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. I don't know about... Am I audible? Yeah? Okay, good. I don't know about all of you, but I am a lifelong fan of science fiction. I was raised on Star Trek and Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert and so on and so on. So I've always enjoyed allowing my imagination to get carried away by that stuff. by our imagination of the cosmos, of how this came to be and who did this to us.

[01:04]

I remember saying to a friend years ago, I can't wait until we get into outer space. And my friend said, Phu, we are in outer space. Surprise. Anyway, I think that... because of my interest in both inner and outer space, is one of the reasons that the Buddha's teachings have always been very easy for me to enjoy. So I wonder how many of you have heard of the monk by the name of Sumedha? Anybody? Sumedha? No, not Ajahn Sumedha. A monk named Sumedha. Well, that's good. Okay. Well, he is of utmost importance to those of us living here in this community, as well as to all the thousands and thousands of people who've gathered in Buddhist communities for the last 2,500 years. So here's his story, beginning with a familiar opening to a modern-day telling of the hero's journey.

[02:14]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, In a city called Amaravati there lived a Brahmin named Sumedha, a son of good family. When Sumedha was still quite young, his parents died, and the minister of his estate, who was the steward of the family's property, showed Sumedha the wealth accumulated for seven generations that he now had inherited from his parents. The family treasury was filled with gold, silver, gems, pearls, and other valuables. When Sumedha saw the treasure, he thought, after amassing all this wealth, none of my ancestors were able to take even one penny with them when they passed away. Can it be right that I could seek to take my wealth with me to the end of my days? Then he told the minister of state that he would give all his wealth to the poor and leave home to become a spiritual seeker.

[03:18]

He saw how a life of transmigrating within samsara, the cycle of birth, sickness, aging, and death, was suffering. And he wanted to find the path of deliverance that would lead to nirvana, to extinction, to no more rebirth, to no more suffering. And he thought, suppose a man or a woman, after falling into a heap of filth, hears about a distant pond covered with lotuses of five colors, That person ought to search for that pond. If they do not, that's not the fault of the pond. In the same way, there is a lake, the great deathless nirvana, in which to wash off the defilements of my harmful karma. If I do not seek it, that will not be the fault of the lake. So he left home and entered a forest in the Himalayas to practice as a hermit. And because he was a person of great integrity, he attained superhuman knowledge and supernatural powers.

[04:26]

You see why I like this? So one day, Deepankara Buddha appeared in the world and began to teach. He taught in a town nearby where Sumedha was living in his secluded hermitage. To prepare for the Buddha's arrival, the people of the town began to fix the road, which had eroded in a flood. and to decorate it with flowers. Sumedha, through his powers, knew of the Buddha's visit and flew to the town offering to help with preparations. The people were so excited because they knew Sumedha could fix the road with his supernatural powers in time for Deepankara Buddha's arrival. But Sumedha, although he could have easily repaired the muddy road with his superpowers, wanted to do so with his own hands instead. so he started to carry soil by hand. Unfortunately, Deepankara Buddha and his assembly arrived before Sumedha's work was complete. Sumedha did not want the Buddha to walk through the mud, so he loosened his matted hair, lay down on the ground, and with outstretched hands asked the Buddha to walk on him.

[05:38]

A dramatic enactment of his deep desire to take refuge in the triple treasure in the Buddha. in the teaching of the Buddha and in the community of those who study the Buddha's teaching. So this practice is one that we do here as well. In fact, I just did three of these bows at the altar. We prostrate by placing our five parts of our bodies, our knees, our elbows and our forehead to the ground. And we place our hands palm up to the level of our ears as if accepting the Buddha's own bare feet on our bare hands. just as Sumedha did long, long ago. In this way, we too express our great respect and gratitude to the Buddha, to the awakened one, as we gently lift his entire body up over our heads and gently down again. While laying there in the mud, Sumedha looked up at Deepakara Buddha and thought to himself, If I wanted, I could now enter the Buddha's Sangha and by practicing meditation, free myself from deluded human desire and become an arhat.

