Good morning. Good morning. I'd just like to begin with a warm welcome to our guests who've joined us. Five. Paso Haraldonai? Six. Six. Who was it? Who else came in? So well. You know them. Kelly? I don't know. I know them all. I do know them all. Lucky me. Woman Huay Kai, you tell me you're innocent while clutching a lute. So this is our final session of the practice period and I'm going to continue talking about the precepts which has been the theme. And I thought I'd just start with a very brief review of what I've said so far. So last session I began by talking about Sumedha The monk who took the Bodhisattva vow and as a result, many lifetimes later, became our very own Shakyamuni Buddha.

[01:08]

And I also talked about the three refuges, the Buddha Dharma Sangha, and I talked about the three pure precepts, avoid evil, do good, and save all beings. And then I began to talk about the ten grave or prohibitory precepts, and I finished last time with three of the precepts concerned with speech. So I vow not to lie, I vow not to slander, I vow not to praise myself at others' expense. So I began with speech because I think that speaking and thinking are the basic foundations of our karmic life. And that telling the truth, which is the complement of of not lying, of not lying, is probably the most important precept of them all. This word truth shows up again and again in the Buddha's teaching.

[02:10]

You know, the four noble truths, the ultimate truth, relative truth, the truth of the existence of all beings. And then there's also the truth that the Buddha saw when he woke up. The truth of non-separation, of non-duality. from everything around him was not outside of himself. And that was the truth, most important truth. So when we ignore this basic truth, we automatically get hooked on the wheel of karma, the 12-fold chain. You've all gotten some exposure, the diagram in the dining room that I've been talking about in classes, the pratikya samuppada, 12 links of dependent core rising. So the Buddha called the most fundamental truth. He said that this is the first link, the link of ignorance. He said this is the fundamental truth of ignorance.

[03:11]

It's the primary truth. And it's the disease or illness or affliction that we humans all share. We all have this in common. We are born ignorant of non-separation. So from that link, link number one, ignorance, the result of that link is link number two, karmic formations. And karmic formations are, you know, fabrications, concoctions, inventions, fictions, storytelling, and fairy tales. That's what's meant by karmic formations, basically all the stories that are running through our heads. You've learned to tell stories, and probably many of you tell them in English. Some of you, another language. But anyway, they're stories you were taught as children, and now you continue telling them to yourself most of the day.

[04:14]

So I thought it might be a good model for the sishin for you to consider that when you notice these karmic formations arising in your minds, that if you do notice that that's what's going on, you say to yourself, it's just a story. This is just a story. And, you know, it might be a very well-crafted story, but still, just a story. So I mentioned in class that the teaching is that karmic formations are carried over from the past. They're influences from the past, which then basically affect our present consciousness. And I was thinking this was kind of like ordering something from Amazon. You place an order and then a long time goes by and you get this package and you're like, oh wow, a surprise, something for me. But you forget you ordered it. And you forget you even wanted it. So you might reflect on what it is you ordered. And whatever you're ordering now is what you're going to get in the future.

[05:19]

So that's pretty much how it works. So having been conditioned in the past, our consciousness in the present is fully activated, you know, it's ready to take action in the world. And it's based on ignorance and karmic formations, so these actions are not necessarily the ones we really ought to be taking. And one of the things about our actions is that we tend to think that they're totally justifiable, and for no other reason than we think so. So what we do, we think is correct. And how we see the world, we believe is correct. And in fact, I don't think anyone has ever told us otherwise, that what you're thinking is not correct. To basically have some doubt in your own opinions and views and so on. We're actually told to trust ourselves. So the Buddha said kind of the opposite. Don't trust yourself.

[06:20]

Whatever you're thinking is really suspect. So this is an essential step toward awakening is to really begin to doubt your thoughts, your beliefs, your views. Really? Really? You know, all you have to do is listen to them to know that they're probably really not all that good. Just check out what you're thinking. Pretty random. Jumping around, YouTube past, so on. Hardly any continuous thinking going on. Well, at least me. Maybe I should just speak for myself. That's all that I notice when I'm paying attention to my thoughts. So, one of the reasons that it's important to become suspicious about your thinking is because ideas and reality really are two different things. You know, the finger pointing at the moon. And never the twain shall meet. They're actually two separate sets of phenomena. I think you all probably have heard the story of Hakuin Zenji.

