did the Kalachakra initiation and for that second week there were some 240,000 people who gathered in Bodh Gaya, the place where the Buddha was enlightened. And included in that population of pilgrims were something over 30,000 Tibetan people, most of whom had come from Tibet specifically for this teaching and were then going to go back to Tibet. There were also 8,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks and some smaller number of nuns. For those of you who know me, you know that I enjoy chanting very much. And the experience of sitting in the midst of 8,000 monks and nuns chanting the Heart Sutra every day before the teachings began was really moving beyond anything I could have imagined.

[01:05]

In addition to those two weeks in Bodhgaya during the teachings, I then went to Varanasi and Sarnath. I actually stayed in Sarnath, which is like the country edge of Varanasi, at a translation center where there is a school and also translations being done from Tibetan language back into Sanskrit. of all of the Buddhist sutras and commentaries, most of those having been lost from Sanskrit during the various Muslim invasions of India. I spent some fair bit of time in Delhi, and both going and coming went via Hong Kong, Bangkok, and on the way home, Tokyo.

[02:11]

So I had much briefer experiences in those places, but I think they're relevant. And my intention in going was to go on a pilgrimage, to go to those places where the Buddha lived and taught. I actually wanted to go to four places. The place where the Buddha was born, where he was enlightened, where he did his first teachings, and where he died. I managed to go to two of the four places and I'm looking forward to finishing the pilgrimage at some other time. As a way of looking at this business of a non-sectarian way, I'd like to read two quotes to you. One from Thich Nhat Hanh in his book, Zen Keys, which was written in 1974, published in 1974.

[03:13]

So keep in mind that what he's saying is 12 years old and may not be quite as true now as it was then. He's in this passage talking about Zen and the West. A great number of scholars and monks have wanted to transplant Zen in Europe and America. Have these efforts proved successful? It remains to be seen. From the standpoint of knowledge, certain scholars, including Professor Daisetsu Suzuki, have contributed a great deal toward arousing the interest of Westerners in Zen Buddhism. Zen has influenced thinking of theologians like Paul Tillich and philosophers like Eric Fromm and Carl Jung. But Zen does not yet exist in the West as a living tradition. Many monks are teaching the practice of Zen there, but this practice still remains oriental, foreign to Western culture.

[04:15]

The fact is that Zen has not yet been able to find roots in this soil. Cultural, economic, and psychological conditions are different in the West. One cannot become a practitioner of Zen by imitating the way of eating, sitting, or dressing of the Chinese and Japanese practitioners. Zen is life. Zen does not imitate. If Zen one day becomes a reality in the West, it will acquire a Western form considerably different from Oriental Zen. The second quote that I would like to read is from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, the collection of lectures that Suzuki Roshi gave. It is in the passage towards the latter part of the book where he talks about original Buddhism. And he says, actually, we are not the Soto school at all. We are just Buddhists. We're not even Zen Buddhists.

[05:18]

If we understand this point, we are truly Buddhists. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are the four activities or ways of behavior in Buddhism. Zazen is not one of the four ways of behavior, and according to Dogen Zenji, the Soto school is not one of the many schools of Buddhism. You may ask why we put emphasis on the sitting posture, or why we put emphasis on having a teacher. The reason is because Zazen is not just one of the four ways of behavior. Zazen is a practice which contains innumerable activities. Zazen started even before Buddha. and will continue forever. So this sitting posture cannot be compared to the other four activities." And then he goes on to say, the original teaching of Buddha includes all the various schools. As Buddhists, our traditional efforts should be like Buddha's.

[06:20]

We should not attach to any particular school or doctrine. Because Buddha was the founder of the teaching, people tentatively call his teaching Buddhism But actually, Buddhism is not some particular teaching. Buddhism is just truth, which includes various truths in it. Zazen practice is the practice which includes the various activities of life. So actually, we do not emphasize the sitting posture alone. How to sit is how to act. We study how to act by sitting. And this is the most basic activity for us. To do something, to live in each moment, means to be the temporal activity of the Buddha. Zazen is all the postures and each posture is Buddha's posture. No school should consider itself a separate school. It should just be one tentative form of Buddhism.

[07:21]

Buddha's teaching is everywhere. Religion is not any particular religion. Religion is everywhere. Teaching is in each moment and in every existence. I found great comfort in reading these passages from Thich Nhat Hanh and from Suzuki Roshi because I trust each of them as teachers in the Buddhist tradition and I trust their training and their insight. And because these quotes reaffirm something about what happened for me while I was in India, particularly with respect to being with, practicing Buddhists from a number of different traditions, predominantly the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, but certainly not exclusively. One of the things that has struck me is how much there is for us to learn from many different traditions.

[08:37]

Certainly within the Buddhist tradition, how much we have to learn within the tradition which we know for a number of years, but also from teachers and practitioners from many different ways. we can learn from each other and from the world around us. And that if we can cultivate some openness of mind and heart, if we can cultivate a listening mind, we can allow ourselves to be taught, to be encouraged, and to be inspired at each moment. that if we can be free of a kind of fear that the way that we're on will be eroded by that openness, in fact, we can be reaffirmed in the path that we follow and it can become enriched by the sharing and encouragement that we find with the people that we come to know who are on.

