Heart-Teachings of a No-Good, Lazy Monk

0:00 This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Thank Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:16 you all for being here. I had no idea there would be so many in attendance. Happy to see it. Thanks to Heather and to Eli and to Nyosho. Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:34 On welcoming me here and inviting me here. So I'm really happy. This is my first visit to Green Gulch. And it's wonderful to see it. Report an error in the passage at 0:34 Highlight the passage at 0:34

0:46 And to see you. Okay. I'm going to talk about a person whose name came to be Shantideva. Lord of Peace. Mic okay? Alright. Lord of Peace. But that wasn't a name he was known by. During his many years at the grand university of its day, Nalanda University, you may have heard this name. Report an error in the passage at 0:46 Highlight the passage at 0:46

1:22 But he's famous today because he was the author of a book called The Way of the Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattvacharya Avatar, entering down into, penetrating, going into, and assuming the activities of a bodhisattva. One whose aim is enlightenment only in order to liberate all beings. And in doing so, he wrote a poem in the 8th century. Report an error in the passage at 1:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22

1:54 918 verses of the way of the Bodhisattva through an explanation beautifully rendered. Like your Dogen Zinzi. Beautifully rendered. Succinctly rendered. Of the six paramitas that the bodhisattvas practice, it's so-called transcendent activities. And they are transcendent because they are selfless. Activities performed without recognizing a self, internally or externally. Report an error in the passage at 1:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54

2:40 Or as Dogen would say, You know what to study the way is? To study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. Report an error in the passage at 2:40 Highlight the passage at 2:40

2:53 That is because of what some have translated as identity action, but I think bad translation. Dogen meant, as in the last line of that verse, actions performed with the barriers between. Self and others disappear. Actions that we're all performing together. We're all in the same boat. We're part of the same organism. So when I act, you're acting, I'm acting, because you're acting, we're acting together without separation. Report an error in the passage at 2:53 Highlight the passage at 2:53

3:37 I think it's better than identity action. At any rate, the way of the bodhisattva. This is the Shambhala. It is entirely on the basis. I praise, Report an error in the passage at 3:37 Highlight the passage at 3:37

4:27 read it if you haven't, the way of the Bodhisattva, author Shantideva, about whom I'm going to speak today. Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

4:40 I went to the, this is another, this is an aside, I went to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm and everybody who'd ever been given a Nobel Peace Prize was asked to contribute one item. Report an error in the passage at 4:40 Highlight the passage at 4:40

4:58 And, you know, I went to see what Bob Dylan had put there. I went to see what Martin Luther King had put there. And I went to see what His Holiness had put there. And His Holiness put this tiny little text in Tibetan of the Bodhicharya Avatar and some rimless glasses in this cage. Just that. So he really means it. He thinks highly of this text. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

5:33 So I said he wasn't known by that name for most of his early life. He entered Nalanda, and he was known by the name Busuku. Now, very important to understand what Busuku means. It's a real put-down. The monks bullied him. They thought he was a lazy, good-for-nothing bum. Report an error in the passage at 5:33 Highlight the passage at 5:33

6:05 See, all they saw this guy doing, all right, he's supposed to be a monk here. You know, monks have obligations. They took a rotation on reciting sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 6:05 Highlight the passage at 6:05

6:18 This guy always came up with some excuse why he couldn't do it that day. So he kept missing the rotations. But anyway, I'm jumping. All the monks saw him do was eat, and he ate an inordinate amount. Taking five times what was normal at each meal. And then they saw him walking around, and then they saw him sleeping a lot. Report an error in the passage at 6:18 Highlight the passage at 6:18

6:57 And they said he was eloquent and defecating. Report an error in the passage at 6:57 Highlight the passage at 6:57

7:06 Now, bull is taken from Sanskrit verb bhaj, which is part of bhaktish, if any of you have been to India. there. He ate boo kabuku. He slept a lot from Sue Slupna's dream. Ah, timing off here. Excuse me. Report an error in the passage at 7:06 Highlight the passage at 7:06

7:41 An. Coup. Report an error in the passage at 7:41 Highlight the passage at 7:41

7:46 In Tibetan as well, Sanskrit. If you see Ku, that's what they're talking about. So I don't know how you get a reputation like this, but that was his reputation, and everybody called him that. Even when you see his life stories, it's the life of Busaku. It's, you know, in this edition, another writer wrote about him, it's the life of Busaku. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:17 That's not very pleasant, Busaku. Report an error in the passage at 8:17 Highlight the passage at 8:17

