Good evening, everyone. Good evening. So this evening's talk is inspired by a talk I saw online by a Potawatomi teacher. It's also a scientist named Robin Wall Kimmerer, who wrote a wonderful book called Graded Sweetgrass. Probably some of you have heard. It's a wonderful book, which I've just started. But in her talk that I saw, she sort of challenged us. She was talking about how we feel, how we are separated from the natural world, from the natural landscape, and how we need stories that help us reconnect. restore our connection with a deep connection with the natural world.

[01:08]

Our relationship to the land is broken, we need to restore it and to restore it. So that got me thinking about stories. So I'm going to tell I have to apologize. I'm going to tell four stories tonight. I've tried to get to four stories tonight. And each of them I've talked about many times. Each of them could be a whole session or a whole practice period. I'm just going to mention them. A couple of them are from a Koan collection that we use in Soto Zen called the Book of Serenity. Cases and verses by Hongzhiang. There was a great teacher in China a century before Dogen brought this tradition to Japan in the 1200s. The first story is about building temples.

[02:11]

So it's very pertinent to us here at Ancient Dragon. And the story is that the world-honored one Shakyamuni was out walking with his assembly, and he pointed to the ground and he said, this place, this spot is good to build a temple. And Indra, emperor of the gods, who was one of the people in the assembly with Shakyamuni, took a blade of grass and stuck it in the ground and said, the temple is built. Shakyamuni Smart. So this is case four in the book of Serenity. And most of you know that we are in the process of purchasing or hoping to purchase a building in Lincoln Square North Center, Chicago for a long-term Suzuki Rush Lineage such as an

[03:20]

Temple in Chicago and the process is moving along. It's very complicated and intricate and Dylan Tarkoff and David Lay were both here have been extremely instrumental in making this possible. So to just take a blade of grass and stick it in the ground seems very simple compared to working with mortgage brokers and banks and All kinds of things. Nowadays. And yet. In some way. The story is important. Any space. Or many spaces. When he pointed to one particular space. This is a good spot. So how do we find. Good places to build temples. In our world today. So. So. This is a story about how there are many such places and how we are connected to the land and we are connected to all the blades of grass.

[04:31]

And each of these stories has a whole lot to it. I'm going to read Munger's verse commentary to this case that he did. And there's actually just one line that I want to talk about, but I'll read the whole verse the boundless spring on the hundred plants, picking up what comes to hand. He uses it knowingly. The 16-foot-tall golden body, a collection of virtuous qualities, casually leads him by the hand into the red dust. So how do we honor the red dust of this movement? able to be master in the dusts. From outside creation, a guest shows up. Everywhere, life is sufficient in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others. So everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, life is sufficient in its way.

[05:35]

Our planet provides birdsong, it provides trees, it provides grasses. It's also today providing kind of corrosive air that we can feel from the forests burning down up in Canada. So Honja says, from outside Croatia, I guess, I'm sorry. Is a new temple a guest? Is a blade of grass a guest? How do we welcome guests? How do we welcome that which is not what we expect, not what we've invited? How do we welcome change? How do we welcome and appreciate all the guests that show up, all the unexpected realities

[06:39]

of our land and our world. So everywhere is sufficient in its way and yet we point to a particular spot and say, this is a good place for example. So this is a simple and intricate process. How do we appreciate the land? how do we appreciate all the guests who show up? So that's one story. So again, I'm gonna tell four stories and invite you to also add stories that point us back to appreciating the world we live in, to appreciating the world of nature, to appreciating all the guests of the lakes and rivers and prairies and taking care of them.

[07:44]

So part of this showing up is that we take care of retailers. So that's one story. And again, I'm going to issue these stories we could talk about for months, but The next story is about a great Chinese teacher named Yunyang, who was the teacher of Dongshan, the founder of Xiaodong, or such as in China, in the 800s. And this is a story that many of you have heard me talk about many times before, but the story is Book of Serenity, Case 21. Yunyang sweeps the ground. So Yunyang was doing what temple residents do. We do it Sunday morning. We clean the temple.

