We call it the Bodhisattva ceremony. In Japanese, it's called Ryaku Kusatsu, which means short repentance ceremony. But it's not like you repent your sins. It's not exactly like that. In the olden days, the monks who took would have a, what was called a pratimoka, patimoka or pratimocha ceremony twice a month. And twice a month, the monks would get together and recite the 250 precepts. And if someone had violated the precepts, then that person would say, I violated this precept. And then the monks would decide what to do about that person, or this kind of crime and punishment

[01:08]

or truth and consequences. And that's the long repentance ceremony, or the re-studying the precepts and acknowledging transgressions. So in Buddhism, there's precepts, meditation, and These are the three categories of practice. Morality, meditation, and knowledge or wisdom or study or whatever. And there were monks, Vinaya monks, whose main practice was just keeping the precepts.

[02:14]

And then there were certain kinds of monks who only practiced meditation. And then there was a class of monks who only were interested in wisdom, or in philosophy, or knowledge. And a well-rounded practice includes all three. But if we put too much emphasis on one or the other, then you have an unbalanced kind of practice. So there were certain monks who practiced Vinaya in a way that didn't include the other aspects of practice. And these monks put a lot of reliance on precepts. And the ordination for celibate monks is 250 precepts.

[03:18]

But in Japan, Mahayana practice is very strong. for various reasons, precepts were condensed into 16 precepts. 250 precepts, because a lot of the 250 precepts were kind of local precepts from India. How a person acts in accordance with the Dharma in India. So each country should have their own precepts. which are universal and apply to everyone. And then there are certain precepts which are local precepts for a certain climate or for a certain country, you act in a certain way, which doesn't apply to some other country or some other climate.

[04:23]

some other society, morality changes. And so precepts, minor precepts, have to conform to the present situation. So in Japan, the precepts were condensed, major precepts were condensed into 16 precepts. And then, minor precepts should come up according to how we live our life in a certain place at a certain time and according to circumstances. So, this Miyako Prasad means short or condensed precepts.

[05:34]

confession ceremony. But it's not just confession. It's like acknowledgement of our karma, without talking about anything specific. It's just acknowledging our behavior. And that's the first part of the ceremony. And the rest of the ceremony is renewing our intention. Acknowledging our behavior. paying respect to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, both within ourselves and outside of ourselves, and renewing our intentions, or vow, but we can say intention. So if you look at the ceremony, first it says repentance. All my ancient twisted karma, from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully evolve."

[06:40]

And that's the repentance. Repentance in Buddhism means to acknowledge what you've done and to turn and do something intentionally. may do all those things, as what fits the occasion. But basically, it means to acknowledge, to see what you've done, realize what you've done that's unwholesome, and to turn it with good intention and do what you want to do, do what you intend to do. So it's acknowledging and turning. And that's what dissembling is about. Because in the first part it says, I am now fully avowed.

[07:45]

It doesn't say what you've done. You don't have to say so. You just say, I realize that I'm not practicing or living my life completely the way I want to. But now, I make a conscious intention to do that, to return. to my original intention. So then, the next part, we pay homage to the seven Buddhas before Buddha, to Shakyamuni Buddha, to Maitreya Buddha, to Monjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, and to the sixth section of ancestors. I think I already spoke about the when I was explaining the chanting card. And Shakyamuni Buddha is the Buddha who we recognize as the Buddha of this particular era.

[08:49]

And Maitreya Buddha is the future Buddha, some messianic Buddha who will appear at some time in the future. And Monjushri Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva of practice. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva of compassion. And the ancestors are the ancestors. And these are all Bodhisattvas of our own. historical, either in the past, present, or future. So you can think of them any way you want, but these are embodiments of our own qualities.

