So good evening, everyone. Welcome to our last class for this. And what I wanted to invite in tonight is, yes, we're going to focus on the final sections of and the Suzuki Roshi chapters that relate to that, as well as continuing to draw upon Shako Komora's section on this in Living by Vow. And as we begin, I'm hopeful that everyone has read these chapters, and also the short talk that Suzuki Roshi gives during Zazen.

[01:15]

So if you haven't looked at that talk, in this book, it's page 177. We're not going to read the whole thing, but Oh, no. Sorry, that's the talk, too. It's a different talk. I am referring to someone else. Yeah, short talk during Zazen. Yeah. And what I'd like you to do, if you have it open, page 147, is just to refresh your memory just to just to give it a glance and particularly this piece of the body and as we talk about in zazen instructions checking your posture during zazen where he says each part of your body should practice zazen independently

[02:24]

your toes should practice zazan independently, your mudra independently. And with that, move to the end of that section. You can see where he says, let the water flow as this is the water's practice. Let the bridge stay and sit there because that's the practice of the bridge. The bridge is practicing zazan. Painful legs are practicing zazen, imperturbable zazen is practicing zazen. This is our practice. And with that, let's close the books and just... Ms. Monbell? Let's just begin with minutes of zazen.

[03:33]

And if you will, imagine that you're in a context of zazen instruction, or as Sojin Roshi often would remind us, that on the cushion, you begin with giving yourself zazen instruction. We do say in Zazen instruction to check your posture. So please offer that to yourself right now, however you're sitting. Check your posture. Bring the hands into the mudra. And now inviting in the essence of Suzuki Roshi's teaching here, which that each supposed part of the body is practicing zazen independently.

[04:40]

And at the same time, this is one body. How is that right now? And as you practice with this, as we are practicing with this, you might notice if there's any kind of sense of, oh yeah, fine. Or if maybe there's a bit of tension, the sense of, this is some... words or conceptual, but you're having a hard time really pitching into that. But just notice that. Notice how it is to be with this instruction, this encouragement, this practicing zazen independently.

[05:59]

And as we continue with this to also notice a sense of the extent of this one body. If there's any kind of subtle experience of what is inside and outside. just noticing independently, all together, one body. I'm going to read the lines we're going to focus on this evening.

[09:30]

We have several translations. I'm just going to read one of them, the one that we chant here. Each of the myriad things has its merit expressed according to function and place. Phenomena exist, box and lid fit, principle responds, arrow points meet. Hearing the words understand the meaning, don't set your own. If you don't understand the way right before you, how will you know the path as you walk? Progress is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. I respectfully urge you, do not pass your days and nights in vain.

[10:35]

I'm hoping that tonight we can really take a look at this in terms of the entirety of the text and also why it feels, you know, both timeless but also really timely to the time that we're in. I think given the time that we have, what I'd like to do is just hone in on particular pieces of this and share a few stories and then invite us into more of that with the focus moving us to what will we carry away? of the Sandokai that feels relevant and useful.

[11:58]

And from that, see where we go in terms of looking perhaps at more nuances of this, of the Sandokai. So for that, what I'd like to do is to play with these two translations and also with these two commentaries by Suzuki Roshi and Okamura Roshi. So to begin with, this piece about merit. One says, each of the myriad things has its merit expressed according to function and place. And the other says, all things have their function. It's a matter of use in the appropriate situation.

[13:02]

So those are a little different. And this business of appropriate situations, as a place. You know, this is something that reminds me of two things. One is this koan where a student asks, what is the teaching of a whole lifetime the teacher responds in appropriate and how do we know what's appropriate? And also, what exactly is an appropriate situation? Well, the appropriate always has to do with relationship. In the same way that there's this teaching of how do independence and interdependence come together like this, how are we not perpetually sort of spin

[14:10]

jumping from one dichotomy to another, but to actually penetrate that. And of course, this is why we have a koan collection. And if you think about the koan collection, all those koans, those are all interactions. Those are all face encounters. You know, like the Lotus Sutra says, only a Buddha together with a Buddha can really bring forth dharma. So I remember a moment of this that I've shared before, but in this context, I wanted to bring it in again. So if you've heard it before, hopefully in a new way, which is, you know, years back when I was one of the Saturday directors. And those of you who've been there will appreciate this in a particular way of teaching directors. There are really a lot of situations in life. And there was a lot going on and there were a lot of people having a lot of feelings, at least as I was experiencing it.