8:29 Meanwhile, Busugu is the author of this text, right? Okay. So I want to tell you a little bit about him and about this name and what his life story might teach us. Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

8:55 Now I mentioned that the name we know him by with this text is Shantideva, Lord of Peace. Remember that. Report an error in the passage at 8:55 Highlight the passage at 8:55

9:08 But everybody thought he was just a slob, a sloth, lethargic, cared for nothing, lazy, lazy, lazy. Report an error in the passage at 9:08 Highlight the passage at 9:08

9:29 Kindly Abbot, who said, you know, your fellow monks don't care for you very much. And I think it would be well if you participated sometimes in the... Resultation of sutras. And Busaku, who I know of Shantideva, said, but you know what it is? I'm just a bad scholar. I'm just a bad scholar. He didn't say he was a bad poet. He said, maybe I'm just a bad scholar. Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

10:07 You wouldn't throw me out for that, would you? The abbot said, you have some more chances. But then at Nalanda, there were... groupings of 700, you know, like having a college within a university. There were groupings of 700 and groupings of 300. Somehow he got into the smaller one. He was the second son, so he went in. And when he went in, the abbot who accepted him must have thought he was smart enough. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:41 But then he began to show these habits. And then the monks were just fed up and named him Busuku. Well, Apparently his fame got to be known by the king as well. And so there came a day when the monks revolted and said, no, he must, he must recite a sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

11:09 The king at the time, Devapala came, he was, the monk had become famous for being Busuku. And so even the king came to attend when Busuku was about to recite. The abbot came and said, buddy, you better get ready because tomorrow it's going to happen. Report an error in the passage at 11:09 Highlight the passage at 11:09

11:32 And he said, you know, you're kindly, I haven't done anything wrong, but I'll do whatever you say, he said to the abbot. And the abbot said, well, maybe, maybe, just maybe, if you do this recitation of Manjushri, shortest mantra. Report an error in the passage at 11:32 Highlight the passage at 11:32

11:54 Helps your memory. D-H-I. Maybe if you do that. He had offered him the longer mantra, shorter mantra of Manjushri, but then he looked at him and he thought, maybe I better give you a shorter one. So he gave him D. That's as short as it gets for calling on Manjushri. Okay. So Shantideva was convinced he was going to do it because he really did. Report an error in the passage at 11:54 Highlight the passage at 11:54

12:26 Want to, apparently, remain at Nalanda. All right, so he gave up on the lengthier mantra. It was just seven syllables. He gave up on that one and said, okay, I'll do... Thank you, Abbot. Abbot goes away, and Shantideva, who likes to sleep, apparently, Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

12:52 configured a contraption to keep himself awake. By tying up a leg and tying up a knee and tying it up to the ceiling. Now, I don't know if you've been to Kathmandu. I always thought it was very interesting that in some of the shops right around Bodanath, you know, you can buy various Tibetan trinkets and jolas and things. Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:24 One year I went to Bodanath and there were these shops that were selling Selling red. Red bands, I mean, just, you know, a knot of this thing, red. And these are actually used in tantric practices for being yogis who don't want to lean over and go to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 13:24 Highlight the passage at 13:24

13:52 So Busaku, even in the 8th century, he rigged up a way to keep his head up. But in these shops, I thought, now this is... Really strange they sell these things. They're called gomtaks. Gomtaks belong to yogis, not to Western tourists. They don't know what to do with them. You know, it's a band that goes around your head and around your knee when you're sitting half yoga. You put it like that. Report an error in the passage at 13:52 Highlight the passage at 13:52

14:21 You know, if you fall over, you'll wake up because you'll hit the... But that's a gomtak. He rigged up a system of ropes. He was determined he was going to do What the abbot had said and do is Manjushri. Manjushri, okay. Because he had to recite the next day. Report an error in the passage at 14:21 Highlight the passage at 14:21

14:46 So then he suddenly came awake, the story goes, because he somehow managed to fall asleep anyway. So he jolted awake, and there was this resplendent Manjushri sort of floating there. Report an error in the passage at 14:46 Highlight the passage at 14:46

15:07 And he says, what happened? Who are you? And Manjushri said, you've been calling me all night. It's me. What you want? Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:21 So he said, oh, oh, oh, Manjushri. Oh, please help me tomorrow. I have to recite sūtra and I don't know any. And Manjushri said, don't worry about it. Don't call me anymore, but don't worry about it. Just take the stand and take your seat and you'll be all right. So he disappears. Okay. So the next morning, even the king. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:50 King Devapala came because he wanted to see this person famed for eating and sleeping and eloquent in defecating. Report an error in the passage at 15:50 Highlight the passage at 15:50