[09:55]

Manjushri is our own wisdom mind. Samantabhadra is our own practice effort. And Arunakirti Jivara is our own compassionate mind. our own future realization. You have any questions? And then, the four vows. Beings are numberless. I vow to awaken with them. Divisions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. So, these four vows of Bodhisattva's vows. And these four vows, the four Bodhisattva vows, are responses to the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths is the cornerstone of Buddhist understanding.

[11:03]

Life is subject to suffering. The reason for the suffering is through inordinate desire, too much desire. there is a way to deal with that problem. And the way is the Eightfold Path, or the Six-Parted Path, or the various paths of Buddhahood. So, this is when I vow to awaken with... Beings are numberless. I vow to awaken with them. It's a response to... Beings are subject to suffering. We used to say, I vow to save them, which is a more direct response to the beings that are subject to suffering. But we now say, I vow to awaken them, because to say, I vow to save them, is too difficult for anybody to accept.

[12:09]

So we changed it to, I vow to awaken them. which is pretty good. It puts you in a... Sanity is also awakening. Sanity is also awakening, yeah. So it's really the same. Sanity is also awakening. That's what you mean by Sanity. Yeah, well, we mean various things, actually. Various things. It's still more clear. You know, it's still okay to say Sanity, So it's not that that's not valid. I didn't say it wasn't valid. I said it would change because it's easier for people to accept this way of thinking about it. I vow to awaken with them.

[13:14]

It's easier for people to accept that. and delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them, is a response to deliberately changing from desires to delusions. Delusion seems to cover more territory than desires, more in a general term. But either term is OK. and Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them, is the beginning of the solution.

[14:22]

The first part states the problem. The first two state the problem. The first one states the problem. The second one is the diagnosis. The third truth talks about So, Dharmagate's Our Boundless talks about the way to deal with, that there is a way to deal with this problem. The Dharma is to study the Dharmagate, to end the game of Dharma, and the innumerable Dharmagates. And the Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it through his medicine. So this is the Bodhisattva's vow, which is a response to the formidable truths. So this is the renewal of vows. Second is paying homage to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

[15:28]

And the third is renewing the vows. And the last one is taking, again, three refuges. Refuge in Buddha, in Dharma, and Sangha. Refuge is a little bit of a funny word, sometimes it's possible to say, I return to Buddha, I return to Dharma, I return to Sangha. Or another way of saying it is, I am one with Buddha, one with Dharma, one with Sangha, my own true nature. So it's like taking refuge in your own nature, not taking refuge in something outside of yourself, but be yourself of the three treasures. You are Buddha, you are Dharma, and you also are Sangha. So it's not like taking refuge in something outside of ourself. We have to find those three treasures within ourself and within each other.

[16:35]

So we take the three refuges and we say, I take refuge in Buddha, and then when we bow, we say, before all being, immersing body and mind deeply in the way, awakening true mind. And then I take refuge in the Dharma before all being, entering deeply the merciful ocean of Buddha's way. And I take refuge in Sangha before all being, bringing harmony to everyone, free from hindrance. Anybody know what Sangha is? Somebody doesn't know what Sangha is? Sangha is people who practice what? The Buddhist Sangha means the people that are Buddhists. Or maybe the people in this monastery is this Sangha. It's another place, it's that Sangha. But in a sense, large sense, everyone is Sangha.

[17:38]

Everything is Sangha. But in a narrow sense, when we speak about Sangha, Now, the Three Treasures are part of the Sixteenth Precepts. This is the first part of the Sixteenth Precepts. The Three Treasures are right here, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. The three refuges, it says, those are the first of the Sixteenth Precepts that you take. Yes. What does the phrase, before all being, mean? Well, you know, you might say, before God, or before the president, or you say before all being. All beings. So it's a public avowal. It's a public... Yeah, right.

[18:40]

It's like you're standing in front of the universe. Like the Indians. An Indian will go up to the top of a mountain, this voice into the universe. Kind of like that. So here you are standing in front of the whole universe doing this. So the three refuges are the first of the sixteen precepts. The three refuges, the three pure precepts, and the ten so-called to call various things. And there are various translations for these precepts. So the first of the three 16 precepts are, it's not, the 16 precepts are not on your sheet.

