Autumn is coming. It's the end of summer. The summer retreat is nearing completion and we'll scatter east and west and north and south. And what can we take with us? And some of you might be here just for a few days, but you'll also scatter in many directions and take some of Tassajara with you, possibly. And there are many things we can take with us. I was thinking, what to bring up at the end of summer, and maybe what hasn't been emphasized fully this summer.

[01:30]

And the topic of bodhicitta arose. Bodhicitta, the altruistic, awakening mind, literally awakening mind, bodhicitta. But the meaning is the altruistic awakening mind, the wish to realize complete awakening for the benefit of all living beings. And not just for their mundane benefit, but actually for their highest benefit. which is their own realization of complete awakening. So the mind to realize complete awakening ourselves in order to guide all beings to such complete awakening.

[02:43]

And so this bodhicitta This mind of awakening is said to have these two factors. One is the deep and sincere aspiration to completely realize the way, to realize complete Buddhahood, to realize the end of self-centeredness, of greed, hate, and delusion. complete freedom and happiness for ourselves, which naturally benefits others. We can't really even avoid that as a Buddha. But it's particularly that aspiration combined with this other factor of the intention to realize this

[03:53]

for the benefit of others. If it's just the intention or aspiration to realize awakening, period, that's not actually what we mean by bodhicitta. It has to be combined with this intention to realize it for the benefit of all. Sometimes they're said to be three different types. And they're not necessarily ranked in order of better or worse, but there's these analogies of these three types of this awakening mind. And one is said to be like a king, which is the king... learns how to be a king and rules the country and is all-powerful and does this for the benefit of his or her subjects in the country.

[05:09]

So it's for their benefit, but they're ruling over the people for their benefit and they have to become the king first. So this is like... realizing the way oneself first, and then with such understanding and power of such realization, then getting to work on benefiting others. And first thinking about this, it might seem like, well, wouldn't that have to be the case? How could we actually help others not just in small ways, but how could we help others realize this complete awakening if we hadn't done so ourselves? So you might think that this would be the only way, but this is just one mode of bodhicitta, is like a king. Another type is like a boat pilot, and this is like guiding the boat to the other shore of awakening.

[06:18]

but going together with all the beings on the boat. So not actually going first or later, but actually together with guiding the boat and carrying everyone with oneself exactly the same. And thinking about these three types, I've often thought maybe most naturally resonate with this type. It seems like, well, doesn't that actually make the most sense from a deepest kind of perspective or non-dual perspective that it has to be all together? Because the realization of awakening includes the realization that we're not separate. Nobody's separate. All Buddhas and all living beings are only one mind.

[07:20]

Therefore, the boat includes everyone and must go all in one piece. But this is another type, the boatman or the pilot. And then there's the third type of awakening mind. with the analogy of the shepherd, which is the shepherd taking care of his or her flock and actually totally caring for those sheep and forgetting one's own life, living out on the grass hillside, maybe with no roof, just taking care of the sheep and guiding them to complete happiness, forgetting oneself. others first is the shepherd way so one is oneself first one is altogether and one is others first and it might make no sense you know logically to think that well how could actually we guide others first and then leave afterwards finish the

[08:46]

finish the realization after all others are crossed over. And maybe rationally it doesn't make much sense, but for Dogen Zenji, our Zen founder, this was the type of bodhicitta he praised most highly, is others first. I vow to cross others over to awakening before myself. And even if it makes no sense, rationally, there's something about this spirit, this wish, maybe impossible wish. And Dogen even says that the

[09:47]

the first wish for this complete awakening compared to the final complete realization of unsurpassed total awakening is like comparing the light of a firefly to a raging firestorm at the destruction of the whole universe. the difference is that vast between this initial thought this initial wish and the final consummation of fruition of this wish and he says and yet if if this wish includes others first that the wish for others to realize awakening before oneself then there's no difference at all between That initial wish and the final realization of complete, perfect awakening.

[10:51]

No difference between this light of a firefly and the raging firestorm at the end of the eon. Kind of a radical statement. So this is, this other's first intention is... was very dear to Dogen's heart, it seems. One Indian teacher who maybe most wonderfully and exuberantly and beautifully praises Bodhicitta is the teacher Shantideva. If you've never checked out Shantideva, I recommend these beautiful verses inspiring this altruistic wish. And one of the lines of verses of Shantideva that has always struck me really deeply and kind of sums it up is something like, whatever joy there is in this world

[12:16]

all comes from desiring others to be happy. And whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from desiring oneself to be happy. Another profound statement, I think. All joy in this world comes from desiring others to be happy. Desiring others to be happy sounds like kind of dissatisfied. Why would that be joyful? This is the greatest joy, wishing for others to be happy. And all the suffering in this world comes from wishing oneself to be happy. And it's so startling a verse, I think, because it's so counter to our usual way of thinking, which is usually just the opposite. We're usually thinking of... our own happiness and wishing for our own happiness and maybe we're not wishing for others unhappiness but we're more like often forgetting about it because we're so concerned with our own so this reversal of our usual way and even even as Zen practitioners don't we usually think with

