Good morning. So, this weekend, we are observing the Buddha's Parinirvana, as it is seen in the sort of northern Buddhist tradition. His Parinirvana means roughly, well, you could take it as his death or his passing from this realm of existence. In the Southern tradition, they roll all the holidays up into one, as Vesak, which during which they observe his enlightenment, his birth, his enlightenment, and his death. And usually that falls sometime in April or May, according to lunar calendar.

[01:03]

But in the Northern tradition, which Zen partakes, we break these up into three events. So, In the course of this weekend, we're going to study a couple of different narratives about his parinirvana and also perspectives and teachings from Dogen. And I'd like to begin with a poem because Recently, I returned from Asia, and I got about as sick as I've been in my travels, and as I was sort of Mostly, as I was pushing through these airports, I had reason to think, well, not so much of my paranirvana, but of my conceivable imminent passing, which turned out

[02:22]

Fortunately, it wasn't as imminent as it might have seemed. But to start off with this poem, because I was looking, and we'll talk about these. One of the practices of a Zen priest is at the beginning of a year, you write a death poem. And you put it someplace where Someone can find it. Just in case death catches you unawares, you've got it taken care of. When you go on pilgrimage, actually, you carry this death poem, and you also carry a small packet of money so that your funeral costs won't be a burden to anyone. So keep that in mind. Anyway, I happened to find while I was reading the death poem of the great Japanese poet Matsuo Basho and I found it strikingly resonant.

[03:46]

He wrote Falling ill on a journey, my dreams go wandering over withered fields. Falling ill on a journey, my dreams go wandering over withered fields. So, uh, I kind of wrote my own version of this. I'm not sure it's kosher for me to read it to you, but I'm going to anyway, because I stole it from Basho. So there. His estate can sue me. Falling ill on a journey, my dreams wander through vibrant city streets. That's what I might wish. So all of this is preface.

[04:48]

What I'd like to do is to tell you we're going to have a ceremony directly after this, the Parinirvana ceremony, and I think Sue will instruct you in this. Is that right? Afterwards. So I want to say something about nirvana and I want to begin with and tell you some of the highlights of the story of the Theravada or the Pali Sutta version of nirvana. of Buddha's passing. And then, since we're having a study session this afternoon, we'll talk about it from a Mahayana perspective. But this idea of nirvana and parinirvana. So the Buddha, when he awakened under the tree, experienced nirvana, which was the release from all kinds of, from all the hindrances

[05:56]

from doubts and the complete entry into the path of liberation. But this nirvana is technically called nirvana with remainder. And the remainder is, your body. So he is alive, he's free, he is destined to be at the end of any cycles of rebirth, but he still has to live out the life of his body, which he did for another 45 years of traveling and teaching until we get to this point in the narrative. So at that point when his body

[07:06]

disappears. Well, the scholar Rupert Gethin explains, eventually the remainder of life will be exhausted and like all beings such a person must die. But unlike other beings who have not experienced nirvana, He or she will not be reborn into some new life. The physical and mental constituents of being will not come together in some new existence. There will be no new being or person. The five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur. This is the condition of paranirvana or nirvana without the remainder of life. So I think one thing we'll speculate on in the course of this weekend is, how do we think of this and what does it mean to us in terms of our practice? So I'm going to tell this story.

[08:10]

And the story is found in the Pali Mahaparinirvana Sutta, The Last Days of Buddha, which is a fairly long sutta in the Digha Nikaya, in the collection, the sutta basket or sutta pitaka. So when he had entered upon one rainy season, there arose in the Buddha a sharp, a severe illness. Sharp and deadly pains came upon him and he endured them mindfully. And it occurred to him that it would not be fitting if I came to my final passing away without addressing those who have attended on me, without taking leave of the community of monks and nuns. So let me suppress this illness by strength of will and resolve to maintain the life process and live on, at least live on for a time.

