So this evening we have, this is our last class, probably, and we have three recitations, Greg and David and, oh, I mean, Kathy, Kathy, yeah, is that, am I missing anybody, did anybody else behind here, no, Kathy, David, and Greg, so please. The Buddha addressed Shariputra, such a wonderful law is preached by the Buddha Tathagatas on occasions, just as the Udambara flower is seen but once in long periods.

[01:05]

Shariputra, believe me, all of you, in the Buddha's teaching, no word is false. The meaning of the laws the Buddhas preach, the Buddhas expound as opportunity serves is not easy to understand, wherefore, I expound the laws, I don't remember quite what comes next, I expound the laws by numberless tactful ways

[02:22]

and with various reasonings and parabolic expressions. The laws cannot be understood by the power of thought or discrimination, only the Buddhas can discern them, wherefore, the Buddhas, only on account of the one great cause appear in the world, Shariputra, why say that the Buddhas, only on account of the one great cause appear in the world, because the Buddhas desire to cause all living beings to open

[03:26]

to the Buddha knowledge and gain the pure, therefore, they appear in the world, they desire to cause, they desire to show all living beings the Buddha knowledge, because they desire to cause all living beings to apprehend the Buddha knowledge, they appear in the world, because they desire to cause all living beings to enter the way of the Buddha knowledge, they appear in the world, Shariputra, this is why, only on account of the one great matter, the Buddhas appear in the world, the Buddha addressed Shariputra, the Buddhas only teach Bodhisattvas,

[04:45]

whatever they do is always for one purpose, that is to take the Buddha knowledge and reveal it to all living beings. I chose my recitation from the Threefold Lotus Sutra, the third part is called the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, I think we know Bodhisattva Universal Virtue better by the name of Samantabhadra. The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is boundless in the size of his body, boundless in the sound of his voice and boundless in the form of his image, desiring to come to this world, he uses his free transcendent power to shrink his image,

[06:04]

his stature to the small size of a human being, because the people in Jambudvipa have the three heavy hindrances, by his wisdom power, he appears transformed as mounted on a white elephant. The elephant has six tusks and on its seven legs supports its body on the ground, under its seven legs seven lotus flowers grow, the elephant is white as snow, the most brilliant of all shades of white, so pure that even crystal and the Himalaya mountains cannot be compared with it. The body of the elephant is 450 yojanas in length and 400 yojanas in height, at the end of the six tusks there are six bathing pools,

[07:17]

in each bathing pool 14 lotus flowers grow, each exactly the size of the pool, these flowers are in full bloom as the king of celestial trees, on each of these flowers is a precious daughter, whose countenance is red as crimson and whose radiance surpasses that of nymphs, in the hand of that daughter there appear transformed of themselves five harps, and each of them has 500 musical instruments as accompaniment, there are 500 birds including ducks, wild geese and mandarin ducks, all having the color of precious things arising among flowers and leaves,

[08:28]

on the trunk of the elephant there is a lotus flower, that golden flower is still a bud and has not yet blossomed, if having finished beholding this matter, one meditates on the Mahayana attentively with great devotion and ponders it in her mind incessantly, she will be able to see the flower blossom instantly and light up with a golden color. Chapter 16 Since I attained Buddhahood, the kalpas through which I have passed are infinite thousands of myriads of kotis of asamkhyeya years,

[09:38]

ceaselessly preached I the law and taught countless kotis of creatures to enter the way of the Buddha, since then are unmeasured kalpas, in order to save all creatures by tactful methods I reveal nirvana, yet truly I am not yet extinct, but forever here preaching the law, I forever remain in this world using all my spiritual powers, so that all perverted creatures, though I am near, yet fail to see me, all looking on me as extinct, everywhere worship my relics, all cherishing longing desires and beget thirsting hearts of hope, when all creatures have believed in a maid, in character upright and of mind gentle, wholeheartedly wishing to see the Buddha, not caring for their own lives, then I with all the sangha appear together on the divine vulture peak, and then I tell all creatures that I exist forever in this world, by the power of tactful methods, revealing myself extinct and not extinct, if in other regions there are beings, reverent and with faith aspiring,

