So this one day sitting opens the one month long Aspects of Practice and six senior students will collaborate to facilitate this Aspects of Practice period. Lori, Karen, Alan Ross, Greg, and myself. And each week there'll be a Saturday talk, Saturday lecture, Monday morning discussion, Thursday night class, and also Friday afternoon tea, which will start at a quarter of five. and everybody is welcome to every one of those events. The first class is this Thursday.

[01:06]

Yeah, first class is this Thursday and Alan will be teaching it and I suggest you come because the theme of this practice period is precepts or ethical behavior and Alan will be explaining the historical development of precepts over the last two and a half thousand years. So it's something that most of us don't know so much about and it would be good to know more about. Basically now we have two practice periods per year, one in the spring and one in the fall. And this one is ... the aspects of practice is a little less formal, a little less rigorous than the practice period in the spring. And my feeling, my personal feeling for the aspects of practice period, the emphasis would be more on collectively studying something rather than necessarily an increase in intensity of sitting practice.

[02:23]

However, you know, I would really encourage you to come to the Zen Dome more if you can and be more involved as you're able to. some of it's just not possible to do that or too stressful to do that for some people. So the thing that we can all do is to focus on this subject together and help each other bring out or illuminate the subject more than we have so far. And also my feeling about the Zen Center and life in general is that it's very diffuse, you know, that we're a lay Sangha, most everybody works, lives, have separate lives, you know, we're not all living in a monastery together. different levels, different interests, different intensities of practice.

[03:24]

So to all kind of get together and just pick one thing or one subject and within practice to focus on that is I think it's really helpful. And to put some effort into concentrating on just this subject. However, I also just want to acknowledge that we're also just sitting today and that even though this is aspects of practice period with a subject of precepts or ethical behavior, that also we're just sitting today. So this is not like an entry into aspects of practice, this is just one day of sitting as well. And although we're you know being more mindful about the way we do things in forms if you don't know how to do things you know you can learn what to do.

[04:25]

The point is not to be a perfect Zen student in the sense of that you do everything correctly that you know a successful one day sitting or Sashin isn't that you did everything perfectly it's that we put effort into waking up or we put effort into allowing ourselves to wake up. So a one-day sitting or a sashi that has that feeling of the vitality of waking up is a successful sitting. We don't know what that looks like. It doesn't look like anything in particular. if you think it looks like something you'll have a difficult time it won't work you know I think we decided to do precepts this practice aspects period because the ethics committee has been working

[05:42]

diligently for two almost two years drafting a new ethics statement or it's not exactly a mission statement but it's an ethics statement and we've had various problems at BZC with mostly around issues of power, sexuality, teacher-student. Relative to most but we hadn't had problems and felt it was necessary to clarify what we expect out of each other and what upright behavior is actually in our own words and in our own understanding. And so collaborating with what are our words and what is our understanding has what we've been working on and there's been quite a bit of disagreement within that along the way but eventually coming to a kind of more or less consensus everybody's not exactly

[06:52]

There are people who would like to emphasize, put a different emphasis on our ethics policy, but generally everybody feels pretty good about it, but it went through a long process of discussion. So that's why we've decided to take precepts in ethical behavior as our subject for the aspects of practice. And I think most people come to Zen practice, they don't come because they're interested in precepts. They come because they're interested in meditation. It's a big generalization, but I think generally speaking that's true. And that's true for me. I have a difficult time with precepts. I don't want to... I... it's hard for me to take rules and actually want to adhere to rules and really feel wholehearted about it.

[08:04]

Although if I look at myself I feel a conscience. I think everybody has a conscience and really if you think about it a conscience is actually our personal way of orienting towards what we call precepts but you know each one of us has a different kind of conscious not to mention consciousness and so I relate to my conscience but my conscience you know is not as rigorous it's nowhere near as rigorous as the precepts my inclination is just to not be tied down, I don't want to be tied down to the precepts, although I have tremendous respect for them and I don't argue with them at all, however I don't want to be bound up, so that's my problem, I don't see it as a problem of the precepts, I see it as my

[09:22]

know if I think about it that basically precepts if I think about what the heart the unifying factor behind structure of precepts it's that we're self-centered and we you can establish we can note all the different ways in which being self-centered can create damage to ourselves and to others we can note that all and all the different circumstances but fundamentally if you look at all the precepts seem to relate to just being concerned with our own little sphere and not recognizing the wider sphere so not to kill if we want to you know to if a fly or mosquito is bothering us and you just smash it well from one point of view from my point of view it's just like get rid of this thing which is irritating from a wider point of view you see that the

