebuilding their home and they dumped down into their foundation. And this was just in the late 90s. And they came across a bunch of human remains. And they discovered one of the largest mass graves in the Americas. It was a place where Africans who hadn't survived the crossing were buried.

[24:36]

They think 20,000 to 30,000 Africans were dumped in this mass grave. So for me it was striking how there was this immense effort put into celebrating tomorrow and celebrating togetherness and only lip service really being given to thinking about the the painful past that a lot of the present was built upon. And I really enjoy the Olympics. I think there are a lot of things to celebrate about it. It's this moment where a lot of amateur athletes who've been working their whole lives get to compete on a global stage. And I think it's going to be hard for me But I think the First Noble Truth kind of tells us to do this, to watch that and in the midst of the joy also acknowledge the suffering that was there and the suffering that continues to be there.

[25:47]

So thanks. Yeah. Just to be able to, so thank you for telling us that so we can know that also. So some of you might be upset with Ben for telling us about that. Maybe you've ruined the Olympics for some people here, but, you know, this is reality. And it's got, you know, the wonderful athletes, and it's got the depth of, you know, again, I think it's a noble truth because it's possible to sit, to be upright with this. And it's sad. Yes, Francisco. Louder. And yes, I'm mentioning African-American slaves in this country, but we should also,

[27:31]

But yes, but also here we should acknowledge Native American people. I guess the Potawatomi in this place who aren't here now. Although there's a member of our sangha who's descended from Potawatomi. Yeah. Thank you. So other reflections, comments, responses? Yes, Jerry. So people thought because they could miss them, they would be safe and protect their lives, but that's not what Jamaica means to them.

[28:45]

And it's terrifying, it's ridiculous. And when I saw that, I just wanted to cry. And I honestly wanted to cheer. That was a function of a law that was just passed, bipartisan law. Both parties in Congress passed a law to put in a, I don't know what the technical term is, somebody to control Puerto Rico. And basically, it meant turning it over to, because they're in debt, turning it over to the people who are going to turn over the beaches to developers and it's very bad for the Puerto Rican people. This is what's happening.

[29:49]

And knowing about it, you know, so I'll just put in a word for the Black Lives Matter movement. There are popular movements, and there's a popular climate movement also, that are trying to respond to damage that's being done. The Black Lives Matter movement has been basically nonviolent. Of course, there are always people acting out, but anyway. So there are lots and lots and lots of people responding to the sadness by trying to do things that might make a difference and might help. Yes, Dave. Both related to the Black Lives Matter movement and the feminist talk about the real, about keeping the, seeing the balance of the tragic things police would bring oftentimes black men to this location.

[31:15]

It's kind of like a Guantanamo Bay sort of scenario. for various crimes. And this square, this was active for many, many years, up until maybe a year or two ago when a Guardian article was published on it. So there's that side of it, which the karma of it is still very traumatic for the city. But in response to that, there has So in front of it? So there's still prisoners inside being... I don't think anyone's there, but it's calling attention to the fact that this place exists.

[32:39]

So the prisoners were released. I know about it, but I haven't followed the current. Yeah, I don't think anyone's being currently held there. Oh, good. I think the purpose of this occupation is to call attention to the fact that this place exists and is part of Chicago's history. And it is also, I think, specifically, there's a sergeant who the people that are there are wanting case where there was a murder of a black man in Chicago, and the detail of the officer's accountability in this murder, they want that report released, as well as an initiative that's, I think, in the legislation that we're running now for Blue Line Center, which is basically going to be an ordinance that can say that any protests It's a tent city of people who are making a library and just living together and meeting each other and creating a community there.

[34:03]

Just to call attention to it. Thank you for telling us. That's the place where you went to get your wallet? Yeah, yeah. It was in a tent city about half a days ago. So all kinds of things are happening. Yes, Mike, hi. Please, speak up, please. like a grandfather.

[35:27]

And since that happened, I've been sort of wondering how I personally participate in Good, and that brings us to the real point, which we had a Meditation for Activists workshop here a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago, and there was a fellow who was a, was he a Catholic? It was some kind of Christian minister. And he said that he had gone to a service where the minister had said that he was a recovering racist.

[37:45]

And so I say I'm a recovering racist. And I think part of sitting in a room I don't know for Brazilians or people from other countries, but for, I don't know, for Americans, I think maybe we have to look, are we all, in some ways, recovering racists? Okay, so maybe everybody in the world, whatever race we are, we're all recovering racists. And this is the real noble truth, that we can say that, that we can look at that. And, you know, I was raised in the 50s and I, you know, had people, had black African-American people come and work at my house. And, you know, I don't think I thought of them poorly, but we have that sense of things being in this country.

[38:50]

So just to acknowledge that, that that's a possibility, then none of us are right. None of us have all the answers. And to look at that. Yes, Hakusha. Yeah. We're all working on this problem of how to be human. So good. We all have some work to do.

[39:53]

So let's close with the four bodhisattva vows. Beings are numberless. I vow to free them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. The blue's way is unsurpassable. I vow to realize it. Beings are numberless. I vow to free them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them, and Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them, but this way is unsurpassable.

[40:59]

I vow to realize it. and beings are numberless. I vow to free them, and delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them, and armageds are boundless. I vow to enter them, When Buddha's way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.

[41:32]

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