As you can see, it's a beautiful day in a beautiful city. And it's also the weekend that we celebrate the so-called Fourth of July. Tomorrow's the Fourth of July, right? I've been around Zen Center for 32 years and I've never sat a Sesshin on the Fourth of July before. Usually we don't have a Sesshin on the Fourth of July because it's the Fourth of July.

[01:04]

And we think, I guess, well, people probably want to go to a barbecue, vegetarian or otherwise, So we didn't do it, but somehow we're having a session starting today for seven days. Anyway, but I'd like to recognize that there is this thing going on called the Fourth of July. Like tomorrow, out at Green Gulch, they're going to have a barbecue. And, you know, a potato salad, probably. And some music and volleyball. And at Tassajara, now they have a big parade on Fourth of July.

[02:06]

And a while ago, I think maybe last year or a year before, I think Blanche was like the Statue of Liberty or something. So now it's become a traditional parade they have. But we'll just be sitting here, all by ourselves, lonesome, down in the beautiful Zendo, listening to the traffic and the fireworks. There's something really beautiful about the Fourth of July, about those fireworks. There's something about celebrating freedom from imperial oppression. But in the 200-some years since the people who lived in the United States felt oppressed by a great imperial power in Europe, now the United States has become the great imperial power.

[03:25]

And we are residents of the empire, a lot of us. So I think we do well to keep in mind this imperial situation, which we are in some ways fortunate to live inside the empire, but we also have to start taking responsibility for the reality in this world that there are some people who are not in the empire, who are in a sense subjects of the United States, we have to open up our hearts and our minds to the reality of this strange reversal of fortune. On the Fourth of July, it comes to mind that we threw off imperial oppression, and now we live in a country that is an imperial oppressor.

[04:38]

And people are crying out all over the world in pain because they're not getting a fair deal from the empire. And for us to be healthy and happy, we have to listen to them somehow. And not everybody that lives in the United States is, in a sense, a member of the empire. It's mostly the white people that are the real inheritors of the empire. So the white people, in order to be happy, have to open their eyes and hearts and ears to those who are crying out, saying, something's off in this picture.

[05:47]

The United States does not own the whole world. We do not own the world where we don't live. But the empire thinks it owns places that are outside their own country, neighborhoods that are not where they live. So the Fourth of July is an opportunity, like every day is, to listen to the cries of the world. I'm happy to see that in this room there's not all white people. This is a good sign. Another thing about the Fourth of July for me is that not only is it about freedom, but it's about light.

[07:02]

When I was a little boy, my sister was in a parade, and the parade was of little girls It was just for little girls. Little boys were not in this parade. Little girls on the 4th of July. And each little girl had a, you know, what do you call them? A perambulator? A little doll buggy? Huh? Is that what you call them? A baby carriage, yeah. Little girls had their own baby carriages for their dolls. I think they were like, you know, they weren't full-size baby carriages. They were ones for little girls to have for their dolls. And each little girl decorated their baby carriage with papier-mâché and things like that. And they had this parade of baby carriages.

[08:07]

the little girls pushing them, and the little girls were all dressed up, you know, like in yellow and orange and pink and white dresses with their beautiful, alive faces. And I got to watch. I still remember that blessed day when I got to see the parade I wonder over the years, why do I always remember that moment? I think I remember because of the light. There was light. I saw light. I got to be there and see the light. everything really is alive and bright and free and quiet.

[09:13]

And we need to see that. But in order to see it, we have to open our eyes. In order to open our eyes, we have to open our hearts. Now as we start this sitting, we start to sit, all day long sitting, sitting still, learning how to sit still. But the context of this sitting still, as I understand it, the context of the Buddha's sitting is love, compassion, sitting in the middle of having a body on this earth, coping with what it means to sit, period after period, with our various pains and pleasures.

[10:31]

Perhaps lots of minor pain or maybe some strong pain comes up in having a body. How do we sit there in the middle of having a body and practice compassion? Practicing compassion for the one who's sitting, practicing compassion for all beings. So while we're sitting, the root of our sitting really needs to be love, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and joy, joy in compassion.

