Good morning. Good morning. Is this on? Yeah. Can you hear it? Can you hear it back and loud enough? No. No. Can you turn it up a little bit? I am speaking. Tell me when the volume reaches a satisfactory level. How's that? A little louder, please. How about now? Is it OK now? Yes? Is there consensus? OK. Thank you. A little, a little up. All right. That should be, that sounds like it should be good. Okay, we'll leave that where it is. Well, good morning. A number of people here have been sitting in Rohatsu Seshin for seven days or some portion of seven days. Today is our last day of Seshin. It's been very wonderful to sit here together.

[01:02]

It's been very quiet, deep, cold. And this morning, we were awake anyway, those of us in Sishin, to have a viewing of the lunar eclipse. Did people see that? It was wonderful. just the way our timing worked, we do walking meditation at 540, so we actually had outdoor walking or standing meditation, watching the shadow of the earth, is that correct? Yes. Moving down across the moon and the moon sort of shining behind it as a disk and watching that the sliver of a moon grow ever smaller.

[02:04]

It was really beautiful. So The occasion of this Sesshin, which is our longest of the year here at Berkley Zen Center and is a traditional time certainly in Japanese Buddhism, is the Buddha's enlightenment. And we'll celebrate that in a joyous ceremony after this where we'll go outside and we will be chanting and we'll circumambulate the zendo and toss flowers into the air If this is really done right, they would be dropping from the heavens celestial flowers and all kinds of wonderful balms and scents. But we will have to do it ourselves, like we do a lot of things. So I thought I would talk a little about Buddha's enlightenment and tell some of the stories around it and maybe we can talk together a bit about why this is meaningful to us.

[03:20]

So in the Japanese tradition this is Buddha's enlightenment day. It was celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, and with the Meiji Restoration, when things became somewhat standardized according to synchronizing Western and Japanese standards, it became December 8th. It's observed on December 8th. We're observing it at the end of our Sesshin And in other Asian traditions, Buddha's enlightenment, birthday, and passing away are all celebrated on one occasion, Vesak or Vesaka, which is traditionally the first full moon of the fifth month of the year.

[04:24]

So it falls sometimes in May, sometimes in June in much of the rest of Asia. Recently, so the Buddha as many of you probably know was he purportedly awakened in Bodh Gaya in North India and uh that's where he had um that's where his wanderings had taken him and I was there um for the first time in October and I thought you might like to see uh there's one for this side if you give it to people like to see picture of the Bodhi tree and also there's a leaf um there's there's uh There are guys outside the Bodh Gaya who sell you bonafide leaves from the Bodhi tree.

[05:25]

They're pretty cheap. I don't know. But they're actually quite beautiful. The Bodhi tree is a ficus religiosa, is the name of it, or the peepal tree. Religiosa. And Sojan has one in his office, which you may have seen. The tree that's there in Bodh Gaya now is quite substantial. There's some question about whether it's the original one. Not just the original leaf, but whether it's the original tree. Who knows? Anyway, I was able to go there and sit under the tree and Nothing happened. But we're being on nothing in this tradition, right? I think my determination wasn't strong enough.

[06:26]

But there were a lot of people sitting under that tree. It's quite a remarkable place. Gautama, he was married, he left his palace really for about the first time in his life and he went around his city and saw for the first time an old person, a sick person a corpse and a mendicant, a beggar. And this was shocking to him. He had no idea of old age, sickness and death. He had been sheltered from it, which is a little hard to believe.

[07:29]

But that's what his parents tried to do, partly because when he was born there was a prophecy that either he would become a great king or a great saviour of humankind as a religious figure and his father preferred that he would be the king. Religious figures don't, you know, it's not such a great life, you know, it's like dirty and they have often come to bad ends and, you know, but actually kings often Maybe more often. So he was married and the question of liberation was just a burning issue for him. And finally he realized that he had to leave his family.

