During the community's September 2024 one-day sitting, Seiu Hannah Sullivan offers a reflection on the theme of the day: Opening to Joy.
Stream audio:
Stream video:
Talk Notes
In 2016 I had the good fortune of traveling to Japan. The trip was led by two great practitioners and dharma friends, Myoshin Kate McCandless and Shinmon Michael Newton, the guiding teachers at Mountain Rain Zendo in Vancouver, BC. They met as grad students in Asian studies while living in Kyoto, and had led two trips for practitioners before ours. Their fluency in the language and their familiarity with Soto practice and our lineage through Shunryo Suzuki Roshi allowed us a five day stay at Rinso-In, the hometemple of our founder in North America (which was also visited this spring by our Red Cedar group). Suzuki Roshi’s son, Hoitsu, or Hojo-san, was in residence along with his wife, their son and his family. We were able to have a short sesshin there, & on the last day Hoitsu gave us a dharma talk, much of it translated by Michael. He suggested that we might want to know what it was like to grow up as our revered founder’s son, and proceeded to tell us, in addition to the good things, the unvarnished version. It included Suzuki Roshi’s realization that they were a lot alike, and he didn’t want his son to be burdened by his shortcomings. Forgetfulness was one: it must have been excruciating for a father to see such a trait emerging in one he loved. One day Hoitsu was leaving for school and it was noticed that he had forgotten his books and schoolwork. So dad threw him into the pond. At a later time, a troubled towns person and member of the sangha displayed violent tendencies but out of kindness was allowed to continue to visit the temple. One day he attacked and killed Hoitsu’s mother. Later, when Suzuki Roshi had gone to San Francisco, his earnings at the local temple there were only enough to cover the barest of expenses and he was unable to send money home to pay for Hoitsu’s college. It was through the generosity of a grandmother that he was able to attend. We listened, rapt, as we envisioned this “crazy life of tears” (a part of the title of Norman’s reflections on his trip to Japan and relationship with Hoitsu). His closing statement was this(in English): “And so I must tell you, practice with joy!”
I’ve never forgotten it, nor have the friends I traveled with.
I open with this story because I feel there are many people who come to practice carrying a great deal of sorrow, of perhaps depression, or memories of childhood trauma, and the notion of joy is not near at hand. James Baraz, a founding teacher at Spirit Rock, an insight Buddhist center in Marin County, CA., and author of a book called Awakening Joy, references the amygdala, an almond shaped portion of our brain that scans the horizon for what could go wrong. He suggests that the brain is like Teflon for positive experiences, and like Velcro for the negative. Stress increases this tendency, making it harder to see the positive, as does “confirmation bias”, the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. So our brain picks up everything we have in that belief system and, through repetition, shapes the lens we look through.
Are we condemned? I should tell you the full title of Norman’s aforementioned book, which was, in fact, a direct quote from Hoitsu: Escape This Crazy Life of Tears
After all, he is a Buddhist teacher. Where would he derive wisdom? We might look to the four noble truths here:(short version)1.there is suffering. 2.the cause is perpetuation through repeating the same actions. 3.There is a way out: 4.the eightfold path: Right view, right intent, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
A main practice is to keep looking for the good. In the Platform Sutra, Huineng, the 6th Chinese ancestor, teaches that nirmanakaya(which we chanted of this morning at breakfast) is the transformation body. If we skew toward the positive, we can absorb it and thereby transform.
We also need to come to terms with the first noble truth; that there is suffering. And yet, Buddha was known as “the happy one”. The Dalai Lama has said, “The purpose of life is to be happy”.
As young critical thinkers, we are taught to cast a skeptical eye on whatever we confront. Just plain being happy seems perhaps trivial, unconsidered.
I think also of Thich Nhat Hanh, who I originally knew of as a peace activist: he was exiled from his home country,South Viet Nam in 1966, during what is known there as “the American War”, for refusing to take sides. He saw awful things, monks setting themselves on fire, death by napalm, agent orange, and ground combat. Yet his gentle message was always love. Peace.
And then there is Eihei Dogen, who taught of the Three Minds:
The Great Mind (the absolute)
The Grandmotherly Mind (keeping track of the details of everyday life)
The Joy Mind(the joy of being alive)
So How can we cultivate happiness, or the experience of joy?
-
Understand where happiness lies, and the feeling it engenders. Close your eyes as you consider these questions: “What brings you joy?” “How does it feel?” Please, I invite you to call it out. Words like ease, contentment, wellbeing arise. (My little dog: the heart swells)(the act of the creative process)(taking a shower; relief of tension, wave of relaxation. Swimming(exultation). For me, this has real resonance. I lived without running water for about six years, and to this day, I rejoice every time I step into a hot shower)
-
The gladness connected to a moment of generosity. Being present for it, and deepening it. TO BE PRESENT FOR THE MOMENT
-
(I’m still channeling Baraz here)Whatever one frequently thinks and ponders, that becomes the going energy. His quote:”Neurons that fire together, wire together”. He suggests we turn our attention and feel that positivity I referenced with the dog, the shower, the painting for 15 seconds! Do it 6x/day for a total of 90 seconds of intentional positive experience. Over a two week period, you will notice a difference. You’re shifting the Teflon/Velcro ratio.
