I love to taste the truth of the Tathātā's words. Good morning, everybody. Personal balloon. Well, happy Easter, everyone. Today is Easter Sunday, no? So happy Easter. And it's also one of the days of Passover. I don't know which one, but fourth or fifth or something, third. So happy Passover. Our religion keeps getting bigger and bigger as we take in more and open ourselves to more.

[01:03]

And of course, most of all, happy Buddha's birthday. We even have a balloon to prove it. And today, I want to give a very short lecture, mostly to share with you my good feeling about Buddha. I'm a fan of Buddha. I think Buddha's really great. So I want to share with you my good feeling about Buddha. And also, today's program is quite different from the usual Sunday program, so we need to prepare ourselves for what comes next. So I also want to do that in my lecture today. So this time of year, it seems, many traditions celebrate renewal, birth, happiness.

[02:12]

And quite often, there is some suffering out of which renewal, happiness emerges. And this is certainly the case in the story of Buddha. Of Easter and Passover as well. And it's always true in our lives. But Buddha's birthday is almost entirely positive and happy, so we have to make an effort today. Whatever our problems are personally, and goodness knows, the world has plenty of problems. But still, today's a day for us to make an effort to find some happiness and emphasize happiness. There are three important days in the life of the Buddha that we like to venerate, that seem really important to mark and venerate. Buddha's birthday, which we're celebrating today, although the tradition in Japan is that Buddha's birthday is celebrated on April 8th, and it's been our custom to mark it on the Sunday closest to April 8th, which is today.

[03:18]

So that's one of the three important days. And the second one is Buddha's Enlightenment Day, which is December 8th in the Far East. And we celebrate that one with a joyous seven-day Sashin, where we sit zazen day and night, and we try to stay up all night sitting the last night. And then in the morning, we go out and try to imitate Buddha by looking at the morning star and seeing if anything happens. And it seems like most years we go out there and it's foggy. So nothing happens. We don't even see the morning star. But that's a very good Soto Zen way, don't you think? Not to see anything at all. And then after that, we have a big ceremony where we march around

[04:24]

throwing flowers for a while and get delirious. And when you come in on the day of the ceremony, you find flower petals scattered all over the room, the zendo here. So that's on December 8th. Then the third day of the year in Buddha's life that we commemorate is February the 15th, which in the Far East is Parinirvana Day, the day that Buddha passes away, passes out of this life. And that one we mark with a big ceremony, formal ceremony, as well as another kind of a pageant, which is very quiet and peaceful here in the evening, in the dark in the zendo, which we had a few months ago. So, in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other Theravada Buddhist countries,

[05:28]

they telescope these three events into one day, which they call Vesak, which is usually in May, I think May the 6th, early May. But in the Far East, there are three different dates. So it seems important for us to mark these days, to remember them, to meditate on the life of the Buddha as our own life, and to express our appreciation for these three days, each with its own quality, in our own way, to make a Buddhist culture out of our own feeling and our own expression here in America. It's important that we do this, have our own expression for our own feeling. So all these three days are really great, and I get a kick out of all three of them. I get very excited. Buddha's birthday, or Parinirvana day, or Enlightenment day, all very exciting, wonderful days. But maybe Buddha's birthday is the most wonderful of all, because it's completely unalloyed joy.

[06:29]

Parinirvana day is joyful and sad. Enlightenment day is very joyful and also involves a huge effort. But Buddha's birthday, we get away with just the joy. We don't need the sadness or the effort, only joy. So that's good. Buddha's birthday in Japan is called Hanamatsuri, Flower Festival, and it celebrates not only the birth of Buddha, but also the springtime, children, flowers, and we do the same here. This is really a ceremony, a festival of flowers and children, as you'll see in a few moments. And it's a ceremony, a day to express the possibility and the fact of renewal, that renewal is always possible, always close at hand, not only on April the 8th,

[07:32]

but every day of our lives. Each moment possesses a quality of sadness, but also strongly a quality of renewal, the possibility of starting again, fresh. I think our colleague priest down the road, Yvonne Rand, has a calligraphy that Suzuki Roshi made some years ago, which he made in his own handwriting in English, kind of beautiful, careful handwriting in English, and it says, do not say too late. So on Buddha's birthday, we remember that it is never too late to begin absolutely fresh all over again. Every moment has that potential, even in the last moment of our lives, breathing in with awareness and breathing out with awareness.

