So today is a special day. It's the day, the 15th, that we traditionally, in East Asian tradition anyway, honor the passing away into nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived 2,500 years ago in northeastern India. So it's called Parinirvana. So in early Buddhism, nirvana literally means cessation. So in early Buddhism, the goal was kind of to get free of samsara, of the difficulties of the world and the rat race of fame and gain and so forth. And so nirvana actually, technically, wouldn't happen until one passes away.

[01:05]

So this is the day that traditionally is considered the day that Chakyamuni Buddha died. But in Buddhism, as it developed in the Bodhisattva idea, The goal isn't to kind of get... So Shakyamuni Buddha, the idea is that he never was reborn after that. So to be free from rebirth, to be free from having to be in this world of suffering, one passes away into nirvana. But in the Bodhisattva idea, nirvana is not separate from samsara, the world of struggling and suffering and striving and so forth. that right in the middle of this world we find our settledness and peace and helpfulness. So this got carried to another level in the Lotus Sutra, which is arguably the most important sutra or scripture, at least in East Asian Buddhism.

[02:20]

very important in Soto Zen also, the tradition we follow. And we'll be chanting this at midday service, but there's many interesting teachings in the Lotus Sutra. It's very rich literary work. But part of it is that, at the center of it, is that the Buddha doesn't actually ever die. That the Buddha said, well, it's not that he has an eternal lifespan, but he has a very, very, very, very very, very, very, very longer than that life span, inconceivably long. So he's been around as Buddha for a long time, and even though he appears to be born and leave the palace and realize enlightenment and so forth, and then to pass away into nirvana some 40-plus years later, that in some sense, anyway, the Buddha is present still in the world. So this idea of this long lifespan is there right together with Buddha having passed away this day in India.

[03:32]

And so the story about his passing away is commemorated in the statue, which was donated to us, of the Parinirvana. So it's in the front of the altar. Barbie may not be able to see it, but it's this white, like an owl, but you can see it when you come by. The story goes, the Buddha passed away lying on his right side doing various concentrations and meditations. In the Asian tradition of monks sleeping in the zendo, you're supposed to sleep on your right side. I think there are medical, physiological ways in which that is considered healthy anyway. So both things are part of our celebration of Parinirvana. The sadness of the Buddha passing away on this day.

[04:33]

And this sense of that somehow Buddha is alive today. And that's an important question for us. How is Buddha alive today? And one understanding of that, and I'll come back to this, is that Buddha is alive today here in this room. this practice and all of us sitting upright, facing the wall, facing our lives, is the life of Buddha today. There are many ways of understanding this. So, you know, one context I want to talk, want to get to is also just, we've been talking some about the practice of grief. and sadness, of honoring sadness. And in some ways, the way that death and life are connected, that when we feel the sadness of the death, the passing away of someone, it's also a way of appreciating our life.

[05:53]

So they're very closely related, life and death. You can't have one without the other. The quality of our life is enhanced by our being willing to face the sadness of the world and the grief, but also then there's the joy of being alive. So all of that All of that is part of this celebration today. So I want to start next by reading just some excerpts from Dogen's talks on this day, in honor of the passing away of Nirvana, in which he honors this tension. So Dogen is the 13th century founder of this branch of Zen, Seto Zen, a Japanese monk who Chan Zen tradition to Japan, where there was already a strong Buddhist tradition, but something more he added.

[06:58]

So I'm going to just read some brief selections from several of the talks he gave on this date. First, I'll read one from 1251, just a couple of years before Dogen himself died. So, on that occasion, he said, today, the prime teacher of this Saha world, the great master, the Tathagata, Shakyamuni, entered nirvana between twin solitaries in the town of Kushinagar. So that's in northeast India. And he calls this the Saha world, and traditionally in Buddhism, this world we live in is called the Saha world, or the world of endurance. because it's a lot that we need to endure. So this is a difficult world to be born into. And yet, this is a great world to train as a bodhisattva, as a helpful awakening being, because of the difficulties and the need for patience.

[08:02]

So anyway, he says, today the prime teacher of the Saha world, the great master, the Tathagata Shakyamuni. Tathagata is a word for Buddha that just means one who comes and goes in suchness, in connection with reality, in communion with reality. So the Tathagata Shakyamuni entered Nirvana between the twin Sala trees in the town of Kushinagara. And so that's the story about his dying, which is historical. and he was lying down, as in the statue, between two. Sala, I don't know what the Western word for that is. It's a particular kind of tree that has like two main trunks, and he was between two of these trees, lying down, and his disciples all around him. Since then, 2,200 years have passed, and in Dogen's time, they had a different understanding of when the Buddha lived. and that's changed actually since I've been practicing. I used to say it was in the 500s BC and now it's sort of in the 400s BC.

