Today we We just had our ceremony commemorating Shakyamuni Buddha's Parinirvana. Usually, I think the 15th is the usual date for Japanese, some Japanese people to commemorate Parinirvana, Buddha's Parinirvana. But different people have different days when they do it. I think in Thailand they do it some other time of the year.

[01:07]

There must be some reason for the various dates. People have various reasons for the various dates, but we usually accommodate, try to come as close to the date as we can and accommodate it to our own convenience. like Saturday morning, something. So today we commemorate Buddha's parinirvana. Great nirvana, sometimes called great decease. It's not ordinary nirvana, but it's great nirvana. of going over to the other shore, or going to the other side of our life, which we commonly call death.

[02:13]

So what I want to do today is to read from Sutra, it's called the Brief Admonitions Parinirvana Sutra. It's a sutra which is concerned with Buddha's last words before Parinirvana, where he instructs people what to do, how to continue after his great decease. You say, what shall we do when you're gone? And he says, well, you should do these things. There are several Parinirvana sutras. The Mahayana Parinirvana sutra is quite a long sutra, as most Mahayana sutras are.

[03:25]

And there's another Parinirvana sutra, which is very short. And that's what this brief admonitions pranayama sutra is. It's a very short sutra. And I don't want to read the whole thing. It's a little too long, even though it's short. So I'm going to read some from the beginning, some from the middle, and some from the end. And the eight aspects of enlightened behavior that we studied a few years ago are included in the sutra. That's where they originate. And it's interesting that these eight aspects are Shakyamuni Buddha's last word. And Dogen Zenji also used these eight aspects for the last

[04:32]

part of his Shogun Ginzo. The last thing that Dogen wrote was the eight aspects that he commented on. So the first part of this sutra is someone introducing, and the other part is Buddha speaking. And the introducing says, when Shakyamuni Buddha first set in motion the wheel of the Dharma, He awakened Ajñāta Kāṇḍiṇya. That's one of the first people that he met after he was enlightened.

[05:33]

And in his last discourse on Dharma, he awakened Subhadra. All those who were to be awakened, he had awakened. Now, between the two sala trees, he was about to enter nirvana. It was the middle of the night, calm and without sound. For the sake of all his disciples, he spoke briefly of the essentials of the Dharma. And he said, Oh, bhikshus. Bhikshus are wandering monks. Even before Buddhist time, there were bhikshus. And there was a whole tradition of wandering monks. And Buddhism actually set a monastic style. So in the beginning, the monks were pretty much wanderers and even Buddhist disciples. A lot of them came from the wandering tradition.

[06:37]

But they had the idea of Sangha became very important in Buddhism. And with the idea of Sangha taking on importance, monasteries were developed. And even in Buddha's time, people gave the Sangha large grants of land as a monastery, the Deer Park and so forth. And they were very luxurious places too. And that began a kind of monastic tradition, and sangha tradition, which is a very big part of what's the third treasure. But before Buddhism, that sangha tradition was not so important for bhikshus.

[07:49]

But anyway, he addresses them as bhikshus, home leavers. He says, oh bhikshus, after I pass away, respect and cherish the precepts. Following the precepts is like coming upon a light in the darkness, like a poor person finding a great treasure. You should know that the precepts are your teacher. To have the precepts is the same as if I were to remain in the world. Those who would hold the precepts ought not to engage in trade, to possess fields and dwellings, to rule over other people, or to keep servants or animals. You should refrain from raising plants and accumulating wealth, just as you would avoid a fire pit. You ought not to cut grass and trees, plow the soil, or dig the earth. Mixing medicines, telling fortunes, observing the stars' positions, predicting the phases of the moon, and calculating auspicious calendar days are all things which ought not to be done."

[08:54]

In India, the tradition for bhikshus, this is the tradition for bhikshus. Shakyamuni Buddha also followed this tradition. Not all of these things, you know. There was a lot of fortune-telling and predicting things by the position of the stars and the phases of the moon and calculating auspicious calendar days, that sort of thing, which people are beginning to pick up on again. They like that. But it's frowned upon in Buddhism. And when he talks about not plowing the fields and not growing food, he's really talking to monks, bhikshus. For lay people, it's necessary to do these things.

[10:08]

But the spirit of what he's saying is important for laypeople as well as bhikshus. In India, monks were not allowed to grow anything from the soil. Kind of like American Indians, actually. you know, who American Indians, when they see the white man mining and planting and so forth, they see it as scalping the Mother Earth. Kind of interesting. our society makes it necessary to scalp the Mother Earth and dig holes in her head.

