from the Lotus Sutra. I also told this story in Brooklyn, this story. It's a story about the path of bodhisattvas Bodhisattvas are or Bodhisattva is a form of being which has a wish to realize perfect enlightenment for the welfare of all beings.

[01:09]

It's that kind of a being. It's that kind of life. Bodhisattva. And there's a path for bodhisattvas, a practice which realizes perfect enlightenment for the welfare of all beings. And then there's some stories about this path. And Lotus Sutra has several stories about this path, this Bodhisattva path. The Lotus Sutra is, it says in the Lotus Sutra that the Lotus Sutra is for Bodhisattvas. It's a teaching for them. It's a teaching for the beings who are devoted to the welfare of all beings. And so here's a story about this path of being a Bodhisattva.

[02:20]

I told it in more detail last time than I'm going to tell it today. Today is going to be a summary. Here's a summary of the story. There was a child who lived in a home And the child wandered away from her home. And the longer she wandered away from her home, the more needy and destitute and troubled she was. And then one day, after 50 years of wandering, one day by chance, She wound up back at her home, where her parents were.

[03:23]

Her parents, by the way, became very, very affluent. And when he saw her parents, or when they saw their parents, they were frightened. Because their parents looked so wonderful and gorgeous. That they thought, oh, they might actually apprehend me and put me into forced labor, being in my destitute, miserable condition, they might say. Oh, there's a possible slave, so I better get out of here. So, she ran away from, after she found her home again, and found her parents, she ran away.

[04:34]

Her parents, however, saw her. And her parents had been looking for her for 50 years and were very happy to see her. So then her parents sent some of their well-dressed servants to apprehend this dirt-covered, emaciated, frightened person and bring this person into their womb. Into their room. of compassion and love. And so when servants apprehended the lost child, the child said, leave me alone, I haven't done anything wrong, get away from me! The child thought that they were going to be killed by these powerful forces of wealth and faded. And then the parents kind of could see, oh I see, this is not going to work.

[05:45]

And sent a message, sprinkle water on him to revive him and tell him he can go. So they did. And she woke up and was very happy to be released and ran away. And very happy to get away from this terrible possibility. But then the parents got an idea, which was, I'll have some servants put on dirty clothes and put dirt on themselves in rags and go offer the child a job of shoveling dung, shoveling animal excrement. and offer good wages for doing this. And so the servants did do that.

[06:47]

They found the child again, who was now rather old, and offered him a job, and the child was very happy to get this job, and asked for the money in advance, and was given it, and went to work, and was happy to do it. Although it was difficult work, they thought, this is appropriate for me, And this is not slavery. This is actually a good job. And they did that job. This is a period, I would say now, a period of recovery. And after this period of recovery went on for a long time, the child could tolerate actually having the parents come down and invite them into the house, which before they would never dare to go near. They had become so downcast and disoriented and lost.

[07:54]

But now, after doing this recovery work for a long time, about 20 years or 30 years doing this recovery work, they had confidence enough so that when the father undisguised came and offered them an invitation to come up into the palace and actually start to work with what's going on in the house. The child could say, oh, okay, I can do that. And they came into the house and they learned about the house and what's going on there. And then finally the father said, well, actually, you know, It's not like you are my son. You actually are my son. You are my daughter. And now the child could actually accept, oh, I was always your son, even when I was afraid of you and thought you were going to make me a slave because I was so worthless. I remember I used to think I was worthless and not even allowed to be anywhere near you.

[09:03]

And now I find out that I'm actually your own body. I understand that I am the true inheritance of you, and that's what you've been wanting all along. And that's the story of the Bodhisattva career. So, the Bodhisattva career is, we have a home. We Bodhisattvas have a home. Also the Lotus Sutra, by the way, says everybody is a bodhisattva. Everybody's got a home. And in that home, the business of this house is being conducted. And the business of this house is the Buddha way, is the way of making bodhisattvas. realize Buddhahood. That's the business of the house.

[10:04]

We all live in that house. That's our home. This chapter, this story appears in a chapter called Faith and Understanding. The faith of the Lotus Sutra is we have a home, and our home is a home where the business of the Buddhas is being conducted, is being practiced. But the story also says we wander away from that home for some time. 50 years is a possible number. It could be longer than that. And the longer we wander, the worse we feel. However, it is going to happen that all these beings who have this home and have wandered away, they will wander back someday.

[11:10]

And when they first get back, they very well might say, if they actually came into the house, they might actually be frightened. wondering what would happen to me if these beings in this house came near me. And even though they find their way back sometimes, they run away. But sometimes they don't actually find their way back to the house, sometimes they actually find their way back to the stables. And so they get the job in the stables right away. That's another story. Instead of finding their way back to the house, they found their way back to the stable and they just went to work in the stable. All Bodhisattvas, I would say, are going to go through this process.

