Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Katie, can you hear me in the back? I can hear you, yes. Jane, can you hear me? Great. Can people on Zoom hear me? They're saying yes. Oh, good. Welcome, everyone. Good morning. These are strange times, but here we are sitting together again. Hi. Hi. It's really nice to be in the same room for some of us in this Ebenezer Lutheran Church. I want to speak this morning about the Bodhisattva precepts

[01:02]

and particularly about a text by Dogen called Kyoju Kaiman. Dogen, or 13th century founder of this branch of Zen. I spoke about this earlier in the month, November 15th. It's on the website podcast. I'm going to be speaking about this text several times anyway in the next month or two. I'll be writing on receiving the precepts, Bodhisattva precepts. I want to talk about how we manifest these ancient precepts for today. There's a system of 16 precepts that actually

[02:03]

Dogen created, although all of it is from material that's available previously. Just to briefly review what I said before, this text was probably not put together by Dogen himself, but by his disciple Koen Ejo. Dogen probably okayed it. Dogen's teachings and the precepts themselves were revived in the 1600s by a number of Soto teachers, including one named Geshu Soko 1618 to 1696. There will not be a test, bless you. There's a writing from around 1900 by an important teacher for

[03:03]

modern Soto Zen named Oka Sotan, a much longer writing, which he comments on this text, including previous commentary from the 1600s. Also to say that I think we tend to here in our context take the 10 grave precepts as most important guidelines for ethical conduct, and they are, but I think seeing them in the context of our 10 commandments makes them seem the main point. For Soto Zen in Japan, historically and today, the main point of receiving these precepts, jukai, which some of you have done, is to connect, to take refuge in Buddha and Buddha's lineage. So the

[04:04]

first three of the 16 precepts is taking refuge in Buddha, in Dharma, and Sangha. And this is something that can be done over and over again. There's a large ceremony that's going to be happening next November in Los Angeles, sponsored by the Soto School, and I'll let people know details. It's going to be over a few days, and it's a very elaborate ceremony for receiving the precepts. The way we do it is the first time people receive the precepts they sew a raksu, like what Yoshino is wearing, and receive precepts and a Dharma name and lineage papers. Anyway, but the point of this is to verify, to confirm, to express

[05:06]

that we are all children of Buddha, that we are all connected to Buddha. So Geshe Soko had a statement that later, that Oka Soto, this teacher from the beginning of the 20th century, was very important in Soto, said is the essence of the precepts. Geshe's verse was, sentient beings receive the precepts and unite with all Buddhas. All Buddhas responding to the capacity of sentient beings unite with them. Sentient beings and Buddhas are merged and then there is no inside or outside. Present, past, and future are themselves naturally complete. So this is the expression of coming home to Buddha, taking refuge in Buddha.

[06:08]

All times, all spaces are complete. We can feel at least some of the time in Zazen this wholeness, this completeness that is a function of reality. Of course there is also the experience in Zazen of seeing our own personal ancient twisted karma and having to learn how to respond to that, not cause harm based on that to oneself or others. Anyway, so this is all a review of the last talk, a brief review. And you can find the whole talk on the podcast page of our website. But I want to talk now about this triple treasure, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, we say the three jewels that we take refuge in. And there's

[07:11]

three kinds of triple treasure. So the Kyoju Kaiman text says at the bottom of the first page, there's two pages, it again says one should take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. There are three kinds of virtue to the triple treasure. They are called the single-bodied triple treasure, the manifested triple treasure, and the maintained triple treasure. So this morning I want to talk about the three aspects of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, this threefold triple treasure. And just as a spoiler, we could see these three, for those of you who know these funny Sanskrit words, as the Dharmakaya, the Nirmanakaya, and the Sambhogakaya, which is to say the reality body

[08:14]

of Buddha, all of reality as Buddha. The manifested body of Buddha, which is to say how do we in these strange times take care of and express Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And then the maintained triple treasure, which is what to say, kind of the aspect of the spiritual aspect of the triple treasure that supports us in the world. So, going back to the text, to Dogen's text, or the Kyojima Kaiman text, it says about the single-bodied triple treasure, Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, complete, perfect awakening, is called the Buddha treasure. Its purity and

[09:15]

freedom from dust or objects is the Dharma treasure. The virtue of peace and harmony is the Sangha treasure. These are called the single-bodied triple treasure. So when we see Buddha as the total awakening of all beings in all times, this is the way we can see Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha again. The Buddha treasure is in this context, purity and freedom from all dust objects. Oh no, I'm sorry, that's the Dharma treasure. The Buddha treasure from this point of view of the ultimate single-bodied triple treasure is complete, perfect enlightenment, complete, perfect awakening, is the Buddha treasure. The Dharma treasure is purity and freedom from all dust, from all objects. And the Sangha treasure from the point of view of the single-bodied triple treasure is the virtue of