[20:02]

But we didn't used to say them, but during the ceremony, but now we do. So, it somehow isn't connected to the ceremony, right? Because they're on the other sheet. But it's, somebody, you say it and we say it back. Okay. It's a response. The three refuges, I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha. See those on your page there? And then the three peer priesthoods are not on your page. And those are, I don't like this translation very much. And I can't find the translation to do that. Basically, the traditional way to say it is, I vow to refrain from all evil action. And then I vow to do all good.

[21:06]

And I vow to live to benefit all beings. So the first one is your intention of what you don't want to do. And then it's your intention of what you do want to do. And then your intention to turn your life And the ten grave precepts are very specific. So they are like this. These are the ten grave precepts. A disciple of the Buddha does not kill. A disciple of the Buddha does not take what is not given. A disciple of the Buddha does not misuse sexuality. A disciple of the Buddha does not lie. A disciple of the Buddha does not intoxicate mind or body of self or others. A disciple of the Buddha does not slander. A disciple of the Buddha does not praise self at the expense of others.

[22:11]

A disciple of the Buddha is not possessive of anything, not even a teaching. A disciple of the Buddha does not harbor ill will. A disciple of the Buddha does not abuse the ten treasures, those ten precepts. But I'd like to read you another translation. To abstain from taking life, to abstain from stealing, to abstain from sexual greed, to abstain from telling lies, to abstain from selling or buying alcohol or drugs, to abstain from misguided speech, to abstain from extolling and slandering oneself and others, to abstain from grudging the bestowal of the Dharma, to abstain from being angry, and to abstain from denouncing the triple treasure, which is Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Those are the ten creative precepts.

[23:16]

So when we do the ceremony, first we do the repentance. then the vowing, then the four vows, then the refuges, and then the rest of the precepts. And when we do those precepts, starting with the three pure precepts, I'll say the precept, and you say the precept, and I'll say the next one, and you say it, right? There'll be clappers in between. There'll be clappers. And I say, I vow to refrain from all evil action. Clap. That's the signal. And I'll have to decide exactly which wording to use. But if you just follow me, you'll get the hang of it. We hate to use the word evil, but I would really like to use those terms.

[24:21]

are more acceptable. But I'm beginning to feel that it's good to say, you know, because it's very stark and But the three pure precepts are kind of dualistic. To avoid evil, to do good. That's really dualistic. But we include that dualistic aspect of the precepts. I like Kozunchino's description of the precepts during our ceremony when he said, there's only one precept.

[25:30]

There's only one precept, and that's be Buddha. All the rest, it's punctuated. Also, Ko Michino is very eloquent, even though he can't speak English. From one of his talks, there's a wonderful excerpt. He says, the main subject of Denko-e, which is presets, is how to become a transmitter of actual light, life light. Practice takes place to shape your whole ability to reflect the light coming through you and to regenerate your system so the light increases its power. Each precept is a remark about hard climbing, maybe climbing down. You don't use the precepts for accomplishing your own personality.

[26:31]

or fulfilling your dream of your highest image. You don't use the precepts in that way. The precepts are the reflected light world of one precept, which is Buddha mind itself, which is the presence of Buddha. Zazen is the first formulation of the accomplishment of Buddha existing. The more you sense the rareness and value of your own life, the more you realize that how you use it, how you manifest it, is all your responsibility. We face such a big task, so naturally such a person sits down for a while. It's not an intended action, it's a natural action. Some of the chanting is done as we do full prostration, so I wanted to suggest to everyone that usually when we bow, we touch our forehead to the floor and leave it there while we raise our hand.

