First of all, I wanted to let you know that I'm not Daigon Luek. We switched lecture dates. I'm Zelkets Fisher, but my schedule changed, so we switched. Although, more or less, we're all interchangeable anyway, but those of you who are relatives of Daigon, excuse me. Can you hear okay? Is the sound working? It doesn't sound like it's working. How's that? Better? Yeah? Okay. This week I've been having a little bit of a local pilgrimage.

[01:07]

I was up to Spirit Rock where they have opened up their new buildings, so they have a brand new meditation hall and three or four residences. It's really beautiful, and they're having their inaugural residential retreat up there, so I went and visited and sat a little bit with them in the retreat. If you haven't seen the buildings, you should go visit. They're quite beautiful. Also, Eva and I took a trip up to Ukiah to visit Abhayagiri Monastery, which is a small monastery in the Thailand forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism.

[02:14]

One of the co-abbots up there is a dear friend and teacher for me, Ajahn Amaro, who maybe some of you know. He's spoken here before, wonderful Englishman. They have quite an amazing monastery there. Someone gave them 250 acres of land, absolutely unimproved, steep land with almost nothing on it. So they've been literally making trails. It's the first thing they have to do, make trails so that you can walk around, and little kutis, little huts for the monks and nuns to live in. So we got a tour, a walking tour of all the trails that they've made, and we saw all their little huts. It was quite delightful.

[03:22]

And I met finally the co-abbot with Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Passano, who's a Canadian man, wonderful person, very good teacher also. And we were there attending an ordination ceremony. One of our former students went over there and ordained with them. He's a wonderful student, Michael Dietzel. So we wanted to go and attend. It was a novice ordination. We wanted to attend the novice ordination. In their tradition, they ordain as bhikkhus, full of monks and nuns, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. And the bhikkhus take 252 precepts in full ordination. And their rule is very strict,

[04:31]

and it's almost exactly based on the ancient way that Buddhists have practiced in Asia for thousands of years. In addition to the rules of moral conduct that you would expect Buddhists to commit themselves to, they also are committed to the rule of celibacy. They don't drive cars. They actually are prohibited from handling money at all. They can't serve themselves food. They can't cook. They can't do any farming or gardening. They can't own anything. All they can own is their robe and their bowl. So it's a very simple, extremely simple and restricted lifestyle that they live. And I used to think that it was not possible in the West, in modern times,

[05:39]

to live that way. But they show that it's possible and it's beautiful. So I admire them very much and I'm very impressed and inspired by the way that they practice at Abhayagiri Monastery and the other groups associated with them. They have groups in England and also, of course, in Thailand. There's only, I think, four monks who live there. And now, with Michael's ordination as a novice, there are two novices and I think also two anagarikas, they call them, who are people who are sort of postulants in a way. Catholics would call them postulants. They are trying out to see whether they will ordain as novices also. So I think about eight people who live there. And the ordination ceremony was extremely simple. Basically, the person just

[06:45]

comes in and says, I'm tired of the dusty world. Can I please enter the homeless life? And the teacher says, yes, and gives them the triple refuge, the precepts and the robe. But it was very, especially impressive because the whole ceremony is in Pali and they memorize the Pali and chant it back and forth. Actually, the ordination itself is simply the taking of the triple refuge, taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. That's the whole ordination. And of course, taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the most common thing in Buddhist practice here at Green Gulch. Every morning, we all take the triple refuge. Whoever shows up, you know what I mean, somebody maybe is staying in the guesthouse,

[07:49]

they show up in the morning. Before you know it, they're taking the triple refuge. They probably don't know what they're doing, but they take the triple refuge. So, it's not uncommon, it's not a big deal, in a way, to take the triple refuge. It's every day. And all Buddhist practitioners take the refuge as a matter of routine practice. And yet, in solemn ordination ceremony, the ceremony consists of basically nothing more than taking the triple refuge. Because the truth is that the whole of Buddhist practice really comes down to taking the triple refuge as deeply as possible and ever more deeply as one goes on. To actually, right now, in this moment, completely to be Buddha without holding back.

[08:54]

To right now, in this moment, completely embody the essential teachings of the Buddha with holding nothing back. To right now, in this moment, completely live our lives with and for all beings, holding absolutely nothing back. This is really, pretty much what the Buddha way is all about. So, the triple refuge is everything. So, in the ordination ceremony, in a more solemn and committed way than usual, with robes and precepts to reinforce it, one just takes the triple refuge, and that is the ordination. And as I say, the precepts and so on are simply to reinforce, to bolster, make more real, give a method of training more deeply in taking the triple refuge.

[09:58]

When we go there, we are accorded the great respect of monks and nuns, which is very sweet of them too. I always feel very honored to receive that kind of treatment. When I go there, in a way, I guess, I am a monk. I have made the same kind of commitment to the triple refuge that they have made. But in another way, I'm always a little embarrassed by being treated with that kind of respect of a monk, because of course, my life is not as restricted as their life is. I have not taken those precepts, strict precepts that they have taken. In our Japanese Zen tradition, it is a kind of anomaly in Buddhism. It's unique, actually,

[11:09]

compared to the other traditions of Buddhism in Asia. Because we are not exactly monks, and we are not exactly lay people either. The advantage of being a monk is that you avoid the problems of lay people. And the advantage of being a lay person is that you avoid the problems of being a monk. So, we have both problems. We get to have the problems of lay people and the problems of monks. It's actually a pretty impossible situation, to tell you the truth. Linda is laughing. She knows about this. Anyway, however, also, there are joys in being a lay person, as most of us know.

[12:11]

And there are joys in being a monk or a nun. So, while we get the impossible problems of lay people and monks and nuns, we also get the joys. So, it's a wash. Anyway, I learned when I was there, it wasn't just an ordination, because they happened to choose a particularly auspicious time for this ordination. It was the full moon of July. And I didn't know this, but in the Theravada tradition, the full moon of July is a very special observance. Because it's the observance of the first teaching of the Buddha. Their history of the Buddha's life tells them that on the full moon of July, sometime after achieving awakening, the Buddha gave his first teaching.

