Today's lecturer was scheduled to have been Zendu Earthland-Manuel, the teacher at Still Breathing Zen Meditation Center in Oakland. And she called in ill yesterday, and we will reschedule her for some time in the future. Meanwhile, really encourage you to read her book, The Way of Tenderness, which I think is out And we'll have Zenju back here in the relatively near future. And meanwhile, what we can offer you is a man who needs no introduction. He's already met himself. The hardest working man in Zen today. Thank you.

[01:03]

I'm going to help our expert on the recorder make sure that this is recording. Is this correct? Excuse me. That is correct. We want things to be correct. Okay. Good morning. Given that we just did the bodhisattva ceremony of repentance and renewing our vows, a monthly So, of course, not everybody did this today, but some of you got caught here, thinking you were going to do Zazen.

[02:16]

So Bodhisattvas, what we call the Bodhisattva Ceremony, a ceremony of repentance. honoring or bringing to mind our ancestors, and chanting the four vows, and the refuges, and the ten paramita precepts. So, the bodhisattva ceremony begins with Repentance. Repentance means, for me, repentance means to let go and unite with all beings in the universe with compassion for all and to let go of self-centeredness.

[03:26]

That's repentance. It means to acknowledge It begins with all my ancient twisted karma, or we say tangled karma. Twisted has the feeling of evil. Sometimes it's translated as all my evil karma. I don't think all of our karma which is harmful is evil. I think evil is a little too strong, although It's appropriate. So when we say twisted, we say tangled, which means all the entanglements that we knowingly or unknowingly bind ourselves and others with.

[04:35]

is tangled karma. Of course, karma means volition. There's all kinds of conditioning, conditions which create situations, but strictly speaking, karma is volitional. So if I'm walking down the street and a brick falls off the I can't say that that's my karma. I happened to be at that place at that time, but that doesn't mean that my karma caused the brick to fall. There's no connection between, of course, the pressure, the air pressure of me walking past the building may have taken some of the pressure off of this holding of the brick, and it fell on my head, but that's far-fetched. But if I do something, if I step on your toe and you slug me, that's my karma, because I stepped on your toe purposely.

[05:51]

So reaction and reaction, that's karma. So all my ancient, so we say ancient, this is not specific, this is non-specific, Repentance. Specific repentance would be, oh, I did this, and I repent of doing that. That's not what this is. Sange means repentance, sort of means repentance. So there's ji-sange, which is more like conditioned repentance. I did this, and I'm repenting of that. Ri-sange, is formless repentance, which is what this is, which means non-specific. All, the word all starts out with all, all of my ancient, twisted karma. So you can't remember all of your ancient, twisted karma. You can't remember everything you ever did that caused karma.

[06:54]

But this is just like saying all of it. Okay, I recognize that all my life, from beginningless time, I've been walking through the world leaving traces of my behavior. And so I recognize that, I realize that so, and the entanglements that come from that. for beginningless greed, hate, and delusion. This is karma for beginningless greed, hate, and delusion. We don't know what we do, even though we do it on purpose. Greed, of course, is to want more than we need. We're all, you know, we all do this.

[07:55]

Our society is built on greed and becoming more and more. you know, built on greed. Greed is being sold to us. It's really hard not to be greedy. And hate, which is ill will. And delusion, delusion is like the parent. And greed and ill will are like children. Because greed and ill will are products of delusion, which is apparent. Delusion is like seeing one side without seeing the other. So the realm of delusion, you know, we talk a lot about delusion in Buddhism. Delusion basically means dualistic activity. dualistic understanding and activity without understanding the oneness of duality.

[09:01]

So, as Suzuki Roshi talked about the tambangkan, the board-carrying person who has a board on his shoulder, he can see this side, but he can't see the other side. And so all of his conclusions and actions come from seeing just one side. And, of course, this is what's happening in our world today. The world is totally driven by delusion and really hard to deal with it. So there's a question, how do we deal with this world of delusion, which is overwhelming and burning everything up? And so what we like to do as Buddhists is to respond with Wisdom, and wisdom of understanding and our actions. So what does that mean?

