Good morning, everyone. Welcome. So last Sunday here, we had a bodhisattva precept ceremony. Some number of people received the bodhisattva precepts. And I want to talk about a different aspect of the bodhisattvas today. practice we do and our Zen tradition is part of what's called Mahayana Buddhism, the great vehicle, the tradition of North Asian Buddhism, which involves bodhisattvas, enlightening beings. So this is about universal liberation, that this Zen practice, we do both the meditation and then how that expresses itself in our everyday activity beyond our formal meditation practice is not just about our own transformation, although it includes that, but it's about our interrelationship and the liberation and awakening of all beings.

[01:17]

So how Our sitting upright and aware and breathing and settling and sitting like Buddha and allowing Buddha to be present on our seats is something that engages and implicates not just ourselves and the people we know and family and friends, but many beings. So in the Bodhisattva tradition, there are various teachings of practices to help us to express this in our life in the world, beyond in our meditation, but beyond that also. So the precepts or guidelines for practice in the world and which also are about the ceremony last week are about connecting with the

[02:25]

lineage of bodhisattvas and the particulars and lineage that we have inherited is one way of doing that. And the precepts we take are from the 16, they go back to the Buddha, but the precepts evolved in the 16 precepts that we conveyed last week. Go back to Dogen, the founder of the Dozen in the 1200s in Japan, whose tradition we follow. But also, there are various ways of talking about this bodhisattva practice. Paramitas are transcendent practices. Also, things like generosity, ethical conduct, patience, enthusiasm, prajnaparamita, insider wisdom, skillful means, commitment.

[03:34]

And there are also traditional Bodhisattva figures. In the practice period we're going to be doing in April and May, beginning April 1st, we have a spring practice commitment period. Whether or not you're formally doing that, we'll be talking about that during those two months and whoever attends our events will be engaged in that. There's a formal description of that on the flyers on the entryway. So if you're interested in participating formally, that's possible. But beyond that, just to look at the Bodhisattva figures as models of practice, archetypal models of practice. We'll be focusing on that for two months. So I wanted to kind of do a little preview today, this morning.

[04:40]

So in the Mahayana Sutras, it talks about hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of different bodhisattvas. It says in some of the sutras that on the tip of a flower or any of every atom, there are thousands and tens of thousands of bodhisattvas, enlightening beings who are there to help all of us awaken. So this is a worldview that is strange to our usual rational way of thinking, kind of psychedelic and kind of, well, in line with modern physics, actually. But aside from that, there are, in Mahayana Buddhist cultures in different countries, major archetypal figures who we will be talking about in the practice period from my book, Faces of Compassion.

[05:46]

There are seven major figures in East Asia. I will be focusing on several of them. well, six of them. Shakyamuni Buddha is one of them, but also, just to mention a few this morning, Manjushri, who is sitting in front of the Buddha on the altar. You can't see him from the back, but he's sitting on a lion, and he holds a teaching scepter. Sometimes he holds a sword to cut through delusion. He's the bodhisattva of insider wisdom, youthful insight. is one of the major archetypal figures. Another is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kanon or Kanzeon, who we chant to sometimes. There's an image of her behind Paula on the back wall there, another image. It's hard to see, but if you look at closely when you pass by there, this iron image on the wall here, she has 11 heads.

[06:47]

There's another image in the front here. and there's images around the temple. And also Jizo Bodhisattva, there's a big image of her in the kitchen, of him in the kitchen. He's the Bodhisattva of, well, the earth matrix, or earth womb, the Bodhisattva of the earth, protector of women and children, and of beings in hell realms. So anyway, all of these different Bodhisattvas have particular practices they specialize in, and combinations of these practices And we'll look at them as kind of strategies of practice. And each of us, it's useful to look at them and their stories and their approaches to practice as a way of looking at our own practice, as a way of looking at what is the aspect or how is it that we each come to practice?

[07:48]

We're each doing this practice of zazen, of sitting. like Buddha, this practice we've just done. But then as this unfolds in our life, when we do this regularly, there are particular styles and approaches that we may see in these stories of these great Bodhisattva figures that cult us, maybe that reflect aspects of our own approach to spirituality or aspects of our own aspirations to spirituality. But I want to talk about one of them a little bit, just a little bit, this morning as an example. And that's Maitreya Bodhisattva. So there's two images of Maitreya that I put out this morning on the altar. And for those of you sitting behind the altar, maybe you saw them during walking meditation, or you can look at them later.