[13:37]

with great enthusiasm sometimes about our own practice and how can I find my own way? What's the best way for me to practice? And we think that this is very good. And this may be good, but there is, I think, we all know that there actually is suffering in this way of thinking. Whereas actually turning it completely sounds maybe almost impossible to do, right? But to actually turn the mind to like, maybe not going so far as to just forget all about our own practice. I mean, it could go that far. I mean, I have to be careful what that means. But really just, as the Buddha says in the Lotus Sutra, ever making this my thought, How can I cause the living beings to enter the unsurpassed way and swiftly embody Buddha, ever making this my thought, constantly thinking such a way?

[14:54]

And it's said that actually this bodhicitta, this altruistic aspiration for complete awakening is the when that arises and technically speaking it would be when that arises in an uncontrived way after maybe many many lifetimes even of contrived mind training when it arrives finally in a in an effortless, uncontrived way. That is, strictly speaking, the birth of a bodhisattva. That's when one becomes a bodhisattva. And they say that's when one enters the Mahayana path, the great vehicle way. And so, strictly speaking, people say, I'm a practitioner of the Mahayana until this wish for complete Buddhahood

[16:03]

for the benefit of all beings, only for the benefit of all beings, naturally and spontaneously and effortlessly arises, we could say, well, we're aspiring to bodhisattvas, we're aspiring to enter the bodhisattva way and the Mahayana. And it's very humbling, I think you might feel when you hear this kind of thing, very humbling. And I was recently reading His Holiness the Dalai Lama was asked, I think by Westerners, because, you know, people, the Tibetans don't get so personal about this kind of thing, right? So the Westerners ask, have you achieved bodhicitta? You're supposed to be the bodhisattva of Avalokiteshvara, great compassion. Maybe the greatest Mahayana... Buddhist practitioner on the planet today and many people might feel that way about the Dalai Lama have you realized this mind and apparently he said something like you know ever since I was very very young boy I've been training in his mind as almost like my main practice and along with many other practices to help and support that and encourage that and

[17:30]

And I still haven't even really glimpsed it, even slightly. And it's like, if I were to even glimpse it slightly, I'd feel like my whole life's work was done, and I could just retire. So this is maybe quite a big task, to see it in such a light, anyway. And you could say, well, isn't that absurd, that even if the Dalai Lama hasn't actually realized this? And... Why should we even bother thinking about it? It seems it's utterly impossible. And yet, the very thought about it, the very turning it over in the mind as a possibility can bring great, great joy along the way. Maybe some pain, too, you know. far we might seem from it but but to be on the path right as an aspiring bodhisattva what we can rejoice completely in that because what else what better thing would there be to rejoice in right and so aspiring to the aspiration

[18:55]

The way that Dogen talks about this is maybe in a way more accessible and maybe we could say also in a way more obscure. Hard to know, you know. Dogen doesn't speak so methodically, right? It's like, here's what it means and it's going to take a long time. The Zen style is, I think many of us are drawn to for its great encouraging possibility that actually such a practice as bodhicitta is actually possible for us at any moment. Zen offers this. And Dogen says,

[20:10]

What are the conditions for the arising of this altruistic mind of awakening? And at one point he quotes an Indian treatise that says, contemplating impermanence is the best condition of many, many different conditions, such as contemplating all different types of dharma teachings and so on. But that actually contemplating the impermanence, particularly of this human life, is the best way to arouse this mind. And that's very accessible to do any time we can remember the impermanence of this life. And not in a way that is discouraging. I think if we didn't have it in the context, if we just started contemplating impermanence without this context of bodhicitta, it might be depressing or discouraging.

[21:18]

But if we realize how limited this precious life is, partly that leads to the thought of renunciation, of, well, it's going to go anyway. We have, you know, a hundred years at best. And all of us in this room have used up a lot of it already. So it really is this, you know, it's quickly passing. And when we remember that, I think we naturally start to let go of the concerns, the personal kind of self-centered concerns for this life. Like, well, what does that really matter in the end? And not in a depressing way, right? Not in a... defeated, discouraged way, but more like, what do we want to do with the rest of this precious life? How can we offer it to everyone in the best possible way and for our own happiness?