[07:27]

who was accused by a farmer of fathering a child with his daughter. And the farmer was quite irate and he said, this is your child, you raise it, you are the worst priest that has ever lived. And Hakuen said, is that so? And took the baby. So then some time went by and the farmer found out that it was actually a neighboring boy who was the father of the child. And so he came back and... deeply apologized to the priest. He said, I am so sorry. You are the most wonderful priest that's ever lived, and may I have the baby back? And Hakuin said, is that so? And gave him the baby. Is that so? So I think what's important is to consider the tone of Hakuin's voice when he responded. You can't really tell by reading this story, but I like to think that he was not being insincere. He wasn't being sarcastic. When he said, is that so? It wasn't like, is that so? It was more like, really?

[08:28]

Am I the worst priest? Let me think about that. Am I the best priest? I mean, how would I know? How would anyone know? Well, they can't. No one can know about themselves or anyone else if we're the worst or the best of anything that's ever lived. We don't know. Even if all the Buddhas of the ten directions try to measure the merit of one person's zazen, or anything else about that person for that matter, they will not be able to fully comprehend it. So, becoming disillusioned about karmic formations is really the key to enlightenment. Disillusion, literally disillusion. It's an illusion. And this is exactly what the Buddha reported at the time of his own awakening. House builder, fabricator, karmic formations. You have now been seen. You shall not build your house again. Oh. Is she having some karmic formations?

[09:34]

Not yet, I hope. What a wonderful sound. Okay. Okay. Your rafters have been broken down, your ridge pole demolished too. My mind has now attained the unformed, unfabricated, unproduced, unconcocted nirvana and reached the end of every craving. So it's for this reason the karmic formations and the ceasing of them has been considered basically synonymous with bodhi. You know, and this is the... Liberation of the arhat. When there's no more rebirth in the endless cycle of delusional thinking, then there's no more karmic formations. They've been snuffed out. And no more karmic formations. There's no more this, no more that. No more in between. No more stories.

[10:36]

Gathe Gathe, Paragathe, Parasam Gathe, Bodhisattva. And yet, nobody really knows exactly what that means. Gone, gone, gone beyond, completely gone beyond, Bodhi, hallelujah. So there's been a debate for, you know, many, many, many centuries about what does that mean? Now, given they're debating, they're still talking, they're still thinking going on. So it's kind of a clue to something. I like the stories of the old Zen masters who get into these really philosophical knots with each other and challenging each other, and then finally one of them breaks off by saying, let's have a cup of tea. So, it doesn't really matter actually to us what it means to be gone, completely gone, because as bodhisattvas, we've promised not to go anywhere.

[11:38]

We promised to stay the course. And not only that, we promise to try to understand the workings of karma, of karma consciousness. How it works. How does this wheel spin? What makes it go around? What is the cause of suffering? And so we're basically agreeing to stay on the wheel. And as best we can to be balanced, alert, and attentive to what's happening as we go around. Particularly to our friends who are there with us. How are you doing? The good thing is that we're not attached to the wheel because it's an illusion. You can't attach to an illusion. So you can fall off and get back on and fall off and get back on. And that's part of the process as well. We're constantly falling off. Our commitment is to get back on and try again. Try to balance in this world of constant change. Impermanence.

[12:40]

That is the beauty of the world is impermanence. And the more we embrace impermanence as the beauty of the world, the more contented we become. So, without this intention or this vow to learn and to stay, basically it's hard to understand what we're doing with our precious lives. That we might just be wasting our time. And It says on the Han, you know, awake, awake. Birth and death, the great matter. Don't waste time. So along with agreeing to remain as permanent residents on the wheel of birth and death, we also have agreed to try and transform those energies at the hub that are causing the wheel to turn.

