Next week, next Saturday, we're having a lay ordination. Lay ordination is an acknowledgement between the practitioner and the Buddha of mutual recognition. We have priest ordination and lay ordination. Priest ordination is usually called leaving home. And lay ordination is practicing in the world while living at home. And you can't hear me? It's not quite that strict, but that's the general meaning.

[01:11]

So in Berkeley Zendo, most of us are living at home. We're all living at home. And so we have lay ordination, which is very important. aspect of our practice, having acknowledgement and recognition and confirmation of your practice, of a committed practice. So a person sows and receives the small robe, which is called a Raksu. and you see it on people occasionally, like this one, and it hangs out by a strap around your neck. This is a large robe. For a priest, it goes around the body.

[02:16]

But this is a smaller version for a layperson. A priest also wears that informally. But it's a real robe. It's not a token. Some people say, oh, it's just kind of a token. But no, it's a real robe. And it's sewn in a very traditional manner. Buddha designed this robe, apparently, they say. And it's sewn in a certain way that with long pieces and short pieces put together, which represent rice paddies and paths. within and around the rice paddies, rice fields. And it represents a robe, it represents a covering for the whole earth. So symbolically, this robe covers everyone.

[03:24]

So there's one huge robe, and each one of us has a little piece of it. that looks just like the whole robe. So we say this robe covers everything, covers everyone, and includes everyone. And people who don't have a robe and practice wear an invisible robe. And so the robe is very personal and at the same time shared by everyone. So when we have lay ordination, or any ordination, part of the ceremony, the heart of the ceremony is taking precepts.

[04:30]

And of course during the ceremony we give the robe and a new name, a Dharma name, and take 16 Bodhisattva precepts. So today I want to talk about 16 Bodhisattva precepts. Still can't hear me in the back? Anyway, I'm going to talk about the 16 Bodhisattva precepts. The 16 Bodhisattva precepts include the three refuges. The three refuges are Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

[05:37]

And the three pure precepts, which are to avoid all evil, to do what is good, and to live for the benefit of all beings. And then there are the ten sometimes called grave precepts, or prohibitory precepts, or clear mind precepts. I like clear mind precepts myself. It seems less punitive. Don't do that. So I'll talk about the ten clear mind precepts mostly, but I just want to talk a little bit about the first six.

[06:55]

Buddha stands for our realization. So we say take refuge in Buddha, means to take refuge in your own realization of who you really are. Another way of saying take refuge is to say, I return to Buddha. Buddha is our fundamental self. There's really only one major precept, and that is to take refuge in Buddha, or return to Buddha, or be one with Buddha. And all the other precepts are commentaries on that precept. To take refuge in Sangha means to take refuge in the truth, or reality, or the law of existence.

[08:06]

It means to not transgress the law of existence. So Dharma is the law which, when broken, leads to big problems. And you know when you've broken the law, because you feel it. Ouch. I must have done something wrong. Ouch. And Sangha stands for harmony. The harmony of a group, or the harmony of people that practice together, or the harmony of the universe. Originally, Sangha, in a small sense, means just the people who are around you, who are doing what you're doing together.

[09:08]

But in a larger sense, you're interacting with the whole universe. So Sangha also includes, in a larger sense, trees, rocks, and rivers, and mountains. and as well as all beings. So, taking refuge or becoming one with the universe is the harmony of Sangha. So we say, be one with Buddha, be one with Dharma, be one with Sangha. This is called taking refuge. The three jewels of Buddhism. And then, the three pure precepts are like general, they cover things in a general way, like to renounce all evil.

[10:21]

It's kind of a general precept. And to do what is good is also a general precept. And to live for the benefit of all beings is an unselfish way to live your life. When you realize that all beings are yourself, it's not a problem. But each one of these is a kind of koan. What does it mean? to live for the benefit of all beings. What does it mean to let go of evil and to do good? Sounds simple, but what is evil and what is good? So then there are the ten clear mind precepts, and I'll go through them one by one. The first one is not killing, not taking life.

[11:21]

So this is expressed in various ways. Not killing, not taking life, not willfully taking life, or not killing life itself. If you think about it, everything around us is continually being devoured by something else. Buddha says society, not just society, but the world is governed by the law of the fishes. The big fish eats the little fish, and the bigger fish eats that fish, and the biggest fish eats all the other fishes.

