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. Welcome to the first Dharma Talk at San Francisco Zen Center City Center. that is not in the building. I don't know, maybe that's not true, but this is our first talk that we're, during our renovation, that's not in the zendo or the Buddha hall. So we're finding our way. This is also the first Dharma talk of the The winter practice period.

[01:05]

Which, how many of you here know that we're in a practice period? Anybody not know that we're in a practice period? So this practice period, the topic is... The topic of this practice period is on Zen precepts in daily life. Originally I had thought of doing a practice period on just Zen practice in daily life, but when I was thinking about it, it just came back to the precepts and maybe more generally to the question of how do we live in this world. and what that has to do with our practice and what it has to do with Buddhism and how do we use our life's energy in the service of awakening to our original nature, to our big mind, as opposed to our constricted, small, fearful self that grasps and claims and turns away.

[02:27]

I could have added in the Zen precepts in daily life, I could have added in this one's daily life. It's maybe obvious that we're talking about this one, each of us, but sometimes I think when we start talking about precepts and we start talking about ethical behavior, it dualistically brings up unethical behavior. not living ethically. And so really this practice period's focus is on our own practice and opening to the question of how do I live? Not how should other people live. That will come up. It's inevitable. But really in terms of practice, how do I live? How do I act?

[03:33]

What is my behavior? My actions of body, speech, and mind? Because that's all we have. Well, I wouldn't even say control. Control is kind of a strong word. But really, that's all we have control over. We don't have control over other people's actions of body, speech, and mind. We can influence them. But really, this practice period is about looking at our own relationship to, and beliefs about, ethics, morality, right and wrong, and ultimately how do we live our lives. So my hope is that during this next nine weeks of this practice period, mostly through the, we have a class on Monday nights, that will be in the Zenda, But for the next nine weeks, we're going to study this question of what is our relationship to, our attitudes towards, our beliefs about living an ethical life, and to explore ways of bringing that into our daily practice, bringing our intention to it.

[04:57]

It's easy, as we all know, to kind of... forget about our intention or not really check in with our intention and just go about things the way we normally do. Which you could say is living by our habit energy or living by our karmic consciousness. So the whole intention of coming to a Buddhist practice, I think, what brings all of us to Buddhism is this deep wish to become in touch to become connected with our truest, deepest, inmost request of how to live and who we are as individuals and within our society, our communities, our families, future generations. So in terms of studying this, I think, you know, probably guess the reason why we do this, why would we study precepts?

[06:02]

Basically, for liberation. Liberation from dis-ease, from suffering, from those habit patterns that cause us and other people harm. And also, not just for liberation from these nasty things that we don't want, but also for the reason of wanting to express our true nature, our boundless joy, tranquility, compassion, love, and ultimately our deep connection with all things. There are many ways that maybe people have studied, have been exposed to from a young age, ethics and morality or topics of ethics and morality, depending on your upbringing, your cultural and religious and societal upbringings.

[07:19]

We hear from the time we were very small, don't do that, why not? Because X, right? So, these different ways that we might relate to what is good, what is bad, why is something good and why is something bad. I'll just name a couple of these different ways, the ways in which we might have grown up, and maybe we actually, I think all of them, each of us has been exposed to all of these different ways that I'm gonna name. One, and this is in no particular order, but one way that we might approach ethics and trying to determine whether an action is beneficial or harmful, other words to describe may be wholesome or unwholesome, causing or leading to harm versus away from harm towards good

[08:24]

One way might be by principle, by reason, or principle, by maybe like a commandment, like don't do X. Sometimes the answer to the, you know, well, why not is because, because X, fill in the blank. An example of this, a reasoning around ethical behavior of this kind of approach, this by-principled approach, is something maybe like the golden rule. Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you. Or something like the Kantian categorical imperative. Only do those things that you agree that other people should be able to do or should do. These are principles. commandments, also principles.

[09:30]

Another way we might look at why be ethical, why be moral, is by looking at consequences. We can take a utilitarian approach. I don't wanna do this thing because it will cause the greatest harm for the greatest number of people, so I'm gonna avoid that thing. Or maybe I'll do something because it will benefit the greatest number So it's a little bit different from by principle or by reason, but by looking at the consequences of one's actions. So if we do something by principle, we're not necessarily focused on the consequences. We're focused on the thing itself and whether it's good or bad. Another way that we might think about our ethical behavior or what is or is not ethical is by looking at something like character. One's character, one's virtue, integrity, like I'm not gonna do this thing because it goes against my, I don't feel like it's an action worthy of my character.

