Good morning and welcome. Today we're celebrating Nirvana Day, or Parinirvana Day. This is the day that we celebrate the passing away into nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. So we have on the altar the reclining Buddha. This is the position in which Shakyamuni Buddha passed away into nirvana in Kushinagara, India. I think it's actually in what's now Nepal. And so this, in some ways, is a very sad day. Shakyamuni Buddha passed away. He lay down on his right side. which is the way that monks and nuns in training halls in Asia sleep, in the training halls on the right side, and between two twin sala trees, trees with two trunks, and passed away.

[01:13]

And there are many stories about this. One story is that he accepted offerings of food and of, well, some translations say mushrooms, some translations say it was bad pork. So, of course, there's a preference for vegetarianism traditionally in Buddhism, but also mendicant monks accepted whatever they were offered. So anyway, he made a point of praising Chunda, the lay practitioner who offered that food, because that allowed him the chance to have this power nirvana. So nirvana is this word for supreme freedom in Buddhism, liberation, but technically,

[02:15]

Nirvana is release from samsara. Nirvana means cessation. It means not being reborn. And nirvana only happens when you die, technically. So the Buddha's passing away as nirvana happened on this day 2,500 years ago, more or less. So it's a very sad day and there are various texts about it. There's the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Theravada Mahaparinirvana Sutra, in which the Buddha said to his monks, be a light unto yourself. He was passing away and they were all very sad. So now they had to study the Dharma, his words, and become a light unto themselves. I like the modern poet Mary Oliver's retranslation of that, which is to become a light themselves.

[03:21]

So that's a good example. message from the Buddha passing away. There's also the Mahayana, Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which is much, much, much longer and is one of the main texts about Buddha nature and has many other things in it and has recently been translated, at least in part. I'm not sure if he's finished with it. Mark Blum in Berkeley has translated that. Anyway, this is... This nirvana is passing away into nirvana. the Buddha's passing away. And this was a source of great sadness, but also then, historically, the monks got together and Ananda, the Buddha's cousin and close disciple and attendant, recited all the sutras because he had photographic memory, so he, all the sutras begin, thus have I heard at one time, and that's Ananda recalling what the Buddha said.

[04:28]

But later on in the Bodhisattva movement in Mahayana, in the Lotus Sutra, there's this teaching about the Buddha's inconceivable lifespan. The Buddha says in the Lotus Sutra that although he seems to have passed away, this is for the benefit of those who will be encouraged by that and practice diligently. But actually, the Buddha says, his lifespan, even though we have the story of him leaving the palace and so forth and being born and we celebrate Buddha's birthday, he had lived a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long time in the past as a bodhisattva and would live twice that long in the future. There's this tension around Parinirvana Day that the Buddha passed away.

[05:37]

And yet, in some ways, the Buddha lives on. And what does that mean? So this is a great problem for us. How is it that the Buddha is still alive? How is the Buddha actively practicing now, here, with us. So the founder of our school in Japan, Ehei Dogen, in the 1200s, much, much later, talks about this and talks about the importance of the enduring presence and vitality of Buddhas on the Earth in the Lotus Sutra. So he says, the entire universe, the entire Earth, as well as the entirety of birth and death, coming and going, of innumerable lands and lotus blossoms, allow the awesome presence of Buddhas right now.

[06:42]

He says that Buddhas do not appear only in human realms, but in other realms or worlds as well. And this is, of course, are verified in many of the sutras where Buddhas come from many other realms, many other distant Buddha fields, many other, we could say, many other solar systems or many other dimensions. So this happens in many of the sutras that Buddhas appear. And in the Lotus Sutra, other Buddhas appear, too. Here, Shakyamuni. proclaim the Lotus Sutra. And the story is that Buddhas go to, Buddhas who are about to become Buddhas are residing in one of the heavenly realms, preparing to become Buddhas.

[07:48]

And there were Buddhas before Buddha, and there will be Buddhas after Buddha. So in this Mahayana or Bodhisattva way of thinking, it's not just this one human Buddha, Shakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, who became Buddha, but there are Buddhas all over. It's a different way of thinking about what Buddha is. And this is maybe the main question or problem in Zen. What is Buddha? And there are many answers to that koan. What is Buddha? And what is nirvana? And for the bodhisattva, nirvana is not just passing away into nirvana, but nirvana is right in samsara. So nirvana is liberation from birth and death, liberation from the rat race, the world of suffering, the world we all know so well. this cycle of birth and death, this cycle of suffering, this cycle of trying to get ahead, trying to achieve this and that so that we will be better off, samsara, the world of suffering.

