I vow to do all that is good. I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all people. I vow to save all humans. I'm sorry. I'm going to go and suffer for myself. That's, I think, the Mahayana vision of pure research, the original pure research. First, you're going to see people do all good. It sort of purifies the mind. And then that has changed, keeping with the Bodhisattva spirit, with the Bodhisattva idea. So it manifests as Bodhisattva. And then you have the 10th grade research. As we formulate them here, they're in positive, very negative, positive terms. So the negative, you can see as the first pure precept

[01:02]

to refrain from all evil. And then the positive is that inverted, is the dual good expression of wisdom. So today, if we're going to get through these, which I plan to, hope to, I want to see if we can do four precepts. And I've broken down the 10th grade precepts into three areas. The first area is precepts of action. And those are, I vow not to kill. I vow not to take what is not given. I vow not to misuse sexuality. And I vow, here we say, I vow not to sell the mind of delusion. Or I vow not to intoxicate body, mind, self, or others.

[02:04]

So all of those are actions. And there are also the other two categories I just mentioned. The precepts of speech. I vow to refrain from false speech. I vow not to slander. And I vow not to praise self as an example to others. And then the third category is, you can call it precepts of impatience, or precepts of love. I vow not to be avaricious. I vow not to harbor ill will. And I vow not to abuse. So the next three sessions, we'll take one of those sections off and see if we can get through. So let's go to the first creative precept, which

[03:10]

is also the first precept of action. So that's not killing. And we have a couple of different texts that we can use to refer to it. There's Bodhidharma's text, which is, and you have all these texts, I vow not to kill. Self nature is subtle and mysterious. In the realm of the everlasting dharma, not giving rise to the concept of killing is called the precept of not killing. The Dogon version is, do not kill. No life can be cut off. The life of Buddha is increasing. Continue the life of Buddha. Do not kill Buddha. And then, Thich Nhat Hanh's version is, in the first precept, he calls it reverence for life.

[04:17]

And he puts a kind of gloss on it, giving it a kind of more relevant and instructive, more so directly instructive perspective. So he writes, aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect lives of people, animals, plants, and animals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any killing in the world, any killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life. That's also a high stage. And I think I mentioned this last time, I've been really, for some reason, this came to me in the last few weeks, and it's really stuck with me, as an expression of this precept,

[05:24]

which is personal to me, but it contains a lot of, particularly, what Thich Nhat Hanh is writing through, but it also contains these other expressions It's just a vow not to live one's life at the expense of others. And how do we do that? Can that be done? How do we fail? I mean, the first thing is a vow to fail in knowledge. So this activity of repentance is very important for Thich Nhat Hanh. In a way, the first grade precept actually includes all the other precepts.

[06:24]

If you think about Thich Nhat Hanh, you can see how each one of them urges us not to cut off love, and also encourages us to cherish all beings, because all beings are mutually dependent on each other. They're the beings of our family, the beings of our friends, the beings of our community, and they're also the countless beings of our own mind. In fact, in practice, that's where we begin. We have to stop. What kinds of thugs, criminals, and murderers are running around in my mind? And when do they come forth?

[07:26]

How do they actually control my activities? Am I really, consciously or unconsciously, doing harm to myself with the views I have, with the power that I have, to approach them? So this is also Thich Nhat Hanh, and that same thing affects all of us. It affects us, and it affects the people around us. You know, if you walk around with a scowl on your face, which, we're vibrant. Or we're snappish or impatient. You know, another person encountering you

[08:30]

may not, in fact, have the slightest idea of what you're thinking or feeling. In fact, it may, it usually has nothing to do with them. But it has something to do with them. It affects them. And, it creates some disarmament. And that's a way of harming. So, that's, you know, sort of a entry into looking at that. Making sure that this piece that we're seeing, we're seeing it in the wire, perspective of the world, but we're also seeing it in a very different perspective of our own lives. Now,

[09:33]

in, in the Zen tradition, there's a general way of looking at these precepts that we're going to get to explore in that lecture. The terminologies may vary sect to sect, but essentially, they're seen, they're often seen at a pre-level. At a kind of literal level, which is basically reframed at a literal level, and sometimes it's called the Hinayana level. And you can see it in a way it's at that level, which is important. Hinayana is not necessarily a derogation

