Thank you. An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with. Even in a hundred thousand million kapas, having yet to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words.

[01:15]

Good morning. So, let's see, is anybody here for the first time? Okay, so welcome. This is the Saturday morning talk. The first Saturday morning talk of the month is for kids. So if you're not a kid, it's okay for you to be here. But you should know that this first part of the talk is for kids. And... I think it's important to understand that everything about the teaching of the Buddha, the Buddha was someone who woke up to life a long time ago. But the way he woke up is a way that we can wake up today. And everything about the Buddha's teaching, all the big lessons in the Buddha's teaching,

[02:23]

can be understood by kids. Like, the first teaching of Buddha is now. You know, life is about now. It's not about later, it's about now. And another teaching of the Buddha is called, I am you, and you are me. So that if you're happy, I'm happy. And if you're not happy, I'm not happy. So a lot of the Buddha's teachings are like this. But the teaching that I want to talk about today is a teaching that the Buddha thought was very important. And that's the teaching of what would you do if no one were watching you? Okay, what would you do if no one were watching you? What would you do if you were all by yourself?

[03:27]

Yeah. You'd play your own game. That is a really good answer. Yeah. You would be good. Well, in that case... You should be up here giving the talk. Would everybody be good if you were in a room all by yourself? Let's say you were in a room by yourself and there was a big chocolate bar that belonged to your mom and dad. You would not eat it? Wow. Okay. What if it were gummy worms? I'd not eat it.

[04:31]

Yeah. Okay. What if it was your mom and dad's secret diary? Anyway, this is... So I think this is a really... You'd peek in it, of course. Well, anyway, you would think about it really hard. You would say, okay, your hand would reach out to that diary or whatever it was, and then you'd say, oh, no, and then you'd say, oh, yes, and then you'd go, no, yes, [...] no. And I don't know what you would do, actually. Open it. Yeah. I know. Stop the agony. Open it. But I have a story from a long time ago. Do you want to hear it? Yeah. It's about someone who found himself in that position.

[05:32]

And this story is from a book called Kindness. Has anybody seen this book before? Yeah. Okay. This book is called Kindness. And I forgot to hold my place, so excuse me. You close it. Okay, and here it is. It's about Buddha. And if anybody knows this story, you can help me tell it, okay? Okay, let's see. This is called the Old Teacher's Test. That's a good one. Okay, you know it? Okay. So once, while the Buddha slept, an argument broke out in the middle of the night between his 500 monks. The Buddha had 500 monks and they were all mad at each other and arguing.

[06:37]

They tried to keep quiet, but the Buddha heard and woke up. He was always doing that. In the middle of the night, he brought the entire group together and started to speak to them. My friends, in olden times, wise people believed that a bad deed could never be hidden. A crime can never be secret for long. Therefore, a wise person never gives in to wrongdoing. Monks, listen to the story I will tell you from long, long ago. Once an old wise teacher decided to put his students to a test. My dear students, he announced, you have been loyal and so hardworking. We have studied and learned things of great importance from ancient noble teachings.

[07:41]

But alas, your teacher has grown quite old, he said. Have you noticed how white my hair has turned? How my painful old bones caused me to lumber around like a turtle. Yes, teacher, we have noticed these. Said a boy. And the group all went, yeah. Well, the teacher said, I'm afraid I can no longer support this school. It's now up to you to find the cash to keep the school open. Of course, they said. We'll do whatever we can. But sir, said one boy, how would we do it? We don't know how to make money. We're kids. And everyone started to talk.

[08:44]

Children, children, said the teacher. You should know that gold and riches are everywhere. If you look carefully, you will see that people have many more things than they need. It wouldn't hurt them even a little to share. The students kind of went, uh-oh. So here's what I want you to do, the wise old teacher pushed on. Go to the city now. and find a quiet alley between the streets. Sooner or later, a rich guy, a rich woman, will come along in their fine robes. As fast as you can, get their purse without anyone watching. If no one sees you, I will accept what you bring, and then we will sell it. But if you let yourself be seen,

[09:47]

I will not only refuse what you bring, but I will disown you. I'll say, I don't know him. I don't know her. Anyway, I'm not going to take credit. I'm not going to say, yes, that's my student and they stole. I'm just going to say, nope, never saw her before in my life. And I won't even take the stuff that you got. The students were very upset. They looked down and wouldn't look in each other's eyes. The teacher said, remember, I would never ask you to do what I myself wouldn't do. I have never lied to you even once. Surely our school will put the money to better use than those rich people do. So a student humbly said, Yes, teacher, we will do what you ask us to do.