[08:38]

It is actually possible, literally possible, to begin again, fresh, with joy. So this day reminds us all of that. And it reminds us that the same is true, not only for us as individuals, but for our whole world, that even though the world has grave difficulties, and now we're all so aware of the tragedies in Eastern Europe, you know, the terrible bombings, the terrible so-called ethnic cleansing with people on the road, out of their homes, at gunpoint, it's really awful. And today, I think, after the lecture,

[09:39]

we'll have some announcement as to how you can help with that. But no matter how much help we can give, it's very little, and the tragedy goes on. But even so, we have to remember that renewal is possible, happiness is possible, peace is possible. All situations bear within them, if we can be wise enough and persistent enough, the potential for healing. And it has to start with us, with our finding within ourselves the spirit of peace and healing, and with our coming into touch in our own hearts with a very strong intention to put the benefit of others at the center of what our lives are, at the center of what motivates us in our lives. And today reminds us of that.

[10:40]

Maybe we don't have a specific plan, maybe we don't know exactly how we're going to renew the world, but a day like today reminds us that it can be done, that it must be done, and that we are certain that we will do it someday, somehow. If we all can build up this good spirit and cooperate, definitely we can bring peace and renew our world. So that's a little bit about this feeling, the spirit of today. So as I said, I'm a great fan of Shakyamuni Buddha. The more I learn about him, the more impressed I am with what a wonderful person he is, was. With the help of some good luck, as somebody might say,

[11:41]

or somebody else might say, lots of positive karma from many past lives, he was able to rediscover an ancient way for people to live in peace and harmony. Not only that, but after finding that way to help others and personally be liberated, he decided to dedicate his entire life, tirelessly, every single day, to teaching others this way, and to carefully, with a lot of wisdom and carefulness, setting up a tradition that would enable that teaching to go on past his lifetime. So that even now, almost 2,500 years since the time that the Buddha lived and walked the dusty roads of India,

[12:44]

we can still walk this path. We can still, each of us, in our own way, live the life that Buddha lived, practice the practice that Buddha practiced. And it doesn't matter what our situation is, it doesn't matter if we're a man or a woman, if we're heterosexual or homosexual, young or old, rich or poor, smart or dumb, healthy or unhealthy, white or black, Asian, Western, Native American, whatever we are, whatever our circumstances, each one of us, in our own unique way, can practice this great, wide, profound way that the Buddha practiced. And we can live the life of Buddha if only we are determined to do so.

[13:46]

So that's why I really appreciate the Buddha, and why I really respect him for making this rediscovery and for sharing it with us in this kind, kind way. So Buddha really was an accomplished person, just like you and me, who lived on the earth in the same way that we do. And when we say Buddha, we also refer to a wonderful myth. The aspect of Buddha that is not a person exactly, but a mythical being, a being, a person, who lived not only some many years ago, but also is very much alive today in our imaginations, in our dreams, and in our aspirations. So today we're going to enact before your very eyes

[14:53]

the birth of the Buddha. But just so you can appreciate a little bit the enactment, I'll tell you a word about how the Buddha came to be born. His mother, Queen Maya, before the Buddha was conceived, had a dream of a six-tusked white elephant, a very auspicious sign indeed. And later, as it was the custom in those days, when she was about to give birth, she journeyed from the place where she lived to her home where she was raised. And on the way, in the forest at Lumbini, she gave birth to the baby Buddha while standing up, holding onto a tree limb. And she didn't do it in the usual way. She didn't give birth to Buddha from out of her womb.