[06:49]

Then at death, I would at once attain nirvana and cease to be reborn. But this would be a selfish course to pursue, for thus I should benefit myself alone. I want to help all beings as Deepangara Buddha is doing now. I am determined. And then he made a vow. I vow to attain what Deepankara has attained, Anyuttara Samyak Sambodhi, the complete, perfect enlightenment of a Buddha, for the benefit of all being. When Deepankara Buddha saw Sumedha lying in the mud, he understood that the young man had vowed to become a Buddha. He told his assembly that in the distant future... vowing to remain in samsara until all beings had been saved.

[07:51]

So now you know who Sumedha is. Shakyamuni Buddha. So this vow... Yes. Sumstatic or something? How's that? Is that better? Okay back there? Yeah? Not so good? Higher? How's that if I talk like that? I can do that. Okay. All right. So this vow, the bodhisattva vow, is the true heart of our human life. Whether we know it or not, whether we say it or not, or whether we believe it or not, some part of our mind has turned toward the thought of enlightenment, the bodhicitta. And some part of our body has turned toward the image of an awakened being and toward the possibility of becoming an awakened being ourselves.

[08:53]

And so we bow again and again and again. For those of you not so familiar with the Bodhisattva vow, that's what I'm going to talk about this morning. Modeled after the Buddha's own infinite goodwill toward the whole world, this vow is the operating system for envisioning the possibility of living harmoniously together on our precious and gravely wounded planet Earth. The vow is stated in such simple terms that even a child can understand it. And yet, as one great master, Birdnest Roshi, said, yes, a child of three may understand it. but a person of 80 years may not be able to practice it. So here it is, the bodhisattva vow. I vow to live for the benefit of all beings. I vow to live for the benefit of all beings. It's simple, heartfelt, generous, and selfless.

[09:57]

One must truly wish to manifest an internal emotional landscape that would allow such determination to propel one throughout the eons, throughout the birth and death of planets and stars, such as it did for Sumedha, who became known as Shakyamuni Buddha. The primary question that we as practitioners of the Bodhisattva vow continuously must ask ourselves is how? How do I cultivate within myself such a profound intention to be a benefit to all beings, no matter what? So this is the challenge, and it is, as true challenges need to be, not such an easy one. And that's because all of us, for the most part, live in ignorance of the workings of our own mind and body. Granted that the workings of our mind and body are beyond human comprehension, still there are a few wise observations that have been made both long, long ago and in recent years that might serve as guideposts in our efforts to manifest a wholesome relationship to the world.

[11:11]

How? By helping us to understand what is going on here. For example, there's a teaching called the two truths about ourselves and the world considered to be critical for an understanding of the Buddha's awakened insight. There's an ultimate truth and there's a relative truth, also known as a conventional truth. And both of these truths are what is happening right now. And it's always right now, lifetime after lifetime. When Dogen Zenji, the founder of our school, was asked by a monk, how, where, when, and for whom does the practice of the Buddha's way appear? Dogen replied, it will happen here, meaning all places. It will happen now, meaning all time. And it will happen to you, meaning all beings.

[12:17]

So this answer is in keeping with what the Buddha called the ultimate truth, that aspect of our present reality in which there is nothing outside of that truth, reality itself, first principle. According to the first principle, the ultimate truth, cause and effect, goal and result are one and the same thing. before distinctions have arisen between what is good and what is bad, before you and I are separated into individuals, and before individuals are separated into parts. Just this is it. The whole of it, or as Shakyamuni Buddha said at the time of his own awakening, I and all beings on Earth are awakened at the same time. And yet within the true body of reality, differences appear.

[13:25]

Differences of view, differences of opinion, differences in the way we like to have things done. So this is the second principle, the relative truth. The truth about our relationships to one another and to the things that we touch, hear, hear. taste, smell, and see. The truth of how we as sentient beings are able to open, demonstrate, realize, and enter the practice of the Buddha way. Because of the appearance of differences within the true body of reality, we find ourselves telling stories about those things that we think we see. In fact, each of us is a unique story. a non-linear story in a non-repeating universe, a secret story that no one else can hear or see. So this is the place where the bodhisattva vow either arises or not, moment after moment, whether we notice it or not.