[08:51]

Maitreya Bodhisattva is the next future Buddha. Most of these archetypal bodhisattvas we invoke in our meal chant during longer sittings, during our all-day sittings. Maitreya is the bodhisattva who is predicted in some of the sutras to be the next future Buddha after Shakyamuni, who was the historical Buddha 2,500 years ago, more or less, in what's now northeastern India. So Maitreya, until then, is sitting up in the meditation heavens waiting to become the next Buddha. So the image on the right, and the picture in the postcard, the most famous Buddhist statue in Japan. Beautiful statue. Maitreya sitting with his fingers to his chin, contemplating the suffering of all beings, and how to save all beings, and how to become the next Buddha.

[10:00]

And beautiful statue. It's at the Koryu-ji Temple in Kyoto. I visited many times when I was living in Kyoto. So he's considering the... how it is that beings suffer. So there are many aspects. Each of these different Bodhisattva figures has many aspects. One of the aspects of Maitreya is that he's particularly associated, and each of these Bodhisattvas is associated with particular sutras, particular schools. Maitreya is associated with the Yogacara branch of Mahayana Buddhism, which is the branch that studies consciousness, that studies the way we think, that studies how it is that we get caught up in suffering. So in this image of Maitreya as the Bodhisattva waiting to be the next Buddha, he's considering what it is,

[11:11]

about human consciousness that leads to all of our suffering. And another aspect of, another practice of Maitreya is patience, because we don't know, he doesn't know when he will be the next future Buddha. One version in one of the sutras says maybe in what we call the year 4,000. Another version says it might be in 350,000 years from now. So it's a long time. So Maitreya is very good at practicing patience, or he has to be. So this image of Maitreya just sitting and waiting to become the next Buddha somehow. And how does this invoke the practice of patience for us? If you think that, if you practice long enough, eventually you'll become a Buddha.

[12:16]

Which is one way that Buddhist practice is thought of sometimes. It's not really how we think of it, but patience is an important practice. And part of what we do, sitting here, is learn to be patient. Learn to just be present. And sometimes it's uncomfortable just sitting facing the wall, facing ourselves. Wondering if the dog was going to hit the bell at the end of the period and fall asleep. Just sitting. And this kind of practice of patience is useful, of course, in the world. When we're waiting in line at the grocery store, when we're waiting for a bus or whatever, how often we need to practice patience. It's one of the most important practices.

[13:19]

How do we, it's not a passive practice, how do we attentively, dynamically practice patience? How do we pay attention as we practice patience? How do we pay attention so that we can respond actively when there's something to do? Sometimes there's nothing to do. Sometimes we can't, in some situations, we can't see how to be helpful. And yet, if you're practicing this attentive practice of patience, you can be ready and willing. And when you see something to do that might be helpful, you're ready to do that. Just spring into action. So that's a little bit about the practice of patience.

[14:24]

Maitreya also does the practice of generosity. So on the other side of the altar, on this side, there's a little image of a hotai. It's a Japanese name, butai in Chinese. And one of the things about these different Bodhisattva figures is that various historical characters have been associated with them, and this is a... So you've all seen my trade, if you've been to a Chinese restaurant. How many people have never been to a Chinese restaurant? So you've all seen Maitreya. Maitreya in China is associated with the fat, jolly, laughing Buddha. There's an image of him on the altar, on the side of the altar. And that's based on Pudai, who was a Chinese monk in the 1000s, I think. Everybody came to associate him with Maitreya.

[15:32]

There's lots of stories about this character. He's kind of like a Buddhist Santa Claus. He had a big bag of candy or whatever to give to children. He played with children. He was just always happy and jolly. And people just figured out that he was Maitreya. So we don't know when Maitreya is going to come, I was saying, but some people throughout history have said that they were Maitreya or they were preparing the way for Maitreya. I don't know what happened to him, but there was a guy in London who said he was Maitreya. And I don't know, maybe he is, I don't know. Anyway, so there's always been this feeling in Asia that, you know, wanting Maitreya to come and wishing he would come. Anyway, but this guy who lived in the 1000s, Hotei is his Japanese name.

[16:35]

He was considered to be Maitreya so much so that now in Chinese temples, he's called Milofet, which means Maitreya in Chinese. He's considered Maitreya. So if you go to temples in And you see a statue of him, and sometimes he's gigantic, like, what's his name? It starts with Jabba the, Jabba the Hun, yeah, sort of like that. But he's called Milofe, he's considered a Buddha. But it's based on this one, this guy from the 1000s. But in China, that's who they consider the Buddha. So anyway, there's a little image of him on the side of the altar. And so, you know, Maitreya also represents generosity and kindness. And Metta, so the practice of Metta or Maitreya is the practice of generosity.