[15:57]

She gave birth to the Buddha from out of her side. And unlike the children of Lake Wobegon, the Buddha was not an average child. He was way above average. Because, as the myth goes, he popped out of his mother's side and immediately went for a walk, taking seven steps and pointing his finger above, one finger above and toward the sky and the other finger toward the earth, said, above the heavens and below the earth, I alone am the world-honored one. I am born for enlightenment, for the benefit of all beings. So he could walk and talk at a very early age. We were studying in our class

[17:00]

one of the koans of the Blue Cliff Record, which says, someone says, quoting an old poem, the way of the, the great way is not difficult, just avoid picking and choosing. How can we avoid picking and choosing? And Master Zhaozhou said, above the heavens and below the earth, I alone am the world-honored one. So the Buddha is a great person and the Buddha is a wonderful myth. And also, more than a person we can respect and more than a myth whose unfolding we can enjoy, the Buddha is also something, at the same time, much more esoteric than any of this and also much more ordinary. Because what we also mean by Buddha

[18:03]

and what we mostly mean by Buddha, especially in our tradition, is the deepest aspect of life itself, of reality itself. A Buddha means the accurate and alive nature of what is. And so when we celebrate the birth of the Buddha we are celebrating the birth of everything, of each one of us, of all plants and animals, of the sky and all of space and time, appearing right now, right here, in each moment of our lives, with all the depth that we could ever hope to see, if only we could just take a deep breath and let go of everything and allow it to be there. This is really how it is, the awakened nature of all things. This is what Buddha is, most fundamentally, most esoterically and most ordinarily. On each moment of each life,

[19:07]

Buddha is born, moment after moment, and on each moment enlightenment occurs. So, for convenience, because we can't have balloons every day, every moment, we pick a day. We say, let's have balloons today and call this Buddha's birthday. But actually, it's always Buddha's birthday. So I think that we should say happy birthday to each other, because it's our birthday. But I think, if you wouldn't mind, I had a thought that maybe, you know, one of the most wonderful practices of Buddhism is the practice of the vision of all sentient beings as Buddhas. Actually, looking at a sentient being and not seeing, you know, an ordinary person with a history and personality and all this,

[20:09]

but seeing something profound beyond, including all that, but beyond it, in that person's face. Seeing that person actually as Buddha. And this is a wonderful practice. If we could see everyone in our lives as Buddha, think what that would be like. So I wonder if we could maybe try that practice right now. I would ask all of you to take a moment to breathe and then turn to the person next to you and actually make the effort to see that person as Buddha. Try your best. And then say to each other, Happy birthday. Would you do that? Just try that. To each other. So happy birthday to everyone.

[21:27]

I want to just, before I explain the details about the program, I want to just read you one little section from the Avatamsaka Sutra, which is a great sutra. This is the most amazing religious text that I have ever encountered in any tradition. It's the most extravagant, exaggerated, excessive thing that you ever saw. It's thousands of pages long, and it's in three volumes, each one this fat. We once had a class in this sutra. It took, I think, four or five years to read it. And the last part of the sutra is about the pilgrimage of this person named Sudhana who goes to 53 different Buddhist saints and teachers. Each one teaches him something different.

[22:33]

And one of the people that he goes to is Lady Maya, the Buddhist mother. And he prostrates himself before her and receives teachings from her. And in this sutra, it describes the pregnancy of Lady Maya. So I thought you'd want to know about this, and I thought I'd read a passage from the Avatamsaka Sutra. We have in our community now a number of pregnancies. So this passage honors all mothers, actually, because the story of Buddha deeply honors and appreciates the powerful practice of motherhood as being the spontaneous fulfillment of great vows. You know, the bodhisattvas, the source of their power is their vow,