[10:40]

again I am in their midst to preach the supreme law, you, not hearing of this, only say I am extinct, I behold all living creatures sunk in the sea of suffering, hence I do not reveal myself, but set them all aspiring, till, when their hearts are longing, I appear to preach the law, in such supernaturally pervading power, throughout asenkyaya kalpas, I am always on the divine vulture peak, and in every other dwelling place, when all the living see at the kalpa's end the conflagration when it is burning, tranquil is this realm of mine, ever filled with heavenly beings, parks and many palaces with every kind of gem adorned, precious trees full of blossoms and fruits, where all creatures take their pleasure, all the gods strike the heavenly drums and evermore make music, showering mandorava flowers on the Buddha and his great assembly, my pure land will never be destroyed, yet all view it as being burnt up, and grief and horror and distress fill them all like this,

[11:40]

all those sinful creatures, by reason of their evil karma, throughout asenkyaya kalpas, hear not the name of the precious tree, but all who perform virtuous deeds, and are gentle and of upright nature, these all see that I exist, and am here expounding the law, at times, for all this wrong, I preach the Buddha's life is eternal, to those who at length see the Buddha, I preach that a Buddha is rarely met, my intelligence power is such, my wisdom light shines infinitely, my light is of countless kalpas, through long cultivated karma obtained, you who have intelligence do not in this regard beget doubt, but bring it forever to an end, for the Buddha's words are true, not false, like the physician who would clever device, in order to cure his demented sons, though indeed alive announces his own death, yet cannot be charged with falsehood, I too being father of this world, who heals all misery and affliction, for the sake of the perverted creatures, though truly alive, say I am extinct,

[12:43]

lest because always seeing me, they should beget arrogant minds, be dissolute and set in their five desires, and fall into evil paths, I ever knowing all beings, those who walk or walk not in the way, through the right principles of salvation, expound their every law, ever making this my thought, how shall I cause all the living, to enter the way supreme, and speedily accomplish their Buddhahood, Thank you all very much. A couple of things that I wanted to mention, as you probably know if you've looked at the calendar of the practice period,

[13:44]

I'll be leaving tomorrow for a few days, 4th, 5th, 6th, back on the 7th probably, or maybe the 8th morning, so there's applications meeting for the Green Gulch practice period, and also some family things, so I'll just be gone a couple of days, but I'm sorry to leave, I feel like we've been coursing along together with the weather and all, and I know that we'll kind of, I'll be outside of that climate, I noticed that there's a micro-climate when the buckets come in and you put your water in, it's colder in the bucket, I wanted to say something about covering our hands in the Zendo,

[14:50]

I think it was Galen mentioned that at one of the monasteries she practiced at in Japan, there was a day that was announced or was on the calendar that the day you cover your hands in the Zendo, and whether it was cold or not, that was the day you covered your hands. Anyway, I would just like to let you all know that you have permission to cover your hands with your robe sleeves in the Zendo if it's really cold and you're feeling your hands getting really, really cold. I think we've had enough problems with chilblains and all that, anyway, it's fine. And same with socks, I think it's your choice to wear socks into the Zendo, drinking in, but to take them off while you're sitting, so on and off and in your sleeve or whatever. See anything else about the cold?

[15:58]

Scarves. I think, you know, traditionally the head, hands and feet are bare, you know, so you want to have a cool head, and I think not to have the scarves up kind of around like masks. I think people have been wearing scarves and shawls somewhat, but I think this idea of the head cool should be maintained. Is that no scarf? I don't think I'm saying, not too high, yeah. Socks while serving. I think that's server's choice, socks while serving. But not while eating. Yeah, but take them off while you're tucked up. Although I think for dinner a couple of times I've left them on just because it's such a short meal, but yeah. You mean server's while eating? No, I mean eating while eating. And also neutral colors, neutral color socks.