[09:00]

In the Bodhisattva idea, nirvana is right in samsara. For the Bodhisattva, nirvana is in helping to liberate all beings in this world of samsara. There's a saying in one of, actually it goes back before Dogen, but he quotes that in his day in Japan, very distant from India where Shakyamuni Buddha taught, although this moment is distant from the sages, you have encountered the transforming guidance of the spreading sky that can still be heard. So this spreading teaching now, even in Chicago, can still be heard. So this is the persisting of the Dharma in time, integrating with the pervading of the spreading sky.

[10:04]

So Dogen sees this as this continuing lifespan of Buddha. Buddha is still alive, even in Dogen's time, he says. So how do we see this on Parinirvana Day? How do we celebrate this when we honor the passing away of Shakyamuni Buddha? So Dogen gave various talks on this day during his lifetime. So the last one he did in 1252, his last year of teaching, he said, This night, maybe he gave this talk in the evening, this night, Buddha entered nirvana under the twin solid trees. And yet it is said that he always abides on Vulture Peak, where he gave the Lotus Sutra. When can we meet our compassionate father? Alone and poor, we vainly remain in this world.

[11:07]

Amid love and yearning, what can this confused son do, this child of Buddha? I wish to stop these red tears and join in wholesome action." So Dogen was sad at the passing away of the Buddha. And all of us in the sutras say, are sons and daughters, children of Buddha. And that's obviously so, because you're here today. We are all studying, practicing, sitting sasan, practicing this upright sitting of Buddha. We are children of Buddha, all of us, everyone here. And yet, Dogen knew the Lotus Sutra very well. He knew this story about the inconceivable lifespan of Buddha. And he was a devotee of the Lotus Sutra. He cited that sutra more than any other.

[12:11]

And yet, he says, amid love and yearning, what can this confused child of Buddha do? I wish to stop these red tears and join in wholesome action." So this wholesome action is maybe how Buddha stays alive. Another talk he gave on this same day, on Nirvana Day in 1250, Dogen said, all beings are sad with longing and their tears Overflow. Although we trust his words that he always resides on Vulture Peak, how can we not be sorry about the coldness of the twin solid trees?" So Dogen does not forget the enduring presence of the Buddha described in the Lotus Sutra, but he also honors our human sadness. The Buddha is not here anymore.

[13:14]

Are there any Buddhas here in this world? Really. Sukhi Roshi is gone. Many Buddhas are gone. Shakyamuni Buddha is gone. In 1246, in another talk on this day, Dogen says something interesting. He proclaims the identity of all Buddhas and ancestors. He says, now our original teacher, great master Shakyamuni, is passing away, entering nirvana. Why is this only about Shakyamuni Buddha? All Buddhas in the 10 directions, in the past, future, and present, entered nirvana tonight at midnight. Those who do not enter nirvana tonight at midnight are not Buddha ancestors and are not capable of maintaining the teaching.

[14:19]

Those who have already entered nirvana tonight at midnight are capable of maintaining the teaching. So here Dogen is playing with the story of the Buddha's inconceivable lifespan. Buddha persists with and as all Buddhas exactly in his passing away into Parinirvana, which has already happened and will happen in the future. And all Buddhas have already done this, right here and now. The willingness to pass away for the sake of those who would benefit or simply to face human mortality is exactly Buddha's enduring life. So Buddha continues to be alive. How does that work? One last one.

[15:25]

This was in 1247. On this day, Dogen said, if you say Shakyamuni is extinguished, you are not his disciple. If you say he's not extinguished, your words do not hit the mark. Having reached this day, how do you respond? Do you want to see Tathagata's life vain? Or, for instance, make prostrations and return to the Zenda? So for Dogen, our practice right now is Buddha's lifespan continuing. It's up to us to keep Buddha alive. So it's kind of funny. How is it that Buddha is alive, as proclaimed in the Lotus Sutra? How do we keep up Buddha's life in our practice? At the same time, honoring the sadness of Buddha having passed away,

[16:33]

So Buddha passed away at midnight. And all the disciples were sad. But there are pictures of, there are paintings of the Buddha like this, like the statue, where there are disciples surrounding the Buddha, reclining Buddha, weeping profusely. And then there are bodhisattvas also around them who are just sitting there because they know that Buddha has this inconceivable lifespan. They know that it's up to them to keep Buddha alive. So this brings up the great matter of life and death, as it says on Arhan, this basic issue that is at the heart of Zen. So the Japanese idea of death and the afterlife is very interesting.