[13:18]

So, this is a wonderful occasion. You know, I'm sure you know the story that Buddha practiced with many different teachers, finally gave up on all the teachers and decided that he would practice asceticism. So, he practiced a very strict asceticism, and he had five sidekicks who practiced with him. And the result of his practice of strict asceticism was that he realized that strict asceticism was not going to work. So, he gave it up, and he ate something more than one grain of rice. And his five partners thought he was corrupt, and they left him, and he was all by himself, and he achieved awakening. But after he achieved awakening, he thought, this is terrific. This is wonderful. Nobody will ever understand it. You know, I can't explain it to anybody, but it's great. So, I'll just enjoy myself.

[14:26]

And he was enjoying himself. But then different gods from the various heavens came and said, well, wait a minute, you know, people need this teaching. And he said, oh no, they'll never understand it anyway. And they said, no, there are some who will understand. So, they talked him into it, and he began to teach. So, it took him a while, see, between the time that he was awakened under the Bodhi tree and the time that he began to teach. And according to the Theravada tradition, this was in the full moon of July. So, after the ordination ceremony, we did the observance of the celebration of the Buddhist teaching, which, thank goodness for us, right, that he did teach. Which is, the observance is that you chant in Pali, the first sermon of the Buddha. You chant the first sermon in its entirety, and then you light incense,

[15:28]

candles, and you get flowers, and you circumambulate the Dharma hall under the full moon, chanting homage to Buddha, homage to Dharma, homage to Sangha. So, we did that, and it was a wonderful thing to do. So, that's why I thought today I would read for you and discuss a little bit the Buddha's first sermon, because it's pretty close to the full moon of July. It seemed like a good thing to do. So, that's what I'm going to do. The Buddha's first sermon is called, Turning the Wheel of the Law Sermon, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law. Dhamma caka bhavatana sutta, Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law. So, I bet most of you have never heard the first sermon of the Buddha, did you?

[16:32]

I bet. So, I thought it would be interesting for you to hear. What did the Buddha say the first time that he decided to preach, to try to explain? What did he say? Aren't you interested in that? I'm interested. What did he say? I mean, I already know. I'll tell you. Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One, the Buddha, was staying in the deer park at Isipatana near Varanasi. There he addressed the bhikkhus of the group of five, thus. Now, the bhikkhus of the group of five were the five sidekicks of the Buddha that I mentioned a moment ago, who gave up on him when he started eating proper meals, because they thought he was falling back and becoming lazy.

[17:32]

But when the Buddha decided that he would, in fact, teach, he thought to himself, well, these five, maybe he could understand. So, he went and found them. He sat them down and he said, listen to this. So, he's speaking. He addressed the bhikkhus of the group of five, thus. And this is what he said. There are two extremes which should not be followed, bhikkhus, by someone who has gone forth to live the holy life, gone forth to live a life of insight into the Dharma. There are two extremes which should not be followed. Devotion to chasing after sense pleasure, which is low, vulgar, worldly, innoble and produces no useful result, is one extreme that should not be followed. And the other one is devotion to self-denial, which is painful, innoble and produces no useful result.

[18:34]

Avoiding both these extremes, bhikkhus, the middle way that a Buddha has awakened to gives vision and insight knowledge and leads to peace, profound understanding, full realization and nirvana. And what is the middle way that the Buddha has awakened to, which gives vision and insight knowledge and leads to peace, profound understanding, full realization and to nirvana? It is the noble eightfold path. That is to say, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right collectedness or concentration. This is the middle way that the Tathagata or the Buddha

[19:42]

has awakened to. So that's the beginning of the turning of the Dharma Wheel Sutra. So the Buddha begins with his teaching about the two extremes to be avoided. And of course it's interesting, who is he talking to? He's talking to these extreme ascetics. So right away he wants to express to them that asceticism is an extreme, just as chasing after things of the world is an extreme, so is asceticism. I think when we all hear about the people at Abhayagiri and other such religious people who give up so much in their lives to practice, we are impressed and amazed how hard it would be to give up family relationships, to give up going to the movies or whatever,

[20:43]

things like that. But in a way, there's a lot of freedom, actually, in giving up those things. One is quite free because all our choices and all our stuff, all our relationships are in a way burdening when you think about it. I think that the monks and nuns don't see themselves as restricted, they see themselves as free of encumbrances. So in a way, thinking about doing such a thing would seem hard, but actually when you do it, I think it would be very wonderful if that's what you want to do. Wonderful, easy thing to do. But also, if you are given to that kind of asceticism and the freedom and peacefulness that it can bring you, you could easily become attached to that, and you could take pride and satisfaction in the purity of your life, and you could become attached to the wonderful

[21:51]

respect and honor that you are accorded for the life that you are leading, the holy life. And certainly, the monks at Abhayagiri are accorded a beautiful and great respect for the commitments that they have made, and they treat each other with wonderful gentleness and respect, and certainly the lay people give them a great respect. But it would be very easy to attach to that and make that into an extreme. In Buddhadharma, the point is not to be pure or to live any particular lifestyle. In Buddhadharma, the point is liberation inside. Inside, and as the Buddha did, sharing one's liberation with others. So here the Buddha is saying that the best way to find liberation

[22:54]

is to avoid attachment either to things of the world, sense desire, sense pleasures, to avoid attachment to that, or attachment to the avoidance of those things. In other words, not wanting any relationship with things of the world. In other words, to live a life in which we are using what is needed without building up too much or pushing away things. When we have session here and we eat our meals in the Zen Dome, we use orioke bowls for our food. Orioke means just enough, not too much, not too little. And this is what we want with our lives. We want just enough for our life without attachment. The other night, Joseph Goldstein gave a talk, a benefit for us, a wonderful

[24:03]

talk about the path. He told the story of some, I think, English people who went to Australia to encounter the Bushmen. And the Englishman said to the Bushmen, if you go away on a long journey, how long does it take you to prepare for the journey? And the Bushmen said, oh, we don't have to prepare, we just go. They don't take anything with them, they just go. And then the Englishman, then they showed later on in the story, the Englishman packing up to leave, they had crates and boxes and trunks and suitcases. They filled up two land rovers full of gear for their journey to see the Bushmen. So how much gear do we have? Do we have too much gear? Do we have too little gear? Or do we have just enough?

