Rōshi

Uh, this is generally an online-only program, and, um, but Rebecca Solnit is here as a writer in residence for a few more hours before she drives back to California, and we're so grateful for her joining, uh, in person and making it possible for you all to come, so welcome.

And, um, Roshi will say more about Rebecca, I think, but I just wanted to thank you all for being here and for the generosity of so many that have made this program, The Measure of Our Humanity, and so many of our online programs possible because we offer all of it freely for whoever wants to join, and we just ask that just whatever you can give, um, from the generosity of your heart to continue to offer these programs freely and so that we can, uh, give our teachers something too to help continue their work in the world.

Also, I forgot to mention that our, our, uh, the program, program today will be interpreted simultaneously by our wonderful Marcus Tellus and our Portuguese team, Portuguese-speaking team.

So thank you, Marcus, and, uh, Jeannie, and all of you there.

[laughs]

... um, online, you just click the interpretation button on the screen and select Portuguese.

So thank you all so much for being here, and, uh, Roshi and Dainin.

Thank you.

I kept trying to quit.

And then, one night I was on a ten day retreat with Enkyo Roshi.

And she said to me, you're not getting anywhere.

And I was on the verge of crying.

Number two, if you let Mu go very deep in your heart, then when you breathe in and you breathe out Mu, there'll be no difference between inside and outside, and there'll be no difference between you and Mu.

Number three, if you start to understand the koan and you start to get it, then remind yourself that with the great questions of life, you have no clue.

I remember sending Roshi an email once saying, I got it.

Let's meet.

She first encountered Buddhism while living in Asia.

She was ordained at the Rochester Zen Center, where she lived and practiced for many years and received Dharma transmission from Kapilo Roshi.

Afterwards, she traveled to Sogen-ji in Japan to practice under the guidance of the Zen master Harada Shodo Roshi.

She currently lives in New Mexico, where she has founded Mountain Gate.

And, um, Harada Roshi would not pass you on a koan until you had milked it dry

Um, you, you garbled for a second.

Was this Kapilo or, um, Soen? I mean s- um, Harada?

Yeah, it was me.

[bell ringing] So this is our second, uh, class in our Bright Ways and Lineage series.

And, uh, the expected topics for this series are on the website, but not holding to a fast, hard and fast schedule, because I'm just letting each topic, if we wanna talk more about it, it can stretch, right? So last week, um, talked about, you know, really quick overview of Soto Zen, and then my Dharma great-grandfather, Keido Chi San, uh, a Japanese priest, and then his student, Roshi Kennett.

Uh, and it was a very interesting conversation.

We watched a video about Soji-ji Monastery.

And, uh, if there's any media, I'm providing links to that too.

So you can go see the pictures that we saw last week, or tonight you can go back and see the pictures that I show tonight.

So, um, I will just launch right in starting with Roshi Kennett, my Dharma grandmother.

I told her basic story last week, and ended with just a little bit of, of the audio of her giving a talk, and I figured I would start with that again, just like three minutes or so of her talk to set the stage.

Well, that's really interesting because the first time I tackled a Leonard Cohen song was pretty much because I was coerced by Leonard into doing it.

After we got off the road in 1988, he was giving a party for his Zen teacher, for Roshi.

And he asked me to be the musical director for the whole evening.

And I said, absolutely, I'll do whatever you need.

Um, thank you residents for holding this place.

Thank you Roshi for this practice, this place, and just the beauty of supporting us and really showing up to our lives.

So I'm Fushin.

Um, have you all ever been in a situation where you see this face and all of a sudden it just becomes clear? Maybe it was down a long road, or it was across a room where [clears throat] you're not exactly sure who it is, but all of a sudden that vision of them just settles in, and then, um, the seeing happens, and you're like, "Oh, it's them." And you didn't do anything.

I vow to free them.

You know, no one finishes that vow, and no one's meant to.

You know, Roshi, she writes in her forthcoming book that, quote, "An impossible vow is not a promise we try to complete, but the direction that orients us to the whole of life.

An impossible vow is not a promise we try to complete, but a direction that orients us to the whole of life." You never finish it, and that's not a flaw.

You know, I want to do this well.

In Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, the book by Suzuki Roshi, he talks about practicing without a gaining mind.

That's the phrase he uses trying to get enlightenment.

He tells us it's more a matter of letting go of excess, letting whatever hindrances arise to cloud our clear mind drop away.

so that each moment, each breath is just this, just this, nothing more.

Suzuki Roshi doesn't talk about this non-gaining attitude in terms of play, but stories about him reveal his playful interactions with his students and others.

Here's one story told by an early student, Rick Fields.

So here's this story.

Difficult things are where patience becomes practice.

Chosen Roshi often says there is no waiting in Zen.

No, there is no waiting in Zen.

This is because every circumstance that we find ourselves is an opportunity to practice.