[17:39]

The Buddhist idea of death, of the afterlife in Japan, there are five places that one goes to after death, the same time, all five. So one is, in the memorial plaques, so at the back of the family temple in Japan, if you go to temples in Japan, behind the altar there's a room where there are plaques for the the different families and you add plaques for each person who has passed away. And families in Japan, their family temple isn't necessarily because people agree with Zen or Pure Land or some particular school of Buddhism. Theoretically, it's the place where their family tombs are. So people in Japan are connected with

[18:49]

a certain temple because it's where their family is buried. So one place that the person goes after they die is that room behind the altar where their family plaques are. Also, there's a memorial plaque and there are ashes that go into the cemetery of that temple. along with the other, near the other people in the family. And Japanese people, I lived between two cemeteries, two different temples in Kyoto for a couple of years. And some people in our culture go to cemeteries to visit. the deceased, but in Japan it's much more so. The cemeteries were very active places every day and people would leave flowers and food and would not go there at night because they knew there were spirits there.

[19:53]

I walked back through the cemeteries at night myself. enjoyed mingling with the spirits, but anyway. So the person after death goes into the cemetery. Also, traditionally, there's a family altar, and there's a plaque there, and that's one place where the person goes after death. Also, after death, There is, like in Tibetan Buddhism, rebirth, which happens after 49 days, more or less, similarly to Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Book of the Dead. So in Japan, and people here can do this too, each week after someone passes away, there's a service one can do. And there are different bodhisattvas or buddhas each week, each seven days after the person dies. So rebirth is part of what happens. after death.

[20:56]

And then the other thing that happens after death is that everybody after death becomes otoke in Japanese, which means Buddha. So after somebody dies, they pass into Parinirvana. They become a Buddha. So all five of those things simultaneously is what happens, according to Japanese Buddhism, when someone dies. So you may or may not like those beliefs, and you don't have to agree with any of that. But I think it's interesting to have semi, perhaps you might think those beliefs conflict, but anyway, they believe all of those at once. But the point is the great matter of life and death.

[21:58]

So when we study death, when we're aware of death, when we're aware that our life is finite, our life is much more valuable. It doesn't mean that we have to be gloomy and anxious and worry about death, but just to know that death is part of life. To appreciate each day, to appreciate that Each of us is alive today, this week, this month, this lifetime. Did we have the opportunity to enjoy being alive? Well, I'm assuming. I don't know. Maybe there are some spirits here who just look like they're alive. I don't know for sure. But anyway, assuming that you're all alive now, It's wonderful, and to appreciate this great matter of life and death, that we have this opportunity to be alive, to be alive and to be more or less human.

[23:18]

It's a wonderful opportunity because we have met this, we have had the opportunity for Buddhist practice, for a practice of awakening. And it's not about Buddhism as some religion as opposed to some other religion. It's about having a practice that supports awakening, that supports awareness, that supports appreciating being alive, this great matter of life and death. So we can appreciate and enjoy and really take on the possibilities for being alive when we actually really appreciate that part of life is death. So there's that great poetic line, one not busy being born is busy dying.

[24:22]

Is that Shakespeare? Nobody knows that line. Okay, thank you. Oh, okay. Oh, Dylan recalls. Yeah, anyway. Yeah, anyway. So, to be busy being born. So, sometimes it's translated as the great matter of birth and death. So, we can find new birth, new awareness, we can appreciate change and we can find new things to do, new ways to be who we are, whatever that is. To appreciate our life. Life and death.

[25:25]

And so also as thinking about this, I remembered that the day before Nirvana Day is, in our culture, Valentine's Day. So we can talk about love and death. So we don't talk so much about love and Buddhism, but actually it's behind everything. So we talk about, benefiting all beings. So the Bodhisattva idea is to love all beings. And I spoke a few weeks ago about Martin Luther King Day, and amongst everything else, Dr. King was a great scholar of love. He talked about loving your enemies, but he also studied Western ideas of love. So there's Eros, which is, I guess, celebrated on Valentine's Day, romantic love, to love one person as a way of expressing our love for the world.

[26:37]

But there's also philia, which is brotherly love or sisterly love. And there's also agape, which is love for the world. I'm not translating them exactly right. This is part of our Buddhist precept of benefiting all beings. So to see that life and love, you just have to change a couple of letters. So how do we bring? by studying death bring love into our life in whatever way we want to bring life alive. So this is the teaching of Nirvana Day, to appreciate that this

[27:41]

This Indian guy, Siddhartha Gautama, lived and awakened and became the Buddha and passed away. And yet that, in some ways, Buddha is still here. And it's up to us to keep alive this awakening practice. So happy Nirvana Day. Any comments on this great matter of life and death or responses, questions? Oh, yes, David. born again.