[09:06]

Dogen thought it was a few centuries before then. Anyway, although this is so, Dogen continues, our Buddha, Shakyamuni, once said, if you say I perish, you are not disciples belonging to my clan. So Shakyamuni literally means the sage of the Shakya clan, so the tribe or clan that his father was the head of in northeastern India. He says, if you say, I perish, you are not disciples belonging to my clan. But in this case, clan also means the Buddha family. So all of us here are considered traditional sons and daughters of Buddha when we take on this practice. We are in the Buddha family. all of us, in the family of this way of awakening. So he says, if you say, I perish, you are not disciples belonging to my clan. If you say, I do not perish, you are also not disciples in my clan.

[10:07]

If you say, I both perish and do not perish, you are all not disciples in my clan. So this is kind of points to this tension. There's sadness. And there's also life. The Buddha's alive. The Buddha passed away. He died. It's so sad. He says, already we are not disciples of his clan, Dogen is saying. So finally, what are we called? Aren't we all practicing together alongside Shakyamuni Buddha? So this is... just a part of what he said about on this date in 1251. But this thing about aren't we all practicing together alongside Shakyamuni Buddha. So traditionally we have Buddha's image in the center of the Buddha hall, or in this case the Zen Do, and all of us by sitting upright and just being present are

[11:12]

practicing together with Shakyamuni Buddha. We are allowing our body to express the mudra, whether we sit kneeling or cross-legged or in a chair, just to be present and upright. We are in some ways following the physical example of the Buddha, just sitting upright, being calm and collected and aware. Not sleepy, but just paying attention. being present with this reality here now. So, another time in 1246, on this occasion, Dogen said, under the Sala trees by the Ajitavati River.

[12:16]

Why is this only about Shakyamuni Buddha? All Buddhas in the ten directions, in the past, the future and the present, enter nirvana tonight at midnight. Not only all Buddhas, but the twenty-eight ancestors in India and the six ancestors in China who have noses and head tops, all without exception, enter nirvana at midnight tonight. And I assume he would include all the ancestors since Dogen, and even in America. There is no before and after, no self and others. So this gets to Dogen's teaching about time, that it's all right here. It is not some other place. Historically, we know he lived a long time ago. beyond history, past, future, and present, are all right here.

[13:17]

Now, in our awareness, in our uprightness, he says there's no before and after. No self and others. We're not separate from some other... We think that way. We do think we're separate from things around us. But also, You know, we don't practice for the sake of some future experience or understanding or awakening. We are practicing expressing the awakening on your kushina chair right now. Awakening doesn't exist in some abstract, you know, enlightenment mountain or something like that. Enlightenment doesn't exist separate from people practicing. And so enlightenment is only enlightenment if it's actually practiced. And practice is not really practice unless it's informed by that kernel called bodhicitta, the thought of awakening, the thought of enlightenment.

[14:25]

That is what brought you here and brought you to come back. That concern or consideration for reality and the suffering of the world and the Saha world. He says, all without exception enter nirvana at midnight tonight. There is no before and after, no self and others. Those who do not enter nirvana tonight at midnight are not Buddhism ancestors and are not capable of maintaining the teaching, the Dharma. Those who have already entered nirvana tonight at midnight are capable of maintaining the teaching. Those who are already capable of maintaining the teaching are in this same family business. this family of Buddhas, and keeping that going, which is what we're doing here this morning. So in some sense, Thogme is saying, hey, all of you, you've already entered Nirvana tonight at midnight.

[15:29]

And at the same time, a little later in that talk, after a pause took, and said, on various people's faces hang Gautama's eyes. Gautama was the Buddha's name before he even awakened. But still, they beat their breasts with fists in empty grieving. So, you know, the story is when the Buddha died, there were some bodhisattvas who were just calm because they understood that the Buddha The Buddha is not really dying. The Buddha is alive in some ways. But his immediate disciples, and there's pictures of even animals coming around, all weeping and wailing and grieving and sad. The Buddha is dying. So, Dogen says, again, on various people's faces hang Gautama's eyes, but still they beat their breasts with fists and empty grieving.

[16:33]

I cannot bear the heavenly demon or the demon of life and death who rolls around on the floor with laughter seven or eight times at seeing Buddha dying." And then Dogen put down his whisk and descended from the sea. So, you know, there's this tension. And this is part of our, you know, this is the tension that we all have around life and death, around loss and grieving. But it's amplified in the case of the Buddha, who brought us the Dharma, who awakens and whose awakening is continuing somehow. So another time, 1247, all of these are after Dogen moved away from the capital of Kyoto up to the deep mountains and built a heiji. But this is another talk about this. So just to read. Well, I noticed already in the beginning, I wasn't going to, but I noticed it's snowing now.

