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. So good morning, everyone. Thank you for the introduction, Brian. And I also want to thank our Tonto Head of Practice, Nancy Petron. for inviting the three of us to speak this morning. I will be speaking first, followed by Zach and then Zachary and then Wendy. I'll be speaking about the essence of this ceremony, which has to do with living by vow. Zachary will speak about the precepts, and Wendy will focus on Maitreya, the future Buddha, and how the precepts are about friendship. But before I begin talking about the vow, the importance of vow and the bodhisattva vow, I want to honor the passing of the venerable Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who was a beloved teacher, a Buddhist monk, an activist, and an embodiment of peace.

[01:22]

He died... less than 24 hours ago at the age of 95. And I want to share a few words about Thich Nhat Hanh from Taigen Leighton's book, Faces of Compassion, and then a memory I have of an experience with Thich Nhat Hanh. I think this is totally relevant to what we're doing this afternoon. And to dedicate some time to the teaching of this person whose teachings reach so many people, and I'm sure many of you who are listening today. So Thich Nhat Hanh was a prolific writer. He spread... the teachings of wisdom and compassion helping many people find inner peace in a troubling, violent world.

[02:31]

Having witnessed intense suffering and the horrors of wartime, Thich Nhat Hanh maintained a demeanor that was amazingly and genuinely serene, calm, and gentle. He saw clearly with compassion and kindness the consciousness of all suffering beings, whether victims or aggressors. Thich Nhat Hanh saw that taking sides and labeling some as the enemy only perpetuates the hell realms created when we imagine ourselves separate and unrelated to others. He said, appearing together in this web of mutual causation, of dependent co-arising that is the true nature of our lives. And in the 80s, when I lived in Boston, I attended a retreat at the Insight Meditation Society, where Thich Nhat Hanh held a space for a group of Vietnamese people who were living in the United States.

[03:47]

They'd been refugees for those who were veterans of the Vietnam War and for those who had protested the Vietnam War. You can guess which group I was in. But regardless of what group we were in, we meditated together. We had tea together every day and we listened. We did walking meditation and we listened to Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. And I... I think that embodies the way in which he brought together people from very different persuasions in an effort to create the sense of connectedness that is so important in our lives today. So great gratitude to his teaching. So

[04:48]

The ceremony is sometimes referred to as a bodhisattva initiation. It's also sometimes called a jukai, which literally means receiving the precepts. I want to talk a little bit about what we mean by bodhisattva initiation. And first to say this is the first such ceremony San Francisco Zen Center has had in over two years due to the pandemic. There was a ceremony scheduled for April of 2020, and the temple closed in mid-March. So several students who are receiving the precepts today would have participated in that ceremony. And this time of almost two years has been both a period of loss for individuals and for our society, and also a time of learning and growth.

[05:53]

Like bulbs, growing roots underground, waiting for spring. We've been using this time, at least many of us have been using this time, to study, to serve others, and to nurture ourselves, to affirm life in a time when millions of people around the world have died. The students who will receive the precepts today have been preparing for the ceremony for several years. They each met regularly with their teacher, they studied the precepts, and they sewed a ceremonial garment called a rakasu. And the ceremony is a public witnessing of the vows these students have are making to live their lives in harmony with all beings. So why do we call it a bodhisattva initiation?

[06:57]

Tension, Rev. Anderson says in his book, Being Upright, you align yourself with the teaching of the enlightened ones, the teaching of selflessness, and the teaching of the precepts. You commit yourself to practice right conduct and to help all beings. This is the bodhisattva way. Bodhisattva means awakening or enlightenment. I prefer awakening. And sattva is a being, so a being that wakes up, that is in the process of awakening. In the broadest sense, we are all bodhisattvas. We are all awakening. And on this, yeah, I think certainly everyone who is taking part in this, not only people who are taking part in the ceremony, but all of us who are gathered together in this cyberspace this morning, I would imagine are here because of

[08:08]

wanting to be more present in our lives, to meet whatever arises with an open mind, an awakened presence. So Tenshin Roshi goes on to say that not everyone who comes to a Buddhist meditation center wants to take the bodhisattva vows. You may come at first or primarily to help yourself and perhaps a few other people. And at first you can't honestly say that you want to save all living beings from suffering. And yet to ask to receive the precepts is saying, I want to practice like a bodhisattva. Will you help me? So we often recite, and we will recite it at the end of this talk, the bodhisattva, We recite the bodhisattva vow, and that is actually four vows.

