This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Before I launch into that, I wanted to say something about yesterday. The word ardent, I said I was going to look up the word ardent. The Buddha sat... ardent and resolute, and ardent, it isn't blood, it's warmth of passion or desire. Ardent is expressing or characterizing warmth of passion or desire, enthusiasm, and it comes from to burn, strong enthusiasm, devotion, fervent, glowing, flashing, fierce from the root, to burn or glow, to be on fire, And it's also related etymologically to the hearth and an altar.

[01:02]

And I think altars originally were fire hearth places. So that seemed to work well with, you know, making our own sitting practice the altar of our awakening and the fire of our resolve expressing itself there. The other thing I wanted to mention is about Satkhaka's questioning and the Buddha, that relationship. I got a note from someone just bringing up, you know, what about questions or messy questions or, you know, maybe unskillfully or what, but we need to ask questions to clarify and... and I totally agree I think I was bringing this up just because it was in this long description of the Buddha's enlightenment night or days and you know the testing I think that Sakaka was doing just to remind you he after they had exchanged you know he basically says when Master Gotama is addressed rudely again and again

[02:24]

and assailed by presumptuous speech, his face brightens, as would be the case with one who is worthy and rightly self-awakened. So it's like if he says he's, you know, the Buddha, then I'll try, you know, I'll see. And other people he found got irritated and peevish. So I think this kind of exchange, this can happen. I've been at Dharma talks where someone will bring up a question that someone else might feel, oh, why did they bring that up? But the person handled it, they met beautifully. So I just want to say this story I brought up was not to by any means dampen questions or bring up whatever you want, clarify, don't, as the Buddha says, and as we know, don't take it just because somebody said it. Find out for yourself, clarify for yourself. I just wanted to encourage that and clarify that about yesterday.

[03:28]

So the Buddha, we talked about the kind of traditional story of his entering different states of absorption and these, just to say now, I'm going to say it later, when he turned the Dharma wheel, the first turning of the wheel, he didn't teach the first thing he taught, the first thing that was not jhanas or you know this was not like I have found the way and this is something that he had access to and was capable of but this is not the first thing that he taught to people. But anyway that description of that and then him seeing his own past lives in the first watch, other human beings cause and effect in karmic life and consequences, and then the third seeing Pratitya, the wheel of cause and effect and impermanence.

[04:48]

and then seeing the morning star and to come back to some of the text that we might be more familiar with this saying that suppose the lion's roar upon seeing the morning star and waking up was marvelous marvelous or wonderful wonderful all beings are I now see all beings without exception are completely and thoroughly enlightened except for their delusions they don't see it. Now, three places where this comes up. One is the Book of Serenity, Case 67, and the way it's said there is, I now see all sentient beings everywhere freely possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones, but because of false conception and attachments they do not realize it. the flower ornament.

[05:52]

I think it originally comes from Avatamsaka Sutra, this saying, which I tried my best to find in the Avatamsaka Sutra. I could not find it. But Book of Serenity's case is the flower ornaments scripture's wisdom. And it's this saying, the Buddha is the case. And another place it turns up is Transmission of the Light, the lectures and collection of, from Shakyamuni down through Quezon, I think, their transmission stories, their realization moments, the ancestors in our lineage. Transmission of the Light, this is the first case, because it starts with Shakyamuni, and in Transmission of the Light, not Cleary's translation, but Le Fleur? Anyway, he says, the case says, Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star and was enlightened and he said, I and the great earth and being simultaneously achieved the way.

[07:06]

So this is in the Zen, our Zen tradition and lineage where this comes up and it maybe comes up in more places, this particular lion's roar upon waking up that I and all beings and the great earth together simultaneously awaken. And what that said to me this morning, how I saw that was, yui butsu, yo butsu. Only a Buddha together with a Buddha can fathom the reality of all existence. the shōho jīsō, the true reality of all beings, all existence, all beings, all dharmas. And that is the Buddha's, in these teachings, that is the Buddha's enlightenment, yūibutsu yōbutsu, only a Buddha and a Buddha, I and all beings.

