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I'm amazed by how nice the community you have built around you is. A day-old video with 2.200 views and more than 60 comments, most of which coming from good-hearted people just being nice.. congratulations my friend

This video is three years old and totally holds up as a commentary on “the current thing”.

Honestly for the past few days/weeks I've been checking the news WAY too often. The only feeling they invoke in me is hatred, disgust, agitation, etc. Yet they are very addictive. Refraining from reading news and doing zazen would be better I think everyone would agree on that lol

News is like thought - the skill is not to silence it. A duck knows it is raining, it just doesn't get wet.

Yes agreed. It’s such a bizarre shift of perspective when you realize a Buddhist hermit doing zazen is actually doing highly helpful work for everyone.

When I was about 16 I went to my high school library looking for a book on "Eastern Philosophy" and The Book by Alan Watts was the one that I found. It profoundly affected the way I have thought about everything since. I totally agree with you. Samsara is always going to be crazy because of all the deluded beings that live here. It is more important to open one's mind and cultivate a larger perspective than it is to be constantly reacting to the latest thing that everyone's outraged about. Social media seems to be a kind of super samsara, so if you use it you have to careful not to sucumb. I occasionally have and am always sorry afterwards.

Hi Brad - odd I watched this last night after a zoom meeting with friends wherein I tried to explain exactly the same thing - why I don't get caught up in these horrible daily upsets because the bigger picture is, well, so much bigger, in reality older, and my upset doesn't do anyone any good. For reference, I'm a 73-year-old mindful meditation teacher, retired to Costa Rica, without your credentials.

Very much enjoying the fresh fruits of your revitalized scholarship (both here and on insta). Thank you, Brad, for sharing so frequently and generously.

That was really clear and sensible stuff. I’ve met exactly the same attitude, that unless you emote on cue to the most recent outrage, incident or issue then you must be some kind of sociopath.

Thank you for saying this - we all know how it feels when your own perspective seems validated by another - super great. I couldn’t agree with you anymore on this one and am sooooo glad someone said it. Good job.

Good video. I love The Book. When I read that at 15 years old my head just exploded irrevocably. Followed it up with "The Wisdom of Anxiety" also by Alan Watts and it was a joy.

Totally agree!!! Phobias nurture separation...wise acceptance nurtures union. And there is a, maybe, very thin difference between fear and phobia as much as between blind and wise acceptance. But we have got to have the Eye to see it and make it all work for the better. Which is always here and now anyway. This is why we just sit.

I am disabled and stricken with muscular dystrophy. I am confined to a wheelchair. I can only use voice commands to operate my computer. I'm not able to lift, carry, or turn the pages of books. Are there any audiobooks available about Dogen and other materials that are audio or digital? I have practiced Zen and many other meditation practices for many years. I stumbled across you a few years ago and yesterday I found your RU-vid channel. I played guitar and music in bands and I also still love writing poems/songs. I would love to connect if possible.

Thank you Brad.

"It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there." William Carlos Williams, Asphodel, That Greeny Flower

“My body like a water bubble decays and dies so quickly”

If there is anything on the news that relates to subjects I have a fairly good understanding of, I almost always find myself shaking my head (sometimes while muttering obscenities). This has led me to the conclusion that media coverage and analyses might be so generally flawed as to make spending time following it a complete waste of time (besides being disturbing and depressing)

I really like this point of view and it felt really affirming to this practitioner of just four years (in proper). The deeper I get into my practice, the less I give a damn about anything that's on the news. It's all so... childish and vain, if I may say. Just a heap of silly things, meant to rile up the masses, and then we go along, get pulled in, get scared, get angry, get more and more miserable. Such a show! I don't want to dedicate any of my time to it, although I am aware of what's happening. I just try to keep the exposure to a minimum. Thank you. Please be well🙏

Great video : D

Could you please list the books you reference? Thanks

In the Flower Ornament Sutra it states that the merit of providing material comforts for millions of beings for an entire eon...doesnt add up to one trillionth of the merit won by a single person's determination to reach enlightenment. When I first read that it seemed pretty harsh and over-the-top. But now I realize how important it is to prevent Buddhism from degenerating into a strategy for making Samsara comfortable. That's not what its for...or why it was founded.

