Talking about Dogen's Instructions to the Cook

First of all, Dogen Zenji says the cook must be of big mind to accept various criticism and complaint with, you know, not smile, - [laughs] if you smile they will be more angry [laughs]. So you cannot even smile [laughs]. Just to accept what they say, and just to understand our human nature is only the way.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-06-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Kitchen

I want to make clear the relationship between our big mind and everyday activity. In everyday life, how the big mind reveal itself will be the point I will talk about right now-- or you may say the function of the great mind. Dogen Zenji explained this mind in his Tenzo Kyokun. Tenzo Kyokun is the instruction for the monks who works in the kitchen. Those who work in the kitchen must have this mind. And work in the kitchen is the extended practice of zazen, or their way working in the kitchen should be based on our pure practice or big mind. Especially for those who work in kitchen, it is necessary to have big mind because they will have various difficulties. --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-06-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Taigen on Tree of Life Synagogue massacre

Taigen Dan Leighton 's Bar Mitzvah was at Tree of Life Synagogue. Here's what he wrote about the recent massacre of people there. - Tree of Life. 

Taigen is the guiding teacher at  Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago. He says, "Please Vote!"

Ed Brown Letter Asking for Support

Ed has found a place in Sebastopol, California, for a practice center. Here's a letter from Ed asking for support in acquiring it. 

Mirror

The mind which we will acquire or obtain by our pure practice is something which is not graspable, which is beyond our words. But at the same time, the mind will respond to everything. So positively speaking, our mind is like a mirror which reflects various objects on it. But when there is no object, the mirror is something which you cannot even see. This is the mind we will obtain by our pure practice.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-06-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Transcription of Edward Brown's talk from July 18, 2018

This is the first of four transcriptions (I hope) of the audio from Edward's one day sitting on July 18th at Green Gulch farm. It's also the last of the four, his afternoon talk in the zendo (PDF)  It's linked to from the Edward Brown page for his recent situation with the SFZC. The audio for all four is there too. The talk starts with him talking about his pre-ZC time at Tassajara which is bound to be excerpted in Tassajara Stories. Thanks Sally Harris Sange for the transcribing. She's working with Danny Parker who's doing a book of Edward's lectures. - DC

Continuing from yesterday

Our way of life should be more stable, and more wide, and more open to everyone. Keeping something just within yourself is one of the violationsof our precepts. Whether it may be material or spiritual, not to open up for others is violations of the precepts. Our mind should be open to everyone. If you want to open up your mind, you should resume your true mind or essence of mind according to the Sixth Patriarch.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Sheet of Paper

There is limit in our effort, and there is limit in our power to attain something. Whether you become famous or not, the difference may be by a sheet of paper. If you are strong-- stronger than the other a little bit, you know, you will become famous. That's all. If you can do it little bit ahead of people, you will be successful. To be involved in that kind of competition is to sacrifice yourself. And it is silly, you know, to be involved in this kind of life.   --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Dead End

If the true dragon will appease your ambitious thought or your unsatisfied feeling in your everyday life, you will be interested in our practice in its true sense. This kind of interest is not usual interest to be proud of your power or your understanding, but something which will appease all the ambitious thought and all the resistance. That is why many artists and poets and samurai or some influential people who found dead end in their way practiced zazen.   --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Dragon

As Dogen Zenji in his instruction of zazen, “Don't be afraid of true dragon.” In China there was a man who liked dragons very much. Even though he didn't have dragon and he liked to talk about dragons. This kind of, feeling we have always. Even though we don't know what is zazen, people like to talk about zazen all day and night, all night and day [laughs, laughter].   --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Wrong

Maybe we like something wrong rather than right-- rather than true [laughs]. This is something, you know-- this is, maybe, same tendency we have when we feel some resistance. Something which is true is maybe always very common and not so interesting, not so colorful. It is just plain and common. So you have no interest in it. Something which is wrong [laughs] is very interesting.   --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Way

The more you understand a human being-- human nature, the more you will be interested in our way.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Bill Lane again with link

Opps - forgot the link to the Bill Lane page featured yesterday. Here tis.

Bill Lane

Did a page for Bill Lane to gather some links to various entries about our dear departed friend and wrote something on him. - DC

Opps - forgot the link to his page. Here tis.

Perfect Freedom

So if you want to obtain the perfect freedom from everything, your effort should be directed inward. As long as you have this kind of practice, you have no danger-- danger of being enslaved by anything. You have always perfect freedom.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Enslaved

It is silly for us just to be caught by the feeling of resistance. The resistance, because of the discrimination, is a kind of imitation. But usually [in] imitation we imitate something. In the same way, but in-- when we have resistance, we imitate in opposite way [laughs]. That is just-- you imitate in the same way or the other way is the difference. But your way is caused by some outward object. In other word, your mind is enslaved by outward object.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Lew Richmond Aging Blog and new book

Lew writes: I am most pleased to announce that my new book on Men and Aging, tentatively titled Every Breath, New Chances: A Guide to Aging for Men will be published in 2020 by North Atlantic Books.  