[13:41]

Those are the big three, greed, hate, and delusion. It's the center of all of us. That's what drives all of us. I like it, I don't like it, and I'm not sure if I like it or not. Picking and choosing. Just avoid picking and choosing. These are very simple things to say, but we actually have to relate these simple things to what we're doing. And we're pretty fast. That wheel turns pretty fast. So, The instructions for the transformation of these primary energies are exactly what the precepts are about, and also the six perfections of trainings for the Bodhisattva. And one of the main things I think is important for us to realize is that we're not really trying to put an end to our thoughts, you know, to end this kind of swirl of consciousness.

[14:42]

or to cease the movements of the conscious mind, even though it says so. Even Dogen said that. We're not really trying to do that. Maybe cut off the root of those thoughts, meaning they're more like clouds rather than balloons that we're holding onto. So that's okay. Floating clouds is okay. But if you've got a mind of strength, that's what needs to be cut. Once you've had a baby, it's really hard to... Have that sound become very compelling. It needs me. Anyway, so what we're really trying to do is to train our minds or have people help train them for us because it's a little hard to do it yourself. It's nice to have mentors, supporters, teachers, friends that can help you and point things out. Have you noticed that you do this? No, actually, I haven't noticed that. Thank you for telling me. And, you know, because I think we all know that having an untrained mind is very much like having an untrained dog or an untrained elephant living in your house.

[15:55]

It's really not doesn't. So we would like to bring some beneficial action into the world, and we have to start with ourselves, becoming that beneficial action. So for the next few days, the first days of Shishin, I'm going to be talking about the primary precepts that are directed at these basic energies, greed, hate, and delusion. So this one today is the precept number eight, not to be possessive of anything, which is the practice for the renunciation of greed. Not being possessive of anything is renouncing greed. Precept number nine, not to harbor ill will, is for the renunciation of hatred. And number five, not to intoxicate mind or body, of self or others, I've chosen that one as the renunciation of delusion. And I'll talk about that in a couple days. And how that's the biggest hindrance of them all, delusion.

[16:57]

The other two are said to come out of delusion. Greed and hatred are emerging from delusional state. So the poison of greed, the antidote for that is this not to be possessive of anything, which is very closely related to not being possessed by anything. You know, to not be under some kind of magical spell or some intoxication. To wake up. So, I wanted to read the verse from the full moon ceremony. I vow not to be possessive of anything. One phrase, one verse. That is the 10,000 things and the 100 grasses. One Dharma, one realization is all Buddhas and ancestors. Therefore, from the beginning, there has been no stinginess at all. In the dictionary, possessiveness is defined as showing a desire to own things and an unwillingness to share what one already owns.

[18:08]

And greedy... is defined as showing an intense and selfish desire for things, especially for wealth and power. It's not always objects that we're possessive of. There's a lot of abstractions that draw us to. And this precept, in my mind, is primordial in that it brings to our attention the primary relationship between me and my stuff. what I call mine, you know, my hands, my zendo seat, my okesa, my friends, my car, my daughter, my country, right or wrong. That's a good one. A lot of wars have been fought over my country, right or wrong. That's our collective delusion, our collective possessiveness. As soon as you take this vow not to be possessive, like all of the precepts, it acts like kind of like a radioactive isotope.

[19:09]

I don't know how those of you who've taken precepts experience it, but for me, they go off. You know, when I'm kind of saying something bad about somebody, like, a little slander thing starts humming. Uh-oh. So what am I going to have for dinner? Oh, Kelly. Uh-oh. That leaves just about everything out. So... So this one on this grasping impulse goes off, I think, when we're feeling really, when we're getting more than our share, you know. Whatever happened to this sign that says, two cookies only? What's going on? I do, I mean, it's great. We used to have this sign that says, two only. Okay, I was like, oh, it didn't. That was a real test.