[25:06]

Just enough to pursue the path, to pursue the truth of our life? So it's interesting that in his first sermon, the Buddha would talk about this, talk about how do you live. It does matter how you live, it's not irrelevant. It's interesting also that the first thing the Buddha talked about, his first teaching, was entirely situational. The Buddha didn't think, what's the most profound concept that I should be imparting? Instead he thought, what is it that these people need to hear about, these five ascetics? What is it that they need to hear about? His teaching, his first teaching, was about the five ascetics. His first teaching was situational, and he told them about the middle way. The Buddha Dharma is not an abstraction. It arises in response to the conditions of our lives,

[26:13]

and it is practiced in a particular way according to the circumstances of our lives, not in the abstract or in the sky. So this was the first thing that the Buddha told, the five ascetics, five bhikkhus. Then he said, bhikkhus, there is the noble truth about dissatisfaction. Birth is problematic. Aging is hard. Dying is also hard to bear. Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are all painful. Association with what you dislike is unpleasant. Being apart from what you like is unpleasant.

[27:15]

Not getting what you want is unpleasant. In brief, the five grasp, aggregates are unsatisfactory. Bhikkhus, there is the noble truth of the origin of suffering. The origin of suffering is desire, which gives rise to fresh birth, bound up with relish and passion, running here and there, round and round in circles, delighting in this and that, stupidly, in other words, sense desire, desire for existing and desire for extinction. Bhikkhus, there is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering. That is the complete fading away and cessation of this desire, its abandonment and relinquishment, the freedom from it and the letting go of it. Bhikkhus, there is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

[28:21]

It is the noble eightfold path, namely right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right collectedness. So, these are the famous, of course, four truths, noble truths of Buddhism. The first truth is called the truth of suffering or dissatisfaction. Second truth is called the cause or origination of suffering. The third truth is the cessation of suffering and the fourth is the path toward the cessation of suffering. First truth, suffering or dukkha,

[29:26]

is the truth of the unsatisfactoriness that's inherent in our lives. It's usually translated as suffering, but it doesn't mean pain or unpleasantness itself per se. Rather, suffering means the way that we handle what comes to us in our lives. When we suffer, we are handling what comes to us in our lives in the wrong way or in an unskillful way and that leads to suffering. Dukkha is when we do not know how to receive what comes to us and we turn whatever comes to us into a big problem. The opposite of dukkha is that we could accept and transform everything that comes to us in our lives whether it's pleasant or unpleasant. It can be a moment of clarity and enlightenment

[30:35]

regardless of what the moment would bring. The fundamental things about our life that we don't know how to receive properly, the difficult things that come to us that we are not able to receive properly are things like birth, which is painful, death, which is difficult, aging, which is difficult, tough mental states like sorrow, grief, lamentation and so on. We don't know how to receive these mental states without creating problems. We don't know how to bear the association with what we don't like. We don't know how to bear the exile from what we want. These things we don't know how to receive and so we suffer. Even beyond this, there is dissatisfaction built into the nature of our lives because even when

[31:46]

wonderful things happen in our lives, we don't know how to receive them either. We feel guilty or we feel unworthy of them. Or even when we don't feel guilty or unworthy of them and we enjoy them, we have an underlying nervousness and anxiety because we want these good things to remain but they don't remain, of course. Everything wonderful is only there for a short time and then it's gone. So even pleasant things are dukkha and certainly unpleasant things are dukkha. Dukkha is this unwise and blind way of receiving what comes to us so that everything, good and bad, positive and negative, ultimately becomes unsatisfactory. What is the cause of this dukkha? In the sutra says, the Buddha says, the cause is desire.

[32:55]

But looking at this desire more closely, it's not desire per se but it's the holding on. The cause of suffering is the holding on. We hold on to that which cannot be held and naturally we're going to be disappointed. What do we hold on to? Well, we hold on to things of this world, sensual things, objects, relationships, pleasures that cannot be sustained. We hold on. We hold on to identity. We hold on to the sense of me, my reputation, my image, my inner sense of self, which after all comes and goes moment by moment. We hold on to this and we suffer. And also, we believe that we can escape. We believe that we can escape from life somehow.

[34:11]

If there's a way out, we hold deep in our hearts the idea of an escape. We hold on to that but there's no escape. These are the things that cause us to hold on and it's the holding on to that which cannot be held that causes the dissatisfaction. So that's the second noble truth, the cause of suffering. Third noble truth is the cessation of suffering. Suffering, dissatisfaction in life, can be let go of. It's not necessary that we live an unsatisfactory life and we can let go of it simply by dropping what we're holding on to. Not holding on to things of this world, not holding on to identity, not holding on to the fantasy of escape. Letting go or cessation means that we would enjoy what comes to us, whatever it is,

[35:28]

and we would immediately let it go, let it come, let it go, let it come, let it go in freedom without holding on. Cessation is not the extreme of self-denial as the Buddha says at the beginning of this sutra. It doesn't mean saying no to everything that comes, it means saying yes and letting go, saying yes and letting go without any holding on. That's the middle way between holding and eliminating everything, between wanting to own the whole world and wanting to escape from the world. And the way to achieve this cessation, this letting go, is the Eightfold Path that the Buddha mentions in the beginning, the middle way of the Eightfold Path.

[36:29]

In the beginning of the sutra, the first paragraph, the Buddha says why the middle way is important. Not because it's good, not because the Buddha prefers it or he's telling us, I like this best, you should do it this way. The reason why the Buddha said the middle path is the best way is because it works. He said, the other two extremes, I tried them, I've tried running around after sense pleasure, it didn't work. I was the king of the ascetics, it didn't work. But the middle way, the Eightfold Path, it's going to work. And he says the goal that you can realize by the Eightfold Path is that you would receive vision and insight, peace, profound understanding, full realization and nirvana. So this is the point of following the middle way, is that it actually works.