[11:05]

that the critters have life just like we have life, so why would you want to hurt somebody or something in a way that you wouldn't want to be hurt? getting inside ethical behavior it seems to me that it's a matter of also recognizing how and being mindful of how we're self-centered which is really the heart of Zen practice and really the heart of Buddhist practice as well. you know the three aspects three aspects of practice are morality or ethics concentration and wisdom these are like the three really fundamental supports of buddhist practice and really of

[12:25]

wouldn't just say a Buddhist practice but of a life which is interested in reality, in being in accord with reality. So the emphasizes superficially it looks that way that we're mostly we're you know we're strong in concentrations, Zen students are strong in concentration and you know wisdom and morality are also important, but this practice at least outwardly stresses concentration.

[13:31]

True wisdom is not a matter of book learning or how much information you have, but people who are more interested in the wisdom side of things tend to want to be more intellectual and to read more. in the same way that just sitting Zazen is a kind of a superficial concentration. Just because we're sitting still doesn't really mean we're necessarily concentrated. and to make concentration and wisdom, to give concentration and wisdom a stable base, our behavior needs to be stable. the precepts that we relate to are called the bodhisattva precepts and around the you know when after buddha's death there was many precepts that were noted and monks practiced them and very

[15:08]

stringent set of precepts and it was a kind of a arhat practice of purification, monks purifying themselves to be more and more wholesome and then around the 8th century Mahayana Sutra appeared the Brahma's net sutra and this sutra was a Mahayana sutra that stressed the Bodhisattva aspect of precepts and Bodhisattva aspects of precepts would is to it's not so much to purify oneself for one's own sake to make one's a perfect person or a better person but it's how do you help the world so not only how do you help oneself but how do you help the world is the emphasis of bodhisattva precepts

[16:26]

And emphasis is on more ... it's not so much what you don't do, it's what you do do. So all the precepts, you can look at it from the negative aspect or the positive aspect. Negative aspect is don't do this, don't do that. Positive aspect is you could do this and you could do that. not to speak ill of others not disparage others you could say don't speak ill of others don't disparage others there's also speaking kindly of others speaking well of others speaking considerably of others avoid don't misuse sexuality, there's also how do we express sexuality in a way that's generous and genuine and loving.

[17:41]

So they also in Zen in general and more in the Mahayana as well the emphasis is on non-dualism and Hinayana or the Theravadin school more traditional early Buddhism had more dualistic and continues to have a more dualistic slant to it and Zen is very much interested in non-dualism and all the koans really are relating to the interplay between dualism and non-dualism and because we're so used to seeing things in a dualistic way that koans are always pointing us to the non-dualistic because that's what we miss and that's what we're not precepts can also be seen in the same way precepts can be seen from a dualistic perspective and also a non-dualistic perspective it's not really a perspective but we express the precepts but non-dualistically it's a kind of a koan in itself but to say you know to say that well the

[19:25]

good, which is a dualistic way of looking at it, and the dualistic side is not so good, you know, we're superior because we're non-dualistic, I think is a mistake, and really, you know, in Zen practice it's not so much that we're trying to be non-dualistic or trying to understand non-dualism, it's seeing the interrelationship that they both go together. So it might look like we have this sort of severe traditional Hinayana precept practice which is kind of strict and looks maybe uptight, don't do this, don't do that, in very delineated form. And then we have the Mahayana Bodhisattva precepts which is much more expansive and inclusive And so we think, well this is the right way and the Hinayana way is not so good.

[20:33]

But I'd be cautious about that. I think it depends how it's practiced. Either way could have strengths or weaknesses. We could be very more inclusive and maybe open-minded, but we could also become sort of sloppy and kind of lazy or complacent, you know, whatever, you know, everything, it's all good kind of attitude. Or it could be very mindful and awake and rigorous, but also compassionate. And the Hinayana way could be very selfish actually. Comparative and trying to be really perfect and not really being sensitive to the larger world.

[21:43]

On the other hand, it could be open-minded and very rigorous and honest and compassionate as well. It really depends on the practitioner, not so much the style as it is a practitioner and the teaching in that particular school or format. That's my feeling. So within the Bodhisattva precepts and particularly Zen practice, I'd like to read to you something from Suzuki Roshi. We have this reader that Alan's put together for the aspects of practice and if you don't have one, are there more out there on the rack now? So we tried to keep it thin, on purpose, so that everybody could read it.