[17:40]

We sometimes chant the Metta Sutta, and that's named after, or he's named after that practice of loving kindness. So a complicated figure. So study of the self, Dogen says, to study the way is to study the self. So this is part of what my training does. How to become Buddha. How to become, so one way of talking about bodhisattvas is that bodhisattvas are practicing and eventually will become Buddhas. Bodhisattvas and Buddhas really aren't so different, but Bodhisattvas are doing the Buddha work. Anyway, all of these different archetypal Bodhisattva figures are characters who have these different aspects of Buddhist practice.

[18:44]

And so I wanted to just introduce Maitreya today as a way of talking about this. We'll be talking more about all of these figures in this practice period. the practice period will be talking about this with me during those two months. Again, whether or not you're formally doing the practice commitment period or not, you can pick up a flyer about it up front and see what's involved. And we'll be talking about these bodhisattvas and who they are and how they work. And each one of them has lots of stories and lots of characteristics and qualities. So they tell us about what spiritual practice is and how meditation works. But I wanted to focus today on a story about Maitreya from Dogen, from his extensive record.

[19:54]

I'll just tell the story. And he tells it in two different, so that Dogen's extensive record includes many different short talks that he gave throughout his career. He lived from 1200 to 1253, and then brought back from China to Japan as a Japanese monk, this tradition. And actually the story refers to, that Dogen tells, refers to Dongshan, who was the founder of Soto Zen in China. We talked about him a couple of years ago in the practice period. He wrote the Jewel Marisamane, we sometimes chant. So this is Dogen quoting a story about Dongshan. And then later on, Suzuki Roshi brought this tradition to California in the 60s and founded San Francisco Zen Center.

[20:55]

But I'll tell these stories, this story and commentary by Dogen. It's a story about Maitreya. So Dogen says, long ago Dongshan said to Yunzhu who was one of his students from Burma, lineage descends. Long ago, a great teacher, Nanchuan, asked a monk who was lecturing on the sutra of Maitreya's descent, which is about when Maitreya will come from the meditation heaven to earth. This monk was lecturing on that sutra and Nanchuan asked him, when will Maitreya descend? The monk replied, he is presently in the heavenly palace and will be born in the future. Nanshuang said, there is no Maitreya up in heaven and no Maitreya down on earth. And that's the story. So Nanshuang told that. And following this story, Yunzhu, his student and one of his successors, asked Dongshan, if it is simply that there is no Maitreya up in heaven and no Maitreya down on the ground, I wonder who granted him the name Maitreya.

[22:10]

Dongshan immediately shook his meditation chair and said, teacher, yun zhi dao ying. So that's the end of the story, Dogen quotes. So Dongshan paused and then said, there's no Maitreya up in heaven and no Maitreya down on the earth. Maitreya is not Maitreya, and so Maitreya is Maitreya. Even though this is so, doesn't everybody want to see Maitreya? Dogen raised his whisk and said, you have met with Maitreya. Already having met him, everyone, try to say whether Maitreya exists or does not exist. Dogen put down his whisk, got down from his seat, and circumambulated the hall, like I do at the beginning of all these things. So that's the end of that story. So does Maitreya exist or not exist?

[23:14]

So this is a Zen story about Maitreya. So we talk about emptiness, we talk about not knowing, we talk about existing and not existing. And this particularly applies to Maitreya. Will Maitreya come? We don't know. When will Maitreya come? We don't know. Later on there's another story about Maitreya or another commentary on the same story by Dogen. Dogen said, so the first one was in 1241, when he was still teaching in Kyoto. This one is 1246, five years later.

[24:15]

If I expound Buddhadharma, the Buddha's teaching, as an offering to my fellow practitioners, I cannot avoid my eyebrows falling out from lying. So this was a common idea in China, that if you lie, your eyebrows will fall out. Kind of like Pinocchio's nose broke. If I expound Buddhadharma as an offering to my fellow practitioners, I cannot avoid my eyebrows falling out from lying." So, you know, we say that no matter what you say about the Buddhist truth, it's never, you can't actually, anything you say isn't actually it. So again, continued, if I do not expound Buddhadharma as an offering to my fellow practitioners, I will enter hell fast as an arrow. Going beyond these two alternatives, what can I do today for you, my fellow practitioners?

[25:17]

After a pause, Dogen said, above the heavens, there's no Maitreya. Below the earth, there's no Maitreya. But seeing his face is superior to hearing his name. If you meet him in person, you cannot be deceived. If any of you have seen Maitreya, We sit facing the wall, facing ourselves, facing all beings. And here you see Maitreya. Questions, comments, responses about Maitreya or anything else. I think the question of whether Maitreya exists or not is very related to the question of

[26:36]

OK, serious, whatever, nuclear war, et cetera. But also, really, we never know whether each breath will be our last breath. And that's the future. But the future is, it doesn't have to go in any particular way. We think about things in the future. But it's very indeterminate. And so when I think about Maitreya, I think about, you know, just the possibility, the possibility of bringing Buddha into the next moment. Bringing some, you know, we have, whatever comes our way, we have the possibility of bringing compassion and wisdom and clarity to that. That's why we have those mantra. Yeah, the future is not yet known. The future is only, you know, what we imagine right now. And yet, there are all kinds of dire possibilities based on what is now about the future, our collective future anyway.