[10:44]

So some examples maybe might be being generous or turning towards compassion. We can think of these things as character traits. I'd like to think of myself as a generous person, as a compassionate person. But I think of these things as virtues. And then another, the last one I'll mention here, just of different ways that we might approach ethics, is through sentiment. a moral, maybe a moral sentiment like, well, it feels good. It feels right. It's very highly intuitive. I'm not going to do this thing because it just feels wrong. And it's not because I'm holding to a particular principle. I'm not particularly looking at the consequences. I'm not thinking about it in terms of what virtues I may or may not have. But just this sentiment, this feeling.

[11:47]

It's kind of maybe, you know, kind of on the emotional side. So in looking at these different ways of relating to ethics, when we commit to a study of ourself and our actions and behaviors in the world, we end up at this place of, well, why do I do what I do? What do I do? How do I justify my actions? Or how do I justify them for myself, to other people, so that I feel that I'm in alignment with what I wish? Aishin Rosetto gives an example of, and many of us have heard variations of this example many times, like you're walking in the woods and a rabbit runs by you. And then a hunter comes.

[12:48]

And the hunter comes up to you and says, where'd the rabbit go? Did you see the rabbit? Do you tell the hunter it went down that way, down that path? Do you lie to the hunter? What's your intention? Maybe some of you will have a thought in your mind right now of what you would do in that circumstance. But what happens if right after you have this, you form this thought, The hunter's small children come along and they're malnourished. They're hungry. They don't have to have anything to eat. Does it change your answer to the hunter? Maybe. If you are approaching your ethics by principle, it probably wouldn't change what you do. If you're approaching it by looking at consequences, maybe it will. So this is just one example of looking at how we might relate to or what kinds of beliefs we have about how to act in this world.

[14:04]

How many of you were here, not here, but at the Dharma Talk last week? Not so many. We had a Jukai ceremony about two weeks ago. And a Jukai ceremony, for those of you who don't know, is a, it's called the Bodhisattva initiation ceremony. It's a precept receiving ceremony. So the Bodhisattva precepts are ethical guidelines that we in the Soto Zen School and other Buddhist schools take up as ways to live. And the Jukai ceremony is one in which one formally takes on those vows as their personal vows. After this ceremony, we had a Dharma talk by Wendy

[15:11]

She spoke about the ceremony and about precepts in general. And I'm not gonna go into the content of her talk, but one thing that was very clear to me when we got to the Q&A section is that there are a lot of people with something to add to the conversation. Why is that? I would say that every one of us has beliefs strong, maybe very strong beliefs about what is good and what is right, what is wholesome, what is unwholesome. So how do we navigate the world having like these really strong, sometimes very strong beliefs, both as an individual and within our societies, our communities. In Buddhism, there's something called the threefold training, the threefold training of sila, samadhi, prajna.

[16:19]

And sila is, sometimes it's described as ethics or morality, but really I think sila, a more correct translation of the word sila is virtuous behavior. So these three trainings, virtuous behavior is sila, samadhi is concentration or concentrated effort, and then prajna is wisdom. Not wisdom in the sense of like intellectual ideas, but wisdom of really knowing deeply the truth of existence. And in Buddhism, that includes very strongly the wisdom that we are not separate beings, that we don't have an inherent existence all by ourselves that's disconnected, that we are completely, inextricably entwined with every other being always.

[17:32]

So this... these threefold, these three trainings sometimes are described as linear, maybe in the early formulations. There's this idea that along this path, you start with knowing what your behavior is and the ethical nature of your behavior, knowing what is and isn't wholesome or virtuous. and then acting in accordance with that. And that actually, in order to kind of graduate to the next step, which is samadhi or concentration, you have to be pretty up on your sila. There's, you know, you can think of many examples of how if you were not acting in accordance with your deepest, inmost belief on what is good,

[18:37]

that'd be very hard to develop concentration. We're here doing a one-day sitting where we have, I don't know, maybe 12, 10 periods of zazen, where we are concentrating our whole being on our breath, our body, mind, whatever's happening in the present moment, and in the service of waking up to freedom, which is wisdom. The foundation of sila or virtuous behavior in Buddhism is ahimsa, which is non-harming.

[19:40]

It's non-harming. How do I live in a way that does not bring harm? I think all of us deeply want to live in a way that does not bring harm. And only when we realize that something that we are doing is causing harm, it's disturbing to us. Hopefully. And if not, then there's some very, very deep delusion at work. The connection between living ethically or living within virtuous behaving and concentration leading to wisdom is described by the Theravada monk, Tamasaru Bhikkhu, in this way. He says, when our actions don't measure up to certain standards of behavior, we either one, regret the action, or two, engage in one of two kinds of denial.

[20:58]

Either A, denying that our actions did in fact happen. I didn't do that. or B, denying that the standard or the measurement is actually valid. Well, I did do that thing, but it really didn't violate that law of morality or that standard of behavior. So again, we either regret the action or we deny that either we did it or that it actually is in violation of the standard that we might set out for ourselves. He says, these reactions are like wounds in the mind. Regret is an open wound, tender to the touch.