[10:37]

of the precepts. And you see them in the Hinaya rules, which are all quite clear in the scripture. And then, you know, I can bring down next time, would anyone like to take a look at the Hakimoka? I'll bring it down. Just the rules, what to rethink, they're very precise. So, you know, the literal level of this is reframed from taking even the smallest. So, and these precepts also predate Buddhism. The basic five precepts, not chilling, not stealing, not lying, not using sexuality, not intoxicating oneself,

[11:40]

you find them in other spiritual systems. So, you know, in India, the people of the Jain religion still for all their war, so as not to harm life. And you'll often see in the data there, so not to be and they take this rule very, very seriously to the extent that they then as their life is embodying that seriousness of their war. It's also true that you can't completely observe the species and stay alive. They're all living things, versions of them survive on other living things. This is

[12:41]

a mistake. There's a quotation from Alan Watts who was asked why he was a vegetarian. He replied, because cows feed louder than cats. But I think the operative word there is fire. All living things have sensation. They they all have conscious, unconscious focus. They turn towards the light. They look forward and they also shrink away from danger and darkness. So at this level we just do the best we can and we are mindful

[13:42]

of what life we take. So milk chains there's a couple different versions of that. There's such universal labors that brought us to this point and we know how to come to this. So we acknowledge that there is life in this. In another I didn't want to talk about this but another thing we do less formally we generate, we treasure the work of many people suffering so we acknowledge that and we think and then we also live. We live on the labors of the truck drivers

[14:44]

and the supermarkets produce piles on the growing things and the worms and the compost and the weather and so on. We can't live without all of these things coming together we can't live without the death of other people. So we always recognize that death and we celebrate their life as time So that's the first level the first level is the literal level and I think that they sort of correspond to the three pure precepts the first pure precept is refrain from evil or just refrain that's the first level the second level is do all good so the second level

[15:46]

is what's known as the compassionate Mahayana level uh and there's another aspect of it Self nature is subtle and mysterious Compassion is subtle and mysterious so we're we're literal level expresses the prohibitory negative side the compassionate level brings forth the positive brings forth the side that protects life and acts in the act of life and there we're called on

[16:49]

to deserve good from evil discern right from wrong which is kind of diving into the complexity of life with those two levels of precept we put ourselves in the place of actually having to make decisions and value and sometimes it's really impossible to know what the right side is and usually there's right and wrong both sides and still we can't still we have to act so I mean this is true probably it's true it's true there's a lot of

[17:50]

there's a lot of help there is right on both sides there's fear on both sides there's harm to each other on both sides what is the what is the most helpful thing that one can do so that's very challenging and I think here's where Zazen is our model in sort of support living when we practice this upright sitting and accepting our thoughts and accepting the pains that come up in our body not ready to do anything

[18:53]

sensational perception and we train ourselves to listen and see which is popular that for example translates as the hearer of the cries of the world I like to look at the Sanskrit but the way fundamentally it's fundamentally hearing the cries of the world but it's maybe sometimes those cries are not all cries of the human being but they are the sounds of the world so we train ourselves

[19:56]

to listen and when we find ourselves like rust in the field it's a deep suffering training is Zazen but it's also a deep technical training of conduct we carry Zazen back to the world not necessarily sitting down in the middle of the office just being creating harmony in our environment without even trying so in this sense Zazen practicing

[20:57]

precepts sometimes we do see right and wrong clearly and we act precisely we might even have to raise a sword to protect enemies but when we raise that sword when we take up a weapon when we raise our voice our words even if our motive is pure we need to be prepared to accept the harm that there may be a price that we have to pay as Bodhisattvas Bodhisattvas sacrifices her or his needs in the world their potential

[21:59]

easily manifest liberation for the sake of other beings so for the sake of other beings they are willing to stay to know the way to create harmony so that's the living happening intention of life so there are times when right and wrong seem clear but the question can be gravitated towards are you upholding the peace that you have for it as I said it's really different there are so many different issues in the world you can see right but you also know that on that side which you see as right and this side which you see as wrong