[08:36]

And he had to, he was resolved to solve the problem of suffering for all times. And we won't get into the family dynamics. That's a large question. Denke brought it up. When his son was born, the name that he gave his son Rahula means fetter or impediment. Just not such a great name for your kid. But there is within that this feeling, this calling to save all beings. So he left, he left his family and he became a renunciate for six years wandering about North India and he studied with a number of the great yogins of the time and became a master of each of their schools and each one of them wanted to make him their heir.

[10:05]

And as much as he appreciated their practices, he still realized that this core existential problem of suffering had not been resolved. And that the practice that he had taken on with these masters was not going as far as he wished to go. So he continued. he led a very strict, by the end, a very strict regimen. It's said that he ate only one grain of rice per day, which the rice was about the same size then as it is now. They didn't have the super rice. So he became incredibly emaciated. Their images of the emaciated Buddha who looks a little more than a skeleton and after six years he realized that this way of these difficulties were not getting him any closer to awakening and so he decided that

[11:33]

he had to take some nourishment if he was going to be able to practice and he was brought a bowl of rice and milk and honey by Sujata who was a she was a noble woman who had been among those young women who were feeding the Buddha while he was doing his practices and one of her servants had died and the body was wrapped in a reddish cloth and the Buddha saw that And he asked for that cloth to make a robe of. And he pieced it together and packed it and put it on.

[12:36]

And he ate this meal of milk rice. And then he lay down and he had five dreams. There's wonderful detail in this story. He dreamed that he was laying down on a great bed, and his pillow were the Himalayan mountain range, and his left hand was resting in the Eastern Sea, his right hand was resting in the Western Sea, and both feet were dangling in the Southern Sea. And when he awoke from that dream, he felt the message was that he would awaken to unexcelled, right enlightenment.

[13:44]

The second dream was that he had a woody vine that was growing out of his navel. that stood reaching to the sky. And the meaning to him of this dream is that once he had woken up, once he was liberated, his mission would be to proclaim the truth as far as there are human or celestial beings. The third dream was that there were white worms with black heads crawling up from his feet as far as his knees. It's another very striking image. Actually, all these images are pretty striking. And the meaning of that is that he saw that in the future many white robed householders would come to refuge

[14:52]

and practiced the way that he had unfolded for them. The fourth dream is that four different colored birds from four different directions came to his feet and they turned completely pure white. And the meaning of this to him is that people from all of the different castes and non-castes of Indian civilization would also find that the Dhamma that he was going to awaken to was accessible to them and that they would all become enlightened themselves. And finally the fifth dream is that he was walking back and forth on top of a giant mountain of shit but he wasn't soiled by it and that he would the meaning there is that even in the difficulty of this world he would be able to receive gifts of robes and foods and medicine to cure the sick but he would use them in a way that was unattached he would see the drawback and the hazards of

[16:23]

attachment to them and yet he would be free within that and that that's the way that he would teach. And so he awoke and he knew that the day had arrived when he would sit down vowing to awaken. These are wonderful, vivid dreams. And the complexity of them really speaks to us even today. We can imagine dreams like these. So he went to find this the place to sit and he took a seat near this substantial tree that was shading and as he approached the bow tree he saw the road was sprinkled with gold dust and it was covered with precious stones that lined the way

[17:45]

White and blue and yellow and red lotuses in the pond that was next to the tree spread their blossoms and the air sounded with the clear sound, the songs of the swans. Near the pool by the tree, the palm trees were dancing. and in the skies the gods were looking down, hopefully, admiringly. So he came to the tree and by the side of the road he saw a buffalo herder, Svasti. And Svasti had been cutting some grass to feed his herd. And the Buddha asked for some of that grass to lay to create a mat so that he could sit under the tree and he received that gift and he went to the east of the tree and he bowed seven times and he tossed the grass on the ground and suddenly the grass transformed into a wonderful seat very comfortable

[19:12]

like a carpet. So he sat down, and he sat upright, with his shoulders erect, his face was turned towards the east, and he said, Even if my skin should parch, and even if my hand should wither, even if my bones should crumble into dust, until I have attained supreme awakening I shall not move from his seat. And he crossed his legs and he sat down. And he sat down for seven days. Which is why our Seshin is seven days Seshin. So while he was there, you know, in any In any good story, if there is a hero, there has to be a villain, right? Like, they go together.