16:02 So everybody was there. It was a big show. And the monks had built an especially high throne, it said. A high throne, higher. They tried to make it the case that he couldn't even get up onto the throne. But they looked, they saw him. And the next thing they saw, he was on the throne. And his first words were, please tell me, would you like to hear something old or something new? Report an error in the passage at 16:02 Highlight the passage at 16:02

16:40 And they said, well, you're best at eating, you're best at walking around, you're best at sleeping, you're best at sitting. Give us something new. Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

16:55 And Shantideva began reciting this book. These verses, and he recited them. There's the six paramitas, and there's a chapter on wisdom at nine. And in verse, in chapter nine, verse 34, he begins to rise up from that seat, full lotus, he begins levitating. The monks began scribbling because it's been such a wondrous text to that point. They're scribbling trying to catch every word and then it's the case that they can only hear the words as the words are rising up into the sky. Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:48 Shantideva is usually depicted with a cushion underneath and his body rising. And the text was something marvelous to behold or to hear. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

18:08 Tibetans run through the fields shouting at the top of their voices verses from the Bodhicaryapa. Why? Because it's said that if hearing verses of this text, even the gnats and grubs will attain enlightenment. So Tibetans make it a practice just to sing in the fields reciting these verses. I thought it was strange the first time. Report an error in the passage at 18:08 Highlight the passage at 18:08

18:39 Monks, nuns, they're just running. What are they reciting? They're reciting Bodhicharya Avatar. So the gnats and the grubs and the bees and the ants will attain enlightenment. Oh. So, I have a question for you, or a couple, for our Q &A. For our Q &A. Report an error in the passage at 18:39 Highlight the passage at 18:39

19:02 Do you know anybody like Shantideva? How do you know? What is that person really doing? Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:22 Aren't we ourselves eager sometimes to know about another person or to judge another person? Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:40 Don't we do that? Don't we judge people before we know them? Not a shred of all the barriers between self and others disappear. So you're enlightened by all things, you know? Report an error in the passage at 19:40 Highlight the passage at 19:40

20:08 Has anyone here ever seen the movie The Soloist? Really? Tassajara at the city center? No one had. The Soloist is a movie, 1990s. It's connected, believe it or not. It's a movie about a homeless person. It's a true biopic, you know. A homeless person who was playing violin on the streets of L.A. His violin had only two strings. And he had a cart, you know, and he lived outside and everything. And a journalist, played by Robert Downey Jr., who was working for the LA Guardian and wanted a story. Report an error in the passage at 20:08 Highlight the passage at 20:08

20:58 And the homeless person was played by Jamie Foxx. Now, the story is that... Oh, Robert Downey. The journalist decides to speak to a homeless person and then to write about it. So he chose the two-string violinist. And they struck up a conversation. And the rest of them, so the homeless person asks his name. Report an error in the passage at 20:58 Highlight the passage at 20:58

21:30 He says, oh, I know you. You're Mr. Lopez, Mr. Lopez. And he calls him Mr. Lopez throughout the movie. I may pick out a point in the movie you didn't think about. and the journalist calls him He learns his name, and he calls him Nathaniel throughout the movies. Yesterday at the city center, I talked about the very simple practice of knowing another, respecting another person. Report an error in the passage at 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

22:02 I talked about respect. So this is not a point of the movie, but it is. The journalist becomes, in that movie, the homeless person's great white hope. He liberates him, you know. He gets someone of his readers to give a cello and gives it to Jamie Foxx and he starts playing the cello. Why? Because the journalist discovers he's been formerly a student at Juilliard. He's now a homeless person in L.A. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:40 In that movie it said almost 90,000 homeless in L.A. I think there's more now. And the movie highlighted the LAMP organization. Founded on Skid Row to help homeless people. Okay. So this comes up because one of the points of the movie is you can't judge a book by its cover. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

23:08 That people have rich backgrounds. They have rich life stories that we might not know if we just judge immediately and let them go. And also one note. So it's good to, I'll give you this as a practice suggestion. Not a teacher, not an habit. Just try it. If you're not in a dangerous situation, try speaking to someone. It can be about anything. Like, I'm from Atlanta, so I say to someone, seated, what's up? Report an error in the passage at 23:08 Highlight the passage at 23:08

