Good evening. Welcome. So, yesterday morning we had an assembly talking about some of the transitions in our Sangha community. So, I want to talk tonight generally about Sangha. Some of you were here yesterday and some weren't, but that's okay. So, I want to talk about Sangha in various ways and then hopefully have some more discussion. So, Sangha is one of the three jewels or the refuges in Buddhism. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These are also our first three precepts. The three jewels are Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And our first three precepts to take refuge,

[01:06]

to return home, to support and be supported by Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Buddha is, well, there's the historical Buddha who lived in the south, northeastern India, Nepal, about 500 years ago. But Buddha also just means the awakened one. So, it's about the awakenedness, the wokeness, is a current expression of each of us on our seats here and online and everywhere else. So, Buddha is that reality of awakening. That is everything and everyone. Dharma is the truth or the teaching about this reality. And we have vast libraries of Dharma or teaching about in Buddhist traditions.

[02:08]

But Dharma is also about the teaching available in the south of the Chakras around Jacinda and in the lake and on the streets. Anyway, the teaching is wide and vast. So, the third jewel is Sangha. And Sangha means community. So, it refers to specific communities. Like this community is called Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. And all of you are part of it. And also, it's the principle of community and communion of all practitioners and all beings. So, this is the third jewel. And it's a jewel because it supports us. It supports our practice. And we support it and each other. So, about Sangha,

[03:11]

well, how do we support each other? How do we take care of this Sangha? So, this is what we were talking about yesterday morning. And all of us participating in that, just by being present, whether you're online or here in this presenter, just being present supports everybody else who's here. So, we all benefit from, we all are supported by, and we all have a responsibility to Sangha. So, Sangha, you know, in the sense of just this particular community, there are lots of things that we can do to support Sangha. Again, just being present, inhaling and exhaling, sharing that with each other

[04:15]

is Sangha support. But also, there are particular responsibilities that we can take on. So, there are the jobs in the Zen Dojo, people who come to the Zen Dojo. There's the technical job, there's the do-a-lot job, the healthcare job, the person who leads the service. Even for newer people, and part of what makes Sangha alive, what makes this Sangha alive is that we have a lot more new people and young people, and that's wonderful. And so, people who come to this presenter can talk to Jerry, who's our email at the meditation hall, about if you're interested in doing some of those jobs, well, you need to do that.

[05:18]

There's also support jobs. So, we have a board, an elective board, that is responsible for managing the administrative functions. We also have practice leaders who are available to the public, teachers. And there are board committees that you can help with people online who can't get to this person. So, everybody can help with that. We have jobs that are needed. Some of the committees, for example, there's a Sangha care committee, there's a more promotions committee, which is very important to let people know about our special events and our regular events. And there's a fundraising committee, and we certainly stopped with that. So, this is a particular Sangha,

[06:25]

the Ancient Dragons Zen Gate Sangha, and you are all part of it because you're here tonight. We're here for the first time. So, Sangha is particular communities, but also Sangha is the principle of community. So, in some sense, in this Bodhisattva practice we do, where we are practicing for the sake of awakening all beings, not just Buddhists, not just Americans or whatever, all of us. In that sense, Sangha is about the community of all people, the community of all practitioners,

[07:29]

the community of all beings. Sangha includes, as I see it, the lake and the trees and the sidewalks and pastures and prairies, forest lands around Chicagoland. There's a danger in Sangha. That particular Sangha can become an insulator. If we think that it's just about us. So, we're part of the branching streams collection of Sangha, part of other groups who are connected with Japanese Soto school, connected with the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and all American Soto Zen Sanghas. But, you know, at the San Francisco Zen Center, well, I don't know if this is true anymore. So, back in the old days, when Peter Failly was

[08:35]

recently talking about what Bodhisattva talks about sometimes, there was a sense of Zen, if you said Zen Center, I meant San Francisco Zen Center. Of course, now, I don't know if they still, I think there's still a tendency for people in San Francisco that hear Zen Center and San Francisco Zen Center, but there's actually many Zen groups. This is a Zen gate, not a Zen Center, but anyway, there are many, many Zen groups. And one part of that is the branching streams, which is all of the different groups that are connected or affiliated with Suzuki Roshi lineage, San Francisco Zen Center. So, there's going to be a branching stream conference in September, happens every couple of years. Douglas, Ruben, and Wade, our Board Chair and President will be attending that on our behalf. They'll be out in Santa Cruz