[11:39]

Not joy in pain, not joy in the cries of the world, but joy that we can listen to it. Joy that we can sit on the Fourth of July and be open to this world. That we can listen to the cries of those who do not yet feel free. The almost infinite cries of those who feel oppressed. and who have the courage to cry out and say, I'm in pain. If we listen to those cries in ourself and in others, if we open our heart to those cries of pain in ourself and others, we'll also open our eyes to the light of the Truth, the Truth that will set us free, and the Truth that will purify our love completely so that our love and compassion will be unhindered by ignorance.

[13:06]

Now many of you can feel love and compassion, but there still may be some unclarity in your vision about the way things are. So after we get settled in the sesshin, and after our hearts and bodies and minds are full of love, I intend to start to look at the light. the emptiness of all things. But first, compassion. Love is the root of wisdom, and wisdom purifies our love. The Buddha realized ultimate truth.

[14:11]

And some of Buddha's disciples have realized the ultimate truth, the true light of all things. But that realization is in the context of infinite love, The other night we had a little session and a song came to my mind, that song, which is kind of like, everybody loves somebody sometimes. You know that one? And I said, I'm not into that. I'm into everybody loves everybody all the time. We have to work towards that. Now maybe each of us loves somebody sometimes if they're good. And if we're in the mood. We have to be in the mood, get in the mood to love.

[15:13]

Another song. I'm in the mood for love. Simply because you're near me. Funny, but when you're near me, I'm in the mood for love. That's all it takes, just to have somebody near you, and you'll be in the mood, right? Right? As soon as somebody's near you, aren't you in the mood for love? Isn't that all it takes? I'm in the mood. A Buddhist scholar made an observation one time. I don't know if it's true or not, but he said, and I think it's interesting, he said, the Tibetan monks sit in meditation and they chant the mantra for Avalokiteshvara, the mantra for the enlightening being of infinite love.

[16:29]

They chant that, Om Mani Padme Om, Om Mani Padme Om. Actually, they mispronounce it, but anyway, they say Om Mani Padme Om. Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum is the mantra. Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum. They say that over and over. They sit and say it over and over and over and over. Gradually their hearts and their ears open and universal compassion enters their body and mind and fills it. And he said, but the Soto Zen monks at Zen Center, he didn't say at Zen Center, but anyway, the Soto Zen monks, they just sit, they don't say anything, and the same thing happens. We silently sit and let the spirit of infinite compassion fill our hearts, fill our bodies, fill our minds. This is the foundation of the Sashin. But it's okay, if you don't feel it filling you in silence and stillness, it's okay to kickstart with a little bit of noise, like, Om Mani Padme Hum, or, May all beings be free of suffering.

[17:47]

May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings be free of suffering. May I open my ears to the cries of the world. May I open my ears to the cries of the world. I take refuge in the one who listens to all beings suffering. KANZE YON BO SATSU. KANZE YON BO SATSU. Do you know that name, KANZE YON BO SATSU? No? Kan means to contemplate, but also means to look or listen. Whatever sense modality you got turned on, use that one. Kan. Ze means world, and on means the sound. So first of all, and bosatsu means enlightening being. So kanze om bosatsu is the enlightening being who listens to the sounds of the world, to the cries of the world.

[18:53]

So when you're sitting, always, always think of this one who listens to the cries of the world. You may not be saying it, but this has to be there. day and night, moment by moment, listen to the cries of the world. Let that enter you and take full residence in your body and mind. This is the way to begin to take care of yourself and take care of all other beings. Sitting still is intended to be a kindness that you do for yourself and for others.

[20:00]

So while everyone's going to the barbecues, we will sit and listen to the cries of the world. And we hope that all of you who aren't sitting in the meditation hall, wherever you are, whatever barbecue you're at, that you also are there listening to the cries of the world, bringing compassion into your body, letting compassion enter your body at the barbecue. And let that compassion be the basis of your picnic. And maybe you'll see the light on the 4th of July, or the 5th, or the 6th. Maybe in each moment you'll see it. The word Sashin is composed of two Chinese characters.