[15:20]

And I was feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what to do. And so I went to Sojin and I said, I don't know what to do with all these people and their anxieties and frustrations. And he laughed and he said, oh, that's simple. Don't take care of the people, take care of the situation. What's the situation? Well, now, as I'm, you know, when I read this particular translation, which was new to me, because it's not, and you know how it is that when you encounter something that's unfamiliar, sometimes it can, a certain phrase can pop out, right? And that was one that really popped out because, and then I remembered that. And so, In a way, when he was saying take care of the situation, he was directing me to see and to me and to relate within an appropriate situation, not .

[16:32]

So in that function of Saturday director, I am independent. And at the same time, I'm intimately relating with everybody else in their place, in their function. And we're all flowing. We're all shifting. And the appropriate is tracking with us because the appropriate is that relationship. And so we can also see here that situation which we, again, English, every language has its upsides and downsides. And so, as a number of people have said over the years, that to experience reality as both a noun and a verb is really, really important. So, in the same sense that I think that a situation

[17:33]

is fixed, it's a noun, but a situation is also fluid, right? Because it's constantly shape-shifting. And so appropriate, on the one hand, is an adjective, but appropriate also. So even in looking at the structure of English, the use, if you will, the function, the expression, you know, Dogen has a fascicle called the tokuji, true expression. So the expression through language, we already see that, you know, adjective, noun, verb, appropriate situation, these are all moving, but they're also still moment by moment. And to carry this further, and this box and lid fitting or the arrow points meeting in midair is that this business about independence and interdependence is basically similar because we're working, if you will, within the framework of being a person and yet

[18:59]

That's just also a function in the moment. We could, if we wanted to, shift our attention from person. And is that the breath of Judy? Is that the breath of the Sangha? is that the breadth of the universe, and if it's the breadth of the universe, we have to consider that when we're not on this planet, air is not air. And so this is also where we're tapping into so-called imagination to actually with the heart of this teaching, which is that on the one hand, We can't step out of our interdependence.

[20:05]

We can't step out of, for instance, being life on planet Earth. And yet, when we fully inhabit this place, this appropriate situation, this box and lid fitting, these arrow points meeting, somehow, mysteriously, we have a sense of that. And that's why our stories are so important, particularly the koans, or the koans, Genjo koan, the koans of our everyday life. I'll give you another one. I was on a, I was on an early retreat, Sashin, years ago in another sangha. And in that sangha, we would transport all the stuff to a place we were renting for this machine.

[21:08]

And we have here all these wonderful instructions, you know, if you're the head dishwasher or if you're, you know, any of these things, right? So I had been assigned to be head of the cleanup crew following lunch. And it just turned out that that morning, the cooks and everyone assisting them left quite a mess in the kitchen. And I wasn't expecting that. And so I walked through the doors and this situation that let's just say was really unfamiliar to me. where there was stuff everywhere. And I had one of those, you know, like they have those cartoons where the head explodes. So in our iconography of Quan Yin, but that's another story.

[22:15]

And really, I just stopped. It was one of those moments, like in many koans where, you know, the student has nothing to say. They're stuck, right? And I was just standing there, dumbfounded, and then thinking started, the organizing mind, trying to figure out how we were going to move this pile to over here and this to over here. And as all that was happening, my teacher at the time, Enkya O'Hara Roshi, she just came through the doors because of where she was going. And she saw me, I imagine, And she walked right past me, rolled up her sleeves, beelined it to the nearest sink, and just started washing dishes. And then the rest of the cleanup crew started coming in. And without a word, everybody just picked up something and started moving.

[23:18]

And miraculously, We found a way. Now, nowadays, there's a whole field of study. You know, I think it's Adrienne Marie Brown has a book, I think, Strategies, something like that. And also, complexity theory talks about, like, if you have an ant colony, you have to have a minimum number of ants until some structures emerge, like all the different tunnels and cemeteries and this, that, and the other. but when they have critical mass, they figure it out. Now, I say figure it out, but this isn't really, the thinking that comes if there's thinking in that moment is thinking within and as the arrow points meeting, the appropriate situation, the appropriate responding. Now, you know, there's more here in these lines, but I'm also noticing, you know, the time.