[10:18]

peace and harmony. So Sangha in this ultimate view is about peace and harmony. So there will not be a test. So all these categories are ways of hearing about what our practice is. What is Buddha? What is Dharma? What is Sangha? But that's the first one of the threefold triple treasure. The single-bodied triple treasure. The triple treasure as the total awakening of all beings. The manifest triple treasure, which is what I want to talk about mostly today, is well, I'll read what Dogen says, then I'll say more. Realization of awakening of bodhi in his manifestation is called Buddha treasure. So this is realization of awakening

[11:19]

right in our manifestation as human beings. Or the Buddha's manifestation, incarnation as a human being. That which is realized by the Buddha in this manifested triple treasure is called the Dharma treasure. What is it that Buddha realizes as a human being? Or as, I don't know if the namanakaya could be a non-human being, a dog or a cat or a mountain or a river, but anyway. When it's manifested in the triple treasure, the triple treasure, what the awakened one realizes is called the Dharma treasure. And the Sangha treasure in this manifested triple treasure is learning the Buddha and Dharma. Studying the Buddha and Dharma. So here we are manifesting

[12:20]

in this room and in the Zoom room and in our lives when we get up and go out into Chicago or wherever we are. How do we manifest this Buddha Dharma Sangha? This is kind of in your face, Buddha. The namanakaya Buddha is the historical incarnated container of total awakening. That's the namanakaya Buddha. And Dharma is that which is realized. What do we realize? What do we see? What do we understand? As for most of us, most of the time, human beings, what do we realize? That's the Dharma. And then Sangha is all of us who are studying

[13:22]

Buddha and Dharma in this place, in this time, in these strange times. So I'll come back to the manifested triple treasure. About the maintained triple treasure, Bhagavan says, edifying heavenly beings, edifying humans, appearing in the vast openness of space, of being, or appearing within the dust, even, is Buddha. So for the maintained triple treasure, Buddha is the sambhogakaya is sometimes called transformation of beings. So this is the maybe we could say esoteric, the spiritual transformation of beings is what this triple treasure is about.

[14:25]

So again, Buddha is, the Buddha treasure is edifying heavenly beings, edifying humans, edifying all beings, appearing in the vast openness of space, or appearing within the dust, appearing in the phenomenal world. That's the Buddha treasure of the maintained triple treasure. The Dharma treasure of this maintained triple treasure is being changed into the ocean storehouse or sutras written on shells and leaves, edifying animate and inanimate beings. This is called the Dharma treasure. So from this transformational Buddha perspective, Dharma is everywhere. It is all of us, body and mind, flowing into the ocean storehouse of the sutras, of the words of Buddhas, and seeing the words of Buddha, the words of awakening, the expressions of awakening,

[15:26]

written on shells and leaves, edifying, supporting animate and inanimate beings. This is called the Dharma treasure. Dogen talks about this a lot. I've been talking about this a lot. How do we see, you know, in our four bodhisattva vows, we chant, we will chant at the end, we say, Dharma gates are boundless. We vow to enter them. So this is about the boundless Dharma gates. Entries to awakening in all the things of the world, in all the situations of the world, with friends, with family, with parents or children, spouses, loved ones. How do we become and see the Dharma gates everywhere? Not just everywhere abstractly,

[16:31]

but in each thing. Here, now. And then in this maintained triple treasure, Dogen says, relieving all suffering and being free from the house of the three worlds is the Sangha treasure. So in this, we can say transformational spiritual aspect of the three treasures, Sangha is about relieving suffering, relieving all suffering, supporting each other and all beings to let go of suffering, to appreciate and listen to and empathize with all the difficulties of our world, of our friends and family, Sangha members,

[17:33]

various Sanghas, and to help relieve all the suffering. Being free from the house of the three worlds. Sometimes the three worlds refers to just past, present and future. So being free from regret for the past, fear of the future, discomfort in the present, just letting go. This doesn't mean escaping away from this world. It means not being caught by it, being free to feel the suffering of this body-mind, to feel the suffering of this planet and this country now, but not be caught by it, to continue to express awakening, and I'll come back to that.

