Today, I want to address our concerns about the state of this world threat that is being perpetuated by government As you may have heard, Yesterday, Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash. Senator Wellstone was one of the most honest and straightforward people in our government who was always advocating for peace above profits.

[01:07]

and was never corrupted by fame and gain, which are wonderful Buddhist attributes, not to be persuaded by fame and gain. Dogen is always talking about don't practice for fame and gain. So Professor, I mean, Senator Wellstone was one of those people who could not be corrupted. So people who are advocating peace have lost one of their most valuable leaders. Senator Wellstone was the one person besides Byrd and Kennedy, who people could feel they could rally around, who presented some leadership.

[02:14]

Sometimes people say, you shouldn't be giving political talks as a Dharma talk. I'm not. I'm simply talking about truth and reality. I think it was a few days ago. Friday? Yeah, Friday. Yesterday. The day before yesterday, Thursday. that I got a call from Vicki who said, there's a hastily called press conference at Grace Cathedral of spiritual leaders in the San Francisco community or the Bay Area community to say something, make a statement about a preemptive attack

[03:19]

another country, if that's really what people think of that. So they said, the call was at 9.30, and she said, at 11 o'clock. So I had to make a quick decision, and I drove over there, and there were six people panelists. And I was one of them. I was the Buddhist representative. There was a Jewish representative and Bishop Swing. O'Leary and a Muslim. And then there was a little audience of mixed people. So we gave our opinions and everyone in the religious community said they didn't think it was a good idea, basically. the Congress has been given the authority to our president to make a preemptive strike under certain conditions.

[04:37]

But what this does is makes our president, gives him the authority of a monarch. It's undermining the Constitution. It's totally un-American. I was talking to someone from the South, and we said, well, there's going to be a peace march today. He said, oh, against going to war with Iraq. He said, what is this thing about going to war with Iraq? And I thought, boy, you haven't even heard about this. You haven't even heard about this. People don't know, really, what's going on. Most of the country is totally uninformed. In a country where we talk about education, where we say most of our people are educated, they're really not.

[05:42]

we're totally, really uneducated people, except in certain places where we read newspapers and so forth. So it's really very discouraging that all this can happen. To give someone the authority to make a preemptive strike against another country means that if you suspect somebody of something, it's okay to go in and conquer that country. Or if you It's easy to make a story. You can make a story about anything. You can take a photograph and make it say anything you want. Photographs are no longer really legitimate storytellers.

[06:47]

As far as facts go, everyone knows this. You just create photographs to show what you want to show. So it means that with this kind of power, you can legitimize any kind of offensive strike against anyone you want. All you have to do is say, I think that they are... And then you have the justification. So it's really a... If you read between the lines, it's great power grab. It has nothing really to do with Saddam or Iraq. There's no threat there. It's not a threat to us, a little country that really has no atomic weapons. Everyone says, where are the atomic weapons?

[07:49]

Under the throne. I think they're in the palace. We want to go over to the palace. Who would store atomic weapons in the palace? It sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? So first Iraq, then Iran, then Kuwait, then Saudi Arabia, then rearranging the whole Middle East. That's the plan, isn't it? Everyone knows that's the plan. So I gave a five-minute talk at this press conference at Greece Cathedral.

[08:55]

I don't know if we'll ever see that or hear it, but what came to my mind was that war and peace are always alternating with each other. As a Buddhist, we want to bring peace into the world. But war and peace are always alternating with each other. Have you ever seen a time in this world when there was only peace? Not for very long, because war and peace alternate with each other. There's a period of peace and then there's a period of war. And that's the way it goes on. But as Buddhists or as human beings, it's important to always work for peace. We're not being attached to the results of your work. If we're attached to the result of our work, then we'll always be discouraged.

[09:59]

I worked all my life for peace and here we have war. But war and peace alternate with each other. You know that's going to happen, but you have to work for peace anyway without being discouraged. And the only way you can do that without being discouraged is to not be attached to the results. You just do the work. Hakuin, when he's in his talk on the five ranks, Tosan's five ranks, at the very end he says, the work is like the work of old foolish wise men filling up the well with snow. Well, the snow keeps melting at the bottom, but you just keep filling it up anyway. That's the work of our practice.