[20:11]

You'd sneak a third cookie and then you knew that thing would happen. So by having this vow not to be greedy, we can really begin to see how we have been designed to go after things. How our eyes and our ears, our nose, our mouth with its teeth, and our hands are just really built to seize the day. And, you know, we try to figure out, can I eat it? Can I make love to it? Or can I take it home for later? I mean, whatever it is. You know? Pounce. It's mine. Yeah. So Dogen says, to carry ourselves forward and experience the mirrored things is delusion, which is exactly the opposite of Buddha's enlightened vision. carrying the self forward and experience married things as delusion. So, you know, while Buddhists have these teachings in mind, sometimes we go for kind of, you know, a downshift.

[21:25]

So we kind of got it that that's gross to, you know, really be grabbing things and stuffing them in bags and things. That's too much. So we're more subtle in our possessiveness. Like, we become possessive of our virtues. You know, purity and holiness and, you know, our attendance record, dharma transmission. Like, subtle. And kind of really fool yourself. My Shakyamuni Buddha. My precious. And Suzuki Roshi called these gaining ideas. Which in our case is... Dharma students refers to particularly the gaining idea of becoming enlightened, which is so tricky because that's why we're here. It's what we're going to be trying to do all week. Right? No? What are you doing?

[22:26]

Anyway, I hope you're here to get enlightened, but, you know, we have to know how it works. We have to know the tricks of the tree, of the enlightenment tree. So one of the things is that desire is the opposite direction. Wanting to get enlightened is the problem. It's like those Chinese finger puzzles. The more you pull, the tighter they get. So the instruction is you have to let go. You have to release. You have to renounce and raise the white flag. Surrender. I love that scene in The Wizard of Oz with the black smoke. The witch has written, surrender Dorothy, you know. Surrender. Give up. It's the last thing we want to do. The eagle does not want to surrender. So that's the problem. Pema Chodron says that renunciation is to renounce that which doesn't work, you know.

[23:30]

And trying to get something doesn't work. Well, it's kind of funny because one reason it doesn't work is that you've already got it. So we have to remind ourselves again and again to be aware and appreciative of what's already here, of who we already are, what we already have. Right now, at this very moment, this is it. I'm going to keep saying that, you know, just this is it, just this is it. I write it down every time somebody says it. Just this is it. And it's been ours from the very beginning. You know, from that first breath of fresh air. Like our little girl just took a few weeks ago. That's it. Got it. You're here. We're so glad. We're so happy. Each baby arrives. Each of us arrived and there was a great cheer from the universe.

[24:34]

A baby. But we get used to it. It used to be in here. Suzuki Roshi, our effort and practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement. Usually when you want to do something, you want to achieve something. You attach to some result. Moving from achievement to non-achievement means to be rid of the unnecessary and bad results of such an effort. When there is no gaining idea in what you do, then you do something. In zazen, what you are doing is not for the sake of anything. You may feel as though you're doing something special, but actually it's only an expression of your true nature. It is the activity that appeases your innermost desires. But as long as you think you're practicing zazen for the sake of something, for some achievement, this is not true practice. There's also another kind of gaining an idea which is not so awesome.

[25:44]

And that is this desire for some recognition of our attainments. Wanting to be seen for having gotten somewhere. And in the old tradition of the Pali Canon, making claims of one's spiritual prowess was actually one of the five gravest faults. And it was, you know, the penalty was permanent expulsion from the community. It was considered that important not to do that. So I think the best advice that I can give to me and you is preferably not to say anything to anybody. Don't tell anybody. And let your friends and your teachers tell you how you're doing, whether you're ready for a celebration or not. I think we're really lucky to be in the Soto Zen tradition because celebrating one's enlightenment only takes place long after you're dead. In fact, the only thing you'll get here is something like being head of a crew.

[26:51]

That's kind of it. Tenzo, Ino, Garden. Those are the prizes that we hand out. Practice period after practice period. And you've already got them. You've already got them. So one other thing I wanted to mention is that in the last 20 years or so at Zen Center, we've also begun to articulate the ten prohibitory precepts in the affirmation, to give them kind of a softer tone, rather than don'ts as dos. And I think we recited those when we did jivkai with Raida. We did what they call the ten clear mind precepts. And I've also done them often for weddings or funerals. And people who aren't used to the Buddhist language find it pretty harsh, all this list of don't do this, don't do that. So, the prohibitory precept of not being possessive is to practice generosity. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I vow to be generous in all material and spiritual matters.