[09:12]

I'm going to chant these vows now, and then I'll talk a little about each one. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. So the first of these vows, beings are numberless. I vow to save them. It's also worded, I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings. And two parts of that wording I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings stand out the first I vow to live just this vow to live to embrace life to be fully present for the difficulties and the joys of our lives as part of that vow and then I live and am lived I lived

[10:35]

I vow to live and be lived, being lived by whatever I encounter by all the beings and experiences in life that affect this being. And then I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of others, the benefit of all beings, this wish to give something back, an expression of gratitude for others. the teachings and for the good, I'll say, my gratitude is for the teachings I've received and my good fortune to be healthy and to have meaningful work and to live in this community of San Francisco Zen Center. And in this world at such a crucial time, it seems, for all of us. So delusions are inexhaustible.

[11:39]

I vow to end them. The fundamental delusion is thinking of ourselves as separate, unchanging beings. We're always in flux, always being influenced by our circumstances and those around us. And this is where Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching is so basic that we inter-are. He uses the image of we're like waves in the ocean arising and then merging again with the ocean. And each one of us is unique, and yet we inter-are. We need each other. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Everything and everyone can be our teachers.

[12:40]

And Tenshin Rev. Anderson says, the Chinese character for enter, I vow to enter these Dharma gates, also means to understand or to learn. Everything that comes to us is a gateway to learning, and we vow to use every meeting with every being and thing as an opportunity for realizing the truth. Finally, Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. And I've also heard this said, I vow to embody it, to embody Buddha's way through my actual body, as well as my heart, my mind. I vow to manifest Buddha's way. And you may think that these are impossible vows, and in some ways they are.

[13:47]

It depends how we view these vows. When we say, I vow to awaken with all beings or to save all beings, we can only really do that with the beings we encounter, directly or indirectly. But if we... understand that we are interconnected. There's this ripple effect, and we really have no idea how people may be affected by our words and actions. There's another book about vow that I appreciate. It's by a teacher at Chosen Bays in Great Vow Monastery in Oregon. It's called The Vow-Powered Life, A Simple Method for Living with Purpose. And she, in response to the sense that these vows are impossible, she asks, should we only take on vows we know we will be able to accomplish and then be able to cross off our to-do list?

[14:54]

Or could we dare to vow an impossible vow? So I ask you to take a moment to reflect on what vows have you taken in your life or what vows might you like to take? What aspirations do you have for your own life? I want to say just a few words about how vows work. Vows have been compared to... A bow has been compared to a magnet or a compass. And Chosen Bayes uses the image of a gyroscope that stabilizes a vessel and keeps it upright in conditions that could disorient a human being, such as thick fog. She says, when difficulties arise in our life, it is easy to become confused, frozen in indecision or depression.

[15:57]

to lose track of where we are headed and wander aimlessly. Recollecting our vows can, like a gyroscope, help us regain our equilibrium so that we can move back to our life path again. So vows may... We need to be supported, actually, in maintaining our vows. It's not so easy. As Chosen Bay says with this image of the gyroscope, sometimes we lose our balance, lose our equilibrium, or lose our ability to see where we're heading. And some things that can help us and support us with our vows are repeating them, saying them aloud as we repeat the Bodhisattva vow daily at San Francisco Zen Center. There may be other vows that... we can just remind ourselves of.

[16:59]

Also asking for help or guidance. And we can't do it alone. And associating with people who support our deepest intentions, including Dharma friends, teachers, our family members, often. And then ceremonies can also help us in our vows. In particular this afternoon, the people receiving the precepts, the initiates, will vow to uphold the precepts out loud and in a public ceremony, which adds weight to the commitments and acknowledges that that they're not a task too large to be done through one's own. Acknowledges that they are a task too large to be done through one's own power alone.

