Thank you. An unsurpassed penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million Kalpas having it to see and listen to to remember and accept

[01:07]

I vow to take the truth of the photographer's words. Good morning. Well, I'm happy to see all of you here today. I thought there might be a rather sparse hug because of all the holidays and stuff. And we've been sort of here at Zen Center a little bit On vacation, we've had optional zazen in the morning, and most people have optioned to watch movies the night before instead, since it's the only opportunity we get. So I'm very happy to see you. Also, there's another event happening this morning where I would be if we were not here, over at Sokoji Temple, the Japanese-American... a temple where Suzuki Roshi first came to be the resident priest.

[02:12]

They are pounding mochi this morning. They're having mochitsuki, which is lots of fun, and a bunch of people from here have gone over there to help make the mochi, some of which will be offered on our altars here for New Year's morning ceremonies. It's an old Japanese tradition, and we used to do it down at Tassajara, that'd be kind of a rowdy event. I mean, there's a lot of, you know, heavy pounding. We didn't have those kind of machines that they have now that do about half of it, and you just do the pounding sort of as an entertainment at the end, you know. The real work is done by a machine nowadays over at Sokoji. But to encourage all that effort, we used to sit around kind of banging out rhythms on pots and pans and dancing around in a rather, oh, I don't know.

[03:20]

It was between practice periods at Tassajara, and there was rather a wild time there. This, you know, a little mixed up with the kind of hippie tradition as well, and pretty, pretty. Pretty fun, but pretty wild. And there was mochi all over the place to be cleaned up in the dining room the rest of the day. And then we couldn't figure out what to do with all the mochi, you know, because we didn't sort of appreciate eating it that much. And we had it served in every kind of way, you know, with ketchup, with maple syrup, with shoyu. Anyhow. That's all beside the point. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Last time I spoke, I spoke of this verse that the Dalai Lama says that he begins each day with as cultivating his motivation.

[04:30]

for awakening for the benefit of all beings, cultivating bodhicitta, this mind of awakening. The verse goes, the precious bodhicitta, if unborn, may it arise, if generated, may it never diminish, and may it remain ever increasing. As long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until... Then may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world. May all motherly sentient beings be blissful and happy. May all the lower realms be permanently empty. And may all the bodhisattvas on whatever stage they remain fully accomplish all of their aspirations. So I've been trying to memorize this. And you know what? Years ago, when I started to practice, I memorized all these chants in Japanese, you know, the Daishina Rani and the Sangokai.

[05:40]

And this is a very simple verse in English, but I'm 40 years older, and short-term memory being what it is, I haven't committed it to memory yet. But the... Sentiment is one that I really want to cultivate and strengthen. This precious altruistic mind of awakening, the mind which aspires to awaken to things as it is, awaken to clarity for the benefit of being. to help alleviate the misery in the world, to see how misery arises in our minds, and to help alleviate that. So while I'm lying in bed this morning, thinking about what I might say to encourage each of you in your cultivation of bodhicitta,

[06:51]

noticed that my motivation to to really give an inspiring talk that will be great encouragement to your practice was there was a little competition for my attention from the motivation to be all warm and toasty wrapped up in my blankets in the bed you know And I just kind of noticed that. This self-clinging mind which arises, I'm sure you're all familiar with it. I would be very surprised if you were not. It does arise. That's just what happens. This mind that is clinging to ease and comfort for this body that we identify with and think is me.

[07:56]

I was reminded of a poem that Lou wrote once years ago when he was serving in the Zendo. He had a moment of clarity as he walked out of the Zendo and he, where's Lou? Would you please sign your point? What a joke that ... [...] So that actor in the zendo serving tea thinks he's me. Well, gosh, you know, that's pretty familiar, isn't it?

[09:02]

We have a very strong sense of self and we cling to it tenaciously. But as most of you know who've been around for long, Dogen Senji, the Japanese founder of this particular tradition of practice called Soto Zen, in one of his great essays called Genjo Kon, says, to study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things. But this forgetting the self is not so easy. And we were reminded of it very strongly when one of our residents came back from three months in Japan, where she set a practice period with Harada Sekiroshi, one of the great teachers teaching in Japan these days.

[10:14]

And she was reporting that his entire teaching... it comes up again and again throughout the day is this forgetting the self. For me, you know, I don't know that I will ever forget the self, but what I do want to do is notice when self-clinging arises before I've gotten completely entangled in it and caught up in it. at least if I can notice it, that will be helpful in not believing it. You know, there's this bumper sticker, which I love, that says, don't believe everything you think. It's a very helpful bumper sticker. We have lots of thoughts, you know. And that's okay, but where we get into trouble is that we believe it's true.