I am struggling with this. Watts' list is not necessarily all or none, we don't have to accept all of it or none of it. I watched a report today about a woman in Peru who walked 350 miles from Lima to her home in the Andes, with her children because lockdown had left her penniless in the capital. I have not suffered that kind of pain, fear, fatigue etc, and I am glad I haven't. But she has. Decisions by one directly affect and in some cases create the circumstances of another and I think it would be wrong to not mind. As I said, I am struggling with this. I wonder what the key of compassion is that Dogen resonated to? What is that music? Glad your teeth are better :)

Hey Brad, I feel your pain; had a couple crowns done about a year ago, and yeah, it's not fun. Plus, even with insurance, it was pretty damn expensive! I have that Alan Watts book on my "Need to Read" stack. Currently working on Shobogenzo for the first time, alternating between the Nishijima/Cross and Tanahashi translations. So, maybe you can help me here. I live in San Diego, and am really feeling a sense of lack of sangha. I'm partially sighted and can't drive, so getting much anywhere is really a struggle. I do feel a sense of connection with the Buddhist community at large, but still feel pretty isolated, and get an odd sense of sadness everytime I take refuge in the three jewels before doing zazen, realizing I don't really have a sangha to connect with. (and this all started long before Covid-19.) I've been involved with an online community (The Enthusiastic Buddhist), which has a "members only" Facebook group. It was pretty cool, except for the fact that it was nigh on impossible to get anybody to engage in conversation other than the former Buddhist nun who runs it. I've had the same experience with a meditation group that met locally; the only conversation I had then was with my wife, and the guy who ran the thing. (Jeff Zlotnick, you may know him!) So, any suggestions? Maybe I should relish the solitude, as it means that much less drama! Anyway, I've read a number of your books and have posted on a few of these videos, and I know you're a busy guy, but maybe you might have some sage advice for this grandpa. Keep well, amigo.

