in the midst of a practice period here called in Japanese ongo or peaceful dwelling in which a group of people have committed themselves to perhaps a little more than usual constancy in their practice, a little more than usual energy in their practice, a little more than usual following the schedule, being with everyone, focusing on how do I want to live this life with each other. And there's a quote that's attributed to Akon Zenji, who lived about 300 or 400 years ago in Japan. There are 84,000 gates to the Dharma. Can't you find another one?

[01:01]

The point being that wherever you stand is a gate to the Dharma. The Dharma is just the truth of things as it is, right here, right now. And our effort is to see clearly the truth. What is? The particular Dharma gate that the abbot has chosen for this training period is a focus and attention on the path of the bodhisattva, the awakening being, one who is motivated by compassion to wake up for the benefit of all beings. But this great compassion with which we describe the bodhisattva is just the same compassion each one of us has in our own heart and mind when we see suffering and want to find a way to end it.

[02:30]

Don't all of us aspire to end the suffering of all beings? Isn't that our intention all the time? And it gets clouded, of course, by delusions, opinions, strong states of mind. Greed, hate, and delusion are the sort of three poisons that are described in the Buddha Dharma. as what obscures our inherent wisdom and compassion. They're referred to sometimes as the three poisons. But there's never any question in the Buddha Dharma that Shakyamuni Buddha or any particular Buddha or ancestor or Bodhisattva has a corner on the market of compassion. It's a natural human quality, which becomes obscured by clouds of anger, let's say, or greed or confusion.

[03:53]

But, you know, just like the sun in the sky, when the sun is obscured by a cloud, the sun doesn't stop shining. It's still there. We just can't see it right now because there's this big cloud in the way. So our practice, if we want to cultivate the mind of awakening, the mind of the bodhisattva, is to become very interested in these clouds and how they get there and how we can help them to dissipate. And so there is a description by the great teacher Shantideva, who I think was about fourth century of the common era, called A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. And he lists some of the clouds and some of the practices that can help to

[05:03]

dissipate the clouds that obscure our normal, natural, human wisdom and compassion. In the Flower Garland Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, it is said that when the Buddha had his great awakening, he said, oh, I now see that all being, without exception, have the wisdom and compassion of the awakened ones. But because of their self-clinging and their delusions, they don't realize it. All beings without exception, not even you are accepted from that, all beings. Each one of us has as our birthright the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhas. but we don't always realize it because of our self-clinging, because of our delusion, our delusion that we are a separate self, our delusion that we're not one with all being.

[06:17]

This is one of the big delusions that separates us from our wisdom and compassion. So in the past few weeks, we have been looking at the first of these skillful means of removing the obscuring clouds called dana paramita. Paramita means crossing over, crossing over the other shore, crossing over this world of samsara, this world of birth and death, this world of suffering, this world in which suffering occurs. It's not a Buddhist view that there's nothing but suffering in the world. That's somehow been a misconception of Buddhism, but that there is suffering because we cling to a separate self. We don't notice that we're all living one life.

[07:27]

So the kind of motive force of a bodhisattva is called in Sanskrit bodhicitta, or in Japanese bodhaishin, or in English, the mind of awakening. The mind, the altruistic mind of awakening, the mind that is motivated to wake up to reality, in order to end the suffering of all beings, which is why it's called the altruistic thought of enlightenment or the altruistic mind of awakening. I remember the Dalai Lama said once that the first thing he does every morning is to check his motivation or is to refreshes motivation.

[08:32]

And there is a prayer in the Tibetan tradition, which I like very much. And the one thing that's kind of wonderful about Buddhism in America, in our generation, or Buddhism in the West in our generation, is that Buddhist teachers who have been separated geographically and sort of set up different schools in different geographic locations are all coming together in Western countries and teaching and learning from each other and respecting. Instead of having a lot of sectarian conflict, there is this really warm collegial relationship among teachers of various traditions. which doesn't exist in the countries of origin of these particular traditions. So we are really the beneficiaries of a time in history when all of the skillful means that have been cultivated by all of the schools of Buddhism can be shared by us because teachers of all of these traditions respect each other, visit each other's practice places,

[09:54]

meet together and talk about teaching the Buddha Dharma in the West and so forth. So just because this is a morning prayer in the Tibetan tradition doesn't mean that I can't do it in the Zen tradition. And it goes, the precious bodhicitta, if unborn, may it arise. If generated, May it never diminish and may it remain ever increasing. As long as space endures and for as long as living beings remain, until then, may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world. May all motherly sentient beings be blissful and happy. May all the lair realms be permanently empty.