[23:13]

You have time to read it over a month. And there are different selections for different aspects of practice. So this is from one of Suzuki Roshi's talks, and it's a rough talk. In other words, it's not ... It's not polished the way that it's been edited which I really enjoy actually and the talks that have just been put into the library are like that too, quite different than what you read in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind in terms of their kind of rough quality because his English was rough but there's something very evocative about it too that I actually find much more vital. So the title of this talk is called Real Precepts are Beyond Words. This is the non-dualistic Bodhisattva side. I'm just going to read like little excerpts, just very short.

[24:16]

We understand the precepts in various ways. Science, scientists understand his own way and various people understand religious way. There must be various way of understanding of it but what we study, what we observe is the one precept. That is the precept you will receive when you receive precepts, sixteen precepts. You will understand then, you know, how you receive precepts. How you receive precepts is just practice Zazen, just to be yourself. Then you can observe the precepts. It looks like I'm talking about something, about heaven, but it's not so. I'm talking about each one of you and myself. and about the water that I'm drinking and about the stuff. When you know stuff is really stuff, this stuff include everything. When you just practice Zazen on your black cushion, your practice include everything.

[25:18]

And you practice Zazen with Buddha, with various patriarch and all sentient beings. This is, you know, what I always repeat over and over. Whether your practice is good or bad, it doesn't matter. If you accept your practice as your own, then that practice include everything. At that time, you have precepts which include everything as the Absolute Being include everything. when you don't understand and when you just sit when you become just a stone or stuff you know then you include everything that is you know our Zazen practice. So the point that he's stressing here is that rather than try to adhere to a certain standard

[26:34]

if we're true to what we actually are, we're on the mark. And he says, you know, and this is something that Sojin says a lot too, he says, when you sit Zazen, you include everything. which includes precepts, so by sitting we include everything including precepts, by true zazen we include everything including precepts, but this is something that sounds really good, but what does it mean? in your own experience what does it mean that when sit zazen we include everything how could we include all precepts by sitting and zazen going beyond just sitting upright in the zendo but zazen mind in activity as well how do we include everything

[27:59]

in your own experience, what does that really mean? Other than sort of sounding very good and kind of absolute, how do you experience that? That's a pretty radical thing to say. Does anybody want to take a shot at it? Doesn't sound very... Doesn't sound very... Doesn't sound very... There's a lot of relativity in that. Especially... I wonder if something could actually still be said in that lecture. There seems to be an idealization of the absolute. from the words that I heard of what he said.

[29:05]

And I know you're saying it's not, but I'm really... I feel really lopsided on that. How do you feel lopsided? I don't quite understand what you're saying. Well, from his words. Yeah. Precepts are everything. Yeah. Yeah. He's not, at that point he's not talking about the relative. Right. That's true. He's just talking about the absolute side. So you're just pointing that out. Drowning in the absolute side? Okay.

[30:07]

So I think what Elizabeth is getting at is that if we just mush everything together and just be absolute everything is included in Zazen so everything is okay that we're missing that we could fool ourselves. Is that what you're getting at? Yeah, that maybe we don't see each other like we think we do. Right, that actually ... this is a danger of that's true it's a danger of absolutism if you only look at it from that point of view that's why the ethics committee spent two years hammering out language so that the relative aspect could be addressed yeah

[31:20]

I guess I just responded quite differently to that passage. I felt the encouragement to include everything and just be who you are without some idea of right or wrong. To me, I guess I found that I didn't feel at all like that was drowning in the absolute. I felt that was like very meaty and practical encouragement about how to express the precept. I just wanted to make that comment. I guess we can hear part of these talks is that you can hear them so differently depending on what antennas are happening. Because I do think there's that in the talk, too. I do think that's in the talk, too. I don't think it's... The relative aspect. Yeah. Okay. All right.