[11:20]

I know it's so because I thought it. Just, you know, Suzuki already had this expression, maybe so, that he would use rather a lot. Maybe so was one and not always so was another. When you find yourself, you know, really laying down the law, just lighten up a little thing. Maybe so. But this precious bodhicitta we want to cultivate, it's not that it's something alien to us. It's very much present in us, this strong wish to alleviate misery in the world, not just our misery. If you notice how you respond, when you see someone suffering, you respond from your heart right away.

[12:27]

You want to do something to alleviate the misery. And it's so powerful that we may sort of harden our hearts so as not to have to feel it all the time because it's strong. And we can't alleviate the misery of the world all by ourself. But we can cultivate that compassionate heart in ourselves and we can study in ourselves how misery arises in us and how we can not feed the kinds of thoughts that lead to misery. And those kinds of thoughts are described in the Buddha Dharma as self-clinging.

[13:32]

Those thoughts that posit a real solid something that is me that I have to take care of and protect against all comers. and that separates me from all the rest of who I am, which is everything. As we practice, as we begin to pay attention, we notice how strong bonds are between this one and all other beings. There's a story that Uchiyama Roshi used to like to tell about some squashes growing up behind the temple. And they got into a squabble and were making an awful racket out there.

[14:37]

And he went out there and he said, hush, hush, stop. Everybody put your hand on top of your head. And they all put their hands on top of their head. And they felt a stem. He said, now follow that and see where it goes. And they began to see that they were all on the same vine. They were all living one life. And this is a metaphor for us. We're all living one life. The same life force that animates me animates you and all living beings. We are all completely interconnected. And it's that interconnection that is the source of the compassion that wants to respond to misery when we see it by alleviating it. So one of the important aspects of response is first to recognize that we are not separate.

[15:44]

We are all interconnected. The great Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of inter-being. He says, we inter-are. And this is spoken of a great deal in the Hoi Yen School of Buddhism in the Avatamsaka Sutra, where there is the vision of... the vision of the world as a vast net. And at each crossing of the threads of the net, there is a jewel. And in each jewel, all the other jewels are reflected. And each jewel is reflected in all the other jewels. This two-way connection that happens between every being with every being

[16:49]

is the cosmic vision of the Avatamsaka Sutra. And it said that Zen is the practice of Hua Yen, and Hua Yen is the philosophy of Zen. So last night, I was privileged to participate in Mark Lancaster's, the first of two big ceremonies with which his dharma transmission culminates. Last night was what's called dengkai, or transmission of the precepts, in which he received the precepts in a very special kind of way

[17:51]

Actually, next Saturday at 2 o'clock, we're having a precept ceremony here for some people who will receive the precepts in a ceremony called Jukai, which means receiving precepts. But this ceremony last night was transmitting the precepts to Mark, which means he is now... entrusted with the precepts so that he may give them to others, for example, in Jukai. And that's the first of the two big ceremonies in Dharma Transmission. And I thought I would talk a little bit about precepts because the question also came up in the guest student T, you know, what are the precepts all about? Are they commandments like the Ten Commandments? And yes, they are.

[18:54]

No, they're not. That's everything in Zen, you know. Yes and no. They are not rules that somebody else handed down from on high. But the particular ten... specific precepts sound a good deal like the Ten Commandments, actually. They're descriptions of the kinds of activities that human beings can get into that cause suffering. And so they're kind of like, you know, on a pond that's frozen where people are ice skating. Sometimes there's some thin patches where you might fall in. And there are signs that say danger, thin ice. That's sort of what the 10 specific precepts are like. Be careful in this area of your life because a lot of suffering can occur here.

[19:56]

So be awake. So not killing, not stealing, not misusing sexuality, not lying, not using intoxicants. These sound pretty much like any rules that a thoughtful person community would come up with when they're trying to think of how should we live together in the world. And in fact, they're very similar to the Ten Commandments and rules that have evolved in other societies where, I mean, human society is like that. We try to figure out how to live together in peace and harmony. And when we see what our life is like and we consider deeply how to live together in peace and harmony, pretty much all societies come up with pretty similar warnings about this is not such a helpful thing and this is not, be careful here, be careful here. But one way that people sometimes phrase the precepts is a disciple of the Buddha does not kill.