[24:30]

So I think we'll get to some of those things, particularly the piece about standards. Do not set up standards of your own. Do not set up standards on your own. What exactly is a standard anyway in this kind of a shape-shifting, right? So I think we'll get there. But right now, I want to... What I want to invite us into is to just get together in groups of three. And two things. The overarching theme is what will we carry away from the Sandhukay that feels relevant. So that is, if you will, the overall question but I also want to possibility of just take a moment with that in mind of perhaps a moment a situation that you've encountered and maybe you know a situation in what we sometimes call formal practice you know like

[25:54]

if something in the Zendo or in Sangha life, maybe you were in a position, maybe you were a server, you know, or you were sitting Zazen or, you know, whatever it might be, or maybe just in daily life. If you want to, just share very briefly to the essence of how might that have been a moment of being with this teaching, the arrow points meeting, of the approach and response, just this sense of you were really present and feeling that touching into that kind of intimacy and the freedom. And if what's coming up for you is maybe you had the opposite kind of experience.

[26:59]

Then share that and what's important. So Mary, how are we with setting up? groups we are ready there are two groups of three and one group of four so I'm about to I will put also what I'm I don't know if I've got the chat that what you've said in the chat right because I was busy doing the groups but here we go and three minutes each Let's see. Do you want to be part of the group?

[28:06]

I'm happy to be that, but I think we will have to do... But we do three and two. Why don't you and I do the group? And just choose. So it's three minutes each. I can set three minutes. thank you

[29:26]

Sure. Well, right now I'm really thinking about your example, the study director. I think that's such an alive place for me that this comes up. And I was just, we just had a resident check-in yesterday and I said this thing that I've been sort of throwing around. It's sort of like a joke, but I'm like, oh, I discovered this thing called give up eraser. But it's not like in a defeatist way. It's like give up the idea that I'm in control of really anything that's happening. And what I'm actually doing is I just want the things that come up. And for me, that feels like it's a similar illustration of what you were talking about. But as I started in the role, I could notice the tightness in my body and my anxiety.

[30:31]

Oh, God, how is this going to go today? Oh, is this going to go right? And as I could let that go, that was kind of part of this life. Just give that up. Just give that up. Like that, for me, was a source of separation, actually. You hear the word director and it sounds so big. branch card and you know everything. And that's like a part of the function of the role. But getting caught up in that is like, but I'm not, I am singularly this separate entity of not really here orchestrating anything. I'm just in and responding. And with that comes so much ease, even as things fall apart or are wonky or something, like even in the moments that would be point out the tension. I can find out the last way to be with them. That was sort of what came up for me.

[31:33]

My takeaway with the sound of my, or maybe it's a question, it's really enlightened this question for me. I think that's what I'm taking away. That experience is really rejuvenating to just really sort of submerge into the moment and respond. Having this feeling about like, but the fact that the human mind instinctively, automatically creates this separation that we're kind of constantly waking up from. It's also part of everything. So that's really a misrepresentation. So next person.

[32:34]

Finish your thought. That's pretty much it. It's like, yeah, it can be easy, but then there's sort of a situation in contemplating non-dualism to make another dual, as a whole, to then make more dualistic thoughts within it. Of like, oh, I need to remove this thing of being separated. I have this question mark. That's not so either. Separation. We talk about everything has its opposite, but we don't have that experience unless we've maybe had this other experience or this other very human experience. So separation, the way our mind can sort of detach and make sense of things in our questions.

[33:43]

It's pretty much perfect. I'm in the right situation. I'm not quite sure. Like you wouldn't be able to predict it. Unlike what I might do. Another occasional. I think it's the opposite. But I made a choice not to do that. And... And then stop coming early. Also, the students come early enough to see that. To have this whole process of what to do in the relational and the whole, you know, story.

[34:46]

in the body, in relationality, but, you know, it was sort of clear. So I'm having a sense that it's not about writing and presenting the day. It's about bringing that day. warm-hearted in order to respond into the room and how do we, this is what I'm curious about, how do we bring our conversation? Because even though, again, he's giving talk and we're writing that down, It's short, you can move on to the next person, is how... Finish your thought.

[36:01]

I'm curious about that. I'm curious about, of course, trust on everything. You've read it and you've been like, okay, you've read it, you've distilled it, you know, where are we? And I think that's what I'm curious about. I'm waiting a little bit Tell a story. You're telling a story. We're teasing it out. But we also... And yet, we're in the role of the set. And what is... There was that whole situation, and I saw this guy.

[37:03]

When I parked, that was the moment. 5.30 in the morning. Am I present? You're all of it. Not knowing. and that discernment. And thoughts came up with the indomitable. And so it seems like everything is like this. Now we haven't got to the standards yet, but I'm curious at the moment when we're sort of... I almost had this thought of like...

