Good morning, everyone. For new folks, I'm Taigen Leighton, the Guiding Dharma teacher at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. Welcome, everyone. Today, we're going to be celebrating Buddha's birthday. And, well, in East Asia, and which includes all of Zen, April 8th is the day that's usually the day of, recognized as the day of Buddha's birthday. So that was Thursday. This is the closest Sunday. In South Asia, it's celebrated on Vesak day, which is usually in late May. And we say, you know, that Buddha was born about 2,500 years ago in what's now Northern India. The last I knew of the historical scholars thought that he was actually born sometime in the late 400s BC, which does make this about 2,500 years.

[01:09]

And the primary story about Buddha's birth, excuse me, is that when the Buddha was born, he immediately stood up, took seven steps in all 10 directions, sometimes they say in four directions, and then stood with his arms pointed up and one arm pointed down and declared, above the earth and below the heavens, I alone am the world honored one. So that's the traditional story. about part of the traditional story about Buddha's birth. The usual ceremony, the traditional ceremony, is to bathe statues of the baby Buddha standing like that with one arm pointed down and one arm pointed up. And we, back in the good old days, we used to do that at our temple on Irving Park Road.

[02:18]

Now, We're in the Zoom world and so we can't all go up and pour a ladle of tea on to bathe the statue of baby Buddha. When we did that in the temple, it was also a children's event and many children would participate. And we will do that again. We're in the process, have started the process of looking for a long-term new space for our temple. in Chicago. So we'll see when that's actually there, which Buddha's birthday we can honor that way. Of course, for all of you who are joining us from distant states, various distant kinds of states of being and states of the union, we will continue after we have our new temple to also have a Zoom function.

[03:19]

Anyway, welcome and today, since we can't actually physically bathe the baby Buddha, I'm going to celebrate Buddha's birthday by reading some talks that the founder of our lineage in Japan, Dogen, gave about the baby Buddha on the occasion of celebrating Buddha's birthday. So Dogen, Eihei Dogen, was the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, lived from 1200 to 1253. And I'm going to be reading from Dogen's extensive record, Eihei Koroku, which is one of the two major works by Dogen, including Shobo Genzo. This is in Dogen's extensive record, which I translated with Shohaku Okamura.

[04:21]

So I'm gonna read several, a few, whatever, we'll see, accounts that Dogen gave about the birth of Buddha, or the birthday of Buddha, as a way of honoring Buddha. So the first is from 1241. So Dogen said, today, my original teacher, Shakyamuni Tathagata, descended to be born at Lumbini Park. Lumbini is what is it now in Nepal, or southern Nepal, and it's traditionally understood as the place where the Buddha was born. And the story about that, and before I continue with Doggett's first talk about this, was that his mother, the Buddha's mother, Maya, the wife of his father, Suddhodana, who was either a great king or a local warlord.

[05:33]

We don't really know historically, but anyway, Maya dreamed of a white elephant entering her side. So, you know, these stories are part of the lore and this is a kind of, I guess, immaculate conception. But anyway, when the baby was born, Maya, his mother died seven days later from childbirth, alas. And Buddha was raised by his aunt who became his stepmother, Mahakasyapa. So I want to note her because we celebrate her as one of our founders as the founder of women's order in of Buddhism. She was the she was founded the order of nuns much later on when Buddha was grown. Anyway, so we say in our meal chant that Buddha was born in Lumbini. So going back to Dogen, Again, he said, today, my original teacher, Shakyamuni Tathagata, Tathagata is a way of talking about Buddha, the thus come one, descended to be born at Lumbini Park.

[06:46]

And part of the story about Buddhas is that they live up in one of the meditation heavens called Tushita Heaven, waiting to be born as Buddhas. All Buddhists are like that. Anyway, Dogen continues, every year on this day, we always have Lumbini Park. Tell me whether the great sage is born or not. If you say he has descended to be born, I grant you have done one portion of practice. If you say he has not descended to be born, I grant you have done one portion of practice. If you are already like this, you are not obstructed by mountains or oceans and will be born to a king's palace like Shakyamuni Buddha. If you are not obstructed by mountains or oceans, are you obstructed by birth or not? Dogen continues. Even if previous Buddhas and ancestors say, that they are obstructed by birth.

[07:48]

Today, this mountain monk, Dogen himself, simply says that I am not obstructed by birth. If we are not obstructed by mountains or oceans and are not obstructed by birth, all people in the entire earth and the entire universe are born together with Shakyamuni Tathagata today. And they all say, Above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am the world honored one. After taking seven steps in the 10 directions, the statement was the lion's roar and a baby's crying. How do you express such manifestation? So Dogen is playing with the idea of Buddha's birthday to say we are all born and all beings are born on this day. Buddha's birth is the birth of the whole world. So after saying that, Dogen paused.