[28:03]

But in this case, since we're chanting at the same time, we can raise our head back up afterwards so that our mouths aren't in those avatars. Does that make sense? And if you touch your forehead, just raise your head up again as you lift your hands before coming up. It'll be easier to chant, otherwise everyone gets muffled. So at the beginning this evening, you can just enter the zendo as usual, and we'll completely fill both sides with zabatons. You won't need zafus, because you won't actually be sitting down. You'll need to be standing or kneeling the whole time. So, I think what we'll do is just put all the zabatons on the floor, and if you get here early, you might help do that.

[29:13]

So just take a place and a zabaton, and everyone on this side will be facing this way. So just stay in the home for as long as you can. And at the very beginning there's an incense offering as usual and then we do three bows as we would for evening service. And when you hear that immediately go into the I actually would like to suggest that you don't bring these cards with you because they get in the way and there's a lot of this happening during the ceremony if anyone is trying to use their card.

[30:39]

Too dark. Facing this way. So at this point we put our hands in Gassho and they remain in Gassho for the entire ceremony. All my ancient, twisted karma

[31:49]

From beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, Born through body, speech, and mind, We bow at the end, and then we do that two more times. We go through that same chant two more times. At the end of each time we bow just like we did then. Did I show everybody how to bow?

[32:58]

OK, good. There's somebody that doesn't know. Get over here. OK, so then we do that again and bow, and again and bow. So three times. And then you stand up. When you hear the big bell, so the bells are the signals for bowing. The little bell is a signal for bowing, and when you hear the big bell, stand up. And if you just watch me, pretty much you can follow or watch us. You can follow us. Actually, you get up first. I get up first. Yeah. Yeah, get up and take the bow. Anyway, regular students will know when you get up. Yeah. Can you just follow? Watch this. OK, so this takes you in. so so Omnitude, the seven Buddhas before Buddha.

[34:18]

Omnitude, the seven Buddhas before Buddha. Amit Shukla Shakyamuni Buddha Now, we start the bow as we're, I mean... In the middle.

[35:29]

With the little bell. The little bell. And then you come up when you hear the stomp on the big bell. Let's try the next one. Homage to Maitreya Buddha So this is the time when you don't need to keep your face into the question. So everybody's rhythm is the same as hers. Everybody's going on pitch two. Maybe we could just do that standing one time as a group.

[36:35]

I wouldn't mind practicing without being on it, but just to get the rhythm of the chant. Chant it all together. Now we do that three times for the rest. Hopefully it doesn't blow us up like what you have written down there. Beings are numberless, I vow to awaken with them.

[37:52]

Illusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. I vow to enter them. I vow to enter. In all those ways unsurpassable I vow to become it. In all those ways unsurpassable I vow to become it. Can we do it?

[39:03]

I take refuge in Buddha. So those are the verses that you need to know. Those last three verses. The cochlear doesn't do them.

[40:34]

They're at the end on the card. It lies on the stomp on that one, not on the bell. These are the three refuges with a little verse for each one. That's the beginning of the precept. I vow to refrain from all evil actions. I vow to do all good.

[41:37]

I vow to live to benefit all beings. I vow to live to benefit all beings. A disciple of the Buddha does not kill. A disciple of Buddha does not take what is not given. A disciple of Buddha does not take what is not given. A disciple of Buddha does not misuse sexuality. A disciple of Buddha does not misuse sexuality. A disciple of the Buddha does not lie. A disciple of the Buddha does not lie.

[42:58]

A disciple of Buddha does not intoxicate mind or body of self or others. A disciple of Buddha does not intoxicate mind or body of self or others. A disciple of Buddha does not praise self at the expense of others. A disciple of Buddha is not possessive of anything. The disciple of Buddha does not abuse the three treasures. Thus we offer the merit of the Bodhisattva's Way to all beings in all worlds.

[44:12]

Thus we offer the Mary of the Bodhisattva Way. Thus we offer the Mary of the Bodhisattva Way to every world and to the Holy Buddha Jehovah. O God, send your actions three times. Sarasvati Sarasvati Sarasvati

[44:53]

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