[10:51]

Uh-oh. Then go now, said the teacher, shooing them out the door. Go quickly, come back soon. You'll find it very easy when no one is watching. And so the students filed out the door towards the city. The group buzzed with a mix of fear and excitement. But when the room emptied, there in silence stood one lone kid. I'm not going to say whether it was a boy or a girl, okay? The teacher noticed and gently approached that child. What is the matter? All my other students are brave. All my other students are willing to help their poor old teacher. How about you? And the student looked down and said, Master, I can't do what you've asked me to do.

[11:53]

And why not? Because, the student said, there isn't any place on earth where no one is looking. There is no such secret place. Even if I'm all by myself, I'll see myself steal. At this response, the old teacher hugged the student joyfully. Oh, I'm so relieved. At least one of my students understood my true teaching. You were the only one who really listened. I am so proud of you, the teacher exclaimed. The student smiled warmly. in return. Thanks, teacher. And when the rest of the students came back for the missing kid, they saw that the teacher had meant the request as a test, and they were ashamed.

[13:02]

But from that day forward, they never forgot that brave student's words. Wherever I am, someone can always see me. Even myself. And they all lived that way. And they grew up to be wise, good, and honest. Yeah, that's a story. That's the end of the story. And the Buddha said that when he talked about this story with his students, he said that he himself had been that young student many, many lifetimes ago. So that's a story about the Buddha in a different lifetime, before the Buddha's life. So... Well, that's one different life. But in the Buddha's teaching, there's stories about past lives, even past lives.

[14:08]

Like before the Buddha was even Prince Gautama. In a past life, the Buddha was... other people and other animals. And there's stories about when the Buddha was a deer and when the Buddha was a fish and when the Buddha was a lion. Yeah, but it was it was about past lives. Well, I don't know if now he could turn into anything. Well, the idea was that The Buddha is awakeness. And awakeness can take the shape of anyone or anything. So a dog can be awake. And a plant can be awake. And a person has a really good chance to be awake.

[15:10]

And people can help each other to be awake. And that's what this whole place is about. And that's what we're doing here today. And so when we make a wish at the beginning of a lecture to offer a stick of incense, when we make a wish to make that offering, we are showing that we believe that we can be awake and that we can know what we really want inside when no one else is watching. So I think the kids actually get to sing songs and do things. And we're going to sit here for some time longer. So if you want to go to the rest of the kids' program, now would be a good time. And I'll see you later, okay? Please feel free to ask any questions. And Will and Amy will help you understand. Thank you.

[16:16]

Thanks, kids. Come back soon. Now, take a look at Zach, okay? Notice that Zach is wearing his black robes and folding a teeny little pink sweater. And before, about a month ago, when I was realizing that I would be giving a lecture today, I asked if anybody had any ideas about what they wanted to hear about in a lecture. Please feel free to take up more room. There's lots more place if you need room for your legs and arms. There's lots of cushions over here. So Yuhuan was kind enough to respond, and Yuhuan is a student here. And she asked, well, what's the difference between Sangha life now and and Sangha life in ancient times. So one of the big differences is that in ancient times you wouldn't see someone sitting in a monastery folding a teeny pink sweater.

[17:26]

And one of the big differences in particular contributions of American Buddhism is that a lot of different kinds of people practice together, and particularly like men, women, and children. and people from different traditions, and people from different Buddhist traditions. And the Buddha already was very concerned about the race and class distinctions of his time and of his place. And he didn't think that that was a good foundation on which to build a community founded on awakeness. So he taught a lot of teachings that allowed people of various backgrounds and various classes in particular to come together, various races. Even the word for class, for economic class at that time was Varna, which has a connotation of skin color.