[38:20]

that would have been like the state when we talk about a standard or creating like an idea almost tighter than where we get stuck with our thoughts. I think that's part of the conversation. When we're living these moments That's where this comes alive. We see here going, whoa, what did he do? We could do that. But that's not a good thing up there. Wow. And you know, when you have a moment like that, where you feel like, oh, that was... they're going to come back come back i didn't give instructions oh yeah but when the teaching comes a lot like that like wow you can feel that

[39:50]

Yeah, that's really... bringing a teaching to life. And they seem like completely at odds with relationality or like such a blockade. yeah you know um maybe a couple minutes to just if you haven't already just talk amongst yourself because i'm not seeing them coming back i think they'll come back shortly okay and then i'll sound though process of discernment it is similar

[41:18]

Well, my experience of this morning was, it's so interesting when that's the situation like that. So, right? Because, like, dominating the internet, it'll be like, I need to come see, I need to do something. And that's often, that can be helpful sometimes, but sometimes it's not helpful. And so that's really what I work with. So with that particular situation, to sort of relax into just trusting everyone around. The moment I sort of picked up on what was happening, I could see that there was someone who had already been talking to them. I just thought, like, might not be helpful right now, given what's happening. And I just sort of went to the Zendo and said, are we doing meta practice? for everyone in the room and for him outside.

[42:24]

And as I was doing that, I could see somebody just sort of hesitating on the set, like looking out, like, a thing that happens for me, like, do I do something, do I not do something? And I could just sort of allow that person their experience, like, okay, this person's been illustrating, and that was really a feeling, really a feeling how, like, I find I HAVE TO LIKE REALLY FEEL IT. OKAY. THIS OVER HERE, I'M AFRAID IT'LL MISS SOMETHING UP CLOSELY. WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY. Oh, I see some smiles. It's a good sign. How was that?

[43:41]

Anyone have something that you want to... Ask or comment on, share? Yeah, Jake. I'm already, oh, each of our anecdotes, stories had to do with meeting the unexpected. And what do you do with that? So that was kind of a theme. Any themes within that? What do you do with that? Well, it was all about being at BCC and work period or kitchen, or I forget what some of the others were, but. Helping in the Abbott's office. Yeah, so. And doing the bower of flowers.

[44:43]

Well, I don't know if she wants that. Anyway. Anyway. Well, I'll just say, Sangha life is in providing these situations where, you know, so rich in yourself interacting with others and what is the appropriate response? What is the situation appropriately? It's just, yeah. I think that's one of the best things about sign-up practices, these things come up. And no one way, not always so. You know where we're going to go with this, to that line, do not set up standards of your own on your own. What exactly is a standard anyway? What would it be to be on your own?

[45:45]

Anyone else? Any surprises? Did anyone else have this theme come up around meeting the unexpected, encountering the unexpected? Someone's raising their hand. Oh, okay, Sue. Yeah, when you said what's coming up next, do not set up standards of your own, I never got anything concrete about that until you said that.

[46:47]

And we've just discussed these... ...situations that we faced. At least that's what we did in our small group. And I remember in another pre-Zen group training, it was that the definition of an up is unexpected. It's an unexpected disappointment or something happens you don't expect. And I know I get upset, you know, sometimes. And the thing, like Jake said, about Zen practice or community Sangha practice, get lots of exposure to that and you learn, I think I've learned to roll with it a lot more. And that's been a huge training in community life and in perhaps, you know, dealing with...

[47:50]

my life letting go of having to give my expert opinion for one thing and see what works you know what's gonna happen here and and sometimes it's really funny you know sometimes and sometimes really aggravating but because we're in community with it It's like, oh, this is part of our human experience, you know, it's okay. At least that's what happens, being in community. Yeah, and part of what I'm speaking to, Sue, is that this is really about what is the true reality of this moment and how do we interact? How do we, so to speak, keep it real, keep it kind, keep it heartful, keep it close, really stay close and not know and keep returning.

[49:06]

Just like we say, you know, if the mind wanders, keep returning. The breath and you lose count, return to one. So this poem is also about Zazen. It's that we share the same Zazen, yet each of us has our own practice. And how we take that off the cushion. So I think also, you know, in our Sangha life is we make sure that we do have that as the steady engine so that when the unexpected comes up, as it's always coming up in Zazen, if you will, like even though it's

[50:14]

it's completely unknown in a certain way, it's familiar. Which is kind of interesting. How can something that's completely new and unknown also be familiar? Well, it's familiar. We're separate from reality. We're never separate from being this one body. And if that's so, then what exactly, let's go there, what exactly is, you know, what is he talking about that he's setting it up in the context of don't you set up a standard? So does that mean there is a standard, but it's not your standard? This is something I, been pondering for a while because we chant this, you know, we chant this every week here, sometimes more.

