It's Tuesday, and I'll actually do standing bows at the end, but I hadn't had a chance to make any arrangements with the dough on and didn't want to confuse anybody. Also accounts for the shiner I have so that you know that's... I just got back last week from a Buddhist-Christian, or Buddhist-Catholic actually, inter-monastic dialogue. That's because Catholics are the only Christians that have a monastic practice, I guess. A group of 25 Christian monastics and 25 Buddhist monastics Talking about suffering and its transformation in the context of monastic practice, you know, what in your practice and teaching can help in the transformation of suffering?

[01:06]

And we had such a gathering six years ago. Both of them have been at Gesthemeni Monastery, the monastery where Thomas Merton trained. and lived and that was at the request of the Dalai Lama who was sort of together with the Catholic group called Monastic Interreligious Dialogue sponsored this event and he asked if we could do it against them because he and Thomas Merton had become good friends shortly before Thomas Merton died and Actually, this time was a little more intimate than last time because His Holiness had gotten ill from exhaustion, if you may remember, a couple of months ago and cancelled all of his travels, so he wasn't at the event. Whenever he's at an event,

[02:08]

There is his holiness and his entourage and the security from the State Department and all those people who want to be around where he is whether it have anything to do with the event or not. it has a very different feeling, even though it's wonderful to have him present. It actually turned out to be more intimate this time because there was not all of that, there was no press there and so forth, you know, no onlookers, it was just the participants, just the monks. and other teachers in this country who practice, but as lay people, like Joseph Goldstein, for instance, from the Vipassana tradition, or Judith Simmer-Brown, who's one of the founding teachers of Naropa. or myself, for that matter, and when you look at monastic practice, I live with my husband, it's true, I live at Zen Center, or Norman Fincher, you know, who lives at home with his wife, so this monastic thing in our, there's a little stretch there, I guess.

[03:19]

But still, there's very much that we have in common. There's very much. When we practice together, we can see, you know, living together in community with the same people day after day, year after year, you got to work things out, you know? I remember reading in a book about Trappist monastics, I think it's called Sounds of Silence, Lives of the Trappists Today, and this one brother was talking to the author saying, oh, I have so much trouble with Brother So-and-So. I mean, it's just so hard. But, you know, we're going to be living together for the rest of our lives, so we know we have to work it out. And I know God put him here for me to work on this problem. And I read that and I thought, it's too bad we don't have lifetime vows. And I thought, yes, we do. There are lifers here at Zen Center. And we know who we are. And we know we have to work it out with each other.

[04:22]

And there's something kind of wonderful about that. You can't avoid each other if you're going to live together all the time. So you have to work out differences. And there's always going to be somebody around that rubs you the wrong way, and that's one of the kind of wonderful things. It kind of polishes off your rough edges after a while. You know, we talk about monastic practice being like rocks on a tumbler, you know. You tumble and bump and bump and bump and bump, and there's a little grit in there which maybe is the schedule. And pretty soon everything gets really smooth and shiny. So those kinds of things we have in common, even though within the Buddhist group, one of the nice things about these gatherings is that there are Buddhists from all the various traditions that are now practicing and teaching in this country. And both Asian and American, so there were some Tibetan Lamas and there were some Americans who were ordained and teaching in the Tibetan tradition.

[05:32]

There was a Sri Lankan monk who teaches in this country and And a Thai monk who teaches in this country, and all of the Asian teachers who were there this time teach in this country with American students. They may also have some of their own ethnic students, but with American students. It's a little different. Last time there were many teachers from Asia there. who don't practice with Americans. So this was a really nice opportunity. The Buddhists, as a group, got together several times to get to know each other better, and that was quite wonderful. But on this question of suffering, we looked at it. It was sort of divided up. The first day we tried to focus on suffering due to feelings of unworthiness and alienation.

[06:35]

And we had sort of four sessions and each session was opened with a 10 or 12 minute introduction by either a Buddhist or a Christian. And the second day was suffering due to greed and consumerism. And the third day was suffering caused by violence and structures. I didn't understand that structures very much, but I guess governmental structures, military structures. economic structures, anyhow. And the fourth day was suffering due to old age, sickness, and death. And so there was an introductory evening and a sum-up day. But that was sort of the structure of it. I particularly want to share with you one of the papers that was given by an American woman of Jewish ancestry who has been ordained in the Tibetan tradition, but also found out that she could be fully ordained as a bhiksuni in China, and so has done that.