[23:33]

their tremendous wish to benefit others that they hold throughout many, many lifetimes. And so this is the case with Queen Maya and, I think, all mothers. So after he prostrates himself to her, she says to him, I have attained an enlightened liberation, magical manifestation of knowledge of great vows. Imbued with this liberation, I am the mother, not only of Shakyamuni Buddha, but of all enlightening beings in their final existence in all the worlds, in this world ocean, where Vairochana Buddha's miraculous manifestation of birth as an enlightening being in the final existence takes place. All those enlightening beings, and if you're a mother or if you're about to be a mother, everyone can say this to themselves, all these enlightening beings grow in my belly and come forth from my right side. So hereto, in this great city of Kapilavastu,

[24:36]

as wife of the King Suddhodana, I became the mother of the enlightening being Siddhartha Buddha by the great inconceivable miracle of the birth of an enlightening being. At that time, I was in the house of King Suddhodana, and when the time of the enlightening being's descent from the heaven of contentment had arrived, from every pore, the enlightening being emanated. This means Buddha. From every pore, he emanated as many rays of light as atoms in untold Buddha lands, arrayed with the qualities of the birth of all enlightening beings, known as the light originating from the qualities of birth of all Buddhas. You got that? Those rays of light illumined the whole world, then descended on my body and entered into every pore of my body, beginning with my head. As soon as those light rays of the enlightening being had entered me,

[25:40]

they caused the spheres of light at the front of the enlightening being's light rays to be manifest in my body, and the supernal manifestations of miracles attending the birth of all enlightening beings were visible. And as soon as those light rays of the enlightening being had entered my body, I saw all the enlightening beings whose birth miracles were shown in the spheres at the front of the enlightening being's light rays as they sat on the Buddha's lion throne at the side of enlightenment, surrounded by congregations of enlightening beings, honored by the leaders of the world, turning the wheel of the teaching. So all over, everywhere, you see, there were all these Buddhas appearing everywhere in all these world systems, each one with their own congregation and people honoring them and so on, she saw. I also saw all the Buddhas with whom those Buddhas associated as they carried out enlightening practices in the past. I also saw mystical projections of their initial inspiration, attainment of enlightenment, turning of the wheel of the teaching, final extinction in the pure arrays of all Buddha lands, as well as the multitudes of emanations

[26:43]

of those Buddhas pervading the cosmos in each moment of consciousness. When those rays of light entered my body, my body outreached all worlds, and my belly became as vast as space, and yet did not go beyond the physical human size. Upon the appearance in my body of the furnishings of the enlightening beings abode in the womb, the enlightening being, together with as many enlightening beings as atoms in ten Buddha fields, that's one big group of enlightening beings, all with the same vow to benefit others, all with the same practice, the same roots of goodness, the same state of liberation, and the same state of knowledge,

[27:43]

adept at the same mystic projections, having accomplished the same endeavor, adept at the same practice, having purified the same spiritual body, able to assume an infinite variety of physical forms, expert in the projection of the endeavors of universally good enlightening beings, respectfully attended by chiefs of all worlds, descended from the heaven of contentment by the great miracle of enlightening beings, appearing to pass away from all heavens of contentment, appearing to become regenerated in all worlds from each heaven of contentment to early existence, following skill and means of developing inconceivable numbers of sentient beings to maturity, alerting all intoxicated, deluded beings, detaching from all attachments, emanating a great network of light beings, dispelling the darkness from all worlds, stopping all evils and miseries, putting an end to all hellish ways of being, bombing and all that, wiped out, making all beings aware of their past deeds, rescuing all beings, appearing in the presence of all beings,

[28:45]

this one descended from the heaven of contentment with his retinue and entered my belly. Once all of them were in my belly, they walked around. Sometimes the pregnant women know this one, right? They were all in my belly and they were all walking around inside with strides as big as a billion-world universe, even as big as worlds as numerous as atoms in untold Buddha lands. Also, all the untold congregations of enlightening beings at the feet of all Buddhas in all worlds in the ten directions entered my belly in every moment of thought to see the miracle of the enlightening beings dwelling in the womb. So there was a crowd in there, spectators as well as participants. And the chief gods of all the heavens, and there are various heavens, the 33 heavens,

