Good evening, hello, hi everybody. And thank you for coming to this talk tonight. City Center is about one month into a practice period in which we've been studying Buddhism perhaps from the ground up from a very foundational teaching about Four Noble Truths, a teaching which Buddha gave on the first occasion of his running into some Dharma companions after his great awakening. And these Four Noble Truths are, in a very real way, a kind of central foundation of Buddhist teaching.

[01:03]

Buddhist teaching is actually quite about as complicated as you want it to get and as simple as you'd like it to be. And one of the aspects of the Four Noble Truths is that they're initially accessible. The first truth is there is suffering and distress. The second truth, suffering and distress is caused by something. Third truth, there is the possibility of ending this experience of distress. And then the fourth truth, well, if there's a possibility, what is that? But it's the path. There is a path. Those might be relatively straightforward and comprehensible on a sort of simply herd level. But also they're teachings that when you take them in and work with them and try to understand really what they mean and what they mean in your life they don't necessarily but they can grow quite rich and quite thoroughly enter into our heart.

[02:25]

The first noble truth is the teaching that all conditioned things are just a little bit off the mark. Conditioned things, I say. Not everything, but conditioned things. That our experience of life is, lots of the time, unreliable and ultimately subject to change. He was subject to change. Using the words of the Buddha, he said, birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful. And then he went on and on, sorrow, lamentation, pain, etc. Not getting what is wanted is stressful or is suffering. And this again, the second truth, Well, there is a cause for this experience that we have, this suffering experience called dukkha, this stressful experience called dukkha.

[03:43]

There is a cause and it is a thirst that we have deep within us for conditioned experiences. There's a thirst, a craving within us. And the third noble truth is that you can end this experience of distress. There is a possibility of ending it. And in the simplest terms, one way of understanding this third noble truth is that in so much as we are the author of The experience of our life. We also are the author of the awakening from this experience. So there is a possibility. We are complicit in our stressful suffering.

[04:49]

And we are also the necessary part of our awakening from it. And then the fourth truth is, well, how do we wake up? We wake up through following. And this path, very famous teaching in Buddhism, the Eightfold Noble Path. Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That's the Eightfold Path. Now, speaking perhaps too simply, I want to say that the first truth, hearing the first truth of dukkha, of distress, hearing the first truth is perhaps the most important step of the vulnerable truth.

[06:08]

All conditioned experiences are bound to end. Observing this and having this, the motivation of this observation is the starting point of practice. Can be, might be, starting point of practice. But in another way, speaking really generally, I want to say that the fourth noble truth is the most important part of practice. The fourth noble truth, which is that there is a path. And this is the fourth noble truth. Fifth is necessary, and we can't really begin without hearing the first truth. But then we don't want to just stay there. We want to take that fact, if we believe it as a fact, understand it and understand how we can unpack it so our lives are transformed.

[07:21]

And the way for this to do this transformation is through taking up the steps of the Eightfold Path. And eight is a whole bunch of numbers of things to remember. They can also be, each of those eight steps of the equal path belong to also something called the threefold way, which is shila, samadhi, prajna, morality, concentration, and wisdom. And that's another simple way to talk about practice, about Buddhism. Buddhism is the cultivation of morality, which is actually the third. third, fourth, and fifth steps of the Eightfold Path, concentration, samadhi, meditation, which is the sixth, seventh, and eighth steps of the Eightfold Path, and wisdom, wisdom, which is the first and second steps. And it's maybe a little bit interesting. We won't, I'm not going to say too much about it, but it's kind of interesting that while right view, the wisdom of having right view is the very first step, it's also considered to be the

[08:31]

final stage in this three-fold way, understanding what practice, how practice unfolds. Anyway, tonight I want to talk, not about all of this, I want to talk about the third noble truth. I want to talk about Nirvana. And, um, One thing that I feel in me is that to say the word nirvana, nirvana is kind of a tricky word, at least the way I understand Zen practice. You know, if you read even Suzuki Roshi, he talks about Mahayana and Hinayana. Hinayana being the lesser vehicle, the Hinayana, the lesser yana. and the maha, great yana, the great vehicle and in some ways there's a story that's sometimes told about the great vehicle of bodhisattva awakening which is the right way to understand our heroic journey

[09:58]

where we practice not just for our own awakening, but for the sake of other beings. So, and in that heroic bodhisattva, great vehicle Zen way, we put off, we don't even talk about our own nirvana. That's not our goal. At least, I had some idea like this. You can still have some idea like that. And so I kind of want to be careful not to say too much about nirvana, not to make nirvana out as though it's like some thing. But nirvana is something which is perhaps even caused by something.