[12:14]

So you find your way back and you do stable work, until you completely settle into the stable work. And when you settle into the stable work, you start to open up to the possibility that you could be Buddha's child. And you can stand to do Buddha's work, to move into the house. But again, once again, The story says the person had to leave to come back, and coming back they had to do recovery work, and after they did the recovery work, they actually could go into the house and do the work of the house where they lived, but they didn't know how to do the work when they were a little kid. And it's possible you could tell another story, you could change the story slightly,

[13:17]

that there was a child who lived in a home, and the parents said, would you like to learn about our family business? And the child said, no, I do not want to learn the family business. No, thank you, daddy. And then the child wandered away. rather than, yes, I would like to learn the family business, what is it? Well, it's the Buddha way. And we have all these practices we do for the welfare of all beings. And the child says, oh great, please teach me. But the children accept right away, I think, are children who did the other part of the story, which we just talked about. Because that's what it's like when you're a 70-year-old, like in this story, when you're 70 or 80 and you come back home and you're enthusiastic about learning the business finally, which you weren't when you were 10 or 11 or 20. So that's the picture, that's the story that I propose.

[14:19]

And today, I actually would like to talk to you about the family business. But again, before the family business is being talked about, I just want to mention that in order to accept the family business, you have to be happy about doing dung shoveling. And you have to do dung shoveling until you feel completely settled in dung shoveling and open to doing it forever. And when you're open to do it forever, you're ready to do the family business. And it's not that the family business isn't dung-shoveling. It's not that it's not. It's that the family business is the business of how the dung-shoveling always includes the entire universe.

[15:25]

That's the family business. And after really being into dung shoveling, you're ready to open to the revelation that in the dung shoveling the whole universe was included. That the whole universe supported your dung shoveling. And your dung shoveling supported the whole universe. But most people have to do quite a bit of dung shoveling before they can be settled enough to have that revelation. And the revelation and practice of that revelation is the business of the house. It's the business of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. So going away from home, coming back to home, settling down in the neighborhood of the home, And if you settle down in the neighborhood of the home, you find out that the neighborhood of the home, when you settle in the neighborhood, is actually the home again.

[16:33]

And then you watch your children run away from home. So I also, I think in the afternoon last time, And after telling the story in the morning and discussing the story, I think we chanted a text called Zazen Shin, did we? In the afternoon? So here's the text called Zazen Shin. It's a text about Zazen. But it's also a text pointing out that Zazen is a pivotal activity. The word shin in this text means a needle, like an acupuncture needle, or like a point.

[17:40]

So sometimes this is, zazen shin is sometimes translated as the point of seated meditation. or the pivot, or the needle of seated meditation. So this sitting meditation in this text is the business of the house. This is the business of Buddha's house, the seated meditation. And we were born in this house. We were born in the house of Zazen. And we wandered away, more or less. We wandered away from this business of ours. And this is a text about what it's like at home.

[18:42]

And then we'll see if you feel ready to come home and do the work. or whether maybe you need to do more recovery work before you want to come home. I'm laughing now because I just thought... If you don't want to come home to this business today, it's okay, and then we'll give you dung shoveling instead. And then when you do dung shoveling more and more, wholeheartedly, you will be ready for this work. But some of you may say, no, I don't want to do the work of the house. This might be a trick to make me a slave, a Buddha. We'll see how you feel about it. Are you ready to hear about the business of the house? Yes. Are you sure? Yes. Are you? Yes. Really? Wow, that's great.

[19:45]

Let's drink to that. So also, last time I pointed out, the first two lines of this text, this translation here says, the essential function of all Buddhas. And I pointed out that essential function is a translation of two Chinese characters. The character for essential, can also mean necessary. Does that make sense? That necessary and essential might be two dimensions of the same animal. But the concrete image of the character is pivot.

[20:45]

Pivot. So the other translation which I think I'd like to talk to you about today is the pivotal function, the pivotal action, the pivotal business of all Buddhas. That's the first line. The pivotal activity of all Buddhas. The next line is the active pivot. of all ancestors. The pivotal business of all Buddhas? No. Yeah. The pivotal business and the busy pivot of all ancestors. That's what Zazen is.

[21:52]

Maybe that's not a surprise to you, that the family business of Buddhas is called Zazen in the Zen school. Is that not a surprise? Anybody surprised by that? That's our business, our family business. Like Gerbers used to say, babies are our business and our only business. Zazen is our business. The pivotal activity of all Buddhas is Zazen. And that's our business. and the active pivot of all ancestors. That's Zazen. That's our business. That's what's going on in Buddha's house. That's where we're born. But part of our story is when we're immature, we do not want to hear about this Zazen. We do not want to hear about Buddha's activity. We want to hear about other things called girls or boys,

[22:56]

or people who are not sure whether they're girls or boys, or hamburgers, or football, or fame and fortune. We go off to learn about those things. We're not interested in our own home when we're immature. And then we find out that things are going not so well, and we think maybe it would be good to shovel some dung Because we're really in bad shape. And again, as we start to shovel, we become more and more ready to do the business of the Buddhas. To engage in the pivotal activity. And what's the pivotal activity? That I wish to speak about a little now. The pivotal activity is the way that you include the entire universe.