[37:39]

Extremes don't work. The middle way will lead us to vision, insight, wisdom, knowledge, peacefulness. Knowledge about what? Vision about what? Wisdom about what? Very simply, about how our life is, the actual shape of our human life. And we seek this vision, not for its own sake, not because we're vision junkies and wisdom junkies, we want to know everything. We seek this vision and wisdom because it's with this vision and wisdom that we find peace. And we can't find peace without wisdom or vision. So this is, in a way, a profound thing that the Buddha realizes and tells us about, and tells the five bhikkhus about, that

[38:44]

knowledge is for the purpose of peace, that peace cannot be realized without knowledge. There is no peacefulness that's a kind of forgetting or avoidance. The only real peace comes from knowing our life as it is. And we can't know our life as it is without becoming peaceful. This, to me, is a very profound thing, when you think about it, because we tend to think of knowledge and peacefulness as two different things. So what is the middle way then? What is the middle path? It's this eightfold path, eight practices. Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. These are the eight practices that constitute the middle way. Each one is preceded by the

[39:49]

word sama or right, right view and so on. And right here means lined up in perfect balance, not falling to either extreme. A view that's in the middle, conduct that's in the middle, and so on and so on, lined up accurately. Right view means simply seeing things as they really are, without distortion. Seeing things as they really are without distortion is very important, but it's not enough. Because if we see things as they are, but we don't live them based on the way they are, then this is insufficient and we're not really seeing. So the second is right intention. We have to build and develop and cultivate an intention to change our lives and bring the way we live our lives on a moment-by-moment basis,

[40:51]

into accord with the way we know life to truly be. And another important insight, I think, of the Buddha is that intention can be cultivated, can be developed. Again, but it's not enough to have a good view and a good intention. From the intention must come action. So the third of the Eightfold Path is right speech. We should speak in accord with our intention and our view, because with our speech we create a world, internally and externally. Usually the kind of speech that we use does not express a peaceful and whole world. Could we practice acts of speech and create in our minds and the minds of others a peaceful and whole world? Right action is an extension of this, not only with our speech, but also with our acts

[41:57]

of body and mind, the things that we do, how we eat, how we sleep, how we move. Can we also have action that is the middle way? Right livelihood, can we earn our living in a way that is helpful to others, not harmful to others? So these first five parts of the middle way, the Eightfold Middle Way, describe alignment of our mind and activity. Our intentions, our viewpoint, our actions, and the last three are building on this,

[42:58]

building on our alignment of speech and action. Now we practice meditation, and the last three are about the practice of meditation, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. To practice meditation you need to meditate, make the effort to do it. You need to have a regular practice. You must be diligent. You have to do it and do it with energy. Do it with heart. Do it steadily. That's right effort. And you also have to do it with some alertness and paying attention. When you meditate you should pay attention to what's going on. Be alert. Be aware. That's right mindfulness. And right concentration means focusing the mind, not dispersing the mind all over the place, but collecting the mind, focusing the mind, bringing everything together. So these last three are about meditation practice in all its various forms. And of course,

[44:06]

the result of meditation practice is insight, vision, right view. So the result of the noble eightfold path is that you end up at the beginning again with right view, and then you practice right intention, right speech, right conduct, and so on. In other words, the eightfold path is an endless development, deepening the view, deepening the meditation, deepening the appreciation of conduct. This is the path of the Buddha. This is the program of the Buddha. This is the way to achieve peace and the cessation of suffering. The sutra goes on.

[45:10]

There is this noble truth of suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light that arose in me about things not heard before. This noble truth must be penetrated by fully understanding suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light that arose in me about things not heard before. This noble truth has been penetrated, too, by fully understanding suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light that arose in me about things not heard before. There is this noble truth of the origin of suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light about things not heard before. This noble truth must be penetrated, too,

[46:15]

by abandoning the origin of suffering. Such was the vision, insight, etc. etc., this noble truth has been penetrated to by abandoning the origin of suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, light, etc. There is this noble truth of the cessation of suffering. Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before. This noble truth must be penetrated to by realizing the cessation of suffering. suffering, such was the vision, etc., etc. This noble truth has been penetrated to by realizing the cessation of suffering, such was the vision, insight, etc. There is this noble path, noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering, such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before. This noble truth must be penetrated to by cultivating the path, such was the etc.

[47:16]

And then finally, this noble truth has been penetrated to by cultivating the path, such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before. As long, bhikkhus, as these four noble truths in their twelve aspects were not seen clearly as they are, I did not declare to the world, with its devas, maras and brahmanas, with its samanas and brahmanas, its monarchs and ordinary folks, that I had realized the complete and perfect awakening. But as soon as these four noble truths in their twelve aspects were clearly seen as they are, then I taught the world, with its devas, maras and brahmanas, its samanas and brahmanas, its monarchs and ordinary folks, that I had realized the complete and perfect awakening. The knowledge and the vision arose in me. Unshakable is my deliverance.

[48:20]

This is the last birth. There is no further becoming." So that's the next part of the sutra. Here, the Buddha uses the term light, the vision, insight and light that arose in me. The idea of the image of light you find throughout the Buddhist sutras in all schools of Buddhism and you find it also in other spiritual traditions, the image of light. In the Bible it says, in the beginning, God said, let there be light and there was light. Light is a wonderful thing, of course, without light, imagine, no light, we would all feel somehow alone. The world appears because of light, which doesn't really do anything.

[49:27]

What is light? Nobody knows what light is, actually. Is it a particle, is it a wave? Light touches everything equally. Light doesn't say, I'm going to shine on this and not on that, it just shines. Whatever is there receives light. Light is simple and natural. In Buddhism, light is the firm, but easy, intention to benefit others and to base one's life and all one's actions and thoughts on that intention to benefit others. It's the light of awakening that dispenses, disperses the darkness of delusion. Even if it's a big room that's been dark for one million years, one candle lights it up.

