Did them surpass their dream and perfect? a very clear, crisp, supposedly nearly winter, but it feels like winter day here in Berkeley. And this is the last talk of our, of the year, last Saturday talk of the year in Zendo. So it's really lovely, proud you're here today and a lovely crowd out there in zoo land.

[01:06]

Thank you for coming. And just to say, we will be having an in-person New Year's Eve sitting, beginning about eight o'clock on New Year's Eve. And you can come for any portion of the evening between eight and a little after midnight. we'll basically be sitting and walking, and at a certain point we'll ring, as is traditional, 108 bells, 108 bells to 108 doors of enlightenment that we walk into. 108 rooms of delusion that we leave behind us in the old year. Uh, so, uh, please join us for that.

[02:09]

And then following the, we won't have a reception as such, but we'll have, we have a fire pit and, uh, we'll burn up the, the name cards, the memorial cards for people who died last year. Uh, And we'll throw them into the fire. And we'll also, each of us can write something that we would like to relinquish in the coming year. And we let it go. We place that in the fires and just let that rise into the heavens as well. So please come and join us. And as I said, you can come at any time and stay for as long as you wish. whether it's to the end or just even a period is great. So what I'm going to talk about today, I want to talk about teaching from Dogen, from Dogen's Tenso Kyokun, his instructions to the cook, which is a

[03:26]

The text that we've studied in the past, I think I've spoken on it, Sojin's lectured on it frequently. And one of the things I discovered as I make my way through the years is that we tend to repeat ourselves. I don't think I repeat myself, but if you ask my wife or kids, they will surely confirm that that I repeat myself frequently. And, you know, as long as we keep it fresh, that might be okay. And in fact, what I, what I realized, looking back through Sojan Roshi's lectures and other teachers' lectures and my own, which are now, I have quite a, quite a few, is that all teachers repeat themselves because they're things that are important to us. And we just want to, we keep trying to communicate them so that somehow they make sense to you.

[04:36]

And we keep trying and failing, but we keep trying because these teachings are turning words for us. So, Dogin's Three Minds is one of those teachings for me. And Tenzo Kyokun, is, as a, as a text itself is a, is a wonderful teaching, not just for cooks, but also for, for all of us, for our, every activity that we do in our lives. So in 1237, Dogen was creating his new monastery, which later was named Aheji, in what was then pretty wild western area of Echizen province, you know, distant from any of the kind of the reach of so-called civilization in Japan.

[05:41]

And while he was doing that, he created a manual for the way people conducted themselves in the monastery. And for all of the, particularly for all of the temple officers in positions, this is called the A.A. Xingyi. And it's, I think it's modeled on Bai Zhang's Xingyi in China, his rules for purity. And the first chapter in the Dogen's manual is Tenzo Kyokun, instructions for the cook. And these instructions still really, they guide our kitchen practice and influence all of our Zen practice.

[06:43]

So Dogen writes, in the past, eminent men in possession of the way practiced in this way as cooks, working energetically with their own hands. In this latter day, how can we who are so late getting started in our practice be negligent about this? The ancients said that cooks regard tying up their sleeves for manual work as wayseeking mind. The rules of purity say When preparing meals, one should reflect intimately on one's own self. The food will then of itself be pure and refined. So if you think about it, particularly thinking about a temple or a monastery in a remote place, the daily care,

[07:55]

And the feeding and the health of all the monks and nuns were really dependent upon this key person. As I said, the Trinity monasteries were often deep in the mountains or in the in the forests. And, you know, if you're missing an ingredient, you couldn't go to the corner market. I was talking with Gimpo. yesterday, and he said, well, but you can just go to the 7-Elevens, which is what they could do at Sogenji, which is in the city, but no, there's no Sogenji, there's no, actually now there is 7-Eleven near AAG, but there wasn't at that point. In one of the Lovely stories in Tenzo Kyokun, he talks about, he just arrived in China, in the port, on a boat after a long sea voyage.

[09:03]

A monk, a Tenzo, so a head monk from one of the monasteries in the region, came to the boat to buy mushrooms. And he stopped, Dogen invited him in. They stopped and they had a chat for quite a while to make a big impression on him. And he got his mushrooms and he was going to return. And Dogen said, oh, please, why don't you stay and have a meal with me? And the monk said, no, I have to get back. Long journey, miles, miles. And Dogon said, well, isn't there somebody else at the temple who could take on your responsibilities? And the monk said, others are not me. That was his responsibility.

