I'd like to bring up the topic of ritual and ceremony tonight. A lot of what we do at Tassajara, possibly we could even say everything we do at Tassajara is ceremony and ritual. We could look at ritual in various ways. I propose there are at least three ways we could talk about ritual. The first is, it's a, or we could say three functions, three functions of ceremony or ritual. One is the function of studying the self.

[01:10]

So when we do these ceremonies like service and zazen and chanting and bowing to each other and maybe even extending to everything we do throughout the day in a monastery or outside a monastery, it's a chance to study the self, to study what we think is this person and how this person seems to relate to any particular ritual so one basic way of relating to a ritual or a ceremony is to either resist it or grasp it This would be a way that a self would relate to a ceremony, usually, in a small way or a big way, either resisting it or grasping it.

[02:28]

And so I'm sure people who've been here at Tassajara for a little bit have noticed these tendencies. Maybe for you, resistance is stronger. Some people might be grasping it stronger. I'd say probably for most people, the resistance side is probably more prevalent, which would mean, like, evening service is happening, and it's this five-minute chanting, and I'm, you know, at the bathhouse and very relaxed, and... I'm going to go change my clothes and go all the way to the Zendo and do this chanting. That doesn't make any sense. Even though I kind of understand that the Eno keeps asking us to go to these ceremonies and rituals.

[03:36]

But I would rather not right now. I have better things to do. So that would be a kind of a... And, you know, all different gradations of that. I have important things to do. More than just, like, going and chanting some Japanese mantra. So... Not necessarily resistance, but, you know, I think if... In the context of a place like Tassahara, I would say when there's some kind of request to... participate in these ways then I'd say it's generally probably some form of resistance and and grasping would be like like I never want to miss it just you know I always want to be there or I want to do it just right or something like that resistance or grasping

[04:41]

Also, judgment. A lot of judgment is a way the self can arise around rituals and ceremonies. Again, for people who are learning these forms and ceremonies, there's probably self-judgment arising sometimes. Like, I can't believe I missed that bell again. Or we get it just right, but then somebody else misses the bell, and so we judge them. And meanwhile, the ceremony is just the ceremony, what it is. And there's three bells or four bells or whatever, but it's just what it is. And meanwhile, our self gets into this kind of relationship with the ritual such that we we feel bad about ourself or bad about others in relation to a kind of arbitrary ceremony often or like you know I think chanting is really great for this because everyone's got some opinion about chanting

[06:08]

And sometimes it's going well and sometimes it's not going well. So we could have all of this going on. Resistance and grasping and self-judgment and other judgment. And meanwhile there's just chanting happening. It doesn't mind. The chant itself doesn't care if it's too loud or too soft. on pitch or not on pitch or whatever it's just expressing itself through all of us but we as individuals have all this kind of self-centered opinions about it and maybe they're you know relatively valid or not but still I think this is a beautiful way to study the self around something that's like art in a way.

[07:14]

I think chanting, we could see it like that. We want it to be beautiful, we appreciate the beauty of it, but it's not like it's an evil thing if it's too loud or soft. But we get some pretty strong stuff going around the style of the art of chanting. But this is our life at Tassajara, is this kind of thing. So I think it's a beautiful function of ritual and ceremony, is to study the self in all these different varieties. Almost continuously, you could say, as long as there is some sense of an independent self, then it's probably going to be, there's going to be some holding in relation to ceremonies or you know if you're a guest just coming here maybe felt uncomfortable like doing the chant at the beginning and like I'm not part of this cult why do they make me chat so it's but it's quite arbitrary right it's like we're just offering an art project and you know you might not appreciate it but this is what we have to offer

[08:36]

So another way the self could come up around doing ceremonies or rituals is a kind of a gaining idea. And Dogen Zenji actually brings up a story about this from some sutra where the Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, in a former life, was making all these offerings to many other Buddhas and hoping for confirmation of like a prediction of Buddhahood from the Buddhas he was making offerings to. And because of his gaining mind, he did not receive confirmation. And then he went to another Buddha. And Dogen quotes this for like pages and pages of this sutra. He went to another Buddha. and made extensive offerings, but with a gaining mind, and therefore did not receive confirmation.