[10:05]

Good question. So, beginningness of greed, hate, and delusion, which is born through body, meaning our bodily actions, our speech, and our understanding, or our mind. So we're not fully about this. So when we... Repentance actually means, to me, means you realize and you acknowledge, and then you turn around and you do, and then go in a different direction. This is actually the meaning of repentance in Zen, is to acknowledge, to see, and to realize, and then to turn around and go in a different direction.

[11:13]

It doesn't mean hating yourself. It means actually letting go. This is how we, by repenting, is cleaning the slate. So actually we should be repenting all the time. Repentance is actually one of the major practices. It's how we maintain our clear mind moment by moment. A lot of times People wait a long time before they repent. But if we're acknowledging moment by moment, then our mind becomes clear moment by moment. This is called being actually reborn moment by moment. So this is actually our practice.

[12:15]

In Zazen, Zazen is the great form of repentance. It's not like saying, I'm sorry, or anything like that. It's simply turning to clear the mind. Zazen is to have a clear mind. And each breath is a new beginning. This is why we like to sit Sashin, which we're going to be sitting next week. Not next week, week after, starting Sunday. I want to invite you all to come to Rohatsu Sashin. which is Buddha's enlightenment, Sashin. It's like we practice Sashin and then we come out with nothing left over. Sashin is just drop everything.

[13:18]

Sometimes people say, I get nothing out of Sashin. Of course. If you want to get something, it's not sashim, it's letting go of everything and finding what's real, what's fundamental, what you can do without. So it's the ultimate of repentance. Repentance has a kind of stigma, stigmatic feeling to it. But actually it's just the most wonderful thing because it's how you free yourself. It's related to forgiveness. It's so hard to forgive people when they're so mean to us. And yet, when we do that, we become free. Repent. Forgiveness is is freedom.

[14:20]

But we want the other person to feel our disdain. So it's really hard for us to free ourselves. That's the problem that we have. You should feel as bad as I do about what you did to me. And so we bind ourselves through our, that's called ill will. We bind ourselves through ill will. That's one of the biggest binders that we have. So to forgive is to free ourself and start again. And we have the opportunity to start with a clean slate, moment by moment. But we harbor all of this ill will, greed, and delusion. So repentance is the most wonderful kind of ceremony to actually free ourself and to reunite with the universe on a clean slate. So then we do the homages.

[15:26]

We do the homage to the seven Buddhas before Buddha. So we pay respect to the ancestors. When we pay respect to the ancestors, we have to realize that we are expressing the practice of the ancestors through our own practice. You know, it's like Zen practice is not dependent on scriptures, although scriptures are important. Our practice is absorption or absorbing the practice of our ancestors, our Buddhist ancestors, and expressing that understanding. So why one becomes ordained is because one wants to do that. That becomes the purpose of your life. People have various purposes in their life, but the purpose of an ordained person is to express the practice and wisdom of their ancestors, handed down from one to another.

[16:41]

It's very personal. So we pay homage. The seven Buddhas before Buddha, of course, are icons. It's an Indian way of expressing, you know. When Shakyamuni Buddha talked about who he was, he said, you know, I didn't invent this. This is not my invention. I just found a path that was covered over with brambles. And I looked down there and I saw it, and so I started following that overgrown path, and it turned out to be the Dharma. And it's the Dharma of all the Buddhas of the past, which are infinite. We don't know how old exactly the Earth is, but there have been Buddhas since the beginning of So Buddha Shakyamuni is the one of our historical Buddha.