[10:08]

So in the Tenso Kyokun, just to touch on it briefly, There are all these wonderful, very detailed instructions. I'll read you a little of them. Keep the water with which you have washed the rice. Do not wastefully discard it. Having put the rice into the cooking pot, pay attention and guard it. Do not allow mice and the like to touch it by mistake. nor any covetous idlers to examine or touch it. I think I told the story, King Sahin, I was one of those covetous idlers once in the kitchen. And Ron Nestor, who really, to me, embodies the three minds, which we'll talk about, when I peeked in the potty, hit me with ladle. I never did that again.

[11:16]

And then it goes in, as the detail is wonderful, very vivid. When cooking the vegetable side dishes for the morning gruel, also prepare the platters and tubs used for rice and soup, et cetera, as well as the various utensils and supplies that were used for that day's midday meal. Wash them so that they're completely pure and clean, placing up high those that belong in high places, and putting down low those that belong in low places. High places are high and level. Low places are low and level. Treat utensils such as tongs and ladles and all other implements ingredients with equal respect. Handle all things with sincerity, picking them up and putting them down with courtesy. This is, I think, what Sojin Roshi taught us is that don't treat anything like an object.

[12:18]

Treat anything that you work with, anything that you eat. Treat this cup as part of yourself. Treat it subjectively. There's so much great detail. When cooking the vegetable, oh, I did this, yes. When you are finished, think about the ingredients for the next day's meals. First, pick over the rice. If there are any insects, green beans, holes, or pebbles, carefully pick them out. While picking over the rice and vegetables, the monks should chant sutras and dedicate the merit to the kitchen god.

[13:25]

Next, select the ingredients for the vegetables and soup and cook them. Do not argue with the store officers over the amount of ingredients you have received. Without worrying about their quality, simply make the best of what you have. It is prohibited to show your feelings or say anything about the amount of ingredients, which would lead one to think such arguments have occurred in the past. So, towards the end of this chapter, Dobin talks about these three qualities of mind. Qualities of mind are necessary for the cook, but actually for all of us. It's joyful mind, kishin, parental or nurturing mind or grandmotherly mind, roshin, and great mind, daishin.

[14:36]

Shin translates as heart, as heart-mind, as one thing, not a separation between these two distinct organs, but actually the unification of what we in the West might think of as separate heart-mind. So it's not strictly speaking to that mental activity. One commentator explains These qualities of mind, joyful mind, nurturing mind, great mind, are the internal world of the bodhisattva. As such, they are not distinct from each other. Rather, we see them as interpenetrating and reflecting each other. And these the whole of them together make up our entire life.

[15:44]

Dogen expresses this in his instructions to the cook, but really the principles applied to anything we do inside or outside the table. In a lecture, Sojin Roshi wrote, this is enlightened activity. When you don't ignore what is going on and you don't push your own idea, then whatever is creatively coming forth from you will come forth naturally without disturbing the situation. It will add to the situation. Each one of us adds to the situation. This was spoken in Sashin. That's really the nature of Sashin. Each one of us is making the Sashin. Each one of us is actually entirely responsible for the Sashin. And by extension, each one of us is entirely responsible for the whole world.

[16:47]

For instance, this is Sojin again, when you go to Sashin, you might think, oh, there's this Sashin these people have set up, and I'm simply coming to it. But actually, it is you who creates Sashin when you step inside the gate. In the same way, when you step into the kitchen, you contribute to the atmosphere there. Everyone counts. Everyone is responsible. Each one of us has a part in what's going on. This is what Dogen means when he says, do not overlook one drop in the ocean of virtue by entrusting it to others. Cultivate a spirit which strives to increase the source of goodness upon the mountain of goodness. I like that. Cultivate a spirit which strives to increase the source of goodness upon the mountain of goodness.