[08:07]

So we've been studying this Chapter 2, Skillful Means, and as we know this, it starts out with a Buddha after, in the chapter before, this ray of light coming from his forehead and illuminating and then comes out of his absorption, samadhi, concentration, and speaks first. Nobody asks him a question. He begins to talk and begins to say this is This is what I understand, but it's too difficult to say more, so don't ask me. He says a little bit. He says, only a Buddha, together with a Buddha, can fathom the reality of all beings, or all existence, the true reality. That is to say, the suchness of, and the ten suchnesses, form, nature, body,

[09:14]

effort, energy, and function, cause and effect, conditions, results, recompense, and that that all together makes just oneness. And I think seeing the morning star, I, and the great earth and all beings simultaneously, those are, the chapter two of the Lotus Sutra is, comes back to that. Buddha's waking up. What does he wake up to? That I and all beings. So taking up where we left off, the Buddha now is, there's various renditions of this, but he's just enjoying. It's like self-receiving, self-enjoying samadhi. After all this effort and he's just resting and he's by the river Naranjara or Naranjo and he's just walking by the river and sitting and just nowhere to go, nothing to do, just enjoyment of this realization and he begins to realize

[10:43]

Like Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra, please don't ask, you know, don't ask Shariputra, it's too difficult, enough, this is enough. He, in the night of his enlightenment or the days after his enlightenment, he also, it is said, was thinking in that way. This is what I have realized is how can I express it? It's inexpressible. So maybe I won't say anything. I wanted to pick up there with Chapter 2, what we've been reading all practice period, this particular section which describes the Buddha's turning this. So it says, when I first sat in the place of the way, which is the Bodhimanda, looking at that tree and walking around it, For three weeks I had thought such as this. The wisdom I have gained is fine, wonderful, and supreme, but living beings with dull faculties are attached to pleasures and blinded by ignorance.

[11:55]

Being like this, how can they be saved? Then the Brahma kings, Indra, the king of gods, the four kings of heavens, who protect the world, the god great freedom and all the other heavenly beings as well and all of their hundreds of billions of followers bowing with their palms together reverently begged me to turn the Dharma wheel. Then I thought to myself if I merely praise the Buddha vehicle being sunk in suffering will not be able to believe this Dharma. If If he just says to being sunk, you are completely and utterly enlightened, it's like he feels like they won't be able to believe this Dharma. And by rejecting the Dharma, and then if they reject this truth through unbelief, they will fall into the three evil paths.

[13:03]

It would be better not to teach the Dharma and quickly enter nirvana. This is what he's thinking. It would be harmful if I offer this and people say, what? No, that's hogwash or whatever. I don't want to do that. I don't want to set that up for people. Maybe better not to teach it all and just go into extinction here. But when I thought about past Buddhas and the power of the skillful means used by them, I knew that the way I have now gained must also be taught as three vehicles. So he started thinking maybe I shouldn't but then he remembers all the Buddhas of the past that he served and learned from and that taught in various skillful ways that we've been enumerating all practice period that they used with stories and parables and all sorts of things.

[14:08]

And I know this way that I've realized must also be taught as three vehicles, meaning I'm going to start somewhere. It has to be taught in different ways. This is from Skillful Means. When I was thinking this, all the Buddhas in all directions appeared and cheered me up with the sacred chant, well done, Shakyamuni. And they said, first among leaders and teachers, Having attained the unexcelled Dharma, you follow the example of all the Buddhas in using the power of skillful means. All of us as well, having gained this most wonderful supreme Dharma, for the sake of the many kinds of beings, make distinctions and teach the three vehicles. And then it describes different kinds of beings. Those of little wisdom want lesser teachings. unable to believe that they could become Buddhas. For this reason we use skillful means, making distinctions and teaching about various results.

[15:14]

Though we also proclaim the Three Vehicles, this is only for the purpose of teaching bodhisattvas. He's telling Shariputra this. You should understand, Shariputra, that when I heard the roar of the holy lions with their deep pure and wonderful voices, I rejoiced saying, hail to the Buddhas. And then I thought, having come into this impure and evil world, I too must act as these Buddhas have taught. Having had these thoughts, I went at once to Varanasi. Since the tranquilly extinct character of all things cannot be put into words, I use the power of skillful means to teach the five ascetics. This is called turning the Dharma wheel. And I made distinction using the words, such words as Nirvana, Arha, Dharma, Sangha.

[16:18]

And from eons and eons ago I have praised and taught the doctrine of Nirvana. The miseries of birth and death are forever ended. This is how I usually taught. So that was what the kind of way it's taught in this teaching story that the Buddha began first thinking it's not possible and then, wait a minute, all the Buddhas have tried to teach as best they can using different ways and I will too, and they cheered him on. He was surrounded by Buddhas. So he left Bodhgaya and walked to Varanasi, which is where the five, his old companions, the five mendicants, the five ascetics were staying. And they at first, you know, they had not been very happy with his decision to stop doing the austerities and as you remember they were kind of disgusted with this

[17:33]

And when they first saw him coming, they kind of shunned him and were suspicious of, now what's, you know, he's backslider, we don't want to associate with him. But the way, when they saw him, and this was said about the Buddha, you saw him walking from afar, and there was a kind of something about him that was changed that they noticed it, this radiance, they said, upon seeing this radiance. And so they asked him to teach. So he didn't teach this, you are already Buddha, you know, that I have realized that I and all Buddhas and all sentient beings and the Great Earth are completely already awakened, this is our nature. I have realized this and you are included, you are too. I am like this, you are like this, all the Buddhas and ancestors are like this.