[17:03]

Also, I just wanted to mention that I guess it's 33 years ago, 33 years ago tomorrow morning during the first period of Zazen, I think you all know the story, the first morning of Rohatsu Sashin, Suzuki Oksan, Mitsu Suzuki, Suzuki Roshi's wife, came down to the zendo to get Zentatsu Baker to come quickly, and Suzuki Roshi was dying. And he died that morning during that first period, right at the beginning of the first period. And the whole Sashin, you know, the feeling was that we were given the whole Sashin to integrate it, to sit with that.

[18:09]

I wasn't sitting in the Sashin, but I was living in the building, Page Street. So everybody from the Sashin, everybody in the building came to offer incense and do prostrations. In the room where he died, with the body. So tomorrow morning, we had our afternoon service, and tomorrow morning is the commemoration day, the fourth. So I've been just feeling that, and wanted to share that with you. Maybe you've been feeling it too. So, I've realized that all the big plans about what we're going to get to and finish, we haven't finished reciting,

[19:16]

we haven't, or up to chapter, we just finished chapter 12, we're up to 13 and 14. So I'm just going to relax with it, and we'll see where we get during the Sashin, but we'll just carry on. But there is something that I wanted to share with you about study and about memorization. You know, in the Lotus Sutra it says so often to read, recite, copy, expound, memorize. And hearing people recite from memory, each time the words have come in in a fresh way. It's different from reading the text, to hear somebody who's digested it, learned it by heart, and then it comes out with a heart feeling that's different than just reading it. So, I wanted to share with you something that I've found extraordinarily helpful,

[20:18]

and maybe some of you have seen this. This was a paper, an exploration of sacred reading, by Jocko Kintz, Judith Kintz, many of you know her. This was done for her Masters or her PhD at CIIS. And maybe I'll Xerox this and post it, but she's taking a practice called Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, which is a Christian monastic practice, and probably some version of this from different traditions. But she's taken it and talked about it in terms of Buddhist practice. And Kosho, she cites you in this. Did you ever read this paper? She thanks Jack McCall for... I'll get to the place where she cites you. But anyway, in terms of memorizing and reading the Lotus Sutra and study, and how we study in study hall, I just have found this so helpful. So I just wanted to go over a few points with you.

[21:24]

And I thought of doing it in lecture, but I thought you might want to write things down, because you often bring pencil and paper here. So basically, the practice of sacred reading is distinguished by the way that you read something, not necessarily the material itself. And there's... I'm kind of condensing all this. She talks a lot about the Christian practice, and then she goes into her own sense of how to do this as a Buddhist practitioner. And she cites a number of things from the Lotus Sutra about, you know, read, recite, and also Dogen talking about the sutra, having the sutra become your bones. You know, they make stupas for sutras called kaityas, I think, where you put the sutra in the stupa. And then Dogen talks about having your very bones be the sutra, having it be that part of your life.

[22:32]

So there's a book she's citing called Seven Principles of Lectio Divina, The Undivided Heart by a man named Michael Casey. And there's seven principles, so that's what I wanted to go over with you. So the first is, sacred reading is intended not to support limited subjective understanding, but to crack open that understanding and that experience of life. And through this kind of study or reading, partial understandings are cleared up. This is also a way to work with koans, I think. And the practitioner is enfolded, exposed, and permeated by the fullness of the teaching. So the practitioner has to be willing to spend time with the texts, and to enter into a relationship with the teaching.

[23:37]

And this, in fact, most probably will include work that causes discomfort, that challenge ordinary notions of the world. If the books are chosen that are perceived as trustworthy, then the practitioner can open to them even if they contradict our assumptions. And I think Dogen and Suzuki Roshi do talk about feeling forced, sometimes where you hear the teaching and you feel like you're being forced to look at something that doesn't coincide with your assumptions. So the first principle addresses the need to suspend one's preconceived notions about oneself and the world, and take a receptive stance. The point of sacred reading is to infuse one's life with the teachings, with the aim of transforming one's experience. So if you trust the text, you can go into it in this way.