[28:49]

If you have entered nirvana, then you wouldn't be born again. Right. So a Buddha enters nirvana and is not born again. But for most people, most beings, not just humans, for animals and hungry ghosts and hell beings and Asuras or Titans, and for heavenly beings too. It's considered 49 days, but sometimes it's not exactly 49 days. So yeah, then there's some, so the Tibetans have it all mapped out very directly in terms of this intermediate realm. But in Japanese Buddhism, technically, it's basically the same teaching. But it's not so cut and dry, it's not so,

[29:55]

It's not the straight line. So in Tibetan Buddhism, it's more like reincarnation. In Japanese Buddhism, it's more like rebirth. And rebirth is happening moment after moment, too. But even in Tibetan Buddhism, sometimes somebody is reborn as five other beings. The Khyentse Rinpoche, Dilko Khyentse Rinpoche, was a great Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism last century. I know people who were students of his and you can just look at his pictures and it's clear he's a Buddha, in my opinion. But he was one of five Khyentse Rinpoches who were reborn from one other previous Lama. So it's not this kind of straight line kind of thing. And a lot of Western Buddhists don't believe in that at all.

[31:04]

And that's fine. You don't have to. You can take it as a metaphor or something. Although there are people who have tracked cases of children who recall some past life and can give details. I don't know. I'm agnostic about all this stuff. So you can take it or leave it. You don't have to believe it. And then my favorite teaching about rebirth is from a non-Buddhist teacher who said that your past lives and your next life may be different from your past lives and this life. So your past lives and your next life may be different from your past lives and this life. So you can spend a lifetime trying to get your head around that. So you don't have to take it in a linear way.

[32:04]

But this is just part of this tradition where we are finding our way. to make awakening alive now. That's how we can understand this idea of this inconceivable lifespan. So sorry, I didn't mean to confuse everyone. Maybe I did. I don't know. Other comments or questions or responses? Yes, Xinyi. So I remember in book one, What is? Well, there's an old song about being alive, but I don't know if anybody wants to sing it.

[33:09]

But what is being alive? Yeah, that's a good question. I think that's something to practice with. What is being alive? And maybe we each have a different answer. And so being alive for you may be different than being alive for Jerry. How do we find our way for being alive? What is the meaning of being alive for each one of us? And of course, as children of Buddha, we find our way of being alive in a way that is helpful, that benefits all beings, that is true to our own sense of reality, that is caring for ourselves and others. So one way of answering that might be to talk about the six realms, which is there's the human realm, and there's also, according to Buddhist cosmology, animal realm.

[34:27]

Hungry Ghost Realm, which we try and take care of a little bit on Sagaki ceremonies. There's Hell Realms, which are terrible, as are Hungry Ghost Realms. There's Titan Realms, these powerful beings who are trying to get more power. Then there's Heavenly Realms, which are very wonderful. But these are not permanent. So Heaven is not everlasting. Hell is not everlasting. These are cycles. And Human Realm is, in some ways, the most beneficial because we realize some suffering. So realizing some suffering, but also being in a good enough state that we can encounter the Buddha's teaching so we can practice the way of awakening. It's possible to, there are Buddhas in every realm. So it's possible to encounter Buddhist practice or awakening practice in every realm. Jizo Bodhisattva, whose picture is back in the kitchen, is in every realm.

[35:30]

So it's possible. But human realm is the most advantageous for encountering Buddhist practice. So that's one answer to your question. but it's also a realm of suffering. And it's a dangerous realm. And now the matter, great matter of life and death in our time is maybe most more poignant as we are in our country in a cycle of endless wars and we are caught in the midst of climate catastrophes happening all over the world. And we, so we need to try and find some way to help in these situations. Any other comments or questions or responses? And just to say, all this strange Buddhist stuff, how many of you have parents who are Buddhists?

[36:59]

A couple, you know, which didn't used to be the case. But we're basically all coming to Buddhism first generation as from Western religious context. So it's, yeah, so of course, naturally, our Western culture is part of our response to these questions. So please go ahead, Garth. Essentially, it was the administrative power of Christianity to have the death penalty and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[38:12]

And he said, well, they led us to a congregation. I'm not sure. Yeah, well, that's the beginning of a much, much, much longer discussion.

[42:10]

I think the Catholic teachings that you're describing are analogous but very different from the Buddhist teachings that I've been talking about in specific ways. But, yeah, so I'm not trying to, I'm not saying one should believe, take on faith or believe in all the different teachings I've just talked about. But the point is that Buddha passed away and Buddha's alive in as much as we act as awakening beings, bodhisattvas. Buddha's teaching is alive. I'll just add to what you said, though, in terms of analogies between Catholic and Catholicism and Buddhism.

[43:18]

I had a Jesuit priest friend who's now passed away who persuaded me during a long walk that the Catholic Trinity and the three bodies of Buddha are basically almost the same teaching. So anyway, these can be long discussions for those who like theology. But the point is, in Zen, how do we practice bringing alive teachings of awakening and caring and helpfulness. So thank you and thank you all.

[43:57]

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