Humility and humiliation

Abbot Ryushin Paul Haller at San Francisco Zen Center, April 14, 2007 Download from SFZC's Audio Dharma page (donate)

Rodin’s advice to Roethke • the tiger and the bars • the abbot and the palm pilot • “see what’s going on for us . . . feel what’s going on for us . . . and let that register” • a change of heart • asking, with deep sincerity, ‘what’s going on’ • humbling or humiliating • trying to get the Dalai Lama to understand • like learning the guitar or learning to drive • what’s happening is not under our control, which is a lesson in humility • we have the experience and the experience has us – and we love it • discovering how to dispose oneself to this • there’s a craft to it • discover, hopefully with delight, that the world is bigger than what I think it is • putting down what appears to be the life-and-death process of figuring out how to live • our sincere answer to that • moments that inform us who we are, about what we do when afraid, happy • do I run away, or see the color of fear? • explore on a constant basis to discover what’s going on • patience and naru; not so much something we figure out • humbling, but no need to be humiliating • the self-respect, the confidence, the skill, of living the life we have