[23:02]

there are people with good will people with good will so I think it's another point of practice which is to recognize that violence arises that killing happens and not to be passive to it but to recognize it despite our best efforts to stop it so there is a third level which is called Buddha mind or Buddha nature and this is what Bodhidharma points out when he says in the realm of everlasting dharma not giving rise to the concept of killing it's called the precept

[24:03]

not killing so in this precept the notion of killing never arises and really in the Buddha mind there are no concepts that arise and I think we need to be aware that it's not that they don't they arise and they flow through any kind of perception or notion that we have which means that it's not related to the spirit there is a noted verse in this precept his first phrase

[25:05]

states this really absolutely Buddha nature he says no life can be cut off because there is in essence there is no life and also in essence there is no eternal so so in the first in his first line he gives this absolute no life can be cut off in his last phrase he says do not kill so he goes to this backwards the highest principle

[26:06]

first so he offers us this really powerful message to live by and to live by the way that leads to the real notion and then he gives us a notion of step by step practice we don't have those you know we do in the package we do in the package aren't they? I think so we have this comment on everybody is not the same you know you know I think no but you know what these are versions of that this is it well you know things get changed

[27:09]

this is not killing life it's probably the same as no life can be cut off to me it sounds different it does sound different and I'm going to have to go back and try to reconcile this let me just ask this question is even the slightest moment of self assertion killing I think you have to you have to evaluate that's the question in that case no moment of self assertion what do you mean by self assertion any slight movement to basically protect yourself small self

[28:10]

well let's come back to that because I think this is going to come up it's going to come up again and again I guess that's the Janus position Janus that's basically life is not really micro because you might kill micro I'm not saying it's ridiculous I'm really saying I want to get some clarity but I think you have to look if you take that position what else is going to come up what's the price of taking that kind of position there's no there's no way out it's like the universe has a zero-sum entity that in action or inaction here is going to put that place itself so let's come back to that question so I think

[29:22]

I told you they don't study the cons it's the precept it's the last they take the precepts as cons actually and you have to go in and face your teacher and manifest so all these three levels interact so that third level is also the level of awakening with the third precept I have to live and be lived for the sake of others so I think there's some correspondence that we can do I think there's some I think it's significant that in Bodhidharma he says not giving lives to concepts of care which to me is different than the concept of care arising

[30:24]

within me that happens giving lives it's much more like what Harry was talking about that's something that I'm doing and I think that to go along with this to say to not do that is to not kill strictly speaking means every time I do that I kill I think what giving lives to concepts of killing the concept of killing is pushed on but still that which arises in the concept that you lay on that and crystallize that which arises in the mind and this is

[31:27]

not giving lives to concepts of whatever it is that's going on crystallizing that around the concept of killing so think about in the hearts of no form no feelings no perceptions no formations no concepts so form is just the realm of the body and feelings are just some sensational expression and then perception is whether we say oh this is good this is bad and then the next step formation is concept you know the next step is making an idea about it and turning it into something

[32:27]

that then goes to it manifests in consciousness and consciousness has action so it's part of the change of the mental origination so we have an opportunity to break that chain at any place in the mind and that's not giving lives to the thought of killing it's not that it's not that there's no pain that's where you take the pain if you reify it and think of it as an action and you get past it so that's it it's not that

[34:12]

it's simply that it's like feeling the same way in my mind the formation of this that we perceive and take and I don't believe that I don't believe that I don't believe that it's the only thing that each time you fail instead of stopping you repent and start again and try again but I've got a lot of stuff I'm repenting it's good to be repenting but I guess there's some there is some faith I don't want to get into it, but I suspect that if we really looked, if we took like

[35:32]

an event that you observe, or a series of events that you observe, and kind of really look at it carefully, and parse each particular moment of it, you might find that in fact you're doing it. There's a little bit of inquiry. Yeah. So, you know, we have to look at it. But that's the, in fact, that's the main tool that we have. The main tool that we have in mind is observing. Well, I get the sense that in many cases, the whole emphasis on self-prohibition is really kind of, it looks like it continues to develop. There's no need for self-prohibition. You don't have to do it. You don't do it. You don't do it. Because you basically understand what's happening. You get a broader sense. If you really, if you're inside, you get to a certain point now. So I'm not saying, the other side of that is also that I think the biggest part of

