This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Welcome everyone to this moment. Newly arrived. Never happened before. And welcome to Beginner's Mind Temple Buddha Hall and our new sound system. You know, told me this is a particularly auspicious day because we have new equipment. My experience with new equipment is usually there are glitches, unexpected things to work out. So we'll see. So let's see, we're here, it's the middle of May, waxing moon, full moon in three days.

[01:10]

That means the tides are increasing. Which you can feel. Actually, your bodies know it, even if you don't think it. Some people are more sensitive, I think, than others, realizing how the moon is full. A little more something. Lunacy. Yeah. And let's see. It's also an auspicious day this afternoon. We're having a precept ceremony. And you're all welcome to join and witness. the precepts being given and received. It's a bodhisattva vow initiation. The most important thing for a human being, maybe the most important task for a human being is to

[02:28]

to say, overcome self-consciousness. How's that? That moment when a human being becomes self-conscious is the moment where one feels separate from everything. The moment of dualistic conception. And that moment of dualistic conception is quite powerful to say then, oh, I am. It's quite powerful and then it's persistent. It keeps coming up. We learn to say I and become convinced that And that carries with it a connotation of, well, it's scary.

[03:35]

It's scary. Maybe in two fundamental ways. One is that one feels vulnerable. One might even realize, at least at some level, maybe a very deep kind of intuitive level, realize that one is... fragile and impermanent. But even more, I think one also realizes that it's not completely true. It's not completely true that one is separate. It's partly true, maybe. But the feeling is so strong that It feels like, oh, this is true. And so we function and get busy taking care of me.

[04:37]

And on some level, I'd say maybe in our bones, knowing that it's not quite true. And I think living with that feeling, some subtle sense that it's not quite true or not completely true is... the root of anxiety. So we go on then trying to cope with this, maybe in a couple of fundamental ways. One way is to anesthetize ourself. That would be most usual. Finding various ways to find comfort. Some ways are just kind of telling ourselves stories to kind of have an overlay or ways to anesthetize ourselves that are really harmful sometimes, addictive ways to go numb

[05:57]

to not feel the fear, that deep fear, that underlying anxiety. Or, other than that, say, maybe to seek a solution, to become a seeker, seek a solution to this fundamental matter. Of course, becoming a seeker can then become its own kind of anesthetic, some kind of maybe, we say, spiritual materialism, maybe. Trying to grasp and hold onto some way to protect oneself in the face of this deep kind of uneasiness. So in Zen we say, well, don't cling. Don't try to grasp anything.

[06:59]

And then we begin to study carefully all the various ways in which we are grasping, already grasping at things, the way we're already caught by things, the way we have karmically set up patterns of reaction. Oh, look at this. So if I hold up this flower bud, you're all supposed to wake up. So I wanted to talk a little bit about along these lines.

[08:07]

Because our fundamental fear, I think, then becomes manipulated, a kind of leverage politically. And we get a lot of propaganda. from our great corporations selling us things to allay our fears. But I want to comment on something that came up for me last Sunday, because I happen to be able to be able to... I happen to be able to be able to be able... I happen to have the time to listen and watch 60 Minutes, CBS network TV, which was, I believe, Steve Croft who was interviewing President Obama.

[09:10]

Maybe many people here either saw that or know about it, right? How many of you saw that 60 Minutes? A sprinkling. That's great. Not so many people here are wasting time in front of the tube. So I wasted time in front of the two, I confess. And I listened, and I had mixed feelings that I want to talk about. So the mixed feelings, first of all, I say, well, I admire President Obama greatly, and I voted for him, I'll confess that too. And that he's quite capable and intelligent and did a very good, I'd say, straightforward job of responding to the questions. And I found myself partly really compelled to join him in his point of view.

[10:19]

And also the description of the, what do we say, the commandos, commandos doing their, this operation where they were very brave and they were very skillful and even successful. That makes it easier in many ways, but not every way, I think. But I just admire people who execute anything skillfully, so I get caught up in that. The kitchen crew, getting lunch together under the pressure of time, working with dangerous implements. There's a cut finger, you know, okay, that's a setback, we've got to take care of that, you know, and still, you know, produce lunch on time, it's just wonderful.