[11:05]

Without looking for results, we simply do the work, we simply do the practice. And then another factor that came to my mind was how, as people who follow some religious path, deal with the world or relate to the world. Even though I am a Buddhist, I'm not a Buddhist. Even though I'm a Buddhist, I'm not attached to being a Buddhist. I think that all religious people should be respectful and follow the religious path without being attached to their religious path.

[12:19]

Religion is one of the worst problems in the world. Religion's a big problem because everyone's attached to their own way. And under the name of that attachment, great problems are caused in the world. And by hanging on to that attachment, it doesn't allow people to relate to each other as human beings. I think it's important to be a human being first, then a Buddhist. Bottom line is just a plain human being that relates to other human beings as human beings, not as Christians or Buddhists or Muslims. We have to cut through those entanglements

[13:24]

And I know what the bottom line is. The wonderful thing about zazen is that it cuts across sectarian lines, borders. Anybody can sit zazen. There's a Christian zazen, Buddhist zazen, and a Muslim zazen. I have a student, a Muslim student, who is in Iran. And he wants to introduce Zazen to Iran, but he has to do it as yoga. He can't do it as Buddhism. Difficult. And even that's a little suspect. I think that as we create a world, a one world, there will emerge, there has to emerge a unified spiritual community.

[14:37]

Because what happens is that the sectarian religious communities become involved with the governments, the state, and then they become manipulated by the state. One nice thing about Buddhism in America is that we don't have any ties to the state. So we can't be manipulated by the state. But if you look around, you'll see how Christianity is manipulated by the state. In Japan, Buddhism is manipulated by the state. And in the history of the world, religious practices have always been manipulated by the state. They start out very pure, but then they become easily manipulated because of their attachments.

[15:41]

So it's very important for us to stand up for what we believe in and not allow ourselves to get manipulated or sell out in some way. Simply keeping our practice pure is the most important thing in order to see clearly in an unbiased way what's happening in this world. I wrote some notes on my way over here on the board.

[17:03]

One thing I wanted to say about, you know, one of the People are always saying, Saddam is this butcher, you know, he's this really bad guy. Every time anyone talks about whether they're pro or con to this Iraqi invasion, they always say, we know that Saddam is this butcher. You know, he's gassed his people. We know that, but, and it just makes me sick every time they say that, because we've done the same thing. we have irradiated our people. It's well documented. I mean, everybody knows, should know this, that we have irradiated our people without them knowing it. We have irradiated our soldiers.

[18:05]

We have put toxic materials in our roadbeds and irradiated whole towns. Do you remember, is it Love Canal? Or Love, that town? It's a great name. that was totally contaminated. And the people were getting cancer and all this. And it's happening still. Still happening. There's a new permission. People have permission now to put certain kinds of toxic materials into toys. and garbage cans and products as a way to eliminate, get rid of some of the toxic waste. Did you know that? It's true.

[19:09]

They say, well, it's very low level. We're poisoning our own people. It's totally hypocritical. And we've been doing it for a long time. It's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. As we used to say when we had cast iron cooking ware. So all of this, you know, is very frustrating. Very frustrating. So another factor is that the whole world is against what we're doing.

[20:28]

The whole world is against what we're doing. And we have the arrogance to think that we can do whatever we want no matter what anybody else thinks. We've always had a secret weapon, but we've never used it. It's called diplomacy. It's never used. Never used. Because if you use diplomacy, it would mean that there would be some kind of compromise. Why not just go and talk to the president of North Korea? instead of making a case against. So divisiveness, divide and conquer, is the program. If there was diplomacy, it would be include and see the interdependence of this world and how it works well.

[21:45]

We're going into some terrible times. The results can be devastating. It's like ancient Rome. It's the Roman Empire all over again. But the world will be changed. You know, President Bush when asked what his ideal was, he said, I would say, I would ask Jesus, what would you do? And I think Jesus would say, ask Mr. Cheney. Trini is beginning to look a little more gaunt.

[22:57]

Anyway, that's just the kind of, I couldn't help saying that. Well, today, this weekend, there's going to be Peace March. So this is, you know, the only voice we have, really, Representatives have deserted us, mostly, except in California, here and there, their son. But pretty much they deserted us, and we're on our own. I mean, for those of you who agree with me. And Peace March, you know, put your body out there.