[17:50]

So we pay homage to, you know, the icons of the past. And then we pay homage to Shakyamuni, who is the Buddha of our history. And Maitreya Buddha, who is the future Buddha who was waiting for the right time to appear. I don't so much think about Maitreya or Messiah, Maitreya and Messiah, same thing, interestingly enough. There's been so many false messiahs in the West, but Maitreya, you know, I think you could say that Shakyamuni was a kind of Maitreya. You know, each one of us is a Maitreya Buddha. We have all the Buddhas within us.

[18:53]

So we are Shakyamuni because of our practice, and we are Maitreya because we hold all the possibilities within ourselves. And we need to rescue ourselves, and then we can help other people. So Maitreya is my tree, of course means compassion and love. And so the Maitreya will usher in the era of compassion and love. Jesus did that a long time ago, but it's a heart, it's a heart cell. So, and then Manjushri, of course, is Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteshvara, as we know, the three Bodhisattvas.

[20:02]

Buddhas are a little more iconic. Bodhisattvas are a little more present. Because Manjushri is our wisdom mind, Samantabhadra is our practice mind, and Avalokiteshvara is our compassion mind, nature. I want to say nature. Manjushri is our wisdom nature, Samantabhadra is our practice nature, and Avalokiteshvara is our compassionate nature. And all the succession of ancestors, which are descendants up to the present. So my teacher, expressed all of the wisdom and compassion and practice of the ancients to this day. And so we're making this effort to carry on the same thing. So the ancients who broke their bones to practice is expressed through our own practice.

[21:15]

and will continue as long as we are sincere about our practice. So the Bodhisattvas expressed more our own imminent practice. Then we have the four Bodhisattva vows. Four vows are, as you know, the Bodhisattva response to the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths, as you know, are beings, human beings, are subject to suffering or to satisfaction in our life. And the second truth is there's a reason for that. The reason is through basically desire, even though we say delusion,

[22:19]

We don't like to say desire because it's really hard. So we say delusions. It covers a wider field to say delusions, but historically it's desires. Or, actually, it's called afflictions. Chinese use the term afflictions. Afflictions are inexhaustible. And then the third truth is that there is a way to deal with this, because Shakyamuni was the doctor, and the first two truths are the illness, and the second two truths are the cure. So the first two truths is the truth of suffering, and the second is the reason, the diagnosis. And then the third truth is that there is medicine.

[23:24]

And the fourth truth is, this is what it is, the eightfold path. So beings are numberless. I vow to save them from suffering and delusion. And delusions, or afflictions, are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. Or actually, I vow to see them for what they really are. I like that better. I vow to see these afflictions for what they really are. Then I can deal with them. But it's hard to deal with them if I can't see what they really are. But delusions are inexhaustible, or afflictions. self-inflicted suffering. So when we talk about the Four Noble Truths, it's really about self-inflicted suffering.

[24:29]

You know, the circumstances cause a lot of suffering, but then our self-inflicted circumstances or actions are the ones that we can deal with. We can't deal with the storm at sea, or the flood, or the fire. These are not karmically induced, but the suffering and afflictions that we allow to happen to ourself through our ignorance and delusions are what we can deal with. Beings are numberless. response, right? Buddha's response, the Bodhisattva response. Beings, you know, uncountable beings, I've got to save them all. We say, I've got to awaken with them. Because saving sounds a little egotistical, like, who am I to save them all, right?

[25:33]

Nevertheless, it's legitimate. Because it's not like I'm going to save them all. It's like, this is my wish. And the wish is always bigger than the possibility. But by saving one person, we're saving all people. We go one at a time. And you start with ourself. That's why practice is like, has a process. The process is, First of all, you do your own practice. You retreat, Zen practice. You retreat and do your own practice. And then you find your own confidence. Then you come down the mountain and enter the marketplace and disseminate the Dharma because you have confidence.