[28:14]

Yeah, yeah. If you think back 10 years, 20 years, two years, who could have imagined this? Kathy? Your comments are implying that the future doesn't happen unless the humans are here. Oh, the future will happen. The planet will survive. It may only be small creatures. There will be a future. Sure. In the future there will be. As we see it now. Jerry? There is something about looking at the future that if you can laugh, you're better able to respond.

[29:31]

You know, if you... Yes. If you get stuck in what you think is going to happen, it's sort of depressing. And that ability to laugh somehow helps you get it to go forward. Yes, yes. Yeah, how do we take care of beings in the future? That's up to us. Our ancestors in the future are looking back and encouraging us to take care of things. Yes, Caroline. It's on a different tack and just a small thing. You were talking about patience and I think it's much easier to be patient when you're forced to wait. engage and have to remind us.

[30:35]

And then it's really hard to step back and say, be patient. So that's something I've been noticing, is how to even make sure that the need to be patient registers when I'm caught up in the conversation or in whatever's going on. That's obvious, but there are lots of times when it's not so obvious. Yeah, we get caught up in things, right, right, right. And that's when, yeah, I'm just okay. Remember to breathe and, you know, it doesn't mean to step away from it necessarily, but how do we stay involved in a way that's that includes breath, that includes okay. And the ultimate patience, I'm gonna, this is just because I like to say this word, anapadika dharmakshati, some of you know that I like to say that word.

[31:42]

It means the, it's the ultimate patience, which is enlightenment itself, which is the patience with the total ungraspability or unknowability of anything. We can't actually totally get a hold of anything. So yeah, and how do we be patient with that? So right in the middle of being involved in a discussion or in a challenge or in some problem, yeah, it's hard to remember to be, that we can't really fix it exactly. We can still do our best. Yes, go on. So, Maitreya has been one of the Bodhisattva figures that I felt, I think, the most distant to. Good. One of the reasons is that, like, you know, I grew up in a Christian tradition, and so I think when I heard about the figure Maitreya, I think I

[32:46]

And that was kind of, I think that confused me a little bit, like conflating those two different traditions into one idea in my head. But this talk was really helpful for me because I think I had a lot of fun with the idea of, you know, he's the future As a bodhisattva, he's here or he's like, you know, somewhere nearby kind of considering what, you know, how to deal with all of this. Or he's like around in the world, you know, expressing loving kindness. Brian. That's for sure.

[34:03]

Yeah, we don't really know what will happen in the next moment. I mean, you know, a lot of the time we can sort of predict. or we can have a good idea, we can plan. We do our life based on planning things and scheduling things, and often what happens is congruent with how we plan or schedule things, but it's not exactly. So this combination of people in these seats here this morning, I don't think has ever happened before. In fact, I know it because there's two new people, so it's great to have two new people here. Welcome. So this is a totally unique experience, even though many of you have been here many times before.

[35:41]

Yes, sir? And the idea of patience, you know, just to try and practice asana, Yeah. Yeah, this is a training in patience. Of course I find that a bit confusing, but let me say it makes me think of music, because you don't really know what it is. Yeah, it's a good image for this.

[37:22]

It's arising, but it's alive and we can't get a hold of it. And it only happens because there's the flow of future. But even if it's a piece that we've heard numbers of times, how is it going to feel? Because each of us, in any moment, are somewhat different from the last time we heard it. And the performers may be slightly different from the last time we heard it. So it's unique, really. And even when you're playing it, of course I'm an amateur. Even when you play the same piece and say, oh, oh, Yes. Yeah, it's a good image. Do either of the new people have any questions, just basic questions about meditation or anything else?

[38:57]

Or any other comments or questions? Yes, Bill. Yeah, that's a good way to think of it. Yeah. So yeah, there's a whole body, I mean, there's a huge part of, branch of Mahayana Buddhism that is called Yogacara, that's this really, maybe we could say mental yoga, that's this study of

[40:18]

the mind awakens studying the self, studying consciousness that Maitreya is the kind of representative of in terms of the Bodhisattva state. Yeah, so it's a huge, huge study. So yeah, there's plenty for him to unfold. Well, thank you all very much.

[40:49]

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