[24:11]

say something with your presence. So I encourage us all to do that, starting right after this talk. Maybe you have a question. If you have a question, I'd be happy to address it. Yes? What is the liberation phase? Is there a Vietnam War? I don't think that Suzuki Roshi was against marching for peace. There was an incident one time in the Zendo on Bush Street. We had the Zendo on Bush Street. It was at the time of the Vietnam War. And one of the students during his talk said, well, why are we sitting here in the Zendo?

[25:20]

Why aren't we doing a peace march? And... Then, I can't remember exactly the way it all, you know, it was kind of ad libular, but it was as I remember. And then it was taken up by some other people, and one other person kind of voiced it again in a different way. And then Suzuki Roshi got up off his seat and started beating this guy with his stick. And he said, dreamer, dreaming, dreamer. So it was an interesting interchange. laughter laughter And he wasn't against doing that, but I think the thing was, why are we doing this and not that?

[26:26]

And I think that Suzuki Hiroshi felt that this is what we're doing now, and this is an important thing. This sitting is the most peaceful, is the most accurate way to bring peace into the world. Zazen is the most peaceful act. And that energy radiates into the world in ways that we can't follow. But it does. This is my humble opinion, is that when we sit in Zazen, the strength, the power of Zazen, the power of that pure activity influences the world. And marching for peace is another way to do that. But when you're doing this, you're doing this. When you're doing that, you're doing that.

[27:29]

It's not like one, you shouldn't do one or the other. So it was like, why are we doing this instead of that? That's what I think he was complaining about or making a statement about. Where is the all-rightness? What makes you think they're all right? There is an all-rightness. If things are the way they are, everything is the way it is, and that's Yeah. Okay. You know, there are two aspects.

[28:31]

One is that everything is just the way it is. In reality, everything is just the way it is. And it's not good or bad. And that's so. But in the human world, in the world of pain and suffering, it's not okay. From the human vantage, from the human point of view, it's not okay. Because Human beings want to live. They want to be free of suffering. And when we're causing pain and suffering all around us, it's not good. So we want to eliminate the causes of that pain and suffering. That's a Buddhist practice, to eliminate the causes of pain and suffering.

[29:34]

So we have to look at, well, what are the causes of pain and suffering? Well, in this case, they're greed, they're will, and delusion. They always are. And then, well, where is the greed in this? Well... Where's the ill will in this? Where's the delusion in this? All three are just right out there. So how do we deal with the greed, hate, and delusion? That's the human realm. The rest of the universe doesn't care. But as human beings, we do care because this is our state. So, those, you know, form an emptiness. Yeah? What do you think would lead to the guidelines for what attitude to bring to the march? Well, peace.

[30:36]

A peaceful attitude. I think, you know, peace begins here, as we always say. And we need to keep finding it in ourself. So we should have peaceful authority. Each one of us should have peaceful authority, which means that we're authorizing our peace. So when we find this true peace within ourselves, then we have authority. We have peaceful authority because it's coming from within, not just an idea. So we have to continuously practice it, and then we'll know what to do. We don't have to be told exactly, because whatever situation you meet, you'll meet it with that peace that's within you. So it's self-cultivation.

[31:41]

There was a very ugly demonstration down in Redwood City when the various anti-abortion groups began hitting the Planned Parenthood clinics and the people who did clinics as they came out to prepare for clinics. And I was standing on the steps of one of the clinics and I was rather shocked when I found out that the psychological attitude of both sides was identical. Only the t-shirts sold in the same size were different. And I was feeling kind of sick. And then I looked down into the street, and I saw something very different, and it was mainly Scott who stole shit. And she was doing something that I did not yet know the name of. and she was the only sane person in the entire place, and it was obvious that her sanity was grounded in something that was stable, not the result of a lot of mood she woke up with that day.

[32:53]

And the only thing that she was doing in the middle of that madhouse was that she was walking between them. And it seemed like nothing was really doing in the window, but when we were in the middle of a campground, You're offering an alternative to anyone around you who's looking for a way out, even if they don't know that they're going to be out. There's a lot of other mentality, mass psychology, indoctrination, chanting, and that's the emotion that's all around in a demonstration. and we, the organizers of the demonstrations, don't care what we want for a lot of bodies so that they can make the moves. We are the only ones who care about what human function each person is gonna bring. So if we didn't show the rocks and the moon is what it's like, it's safe and grounded.

