This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. Tonight I want to... This seems very loud, isn't it? Tonight I want to talk about the precepts because I've been teaching a class on the precepts, so that's what I'm thinking about and studying.

[01:06]

And also it's really closely related to the theme of for the practice period. So the theme for the practice period is something called the three trainings. And the three trainings are shila, samadhi, and prajna, or in English, morality, meditation, and wisdom. And these three are actually part of the six paramitas that are the path leading to being a bodhisattva. They're the path that a bodhisattva practices. The six paramitas or perfections are generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and

[02:10]

And this is a further distillation of the Bodhisattva path, a further boiling down to the essentials. So this is like a three-legged stool, these three practices of morality and meditation. and wisdom are considered the essentials for a bodhisattva. And to practice with them, we start with whatever wisdom we have. And wisdom means a particular thing in Buddhism. It's our understanding, it's the Mahayana word emptiness.

[03:18]

Which is, I actually don't like the word emptiness very much because I'm a visual person. And when I try to imagine or visualize emptiness, I don't get anything. You know, it's kind of empty. It doesn't work for me very well. But what it refers to is our complete interconnectedness with everyone and everything. How completely we're enveloped in the whole universe. We're part of the universe, inseparable from it. We don't actually have an existence separate from us. the universe. And since the universe is always changing, so are we. So everything is constantly in flux from moment to moment.

[04:24]

Nothing stays the same. Nothing lasts. Our lives are always fluctuating between pleasant states and unpleasant states. joy and sorrow, getting what we want and not getting what we want. So that's a description of our life, and it might seem like bad news. I don't know. Part of it's good news. Part of it might not be such good news. But actually, I find it all very comforting to Because that's how the world is, and you've certainly already discovered that that's how the world is. And to the extent that things are beyond your control as they are, it's not your fault. And that's really comforting.

[05:31]

So we already have what we look for all the time, which is connection with people. We're completely connected already. And the fact that we can't control the arising of phenomena, that's just the way it is. And it doesn't mean we're doing something wrong. So I like to see precept practice as our zazen that we do in activity off the cushion. So that means that this practice period is about these two different forms of meditation and wisdom. And as we practice with the precepts, they're awareness practices.

[06:33]

They're opportunities to see ourselves arise in many different circumstances and see what we do and see what we want to do and see what we can do in this completely fluctuating circumstance of our life where we see our limitations as human beings. We see how little control we have, how limited we are, how our viewpoint is constricted. And when we see those things, we may have some compassion. for ourselves, and also for others, because we're actually all in the same boat. Our lives are all like that. So this three-part practice of morality, which I think is meditation in our life off the cushion,

[07:50]

and samadhi, which is zazen, shakantaza, just sitting, just being, and wisdom are the practices that we engage in both to manifest our enlightenment and wisdom and to cultivate our enlightenment and wisdom. So I'm going to say a little bit about the structure of the precepts, and I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this. The first three precepts are the three refuges. I take refuge in Buddha. I take refuge in Dharma. I take refuge in Sangha. These are the triple treasure. We call Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha the three treasures.

[08:56]

And I think the word refuge has positive connotations for us. It suggests shelter, protection, safety, maybe even warmth and comfort. things that we look for that we're happy to have in our lives. And the Latin root of the word refuge means to fly back or fly again. So in the context of the precepts, it means to return to our true home, to our true nature. to ourselves just as we are. So it's an invitation to be completely ourselves. Buddha said that taking refuge was the essential essence of ordination, and ordination is what makes you a bodhisattva.

[10:12]

I'm not sure that's true. Actually, I might take that back. Maybe you can be a bodhisattva without ordination. But anyway, when Buddha's son Rahula was ready to be ordained, Buddha asked Shariputra to ordain him. And what Shariputra did was offer the three refuges to Rahula. So that was established as the essential essence of ordination. When people start studying the precepts here in preparation for Jukai, we give them a packet of stuff to read that includes a handful of Suzuki Roshi lectures that are...

