Grandmotherly Kindness: Models for Practice

San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks

06/29/2024, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. This talk was given by Shosan Victoria Austin at one of Beginner’s Mind Temple’s pop-up events at Unity Church on Page St in San Francisco. Sōtō Zen teaches that compassion underlies wisdom, and wisdom underlies compassion. When we take up the question of how to become compassionate humans, it helps to have role models such as The Bodhisattva "Hearer of the Cries of the World" (Kannon Bosatsu), our grandmothers and grandfathers. Some contemporary methods of skill in compassion include Paula Arai's Way of Healing, David Treleaven's Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, and Roshi Joan Halifax's G.R.A.C.E. Practicing compassion does not erase the pain and suffering of the world, but it helps us respond accurately, in nourishing ways. With the steadfastness of pine and the resilience of bamboo, we can help give life to ourselves and those around us in whatever states arise.