[20:16]

So, there is an archetypal villain in this story, which is Mara. And Mara was designated as the evil one. But in a certain way, like all of these archetypes, the good one needs the evil one, and the evil one may need the good one. Perhaps this is dualistic thinking, but we find these in all the great stories. So Mara, who had his own realms, he got worried when he saw the Buddha. And what he said was, hmm, this hero who has renounced the kingdom is now seated under the tree of knowledge.

[21:18]

So we have the tree of knowledge, I mean, that's another, this tree of knowledge is maybe has a different meaning or a different essence than the unfortunate tree of knowledge that occupied the Garden of Eden. I think maybe it was a different tree. There were no apples on this one. So he said, soon he will bring all creatures the help they need and once he is set free, he will set all of them free. And because of them, my city will be deserted. And my army will be gone. This is not a good situation. I better do something about that. So he was filled with apprehension. He tried to sleep, but he had terrible dreams himself.

[22:20]

He awoke and he summoned his soldiers. And when they saw him, They became worried. They said, you look pale and unhappy. Your heart beats fast and your limbs tremble. What have you heard? What have you seen? So Mara said, the days of my pride are over. I had horrible dreams. A black cloud of dust settled over my palace. My gardens were bare of leaves. My ponds had dried up and my swans and peacocks all had their wings clipped. And I felt alone amid this desolation. My queen was beating her breast and tearing her hair. My daughters were crying out in anguish. And you, my son, were bowing before this man who meditated under the tree of knowledge. I wanted to fight this being, but I couldn't draw my sword out of the scabbard.

[23:27]

And all of my subjects fled in horror. Impenetrable darkness closed in upon me, and I heard my palace crashing to the ground." This is kind of serious stuff. This is like the end of his world. His son says, Father, it is disheartening to lose a battle. If you have seen these omens, bide your time and do not run the chance of being ingloriously defeated. But he felt bolstered by his soldiers and he felt his courage return and he entered with his army. He gathered his army. And this is very vivid also. Mara's army was a fearful sight. It bristled with pikes, with arrows, and with swords. Many carried enormous battle axes and heavy clubs.

[24:30]

It's kind of like the battle scenes in Lord of the Rings, I think. The soldiers were blue, black, yellow, red, and their faces were terrifying. Their eyes were cruel flames, their mouths spewed blood. Some had the ears of a goat, others the ears of a pig or an elephant. Many had bodies shaped like a jug, and so on and so forth. There were many with two, four, and five heads, and others with ten, twelve, and twenty arms. In place of ornaments, they wore jawbones, skulls, and withered human fingers. Shaking their hairy heads, they advanced with hideous laughter and savage cries. The Buddha didn't move. He was not daunted by them. He was not afraid of them. He did not feel threatened by them. Mara tried other things. He summoned rains and earthquakes and he had his soldiers fire arrows at him and finally the army rushed at the Buddha.

[25:39]

But the light he diffused acted as a shield to protect him. The swords were shattered. The battle axes broke into pieces. And wherever one of these weapons fell to the ground, it became a flower. And filled with terror, the soldiers ran away. There were other Mara made a number of other efforts. He brought a large number of scantily clad attractive women to dance and tempt him with dances and sexual favors. None of this worked. Finally, Mara asked, what proof has this man given of his generosity? What sacrifices as he made, who will bear witness to his kindness?"