[08:53]

And then he said, in the entire universe and pervading the heavens, good fortune arrives. The grand motherly intimate heart is expressed by the sage's descent to birth. How can we make offerings? serve, make prostrations, and bathes to celebrate the sage's descent to birth. Together with the pure great ocean assembly, let us enter the Buddha hall and perform the ceremony," Togen said. All as a lead up to the ceremony of bathing the baby Buddha. So he says, this is good fortune. And the grandmotherly intimate heart is expressed by Buddha taking birth. So Dogen emphasized to his students, grandmotherly mind, grandmotherly heart, taking care of all beings. And on this first recorded teaching by Dogen, he talked about how Buddha's birthday is the birthday of all beings, of all of us, of all Buddhas.

[10:00]

So part of the ceremony of of honoring Buddha's birthday is to make offerings. So we are all making offerings by our presence here on this occasion. So happy birthday, everyone. And he talks about bathing the baby Buddha. Actually, in this particular talk, he says... Let me find it. Yeah. He says, how can we make offerings, serve, make prostrations, and bathe to celebrate the sage Shakyamuni's descent to birth?

[11:15]

So I would suggest, since we don't have our statue of the baby Buddha with this one arm pointed up and one arm pointed down here, and we can't each come up into the Zoom world and bathe the statue, I would suggest that all of you might please take a bath or a shower today to bathe the baby Buddha. And please do that as a way of making offering to Buddha. So I want to read some more of Dogen's comments on this day. That one was in 1241. The following year in 1242, Dogen said in part, our Buddha Tathagata was born today, and at once took seven steps in all 10 directions. So that's to take seven steps in all 10 directions is kind of funny.

[12:22]

So the 10 directions are North, South, East, West, Northeast, Southeast, and so forth in between, and then up and down. So we also took seven steps up and seven steps down before declaring that he alone was the world honored one. Who knows, Dogen continues, that each step gave birth to many Buddhas. So it's not just Shakyamuni Buddha who was born today. Each step he took, of all those steps, gave birth to many Buddhas. These Buddhas are simply transmitting today's voice, the same life, same place, and same name in the past, future, and present. Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha. So this is a chant that we sometimes do. Namo Shakyamuni Buddha. Let's all say that three times. Namo Shakyamuni Buddha. Namo Shakyamuni Buddha.

[13:23]

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha. So during our lay ordination ceremonies and priest ordinations too, on the way into the Buddha hall, all of the prospective ordinees receiving lay ordination or priest ordination, chant Om Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, Om Namo Shakyamuni Buddha, Om Namo Shakyamuni Buddha. So for some of you who are preparing for that ceremony, that's a little preview. So, This one's interesting. Dogen's saying that all Buddhas are born together with Buddha. So, today as Buddha's birthday means that this is the day every year that we each are born as Buddha.

[14:35]

This is Zen way of talking about Buddha's birthday. We all have this quality of awakening, of being awakened ones present all the time. And in our regular Zazen practice, like we've just done, sometimes we start to get a glimpse of that, or we start to feel that, oh, Buddha, Buddha's here somewhere. it may take many years of regular practice to actually realize and confirm that. But actually, the first time you do sasen, Dogen says elsewhere, Buddha is born and all beings are awakened and all the environment is awakened. So this is a different way to talk about environmentalism. But on Buddha's birthday, everything, is born as Buddha. Again, this is a Zen way of talking about Buddha's birthday.

[15:41]

So I'm going to read another one. This is from the following year in 1243. And then we'll have, after reading these, we'll have some time for discussion and questions. And you might well have questions about Buddha's birthday and what it means. But in 1243, Dogen said simply, for a long time in the entire world, the sky has been getting brighter. So have you noticed it's this time of year when Buddha's birthday comes, the sky's been getting brighter. Sometimes we've had some rain and it gets cloudy, but over the past month or so, month or two, the sky's been getting brighter to celebrate Buddha's birthday, Dōgen implies.

[16:48]

Today in heaven and earth, the radiance is clear and beautiful, Dogen says. Walking around for seven steps, the baby Buddha exhausted all his energy. So that was quite a feat that the baby Buddha performed, taking seven steps in 10 directions, or even in four directions. He was just born. That's kind of a funny story. And Dogen says, in conclusion for this talk on Buddha's birthday in 1299, 43, Dogen says, observers of this scene cannot avoid laughing. So Dogen's laughing at little baby Buddha saying, I alone in the world honored one. Pretty arrogant. And yet he became Buddha.