23:53 Boy, is it hot. That's a good icebreaker. Sure is. It's hot out here. And then... You know, then I might be able to move to, do you know the Presbyterian church over there on the square? They have lunch every, they serve lunch, free lunch every day at noon. Yeah. Just if you're wondering. In other words, it was good for the journalist to talk to a homeless person. Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:28 The movie shows the LAMP organization, which is still operating in LA, even though there are lots and lots more. Homeless people there, and it's been part of a recent election, right? All that. But the point for me is, it's not, oh, very good to judge a person by appearance when you first see them. And then they fall into a pattern, oh, you know people like that. So then it becomes fixed. You know that person really now. When you don't know that person at all, you never tried. Report an error in the passage at 24:28 Highlight the passage at 24:28

25:07 One of the points of the movie. And the other point was respect. Throughout the movie, the homeless person says, Mr. Lopez, Mr. Lopez. And his white savior says, Nathaniel. Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:24 That caught some people's attention. So let's go back to Shantideva. He's writing this text. Now I want to tell you about another influential Buddhist poet, philosopher, whose name was Nagarjuna. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:51 Nagarjuna, too, lived four centuries before Shantideva. Six centuries before, second century AD. Nagarjuna, second century. Shantideva, eighth century. That's sixth century. But of course, Shantideva was quite well educated. He wrote two books, The Way of the Bodhisattva and A Compendium of Mayana Sutras. He had read them all. Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:24 Okay. Nagarjuna had, in addition to writing Mula Madhyama Kakarikas, all about sunyata in the 70 verses, where the term sunyata is never used. Between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, there's not the slightest thread of difference, Nagarjuna said. The only difference is in our view. Ah, the same facts, entities. Report an error in the passage at 26:24 Highlight the passage at 26:24

26:57 With attachment, saṃsāra. Without attachment, nirvāṇa. The difference is only in our view. Nagarjuna was so good at, as Dogen was, capturing experience in words. Shantideva certainly read Nagarjuna, and Nagarjuna too had written a little book called The Practice of the Bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 26:57 Highlight the passage at 26:57

27:31 And more pertinent, he had written, A smaller book inside the book, a little shastra, a little commentary, that was called The Provisions for the Bodhisattva. And in the Bodhisambhara Shastra, Nagarjuna had said, he had commented on how we can, how one can tell a genuine bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 27:31 Highlight the passage at 27:31

28:03 How do you spot a genuine bodhisattva? And he said, a genuine bodhisattva works for dharma over personal benefit. A genuine bodhisattva, this is a way of talking about the eight worldly dharmas, but in four. A genuine bodhisattva works for dharma over personal benefit. Two, works for good over fame. Report an error in the passage at 28:03 Highlight the passage at 28:03

28:43 Works for beings. over personal happiness. and does all these things while accruing virtue. doing them in secret. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:04 Dharma over benefit, good over fame, beings over personal happiness. Second question for you. Report an error in the passage at 29:04 Highlight the passage at 29:04

29:24 You know what? You know, when you're doing stuff in secret, you open yourself to rumors of various sorts and expectations and judgments. Report an error in the passage at 29:24 Highlight the passage at 29:24

29:48 Oh, I Report an error in the passage at 29:48 Highlight the passage at 29:48

29:53 mean, some people might think you're lazy. No, no, no good. Report an error in the passage at 29:53 Highlight the passage at 29:53

30:00 You might be working all the time. I mean, you don't, you don't publicize it. Doing Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:13 it good, but in secret. Report an error in the passage at 30:13 Highlight the passage at 30:13

30:27 Virtue. Buddha says, do no harm. Practice what is good. Discipline the mind. This is the teaching of all the books. Report an error in the passage at 30:27 Highlight the passage at 30:27

30:39 But you don't need to advertise it. Report an error in the passage at 30:39 Highlight the passage at 30:39

30:44 Maybe he was, do you think? Maybe he was doing all these things in secret because he wanted to spring it on them later. Maybe he was getting ready for his, no, I don't think so. I don't think so. Not at all. Report an error in the passage at 30:44 Highlight the passage at 30:44

31:07 But I didn't throw it out there. He was working in secret. Oh, a genuine bodhisattva. We shouldn't, I don't know. I say we, you know, I don't mean any harm, but I know how easy it is to judge someone before you know them. Report an error in the passage at 31:07 Highlight the passage at 31:07