[09:41]

area. So, Sangha actually is about networks, that, you know, we take care of this particular community, but we're related, we're interconnected with other Sanghas. So, some of the people in this Sangha have gone and done practices at Milwaukee Zen Center, or Hokyoji, which is right, it's a Minnesota Sangha, or a friend and translation collaborator from the Morris Assumption Sangha in Indiana. So, Sangha is about this principle of interrelation. And each of us in this room or online now is interrelated and interdependent and connected. So, again, there was, in the old days of San Francisco Zen Center, people weren't so welcoming. If you came to the door of San

[10:44]

Francisco Zen Center City Center and knocked on the door, somebody would come to the door and open the door and say, what do you want, or something like that. I'm exaggerating only a little. I don't think it's that way anymore. I don't know, I haven't been there in a while. But since I moved here, beginning of 2007, with Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, I've encouraged welcoming. So, Sangha is about welcoming. Welcoming people who show up, whenever they show up, new people, or people who haven't been around for a while but have come again. So, how to welcome all beings, actually. Sangha means that in our practice, we're welcoming all beings. So, our fundamental practice

[11:47]

in this branch of Buddhism is Zazen, just sitting, sitting meditation. And when you are sitting, quietly and upright, we also have to welcome all beings, all the thoughts and feelings. All the people that you've ever known are part of what is happening on the machine, but you shouldn't. So, do what she used to say, to welcome all your thoughts, but don't invite them for tea. So, we don't have to get hung up on all the beings that are present on our seat, but we welcome them. We're connected with them. We are part of them. So, this is rather elaborate, and it's, you know, one of the images of Sangha is from the flower ornament sutra, the Tamsaka Sutra that we chant here once a month, and it's called Indra's Net, that the whole of the universe is a network, and in each

[12:58]

mesh where the nets meet, there's a jewel, and each jewel reflects the light from the jewels around it, and then around them. And so, each jewel reflects the light of the whole universe. This is an image of Sangha. We're all deeply, deeply connected to every one we've ever known, including the people we've forgotten, somebody you met at a party 10 years ago or whatever. Everybody we've ever met is part of what is sitting right on the machine. So, how do we include all beings? So, I want to, so, you know, basically this is welcoming, and also taking responsibility for, well, we are going to chant the four bodhisattva vows at the end, where we say we free, we vow to free all beings, and that's one of these inconceivable vows. It doesn't,

[14:00]

you know, if we think of all the difficult people, let alone all the other beings, the spiders, the fish, and the lake, and the birds, and anyway, all beings, our practice is about all beings in a radical way. It doesn't mean we have to go out and convert them, get them to satsang, or understand this, or think of it. It's just that we acknowledge this network of being that we is. So, sangha is complicated. It means we're connecting with each other, and it means that we're supporting each other, and we're being supported by each other,

[15:01]

and, you know, the people in quote-unquote Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, which includes everybody here, and everybody who has been in this room, and everybody who has taught this online, and, you know, and sometimes, you know, people who are our practice companions in sangha, people we might not ever, you know, have anything to do with, otherwise, even sometimes people who irritate us, you know. It's about being a spiritual friend, but that doesn't mean that we have to be, you know, from the beginning like everybody. It doesn't mean we have to dislike anybody either, but just, you know, it's about something much more fundamental. It's about our commitment to practice for and with all beings. And this is complicated, practically speaking, but that's what our practice is about. So, at our meeting yesterday, I mentioned

[16:09]

that I had been to the World Parliament of Religions, which was here in Chicago for the last week, a couple days ago, and, you know, we're living in a difficult world. So, part of the theme of this Parliament of Religions conference was to help heal the world, to to help all beings. And there's a global ethic, and, you know, this includes things like commitment to a culture of non-violence in respect to the life, commitment to a culture of solidarity and justice, commitment to a culture of tolerance and the life of truthfulness, commitment to the culture of equal rights and partnership between rich people, between men