[17:52]

And some part of this is that even at his birth, he was already the Buddha. And yet the story of course goes that he grew up in luxury. It's also a funny story that the Buddha did not know about old age, sickness and death as he was growing up. He just had everything he wanted. He was what we call privileged. And didn't even know that there was such a thing as suffering. But then around, I think around when he was 28, he happened to go out of the palace with his charioteer and he saw an old man. And he was perplexed because he didn't know about aging. He hadn't seen that before. And then he went out again and he saw somebody who was sick.

[18:53]

And that was a further insult to his previous ways of thinking. And then he went again and he saw a corpse. And that was pretty powerful for him. He went a fourth time and he saw a wandering ascetic sage. So he asked the charioteer in each case about these. And that led to him supposedly leaving the palace and wandering around for six years doing severe ascetic practices. And then eventually giving that up, just realizing that that wasn't the way, but just sitting down under the Bodhi tree and deciding to sit until he awakened, until he realized how to end suffering. So he cared about suffering sentient beings. And then he saw the morning star and became the Buddha, the awakened one. So this is a long story short, but to confirm that he touched the earth, like he pointed to the earth when he was born and the earth witnessed, oh yes, this is a Buddha.

[20:07]

This is a world honored one. And some stories say that the earth goddess appeared and pronounced that Shakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, as he had been known before, was Shakyamuni Buddha, World Honored One. So that's the longer story. which indicates that, you know, when as a baby, he said, I alone in the world honored one. That was quite a feat. Dogen says he must've been exhausted after that and after taking all those steps and it took him, you know, 28 years to actually realize it. I'm gonna read one more. So there are a number of numbers of other, you know, talks by Dogen on Buddha's birthday. So the last one was on 1243, which is the year that Dogen, he had, after 10 years at his temple in Kyoto, after coming back from traveling to China from 1233 to 1243, he had a temple in the Southern suburbs of Kyoto.

[21:19]

And then in 1243, which is the year of the last talk where he talks about laughing at Buddha, the baby Buddha, he moved his whole assembly. way up north into the deep mountains in Northern Japan, where he eventually founded his temple, Eheji. It's still there. But I'm going to read one from later on when he was settled at Eheji. So this is from 1249. Let's see if I can find it, here it is. And in a bunch of the talks he had given in the years before this, I'm not reading all of them, he had quoted a great Chinese Tsao-Tung Soto teacher, Hongzhe, whose writings I translated in Cultivating the Empty Field, and quoted Hongzhe's talks on the days of Buddha's birthday.

[22:25]

And he did that at the beginning of this, but then he says, and again, this is in 1249, urging two dragons to carry water for her, Queen Maya bathed her newborn son's body. Thus Buddha abandoned the bliss of Tushita heaven, the meditation heaven he'd been in, and seemed to be stained by the sixth sense objects of the human realm. So this is an important aspect of our teaching, that in some sense, we're all born as Buddha today. We all have this, and all beings, all things actually, in Zen way of looking at it, have this quality of awakeness. Awakening is always available. Very, very close, it's right here. But it takes a while to realize it.

[23:29]

And part of the process of Buddha is that he abandoned his meditative bliss heaven. And sometimes we may feel this meditative bliss when we sit for a while. To be stained by the six sense objects of the human realm. So in our Western way of thinking, there are five senses, right? Eye, ear, nose, tongue, physicality, but body, touch. In Buddhism, we also say that the mind is a sixth sense, is another sense. So as you're sitting, probably most of you, as you were sitting just now, had some thoughts. So those thoughts are also sense objects. and our practice is to see them and just let them go, and then they come again. And sometimes we're beset by monkey mind, and there's lots and lots and lots of thoughts. Sometimes, some periods of thoughts, and maybe there's not so many. Either way, this is part of the sense field of being in the human realm.

[24:37]

Anyway, then according to, as Dogen continues, the Buddha grasped a glob of mud to make it into a Buddha and scooped the moon from the water, considering it the spirit. So very colorful, poetic Zen language. The thing about grasping a glob of mud to make it into a Buddha, there's a saying that Dogen uses sometimes, the more mud, the greater the Buddha. I find this very encouraging. So literally it means, you know, if you're making a clay Buddha, the more clay, the more mud you have, the bigger the Buddha statue, but it also means the more mud, the bigger the Buddha. And we all are like the Lotus born in the muck and mud of the human world and human grasping and anger and confusion. And Dogen quotes this saying, actually from the Blue Cliff Record, often saying, the more mud, the greater the Buddha.