[11:02]

Like we can create nirvana if we practice the four noble ones. or if we take up the Eightfold Path, which is the Fourth Truth, the Path. Because whatever this enormous summa cum laude highest aspiration of Buddhist practice, this thing called awakening to nirana, whatever it is, I do have a feeling, and I think it's not just my feeling, I think there is a teaching that nirvana is not something which is bound by cause and effect. Nirvana is, by definition, by nature, by its inherent nature, unconditioned. And while there may be a teaching like the Fourth Noble Truth, which says that there is a path to realize nirvana,

[12:05]

The following that path, which might be divided into eight or might be divided into three or might be divided into 13, 35,000 or one thing to do, following that path does not cause nirvana. It's like if you're following a path to the top of a mountain peak, you get to the top by following the path, but you're walking on the path doesn't create the peak. So, because that mountain peak, if we want to say that that's what nirvana is, or that death valley, lowest point, or whatever it is, wherever you are, that we call the present moment, that we call nirvana, is just on the other side of the tight knot of our clinging, of our creation of dukkha through...

[13:14]

the working of the second noble truth. And, you know, I don't feel that I'm a scholar particularly, but I'm still going to say in early schools of Buddhism, nirvana represented a kind of moment that was a complete departure from the cycle of birth and death. It was the ending of the cycle of rebirth. And the word nirvana originally means something like extinction, like a fire that's put out, where even the embers are cool, don't retain heat. But in this extinction of the fire of our life, of our clinging, of our activities, of our dualistic effort.

[14:17]

In this extinction, which is the circumstance that gives rise to whatever nirvana might be, it's not that there's a sudden like where you blow a match out and it just goes away. It's more that you stop adding fuel to the fire. And even after you start adding fuel, it still burns hot. It still has a memory that needs to be used up. There is, you know, One teaching, one way of understanding that what nirvana is, is that there are two kinds of nirvana. There is nirvana with remainder and there is not nirvana without remainder.

[15:22]

And nirvana with remainder is like when Buddha was still alive at the end of his life. He was using up... the fuel of his life story. He actually was still subject to karma. Nirvana without remainder is the nirvana that Buddha entered into when he died. And this final nirvana is called Anuttara Samyaksambodhi. Unexcelled, unsurpassed, complete perfect enlightenment. And it's pronounced, it's in the Japanese art sutra, it's in the art sutra that we chant every day. And also in Japanese. That's what we say.

[16:28]

This is at the heart of our understanding of practice. As I said, in early Buddhism, nirvana represented a complete, the entry into it and the aspiration to enter it into the place of nirvana was a cut from life experience. put the person who had realized it into a new plane, so to speak, of existence, a new place. But as the Mahayana, this great vehicle tradition, developed and matured and increasingly taught about what it means to be a bodhisattva,

[17:45]

what it means to be someone who dedicates their practice, not just to their own entering nirvana, but deferring that till everyone wakes up along with us, if that's even possible. Who knows? It's what's called a great vow. In this way of practicing and trying to understand nirvana, the Mahayana, Bodhisattva way, Nirvana kind of steps a little bit back into the background. It loses none of its importance. But it somehow takes on a more positive character and a kind of, I think in the way that I have tried, in a way that I have understood as a Zen student, nirvana is that it becomes a state of awareness that unifies all beings and unites us rather than extinguishes my special individual flame.

[19:04]

I'm not sure if this is really right. This is how I feel. In this sort of view, it might be possible to say things like there's no difference between nirvana and samsara which is delusion in this sort of spirit you might say something like when asked what is nirvana you might say well nirvana is melted on one occasion or maybe more occasions than one said nirvana is doing one thing completely in this place It might be like when the Chan Zen ancestor, the Chinese Zen ancestor Master Ma was asked, what is Buddha? In other words, what is complete awakening? He said, this very mind. Anyway, as I said,

[20:12]

a little bit a few minutes ago I feel cautious about talking too much about nirvana about making it into something that I maybe even might think I understood nirvana is an experience that according to the tradition of Buddhism we attribute our founder Shakyamuni to having we say that he entered Nirvana entered Nirvana after his death without remainder and I thought that I would read to you a little bit from Buddha's final talk the Nirvana Sutra.

[21:13]

The Mahapari Nirvana Sutra. And actually there's two Pari Nirvana Sutras. There's a Theravadan version and there's a Mahayana version. And they're both relatively longer texts but the Mahayana Sutra is a lot longer. And what I'm going to read from is a paraphrase of the Theravada Nipali Sutta, Mahaparinibbana Sutta. The best have I heard. Once the Buddha was on a vulture peak and he said to attendant Ananda, and summoned the monks and nuns to the assembly hall. Then the Buddha went to the hall and sat down and said, Good friends in the Dharma, I want to teach you seven things, seven things that are conducive to the welfare and happiness of the Sangha.