[18:09]

We need the support of others, and we're asking for their discerning eyes and gentle guidance when we falter. So in ending my part of this talk, I just want to share that. This morning when I went into the Zendo at 300 Page Street and saw the initiates sitting there facing the wall, I remembered my own Jukai ceremony in 1998 at Green Gulch Farm with Linda Ruth Cutts. Nancy Petron, who's our head of practice, was also one of eight women who received the precepts that day. And... I just remember the joy of that day. The name I was given, the Buddhist name I was given, which has been another, I guess, a source of support in keeping my vows.

[19:14]

The name I was given was Yufu Chukin, which meant courageous wind, devotion, jewel. And the first part of the Dharma name is kind of an expression of where your teacher sees you in that moment, and the second part where she sees your practice might develop into. And I was baffled by the second part of my name, Devotion Jewel. I didn't see myself as very devoted. And the first part made more sense. Courageous Wind, I was about... to leave the next day with my partner at the time to visit women in the former Yugoslavia who had just come through a difficult period of war. But devotion jewel, and yet a year later, I moved into San Francisco Zen Center and practice has become the center of my life.

[20:17]

So I think a name can have a great... influence on one's life, a Buddhist name. So I'm going to now pass the baton over to Zach and thank you for your attention. Putting the baton here. Great. So continuing with the story of the vow, right? The structure of the ceremony is it's essentially all composed of vows with some supporting material, right? And right before you start actually

[21:21]

swearing to the precepts, you've taken these vows, which are known also as the refuges. You take refuge in what are known as the three treasures, the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, which have a number of different levels of... understanding and conceptualization around them. In the most straightforward way, they refer to the historical Buddha, the historical teachings, and really the historical and continuing community of practitioners, right? That's good. But more broadly, you can see them as referring to the the the mind of awakening the the not only the the teachings as written down in in the sutras and the commentaries and the con collections and the commentaries and and uh you know publications in tricycle magazine and so on and so forth but um but also the the the teaching that's imparted by every being and and everything

[22:46]

Even the insentience, tiles and pebbles impart the teaching. And the saga includes, if you look at it in the broadest possible sense, the congregation of half-formed beings that make up the self, out through the near beings with whom you practice and out through the end of the world, covering the whole universe. So you've agreed to take refuge in those things and thereby become a a practitioner of the way, right?

[23:48]

And so the question is, what do you practice after that? Well, you could reasonably go, okay, I'm done, right? But actually the question is, what do you practice? And so the precepts are intended to address that question in a direct manner and in a subtle manner. And then the way they're divided up, they're divided up into two sets, actually in some ways three sets. there's the there's what's meant as the pure precepts and there's three of those and they're they go like this they say fundamentally I will I vow to avoid actions that have negative harmful karmic consequences and in the case where I commit actions that are demonstrated to have negative or harmful karmic consequences, I vow to recognize, acknowledge, and repair the harm, right?

[24:58]

That's the first pure precept. And, you know, that covers a lot of ground. But added on top of that, the second pure precept, says this. It says, I vow to do and to do and practice exactly what's called for, both formally and informally in my life, in life, such that my actions will support awakening, aliveness, a kind of freedom, and and comfort and skill with the human condition for, for all beings, for all humans and the, for all other beings and things that have for whom the human condition has an effect.

[26:01]

Yeah. Covers a tremendous amount of ground. Right. And finally, I vow to, to, This is related to what Tova was saying earlier as well. I vow to live and practice in full recognition and participation in, wholehearted participation in, the kind of vast, ungraspable mutuality of being. We can't even begin to grasp the degree of mutuality and interbeing. in the word of Thich Nhat Hanh, that we live right in the middle of, and it's the work of a lifetime to even approach that in a skillful manner. So those are the three precepts, and that's a lot. And you might think, again, I'm done.

[27:06]

I just swore it all. And... I can see how to live this out and I'm going to do it. And at that point, this vow sort of, it's like a, my experience with these ceremonies is kind of like this rock that was somewhere in the middle of a river moves closer to to the center of the river. So it's fully engaged in the flow and also standing firm, right? So, and then if you read the story of how the precepts came to be, some people interpret this story as sort of mythological or as a fable, and some people interpret it as history. But it doesn't really matter.