[25:46]

We might understand that as the more difficulty, the more karmic stuff we each may have. when we realize Buddha, the greater the Buddha. So if you feel like you have a lot of muck to work through in your personal karma, be encouraged by that. The more mud, the greater the Buddha. Anyway, that's here, Dogen just says, the Buddha grasped a glob of mud to make it into a Buddha and scooped the moon from the water, considering it the spirit. The oceanic vow of great compassion has no shore or limit and saves living beings with release from the harbor of suffering. So this is the point of the Buddha becoming the Buddha is to release suffering beings from their suffering.

[26:50]

Dogen goes on, the very last body is the beginning and his birth saying I alone am the world honored one is the genuine cause for saving beings. So Dogen is here honoring this story about the Buddha saying I alone am the world honored one. And traditionally a Buddha's body is the last body in the realm of karma, the realm of birth and death. in the realm of, in the rat race of samsara we're all involved with, that a truly awakened, fully awakened Buddha will not be reborn again. In Zen, we kind of more do Bodhisattva practice, where we are willing to be reborn again and again to help everyone. awaken. But anyway, for the Buddha, this was the last birth. Dogen continues, on this fine occasion, both old and young cut off ignorance, greed, and anger.

[27:57]

When you nurture the power of the wooden ladle at Vulture Peak, you become eminent people within the cave of patch road monks, within the cave of practitioners. So, Dogen often refers to the Buddha as a wooden ladle because he was there serving people, serving beings. And we use ladles when we serve or Yogi meals in the meditation hall. Sometimes Dogen talks about broken ladles and there's various ways to understand that too. So this is a little bit about what it means that today is Buddha's birthday. We are all born today. We can all bathe ourselves today as baby Buddhas and all Buddhas in the past, future and present are born today.

[29:04]

So we celebrate Buddha's birthday today. And this is a wonderful occasion. Of course, we may not feel like today is our birth as Buddha. We often, you know, part of our practice is to recognize the suffering of the world. And that was the practice of Shakyamuni Buddha too. That's how he became the Buddha. The suffering of the world and our own personal grasping and anger and confusion, and what do we do with all that? So this is a very strange story, but this is part of our practice tradition, this story about the Buddha taking seven steps just when he was born and saying, I alone am the world honored one. And as Dogen says in one of these talks, this is pretty funny,

[30:09]

this arrogant kid. Quite a feat, a newborn baby taking seven steps, even in four directions, let alone 10, and declaring this each time. And Dogen says that each step gave rise to many, many Buddhas. And in the Bodhisattva vehicle and in the Zen tradition, we say that there are Buddhas everywhere. on the tip of each blade of grass in every atom, in many world systems, in many galaxies, in many dimensions of space and time. Everywhere there are Buddhas. So happy birthday, everyone. So I imagine some of you may have questions or comments or things you want to respond to. David Ray, would you please help me call on people?

[31:11]

So please feel free to raise your hand. For those of you who are not visible to raise your hand, you can go to the participants window and click on that. And at the bottom of that, there's a way of raising your hand. So comments, questions, offerings on this occasion of Buddha's birthday. Mariusz. Yes. Good morning. So my question is that I often hear imagery, a description of the moon, a finger pointing at the moon, a grasping of the moon, reflection of the moon. What is the significance of that? You know, because every time I hear it, there's like this, a sensation of significance, but I can never, I can never fully read it. And I would appreciate if you can elaborate on that. Yes, yes. So maybe I should back up. When they talk about the moon in Zen or in East Asia, they usually are referring to the full moon, the whole circle of the moon.

[32:21]

So the full moon is a symbol of fullness, of wholeness, of our being complete as Buddhists. So in Zen, Mike is here, he was talking about drawing ensos. Ensos are Zen circles. And that's also represents the moon, the full moon. There are other stories in Zen and in some of the koans about half moons or partial moons. But all of them are about looking at how do we recognize the fullness of the full moon, the wholeness of the full moon. And that is a reflection or an image for the wholeness of Buddhas in our, in our lives. So thank you for the question. Eve's hand is up. Hello, Eve. Yeah, so I mean, I was happy to hear the story about Buddha's birth today and to think about how he was born in the privilege.

[33:41]

Because yesterday my workplace, we had an anti-racism workshop. And, you know, we were defining privilege as unearned privilege. And, yeah, I don't know. I mean, and I guess I was thinking of privilege as a barrier to enlightenment. And I know, you know, the Buddha did like, well, at one point, you know, live a life of asceticism, although then he, you know, he found the middle way. But I guess, I mean, I have had trouble dealing with my own privilege, and I mean, I find it heartening that, I guess, you know, that the Buddha was able to awake. Yeah. So are other people hearing an echo, or is that just me?