[10:54]

And may all the bodhisattvas, on whatever stage they remain, fully accomplish all of their aspirations. This is a wonderfully optimistic prayer and a wonderfully inspiring way to begin the day. So I recommend it to anyone. So in this guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life that Shantideva wrote, he speaks of each of the six paramitas or the six ways of crossing over to the other shore or the six transcendent virtues or maybe transcendent qualities that transcendent because they transcend the dualistic idea.

[11:59]

virtue and non-virtue. But these transcendent qualities that a bodhisattva needs to cultivate in order to be able to realize this aspiration, this altruistic aspiration, the thought of enlightenment to benefit all beings. So we've spoken Of the first two, rather extensively in the last few weeks, the first one is Dhanaparamita, which means generosity or giving, open-handedness. One teacher, Kuihai, said, Dhanaparamita is relinquishment. Relinquishment of what? Relinquishment of self. That's a big one.

[13:04]

But the self-clinging is the thing that the Buddha pointed to. This clinging to the idea of a separate self is one of the things that the Buddha pointed to as one of the biggest obscurations of reality, of our compassionate mind. So relinquishment of self is, that's a big project. We need to work on it for a while. But it's a worthwhile project. When you see self-clinging arise, when you see yourself getting all uptight about something, just get curious. Which self am I protecting right now? Which idea of self am I hanging on to in this moment? of agitation. Being curious, approaching everything with a sense of wonder, and particularly approaching our mind and how it works with a sense of wonder.

[14:16]

What's going on right now? What's this that's coming up? Is a very fruitful way to be with yourself. All the time, and in meditation in particular, we attend to what's going on in our mind and how it's affecting us. I remember Tetsuk and Glassman saying once, if you want to know what's happening in your mind, sit down and watch it. And of course, that's what we do in Zazen. We don't try to fix it, we just study it, observe it. notice what leads to joy and what leads to suffering. And, you know, being intelligent, choosing the things that lead to joy and maybe abandoning those that lead to suffering. The Buddha once said to his monks, abandon what is unskillful.

[15:22]

One can abandon the unskillful. If it were not possible, I wouldn't ask you to do it. If this abandoning of the unskillful would bring harm and suffering, I wouldn't ask you to do it. But as it brings benefit and happiness, therefore I say, abandon what is unskillful. And then he says, cultivate the good. one can cultivate the good. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. If this cultivation were to bring harm and suffering, I would not ask you to do it. But as this cultivation brings benefit and happiness, I say, cultivate the good. I just read that in Sharon Salzberg's, I don't know which sutra it comes from, but I read it in Sharon Salzberg's book.

[16:28]

loving kindness, and I find it very encouraging. I'm not asking you to do what you can't do. I'm asking you to do this because you can do it, and it leads to benefit and happiness. This is a very reasonable thing. This is not something esoteric at all. The Buddhist teaching is not esoteric. The Buddhist teaching is very down-to-earth. Common sense. So the second of these transcendent qualities that a bodhisattva cultivates is shila in Sanskrit or sometimes translated as morality, sometimes translated as ethics, sometimes translated as... restraint, sometimes translated as discipline. But it's just a description of how an awake person lives, pointing out the ways in which certain actions or attitudes cause suffering, and therefore recommending that we not take up those actions and attitudes.

[17:55]

So, discipline or ethical conduct, or conduct, the conduct of an awake person, is what we cultivate in the second paramita. And the third paramita that I want to focus on today, because that's coming up next in... the classes and small group discussions that are part of the training period, is the Paramita of Shanti in Sanskrit, usually translated as patience. Suzuki Roshi, in talking about it, says maybe constancy might be a better word. the usual translation of the Japanese word ning is patience.

[19:00]

But perhaps constancy is a better word. You must force yourself to be patient. But in constancy, there's no particular effort involved. There's only the unchanging ability to accept things as they are. For people who have no idea of emptiness, this ability may appear... to be patience. But patience can actually be non-acceptance. People who know, even if only intuitively, the state of emptiness always have opened the possibility of accepting things as they are. They can appreciate everything in everything they do, even though they may, in everything they do, Even though it may be very difficult, they will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy. Neem is the way we cultivate our own spirit.