[17:18]

and women, also between classes. So, yeah, a commitment to a culture of sustainability and care for the earth. So, there was a large part of the conference was about climate. So, as Bodhisattva practitioners, we pay attention to what's going on in the world around us, as well as taking care of a particular zone. So, taking care of, as we talked about yesterday morning, taking care of just ancient dragons and gates is complicated and difficult and wonderful too. We have a wonderful sun, so many wonderful people, people doing all kinds of helpful activity in the world, doctors, lawyers, grade school teachers, grad school teachers, many chaplains, well, anyway, people working in the city, helping them that way. So, how do we help the

[18:22]

beings of the world is a fundamental practice question. That includes how do we take care of ourselves? Because we benefit from this practice, each of us, in our own way, in ways that we can't necessarily monitor or even notice, but to be up, to do the practice of sitting upright and paying attention, breathing, enjoying ourselves, just being present in our body, in our lives, doing that regularly is transformative in ways that we don't necessarily see. How do we help our beings? So, I mentioned yesterday, you know, that actually David Warner brought it up, how do we help, you know, work in the world? And we have, our saga has done work together in the world at times,

[19:24]

helping in soup kitchens, sitting in a valley years ago, downtown, there are many things to be done. So, you know, this Parliament I went to just a little, just a couple days ago, but there was one group that I attended of faith people through many different religions. So, this Parliament included any kind, any religious issue you can imagine, Baha'i people, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and anyway, but how do we take care of each other? So, there was a group of faith leaders who are working actively in the United Nations, with the United Nations, trying to encourage response to climate damage. And very skillful people. It was interesting. I also went to a panel led by Bishop William Smith, who's been

[20:29]

working for a long time to increase awareness of nuclear weapons, and to try to limit and actually abolish nuclear weapons. So, there are all kinds of things to do in the world. And that people in our Sangha will do some of these. And what the feeling yesterday was, well, we have enough to do right now just to take care of this Sangha itself, with all its transitions. We could talk about more if you'd like, but also just to be, without necessarily having any programs, just to be aware of all of the suffering in the world. This is important now in our time, because we have powerful politicians who promote who promote policies of cruelty, as opposed to policies of caring. And there is

[21:35]

politicians who are promoting persecution of particular groups of people. Of course, Muslims and Blacks, but more especially LGBT people, are being persecuted in some states, actively. So, okay, what does this Little Orange and Dragon Zen Gate group have to do with that? Well, just to be aware of it. Awareness changes things. Just to support each other, to welcome people from any marginalized group. Part of, there's a wonderful teaching from Thomas Norton, a great Catholic teacher who died visiting Asia, and started talking with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist leaders, who was electrocuted. But he talks about what is a monk. So, he was a Catholic monk. But I think, and we've talked about this here,

[22:47]

in American Zen, we're all like people. Even those of us who are priests, or lay priests, committed to not eating after noon, or not touching money, or celibacy, or some of the things that monks are committed to. But dedicated practitioners, as Thomas Norton said, are marginalized people. We live in the margins. We recognize that all beings, all people, are part of the ultimate community, what we call Sangha. So, how do we be strong, and recognize, and welcome, and be welcomed? So, Norton says, these practitioners understand the need to love and to be loved. So, anyway, this is

[23:56]

this is what this practice is actually about. And as Sangha, we come together to try and support each other to do this. So, maybe I've said it enough. But again, this Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are called the free refugees, which means we come home to Buddha. We return to our basic awakeness in Buddha. We return to basic reality of Dharma, and we return to community. And one of the things about our country and our culture is that there's not so much sense of community. They're not communities. So, in some sense, Sanghas, like Ancient Dragons Zen Gate, and the Lothi Zen Center, and Sanxing, and other Sanghas, are refugees. We can be an island insanity