[34:48]

I'll continue. So yes, the point about Buddha, Buddha nature, This quality of awakeness, Buddha just means the awakened one. This quality of awakeness is present and available to everyone, even to privileged people. Of course, to people who struggle, to people who are oppressed and persecuted, of course, there's this capacity for awakening. But even privileged people have the capacity to awaken. So, You know, in terms of our current situation in our society, we're confronting the realities of white supremacy and white privilege and all of that, and the qualities of class and wealth and that kind of privilege.

[35:54]

Actually, in terms of the story of Shakyamuni, The traditional story that we hear is that he was the son of a king, but according to people who've researched this in terms of the historical reality, probably his father was just more like a tribal chieftain. He wasn't, you know, such a glorious king. Still, there was privilege there. But the point is, whether, you know, whether we are privileged or oppressed or whatever, we all have this capacity, this quality, this reality of awakeness that is here. And you don't have to, I mean, you don't have to earn it. I mean, you have to, you know, pay attention. But I guess what struck me was also the difference between

[36:58]

The Calvinist idea that you have to earn being elect, or that wealth is a sign of being elect. There's a sense in some of the discussions I've been part of that the bad thing about privilege is that you didn't earn it. I mean, looking at everybody as having Buddha nature and that you have Buddha nature, whether you earned it or not, seems to me to be different. Yes, it's different in lots of ways, actually. So there's a common Asian understanding of karma that if you are born into privilege, that's because you did very good things in past lives. And if you were born into difficult situations, social or personal or whatever, that's because of bad things you did in past lives.

[38:09]

So that's a very different way of looking at all these things, but that's the dominant way of looking at this in Buddhism. Of course, the traditional, I've talked about this before, the traditional understanding of karma in Asia, which talks about personal, that you actually earn your privilege from past lives, ignores the reality of collective karma. which is that, you know, from the teaching of non-self, that we're not just separate selves, we're connected. Everybody here in this Zoom window is connected to each other, and all beings in this country and in this world are connected to each other. And we've had a great lesson in that this past year with the pandemic, that we are all susceptible to terrible disease.

[39:13]

related to each other, we're all interconnected and hopefully the powers that be will understand that this means also that we need to provide vaccines to less privileged people in South America and Africa and Asia, because we're doing pretty well in the United States relatively in terms of getting people vaccines. I've had a second vaccine a while ago, and I'm glad of that. I'm sorry that people in Africa and Asia aren't getting so many vaccines and actually that affects all of us because the pandemic will not go away until it's eradicated everywhere. So we also have collective karma. And looking at racism in our country and the collective karma of slavery and racism and mass incarceration now affects all of us, whatever color we think we are.

[40:23]

So this idea in Buddhism that if you're privileged, you earned it because of past lives, it's a little funny. It's true that there is personal karma. And past lives is a whole other dharma talk, so I don't want to get into that today. Yeah, there is personal karma. Who we are, each of us, each in our own little box in the Zoom window, is a function of all the people we've known in our life. Parents, friends, family, teachers. We each have our own personal qualities based on who we are. our own personal experience. And yet we're also subject to the collective karma of our country and our world and all the things that happen and all the difficulties that happen that affect each of us in different ways.

[41:26]

So anyway, it's a complicated topic, but thank you for your question, Eve. Are there others? I just want to recognize, it looks like we have a baby. Yes, yes, yes. Ko's new baby is here. Do you want to introduce her, Ko? Yes, this is Amaya. And my question actually I have is she only took three steps in five directions. Is she developmentally delayed? No, she's becoming Buddha. She took three steps in five directions. What did she say after taking those steps? She said, I and all beings are the world honored ones. I bow to Amaya. She bows back. Thank you. Thank you for the talk. Are there anybody? Oh, yes. Chris, your turn. Thank you, Taigan.

[42:28]

So this is the first that I've heard of Buddha's mother dying essentially as a result of childbirth. And so I know this story of Siddhartha. I'm just wondering how it could be that he's not affected by death and yet at such an early age, his mother dies. And is there any, you know, is there just skip over that or is there any recognition of he just didn't notice it or what? He was only seven days old. So, you know, when he was first born, he may have been able to take all these steps and make all these declarations, but he was just a little baby. So, you know, okay, the point about all of this is that these stories, we don't know the historical accuracy of all these stories. We do not have videotapes of, nobody was there with a cell phone to record all those steps that the baby Buddha took.

[43:30]

They didn't have cell phones then, I guess. So this isn't exactly history. This is stories that point to aspects of our spiritual qualities. So these stories, sometimes they're called hagiography stories of great beings. So the historical scholars, you know. wouldn't credit the story. And again, even the story of Maya, Maya saw an elephant entering her side and that's how she was impregnated. And elephants are great wise beings. So all of these stories are stories that are images or metaphors about our deeper reality. The idea of history in the way that we think of it was not really important in Indian culture.