[09:21]

So his loyal attendant was Ananda, whom we've heard of many times. And he goes to Ananda and says, now I am frail, Ananda, far gone in years. This is my 80th year, and my life is spent. Even as an old cart is held together with much difficulty, so the body of the Tathagata is kept going only with supports. And so then he exhorts Ananda and the retinue of monks and nuns around him, he says, therefore, Ananda, be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourself, seeking no external refuge. With the Dhamma as your island, the Dhamma as your refuge, seek no other refuge. In other words, he's saying, you will not be able to rely on me in the future, but I have given you what you need.

[10:31]

I have given you this teaching. And then he explains how is a monk or nun an island unto himself. And he talks about He talks about mindfulness. He talks about the Eightfold Path. He talks about overcoming desire and sorrow and becoming an island into oneself. In other words, supporting oneself and not looking outside for any other support. And they begin to travel. The blessed one, getting ready in the forenoon, took a bowl and robe and went into Vesali city for alms.

[11:32]

And then he asked Ananda, he said, take up a mat, Ananda, and let's spend the day at the Kapala shrine. And as they're sitting around, the Buddha says, Whoever Ananda has developed, practiced, employed, strengthened, maintained, scrutinized, and brought to perfection the constituents of psychic power could, if he so desired, remain through a world period or towards the end of it. the Tathagata Ananda has done so. Therefore, the Tathagata could, if he so desired, remain through a world period or until the end of it. And the sutra says, but the venerable Ananda was unable to grasp the plain suggestion given by the blessed one. And so he did not ask the Buddha

[12:35]

May the blessed one remain, O Lord, throughout the world, period, for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, for the well-being and happiness of gods and men. And Ananda, the Buddha repeated his message to Ananda three times. And Ananda does not get the message, alas for us. And then Ananda goes away and throughout the suttas, the Buddha has this kind of evil twin, Mara. And Mara approached the Blessed One and stood at his side and said, now, O Lord, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away.

[13:37]

The time has come for the parinirvana of the Lord. When this was said, the Buddha said to Mara, do not trouble yourself, evil one. Before long, I'm going to die. It's going to happen soon enough, three months from now. And when he spoke this, this is seen as the Buddha's renouncing the will to live. A tremendous earthquake, dreadful and astonishing, rolled across the land and thunder rolled across the sky. And then Ananda, seeing the earthquake and hearing the thunder, says, may the blessed one remain, O Lord. May the happy one remain, O Lord, throughout the world period for the welfare and happiness, so on and so forth.

[14:43]

And he asks him a second time, and he asks him a third time. And the Buddha said, do you have faith, Ananda, in the enlightenment of the Tathagata? And Ananda replied, oh, yes, Lord, I do. Then how can you persist in asking the Tathagata up to a third time? And then Ananda said, but Lord, I have heard and learned from the blessed one himself. When the blessed one said to me, whosoever Ananda has developed, practiced, employed, strengthened, maintained, scrutinized, and brought to perfection the four constituents of psychic power could, if he so desired, remain through a world period or to the end of it. The Tathagata has done so. Therefore, the Tathagata could, if he so desired, remain through a world period or towards the end of it. Now, here's where the Buddha shows his claws.

[15:50]

He says, then Ananda, the fault is yours. Herein you have failed inasmuch as you were unable to grasp the plain suggestion. You did not entreat the Tathagata to remain. If you had done so, he would have consented. Therefore, Ananda, the fault is yours. Herein have you failed. This is a tough burden to sustain, I would say. Then the Buddha comes, he continues his travels, and he gives more teachings. He teaches the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four constituents of psychic power, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Eightfold Path. Constantly throughout this sutra, these are repeated. He's hammering home his basic teachings because that is what is going to remain.

[17:00]

That's what remains to us. And he says to his monks, so because I exhort you, all compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness. The time of my parinirvana is near. Three months hence, the Tathagata will utterly pass away. So then they continue on pilgrimage and they come to the abode at Pava. And they're staying in the mango grove of one Kunda, the metal worker. And the Buddha went and met him, greeted him, and offered teachings. And Kunda says, May the Blessed One, O Lord, please accept my invitation for tomorrow's meal, together with the community of bhikkhus."