[22:01]

You're all familiar with this, I'm sure. Something happens and you regret it. It's tender. It hurts. Like an open wound. Tender to the touch. While denial is like hardened, twisted scar tissue around a tender spot. Isn't that such an amazing description of regret and denial? feeling into your own body. I think every one of us has had the experience of both of these. He goes on, when the mind is wounded in these ways, it can't settle down comfortably in the present, for it finds itself resting on raw exposed flesh or calcified knots. Even when it's forced to stay in the present, It's there only in a tensed, contorted and partial way, and so the insight it gains tends to be contorted and partial as well.

[23:11]

Only if the mind is free of wounds and scars can it be expected to settle down comfortably and freely in the present and to give rise to undistorted discernment. For those of you, actually for all of us, who have a meditation practice, especially in a day like today where we're concentrating our efforts throughout the day, coming back to the present moment over and over, coming back to our body and our breath, taking that awareness, cultivating it, nourishing it, and as a through line, We keep coming back to it over and over again throughout the day. We have this opportunity when we do this to kind of see whether we have a wound like this. Either a wound that's raw and open or a wound that is calcified and has scar tissue around it.

[24:24]

Dan Jeff goes on. This is where the precepts come in. They are designed to heal these wounds and scars. Healthy self-esteem comes from living up to a set of standards that are practical, clear cut, humane, and worthy of respect. The precepts are formulated in such a way that they provide just such a set of standards. So this threefold training of sila, samadhi, and prajna, in the Tanjaf's description of this, you can see how they're interrelated. In some ways you can say, if you don't have one, if you don't have a firm grounding in sila, then it's really hard to develop concentration.

[25:30]

You can, you know, imagine in your own practice, sometimes this may come up. You go to sit a period of zazen, or just trying to be present, and this nagging thought keeps coming up, like, oh, you said that thing. That thing you said. Oh, I regret it. Or maybe the regret's too painful. And so we deny it. I didn't really say that thing. Or... well, they deserve being told the truth. Right? We justify it somehow as a way of distancing ourselves from the pain of the open wound. When we sit, we just, we actually just drop our thinking about any of this. Right? When we come and sit zazen, It's like, you know, when you bow to your cushion, you can imagine that when you're bowing to your cushion, you're just like all the thinking and, you know, grasping and projecting and judging everything, good, bad, whatever it is, when you bow to your cushion, just let it go.

[26:50]

Let it go and sit down. And when you sit down, inhale and exhale, find your body, your center, where it feels in your body. Again, no thinking. Walk back and forth. Where is my center? There it is. And then you stay with it. You breathe. You notice. You're not trying to get anywhere. You're just being, pure being, in the present. As you do this, concentration develops. And then, inevitably, what happens? A thought appears. We're so tempted to start thinking at that moment, right? The thought appears, it's not like we have any control over whether the thought appears or doesn't appear.

[27:51]

But when the thought appears, if we're paying attention, we might notice There's a thought. Oh, it's a thought about the past. Or it's a thought about the future. Right there, we can let the thought come and go, but not grasp onto it. And breath after breath, moment after moment, when we sit, that is all we're doing, is letting go, letting go, coming back to our center. and then seeing what arises. Not grasping, not pushing it away, just being with it. Maybe a thought comes up that gives us great joy. You can imagine, like, next week I'm going to France. Something like that, right? You can start thinking about how wonderful it's going to be, and you all know that...

[29:00]

that actually anticipating something pleasant can bring more pleasantness than the doing it. So actually going on vacation is not as good as the thinking about going on vacation. Anyway, so in Zanzen, however, whether it's pleasant or unpleasant, we don't grasp it. We note it. Oh, maybe there's a pleasant thought. There's an unpleasant thought. Oh, I feel that pain. Maybe it's a really unpleasant thought. precepts, where are they in all of this? Is it like we, is our study of ethical behavior something that we do in the middle of zazen? Yes and no. We're not studying in the active sense of I am studying this.

[30:01]

I'm studying my wounds. But by opening to the present, it includes everything that we're experiencing, everything that we are feeling. So when the positive or the pleasant feelings come up or the unpleasant feelings, the anticipatory or the regret, remorse, we don't push it away, but we feel the effect of it in our body and mind. We breathe with it. We notice that it's there. We breathe. And as with all things that are the nature of impermanence, they rise and they fall. How many of you have endeavored to sit a period of zazen without moving? What happens when you get an itch?