[36:38]

the problem with religion is this kind of mind race that people are trying to cultivate and slip insidiously into sort of like spiritual masochism, which isn't very far from some of the things that Floyd talked about. He talked about psychosenia, these agonizing, introspective forays to root out the tiniest evil. Well, this is sick. It's not spiritually mastered at all. Well, that's what we're talking about. It's resubstantiation in two levels. And not emphasizing that before we move on. Right. Exactly. I'm not just saying don't, don't, don't. But it's like, you know, maybe it's... Maybe it's devotedly do. That's... That's... And sometimes it's also in the... This is one of the great... One of the great things about Daoism is sort of the cultivation of negative capability.

[37:47]

Just sitting in all this peace. You know, the capability of absorbing, being present with, not knowing, not reacting to what you're doing. That's actually living in the conscience of being. But you have to stay there. You're always moving between these levels. You're always moving. You know, so... These levels of... In the sitting session, the person next to you may be reading, or writing, or bicycle, or car, or workplace. And... In these kinds of living, in these situations, murderous thoughts arise.

[38:53]

Who has cultivated a thought of murdering the person who's reading art? And yet all they're doing is reading. You know? It's us giving rise to a thought of killing. So, when I violate one aspect of this principle, then it creates another opportunity to practice compassion. For myself, and for the other person who's been at least victimized by the thought. And so, we have a chance to save life by repenting and by practicing the compassionate aspect of life. Sometimes it's, you know, gross and weird, and sometimes it's exciting. I want to move on. Okay? I'm sorry if we... I like the discussion.

[39:57]

Awesome. So, I thought to try to get through some of this. So, the next precept to look at is not stealing. Precept... Also, we use it for this... Not taking what is not given. This is a bad idea. So, the Brahmajala Sutra, which is kind of the text, core text for the precepts, says that a disciple of Buddha must not even steal the possessions of ghosts or spirits. One should not steal even a needle or a blade of grass. So, that's one level. There's also a category of things of political point. And this is in the context of Satsang. We don't steal pride, but from the self. I think that really applies...

[41:01]

To me, it applies to all Satsang practices. And when you come to this end of it, what do you do? What are you there for? And what do you do? And... I'm going to have this patient sit. And... Up. He finds himself sort of... Cutting little deals. Say what? I'll just... I'll just think about such and such for a little time. And then I'll go back and I'll follow my breath. Really, there's a lot of time. And... You know, this is stealing time from ourselves. It's stealing time from our own culture. And it's not... It's not necessary. If you look... What Dogen says... Oh yeah, so...

[42:05]

You know, it's... His last word on this is... The gate of enlightenment, for example. Which is wonderful. It's like, you don't have to sneak in. You know, you don't have to come over the wall. You don't have to pick the lock. It's just... And so there's no need to. There's nothing that's blocking the way. So, let's look at it in the context that we love. It's literal action. So literally... Not stealing, but taking. That's the opposite. It's a... It's a stamp, so... Office supplies. Don't steal a cookie from me. Stash. You know, these are very small things.

[43:11]

But they're ways that we... Just like we cut corners in Zazen. By doing something else. You know, we can't... We have... The possibility of... We cut corners in our lives. It's like, well, this is what it's like. So this literal level needs to be actually descriptive. And that's why you can read them. Like in Mocha, you can see they just... They just delineate instant and accurate instances of how you should be descriptive. I've never seen... My friend, Sandy Carroll, who stays with us. We have to offer... This food. I've never once seen him... Because the rule that he lives by is... Sometimes we give him something, he puts it in the refrigerator for later.

[44:15]

Because we're going out. But... He's very... He's very strict about that. The same thing is true of shelter and road. So in the Vinaya, in the Tathagata, there are a whole lot of rules about... Receiving, well, food that you get before, from... So that's... That's the literal side. The compassionate side, as we said. They've really done a paramita. The perfection of giving. So what is it? It's like... Resolvement to steal, but to honor the gift. Not yet given. So the giving of gifts is an essential part. It's the opposite. It's from the inside out. So, it applies to... Our generosity in the face of suffering. Our kindness towards ourselves.