[25:05]

in a world and culture that is full of cruelty. So, our practice is about kindness and caring. And we have lots of Dharma. We have lots of Dharma books to study, but the point of that is just to help support our practice. So, I could keep that one, but I will stop and welcome your comments about Sangha, or this Sangha, or follow-ups, discussions, or anything. So, please share your perspectives from the participants' questions. So, you can just raise your hand. I can see all of you, because it's dark back there. Wait, let me turn that light a little bit. Sure. That is the

[26:06]

people at Lothi Institute. So, comments, questions, responses, please. Wait. So, I've been practicing for a few years now, and it's difficult to overstate the way that it's changed my life. It just really, truly changed my life. And that would not have happened without the Sangha. You know, if there had been just the Dharma and the Udamsa, maybe I would have read some books and enjoyed them. But it would not have happened without Sangha. Maybe it would have happened with a different one, but it didn't. It happened with the Sangha. It's hard for me to fully express my gratitude. Thank you, Rui. Well, Rui is expressing his gratitude,

[27:17]

particularly on the difficult, challenging job as President and Board Chair of the Sangha. But there's lots of other ways that any one of you can express your gratitude for the Udamsa and for the community. So, you know, Thich Nhat Hanh, I think, said that in the coming period, the Buddha will be Sangha. But Sangha is how we really connect with these Udamsa. Other comments, responses? Dylan, go ahead. Hey, so I wanted to touch on, like, liking or not liking people in the Sangha. I don't think it's about liking or disliking anybody in Sangha. I think

[28:29]

Sangha is about actively searching for, in your interactions with everybody, how awakening is expressed by everybody differently. And being open to hard learning from everybody and being flexible to be wrong sometimes and gracefully be wrong and to see, um, be ready for people to change you or for there to be change that happens through relationships, I guess is probably a better way to put it. And when you can feel

[29:36]

the mutual aid in a relationship with somebody, whether that be in a spiritual context or not, when you can feel that in your heart to trust that and to plant seeds in that garden. Thank you. So we all rub off on each other in different ways. And we learn from each other who me is, who we are, is transformed by being present with everybody else. Yes. I think through Sangha is about having someone to sit with. I mean, we can all go home and sit by ourselves and have wonderful meditation practices.

[30:41]

But sitting with other people is a whole different thing to do. And it brings a sort of normalcy to me, a sense of, oh, yeah, other people know what I know. I don't feel so, I don't know, isolated, I suppose. Or I'm like, you're the only one out there doing this. It gives you a real sense of having a connection with other people. So it's a really, it's one of the nice benefits of Sangha. Thank you. Yeah. This is a kind of radical practice. Where else in our culture can people, there are some other places where people can just go and sit together, breathe the same air, in the neck, reach down. I have to say, although, you know, after the formal sitting, we can talk about TM3s in the kitchen after this. How do we do this together?

[31:51]

Other comments or reflections? Testimonials or follow-ups? Yes, Hannah. Um, I really appreciate the, like, type of welcoming that is present here. It's been a while since I've been able to sit with the group. And from here, I recently moved back and I tried one other meditation that was distinctly not welcoming. It was quizzed upon arrival for my meditation credentials. Oh my gosh, you don't have credentials? Safe to say I did not return. And so I just, you know, it's a very fortunate Dharma talk for today, personally. So thank you for making kind of a statement of your,

[32:59]

of your welcoming, of your stance on Sangha. Can I ask you a favor, Hannah? Sure. Please check out our website. Please come again. You can also come online in the morning. You know, there's, we have lots, lots, lots of programs, please join us. Thank you. Anybody else? Hi, I hope that's you. So I've been thinking a lot about our Sangha lately. This community, beloved community that we have. And I've especially been meditating on how intimacy is expressed here. And that, you know, we're 20 years old now.