[09:46]

paths that resonate, though they may be in particular different. I think that to cultivate this attitude of openness in our minds and our hearts, to cultivate this ability to hear and see and be taught by all things, It is important to keep in mind the cultivation of respect for ourselves and for others and to cultivate some capacity for interest in what is around us and to cultivate our ability to bring our attention to what is in front of us. If I meet another tradition of Buddhism with attention, interest, and respect.

[10:55]

I can be open to hearing and learning those things which I'm ready to use and understand. One of the things that happened for me while I was in in Bodh Gaya particularly, because I was surrounded almost entirely by very traditional monks and nuns, was a kind of clarification about what it is I'm doing as an ordained priest in the tradition that we follow here. We have, as some of you know, thought a lot for a number of years about this business of are we nuns and monks or are we laymen, are we priests? How do we clarify and understand what it means when we take certain initiations and certain vows?

[12:00]

In the situation that I was in, I was surrounded by people who are monks and nuns in a very traditional sense. They have taken a number of vows, all of them including vows of chastity or celibacy, but a number of other vows that have a lot to do with leading lives of restraint. One of the things that became much clearer to me was understanding that ordination as we understand it and practice it here means being ordained as a lay priest, taking the Bodhisattva vows, embracing and making a commitment to be on the Bodhisattva path. And that there are times when we practice as monks or nuns, but that that may be something any of us may do, whether we've had these initiations or not.

[13:06]

That is, those of us who are lay practitioners, or those of us who wear a Buddha's robe, may at times for a day, or for two days, or for the period of a seven-day Seshin, or for the period of a three-month retreat, perhaps a Tassajara, we may take on some additional vows for the way we live and practice, and for that period of time, we may be, in a very traditional sense, monks or nuns. We may find ourselves refreshed and inspired by tapping into this very old tradition, and that we might then, at the end of this period of time, whether it's for a day, or two days, or a week, or a few months, or maybe even a longer period of time, give those vows back so that we can develop a kind of clarity about what it is we're doing and what it is we're not doing.

[14:11]

One of the things that happened for me in becoming more clear about the vows that I've actually taken was a kind of calmness and relaxation that came with congruence. and then I could almost immediately see the possibility of taking up other practices for shorter periods of time which would allow me to be more clear with myself and consequently with others about what it is I'm doing. Some of us have become quite interested in practicing with the precepts, those observances about our behavior, which are expressed specifically in the Ten Prohibitory Precepts, and to understand how observing these precepts can help us in our daily life. And I think that this question of rules or precepts about how to behave, how to act, are extremely important for all of us.

[15:22]

In many sutras, in many commentaries, in many teachings from good teachers, we are continually reminded that one cannot become, one cannot have a joyful mind, one cannot live a life of equanimity if there is not some basic ground of moral or ethical behavior, that it is from that ground of aligned behavior or conduct, the intention to act in a certain way and the actual fact of it, that becomes the basis for being a person who exemplifies calmness or equanimity or joy. So these rules that we take on become quite important And if there are rules that seem dead or abstract or not about the lives we're actually leading, then it becomes very difficult to know what we're actually doing.

[16:31]

And I think that this is the area, or at least one of the areas, which is quite crucial for us following the Buddha's teaching here in America as Americans living now in 1986. and that as we can address the historical rules and regulations for how to be a monk or a nun or a layperson, we can then have some insight and illumination about how we understand those rules that are applicable for us, and perhaps to be inspired to drop or minimize some of them articulate some different ones, to feel the courage to address the issues that are crucial for us, which seem to be quite different in some instances than the issues that have been crucial for practitioners in India, or in Tibet, or China, or Japan, or Korea, or Thailand, or Burma.

[17:44]

any of those countries through which the Buddhist teaching has passed and come to us. I learned a lot from simply being with other flavors of Buddhists, dressed in many different robes, acting in various ways, and to feel that which connected us was really inspiring and reassuring. I felt a possibility for the Buddha's way being alive and well, but varied, and that Buddhism is alive and lively in many parts of the world. I felt a deep encouragement to find out that there are many good teachers and that we have many possibilities here as well.

[18:47]

That we can find inspiration from the tradition of Buddhism. We can go back and look to the early teachings of the Buddha and the historical expressions of that original resource and have some confidence to find our own expression and resource. Pilgrimage is a practice which is observed in many religious traditions. Just before I left to go to India, Jack Kornfield said, oh, I understand you're going to India. How wonderful, how lucky you are. And I was a little bit taken aback by his enthusiasm, although I now understand it. He said, It's a very good practice, and is of course a practice which is encouraged in the sutras.