[08:46]

We take care of the space. So Yunyang was sweeping the ground. And his brother, Mark Dawu, who happened to be his brother, Walked by and saw Yen-Yan sweeping away and said, too busy. And Yen-Yan said, you should know there's one who's not busy. So just that line is worth remembering, worth repeating, worth sitting with. You should know there's one who's not busy. And he sits outside just to reconnect with the one who's not busy. even though we live in a busy world where many of us are multitasking and taking care of all kinds of different things. And yet, how do we know there's one who's not busy? This is not separate from talking about appreciating the world of nature, appreciating our space and our place in this land and on this planet.

[09:55]

So Yonyan said he should know there's one who's not busy. And Yonyan said, you mean there's two rooms? And he thought, Dao said there's two rooms. His brother challenged him. And Yonyan held out his room and said, we should notice this. This is a wonderful story. You should know there's one who's not busy. Does that mean there are two rooms? Does that mean there are two realities? Does that mean there's the world where we sit quietly in Zaza and then there's a busy world out there where we're running around, going to work, dealing with all the different things, listening to the planes passing by? Are there two rooms? Are there two separate realities?

[10:59]

the one that's not busy, ultimate reality, and then the particulars, the phenomenal reality where we are busy. And Yanyan didn't take us either side. He just said, which one is this? How do we ask the land? Are you a story that separates us from you? Or are you a story that nourishes us? How do we take care of stories? How do we take care of our place in the world? You should know there's one who's not this. But are we making a separation when we know that? Are we saying there's two realities or there's a Buddhist teaching of two truths, but Our school is about integrating those two.

[12:03]

How do we bring our deep awareness that may arise during Zaza into all of the everyday stuff, trying to purchase a temple, trying to get someplace on time, trying to take care of our place in the world, So this is a great story and I would love it if any of you have questions about these stories or comments so we can do that in discussion or you can bring up other stories. The third story I want to mention in response to Romain Mortimer's challenge, how do we find stories that reconnect us to the land and the landscape? It's about the land and the landscape, and it's not exactly a Zen story, but it's not exactly not a Zen story. So in, for example, in his Mountains and Waters Sutra, Dogen, our great 13th century founder, talked about mountains walking

[13:16]

He talks various places about trees and lakes and how do we see them and are we separate from them? And do we imagine or do we know what this place is where we inhabit? So if we go over to Lake Michigan, do we... see this lake as water or do we recognize that fish see it as air and the dragons see it as great pavilions? How do we see the world around us? So these stories are stories about how we appreciate the land and the world and our world. So I'll mention a couple more books There's a book called The Overstory by Richard Powers, which is also read.

[14:25]

And it's about how forests are alive and intelligent. And there's a scientist named Suzanne Simard She's written another book called Finding the Mother Tree, Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. And I haven't started reading that book, but I saw a TED talk that she did. And the bottom line, the underworld, the undergrowth, the connectedness, is that under forest, there's this hyperisal network of fungus that connects trees. So we think of forests as dimensional. We think of forests as separate trees. But actually, forest is an intelligent living biosystem.

[15:28]

It's an intelligent sentient being. Because it turns out that through this network through this mycorrhizal undergrowth under the ground. We only see the things that are above the ground. We don't look at what's under the ground usually. But under the ground, there's this network of mycorrhizal strands going every which way and trees communicate with each other. They warn each other of dangers. And it's not just trees of the same species. Trees warn other trees. And they also share nutrition and nutrients. And Suzanne Samara talks about mother trees, that in this intricate network of mycorrhizal tendrils, there are hubs. There are trees that are hubs.

[16:29]

There are trees that are, she says, mother trees, where this communication network And it turns out, and she's done scientific experiments that prove this, that demonstrate this, that, and this is old news to some of you, but anyway, these mother trees actually pay attention to their offspring, other trees in the forest. They come about through their growth and nourish them, communicate. So, We think of a forest as a bunch of trees that we can clear cut and get and use the wood to build all the stuff that we want from it. But actually, forests are living networks, intelligent networks, intelligent beings who take care of each other, take care of all the different parts of the forest and share information, share new trees.