[18:40]

First of all, they're probably starving, you know, they're in a kind of state. And he was very gentle, I feel like, very...he taught completely exactly what they could hear in a...and these early teachings are clear, logical, analytical, this is the path, this is how it works, this is how you walk it, this is the truth, you know, he started out with the middle way and said, you know, you're right, and this I feel like this is one of these skillful means, he said to them, you're right to not do self-indulgent, hedonistic, you know, sappy wood, drowning in water of sensual indulgences or something. That's right. however, and then he brings them along. This austerity thing that has been happening, this is too extreme.

[19:43]

This is also not wholesome. This is useless. One extreme is useless, but this is also useless. And I found this out, and he then taught middle way, and he started with the Eightfold Path. He didn't start out with at least in this teaching, there may be other renditions of this. You started out with the Eightfold Path. Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way. This is Eightfold Path. It's not the extremes. And then from there he went to the Four Noble Truths. There is a truth of suffering. There is an origin to suffering.

[20:46]

These grasping desires and thirsting, forever thirsting after things we want, things we don't want, self, etc. And there is a cessation to suffering. And the cessation to suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the way to live. This is the path to freedom. And you can walk this together with me and I will help you, you know. And then he taught that he had experienced no self, you know, or anatman, and this dovetails with dependent co-arising, that there isn't a self over and above, you know, this wheel of turning a pratitya sammupada, ignorance, karmic formations, consciousness, name and form,

[22:05]

Sixth sense field, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, old age and death, and then here we go again. There's not something over and above that called self. There's just the workings of this wheel. So he taught that. So the no self and the dependent core rising, non-abiding self and the dependent core rising was taught. And then impermanence. And these, you know, many of you have been turning deeply, I think, the five remembrances, especially the fourth one. All I hold dear and every one I love is of the nature to change. I cannot escape from being separated from them. This impermanence that permeates everything he taught impermanence.

[23:06]

And in these teachings that were clear and had a simplicity and a logical, conceptual, you know, wasn't trying to break into non-dualistic speech, you know, it was very clear, this is what they needed. And Kondinya, who had worked for his father, had been a translator and had spiritual texts and things. The Buddha is teaching this. This is the turning of the wheel, the first turning of the wheel. And he says, Kondinya or Kondana has seen deeply. Kondana has seen deeply. Kondana, in the middle of this Dharma talk, saw something and realized Arhachya. and became his first ordained.

[24:13]

You know, he joined the order. He said, I'm going to, you know, go with you. And this was very encouraging to Shakyamuni, to the Buddha. He had done what he said he was going to do. He communicated to somebody. Somebody had understood and realized what he had realized in this arhatship. And he thought, if I could communicate to one person, I'll be able to communicate to more people and that helped him to set out on this teaching path that never ended for the next like 40 years. He taught to whoever he came upon. And it's also said that there was a great light that when he was teaching the first turny of the wheel, this great light that permeated the worlds. So, the, um, the, the Skillful Meads chapter has taken this, um, this teaching story of

[25:39]

of what the Buddha realized, which includes all of us, but showed how in the first turning of the wheel he felt this was the best thing to offer. This is what he needed to offer. And in Chapter 2 he finally comes to, but now I'm going to offer something that's always been there, that's always been true, But I haven't felt the time was ripe. We've been reading about this. It wasn't ripe, and now I feel it's ripe to say that all of you, all beings, share in the Buddha's wisdom and virtues are equal to me. That's the chapter two, that's Lotus Sutra, coming back to what can be understood as that Enlightenment Day realization which couldn't be said quite yet, and was brought up in these ways which were skillful, what he felt people were ready for.

[26:47]

This, you know, seeing this as one, kind of one teaching story, you know, and that all those beings who realize like Kondinya and all the rest, all the Charyas and all the Arhats to now teach something that was always there and always realized but the time wasn't right. I and all beings and the great Earth simultaneously. Now in the commentary in the Transmission of the Light it says this I of the I and the great earth, is not the small eye of Shakyamuni. It's the kind of big eye.

[27:53]

In the same ways, you know, the baby Buddha, as we might recall, when he was born, took those seven steps and pointed to heaven and earth and said, I alone in the world honored one, you know, this little piscala, I alone am the world under one. Which Pitzkala is, I think, a made up word for my family or something. Anyway, this little guy pointing. I alone. What is this I? It's not this little baby alone. It's with which we are not separated the thus come one maybe so the parable of the destitute child I'm going to say the destitute child is also you know it's one of these lotus sutra wonderful stories which the arhats

[29:06]

tell, when they're predicted, when they're told, that they too, that they're not outside somehow of Buddhas, of becoming Buddhas, that that's their nature. And they tell this story of the destitute child. And this is our story, you know, the destitute child already is a child of nobility, you know, is a child of the all of us already are in another koan it says falling on the road of destitution, the fallen nobility on the road of destitution, how sorrowful that kind of feeling of feeling separate and like we're not okay and this is the destitute child who is actually but doesn't realize it by birth of the Buddha's house.