[45:16]

And... Usually there are... There are three kinds of giving that are... Potential gifts. There's giving for those... There's giving for Dharma. And there's giving for fearlessness. So, that's the highest gift. If we could give fearlessness... Say, to... If we could give that to a vast... That's the population. Vast populations in the history of the world. Then... Suffer. Then we find a way to... To find peace. So, that compassionate side is... It's wonderful. And it's... You know, it relates... We'll get to... It also is linked to the Great Precept. Which is to not be greedy for our riches. So, it's a way in which... As we do this, we need to see that the precepts will fit together. You know, the Buddha...

[46:27]

One way of... Thinking about the Buddha's doctrine of individualization is... Because there is this, there is that. Because some have lived... A nice life. They have good jobs. There are people... Who live in great hope... Of having girls. I guess... My take is... I guess that is the best approach. There are balances that can be struck. They don't need to be so drastic. You know, and weak. When you see suffering... We consider our relationship to it. We talk about taking. What does that mean? You know, are we taking... Oil... From... Nigeria? Are they taking it or are they giving it?

[47:29]

These are social dimensions of that. Are we taking... Natural resources... Foods... And so on. You know, and then what are we giving back? We are... We give back. We have this great... Abundance of things. Wonderful place. We give back to the place. And we make it widely... Open to the world. So the Buddha nature precept... Says... There is no obtaining and nothing to obtain. So how could there be stealing? Bodhidharma says... In the realm... Of the unattainable Dharma... Not having thoughts of gaining... Is called the precept of not stealing. So again... It comes back to... The same point that you were talking about. It's what...

[48:31]

In Bodhidharma's... Practice... It's very much what we do with our mind. That... Conditions... Whether we are giving or taking. You know, or whether... From a Bodhisattva perspective... We're just acting freely. Because the natural thing... Is to give. You know, in the Bodhisattva's... Mode of action in the world... It all boils down to... To give. Just giving and giving. Dogen says... The self... The self and objects... Are two yet one. So the self is... Is under subjective mind.

[49:32]

The mind of suffering and desire. And... Objects are... Ten thousand Dharmas... That we can enter into. That we don't want. So... These things are not separate. They both create. We often feel that we're outside of things. Just watching. When we do that... That might be... It's through... Stealing. You know, because we're separating ourselves. But... You know, in the Buddha mind... Because... There is no outside. There can't be any stealing. You know, so it's really better... Just relax.

[50:34]

Let... The self and objects... Enjoy themselves. Because... Dogen says... The gate of liberation... Stands open. And... In the vows... We say... The Dharma gates were enumerable. So there isn't just one... Gate of liberation. There are... Thousands of different ones. And... You know, so it's... Always... Available. We're always open. It's like we can look... At ourselves with a... Kind of... With a wide look. I wonder why we give ourselves so much trouble. When everything... Is being possible. Thoughts or questions?

[51:42]

Just one... Which... I always thought of... The Dharma gates around us... I always thought of... The Dharma gate... As like... It's like a common opportunity. Those things are generally required to do in this life. The gates that I have to walk through... In this life... Around us. With our vows... Which is going to... The Dharma gates around us. Which is a whole different thing... Than I think... Maybe this... When you're saying... The gate of liberation... The gate of liberation... And also... Also... The door of liberation... Versus the gate of liberation... So it's the same... It's not the same... It's one of those things... Well... Right. That's right. For instance... You know... On New Year's Eve... We drink...

[52:48]

Milk... Right? So... Usually the way that's... The way I've heard that... Expressed is... You know... Those are... We are... Kind of... Acknowledging... 108 delusions... Which are also... 108... Dharma gates to enlightenment. It's all a matter of... Perception. You know... If we see this as an obstacle... Then it causes... We see the circumstances of our life as an obstacle... Then it causes suffering. If we see it as an opportunity... And try to... Understand what that opportunity is... Then... We can turn... So your interpretation is not...

[53:49]

Is right. Um... And we can look at... What we can do... I need a roll number to do another one. We are going to do another one. Um... So... Um... Actually we're going to do at least two together. Um... So not misusing sexuality... And... Not intoxicating... Self or others. Reporting... Changes in wellness. So these really reach deeply into our everyday experience. Um... You know, our human birth... Um... Our human birth... Um... Tends to depend on a sexual act. Most of us. Most of us. Um...