[11:22]

Or athletes in the Olympics, I mean, I always find that effort compelling. Someone playing a great Bach cello sonata. Anyway, those kind of things I find compelling. So hearing about the skill of the people executing this raid was compelling. And then it came to the point where President Obama said, justice was done. And that kind of got me. Whoa, wait a minute. And then later on he said something like, anyone who doesn't agree with this, we should have their head examined. I thought, okay. So I'm a candidate here for having my head examined. So I invite you to support me in examining my own head, which is something that we do all the time anyway.

[12:33]

in our practice, right? So I was thinking about justice, you know, and the word justice, there's a sense in which when you say justice is done, it's like, okay, it's all over, everything is, you know, everything is equal, everything is harmonious, you know, everything is in balance now, justice was done. Now we use the same, you know, justice comes from the root, which means law, right? In Buddhism, we use the word law in a different way, which is dharma. We say that there is a universal law. We can't quite comprehend it all, but we do see that there is cause and effect. And the Buddha taught Dharma taught the law of the true way, the way in which suffering happens and the way in which liberation happens.

[13:43]

So this law is very interesting to me because if justice is going to be served, it has to maybe take more into account. I can't believe that justice is served, that dharma is served by killing someone. I've a number of times been outside. I've been inside San Quentin as well with the meditation group inside and outside San Quentin at the vigils when we have... We haven't had one in some years, but when an execution is scheduled, so with the thought that the state needs to kill someone to have justice, to me, is never a satisfactory, complete understanding of justice at all.

[14:51]

In fact, it is an invitation for another round of karmic retribution. So on this slide, I wanted to tell a little bit of a story from the time of the Buddha, and I wanted to read parts of it so you get a sense of the cadence. This is from the Majima Nikaya, the collected middle-length discourses of the Buddha. It's a big, fat book, so I didn't want to bring it in here. I copied some of it out and didn't want to cripple the Jisha, having to carry such a weighty tome. It's about 1,400 pages. This is just the middle discourses of the Buddha. But this one is number 86, and it is the story of the Buddha...

[15:56]

and the terrorist. It doesn't say terrorist, it says Anguli Mala. So I'll read a little bit. And there's actually five, there are actually five parts to the story. And I won't get into all of them. It's not that long, but it does have, really there are five, I'd say particular teachings. that are really crucial to understand. So it begins like this. Thus have I heard. On one occasion, the Blessed One was living at Savati in Jetta's Grove, Anathapindika's Park. At that time, there was a bandit in the realm of King Pasanadi of Koshala named Anguli Mala. who was murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings.

[17:02]

Villages, towns, and districts were laid waste by him. He was constantly murdering people, and he wore their fingers as a garland. That's the name, Angulimala, means a finger garland. Mala is, you know, sometimes we have a string of beads. It's called a mala. So it could be garland or a necklace. So he wore their fingers as a garland. In the morning, the Blessed One, this is the Buddha, the Blessed One dressed and went to Savati for alms. I'm skipping, I'm abbreviating some here. But he went for and did his begging bowl, did his round with the begging bowl. He returned and ate his meal, and after his meal he put his things in order, and taking his outer robe and bowl, set out on the road toward Angulimala.

[18:04]

Cowherds, shepherds, and plowmen passing by saw the Blessed One walking along the road, and they told him, Do not take this road, recluse. On this road is the bandit, Angulimala. who is murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless toward living beings. Villages, towns, and districts have been laid waste by him. He's constantly murdering people, and he wears their fingers as a garland. Men have come along this road in groups of 10, 20, 30, and even 40, but still they have fallen into Angulimala's hands. When this was said, the Blessed One went on in silence. So this is repeated a number of times. He keeps encountering people who warn him not to go down this road. And he continues walking this road. Now the bandit on Gulimala saw the Blessed One coming in the distance.

