The first morning of the first Sunday of the month we have a children's program so now today there are many children here. Welcome children. It's September. I have a story for you. Once upon a time on this continent, which is called the Northern Hemisphere continent, and also in the Southern Hemisphere continent, a long time ago, there were no humans. There were many kinds of animals. There were even, I heard, dinosaurs on this continent. And the dinosaurs... were mostly killed because of a huge rock that came down and landed in the Gulf of Mexico and make a great shock and killed all the dinosaurs.

[01:13]

So then after that, there were many mammals that survived. Mammals are animals that give milk to their babies. But no humans lived on this continent. And then about 11,000 years ago, humans came from Asia in the place we now call Russia and China and Korea, Tibet. Those countries, humans came over the north part of the globe because at that time you could walk from Asia to North America. And some humans came to America, I mean, to the Northern Hemisphere about 11,000 years ago. And they lived here for about 11,000 years. And then people came from Europe on ships and they brought horses with them.

[02:17]

And the horses reproduced. The horses had baby horses. And after a few hundred years, there were many horses in Mexico and what we call Mexico now and Texas and California and New Mexico. and Arizona and Utah and Colorado, many horses all over what we now call the United States. And the people who first came over, the Native Americans who were there before the Europeans came, they learned how to ride the European horses, the horses brought from Europe. But they rode without any saddles. The Europeans put saddles on their horses. Do you know what saddles are? How many people know what saddles are? Would the people who know what the saddles are tell... You all know what saddles are, okay.

[03:28]

So they put blankets on the horse and they put saddles on the horse and they strapped the saddle on the horse and then the Europeans got up on the saddles and they hold on to the saddle and... and hold on to stirrups at the bottom of the saddle to stay on the horse. But the Native Americans rode on those horses with no saddles. And one man who really thought it was couldn't understand how the Native Americans could ride on these ponies with no saddle, just with their legs and their hands, stay on the horse when the horses ran really fast and turned very sharp and stopped and started. They didn't fall off. They didn't fly over the head of the horse. They didn't fall off the back of the horse. They didn't fall off the side of the horse. How could they stay on the horses with no saddle? He couldn't understand. So he went and made friends with the Native Americans and visited them many times.

[04:32]

And he visited one particular group of Native Americans that had one particular chief, one leader. And that chief was very, very good at riding horses. So he asked the chief, who didn't really speak English, through an interpreter, he asked the chief, After making friends with the chief, he asked the chief, how do you ride those ponies with no ropes, with no bridle, no reins, no saddle? How do you do it? And the chief was quiet for a long time. But I won't be quiet for a long time. But just imagine the chief was quiet for one hour. and didn't answer the question. And the man who asked the question waited for one hour for the chief to answer. And then the chief said, in Native American, he said, that's a good question.

[05:41]

And that was translated to the man. And the man went back many times to visit the chief and talk and be with the chief. And then usually after spending quite a bit of time with the chief, he would ask again, could you show me how you people ride these horses with no saddle, so skillfully, so beautifully? And the sheep would not answer. And after years of being with the chief, one day the chief said, Maybe you would like me to tell you about how we ride our horses. He said, I will tell you a story with my hands and maybe you can understand something. So the chief raised two hands like this. Yeah, you can do it with me.

[06:48]

And then the chief brought the two hands together like this. And then he brought the fingers down like this. So that, yeah, that's right. And then two fingers, the first two fingers came up like that. The first two. The last two is okay too. The first two fingers came up like that. And then the chief went, made a circle with those fingers. and the man said to the chief and the chief said maybe you can catch something with that and the man said yes I understand these two hands one hand is the horse and one hand is the rider And the horse and the rider spend years together.

[07:57]

The riders are born with the horse, they grow up with the horses, they live with the horses, they play with the horses, they feed the horses, they clean the horses. They're together with the horses for a long time. And then they become very close to the horses, like this. very intimate with the horses. And then, because they're intimate with the horses, they can like raise one finger together with the horse. And from that closeness, they can do amazing things. They can ride and ride and stay together. Stay together by their relationship. They don't need the rope. They don't need the leash, the reins, the saddle. So, can you do that? Two hands together, fingers together, little finger up, and make a circle.

[09:04]

If we relate to horses, or dogs, or cats, or people, if we can relate to them that way, we can do wonderful things together. That's my story for you. Any questions? Yeah, right. I wanted to bring a horse in here today. But someone thought the horse might poop in here. So we didn't bring the horse. But maybe there's a horse outside someplace waiting for you to make friends with. There's definitely some children here to make friends with. See if you can do that with each other. Okay? Okay? You can also do it this way. Thank you for coming come into this room and sit and it's very quiet.

[10:10]

...offering talks for some time on the theme of embracing the great vehicle, embracing the path of what we call bodhisattva, of an enlightening being. The path and the practice of beings who vow to care for and liberate all living beings. Bodhisattvas have this vow, and we all can have this vow, perhaps, and if we care for this vow, if we take care of this vow, if we concentrate on this vow of caring for and liberating all beings, we would become bodhisattvas.