[54:51]

And this includes... Um... It includes... Um... Birth of Shakyamuni Buddha. Um... So... In that act... There's no inherent... Defilement. Um... There's no original sin. Um... And so the difficulty... Is misusing sexuality. And this is... I mean... I hate reducing this to about twenty minutes. Um... Um... We could talk about this... Both of these. Or any of these. For a long time. We actually should. But, um... The problem is... The natural sin. Um... With both of these. Um... So in our... Culture... Um... You know... It's... It's even clearer where... Sexuality... And intoxication with drugs...

[55:51]

Um... You know... Cultural intoxication... Is so... Closely linked... Um... You know... Where... Uh... Delusion... Addiction... Warmth... Really... So many... Relationships... That we see... And experience. Um... And what you... Yes, I know what you said. Which I like is... Um... He urges us to refrain from... Um... Dividing the liquor... Duelists. Um... The Christian brothers is okay. I think so. I think so. Yeah, especially if... The Christian brothers... Hey... Just don't drink... Duelists. So that's a very... Um... Um... That's a very... My, uh... View. You can have a... You can have a glass of wine.

[56:53]

It's pretty... You know, none of the other... Buddhist traditions... Uh... They don't seem to have the same leeway... That we do. You know, around... Around this piece of... They take the... The literal... The literal side... Very seriously. But it's also true... Uh... You know, for me... I think... If it weren't for drugs... Uh... I would have missed the path. Uh... Maybe not. You know, but... At least in my life story... Uh... You know, there was... An exploration... That came through... Um... Taking a... Uh... Controlled substances. And... Um... When that became... To some degree... Unsatisfactory... I mean, it became unsatisfactory...

[57:56]

But it also... Pointed to... Uh... A multifaceted... Reality... That... Hadn't quite... Got. And so... I don't... Regret that. Uh... You know... It did lead me... You know, kind of... As psychedelic experiences... Uh... They led me to the door of the Zen dharma... A long time ago. Uh... But actually... Uh... At least the first time around, they... They didn't give me any taste... Uh... For the difficulty of... Pesticiding. Which was... Much before it. Uh... And so... Uh... So I... You know... My first response was... Well... Uh... I guess I'm not ready for this. And so... I walked away for... You know... Probably...

[58:57]

Years. Uh... Before... I could raise... Or recall... The thought of life... Uh... And act on it. And... Uh... Come back here. Actually... It came back the right way, but... It's the way it was there before. Ha ha ha! They had moved it, so I had to look through here. Um... So as I said, on a literal level, there is not much leeway. Uh... These precepts mean... Celibacy... Uh... And... Fascinism. Uh... Now, for laypeople... Uh... Not misusing sexuality... Uh... I think it means... A respectful... Sexuality. That's based on love. And it's based on intimacy and sharing. Between... Two people. Irrespective of gender.

[59:58]

As far as I'm concerned. Uh... And that... Not intoxicating itself with others... Uh... Also implies a strong sense of responsibility. You know, we might have a grasp of life. Uh... And maybe we can do that positively. Considering our surroundings... And the people around us. Uh... The... The wonderfulness and the difficulty of these precepts... When we take them to our traditions. It's kind of left to us. Not... This is really... It's so typical... Uh... Well, it's Soto... But it's also so typical... Of Suzuki Roshu school where... Uh... You know, the prohibitory is not... Made clear. It's there someplace. But you are left... To figure it out.

[61:00]

Because Mel's teaching... Uh... A very wide field. And I think he was given a very wide field. Uh... And... That... You know, I think that works really well. But it doesn't really work... It doesn't work really well for everybody. Some people... Need something more than one. Need something more than one. Well, you know, it's interesting because... I'm just curious... I'm just curious... Uh... That's... Very... Anyhow... They start with... They start with... Uh... No... No addictions whatsoever. No tea, no coffee... Of course, no alcohol, tobacco... And no media... And of course, no... Illicit sexuality. So they start with this... Very... You can say... Moderate... Very... Decisive program.

