Bodhisattva full moon ceremony last night together listening to the voices of the world listening to our voices In a dim, evening light. Finding our way into a somewhat familiar but mostly unfamiliar space together. Forming that space through our intention. And our bodily intention. And in particular our bowing.

[01:01]

And bowing may have a feeling to set the self aside and enter into wholeness. It's kind of like we throw ourself onto the floor. And we may get up as a different self. Dogen Zenji says, to carry the self forward is delusion. To allow the myriad things to come forward and authenticate and cultivate themselves. It's a kind of awakening. To carry the self forward means to carry our ideas of who we take ourselves to be forward.

[02:26]

And as we're able to loosen our grip on who we take ourselves to be, and as we're able to loosen our grip on who we take ourselves to be, To enter each moment this way. We may find we can meet ourselves in everything. If we don't have such a fixed idea of who we are. We can have some feeling of each person we meet as. And can we have a feeling for every person we meet that this is also us?

[03:43]

So when we talk about things like saving all beings in the ceremony, it means to be not separate from all beings. It means the possibility that we can see one another in all beings. And making a ceremony together and such a way may begin for each of us to give a shape and form to this possibility possibility of shaping a space beyond Our habits and views and preferences.

[04:49]

Meeting ourselves in a kind of wild, mysterious unknowingness of each appearance, each situation. So a verse inspired by my great good Dharma friend Jane Hirschfield. She says something like When I become quiet, the objects of my life draw near.

[05:50]

Shy. The napkin, the spoon, the white teacup. die serviette, der Löffel, die weiße Teetasse. And I may join with them in their circle of simple, passionate thusness. In ihrem Kreis So when I become quiet, when the habit energy of carrying myself, my ideas forward into the world all the time, relentlessly,

[07:06]

Wenn die Gewohnheitsenergie, mein Selbst, meine Vorstellungen ständig rücksichtslos immer wieder in die Welt vorauszutragen, begins even a small amount to diminish. Wenn das selbst nur ein ganz kleines Stück weit zurücktritt, space may open up in a different way. oder weniger wird, dann öffnet sich der Raum vielleicht auf eine andere Art und Weise. We may actually begin to hear our footsteps as we walk to the Zendo. We may actually be able to enter into the sound of the wind rustling the trees. Vielleicht sind wir dann sogar in der Lage, in den Klang des Windes einzutauchen, wie er in den Blättern raschelt.

[08:08]

Vielleicht fangen wir dann an, und das ist ganz besonders wichtig, zu bemerken, wie viel Lärm wir in unserem Kopf die ganze Zeit über machen. The noise that doesn't allow us to hear something as simple as the wind in the trees. Because we're so caught up in the roaring stream of all our ideas, all our thinking, all the noise that's going on inside us. And I say it's extremely important because until we notice how much noise is going on inside us we can't begin to really hear. Because we're constantly appropriating things and making them our own.

[09:33]

It's our idea about the wind. So one of the great things about the cane that I carry It makes noise. Helps me to walk. Medicine that Otmar brought today helps me to walk a little better. I may not need it as much. Until the medicine wears off. Until the medicine wears off. So how many noises can I make with this cake? It's fantastic. Last night I felt a determined noise. This morning in the Jundo, I made an effort to make a harmonizing, non-interfering noise.

[10:53]

habe ich mir Mühe gegeben, ein harmonisierendes, nicht eingreifendes Geräusch zu machen. Den Klängen der Welt zuzuhören. Die Art, in der sie vielleicht unser Lied singen. Wenn ich still werde, Evening opening up that in space where the world can come forward in our experience. The point of reference is in between. is about being in the midst of our life activity, not in the midst of our idea about it.

[12:18]

So as I become quiet, the objects, as Jane says, the objects of my life Come near. When I stop making the effort to see the world in terms of my ideas, my views, my beliefs, Things can begin to come forward. And she says shy. The kind of silence, the kind of space that she's bringing our attention to. Die Art von Stille, die Art von Raum, zu dem sie unsere Aufmerksamkeit bringt.

[13:36]

Können wir eigentlich nicht erschaffen. Weil wenn wir das erschaffen, nach einer bestimmten Vorstellung, die wir davon haben, dann ist es wieder das Selbst voranzutragen. So shy means aware but what is sometimes called a choiceless awareness. A non-interfering kind of observer. And we can't will it or wish it or make it happen. As much as we can begin to open up some space for it. And Suzuki Roshi didn't talk very much about stillness or silence. He talked about calmness.

[14:54]

So he talked about calmness. Sometimes he talked about a bottomless calmness. There's a verse hearing the bird, and when the bird is singing, I find the mountain calmness. It means I can enter into the realm of calmness. I can begin to hear the stillness and silence.

[16:23]

It's a little bit like the sound of the refrigerator is constantly running in the background. And then it shuts off. And we realize the stillness and calmness of that space. And we realize the stillness and calmness of that space. And we can begin with attention to our breath and posture. How we take care of the space that we're continually shaping. space in between the units of activity that we're aware of.