[17:33]

So this very much supports the kind of talking that Dogen did about how the world is alive. So again, this is a story that helps us see the world as alive. It helps us reconnect to the land and see that the land and the trees and the forests and the grasses and the birds are all alive. living together, that we are just a product of them. So the fourth story that I quickly remembered after hearing this challenge from this wonderful Potawatomi teacher, Ronald Kimmerer, is a story from the Lotus Sutra, one of our holy self-descriptions. Dogen has spoken about a lot.

[18:38]

And some of you have heard me talk about this story often. But Shakyamuni Buddha, about halfway through the sutra, well, up until then, he's been asking all the Bodhisattvas who are coming to listen to him, which of you, who of you will come and keep this sutra alive, keep this teaching, keep this practice alive in the distant future, evil age, and people have forgotten they're connected to the land. And at some point, some of the Bodhisattvas have come from a very distant world system and said, oh yeah, we'll come back, we'll come here and teach this sutra and teach this practice and help support Bodhisattvas in that future distant evil age which kind of was identified with our time, but many Mahayana practitioners have identified with their time.

[19:45]

Ichiren who lived in Dogen's time thought that he was in the future evil age anyway. So Shakyamuni then turns to these Bodhisattvas who were offering to come and he says, well, you know, you don't really need to. And again, he points to the ground. He doesn't say this is a good spot for a temple. He points to the ground and from out of the ground, from out of the open space under the ground, under the earth, spring forth thousands and thousands and millions of bodhisattvas, great bodhisattvas, wise, ancient, skilled bodhisattvas, who have been waiting in the earth, in the ground, in our ground, to come forth and help keep alive this way of caring for each other, like caring for the world, caring for the land, going beyond all the politicians calling for cruelty, speaking of caring and taking care of each other.

[20:55]

So this is clearly a story that speaks to Robin Wall Kimberler's call for stories that reconnect us to the ground, to the land, to our planet, to the world, to nature. So those are examples of several stories that Help us see how the world is alive. How the world is not just alive, but is supporting us in our practice, is supporting the whole world in practice, not just human beings. We can get very arrogant and think that human beings are the crown of creation, but actually the whole thing is alive, as these indigenous teachers show us. as these scientists, foresters show us. So, antennas are indicated in some of these ancient Bodhisattva stories.

[22:00]

So, how do we tell stories? How do we spread stories of good news, of all the possibilities there are on this planet, even with all of the damage that we know about that has happened, how do we see the underlying possibilities, the underlying values, the underlying caring support that is part of the nature of nature, that is how the world is beyond So I gave a brief summary of four stories that are all very deep and intricate and we could talk about a lot more.

[23:04]

But I want to invite you, if you have stories to tell that show us how we are deeply connected to the world, or questions or comments about any of these stories, please feel free. Hi. Can't resist, of course. Please, please, please. Don't resist. Don't resist. Come forth. Well, the first thing I would say about Robin Waldkummer The first book was called Gathering Moss, and she was the only writer I can think of that is such a compelling writer that a book about loss could get on the bestseller of the New York Times bestseller list. But she almost did not get into graduate school. She's a botanist. She's a published academic botanist. But she almost didn't get into graduate school because in her interview, she shocked and insulted the old woman who was interviewing her by talking about beauty.

[24:14]

And he dressed her down famously for bringing up such an insulting to an academic, to an academic worldview. concept and it took some doing that exact way that resolved but So here's a big news story my last drama talk. Uh, I was talking about my bird migration So now the migration for spring is over and now we're looking at nesting birds And so this week I visited three healing places that are recently being taken care of by people that had formerly, one is the U.S. Steelworks, way on the far south side, which is now on 70 acres and so, but Chicago Farms. One is a horse farm in Barrington, 400 acres. And one is a former forest preserve that just wasn't taken care of and now is being taken care of.