[19:11]

And he thought, how wonderful. Basically he thought, easy pickings, right? He said, men have come in groups and have fallen into my hands. And now this one comes along alone, unaccompanied, as if driven by fate. Why shouldn't I take this recluse's life? So he took up his sword and followed behind the Buddha. You can feel the suspense building. LAUGHTER So he's coming up behind the Buddha. And then he notices he's walking faster and faster and faster, and he's not getting any closer to the Buddha. And the Buddha's just walking along at a normal pace. So Angulimala picks up his pace and runs faster and faster,

[20:17]

And then he begins to think, how strange, how strange. Usually I can run down a horse or a deer and even catch men in chariots. But this recluse, I cannot catch. So he calls out, stop, stop recluse. And the Buddha responds, I have stopped. You should stop too. So this set Anguli Mahala to thinking. He said, these recluses are known to always speak the truth. So how is it, while still walking, this one says, I have stopped. So then Anguli Mahala calls out again to the Buddha and says, what is the meaning?

[21:21]

What is the meaning of this? where you're still walking and you say you've stopped. And the Buddha answers, Angulimala, I have stopped forever. I abstain from violence toward living beings. But you have no restraint toward things that live. That is why I say, I have stopped and you have not. So with this, Angulimala realizes that the Buddha is actually there for him, for his own peace, inviting him to stop. And so he has this great realization that he can stop.

[22:23]

He can stop all of his murder and mayhem and all the trouble that he's causing. And so he takes his weapons and throws them into a deep pit and asks the Buddha if he can be his disciple. And so the Buddha says, come. So that's part one of the story. And that's the way the Buddha would initiate people. He would simply say, come, bhikkhu, and people would join and begin to learn his teaching. So, this then says, well, Mangulimala accompanied the Buddha and they stopped various places and they wandered on back eventually, back to the Jetta Grove and then at the Pindika Park.

[23:52]

And they were settled in, settling in there. And meanwhile, back at the palace, there were many, many upset people who were confronting the king. It's like there were crowds of people out there on the step of the palace saying, King Pasanadi, you've got to stop this Angulimala. You've got to stop the terrorist. He's killing people. He's making the whole place unsafe. They were raising quite a ruckus. And of course it repeats the whole lines about what Angulimala has done. So the king had heard that even a posse of 40 had failed. And he didn't know if he was up He wasn't sure what to do, so he thought he should actually seek counsel, some advice and counsel, and come up with a strategy for dealing with this terrorist on Gulimala.

[25:02]

So he got in his carriage, it says, and gathered up his cavalry of 500 and set out and drove as far as the road was passable for carriages and then dismounted and went forward on foot to... where the Buddha was. And the Buddha, of course, asked, well, what's the problem, king? Going to all this trouble, bringing all these people here to, and, you know, is there some big invasion happening or something? And the king says, no, it's about this bandit on Gulimala. The king says, there's this bandit, and I'm afraid I'm never going to be able to put him down. And so the Buddha responds, Suppose you were to see that this Angulimala had shaved his head, put on the yellow robe, and gone forth into the homeless life, that he was abstaining from killing, from taking what is not given, from false speech, living the life of one virtuous and of good character.

[26:16]

If you saw him thus, how would you treat him? And the king says, well, if that were the case, we would venerate him and support him and give him alms. But this would never happen because he's evil. He could never have such restraint. And so the Buddha points to someone sitting over there and says, That's Angulimala. And the king, for a moment, was anxious. And then he was dubious. He went over and checked out the monk and checked his ID. He said, you know, who are you? Who is your mother? Who is your father? And finally he became convinced that, okay, this really is Angulimala.

[27:21]

And then at that point the king offered to buy Angulimala some new robes. And Angulimala said, no thanks. These old robes are adequate. And so then the king comes back to the Buddha and says, this is wonderful. This is marvelous how the blessed one tames the untameable. brings peace to the violent. We could not tame him with force and weapons, yet you have tamed him without force or weapons, and now, venerable sir, we depart. We are busy and have much to do. So the Buddha says, now is the time, great king, to do as you think fit. So this actually helped me in my feeling about President Obama. Okay. Buddha says the king has to do as he thinks fit.

[28:25]

President Obama has to do as he thinks fit. He went back to the busy life. Didn't stick around. But he was greatly relieved. He didn't have to go out and plot and develop a strategy to put down the terrorist. So, I'm going to skip over part three in this story, which is where Angulimala actually becomes a healer. And in part four, Angulimala He's now a monk and he goes with his begging bowl into the town of Savati. And on that occasion, here it says, again I'll read from the sutta, someone threw a clod and hit, now he's a venerable, but someone threw a clod and hit the venerable body.