For Justice & Peace There is rioting today in many American cities, and other places in the world as well. I cry for all victims of violence. I've heard it said that the Buddha and Dogen had nothing to say about such things, but that is far from true. Yes, they both taught that we should know a reality beyond me vs. you, right and wrong, justice and injustice, peace and war, thus to encounter a Just Peace of the universe at the heart of all division. This is true. However, both men also taught that, here in our ordinary world, we should maintain a certain decorum, rightness and peace in our behavior too. I saw a sign today carried by some Buddhists protesting. It read,"Buddhists FOR Justice AND Peace," a twist on the famous "No Justice, No Peace" which threatens anger and violent response in the face of injustice. The Buddhist attitude is something different, that we should have justice AND peace too, a two way street of reciprocity. In Shobogenzo Bodaisatta-shishōbō (“The Four Embracing Actions of a Bodhisattva"), Master Dogen seems to have been speaking to some leader, likely a samurai or someone in the government, about the attitudes of a wise and just ruler in enforcing the laws. As with the Buddha, who often spoke to kings among his followers, Dogen counsels mutual respect and obligation of leaders to their subjects in order to maintain peace and harmony in the realm. This was Master Dogen's vision too, especially when we remember that he was probably preaching to a samurai leader carrying a sword: ================================= "Even if one is so powerful as to rule the four continents, if one wants to bestow teachings of the true Way, simply one must not be greedy. ... A Chinese Emperor gave his beard as medicine to treat his retainer's illness. ... To build a bridge or launch a boat can be an act of generous giving. ... Kind speech”means that when meeting living beings, you arouse a heart of compassion for them and offer caring and loving words. It is contrary to cruel, violent and harmful words. ... It is kind speech to speak to living beings with a mind of compassionate caring as one would to one's own baby. ... Even in reconciling enemies, and promoting harmony and peace among people, kind speech is fundamental. ... Remember that kind speech arises from a loving mind, and a loving mind arises from the seed of a compassionate heart. You should know that kind speech has the power to transform the world. ... “Beneficial Action” is employing skillful means to benefit sentient beings of all classes, humble or noble, caring about their near and distant futures, using skillful means to help them. ... In an old story, a king wishing to greet urgent petitioners, three times stopped [] his dinner table to hear them out. He did this solely with the intention of helping others. There was never a thought in his mind that they were foreigners from other lands, not people of his kingdom, and so not truly his concern. ... So, we should seek to benefit friends and foes alike, and we should seek to benefit our own self and others alike. ... Working together in “Cooperation” means not to engage in differences. It is not be be contrary to oneself nor contrary toward others. For example, the Buddha when alive in this human world in human form identified with other human beings. ... There is the principle that after letting others identify and harmonize with us, we then cause ourself to identify and harmonize with others. Self and others, depending on the occasion, become boundless without border. ... Wise rulers do not weary of people; therefore they might unite a large following. A "large following” means a nation, and a “wise ruler” means the leader of the nation. Leaders do not weary of the people. On the other hand, “not to weary of the people” does not mean that there are no rewards or punishments to be sometimes handed out. However, even when there is reward and punishment, there is never hatred of the people. ... Because wise rulers understand all this, they do not weary of people. Although people form into a nation, however, and seek a wise ruler, few always completely understand the truth of the wise ruler having to act as a wise ruler. Therefore, they simply hope to be supported by the wise ruler. They do not realize that they are the ones to support the wise ruler too. ============================= Dogen also spoke of poverty, in Zuimonki 2-2 for example, about a story in which a Buddhist teacher gave away a statue of Buddha to feed the poor: "The Buddha cut off his flesh and limbs and offered them to living beings. Even if we gave the whole body of the Buddha to people who are actually about to die of starvation, such an action would certainly be in accordance with the Buddha’s will. Even if I fall into hell because of this sin, I have just saved living beings from starvation.” It is also said that Dogen structured his monastery, not merely as a religious establishment, but as a kind of ideal vision of social harmony. I believe he would have liked to remake the world if he could, but he could not change the chaotic world outside the temple gates, so he built an ideal world inside. There, all residents were entitled to mutual respect in an atmosphere without hate, killing and violence. There were ranks, but not great disparity in treatment, and all were entitled to a safe place to sleep, food, learning and medical care (at least, as it existed in the 13th century). In turn, however, recipients were expected to do their work, their duties as citizens of the community, and to be respectful toward the others. What is vital to note about Dogen's ideal world is that rights and obligations run in ALL directions. Today, people are angry. They have much to be angry about. (This is one of the times when the Precepts on Preserving Life and the Vow to Aid Sentient Beings calls for some Buddhists to choose to speak out). People are angry because the people dying of Covid-19 are disproportionately members of economic minorities who have been denied access to good healthcare in the past in many cases, or are otherwise suffering the effects of poverty, including a high incidence of diabetes, heart disease, the effects of drug use, alcoholism and the like. Many also feel singled out by police. If we are inspired by Dogen's vision, nobody should be denied basic access to resources, healthy food, good housing and health care, nor subject to excess violence at the hands of the authorities. On the other hand, the police deserve respect from the citizens too, just as Dogen's people of the nation must support the ruler who keeps the law. No, there should never be violence by police which employs excess force. It is wrong, and should be both prevented and punished. On the other hand, the police in doing their jobs are often under tremendous threat, cursed and abused, resulting in a high prevalence of PTSD and the like. Simply put ... everyone should respect everyone, it runs both ways. The police should not employ excess violence, but they should also not be the targets of violence. The police should respect and speak gently with the citizens, the citizens should respect and speak gently with the police. Furthermore, violence is wrong in the Buddhist vision, especially when done in anger. It is understandable that people are upset at perceived injustice, and they have reason to protest and make their outrage be heard. However, anger leads to anger, violence to violence. There are ways of civil disobedience that would do better, and be more effective to actually solve the problem: Have a sit down protest in front of the police station, occupy a building or store (do not burn it down), block a road (but let the ambulances through). Like that. As Dogen said, "kind speech has the power to transform the world." Also, in Dogen's view, while everyone in the monastery had to be provided with basic resources and opportunities, there was also great self-responsibility to take care of oneself. Yes, some live in poverty and that should not be. Resources should be available to all, and ideally, equal opportunity. But on the other side, people must take care of themselves, stay clean, off alcohol and drugs, be civil, work hard to improve oneself too.The idea of Karma, that we each personally act for good and bad, is a system of personal self-responsibility too. Alas, I fear that what I write above will satisfy nobody, and upset people on all sides. Some will think the Buddhist folks like me should keep out of it. Well, it is all our society and world to share. We have mutual responsibility for each other. We have self responsibility too. We must treat each other with kindness and respect. Let us sit for a time in Zazen, beyond me and you, rioters and police, justice and injustice, food and water and any mouth to eat. Then, rising from the cushion, let us work for peace, justice, food and water for all the hungry children, peace between me and you. Gassho, Jundo

Good video, Brad, and thank you for keeping up your teaching here. A question, and I hope it doesn't sound too flip because I'm serious: I respect your reasons for not talking about the big news events on the world. But why then do you talk about your dental work? Doesn't that fall into the same category?

IT is funny to me when you point to the size of the books you are reading, it is like knowledge by the pound . I am not being impervious by your comment , in fact that would be my meditation for the remainder of this day on my individual participation or responsibility with respect to a colective crisis outside.