31:30 That's easy, isn't it? Don't we do it? Report an error in the passage at 31:30 Highlight the passage at 31:30

31:36 I wonder Report an error in the passage at 31:36 Highlight the passage at 31:36

31:40 where that comes from, our doing that. Are we protecting ourselves? I mean, what do we get out of it? Does it just make life easier? Oh, I know that person. I know people like that. I don't want to have anything to do with them. And where'd they come from? Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

32:07 No telling what they've been up to, girl. She was gone for two years. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:16 You know, sure you were over there in India. Report an error in the passage at 32:16 Highlight the passage at 32:16

32:29 We do it on big things. We do it on little things. We know exactly. That we know what that is. And so often, if we sweep, if we just go by so fast, we miss an opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 32:29 Highlight the passage at 32:29

32:50 So Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

32:54 quick to judge. Report an error in the passage at 32:54 Highlight the passage at 32:54

33:02 Shantideva gives us in his meditation chapter in the Bodhisattva Avatar, he gives us two ways. I guess this is Dogen again. I guess I'm thinking about Dogen. Here, we do master practitioners. Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:23 Thinking about it again, thank you. I appreciate that. Report an error in the passage at 33:23 Highlight the passage at 33:23

33:40 About judging. Shantideva, in his meditation chapter, says there are two practices people reading this should actually try. Report an error in the passage at 33:40 Highlight the passage at 33:40

33:57 One has to do with what he calls exchanging self with others. And the other has to do with what he calls equalizing. And he does specific practices. You'll see his holiness do them. And they are rational. That's the thing. They're not sentimental. But some ask you to make yourself another person and feel like them. Report an error in the passage at 33:57 Highlight the passage at 33:57

34:28 See how it feels from their point of view. Then visualize yourself as the other person. See how it feels from that point of view. So you know both points of view. It's interesting. And in the back of... In the back of the Shambhala books, there are two appendices. One is the meditation on exchanging self with others. Report an error in the passage at 34:28 Highlight the passage at 34:28

34:49 Another good reason for buying this book. And the other is equalizing self in others. Now, in the Tibetan practice, they say everyone's exactly the same. You've probably heard His Holiness say this. Report an error in the passage at 34:49 Highlight the passage at 34:49

35:00 In that, we all wish to be happy and we all wish to avoid suffering. In that respect, we are exactly, exactly, exactly the same. Report an error in the passage at 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:11 So why judge? You know, I'd slip that in. And the other, equalizing self with others, is to catch us up on how readily we are comfortable with assuming we're better than others. Report an error in the passage at 35:11 Highlight the passage at 35:11

35:33 You know, the conceit of I. You know, what is I? I want to get rid of that I. That I is attachment. It's a simple, simple thing. We wake. And we think that's the correct point of view. So we make judgments every day about the colors of rooms and things that minds don't register. We're making these judgments all the time. And we do the same with people. And that conceit of I actually says, not only I can do this, I do this, but I'm better. Report an error in the passage at 35:33 Highlight the passage at 35:33

36:15 That's a really dangerous one. And we all, I think, maybe you don't think that. So this tendency to judge, even when we think we're doing something good. Report an error in the passage at 36:15 Highlight the passage at 36:15

36:37 Oh, Shantideva tells this story, and I think this will be my last story. Shantideva, in this book, The Way of the Bodhisattva, he says, one day you step on a thorn. I told this yesterday. You step on a thorn. And your hand reaches down and pulls it out immediately. Doesn't think about it. The hand, Shantideva talking, the hand doesn't say to the foot, oh, silly foot, you did it again. Report an error in the passage at 36:37 Highlight the passage at 36:37

37:11 Oh, silly foot, I told you not to. He's talking about this, you know, the way we judge. He says, rather than recognize you're part of the same organism and acting naturally. To correct it, because part of you was suffering, you say, oh, stupid foot. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:38 And don't get us saying the same thing when he says the barriers between self and others fall apart. You're in the same boat. Report an error in the passage at 37:38 Highlight the passage at 37:38

37:48 We're all pulling to get out of suffering together, so why rank ourselves in that endeavor? Oh, yeah. I Report an error in the passage at 37:48 Highlight the passage at 37:48

38:07 think I'd like to stop here. I encourage you to read The Way of the Bodhisattva. Think about the fact that the author was working in secret on something that has helped hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people with the Bodhisattva way while he was being called Busaku every day. Report an error in the passage at 38:07 Highlight the passage at 38:07