[29:41]

Someone threw a stick and hit his body. Someone threw a broken pot and hit his body. Then with blood running from his cut head, with his bowl broken and his outer robe torn, the venerable Angulimala went back to the Buddha. And the Buddha told him, Bear it. Bear it, monk. You are experiencing here and now the result of your deeds, because of which you might have been tortured in hell for hundreds, even thousands of years. So this is... The Buddha did not try to protect him from these ordinary consequences of his actions. He simply said, bear it. But he also pointed out that he was...

[30:49]

receiving immediate consequences. Receiving the immediate consequences meant that he was being spared for many, many, many, many, many future torments. Very interesting idea. But I think people who come to practice sometimes kind of experience that. Now that I've come to practice, I really feel bad. I really feel bad about some of the things I've done. Or I notice that people are, you know, people are mistreating me and I don't know what to do about it. I can't do it. I can't react in my usual way. Now what am I going to do? Or people sit in silence and begin to have more and more disturbing thoughts come up. memories of very painful situations, trauma, sometimes things that one has done or sometimes things that have been done to one.

[32:06]

And to be able to sit and have some composure and be present with that is the only way to let this karma dissolve. But this is not easy. This is extremely difficult. People will find themselves diverting their attention, trying to think of something else. So then the last part of this story, after Angulimala has gone into town numbers of times and been abused and beaten, continues to practice restraint. He goes into retreat and experiences true, deep peace, a sense of deliverance. And then he composes some verses.

[33:12]

And I'll just, I will just read several of these verses. Let my enemies give ear from time to time and hear the Dhamma of those who preach forbearance, of those who speak as well in praise of kindness, and let them follow up that Dhamma with deeds, with kind deeds. For surely then they would not wish to harm me, nor would they think of harming other beings. So those who would protect all, frail or strong, let them all attain all-surpassing peace. There are some that tame with beatings, some tame with goads and whips, but I was tamed by such a lone who has no rod or any weapon. Ahimsaka, harmless, is the name I now bear. Though I was dangerous in the past, the name I bear is true.

[34:17]

I hurt no living being at all. So I invite you to consider the meaning of justice. It may be pretty hard to even consider just letting a murderer join the sangha. How could the Buddha do that? How could the Buddha let a murderer join the sangha without... punishing him. When I have, I mentioned San Quentin, so with the San Quentin Buddhadharma Sangha in San Quentin, we have a core group of people who are in for life, having done serious

[35:27]

having caused serious harm. And I told this story once, I had this Tibetan, a Tibetan Lama visited. And he came in and we had this gathering of many people who were inmates, but also people who were visitors. And I forget the name of the Tibetan Lama right now. But anyway, he asked the group how many of you are in prison here? And most of the people have raised their hands. And then he said, well, how many of you are guilty? And that same group raised their hands. And he was astonished. He said, I've visited many prisons in India and everyone says they're not guilty. Maybe that's the way it is in India.

[36:29]

But he was looking at a select group of people. These are people who have been practicing. People who have actually taken up the path of no longer causing harm. And a part of that path was to acknowledge, oh yes, I have done things in the past to confess. I have done things in the past that I want to, I need to acknowledge and that I can learn from and I can actually my behavior so this goes very deep in one's being when one realizes that one can be completely accepted that one can be completely loved Buddha obviously is bringing a loving compassionate heart to this terrorist who then could realize that his deepest fears were allayed there was a path for him to no longer be caught up in his ways that were causing him a deep grief, actually.

[37:45]

So, this is more like an understanding that justice includes everyone. Now that we're all thinking globally, the conflict between any group is more like a civil war. It's a war within our civilization. Whether it's between nation and nation, now we have some nations, but actually, when we think globally, you see what I mean? It's actually a civil war. So we need to look at how we can change our thinking so that we can offer something other than the idea that, oh, we can actually get rid of somebody.

[38:52]

So I ask you to consider that. These are some thoughts that came up after hearing the president's interview. And I still, I notice, you know, I don't have a solution. I think maybe we need peaceful warriors, people who can go into situations of conflict without weapons, but with a lot of skill, say, and training. how to meet danger fearlessly. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma.

[40:00]

For more information, please visit sfzc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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