[17:53]

So Dogen's order for these three minds in this text are joyful mind, nurturing mind, great mind. And actually, if we consider our life of practice, we can plunge in at any point. These are not necessarily in some series. But I've been thinking about it, looking at, again, some other commentaries. It might unfold this way. You might have Joyful Mind, Dogen's Way, Joyful Mind, which transforms into Nurturing Mind, which transforms into Great Mind, but it's also Great Mind gives the understanding of the entirety, the wholeness, and the total inclusiveness of our universe gives

[19:09]

mind to joyful mind, gives rise to joyful mind. And that gives rise to nurturing mind. And I'll talk about that a little bit. I was really lucky. My training, I had a little training as Tenzo here, in the early to mid 80s. And then in 1985, I went to Tassajara for a short practice period. I think that Lori had just completed her time as Tenso, is that right? Right. She had been Tenso for a year or so, and she wasn't there. I didn't meet her then. That's a whole other story. But the Tenso that I worked under was Fu Schrader, who is now the abbess. And the Tenso at a monastery, Tenso is an overall administrative job.

[20:18]

It's also, it's a practice job, but it's practice administration. And then sort of day-to-day operation is managed by the Fukuten, who's the assistant to the head cook. And when I was there, the Fukuten was a guy named Brian Feitz. who was really, really kind and gentle. At the time, he had kind of the standing record for longevity in residence, I think, at Dasahara, which has now been broken by a number of people. But Brian was wonderful, a wonderful teacher. I didn't know anything. I certainly had no experience in monastery kitchen. And it was just what happened at the practice period, they needed one other person to work in the kitchen. And I'm really grateful. Sojin seconded me there. And that's where I spent that practice period in the kitchen.

[21:21]

I pay close attention. I watched the spirit that the Tenso and the Fukuten communicated. I've told, this is a story I've told before, but so in our rotation, our daily rotation, one cook was responsible for breakfast alone. There were a lot of the prep work was done the day before, so stuff was, was ready and it was my turn. I never done that. And the two things that I remember, I forget what the third dish was, but the first dish was polenta. And the second dish was some kind of huge souffle. And put the polenta in the pot and started to cook it.

[22:30]

And like the souffle, the, you know, they had separated 200 egg whites and 200 yolks. And the instruction, the first thing I had to do was beat 200 egg whites until they're stiff. Now I had never even beaten one egg white until it was stiff. And I didn't know what the hell it was doing. It was in there trying to beat these stupid egg whites and also whip up the yolks. Meanwhile, the polenta is cooking. I had never cooked polenta before. And the servers come in, you know, it's just a pair of pots, and the servers come in. And they are just standing around with very quizzical expressions on their face.

[23:32]

Like, what is this meal? What's going on? I don't know how I got through the eggs and I don't know, I have no idea. I have no memory of what it's like, but the polenta, like a rock. Just like cement. You had to chip it with like a pneumatic hammer. And somehow we got chunks of it into the pots. And they served this, you know, and like... They were taking around the souffle. It's really dark in the Zenda. And so people were, you know, the servers would approach. You're not supposed to communicate with the servers, but the servers would point to the second bowl with the souffle and say, what's that? And the servers would go.

[24:34]

And What I, the credit that I give myself is like, it was okay. It was just a mistake. It was like, I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but you know, I didn't beat myself up about it, but I certainly remember. So. Here in Berkeley we have a smaller group and we have a lot of time-tested recipes and we don't leave people alone in the kitchen. Right now we have two master cooks and greatly experienced Tenzo's in Susan and Lori, but we have a lot of people who are cooking who have really, they've mastered this the art of cooking for our Sangha, and do it in the way that I feel Dogen prescribed.

[25:35]

Do it as practice. There's a great tendency to do it as performance. And I will say Sojin appreciated almost all the food that was brought to him. He always had little criticisms which could sting you if you were sensitive that way, or you could just say, well, you know, but he really appreciated the food. And he was also quick to point out when he felt there was a an aspect of performance in the food. And gradually, if you cooked enough, you kind of refined out the performance aspect.

[26:39]

So these three minds, great mind or magnanimous mind is grounded in Zazen. And this mind is vast, it's boundless. Suzuki Roshi spoke of big mind was the same thing. And this is, I think this is wholehearted activity. Great mind is manifested by wholehearted activity, just as we talk, throwing oneself into the house of Buddha. And actually, before you do that, leaving yourself centered thoughts outside the door. Suzuki Roshi also had comments on Tenzo Kyokun. And he said, first of all, the cooks must have a big mind, a magnanimous mind, to accept criticisms and complaints.

