I'm smiling and I imagine the reason I'm smiling is because I just thought of something that, yeah, kind of interesting. And then I thought of something else which is also kind of funny. You want to hear? Number one is, I was going to mention that today is We usually say now, today is March 15th, 2020. And March 15th is called the Ides of March, right? You know that term, Ides of March? Do you, Carolyn? It means the middle of March. And there's a play by Shakespeare which has a very famous line in it which is called, Beware of the Ides of March.

[01:04]

I thought of that and it brought a smile to my face. So beware of this day. And then I also popped up in my mind that I think the last time a talk was given here on Sunday, it was given by Linda Ruth Cotts, is that right? And she brought up, I don't ask about before the 15th. What about after? Every day is a good day to beware of. And Suzuki Roshi's wife said, every day is a good day means every day is a good day to suffer. So I didn't intend to bring this up, it just came to me and I thought it was funny. So I shared it with you. As we sit here, spread out in this meditation hall as far apart from each other as, well, maybe not as possible, but anyway, trying to make social distance between us for the sake of

[02:24]

reducing the possibilities of transmission of disease virus. So we're trying to be diligent and follow the advice about how to protect others and ourselves from the spreading of the virus, right? And yeah, we're working at that. And I watch the community work at it, and I feel good about the way everybody's relating to this emergency, to this epidemic, where people are, many people, are sick and many have died and we're trying to relate to it and I feel like this community is relating to it with dignity and humility and sobriety.

[03:44]

I don't see people complaining about it but actually facing it upright and being careful. And I really appreciate this sober, dignified community. And still I can't stop irony appearing in my mind and chuckling about it. Also, this is a little bit past the middle of our practice period here at Green Dragon Temple. And in the first talk of the practice period I offered a teaching

[04:50]

which is depicting or giving us some information and some stories about what's going on in the mind of a great bodhisattva. What's going on in the heart of a great bodhisattva? And the great bodhisattva in particular that I brought up is named Samantabhadra, or in English, universal goodness or universally good. This great bodhisattva is the main bodhisattva in the great Avatamsaka Sutra. And towards the end of the great sutra, Samantabhadra tells us about her vows in her heart, in her mind, in her body, are ten great vows.

[06:03]

And she, like all great bodhisattvas, operates on vow. Vow is kind of like what carries the bodhisattva practice, lifts it up and brings it forth in the world of all beings. And I told you about the ten great vows, which you may be memorized by now. But just in case you haven't, I'll say them again. May I? Number one, oh, and also, I wanted to say that as I contemplate these vows, more and more I see that they're all vows to serve, to serve all beings, to serve all Buddhas, all Bodhisattvas,

[07:06]

and all sentient beings. There are ten vows to serve. Number one, pay homage to all Buddhas. Pay respects to all Buddhas. Honor all Buddhas. Take refuge in all Buddhas. Worship all Buddhas. Number two, praise all Buddhas. Celebrate their virtues. Number three, I vow to make extensive offerings to all Buddhas. material offerings like flowers and perfume and jewels and all kinds of wonderful other material offerings, but also to offer our practice, our devotion, and so on, as offerings to all Buddhas.

[08:33]

Also to offer temples and gardens and so on to all Buddhas. Also to offer the mountains and the rivers, offer all these things extensively, basically without end, to the Buddhas. This ardent service to all Buddhas. And then another service which I offer, Samantabhadra says, is I offer the practice of confessing and apologizing for any shortcomings in my practice of service. This is a service to pay attention to our shortcomings and to reveal and disclose them before the Buddhas and bodhisattvas is a service that Samantabhadra vows to practice.

[09:35]

Number five, to rejoice in the merit of others. Just like a few minutes ago, I rejoiced in your diligent carefulness during this time of disease spreading. Number six, a service. The service is, request the Buddhas to turn the wheel of Dharma. Another kind of funny thing came up in my head, kind of ironic, is that the great bodhisattvas have heard the teaching of the Buddhas, otherwise they wouldn't yet be great bodhisattvas. They've heard the teaching a lot, they've practiced it, and so now they're happy great bodhisattvas, and they've heard the teaching,

[10:41]

but they don't like say, okay, I heard it, that's fine. They still ask the Buddhists to continue to teach even though they've already heard it. Please continue to teach even though I've already heard it. Number seven. request the Buddhas to stay in the world as a service we request them to stay. Not to get them to stay for us, but as a service for all beings. Number eight. Do all the practices that the Buddhas have done, are doing, and will do. Do all the practices of generosity, ethical discipline, patience, heroic diligence, concentration, and wisdom vowed to do those practices as a service. Number nine. Minister to, care for, look after, watch over, accommodate, harmonize with all living beings.