[17:49]

It wasn't when I first got here this morning. It's beautiful, at least from inside. I don't know how it is trudging around. But he says, the twin summer trees under which Shakyamuni passed away did not receive the power of the spirit of spring. Strange story about that. Oh, yeah, the legend is that these twin solitaries said to have withered after his death. They did not benefit from the spring. They didn't last till the spring. After snowfall, how can we know the midnight frost who'd have held up and turned the empty sky and laid himself down in the world? So there's all this legendary stuff, the disciple emitted light twice from the cruel, various forehead. So, if you say Shakyamuni is extinguished, you're an honest disciple.

[18:53]

If you say he's not extinguished, your words do not hit the mark. Having reached this day, how do you respond? And then Doge says, do you want to see the Tathagata's life vein? Do you want to see the living Buddha? Offer incense, make prostrations, and return to the meditation hall. So here we are, continuing the life of the Buddha. One more I'll read a little bit of. And this is from 1252, so this is the last talk we have from this state by Dogen, because he himself passed away the following year. Yeah. So 2,000 years ago today, he says, our original teacher, Chittagata Shakyamuni, entered nirvana under the Bodhi tree in India, in the Saha world.

[19:55]

Every year we may encounter this day the branches lower and the leaves become withered, saddened by the Tathagatas passing away into nirvana. The meaning of this nirvana is that we are not seeing the place where the first ancestor, Mahakasyapa, broke into a smile and began the family tradition of Zen. So he quotes another teacher saying, unsurpassed great nirvana is perfectly bright and always serenely illuminated. Common people think it is death, and those outside the way cling to it as annihilation. The people who seek after the lesser vehicles take this as their own non-doing. Anyway, so he's talking about various understandings of what this nirvana is. But then he says, nirvana is neither departing nor entering the world, nor hiding in despair, nor is it birth or extinction, not going or coming, and yet simply when the opportunity and condition are joined together, prior nirvana is manifested.

[21:08]

This night, Buddha entered nirvana under the twin solitaries, and yet, it is said that he always abides on Vulture Peak. We spoke about this in another and other sutras, when can we meet our compassionate father? Alone and poor, we vainly remain in this world. Although it is like this, his remote descendants in this thousandfold Saha world, at this very time, what can you say? And he paused and then he recited a poem. In crane forest with the moon fallen, how could dawn appear? In Krishinagara, where Buddha died, Flowers wither and spring is not spring. Amid love and yearning, what can this confused sun do? I wish to stop these red tears and join in wholesome action. So there's a tension here that's interesting and I think is informative for us.

[22:12]

He says, You know, there's the fact of Buddha having died, and there's also this way in which something continues. So he talks... I can't find the place where he talks about how all this happens amid love and yearning. I said in the poem at the end, amid love and yearning, what can this confused child of Buddha do? He says, I wish to stop these red tears and join in wholesome action. It's kind of a response. So, I think this has to do also with... We've been talking about facing sadness and grieving and not being caught in despair, as he mentions.

[23:21]

And this applies on so many levels. This applies to, you know, many of us have... Well, all of us have lost loved ones, some more recently. And how do we face that sadness? And the practice is not to ignore or deny the sadness. Denial is not helpful. So this also applies, you know, on a societal or global level. Part of the denial of climate change, for example, is that people are not willing to face the sadness of what is happening and the possibilities. And so a couple of months ago, Jewel Woodbury, who's an eco-psychologist, was here talking about facing grief, facing the sadness in that context too. and that the process of grief and grieving, which has been studied in terms of hospice care and personal grieving, there's a kind of process of denial and arguing and trying to bargain and then actually just facing the sadness.

[24:39]

And maybe it takes a while to get to that, but when we face this sadness that Buddha is gone, something happens. And when we face the sadness of loved ones gone, or of just the difficulties of this world, and our confusion about what to do about it, there's some possibility. So Dogen's answer again is, you know, amid love and yearning, what can this confused child do? I wish to stop these red tears and join in wholesome, helpful action. So one of the ways to... So red tears is an expression like bitter tears. But part of how we can respond to sadness is to be helpful to ourselves, but also to those around us and in the world. So there's this tension around this.

[25:41]

Amid love and yearning, right in the middle of sadness, how do we face our grief? And in some ways, to face grief is a kind of celebration. So we're celebrating Shakyamuni today. And when you... feel sadness at the loss of a loved one, that's a kind of celebration of that person. That's a way in which that person is still present in the world, in your heart. That's a way of honoring that which has passed, those who have passed. So when we face our grief, we can actually see the side of our sadness that is kind of a celebration of something.