[18:09]

And by his silence, the Blessed One consented. And Kunda, the metal worker, after the night had passed, had choice food, hard and soft, prepared in his abode, together with a quantity of sukara-madhava, and announced it to the Blessed One saying, it is time, oh Lord, the meal is ready. So this Sukara Madhava is a, they never quite have figured out what this stuff was. In the notes it says, a controversial term which has been left untranslated. Sukara equals pig. Madhava equals soft, tender, or delicate. Hence, two alternative readings of the compound are possible. The tender parts of a pig or a boar, or two, what is enjoyed by pigs and boars. In the latter term, the meaning has been thought to refer to a mushroom or a truffle.

[19:18]

the blessed one took his bowl and robe and went into the community of bhikkhus to Kunda's house. And there he sat down on the seat prepared for him. And he said to Kunda, you can serve me with the sukara mandava you have prepared. the other food, hard and soft, you may serve the community of bhikkhus. And so, so be it, Lord. And he served the Buddha this sukara-mandava and served the other stuff to everybody else. And then the Buddha said to Kunda, whatever, Kunda, is left over of the sukara-mandava, bury that in a pit. For I do not see in all this world with its gods, Maras, and Brahmas, among the hosts of ascetics and Brahmins, gods and men, anyone who could eat and entirely digest it except the Tathagata.

[20:29]

There's some, well, you'll see in the next slide, there's some question about that last sentence. As soon after the, and soon after the blessed one had eaten the meal provided by Gunda the metal worker, a dire sickness, even with dysentery and bloody flux, and he suffered deadly pains, and the blessed one endured them mindfully, clearly, comprehending, and unperturbed. It didn't seem like he could digest it either, but he knowingly ate of this meal. And then he continues, even in this pain, which is, you know, we can think of ourselves with a pain like that and being on pilgrimage. He continues, and they stop by a river, and he's tired and ill, and he asks, Ananda, he said, please fold my robe and lay it down.

[21:36]

I am weary and want to rest a while. So Ananda did that. And he asked Ananda, please bring me some water. I am thirsty. And Ananda said, just now, Lord, a great number of carts, 500 carts have passed over the stream and the shallow water has been cut through by the wheels so that it flows turbid and muddy. But the Kakuta River is close by and its waters are clear, pleasant, cool, and translucent. It is easily approachable and delightfully placed. There, the blessed one can quench his thirst and refresh his limbs. The Buddha, a second and a third time says, basically he says, I want a drink here. I want a drink from this stream. And Ananda shrugs his shoulders, I'm adding that, and says, so be it, Lord. And he took the bowl and went to the stream.

[22:38]

And the shallow water that had been cut through by the wheels so that it flowed turbid and muddy became clear and settled down pure and pleasant as the venerable Ananda drew near. And he took up the water and carried it to the Buddha. and said, marvelous, most wonderful indeed is the power and glory of the Tathagata for this shallow water has been cut through by wheels and yet it is now as pure and pleasant as I drew near. Please let the blessed one drink the water. And as he approaches his final rest in place, He speaks to Ananda and he advises Ananda to tell Kunda, the metal worker, not to be remorseful about serving that last meal.

[23:44]

Because there are two offerings of food which are of equal fruition, of equal outcome. exceeding in grandeur, the fruition. and the result of any offerings of food. Which two? The one partaken by the Buddha before becoming fully enlightened in unsurpassed supreme enlightenment, and the one partaken by the Tathagata before passing into the state of nirvana in which no element of clinging remains. By this deed, the worthy kunda has accumulated merit which makes for long life, beauty, well-being, heavenly rebirth. And then he lay down and he stopped by the Sala Grove of the Malas by the Hiranavati River. And he asks Ananda, he said, prepare for me a couch between the twin sala trees with my head to the north.

[24:53]

I am weary, Ananda, and want to lie down. And Nanda does this, and the Buddha lay down on his right side in the lion's posture, resting one foot upon the other. At that time, the twin Sala trees broke out in full bloom, although it was not the season of flowering. And the blossoms rained down upon the body of the Buddha in worship of the Buddha. And the celestial mandarva flowers and heavenly sandalwood powder from the sky rained down upon the body of the Tathagata and dropped and scattered and were strewn upon it in worship. And the sound of heavenly voices and heavenly instruments made music in the air out of reverence for the Buddha. And at that time, The Venerable Upavana was standing before the Blessed One, fanning him.