[51:19]

We're going to chant it tomorrow morning as we do on Friday mornings anyway, but it's also the Founder's Ceremony. And it's kind of interesting, like, why that chant for the Founder's Ceremony? Have you ever wondered that? And also, you know, why did Suzuki Roshi choose this? You know, it's... It's very different than Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, especially, have you noticed that the Q&A in these sections? One of the things that was on this whole standard thing is, do you remember this section where the student is saying, well, I can't chant this vow about, right, saving all beings because I kind of don't believe it and, you know, blah, blah, blah. It's just, okay, Roshi, this seems to me sort of gently kind of inviting him back or inviting him into kind of not knowing or whatever. And the student keeps coming back to what appears to be kind of a fixed idea.

[52:25]

If I can't. So, and at some point, you know, you wonder, could someone do this in this day and age, right? But maybe someone's going to find this before I do. But there's something in here. Oh, yeah, again, you know how things jump out. And the last thing Suzuki Roshi says in this book, it's page 173. He says, yeah. Truth is truth, and I can't agree with you now. Maybe if I were your age, I could agree with you quite easily, and we would be great friends. No, I am not your friend. Can you imagine? You know? However, you have to put yourself in the room. I mean, in the intimacy and the vulnerability of not just these, but that whole gathering.

[53:33]

And what's interesting is we don't know. We don't know what happened to that student. We don't know if he or she or they stormed out of there, you know, or just kind of rolled their eyes or really took it to heart and went back. You know, the bell rang and they had the next zazen. Maybe eventually they didn't even have it in San Francisco. Maybe they did. This is so intimate, you know, to be that real. And I think to really be honing in on standards. And we might ask, if there is such a thing, what is its function? One time I heard Norman Fisher say, he said he puzzled over this for years, and he always, for a long time, he thought that this line was about, oh, right, do not set up standards of your own.

[54:49]

There must be some other standard. I don't know. You know, the practice committee set up the standard, or Dogen set up the standard, or Shakyamuni Buddha set up the standard. You know, somebody set up the standard. And maybe I don't know what the standard is, but by golly, there is a standard. One day, it dawned on him, oh, wait a minute. Maybe what it is, is there is no standard. There's no fixed standard. Because everything is constantly shifting. or standard itself is fluid. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I was going to say, is that I think he's pointing to reality, that that will be your path. What's under your feet will be your path. So it's like we, what's that saying?

[55:55]

um we blaze the trail as we walk the trail that's good or the way sojin would say in this very zendo when we were in him i think it was on new year's eve one year and in the old days on new year's eve this end it was so packed that that kinhen was so slow, you couldn't believe it. And you couldn't believe it. It was like one of those jokes, how many people can you fit in a Volkswagen bus? So, you know, and it's really, really, really low, you know, really dim. So it's the end of the year, you know, all these people, many people have never even been here before, never probably stepped in the Zendo. So it's really quiet, except it steps. And he says, We're moving anywhere. Someone had a hand up, right?

[56:59]

I just took a hand up. Oh, you had a hand and then Libby. Dan. I had a sort of different take on the standards, but the thing in the Sandakai that I remember is that line, don't step standards across. For me, coming to practice here, was about just the rendering and going with whatever is happening here. So I'm not going to... But for me, don't set up standards of your own ones. The standards that are there, that are in here in the situation. And go with it and don't criticize and don't think, well, there's a better way. I mean, in my case, I'm coming into an 800-year-old practice tradition. And so my intention was, as part of the practice, I'm going to do it. You know, I'm just in an open, open-minded, open-hearted way to just accept whatever practice is and not criticize it.

[58:02]

So for me, that's set up, don't set up standards of your own, is, you know, don't have, accept the practice as it is and don't try to. Or maybe after 20 years, I might know enough to make some suggestions. So it's about humility. And it's interesting because as I was listening to you, I think I put standards and situation together in the same sentence. Because particularly as a newcomer, I might not be very clear on what exactly is going on here. What is the standard? Like, you know, some place, when you enter this endo and you cross that threshold, you cross with your left foot or right foot. Here we write.