[25:23]

All of them are full of happily nesting grassland birds, which are among the... most endangered suite of creatures because they haven't had open grassland habitat because it's all been turned to foreign soybeans in our state, the prairie state. So that's been a wonderful, positive experience for me and very uplifting that we can take. But the U.S. still workplace in particular had been you know, U.S. Steel, so it's all slag. And then they dumped the dredgings from Lake Peoria. They trucked it up here and dumped that on. So we really, we abused it about as much as we could abuse a piece of land. And now it's filled with bottlings and sparrows and grasshoppers. So anyway, it's very uplifting, but. Thank you so much, Gretchen.

[26:27]

and Mount Gyoshin that works at restoring prairies, restoring wetlands. That story about the U.S. Steel reminds me of beating swords into plowshares. Or beating swords into prairies and estuaries. Wonderful example of a story. All of the many things that are happening that are encouraging to life. It's very important. Other stories or comments on some of the stories that I mentioned. Dylan. I have a story and a question. So the story is I saw this video a couple of days ago from this account that I follow called Wisdom Keepers. And I don't I don't know this person's name, but he was talking about the human relationship to trees.

[27:32]

And he he talks about getting going to get permission from the tree. uh and he said like when so he said he's uh he makes canoes uh or at least in the example he was talking about making canoes he said you know i go to the tree tree spirit and i i tell her like i'm going to cut down one of your children and the reason why is that i'm going to make this canoe that's going to help probably 40 or 50 people and i think that's a fair trade And like having a conversation with a tree before something like that happens, which I think even in the act of like cutting the tree down, To me, it feels like a story that reconnects because it's about taking responsibility for the relationship between human beings with the Earth.

[28:42]

And he also talked about making an offering with some kind of doing that exchange, saying, like, I'm going to make this canoe and I'd like to, you know, a little bit later on, come back and bring some seeds with me and plant some new trees so that you'll have new kids. And I feel good that that's fair trade and that'll be good for the future. And that having that actual conversation with the tree is a way to make... make that relationship explicit, you know, of what's happening. And I was really struck by that. And it made me feel connected to the earth. So that's the story. It's a great story. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Kimora talks about talking to trees. And yes, that's true. Yes, you had a question.

[29:50]

And my question is about the which moon is this question. And I wonder if. it's always both or neither, but that one side of it can be more visible depending on the circumstances that day or what you're seeing. I used to just, it feels like a trap to answer it being one or the other necessarily. I don't think he actually answers the question. I like the koan that ends with him asking, which one is this? And that's the end of the koan. Yes, it's a question. And maybe there are lots of answers. Yeah. So, you know, there's this teaching of features in Buddhism, but there's also this teaching of the concept of fourth form, dharma-dattu,

[30:59]

the relationship between the one who's not busy and practicing in the world. So we're a lay Sangha practicing in Chicago. We're not a residential Sangha. It's not yet. And yeah, how do we integrate? The point isn't to pick one or the other. That's why it's a brilliant story because there's a question. So Or is it just one moon? Are there two moons? There's a comment in the commentary to the story. It says, Montessori says there are many moons. So the particular planet we're living on, we only have one moon. But there are other planets right in our own solar system that have several moons. It's a question.

[32:01]

So if we try and get stuck on a particular answer, that's avoiding reality. If we insist on, oh, it's the moon of the ultimate universal, not busy, or it's the moon of taking care of all the stuff in the world, neither is the moon. How do we live with question? How do we look at the complexity of reality? How do we see that the trees are talking to each other? So, I hope you don't think that's the answer to your question. No, it makes me think that our practice is about being a question, that there's a spring, a launching pad for action in some way that is the actual way of living, whereas having an answer

[33:29]

It doesn't resolve anything. If we hold on to an answer, that kills the world. If we're living in a question, it's alive. And there are different possibilities. Do you have another comment? Well, I see Patrick is online. I don't know if you can hear me, Patrick. I don't see your picture, but I see that you're there. And Patrick is a member of our software who works for the Environmental Protection Agency. So Patrick, do you have any stories about protecting the environment? Can you hear me? I can hear you. Thank you for the offer. I... Trying to think of a story.