[31:02]

itch that you know could easily be rectified just by... And you notice, just for something so simple, how we can get into a war with ourselves. Oh, this itch, I want it. But then, in Zazen, what is our practice? Our practice is just being with things without reacting to them. We're allowing it to just be and noticing all the things that come up with allowing it to be. So something even as minor as just something that's itchy can be a great teacher if we're there for it, for present. So when we sit zazen, especially over and over again, we commit ourselves to just being present without leaping into action, not trying to fix it, whatever it is, witnessing, allowing,

[32:03]

breathing with it. And one of the benefits of doing a day-long or a week-long or a three-month-long concentrated Zazen festival is that you get to do this over and over again. And then when you're finished with one period of sitting, you don't stop your Zazen. You bring it with you as you, you know, You're bowing at the end of the period, you're getting up, you're fluffing your cushion, bowing to your seat, away from your seat, going off, having lunch, coming back. It's like, how do we continue that contact with what is happening now? That's our only, like, that's what we're all about when we're sitting zazen. How do I keep my mind from wandering, getting distracted by this and that, the monkey mind, it's like, ooh, there's a banana, ooh, there's a mango.

[33:06]

This trio of practice, these trainings, these threefold trainings of sila, samadhi, and prajna, it is all in service of awakening, awakening to our Buddha nature, our original mind, or non-grasping. When we sit in this way, even if it's just for five minutes, even if it's for one second, we can do one second zazen. Actually, maybe one inhalation zazen. You notice that you're getting a little agitated? One inhalation zazen. Just let it all go. Pay attention to your inhale. Wow, what an amazing transformation that can happen just in a little bit. Why is that? It's because that intention to turn to that and to allow it, even if it's just for a moment, to commit to, to recommit, to reconnect.

[34:27]

To what? our center to where our breath comes from where we move from and then we notice the impermanence of things something that's disturbing we breathe with it we breathe with it what happens maybe it gets worse for a little bit maybe it gets better but we stick with it we stay with it we don't turn away from it and we don't like feed it more stories. So we do this in Zazen, and amazingly, when we study and practice with the presets, we get to do it in our daily life as well. It's not disconnected, what we do on the cushion and how we are. So imagine, for example, you're faced with a conundrum. You won't even say it's a moral conundrum yet.

[35:32]

You know, don't put labels on it. But just a conundrum. Hmm. Five dollar bills sitting on the ground here. No one's around. No one's... Whoever left it, you know, they probably walked down the street. It's on the street. It's anybody. Somebody's going to take it. Do we take it? Right? Maybe we notice that maybe there's an impulse. I would say for... most of us, most of the time, if we're not connected to this, we might just do things and not really know where they came from, right? That's karma. That's our karmic energy, habit energy. But when we sit zazen and we have a zazen practice, a practice of stopping and just looking without judgment, just what is this? What's happening now? If we do that in that moment, when we see the $5 bill, let's say it's a $100 bill.

[36:35]

$100 bill lying on the ground. Maybe we notice, oh, I want it. I need to go get a haircut today. Whatever it is, right? We notice an impulse. And rather than just doing that thing, we can pause. Why? Because we're well-practiced in pausing, the art of not moving, just breathing, noticing, finding our stillness amidst all the activity of wanting, not wanting, pushing away, having thoughts about good thoughts, bad thoughts, So this practice of zazen, as I said, is not an intellectual practice.

[37:48]

In fact, all of the thinking is not relevant to zazen. Maybe thinking in order to get you to the cushion in the first place, you might think to get there. But once you sit down, let the thinking go. And then when you're off the cushion, that zazen is carried with you, can be carried with you. You might notice that some actions have consequences and that informs what you do. So maybe you could say that in order to live an ethical life, the ethical life that you want to be living, the ethical life that brings you joy and contentment, not the ethical life that somebody says you should do that or you're, you know, evil, but the ethical life that resonates with you when you're at your stillest, when you're most connected to your heart.

[39:00]

At that point you may notice that some actions have a high likelihood of leading to some consequences. And because you're well-practiced in stopping and considering, just that little bit of pause can make a huge difference in your life and in many others' lives. So I would say this practice of turning to what is wholesome, to what is virtuous. It requires having a deep faith in cause and effect. Oftentimes when we end up living out of alignment with our vow, with our intention, it's because we forgot.

[40:09]

that moment we forgot about cause and effect. So how to live a life that incorporates this deep faith in actions have consequences for the benefit of oneself, for the freedom and the liberation from suffering, moving away from a distorted view of self that's small and maybe calcified, maybe raw, open wounded. Noticing when those, when the denial is apparent or not apparent It requires a lot of care, really.

[41:12]

Compassion for oneself. Understanding. And so much, there's so much more that can be and will be explored in this huge, huge topic. I want to end with a little poem is by Joko Beck, then teacher. She says, caught in a dream of self, only suffering, holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream, each moment, life as it is, the only teacher, being just this moment, compassion's way. Caught in a dream of self, only suffering, holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream, each moment, life as it is, the only teacher, being just this moment, compassion's way.

[42:37]

So thank you very much for being here for this historic event, being in this beautiful space. And thank you for being here despite the construction and renovation that's going on up the road a little bit. 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. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[43:31]

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