[20:03]

Neem is our way of continuous practice. We should always live in emptiness. So constancy, just follow the schedule completely. That sounds like discipline too, doesn't it? But just to keep walking, he said one time in one talk, even if the sun were to rise in the west, the bodhisattva has only one way. So the bodhisattva turns in the direction of awakening for the benefit of all beings, and keeps walking that way, maintains a constant intention to wake up so that we can see what is a real benefit to beings, what actually will relieve suffering.

[21:20]

Prama Chodron is one of my favorite teachers. And she speaks of Bodhisattvas as servants of peace. And she says, you know, maybe we should have a training camp and train people. And when she's talking about patience, she talks about something that Trungpa Rinpoche used to do. It might sound familiar to some of you here, but she says, we need to develop flexibility and humor. People are so stubbornly clinging to their own opinions all the time. And she says, in this training camp for bodhisattvas that her teacher, Chogram Trungpa, set up, there would be translations of scriptures to chant. And just about the time everybody had memorized them, there'd be a new translation. Does that sound familiar?

[22:29]

Or they would be very careful training in a rather intricate ceremony. And just about the time people learned it enough to start criticizing the people who did it wrong, he would rearrange the whole thing. And the things that were put on the left now got put on the right and so forth. And then they would make up elaborate... ceremony books with descriptions of exactly how to do it, and then before they got printed, they'd be out of date. So a certain amount of flexibility is built in by that kind of training. I think we ought to notice that when we get uptight about whether we're doing something exactly right or not. And maybe in the Abbott's group, we ought to consider whether occasionally to... Refresh things a little bit.

[23:30]

Change things a little bit. I think Linda Ruth did that a little bit with Orioki a couple of years ago. Standardizing it the Tassajara way and then finding it, well, we've been doing it a little bit differently here and there. Let's all do it this way. I'm not getting so invested in this is the right way. I know the right way. You notice how that sets up a big I in there, a big separate self? So I thought that that was a pretty good little tip there about how to train bodhisattvas. She says, the power of the paramita of patience is that it is the antidote to anger, a way to learn to love and care for whatever we meet on the path.

[24:36]

By patience, we do not mean endurance, grin and bear it. In any situation, instead of reacting suddenly, we could chew it, smell it, look at it, taste it, and open ourselves to seeing what is there. The opposite of patience is aggression, the desire to jump and move, to push against our lives, to try to fill up space. The journey of patience involves relaxing, opening to what's happening, experiencing a sense of wonder. The sense of wonder, I think, is very important. being very curious like a child. How does it work, you know? What works and what doesn't? What leads to happiness and what leads to suffering?

[25:41]

What leads to ease and what leads to uptight? As we come to see the causes of suffering, as we come to see unskillful actions of our own, that have unhappy results, we can take note of that. And we can begin to, you know, turn this big ship of self in the water a little bit. It sometimes takes a lot of effort and a lot of energy to turn a big ship, you know. But little by little, we can take this habitual energy that runs our engine here and begin to reduce it somewhat.

[26:42]

Begin to use our intelligence to see if this course I'm on is really taking me where I want to go. And as we discover for ourselves more skillful ways of conduct, in that very, in changing our conduct, we encourage others in the same way. I mean, the most encouraging thing to my practice was meeting people who'd been practicing a long time. I mean, meeting Suzuki Roshi, who didn't just say, see Buddha in everyone. He did it, you know. And you can see that he was doing it. And that would encourage you that you can do it. It can be done. And help us to soften our intense clinging to our already solidified opinions.

[27:48]

Again, in talking about opinions, I like what Again, what Pema has to say. If I can find it. Just as the Buddha taught, it's important to see suffering as suffering. We're not talking about ignoring or keeping quiet. When we don't buy into our opinions and solidity, the sense of enemy... and solidify the sense of enemy, we will accomplish something. If we don't get swept away by our outrage, then we will see the cause of suffering more clearly. That is how the cessation of suffering evolves. The process requires enormous patience. It is important to remember...