[62:00]

I think it's the beginning stage. They don't deviate. Looks like... Buddha's path... He started there... But he didn't end up there. He started there... And eventually... He, uh... He didn't... He... He... He had an extreme sense of... Excessive... It seems like... Well, it would go beyond... If you have to be careful about it. Also... For us... Yeah... Just looking at... Just looking at that... I wonder... Some... Some paths start with this... Uh... Moderate... Decisive... Or at least renunciation of these things... And then it goes to a different... A different stage where... That becomes less... Very... It's always a message. Yeah. Uh... You know... And the fundamental thing that we're announcing... Is that... Is that... Sexual assault. So... Uh... We do that again and again... Sometimes it calls for...

[63:03]

A kind of... Strict discipline... With what we consume... You know... And sometimes... We can be free... But... You know... There are many... Desires... Or wishes... That... You know... Give us... Uh... There are drugs... Television... Tobacco... Coffee... Uh... Work... Oppositions... Our pride... Uh... Baseball... Baseball... Baseball... Baseball may be one of the most... Adornments... I don't know... Uh... That is... That is... That is... That is a time... Again... We will ask... That... Uh... So... In certain ways... Non-material intoxicants... Are even more... Powerful and destructive... Uh... But any of these... Could feed the self... In... In an instinctive... Perspective way...

[64:03]

Uh... And they... You know... They... Unseat us... Before it is in them... Before it is in them... Uh... They... They pull our mind around... And they pull our life around... Uh... And... They have this unfortunate habit of... Obscuring... The present moment... With a just... Unquenchable... Longing... For this life... And this is what is going on... Uh... And I think also... You know... We are doing... Zazen is this way... In which we... We have certain experiences... That we make it... We attach to... In some circumstances... Experiences... In... In our zazen... In wanting to... Kind of... Give back... To... Right... To recapture that... You know... Uh... We want to be intoxicated... We have to look at that... Uh... And just realize that... Again it comes back to the notion of gift... That whatever you experience... In that way...

[65:04]

In zazen... It's just... Being... Given... By the universe... By the Buddhas... Or... Uh... It's like again... It's in the ether... It's just... You can call it grace... Or... Uh... It's just an accident... But we simply send it over... And make ourselves sort of... Accidental... Laughter... [...] Well, I think that's what we were talking about. For anything, it's the converse of what we were talking before.

[66:10]

Any gate of liberation can also be a hindrance. It's a home, it can't be a normal home. The forms are there so that we can be in harmony with each other, so that we can set aside our usual way of doing things. But then, the insidious nature of repetition is that we get people who are good at it, get into a fixed notion of how that form is done. Then it's more fuel for the self. So that's what we try to cultivate in each time. Each time, we're doing it because we're fresh. We fail. So I want to go on.

[67:16]

The Mahayana view of these precepts underscores compassion. In Zazen, we recognize that these desires and hungers arise naturally in our life with deep practice. It's really amazing. In my first Sashin, my first multi-day Sashin was on a palm sunrise. And I was dying on the hand of the Buddha. And it was just a completely obsessive thought that had me captured. And finally, I said, OK, I'm going to go to the birthday ball. So I went to the birthday ball, and I bought the first round thing I could find, which was a bagel. And then it just went away. So you have to honor your desires,

[68:20]

not let them have complete power. But it's like, I can think of that now. It was sort of like an Aikido move, that I aligned myself. I aligned myself. I could be wrong. I don't practice Aikido. I aligned myself with my desire for a hamburger. And said, OK, I'm going to satisfy you by giving you something round of bread. And it worked. Or where is the meat? Or I'll share the meat with this church. Yeah, maybe. You know, and I think numerous of us have experienced the arising and falling away of lust in the Zen world. I've experienced it thousands of times. In your case. I'm about to fall away.