[50:32]

And in Zen, the transmission of a teaching from generation to generation is likened to a candle flame, each candle lighting the next, a never-ending succession of light. Then Buddha speaks about the twelve aspects of the Four Truths. Each truth, I don't know if you can tell, but each truth has three aspects to it as he goes through the whole formula again of the Four Noble Truths, now with three aspects repeated for each truth. The first aspect of each Noble Truth is that one would see the truth, that one would understand it, have a grasp of it, have a grasp of the truth of suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering and path, appreciate that truth and see that that truth is really important. But again, to see the truth and to know that it's important is a very, very significant

[51:37]

step. We have to do a lot of practice and a lot of reflection and receive lots of teachings until we get to the place where we see this truth and really say, yeah, that's really true, I see that. So that's very important, but insufficient, because just to see it and then go about our business based on habit is not enough. We have to have a firm intention. So this is the second aspect of each Noble Truth. First that we would see the truth, appreciate it, secondly that this appreciation of the truth would lead us to develop a strong intention that we are determined to turn our lives around based on what we see. Not just see it and forget about it, that's the second. Committing ourselves to developing a way of life based on that truth. And again, intention is not a small thing. To have that kind of faith and intention, we have to really work hard at that and develop

[52:38]

that and cultivate that. It doesn't just come out of the sky, it comes as a result of our activity and our determination and the help that we get from others in the path. And yet, it's also not enough. This intention has to lead to action, that we would really see and really live these Four Truths, that we would, as the Buddha says in his sermon, penetrate into the meaning of the truths. Penetrating means that we would penetrate the Four Noble Truths, we would see them not only from the outside but penetrate to the inside and see these truths from the inside. And seeing these Four Noble Truths from the inside means that we are penetrated by the Four Noble Truths. Our lives are like a paint, you know, that you paint something and the paint penetrates in and totally soaks through so that our whole lives are penetrated and imbued with these Four Truths. We see that our life is nothing but these truths.

[53:40]

The truth is not about something else, it's not about Buddhism or some philosophy of the Buddha, it's just describing our own life, our actual life. The first Four Noble Truths in these Twelve Aspects we finally come to see, we take it personally, this is our life, this is it. So with each of the truths, that we would see it, that we would intend firmly to penetrate it, and that we would completely penetrate it and be penetrated by it, Buddha says, these are the ways, to this extent, must I have seen these Four Noble Truths, and until then I was not able to say that I was awakened, but once I saw the Four Noble Truths in these Twelve Aspects, I could really say, this is it. He is awakened, I am awakened, my practice is really firm and really complete, the Buddha

[54:47]

says. And although I think that we could say, and I would say myself, that in the Dharma there really is no end to understanding and development and refinement and appreciation of these truths. I don't think we will come to the end of our understanding of them. Still there is a point of no return, so to speak, a point where not knowing or forgetting these truths becomes impossible, a point at which one so thoroughly becomes the teaching that there is no way that you could turn back, there is no way that you would want to turn back or think that there is any such thing as turning back, like unknowing something

[55:50]

that you know, like your own name, there is no way that you would imagine that there is a way to turn back. And so the Buddha could say, when I saw the Four Noble Truths in this way, at this depth, I knew that this was my life and there was no turning back. So then comes a really wonderful part of the sutra. Here is what it says, Thus spoke the Blessed One, and the group of five bhikkhus were gladdened, and they approved of his words. Now while this discourse was being delivered, the untarnished and clear insight into Dhamma

[56:51]

arose in the Venerable Kandanya thus, and the Venerable Kandanya thought to himself the following, Whatever has the nature to arise, has the nature to cease. So this is a wonderful passage to me, a very joyful thing, because remember, this is the Buddha's first sermon, right? And the Buddha was thinking, I'm not going to talk about this stuff. Nobody will, they'll think I'm crazy, why would I bother, why should I disturb my peaceful enlightenment by going around talking about all this, they'll think I'm totally nuts and they won't pay any attention. It's very simple but nobody will get it. But this is his first sermon, after that he taught every day for about fifty years.

[57:53]

Probably if nobody understood him on that day, he might have given up, maybe. So it's kind of a wonderful thing that he was heard. When you teach the Dharma, you often wonder, is anybody listening, what do they think of this, is it entertainment, are they being entertained, are they really hearing what I'm saying, does anybody understand? I mean, the Dharma is very simple, really, I mean it's so simple, it's right in front of our faces all the time, and yet it is very difficult to see it somehow. So deeply ingrained is our habit of suffering that that which is liberating us, which is right there on every moment, absolutely, truly and literally, we don't see. So you could yak for a hundred years but maybe nobody understands anything.

[58:57]

So one can be tempted to go to the forest and have lunch and hang around, nobody's listening, nobody would ever understand. Plus, this is a tough audience that the Buddha's talking to, this is the five ascetics who already said, you're full of baloney, we don't want to hang around you. So he got him back and he said, listen to this. So he really didn't know whether they were going to get it, they already rejected him once. So think about it. The Buddha must have thought, that's great that they are happy to hear my words. I think they were happy because despite their skepticism, and they were skeptical when he grabbed him, you know, they said, well, you know, we don't know if we want to listen to you anymore. They finally agreed to come. So the fact that they were gladdened by his words is a terrific thing, because I think

[60:02]

they were gladdened because they could sense in the Buddha's words a ring of truth. There was a ring of truth to what the Buddha was saying. And I think that this is one of the things about human beings, that things that have a ring of truth make us happy, because I think that we are built in such a way that it is pleasant to hear something that's true, that we feel is true. Many things in this life are satisfying, but I think one of the most satisfying things is to know the truth, know what's true, and to hear what's true. I think this gives us a very good feeling, a happy feeling. So the five ascetics were happy when they heard the Buddha's words. But even better than this was the fact that one of the five bhikkhus, Kandanya, not only was happy, made happy by Buddha's words, but he actually understood exactly what the

[61:06]

Buddha was talking about, completely understood. This was the best of all. The Buddha gave his first sermon and someone understood. Wow! And he could recognize, as you'll see in a moment, that the person understood. Kandanya, you know, the story of the Buddha is full of coincidences and funny relationships and stuff like that. Kandanya was the monk who was present when the Buddha was first born. Maybe you know the story, the Buddha's father brought in some monks and soothsayers and stuff like that to make predictions about the life of his son, and Kandanya was one of them. And Kandanya predicted that the Buddha would become either a great king or a great sage. So this same Kandanya was the first person in the history of Buddha Dharma to understand