[28:50]

when we're out there, not aggressively looking for reform. I can see it somewhere, it's not placed right. that even if our particular issue doesn't get resolved, we are adding peace to the world. When I discovered that I was fighting for peace was actually the beginning of turning this ship in the water that finally led to my meeting Suzuki Roshi and starting to practice. And peace is a good thing. I think

[29:53]

All of us are at heart peacemakers. And all of the great religious teachers that I know of have been known in their time as peacemakers. But we don't make peace by making war on the people we don't agree with. And that's what I was doing in 1968. And a lot of us were doing it together. hating the people who were supporting the war in Vietnam, and not being at all peaceful in ourselves, not showing the way to peace, and meeting someone who didn't militantly push his agenda, but just demonstrated it by being peaceful himself was a big, big experience for me and a big encouragement.

[31:08]

You can do it, so therefore, do it, the Buddha said. We have to do our best and at the same time give up all hope of fruition. One piece of advice that Don Juan gave to Carlos Castaneda was to do everything as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered while all the time knowing that it doesn't matter at all. That attitude leads to more appreciation and less burnout because we do the job wholeheartedly and we care. On the other hand, each day is a new day. We're not too future-oriented. Although we're going in a direction, and the direction is to help diminish suffering, we have to realize that part of helping is keeping our clarity of mind, keeping our hearts and our minds open. When circumstances make us feel like closing our eyes and shutting our ears and making other people into the enemy, social action can be the most advanced practice.

[32:21]

How to continue to speak and act without aggression is an enormous challenge. The way to start is to begin to notice our opinions. So she speaks of, again, watching our mind, noticing what comes up, noticing the emotions that come up with it. Suzuki Roshi had a very favorite expression. Maybe so. It's a good thing when we say something with real conviction to notice that we're doing it and say, maybe so. Maybe I'm right, but maybe not. Take another look. If being right is making war, somewhere in your life, maybe it's something to think about, to wonder about.

[33:27]

If we're making someone into an enemy, we need to look at that. Because all beings, without exception, both oppressors and the oppressed, have the capacity for compassion, have the capacity wisdom. And we shouldn't write anybody off because they don't agree with us. She says, there is nobody on the planet, neither those whom we see as the oppressed nor those whom we see as the oppressor, who doesn't have what it takes to wake up. We all need support and encouragement to be aware of what we think what we say and what we do. Notice your opinions. If you find yourself becoming aggressive about your opinions, notice that.

[34:30]

If you find yourself being non-aggressive, notice that. Cultivating a mind that does not grasp at right and wrong, you will find a fresh state of being. The ultimate cessation of suffering comes from that. finally never give up on yourself, then you will never give up on others. Wholeheartedly do what it takes to awaken your clear-seeing intelligence, but one day at a time, one moment at a time, if we live that way, we will benefit this earth. Excuse me for quoting so much, but you know when someone really finds a very felicitous way of saying what I want to say, I don't have to make it up all over again. So, what we want to do is to cultivate those qualities which will help us bring peace in the world, in our lives, in every little aspect of our lives.

[35:44]

And again, the Dalai Lama says, if you can, try not even to think of yourself as better than the humblest beggar. You will both look the same in your grave. So to close with, I would like to share a short prayer which gives me great inspiration in my quest to benefit others. And it gives me some... inspiration too so I will share it with you may I become at all times both now and forever a protector for those without protection a guide for those who have lost their way a ship for those with oceans to cross a bridge for those with rivers to cross a sanctuary for those in danger a lamp for those without light, a place of refuge for those who lack shelter, and a servant to all in need.

[36:59]

I'm inspired by this because I think it is expressing just our human aspiration our inherent, beginningless compassion, our birthright of a heart that wants to end suffering for all beings. This is the heart, this is the human heart. Suzuki Roshi said, a true human being practicing true human nature This is what our zazen is. We are simply, in our practice, making our very best effort to be fully human. And so we have to have some compassion for ourselves.

[38:09]

When we put our foot through the drum, we will. We're going to make Big mistakes sometimes, sometimes small mistakes, but sometimes you're going to make a big mistake. And we have to notice, have compassion, just slow down, be gentle, be kind, be compassionate to ourselves. This is how we learn to be gentle and kind and compassionate to others. All we're trying to do in practice is to open this human heart as much as we possibly can and to make room in it for everyone without exception.

[38:59]

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