[09:40]

And then he went to another Buddha named such and such, in all these many, many lifetimes, never receiving confirmation. And finally, at the end, in the life before Shakyamuni Buddha, he finally realized the patience with the unborn, and at that time had no more gaining idea with his making offerings, but still made offerings with no gaining mind, and therefore received confirmation of Buddhahood, and then was born as Shakyamuni Buddha. So for many, many lifetimes, he was studying the self through ceremony. another function of ceremony and ritual is expression of devotion and I think this is something that in our modern culture in America we don't have so many opportunities for we're not such a devotional culture so

[11:02]

how wonderful that we can have ceremonies and rituals to express this kind of feeling. And it doesn't have to be Zen or even religious rituals. I think various kinds of rituals or ceremonies could express devotion. For example, like a marriage ceremony could be an expression of devotion. But particularly at Tazahara, we have all these Zen ceremonies and rituals. that are just this way to express some feeling of respect and gratitude towards the Buddhas and also all beings. And I would understand it that service or chanting services, originally this is the main function of chanting sutras is that we chant some text of Buddha, some teaching of Buddha, some sacred scripture, and not so much to learn the sutra.

[12:17]

I mean, that kind of happens maybe if we're chanting it in English, but it's more, it seems to be, the function of creating this positive energy by chanting something wholesome, and then we sometimes call merit, generating merit and virtue, or we could call it positive energy, and then offering that positive energy to the Buddhas or to living beings or the Zen ancestors and so on. And so all those services have this function of We chant something, and at the end of the chanting, there's one person on behalf of all of us recites this dedication of merit, which is where we offer what we've just created to either the Buddhas or the Zen ancestors or the Arhats or sentient beings or sick people or deceased people and so on.

[13:29]

to help them. Maybe the Buddhas actually don't need help, but we offer it to them to, as they say sometimes in the chanting, to kind of adorn their realization of Buddhahood. So this might not be understood when we're doing this ceremony, that we're like, oh, we thought it was just about memorizing these chants, or just we don't know what it is. But this, as I understand it, is the traditional function of chanting services. And whether we believe in this kind of thing or not, it may be possible to open to merit, not as some magical kind of creation, but just as a positive energy, just positive energy from a big group of people. doing something wholesome together and trying to do it in harmony and then and then dedicating that merit is basically just expressing the intention whether we believe it magically some merit is actually sent off to like a Buddha realm and Buddha receives it or not maybe not so important but it's more like our intention is to offer it so it's giving giving is like devotion

[14:54]

So ceremonies and rituals offer an opportunity for generosity or giving or devotion. And another way that I find quite wonderful is as a way to offer a blessing or good intention to living beings is we have these verses, these mindfulness verses or gathas, and basically about almost every activity we might do. And they all traditionally have a prayer in the middle. So it's like you're doing some activity, and you remind yourself you're doing that activity, and then you kind of make a wish for living beings. And for years, I've actually been, almost every day, reciting these verses just silently and it has a kind of devotion it turns the mind in a certain way it's like like like when I first wake up in the morning there's this verse that goes waking from sleep may all living beings awaken to all pervading wisdom not abandoning anyone in the ten directions so

[16:23]

Pretty much always, as soon as I wake up, sit up, put my hands together and silently recite that verse. And I'm really sleepy usually. But just doing that verse changes my mind. It has this effect. Oh yeah, okay. We're doing something now. We're starting the day and we're wishing the best for all beings. And so then I get up and pick up the toothbrush. These are all verses from the sutras, right? And I say, holding the toothbrush, may all living beings attain the true Dharma and be naturally pure and clean. And then started brushing the teeth, and there's another verse, making these wishes, right? And then rinsing the mouth, there's a verse. Washing the face, there's a verse. taking refuge in Buddha, there's a verse.

[17:24]

Sometimes in our translation it doesn't bring out this offering quality, but really all these verses have the same line in them. Tougan shuzhou, praying or wishing for all living beings, or may all living beings. So really it's taking refuge in Buddha, may all living beings embody the great way, awakening, unsurpassed mind. our translation we say before all beings and it doesn't quite have that quality of like wishing for the others but that's um so even taking refuge in Buddha what we're thinking of like how this is going to benefit others so this is and these are ritual ceremonies right these verses and and it's a way to express devotion for living beings and Buddhas and we have and then some of them we do together when we come into the Zendo the The robe chant is the first one we do out loud.

[18:26]

The first thing we say out loud, and they maybe, for most of us, is this chant that putting on the robe is, we vow to save all beings. And then a third function. of ritual or ceremony besides studying the self and expressing devotion and offering is actually being a Buddha ceremony or ritual as enacting Buddha being what's happening with nothing lacking or extra. And I still haven't defined ritual and ceremony, but I'd say now, at this point, we could actually define, and the dictionary defines similarly to this, is some activity that's done as an end in itself, not as like a means to an end,

[19:46]

but an activity done just for the sake of that activity itself. And I would propose that a Buddha or an awakened being that everything that they do all day long is a ceremony or a ritual because it's done just for its own sake. The Buddhas aren't trying to some future effect they're just completely living in the present moment and that's another way to say it ritual is something completely done in the present moment with no thought of the future I think we think of most kinds of spiritual or other kinds of rituals they have this quality which they're not utilitarian.