[21:36]

The first character is pronounced in Japanese. The pronunciation of the character is Setsu. The second character is pronounced Shin. You put them together and we say Sashin or Sashin. Shin means mind or consciousness or heart. And Setsu means it's a character that has many meanings. It means guidance. It means to embrace and sustain. It means to gather. It means to care for. It means to nurture. It means to receive Buddha's compassion. It means to practice. And it also means to be practiced. So in Sashin, all that's going on, hopefully, that we're sitting and standing and walking and sometimes reclining and bowing

[23:00]

our bodies are there, and whatever posture our body's in, we're guiding the mind, guiding the heart, nurturing the mind, nurturing the heart. Every moment, nurture the heart, care for the heart, receive Buddha's compassion, and generate lovingly this mind of compassion. Those of you who are going to be sitting throughout the week have a great opportunity. Those of you who are not going to be here, we thank you for supporting us to be able to sit here. We hope you support us I haven't sat a Sesshin here a long time.

[24:09]

I feel very fortunate to be able to sit in that lovely little Zendo again, which is cared for so nicely. It's so nice and clean. Thank you very much for taking good care of it. My feet can feel tiny particles of dirt. Can yours? And I couldn't feel any dirt on the floor this morning when I was walking barefoot around the meditation hall. This is love too. Cleaning the zendo. Keeping it clean. It's love. Everything we do can be love. Or we can miss an opportunity and then get back on track.

[25:16]

And I don't mean to dramatize one way or another. Actually, I just want to sort of acknowledge that sometimes during Sashin people actually think it's kind of hard. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they think, this is kind of hard. I think I feel some pain. And they sometimes wonder, why did I sign up for this? Sometimes they don't think of that. Sometimes they say, why are those people doing this to me? Why do they have a situation like this that's so painful? Sometimes people think thoughts like that. I just want you to know, I didn't set this schedule up. I'm just an innocent bystander like the rest of you. Anyway, if you have some pain, if you have some hardship, if it happens, please give yourself love during those difficult periods of sitting.

[26:50]

Please give yourself compassion. Please think of giving others love and compassion in the middle of your difficulty, please practice this kindness and gentleness and love for yourself in the middle of your pain. No matter how intense the pain is, please give yourself love. No matter how intense your pain is, I send you my love and Buddha sends you her love. Love is coming to you. Please accept it, no matter how difficult it gets. Please accept the love that's coming to you. And please give yourself love too. And please give others love, no matter how much pain you're in. Please do that. I don't mean to dramatize the pain, but I just want to say beforehand, I know it might happen. I want you to be prepared to practice compassion if you run into any hard times.

[27:52]

Okay? If you practice this way when you're having a hard time, you can be joyful even though you're in pain. Just like a mother having a baby in great pain is overwhelmingly joyful too at the same time. It is possible. to be doing something very difficult and very hard, but that you really think is good and feel very happy while you're doing something very hard and painful. So I hope you can give yourself this kindness during this week. I hope all of you can, through whatever difficulties you have, and whatever person you meet, I hope you're in the mood, simply because they're near you.

[28:56]

And whatever you feel, whatever you feel, I hope you feel in the mood, simply because it's near you. Not that you should be in suffering, not that you should have this pain, but it just happens to be the one that's there. So take care of this one. And this one. Listen to this one. Listen to this one. Listen to this one. Feel this one. Patience is love. Love is patience. Zen monks get weary.

[30:06]

Zen monks do get weary. Wearing that same shabby robe. So when they're weary, so when you're weary, try a little tenderness. you may be waiting just anticipating things you will never possess so while you're waiting try a little tenderness you won't regret it people don't forget it love is our only happiness so While you're waiting, try a little tenderness. And also, follow the schedule.

[31:16]

Practice discipline. Be on time. Sit at your place. Sit up straight. Make the effort. Okay? This is a session, so we don't have the usual Saturday morning here of question and answer. Also, you don't get tea, right? No tea for you. No cookies or donuts. But you can go across the street and inundate that shop with your business. But if you have some questions you want to bring up about anything, especially love, now's the time. Don't be afraid to scratch your nose.