[25:59]

And the Blessed One rebuked him, saying, move aside Bhikkhu, do not stand in front of me. And Venerable Ananda thought, Upavana has been in attendance upon the Blessed One for a long time, yet right at the end, the Blessed One rebukes him. What could now be the reason for this rebuke? And he asked the Buddha, and the Buddha said, throughout the tenfold world system, Ananda, there are hardly any deities that have not gathered together to look upon me. And these deities, Ananda, are complaining. He said, from afar, we have come to look upon the Tathagata. And this day, in the last watch of the night, the Tathagata's Parinirvana will come about. But this bhikkhu has placed himself right in front of the Blessed One. concealing him so that now at the very end we are prevented from looking upon him.

[27:04]

Thus and on did the deities complain. There are deities, Ananda, in space and on earth who are earthly-minded. With disheveled hair they weep, with uplifted arms they weep. Flinging themselves on the ground, they roll from side to side, lamenting, too soon the blessed one comes to this parinirvana. Too soon as the happy one come to his parinirvana. Too soon will the eye of the world vanish from sight. But those deities who are freed from passion, mindful and comprehending reflect, impermanent are all compounded things. How can this be otherwise? And Ananda himself is beset with grief. Ananda, you may remember, was not one of the fully enlightened arhats or disciples.

[28:11]

He was Buddha's attendant for many years, but never got quite there. So Ananda went into the vihara and leaned against the doorpost and wept. I am still but a learner and still have to strive for my own perfection. But alas, my master, who was so compassionate towards me, is about to pass away." And at that time, the Buddha asked, where is Ananda? And his other attendants tell him he's over in the Vihara weeping. He says, Please call him, say, friend Ananda, the master calls you. And when Ananda comes, the Buddha says, enough Ananda, do not grieve, for have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved, there must be change, separation, and severance.

[29:16]

Now for a long time you have served the Tathāgata with loving kindness, in deed, word and thought, graciously, pleasantly, with a whole heart and beyond measure. Great good have you gathered in Nanda. Now you should put forth energy and soon you will be free from taints. In praise of Ananda, he said, capable and judicious is Ananda bhikkhus, for he knows the proper time for bhikkhus to have audience with the Tathagata, and the time for bhikkhunis, and the time for laymen, and the time for laywomen, the time for kings and ministers of state, the time for teachers of other sects, and for their followers. In Ananda, bhikkhus are to be found four rare and superlative qualities. What are the four? If a company of bhikkhus should go to see Ananda, they become joyful on seeing him.

[30:20]

And if he speaks to them of the Dhamma, they are made joyful by his discourse. And when he becomes silent, they are disappointed. So it is when bhikkhunis, laymen or laymen go to see Ananda. And in just the same way bhikkhus in Ananda are to be found these four rare and superlative qualities. Finally, the Buddha gave his final exhortation. And basically he said, do you guys have any questions? And the Buddha said, it may be, Ananda, that to some among you the thought will come, ended is the word of the master. We have a master no longer.

[31:22]

But it should not, Ananda, be so considered. For that which I have proclaimed and made known as the Dhamma and the discipline, that shall be your master when I am gone. And then he said to Ananda, whereas the bhikkhus now address one another as friend, let it not be so when I'm gone. Senior bhikkhus Ananda may address the junior ones by their name, their family name, or as friend, but the junior bhikkhus should address the senior ones as venerable sir, your reverence. And he also said, if it is desired, Ananda, When I am gone, the Sangha may abolish the lesser and minor rules. That's the lesser and minor Vinaya rules and precepts. Now, the follow-up to that is, after the Buddha died, within a year of his death, they had the first council of all the enlightened beings, and they invited Ananda, and they asked Ananda, what did he say about the precepts?