[20:53]

We could say maybe these first functions have some usefulness, studying the self and expressing devotion, but at the deepest level, I would say that ritual is not a practical, utilitarian kind of activity to produce some ends, but it's just a pure expression in and of itself for its own sake. And I think that the Zen school relates to ritual in this way, even though it might have these other functions traditionally, the spirit of it in Zen is do it just to do it. Anyway, we could say this is the most pure approach to ritual.

[21:54]

And there's some stories about this in Zen. In old China, for example, Huangbo, the great master Huangbo, once visited some other temple. for a ceremony Huangbo was one of these really great ones who was often taught just don't seek anything and not seeking anything is itself Buddha and he would say all beings and all Buddhas are only one mind he had these very ultimate kind of teachings and yet he went to some neighboring temple to do a ceremony You'd think he'd be beyond that. Anyway, there was a novice monk there who would later become the emperor of China. At this time he was a novice monk and he knew about Huangbo's teaching and so he saw Huangbo bowing, prostrating three times to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

[23:10]

And the novice said, not seeking Buddha, not seeking Dharma, not seeking Sangha. What do you seek by doing such bows? Kind of figured, well, why would you bow to Buddha if you're not seeking anything? And Huangbo said, not seeking Buddha, not seeking Dharma, not seeking Sangha. I always bow in such a way. And then he slapped the novice. And Nineveh said, how coarse. And Huangboi said, what is this? Making a distinction between refined and coarse. And he slapped him again. So we could say, well, this slapping, is that also seeking anything?

[24:15]

Or could he also say, slapping. Not seeking anything. I always slap in this way. Just expression of life with no ulterior motives. Another Zen story points to this function of ritual. It became a koan in the Gateless Barrier collection. The koan is just a statement by Yun Men, another great Chinese Zen master. Yun Men said, the world is so vast and wide Why do you put on the seven-panel robe at the sound of the bell?

[25:19]

And nobody answered him, so that's just the end of the story. But that's the koan. The world is so vast and wide. Why do you put on the seven-panel robe at the sound of the bell? Which may have happened tonight to people. In fact, thinking about this, it was like right as that first bell rang tonight. This is the seven-panel robe. Some people have seven panels, some have five-panel robes, and some have one panel or some other clothing. But when the bell rings for the ceremony of the Dharma talk, we put on the robe and it comes to the zendo. But the world is so vast and wide, we could do anything, right? Especially as people on the spiritual path. It's like, was this the best thing to do, to come to the zendo? listen to some guy talk about ritual. We could be sitting Zasana or something else.

[26:24]

Or at least why do we have to put on the robe every time? And why does it have to be seven panels? Couldn't we put on some other kind of robe? I think that's a nice part of the koan. It doesn't just say put on the robe. It says put on the seven panel robe. So it's like... very specific. The world is so vast and wide, but this is how many panels you're going to wear tonight. And I don't think it's pointing to the fact that putting on a Buddhist robe is the best expression of one's life. It's more It's more he's just talking to people in a Zen monastery who put on robes, right? But it's more like we could say anything. The world is so vast and wide. Why do you answer the phone when it rings? The world is so vast and wide. Why do you feed the dog when it's whimpering?

[27:32]

It's like just doing what is for the sake of doing what is. And maybe putting on a robe is more clear than feeding a dog because it doesn't seem to have much function other than just putting on the robe, right? Just doing the activity we're doing just for the sake of doing it. And so if we feel like a lot of these rituals and ceremonies we do at Tassajara are kind of meaningless, well, all the better. this function of ritual doing it just to do it over and over again and also I'd say all these three functions could operate at the same time we might also be able to study the self as we're doing some meaningless ritual we might be expressing devotion and we might be doing it underneath all that just to do it And as I mentioned, for an awakened one, everything that they're doing is an expression of ritual or ceremony because it's just done for its own sake.

[28:58]

And how beautiful to watch a ceremony done in such a way. When someone's walking just to walk, they're not trying to get somewhere. it becomes a ceremony. And Zazen, our most prevalent Zen ceremony, is a very ritualized form in a place like Tassajara. You come into the room in a certain way at a certain time and get a certain seat and bow in a certain way, sit in a certain posture, and whatever happens in your mind could also be a ritual, but there's all these ritual forms about it. And can we actually see zazen as not a means to an end, not a way to get more concentrated or improve our practice somehow, which is I think a common understanding of meditation, but as a ritual expression, as a ceremony of just sitting in the way that Buddha sits for its own sake.