[18:37]

So that's the Sangha treasure in the maintained triple treasure. The transformational quality of the world and of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. And Doggett follows this by saying, in taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, one acquires the great precepts of all Buddhas. Buddha is your teacher. So again, in traditional Soto, the practice of these 16 precepts, historically and still in Japan, and really here, but we haven't really understood this so well, I think. The point of taking the precepts and taking them again and again is just to confirm,

[19:41]

to appreciate that we are all children of Buddha, that we are all connected to Buddha, that we are all expressions of Buddha. And that's true even if you, you know, are beset by your own personal karma or personal problems. Even if you are healed, caught by all the difficulties of the world now. We transform this. We support this. We relieve suffering. We awaken all beings, enter all Dharma gates through receiving these precepts, appreciating these precepts. Whether or not you've taken on some formal ceremony about them. This is, in some ways, the essence of Soto.

[20:44]

So, again, there's the single body Buddha Dharma Sangha, which is Buddha Dharma Sangha as the reality of everything, all beings, all entities. And then there's the manifested triple treasure, which is the how we, each in our lives, express this, manifest this wisdom, this kindness in our lives, in our world. And then there's the maintained triple treasure, which is the transformational quality, kind of mysterious quality of Buddha Dharma Sangha. So there's a lot more to say about all of these.

[21:50]

And, again, there will not be a test, but this is part of what is Dogen's two-page commentary on taking refuge in Buddha Dharma Sangha and receiving the sixteen precepts. Can you still hear me back there? Good. Thank you. But I want to say a little bit more, particularly, about the manifested triple treasure, or we could say the nirmanakaya Buddha, the Buddha incarnated as a human being in history, in particular time and place. So, Dogen says about that, that a realization of bodhi, of awakening, is, in its manifestation,

[22:53]

is called the Buddha treasure, in a particular human's manifestation, the Buddha's historical manifestation. The Buddha is, the Buddha treasure is just this realization of awakening, of wholeness. The Dharma treasure is that which is realized. There's many descriptions of what the Buddha realized, historically, what Shakyamuni Buddha realized, this human being from northern India, what we now call northern India, 2,500 years ago. One description is the flower ornament sutra, which we chant this next Friday, I think. Yeah, one Friday a month, but Dogen and Jason have been leading, so you're welcome to join that online,

[23:54]

on our Dragon, Ancient Dragon Zoom Zen Do, and we're reading through this huge, wild, magical sutra or scripture, 1,600 pages or so. So we're, I don't know, maybe a third or a quarter of the way through. When did we start reading that? Just before COVID. Yeah, so through the pandemic we've been reading that. Anyway, that's just one description of what the Buddha realized, so the manifestation, triple treasure, says that the Dharma is that what was realized by Buddha. And in that particular description, you know, it's vast, 1,600 pages is a miniature of actually what he realized. But it's said that in Buddha's time, nobody could understand it.

[24:58]

So then he went and simplified it and talked about the Four Noble Truths and many other things for 40 years. So again, there's many descriptions of what the Buddha realized, many ways of talking about that. The Eightfold Path, the Ten Paramitas, and so forth. And then studying this, learning about the Buddha and the Dharma, the teaching is the Sangha Treasury and the Manifested Triple Treasure. So the Sangha is all those who study about awakening. So whether you read texts or just sit and study, that is studying about Buddha. So,

[26:02]

it seems to me that that manifestation body of Buddha is important. That's kind of where we all are on one level. We're also connected to transformational and ultimate Triple Treasure. So how do we manifest Buddha in this world, in this time and place? We're gathered here together kind of assuming that the pandemic is lessening, although it's surging in some places and there's more variants and it may be with us for the rest of our lives in some way. How do we adjust to that? That's the manifestation body of Sangha. How do we take care of all the challenges and difficulties each of us has in our own life, in our own ancient twisted karma

[27:03]

from beginningless greed, hate and delusion, or through body, speech and mind? This is our Buddha work. And it's not about, you know, in early Buddhism, they talked about Nirvana, which is, technically Nirvana means cessation. It means just you become a Buddha when you die because you can't be a Buddha alive. But in our practice tradition, Mahayana Bodhisattva tradition, we see the world of samsara which includes our own ancient twisted karma, but it also includes all the difficulties in our world. And we see that liberation is right there. And it's not that we are going to fix these things,

[28:04]

all of them, or maybe sometimes we solve some problems, but how do we respond? How do we see liberation? We see liberation right in the middle of the dust, as Dalai Lama says, right in the middle of greed, hate and delusion, right in the middle of the ancient twisted karma of ourselves and our world, because it's the same, it's not separate. So, you know, I want to say something about this manifested triple treasure, this triple treasure of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha in our lives and our world. Well, in terms of George Floyd, and in terms of climate breakdown, those are, you know,

[29:06]

part of what's happening in the world around us. So in our country, we're struggling with the ancient twisted karma of slavery and racism. Going back, I guess it was 1610, the first slaves came to, African slaves were brought to Virginia. So it's 400 plus years. And, of course, we're in the middle of a huge chaos about this. George Floyd was killed on videotape. We saw his murder. And, of course, since then, and long, long,