[17:38]

Where the world may continually come forward and inform and enrich us. Wo die Welt fortwährend hervortreten kann und uns informieren und bereichern kann. And each object, each moment, each appearance can provide this opportunity. Und jeder Gegenstand, jeder Moment, jede Erscheinung kann diese Gelegenheit geben. A napkin. Eine serviette. A spoon. Ein Löffel. a white teatasse, can invite us to join in what she calls the circle of simple, passionate thusness. It's the feeling

[18:41]

energetic engagement in the midst of our zazen practice. So why do we sit to listen to a talk like this? Why do we sit cross-legged? Why do I sit Cross-leggedly, non-cross-legged. Because it increases the surface areas of our attention. It means we can listen with our shoulders and our chin and our neck, not just our thinking. So posture and breath are something we're continually aiming at.

[20:00]

Haltung und Atem sind etwas, worauf wir fortwährend abzielen. Wir finden unsere Haltung immer wieder neu. Lassen uns auf eine Art Stille ein. And again, it can't be forced. But it can be invited. It can be welcomed. It can be cared for with our attention. With our openness and unknowingness. So we say in the temple, there are times when we don't talk, when we're silent.

[21:26]

Some of you know another good friend of mine, David Chadwick. David was here for several months. And David, he is a force of nature. He was the head of the guest dining room at Tassajara. And some people used to call Tassajara Chadwick's place. And he would do absolutely everything with the guests. Smoke, drink, other things I don't want to talk about. And he was in a completely Bodhisattvic way. But it created a lot of trouble for David.

[22:38]

And sometimes others. So there was a period, Baker Oshie said to David, you can't speak a word for six months. Und dann gab es so eine Zeitspanne, da hat Baker Roshi zu David gesagt, du darfst jetzt sechs Monate lang kein Wort mehr reden. It's inconceivable to think about David not speaking constantly. Und das ist unvorstellbar, sich den David vorzustellen, wenn er gerade mal nicht ununterbrochen wie ein Wasserfall redet. And he didn't speak a word for six months. Und er hat dann sechs Monate lang kein Wort gesprochen. But he'd come in the room and you could feel how loud his thinking was and his speech was inside himself, how he gesticulated, the facial gestures. He was talking all the time, even though he was silent. So what he didn't do was enter the space of silence. He followed the letter of the spirit of silence.

[23:41]

It sounds so good in German. Wow. So not speaking after Zazen in the evening until after breakfast in the morning, it feels like such a gift to have that time of silence. But maybe we have to say something. Can we say it with a feeling of being quiet, if not sound? Can we keep the feeling of this silence throughout the day, even when we speak? In our different workplaces.

[25:05]

in our different areas of work. Without it being a rule that we observe, ignoring the spirit of why we're developing this realm of calmness. Without it being a rule that we follow, but developing this spirit, this spirit of calmness. To truly be open to the circle of simple, passionate thusness of an object like a spoon or a napkin or a white teacup. Offen zu sein für die einfache Präsenz eines Objekts wie einem Löffel oder einer weißen Teeschale oder einer Serviette.

[26:20]

passionate thusness of finding our way together in a dark room with a ceremony many of us are never familiar with and may never understand. Die leidenschaftliche Besuchheit, wenn wir uns gemeinsam in einem Raum wiederfinden, inmitten einer Zeremonie, mit der die meisten von uns nicht vertraut sind und die viele von uns vielleicht nie begreifen werden. The Japanese word for silence, one word for silence, is mokurai. Moku means silence. And rai is thunder. So silence is, in Japanese, silent thundering. Stille im japanischen bedeutet stilles donnern, stiller donner.

[27:46]

It's the passionate engagement in shaping the space as stillness. Es ist das leidenschaftliche sich einlassen, den Raum als stille zu formen. Leading with a still body. Mit einem stillen Körper zu führen. Still body leading to still speech. Still speech leading to a still mind. But as we're all aware, our body is completely not still. The roaring of blood and our vital fluids. The dynamism of our nerves, our nervous system.

[28:47]

There's so much happening when we're even sitting what appears to be upright and quite still. And yet this experience of calming to sitting Not sitting down, but coming to the posture of sitting, finding the posture of sitting. Finding a verticality as well as a horizontality in our posture. continually aiming at posture, aiming at breath, aiming at continually generating and aiming at a realm of calmness. Abzielen darauf, fortwährend hervorzubringen und einen Bereich der Ruhe hervorzubringen.

[30:31]

So gut uns das möglich ist. Not to interfere with ourselves. Not to add something to each situation. Becoming quiet. allowing the objects of our life to draw near allowing one another to draw near allowing ourselves to draw near From this place, Zazen is the ritual expression of the fact that we can truly be who we are.

[32:09]

Aus dieser Sichtweise ist Sarsen der rituelle Ausdruck dafür, dass wir wahrhaftig sein können, wer wir sind. Ruhe jenseits von Ruhe. Ruhe jenseits von Ruhe. Thank you all very much. with our intention to equalize every being and every place.

[33:13]

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