[14:35]

So when I think about ourselves as stories, I always am reminded of that Leonard Cohen song called In My Secret Life. The lyrics include, I smile when I'm angry. I cheat and I lie. I do what I do. I do what I have to do to get by. But I know what is wrong. And I know what is right. And I die for the truth in my secret life. So I thought that was a pretty good title for a talk about monastic practice, of which Leonard Cohen had done quite a bit. And I know for myself that the greatest portion of my life is not visible to me or to anyone else, for that matter. In Western psychology, it's called the unconscious mind, and in Buddhism, it's called the alaya vijnana, or the storehouse consciousness. In both traditions, East and West, this underlying consciousness is the support for all that we see, feel, think, hear,

[15:44]

and believe. It's the support for all that we do that is good and all that we do that is not so good. And it's the support for thinking that there are such things as doing good or not doing good or telling the truth or telling a lie. In other words, our unconscious mind is the support for a life of ignorance and at the very same time is also the support life of awakening. And it's therefore that the Buddha taught us the utmost importance of studying our minds until there really is nothing left of them. This is the two truths in practice, in realization. From the Dhammapada, a collection of verses illustrating the Buddha's ethical teaching, written in about the 3rd century BCE. What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday.

[16:50]

Our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is a creation of our mind. If a man or a woman acts with an impure mind, suffering follows them as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart. If a man or a woman speaks or acts with a pure mind, Joy follows them as their own shadow. He insulted me. She hurt me. They cheated me. He robbed me. Those who think such thoughts will not be free from hate. He insulted me. She hurt me. They cheated me. He robbed me. Those who think not, such thoughts will be free from hate. Hate is not conquered by hate. Hate is conquered by not hating. This is the eternal law. Many do not know that we are here in this world to live in harmony.

[17:52]

Those who know this do not fight against each other. So I invite all of you to study your minds, your assumptions, your fantasies, and your opinions. and all the while enjoying the transitory nature of reality as we ride along together on the river of our mental fabrications, doing our best to create from all of it a life that is generous, kind, and wise. Here's a Zen story about the two truths, Case 21 from the Book of Serenity. One day, Jung-nan was sweeping the ground. His Dharma brother Da Wu came by and said casually, too busy. Yunnan replied, you should know that there's one who's not busy. Da Wu said, oh, if so, then are there two moons, two realities, two truths?

[18:55]

Yunnan held up the broom and said, which moon is this? Da Wu then stopped. In the commentary to the case, it says, good people, as you eat, boil tea, sow, and sweep, you should recognize the one who is not busy, and then you will realize the union of conventional reality and enlightened reality. In the Dongshan progression, Dongshan being the founder of Soto Zen, this is called simultaneous inclusion, first truth, And second truth, naturally not wasting any time. So this is our story, too. Right in the middle of our daily life, a life devoted to awakening, we are often called on to answer our fellow workers, our teachers, and most importantly, ourselves, with an appropriate response, meaning with the truth.

[20:00]

But which one? Too busy? Not busy? Not busy enough? So Yunnan holds up the broom and Dao Wu stops. The Bodhisattva vow is like the broom. It's used for sweeping and like the broom, it has two aspects or bodies. There's a material body, that would be us, this body with its speech, actions and thoughts, and its unconscious conditioning. And then there's a reality body where no separate person can be found. And as it says in the teaching, when one side is illuminated, the other side is dark. So which moon is this? Buddha gazed at a star and said, oh my. And then he held up a flower to which Mahakashapa said, oh my, and smiled.

[21:03]

Jungian holds up a broom. Each of us holds up a multiplicity of things throughout our daily lives. And as always, the complete truth is right there, right before our very eyes, when we stop and look and listen. No separate self can ever be found, and yet it is so tricky how it seems. Because all of us are often bedazzled by busyness, we simply forget to stop. And therefore, the Buddha offered us some stop signs to go along with the bodhisattva vow that he called the ten grave bodhisattva precepts. No killing, no stealing, no sexualizing, no lying, no intoxicating, no slandering, no bragging, no hating, no hoarding. and no disparaging of the three treasures, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

[22:07]

No meaning stop. You stop. And after we learn to stop, which may take a while, then we can go again. Doing good, nurturing life, being generous and ethical, patient, energetic, concentrated, and wise. All of which started with a vow. Sumedha's vow. So at the end of my talk today, all of you who know the closing verse will be chanting together an elaborate version of the basic bodhisattva vow. This elaborate version is called the four vows, and it's directly related to the Buddha's earliest teaching about reality called the four noble truths. First noble truth, suffering beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Second noble truth, their suffering is caused by delusion. I vow to end them. Third noble truth, Dharma gates leading to the cessation of suffering are boundless.