[21:04]

So it's like a description of how an awake person lives. It's a description of how a Buddha lives. I sat a sashin with Kobanchino many years ago, and it was a sashin that happens in November, you know, when the days are getting short and it's getting darker, and it's called denkoe. Denkoe is really light. So he says, the main subject of the session is how to become a transmitter of actual light, life light. Practice takes place to shape your whole ability to reflect the light coming through you and to generate, to regenerate your system so the light increases its power. Each precept is a remark about hard climbing, maybe climbing down

[22:13]

You don't use the precepts for accomplishing your own personality or fulfilling your dream of your highest image. You don't use the precepts that way. The precepts are the reflected light world of one precept, which is Buddha's mind itself, which is the presence of Buddha. Zazen is the first formulation of the accomplishment of Buddha existing. I love that. He was such a poet. Zazen is the first formulation of the accomplishment of Buddha existing. The more you sense the rareness and value of your own life, the more you realize that how you use it, how you manifest it, is all your responsibility.

[23:16]

We face such a big task. So naturally, such a person sits down for a while. It's not an intended action, it's a natural action. So the precepts are to help us find out how to use and how to manifest this precious human life in a way that benefits beings, including yourself. And in fact, as far as my experience goes, all of Zen practice is about studying how to live this life which has been given to us. The precepts are, of course, one aspect of that. The cultivation of what are called the four unlimiteds, loving kindness, compassion, altruistic joy or joy at the good fortune of others, and equanimity.

[24:36]

This is another aspect of studying and cultivating the possibility of living our life in a way that alleviates misery for ourself and others, that produces joy for ourself and others. So all of the various practices, including forgetting the self, are about how to live this precious life that we've been given the opportunity to live in the most beneficial way for ourselves and others. What we notice is if we practice, if we really concern ourselves with cultivating the happiness of others, we ourselves become happy. Have you ever noticed that? when you really get involved in trying to make someone else happy, particularly if you're successful, you get happy yourself.

[25:47]

So this concern for other beings or for all beings, this word other beings is, I don't know, it's maybe an oxymoron. Maybe there's not any other beings since we're all connected it's all one being but at least this this concern for the other jewels which are reflected in us and in which we're reflected is part of our own well-being our concern for the well-being of others is not separate from our concern for the well-being of this one. They're all so interconnected. Now, what I was initially going to talk about, and now what I'm going to turn toward, is a favorite story of mine, which I've brought up many times before.

[27:00]

It's Case 51 of the Blue Cliff Record. It's about in Seppo and Ganto in Japanese, or Shui Feng and Yento in Chinese, who were Dharma brothers. And they practiced together with a teacher called Dershan. And they went on a lot of pilgrimages together. It was quite traditional in China in the... in the early days for monks to spend some time training in a monastery and then go around visiting other teachers and sort of testing their understanding that had developed during their early practice with the new teachers that they met.

[28:02]

It was a very difficult time in China. There was a great deal of persecution of Buddhism going on. And so most of the teachers that were remaining in the communities of monks that were remaining were sort of up in the mountains, sort of hidden out in the mountains. So going on pilgrimage meant walking long distances in straw sandals and climbing mountains to meet teachers. And these two, Shui Feng and Yento, traveled together a lot on that kind of pilgrimage. And they arrived at, you know, they were traveling and it started to snow and they were on Turtle Mountain in a little village. And they holed up in a hut to wait out the snowstorm. And it was really snowed in.

[29:05]

And so Yento, who was very sharp and bright, just decided to go to sleep and take a nap and rest because they were going to be there for a long time. But Shui Feng was sitting zazen, you know, and sitting zazen and sitting zazen. And he was, he said to Yento, why are you lying around so lazy bum? I mean, you know, why aren't you practicing like me? And Yanto said to him, well, we're snowed in here. We're going to be here for weeks, you know. What are you sitting there like a stone Buddha for? And Sri Fung said, well, I have to sit. I'm not yet clear in my heart. And Yanto said, oh, I'm surprised to hear that. Well, why don't you tell me what you've attained, what you've learned, and maybe I can help you. And so when we were with Dongshan, and he said this, I got a little glimpse.

[30:15]

And then when Dershan said that, I got a little glimpse. And he went through kind of all of the teachers they'd visited and their, you know, the words they had said that had touched him that he'd grabbed onto. He was reciting all of this and finally Yen said, no, no, what comes in through the gate is not the family treasure. Hereafter, if you want to help beings, let it flow forth from your own heart to cover heaven and earth. And at that, Shui Feng woke up. And he was so happy, he danced around the room, and he said, oh, Brother Yento, today Turtle Mountain woke up. He always credited Yento with being the one to give him this finally push into seeing things as it is. Let it flow forth from your own heart to cover heaven and earth if you want to help beings.