[62:09]

the Buddha's words. And what did he understand? What was the profound flash of insight that Kandanya got when he heard the Buddha's words? What is it that is the nub and the essence of the Buddha's teaching in his first sermon? It makes you laugh, it's so simple, you know. That's it? Whatever has the nature to arise has the nature to cease. That's it? Really? Whatever has the nature to arise has the nature to cease. That's it. Of course everybody knows that already, right? It's not a big mystical insight, but when you think about it, how many people really

[63:11]

know that? How many people really know that what has the nature to arise has the nature to cease? When we experience something, we don't know that it arises and ceases. We don't know that it's flashing and ungraspable. We don't know that everything is like a dream. And we think that what arises is true, permanent and substantial and it's really there. We attach to it or we don't like it so we want to get rid of it. We find it absolutely impossible to let it be and unbe. We feel absolutely obligated on every occasion to make something out of everything, to make something out of nothing, to create castles in thin air and then let the castles come crashing down on our head and give us a headache.

[64:12]

That's why we suffer. It's funny, but it's tragic. That's why we suffer. In the moment of hearing the Buddha's words, Kondanya really saw that each and every moment of our lives is a dream, is ceaseless arising and becoming, passing away of all things. How marvelous this is to really see this. Because what it means is that each and everything is self-liberating. Each and everything arises in peacefulness and disappears in peacefulness the same moment, moment after moment. Everything enlightens us. Everything that occurs enlightens us.

[65:18]

Everything is free and perfect. Everything is joined hands with everything, all of the time. This is the meaning of Kondanya's seeing, that everything that has the nature to arise has the nature to cease. Very simply, he saw the true import of the Buddha's words and here is how the sutra ends. When the wheel of Dhamma had been set rolling by the Blessed One, the Devas of the earth raised the cry, they said, at Varanasi in the deer park at Isipatana the matchless wheel of Dhamma has been set rolling by the Blessed One not to be stopped by any Samana or Brahman or Deva or Mara or Brahma or anyone in the world. When they heard what the earth Devas had said, the Devas of the realm of the four great kings

[66:23]

cried out with one voice, at Varanasi in the deer park at Isipatana the matchless wheel, etc., same thing they said. And when they heard the cry of the Devas of the realm of the four great kings, then the Devas of the realm of the thirty-three gods cried out with one voice, at Varanasi in the deer park, etc., etc. When they heard the cry of the thirty-three Devas, the Yama Devas cried out with one voice, at Varanasi in the deer park, etc., etc. When they heard the cry of the Yama Devas, the Tushita Devas cried out with one voice, at Varanasi in the deer park at Isipatana, etc., etc. When they heard the cry of the Tushita Devas, the Nimanarati Devas cried out with one voice in them, blah, blah, blah, etc. When they heard the cry of the Nimanarati Devas, the Parinimitta Vasavati Devas cried

[67:24]

out with one voice, at Varanasi, in the deer park, at Isipatana, the matchless wheel, etc. When they heard the cry of the Parinimitta Vasavati Devas, the Devas of the retinue of the Brahma Deities took up the cry, at Varanasi, in the deer park, at Isipatana, the matchless wheel of Dhamma has been set rolling by the Blessed One, not to be stopped by any Samana, or Brahman, or Deva, or Mara, or Brahma, or anyone in the world. So indeed, in that hour, at that moment, the word traveled up to the realm of the highest divinities, and this ten thousand fold world system shook, and rocked, and quaked." Maybe that was 1906, maybe. "...and a great measureless radiance, surpassing the very nature of the Devas, was displayed in the world."

[68:26]

That must have been something, you know, boom! Kaboom! Just like the movies that they make now, everything, you know, special effects. So that's what happened. Then the Blessed One, that means the Buddha, uttered the great exclamation. He said, "'Truly, it is the good Kandanya who has understood. It is the good Kandanya who has understood.'" You can imagine the joy, you know, that the Buddha felt. Somebody gets it! Somebody can see this! How great! Thanks a lot, Kandanya, you're wonderful! And thus it was that the name of the Venerable Kandanya became Anya Kandanya. Isn't it nice, huh? Anya Kandanya, which means Kandanya who understands.

[69:28]

So he got a new name. This concludes the discourse on the setting in motion of the Wheel of Truth. That's the end of the sutra. So I think that the Buddha was thrilled, really thrilled and happy to recognize someone who understood. And he right away acknowledged, "'Yes, you've understood, how wonderful.'" And notice that the Wheel of the Dharma doesn't get turned when the Buddha starts speaking in this sutra. It gets turned when Kandanya understands. That's when the Wheel of Dharma begins. It's the Buddha's speaking and Kandanya's hearing, truly hearing the Buddha, that begins 2,500 years of passing on this very simple insight from person to person.

[70:34]

And Kandanya was the first person to understand it. But there have been millions of people, millions of people, since the day that Buddha spoke this sermon, that have understood this point and whose lives have been made peaceful and beautiful in understanding. And like Kandanya, they've gone on to try to help others to understand. So it can be done. So the Buddha must speak in every moment and we must hear in every moment. And we can hear, we can understand, our lives can be transformed by this very simple insight that will arise in our lives when we avoid the two extremes and practice the Middle Way, the Eightfold Way.

[71:37]

We will, like Kandanya, understand this beautiful truth. So isn't that nice? Aren't you gladdened by hearing about that? So let's go forth, like the people of ancient times did, and continue with our practice. Thank you very much. May our intention… So what do you have to bring up about the talk or any other things about practice, other issues that we should discuss today? Please feel free to bring up whatever is on your mind. If anything, maybe we'll just sit quietly. No? Okay. Yeah. Good question.

[72:45]

She mentioned Kandanya's expression in the sutra, all things arise and all things cease. How do you reconcile that with grieving over someone when someone dies? Well, from the perspective of our path, there's an affirmation of human feeling, that we can understand human feeling in the context of this teaching of everything arises and everything ceases. So, in the case of grief, we hold two things in our mind at the same time.