[33:54]

That's quite an offering in and of itself. and people will pick up on it if they're ready for it. Not everybody is, and that does not mean that we fail. Well, I think that's a good, I appreciate that. Maile was a really wonderful peace advocate, and she spent lots of time on vigils all over the place. We really miss her. How do you respond to people, and I'm sure there are some here, who may feel that it is better to do it on your own than to be taking a step? Well, you know, Einstein said you can't prepare for peace and war at the same time.

[34:59]

Although there is often peace after war, it's at a great price. And it's not necessarily the peace you want. It's not real peace. It's just pacification, which is not real peace. Real peace is something that you can only create through a peaceful—you know, it's the law of karma. The law of karma is when you create aggressive actions, they lead to aggressive results. When you perform peaceful actions, they lead to peaceful results.

[36:03]

There is some interchange there, but basically that's the way it goes. We don't try hard enough to make peace. We just don't try hard enough. We alienate those who we want to conquer. That's what it is. And we cultivate those who we want to share power with. It's called the balance of power. And it's always shifting, and it's always been that way. In the olden days, a king would send his daughter to marry the other country's prince so that they would have some kind of peaceful negotiations.

[37:10]

We should keep doing that. Even then, of course, they had wars. But it's a way, you know, the Jews and the Muslims should intermarry. That's the only way that they will ever come to peace. There's no other way. Each one has to let go of its attachment to its tradition. And what the attachment to the tradition is, the tradition of exclusiveness. My God, it's right. Oh, my God, it's right. I mean, come on, folks. It seems that the past year and a half, in fact, in September of last year, has created a lot of fear.

[38:24]

And now the government is trying to assuage it by taking care of all the bad people in the world. And I was just wondering how to bring that discussion with us now that you're back. Well, I don't know. That's a good point. That's it, you know, playing on the fears, playing on the fears. And I think education, you know. But what a lot of people don't realize, and it looks like paranoia, you know, I don't want to make more fear, but the media and... there's this noose that's surrounding the country. And people don't feel it yet. They feel it a little bit. But it gets tighter and tighter and tighter. Pretty simply, hey, wait a minute, you know? And by not realizing this, they allow it to happen.

[39:30]

And so... we have to, maybe there has to be an anti-fear campaign somehow, a truth campaign to speak the truth. But the truth looks like an American, unfortunately, as Ms. Saunders says. Anyway, you should read the newspapers. It's all there, you know. I have to say, people say, oh, I don't read the newspapers. Well, then you don't know what's going on. It's not on the television. I would say that the Chronicle is about B, B-minus. Pretty good. If you read it every day, you will know what's going on because you read between the lines and you have enough history to know when something happens, how it adds up to something.

[40:37]

So it's all there. It's all there. But you have to read it. And if you don't read it, you don't know what's going on. And then, gee, how'd that happen? Yeah. Yeah. We talked about that person, that person was uneducated because he was an uninformed person. But to me, you know, I go to school every day and I see this great big sign, but the truth shall make you free. But it seems to me that Freedom doesn't necessarily mean that you don't suffer. The more freedom you have, the more knowledge and understanding you have, the more you suffer.

[42:00]

But you suffer with your freedom. It's different than going to sleep thinking that you're okay, thinking that everything's okay. Yeah. The truth will make you free, and it will also make you suffer. But you have some freedom within suffering. Within that suffering, you'll have some freedom because you know that your actions are based on truth. And that's freedom. Freedom doesn't mean that you're not going to... This is always going on. It's always going on. It's going on forever, the same problems. And they get better and worse, but they're always there. And you have to find your freedom within your suffering.

[43:06]

You're not going to eliminate suffering. That's never going to happen. Sometimes people say, well, Buddhism means to end suffering. Well, end suffering is just a kind of way of speaking to actually confront your suffering, to actually accept the suffering. That's how you become free of suffering. This is what you learn in Zazen, how to accept pain so it doesn't become suffering. So do you think that would be an appropriate question to ask in this country or institution? What's the question? Yes, absolutely.

[44:17]

You should ask any question that comes to mind. What comes up for me when I think about complicity is that I think that people are caught. The people, the financial community is caught with their pants down. If you look at Enron and the corporate world which controls the country, the corporate world controls the country. And everybody knows it's corrupt, but they can't do anything about it. Everybody gives wonderful speeches about how we're going to put these guys in jail.