[18:29]

So you can see how it was all tied in at the time. And the Buddha brought people together in a whole different way. Even in the U.S., we can't take credit for that. This has been part of the tradition from the very beginning. But it was bounded by the conventions of the time. For instance, it was a lot harder for women to get ordained than it was for men to get ordained. The Buddha actually said no to women three times. And it took the intercession of Ananda, one of his top students, top students who actually was the last one to wake up. We won't go there. He ended up being his successor. But it took the intercession of Ananda to get women to be able to be ordained. And so this is an example of a way in which America is quite different. It's not completely different. I mean, have you been listening to the buzz on Nancy Pelosi as a speaker and how

[19:36]

One interview I was listening to this week, the commentator was saying, well, noted expert, what do you think? How does Nancy Pelosi's being the speaker impact the chances of, say, another woman like, for instance, Hillary Clinton? And the speaker, the expert, noted expert, said, well, you know, it could go either way. Of course, having a woman in power and doing successfully might help Hillary Clinton's chances. But another thing that might happen is that someone might say, well, we have our quota of women in high places. And the commentator was shocked and said, oh, no, that would not happen. But we know that in America, all sorts of things happen. And part of being awake is to understand how things happen and then to take steps to wake up and to wake up not just for ourselves but with everybody.

[20:49]

So today we're going to have a lay initiation in which five people will receive Buddhist precepts. Buddhist precepts are standards or guidelines by which we live our life. And so the precepts that people will receive today are, I take refuge in Buddha, which means awakeness. I take refuge in Dharma, which means the teaching. I take refuge in Sangha, which means the community of support. I vow To refrain from action that creates attachment. Or I vow to refrain from evil. Stuff that messes up the world. I vow to make every effort to live in enlightenment. Which means do good.

[21:50]

And I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all being. And then there are ten clear mind precepts. Not killing. not stealing not misusing sex not misusing intoxicants refraining from false speech refraining from slander refraining from putting oneself up by putting someone else down refraining from stinginess refraining from harboring ill will and not disparaging or putting down the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. So those are the vows. And if you want to hear them live, you know, with actual people, making that actual change in their life at the actual moment.

[22:56]

And it's an amazing, incredible, thrilling thing to watch. and to be part of, then please show up here a little bit before 3, because the ceremony starts at 3, and you'll want to get a good seat. So you can actually see the look on these people's faces when they say, I take refuge in my own awakeness, which means I know that there's always somebody watching. I'm awake to what I do. So anyway, you're welcome to come. Everyone's invited. Don't feel like you have to come. I'm not saying you have to come, but it happens rarely, and it's an amazing event in somebody's life when they say something to themselves like, I vow to stop doing evil and do good and live and be lived for the benefit of all beings. There's something that happens in a person's form.

[23:58]

when that occurs. When a person sincerely says that, even if it's not in a formal situation, like even if you were to say that at home by yourself when nobody was watching, there's something that happens. It's not a little gold star that suddenly appears on your forehead. You don't suddenly get long ears like the Buddha. But the structure of your consciousness changes, and you begin to notice stuff and be more awake to what you do and don't do. And you begin to notice, respect, and appreciate what other people do and don't do. And in the graduate course, you begin to understand, respect, and appreciate things you don't like and people who are your enemies as waking you up to the benefit of all beings.

[25:07]

So these are very, very important teachings, not just for then, but for now. And here in the U.S., in San Francisco, we have a unique opportunity because America is a different country for Buddhism to get transmitted to. So people who came here whose parents or grandparents were maybe Buddhist in other countries have to find a way to be in America with this teaching. And people who learned about Buddhism for the first time as young adults or as children or adults in the U.S. The picture is different, but the intention and the teachings are universal. The vows of taking refuge, of not doing evil, and of keeping a clear mind are universal vows that actually work irrespective of place, time, condition, class, color, you know, education, physical ability, and so on.

[26:21]

These are universally effective vows. They're so simple that even a little kid can understand them. I'd like to give you some of Buddha's teachings for the people who would like to go a little bit deeper on how this actually works. We might think that morality is a matter of morality is like a conventional sort of morality in which we're scared that someone will notice us or that we'll notice ourselves doing something bad. And that is one kind of morality, but there are many other kinds of morality and there are many other kinds of precepts. So I think it's worth it to go a little bit into how the precepts work to change somebody's very being. very form, the way they appear in the world. So, I've... Let's take a little break, though, for a story or a poem.