[73:47]

One is that we know that death comes to everyone, and that life and death are one thing, and there's nothing to grieve for. So we hold that truth in our hearts the best we can. But at the same time, we know that as human beings, we affirm being bound together with our human feeling. So if we lose someone that's close to us, grieving is proper and is part of what we need to do to take care of our human feeling. In a way, you could say that the Buddha, with the profundity of his insight, went beyond being human almost. That when the Buddha lost someone, perhaps he fully accepted it and did not have the

[74:55]

need to grieve. That's debatable, let's say that. But for the rest of us, we're not Buddhas yet. In a way, we're Buddhas, but in another way, on a conscious level, on a psychological level, we really have not embraced our Buddhahood completely as yet. So it's very important for us to understand our human feeling and intelligently take care of it and affirm it, not to deny it. That would be an extreme, to deny our human feeling. It would also be an extreme to hold on to it, as if there were no teaching of impermanence. So we have to go the middle way, which is to affirm our human feeling on the one hand and take care of ourselves in the grieving process, and on the other hand, to come back over and over again to this teaching of impermanence. And realize that in a certain way, in a profound sense, the person that we've lost in our lives,

[76:01]

we also have not lost. Because the deepest sense of who that person is remains, actually. Even though body and mind are no longer functioning as they were in the past, the energy of that person's life, if they were close to us, is very much still with us. So it's a very rich and complex thing to lose someone close in our lives, and there are many feelings that we have about it that are contradictory in some way, but we have to hold on to them. So last time I gave a talk, we actually, for some reason, maybe I spoke about death, I don't remember if I did or not, but the issue of grieving also came up, and we spoke at length about the need, that it's unfortunate for us in our society that we've lost a sense of the process of grieving. But there should be a whole practice of grieving, really, one should take on. If one is in grief, losing a close person in one's life, you should say,

[77:03]

I need to take on a practice of grieving for a period of time. It's very important that we do that. So, anybody who has these issues should certainly think about, how can I grieve, what can I do to express my grief and work through it? But that's not in contradiction to what Pandanya said. So, in a way, real love always includes grieving, even when the person that we're close to is present. But we know that it's temporary. So, we appreciate the relationship and the person very much, and we understand it's temporary. So, in a way, part of the beauty of human relations is that it always involves, in my opinion, a certain degree of grief, knowing that all human relations, like everything else in life, is impermanent, and that our human feeling, we feel sorrow with impermanence.

[78:04]

Feeling sorrow is not the same as trying to hold on against the natural way of things. That's something that we cannot do, and holding on against the natural way of things causes us suffering. Grieving is not suffering, grieving is sadness. Suffering is what we deny and don't allow ourselves to feel. So, in a way, suffering is not to grieve. Say, I'm not grieving because I won't accept this loss, that's the suffering. And that comes from attachment. Yes. Well, the issue of anger is also a richly complicated issue. In general, most Buddhist teachings say that anger causes suffering,

[79:14]

and that to hold on to anger and encourage anger is not a positive thing to do. But conditions arise in our lives and anger comes up, right? So the teachings don't say that you should never be angry. They say, when anger arises, try not to hold on to it, understanding that anger is a poison. Don't encourage it. So I would say, myself, that the most fundamental practice with anger is to simply turn toward the anger and experience it completely. Now, what we usually do when we're angry is not that, actually. In fact, anger is often a defense against feeling hurt. So you hurt me, right? And then immediately I'm angry with you.

[80:15]

So what I'm doing is I'm feeling not so much anger. Mostly I'm feeling blame, enrage. I'm not wanting to feel the hurt that you've caused me. I'm not wanting to feel the actual feeling of anger in my body and mind. I'm wanting to leap over all that, because it's too hard for me to bear, and right away say, it's your fault and I'm mad at you, and now I'm scheming already about the different things I'm going to do to you, and I'm going around to our mutual friends and I'm telling them about how bad you are, and how they shouldn't talk to you, and I'm all the time thinking about all the things, the ways that you've wronged me and hurt me, and all the things that I could do to you, and how sad my life is, and how terrible it is that you've done this, and how unjust it is, etc., etc., etc. All these things I'm filling my mind with, so that I can avoid feeling the tightness in my chest, the rapid breath, the unpleasant feeling of anger, and then the hurt and wound that's underneath the anger. So our job then, when we feel anger,

[81:17]

is to remember that to encourage anger in that way, to get wrapped up in the blaming and all these other things, is going to be increasing suffering for ourselves and those around us. It will not help. And that I have to just practice being honest with myself about what actually is arising in me, and look deeply at myself, and feel my anger, and feel the hurt behind my anger. So that's how we practice with it. Now, it's a subtle point, a subtle matter, because there are people who have been hurt a lot, and have been deadened by virtue of their being hurt, who deadened, in other words, their spirit crushed by having been hurt. And they need to start with feeling the anger that they have not felt. So you have to be very careful and very situational about these teachings,

[82:18]

just as the Buddha, as I said today, was situational. He knew who he was talking to. That's why he brought up the Middle Way. So depending on the circumstances, I think the general direction and goal is pretty clear. But sometimes it might be more skillful. If you speak against anger, if you say, anger is negative, which it is, this can be interpreted as, you know, that I should not feel what I'm feeling. And then it's the bad medicine for someone. So sometimes, in my teaching, sometimes I speak with someone and I encourage them to be angry, because actually they need the anger to break out of their being tamped down to the point where they're not able to access their lives. So it's a tricky business. But in general, we have a precept which says, a disciple of the Buddha does not harbor ill will, does not harbor anger. It doesn't say a disciple of the Buddha is never angry. It says a disciple of the Buddha does not harbor anger.