[32:37]

Because there were a lot of precepts, and still are a lot of precepts, like 257. And Ananda said, well, he said, when I'm gone, you can abolish the lesser and minor rules. And the council said, well, great, which are those? And Ananda said, basically, he said, I forgot to ask. So they decided to keep them all. Anyway. The blessed one then said, it may be because that one of you is in doubt or perplexity as to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, the path of practice. Then questioned Bhikkhus, do not be given to remorse later on with the thought, the master was with us face to face and we failed to ask him. But no one would speak. No one. Ananda says,

[33:40]

Marvelous it is, O Lord, most wonderful it is, this faith I have in the community of bhikkhus, that not even one bhikkhu is in doubt of a perplexity as to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, the path of practice." And the Buddha confirmed that. So finally, his last spoken words. He said, again, behold now, I exhort you, All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness. This was the last word of the Tathagata. Then he lay down. He was laying down. In his mind, he moved from the first jhana, the first concentration, to the second, the third, the fourth. From the fourth, he entered the sphere of infinite space.

[34:44]

And then he entered the sphere of infinite consciousness. And from infinite consciousness, he entered the sphere of nothingness. And from the sphere of nothingness, he entered the sphere of neither perception or non-perception. And out of the sphere of neither perception or non-perception, he attained the cessation of perception and feeling. And the Venerable Ananda spoke to the Venerable Aniruddha saying, Venerable Aniruddha, the blessed one has passed away. And Aniruddha said, no friend Ananda, the blessed one has not passed away. He has entered the state of cessation of perception and feeling. And then, the Buddha went through all of these in the other direction. through each of those spheres, back through each of the jhanas, and rising, and he went to the first jhana, and then he went through again, rising from the first jhana, he entered the second, and finally, rising from the fourth, the Blessed One passed away, gone, not to be reborn.

[36:01]

There was weeping, celebration. It was rejoicing. And this went on for six days. And at the end of this six days, they cremated his body. And when they finished their cremation, they searched through the ashes. and they found what are called Sharira. Sharira are small crystalline forms that are found in the bodies, left in cremation in the bodies of saints and enlightened beings. And they divided these in eight parts. And those, Those remains were scattered throughout the kingdom and stupas were built, stupas that emulate the body of Buddha.

[37:09]

And in case you haven't seen it, there are, there's a stupa on the roof of the San Francisco Buddhist Church. which has purportedly relics of the Buddha and relics of Shariputra. Whatever is in there, I've seen them. I can't say that I have no sense of the veracity of that, but these relics were held as very precious, and yet the Buddha was gone. So that's the Theravada narrative in short of the Buddha's passing. And in that narrative, the Buddha is gone.

[38:15]

As we study this afternoon, we'll see there's an alternative narrative in the Mayan tradition. But here, the Buddha is gone and what he left behind was the Dharma and the Sangha. So, In a little while, we'll do this ceremony to celebrate this passing. But I want to, in the few minutes that remain, entertain any questions or thoughts that you may have that are brought up by this story. Laurie? What struck me this time was this weird little interlude with the guy standing in front.

[39:53]

I mean, I can picture, you know, like when someone dies, they start to see Angel. I mean, that's kind of normal. When someone's dying, they'll start to say, I see my father, I see Angel. Well, I have two thoughts. First of all, in terms of Ananda, I always see Ananda as the archetypal human, not as this arhat, which all the other disciples were arhats. Arhats are beings who will not be reborn. They're not buddhas, because it's only one buddha in any era according to buddhist cosmology, but early buddhist cosmology, not later buddhist cosmology.

[41:04]

But the arhats had completed, they were completely enlightened, and Ananda wasn't. So Ananda weeps. Ananda questions. Ananda makes mistakes. There's two mistakes of Ananda in this. And Ananda is also the one who had the compassion, compassion for other beings. He's honored as really the person who facilitated the creation of the women's order, because he saw the circumstances of women and he saw their capacity to awaken and he convinced the Buddha. So I see him as, I do see him as a kind of straight man foil, but as the one who is most deeply human.

[42:06]

And I think it's a wonderful quality. As far as the Aniruddha story, I feel like I'm not quite sure. why that story is necessary, but it shows to me that the Buddha was teaching to the end. There's a story I left out. He also admitted somebody else to the order just before he died, a last disciple. But for Aniruddha, I think of it as like the There's this Zen story about Suzuki Roshi getting chastised for opening the door. He opens it one way and it's wrong. He opens it the other way, it's wrong. And I feel like what the Buddha was saying was, yes, this is what you've been doing. You've been fanning me, attending to me, but take a look at, take the wide view.