[44:35]

Later on, when Buddhism moved to China, Chinese people were very interested in history and lineage and ancestors. But in India, they didn't think so much of history in the way we do. The point is that the stories are, oh, well, and just specifically about Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, and not missing his mother, part of the story is that he did have a mother. He had his aunt and stepmother, Mahapajapati, whose name we will mention later in our dedication, because she was the founder of the women's lineage of Buddhist teachers. So maybe he didn't know even that his biological mother had died. We don't know. But anyway, thank you for the question. Other comments or responses or questions about... So David Ray and then Mike.

[45:44]

Thanks, Taigen. Thanks so much for this. I have a response and a question or a comment and a question. And the comment is just that I'm grateful that our tradition includes this, I don't know, this sort of, these energies that feel so sweet and tender, you know, infancy narrative, and so many traditions have rituals of bathing statues, Greek and Roman statues got bathed in ponds and rivers, and it just feels so good to think about it. I'm really grateful for it. So that's the observation. The question is about a phrase, I think it was the first Dogen talk that you read from, the phrase obstructed by birth. I know it's translated from another language, but I'm grappling with what being obstructed or not obstructed by birth might mean. I mean, I could think of it as it like, you know, the infinite existence being trapped in the limitedness of life, but obstruct sounds really even more intense than that.

[46:53]

Like I'm grappling with how birth might be an obstruction to a life. Yeah, just looking at that again he says, if you are already like this, if you are already like Buddha, you are not obstructed by mountains or oceans and will be born to a king's palace. It goes on to say, If you are already like this, you are not obstructed by mountains or oceans and will be born into a king's palace. If you are not obstructed by mountains or oceans, are you obstructed by birth or not? Even if previous Buddhist ancestors say that they are obstructed by birth, today Dogen simply says, I am not obstructed by birth. This idea of obstruction, Well, and in the chant we're going to do a little later, the Harmony of Difference and Sameness, it talks about being obstructed by mountains and waters as we proceed.

[47:55]

But Dogen also talks about being obstructed by zazen, being totally blocked by zazen. So maybe you felt that sometime. And the point is that when we are obstructed by zazen, We have to take the backward step, not the seven steps, take the backward step to turn the light inwardly and illuminate the self. We have to look at what's going on. Who are we? What is this body-mind? How does it feel? So obstruction has a positive quality. It can have a negative quality. It depends on context. as in all poetry. But yeah, Dogen talks about being totally obstructed by zazen. So for those of you who have difficulty in zazen or sometimes squirm a bit or feel a little confused when you're sitting,

[49:08]

or wonder if you are doing it right or not. Of course you are, but we wonder. Congratulations, because you're being obstructed by Zazen. And how do you face that? So thank you for your question. Mike, you had your question. Yeah, echoing David's comment about traditions of bathing statues, I was wondering if you could, at least for me, give me a refresher on why we have the tradition of bathing the baby Buddha in sweet tea. I've been at past Buddha's birthday ceremonies where it's been discussed and it's now escaping my mind, so. Well, it's just, you know, after, when babies are born, we may wash them, we may do various things to help them, including maybe slapping them to get them to start crying, just to clear their lungs.

[50:12]

But this is, as a ceremony, it's a very ancient ceremony in Buddhism, to bathe a baby Buddha. And it's a kind of way of honoring the baby Buddha. I'm not sure what else to say. I don't know if anybody else has any responses. Aisin, do you know any more about it? No, I don't. Okay. Yes. Well, during one of the traditional stories, the whole idea is that when the baby Buddha was born, the entire world becomes transformed and it rained sweet tea on the whole party of attendants and Maya and the baby Buddha, you know, rainbows came out, there were beautiful sounds, luxurious clothing fell from the sky, all sorts of things like that. And so bathing the Buddha is part of the same purification of the world that occurred when the baby Buddha was born and the sweet tea fell from the sky.

[51:16]

Thank you, Douglas. So some of us are reading the first Friday of the month, the Flower Ornament Sutra, which has many such examples of all kinds of things falling from the sky in celebration of all the Buddhas. So, yeah, these are images of all of that. Isshin, you had a comment or question? I did. I have just always wondered why some cultures celebrate Buddha's birthday in early spring and other cultures celebrate it in late spring. Yes, that's the question. So in East Asia, in all of East Asia, China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, it's celebrated in, as I said, April 8th. Just as we don't have video recordings of Buddhists taking those seven steps, we don't know exactly when he was born.

[52:21]

So somebody decided that was when. In Southern Asia, which is a kind of different branch of Buddhism, Theravada branch now. They have a different understanding and so Obeysak has suffered, celebrated and suffered in late May. But I don't know why. And we don't really know what year or on what date, because they had a different kind of calendar back then. So all of this is converted for our use. So sorry, I can't give you a better answer than that, but here we are. Xinyu, you had a question or comment. Thank you for your talk. So I am particularly interested in a phrase you mentioned during the talk on scooping the moon out of water. And it sounds like a really beautiful picture.