EVERY BREATH, NEW CHANCES, my new book on aging, is focused on men's aging issues. Its approach is not as explicitly Buddhist as AGING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, and rather than a series of different contemplative exercises, I teach variations on a single one, which I call "Every Breath, New Chances." I learned this phrase from one of my Japanese Buddhist teachers, who taught it both as a specific meditation and as a general approach to life. As a general teaching "every breath, new chances" means that we are always re-inventing ourselves on each breath, and that every situation offers fresh opportunities if we are alert to them . . . (to continue, click on the Aging Blog link below.  At the end of the blog I ask people to let me know if they would like to participate in one of my on-line discussion groups.  For people on this mailing list, you can reply to this email directly, thank you! 

Lew's email address for this list: Lewis Richmond <lewwebsite (at) earthlink (dot) net> 

Lewis Richmond's Aging Blog

Lew's Twitter Feed

Lew's Facebook page

Lew Richmond Cuke page - just put a note there that it's hard to keep up with all that Lew does.

Doesn't Matter

Who told us the teaching or who force some way of life to us doesn't matter. We will not lose our way, and we will create-- we will develop our way in our own idea and in our own way. There is freedom of creativity.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Old and New

When we do not think “right or wrong,” “good or bad,” our mind is big enough accept things whether it is old or whether it is new.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Peter Coyote letter to SFZC Leadership

Peter Coyote on the situation with Edward Brown and the SFZC

The first on a page for comments on this matter

Point

I think if you know the true way of zazen, because you are young-- because you have some feeling of resistance, you will practice more our way, and feeling of resistance to old way of life will encourage your practice. Moreover, you will-- your mind will be big enough to accept the old way of life we had. When our practice come to this point, we say don't think “good and bad,” or “right or wrong.”  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Crystallized

Instead of expressing resistance outward, we resume our original nature or universal nature or state of mind before it is crystallized in some particular way.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

An Analysis and Suggestions of SFZC Handling of Edward Brown case

Charles Kennedy posted on Facebook in a long string of comments following a cuke post about the situation with the SFZC and Edward Brown.

My response:
I'm not downplaying the substantial grief on all sides, as everyone's viewpoint has validity (I don't mean that in a generic way....each side is sincerely aggrieved based on substantive facts). However, this is analogous to a run-of-the-mill hostile work environment complaint. Given SFZC leadership's role in maintaining a platform for speech in front of diverse audiences, it is shockingly clear no planned policy was brought to bear on this incident. I don't even work in human resources and I can identify several important mistakes:
- Loss of confidentiality of the complaintant's statement (and other aspects of the process). 
- Not following up in a timely manner on communications. 
- Not gathering evidence & not establishing corroboration of the facts.
- Issues with Ed's "deportment" in the past are referenced. Is that established in the record? Most reasonable people can and will adapt their behavior to meet a clearly communicated threshold of expectations. Rather than obliquely referencing "past issues with deportment", there should be a *confidential record* of explicit warnings and identified corrective actions. Maybe there is a record? I don't know.
- Linking expressions of anger, acrimony & animus by one of the parties with the dismissal decision. 

Nisargadatta Cuts through it all

Quintessence of Nisargadatta's teaching

A Sunday offering

Whole Earth Cataglue

If you were a fan of the Whole Earth Catalog and associated endeavors (CoEvolution Quarterly, Whole Earth Review, The Well, et al.) you might enjoy this evening's 50th Anniversary celebration, live streamed from San Francisco starting ca. 6:45pm PDT. - thanks Andrew

Caught

In our practice, even though we do not ignore the idea of good or bad, we are not caught by the idea of good or bad any more.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Lucy Bennett Calhoun interview

This interview with Lucy Bennett Calhoun was done in 1993 and Lucy just spent some time editing it.

Anew

In our practice, we should forget all about the idea of good or bad, right or wrong. But when old culture become rigid and concrete, the old culture will force something always anew.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Leadership Statement from SFZC regarding Edward Brown's Situation

Leadership Statement Regarding Edward Brown from the SFZC Sangha News sent out today and shared on Facebook which I will also do.- Thanks ZC folks.
DC comment: The first paragraph of ZC leaderships' letter understandably misses a few initial steps in the sequence of events. First, Edward Brown sent out an email on the subject. He sent the supporting material to me - the letter of complaint, ZC's email to him, his final response (after calming down some) and the audio files for the talks. He said I could post whatever I wanted. I'm always involved in more than I can keep up with so I kept all the material in a folder to think about later and kept communicating with Edward stressing this wasn't permanent, that ZC and he will evolve. Then Lichen Brown posted a letter on Facebook. There were many responses to her post and many questions so I shared it and then posted the supporting material so people could judge for themselves. Ed wrote me that Lichen was surprised by the enormous response to her letter and asked if I'd add to the cuke page on this that "it was not her intention to hurt or harm anyone, nor is it mine." 