[27:43]

The Tenzo, the kitchen, in a monastery, is kind of the ground zero of complaints. You can't really complain about a lot of things. but people complain about the food. So you have to have a magnanimous mind to accept criticisms and complaints. Then he said, Suzuki, she says, you shouldn't smile. You cannot even smile because if you smile, the monks may be even more angry. Just accept what people say. and understand human nature. So, great mind is, the metaphor is often that it's like an ocean or a mountain. Dogen writes elsewhere, the ocean does not refuse water.

[28:44]

Therefore, it is able to achieve its vastness. Mountains do not refuse earth. Therefore, they are able to become lofty. Great mind just calmly and naturally includes every sentient and insentient being. So from this great mind, if we're looking at the sequence that I was laying out, the natural expression of great mind is gratitude. Gratitude is the essence of joyful mind. We're grateful for the gift of this life that we have. We're grateful for our abilities. We're grateful for the opportunity to be useful to others. And this joy just arises and flows freely.

[29:48]

In Tenzo Kyokun Duncan writes, Now we have the good fortune to be born as human beings and to prepare the food that the three jewels, the three treasures, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha receive and use. Is this not of great karmic significance? We should thus be very happy. So this joyful mind expresses itself, expresses itself just in a very outward appearance to others. And it has a transformative effect. So there's a story that Suzuki Roshi talks, it's sort of an enigmatic story that Suzuki Roshi tells in one of his lectures about Joyful Mind. He says, where I grew up in Japan, there are many fishermen

[30:53]

and fish shops. This is, if you've been to Yaizu, it's a fishing town. It's one of the centers of the fishing industry in that part of Japan. There's lots of great fresh fish, which often, those are donations to the temple. Anyway, many fishermen and fish shops. Besides fish stores, we have people who are carrying fish and selling them in the street to the street vendors. They are running down the street with a big flag and they're always full of joy. If they were not happy, the fish will look cold. Fish just look fresher when they are carried with joy. He said, you know, When fish become old, their eyes turn from blue to white.

[31:57]

Even though they carry white-eyed fish, if they are running with joy, the fish look fresh. So, I don't know how you, how do you, Reconcile that was let the buyer beware. I'm not sure, but it's a wonderful story. This is the transformative power of joyful mind. And I will say. Joyful mind is something that rises in us. All of the. I don't know the. The people I've encountered in my life who were awake had really access to joy. You listen to Suzuki Roshi's lectures, he's always laughing.

[33:01]

Suzuki, Sojan Roshi's lectures, he's always laughing. And I find as I get older, I do laugh more, you know, so it's like rising joy, this lightness that you could say, comes from this magnanimous mind. And the third mind is Roshin. Roshin literally means old mind. Like Roshin, it's the same as in Roshi, which just means kind of respected old guy. And so Roshin, Sometimes translated as parental mind, sometimes translated as nurturing mind. And some translators translated as grandmotherly mind.

[34:08]

I like that a lot actually. When I think about my grandmother, my father's mother, It's just like a perfect fit. Really, I reflect on my family, the one member of my family who felt to me, loved me and completely accepted me completely without any expectation or judgment or wanting to me to be a certain way. She just unfailingly fed and taught and encouraged me. She had been a musician in her early life, as her brothers were, and she was a classically trained musician.

[35:14]

And when I took up music, she just was amazed and really appreciative and encouraging even if she didn't understand how I could do it without reading music. How do you do this by listening to it? And she was really curious about it. So such a heart, mind, this nurturing mind is the spirit of And as I say, I can see this as something that arises from great mind, arises from joyful mind. There is the wish to serve, the wish to pass on the gift that's been given to us.

[36:15]

This is what we do here. We take care of the sendo, we take care of the grounds, we take care of the practice very carefully. It emerges from our joy into into this action of service. There's a quotation that's attributed to the Kobo Daishi, the ninth century founder of Shingon School in Japan. I've not been able, I've been trying to track this down, and my source for this is, it's a quotation that Bernie Glassman used a lot. So, whether it is actually called odyshi or not, I don't actually care. When it goes like this, you can tell the depth of a person's enlightenment.