[30:06]

before then, there were lots of other lynchings, to put it that way. Ahmaud Arbery, Fernando Castile, Sandra Bland, you know, the names are going on and on. Breonna Taylor. Anyway, and so what do we do about that? How do we express Buddha in terms of that? This is a huge challenge. There's not an easy answer. There are some people and some politicians who want to erase the history of slavery and racism. Not allow it to be taught in schools. Burn the books that talk about it. Literally. That's what I'm saying. And then there's the practice, which I would say is

[31:08]

a Buddhist practice. We look at the fox koan, not ignoring cause and effect, but looking at that reality and seeing how it affects all of us. So we have a Friday morning discussion group, after morning Zazen, looking at racism and anti-racism. Anyway, we may have many responses to this. How to take care of people on all sides is a real question. Buddha nature is everywhere. So I, in talking about this, it's a challenge how to not condemn any person, but I'll talk about the reality of the systems of white supremacy. So that's ten-hold Dharma talks, but I think it needs to be mentioned in terms of what is

[32:10]

the manifested triple treasure of Buddha Dharma Sangha. And I also mentioned climate breakdown. So that's also happening all around us. This is a challenging world. Maybe it's always been a challenging world. Dogen's time, a little before he was born, there were civil wars in Japan and dead bodies littering the streets of Kyoto. There have always been difficulties, but now we have mass extinction of species. We have the possibility of changing the climate destruction by using alternative energies at the same time that we have the fossil fuel corporations spending millions to lobby to keep these destructive forms and to spread disinformation about it. Previously,

[33:11]

climate denial, now it's just climate despair. You know, there's nothing you can do about it, so don't even think about it, or there's nothing we can do. That's not true. There's still lots we can do to make it, to mitigate the damage. Fires, extreme fires on the West Coast, I hear about from my friends there. Hurricanes in the Gulf and the Atlantic. Anyway, we all know about this, so I don't need to belabor it, even though, again, that could be many Dharma talks. The point is, how do we see Buddha, Dharma, Sangha in these different modes? How do we see our practice operating in these different modes? To see the wholeness of everything, a single body,

[34:13]

triple treasure. All things in the universe are of this oneness, this wholeness of all beings. This Buddha quality, this awakening nature, that is in everything. On some level, that's the treasure of Zazen, you know, that we can connect with. We can get some glimpse of, we can get some taste of, this wholeness of the Dharmakaya, the single body treasure. From that space, we can respond more effectively to the manifestations and the difficulties in our world. And then the transformational quality. So I've been talking about the manifesting Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, but the transformational quality is, again,

[35:19]

edifying heavenly and human beings, appearing in the vast openness of being. And appearing even within the problems, even within the difficulties in our own lives and in the world. Buddha is there. Buddha is working at this. The Buddha work is to transform all of this. And that's beyond our ideas of fixing things or, you know, some solution. It's deeper, much deeper. Then the Dharma treasure, again, in the it's translated as the maintained triple treasure, but I might call it the transformational triple treasure. Dharma there is allowing ourselves to be changed into the ocean storehouse of the sutras,

[36:23]

of the teachings, as they are written on shells and leaves, Dogen says, as they are expressed in clouds and stars and rain and changing leaves and falling leaves. That's the transformational Dharma treasure. And then here we are, Sangha. The transformational quality of that is relieving all the suffering, free from the three worlds. I started to say the three worlds is past, present, and future. We can also say, see the three worlds as um the desire realm, which we're all mostly in most of the time, the realm in which we want stuff, we want gratification. Then the second

[37:26]

of those three worlds is the form realm, where we can intensely feel all of the events and forms in our life. And then the unconstructed world. So that's another kind of three worlds in Buddhism. Anyway, the unconstructed world is that which is beyond all of this. But in the transformational triple treasure, they say that Sangha, the Sangha treasure is to relieve all suffering and be free from the house of the three worlds. Again, that doesn't mean to check out and leave this planet, you know. Millionaires are trying to do that, taking spaceships to

[38:26]

space stations in the moon, and other people try and do that in other ways, but just right here. How do we not get caught by all this stuff? How do we respond helpfully but not get overwhelmed? Not get overwhelmed. It's easy nowadays to be overwhelmed by all the pain and suffering. But we don't have to do that. We can just face, it helps us to face all the thoughts and feelings and all the awarenesses and just be present. So I could keep talking. I sometimes tell people who are going to be giving talks to not try and talk about too much. To keep a narrow focus. Because, you know, it's in some ways more helpful to talk about something

[39:27]

particular and specific. But actually, I realized preparing for this talk that everything is in each thing. As the Flower Ornament Sutra says. And so we have to talk about everything. We can emphasize particular parts of it. We can focus on a text like the Kyoju Kaiman. Anyway. We can talk about getting free from personal greed, hate and delusion. We can talk about I only mentioned two of the aspects of the problems of the world. How do we be free within all of that? And how do we realize that everything is right here? Everything. All beings are with you as you see it. It's unavoidable.