[11:20]

But for Indians, both American and East, this was not... it was a very poor way to live. But those were different times and it's necessary within our practice to adapt to the times in the country and the civilization. And knowing how to do that and still be practiced within the precepts is what our practice is really about. So in the middle of the sutra, I want to talk about the eight enlightened aspects.

[12:40]

I'm always trying to find a different way to, an appropriate way to translate or express what these are. Eight aspects of the enlightened person, That's okay, but not too good. Eight aspects of enlightenment. Eight aspects of what? Enlightened conduct. How we should act in an enlightened way. So, the first one is, he says, O Bhikshus, you should know that a person of many desires... So the first one is, not having many desires. You should know that a person of many desires, by seeking greatly for his own gain, has much suffering also.

[13:47]

The person of few desires, neither seeking nor desiring anything, does not have this sorrow. Simply for this reason, you should practice fewness of desires. How much more so should you practice it because it gives rise to all good merit? The person of few desires does not manipulate another's mind through dishonesty, nor is he carried away by the six sense organs. The mind of one who practices fewness of desires is tranquil and has no worries. Whatever is at hand is enough. There is never an insufficiency. For one who has few desires, there is nirvana. Such is the practice of few desires." Fewness of desires. Few desires. The key here is whatever is at hand is enough, and there is never an insufficiency.

[14:49]

We always feel that there's some insufficiency. Our whole way of life as a society is governed by the danger of insufficiency. So what we need to learn how to do is to live with the great challenge of our life is to see how little we need. in order to live our life and enjoy it. This is the great challenge of practice, how to live in nirvana, actually.

[15:57]

You know, we always say nirvana is samsara, or samsara is nirvana. But then we say, but where is this nirvana? See, well, this nirvana is right here. All you have to do is act in accordance with it, and it's there. So in order to act in accordance with nirvana, we have to be able to appreciate what we already have and how to use something, how to really not to ignore what is already there. We're always looking for something bigger and better. until we finally eat up the whole world.

[17:02]

Actually, the world is being devoured by our greed, our need for something. We're inventing bigger and bigger machines. The machines are an extension of our own bodies. Tie that man down. Or an extension of our own bodies. A megaphone is, or a musical instrument, is just a megaphone for our voice. And an automobile is a kind of extension of our mobility. a tractor or one of these diggers, you know, that you see on the roads that dig up the road.

[18:14]

It's just an extension of our mouth, our hands and our mouth. And so we get bigger and bigger diggers, you know, to dig up the world so that we can move it around according to our desire. We can't move everything around according to our desire. I really feel that we need to learn how to live with the world rather than constantly changing its shape to fit our greed. But it's hard to do, you know. Momentum is so strong. If you live like that, people will think you're a little kooky.

[19:19]

Number two says, he says, O bhikshus, if you want to be free from all suffering, you must know contentment. The state of contentment is the condition of prosperity and ease. That's what we all want, prosperity and ease. One who is contented is happy even when he has only the earth to lie on. One who is not contented is dissatisfied even when he dwells in celestial palaces. One who is not contented is poor no matter how rich she may be. One who is contented is rich, no matter how poor he or she may be. One who is not contented is constantly pulled by the five sense desires and is therefore pitied by one who is contented. Such is the practice of contentment, knowing how to be content. That's also a great challenge.

[20:20]

We're so restless. Zazen, of course, is their antidote for restlessness. I don't know if there are. There may be other antidotes, but maybe the best antidote that I can think of for restlessness is Zazen. And our resistance, you know, to Zazen is a gauge of our restlessness. Restlessness isn't bad, we should know how to bring ourself to calmness. Wherever we are, in any situation, we should know how to bring ourself to calmness, how to live in nirvana, how to live with a calm mind in any circumstance. That's what our practice is really about.

[21:31]

Even though we have agitation, in the midst of our agitation, we have some calmness. In the midst of our difficulties, sometimes People say, well, if you come to the Zen, though, you can see that that's practice. But when you get out in the world, it's kind of a laugh, because no one else knows about your practice, and you're just out there by yourself. And it's just kind of ordinary. But your life is not like that, even though it looks like that. If you think that just coming and sitting is a refuge, you know, any more than being in the world is a refuge, is not a refuge, what about the pain in your legs?

[22:39]

Does it care that you're practicing Zazen? The pain in your legs. It doesn't care that you're practicing Zazen. It won't leave you alone. You have to find your own inner tranquility in the midst of all kinds of difficulties. We complain about our difficulties, you know, and when things get hard, we complain a lot and we're dissatisfied. But every single moment's activity is our opportunity for practice.