[28:10]

What becomes clear is that these vows are great, but people require a little bit more specificity. So, because there are ways that people, not just people in India, not just Buddhists, but people all over the world have recognized the, you know, roughly 10 ways in which... people are likely to mess this sort of thing up and thereby cause harm and, and actually break the three pure precepts that they've already sworn to. And the first five are, you know, like almost universally agreed on and, and, and people in various different Buddhist schools and both lay people and monks, um, uh, adhere to these precepts, vow to adhere to these precepts. And the domains that they address are, well, the obvious ones, killing, stealing, engaging in sexual misconduct, lying, and engaging in intoxication of various sorts, right?

[29:31]

Particularly intoxication with substances was a thing. I apologize for this. I'm doing this on my phone. And you may have noticed that my phone slowly slips. So I'll have to keep propping you that. I apologize. So you vow to disavow those behaviors, right? And then there's a... There's a number of different forms for the second five precepts. But the ones that were adopted really in China by the Tendai school and the Zen school and so on, when they kind of revised the precept ceremony early on in the history of Chinese Buddhism, have an interesting flavor. They're more than addressing

[30:34]

behavior proper they address something about um the mechanics and dynamics of human sociality particularly in the context of a of a of a sangha but but in general right so uh and they're like um they address gossip and tail bearing right um uh social uh you know gymnastics, like praising yourself and pumping yourself up at the expense of others. And then the two kinds of harboring, harboring of stinginess and greed and harboring of anger and ill will, which are things that people do in really any working environment, families, sanghas, et cetera. There's this, you can feel it. Okay, well, I'll tell a story about this. So I used to work in the international standards biz.

[31:37]

And there was this perfect petri dish for studying this stuff because there were multiple different groups, all engaged in activity that everyone thought was really valuable, right? And you'd walk into a room and you'd go, oh, you know, these people are... actually doing anything. And the reason almost always had to do with this subtle emotional tension in the harboring of stinginess and ill will that makes it impossible for people to do things together. It's amazing to see. And then the last of the precepts, the tenth, the last of the second five is is directly addressed to Buddhism proper. It says, you know, don't misuse or defame the three treasures, Buddha, Dharma, and Saga, right?

[32:40]

And there's a number of ways that you can imagine that that would happen, either talking about it wrong, using it for your own benefit and gain, et cetera, et cetera. So those are the precepts. I guess I can just say a couple more things about them, and then I have to turn it over to Wendy. But the first is that they're obviously prescriptive in the sense that they're saying, don't do these things. And this is what To was talking about earlier. As a way of finding your compass in the middle of your life, you can say, oh, wait. I said I wasn't going to do this, and I'm doing it. Or I'm thinking about doing it. And that's helpful. That's tremendously helpful. But the other thing that they are, it turns out they're a network. They're not really individual things. If you think about, let's say, the relationship between social manipulation, tailbearing, gossip,

[33:50]

social dynamics in gymnastics how often does that in the world does that lead to violence very often right um if you think about intoxication and and um and say greed right what is what is um what is greed and there and maybe theft that arises from it but a kind of intoxication with things right so So if you look under the surface, the precepts are all joined together. And they are joined together by these processes and capacities that humans have, right? Our sociality, our... our ability to use language, our ability to do long-range planning and, you know, imagine a thing and then operate on the world until it comes to pass and so on, right?

[34:55]

All of those things which are an integral part of being a human, right? In fact, these precepts are designed to address the kind of downside of our... greatest gifts as humans and the primary features of a human life, right? And I guess the last thing I'll say is that they all have an inner and an outer face, right? So they address external behavior and behavior that shows in the world. But they also address internal behavior. They address the mind, the mental framing that leads to anger and murderous violence. They address the mental framing that leads to greed and grasping and so on.

[35:59]

And their request and an invitation to explore our relationship with all of those things as a continuous practice for the rest of your life. And I guess that's probably enough. So thank you. And I now pass the baton to Wendy. Well, thank you very much, Tova and Zachary. I think that as I speak, you'll hear resonances of what they both said. I also wanted to thank Tova for mentioning and honoring Thich Nhat Hanh, one of our great teachers, and who has also had a great deal of influence on us, known and unknown. So thank you, Tova, for including him. So the precepts begin with faith.