38:36 And that maybe Shantideva is more appropriate for him because he proved himself to be a lord of peace. He didn't get angry. He just kept his head down, kept working, doing his thing for the benefit of beings in secret. Report an error in the passage at 38:36 Highlight the passage at 38:36

39:01 All right. Thank you so much. I'd love it if we could do Q &A. A Report an error in the passage at 39:01 Highlight the passage at 39:01

39:13 few questions if you'd raise your hand. Report an error in the passage at 39:13 Highlight the passage at 39:13

39:19 Thank you so much. This was incredible. I am someone who has struggled to build confidence. And believe in myself. But when you said that I'm better than someone else in the judging other people, I was like, oh my God, that's me. So it's like, what's that line of like healthy confidence or I guess anything about the I'm better than someone else in judging that hit me hard. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

39:48 I want to tell all these stories. Report an error in the passage at 39:48 Highlight the passage at 39:48

39:57 In the Tibetan tradition, I'll start there. I know that a little better. In the Tibetan tradition. A teacher and a student can't begin that path of growth until the student's mind is ready. Report an error in the passage at 39:57 Highlight the passage at 39:57

40:17 And sometimes that means the student has to get knocked down a peg because they come in thinking they know it all. But sometimes the student comes in with not enough confidence. Report an error in the passage at 40:17 Highlight the passage at 40:17

40:38 or she can actually do this path. Report an error in the passage at 40:38 Highlight the passage at 40:38

40:44 like myself when I first met my teacher. Report an error in the passage at 40:44 Highlight the passage at 40:44

40:52 friends would say, who also met him, would say, oh, he's so compassionate. And I would say, early on, I remember doing this. How dumb. I remember saying, oh, lots of Tibetans are compassionate. It's like, who needs compassion? I did. But. But the flip side of not being sure of yourself is being even more prideful. Report an error in the passage at 40:52 Highlight the passage at 40:52

41:23 I said to them, I need wisdom. I don't need compassion. Okay. Because I was scared all the time. I was deflecting. So here's the thing. Famous, famous Tibetan story. Milarepa. Milarepa. Report an error in the passage at 41:23 Highlight the passage at 41:23

41:43 Oh, everybody doubted. Miller's ability. His father died young. His mother said, you'll never amount to anything, like that. And then his mother said, I want you, son, to go and learn black magic and destroy all these. That's my timer. And destroy, sorry, so sorry. And just destroy my enemies. And he says anything to please his mother. Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

42:14 Miller was the type that wanted to please, wanted to please. Everyone else wanted to please. He wanted to be loved. So he went and he learned black magic. And he killed 35 people because the people in the village stole from his mother and stole from him and they left them paupers. The mother wanted revenge. She thought Miller couldn't do that either, but he said, I'll show, I'll learn black magic and I'll take revenge on those people. Report an error in the passage at 42:14 Highlight the passage at 42:14

42:44 And he did. So then he has, in addition to worrying about his mother, who the town runs out of the town after that, he's worried about the karma horse that are on his tail because he knows he's killed 35 people. So when he meets a teacher, he's dragging, if you will, guilt, self-loathing. I mean, this is a young man who was just trying to please, right? Report an error in the passage at 42:44 Highlight the passage at 42:44

43:13 When I met Lama Yeshe, I had been raised in the South. I had been told I didn't know my place if I stood out. I'd been told I was worthless. You know, I lived in a place where old black men were called boys all their lives. I didn't feel like I had much worth. So I tried to be strong in the world. So I met Lama Yeshe. I was carrying all this. Report an error in the passage at 43:13 Highlight the passage at 43:13

43:44 Self-loathing and shame. And so my friend said, he's so compassionate. I said, who needs compassion? Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

43:57 Lama Yeshe had to work with me to first get me to know I was okay. Report an error in the passage at 43:57 Highlight the passage at 43:57

44:08 That took, he loved me up, which was what I needed for 15 years before it took. So I'm saying this, don't beat up on yourself. Be kind to yourself. You are worth, you are lovable. Report an error in the passage at 44:08 Highlight the passage at 44:08

44:33 Everyone is. Not just you. Everyone is. Report an error in the passage at 44:33 Highlight the passage at 44:33

44:42 It's important to have a healthy mind to start the path. And the healthy mind's being, I'm okay. I can do this. I set my mind to it. Nothing I can't do. Report an error in the passage at 44:42 Highlight the passage at 44:42