[40:28]

It can be overwhelming. But also, when we sit upright and just face the wall, face ourselves, we can do that. We can be here. It's okay. It's possible to be present in the world of everything with dignity. With integrity. With, okay, this person here. This confused, greedy, angry, sometimes, person here. And yet, here we are. We don't have to run away from our lives. So, I could keep babbling, but I think I want to hear what other people have to say. You know, it's funny being in this room with all of you. And some of you I can't recognize behind the masks. It's funny being in a room where we're all masked women.

[41:32]

I didn't recognize Ashley, and I had to ask her what she told me. What's that? I said, that's me. Yeah, Ashley's right over there. But there's other people in this room who I don't recognize. I don't know who you are because there's a mask in front of your face. Anyway, and then there's the people on Zoom. So, if anybody, David, would you let me know if people on Zoom have comments, responses, questions? And if you're in this room, raise your hand and Dylan, can you help me spot people who have their hands raised? So, please, comments, questions, responses. Feel free. Ashley? I actually do want to make a motion. Can we show that window? I'm freezing. Yeah, it's cold in here. And there's a lot of... We can close that too. Yeah. What do we have for ventilation? I think the rationale is probably that for COVID and for...

[42:33]

Yeah, so for ventilation, we want to keep some windows open, but maybe we don't have to keep so many windows so wide open. I don't know. The balance between temperature and ventilation is... So, don't close them completely, Dylan. Thank you, Ashley. That was an expression of the manifest triple treasure. Sankha manifesting right here. So, other comments or questions? Or responses? People at home on Zoom maybe aren't so cold and aren't worrying about ventilation. Paul has a question. Paul? Can you all hear me on Zoom? Yeah, I can hear you fairly well. The mask is sort of muffled. Paul, you may be muted. No, I'm not muted. Maybe it's our technology. I think it is. Let's see. That's strange. Can you hear me now?

[43:37]

Yes. So, this is a strange new experience. Can you hear me now? Yay! Can you hear me now? Yes. Unfortunately, us on Zoom land cannot see the people in the room, except for just for you, Taigan-san. I feel a little isolated from you all. It would be nice if everybody could somehow be seen at the same time. Not quite sure how to do that, technically. I think if we could figure out that, it would enhance the experience greatly. Hold on, Paul. I want to interrupt you. Yes, when we have a full-time permanent, semi-permanent temple, there are various technologies, like a screen on the wall where you can see us

[44:39]

and I can see you. But I want to ask now, since I can't I don't know who everybody is in this room, even though I can see people over there. Can we go around the room and just say your name? Please. Kyoshin, Laurel. David. Say your last name, too, because we have lots of Davids. David Ray. Paul, can you hear them? Vaguely, but I can't see them, of course. We can't do that right now in this setup. We'll do a bit. But we can at least hear their names. After Michael. Hi, Jake. David Weiner. Hi. Say it again. Brendan O'Flaherty. Welcome. Brian Taylor. I didn't

[45:47]

hear the name of the person before you. Hi. Nice to meet you. So, Paul, now you've at least heard the names of all the people in the room. I'm sure I was taking notes. Anyway, as far as the triple treasure goes, as being a person that is more attuned to the visual than the audio, I always liked the painting of the circle, triangle, and square as a depiction of the triple treasure. It made it quite vividly clear to me the function of the different parts. Anyway, I think most people have seen that drawing or seen versions of it. I always felt

[46:47]

I always felt a great educational leap by seeing that. Yes. That's interesting. I have to think about circle, triangle, square, and how they correspond with each of these. The circle would be the single body triple treasure, the Dharmakaya. Yes. Triangle, is that our manifest incarnated, maybe? That's the teaching. The Dharmakaya teaching. It's rigid. A triangle is rigid. It's strong. It's like a diamond. It's the diamond. Then the square is flexible. It's not rigid. It's very flexible like our lives. It can be shaped, moved easily. That's like Sangha, because we're sitting