[32:20]

No, not white people. Okay, okay. White people too. Everybody. Don't just, like, we had one of our great ancestors was criticized, at least in one scripture was criticized because he tended to beg just in poor neighborhoods. Now, people might say, why are you begging in poor neighborhoods? Well, because it's a blessing for a monk to beg in a neighborhood, so he was giving his blessing mostly to the poor. But he was criticized and said, you should beg from door to door, not just, don't choose. You beg from the rich and the poor. So yeah, there's no exceptions to our love. No exceptions. That's what we're working towards, loving everybody wholeheartedly, even white people.

[33:43]

Yes? anger and resentment, then it's not enough to decide, it doesn't seem, to just switch that. Well, let's say I'm talking to you, you and me, okay, we're having a talk, and you tell me you're really angry. And what else? Resentful? Could I practice love towards you? And compassion towards you if you're angry and resentful? I could. Is that possible? That's what I'm recommending. Well, you're sitting there watching me practicing love towards you, right? And you get to watch. Or we could reverse it. I'm the angry one, you're practicing love towards me, and I get to watch you being loving towards me, patting me on the back saying, you know, I know, I know, I know. I love you anyway, even though you're kind of really angry now.

[34:48]

I still love you. And I watch, you know, and maybe you hold a little mirror up to my face, and I look how happy you look, and I look how miserable I look. And maybe you start singing me some lullabies, and, you know, I start to relax a little bit. So you bring love to my hate. You show me how good love is. And you show me how happy you are loving me who's angry. Even me who's angry at you. And gradually, maybe I learn that. So if you're the angry person, do you seek out people that will love you so that they can help transform your anger? Yeah, that's a good thing to do. And also seek out that person in yourself that will love and transform your anger. Because there is a one like that inside. That is your, you know, potential. To respond with love, to respond to the nastiest comment with love.

[35:52]

You can do that sometimes, right? Sometimes you're capable. It is possible. We have that ability. But it is also possible to see someone who's angry and get disgusted with them and say, what a jerk. They're angry. I hate them when they're angry. Even when they're not angry at me, I don't like it. It's ugly. They have an ugly look on their face. It's possible. But it's also possible to be loving and sympathetic to them at that time. Now, of course, life is complicated, right? Like my daughter, as she was growing up, she sometimes would get angry at me. She'd get angry at me and call me names and stuff. But, you know, it didn't get to me, it didn't hurt me that she was angry at me. Because, you know, when she was first born, one of the first interactions we had was that she sent this lovely arc of vomit in the air into my face.

[37:09]

Just shortly after she was born, she had this big meal and then vomited in her father's face. And I thought, wow, that wasn't bad at all. I was amazed how unobnoxious it was to have this pelting. So as she grew up, she stopped vomiting on me. But then she started talking to me with these rough, angry words. But to me, it was funny. It was just funny. And I used to laugh. And then she'd really get angry. And then one day she learned a way to talk to me that wasn't just expressing her anger, but telling me what was the problem. She developed the skill to actually tell me what was bothering her. And that got me. And that hurt me.

[38:12]

And I didn't laugh. And she had to learn that she could hurt me. And she did learn to that she could hurt me by telling me clearly what some suffering she was experiencing was. And then I didn't laugh, but also I didn't get angry at her trying to hurt me. Her primary thing was not to hurt me. Her primary thing was to get to me, to affect me. But I was able to stay there and I think practice love in that pain And, you know, and that was a great thing even though she was hurting me because, you know, she really taught me something and she really learned something about me at the same time. She taught me something about her and about me and she learned something about me and about her.

[39:16]

And it was painful for me and probably painful for her even though she had a great success and so did I. That's why we need patience. Because when someone's penetrating us painfully with something, we need to be able to stay there, you know, and be there with it in order to practice love. If we don't have the skill of patience, then we freak, you know, and we can't see the point. We can't see the light of the communication. We can't see the Dharma that's coming all the time. So part of love is, love is not, oh, I like this criticism you're making of me. I like this anger that you're expressing. It's not like. It's patiently being able to feel it without breaking down, to have the capacity to feel the pain.