[59:03]

There you go, right? And I, I can't remember. It's the door closest to the door gap, the hinge. Or there's a reason. That's a logical explanation, but then why? It's like a little kid, you know, you could internally ask why. So this thing of, there's something to, you know, or as Suzuki Roshi was speaking, right, about the Tassahara, quote, rules, that it doesn't mean that they're the rules for everywhere, or they're the absolute best rules or whatever. there's the Tassajara way or the BCC way and that in following and also teasing out, well, what is that right now? For instance, tonight, well, these classes are happening in the community room and we have a whole setup for that. And that's where we're meeting.

[60:04]

But an hour before we're supposed to meet a community room and it's full of sewing stuff and um you know there's this moment of well do we move the sewing stuff aside and sort of you know make space for this and started to go in that and then almost immediately had a sense of you know whoever is sewing tonight and stepped out for a dinner break right And how might they feel to have all this stuff just moved around? And immediately together, you know, in this case with Laurie and Shari, of just pivoting, just recognizing, oh, let's move. Let's move.

[61:06]

And then with Mary, trying to figure out the tech to, you know, And we had some bumps there, but just trusting the process. We had hands up, Libby, and then Gary. Thank you. Go ahead, Libby. I forget his name. Dan. Dan, thank you so much. I wanted to make a point similar to that. There are standards. I mean, the mudra is a standard. I gather that sojourn said you're supposed to sit and then there's a rice grain. So that strikes me as a standard. I mean, I first learned to meditate doing standing post where you slightly bend your knees, you hold your hands out and you stand slightly with your knees bent for 20 minutes, 30 minutes.

[62:08]

So it's good for your quads. That was a standard. And the way that we're taught in Berkeley Zen Center to sit, it strikes me as a standard, and they're good standards. But I gather Sojourn used to say, you sit this way, full lotus, and then he got old, and the chairs were okay. So people have to, some of us need to sit in chairs and so forth. These standards do, they shift, but they're still, they're our standards. Thank you. And Gary. Oh, I just wanted to add to what Dan Jackson was saying in that I also think in another level that he's Whether you believe, whether we have an ego or not, that he's talking about letting go of the ego.

[63:18]

Don't set up standards. It's like let go of your ego and be okay with it. Just my take on it. As he says, standards of your own. That's like the ego. yeah but a lot of people don't believe in the ego but um i know for myself i can get emotional and if i let go of that i can be more present and that's um whatever that is if it's an ego or if it's just emotion but i think he might be he might be talking in those terms too You know, like Zen Center, this is the way you do things, the rules and all that stuff. He might also be talking on a on a deeper level about.

[64:23]

Fighting things. And embracing things. OK, that's what I want to say. I see your hand, Mary. What? what you're speaking to right now reminds me of also the teaching of not always sew. For instance, on the meal board, that's our standard. But when the zendo is packed, sometimes we pull the sabotons forward or we get a support cushion and people sit on the meal boards. But our middle way is that we cover the meal board. So, and there are a lot of other of not always so. So I just want to invite in also, how does this, so to speak, letting go of ego and standards also connect to the relational moment of meeting the unexpected?

[65:34]

Mary. Thanks. So I want to bring in the alternate translation in the Okamura text, which is, don't set up standards on your own, which you alluded to. And when I read that, it really felt like how I've felt about forms, which is they're like agreements. They're agreements about how we harmonize with one another and how we move around the zendo so as to create a harmonious and understandable circumstance under the situation of being silent and not saying hello. And we bow instead of saying hello, or we move right. And if we were in a monastery in Japan where we were also sleeping in three foot space of the Tan and in full robes, everybody turning in the same direction actually

[66:40]

really does matter i mean it really does create a kind of harmony so so there is a way in which it's about how we function in concert and how it's a social a social agreement or harmonizing and it feels to me like that's connected to the precepts which are how do we create a wholesome environment for all of us together behavior that supports one another and what are the things that don't support and then those are the things that end up creating problems and then there's a precept that gets created i mean so it feels like the standards have something to do with total dynamic activity or feeling figuring out how to participate in that almost ineffable functioning that you were describing earlier.

[67:44]

Yeah, and again, to bring in this piece about independence, if in zazen, the pain in the knees is practicing zazen and the hands in the mudra are practicing zazen, and wherever else you're experiencing a sense of tension or ease, or that moment that you recognize that your body is not only this body, it's these bodies. It's the moonlight coming in, you know, are important. What's the standard of the universe? Karen or Nancy has a hand. Please.