[27:59]

I really appreciated last summer when Chohako Kumara came to Gringotts for the Genzoe. He said, in Soto Zen, we emphasize doing good rather than not doing evil. By staying busy doing good, we are left with very little time for doing evil. So I think this is how it works here, you know? We are so busy doing good, right? It's working really well. I mean, we're busy, very busy, and we're very good. Pretty nice combination. So we'll keep that up. We'll just stay busy. I wanted to close today with a story that's my favorite story from the Buddhist tradition. And because it had such a big impact on me when I first came to Zen Center, I lived in the building for a few months. I was pretty confused about the kind of core teachings. You know, that doesn't clear up. I was trying to understand what was the heart of this practice, because the thing that they call the Heart Sutra didn't seem very warm-hearted at all.

[29:12]

It was unintelligible. So we practiced chanting the Heart Sutra, and I'm like, well, what do these people care about? We didn't have the Metta Sutta in those days. That was a later addition. So we did the full moon ceremony one evening up on the roof. I don't remember who was the doshi. This is way, way back when. But the person told this story, it's a Jataka tale, before we did the full moon ceremony. And there's still time for you to go notice what I'm going to tell you about the moon. I was looking at it this morning. So as I say, this had a really big impact on my sense of what the heartfelt purpose or I hate to say mission, but kind of like... the mission of my practice. It came from this story, and it's called How the Bunny Got the Moon. Once long, long ago, a monkey, an otter and a jackal, and a rabbit, resolved to practice charity on the day of the full moon, believing a demonstration of great virtue would earn them a great deal of merit.

[30:23]

When an old man entered the forest baking for food, the monkey gathered fruit from the trees, the otter collected fish, while the jackal pilfered a pot of milk curd from a nearby farmhouse, having called out in a not-so-very-loud voice, Does this belong to anyone? I added that, actually. The rabbit, on the other hand, who knew only how to gather grass, felt very sad at having nothing to offer the old man, until realizing that she could offer her own body. By throwing herself into the fire, that the old man had built to keep himself warm, thereby giving him something to eat. And just as the rabbit leapt into the air, the old man revealed himself to be Chakra, lord of the gods, who then saved the rabbit by transforming the flames into lotus petals. Chakra, being deeply touched by the rabbit's virtue, uses a nearby mountain to form a likeness of the rabbit on the face of the moon for all to see.

[31:27]

It is said that the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that arose when the rabbit cast herself into the flames. Have you all seen the rabbit in the moon? Has anyone not seen the rabbit in the moon? Yeah? Well, take a look. It's a great rabbit. I mean, we all have been taught to look at the old man in the moon. But the rabbit, the ears are here, and then there's the haunches are here. So when you look up... And particularly when it's full, it's very clear. It's a wonderful rabbit chick. That's how it got there. So I think the question I propose we should consider for ourselves is, you know, what is being asked of me? What's being asked of me? Like now, what is it you're asking of me? And I think, well, if you really know what it was, then you might also know that you've already got it. If you practice Zazen, you are Buddha.

[32:30]

Even though you don't practice Zazen, you are Buddha. We ourselves are Buddha. Nothing interesting. It's too common. Enlightenment is to know how important it is to do common things and to be interested in something very usual, like drinking water. When you're interested in something new, different, or powerful, you are repeating the same mistakes over and over again. That is how we human beings became lost, this way or that way. So that's why I tell you to stay here. Before you're interested in something unusual, you should be a usual person, and you should have very strong confidence in yourself. So, you know, I think zazen really is the practice of generosity, of not being possessive of anything. And a mind that results from this practice, this generous practice, is very open, it's very flexible, and it's ready to receive whatever comes to it.

[33:36]

So for us, the bell rings, we stand, we turn, and we face the world of objects once again, but perhaps as if for the very first time. Something fresh, something you've never seen before. All your friends, for example. May the merit of this giving that has been our life together here at Tassajara continue forever. Thank you very much.

[34:10]

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