45:04 I have a question. I wonder why you think Shantideva didn't stay at the university after he ascended I think he'd made his point. By the time they were trying to hear and scribble all those notes, there were hundreds of different notes on this. He said, I left a copy in my room. And a copy of something called Shikshasamuchaya, which is a collection in my room. Report an error in the passage at 45:04 Highlight the passage at 45:04

45:37 Now, we only have what happened to Shantideva in the Namtar after. That episode in which he levitates. He goes in the Namtar and takes on a whole other life. He goes into service, I think it's just an amalgamation of stories. He goes in service to work for a king, where he's some kind of guard and soldier. He wears a sword and it's reported to the king. Report an error in the passage at 45:37 Highlight the passage at 45:37

46:09 He's killed all sorts of animals in the... In the countryside over there and when he's called before the king, he says, no, this is the sword I use, king. And the king says, let me see that sword. And he says, it's really dangerous. It's very dangerous. There's another story altogether about Shantideva that's told in the Namtar that shows him rising up. Report an error in the passage at 46:09 Highlight the passage at 46:09

46:35 I think it's just the two stories came together. In the second part, he shows the king his sword. The sword is not metal. It's made of wood. He says no animal at all ever died and all the animals reappear. So that's a very tantric take on Shantideva's life, which I think somehow came into this more traditional story of Busuku. Report an error in the passage at 46:35 Highlight the passage at 46:35

47:04 So I think it's two different stories. He didn't stay at the monastery. I don't know. Maybe he stayed at the monastery. We don't know. I think he probably passed away or he just went to another place. The second part of the story we aren't sure about. Thank you Report an error in the passage at 47:04 Highlight the passage at 47:04

47:31 so much for your talk and it's really wonderful hearing from a social justice perspective. I have a question about so your story is really Lovely, and it's very striking. And in this one, you know, eventually Busuku gets sort of this really big public recognition of his virtues and what he's been working on. Report an error in the passage at 47:31 Highlight the passage at 47:31

48:04 Do you have any tools for working with, because there's probably sort of a Busuku and... All of us, or maybe people we know, or groups of people we know, that maybe in this particular lifetime you are faced with certain intersections that will cause you to inevitably be Perceived or misperceived or maybe people you know are misperceived and maybe you never get that moment where you're levitating off a cushion and everyone can actually see who you really are and appreciate you. Report an error in the passage at 48:04 Highlight the passage at 48:04

48:45 Do you have any advice for how do you navigate the grief or the frustration of that? Maybe it's back to your concept of doing things maybe in secret, maybe when there isn't always public recognition. I'm Report an error in the passage at 48:45 Highlight the passage at 48:45

49:11 not sure I understand the question. Well, okay, so let me try again. So I think Report an error in the passage at 49:11 Highlight the passage at 49:11

49:24 the question is, so in Shantideva's experience, he was misunderstood and then Jan Willis had this moment of really grand public recognition that actually he wasn't a lazy bum. He's this wonderful scholar in the background. But I'm wondering what do we do sort of in our personal lives or maybe when we see other people where there are are your favorite Report an error in the passage at 49:24 Highlight the passage at 49:24

50:04 isn't that kind of public platform to ever sort of have this vindicating moment where everyone sees actually, you know, what you're made of. And maybe in this lifetime, that's never, that's not going to be fully possible. We have tools for coping with maybe the grief or frustration or... Report an error in the passage at 50:04 Highlight the passage at 50:04

50:28 How do you feel into your inner Shantideva when you don't get that big levitation moment? Okay. I don't think Shantideva was waiting to spring it on people. He was just doing his work. He was just writing. And he was writing poetry that he thought he hoped would help people. Though he says, first verse, maybe this will help some people, but I only did it to remind myself. So he's just writing. Report an error in the passage at 50:28 Highlight the passage at 50:28

51:00 And I don't think he was thinking at some future point, I'll get a chance to levitate before them and I'll show them. I think it's probably common enough. Yeah, no, I don't think he was a charlatan, right? He's not waiting to spring it on them. I think he's a model of being patient while others cast dispersions everywhere. Report an error in the passage at 51:00 Highlight the passage at 51:00

51:32 he went. He's the He's a model because he didn't get upset with that. That's our lesson. Can we go through life and not want to rant and rave the whole time? Now, I'm a black person in America, right? I know that I'm judged often wrongly. Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