Resistance

Usually resistance and obedience are two quite different tendencies or activities of mind or functions of mind. But originally it is not different. There we have reason why we practice something informally and why we practice our way in the opposite way. Because you feel some resistance to your old culture, you should practice zazen. And you feel better to practice our way, because our practice is the expression of our resistance to the old way of life.   --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Critical

If you are under a very critical situation, you will find out your true nature.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

No Reciple

Edward Brown's No Recipe - that's Edward - wingin it this way and that like a bird with a chef's hat.

“[An] illuminating guide. Brown presents cooking as a refreshing celebration of the mundane—an act he feels is at the heart of understanding the sacred and a valuable means of enlarging one’s spirituality…[NO RECIPE’s] down-to-earth wisdom, generous spirit, and exuberant encouragement simply to cook will appeal to all readers who enjoy cooking.”
—Publishers Weekly

By it at Amazon etc or on the webstore at Edward Browns Peaceful Sea Sangha - with many intriguing lectures to listen to.

Edward Brown cuke page

Lighthouse (referring to the prior posts)

This kind of instruction given by Dogen Zenji is like a lighthouse in the stormy ocean. When the sea is very calm, you would rather have a storm [laughs]. And most of the young people has this kind of feeling-- this kind of resistance. --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Appropriate Effective

 If you don't know what is true practice and where you should put your effort, and nature of our practice based on the human nature or nature of culture-- human culture, we cannot make appropriate effective effort in helping ourselves and others.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay. 

Audio excerpts from Edward Brown talk

On the page with material on the termination of Edward Browns teaching at SFZC Centers, there are now audio excerpts from his talks on that day of July 18th of this year with the stories Ed told that the person who wrote the letter of complaint found troubling.

Ed's Ocean Sea Sangha website - with many lectures

Also threw in two other excerpts for fun. - DC

Keep Standing on Your Head

Like I told you over and over, the point of our effort is like this: for beginner it looks very discouraging and frustrating. Someone in dokusan said [laughs] Zen is like standing on your head [laughs]. It is simple [laughing], but to keep standing on your head is very difficult. I think that is very true.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-B as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Edward Brown Banned!

A page for the ongoing saga of Edward Brown's banishment from teaching at SFZC including links to the offending talks.

Parental warning: some content may offend

Ed's Ocean Sea Sangha website - with many lectures 

Lichen Brown's letter to the Abbots and Abbesses of the SFZC

This is the first of a series of posts on the decision of the SFZC to ban Edward Brown from teaching there including canceling some future sittings and talks that were booked.

Read Lichen's letter here at Google Docs also she posts it on Facebook here.

Continuing from yesterday

In this way, to open up your mind for everything and to be ready for accepting various difficulties is the purpose of zazen.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Apply

So if we do not know how to resume the source of life, what we will have is culminating joy and regretfulness. We cannot enjoy our life in its true sense without this practice. That is why Dogen Zenji put emphasis on this practice. It does not mean to slight the other practice, but if we forget this point, whatever practice it may be, it doesn't work - it doesn't help us in its true sense. On the other hand, if we understand this point and apply whatever way of practice you apply, it will work.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Joy

In zazen, our mind should not be in a state of contamination or in the state of sleepiness, you know. If we are sleeping, we cannot practice zazen. But on the other hand, if our mind is in a state of agitation or state of extreme joy, we cannot practice our way. And describing this extreme joy, Chinese people used two words-- two characters. One is culminating joy, you know. One is culmination of joy. And one character is regretfulness [laughs], you know. It describes to the point if the culmination of joy happens to us, next moment will be the regret [laughs].  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Regretful

Only when we know that even though evolution of life brought our individual life to this point where we have many fears, we know how to resume our original life-- source of life. Then, you know, we can enjoy this civilization at the top of evolution of life activity. So without this kind of understanding, we cannot enjoy anything. When you are involved in it you may be all right, but what will happen to next time? You will be very regretful. --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.

Civilization

The evolution of life creates many problems for us. I am not regretful about our civilization - to enjoy this civilization. I enjoy it very much. But at the same time, we should know that there is no complete freedom or complete renunciation in this kind of civilization.  --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-12-05-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC - Many Shunryu Suzuki lecture ex/cerpts on cuke.com - from thee links to much more. Going slowly through Suzuki transcripts featuring whatever is next that seems okay.