[22:22]

It's like often I think we're looking for our own happiness through other impermanent things in this life and acquiring things and things or even knowledge or practices even, but that might not, you know, just for their own sake, which might have no, you know, at the end, is it going to really amount to anything? Is it going to help us? Is it really going to bring our own happiness? Whereas this wish, this wish for... The complete awakening of all beings, as Shanti Deva says, is in this world the cause for all joy. And also, I think, an interesting point about through contemplating impermanence and therefore

[23:28]

opening to renunciation, which is kind of a heavy word. We could just say letting go of self-concern is another translation of renunciation, right? It naturally comes forth from contemplating impermanence. And from that, this altruistic wish to awaken for others is born. And sometimes it's said that actually We can't really have that wish for others to realize the way without renunciation first. And I think this is an interesting point that really struck me when I first heard that. Because, actually, that wish for others to be free, the way that others are going to be free from suffering is to let go of their own self-concern. It's not like we can actually free them by just kind of like zapping them with like our Buddha power or something.

[24:31]

It's like, actually, the irony of this is that everybody has to do it themselves, right? But we wish to help them in whatever way. And you could say, well, the way we really, or maybe even only way we can really help them is to help them to let go of their self-concern. So this is, I think, the trick is like, we actually Unless we actually kind of come to see the, what's the word, the, you know, uselessness in a way of the things of the world. And so we can let go of that. We can't really wish for others to see that. You know, it's kind of like, I wish that others would be completely free and let go of everything, but like, I'm not going to do that. It kind of doesn't really make sense. Maybe you could say that's the shepherd way of bodhicitta. Like, maybe there is something to be said for that, you know, on some level.

[25:32]

It's like, I really do wish it for others, but my karmic hindrances are so strong that I can't really do it. But I rejoice in the practice of others, and I'll pass on these teachings of how to do this to others, because maybe somebody will be able to do it better than I can. I think there sometimes can be this spirit. But I think to really wish it most deeply, we have to kind of be on board with it, too. Which is maybe more like the boat pilot way. Or the king way. And actually, national teacher Musso around Dogen's time, said one time, somebody asked him about that, is it better to, is the bodhicitta of others first better than oneself first?

[26:33]

And he, in his case, said, actually, exactly the same. It doesn't matter as long as you're really clear that it's the wish to realize awakening for the benefit of others, whether you work. first for your own practice, maybe you go into retreat and just practice on your own for that reason, is the same as whether you're more like you're just maybe supporting others on their retreat. Same, if it's really clear, the intention. And how can we can we actually practice in such a way and open to such a mind? I think until it's a naturally arising, spontaneous, uncontrived mind, there are mind trainings.

[27:34]

They're turning the mind towards such teaching. And again, Dogen Zenji says, he says, does this mind arise from oneself or from others? And he says, neither. It arises in this, some people know this term, kano-doko, which you could translate as something like the mutual interaction of inquiry and response. And it's particularly the inquiry of the practitioner, of the aspiring Bodhisattva, and the response of Buddha. Buddha in the vast, most vast sense of awakening itself.

[28:35]

Even Buddha nature within one's own mind stream. that resonance. So giving rise to the wish, even in a contrived way, meeting this inconceivable Buddha nature. In that meeting, this wish, this aspiration is born. And also, as I mentioned in other talks, find it just a very practical everyday way is there's these verses all these verses are like bodhicitta verses so as I was bowing doing this verse I thought of how this you know it's actually shaping the mind through silently reciting this verse as I bow say

[29:38]

Bower and bowed to are naturally empty and still. The bodies of self and other, the inquiry and the response from Buddha, I could say, are essentially non-dual. I vow with all beings to realize unsurpassed mind. Unsurpassed mind in Zen means bodhicitta. awakening unsurpassed mind and realizing the way. And like the verse we have at the bathhouse, as you go into the bath, it's like you're remembering bodhicitta, bathing the body, may all living beings wash body and mind, free from dust, pure and shining within and without. But to actually take that to heart, wishing as we enter the bath that may all beings be totally pure and free from dust.

[30:55]

And, you know, this bodhisitta is really talking about this great ultimate wish for the highest benefit, but also it's related to all these smaller benefits, wishing for even the simplest happiness, even Shantideva, right, the great expounder Bodhicitta says, even wishing for another person to be free from a headache brings great, great benefit. So how much more so wishing for the highest, highest good? I was thinking, well, how does this play out? in our lives. And I was just thinking one example from today. I was just kind of catching a moment like this. Not really about this highest thing, but just a very simple moment. At breakfast, you know, I got my breakfast and there was orange juice there.

[31:56]

And I thought, oh, after I eat some cereal, I'll go back and get some orange juice at the end. And there's always extra orange juice. So at the end of the meal, I went and I had to like Let's get my sweet orange juice. And, like, the pots were completely empty. Like, not even drops left. And, like, I noticed this first, and, you know, it wasn't that big a thing for me, right? But it's, like, I did notice a little bit of a, oh, a little disappointment, and then I caught it. And from past kind of thinking about this type of thing, I noticed how pretty quickly I could change it to the thought of, like, of actually happiness that, um, If I had taken the orange juice earlier, somebody else wouldn't have gotten it. There was actually happiness there. I could watch the shift, and it was like a mind training thing. It wasn't completely spontaneous, but almost just because of thinking in such a way before, of training the mind in that way, I remembered it almost pretty quickly.