52:00 I know that even my parents worry about me. When I'm in certain parts of the South because I'm direct and look people in the eyes. When there are still lots of places where I'm supposed to look down as though I have a hat in my hands. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:22 I mean, okay, it's too long a story. Just unbelievable things, you know. So my parents worry I'm going to get in trouble because I'm sort of too direct or something. Can I see such and such? I asked 26 different places when I was going to visit probate courts. 26 answers from white clerks. Oh, where are you from? Never veering from where are you from? Report an error in the passage at 52:22 Highlight the passage at 52:22

53:01 I was out. They wanted to say, you're out of your place, aren't you? You're not acting deferentially enough to me. That was what they were saying. I never got a, oh, it's over there. Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:16 So, there are a lot of indignities, right? And you can choose the one you want to fight. But I don't think Shantideva was about that at all, right? Report an error in the passage at 53:16 Highlight the passage at 53:16

53:30 And I think there's something to be said for Buddhist training. Let's get back to the discipline. It is not easy not to, what is it called? Huh? Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

53:55 Lash out. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah, instinctually, you know, like, mm-mm. So it takes discipline. Remember that Dhammapada verse I mentioned earlier. The Buddha says so succinctly, do no harm. That's not always easy. Practice what is good. Discipline the mind. Because if you don't discipline the mind, you can't do those two. Report an error in the passage at 53:55 Highlight the passage at 53:55

54:26 These are relational activities you do with others, right? And discipline in the mind is absolutely necessary. So Buddhists are really fortunate they got methods. Oof, you got methods. I marched with Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King wrote in his sermons, we are told to love our neighbors. How are we supposed to do that? I said, praise the Lord. He said, how? Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:55 Because that's what I wanted to know as a child. How do we do that? Our neighbors don't particularly love us. They make it clear. And Martin Luther King says you've got to be tough-minded. Even though you're tender-hearted, you've got to be tough-minded. And then he went into these are steps for how you love someone who's presenting themselves as an enemy. Report an error in the passage at 54:55 Highlight the passage at 54:55

55:21 Read it. It's a sermon on loving your enemies. And the strength to love. Title says it all. Strength to love. Take strength. Okay. Martin Luther King says, here's what you must remember. One, you must remember it is godly to forgive. Okay. Okay, Baptist preacher. What else? What else? It's godly to forgive. Okay. What else? How? How? How? Report an error in the passage at 55:21 Highlight the passage at 55:21

55:54 He says. Tibetan say, I'm sure, so does in Buddhist say, confront it with a so-called enemy. Report an error in the passage at 55:54 Highlight the passage at 55:54

56:07 This is not all of them. This is not all they are. A Klansman, I've seen them up close. Report an error in the passage at 56:07 Highlight the passage at 56:07

56:23 Take off that robe, pick up a kid, kiss a wife. They know how to love, though they might not be showing it to you. This is not... All of who they are. Tibetan nuns who were captured by Chinese soldiers and tortured every day for aid. I know this, my torturer, is not all I see. It is more than this. This is not all of who they are. They have wives. They have kids. That's a rational way to confront an enemy. Report an error in the passage at 56:23 Highlight the passage at 56:23

57:03 This is not all of who they are. I only see this part. I only see 1%. I know that they are better. Yeah, I know they are better. I'm not witnessing it right now, but I know they're better. This takes discipline. This takes discipline. And the training I got with King, the discipline was you do your absolute best to love them. Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:32 This is why nonviolent resistance is. Transformative. Don't want to repeat everything I said yesterday. Nonviolent resistance is transformative to both self and others. Why? Because you look an enemy in the eye and see them as a person and respect them and show that you realize this is not all of who they are. Report an error in the passage at 57:32 Highlight the passage at 57:32

57:57 And they have to see you as a human being. And that transforms them. And it transforms you. And it lets you know you're in the same boat. Report an error in the passage at 57:57 Highlight the passage at 57:57

58:08 It lets you know about the value of a human being. Nonviolence is respect for life. Respect for life is valuable. I don't know if I've answered your question. I'm hoping to say that I had to, that there are, I was happy to know there were methods for help. Report an error in the passage at 58:08 Highlight the passage at 58:08

58:36 Okay? Hope so. Thank you. That's very profound. Appreciate it. Thank you. I see some hands back there. Unfortunately, this is all the time we have for in here, but if you are able to be at the tea after the talk. I'm happy to be at the tea. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 58:36 Highlight the passage at 58:36

59:03 Thank you all. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 59:03 Highlight the passage at 59:03