[12:29]

But something's always eating at us. Everything is being eaten by... We are eating, constantly eating, and something, while we are eating, something is eating us. So there's no way that we can avoid taking life. So this is a big dilemma. The precept says, don't take life, don't kill. So as everything is being transformed by everything else, What is this life? This life of transformation, which is constantly in flux. As soon as we try to hold on to anything, we suffer.

[13:36]

As soon as we try to save our self in some way, we suffer. If we try to stop the processes, we suffer. So how do we give ourself to life and receive life at the same time? How do we operate and co-operate with life itself without killing it? We can kill things, so to speak, but we can't kill life. Life itself is always transforming. Transforming means taking different shapes and forms. So what we call killing is taking different shapes and forms, because the other side of killing is bringing to life.

[14:39]

So at the moment of killing is also bringing to life. Problem with understanding this, or with misunderstanding this, is that we think, well, what's the difference then? We just go ahead and kill everything. That's a big problem. That's a misunderstanding. So the other side of this precept is to nourish life. Because all of us like to live. We know that everything else likes to live too. So the meaning of this precept is to nourish life, take care of life in the midst of birth and death. Killing life is one side and bringing to life is the other side.

[15:44]

Life doesn't exist without death, and death doesn't exist without life. So, while we live in this world, to take care of this world, to take care of these wonderful forms, and to exist right in the middle between birth and death, to let something go that needs to go, and to receive something that needs to be received, and to know when to do something. So when we eat the cabbage, we think we shouldn't eat animals, because animals have feelings, but vegetables have feelings too. And when you cut the cabbage off of its stalk, it screams.

[16:53]

Life screams when it's hurt. So when we use the things of this world, we honor them. And we acknowledge that. This is very important to acknowledge. Dogen, Master Dogen, when he talks about rice or he talks about vegetables, he always gives an honorific of, oh, which is a respectful way of speaking about food, and a respectful way of thinking about clothing, and a respectful way of thinking about everything that comes to us. So even the old vegetables are used in some way, and honored, and not discriminating

[18:10]

the wonderful things from the not so good things. But to treat everything respectfully and to promote life and nourish life and nourish or acknowledge the process of transformation. The second precept is about stealing, or not taking something that doesn't belong to you. There's a precept about greed, which is this one. There's a precept about anger, and there's a precept about delusion, which are the three hindrances, the three poisons, poisonous roots. This one is about greed. Don't take what is not given, is what we say in our precept.

[19:16]

This one says, not stealing, which is very direct. Well, the positive side of this precept is honoring what is given that you haven't received yet. Life itself is a gift and everything that comes to us is a gift. One who, you know, a monk is supposed to let go of everything and only receive what comes. So in this sense, one is always grateful for whatever comes but doesn't covet. is not trying to accumulate.

[20:18]

Our society encourages us to accumulate. And accumulation actually is a cause of suffering. But we think that it's a cause of pleasure. The view is upside down. And our society encourages us to covet. and to want, and we get to the point where we take what we want because we can't help ourselves. We don't realize how much we take, actually, of what we want. If we look around us, maybe In your surroundings, it may not be so obvious, but if you look at the world as a whole, the products that we use are being stolen from other countries.

[21:24]

And we don't even recognize that. And we think it's okay because it's out of mind and out of sight. We know it in the back of our mind somewhere. But actually, the world is being plundered for our benefit. And it's hard to not benefit by that. You know? We hope that the things that we have won't disappear. We are nurtured, actually, on greed. But if we realize that nothing really belongs to us, then we can appreciate what comes.

[22:35]

If you really have nothing, then you really appreciate something that comes when it comes. The hungry person appreciates the common meal very much. And the third precept is called not misusing sexuality. This was originally a precept for monks who are not supposed to have any sexual contact at all. and for lay people to remain faithful in their relationships. This is one of the most difficult areas to regulate. Sex is like fire.

[23:41]

The sexual drive is like very powerful fire and needs to be regulated with a valve and easily gets out of hand. And most sexual desire actually is driven by imagination. Animals, devoid of much imagination, I don't say they don't have it, but Their sexual drive is regulated by the seasons. They're more in contact with the seasonal drives. But for human beings, it's open season all year round. Which is a great disadvantage to the human race. Nature did something wrong.