[26:42]

And a voice came out of the earth and it said, I will bear witness to his generosity. And this is the gesture, the Buddha touches the earth and that's when the earth speaks. Yes, I, the earth, the mother of all beings will bear witness to his generosity. A hundred times, a thousand times in the course of his previous existences, his hands, his eyes, his head, his whole body have been at the service of others. And in the course of this existence, which will be the last, he will destroy old age, sickness and death. As he excels you in strength, Mara, even so does he surpass you in generosity. And the evil one saw a woman of great beauty emerge from the earth up to her waist. She bowed before the Buddha, and clasping her hand she said, O holy of men, I bear witness to your generosity.

[27:45]

Then she disappeared, and Mara wept because he had been defeated. Nothing had disturbed the Buddha to be's meditation. And it continued, and on the seventh night, on the first watch of the night, he had a vision of all of his previous existences. In the second watch of the night, he had a vision of the suffering of all of those beings who were presently in the world. And in the third watch of the night, he understood in a very clear way, going forwards and backwards, the cause the chain of cause and effect that gives rise to our lives, to our lives, life after life. He saw all creatures being continually reborn, whether of high or low caste, in the path of virtue or evil.

[28:56]

He saw them going through the rounds of existence because of their actions. In profound meditation, he said to himself, what is the cause of old age and death? And he thought, ignorance lies at the root of death, of old age, of suffering, of despair. By living a life of holiness, desire is stifled, ignorance is quelled, and we will cease to endure this cycle of birth and suffering. And finally, as the morning star arose at dawn, he exclaimed first, I was, I am and I will be enlightened simultaneously with all beings in the universe. He meditated further and then he offered these verses.

[30:01]

I wandered through the rounds of countless births, seeking but not finding the builder of this house. Sorrowful, indeed, is birth again and again. O house-builder, you have now been seen. You shall build this house no longer. All your rafters have been broken, your ridge-pole shattered, My mind has attained unconditioned freedom. And so the texts say, Achieved is the end of craving. Twelve times the earth shook. The world itself was like a great flower. The God saying, He has come, He who brings light into the world. He has come, he who protects the world.

[31:04]

Long blinded, the eye of the world has opened, and the eye of the world is dazzled by the light. O conqueror, you will give all beings that which they hunger after. Guided by the supreme light of the law, all creatures will reach the surest deliverance. You hold the lamp. Go now and dispel the darkness. So his awakening was complete. And yet he sat under the tree for another week. It might have been longer. I can't remember what the story is. And he felt he had done his work. But he didn't know what the task was for him. And he felt that it was not going to be possible that he had had.

[32:08]

He was visited by two merchants who were traveling. They saw him and they were struck by his presence, his radiance. And they sat with him for a while, but he didn't teach. And finally they said, could we have something to remember you by? And he plucked eight hairs from his head and he gave them eight of his hares, two of which are reputed to have been placed in the treasure store of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma. But that was not teaching. That was just being. So finally, Indra, one of the powerful gods, implored him to teach his vision, to teach the Four Noble Truths, to teach the Eightfold Path, that the world needed this message.

[33:21]

And the Buddha said, OK, I will try. And his first effort was not tremendously successful. He went out and he was walking towards Varanasi from Bodh Gaya. And there was a mendicant that met him on the road and was struck by his appearance. And said, look, who are you? And the Buddha's response was, I'm the totally enlightened one And this beggar said, oh, good on you, and walked on. I think he thought then, maybe I have to find another way to teach you. And when he approached Varanasi, he met five of his old companions with whom he had practiced austerities for many years.

[34:25]

And they also recognized that his happened and they sat down together and he taught them the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path and he set the wheel of Dharma turning, which is still turning to this day. It's turning for all of us and that's what we celebrate. So that's much of the story that I think I can go into today. Anyone? Yeah? You mentioned the east, and is Zendo facing east for that reason? I have to think about this a second.

[35:30]

Wait, Zendo's not facing east. This is facing north, right? Isn't that right? North. Those of us on this side Yeah, but there is... There are some geomantic principles in, you know, how you place meditation halls. I can't remember them right off hand. Does anyone know? I'll use the Berkeley City code. Well, that's true. Yeah. Except for the staircase in my house, which is not off the code. Don't tell anybody. No. But usually in monasteries in Asia, they are set along geographical lines. And I'm not quite sure which way. Yeah. Richard. The part where Mara says, are you deserve?