[68:51]

Probably just my version of what several other people have said. But when I hear, don't set up standards of your own or on your own, I know I had a lot of big ideas about practice when I started and for many, many years, and I still struggle with that. But, you know, measuring myself and other people based on my own self-created ideas about how should be your thing should be and letting letting go of that kind of opinionated nests and then I believe that what comes out I mean I don't have it in front of me is if you can't see the way right before you mountains and rivers block your way

[70:02]

Like when you're so full of yourself or think you're right all the time, you know, also hang into things. So anyway, that's my take on it, kind of dropping my attachments to opinions. Someone have a hand raised? Sue. Thank you. I started remembering there was a woman who was a member who I would say was quite full of herself and wanted to be seen. But she always was late. She'd always drag in last during the lecture on Saturdays. This was many years ago.

[71:02]

And Sojourn finally let her have it, you know, during the lecture. And it was sort of like the standards of polite behavior or taking care of respectful behavior. I don't know where he was coming from, but he was... He was able to express his annoyance. It was appropriate, I thought. And I think she felt insulted. Other people may remember this and have a different view of it, but it was sort of like, well, finally, you know, somebody said something. And sometimes I get a dope slap as the car guys say, the Magliazzi brothers on the radio. You know, sometimes we need a dope slap, but yeah, that was a correction.

[72:09]

And not all corrections are public, but they could be. And that would be a hard job that the Abbott has. You might have to do something. Well, you know, the whole thing of the harmony of dissonance, you know, John Cage, and there's a lot about that. But really, how do we harmonize with dissonance? You know, are we, do we, and we're all, we all have our, and habit tendencies, which also come forward in Asanda, you know, we tend to be conflict avoidant, do we tend to, you know, Let us remember that this is in the context of the poem translated as, titled as Harmony of Difference and Quality. Standards, how do the standards help promote equality and difference?

[73:19]

I think both of those things are important. It's not about setting up your own standards, which might be more promoting difference. kind of my default. But, you know, as Dan was talking about, meeting into standards that help with equality, then also there's a balance that not always so, is how did those code come together? How did, like, the strict standard, which is promoting equality, come together with, you know, needing to be... As situations are dynamic. And also this piece of humility, you know, so for instance, in the context of this, Rinzai and Soho, or any of the other schools. Or we might say Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and many denominations within those, or Baha'i, or something that I don't actually practice.

[74:20]

And I might not even realize that I have a, I don't know what to call it, a belief system reactivity to that for whatever reason recognized or unrecognized how might that play out and how do we shine light on that well sometimes it's through the tension that can come up and how do we practice sometimes there's this phrase of cultural humility but you know broaden it to just humility around all kinds of things which has to do with don't know mind. Don't know. And so in that NEN moment of recognizing, oh, there... Suddenly, there's a standard. Now, whose standard is that? Is that a cultural standard?

[75:23]

Was that a family standard? You know, that kind of a thing? And if so, You know, there's this whole term, implicit bias. You don't realize the bias because it's implicit, but we shine light on it together and through all kinds of things. So those two are standards. Are those ego standards? Relational standards. You know, how do we not judge those standards either, but drop into? flow with, if you will, reality is the standard. So switch out the word standard, which, you know, for many of us can bring up all kinds of stuff. What would it be like to switch out that word for reality or intimacy? How could you set up intimacy on your own? By definition, what is on your own anyway?

[76:26]

On your own is the independence. then that's interesting. You know, we're all independent and we're reflecting each other all the time. So perhaps do not set up standards on your own or of your own means it's actually impossible to do that. So what we're actually being open to is that reality is that there is no standard of your own. There is no such thing. It's not possible. Yet, we each have to enter that gate for ourselves. And of course, this is why we're in Sangha, because Buddha and Dharma come forth as Sangha.

[77:29]

And the same is true for Buddha, that these three are like this. Hearing you talk about just everything you just said kind of reminds me of the last line, do not spend your days and nights in vain. I've been curious about it. What is to be in vain? What is spending days and nights in vain? And I think you just pointed to it by because it is impossible to create a reality on our own, because that's not actually possible. So that's the thing. And in the context of the conflict he was even seeing in Zen of like, people arguing over the better way. That was sort of the, each side sort of like, this reality is the reality. That felt sort of like,

[78:30]

So something about humility also, or an openness. And at the same time, for instance, an election, you know, we have a lot going on. We have opinions. We have positions. We act on those. Are we acting out of some standard? Are we acting standard the appropriate situation? And we're meeting it and we're making it. We're blazing it as we walk it. So I think part of what's going on with do not waste your time or, you know, do not spend your days and nights is don't get stuck.