[34:34]

It's complicated. One thing to avoid, or that I try to avoid, when it comes to stories in my work, is only listening to my stories. One thing, just a little more background, I work in enforcement, so I do inspections, and then if there are violations, I send letters, and there's penalties, and coming up with settlements with... and it's very easy to fall into an adversarial story.

[35:37]

Um, and that, that causes a lot of problems. And so trying to, um, stay open and positive, um, Maybe not positive, but trying to stay open. I've had companies come in and in the case of one on the south side of Chicago, the company came in and said, we're actually no longer going to handle this product anymore. And that was the cause of all the violations. And we don't usually... proposed that kind of action. And so for the company to come to us and say, oh, yeah, that product that's causing all these problems, we're actually just going to avoid it and get rid of it and no longer handle it.

[36:42]

And it was shocking. I've never had a company essentially do the right thing So that sounds like a success story. It is. It is a success story. But in the sense that the company took it on themselves to do it without any of our involvement, but without our suggesting that route as the only option. Yeah. So it's interesting trying to stay open and not judgmental or predetermining or sort of boxing in companies is challenging, though. Yeah, thank you. Well, that's like Yuen Yen's question.

[37:45]

It's not. setting up an answer to oppose on the situation. It's opening up possibilities. Thank you. Other comments or stories about how we can connect with nature, with our world, with the liveliness of our world. What questions about any of the stories? Well, do you have any stories of your grade school students and how they connect to the world? Um? Well, last year, what comes to mind is last year, this was a year ago, you know, when the Ukraine war first started and in the spring, you know, it was very much on the kids' minds, especially with like their, you know, knowledge of Russia and knowing that Russia was this

[39:10]

generally they know that Russia is like a nuclear power. So I think they were pretty worried that like that could happen. So, you know, I can't remember if it was a teacher or if we saw somewhere that other students were doing this or if it was a student, but yeah, It was suggested that we go plant sunflowers in our garden. You know, we have little garden spaces around school. And so we did that. At first, actually, the kids suggested that we go around the school picking up trash and stuff. So we did that. That's good. Yeah, that was really good. They enjoyed that because we had those little pincher things. And so they really loved that. but then we planted these sunflowers and we did it toward the end of the year so when we came back in the fall of last year they were like massive and of course they went away during the winter but then I ran into a parent who's

[40:12]

runs the car like the gardening club and she said like now they've come back again and like they're one of the more persistent and resilient like plants in the school's garden so um yeah i like you know anytime the kids can get outside they just i wish there was more opportunity honestly because um but yeah they love it for sure yeah planting trees and planting flowers is certainly an action that connects us to the life of the world. Yeah. Actually, I wanted to give a big shout out I've been thinking a lot about Lake Michigan lately. And, you know, during the summer, I have an opportunity to kind of like be outside a lot more. And I've been like taking bike rides along the lake. And, you know, I just I don't know if we as citizens, I'm speaking for myself.

[41:17]

I don't know that I appreciate like sort of the vastness of it and that, you know, the power of it, but also that it's ability to give joy. That's so apparent in like being outside in the summer, like just the sheer amount of activity and happiness that it engenders, you know, being at the beach and watching kids and people like run into the water. It's pretty rare that anybody's going into the water and like, you know, like frowning, like everybody's laughing and smiling and stuff. And, and so I just, I appreciate, Also, there's kind of a funny relationship with the lake where it's cold and it's kind of foreboding, and I think that's kind of healthy to have both. But we have this massive parkway along the lake and the lake itself, so I really appreciate just Chicago's particular... Circumstance in that way, you know, and the happiness that that and and that the lake provides for the people of the city, you know, and just to, like, continue to notice that and pay attention.