[83:19]

Hang on to it. So that's what I would say. And then, beyond that, there are myriad sort of specific practices that one could do. For example, if the circumstances are right and if it's skillful, a person could, in the face of repeated anger, practice loving-kindness as an antidote to anger. That's done a lot. To bring up loving-kindness and try to actually, you know, bring up an energy to combat the corrosive energy of anger. That can be done. Also, there are practices where you embody the anger imaginatively and turn it around. So you use the energy of anger to create power for your practice. In other words, you dance with the energy and transform it rather than trying to. So there are all kinds of techniques and practices in the Dharma for dealing with anger. But it's very much situational according to what's skillful in a particular condition for a particular person. But in general, I think it's clear that to be angry and encourage anger and go around fighting with everybody

[84:25]

is not going to be useful in the end. Yes? Yes. [...]

[85:27]

Well, it's difficult, you know. It's difficult. You know, somebody was saying outside a minute ago, how do these monks at Abhayagiri... I mean, they're practicing asceticism. So how do they, you know, accord with this teaching? How do they explain away this teaching? And I said, they're not practicing asceticism. They don't see themselves as... they see themselves as living a normal life. They eat every day and they see the sunset and they enjoy their lives. They're not practicing asceticism. So it's all relative. See, we may think that they're practicing asceticism, but they certainly aren't and they don't see it that way. However, they do practice celibacy. And the reason they practice celibacy and the reason why the Buddha, in the beginning, recommended celibacy was because trial and error. He saw that sexuality is one of the most difficult things to practice with. Really confusing. Really difficult. And he said, I think it's too hard for us.

[86:29]

So he said, we better not, you know, have sexuality because it's too difficult. So, I'm sympathizing with your problem and it's not so easy. I mean, it was hard enough, hard for the Buddha and his disciples, so we can imagine that it's going to be difficult for us as well. And it's a little bit also like the way I responded about grief. Because it's necessary to hold two things at once. On the one hand, to hold two things at once, and on the other hand, to really appreciate that, as the Buddha said, this is an extrapolation from the teaching of impermanence, every relationship ends in parting. All meeting, he said, all meeting ends in parting. And this is absolutely true. All meeting ends in parting. If we were to have the most beautiful and successful possible human relationship, it would be simultaneously the most tragic. Right? If we were to be able to have a wonderful, say we had a partner,

[87:34]

and we were in a committed relationship, and it was a happy every single day, and it grew in love and happiness, you know, there are relationships like that. We had our 50th wedding anniversary or partnership anniversary, and our 60th, you know, somewhere in there, one or the other one of us would pass away. And imagine how the other one would feel. So, I believe myself that if we're going to be in an intimate relationship, we have to appreciate that all meeting ends in parting, and understand that every day that we're with our partner, it's a precious thing, and that we cannot depend on that relationship for our well-being. It can be a very important part of our well-being, but we can't depend on it. We can't think, if only I had this person in my life, then that's what I want, that's what I need. And I think that's the reason why we get a lot of misery in our relationships, because we put too much on it. That's the answer to my problems.

[88:35]

But it's not, you know. It isn't. It's a wonderful thing if we're fortunate enough to have such a relationship, and we should feel that it's precious, and it's a vehicle for practice. But every day we might lose that, just as we might lose our own body and mind every day. We have to remember that and practice that, just like kondanya, to realize everything that arises must cease. And then, understanding that, we also have to honor our human feeling. I need love in my life. That's our human feeling, just like I need to feel sorrow for this loss. So we have to honor that, but not overestimate it. See, that's the middle way. I honor that some people... People are different in this regard, right? Some people, relationships is not my way. They're always miserable, and I'm much happier, actually, just having friends and not having an intimate relationship. Other people have to admit, gee, you know, it's so important in my life. This is just how I'm made. But however you stand in relation to that, you need to have a balance, you need to recognize

[89:38]

that a relationship is never the answer to our life's problem. The only answer to our life's problems is the truth, the way, the path, however we understand that. And a relationship certainly can be part of the path, but it's not the path entirely. So I think with that feeling... And then, you know, maybe you see a cause and effect relationship between the ecstasy and the depression or disappointment. There's definitely cause and effect. When you think, this is the best person I ever met, this is the most wonderful weekend I ever had, this is the greatest relationship ever since Clark Gable, you know. When you think that, you just know. You should think. As soon as you think like that, you should know right away. Oh, that's the kind of thinking that Monday morning leads to disappointment. Definitely, guaranteed. When I see this person belch and fart, you know, then forget about it, you know.

[90:39]

I'm going to be disappointed. So you should know. So then you can see that... Then when you have that kind of thinking, you know, oh, okay, this is my attachment thinking. Let me not get carried away and validate that so much. Yes, this is a wonderful relationship, and so on and so on. And yes, I'm enjoying myself, but I don't need to run with that so far that I'm guaranteeing misery tomorrow. So we have to find an appropriate balance, you know. And I think that relationships are... We know, we hear so much about how difficult they are, you know. It's a wonder why people still... You know, isn't it something, you know, that people still get into relationships where all you hear is problems and difficulties. And if you read the books and the newspaper, you think that human beings would be a rare thing for anybody to ever get together. But in fact, we're gluttons for punishment. We go back and back and back. So we have to recognize that it's a real difficult thing to do.

[91:39]

It can be done, obviously, and we have a tremendous urge to do it. Otherwise, why would we keep doing it? Because we have an urge, it's a very important urge of ours to be in a relationship that way, to be known and to know another person, and also to produce new beings, you know, for our world. It's a tremendous urge. It's an important urge. But we really have to put it in scale. Personally, I myself believe, and this is just me, you know, I take it with a grain of salt. I myself believe that there is no way to have a truly ongoing, successful and happy, reasonable and balanced relationship without spiritual practice as its basis. Now, I mean, I define spiritual practice in a wide way. I understand that it doesn't mean everybody has to practice meditation or practice Zen or be a Catholic or whatever. People have their own spirituality. But I think without a spiritual basis, an approach for a relationship, eventually, it's inevitable that the interests of the two people

[92:40]

and the desires of the two people don't stay the same. The interests, in other words, at first we came together, we were interested in the same things, but now, ten years later or five years later, we're interested in different things. Or we came together because we had a tremendous desire for you. Or we came together because we had a tremendous desire for you.

[92:57]

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