[11:25]

And becoming a bodhisattva and continuing to practice that path leads to what we call Buddhahood, which is the complete fruit, complete fruition of the life of caring for this vow of living for the welfare and liberation of all living beings. This month, at this temple, there is a group focus on food, a meditation and attention, an intensive awareness of food, where it comes from, how we receive it, how we prepare it, how we give it to each other, and how we eat it.

[12:30]

And also what we do after we eat it. This temple comprises this meditation hall, roads, rivers, garden, farm, guest house, conference center, publishing houses, administrative offices, maintenance facilities, waterworks, streams, mountains, valleys, forests, ocean, and sky that comprise this temple. where we're now focusing on food. The Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva, the Zen Bodhisattvas and other Bodhisattvas, they're, again they're, they care for food and they care for food

[13:55]

with the main point of caring for the food is to transmit the Buddha mind seal. To care for food and while caring for the food, care for the food with a mind that does not abide anywhere. Intimately caring for food with a mind that does not Abide in the food, abide in the smell of the food, the taste of the food, the touch of the food, the sound of the food, the look of the food. Caring for the taste, the color, the sound, the smell, and the touch of the food intimately is the same as not clinging to it. And this mind that doesn't cling to anything is the mind that liberates living beings who eat food.

[15:03]

And it also liberates the food. That's the theory. And it liberates the land and the mountains and the rivers. This month... of focusing on food is sponsored by a group of people who have to call themselves Echo Sattvas, kind of like Bodhisattva Echo Sattvas, or Echo Sattva Bodhisattvas, and they're concerned with meditating on the whole ecology. including all living beings and the food they eat and the waste they produce and the energy they use. All these considerations they are studying and discussing. And they point out that they want to do this without getting caught in the wrapping paper of language.

[16:14]

This is the bodhisattva spirit of caring for the food. We care for the food and we use words like potato and turnip. And we say, please pass the potatoes. Please plant this potato. And we try to use these words without getting caught up in the word that we're using to wrap the food or even the word food to use the word food without getting caught in the wrapping because language is the main way that we wrap ourselves into an enclosure that we confine ourselves in life but we don't stop talking we use language to cut through language We use language to remember our vow and we use language to not cling to our vow.

[17:21]

We have a great vow and we really want to take care of it but we also want to not nest in it. We want to be at peace with it but at peace with it means we don't cling to our great vows. We want to keep them alive by not clinging We want to take care of them with our clinging which keeps them alive. When we eat in this room, when we receive food in this room, we play the drum, we ring bells, we do various choreographic movements, we sit in yogic postures, and we chant as part of receiving the food. One of the chants we do is we reflect. We do a chant of reflection on the food and the eating process, on the food and the giving and receiving.

[18:25]

We reflect on the effort that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us. We chant that. We reflect on our virtue and practice and whether we are worthy of this offering. We reflect or we regard it, excuse me, we regard this food as good medicine to sustain our life. We regard it as essential to keep the mind free from excesses such as greed. That's what we chant. But another way to say it is, we regard it as essential to be free of greed. It is essential to be free of greed.

[19:33]

And sometimes we forget that when we receive food, there might be some greed there. So we take care of the greed the same way we take care of the food. We take care of it, aspiring to take care of it without abiding in it. It is essential that we be free of greed. We regard this food as good medicine to sustain our life, for the sake of enlightenment we now receive this food we say that this month we would like to actually pay attention to that when we say it in hopes that we continue to focus on this way of eating to eat as an opportunity of reflecting on our practice on reflecting the point of eating is for the sake of enlightenment

[20:33]

I remember one time I heard something which kind of surprised me, even though, yeah, it kind of surprised me. Somebody said, there's eating before and after enlightenment. Some people actually think, you know, that of course people eat, but after they're enlightened, they don't need to eat anymore because they're so free. And it's true. After you're enlightened, you don't need to eat anymore, except you do eat more because it encourages people to see somebody who's enlightened eat. Then an enlightened person can show them how to eat in an enlightened way. And it's kind of important in the history, in the story of this tradition, because the founder in India, Shakyamuni Buddha, he actually pretty much didn't eat for a long time before he was enlightened. And then he actually thought, this is not the way to go.

[21:54]

I should eat a little. So actually him eating was a key factor shortly before he woke up as he started eating again. And another thing he didn't do for a long time before he was awakened, when he was trying to realize awakening, he didn't wear any clothes. So he thought, well, actually, I think I probably should wear a little bit of clothes. Nothing's fancy, but something, just a little clothes. So there's this principle that actually in this tradition, When you realize yourself, when you realize self-mastery, you quietly put on clothes and eat food. But also, before you realize it, it helps to wear some clothes and eat some food.

