Stream video:

John's talk notes:

Welcome everyone and thank you for being here—-its good to see familiar faces and some faces—-and hello to ——-on zoom. Thanks for joining this morning. I am going to continue our series of talks on the six Paramitas or perfections in Buddhism. And once again, they are 1. Generosity. 2. Ethical Conduct. 3. Patience. 4. Joyful Effort. 5. Meditation. 6. Wisdom. I have appreciated the talks that have come before and some of the points made: Talus reminding us that generosity can be applied when we notice critical thoughts about ourselves or others, Raizelah saying that maybe the Paramitas come down to loving kindness. And I liked Chris’ comparison that working with the Paramitas is like learning a musical instrument. Regular practice over time makes a difference. Aside from listening to a few dharma talks, I used 2 books in preparing this talk: Norman Fischer’s The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path and a book by Dale Wright, The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character. Because many of the individual Paramitas have already been discussed and Ken did an excellent job of showing how they are inner-connected, I am going to cover what I would call some odds and ends about the Paramitas. One of those is to say that the Paramitas are not only for use in our relationships with others. They apply to us as well. Your well being and mine are not less than or more important that anyone else’s. So, generosity, patience, joyful effort etc. on your own behalf is recommended. It is recommended. In Norman Fischer’s book he talks about this. When he was elected abbot of San Francisco Zen Center—-a complicated and difficult job—-he was asked what his priorities were. He said: “My first priority is my own happiness.” This was a shock to some people but he went on the say that a crabby unhappy abbot would have a very negative effect on everyone else and a happy abbot would increase the organization’s joy.” He pointed out that the same thing is true for each one of us: your happiness or lack of it impacts your family, your work, your personal life in every way. He concluded by saying: “We should all cultivate our own happiness not for ourselves (true happiness can never be selfish anyway) but for others. So, you can be generous with yourself and say—-yes, I have time to meditate regularly even when I am busy. And when you do that, be patient with yourself. What matters is making the time and effort—-not a particular outcome. So, sit down in a quiet place and establish a stable posture and do your best to pay attention to your body and your breath, noticing thoughts and feelings as they arise then letting them go. And when you get sidetracked, notice and kindly return to paying attention. Don’t worry about whether you are making progress or how you are doing compared to others. One of the things I like about Dale Wright’s book is the emphasis on the creation of character over time and consciously using the Paramitas as part of that development. It seems to me, that character develops over an entire lifetime whether people are paying attention to their words and actions or just reacting to a situation any which way. I am not certain about this but I think for me, one of the results of a long meditation practice is now, when I have an impulse to say or do something, there is usually a —-not sure what to call it—-a space—-where I can ask myself—do you want to say that or do that or not? And I really appreciate having that little bit of time. I am less likely to say or do something I regret and when I do, I usually notice the mistake and can try to correct it. I think many of us are upset and worried about problems in the world—-poverty, injustice, war, climate change and other problems and wonder: “what can I do?” “How can I live my life and make some kind of difference?” One of the reasons I started practice was I needed help facing the hard things in life—-old age, illness and death—and problems in the world have certainly become one of the hard things in life for all of us. I am going to do a little sidetrack now and I will get back to this topic. When I met my wife 45 years ago, she had an 18 year old housemate who was just starting a Western. Karen had wanted to be veterinarian since she was a kid. She graduated from Western, got her veterinarian degree at WSU and returned to Bellingham and done things like establish a spay/neuter clinic for low income pet owners, and done the same thing in Mexico and she has established a number of other animal care programs in her career and made a real difference and contribution in her field. I really respect and appreciate people like that, and I feel somewhat deficient in a way, because I have never had a drive to do something like that and it’s very unlikely I ever will. I have talked with Norman Fischer a couple of times about this and his response has been: without judgement, “some people have that drive and some people don’t.” So, to come back to my question: how do I make a difference in the world? One of my favorite quotes from Suzuki Roshi is: “Shine one corner of the world.” The full quote is: “We say, to shine one corner of the world—that is enough. Not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.” To me, that means our day to day life—interacting at work, at home, with friends, driving on the highway, encountering a homeless person, in a long line at a grocery store. All of these are opportunities to shine your corner. And that is something that is possible for each one of us. And it does matter. I won’t be making a difference with the big problems of the world, but I can make a difference with what I encounter in my day to day life here, and the Paramitas are a great set of guidelines to keep in mind. Another Suzuki Roshi quote that applies here is: “Accept what is as it is, and help it to become its best.” Another advocate for this approach is Jetsunma Palmo. She is an English woman who went to India in the early 1960’s, found a teacher and has been practicing for over 60 years. She said that changing the world starts with changing ourselves and bringing those changes—-the kind of qualities mentioned in the Paramitas into our day to day life. Develop a heart that is generous, kind, patient, can speak out and take a stand when needed. I have a lot of gratitude for the Paramitas because they give me standards to keep in mind and I like to look around in life for examples of people handling things well or not and what I see inspires me to keep at it. Airports are great places to watch people. A few years ago we were flying to a family visit and we arrived in Seattle and went to get our boarding passes and along with about 250 other people, we’re told our flight had been cancelled. So, here were 2 agents with all these people to find flights for and some of them were really upset. I thought—- I would hate to be behind that counter today. This one guy was so patient and calm and maintained a good sense of humor even when people were critical and complaining. I was so impressed. We were a ways back in line waiting to talk to him, so I watched him handle upset travelers and it was impressive. Another example at the airport happened a few years later. We were coming back from a trip and landed at SEATAC to catch a flight to Bellingham which was delayed several times, so it was pretty late in the evening. There were probably 60 or 70 tired people waiting at the terminal. I noticed a mother by herself with 2 very active little boys—probably 6 and 8 years old who were very active and she was doing an amazing job of “warmly containing them.” Letting them do some things with boundaries, keeping them from bothering others, but being very kind about it. At the same time there was one man who was really upset out the delays and her was pacing around swearing and promising he would never fly this airline again, how much longer will we have to wait. Etc etc. He was vocalizing what a lot of us, including me were thinking and feeling, but I was so glad that I could have those thoughts and feelings and be quiet. I was able to stay polite and patient with airline employees and say anything I regretted. I did a lot of meditation while waiting at the airport. I encourage you to keep the Paramitas in mind as you go through your day to day life. The Buddha talked about not accepting his teachings on faith or based on his authority. He encouraged us to try the teachings out in your own life and see if they reduce suffering for you and others. Life will give you an endless number of opportunities to test whether the Paramitas can be helpful. I will finish with a short piece by Robin Wall Kimmerer—-she is a Native American writer and activist—-one of her books is Braiding Sweetgrass— an excellent book about ecology and Native American culture and tradition. Here are her words: Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of joy and wonder. I choose joy over despair, not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift. Thank you for your attention.