[37:04]

and humility, then commitment, and then the effort of self-knowledge. And that leads to both clarity and generosity. After a practitioner has expressed faith through taking the refuges, you know, we say, I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and that I consider to be an expression of faith. And then the intention through taking the three pure precepts, this is my intention, do no harm, do good, you know, benefit beings, basically. And then we get to the practicalities, as Zach was just saying, of the 10 great precepts. So these describe basic human qualities and behaviors, and each one is preceded by a vow not to engage in them. But these are normal human behaviors because there wouldn't be much of a point in taking a vow not to do something that we don't do.

[38:10]

So this puts us, by taking these vows, we're thrown into a realm of ethical dilemma. And this is how the precepts work on us. For instance, you know, is it possible not to lie? Or not to praise self at the expense of others. To know whether to speak or to be silent. What to do or say or not to do or say. Can we know that all the time? And how to deal with the consequences of action and non-action. And overlaying these ethical dilemmas is who's deciding? Whose interpretations are going to be the ones that are going to be held? So what is the power dynamic also of these interpretations? So you have all these levels of ethical dilemma. So I believe that there are two basic ways to break these precepts.

[39:16]

One of them is to use them to blame or praise oneself. And the other is to use them to blame or praise others. So I think there are... and attitudes we apply in our daily lives to hold each other accountable. But that, the precepts, as I was implying, are tools of transformation and not of justification. So these Buddhist teachings and interpretations and our, I'll say, it's a short sort of way of terming it, our Zen interpretations are actually based in inquiry. If I interpret the teachings in a way that is most supportive of my ego, my perspective, my safety, what do I leave out? And what do I include?

[40:17]

And what do I hear? And what do I ignore? And this inquiry is not about a destruction of the self or the personality. But it's an increasing awareness of the narrowness of the perception of ourself. As both Tova and Zach were saying, we're this interbeing, this inter-are, this interconnection with everyone. So I think that narrowness is what the precepts are meant to kind of deconstruct. So in Buddhist iconography, the future Buddha is Maitreya. the friend. And I think that this implies that the teachings are meant to develop a capacity for friendliness. And this isn't a common characteristic in the unfolding of human history. But when that sort of atmosphere of friendliness arises, there can be periods of peace.

[41:21]

So this aspiring to friendliness is based in hope or faith. And that's not optimism, but it's a willingness to search for, look for, and listen for meaning rather than self-justification. And this is a process of being taken apart and put back together. And that's what the precepts offer us, these tools of seeing who we are and our relationship with others. So we had taken apart and put back together over and over. The Buddhist teacher, Hamalo Asad Hatisa, was my introduction to deep study of ethics. And he says, with study and discipline, states of consciousness arise. And with study and discipline, they pass away. So with study and discipline, states of consciousness arise.

[42:26]

And with study and discipline, they pass away. Taken apart, put back together again and again. So that process requires courage and humor. And it repays over and over and over in profound moments of peace. Those don't stay. They don't last. They're not something we can aspire to or look for. but they come around as we do this work. So things happen all the time that can catch us off guard or that are hurtful or intriguing or confusing. And I think when we've taken on these teachings, we can look to them, as Zach was saying, for guidance, for perspective. What is this state of mind that's arising? We have this... possibility of pause.

[43:27]

And transformation in Buddhism isn't magical, but it also isn't mundane. There's this thing that's happening. So I think it's about applying the teachings as tools and encouragement toward a more peaceful and inclusive perspective and of unfolding reality. So this is the perfection of things, just as they are, towards friendliness in spite of all of this and in the midst of these ordinary and extraordinary moments and experiences of grief and joy and anxiety. So I think through studying and applying the precepts, we get closer to what is actually happening, being awake, as Tova was saying, which is a form of equanimity and generosity.

[44:36]

Its quality is less triumphant than it is poignant because that self-knowledge of how we take these vows and they catch us off guard, we take them again, We do the full moon ceremony every single month and take the refuges, the pure precepts and the vows over and over again, the precepts. So this poignancy, we keep it with us as well as our effort. So when we take up the precepts, we take up this kind of lifelong and maybe several lifetimes long journey or path. And I think we can possibly see this idea of the future Buddha as the friend, as our mentor and our guide. So thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center.

[45:41]

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.

[46:01]

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