[47:49]

it's a rectangle in this room, but that's four sides. That's the Sangha. That's our human life. Yes. Anything else, Paul? Just that on it was so nice when we were all on the same screen and now we're on two different screens. It's just unfortunate. Maybe we should just forget about sitting in person and just go back to Zoom. People are shaking their heads no. I think it's great that you're sitting there. I think it's wonderful. I'd like to be part of it more. When we get a full-time, long-term, permanent Zendo, we'll have a screen so that everybody can see everybody. That's a ways away. Other comments, questions, responses? Jerry? I don't know if people want to speak or if David

[48:54]

you could just say the names. Which works better? I can just say the names? I don't know if we'll hear everybody well. All right. I will just say the names that I see on the screen. I see the names Blake Sanders, Miriam Leahy, Debra, Yordan, Ben Donley, Nathan, Derek Thoracary, and Eve Pinsker. Great. Hi, everyone on Zoom. They're waving. Yeah. That's part of, I don't know which triple treasure that is, but part of Sangha is that we see each other. That's good practice. Maybe we can do that every week. Just have the names of everybody on Zoom and everybody in the room. Cool. Brian, did you have your hand up? No. Okay. Oh, yes. David Ray has his hand up.

[49:57]

I would love to hear more about what being transformed into a sutra by him. You don't know about that, huh? No. So, Dharma gates are boundless. We vow to enter them. I won't talk about the particular people in the room, although I could. But, you know, for those of us in Chicago, going over to the lakeshore and looking out over the lake. The lake is a sutra. The lake is the teaching of the Buddha. Or walking in a forest and looking at the trees, appreciating the trees, meeting the trees. Kyoshin, do you have particular tree friends? Yes, I do. And I

[50:58]

actually have a project of finding trees that are very unhappy and taking their picture. Oh. There's a way of witnessing a lot of unhappy trees in the city. Those are the ones that have the various diseases, tree diseases. Oh, they're the ones that we put concrete on their roots. Oh. Poor trees. Yes, I do have trees that are firm. Thank you for the nice question. But then, those trees are the ones that are blocked by concrete as well as the ones that are free and wild are our teachings for us. Our sutras for us. So, yeah. Seeing the world, seeing reality as a sutra. Does that help, David? It helps. Okay. And you can do that with anything. And even with

[51:58]

difficulties. And that's really challenging. That's advanced practice. How do we see the problems of this country as teachings? And how do we respond to those teachings? Other comments, questions? David Weiner. Yeah. You said many, many things. I said everything. I'm trying to put it in my own simple mind, some cohesion with it. And we were talking about the three refuges. Can they hear you on Zoom? They're nodding. Oh, good. Keep going, David. Okay. And that would be that I take refuge in Buddha.

[52:59]

It's more like the concept of who Buddha was and his being. And take refuge in Dharma with the teaching he gave us. Wait, wait, wait. Buddha is not a concept. Buddha is something deep in everything. It's also this particular person who lived 2,500 years ago. And it's other particular people. Dogen talks about Zhou Zhou, as an ancient Buddha. Maybe another way I should say the concept is reality. Good. Yes. Reality. Reality. Reality. Good. The idea of reality and that the Dharma is a way to be in touch with reality to help us leave our delusions and do that. Sangha is a way that we practice that in our relationships with one another. In space and time.

[54:00]

Yes. That could be one way of expressing that. What you said. What you said was fine. Other comments? Responses? I don't know if the Zoom people can hear the music coming into our room here. We're hearing Christmas carols. We don't have our mokugyo with you, so we don't have a little drummer. I can't see everyone in the back so well,

[55:02]

but is anybody else? Comments? Responses? Questions? Another way to talk about all of this is to see that the Awakened One, the Awakening Buddha, and the Dharma, the teachings about that, and the Sangha, our community, our cohesion, our gathering together about all that have many aspects, many ways of looking at it, many perspectives, many ways of helping and supporting the difficulties of the world and of each of us. So again, there's not going to be a test.

[56:03]

You don't have to remember all that stuff, but just the sense that this world and this practice and this reality of awakening is elaborate and manifold, expressed in many ways. And not only that, but the way I just said it was like it was out there, but each of us can take it on. Each of us can take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, can be the manifestation of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. How do we support kindness and liberation and equality and justice in this world? And in all the worlds.