[24:45]

A willingness to be adventurous. Principle two, sacred reading is an ongoing and consistent immersion. It's meant to nourish and sustain the practitioner in the deepest way, and may not appear to the ordinary mind to have an immediate effect. So this is the way the Shrutamaya pressure that comes in, and then there's the turning and reflecting before you make it Bhavanamaya. So you may not feel that it's working in you. It takes a while. A degree of patience and a willingness to persevere, even in periods of dryness, must be cultivated if the full benefit of sacred reading is to be realized. As with most aspects of contemplative life, being in a hurry for results is a sure way to produce discouragement and distraction. And the analogy that this fellow Michael Casey uses is of good sustaining meals rather than little snacks.

[25:55]

And I think in an earlier passage, it was that Dharma was like food, you know, this nourishing food. I think we often feel like we're hungry. You know, we use that term and we taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. It is nourishment and food. Principle three, sacred reading is a response to a Buddhist practitioner's deepest intention, the vow to realize Buddha's way in order to free all beings. So the Bodhisattva vow. So this intention is the basis for the sacred reading that suffuses the entire endeavor. So the study then becomes part of religious activity. It's not, sacred reading is not a means of self-development. But instead a way in which the practitioner can better express her or his intention.

[27:00]

Principle four, sacred reading brings the teaching into intimate contact with the practitioner's daily life, increasing the likelihood that it, meaning the life, will be transformed. It's not meant to increase knowledge, nor the attainment of intellectual insights. So this is contrasting, you know, chasing after intellectual understanding and meaning with, you know, transforming our life rather than getting more knowledge and self-development or intellectual insights. The aim is to allow the written teachings to enter fully the practitioner's life in order that wisdom may grow. This wisdom comes from close and direct contact with the teachings on a daily basis.

[28:04]

Contact with the full range of human experience, positive and negative, lofty and mundane. Principle five, sacred reading is done with a sense of ease and leisure. Ease and what? Leisure. Leisure. Leisure. It is not done with a purpose or goal in the usual sense. The atmosphere is one of quiet and stillness, not production or busyness. The idea is not to get through the text, but to allow it to sink into and permeate consciousness. The practitioner takes the time to reflect on a phrase or line, perhaps copying out to be carried and read. She or he stays with a passage to work, no, stays with a passage or works, work that sparks real interest and inspiration. And then she cites Jack McCall saying the phrase no gaining idea is one way of understanding the way to practice this sacred reading

[29:21]

where you don't have a goal, you simply attend to the present. The connection between this phrase and the practice of Lectio Divina was pointed out to me by a fellow Zen practitioner, Jack McCall, and captures, I believe, the essential attitude necessary for sacred reading. The cultivation of a spirit of curiosity, spaciousness and rest become a part of the learning that occurs in taking up the practice of sacred reading. It's very different from trying to read to get it, understand it fast and this leisure and ease and taking just one line. Principle six, sacred reading involves the whole body-mind. The physical setting and posture are important. And she says often conceived of as body denying, contemplative practice is instead deeply physical event.

[30:22]

The entire being is participating in the reading and must be attended to. The practitioner may choose to read softly to themselves, mouthing the words. A particular space or posture different than that used for other study, which sometimes we might study, you know, lying down in bed or, you know, but to take maybe a different posture for this kind of Lectio Divina. This encourages an attitude of relaxed awareness. Attention to breath at regular intervals may also aid in involving all aspects of being. And then principle number seven. If some aspect of a text is particularly inspiring, it can be helpful to commit it to memory. Memorization of a phrase, line or passage allows the words to sink into the deepest layers of consciousness and to emerge spontaneously throughout the day and perhaps the night in sleep.

[31:34]

So those are the seven principles. And then she describes a Cistercian monk. Or actually, somebody is describing and she's quoting their practice. One begins by reading a passage from Scripture, maybe only a few sentences. Then one expresses one's response either in words or by reflection. This takes place in an atmosphere of silence and solitude, which intensifies the power of the text. Little by little, one comes to rest in a single thought or a single aspiration suggested by the text. Finally, one might rest in a single word. This is what the tradition of the early Christian church meant by contemplative prayer. It is the loving attention to the mystery with a minimal amount of thinking. Thus, one gently nurses oneself, so to speak, into deeper and deeper interior silence.

