Summary: Episode Description: In this wonderful talk, the fourth of the Fall Practice Period, Brian discusses the writings and ideas of the 12th Century CE Chinese Zen Master Hongzhi. Hongzhi lived just before Dogen, the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen school, and had a major influence on the language and philosophy of Soto Zen. For instance, Hongzhi uses nature metaphors and writes with a reverence for the natural world, tendencies which infuse Soto Zen. He also expresses gratitude and respect for the ancestral lineage, expounds the philosophy of the Relative and the Absolute, and writes primarily with poetic language. This is important because poetry is the "language of the heart," awakening is a process of the heart, and therefore poetry is the language of awakening. In the first half of the talk, Brian reads a number of passages from the book Cultivating the Empty Field, a beautiful translation of Hongzhi's writings by Taigen Dan Leighton. In the second half of the talk, Brian takes up the question of "so what?" What is the use of all the poetry, the silence, the sitting, doing nothing and going nowhere? Brian contends that in fact, Zen practice is a vital way of living in the real world but it is easy to get caught by notions of non-attainment and calmness. The danger of Zen is that we can become bored, "self-satisfied, tranquilized, uninsightful, and unresponsive." However, if we remain utterly open to life, open to all of its complexities, pay close attention to our minds, our relations to others, and the world, Zen becomes a way of life in which we "graciously share ourselves" with others, "seeking insight only insofar as it serves the needs of others." Bio: Joshin Brian Byrnes is a novice priest at Upaya Zen Center and president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation. He worked at the Boston AIDS Action Committee, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and was CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation and Managing Director at Tides Foundation. His nonprofit career spans over twenty years, where he has led complex organizations through profound change processes, organizational growth, and repositioning them for increased social impact, financial sustainability, and organizational learning. Currently, he is involved with a number of of national philanthropic projects including being the chair-elect of CFLeads: Community Foundations Leading Change, and is a member of the Community Foundation Leadership Team at the Council on Foundations. His academic background includes undergraduate and graduate work in philosophy at St. Meinrad College, theology at the Aquinas Institute at St. Louis University, early music performance at New England Conservatory of Music, and medieval musicology at New York University. He has also studied and practiced organizational development with Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and has been trained in Organizational and Relationship Systems Coaching. He is cultivating a “back and forth” practice, moving between the zendo and the larger world of social service, organizational leadership, and social engagement.