[43:10]

I'm teaching you take the wide view of what's going on right here and stand a little aside so that these beings who have assembled can see me. I don't know. Certainly there are collections of death poems, but I don't know if there are collections of individual death poems. My sense is, you can do anything you want, you know. Linda. A venerable Hosan Alan friend, will you please remain till the end of the world? Probably not.

[44:14]

I'd be happy to thank you for the invitation, but I am not the World Honored One. Although when we talk this afternoon, we're going to get into that when we talk about the Mahayana perspective. So maybe I will, but I don't know. just like, you know, our life after life. Yes, maybe we've had life after life, but as Sogen Roshi says, I don't remember. So, let's see. Judy? There's something that's very piercing for me in this compassionate interplay of the Buddha and Ananda around the fault. And, you know, so this natural question always comes up of like, So big deal, he didn't ask at the right time. And if the Buddha is so like the Buddha, why can't he turn it around, blah, blah, blah.

[45:23]

And then there's this, what is the compassion in the Buddha saying, telling him at such a moment, so sorry, friend, but you blew it, and I'm sorry, we can't go back, we can't turn the clock back. But instead, the most compassionate thing he finds to say is to tell him, that the fault is his. And it sounds like, so that he really does, you know, go into eventually what Ananda does do, being that island, after the Buddha dies, you know, and then he becomes an arhant. But there's a struggle there, and so it seems like that's the most compassionate thing. And at the same time, it's like, what's Ananda's compassion in that moment also in when he hears the earthquake or feels it, he asks anyway, not knowing that it's too late. And I'm wondering, how do you see that sort of compassionate interplay of the two?

[46:26]

I think you've laid it out. People make mistakes. And I can't, all this, this whole story does not proceed along logical lines. And so, in the end, at least in this narrative, this is, this is what happened. And you could, You know, you could ask similar questions in the context of Christianity around the crucifixion, I think. And like, well, it's not strictly logical. Why did? Why did Christ have to die on the cross? What was the tone? I've had very interesting discussions. What was the tone about him saying to his father, why have you forsaken me?

[47:35]

You know, I think there's a parallel there, which really has to do with the pervasive and deep quality of suffering that we all experience. Maybe one or two more. Jerry. I was kind of interested in this being island unto yourself versus John Donne. No man is an island unto himself. and the idea of dependent co-arising or interdependency, which is part of our teaching. Or you'll still have me.

[48:38]

He does say that. Well, he doesn't say that here. He doesn't say that in this narrative. You'll still have me. Yeah. I'll be with you. That's another thing that Christ would have said. Well, that's more, that's present in the Mahayana narrative. But every teaching is medicine. Every teaching is to bring into, to rebalance the affliction that one is experiencing. In this case, while you're watching your teacher or Buddha die, it's understandable that one puts one's heart and feelings outside oneself. And so in this, the medicine he's given is, no, be an island unto yourself. You have everything that you need to awaken.

[49:43]

In another circumstance, if he had come upon a monk who had spent 20 years in a dark cave, He might say something very different according to the circumstance, but this is what he said in the circumstance. It's not a categorical expression of the truth. It's a conditional statement. One more. Yeah, I think it's just a different translation, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's, you know, I remember from my childhood, there used to be a TV program that was on like about six in the morning, at least in the New York area, a lamp unto yourself.

[50:58]

Does someone remember that? You remember that, Jerry, right? Which I think is some Christian scriptural line. So I think that, I suspect that that translation was a scriptural resonance, perhaps. I think it's from... I don't know who says it. I don't know. Yeah, but that, I can almost remember, there's a classic, very early biography of the Buddha. I can't remember the name of it, but. That's it, yeah, yeah. Who wrote that? That's it, got it. And I suspect that translation is in there. Thalani, last one. So that's good.

[52:16]

We end with Billie Holiday on this holiday. Thank you very much.

[52:23]

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