[26:39]

So that's what I mean by saving. We say, I've got to awaken with them. That's good. Nothing's really satisfactory. So we have, you know, dharma is a work in progress. There's no fixed dharma. It's always a work in progress. That's why it's alive. So dharma, as soon as the dharma gets fixed, then it starts to deteriorate. So dharma goes to various countries. when it's new and vital, it's being formed, and so it's alive. But when it becomes too settled, then people are no longer excited by it, or inspired by it, and it just becomes formalized. So in America, it's gone from India to China to Southeast Asia to Tibet to Japan, and each place that it travels, it has its fatality.

[28:00]

But then it becomes heavy and then it travels to another place to keep the flame alive. So in America, we have our new Dharma. and it's exciting and it's, we have to create it for our own, without throwing out the baby, we have to change the bathwater. So, beings are nervous. I vow to save them from suffering and confusion and, or awaken. Let's all wake up together. We like that. Let's all wake up together. So delusions or afflictions are inexhaustible. That's a response to the second noble truth. I vow to see them for what they are or to end them.

[29:01]

And then dharmagates are boundless. So this is, dharmagates is like, okay, there's a way to deal with this problem that we have, and that's to enter the dharma gates. Dharma gates really refers to the practices of the dharma, right? But the dharma gate, there's the dharma gate of practices, and then there's the dharma gate of spontaneity. So the dharmagate of practices is what are the practices that we all do together. But the dharmagate of spontaneity is each moment's activity spontaneously acted out according to circumstances.

[30:03]

So when we say the dharmagate, well, what is the dharmagate? We say the dharmagate is the gate of no gate, the mu man kam. Right? Mumon is the gate of no gate. We can enter that gate anytime and within any activity. We don't have to have a special activity, which doesn't mean that we don't have a formal practice. We have a formal practice and an informal practice. But the informal practice has its own forms. Everything has a form. So the formal practice helps us to understand how to practice the informal practice. And then we come back to the zendo, and we say, ah, this is the form of zen. We understand it. And then we go out into the world and it's all chaos. But you have to work with the forms that you find in the world as the forms of practice.

[31:08]

So both sides, formal and so-called informal. But informal is formal, and formal is informal. And then we say, the Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I've got to become it. To become it is a little clumsy. It means, as you know, to be one with it. But when we're chanting, it's awkward to say to be one with it. So chanting words are a little different than ordinary words because they have to have rhythm. So we compromise our chanting words. The thing about the Japanese chanting is that each syllable has meaning. Whereas for us, we have to put all these syllables together to have meaning. And so it makes it more clumsy. in the rhythm.

[32:11]

So this is one of our problems. But we know what we mean. But Buddha's way is unsurpassable means that it's not the best. It doesn't mean this is the best. It's beyond right and wrong. Unsurpassable means it's there to be reached, but it's I remember Suzuki Roshi used to say, we shouldn't say that Buddhism is the best practice. Because it's not the best, it's the best. Because it's unreachable. We say these things like save all beings and so forth. As if, and if we're literal minded, we say, well, I can't do that.

[33:15]

I don't want to be ordained. I can't say, well, since you're being, but you have to understand it's all poetry. It means it's more than I can do. That's why it's wonderful. If it was just what I could do, we'd get tired of it. Of course, we get tired of it anyway. It's more than we can possibly do. We can't. It's unreachable. But we keep reaching for the unreachable. You know, when you do the high jump, you keep raising the bar, right? And then somebody gets over the bar, and then you raise it a little more. So it's always unreachable, but you keep reaching for it. And that's our practice. More than we can do, but it stretches us. We take the refuges, the three refuges.

[34:18]

I take refuge in Buddha, I take refuge in Dharma, I take refuge in Sangha. So, these are the three, this is called the Tratratna, or the three treasures. To take refuge in Buddha, Vairojana, as you know, is the personification of dharmakaya. We don't need, but we need some kind of focal point. Dharmakaya is focusless. You can't focus on dharmakaya because it's formless, but it's the essence. The essence is formless. But empty means full, of course. Whenever we speak about something in the dharma, even though we only talk about it on one side, the other side is always understood.