[24:45]

So the Earth is getting very overcrowded, which is only one aspect. The other aspect is that it drives people nuts, and we get into lots of trouble. But, you know, if there's If you look at it and analyze it, you realize that our society is taking advantage of this fire, of this sex drive, and manipulating like crazy, and creating a big problem for people. It's been going on for a long time. and just raising the level. And we don't even realize how dominant it is in our society.

[25:55]

And we play with it right up to the edge. And it's very distracting, to say the least. to remain faithful in relationships. It is about sex, this precept is about sex, but it's also about, you know, sex is a sex act, but then there's so much else around sexuality, just how do people of opposite sex get along together, and how do people of the same sex get along together, and how do we harmonize? and take care of each other, rather than exploit each other. I think this is the main point. How we take care of each other and understand each other, and not take advantage of each other and exploit each other, and create a harmonious relationship.

[27:03]

In most countries, in Buddhist practice, men and women are separated. That's very smart. But in America, And in Europe, we all practice together because that's our democratic way. But it's also, but it's wonderful because it forces us to come to grips with this problem and how to create a harmonious way to take care of each other and face the problems. The fourth precept, not lying, the positive side is always to communicate the truth. So not lying means not to lie to others, but also not to lie to ourself.

[28:10]

It's very important to be truthful to ourself. And what is our own truth? be faithful to our own truth. It's very important. When we're faithful to our own truth, then we'll be truthful to others. So each one of these precepts comes back to how we take care of ourselves. We can't possibly take care of others unless we take care of ourselves. And we don't know what our own truth is, or what others what the truth is outside of ourself, unless we know what it is within ourself. But, you know, sometimes we have to say something that's not true. Truth, if we stick to the letter of precepts, that's not truthful.

[29:19]

because truth lies somewhere in between literal interpretation and actual life. Precepts have various levels. One level is the literal understanding, which is don't tell a lie. Of course not. The other level is Life itself is truth, no matter whether you tell a lie or not. The truth of life is what's actually happening. And in between is where your actual life takes place. Our life does not take place in the realm of literal rules.

[30:23]

Life is more flexible than that. you might have to tell a lie sometime in order to be truthful. You know, I usually use the example of the Gestapo coming to look for somebody in your house. He's hiding in the attic and he knocks on your door. Is there somebody in there? Yeah, he's right up there. I cannot tell a lie. So you have to lie in order to be truthful to yourself and to your friend. So life is not so simple. It doesn't follow all the rules. So precepts are guidelines. And the actual working out of precept is on each moment

[31:26]

on each moment's activity. You remember the precept and then you realize basic truth and then somewhere in between you have to decide what to do on each moment. The fifth precept is not selling, as usual, but not giving or taking alcohol or drugs. Intoxicants covers the whole field. Sometimes we take intoxicants in order to have clarity. There are certain drugs that are

[32:29]

clarifying drugs. And sometimes they do clarify something. But if you want to have that clarity again, and keep taking the drug for that clarity, or that good feeling, or that forgetfulness, or whatever, then it becomes a hindrance. It clouds the mind instead of maintaining clarity. Each one of us is born, hopefully, with clarity, clear mind. And to maintain the clear mind, which we are all born with, is something that we need to always practice with. The practice of Zazen is to maintain clear mind.

[33:37]

The clear mind that we're all born with. The mind that is not clouded by opinions, false views, partiality, and intoxicants. And, I remember Suzuki Roshi saying, the meaning of this precept is, don't sell Buddhism as an intoxicant. Don't sell Buddhism as something that will cure all your ills, or that will make you feel wonderful, ecstatic, or Blissful. Don't sell religion as opium.

[34:43]

So this pitta covers a lot of territory. And it's a very important precept because it's the precept about delusion. The positive side is to polish clarity, dispelling delusion. Then the sixth precept is not discussing the faults of others. One way of interpreting this is not to gossip about people. This is one of the precepts about speech. Wrong speech and right speech.