[24:10]

That's not you. And it's the way the entire universe includes you. That's the pivotal activity. Every moment you are the activity of including the entire universe. And you are the activity of being included by the entire universe. That's the pivot. That activity is the activity of Buddhas. That activity is the activity of Buddhas. The way you support the whole universe, and the way the whole universe supports you, that's Buddha's activity. The way you pervade the whole universe, and the way you are the pervaded universe, that's Buddha's activity.

[25:13]

That's the work of the Buddha's house. function, which the Buddhas are not in control of it. They're not operating that dynamic pivot. They are doing that. And we are too. It is what we are doing. It is our life. Our life is the activity of all Buddhas. That is what we mean by Zazen. and Buddhas and sentient beings. Buddhas completely include all living beings. And Buddhas are included by all sentient beings.

[26:20]

All Buddhas are included in you. And you are included in all Buddhas. But you're also included in all other sentient beings. All of us are included in each of us. And each of us is included in all of us. There's a pivot. And that function is Zazen. That practice, that function is our practice. And that practice is our Buddha. That practice is our enlightenment. So we all have the same practice and the same enlightenment. That's the pivot. Because I am included by the whole universe, it's not like I'm here plus the whole universe. The whole universe fully accounts for me. I'm nothing in addition to that, and the universe is nothing in addition to me.

[27:26]

This is the pivot. The chapter is called Faith and Understanding. This is a statement of faith of the Sutra. The story is a statement of faith. That we wander away from our home, we find our way back, we have trouble accepting our home, we go through a process of recovery and reintegration, and then we're back at home, and we never really were the slightest bit separate from our family, but we thought we were, because we thought we went away. But we really didn't. It's a story of faith that we are in Buddha's home, and that all Buddhas are included in us and practicing with us.

[28:40]

All Buddhas are practicing with us right now, and all Buddhas are practicing with everybody right now. So they're all practicing with each of us, and all of us are practicing with each of them. There's the pivot. That's Zazen. That way we're practicing together is Zazen. Of the Buddhas. There's other kinds of sitting meditation. This is a sitting meditation of the Buddhas. Another principle here is that the more you are yourself, the more you become not yourself. That's the pivot. It's not that the more you become yourself, the more you become nothing. It's that the more you become yourself, the more you become not yourself.

[29:43]

The more you become yourself, the more you become liberated from yourself. The way the universe is saved and liberated from suffering is by somebody who realizes this pivot by being completely themselves and realizing not-their-self. It's not realizing that you are not-yourself, it's that by being yourself you realize not-yourself. Which is already going on. Each of us being ourselves realizes all the not-ourselves. And you are being yourself completely, and you are realizing everybody.

[30:55]

However, we have to practice that. We must return to that. We must remember that, and receive that, because this pivot is given to us, because the pivot is how we are a given thing. We are given by the whole universe, and this givenness is also given to us. So every moment we can receive this... this what? This essential activity. This pivotal activity of all Buddhas. Every moment it is being given to us. That's what we are. And we are giving it back every moment. However, if we don't remember this, then we forget it. And when we forget it, we're wandering away from it. Which of course we can't. because we think we can forget it, because we think we can, it almost is like we succeeded.

[31:56]

And then it's almost like we get into big trouble, and then it seems like Buddhism is just a very ritzy place. Like it says in the Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi, because there's the base, because there's the degraded, there's jewel pedestals and fine clothing. When you're actually at home, you don't really look at your... It's not... When you're really home, your parents are not really sitting on lion thrones with jeweled pedestals and, you know, covered by very precious pearls. They're just you. They're just you. They're not even best or worst. None of that's going on. But when we wander away, then our home looks very, very treasure-like. And it's fantastic and special. And we can be afraid of it. It's not really that way.

[32:58]

It's just that way. That's a pivot. The more we wander away, the more home seems special. And we have to shovel that. And then when we shovel it, we say, OK, if that's the way it looks, fine. But then it doesn't look like that. When you're really into shoveling dung, you don't really see jewels anymore, or dung. So that's a kind of another dimension of introduction to the essential, the pivotal activity of all Buddhas, the active pivots of all ancestors, which is the Zazen of the Buddhas and the Zazen of the ancestors.