[30:27]

And the work that the destitute child does, you know, slowly, slowly building strengths, understanding better how to be with others, how to accept limitations and work and develop different parts of oneself, etc., etc., until the child is, or the mature one has been nourished through practice and effort and ardent and resolute practice is ready, is ripe. So this morning we chanted Phukhansa Zengi where it says, you know, even though you've glimpsed the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, still

[31:34]

You know, this is, you know, there's work to be done here. And I think the, if there's the slightest, you know, deviation, if there's the slightest looking outside and wanting something that will complete us, then we have work to do. need to, even if we do glimpse the wisdom that runs through all things, then we return to continue with practicing everything that's been taught, everything that the Buddha teaches. All the perfections, all the precepts, patience, sympathetic joy, you continue to practice those.

[32:37]

I think there's sometimes a misunderstanding that after some a glimpse of the wisdom that runs through all things or knows self, then the job is done. The task is complete and we can do something else or hang out our shingle or something. I think Fukanza Zangi is, and all the teachers that I am inspired by and trust, it's continuous practice till forever. endless practice because there's endless delusions. And many of us will be heading out over the mountain. This part of the Buddha's story, you know, the first part where he makes these efforts and strives and all is called going up the mountain. Whether

[33:38]

by the Bodhi tree, it's called going up the mountain. And we can call our practice going into the mountains. Monasteries are called mountains whether they're in the middle of San Francisco or Tokyo or wherever, they're called mountains. Rinso In, that's a forest. G, they're mountains. And we go up the mountain and then we come down the mountain. you know, returning from the mountain, returning to the marketplace with gift bestowing hands and some of you will be returning at least for a little while, hopefully everybody's going out at some point during interim, I don't know, but some of you will be, you're coming down the mountain and will be in a different kind of situation which is the culmination of our path. It's not to stay in the mountains forever, figuratively or literally, but to come down the mountain.

[34:52]

And this coming down the mountain is the Buddhist decision spurred on by you know one of the commentaries about this that the Indra and Brahma and the Hindu gods of different kinds asked him to teach this that's built into the story is is called one of the skillful means because if Indra and Brahma were asking and wanted to hear the teachings that supposedly in the story would be encouraging for for other people who look to Brahma and Indra. Or is Brahma and Indra the same thing? So it was like a skillful means that the Buddha really was going to teach. This was another little flip of the story. He really was. He didn't have to be pleaded with. He was going to. But he allowed that to happen as a skillful means to encourage more people to listen to.

[35:56]

You can think of that in any way you want. But this decision is the return to the marketplace with gift bestowing hands and turning the wheel. So Dogen's poem about the lotus is when you grasp the heart or the mind of this sutra even the voices of selling and buying in the marketplace expound the Dharma. When you grasp the heart-mind of this sutra, even the voices of selling and buying in the marketplace expound the sutra. So all the activities of everyday life are not somehow outside of the one vehicle

[37:00]

expressing itself in myriad ways. And to see it and hear it like that rather than have some judgment or criticism or this is the unfolding, the ever unfolding of the lotus. So as we go, you know, into buying and selling and gift buying and I don't know what you'll encounter, all sorts of shocking and delightful things, I'm sure. You know, just reading a newspaper, you know. However, I have a lot of confidence in everyone here, you know, the sincerity that's been expressed, the depth with which you've been turning, the teachings that have met you, and the conviction that you want to continue practicing.

[38:16]

Even when there's no big delights or big presents or big wonderful things that are happening is pretty plain for some people. Kind of like every day how other people have had some strong, powerful encounters with their life that will change them forever, I think. But basically I feel the strength of practice, almost like how could I not practice? I've come too far. It's too late. Even if I wanted to stop practicing, how could I? I can't imagine it. What would that look like? So that gives me, you know, just joy and just the confidence that we will practice together forever, whether we, you know, Ichi-e, Ichi, what is it, Ichi-e, Ichi-o, one moment, one

[39:29]

time one time one moment practicing together like this will never come again and this moment will never come again but this this gathering of beings and we let it go and return and meet the next the next moment so I want to thank you all for your your wonderful practice, and this has been exceptionally, not that there haven't been blips and so forth, but very harmonious, very harmonious group. So thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge. and this is made possible by the donations we receive.

[40:30]

Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[40:40]

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