[69:23]

Anyway, it's an intoxication. We have a choice whether to build our desire as happiness or let it go. And that responsibility is our own. And I think we need to face ourselves with compassion. So talking about desire, in the sutra, I think it's a definitive vinaya in the Mahayana sutra, the question comes up, about what might drive a bodhisattva to break a precept. Which is the more serious cause? Breaking a precept in desire or breaking a precept in anger? So the Buddha responds, a bodhisattva who breaks the precepts out of desire still holds sentient beings in his embrace. Whereas one who breaks the precepts out of anger

[70:29]

forsakes sentient beings ultimately. Therefore, the bodhisattva should not be afraid of the passions which can help him hold sentient beings in his embrace. But he should fear the passions which can cause him to forsake sentient beings. So while we don't indulge our desires, we don't turn away from them either. We shut them off. When they burn, in a way it's because we love life. We may love it too much, but the fact that we love it gives it its fuel for living. So the Mahayana view is also

[71:32]

to offer one's full attention and care to all beings and things without distinction. This is what it means. Or as Thao said, don't treat anything like an object. So this is the positive side of the prohibition against misusing sexuality or misusing intoxicants. We treat everything respectfully. When we move our bowing hands, we bend over and move the bowing hands rather than just shoving them around. Bodhidharma describes Dharma as unyielding and intrinsically pure. But in the realm of the

[72:34]

Oh, yeah, right. So the third precept, in the realm of the unyielded Dharma, not creating a veneer of attachment, is called the precept of non-misusing sex. And in the realm of the intrinsically pure Dharma, not giving rise to delusions, is called the precept of not taking or giving drugs. Finally, in the Buddha-mind approach to these precepts, it's simply that, like the last precept, the gate of liberation, that's open in this precept, is that we already exist in the Buddha-realm of complete enlightenment. Taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, we become the bliss body of Buddha.

[73:39]

And so Dogon says, in his version of another precept, the sweet dew saturates water. And I think that applies here. So Dogon also writes that three wheels of self, object, and action are pure. This reminds us that self, object, and action are all one system. Nothing is consolidated. They interact in such a way that none of them has the meaning for existence without the other. They're dependent on each other. So as you sit with those three wheels spinning, there is no intoxication, and there is no misuse of self-love. But we still have different nature. So, what we've got is some of these actions, these precepts. We have a couple of minutes. Are there any other thoughts or questions?

[74:44]

I'll just... But in terms of the non-sexuality theory, it brings up that intention where, again, to relationships, this is one that's so clearly this relationship, your personal thing, and thinking again and again about this actual intention of the vow, but certainly intention. It's really important in each of these. I think this... I like intention. This... vow has a certain implication in English. It's kind of... sometimes awkward. It's a very serious presentation. It recognizes fallibility. You know, it seems to me the danger of all this is that

[75:50]

what starts as an intrinsic motivation becomes an extrinsic motivation. In other words, our seeking dharma, and, for example, to be generous, giving somebody a street person a dollar or something like that, if it comes from a spontaneous generosity, that's good. But if we start imposing a rule on ourselves, then all of a sudden we're using an extrinsic rule to enforce an intrinsic state. And this is one of the latest discoveries of psychologists, is that this shift from an internal locus of reinforcement to an external locus is what reverts to life. It reverts to life. And so, the moment we start making rules as if they're insurance, then... Well, you know, the slippery... the hard fact is we can build these castles that we build on the head of a king.

[76:52]

So, you know, the wonderful thing is when you just watch somebody... It's really great to watch a good marketer. Because you can see how they're living with precepts and rules and how that feeds them. You know, how there's not this distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic. There's... It's like Greek. There's a fluidity to it. But as soon as we try to categorize things one way or the other way, then... I need rules. Is there anyone who hasn't spoken? Let's do it.

[78:03]

Just to reinforce... Number two, I think it's that same... But at a certain point, we have to let... I've been thinking about what Suzuki was saying about renunciation. You know, it's allowing things to be a rule. And so we have to be keen into that. You know, queuing on that because sometimes we'll hold on to something because it's so useful. Okay. It's time has passed. So speaking of that,

[79:09]

our time has passed. So next week... Next week we will talk about... Oh no, we're off next week. The next time we'll talk about precepts of speech. So we're off next week and then we have two more sessions. And we'll talk about right speech, which is actually mine at the hardest and in many ways the most directly useful. I think I will... I'll bring in some teachings which... Some stuff I've been studying from Talmudic commentary which really breaks it down into great details that are really interesting and useful.

[79:59]

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