[57:04]

Yeah, David Weiner again. When you say that, it reminds me of something that's been happening for me recently. And or just being a person who I am. I've always thought of myself when I was practicing Blackfoot, Native American shamanism, that there was a circle of life and I was outside and I had to enter. And I took that a little bit in Buddhism, and I practice here, that I was kind of outside and I would see myself as being part of the universe and reaching out to the universe. And now what I've come to realize is that I already am in the universe. That I don't step into it, but that I'm part of it. And I might have mentioned this to you about how I see tendrils coming out from me connecting to the universe. But actually, they're already connected. They're there. We're all part of Indra's net in that sense. And that to me is a

[58:05]

huge shift for me in the last few weeks, few months. It's seeing myself that it's there. It's a matter of whether I access it or not. It's a matter of whether I stop and look and realize and have that access. And I think part of that is coming from my chaplaincy work and doing working with others and seeing them access out of their pain being able to access some sense of divinity, some sense of joy, some sense of greater reality than just the reality of being in bed and dying. And I think that's part of it. For me personally, and I'm sure with all of you, is that whole concept of we have a chance to access this anytime we want. It's always there and we are always part of it. It's just a matter of our

[59:06]

being willing to access it. Yeah. Thank you. Good. Good. Yeah. Buddha is not somewhere else. Buddha is not up in some, you know, up in the Himalayas or out in California or up on some mountain or whatever, in the middle of some ocean. Buddha is right here, but we don't realize it. So the point of taking refuge and turning to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and all these different ways is to make that real in our lives. Yes. Ayo, did you have your hand up? I did. Can you say your name again? David. So may I ask David a question? Sure. So David, when you talk about Buddhism, it's something that I'm contemplating a lot these days. And then you mentioned that you're a chaplain, of which I am as well. And so I wanted to take the opportunity just to connect with you on those levels. And then ask you a question. Sure. As you think about

[60:08]

Hinduism then. This is, in these challenging times, and by challenging what I mean, in these murderous times, I have just decided that I'm just going to embrace people as my relatives. Whether I know you or not, I don't care what you look like, I don't care what your background is, that you are my kin. And this comes out of my contemplation on interest net. And my question to you is, what do you think about that? Do you feel that way? Do you not feel that way? How do you see me? How do you see the rest of us? As you contemplate? What's the interest net? It's another way of saying that each jewel in the net is supposed to be reflecting and connecting to the other jewels in the net. And in that way, in my everyday life, I have

[61:08]

to see that I am connected with somebody else. Going back to right attitude. Do I see myself as separate from the individual, or are we interconnected? And so, very much so, it's like interest net. That we are all for me, for myself, that we are all connected. Including some of the people in the world who I don't like so much, like Donald Trump. And what I have to remember is that he's in a state of delusion that he is part of the net. He is not separate from the net. And that's what I have to realize. And I have to focus on my letting go of the poison of hatred and have one of acceptance and care for everybody in that net. And there are parts of me that are like Donald Trump, in a way. I do some things that aren't quite the

[62:10]

nice at times, but I have to be able to step back and access that part of me that sees me as part of the net. That everyone is in a net. And I am related to everyone. Interconnected to everyone. Not just related. Not like my cousin over there. But I am interconnected to that person. I'll just say a little bit, following up on your question. This is one of the big challenges, because we do see people or institutions whatever in the world that are causing horrible damage. That are really vicious. I'm sorry to say that. And, you know,

[63:13]

as David indicated, to make any particular person a demon, you know, there's lots of examples. The three guys who killed Armand Arbery, for example, viciously. Who were found guilty, thankfully. to make any particular person a demon is, or a devil or whatever, doesn't help. There's a very strong delusion machine in our world. How do we see that we are connected? But also, it doesn't mean I have to not speak out about the systems of injustice. Anyway, I don't know if that helps. It's a real struggle. And this time of year, a lot of people ask me what to do about it, because they have to go and see family members who

[64:14]

whose opinions they don't like. It's a difficult time. I don't know. Do you have anything further to say about this, Ayo? No, I just found out I'm here to be part of the community. David's sharing an opportunity for me to manifest. Good. So no, I don't have anything else to say. I'm moving on. And just to say that we have quite a few people in our Sangha who are chaplains. I'm not sure if anybody else is here. Well, Katie does something similar, I think, in terms of taking care of people. Anyway, we have a number of professional chaplains in our Sangha, so that's a wonderful Bodhisattva practice. Brian, do you have a comment? Yeah, just to add to the interconnectedness discussion. My understanding of

[65:19]

dependent arising and emptiness informs my understanding of this. And one way I think of interconnectedness, or you could say the metaphor of internet, is that in every moment the way I am being affects how you all are being. And similarly, how you all are being is affecting how I am being. And there's been a traditional two different interpretations of dependent arising. Many lifetimes of actual bodies, or moment to moment. And I think it's very useful to think of it as moment to moment. Because, to use an example, if someone is angry with me, if I respond in anger, I'm helping to create a reality in the moment, interconnectedly. But to quote the Dhammapada, if you respond to hatred with non-hatred, you can