[42:29]

Thank you. Thank you. So. You mentioned Hogetsu's project with the monarchs. Oh yes, please tell us about that. That's a wonderful story. Yeah, so Hogetsu and many of our fund members are away for a while, but Hogetsu's garden is such a wonderful thing to walk through when we come into the But she collected the eggs of monarch bird flies which were laid on the milkweeds in her garden, which she planted there for that purpose, and then hatched them in an enclosure so that they wouldn't get eaten. There are lots of predators that eat monarch eggs, so these that protected them and she of course put milkweed leaves in the enclosure so that when the eggs hatched the little caterpillars ate them and they grew and they grew and they grew and then just before she left

[43:37]

They did what caterpillars do. They transform into a chrysalid, which is a lovely little jade-looking structure. They're hanging at the top of the encroachers, which is out in the entryway. And magic is happening inside there. That's the scientific term. They will emerge as adult monarchs sometime in the next century. several days. And then we will release them back into the garden. They will continue their life cycle. So that's just a lovely story that we all get to be interested in. So when you walk in about Christmas, if you see an adult butterfly in there, if it's daytime and it's not raining, You should take it out to the yard and let it fly away.

[44:39]

If it's nighttime or in the working, don't do that, but let me know and someone will come and let it go at the perfect time. It should be released in the sun and shine. So it's fine if... you know, there's so many droughts. Anyway, it's a little bit of spirits for all of us. Thank you. Thank you. Will someone be checking it between now and next Sunday? Yeah. I think she also has some neighbors checking. Thank you, Kim, for taking care of that and for relating that to us. For people who don't know, there are 12 regular members of our Shamba who are Many of you will be here tonight, except they're in Tassajara Monastery, way back in the mountains, east of Big Sur in Monterey County, California, which is a wonderful place.

[45:44]

Lots of nature. Anyway, lots of nature everywhere. Many places are a good spot for a temple, unfortunately. So, it's about time to wind down. Unless anybody else has something they would like to say? Anyone? Okay, we'll close with a 4.27, and then I'll have an answer. Beings are numberless. We have to free them. Illusions are insoluble. We have to get through them. We. [...] Beings are numberless.

[46:50]

We vow to free them. Delusions are exhaustible. We vow to cut through them. Dormicates are boundless. We vow to nurture them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. We vow to realize it. Beings are numberless. We vow to free them. solutions are exhaustible. We vow to help through them. Don't keep some of them less. We vow to enter them with others' wisdoms repassable. We vow to realize them. Thank you all. So I have some announcements.

[47:52]

And first, I want to thank you, Kiyoshi, for wanting to mention beauty and beauty and science. And there's no reason why beauty can't emerge from science and vice versa. So I appreciate that story that both of you can remember. So upcoming events. Next Sunday is July 2nd, but it's close to July 4th, so I'll be talking about Interdependence Day and the state of our society in terms of liberty and pursuit of happiness and various aspects of that. A week from tonight, next Monday, from Cleveland, a board member, will be speaking. Sunday, the 9th of July, Paul Disko, who is our architect and consultant for our new temple, will be here in Chicago and will be speaking here.

[48:56]

So that's July 9th. Another guest speaker next month is Brooke Sabourin, who's a University of Chicago professor at one of the country's foremost scholars of Chinese Buddhism. He's spoken here before. And what they, in this coming month, Douglas and Kathy Bingham and Sophia will be speaking. And I'll just mention in August, August 13th, another Suzuki Roshi lineage teacher will be speaking today. online, Peter Coyote, who's also a military doctor and who's also a student teacher. And the other announcement is that there's the people here in, I think it's Brazil, that we will have tea and treats in the kitchen right after this. Any other announcements at any time? I have a question.

[50:00]

Yes. Is there a garden in the building? We're hoping that eventually we'll have a roof garden, but that's going to be a ways away. The back space is a very small space behind the building. Working at acquiring this building, it's not done yet, but it's in a great location. The building is basically in very good shape, although the roof is doing some work. um but it's a little small smaller than we talked for so it's a long-term project and eventually we will be uh expanding the temple into the center floor which is now a residential so uh anyway it's a long-term project and it's this is not about our near future it is just half a block from the big park on Montrose. So it's just a couple doors up down from that.

[51:06]

Other questions or announcements? Okay, thank you all very much. Please treasure stories of Will coming to life. Yes, it does. So thank you.

[51:26]

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