[23:48]

If you don't practice that way, you're not really practicing, you're off. That's how we practice moment by moment in any situation. Zendo is one situation. Your home life is one situation. Your work life is another situation. It's all the zendo. It's all zazen. So how to be free from suffering? If you want to be free from all suffering, you must know contentment. And number three, he says, oh bhikshus, if you seek the bliss of unchanging tranquility, you must leave behind the hubbub of society and live alone in a quiet retreat. This is the opposite of what I was talking about. I'll have to explain this one.

[24:51]

One who lives in solitude is honored by Indra and all the gods. In Buddhist mythology, Indra is the most powerful leader of the gods of the Brahman pantheon. For this reason, you should leave your own and other communities and live alone in a remote place, intent upon the extinction of the origin of suffering. One who enjoys company receives the sufferings of being in company, just as when a large flock of birds live together in a tree, It is in danger of withering. If you are attached to the world, you sink into the common suffering. Just as an old elephant drowning in a swamp cannot get himself out, such is the practice of seclusion." Here, you know, it's 2,500 years ago. And Buddha is speaking to bhikshus and people who he's admonishing them to leave home.

[25:55]

And if they really want to follow his teaching. And in those days, they used to practice a lot under trees. India is a very hot country. You can live outside all year round, practically. And the way people came together, the main reason for bhikshus coming together to practice was during the rainy season. The rest of the year, they would wander and live under trees, meditate under trees. And during the monsoon season, they would come together to a vihara and practice together. And that's how a training season, training period began. The Ango is 90 days of monsoon in India.

[26:58]

And when Buddhism came to China, they kept the same, similar kind of tradition, and in Japan too. So in Zen practice, we always have our training periods or study periods, 90-day training periods in the monastery, which the time of year corresponds to the rainy season in country where the practice is, but basically the 90-day training period is three months of monsoon, or winter, or fall, or however you want to call it. And the rest of the time is more easy time, wandering time. This is for a monastic community. But in a lay community, you don't have such extremes.

[28:01]

And people live together more. Knowing the actual root of what it means to live in solitude is important. It doesn't really mean you should live all by yourself. you should live knowing yourself alone. Even when we practice together, you know, each one of us is alone and has some solitude. So practice for us. You know, when we come to the zendo, no talking, or very little talking in the zendo. No one says anything. And we all practice together in solitude. But yet, Everyone's practice reinforces, our practice reinforces each other's practice.

[29:03]

And there's no practicing alone. So alone, as I'm fond of saying, in its root means at one with, all at one with, all at one with everything. So for us, alone, alone means at one. And Sanzen, we always say, when you are focused completely on just Satsang, you are at one with everything. So we don't say that our practice is solitary. We say that it's at one with everything. And here he talks about, he's putting emphasis on, if you get so enmeshed in society, you know, when people just come together to without values that are conducive to right living.

[30:13]

If that's not what's uppermost in their mind, then it's a society of suffering. Everyone trying to get ahead of everybody else and cutting each other's throats. That's attachment to the world and sinking into the common suffering. Number four, he says, O bhikshus, if you diligently practice right effort, nothing will be difficult. If you practice right effort, nothing will be difficult. For this reason, you should diligently practice right effort. Just as a constant trickle of water will bore a hole in a rock, If the mind of the practitioner is inclined to indolence, it is just like one who rubs wood to start a fire and rests before the wood is hot."

[31:15]

How often we see that. Even though such a one wants to have a fire, the fire cannot be had. Such is the practice of right effort. If you want to really start a fire, you must have right effort. when you get to the point where you really have to follow through, you should follow through. How often, you know, we see people who get to the point where they need to follow through and they back off instead, and constantly backing off. But we come to critical places, you know, every one of us in our practice comes to some critical place and we get stuck and we don't know how to continue.

[32:23]

We don't know how to go on. But that place where we're stuck is our place of practice. And it's very important. It's important to know how we're stuck and But we don't always know. And it's important to know how to get through. That's why a sangha is so important. A teacher and a sangha to help us. But the main thing, you know, is for us to have the right effort. And then number five, he says, O bhikshus, do not lose mindfulness when seeking for a teacher or a friend. If you do not lose mindfulness, the passions cannot enter. For this reason, bhikshus, you should always maintain mindfulness.