[22:55]

And there's a way of wearing clothes and eating food that is a condition for awakening. So wearing clothes and eating food for the welfare of all beings and without abiding in wearing clothes or not wearing clothes, without abiding in eating food or not eating food. That's the way of eating food. And then awakening is there and then we continue that practice afterwards. So there are stories of Zen monks putting on clothes, eating food, understanding the Dharma and then teaching the Dharma by wearing clothes and eating food. Once a monk asked the teacher, Yun Man, Cloud Cliff, what is the talk

[24:04]

beyond Buddhas and ancestors. What is the talk that's free of the wrapping paper of talk? And Yen Man said, cake. Another Zen teacher, his name was Golden Ox. Jin, Jin, Jinnyu, Jinnyu, golden ox. He was a disciple of the great master Matsu. Matsu had 139 successors. 84 of them went public. He was one of the 84 who... let people know that he was available to teach.

[25:09]

And he lived in a monastery with some number of monks. And they say, the story goes like this, that every day for 20 years, he was in the kitchen cooking rice for the monks. And then he would, when the rice was ready, he would beat the drum and beat the wooden fish and beat the drum. And with his own hands, he would bring the rice out in front of the monk's hall. And then he would do a dance. And then he would joyfully laugh and say, dear Bodhisattvas, eat. And that he would do that every day for 20 years. If one were playing the role of a Zen teacher, one might one might be inspired by this story.

[26:21]

One might be tempted to copy it. He was the cook and the serving crew and he was the great dancer and He sang the song, Dear Bodhisattvas, Eat. Later, for centuries in China, people were considering his behavior. And various Zen teachers and students discussed his behavior. And a monk came to another Zen teacher whose name was Chang Ching and said to him, what was the meaning of golden ox standing with the rice in front of the monk's hall saying, oh, dear bodhisattvas, eat.

[27:30]

What was the meaning of that? And Chang Ching said, oh, that was his way of... of reflecting on the food and praising the food. Instead of saying, we reflect on the effort that brought us this food and consider how it comes to it, he said, he did a dance. A dance for the food and said, dear bodhisattvas, eat. That's what Chongqing said. And then sometime later, I don't know how long, 50 years, 100 years later, a monk came to another Zen teacher named Dagwan and said to Dagwan, what did Chongqing mean when he said that about golden oxes dancing and singing?

[28:36]

And Dagwan did a dance. And the monk prostrated to the teacher and the teacher said, what have you seen that you bow now? And the student did a dance. And Dagwon said, wild fox spirit. And now today I'm telling stories about Golden Ox, Chongqing, Da Guan, and the Wild Fox Monk. I'm telling stories. We're still meditating on the way ancient Zen bodhisattvas cared for the food. Their practice was they cared for the food in a way...

[29:43]

that were attempting to care for the food without clinging to the food, care for the land, care for the people, without a mind of abode. And the way they did it, how can you hear the story and look at the story and care for the story without clinging to the story? I won't tell you all the ways that people have thought about the story that are said to be not the way to think about the story. How can you meditate on the story without thinking about the story? How can you approach the meaning of the story, the meaning of food, with your whole body and mind rather than just with your thinking mind? Most of us have the good fortune of maybe having some more food today or tomorrow. So there's the opportunity for us to care for this food and to care for the way we eat it.

[30:53]

There's also the opportunity to miss that opportunity, to not really pay attention to the food, to the receiving of it, to the eating of it. There's an opportunity to miss that. But we're trying to emphasize that the bodhisattvas of all traditions and Zen is a tradition where the bodhisattvas cook. We're really trying to pay attention to the process and the relationship of humans to their food and humans to the other animals and plants in relationship to the food. We're trying to be mindful of that this month And with the understanding that this is an ancient tradition to do this. And again, not just pay attention, but remember the possibility of taking care of things without greed, without clinging.

[32:01]

And being honest. If we are aware that we are clinging and are greedy, and be kind to that and get over it. But we have to really pay attention to be able to witness the opportunity of the mind of enlightenment. The purpose of the eating is to be present for the mind of enlightenment, which is right there. And all the ancestors are there practicing with food in this essentially non-abiding way, totally intimate, non-abiding way. How does it go? Oh, yeah. From out of the white clouds of steam comes the golden ox, dancing and singing.

[33:23]

golden-haired ones will understand. Even though now, thousands of miles away, China's thousands of miles away and now more than a thousand years ago, we can understand what this madman was doing in the white clouds of steam over the rice. The great Bodhisattva. In her hand she wields the sword of wisdom. She cuts through the trailing vines and wrapping paper of language. Hanging the clear mirror high, she brings forth Vairochana Buddha's mind seal with the phrase, Dear Bodhisattvas, eat every day, putting up the great mirror of the Buddha's wisdom.

[34:47]

and cutting through delusion with the words, Dear Bodhisattvas, eat. Dear Bodhisattvas, eat. Dear Bodhisattvas, eat. In peace, in the peace of self-realization, she quietly puts on clothes and eats food. So simple and so difficult.

[35:24]

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