Thank you for the thoughts, Brad. I think there is a balance to be had and different people strike that balance in different ways. Clearly staying focused on the news and media for large amounts of time is not particularly helpful. However, I wonder if there is merit in bearing witness to tragic events that are happening and allowing suffering to touch and open our hearts? This is engaging with events as practice rather than either as entertainment or something to be fixed or changed and the kind of thinking that permeates Bernie Glassman's Zen Peacemakers (also Tibetan lojong teachings I have spent a long period practicing with). That is not to say that I consider that approach to be right and yours to be wrong, merely that there is room for both in contemporary Zen and Buddhism.

Brad - question for you. If you answer, I promise i'll sling you a few dollers when I get paid. When a "normal" non Zen person talks to you about a problem, say a relationship issue, or some other emotional issue, do you slip into "normal guy" mode and just give normal non-Zen advice? In other words you can switch your compassion into normal every-day mode? Or is your advice/compassion sort of fused with Zen, or at least has Zen running in the background? I have known Buddhist practicioners who literally just relate every damn issue back to nonself, emptiness, blah, blah.

I’d love for you to prove that list you reject cuz I’m guessing it’s a majority view over centuries and culture because it conforms to lived experience and works. In Zen like tradition I remain skeptical of those assertions

Teeth look great. Probably about time to drop the 'I don't wanna follow or talk about the news' shtick about now, yes?

also brad - check out MArtin Heigdegger. I've been reading a lot of him at the mo and from the parts I can understand he gives flesh to so much Buddhist thought (accidently, he knew almost nothing about Buddhism). There is a bit of myth tho that a friend walked in on him one day reading a small tiny book about Zen and apparently he said "all my works are contained in this little book". He's a great philosopher though, very popular in Japan due to his Zen like stances....

I wish I could turn it off...I live less than a mile away from the riots in Minneapolis. Trying to be calm.

as far as i can work out, dogen would have been like "a kennedy", well positioned by birth in a powerful governing clan and probably had to be very careful of anything he said politically, indeed, he may have been at some pains to distance himself from the political world though his trip to china appears likely to have been funded by a shogun/ local ruler in china zen was a religion of the administrative class and actually has its early life in a period of particularly brutal civil war ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YAvldyKxTJA.html there is some likelihood of the cold mountain poet, han-shan being a rebel leader and having to hide in the "cold mountains" or facing execution if caught i think its crazy to impose any sort of "do gooding" on zen, it much more about an explanation of how the world works and in fact that understanding tells you the world is irremediable, it simply occurs according to its nature and periods of violent disruption and relative stability will always both occur

Because of work, I "must" watch news and talk about pandemics; I feel drained & tired. I try to watch just the essentials... I wish it could be different... what to do about it?

I bet a lot of past Zen teachers were writing their work with an eye towards posterity. Thinking of what will be relevant not just in a few decades but hundreds or even thousands of years. Did Dogen ever say anything like that with regards to why he was writing?

Was it scary to go to the dentist? I should go myself, but I'm a bit worried ....

Re: Minneapolis, I'm torn. On the one hand it feels entirely contrived and pointless to be on social media or whatever angrily denouncing the conditions that lead to such things happening. On the other maybe one more nobody adding to the choir will help, in however small a way, change the narrative toward one in which extrajudicial murder by the police is not ok. On the third hand, my own deeply personal reserves of anger and bitterness are leaping at the chance to be in the game and cause some damage. On the fourth hand, maybe it's impossible to determine what is just in our practice abstractly and without reference to the details of our lives (a black Buddhist in Minneapolis has different circumstances than I do, and what good they can do is inevitably different than what good I can do). It's not reasonable to expect everyone to speak on all matters, and in fact feeling like you should is probably selfish delusion.

I think 'white silence' is a huge part of the problem. Lovely to just sit in your privelage and send metta like a good reclusive care bear. Enough bypassing and dissociation. Now is the time for a grounded view, solidarity and action. A lot of very advanced practitioners, fabulous beings though they are, perched themselves on a lofty throne conveniently seperate from the harshness of reality and their enormous unprocessed shadow, abandoned humanity and grief. Working through that IS practice. Working with that opens one's heart to empathy and then meditation in action - dissolving subject object imprisonment and actually, God forbid, caring for another being as a subject in their own right. If a spiritual practice isn't inclusive of this earthy, relational dynamic then it's just a well dressed up practice of digging a hole in the ground and sticking your head in it. Follow your breath all you want but that's only the opening to awareness. What you do with it, the good, how we show up for one another is really what matters. And no amount of rationalization of 'oh I'm just different and my compassion is modulating on a different level cus these old dudes said their's was too' is going to cover that up. That's one way to solidify your practice in the head. You have a platform, you could bring so much education and warmth for people who are currently confused and upset. Every voice that lends itself to change matters.

Hey Brad do you find your intellect ever hinders you spiritually?