[37:19]

by how they serve others. You can tell the depth of a person's enlightenment by how they serve others. And that really makes sense. I tell a story and I have a book that's coming out soon. Actually, the first story in the book was an exchange between my father and I. And This was maybe 1973 or something. So I was like 25 and really just having a hard time in my life. And he asked me, are you happy? And I got angry at him. or I said at the time, I don't care about happy.

[38:22]

I want to be of use. And it took me another almost 40 years to realize his question was exactly to the point. My answer was meaningful. but incomplete. There has to be the conjoining of joyful mind and service. Otherwise, it's duty. It's just doing it out of a sense of duty, not out of a sense of freely giving. From my perspective, as I often said, I don't think of enlightenment as a state of mind.

[39:29]

I think of enlightenment as an activity. And that activity is serving others. So we have an expression If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. But I think that as Zen students, we have another way. It's like, sit still. Pay attention. Bring out these three minds of Zazen right into the kitchen. Take care of everything that you're working with, everyone that you're serving. So it's not a point of the heat, as Master Tozon says. When it's cold, let the cold kill you.

[40:33]

When it's hot, let the heat kill you. Just me. Try to bring forth these three minds as one mind. And. Bring that to the food you cook here, the food you cook at home, and everything that we do in relation to the people and things in our life. That's a good intention to set for this new year that is almost upon us. So I'm going to stop there and leave time for questions or comments is that great yeah okay um a comment when i was i worked in the kitchen in green gulch for six months and it really transformed my perception of what work in general could be i think before that when i was chopping vegetables it felt like something i was doing in order to get to the state of being done chopping vegetables right and what i learned was that

[41:50]

I think by just being immersed in it, and especially in the spirit of the Tenzo Jeff and the practice there, was that I could find freedom and satisfaction just in chopping vegetables or watching lettuce leaves. And that's really been quite meaningful for me. I can find satisfaction in just, if I have the right orientation, if I let myself attend to it. I can find satisfaction in preparing food or in cleaning. And that's been such a gift for me. Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it? That's all I have to do. Oh, I just have to wash these vegetables. And that's your practice. And one of the things that comes up here, sometimes people will pity the person who's the kitchen worker. Oh, you're not getting to sit in the Zendo. And really, my feeling, and Sojin's feeling, if you're a seasoned practitioner, this is just what you're tending to right in front of you.

[43:04]

And it's fine. And it's deep. And if you do it with a good spirit, it's actually very quiet. You know, it's just the stillness of that of that activity. So that's great. I don't know what they did at Green College. Last time it was at Tassajara. Every morning, you know, they have a little service for the kitchen workers. They would chant a section of the Tenzo, or they'd recite a section of the Tenzo Kyokun. And just do it just repeatedly, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's great. So this becomes It just becomes part of the fabric of your kitchen practice. Thank you. Nathan. Thank you, Ozal. The question is, how?

[44:05]

How do we call forth these minds? Well, it's like we were talking about last week when we were studying Fukanta Zengi, just releasing yourself to it. And I think that for me, those states of mind arose naturally when I set aside my habitual thinking about cooking and being in the kitchen. Also, I mean, the how, the best how was that I was surrounded by these wonderful models. They were my teachers. You know, here, when I learned from Ron, I learned from Meili, I really,

[45:11]

I worked with them, you know, as an assistant and paid attention to how they moved. The same thing at Tasara, paying attention to particularly to Brian and others in the kitchen. That's how you learn. You learn anything is, you know, you have models, you follow them until you embody those activities in yourself, and then you can transmit them. So that's what I would say. Thank you. Others here. Yeah, Mark. Yeah, so a couple of pieces of advice from Doug and sounded them out to like, don't complain to the store manager. And maybe don't ask for help.