[79:34]

Don't make this, you know, as they say, don't put another head on the head. Don't take this literally. Don't make this into dogma. But really enter it. That's why we chant. And that can be very uncomfortable. a really question at least that's a takeaway or carry away for me is what what is this standard you might have some fixed idea of what a standard is I'm curious in these final minutes, if there's a question that you're pondering right now from this something as an open question, an inquiry that you're leaning into.

[81:00]

Yeah, Sue. It's about upsets happen because I have standards, I have expectations. Sometimes I'm aware that I can just use them as an opportunity to look more deeply, you know, and see what the fixed view is. There's a fixed view in there. I think that's one way to recognize what my standards are. What is it that I believe here that is causing me such discomfort and disagreement and anger? It's sort of a, if I can get to that point, it's a useful tool. Oh, I have this standard, you know. I'm gonna keep this standard, but how can I avoid the suffering I have with it.

[82:08]

Something like that. Anyone else? Yeah, Mary. This is actually not a question so much as a takeaway. What's resounding in my head is you're suggesting substituting the word reality, a reality of your own. I'm going to be pondering that for a while. Anyone else? Any takeaways? Any questions? Open questions. Yeah. See, when I think of standard, I think of like the bar of indium that's one meter long, all comparison. That is a meter. It defines it, you know. It's a little longer. It's not right. You know, it's got to be. So it's like. SHINING THING THAT IS EXACTLY TRUE AND RIGHT IS A STANDARD.

[83:16]

AND ARE THERE EVEN REALLY ANYTHING LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW? IF YOU MEASURE THAT ONE-METER BAR TEN TIMES, YOU'LL GET TEN DIFFERENT ANSWERS. SO THAT'S REALITY MEETS THE STANDARD. IS THERE EVEN ANY STANDARD AT ALL, REALLY? So that's kind of where I was going on this is the word ethics comes up for me. Like, is there something underlying all this? What you said, Dan, is there a real right and wrong somewhere that you can hang on to that then you can just apply to any situation? My takeaway question is, how do I include my experience of separateness? Could you say a little more about the separateness?

[84:22]

Well, if it's independent of everything else, do I want it to go away? And if it goes away, am I... So the independence you're considering is independent of. Well, just in that description of, like, the hands are doing Zazen, the feet's doing Zazen, my community is doing Zazen, my experience of separateness is doing Zazen. I was just thinking of it as, you know, independent of your own, independent on your own. What would it be like to just drop the of and the on? Any last thoughts? Thank you.

[85:33]

I have one last one. If I'm doing zazen, my toes are doing zazen, my nose is doing zazen, my fingers are doing zazen, my ears. That's a lot to keep track of. And actually, if I keep track of it, I'm not doing zazen anymore. I'm doing something else. So that the way that it works functionally together has... is like if you don't try to make it be some particular way you don't think it into some particular they can all different parts of me can only do zazen if they're just doing zazen my brain just does zazen keep everybody else heard it well it's like they say you know if you um you know the liver is doing the liver independently and that Everything is functioning together and thinking, thinking is thinking.

[86:38]

That's a whole, there are many teachings and many places we can go with all of that. Right now, I really would like to thank everyone because these four weeks, I think have been really a very deep and rich dive into into what is this, you know, and I think everybody's been very, very wholehearted and willing to go, you know, to vulnerable and just really look at this. And I think also just see how it's relevant.

[87:42]

And I hope that we can continue to be pondering these things as we continue to. And if you're able, you know, you could zoom in on a Friday morning. You can't come in person and just also chant. the Sandokai together. I think there's something about returning to it on a regular basis that can really reveal what is this. So thank you. I also want to thank Mary tonight and all these nights. Hosting and navigating, you know, this whole hybrid thing continues to be, it's, I don't know what to call it, situation, unfolding situation.

[88:45]

I think we've really made it very appropriate over these weeks, you know, be close. And as they say, to those known and unknown who've made all of this possible. Now I forget, are we closing with the four vows? I think we can do that or you can dedicate the merit. In this season, where the leaves are turning, We can feel the chill and transitions. May these branching streams flow on and brighten all those who need to feel kind of light.

[89:49]

Know they revel intimately in the darkness. on this.

[90:00]

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