[11:15]

wonderful lectures. They're just beautiful. I wish I could just sit and read them to you instead of talking. And most of the lectures are devoted to the refuges and the three treasures. And he talks about the three treasures as a trinity, similar to the trinity in Christianity. So in Christianity, the Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And in Buddhism, it's Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And there are also three ways that he suggests to look at the three refuges, ways to study them or know them. And the first is called the Indivisible Three Treasures.

[12:19]

You can't separate Buddha from Dharma, from Sangha. They are all just one whole that includes everything. They're just the Buddha way, the way of truth, the path. the way we live our life. And it makes me think of Dogen's phrase, practice enlightenment, or practice is enlightenment. You can't tell which comes first. There's enlightenment or wisdom that manifests, and we practice. Our practice helps us to cultivate enlightenment or wisdom. They are all one thing, and it includes everything.

[13:26]

The second way of looking at the precepts that Suzuki Roshi talks about is the manifest three treasures. So Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment. and is an example for us of how we can awaken, what practice we should do to awaken, to be like Buddha, to live like Buddha. And then he taught for 40 years, and the Dharma is what he taught. It's the Buddha's teachings. But also, of course, if Buddha had never sat under the Bodhi tree or even been born, we would still have reality as it is, which we can discover on our own.

[14:33]

So that's also called Dharma, the truth, the way things are. Reality is called Dharma, as well as Buddha's teachings. And the community, the Sangha, was Buddha's disciples, the monks and nuns and laymen and laywomen who were part of his community. So that was Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as it manifested historically and is therefore our teaching and example. And the third way that Suzuki Roshi suggests to study the three treasures is the maintaining triple treasure. What maintains Buddhism and the practices and lineage so that it's accessible to us right now and will be accessible to people in the future?

[15:47]

So Buddha is maintained as Buddhist art. So we have this beautiful Gandharan Buddha, refined and graceful with a pleasant expression on his face that we can aspire to emulate that posture and that sitting that he's doing. And we have scriptures that have been handed down to us. So we have a bookstore with lots of books, which is something Buddha never had. And we have a community that lives Buddhism. I'm part of it. You're part of it. And the people who come after us will be part of it. So we're part of the maintaining sangha. So that's the maintaining Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha that lives now and will continue to live in the future.

[16:58]

So the next three precepts are the three pure precepts. And there are lots of different translations, and I think it makes a lot of difference how you translate words. The precepts, but I can't go into that. This is a very short talk, and there are lots of precepts, and we won't talk about them all anyway. But the three pure precepts are, I vow to refrain from all evil, I vow to make every effort to live in enlightenment, and I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings. Wow. So my immediate response when I hear that is that that seems completely impossible. I cannot possibly avoid all evil.

[18:04]

And I'm a very selfish person, so I don't think I'm suddenly going to live just for the benefit of all beings. I live for my own benefit frequently. And to make every effort to live in enlightenment, I try, but sometimes I just run out of energy. So these precepts seem impossible to keep to me. And yet they're an expression of our bodhicitta, our wish to awaken with everyone. And it's because of that wish that we're in this room right now, listening to this dharma talk and practicing. So that wish takes form as a vow, which we call the Bodhisattva vow.

[19:05]

So the Bodhisattva vow is the vow to awaken everyone before ourselves. That's the Mahayana expression of the Bodhisattva vow. And lately, I've been really enjoying Shohaku Okamura's book, Living by Vow. And I want to read his definition of a Bodhisattva and vow. A Bodhisattva is a person who lives... by vow instead of by karma. Karma means habit, preferences, or a ready-made system of values. As we grow up, we learn a system of values from the culture around us, which we use to evaluate the world and choose actions.

[20:10]

This is karma and living by karma. In contrast, a bodhisattva lives by vow. Vow is like a magnet or compass that shows us the direction toward the Buddha. And I think that's a very good... description of the three pure precepts. They seem to me like a star in the sky that you get direction from. You have this intention, you've expressed this intention, you want to do this, and this pulls you along in that direction in spite of all the confusion of daily life. So the last precepts are the ten grave precepts. And there are a couple of important ways to consider them and look at them.