[34:07]

We use that word. So when they sit, their sitting is a statement of faith that this sitting pervades the whole universe, and the whole universe pervades this sitting, and therefore this sitting is not sitting. And not sitting is this sitting. So when I sit, I pay attention to what's going on. I don't really pay, I give myself. It's not like a required payment, but somehow it is required that I give my attention to what's going on. And what's going on may seem like business as usual,

[35:13]

The business of the house. Buddha's work. Okay. I'm sitting here in the Buddha's house, giving myself to Buddha's work. I'm remembering where I am. Where am I? In Buddha's house. And I'm receiving the work of Buddha's house. And I'm practicing the work of Buddha's house. I'm sitting here, and I'm practicing Buddha's house work. Buddha's house work. And this practicing of Buddhist housework is transmitting Buddhist housework. I have faith, and that's my understanding. And I have wandered away, I think I have wandered away, and now I'm back. And if I wander away, I will come back. I vow to come back. When I'm home, I vow to do the work, and if I wander away, I vow to come back.

[36:20]

And I might even vow to admit, I got distracted, sorry. I forgot that you're all supporting me, and I'm supporting you. I forgot to be myself completely and realize who I am. Now, one more thing I'll say, which is, as I often mention, this place is called No Abode. And that expression comes from the Diamond of Perfect Wisdom scripture, where the Buddha says, that bodhisattvas, people who are on this path, should have a mind that doesn't dwell anywhere, doesn't dwell in anything, or dwell on anything.

[37:30]

This pivot, this place where you include everything, and everything completely includes you, that place is non-dwelling. So we call this place Noa Bod, but this place could also be called non-dwelling, non-abiding. It could also be called the pivotal activity of Buddhas. So the Buddha's work is the work of non-dwelling. Bodhisattvas learn to do the work of non-dwelling, which again means to take care of what's happening so thoroughly that you don't dwell in it. And if you don't

[38:41]

fully engaged with what you're doing, you very well might dwell in it. And if you find yourself dwelling, you may also find yourself not fully engaged, and then you can admit that, and repent that, and try again. To develop the faith that where the understanding comes is in faith in non-dwelling in where you are, and what you are, and what you think, and what you feel. But the way to not dwell is not by pushing these things away, by rejecting the dung-shoveling, but by fully engaging them, fully becoming them, and realizing not them. So when we're sitting, We have the opportunity to practice non-dwelling. This is our nature. We have an opportunity to practice our nature.

[39:43]

But our nature is not the slightest bit different from the way we are appearing to ourselves and others right now. So I have an appearance here. It's a clock. And I started the talk today with you a little early in hopes that Buddha would soon be here. In hopes that this Buddha's pivotal activity would soon be here for all of us. I would like now to see if you're ready to enter the house and join the Buddha's work, which you, of course, have already been doing your whole life.

[40:58]

But I'm asking you now, are you willing to re-enlist in your life of Buddha's activity? Yes. So, we sit. We have the opportunity to sit. Completely. And remember the pivotal activity of all Buddhas. And remember the the active pivot of all ancestors, and to offer our life to that work, to that business. We can be Buddha workers in this way, and ancestor workers, or working Buddhas. We can be working Buddhas and working ancestors, or we can be the ancestor's work.

[42:05]

I wish to be the ancestor's work. And I think the ancestors would like me to do their work. Or I should say, the ancestors would like me to be their work. I am the work. You are the work of the ancestors. They would like you to receive this work, to remember and receive the work of the ancestors. Are you ready to have your life right now be the receiving the inheritance of your nature, and the practice of your nature, which is the inheritance of Buddha's work. Buddha's work is our nature. Could I have that striker please?

[43:13]

So I'm going to ring this bell three times, and then after three times, if you want to, you can enter the house of the Buddhas, and remember the practice of the Buddhas, and receive the practice of the Buddhas, which they are giving us, and practice it, and transmit it. right here, right now, if you wish. You are invited to do the practice. Ready? I'm going to ring the bell now. You don't have to wait until I'm done ringing the bell, you can start now if you want. But after the three bells, you must decide whether you're going to accept the job or not. I'm I am sitting here remembering the work of Bodhisattvas, the pivotal activity of all Buddhas.

[49:27]

I am remembering it How about you? This work of Bodhisattvas is being offered to us and I am sitting here receiving it. I am receiving it sitting here. How about you? every moment, receiving it again.

[51:08]

This is the moment by moment business of the Buddha's house. Sitting here, practicing the functioning pivot of all the ancestors. This is sitting here, inheriting the ancestors' business. The ancestors' samadhi. This is receiving it, practicing it, and transmitting it.

[52:14]

How about you? My practice of this work of Bodhisattvas includes all of you. Each of you include my practice and the practice of all Buddhas.

[53:20]

If you are able to receive this inheritance and take care of it, this is called the host within the host, the Buddha within Buddha. Bye.

[56:36]

I pray that this business of Buddha's house goes on forever for the welfare of all beings. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit to say.

[58:38]

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