[31:24]

So we need to really... become intimate with our own heart, with the wisdom and compassion that is our birthright. Buddha is not somewhere else. Buddha is right here. The mind of awakening is right here in each one of us. The precepts are right here in each one of us. Never imagine that the precepts are something out there. Notice your own hesitation when you're about to do or say something that might be hurtful or harmful. Notice that hesitation and stop and think a moment because the precepts are already here. If you're not just pushing through, you know, charging around, being right,

[32:31]

I'm right. Don't get caught up in that right and wrong stuff, but just pay attention to how you're feeling. There are a lot of things that you might have said and done that you will pause and say, hmm, maybe not. So we need to cultivate that voice within ourselves that already knows. when we're being kind and when we're being harsh. That all we're in knows when we're feeling our connection with others and when we're feeling separate. That's here. That's given. We can count on it if we cultivate the capacity to listen to it and pay attention to it. So these two

[33:33]

Dharma brothers went on to become teachers. And it was said that Shui Feng was an extremely compassionate teacher because he himself had taken so long to realize his true mind. He was a very compassionate teacher. And he said once, oh, I would never cheat anyone by telling them what I think, because each one of us has to find out from our own heart. The ears are not the source of wisdom. The heart is the source of wisdom. We can hear things that will encourage us to cultivate our own wisdom, but we need to have the confidence that it is right here, right now, always, in each one of us.

[34:41]

So not only having the confidence that it's here in us, but that it's in each one that you see. Suzuki Roshi was always encouraging us to see Buddha in everyone. Now, sometimes that's hard because we get some pretty bad habits sometimes, and we can be rude sometimes, and we can be unkind sometimes, and Buddha doesn't show very clearly in those moments. But if you are confident that Buddha is nowhere but here, you will begin nowhere else, except here in each of us, you will begin to catch glimpses in yourself and in others. But this notion that Buddha is something else than this and somewhere else than here is a very common difficulty.

[35:59]

So that's why I like this story about Shui Feng and Yento because later on when they were teaching in their own separate places, some monks came along to Shui Feng's place and walked up to the gate and he came out to meet them and they said, what is it? And excuse me, he said to them, what is it? And they responded, what is it? And he ducked his head and went back in his cabin. And they went on down the mountain, and then eventually they ran into Yento, who was just starting an ongoing training period. And Yento said to him, where'd you come from? I said, well, we were at Reinen. Oh, did you meet Shui Feng? Yes, we met him. Oh, what did he have to say? And they told him the story. And he said, oh, too bad I didn't hear Shui Feng my last word.

[37:01]

No one could have gotten to him if they had. And they wondered about that, but they didn't say anything more. And they stayed with Yento and did the whole training period with him. And toward the end of the training period, they went back to him and questioned him, so what is this last word that you were talking about? Why didn't you ask me about it earlier? Well, we didn't want to be, you know, We didn't want to bother you. Well, he said, as for Schweifeng, he and I were born in the same lineage, but we won't die in the same lineage. And as for what is it? Just this is it. Or as for my last word, just this is it. And this teaching of just this is it has come to us from many teachers.

[38:06]

What's here, right here, right now is our life. And how we meet what's here and now will determine the course of our life. We can sit and dream of some other time and some other place. But actually our life is right here and right now. And this is what Yento meant about, let it come forth from your own heart. Right here, right now. To trust that Buddha is here. To listen to our own heart. Connect with Buddha in everyone right here, right now. Just this is what you're looking for. It's not something else. Forget your dreams of, for me, being a great teacher, for example, or whatever.

[39:26]

Just put yourself out there and be with people with your whole heart. Right here, right now. This is your life in each moment. And it's not somewhere else. This question of we were born in the same lineage, but we won't die in the same lineage. This is a very interesting one. Suzuki Roshi said about it, Yento was completely Yento, and Shui Feng was completely Shui Feng. That's why they could help people. So be completely yourself, without some idea of yourself. It's the idea of self that gets us trapped. But just to be who you are, then you can be Buddha, because that's who you are.

[40:29]

But if you get caught up in some idea of self, then you miss the point. It's just this, as it is. But when we let that light flower, it illuminates the whole world. Kategori Roshi said, we sit to settle the self on the self and let the flower of the life force bloom. No. To settle this idea of self onto the original self that includes everything, the big self that's not separate from anything, to settle this self that you think you are on the vast and all-inclusive self. appears here as you and here as me.

[41:31]

And let that one bloom for the benefit of all beings. Thank you.

[41:52]

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