[46:12]

But for many of us, you know, that's our cutting edge of sharing our negative feelings or asking for help. Right. It could seem like advice of patriarchy rather than advice of the Dharma. And how could you help sort that out? Well, first of all, I don't think it's don't ask for help. What, you know, what Dogen is saying elsewhere in the text is like, well, now in monasteries, there are, you know, you have help, but The Tenzo is responsible. So yeah, I think you have a lot of help and the same thing is true here. We have people who are assisting in the kitchen and, you know, a good Tenzo is, again, transmitting that feeling. As far as, I think there's a difference between discussing and complaining. And, you know, we're not in the situation here where I can't recall anyone having to complain about the ingredients, but you should talk to Lori because there were a couple of really bad winters at Tassajara and also Sojin, you know, where the road was blocked and

[47:41]

the truck with supplies couldn't get in, and they really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for meager meal supplies. And I think in that case, that's a real test, to do what you can with what you've been given. I think it's certainly fair to discuss what they are, but the other aspect that I, that I brought up was how you field complaints, you know, the complaints that come to you as Tenzo. And that's a, that's a sensitive question. I'm sure every cook here has experienced it. And sometimes you really do have to listen because sometimes Even when the person is complaining, there's invariably some element of truth or something you need to be listening for that they're telling you without kind of the husk of the complaint.

[49:05]

And sometimes it has to do with their dietary needs or or something that they're perceiving in the food, but to receive that within an accepting mind. So, I don't see this as, I mean, there's patriarchal dimensions that flow through Zen, there's no denying that, but I don't see that particularly here. Susan? One of the first times I cooked sushi, I think it was lunchtime, I went into Sojin's office after lunch to receive his comments, and he said, I don't remember what it was, but he said, the second bowl is too crowded. And I said, what do you mean by crowded? And he said, too many ingredients in the bowl. And I thought, I said, that's great, that's me.

[50:06]

Like too much in my life, you know, I don't really know how to pare it down yet. And, you know, one thing he often, I don't know if you go through this, but he often was curious about why people were offended when he would say something. And I remember him saying, if you want to hear what the person has to say, then that's practice. You're open to that. But if you don't want to hear it, then you hear it as practice. criticism. And I just find that helpful. Yeah, it's really helpful. I mean, in that context, I never took offense at his comments. Now, let me say, I think what we have here is somewhat traditional, but I think often the tradition is lost to actually, so what we do, the cook,

[51:10]

The head cook, after meal, just goes in and meets briefly with the abbot who asks how the cooking went and may give some opinions about the food. This is really intimate teaching. It's great. And I always so much appreciated it. didn't always agree, you know, but that didn't matter. I was just listening. And as I said, as I was saying to Mark, if there was a criticism, I never dismissed it out of hand. I would say at least internally, I'll think about it. you know, let me go back, let me go out and think about it.

[52:11]

And then I could make an adjustment if I felt it was called for. Some things were matter of taste, he had his particular tastes, but the real purpose of it was to be in relationship, the relationship between teacher and student. And that's really, that was just a really precious always been a precious interaction, which I intend to continue. So thank you. One or two more, Kaylin. Thank you. I so appreciated hearing about, I guess, taking a look at the service of Tenzo from that perspective of service, but then how they converge into performance. And then on the other side, it can merge into duty and that that flow of the three minds exists if you can keep in that middle between performance and duty.

[53:18]

And my question is, I mean, this is my cutting edge, but it's also my mother's. And I'm about to serve under her as main Tenzo for the next five days. of this trip I'm on for the holidays. Is your family all going to sit together? I wish. I feel like the monastery kitchen is such a healing place for a lot of the anxieties I come up with in the kitchen because there's a lot. I guess, do you have any advice for when you may be serving under a Tenzo who's really struggling with performance on one side and duty and obligation on the other? I think that it's good to return to what Dogen points to as the heart of the joyful mind, which is gratitude.

[54:23]

You're serving under your mother who gave you your life. and what deeper gift is possible. So enjoy it. You're really lucky to be able to do that. We're lucky. Those of us, those of you who have homes to return to are very fortunate. And from my side, just I'm grateful to make a home. It happens. So yesterday, so yesterday, I was out in the street talking to Alex and I looked down the street and there was this, I just got this hit, wow, that person has a body type, just like my daughter, Sylvie. That's amazing. And we were doing something and I went in the house about 10 minutes later and Sylvie,

[55:25]

Her dog standing in the living room, you know, all the way down the block. I could, it's just like you get this hit of the physical presence and she's supposed to be in Chicago, you know, but she's here for the next couple of days. So we're going to enjoy. So please enjoy yourselves, enjoy the holidays, stay safe, stay healthy.

[55:50]

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