[07:50]

Those of you who are not so familiar with Buddhist politics may not realize that this business of full ordination for women is kind of an issue within the Buddhist community. And now there are enough women here in America who have been ordained in various traditions, but also been fully ordained in China, which has the only currently accepted unbroken lineage from the Buddha to today for ordaining women. And so there are now enough American women of different traditions, that is, some from the Tibetan tradition, some from the Theravada tradition, who have full ordination as Bhiksunis, that they can do full ordination here in this country. of Americans, by Americans who have full ordination.

[08:54]

So there is some attempt to establish a monastery and Because the Kshuni children doesn't want to just ordain somebody because they want to be ordained, they need to practice first and see, you know, discern if they really have a vocation for this practice of full ordination. It's not just an idea. It's a life, you know. So that's kind of an excitement that I found out about it this trip. This same nun gave a paper which I want to share with you because it really rang a bell with me, and maybe it will with you. Her name is Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron. And this was a paper given on the day devoted to suffering caused by greed and consumerism.

[10:01]

Maybe before I do this, though, I might talk a little bit about a couple of general observations of what happened there because it was kind of interesting. One, we were talking about greed and consumerism, we were talking about structures, violence, various kinds of violence, war, poverty, sexual abuse, on one day. And the next day, we were talking about old age, sickness, and death. And Joseph Goldstein noticed when we started talking about death, he said, did you notice The tone of our conversation has changed. We all know that death is inevitable. Old age, sickness and death happens to everyone. We can't fix it. We can't make it go away.

[11:08]

But when we're talking about violence, violence to the environment, violence to people, wars, poverty. Our tone, it was much more strident. Because we think we can put an end to greed, hate, and delusion, and we ought to be able to put an end to it, and we should, and we must. But we know we can't put an end to death. And so the discussion was much softer and more open, and not so likely to, fall into blame, and anyhow, the tone changed. And that was very interesting.

[12:10]

And when he pointed it out, we all kind of noticed sort of where we were, and it was different. The other thing, in the discussion on old age, sickness, and death, the first presentation was on death. And then the next one was on old age and infirmity. And the paper happened to be given by a Catholic prioress of a community where the median age is 71. The age is getting older. And so there are quite a lot of people who are experiencing some of the suffering due to old age, sickness and death. And there's a very high value in the Benedictine rule, which most Catholic monks follow, most orders are Benedictine or derived from the Benedictine rule.

[13:13]

There's a very high value there on care of the ill and dying. It's a very important part of their practice. So they have a big infirmary and they have a lot of aging people. So she made her presentation and then we started the discussion and again we noticed the discussion was all shifting over to death. And not so much on old age and infirmity and And so we kind of noted that. And some of us, for instance, I mentioned, I could understand that because I had a heart attack some years ago. And then more recently, I've been having something called atrial fibrillation. And I was told that one of the risks of atrial fibrillation is stroke. And I realized I was much more

[14:14]

concerned about the possibility of stroke and being, you know, dependent and maybe not able to communicate and disabled than I was about having another heart attack, having a fatal heart attack. I mean, I could just feel in my body when I heard that news, I'm more afraid of this than I am of dying. And that was interesting to me, but it also seemed that that was sort of what was happening in that whole group of people looking at the particular suffering of infirmity and disability and, you know, incontinence and dependence and all those things that happen. We don't want to talk about it. We want to talk about how to be with people who are dying, you know, or what our different faiths and practice had to say about dying because we paid a lot of attention to that.

[15:17]

So those were two just kind of general observations that I'd like to pass along to you. And now I'll go into this particular paper which was, as I say, in the section on greed and consumerism and it's about being a spiritual consumer. And actually I want to sort of read it because she worked, as I did on my presentation, she probably made 10 or 15 drafts of this thing and got it down to nice and tidy and as succinct as you could do it. So I don't want to try to work on what she's already worked on. But I do want to make some comments on it because I think you'll see some things that may be familiar to you. He says, when we turn to spirituality, we think we're leaving behind the corruption of the world for higher purposes. But our old way of thinking does not disappear.