[35:32]

You never talk about anything in the dharma without also understanding the other side. So if we say something is empty, The other side is full. Emptiness means the fullness of dharmakaya, which is the dharma realm. If you say empty means nothing is there, that's just one side. So that's duality. To save all beings means to save them from the misunderstanding caused by duality. Purity means non-dual. That's why we say it's the realm of delusion, because everything is only seen from one side. So, the three refuges are the three treasures.

[36:37]

So, before all beings, immersing body and mind deeply in the way, awakening true mind. So, Dogen says, just throw yourself into the house of Buddha and don't look back. That's immersing body and mind deeply in the way. It's called the one body, three treasures. The one body is Buddha, or Dharmakaya. When we say Buddha, We're not necessarily referring to Shakyamuni. It means Buddha nature, the true nature, or big mind, which includes everything. We are all manifestations of Buddha nature. So before all beings is to expose yourself. as all beings, an immersing body and mind.

[37:51]

It's an essential nature. And Vairochana, you know, is the stillness and light within each one of us. So to expose The practice is to release the stillness and light within each one of us. That's how we bring Dharma into the world. And then our actions are suffused with the Dharmakaya and light. So, we think to light up the world. And to take refuge in dharma, which is before all beings, entering deeply the merciful ocean of Buddha's way.

[39:04]

So, dharmakaya is the all-inclusive. Dharma itself is the wisdom of Buddha, the wisdom inherent in our Buddha mind, in our Buddha nature. Dharmakaya, I mean, it's Manjushri, Buddha's wisdom. The merciful ocean of Buddha's way. It's practice and it's teaching and it expresses Buddha's understanding or Buddha's practice through wisdom. And then to take refuge in Sangha is your daily life actions together with everyone.

[40:10]

In other words, enlightened activity. That's Nirmanakaya Buddha. Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya. Nirmanakaya is, when we say you are Shakyamuni Buddha, you are Shakyamuni Buddha expressing your enlightened nature through your activity, bringing harmony to everyone. So, harmonious activity. So your life is dedicated to harmonious activity, not just self-centeredness. This is the thing, this is the Bodhisattva ceremony. Bodhisattva means one who is dedicated their life to bringing harmony through wisdom and compassion to the world. That's all they're interested in. That's the purpose for being in the world. They don't do other things.

[41:12]

They do other things, but those other things are part of their skillful means to have a job. It's part of the Bodhisattva's skillful means. So, you know, lay practice is quite wonderful because it's your vehicle for expressing harmony wisdom and compassion in the world around you. Yes? I have a question about the wording in the bodhisattva ceremony about beings and being. Yes, beings. Beings are numbers, I've got to say them, but in this version that we read today, before all being is what it says. Yeah, it should be beings. As a matter of fact, I corrected that singer.

[42:13]

I heard you correct it. I didn't read it correctly. Yes, Ken? I have a question about karma. Yes. Earlier you said, you gave the example of stepping on someone's toe and having them hit you. Yeah, usually we step on their toe inadvertently. So it was not a good analogy. So I corrected it by saying purposely. The confusion I have sometimes is around the idea of karmic retribution, that my actions come back to me. So sometimes in my small-minded way, I am a little frustrated that George W. Bush appears to be enjoying his retirement painting when the unimaginable continues to swirl around us today.

[43:14]

Can you comment on that? Yes. That just keeps... George Bush is doing painting and seems to be oblivious. But that's to save himself from going insane. Which he already is, but... But going crazy. Imagine him actually taking all this in. And I think about that every day. And Dick Cheney's the worst. He still has his bluster. But you don't know what's going on underneath. I think there's a lot of suffering going on in both of them. I think probably in George, there's more suffering. In Cheney, there's more resistance. He almost thinks he's right. This is where you keep stepping back into the muck every time you defend yourself when you do something horrible.