[23:13]

I vow to enter them. The fourth noble truth, the path, the Buddha's way that leads to the cessation of suffering is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. For the sake of all suffering beings, which brings us back around to Noble Truth Number One in an endless circle. When taking these four vows to heart, we are, in fact, bodhisattvas. And yet, as Okamura Roshi says in his book, Living by Vow, such a practice is like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon, one spoonful at a time. And then he says, it is certainly a stupid way of life. not a clever one. A clever person cannot be a bodhisattva. If we were clever, we wouldn't try to achieve something infinite and ultimate. We would know that no matter how hard we practice, study, and help other people, there will be no end to it.

[24:16]

And that our achievements, when compared to something ultimate and infinite, are like nothing. And yet Okamura goes on to say, according to Dogen Zenji, even a tiny spoonful of effort is the practice realization of totally culminated enlightenment, is the manifestation of ultimate reality. And once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon gaining the water. You are like a tiger taking to the mountains. So maybe being stupid isn't so bad after all. Dogen goes on to say, between the dull and the sharp-witted, there is no distinctions. So I will end with a great wish that all of us in these and in all of the troubling times ahead band together to bring an end, to stop the senseless, violent, and hateful behaviors that we see around us today, the very worst inclinations of our species, inclinations that are being driven by fear, fear that we ourselves will somehow be cut out of the herd.

[25:29]

cut out from the necessities that support life itself water land food shelter love and most of all belonging because of that fear our instincts as individuals tell us to make a deal with the rest of the universe a deal that will save our own life the life of our family and maybe a few of our closest friends and at the same time maximize our share of the goodies It's a strategy called hoarding, secretly amassing money, land, food, and other valued objects and locking them up or hiding them away. Many years ago, I actually met some people who owned their own island in the Bahamas, which seemed utterly crazy to me at the time. These two little old people, named Paul and Bunny Mellon, could own their own island and a commercial-sized jet plane to take them there.

[26:32]

And nowadays, such a thing is not uncommon. Utterly crazy is the new normal. Unfortunately, that approach, when undertaken by teeming billions of individuals inhabiting the planet Earth, all bent on getting more than their share, has caused a major ecological disaster, depleting the most essential resources all of us depend on for our lives. Non-toxic soil, clean water, healthy food and breathable air. So perhaps the most basic challenge for each one of us in our parental roles as stewards of this wondrous earth is first of all to accept responsibility for this mess and second of all to find a way to live here together. It seems to me that that was precisely what the Buddha did several thousands of years ago as he offered himself as a guinea pig for finding a solution to the bloodshed and the rampant inequities already taking place in his day through the accumulations of great wealth by a privileged few, such as his own parents, the king and the queen.

[27:43]

Having left his palatial home and traveled into the forest, after six years of strenuous effort, what the Buddha saw was on the morning of his awakening was that the world was not separate or outside of himself. What he saw was his own miraculous face appearing as a morning star, as the branches of an overhanging tree, as a lovely young woman carrying water in a jar on her head, as bees and flowers and grass and flowing water. And for the first time in his life, he knew he wasn't separate from the universe. He knew he wasn't alone and that there was no thing outside of himself. To which he famously said, the entire universe in the ten directions is the true human body. What the Buddha recommended to his many disciples was an opposite world where each of us is devoting ourselves to the welfare of someone else or even to everyone else.

[28:50]

In his search for liberation from suffering, the young prince had undermined his own self-concern, self-love, self-conceit, and ignorance. A radical act that diverted the flow of his ambition away from accumulating more cargo to preserving the precious resources of this life-giving planet for everyone else. May it be so. Thank you so much for your kind attention. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[29:48]

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