[53:27]

and also quite impossible. And that reminds me of like in Genjo Koan, there's the sentence like, like enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water, the moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. I guess I'm kind of interested in What does it mean when you scoop the moon out of water in this context? And if there's any sort of relationship between this concept of enlightenment with that imagery? Yeah. Sure, so yeah, in the Genjo Koan, he also says, Dogen also says that the moon is reflected in all bodies of water, even in lakes or oceans, or even in a little puddle, the full moon is reflected completely.

[54:38]

So for Dogen to talk about scooping the moon out of the water, well, that's, you know, that may seem, inconceivable or impossible to you, just like it may seem inconceivable or impossible to you that we could free all living beings, as we will chant a little later, or that the Buddha, when he was born, could take seven steps in ten directions or four directions, whatever, and say all those things. So yeah, this is a poetic image of grabbing a hold of the fullness of the moon, of the wholeness of our life and appreciating it. So Dōgen uses a lot of kind of poetic images or metaphors and Zen does generally. So any other comments or questions or responses on Buddha's birthday.

[55:40]

I think Jokai has his hands up. Jokai, okay, thank you. Jokai, I don't see you. Oh, there you are. I wanted to ask about the statement that the baby Buddha made after taking 10 steps I alone in the world honored one. And I think that if we're looking at it from one point of view, that could be very arrogant, but, and this is what my question is, if we're contrasting it to his statement on the eve of his enlightenment, when he said, I, all beings, this great earth are none other than the wisdom and virtue of the awakened ones to thusness. Are these statements that different? You're muted.

[56:46]

I'll check in, you're muted. I said thank you for that. Yes, that's right. Very good. So if you think I alone am the world honored, what it means that only Shakyamuni Buddha is awakened in this world. That's not the point. I alone is all beings. So now, did this baby Buddha realize that or not? We could ask that question. But anyway. The point of this ceremony and the point of the celebration is that today is your birthday. Happy birthday, everyone. Happy birthday as Buddhas. We celebrate that.

[57:49]

Any other last comments or if anybody else has some other comment or question? Okay, David Ray, would you please lead us in the... I think Miriam has her hand up. Oh, Miriam. Oh, Miriam. Thank you very much, Senor. Thank you, Senor. Hi, Miriam. Miriam, I think you're muted. Okay, how's that? Is that better? Good. I remember very fondly the times in Arzendó. When we made the baby Jesus, I thought, I mean, excuse me, the baby Buddha. I just thought that was such a very touching and moving experience. But I wanted to, I thought you might be interested. I have this very ancient Japanese poem, which I happen to have said to music, but that's another story. But may I read it to you?

[58:55]

It's very short. Would you please read us a poem? It says, The purity of the moonlight falling out of the endless sky is so great that it freezes the water touched by its rays. Isn't that interesting? Oh, yes. Beautiful. Yes. I like those. I like those very short Japanese, ancient Japanese poems. So I'm thank you for letting me read that. And thank you for the wonderful talk and happy birthday. Happy birthday to you too. And do you happen to know the author of that poem? No, but I could get it for you. But not right now, but I can send it. Yeah, send it to me. I'm just curious. But so we will have announcements after the chant. But your your quote of that poem, that short poem, I'm not sure if it was actually a haiku, but it's way, way earlier than haiku. Yes, very, very ancient.

[59:57]

And I have a Japanese friend and she helped me course I don't do Japanese, but she helped me very much with the words. Well thank you, but I will mention that Gyoshin Laurel Ross, one of our priests, is going to be leading haiku events and ancient dragon haiku groups, so that will be on the website and announced on the in the schedule. So she has a couple of them scheduled. So in the spirit of your poem, I'm just mentioning that. And we will have other announcements after the closing chant and chance for more informal discussion. And hello, everybody. It's really great to see you all. And welcome to everyone who's new. And anyway, it's good to see you. So David, thank you. Yes, I will mute everyone, and then I will share the screen.

[61:02]

We'll begin with the repentance verse, which is chanted three times, and then Sandokai. And here, so the verse. ♪ 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 karma ♪ ♪ From beginningless 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

[62:05]

Sandokan! The mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from west to east. While human faculties are sharp or dull, the way has no northern or southern ancestors. The spiritual source shines clear in the light. The branching streams flow on in the dark. Grasping at things is surely delusion. According with sameness is still not enlightenment. All the objects of the senses interact and yet do not. Interacting brings involvement. Otherwise, each keeps its place. Sights vary in quality and form. Sounds differ as pleasing or harsh. Refined and common speech come together in the dark.