[16:20]

It follows us, coloring the way we approach spiritual practice. And since we've been raised, all raised to be good consumers, getting the most we can get, while paying the least, as teachers and students of religion, we carry our consumer mentality right into our spiritual practice. Those of us here at the conference have practiced patient endurance and joyous effort to maintain our spiritual practice over years. And although much of what is said below is targeted to newer spiritual students, I encourage all of us to listen with self-reflection. For until we reach the culmination of the path, we remain students. In addition, although I mentioned topics applicable to both Christian and Buddhist practitioners, some issues relate more to Buddhism in consumerist America. How does consumerism manifest on the part of the student? One element of consumerism is seeking the best product.

[17:23]

Thus, we shop around for the best group, the most realized teacher, the highest practice. We go from this place to that, seeking the best spiritual product to buy. We want the highest teachings, so we neglect foundational practices. Viewing ourselves as fully qualified disciples, we don't see much need for basic practices such as ethical discipline, and restraint of our senses, instead, we jump into the most advanced tract. As consumers, we want to be entertained. We'll attend a center as long as the teacher is entertaining. Poor teacher must be entertaining these days to attract students. But when we hear the same teachings over and over again, we get bored and set out to seek something new and different. My students know this very well. I have about three strings to my bow, you know. Just this is it, you know. Just this is it.

[18:25]

This is my main point. And you know, I'm not alone in this point. When I... As I study Buddhist literature, there are so many... I'm sort of collecting all the koans that have this as their point. Just this. This is your life. Not the one you dream about. Not the one... Anyhow, this is it. Not the one you had yesterday. Your life is right here, right now. Just this. Suzuki Roshi used to talk a lot about things as it is. This is what we're living with. This is what we deal with. I gave a lecture that everybody really liked a lot, so they put it in the wind bell. a while back. And then at the closing of the practice period at Tassajara, I gave a lecture and everybody said, that's really great, I'll go to the wind bell. I looked at it and looked at the one that was in the wind bell and it was pretty much the same, you know. You know, just this is it.

[19:30]

Buddha is right here, not somewhere else. You know, don't look outside. Just develop this Buddha nature that's in you right here, right now. Actually, I can't remember the third string to my body. I think I do have maybe one or two other themes, but those are the ones that I really... pretty much... So, you know, when she says, when you hear the same teachings over and over again, you get bored and seek something new and different. Our practice environment should also be interesting, so we seek out exotica. Coming from the Tibetan traditions, I can say that the Tibetan tradition certainly obliges this. While in Tibet, many of these practices and akutramas were not exotic, in the West, they have become so. There are high thrones for the teachers. That reminds me of Kalu Rinpoche, who was one of the really great Tibetan teachers who came here to teach. He reminded me of Suzuki Roshi more than any other teacher I've ever met.

[20:32]

When he came to visit us at Green Gulch in, what, 1975, he just came, maybe had, I guess he had a driver. and he was there in ordinary robes and he sat down on the floor in the library and we all sat around and had a cup of tea and we talked about the Dharma and it was all very, very warm and friendly and intimate and no fault at all. The last time I saw Kalu Rinpoche, you know, by that time a whole community had gathered around him and all of this Tibetan high church had developed and he was up on a throne and there was all this brocade and all these horns and bells and drums, and it was... Well, and we used to, you know... We have a very nice drum over at Zen Center, and we had some pretty good drummers, and somebody had heard the Rinzai style of a very elaborate ten-minute drum routine before the abbot gave a Dharma talk.