[32:43]

Until one might move into a deeper intuition. A door might open inside and one falls into a moment or two or longer of no reflection. Then you come out again. The reading of Scripture has always been a part of Christian practice. So I found that very interesting, this going in and in and staying with one word. And then a door opens into understanding or into, she calls it cracking open, the understanding of the text where it reveals itself, it opens to you. And I think it takes, I'm finding with the Lotus, it's the initial reactions and initial relationship with it have changed by just spending time with it. And I find these seven things very, really inspiring, going to try that slowness.

[33:45]

And I think I mentioned to somebody about just take one line, one phrase that you feel there is some response to and just stay with that. So, would you like to see, should I post this? Maybe I can leave this with Nancy to Xerox and post. Could you speak just a little bit louder? Yes. Or move me. Or move you? Do you want to sit here? I'll try to speak louder. I was hoping we'd have an art show. I was thinking of either the day after Seshim, that ninth, I mean that's not, the ninth is the day before Seshim, but the 17th is the day off?

[34:50]

17th, yeah, maybe that day, just people bring, people I know have been working on some art things and to put them out in the dining room. Does that sound good? Is that, what do you think? Okay, so maybe we'll do that the day after Seshim? Okay, good. Maybe people bring them in the morning, we can put them up by supper. Oh, to actually hang them? I was thinking of having them on the tables. I don't know if we have a breakfast or a dinner that day. The day after Seshim, a dinner. Dinner, okay. Anyway, that was one thought, just have them out, or post, whatever. But it might be nice if we could keep them up for the show. Oh, then we should hang them there if it's okay with the walls, David. We use blue tape. Blue tape. And we can also use the top of the bookshelf. Oh, yeah, to prop. Okay, good. Yes, is that good? Should we do that after Seshim? Okay. So the chapters I was hoping to get to tonight,

[35:56]

I don't think we have to belabor these particular two chapters, 13 and 14. In fact, Thich Nhat Hanh says about 14, it's not one of the outstanding chapters. Those of you who've read it maybe know why. But Chapter 13, you know, Chapter 12 was kind of inserted later. So I don't know if you remember, but at the end of Chapter 11, the Buddha is saying, he's talking about how wonderful it is to preach the Lotus Sutra and basically asks, kind of, is there anybody who will do that? Let me see if I can find that little spot. In Chapter 11, yes, I put a marker here on page 203. No, 205. All my good sons, let's see.

[37:00]

From the beginning till now have widely preached many sutras, but amongst them all, this sutra is the chief, and if anyone is able to keep it, then he keeps the Buddha's body. All my good sons, let him who, after my extinction, is able to receive and keep, read and recite this sutra, now in the presence of the Buddha, announce his own vow. This sutra is difficult to keep. If anyone keeps it a short time, I shall be pleased. And so will all the Buddhists. Such a one as this will be praised by all the Buddhists and so forth. So he calls out, anybody who's going to do this, make your vow. I want to hear about it, and I'm going to be really happy if you do. And then we skip to Devadatta. It's like, well, what happened? Well, in 13, we pick it up again. In the chapter, Exhortation to Hold Firm, which is translated in different ways, encouragement for keeping this sutra, fortitude is another translation,

[38:04]

encouraging devotion is another. So it starts out with, it's almost as if the Devadatta and the Naga and all that, you know, is not referred to anymore. And we have Medicine King and Great Eloquence, who are in Chapter 11, and they make this vow, be pleased, World Honored One, and to be without anxiety, because after the Buddha's extinction, we will keep, read, recite, and preach this sutra in the age of decline, in the evil age, or mapo, when it's going to be hard to do this, we will do it. And then 20,000 other bodhisattvas made the vow to do this, and they also said that they will not spare their body or life in order to do this. It's a very strong vow to just, whatever it takes, they're going to do it. And then other predicted arhats make the same vow, 500 of those,

[39:07]

and then 8,000 shravakas make the vow. So a lot of these people come forth to make this vow that they will propagate, they will preach and carry it. And then there's this interesting part here where Mahapajapati, who's in the assembly, and Yasodhara, the Buddha's foster mother and ex, and his former wife, where both nuns are in the assembly with their 6,000 bhiksunis, and it's a very kind of, I don't know, I found it kind of a moving image. Mahapajapati, the sister of the Buddha's mother and her 6,000 bhiksunis, training and trained, you know, those in training, rose up from their seats with one mind, folded their hands, and gazed up to the honored face without removing their eyes for a moment. This is all in the air, right?