[22:28]

Pay careful attention and I will speak. And he said, As long as Sangha members hold regular and frequent assemblies, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. And then he said, As long as Sangha members meet in harmony, break up in harmony, carry out their business in harmony, they may be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as they do not authorize what has not been authorized already and do not abolish what has been authorized but proceed according to the precepts and proceed according to the rules of training they can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as Sangha members remain mindful of desires that lead to unwholesome action and suffering

[23:34]

And do not fall prey to these desires. They can be expected to prosper and not decline. As long as Sangha members are devoted to meditation and to letting go of busyness, they can be expected to prosper. As long as Sangha members preserve their personal awareness doing what they do with as much mindfulness as possible, so that in the future, the good among their companions will come to them, and those who have already come to them will feel at ease. They can be expected to prosper and not decline. And then he said, that was the seventh. As long as the sangha holds to these seven things and are seen to do so, the sangha will be expected to prosper and not decline.

[24:47]

And then the Nirvana Sutta says, During the rains retreat, the Buddha was attacked by a severe sickness with sharp pains. as though he were about to die, but he endured this mindfully, aware, without complaining, and thought, it's not right for me to attain final nirvana without taking leave of the monks and nuns. I must hold this disease in check by energy and apply myself to the life force. He did this, and his disease abated. And then he said to Ananda, Ananda, I am now old, worn out, venerable, one who has traversed life's path. And just as an old cart is made to go by being held together with straps, so my body is strapped together to keep going.

[25:51]

It's only when I withdraw my attention from outward signs, let go of certain sensations, and enter... into concentration state that my body knows comfort. These are the final words, the final days of Buddha. One little Buddha, Ananda, took up a mat and went to the Kapala shrine to take a nap. The shrine was really beautiful and it made the Buddha's heart glad. He said, Ananda, this city The Vesali is delightful and the Kabbalah shrine is very beautiful. You and I have seen many places of beauty on this earth. So many groves and forests, lakes and mountains, so many sunrises and sunsets, so many full moons, so many bright stars. It's a sad thing to leave this earth.

[26:54]

And then, after a conversation with Mananda, the Buddha said, three months from now, I will enter final nirvana. The scene sets three months later. At Kushanagra, in the Sala Grove, the Buddha was attacked by a severe sickness. with bloody diarrhea and sharp veins. He endured all this mindfully and clearly aware and without complaint. And then the ruler lay down between two twin sala trees. He lay down in the lion posture on his right side, placing one foot on top of the other. And at this, those twin sala trees burst forth. in an abundance of blossoms, which fell upon Buddha's body, sprinkling it and covering it in homage.

[28:10]

And then Buddha entered the first concentration, and then he entered the second, and the third, and the fourth. And leaving the fourth concentration, he re-entered the third, and the second, and the first. Leaving the fourth concentration, he entered the sphere of infinite space. Then entered the sphere of infinite consciousness. Then the sphere of nothingness. Then the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. And leaving that, he attained the cessation of feeling and perception. And then he returned through all of these great mind states. These great spheres and four concentrations. And then again he entered the first concentration and the second and the third and the fourth. And from that place the Buddha finally passed away. And those students of the Buddha who had not yet let go of their desires went.

[29:32]

and who tore their hair and raised their arms in the air and threw themselves down, twisting and turning and crying out and saying that the light of the world has gone out. But those monks, those students who were free of clinging endured mindfully and clearly aware, saying softly to themselves, all things in this world break up. Even the Buddha, without fear, this day has passed on. And then they remembered the Buddha's final words. The Buddha's final words were, if you have doubt about the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, if you have doubt about the path or the practice, ask other monks. Do not afterwards feel remorse. Let one friend ask another.

[30:35]

Encourage each other in this way. It may be that you will think the teacher's instructions have ceased. But it should not be seen as like this. For what I have taught shall be your teacher. All living beings shall be your teacher. This right world and your very mind itself shall be your teacher be as lamps unto yourselves light your dharma candle and pass on the light throughout the generations and to everyone in this world so this is the way one person entered into what's called nirvana I think for all of you to be at this point in this room listening to this talk, I think that you have all awoken the thought of bodhicitta has been aroused.

[31:50]

And I think that once bodhicitta is aroused, it's just going to be a matter of time. And I believe each and every one of you and everyone we know will at some point. as Buddha passed. It was such a strong example that everyone who hears of it will be encouraged. Thank you.

[32:17]

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