[21:35]

So nothing would do, but we had to learn how to do it, and do it before every time our abbot gave a Dharma talk. This was not when Suzuki Roshi was here, this was after Suzuki Roshi was gone. He wouldn't have put up with it for a minute. In fact, he was not called Suzuki Roshi at first. He called himself Suzuki Sensei. But, you know, in those days, in the 60s, everybody was getting kind of excited about the Dharma. Who's your Roshi? And so somehow we started calling him Suzuki Roshi. He wasn't very pleased about it. And then the congregation over at Sokoji Temple, I guess they were going to have a mountain seat ceremony and install him as abbot. They got him this elaborate white silk koromo with sort of three-color piping at the sleeves and a brocade okesa

[22:39]

And if you ever go into the Doksan room at City Center, you will see a formal portrait of Suzuki Roshi wearing all of this finery, looking really glum. He was not at all happy about this. This was not his style. I mean, on the other wall, you'll see a picture of him lying back like this with a big smile on his face, being very informal with his students, which is what he liked to do. He just liked to hang out with us and sits us in and move rocks and work together. But there was this thing in the air about, well, you know, who's your Roshi? Anyhow, so I can really relate to this. I don't know if you can. But there were high thrones for the teachers, brocade seat covers, tablecloths and robes, long horns, short horns, bells, drums, processions, deep chanting, and oh yes, hats. Yellow ones, red ones, black ones. With all the paraphernalia, how could anyone ever get bored practicing Tibetan Buddhism?

[23:44]

Yet, after a while, these become old hat and we're left with just our own mind, our own suffering. Having little endurance or commitment to our practice or our teachers, we move on seeking something more interesting. What we fail to notice is that our teachers still do foundational practices and attend elementary teachings given by their spiritual mentors. You know, I don't notice Mel deciding that he doesn't need to sit science anymore. Has anybody noticed that? I haven't. I don't notice Mel deciding that he doesn't need to study anymore. A second element of consumerism is wanting instant gratification of our desires. In spiritual life, we say we want a close relationship with a spiritual mentor, but when that mentor's spiritual guidance challenges our desires or pushes our ego's buttons too much, we stop going.

[24:46]

At the beginning of, I mean, when somebody talks to me about looking for a teacher, I say, find someone who's got your number, you know, find someone who's going to call you on your stuff. Otherwise, why bother? What you want a teacher for is someone who holds you in positive regard no matter what, but who doesn't let you get by with anything. When you come in there with all of your old habitual stuff, they'll say, what's that? I walked into Doksan one time, my teacher said to me, I can see by the way you walk in that door you're trying to impress me. I wanted to kill him. I mean, that arrogance. Well, it was true. I mean, that's why I got so upset, because it was true. But he kept at me to get me to see how much I was attuned to looking for approval from other people.

[25:51]

And he tried all kinds of things until he got me to see for myself how much that was blocking everything else because it was, you know, what was that about? He wanted me to investigate. Why was I so concerned about getting approval or verification or something from outside? But he, I mean, one day he said to me, I want you to take up the practice of do nothing for the eyes of the beholder. And so being a good student, I said, yes, sir, thank you, I will. And I went out of there. I did, you know. That's the way I was. And I went out of there. I was walking down the hall on the way back to the Sando Sashim. And I sat looking around. There's no one there. But I'm still carrying this notion of looking good.

[26:52]

I'm trying to look good even when there's nobody looking. It's just built into me. And I thought, oh my God. And it was so appalling to me that not... I mean, then I said, oh, he's right. Well, then I'll have to fix that. No, that would be doing that for his... There's nothing... I actually, instead of going back to the center, I ran up to my room and I pulled the covers over my head and did. I just didn't know what to do. But he finally got my attention, you know. So, I mean, that's what a teacher... A teacher can see something that you're not noticing and find a way to point it out to you until you see it for yourself. Not just take it... I mean, I didn't take his word for it. I had to see, oh, that's what he's talking about. And then I could work on it. So you don't want a teacher that just says, oh, aren't you peachy? You're so great. I love you. You know, that's not it.

[27:55]

I mean, Suzuki said, you're perfect just as you are. And that got my attention. But he also said, Zen is about making your best effort on each moment forever. What kind of effort do you make when you're perfect? That's interesting. Also said, no gaining idea. So what kind of effort do you make with no gaining idea? This was a great koan for me, and it has been for years and years. I offer it to you. It really has been helpful to me. A second element of consumerism is wanting instant gratification of our desires. Okay, so I just got there. At the beginning of our practice, we profess to be earnest spiritual seekers, aiming for enlightenment or God's grace. But after the practice has remedied our immediate problem, upset from a divorce or grieving the loss of a loved one and so forth, and we're happier, our attention shifts once again, seeking happiness from possessions, romantic relationships and career, and our spiritual interest fades.