[44:25]

Because you can't admit that you did it, that it was a problem, that it was a mistake. So you just keep defending it. And every time you defend, you just get yourself more and more stuck. That's suffering, believe me. about suffering, even whether they know it or not. One of the Thich Nhat Hanh's precepts, I think, is about the danger of being attached to your beliefs. Yes. Why yes? the disaster brought in the world by people who believe in things, but that gives us a conundrum for what do we ground our actions in?

[45:27]

What do we believe? Yes, yes, that's right. And you know, the whole thing, the whole ISIS thing, you know, we've never discussed this, This is the result of religious ego. Religious ego is the worst. We invent icons and then believe in them. And then if other people don't, We kill them. And it's important to recognize that Buddhism is not exempt from this, particularly in this current period of time. Yes, this is true.

[46:30]

This is true. All religions have this problem, because religions are made up of people. So whatever is made up of people is going to have problems. That's why the world is nothing but problems. So religion, I've said this many times, is a necessary evil. It's necessary, but because it's the invention of humans, it has human problems, all the human problems. But at the same time, we have to have it. You may think, well, we don't have to have it. But the problem is it gets perverted. It always gets perverted. So I would like to see our practice not get perverted.

[47:38]

I think that the thing about, even though there are factions of Buddhism which are diluted, religion always gets that way, because people personalize it too much. It's always factional, you know. Oh, he's not doing it right. We're doing it right. They're not doing it right. We're doing it right. And then you create divisions and divisions and divisions until you start killing each other off, which is terrible, you know. So I would hope that our practice

[48:42]

is unified as a universal practice and not a factional practice. I was raised Catholic and I'm kind of a recovering Catholic. And one of the things about religion that seems to be the common fault or falling point is people park their delusions in their religion. Yes. Oh, there's a mystery, the devil, God, and so on. They park all their delusions and just don't pay attention to them. They don't sit Zazen where they haunt them, I think. It's just a part of life. Religion is a part of life, often. Yeah. Delusion. Well, yes. Folk belief, you know, delusions. Ego. Egos. You know. Anyway, it's a big subject. So it's really up to each one of us to not be driven by delusion.

[49:51]

And my teacher was very careful. He was very careful to point out ego and to not sell religion as an opiate. We should not sell it as an opiate. I think it's the third precept, the fourth one, the fifth precept. is not to sell religion. Not to sell religion. I vow not to sell the wine of delusion.

[50:53]

So wine, don't sell religion as something you get drunk on. It will distort your understanding. Keep your mind clean so that it doesn't get bogged down in opinions and delusions. But, you know, it's a nice basket for delusions. Throw them all in there and call it religion. So, a lot of people don't call Buddhism religion. They say it's a way of life. And so, it's whatever you want it to be. Frankly, if you think it's just a way of life, then it's just a way of life. If you think it's religion, then it's religion. And it's a religion of tolerance.

[51:59]

Buddhism is a religion of tolerance. And it's a way of life of tolerance. But religion and way of life is the same thing. So atheism is a kind of religion. Sorry. You can't escape. Science is a religion. Even though the scientists say it's not religion. No, no. It is, according to me. My opinion. Because it's seeking truth, right? Some people seek truth through science, some people seek truth through religion. So those people who seek truth through some discipline, you don't have to call it anything. But you can say it's, you know, religion changes all the time according to what's coming

[53:13]

So science, psychology, psychology is a kind of religion too. Psychology and science are the religions of the present day. So what's the essence? That's the main thing. Not what are the forms, but what's the essence? And that's what Buddhism is all about, is to stay with the essence and not get sidetracked by the branches and leaves. Stay with the roots. So if we realize that we're looking for, not necessarily the same thing, but You know, there are 12 schools of Buddhism, and they're all different.

[54:16]

And they all are accessing the reality or the truth through these different ways of expressing. And everything is expressing the truth, whether it's recognized or not. Some truth, even delusion is truth. Delusion is truth when you realize that it's delusion.

[54:48]

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