[21:17]

One is relative versus absolute. So absolute is another way of... expressing the idea of emptiness. The absolute includes everything. And the precepts we practice diligently in our lives every day on a relative mundane level. We do the best we can. We're human beings. That's what we do. That's how we live. We don't live in the absolute. And yet, This is, the absolute is the truth of how things are. And we live in accord with that truth. And we work with the precepts in accord with that truth. So from a relative point of view, the precepts are impossible to keep.

[22:29]

And from an absolute point of view, we're taught that the precepts are impossible to break. So we just practice with them in our lives and do the best we can with whatever understanding we have. And they show us our limitations. And... hopefully that helps us to have compassion for ourselves and other people. So I want to give some examples of how a few of the main precepts look when we look at them from the relative point of view or the absolute point of view. So take the precept not to kill. We can't, from a relative point of view, we can't live without killing.

[23:40]

Even if we're vegetarians, every bite that we take kills tiny beings. So we break the precept all the time. And from an absolute precept point of view, the teaching is that life cannot be killed, that we can't add to or subtract from the life of the universe. We're part of the universe, and we can't meddle with it in that way. But on the other hand, if we try to... that it's impossible to kill and use that as a justification for killing someone, someone will tell us that we're crazy and put us in jail. So we have to live from both points of view.

[24:42]

We can't live in the absolute. And the precept to not steal or not take what is not given is If we feel that we lack something, we'll want to take what others have. And from the absolute point of view, we can't steal because nothing actually belongs to us anyway. And I want to read a comment that Suzuki Roshi made in one of his Dharma talks. about the absolute view of the precept of stealing. Do not steal. When we think we do not possess something, then we want to steal. But actually, everything in the world belongs to us, so there is no need to steal.

[25:45]

For example, my glasses. They are just glasses. They do not belong to me or you, or they belong to all of us. But you know about my tired old eyes, and so you let me use them. So I think that's a beautiful expression of this way of seeing the precept of stealing from a whole point of view. But on the other hand, if we take things that don't belong to us, that actually belong to someone else, we'll get into trouble. So we live the precepts every day in a relative way as best we can. The same about misusing sexuality.

[26:50]

I think that misuse of sexuality is related to attachment and grasping. And if we feel that we're not complete, we may try to grasp whatever we feel will complete us. And if it's another person who doesn't want our attentions... that may be misuse. On the other hand, if we feel and experience and understand our completeness and wholeness and that we're not separate from anyone, then there's nothing to grasp. There's nothing to cling to. So another way... to think about the precepts is sometimes we think, oh, this or that precept doesn't have anything to do with my life.

[28:01]

We may look at the list, especially the 10 grave precepts. We may look at the list. It looks a little bit like the 10 commandments. And we may say, well, these are really up in my life and these have nothing to do with me. So for example, the precept of not killing, or positively phrased, it would be protecting or nurturing life. So maybe we feel that we've dealt with the main issues about killing. We may be a vegetarian. against war, against capital punishment, against animal research, wouldn't have an abortion. And on the other hand, we understand that we can't live without killing.

[29:08]

So we know it's an issue, but we may feel like we've worked with it in the relevant ways. But I would suggest all of these precepts really broaden and deepen how they relate to your life. For example, what about accepting your life right now as it is, just as it is? This moment. Are there times when you want something to be over? And if you want something to be over, are you killing time, obliterating time, or wanting to? And is there a difference between time and your life? So is that a form of killing, to not fully appreciate each moment of your life?

[30:17]

So that's another way to look at that precept. Something similar comes up in the precept about intoxicating. Sometimes people say, I don't drink and I... Don't take drugs, so the precept about intoxicating doesn't have anything to do with me. But what about the habitual activities that you may be using to change your state of mind, to change boredom into something fun, for example? So do you use a trip to the refrigerator to get a snack or watching TV, playing video games, surfing the internet as distractions from your life as it is at this moment?