[29:05]

A third element of consumerism is expecting things to be easily available and obtainable without much effort. In past ages, spiritual aspirants underwent difficulty to meet teachers. The Tibetans climbed over the Himalayas to meet wise metters in India. The Chinese crossed the Taklamakan Desert and the Kakaran Karakoram mountains, I don't even know the Karakoram mountains, to attend monasteries and bring back scriptures from India. But nowadays we think, why should we have to travel to attend teachings? Our teachers should come to us. We have jobs, families, such busy lives. Don't have time to go across the country, let alone other continents. In addition, receiving a lengthy teaching or doing a complex spiritual practice takes time, which we consumers don't have. We have families, jobs, hobbies, sports activities, and our spiritual practice should not impinge on those pleasures. So we ask our teachers to modernize the teachings and practices, to shorten and simplify them, so they will conveniently fit into our lives.

[30:12]

As consumers functioning in a world of supply and demand, we demand and the spiritual teachers should supply. Otherwise, they'll lose business. Asian Buddhists make offerings to the monastic community to accumulate merit or positive potential that will bring a good rebirth. Looking at them, we Westerners say, they're doing spiritual business. They're giving dana to get something for themselves. Thinking that we're superior to Asians trapped in old traditions, we don't give to the monastic community. And when we do give donation, we do give Dona or donations, what's our attitude? At the end of a retreat, someone gives a Dona talk explaining to everyone that Dona is generosity freely given. But think of all we've received from our teachers during this retreat. And they have families and cars and mortgages and credit card bills. And for them to continue to teach us, they need our financial support. Hasn't Donna then become another way of paying for service we've received?

[31:18]

We don't give to support earnest practitioners who don't teach. Instead, we give to teachers when we've received their services. We go through lots of mental gymnastics of figuring out how much to give. Let's see, if someone were to charge for this retreat, how much would be a reasonable price? That's what I'll give. We'd totally miss the point of Dana, which is to take delight in giving and to give from our heart. According to the consumer mentality, we pay as we go, but dana is a long-term commitment that is part of our practice. We give because we want to be free from the hindrance of miserliness. We offer because we appreciate the teachings and practitioners. When we give dana properly, we don't offer less for a two-day retreat than a four-day retreat. Instead, we give because we want to support practitioners who live simply and devote their time to spiritual study and practice. we give to make the teachings available to new people.

[32:21]

A fourth element of consumerism is self-centeredness. Above, we've seen that spiritual practice becomes totally centered on me, my needs, my wishes, what is convenient for me, what works for me. When we go to a religious place or event, we think, what can I get from this? How will it benefit me? A Dharma center, temple, or monastery is a place where we go to get something, not to give something. If an activity doesn't meet our needs, we don't have the time or money to support it. I regularly visit an Asian temple in Houston where they have summer camps for the kids. Working in the kitchen, cooking food for a hundred people, in addition to parents, I see students, grandparents, single adults, and couples without kids. So many people who don't have children are willing to spend four or five days cooking or running children's programs. Why? because they enjoy being part of the community. They want to give their time and energy to support something worthwhile for others.

[33:24]

Giving is part of their spiritual practice and they relish it. They enjoy giving in contrast to consumers who enjoy receiving. A fifth element of consumerism is the status we derive from using the product. Being close to a famous teacher uplifts a student's spiritual status. Having that teacher stay in our home, or ride in our car, or bless our religious objects. There's more of this, I think, in the Tibetan tradition, but I think you can still recognize what she's aiming at, and I think it's important for us to look at. Gives us something to display to others. One of the best ways to become close to a teacher is by being a big donor. Then, even if the teacher is not greedy, he still is obliged to see us or accept our invitations in order to display appreciation. We don't want to give anonymously and miss a possible reward. The consumer mentality influences teachers as well. Another element of consumerism is advertising that boasts about the excellent qualities of the product.