[40:07]

They're just gazing in the Buddha's face without moving their eyes away. And then the Buddha says, then the world-honored one addressed the Gautami, Why with sad countenance do you gaze at the Tathagata? Are you not thinking to say that I have not mentioned your name and predicted for you perfect enlightenment? Gautami, I've already inclusively announced that the future of all Shravakas is predicted. Now you who desire to know your future destiny shall, in the world to come, become a great teacher of the law. And so for then she's predicted to be a great teacher, and she will gradually become perfect in the Bodhisattva way, and will become a Buddha, entitled, and then her name is Loveliness Tathagata. And I thought somehow, so this is like, you know, after the Naga Princess and all, this is full prediction for Mahapajapati,

[41:09]

and her name is Loveliness Tathagata. And I felt that even though they don't say it, it sounds like she might stay as a woman and not be changed into a male. It alludes to the fact that maybe so, because she's called Loveliness Tathagata, which has a feminine quality to it. Anyway, and then all her 6,000 bhiksunis also are predicted, and they will attain perfect enlightenment. And thereupon the mother of Rahula, is it Yasho? It's got a line over it. I always say Yasodhara, but it's got a mark over the S. Is it Yasodhara? We always say Yas. The bhiksuni Yasodhara reflected thus, the world-honored one in his predictions has left my name alone unmentioned. So after all these beings that he's predicted, thousands, you know,

[42:15]

his ex-wife, you know, she's the last one. And Thich Nhat Hanh has something to say about it, which I'll bring up in a minute. Then the Buddha said to Yasodhara, you, in the laws of the hundred thousand myriads of kotis, of Buddhas in the world to come by your doing of bodhisattva deeds, shall become a great teacher of the law, gradually become perfect in the Buddha way, and in the domain good, that's the name of her domain, and become a Buddha entitled the perfect myriad-rayed Thich Nhat Hanh. That's her name, so he predicts her. And then the two of them, Mahapajapati and Yasodhara, together with their whole retinue also say, they rejoice greatly, and then they say, we will also publish abroad the sutra in the land. So we're going to do this difficult deed as well. I think one thing Thich Nhat Hanh mentions, and I wanted to bring it up because he says also for Rahula and Ananda,

[43:22]

who were kind of predicted last in that group, the last group of Shravakas and so forth, they were the last ones. He mentions that sometimes the people who are the closest to us, who know us from back when, who knew us when we were kids or whatever, and family members, it's the hardest to have them kind of understand what we're doing. And I think, or accept, or because it's so close, when it's a little bit further away, like he mentions Manjushri, the teacher-student relationship with Manjushri and the Naga princess, it's just very clear. He preaches the law, there's a very clean kind of relationship. But with our relatives and people who knew us back home, it's a little more difficult. And I know that people find this to be the case, that sometimes our parents, brothers and sisters,

[44:26]

close friends from high school, whatever, they don't get it. They knew you when, and it's like, come on, get off this religious stuff. I know you. So it's sometimes hard to go back home, or they're very upset, or they're threatened, or they're fearful, or whatever. Do you know what I mean? So I've never done a Dharma talk in Minnesota, in St. Paul or Minneapolis. Reb often has. You know, Minneapolis is Reb's hometown, and he's taught there, taught at Minneapolis Zen Center, taught at Clouds and Water in the Twin Cities. And all these people I know who went to high school with him go to the talks, you know. But he can pull it off. Anyway, this year I was invited to Clouds and Water in St. Paul, and I'm going to do a three-day thing there, and also dedicate this new... And she's opening this little meditation center across from my grade school,