[33:28]

If you lose mindfulness, you lose all merit. If the power of your mindfulness is strong, you cannot be harmed by the five sense desires. even though they may arise, just as if you enter a battlefield wearing armor, there is nothing to fear. Such is the practice of not losing mindfulness. Not letting the five sense desires arise is not such a good way to talk about it. We're always letting the five sense desires arise. We don't try to repress five sense desires, but neither do we stand on them. So not letting five sense desires arise is a kind of negative way of saying, don't stand on the five sense desires. Don't use any sense desire as a basis. If you use sense desire as a basis, you're based in desire instead of in reality, which has no base.

[34:40]

Don't be attached to something that has no basis. If you become attached to a comet, you'll be torn to pieces. When it takes off, you have to let go. And the same with our desire. You know, we get very attached to things through our senses. But when they take off, when the object of our sense desire takes off, we get wrenched with it. And we're constantly doing this, clinging to one thing or another. What can I cling to, you know? If so many things cause me pain and anxiety and anguish, and I don't want to hang on to them, what can I hang on to? What can we trust?

[35:47]

This is mindfulness. Mindfulness of not being attached to things. Using things, but not being used by things. Or using things and being used, but not being attached. And number six, he says, O bhikshus, if you unify your mind, your mind abides in concentration. When your mind abides in concentration, you can understand the marks of the arising and extinction of all things in the world. For this reason, O bhikshus, you must always practice the concentrations with diligence. If you attain concentration, the mind does not become scattered.

[36:50]

Just as a house which conserves water keeps the banks of its pond in good repair, so the practitioner, for the sake of the water of wisdom, should concentrate in meditation and not let it leak out. Such is the practice of concentration." In concentration, we talk about no leaking, not letting our concentration leak out, even when we're engaged in activity. thinking and so forth, creating, to keep your concentration from leaking. And seven, he says, O bhikshus, if you have wisdom, you have no greed. Always examine yourselves and do not let wisdom be lost. So here he equates wisdom with no greed. Then, through my teaching, you can attain liberation.

[37:58]

If you do not do so, you are not a follower of the path, nor are you a layman either. Truly, wisdom is a stout ship that carries you across the sea of old age, sickness and death. Again, it is a great lamp illuminating the darkness of ignorance. It is an excellent medicine for all sicknesses. It is a sharp axe which cuts down the tree of the passions. For this reason, O bhikshus, through listening, thinking, and practicing, you should increase your wisdom. If you have the brightness of wisdom, you will see clearly into the nature of things, even with the fleshly eye. Such is wisdom." In another translation, actually a translation that I got from Suzuki Roshi a long time ago, he says, you should spend your evening studying the sutras. Spend your time studying sutras instead of wandering around looking for pleasures.

[38:59]

It's a good idea, actually. And eight, he says, the last line is, O bhikshus, if you engage in all manner of useless talk, your mind will be confused. Even if you have left home, you will not attain liberation. For this reason, bhikshus, you should immediately leave behind confused thought and useless talk. If you want to attain the bliss of nirvana, you need only extinguish the evil of useless talk. Such is the practice of avoiding useless talk. So we're getting close. So I'm going to read the last part for this sutra. He says, O bhikshus, do not grieve.

[40:10]

Even if I were to live in the world for as long as a kalpa, our coming together would have to end. There can be no coming together without parting. The teaching which benefits both self and others has reached completion. Even if I were to live longer, there would be nothing to add to the teaching. Those who were to be awakened, whether in the heavens or among human beings, have all been awakened. Those who have not yet been awakened all possess the conditions for attaining awakening. If all my disciples practice the teaching from now on through generation after generation, The Dharma body of the Tathagata will exist forever and will not be destroyed. Therefore, you should know that all things in the world are impermanent. Coming together inevitably means parting. Do not be troubled, for this is the nature of life. Diligently practicing right effort, you must seek liberation immediately. With the light of wisdom, destroy the darkness of ignorance. Nothing is secure.

[41:11]

Everything in this life is precarious. Now I attain par nirvana. It is like getting rid of a bad illness. This non-substantial thing which we should discard is what we call the body. It is drowned in the sea of birth, old age, disease, and death. How could there be a wise one who would not rejoice at letting it go? O bhikshus, you should always wholeheartedly seek the way of liberation. All things in the world, whether moving or non-moving, are characterized by disappearance and instability. Stop now. Do not speak. Time is passing. I am about to cross over. This is my final teaching. Let me get the scissors.

[42:14]

I don't think we need to have questions, so we'll just end. Thank you.

[42:45]

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