[36:40]

have this enlightenment, paraphrasing, I guess. And the answer is, the way he read it was, the ground came forth, the mother of us all came forth. I guess the way I heard, the way I thought of it was that just because I'm here, I deserve enlightenment, as opposed to because I've had all these wonderful things I've done for other beings and whatnot, which is initiation that needed to go on. Well, I think that there, first of all, there are various versions of this story. In the one that I was working from, the question that Mara said, hey, I've been very generous. Look at all the things that I've done and given to beings. You know, what has he done? And this is where the earth is testifying to

[37:45]

how life after life this being that was now born as the Buddha had been generous. But in another story he's touching the earth and says the earth is my witness to my awakened nature. It is an initiation. Ken? I was struck by that phrase as well. One can imagine that the. the Buddha is generous, but to consider Mara also generous, is interesting to me. It just strikes me that the delusions that we pass on, that we all influence each other, and deceit spreads itself as well as truth and goodness. They're both influencing others around very generously.

[38:50]

Right. I mean, that's the complexity of our existence. And within that complexity, to me, there are probably many good things that Mara did. there may have been generosity that he embodied. And as these stories go, there's a song that I like by an English songwriter, Leon Russell, called Stand Up for Judas. How you can't have the story of Christ without the story of Judas, and there's the Gospel of Judas, right? So, in a non-dualistic way, this literature is pretty dualistic, the Pali Sutras, but if you look at it in a non-dualistic way, you'll see how, to me, the essence is in the process of transformation.

[40:10]

So even Mara, Mara is an essential element of that story. If Mara is defeated, what becomes of him? It would be interesting to see if there are other stories where Mara then becomes an arhat or practitioner. I don't know. to think this through and see it through the lens of a non-dual practice, I think is useful for us. What's interesting, listening to the story, is that there were all these causes and conditions that showed up for Gautama to become enlightened. And as the teaching kind of fanned out from Buddha, from Buddha's time, There's a sort of democratization it seems, like we're all sitting in this room, and yeah we need the right causes and conditions to become enlightened, but there isn't like the major causes and conditions that showed up in Buddha's time, like for Buddha.

[41:27]

Well for Buddha, but you know, subsequent to Buddha, the enlightenment process was pretty simple. you know basically somebody would approach him and they would see kind of his radiance and you know basically say what do hey what do I have to do and he would say come bhikkhu and boom awake unfortunately that power seems to have ebbed if Sochin could do that we would be all or Suzuki Roshi could do that we'd all be very happy, which maybe we will be tomorrow. Lay practitioners being represented by crawling white worms with black hats. Well, we make it up to the meat. Right. Well, I, you know, I think that's part of this literature.

[42:30]

Is there a piece of the story missing? What? Is there a piece of the story missing? The story was a story in its time. I don't think I would be tempted to write that story that way. The literature is very dualistic. That early Buddhist literature is very dualistic. And the Hebrew scriptures are very dualistic. not in the same way. The question is, to me, not to hold on to this as gospel. I mean, I was just telling the story. What do we do? How do we live? How do we manifest awakened activity, even to our best? Even if we're not if we haven't attained to Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, complete unexcelled awakening.

[43:38]

Still, what we're celebrating today is the aspiration, the aspiration to wake up with all beings. That's what our Seshin is about, but that's actually what we can cultivate in every moment of our life. Some will get there, some will not. Whether there are past lives, future lives, I can't remember. When somebody asks Sojin or Suzuki Roshi, what about this matter of rebirth? I've heard Sojin say, well, yeah, maybe, but I can't remember. So we have to live our life. There may or may not be, but we have to live our life now for the sake of all beings.

[44:44]

So that's a good place to end, I think. Thank you very much, and I hope we'll all joyously participate in this ceremony and fall under the rain of flowers and the chant of our voices. Okay.

[45:02]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