[45:37]

right across the street. Anyway, so I'm going to see what it's like to go back to St. Paul and do some teachings. I don't know how it's going to be if people are going to come there who knew me when. We'll see. So I was thinking about this in terms of Mahapajapati and Yasodhara. Around the holiday time, people may be thinking about, you know, the difficulties of going back in a new mode, you know, with new focus, new priorities, new financial situation maybe, different things, and how those changes are kind of hard for relatives maybe. So those points in Chapter 13 are of interest, and then it goes into a long thing,

[46:38]

the verse and 80 lines, which are the kinds of difficulties that all these people vowed to preach, the Lotus are going to find. They are going to have great difficulties teaching the Lotus Sutra. They will be reviled. They will have people maybe hitting them with sticks and staves. And there's three kinds of beings, mostly that are going to give them the difficulties, that are people who are arrogant and think that they know what's going on and don't accept any other kinds of teachings, and they're both clergy and hermits and just ordinary people, laity. And in Chinese, there's 20 verses, and these particular verses, in reading about them,

[47:42]

Nichiren, who was, Mount Hiei was the Lotus school, and Dogen studied there and took up the Lotus, and Nichiren also studied there. Nichiren took up the Lotus Sutra very, very fervently and preached it, and he was persecuted, actually, and his followers were persecuted. In fact, I was reading where, in the 1500s, there was a massive persecution of Nichiren followers where 21 temples were burned to the ground and 10,000 Nichiren followers were killed and I didn't realize the extent of this kind of persecution, but major, and Nichiren himself was arrested and all sorts of things.

[48:48]

Anyway, Nichiren felt about these particular, it's 80 lines in the English, but it's 20 lines in the Chinese, were about him, that he actually lived this out, this was like a prediction of something that would happen, and these very things happened to him. In fact, one story is that he was arrested and Lotus Sutra's chapters were in his pockets, and it was, I think, a military arrest, and the soldier took the Lotus Sutra and slapped him across the face with these, and it was this chapter that had, that you would be hit and, you know, so forth. So he felt sort of vindicated or whatever because that's what the Buddha said, and he was living it out, so in some ways it was okay for him. So that's what these lines are about here on page 218, 19, and 20.

[49:50]

And this exhortation to hold firm, it's this strong determination and vow to continue in the face of this kind of problem. Yes? I just wanted to mention this, and I also read that he wanted to outlaw, he wanted all of the other schools of Buddhism outlawed. So, I mean, it's amazing the way he read the Lotus Sutra as his life, but they were kind of, it seemed to me, two sides of it. Yes, in other words, there were conditions why there was so much antagonism and so forth. But it is very inspiring. You know, I don't know very much about Nichiren, or is it Soka Gakkai now, the school? I'm not all that familiar with it, I've just been reading a little bit as I've been reading about the Lotus.

[50:52]

So, yeah. So these various enemies, arrogant people, and so forth. We were trying to end at 8.30. Let me just do Chapter 14, do it really kind of quickly, and then in Sashin we'll get on to 15 and 16 and keep going. This is the one that Thich Nhat Hanh says is not very outstanding, and it's translated as a happy life in kato, also comfortable conduct, peaceful practices. And so Manjushri starts out saying how rare it is that these bodhisattvas are going to preach in such difficult situations, and how can they do this? And this is kind of advice of how to be a bodhisattva preaching.

[51:53]

And the problem with this is, and Thich Nhat Hanh says it, it reflects a lot of the cultural biases and so forth, but we can extract, and I read some of these other commentaries where they don't do the specifics because it names various people that you don't have contact with and so forth, and I think that's why it's not so inspiring. But to pull out some underlying principles, you might say, of preaching or teaching. So the first, it talks about the sphere of action and the sphere of intimacy or wholesome deeds and relating to people, sphere of intimacy. And in the sphere of action, the bodhisattva should be patient, abides in a state of patience, gentleness and agreeable, neither hasty nor overbearing, a mind that's imperturbable, and so forth.