[29:48]

and everyone had their boss god. All the gods came into the womb of Queen Maya to see and honor the Buddha. This is a lot more than three wise men, right? To listen to the teaching and hear his discourse. Yet, even though it took in all those multitudes, my belly was not enlarged, nor did this body of mine become any more than a human body. Why was this? Because of the development of this enlightening liberation of the magic knowledge of great vows. So just this strong intention to benefit others, no matter what, caused this miracle to happen. Just as I received the enlightening being in my belly in this world, so did I likewise do so in all worlds, in the billion-world universe,

[30:49]

and with this same miraculous manifestation. So everywhere, Queen Maya is appearing in a billion worlds with the same scene taking place. Yet, this body of mine is neither dual nor non-dual, neither single nor multiple. This is because of the development of this enlightening liberation of the magic of the knowledge of the great vows. And just as I was the mother of this Buddha, Bhairavacana Shakyamuni, so was I the mother of infinite Buddhas before. Whenever an enlightening being was spontaneously born in the calyx of a lotus, there I became a lotus-pond goddess and received the enlightening being, and the world recognized me as the progenitrix, the big mama of all enlightening beings. In whatever Buddha land an enlightening being appeared, I became an enlightenment site goddess there. No Buddha without the goddess, right?

[31:50]

It never happened. Thus, in whatever ways, enlightening beings manifested birth in the world in their final existence. So, in so many ways, did I become the mother of the enlightening beings. So, this is also Buddhist Mother's Day, too. Anyway, if you ever have a few years to spare, I would recommend reading the Avatamsaka Sutra, which I think has now been published in a single volume that costs a small fortune from Shambhala. Bless their soul, they keep these things in print, which you can imagine do not become bestsellers, but they do keep them in print. It's kind of wonderful. But it is an experience in and of itself, simply to read this sutra, because the whole thing is like that, only even more extravagant than that. So, here's what we're going to do today. Soon after, I'm almost done. I'm just going to explain a few details,

[32:52]

and then I'll go. And then, soon after that, you'll hear the big bell again, and that'll be a 15-minute signal that we will gather outside on the lawn in a big circle for our ceremony, first the ceremony. And the ceremony will begin with a wonderful procession of children and flowers. And the children are now working on this, getting the flowers together. There's a big cart, elephant cart, that comes out, carried by the children, and they parade around, and they carry parasols, and there'll be flowers. And we get to go, ooh and ahh, as they come out. And then they'll deposit the flowers in the parasols. And then after that, there'll be a procession of a few broken-down priests will come in then, after the nice, fresh children, just for a dose of, you know, like, reality. We'll get the broken-down priests to come in. And we'll wave whisks and so forth,

[33:56]

and make statements and make offerings to Buddha. We'll chant the Heart Sutra. And then at some point, we will start chanting, Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. And we'll have our big temple drum out there, and they'll go boom, [...] boom. So let's try that. Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. You're experts. Perfect. So we'll just keep doing that for a while. And while we do that, we will... This is always the hard part. Somehow it's hard to get everybody moving. But we will endeavor to move in a big circle, circumambulating. Because in the middle, you see, there's going to be the pagoda with the baby Buddha on it,

[34:59]

which I'll explain in a moment. And then we'll circumambulate clockwise, which means that our right shoulder will be facing. Your shoulder can't face, can it? But you get the idea. The right shoulder turned toward the center. So we'll go round and round as we chant, Aum, Amid, Shakyamuni Buddha. And this is also one of the most ancient practices in Buddhism, the practice of circumambulation. So I would encourage you to really enjoy the circumambulation and try to concentrate your mind around this appreciation of all that I've been speaking about this morning, who Buddha really is. And then while we're doing that, we will then somehow contrive to bring in two lines from either side toward the pagoda. And in the pagoda is a statue that's just like this I was saying. And it's standing on a little island in the middle of a sea of sweet water, sweetened water.