[63:10]

Clear and murky phrases are distinguished in the light. The four elements return to their natures just as a child returns to its mother. Fire heats, wind moves, water wets, earth is solid. Eye and sights, hear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes. Thus, with each and everything, depending on these roots, the leaves spread forth. trunk and branches share the essence revered and common each has its speech in the light there is darkness but don't take it as darkness in the dark there is light but don't see it as light light and dark oppose one another like the front and back foot in walking Each of the myriad things is expressed according to function and place.

[64:13]

Phenomena exist, box and lid fit. Principal response, arrow points meet. Hearing the words, understand the meaning. Don't set up standards of your own. If you don't understand the way right before you, how will you know the path as you walk? Progress is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. I respectfully urge you who study the mystery, do not pass your days and nights in vain. May all awakened beings extend with true compassion their luminous mirror wisdom. With full awareness, we have chanted Sandokai.

[65:16]

We dedicate this merit to our original ancestor in India, great teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. Our first woman ancestor, great teacher, Maha Prajapati. Our first ancestor in China, great teacher, Bodhidharma. Our first ancestor in Japan, great teacher, Ehei Dogen. Our first ancestor in America, great teacher, Shogaku Shonryo. The perfect wisdom, Bodhisattva Manjushri. To the complete recovery from illness of Vivian Garrett, Bob Finn, Alison Snow Wesley, and Fred Wesley, the Mercers in Virginia, James Floyd, Maria Sanders, Michael Weisbrod, Richelle Weisbrod, Jerry Lazars, Joseph Welch, Stephen Cain, Betsy DeLaHunt, Charlotte Iannone, Jacob Blake, Jeff Shepard, Mary Shepard, Josh Becker, Susan and Albert Easton, Michael Soter, Sophia Wilansky, Susanna Taylor, Bill Olinger, Jeremy Hammond, Jackie Floyd, Rebecca and Cole Lindberg,

[66:38]

Avery Miller, Matt West, Marla Weiner, Tom Kelly, Jodi Kretzmann, Joey Wizorek, Lise Farrakian, Carol Portnoy, Leonard Pelletier, Charlie Finlayson, Steve Haloff, Bess Joyner, Kyle D. Wade, Katherine Risser, Virginia Van Curen, Chris Summers, Dennis Olsen, Jim Abrams, Lynn Easton, Gene Annapurde, Barbara Matarese, Kate Lamothe, Paul Baker, Jenny Obst, Matt Wolfe, Fred Mecklenburg, Ed Bossler, Riel Ho, Iris Bestow, Janet Lin, Carla Randall, Gary Wilson, Robert French, Shauna Ellis, Gil Yong Suh, Jimmy Carter, Mary Mandarino, Joe Villareal, Rachel Stein, Norman Hughes, Barbara Colopi, Wing Chun Chung, Zoe Nissa, Brenda Gross, Kathy Fleming, Howard Polak, Pat Polak, Faustino Dionizio Jr., Frank Ostaseski, Diane Martin,

[67:58]

Jeff Bridges, Shosan Vicky Austin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Kondo Nakajima Roshi, Jarvis Masters and all residents of San Quentin Prison, victims of gun violence, people under drone attack, all in the fracking zones, all facing fire in California, all those threatened by the coronavirus, Amazonian and other indigenous peoples threatened by corporate invasion, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, peoples of the Mideast, and to all those who are lacking shelter, food, or safety, are suffering from physical or emotional distress, or are exposed to violence of any kind. And to the fulfillment of practice of all members of all sanghas, gratefully we offer this virtue to all beings. All Buddhas throughout space and time, all honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas,

[69:08]

Wisdom beyond wisdom, maha prajna paramita. Hello everyone. So we'll have some announcements now and then afterwards for anyone who wants to hang out a little longer informally, you're welcome to do so and we can have further informal discussion. So I'll start off the announcements with some scheduled things. Tomorrow evening for our Monday evening Dharma Talk, Alex Peltz from the Hyde Park Group will be giving the talk. The next three Sundays, all three of them, we have really wonderful guest teachers, so I wanted to especially promote those.

[70:16]

Next Sunday, Hossan Alan Sanaki, who is An old friend, and has spoken here before, will be speaking. This is his first time, though, speaking as the abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, one of the most important Zen groups in America. His teacher, Sojourner White, has been passed away in the end of January. Alan took the mountain seat and is now abbot of Berkeley Zen Center. He'll be talking next week about what does liberation look like? So I'm looking forward myself to hearing that. The following week, April 25th, our guest speaker will be Chenxing Han,

[70:58]

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