[35:59]

Not to discuss the faults of others, especially behind their back. not dwelling on past mistakes. You know, when we discuss the faults of others, we're dwelling on their past mistakes. But it also applies to ourself, not to dwell on our own past mistakes. We all make mistakes and we all have problems from the past. But to let go of that, and continue is a very important practice. Dwelling on past mistakes is one of the, on our own past mistakes, is one of the five hindrances. So, I remember Suzuki Roshi, when people, someone asked him about

[37:05]

When you're at Tassajara, do you see all the mistakes that people are making? He says, when I walk through Tassajara, I don't look around. So the positive side of this precept is called creating wisdom from ignorance. transforming ignorance into wisdom. The seventh precept is also about speech. Not praising yourself while abusing others, or not raising yourself up in order to, or not lowering other people in order to raise yourself up. The two ways to get up here. One is to climb a precept. And the other is if everybody gets lower than you, you don't have to do much.

[38:16]

So the positive side of this precept is to maintain modesty and promoting others. A good idea to promote others is called Sympathetic joy. Joy, actually, that one derives from seeing others benefited. Often when other people are promoted or get something wonderful, we feel left out. if we join them in their success, then we're not left out. We're only left out if we think that I didn't get that and they did. The eighth precept is called here, not sparing the Dharma assets.

[39:28]

Usually it's not to withhold teaching or material things. Not to withhold the teaching or material things. To give generously. Even if you know a little bit about Dharma, if somebody asks you, you can say, I don't know very much, but I can tell you this. I can tell you what I do know. You don't have to be a teacher. If you're a member of the Sangha, some of them will come in on a Saturday morning, after a lecture, and they'll start talking to you, and they'll say, do you know what he's talking about? And you can say, well, I know a little bit about what he's talking about. Or, yeah, I know what he's talking about. Or I don't know what they're talking about. So it's about generosity, right?

[40:35]

Sometimes people take what they know and they hold it and use it for manipulation. Information can be used for power over others. And I've seen it happen many times where people have information or have knowledge and they use it to manipulate people. I'll give you a little bit at a time. Just keep coming, and anger can leave your mouth. That happens. The ninth one is not indulging in anger. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't get angry, but you should know when to let go of anger. You should not be attached to your anger. Anger is like sex. It's hard to say which one is better. And they both come from the same kind of energy.

[41:42]

And it depends on what outlets we use or we are attached to. Greedy people are usually more attached to sex. And brilliant people are usually more attached to anger. This is not always true. Forget what I said. But anger is like... a great release and becomes an addiction. And we, instead of using anger, we're used by anger. So, and it's one of the three evil roots that keep us

[42:58]

So it feels like when we're angry there is a kind of release, but that release is actually a kind of bondage because then we need it over and over again. So be careful. Then the last one is not defaming the three treasures, which is the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. So we say respecting the Buddha, unfolding the Dharma and nourishing the Sangha. Don't put it down. In a way, this is a kind of self-serving precept. But if you see it in the right light, So these are the precepts.

[44:13]

And you can see that they're not so simple. And you can see that you can't possibly practice them all as you would like. and you know they were always stepping over them, or what's called staining the precept. Once you take the precept, you may not be able to uphold it. And so people sometimes say, I don't know if I can take those precepts, because... And that's very sincere. It's a very sincere attitude to say, I don't know if I can do that. But it's also sincere to say, Even though I know I can't do that, I'll do it." To say, I know I can't do that, so I won't do it, is a kind of perfectionist attitude. The perfectionist says, I can't do that, so I won't try.

[45:25]

Or, I know I can't do that, so I don't know what I'll do. precepts is always more than anybody can do. That's why precepts are worthwhile. If it was just something that you could do perfectly, there would be no reason to do it. But the fact that the precepts are always a challenge and that actually they're coming from inside. They're not something imposed on us from outside. When you take the precept, the precept is actually responding to your own true nature. It's not something invented by somebody to put you in bondage. So precept is a guideline and also a koan.

[46:36]

Because whatever side you bring up as positive, the other side is always there. And they are the koans of our life. So don't think, I won't do this because I know I can't keep all the precepts. You have to throw your lot in with everybody who can't keep all the precepts. So In this life, we're all in it together. This is a place, this world, we're all in it together, and none of us can do it right. But we all make some effort. Even though we can't do it, we all make some effort. To say, I know I can't do that, so I won't try, is to give up your life. So, you're all welcome to come to the Lay Ordination Ceremony next Saturday.

[47:56]

That's right.

[47:58]

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