[34:01]

So a lot of us have been together for a long time. You know, in any relationship, when you first walk in some place, you see someone, you often like fall in love or fall in dislike. You don't sound like that. But, you know, I love that person, you know. And inevitably, there's a little disappointment when we get to know each other. And that's what intimacy is actually about. It's finally people can drop into who they really are. And we find space for each other in that. And it's just been a really, you know, lovely thing. You know, there was some Zen story that does look like something like, teacher, why is it that intimacy feels like tantamount to? You know, when we get close,

[35:02]

we don't get what we want all the time. And so in Sangha, even, I don't care how our sitting actually is, but when we get up off the cushion, we hang out with each other. That's when we're practicing in this really deep way. So I just really appreciate that we can tolerate disappointment and then let go and see I think maybe what Dylan was talking about when he was saying searching for something that we actually just see. But it comes from this letting go of posturing, letting go of wanting somebody to be somebody else. And still figuring out how to be together some way. So I also want to say that today I was gardening, and on the sidewalk, there was what looked to be a dead cicada. And I picked it up, kind of gnarly looking thing, you know, I picked it up, and I was going to put it in some place next to a statue out there. And it got up and flew

[36:07]

away. So maybe that's what we heard. But this is that practice of taking care of things, whether it's nuclear weapon problems, or a cicada that smells dead. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any other last comments, questions, responses? So I think it was like my second night here, I was talking to Hougetsu. And we were talking about the effect of community on practice. And like, just something popped into my head. It's been like hanging around there, as it does. Since then, it's like, you know, when you're at home sitting by yourself, there's no one, there isn't even the illusion of accountability. Like, here, if I swallow too loud, I'm like, Oh, God, no.

[37:13]

I don't want to disturb anyone. Yeah, I'm sorry. And like, even that, just having people around, just being there is like, a very valuable thing. You know, everywhere we go, people are trying to mediate us on their terms, or get us to do what they want, or like, you know, manipulate us in some way. And here, we're just like, can you not swallow so loud? But like, one of the things that I really appreciate about song is like that increased accountability. Like, Oh, like, where were you last week? Were you sick? Is everything okay? Like, Oh, no, I was just lazy. Like, all of that. It's like, there's no judgment. It's just like, Oh, well, you know, whenever, whenever you're feeling better, like, come back. It's cool. And I just really appreciate that. Isha, I just wanted to, I think the conversation that's just stirred up a memory for me of a very

[38:27]

early sashimi that I went to, where it was a five day, and I'm out in a remote location. And it was sort of the break after lunch, you know, and the dish crews doing the dishes, and everyone else is sort of just sitting around this courtyard, really just sitting there. And it was so profound for me to be in a place where you didn't have to talk. I mean, you weren't supposed to talk, you didn't have to talk, you didn't have to entertain anybody, you didn't have to perform. And everybody just still stayed there. You know, I think it broke through some piece of me that was used to having to, you know, perform and entertain and achieve. And, and it was such a, such a moment of, you know, just letting go of something that I didn't even know I was holding on to, that it really just has continued to have such a profound effect on

[39:33]

me. And I am so appreciative of anyone who will just, you know, show up and stick around, even when it's, like, boring. And when I'm going, it's tough. The toughs, they sit down. Yeah. And they're just still sitting there. Well, I mean, we'll stop on that note. It's wonderful. Unless there's somebody else who wants to add something. Well, I guess when you brought up the song, it's been, everyone's basically said the two things that were on my mind, which was about, sort of, accountability, and then also, the, like, normalcy. I really appreciate that. We actually went to school together, and we were in choir and stuff together. And I remember, you go there, and the teacher was like, put your music down, and now we're going to sing. And we're all like, oh, no, no, no, I haven't memorized the lyrics yet. But it was that whole, like, you've never put it down yet,

[40:37]

so how can you tell if you've memorized it? There's a similar thing with song where you actually get to, there's that accountability, you're kind of like, okay, I don't want to move around this, all my, you know, other practitioners and stuff, but it actually gives you, like, kind of pushes you to, pushes you in practice to kind of, yeah, it's a similar thing. So that's, I really love that about it. And that, it seems, which is actually so, so beautiful, especially in this country. Yeah. Thank you. Can I ask you a favor? The next time you're in Chicago, come sit with us. And when you're back home in Michigan, we have other people who come to Michigan online. So you won't be alone. So check out our schedule,

[41:38]

and you're welcome to join online. These folks are some of these people in Chicago, it's not a very big distance. And so, please join us.

[41:49]

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