[26:44]

So, amid love and yearning... Also, yesterday was Valentine's Day. And before we received this donation of this wonderful Parinirvana statue, I used to just talk about Valentine's Day at this time. But I think it's sort of connected. Life and death and love and death. When we love someone, we're sad at their loss and even losing relationships or change, just any kind of change. Children growing up and moving away. There's all kinds of ways in which there is loss that we can honor. Valentine's Day, though, is about the side of how sadness allows also love. And just as facing death enriches our life, knowing the reality of death in some way, we appreciate our life more.

[27:56]

And part of that is appreciating, I think, love more, true love. So, you know, Valentine's Day is mostly about romantic love. Well, that's part of it. There's also loving all beings, loving the world, you know, appreciating the world. So we will chant later this afternoon the Metta Sutta that talks about about, like a mother loving her only child and giving of herself and the wishes of peace love all around throughout the world, as the Bodhisattva ideal, the ideal behind the metta-sutra of may all beings be happy, just the wish for everyone, everything, all beings, not just people even, to be joyful, to be present, to be themselves.

[28:58]

So how do we take care of our environment in a way that includes that wish that all beings be happy? So somehow facing the Buddha's passing, facing the sadness that is part of our life and can be part of our vitality, and can allow us to celebrate our life. Also, it's a kind of connection to love, to actually appreciate the people we can appreciate, to love ourselves in a healthy way, not seeing ourselves as separate or opposed to others, but appreciating. And all of you should appreciate just that you're here today to celebrate Buddha's passing into nirvana. appreciate that you're making this effort to face your life and reality, to be present with that, to struggle with that, because, you know, we don't have all the answers, and we don't know how to fix everything, and how do we be present and upright right in the middle of it?

[30:09]

And right in there is how nirvana is in some sort, how true Awareness and joy is part of the sadness of the world, too. They're not separate. They're not the same exactly, either. So maybe that's enough for me to say, but I want to encourage comments, response, anything you would like to share on this Parinirvana Valentine's Day. So, please feel free. So, can you see how sadness and loss and death even is so vital to our life and to our love?

[31:14]

I'm actually going to get up and check the rice, which is my response to loss and paranoia. But I did want to say that sometimes I'm so aware that Having an awareness of the possibility of loss makes me appreciate what is here now more. Even if I don't like it, even if it's not perfect, knowing that it could change and completely go away makes me want to keep trying. Yeah, when we appreciate something and really appreciate it, or love someone, or love many beings or whatever, take care of the rice when the beeper goes off, and also appreciate everything that we do have, you know, more fully. So thank you for that. Other comments or questions or responses? loss.

[32:48]

Yes. And he was a fine person. Pardon me? He was a fine person. And he was sick for 10 months with leukemia and he died very gracefully and with humor. to him the night that he died, I said, do you want me to sleep downstairs? He said, no, you might snore and keep me awake. So, I think to honor that there's loss in everything, not just in the people that we've lost, but there's loss with, you know, certainly with aging. and lots of things.

[33:53]

So I think life is a lot about loss. Yeah, and so how do we respond to that? We can kind of pretend it's not there or run away from it or, you know, get angry at it. There's something noble about being present and upright in the middle of that, and something that's life-affirming. I met Su and Tor, gosh, how many years ago now? On a trip to China, we went to... 2007. Yeah, we went to Linji's temple and Zhaozhou's temple. It was a wonderful trip, yeah. Amazing. Time has passed. Are there comments or responses, anyone? It's fairly easy to make the, relatively easy to make the connection.

[35:06]

Life and death is the great matter, don't waste time in appreciating our life. But I think to connect death and love is even a stronger way of seeing this, seeing Buddha's love in caring for suffering beings, and that we all can partake of at the same time. This too is informed by passing away. One thing I thought that was a little interesting, and I agree that it can be very challenging dealing with grief and loss and all the challenges we have in our lives. And you said that there can be nirvana in samsara, finding that balance.

[36:12]

And one time I had heard a teacher say that Samsara is nirvana. And I don't know if I really understood that completely. I wonder if you could talk about that statement. I don't know if I understand it completely. To say samsara is nirvana. Well, you know, here we are in this world of struggling and karma and trying to manipulate things and get things. And that can be in a very wholesome way, too, trying to make things better. But here it is. And this is the world and the life we have. And nirvana is just that we see this as an opportunity. So dharma gates are boundless.

[37:14]

We've got to enter them. Each situation, each difficulty, is an opportunity to grow, to learn, to enjoy our life more fully. Most of you have heard me refer to climate damage and other difficulties in our world. On some level, if we can fix these things, survive, we will need human beings will need to make a lot of adjustments, but it's also a great opportunity because this is a way that if we don't kill ourselves off, that humans can grow into something new and better. And it's not better in the sense that it's different from the potential right now. Anyway, every difficulty, every sadness is an opportunity to more fully love and live.

[38:15]

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