[32:27]

When you said precepts are included in Zazen, what I meant was, you know, when I came to practice, I was in my early 20s, and I kind of was on a bit of a tear before, like kind of seeking, like super seeking, and I was sort of a little bit oblivious of how I was maybe treating the people who were near me during that time before. completely ignored. And so this is like a really concrete example of the precepts, all these, they're in your body. I mean, in other words, that's why lie detectors work, the precepts are in our cells. And so when you're sitting zazen, you're sitting with your body and it's all right there, you know. It was like all the things that I ignored and sort of mean about, you know, root two

[33:31]

who don't say moments that I killed at the time in a certain way, you know, in one interpretation, were all right there coming back to me. And I saw people's faces that I literally don't think I saw them at that moment, but they were in my mind. You know, looks of hurt or looks of disappointment. Okay? Huh? Okay.

[36:28]

Great. Thanks, Ronald. Well, first I want to say I agree with everyone. What are you running for? At the same time, I agree with Lori that it is in our body.

[37:44]

The precepts are in our body. But to realize and manifest them and live them, and to include everything, I think, is this practice. Every moment. And it takes a lot of effort. And it means It doesn't mean agreeing with everyone. And not agreeing with everyone. It's a move, right? Being open. And still we find that teachers who are examples for others

[39:21]

great teachers who have been examples for others go awry with the precepts. So, after many years of sitting and these are people who have had various enlightenment experiences and been certified, you know, certified to teach, you know, certified to be legitimate Dharma heirs and so forth and so on. Are any of them women? Are any who have violated the precepts? No. Are any of the patriarchs women? No, but there are a number of women teachers in America. And I don't know how they've handled the precepts, but what I'm talking about is actually is American teachers, because I'm not familiar with the Asian teachers so much, or at least teachers who are in America. So, I think that what Elizabeth is pointing at

[40:25]

my understanding is that there is these two sides and if you don't take each side seriously or we're not open to each side that we're seeing only one side of it even though the one side we think is absolute it's obscuring, we can have an obscure... Awareness can be obscured. We are.

[42:00]

We always are. Everything always is included. because you can't have one without the other.

[43:39]

They don't exist in separation at all. And yet, and yet. Kate? Well, I came over thinking about this, how do I experience I come up, and I do come up against them, people I used to be. And that comes up in Zazen. And I notice that I have a tendency to want to reject who I used to be in favor of who I am now. And I think that's a mistake. I think that I need to with all of what I am in addition to all of what everything is.

[44:49]

Hopefully there's not an intrinsic separation. Yeah, but I think that over my life I've made some big changes, as I suspect most of us have. And you think you've left that other person behind. But in fact, you can evoke all of those feelings. I was helping in the kitchen this morning, and I kept having a song running through my mind that's 30 years old, you know, that brought up a whole mindset that I haven't had in a long time. And thank God, I thought. But then I'm also thinking, well, you know, I need to be able to embrace that and have that be part of me too. Thanks. The way I think about it is, and I emphasize think about it, the way I think about it is in terms of equality, that in Zazen

[46:00]

basically everything is equal in this in when we're just sitting just sit really everything is equal not because we're saying oh everything is equal but just because there's no need to there's no need to accentuate one thing over another in a truly open mind there's no need to accentuate one thing over the other at that point. We can't go around like that all the time obviously but we can have some of that all the time but when we're just sitting actually we can have a lot of that and when everything is equal everything's included because nothing is ... one thing is not more important than another. It doesn't matter if one thing has a particular shape or a particular color or a particular value to society, that's ... it's irrelevant.

[47:07]

So, you know, when he says that Zazen includes everything, everything is included, it's because when you ... one thing One thing is just like everything else, even though the shape is different. The essence is the same. The essence is emptiness, but the existence is the same. So it doesn't matter, it's not like you have to ... to include everything doesn't mean you have to hold all these multiple objects in your arms. It's that one thing is like another thing. So, from that perspective, or non-perspective, We stop deciding one thing is more important than another. Last comment.

[48:11]

In terms of thinking of inclusionist He was pronouncing it ignorance. Max said I was going to read, there's not time so I won't, but Dogen's teacher Ru Jing, they had conversations when Dogen was in China with him, studying with him, and there's the Hokyo-Ki is a record of those conversations, pretty interesting, and in one of those conversations

[49:45]

Rujing says to Dogen that he doesn't use precepts per se actually it's more like close to the five hindrances and he says all these five hindrances the important thing is to know that there's a sixth and the sixth is ignorance and if you really can penetrate ignorance and well you can really penetrate ignorance in all of the the precepts and in this case the hindrances what he was talking about, you can penetrate the precepts as well. So he felt that ignorance was the key as well. Okay, thank you and good luck for the next month. I hope it's multi-tuned this.

[50:44]

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