[40:19]

The word patience, the etymology of the word patience, kshanti, is capacity. We have the capacity for the anger, the capacity for the pain. So if we have that capacity, we don't get angry when we have that capacity, unless it's beneficial anger, which sometimes it is. But when people hurt us, that we're trying to help, we can we can accept that we can have a capacity for that pain and be there with them. And that right away is love. That right away is the patient aspect of compassion. Then we may also be able to practice compassion in other ways at that time, too. And the same with our own anger. If we slipped for a moment, we can recover. Okay? Anything else? Oh, yeah.

[41:26]

Well, I think it doesn't... Is the root of the word passion pain? Is it suffering? Yeah. So we can have passion. Sometimes passion means lust, right? Sometimes passion is like in terms of we have a passionate or a painful lust, right? So the word compassion literally means to suffer with. But in Buddhism, it doesn't just mean to suffer with. It means to suffer with, in other words, to have empathy in some sense, but also to have a positive hope well for and wish to protect this being that we're feeling the suffering of or that we're being close to. I think you can have a passionate relationship with someone without having compassion. But I don't think you can have compassion without having a passionate relationship.

[42:27]

So if you feel compassion for somebody but there's not like passion in it, it's not really compassion, it's too lukewarm, you know. Compassion is you really do yearn, you really do really wish sincerely that this person, yourself or the other, will be protected and free of suffering. You passionately wish that. So I think passion is included in compassion, but compassion is not always accompanying passion. People could have a passion for hurting us, for being cruel to us. They could passionately want to hurt us. Wanting to hurt people is not compassion. Does that make sense? Yes? Where do you think compassion is coming from? Where do you think passion is coming from? What's the lower self?

[43:36]

What's the lower self? Well, compassion is a kind of desire. It may be... Well, you can say it's from a higher place, but it's not separate from the lower place. Compassion is not separate from anything. Compassion is like not saying, well, you know, I'm up here and down there. So it may be... Compassion is a very high and wonderful... whatever it is, it's high and wonderful, but it's completely rooted in the lowest. Yeah, compassion has some wisdom. When we're compassionate, we're somewhat wise. And if we develop that compassion, we can become even more wise.

[44:38]

Passion can be blind. Even compassion can be blind. That's why we need to use compassion as the source or the context in which we open our eyes. Because people can be blind, can be blindly compassionate. because they don't see straight what's going on, but still be able to feel from a fairly high place wanting the welfare of others, but not understanding how to accomplish it because they don't see properly their relationship. So we need to also understand the true nature of our self and other in order to give eyes, clear eyes to our compassion. No, no, I'm not saying all white people. Some white people are not part of the empire, especially if they don't live in America. Agreed. I feel as though that's such a common... And the white men are worse than the white women.

[45:56]

Huh? What? That's what I'm saying. So you're bitter. And I think that it's a truth about, I think, I agree with perhaps the white people being, you know, aggressors in this country. And I, but I still want to have, you know, You feel pain about something, first of all? And you feel frustrated by what? by someone looking at me and having a response to my color or who I am, and judging me by that, or thinking that I, in response to all of this pain that other colors have suffered.

[47:25]

Okay. Well, I can see that that would be painful. But what I'm suggesting is that we open to all the different dimensions of pain. So, first of all, we open to the pain. It's not so much that we open, we open to the possibility that the United States is a great imperial power, you know, that we're now saying we are the superpower, right? And then we open to the possibility that we may be we may be part of some kind of oppression. And opening to that is somewhat painful, or very painful. Opening to that, to whatever extent, I don't know to what extent you or I are sharing in the responsibility for any inequity among human beings. I don't know. But I say open to that, and open to that is painful. And opening to that, you're not only open to being a member of the group of oppressors, but you also open... When I open to being a member of the oppressors, I also open to the oppressed.

[48:33]

The oppressors don't usually admit they're oppressing. Because it's painful to admit that you're oppressing if you actually think that you're oppressing some actual living beings that are alive and suffering. So I'm just saying open. And if it's painful, that's why we have to practice love to ourselves and others to tolerate the pain of admitting that we are members of both groups. That we aren't separate from any group, actually. Because we're maybe a member of a subgroup, but also we're a member of the biggest group, too, at the same time. We're all members of subgroups and the big group. And membership in both the groups, both the subgroups and the big groups, involves pain. Because people are suffering in all the different groups. The oppressors are suffering, the oppressed are suffering. The imperial people, the members, the residents of the empire and the residents of the colonies are both suffering, are all suffering. I'm just saying open to it.