[33:06]

But watching that intentional shift of like, oh, wow. kind of gratitude, actually. And if I had thought, maybe if I was going back for seconds and it was empty and I already had one glass and somebody else was coming up for their first, I would have felt kind of bad. Like, oh, I got it instead of them. So little things like that. And then it's like it doesn't really matter about the orange juice, right? The next meal, some more orange juice or something else comes. But actually that moment of happiness that like, oh, somebody got the glass of orange juice that I could have had actually was probably a lot more happiness than just like downing a glass of orange juice and going on without really thinking about it so that's not exactly bodhicitta but but just like this turning the mind towards all joy in this world comes from

[34:10]

desiring the happiness of others. So we have a little bit of time left if there's any questions or comments on this topic. Yes? I was wondering if you could speak about there's the wish that comes up and then there's the how to actually employ it and how important it's intention versus your actual effectiveness because... A lot of times it's so hard to tell. Obviously, helping people get past their delusions, sometimes honestly telling them they're deluded makes them more deluded. But sometimes giving them what they tell you they want from you also makes them more deluded. It's just so impossible to really know how to effectively help them That's a good point.

[35:18]

And it is often mentioned that there's kind of the thought, the intention, and then there's putting it into action. There's a lot more, well, I don't know about more, but there's great, great emphasis on the intention, actually. I think interesting. More than like, well, here's some practices you can do. There's great emphasis in these teachings on... actually realizing this intention. And if it's realized completely, then, as I would understand it, then all the practices naturally unfold from there without fail. But, yeah, they say once the intention arises, even in a contrived way, we feel some joy around it or something. Even then, they say it's very, very fragile. It has to be protected because it's very, very easily lost. But then if we nourish it and take good care of it very carefully, then the practices can start emerging.

[36:24]

And the classic practices that emerge from there are not actually pointing out the faults of others and how they could improve, but more like the six paramitas, like... giving and ethical conduct and patience with others and energetic practice, often for oneself, and then the other list that's brought in there. They almost say the six paramitas are for oneself, for one's own mind cultivation to kind of nurture and develop this bodhicitta. But they're all in relation to others. And particularly giving and not harming others are very much in terms of how to help them. And eventually, they're drawn into the practice in that way. And then they come and ask, maybe, I'm stuck on this point. Can you help me get free of my self-concern? I think maybe we have to wait for them to ask. And that's a really, really skillful teacher.

[37:27]

But I think it takes great trust from the aspiring bodhisattva. And they have to come forward and say, like, I'm really, really, really selfish. Can you help me find a way out of this? Otherwise, I think it gets really tricky if we start trying to point it out. And then, besides these paramitas, there's the other four, what Dogen calls the bodhisattva's methods of guidance, but more maybe literally, it's like the way to gather beings into the Dharma and this is like giving again but they sometimes say this giving is different because the paramita of giving is for one's own mind cultivation and this giving is actually to draw beings into bodhicitta and kind speech offer just constantly offering kind speech and kind gifts and then

[38:30]

beneficial action, sometimes translated as. And then, you know, Dogen, one translation is, the fourth one is identity action. But literally, this is an old Indian teaching, and from the original sources, I think some of it gets lost in Dogen's version, because literally it's like having one's own practice be in accord with one's teaching. And you can see how that identity action could have been a translation from that. But it's like, in order to gather beings in, we have to practice what we preach, which is maybe the hardest thing, right? So like, ooh, I shouldn't even be talking about bodhicitta if I want to practice identity action. But yet, I do bring it up for that reason, to inspire myself. as a topic that I actually don't bring to mind so often, I thought, but I'd like to.

[39:36]

So we're about out of time, so we can finish with our usual, actually, bodhicitta vows, is what they are. Bodhisattva's universal vows for wishing all beings to be free from suffering and becoming Buddha. I mean, it's all right here in these four vows that we just maybe can easily chant without bringing them to heart. But these are also ancient Indian Mahayana vows, actually particularly bodhicitta arousing vows. We dedicate the merit to every being and place any positive energy arising from this discussion to the complete awakening of all beings.

[40:46]

So, you know, these little ways we can do this in very, very ordinary, everyday, kind of contrived ways, but everything has an effect in Buddhadharma. Every cause has an effect. And if we're not reciting these vows, we're thinking about somebody else that might not have the best effect. So thank you for looking into this topic with me at the end of the summer. You can take it with you for the rest of your life. It's endless, endless practice. May our intention equally...

[41:36]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_94.17