[34:29]

Notice of Dharma events don't just announce an event, but actively sell a product. In this case, the teacher or the teaching. Most ads display an enticing photo of a spiritual master, but the ads proclaim as a highly realized, well-respected, fully accomplished master. The topic being taught is a secret teaching that in the past was given only to a select number of qualified students and so forth. happened to the age-old custom of humble masters who keep their qualities hidden. This has come up for me. I'm going down to visit the sangha in Austin, which is led by my dharma heir, Barbara Cohn, who used to be president of Zen Center. And so I'm going down to visit, and they put out a flyer about my visit. And they referred to me as Roshi, and I called Barbara, and I said, Barbara, what's that? I mean, I recognize a certain amount of love and respect in calling me Roshi, but you know, Roshi means a seasoned old teacher, right?

[35:38]

And I'm old, but I'm not a seasoned teacher. I'm just old because I didn't start till I was old. Well, there are other teachers who teach in Austin who are called Roshi, and so there it is. And so I'll have to talk about it when I'm down there, you know? It's just inflation is what it is. She goes on through more things but says finances are necessary to spread the teachings. How do we procure them with right livelihood? This refers not just to our actions but to our motivation. Do we drop hints, flatter or subtly coerce people so they'll offer money to us in our organization? Do we give donors extra perks that are denied to other devotees who may be more sincere but not as well off?

[36:44]

The purity of our spiritual traditions is threatened by consumer mentality. This is the main point she wants to make. That our actual practice, if we let consumerism get in there on either side, undermines our actual practice of relinquishment, renunciation of self. It builds self rather than relinquishing self. We must become aware of how this functions within us, in our spiritual communities, teachers and students. We need to receive, revive appreciation for the traditional model of a practitioner, a renounced being who lives a life of simplicity and humility, sincerity and endeavor, kindness and compassion. We must choose teachers with those qualities, cultivate those qualities in ourselves, and guide our students in developing them.

[37:47]

This is essential to prevent our spiritual traditions from becoming empty shells and to maintain their vitality. Okay. A renounced being who lives a life of simplicity and humility, sincerity and endeavor, kindness and compassion. These are the qualities that we hope to cultivate within ourselves in practice, and we need to look for teachers who have cultivated those qualities in themselves. Christians are attempting to maintain or regain influence in Western culture, while Buddhists are attempting to establish a substantial role for the Dharma in Western culture. For both, the consumerist mentality is a great obstacle to reorienting people toward spiritual values and aims that would benefit them. Our collective challenge is to accomplish these transformations in ways that benefit both modern culture and ancient spiritual traditions. I thought that was

[38:51]

very much worth sharing with you. Reminds me a little bit of Trumper and Bichet's book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. It's sometimes uncomfortable to see how our lifelong conditioning toward being a consumer has crept into even the most idealistic of our activities. And so it is worthwhile for us to just Give some attention to that and notice when it creeps in so that you can say, oh, there's that old habit. Let's see if I can let it go for now. That's all we can do with any of our old habits, you know. Our conditioning is, we are, you know, we are our life up to now. There's a marvelous line in a poem by Jane Hirshfield, who's an old student of Zen Center, actually from which the title of her new book comes.

[40:06]

Let's see. As water, given sugar, sweetens, given salt, turns salty, we become our choices. Every yes and every no continues. So we have a lot of conditioning and we either just let it run our life or we learn to spot it when it comes up and say, oh, that's an old habit. And then we get to choose again. If we see it before we act on it, we get to make a choice of whether to act out of our old habit or whether that old habit is no longer useful to us. And we want to act with more attention to what really matters to us.

[41:07]

What really matters to us is how do we want to live this life? How do we want to live? And what I think is really important is not to go looking I mean, you look for a community and a teacher to practice with, to help you see yourself more clearly, to sort of be among, be in a hall of mirrors with your friends, you know. Let them reflect yourself back to you. Let your teacher reflect yourself back to you. But you are not looking outside. for your most precious treasure, because that's already right where you are. It is nowhere else. Each one of us is of the nature of awakening. It's our birthright. It's not somewhere else. So we're not looking outside to get something.

[42:13]

This is not... Our practice actually does not Yield to a consumer mentality because the consumer mentality looks for something out there to get and What we deeply want is to allow our own Buddha nature to Blossom and flower right where we are as this very one Thanks a lot

[42:48]

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