[49:35]

The oppressors tend to be unaware, yes. Well, So you can put yourself in a subgroup of the imperial empire of those who are aware of the suffering. But if you don't want to put yourself in the group, any subgroup, you don't have to. But also, if you don't want to put yourself in the group, then I would suggest, if I may, that you don't exclude yourself from the group either. Because if you exclude yourself from the group, you're putting yourself in another group. So how about just being open to the possibility that we are not separate from anything, you know, that we can't wash our hands of anything. We have to be open to, we have to be open, open, open, open to possibility. And that's hard for us. That's why we have to practice love because if we don't practice love towards others and towards ourselves, we can't stand to be open. We can't stand it.

[50:42]

You have to generate enough love to open to the difficulties of this world. You have to have something positive in order to open to more pain. Doesn't that make sense? Yes? What about identifying as a group with non-duality? That is, there is no oppression and also no extinction. That's the kind of teaching that comes after we have a very strongly developed sense of compassion. That kind of teaching is ultimately true, but should not be taught until people are completely familiar with the world of suffering. Pardon? If you know it, if you know it and it's always present for you, fine.

[51:45]

If I know it, fine. But I shouldn't teach it until I know that the people I'm teaching it to understand that that teaching does not mean that we don't have to be careful of everything we do. Anything else? Yeah. Well, there's several hands. Let's see. So I don't know who comes next. Maybe Russell is next. Your comment about the possibility of having compassion that is nonetheless somewhat blind, not clear on perhaps the best and most skillful way to actualize compassion was very representative of me. There's a homeless person who is around and he asked me one day to cash a check for him, a check that someone else had written.

[52:48]

I gave him the cash, he gave me the check, and the check bounced. Often you do not believe that there's money for a check. And if he were someone in my social economic class, I wouldn't necessarily have a big charge to him. But because he's homeless, I know he doesn't have any money. I don't know what is the appropriate way to respond. I don't want to be patronizing and condescending, which it sort of seemed like it would be if I didn't say anything about it. But I don't want to, like, Yeah. Well, I don't know what to do either, but one thing you could do would be to consider a little meditation on giving. You could reframe the interaction as an opportunity for you to see it as a gift. And think about it until you

[53:51]

You know, like whatever the amount of the check was, maybe cut it, divide it by 100, and think about, if I'd given that much, would I be willing to give that much? And you might say, well, yeah. And would I feel good about it, giving him that much? Well, yeah. Well, then multiply it by 10. Would I feel good about that? Well, I don't know. Well, think about that for a while until you can see the benefit for you in feeling joy of giving him 10 times that much. No, no. This is the way you can revolutionize your entire history. You can go back. By this method, you can go back and convert all things that have been stolen from you into gifts. Your whole life can be turned into things that were taken from you, turn them into gifts. But you have to work at it until you feel...

[54:52]

actual joy at the idea of giving him one-tenth of what you gave him. And then gradually work until you get up to like 100% of what you gave him. And then you might get into like, well, I would like to give him 10 times that much and go look for him. You know? You're full of joy, you know, when you find him and you go up to him and say, hi, how are you? And he says, here's your money. Maybe. Maybe. But the point is that you meet him with joy at your relationship, and you might even still say, you know, blah, blah, blah, the check bounced, because that might be part of your relationship, too. But it's based on you already gave it to him, and you just want to clear this up, maybe. So I'm supposed to stop, right? I want to say a little about love for the people who are sick. Many of us here live in the building and are not sitting with a particular sashin.

[55:54]

Please support this sashin by maintaining sashin silence throughout all of the public spaces in the building so that the sashin can actually settle the silence itself. We can participate in that way even though we may not be sick. So I really appreciate all these hands that are up, but my boss told me to quit, so. And he's in charge of the schedule. So, you know, I have to stop. I'd be happy to talk all day long, all the way through the barbecues, but I have to stop, okay? Please forgive me for stopping. Oh, shit.

[56:46]

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