Fear is contagious.
So is well-being.
To be hopeful in bad times is not romantic; it’s an attitude. An intention. A way of being.
I think joy is sitting close to love(not a big zen term, but it’s pretty key to wellbeing).
This brings to mind one of the ancient Buddhist teachings, the Brahma Viharas. Also known as the Four Abodes.. It’s early buddhist, but also pre-buddhist, arising out of Indian culture(these were ascribed in early Buddhist texts as having been taught by previous incarnations of the Buddha). They also appear in the yoga sutras of Patanjali.
Whoever gets the credit, they are an integral guideline for social relations. They are:
-
Metta: loving kindness)
-
Karuna:compassion
-
Mudita: sympathetic joy
-
Upekka: equanimity
I’d like to talk about mudita, sympathetic joy, because I found it to be a pivotal part of my growth as a zen student. Mudita has been said to be the most challenging form of love. We talk in the bodhisattva vow to dedicate our lives to the benefit of all beings. What stops us is often ourselves. I have many deep memories of childhood and especially adolescence where I compared myself, unfavorably, to many others. Awards, compliments, dating, appearance, all were funneled through my perception of my own worth. It took many years for me to come to that moment where I was genuinely joyous for another person’s good fortune.
The idea of appreciation, true appreciation, for someone else is a great antidote to self-preoccupation.
We need to lighten up!
Give the gift of joy!
When I find myself in the pit of my stomach)feeling anything but happiness for another, I have to take a good look. Some years ago, a dear sangha friend of mine decided to leave zen and pursue Theravadan Buddhism. This happened again more recently, with another close dharma friend. I had to deeply examine my strong feelings of, well, abandonment. It has taken authentic practice to turn this into true sympathetic joy, for their practice, their wellbeing under a different roof.
There’s a concept I’ve been very interested in known as the near enemy. For example the near enemy of equanimity is said to be indifference. The near enemy of compassion is pity. The near enemy of sympathetic joy is envy…which can easily degenerate into jealousy.
We have a beautiful chant that directly relates to cultivating mudita, and that is the metta sutta. It arises from metta practice, and is something we can add to our practice as a tool. We have to start with ourselves, wishing ourselves safety, freedom from suffering, and love. Then we move to someone who has been important in our lives , like a teacher, and wish them the same. We move on to neutral, then a difficult individual, and finally offer our best wishes to all beings.
If I can truly appreciate, and find joy, in another person’s good fortune, I have been able to experience mudita, sympathetic joy.
So let’s try it.
Once again, close the eyes.
Breathe.
Bring to mind an image of yourself, and silently say:*…someone you love…someone you don’t feel good about. Then. All beings
*May ____ appreciate my own/their good qualities
May____take joy in this good fortune
May it grow.
May it lead to liberation.
In this meditation we are experiencing the possibility of nirmanakaya, the transformation body of Buddhism. Seated on the cushion.
Pema Chodron, in her book Welcoming the Unwelcome, talks about the concept of bodhicitta . In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhicitta, ("enlightenment-mind" or "the thought of awakening"), is the mind (citta in Sanskrit ) that is aimed at awakening (bodhi), with wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings.
This state often comes unbidden…in the midst of a sesshin, during a major life event (I talked recently about Gary Snyder the poet, learning about the horror of Hiroshima and vowing to to work for the rest of his life for the benefit of the wellbeing of other people. You might call this a secular awakening of bodhicitta, which for him not too many years later developed into a formal zen bodhisattva vow to “bring others across before himself”.
So we have the awakening of bodhicitta, and that’s a beginning. But Pema Chodron suggests that we go on to cultivate that awakening.
What are some other ways we might cultivate the awakening of such energy?
I find that the simple act of going outside (and if possible moving) is a profound generator of joy. Breathing in fresh air, moving the body. Then there are the surprises along the way. A flower newly in bloom. The smell of the forest. Gazing at water. In a previous dharma talk, I referenced The Blue Mind concept which originated with the late marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, who's remembered for his work in science and conservation. In "Blue Mind," he described the phenomenon as a "mildly meditative state" that's inspired by water and "takes advantage of the neurological connections formed over millennia" that are still being discovered via newer technology, including EEG and fMRI.
How is your baseline health? You may be deficient in vitamin D, or B12
You may find great joy in playing a musical instrument, or dancing. (I can’t say enough about movement).
Cooking, arranging flowers, riding a bike, looking at paintings or sculpture.
Depending on your life circumstances you may find inspiration in the presence(or absence) of other people.
So how might we live out our bodhisattva vow?
Zen master Dogen wrote that someone working to benefit others should maintain three minds: magnanimous mind, parental mind, and joyful mind.
I’d like to say that one person I have really learned from, by her demonstration of joy, is Kate. She brings joy. She appreciates the good fortune of others, no matter what May be arising for her personally. She wishes well-being for the world.
May we all find joy.
May we all appreciate the joy of others.
How can we not, if in fact we are interbeing, connected, one body, one Buddha?
Thank you for listening.