[27:24]

First. So, this is the Refuge Chant from Plum Village, from the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh Sangha. And this is a book... I'm still enkidma. This is a book called A Joyful Path, which was published by Parallax Press. a fairly long time ago. I don't know if it's still in print. But it's stories and articles, not just by Thich Nhat Hanh, but by people who have been through that community. And that community is particularly wonderful at seeing children as an important and integral part of the community. And Thich Nhat Hanh says that children are our future and we have to find a way to include them in the practice. Because if we don't do that, then we're using the practice to avoid the reality of family life and children. So I don't know. I think there is such a thing as taking a temporary vacation, you know, whether it's like a one hour vacation or a two hour vacation or so on.

[28:29]

But to really be part of life, the practice has to understand and address. what is a lay life as well as what is monastic life. Otherwise, it runs the risk of becoming kind of rarefied and narrow. So here is the refuge chant from that community. At the foot of the Bodhi tree, beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling, the living source of understanding and compassion, to the Buddha, the awakened one, I go for refuge. The path of mindful living, leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment. The way of peace. To the Dharma, I go for refuge. The loving and supporting community of practice, realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation.

[29:33]

To the Sangha, I go for refuge. I am aware that the three gems of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are actually within my heart. I vow to realize them. I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling, looking deeply into things. I vow to understand living beings and their suffering, to cultivate compassion and loving kindness and to practice joy. and equanimity. I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon. I vow to live simply and sanely, content with just a few things, and to keep my body healthy. I vow to let go of worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.

[30:38]

I'm aware that I owe so much to my parents, teachers, friends, and to all beings. I vow to be worthy of their trust, to practice wholeheartedly, so that understanding and compassion will flower, and I can help living beings be free from their suffering. May the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha all support my efforts. That was the commercial. Okay, so how does such a vow work? So to understand this, I went to a teaching of Vasubandhu called the Abhidharma Koshabashyam. The Vasubandhu lived a long time ago, and there were two Vasubandhus, actually. And... The legend is that Vasubandhu, who's one of the ancestors who's in our lineage here, that he collated all the Buddhist understanding that was available at his time.

[31:53]

It was a couple hundred years after the Buddha. And he collated all the understanding and all the debates that people had had and put them together into an enormous encyclopedic work called the Abhidharma Koshabashyam. which means the teaching of the verses about the essence of the Dharma. And so that's where this teaching comes from. And so, you know, we think, I don't know, conventionally, how many people thought as kind of a background in that story, well, you know, do I have to live my whole life as if somebody were looking over my shoulder? Is that what that story is about? Of, you know, I'll see if I do something bad? You know, is it a story about guilt? Is it a story about shame? You know, so that's kind of in the background. And I think that's part of the mainstream cultural conditioning that we have in this culture, that if someone's watching, it's probably a bad thing, like big brothers watching you.

[32:59]

And so that we have to kind of make ourselves small and stiff to live with that. And being good means being diminished in some way. I don't know if anybody else has this, but I have this from growing up. But actually, the Buddhist terms for shame and respect don't carry any baggage like that. Are you feeling okay in the legs? Do you want to take a rest and switch your legs? Because you can, even if someone's watching. You can actually, and thank you for reminding me by changing your legs, that if Jana, who is in the San Francisco Chronicle, is an example of helping people. Uh-oh, she just gave me a dirty look. But I really, that article moved me so much because it meant that the Chronicle actually understands and appreciates the practice of helping people.

[34:03]

Okay? But this is a good example. And so please notice that it's a good example, not just something in the background to be hidden. The example of taking care of yourself, please understand and follow this example. It doesn't mean avoid pain, but it means that if there's an unwholesome pain, an unhealthy pain, don't do violence to yourself. Help yourself, as if you cared. Okay? The actual Buddhist terms for respect and shame don't carry the baggage that the mainstream culture carries. Those terms are hri and apatrapya. Okay, hri is translated as respect. Apatrapya is translated as fear. But there's also, hri has also been translated as fear of shame.

[35:05]

and apatrapia has also been translated as dread of blame. But I think those translations do carry cultural baggage for us. So what the Buddha taught was that a vigorous respect and fear, or actually a vigorous free in apatrapia, is necessary for discipline. Fear is this kind of free and this apotropia. They put the brakes on kind of ignorant activity. So the sense that I'm watching myself and I respect myself. So I will do things that I could respect. and that will help me be a person I respect in the future is very different from Big Brother is watching.