[45:22]

Nothing will happen. Nothing will happen. Somebody will go to jail as a scapegoat. That's it. As a matter of fact, if you study, if you read the newspapers, you will see that it's over. Nothing happened. So people are in a helpless position because the government is the corporations. Everybody on the cabinet is a corporate head. and they are all corrupt. If you read their biographies, you see every one of them, even a president. And I don't want to say this, And I'm not going to say that it's just like Nazi Germany in 1939. I'm sorry, but I'm sticking my neck out to say that.

[46:26]

individually, what is our responsibility at this point, which seems to be happening, for me, how would the people, did you, or everybody else, how did they know when to vote? Because when is it that we cross over the line that people no longer have any power to affect what actually is going on? Let's not forget all the people who could have voted and did not. Yep. That's right. Good point. Good point. Even those that did. It was taken away. It was a stolen election. Well, I think we are talking a little bit about the point, actually, because from what I found out,

[47:56]

in the military budget of the United States, it's as big as the military budget of the 15 nations. And compared to Germany, even with a completely overpowered military sector, this is a different set. And also, the information will access the internet. And what is going on is impossible, actually, of immediate connections around the world. It's really very difficult. Yeah, it's different. We cannot compare this. America is the superpower. You can only go so far with that. But in the sense of world domination at any cost, That's the way I see it.

[49:00]

You know, it's 10 after 11, and I'm supposed to stop. But this is an interesting conversation. So, okay, a little bit longer. Five minutes. Yes. What do you think about, you know, when you're talking about being helpless, and I feel a little powerless because the government has always been something that represents you, Yeah, that's a good point. I can say some things, but I'm not sure.

[50:00]

Because there's no outlet, or inlet, or the right to the newspapers. I think with this kind of, say, like peace march today, I think a lot of people are feeling the same way that you are. And something will come out of that. Some avenues will come out of that, I think. So just keep your ears posted. That's all I can say. Yeah. I didn't get the first part of what you said.

[51:03]

Uh-huh. Yes. Yeah, I see what you're saying. But I think we do anyway. Maybe not from inside, but from outside. But yeah, it's true. By the separation of our church and the state, we don't have the advantage of affecting things from inside. But we can affect things from outside. Just by, you know, as my own mother used to say, where there's a will, there's a way. And as long as the will is there, the way will be found.

[52:06]

But not to give up. Yes? Yeah. Yeah, that's true. It's totally possible to do that again. Yes. In fact, if we don't do that, we have a continuing series of wars that you referred to before. If we go to war with Iraq, the people that can continue right through that war can put an end to the next war. Yeah. Yeah. I think... What is happening today? If that movement is going to grow and swell, eventually there's a safe abortion now. Well, that's right. This is also happening in Washington and all over. So, yeah. Or what?

[53:10]

If enough people get out there who are clear-minded and have to You're talking about reading the newspaper and getting a lot of information. And it's a very . And maybe it's because I just started reading newspapers the last couple of days. not only the but tons of information about . And I was talking with about it, and we were talking about in our own mind, like how to actually get those information that kind of our country, but there's so much work in this country.

[54:13]

So how to work with my own mind, like when Yeah, I think so. That's right. So... Just the last one. You know, at some very personal level, I feel a little impossible. You know, I feel like it's not, even though I've practiced and, you know, looked at them and we've been deep in some secret place, you know, I... Is there the right to preemptive strikes and harlot violence in my personal life?

[55:17]

I know. I understand. I do know. You know, it seems like this horrible nightmare of the human mind manifesting, that part of us that really actually holds that little part where we call harm and have a reason to do that with them. And just like a beautiful, soaring building is a manifestation of a human mind or moon mind, this is also a manifestation the human of everything, those places. And so I look at it and I feel like, you know, I'm involved and I watch my logic in my situation. But you know, I wrote President Bush about this. And I have a hard time telling you my personal experience with this. I didn't know, also, that it never comes out well.

[56:21]

It never comes out well. It's set aside at the moment, and it never, ever comes out well. On a personal level, on a grand level, it never comes out well. You always get the effect of the karma. Yeah. That's the problem. Thank you. And that note ... Amen.

[56:50]

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