[30:12]

just for its own sake, pure expression. It might also have a devotional quality, and it might also be a way to study the self. I remember once just kind of related to this way of thinking about expression just for its own sake. Some years ago, I was at Tassajara, and I'd been for a while, Somebody said, well, why are you here? Why do you stay here? And it was kind of a good question. Maybe it's good for anyone who stays here to ask. And I started thinking about it. Maybe that conversation ended, but I was thinking about it and all the reasons I would be here over other places and what's the best practice and so on. In the end, at the bottom, really getting to the bottom of it, I felt most at peace and most true, actually, when I could say, I'm actually just here because I have this human body and I have to put it somewhere on the earth.

[31:30]

And Tassajara is a physical location. There was a relief in realizing that aspect of it It's not like better than anywhere else. It's not like leading to some result. It's just where I happened to have found myself due to many myriad conditions, known and unknown, somehow ended up at Pasa Hara. And I could get into like reasoning whether I should be here or not be here or some better place or some worse place. But there's some peace in realizing that I'm just here because I'm here. And ritual involves this concrete, physical expression. So it's like if I didn't have a body, I wouldn't need to be at Tassajara, and I couldn't do the ritual of living at Tassajara.

[32:32]

But ritual is inevitable if we have a body. We have to express it in some way. So being where we are, doing what we're doing, can be such a thing. We could have the ritual of complaining about being here and thinking I should be somewhere else. But it's not so much fun. So there's a few minutes left. If anyone has any questions or comments about ceremony and ritual, please. Yes. So the present experience I'm having in hearing you is that it's about emptiness.

[33:44]

I think that's the deepest meaning. Doing something just for the sake of doing it. with no end in mind is kind of like understanding the emptiness of everything. Even if we don't understand the emptiness of everything, to practice in such a way opens us to the emptiness of everything. Because the emptiness means that everything is equally valid. And emptiness, as the Heart Sutra says, emptiness itself is form. So emptiness is not some abstract floating space or something like that. But emptiness must manifest as form, which is...

[34:49]

you know, one of the five skandhas, but also in another meaning closely related to ritual or ceremony. So, ceremony, when activity becomes empty of all our attached meanings to it, it seems that at that point it becomes pure ritual. Also, you know, just to mention in this discussion, Tantra, it seems my understanding of Tantra is something like this, that it's just pure expression of what's happening as ritual activity, and like you enact a deity, so you become like a deity, and you see the world as a pure land, so you see all people as Buddhas or Bodhisattvas and relate to them that way.

[35:53]

And so then every act becomes a ritualized act. So if you're just making beds or something, you're making beds in the pure land of Buddhas for Buddhas to rest on. And I think Zen has this tantric aspect of enacting the ordinary as sacred. Yes. And also it has the danger of, I mean, it can get into these other types of functions of ritual.

[37:07]

If we, you know, read the Fuganza Zengi and Dogen says, you know, sit in the full lotus posture in such a way. And it's, well, my legs don't work that way. You know, how can I do the ritual? And then we get into the first kind of ritual, which is first function of ritual, which is studying the self. And as I mentioned, the self-judgment of, like, I cannot do the ritual the way Dogen says to do it. This would be one aspect of relating to it. And of course, you know, that's not so much the point. In fact, that's not at all the point. The point is these three functions could be the points of, like, oh, now I get to study the self in this way. Or I get to, like, say, just like Dogen says, and then... become proud of that and kind of grasp that as the practice and there's another like self comes up and I can express devotion doing zazen and I think this is one function of like sleepy zazen for example you know I don't recommend it but but if if we're sleepy in zazen there's still there's some validity to coming to the zendo and doing sleepy zazen as an expression of devotion

[38:26]

to Buddha and the other beings in the Zendo. And then ultimately, it's just what's happening. So I don't know if that addresses something more specific. You can get into checking out those details, and at the same time, you can have in the back of your mind, or the front of your mind, or covering your mind, or something, this deepest level of all of that is expressing what is. So even thinking about it, even thinking, am I lined up right? Like that thought could be a ritual expression. in the purest sense of ritual. That thought could be not as a means to an end of getting yourself lined up right, but it's just a thought that's given by all things and therefore expressing truth as it is.

[39:41]

At the same time, the thought could be like, oh, I guess I'll straighten up a little bit. So very dynamic when all these three levels of functions of ceremony are operating at the same time. It may be possible. So now we'll do the ritual ceremony of dedicating the merit of this event, offering that with great devotion to every being and place, and it will If you'd like to participate, we'll chant these four bodhisattva vows, also expressing devotion. We can study the self that resists doing it or gets really into doing it. And at the same time, it's just what's happening.

[40:43]

Nothing more than that, just the formula. Amazing. They are intentionally eclixed.

[41:02]

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