[52:56]

So it starts out that way. And then in this sphere of intimacy, it talks about the kind of situations you shouldn't get into, and it names all sorts of people that you shouldn't necessarily have contact with unless they come and ask for dharma, then that's okay. But it's a little hard to read some of the fishermen and people who keep pigs and things like that. But the second part, and also very worldly people, people who have a lot of influence and kings and high, it's possible to be influenced by power. And so the admonitions are, be careful about these kinds of situations where you can be swayed and curry favor and get something. The only way you offer the dharma,

[53:56]

you don't do it for reward or for getting some benefit. So I think there's in the guide, the little book, he pulls out what he calls ten admonitions for how to do this kind of preaching. And he says, be alert to not be taken in by extreme ideas. So instead of naming various people that you're supposed to stay away from, just to have in mind to be alert to being influenced by extremes. And also it mentions not seeing things like wrestling and boxing and things that are disturbing. I think that watching military exercises and war and things like that are mentioned not in the Lotus necessarily, but the Buddha mentions these kinds of things to be very careful about. And I think of them also in terms of the media, not taking in certain images, whether you're watching a live combat or watching a movie of combat,

[55:02]

those images come in very, very strongly and can be disturbing. So having some care in that. And also careful in relations, in terms of whether there's sexual arousal or provoking desire. And they mention, this is one of those where it talks about women, not, but aside from which gender we're talking about, the admonition, I think the underlying point is if there's, you don't want to be teaching or preaching the Dharma and arousing people sexually or by whatever means provoking desire in others or if you are being aroused sexually to be careful about that. And we know of all sorts of stories and groups that have had difficulties over this kind of issue.

[56:04]

So that's mentioned in this, but it's mentioned mostly about women. If when you're alone, like being invited to some home or to go alone, to be ever mindful of the Buddha. And then there's a whole, these are four methods of being careful in your deeds, then your speech, your mind and vows. These are these four methods that are described in this chapter. And this one with your mind is to not take pleasure in criticizing or digging out what's wrong or the defects with somebody else's teaching. This is not the way you teach if you're going to teach. You don't go after and try to trip somebody up by what they've left out or not digging out defects of others

[57:08]

and detecting the fine points and the errors and so forth. That's not the spirit with which you teach. Not having contempt for others who explain the teaching. Be circumspect in criticizing either good or bad, praising or blaming, be circumspect. Never reply randomly to any question, no matter how difficult, but respond truly and according to the Dharma. And be moved by your vow to free all beings. So those are these four methods of the body, the mouth, the mind and the vow. And they're also called pleasant ministry or pleasant practice of speech, the pleasant ministry or pleasant practice of thought.

[58:11]

And under this sphere of intimacy, it also talks about, and I'll end here, being very careful about approaching people and then having emptiness in mind all the time. And it has this paragraph about emptiness that I want to read. It's on page 223. This is under intimacy. And it says, this is the second grade of intimacy. Further, a Bodhisattva, Mahasattva contemplates all existences as void, appearances as they really are, neither upside down nor moving nor receding nor turning, just like space of the nature of nothingness, cut off from the course of all words and expressions, unborn, not coming forth, not arising, nameless, formless, really without existence, unimpeded, infinite, boundless, unrestrained,

[59:17]

only existing by causation and produced through perversion of thought. Therefore, say constantly to delight in the contemplation of things or laws such as these is termed a Bodhisattva, Mahasattva's second sphere of intimacy. So you're intimate and careful about all these and protect yourself and yourself from situations and not receive anything that you shouldn't be receiving for the Dharma and see all things as empty at all times. That's the second part of intimacy, including men and women. So those are 13 and 14. I guess the last part is whoever does this reading, reciting and so forth

[60:18]

will be very attractive and watched over by devas and the Buddha will guard you even if the Buddha isn't in that realm from far away, the Buddha will guard you. So these two chapters, one is this exhortation and this strong thing in the face of being hit by staffs and run out of town and the other is a more peaceful way of how you teach this. Okay, so tomorrow I'll be leaving probably about nine o'clock or so. I think the shiso is going to drive me out and have a good personal day and next couple of days. Thank you very much.

[61:23]

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