[36:13]

Better do something different. Okay? And the sense of I owe so much to my parents, teachers, family, and friends. May I be worthy of their respect is so different from I'm scared that people are going to give me a bad reputation or put me down. Okay? So those are more the sense of what is free and what is apatrapia. And these states, free and apatrapia, are found in all wholesome minds. The sense of connection with the community of supporters and being worthy of that support. And the sense of being alone or standing alone in the middle of the universe. and knowing yourself thoroughly for all time. These are at the center of all good minds, of all good mental states.

[37:18]

And this respect and fear keeps us, it puts the brakes on long enough for us to discern that there's a choice in any moment. So that when you say, I vow not to kill. It's your sense of self-respect and your sense of connection that actually motivate you to do something different from what you thought or how you would have otherwise behaved. So an example is, let's just look at a very mundane example, like suppose one morning you wake up and you see mouse droppings in your kitchen. Okay? Oh, no. Oh, no. Ew. And then, so, I think our usual mind might say something like, Ew, mice are disgusting.

[38:25]

Kill it, kill it. You know, something like that. And our... kind of foolish sort of untended kindness might say something like, don't kill the cute little mousey. Okay? But suppose you have kids. Suppose you have a kid with an immune deficiency or allergies, and mouse droppings and mice are going to make potentially your child very unhealthy. What do you do? So there isn't a simple answer. I'm not saying there is an answer. What I'm saying is that the sense of connection and the sense of self-respect stop you from going on autopilot long enough for you to actually be able to look at the situation deeply and take on the consequences of whatever you do.

[39:27]

Okay? So that's how this vow changes you. It's a very simple thing. It's not a complicated thing. It's so simple that even a three-year-old child could understand it. But a 53-year-old, and I think maybe an 80-year-old, might actually still be working on it. And so let's work on it together. if we can. So I have one more poem that I would like to share with you. And this is from an intentional life and one that cuts out extras, allows you to be free

[40:31]

to focus on life just as it is, and to appreciate it, and to be kind. Very, very simple. And here's a poem from that perspective. And this is also by Thich Nhat Hanh. And it's called Our True Heritage. Because this is our birthright, okay? The cosmos is filled with precious gems. I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning. Each moment we are alive is a gem shining through and containing earth and sky, water and clouds. It needs you to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed.

[41:32]

Suddenly you hear the birds singing, the pines chanting, see the flowers blooming, the blue sky, the white clouds, the smile and the marvelous look of your beloved. You, the richest person on earth, who have been going around begging, stop being the destitute child. Come back and claim your heritage. Enjoy your happiness and offer it to everyone. Cherish this very moment. Let go of the stream of distress and embrace life fully in your arms.

[42:36]

May I read it again? Anyway, you have to understand, I don't know if you know Thich Nhat Hanh, but he's getting on now in years. But he was a young monk in Vietnam. when the troubles came. And he saw his fellow monks and family and friends go through horrendous suffering and people have to go in boats to come to places where they could be, where they could live their lives. He saw his country laid waste. He saw the death of love. And he experienced all of these things with his own body and mind and came through great despair and became one of the greatest Buddhist teachers of this age. And his teachings are also very simple, that they have to do with walking and smiling.

[43:44]

And he's been here a few times. And the last time I spoke with him, We had just a very simple conversation. But one thing that I'll always remember is one time when I was sick, he went to his cabin and brought me vitamin C. Okay. So the way he gave me the vitamin C was the way that, you know, like a hand reaches from the infinite into the now. It was so ordinary. It was like, here, why don't you take this vitamin C? Our True Heritage by Thich Nhat Hanh. The cosmos is filled with precious gems. I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning. Each moment you are alive is a gem.

[44:48]

shining through and containing earth and sky, water and clouds. It needs you to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed. Suddenly you hear the birds singing, the pines chanting, see the flowers blooming, the blue sky, the white clouds and the smile. and the marvelous look of your beloved. You, the richest person on earth, who have been going around begging, stop being the destitute child. Come back and claim your heritage. Enjoy your happiness and offer it to everyone. Cherish. At this very moment, let go of the stream of distress and embrace life fully in your arms.

[45:59]

Shall we?

[46:15]

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