[66:21]

in the way of dependent arising, change that very moment through your response. And another aspect of dependent arising, the emptiness perspective, you know, one of the ways it's understood is that nothing exists inherently. So Donald Trump is not inherently evil, just as none of us are inherently good, evil, or anything else. We are constantly in a process of change, but dependently caused change by all of our contacts, all of our surroundings, the fact that we sit in silence and respectfully and all these are factors that we can use to change who we are in the moment. This is the transformation body. We are always potential. And if I, to use that same

[67:23]

example, if I respond to someone being angry with me by hitting them, you know, I've now transformed my basic pure awareness into angry being, which transforms the moment into just more anger. But if I see this person as angry, not as an inherently angry being, but as emptiness, this means that there's potential for them to change, potential for me to change based on my response in that moment. And so there's the interconnectedness right there. We always have the ability to change the world, essentially, through how we are and through the awareness practice that we do here, being better and better at being aware of how the world is affecting us gives us that potential for choice and for change. Thank you, Brian. Yeah, you were talking about that, you know, in a way the transformational triple treasure.

[68:25]

And yes, we each have an opportunity and responsibility to act in a way that's helpful and that can help transform. And also I heard a talk by someone recently on one of the Zoom things about how institutions don't have consciousness, or I could say institutions don't have Buddha nature. So we also can, not just personally, individually, but that and also how do we respond to systemic contexts of suffering. So anyway, it's all complicated, but being together is the kind of matrix from which Buddha, Dharma, Sangha are realized in all these different ways. Thank you all. Unless there's somebody else who has something they really want to say on Zoom or here. Maybe we'll go into

[69:26]

service now. Any last comments? And maybe I'll make just one announcement before we do our service, which is that next Sunday our lay and trusted teacher, Douglas, is going to be leading our Rohasu Buddhist Enlightenment event, which will be a one-day sitting here in this room. And people can be here in person or can sit all day on Zoom and be part of that. And also people can come to Zoom Sendoh for the period of Zazen before and for the Dharma talk as usual so people can access that through Zoom. But not in person, is that correct? Douglas, can people come just for the Dharma talk in person? Yes. I guess that's possible. I'm not sure how many people we'll have room for right now.

[70:28]

Yes. And we're going to have to look at, right now, actually last weekend, this week, we had a full room, which is wonderful. But we're going to have to think about how we can whether we have people sitting out in the hall on chairs or what, if there are more people than fit in the room. Anyway, that's something we'll look at. But thank you. So you can email info at ancientdragon.org if you have questions about this sitting next Sunday. So we're going to do service now. And that's a sutta. So if everyone could just rise. And we'll begin. So

[72:01]

Sutta Sutta Standing bows, or if you want to do prostrations, you can. Sutta Sutta

[73:38]

Sutta [...] Again, just the Kokyo chant. Sutta [...] greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow all my ancient twisted karma from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow all my ancient twisted

[74:59]

karma from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow. Please be seated. This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise, who seeks the good and has

[76:04]

attained peace. Let one be strenuous, upright, and sincere, without pride, easily contented, and joyous. Let one not be submerged by the things of the world. Let one not take upon oneself the burden of riches. Let one's senses be controlled. Let one be wise, but not popped up, and let one not desire great possessions, even for one's family. Let one do nothing that is mean, or that the wise would reprove. May all beings be happy. May they be joyous and live in safety, all living beings, whether weak or strong, in high or middle, or low realms of existence, small or great, visible or invisible, near or far, born or to be born. May all beings be happy. Let no one deceive another, nor despise any being in any state. Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another, even as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protects her only child.

[77:10]

So, with a boundless mind, should one cherish all living things, suffusing love over the entire world, above, below, and all around, without limit. So, let one cultivate an infinite goodwill toward the whole world, standing or walking, sitting or lying down. During all one's waking hours, let one practice the way of gratitude, not holding to fixed views, endowed with insight, free from sense appetites. One who achieves the way will be freed from the duality of birth and death. May all awakened beings extend with true compassion their luminous mirror wisdom. With full awareness, we have chanted in Manasutra, we dedicate this merit to our original ancestor in India, great teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, our first woman ancestor, great teacher Mahaprajapati, our first ancestor in China, great teacher Bodhidharma,

[78:15]

our first ancestor in Japan, great teacher Heihei Dogen, our first ancestor in America, great teacher Shokaku Shunryu, the perfect wisdom Bodhisattva Manjushri, and to the well-being of all those afflicted with ills, and the peace pervading for all peoples of the world, gratefully we offer this virtue to all beings. All Buddhas throughout space and time, all honored ones, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, wisdom beyond wisdom, so

[80:03]

you

[80:26]

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