[11:57]

maintain and care for social distance for all living beings. Wash your hands for all living beings. Brush your teeth to harmonize and care for all living beings. Drink water to care for all living beings. Do all these things infinite ways for infinite beings. This is number nine. And number ten is dedicate the merit of all this service to all sentient beings. So this is a picture of what's going on in the heart of a great bodhisattva. And also, as I mentioned over and over, for each vow, the point is made that this practice goes on. I vow for it to be unceasing every moment.

[13:11]

doesn't mean it is going to be, because I might forget. But I vow to work towards it being moment by moment, without end. And also without regard to time or place. So we don't make exceptions like, again, like, now I'm going to the toilet, so this is not a time to pay homage. Or now I'm doing recycling, so this is not a time to ask the Buddhas to turn the wheel of Dharma. All these practices are done no matter what we're doing, no matter where we're doing it, and also to try to do it consistently. These are vows and practices. We may not have yet realized these vows, but we vow to keep practicing until they are realized.

[14:17]

And here now, in this world, with this pandemic, we can contemplate that the bodhisattvas are still vowing to practice all these practices in the midst of an ocean of suffering and disease. That's exactly where they always are practicing. But again, they don't just do the practice, they also vow to do the practice. And they don't just vow to do the practice, they do the practice. This is the heart of Samantabhadra that I would like to continue to contemplate and remember. I do not regret remembering Samantabhadra's great vows. I have a little mnemonic, three S's for this talk and one D. So the first S is Samantabhadra.

[15:44]

The second S is Suzuki Shunryu, our wonderful founder of Zen Center. During a hot summer night in Tassajara in 1970 in, I don't remember if it was July or the end of June, maybe the end of June, and it was hot and he gave a talk in the Zendo as a service to his devoted students. He was devoted to us, we were devoted to him. That was the setup. And he said during one of his talks, my disciples, and blah, blah, I don't know what he said after that.

[16:53]

But when he said my disciples, this young monk thought, I wonder who his disciples are. I wonder, who is he talking about? And the next day or a day after, I said, Roshi, in your talk you referred to your disciples. Who are your disciples? And he said, kind of paused like, I think kind of paused like I just did, and said, kind of like, I don't like it, but my mind makes a discrimination between two kinds of students at Tassajara.

[17:57]

One kind of student are here to get something for themselves. The other kind of student are here for others, are practicing for others. The ones who are practicing for others are my disciples. And so from that time I wondered, which kind of student am I? Now, Suzuki Roshi didn't like it. He was kind of apologetic that his mind did discriminate between the students who are trying to get something from Zen practice and the students who are serving Zen practice. The students are trying to get something from Suzuki Roshi and the students who are trying to serve Suzuki Roshi

[19:05]

the students are trying to get something from the Dharma and those who are serving the Dharma. He didn't like it that he had mind discriminated between those two ways of practice. But it did, and he told me, and he apologized. But I would say, which he didn't say, that Susitra Rishi loved the ones who were trying to get something. as much as he loved the ones who were wishing to be of service. He did. Maybe, I don't know, he didn't tell me, maybe he loved the ones who were of service more. I didn't really notice that myself. I saw him treat everybody pretty even-handedly. And so, although his mind discriminated between the people who are trying to get something from Zen, and a lot of people would admit, yes, I am trying to get enlightenment or whatever from Zen.

[20:15]

I am trying to. And that's what I came here for, is to get it for me. I didn't come here for other people to get enlightenment. Many Zen students in those days would admit that. Matter of fact, they would talk about it all the time. And Sukarshi noticed, but he loved them, didn't like them. He loved them. He was devoted to them. He gave them, yeah, he gave himself to them. And then there were some students who were here to serve the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And he loved them too. But he didn't want to be stuck in the discrimination. And that's a non-discriminating wisdom. He looked after all the students. That's the second S. And the third S is Shakyamuni Buddha.

[21:20]

Now, Shakyamuni Buddha and Suzuki Shinryu Roshi They both got sick. And particularly towards the end of their life, they were both sick. But while they were sick, sick bodhisattva, sick Buddha, while they were sick, they just continued their practice. And they continued to look after us. And they continued to give wonderful teaching. they shared their illness, they shared their difficulty, and they showed the Dharma all the way to the end. In the midst of illness, they continued their practice and

[22:30]

I hope that we can too, in the midst of all this sickness and threat of sickness, we can continue our practice, which we have been doing, and I pray we continue. How about you? What do you pray for? What's your vow? Do you want to contemplate Samantabhadra's vow and contemplate giving your life to such vows? And then there's D. It's a story about the ancestor Dung Shan.