[35:59]

And there'll be some dippers in the island. So then we'll take turns. Everybody will come up and dip sweet water and bathe the baby Buddha, pour a little ladleful of sweet water over the baby Buddha's head, which is the traditional Japanese way of expressing our appreciation. And it'd be nice to encourage the children especially to do this and let them go first so they don't have to wait too long. And the way to do it is just come up and bow to the Buddha and get the ladle and dip it over the head of the Buddha and then bow and stand away and let the next person do it. Two or three people can probably do it at the same time. But when you do it, I would encourage you to be very, very quiet and really appreciate the moment. See if you can find in the moment of pouring sweet water over the statue of the baby Buddha's head, if you can appreciate in that moment how the world stops,

[37:02]

as it always does, and everything comes fresh. I think you can actually experience that if you take your time and go slow. So we'll do that. And that'll go on while the rest of us are going around in a big circle. And at a certain point, it'll seem as if that's enough of that. So we'll stop. And you can tell because the drum will stop. You know, boom, boom, boom. And then when the drum stops, we'll finish the ceremony by, we'll chant a dedication, dedicating the merit and so forth, and enumerating the many offerings that we have made, including all the wildflowers. That's usually kind of interesting to hear, a whole list of all the wildflowers we've gathered for the ceremony. And then the procession will leave. Meantime, while all that's going on, anybody who hasn't yet made the offering of sweet tea can continue to do that. You don't have to stop. The procession will leave. And then when everybody's had a chance to offer the sweet tea, we'll set up for the pageant.

[38:06]

And that means bringing in all the gear and everything like that. And you can find a spot around the circle to set up your picnics or blankets or whatever you want to sit, make an audience around. Sometimes people, wanting to get a good seat, try to set up their picnic before the ceremony. But that's no good. Don't do that because everybody's marching around, right? And they're going to march all over your lunch. You don't want to do that. So wait until the ceremony is over and then set out your place to sit. But make sure that you're... I think they'll mark and delineate an area. And you'll see behind that area so you're not too far on the lawn where the pageant will be taking place. And then when everybody's ready, we'll have the pageant. Now, in the pageant, those of you who have been here before know that it's audience participation. The pageant is a mime pageant with masks and music. But there's a poem that we have a narrator

[39:12]

who recites 18 verses, an 18-verse poem. And at the end of each verse, there's a little mime, and then another verse, and then a mime. And at the end of each mime, their big bell is struck, and then we're all supposed to say homage to the World Honored One. Before, we were saying, Aum Amit Shakyamuni Buddha, remember? This time we say homage to the World Honored One. And this year, they made up a little tune to go with it, which they taught me over the telephone, which I tried to sing all morning so that I could sing it for you, which I've now forgotten. Usually we do it in a monotone, but this year they have a little tune. Does anybody here know the tune? Homage to the World Honored One. Is that it? Homage to the World Honored One. Homage to the World Honored One.

[40:12]

Homage to the World Honored One. So it's really fun if everybody gets in the act and really belts it out, and then brings up the energy, then the performers will perform with even more enthusiasm. So let's try, when the bell is struck, everybody sing that. And then after the pageant is over, it usually devolves into dancing and just chaos. But somewhere in there, there will be, I think, we're serving birthday cake for Buddha's birthday, and we'll just have a good time. Did I forget anything? Tea. Tea. There'll be tea also with the cake. Dharmatones. What? Dharmatones. Dharmatones? What's that? They're playing before Pat sings. Oh. Oh, I didn't know that. How do you like that? I never heard of the Dharmatones. But apparently there's singers, the Dharmatones. Oh. And who knows what other surprises await us.

[41:19]

So I think that I will go away so that I can put on my little white socks and get my whisk and everything for the ceremony. And I think that's it, no? Is that everything? Thank you very much for coming, and I hope you have a wonderful time at Buddha's birthday. I plan to myself. And I think we all deserve and need a moment of unalloyed joy together, so let's take that moment today. Thank you. May our intention...

[41:56]

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