[31:43]

Do you ever find yourself, I certainly do, going on the internet just kind of looking for something to happen, looking for an interesting email or something going on in my life that will inject something new? So I think that's another form of intoxication. And then... Another way to look at intoxication is what we allow into our body minds in terms of, say, food, entertainment, thoughts, images. So, for example, do you watch violent movies? What about listening to somebody talk about somebody else in a negative way? So these things enter our consciousness and our body-mind.

[32:46]

And are they nourishing or are they poison? So I think the precept about intoxicating can be broadened and deepened in that kind of way. So I want to give an example of... my own practice with the precept of not lying. I think of myself as a reasonably honest person. And sometimes people will say, oh, you have lots of integrity. But we'll see in a minute. One day I was walking back home from getting a pedicure. And I ran into somebody from Zen Center, a friendly person who smiled and was friendly and said, oh, where have you been?

[33:53]

What have you been doing? And I immediately made up a lie and said, oh, I was just out for a walk. And I think the person even said, oh, I didn't know you walked here. So I was unwilling to have that person see that side of me, the priest who had a pedicure. And it raises lots of interesting questions. I know it's not so serious or earth-shaking, and it probably didn't do a lot of damage. But... when we get into the habit of that, and I don't know whether I'm in the habit of it or not, I'll have to watch that, it becomes a kind of habit of secrecy, having a secret life.

[34:56]

And I think it's a real and valid question where we should and can have privacy. And when it becomes secrecy, that maybe we should consider being more open or something. So one way of looking at this is if I'm reluctant to reveal that I'm doing this, should I be doing it? and I don't think it's such a serious thing, but it just raises issues, and I think we get into things like that with the precept of not lying, the polite lies, for example. And also, I think we tend to project our own tendencies onto other people. So if I have that tendency to make up little lies... I may start thinking, well, other people do that too and not believe other people when they say things.

[36:00]

So it gets very thick and complicated. And all of this is just grist for the mill, food for practice, and deepening our understanding and self-study. And that's what I think. the precepts are about as a meditation that we can do off the cushion. So I said I think it's useful to express the precepts in various ways, and some of these are expressed negatively, and I think it's useful to express them positively. So sometimes the precept of not taking what is not given is expressed as be generous and give what you can. And that generosity can be of many kinds. So I want to give a small example of someone being generous. Last night, someone told me that during this Dharma talk, they would sit near me in the front of the room and

[37:08]

And any time I looked at them, they would smile at me. So I think that's an act of generosity. That's the kind of thing that we can do for each other that's helpful and warm and human. I'm going to stop. Oh, no, I want to read a poem by Category Roshi. that's about vow. And it's called Peaceful Life. This is also in the Shohaku Okamura book. Being told that it's impossible, one believes in despair. Is that so? Being told that it is possible, one believes in excitement. That's right.

[38:09]

But whichever is chosen, it does not fit one's heart neatly. Being asked, what is unfitting? I don't know what it is, but my heart knows somehow. I feel an irresistible desire to know. What a mystery human is. As to this mystery, clarifying, knowing how to live, knowing how to walk with people, demonstrating and teaching, this is the Buddha. From my human eyes, I feel it's really impossible to become a Buddha. But this I, regarding what the Buddha does, vows to practice, to aspire, to be resolute, and tells me, yes, I will.

[39:19]

Just practice right here, now, and achieve continuity, endlessly, forever. This is living in vow. Herein is one's peaceful life found. I think I have time for one or two questions. Yes. you can have a packet of your very own. Not that we own anything. Yeah. Well, they're both about attachment.

[40:45]

For one thing, there are two precepts that are kind of about... There's also the avaricious precept. Well, it might fit better there. But I think that... Actually, it was really interesting to me to read about generosity and how a lot of the teaching was about imagining giving things to people, even things that don't belong to you, giving palaces and temples and trips and houses. So it seems to me to be about changing your mind. more than giving something because these are practices for monks who don't have anything um am i going in the right direction for your question okay yes um

[42:06]

It was a confession. And the person that I lied to is in this room. And that's all I'm going to say. We won't have them raise their hands tonight. So, one more maybe. Okay, well then not one more. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[43:12]

May we fully enjoy the Dormer.

[43:15]

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