[24:01]

And Dung Shan Liangzhe, a Chinese monk of the Tang Dynasty, he lived from 807 to 869. he is called sometimes the founder of the Tsao Dung lineage. He together with one of his students are said to be the founders of this particular style of practice. Even though he had ancestors, he and his disciple put together a kind of clarified version of the practice which became a distinctive form of bodhisattva practice in China. And there's a story about him in the Book of Serenity, Case 94.

[25:07]

And the story is called, I think, Dung Shan is Ill. When Sisigurashi was sick, he continued to teach. When Shakyamuni Buddha was sick, he continued to teach. And when Dungsan was sick, he continued to teach. So now he's sick. And a monk comes to see him and says, teacher, you're sick. is there one who does not have sickness? And Damshan said, there is.

[26:12]

"'Teacher, you're sick. Is there one who does not have sickness or illness?' Dung Shan said, "'There is.' The monk then said, "'Does that one who is not sick look after you, watch over you?' And Dung Shan said, I had the opportunity to look after him. And the Chinese character I saw translated in different ways. It's a character which means he can mean he, she, or the other.

[27:29]

So one translation says, I have the opportunity to look after him. Another translation says, I have an opportunity to look after her. Another translation can say, I have an opportunity to look at the other. What is he, she, and other? It's the one who does not possess illness. Chinese character for have or possess. It's one who doesn't have any. It can be a he, she, or it's the other. I have a chance to look at care for the other one who doesn't have any illness. Dengshan Oh yeah, and then continuing the story before I go over it again. And then the monk says, at the time of taking care of him or her or the other, what's it like?

[28:37]

How is it? And Dung Shan said, at that time, I don't see that there is any illness. Again, this is an opportunity to contemplate the mind of a bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is sick and people still ask the bodhisattva questions about the Dharma and the bodhisattva teaches. You're sick. Is there one who does not have sickness? Yes, there is. Does that one watch over you? Care for you? That Chinese character, by the way, if you put it together with sickness, it means nurse, nursing. It's like a looking over. It's not like just seeing. It's looking over.

[29:38]

It's looking after. It's nursing the ill. So does that one look after you? And he didn't say, no, that one doesn't look after me. He didn't say, but the one who does not have illness is looking after me. And he also didn't say, no, that one isn't looking after me. He didn't answer either way. He said, I have the opportunity to look after him or her. And how is it at that time, at that time I don't see any illness at all. So part of the work part of Samantabhadra's vow is to do the practices that Buddhas do. And part of the practices that Buddhas do in their service of beings is of course to take care of the sick to look after the sick

[30:48]

to nurse them. But also, if asked, does the one who's not sick take care of you? And I say, I take care of, I don't just take care of the sick, I take care of what is not sick. And I take care of what is not sick to facilitate my caring for what does have sickness. So we both take care of what has sickness, this body, his body, hers body. We take care of all these sick people, including ourself. And we also, if we have the opportunity, to take care of what does not have sickness. the ancestors took care of both.

[31:56]

They took care of what has sickness and what does not have sickness. In this way, they liberated all beings. They don't just take care of the sick. They don't just take care of the healthy. that take care of what has no illness. I vow to pay homage to Buddhas, all Buddhas, regardless of time or place.

[34:16]

So, I'm sitting here now and I wish this sitting here now to be offered as homage to all Buddhas. Later today, I may sit over a few feet to my left. And when I'm sitting there, I vow that this sitting will be paying respects to all Buddhas. And when I walk around this valley, I vow that my walking around will be paying homage to all Buddhas. And when I put on this robe, I vow that putting on this robe will be an act of homage to all Buddhas. And when I take off this robe, I vow that taking off this robe will be an act of homage.

[35:30]

So no matter what I'm doing throughout the day, I vow to make my action homage to all Buddhas. It's not my vow. It's called Samantabhadra's vow, but it's not just Samantabhadra's vow. It's the bodhisattva vow, and we can contemplate it and see if we, do we want to give ourselves to it? I do. And all the other vows, no matter what I'm doing, I want whatever I'm doing to be, I vow. that whatever I'm doing, it can be the other nine practices. I vow to remember Samantabhadra's vows and I vow to practice Zen as an expression of Samantabhadra's vows and Samantabhadra's practices.

[36:33]

And I vow to do that in the middle of illness, in the middle of the danger of illness and the actuality of illness. And again I ask you, what is your vow? What are your vows? Do you share Samantabhadra's vows or perhaps do you share a subset of them? Anyway, whatever they are, I pray that you take care of your vows. I pray that I take care of mine,

[37:36]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_92.96