[19:50]

But he wasn't able to say too much about why it's a good practice. I just got lots of enthusiasm from him about doing it. And I also, when I spoke with Kadagiri Roshi about wanting to go to India, again felt a lot of encouragement from him. And when I expressed to him some embarrassment that I wasn't exactly sure why I wanted to go, except that I'd been wanting to do this for a number of years, and that it was a kind of hunch or intuition, that this wasn't coming out of some rational intellectual idea, he said, that's fine, that's just right, you should just do it. It is amazing the degree to which one feels the presence, the unbroken line of energy and life of the Buddha in that area where he practiced and lived and taught.

[20:59]

It's hard to imagine, but I certainly experienced it in Bodhgaya and in Sarna. I also found India an inspiring country to be in because it is a country in which being on a religious path is something which is respected and supported. It doesn't much matter what path you're on. And they don't seem to be so worried about whether you're a charlatan or deluded or not. There's some confidence that in the big wash of things, that which is sincere and authentic will rise to the surface. And there's a kind of permission verging on permissiveness to wander around, blissed out, stoned, chanting, bowing, wearing robes or beads or not.

[22:04]

And people bow and encourage you to do whatever your practice is. But there is also another way in which being in India was an inspiration for me because life there is basic in a way that I realized from being there, it isn't here. We have managed to distance ourselves from birth and death and from our own and each other's suffering. A simple thing like not having any toilet paper, which is certainly the case in most of India because paper is very precious. So you have to deal with a certain rudimentary fact of daily life without this additional matter called toilet paper. You are continually in the midst of people who are sick who have parts of their bodies eaten away with leprosy and who knows what other diseases.

[23:12]

There are, especially in the big cities, who knows how many people who are pavement dwellers. There is a way in which you see every aspect of people's lives immediately in front of you all of the time. I was able to remember the Four Noble Truths, and in particular the first one, that there is suffering. I was able to remember that the nature of all things is impermanence, without making any effort, because it was there in front of me continually. But as a kind of inspiration, And it was not dreary. It was not an experience which left me feeling weighted down by it. Because people were also incredibly kind and helpful. And there was not a kind of, oh, woe is me, but a kind of matter-of-fact acceptance that this is in fact the way things are.

[24:19]

I remember one evening in Bodhgaya after the day's teaching and we all went to the main stupa to do circumambulations. This was early in the second week when the Tibetan pilgrims were still streaming in by a truckload. And there was one pilgrim, a man who looked like he'd been hung over a fire covered with soot and dust and dirt and grime for some decades. He had a backpack on his back and coming out of it was the major part of a dried goat with part of the hide still stuck to the leg and haunch that was sticking out from part of the backpack. And he looked like he was dressed in some other part of the hide. And I looked at him and looked at my friend as we were pushing through this incredible dense throng of pilgrims making our way to the stupa.

[25:30]

And my friend sort of chuckled and said, very basic. It was like that. I've had a vision about Green Gulch for some while, and I'm afraid my vision got activated, maybe over-activated on this trip, particularly when I was in Sarnath, where I stayed at this translation center and school. There's a high school and college, but also a big translation center. with a big library and translation team and a guest house. The kind of place where students, scholars can come and stay for a while and have a kind of quiet environment which is conducive to translation or study.

[26:33]

Very beautiful place. Near the stupa where you can walk and do circumambulations know that this is the place where Buddha gave his first sermon. The deer park still is filled with deer. Many pilgrims come in and go in. And my vision about this place in particular is that this can be a Buddhist center which has as its core the continuing practice of traditional Zen practice. but is also a place which can be open to Buddhist teachers from many traditions, not just for ourselves, but so that they can have some contact with each other as a source of inspiration and encouragement to be open to each other.

[27:37]

That if we can find our way to continue as a contemplative community, living our lives in certain ways that are based on some agreement about the basis for how to live a life which is not harmful to ourselves or to others, that this can be a resource, that the quiet and beauty of this valley can be a resource and and opportunity for refreshment for many people, that we can, as we develop our library and places for people to come and study or to do their own work, provide a unique place that can be shared with many other people. There are a few places like this in the world, but not so many. We have a corner on wonderful air.

[28:42]

I was amazed to find how much bad air there is in the world. Even in the countryside in India, the air pollution is extraordinary. And when you begin to do meditation practices which bring you to an awareness of the breath Polluted air becomes a different event. You begin to notice what happens to your body and your mind, to say nothing of the birds and the trees, the whole world. So we do have a treasure here and I hope we can continue to take care of it and to find ways of developing this treasure and using it fully. we have, until now, been a place which, in the Buddhist world, is seen as a place where people can come together. It was amazing to me how many people knew about Zen Center and, in particular, about Green Gulch Farm.

[29:48]

We're a spot on the Buddhist map in a very good way. And I think that Sometimes those of us who live here or who come here often forget how much that is true and that if we join together in taking care of this environment, this situation, it can become a resource for the whole world. Simply doing what we can do here to take care of ourselves and being open to sharing whatever we find with other people. I think part of what we're doing here is, in fact, finding out how to express the Buddha's teaching in ways that have to do with being Americans, being Westerners, and living in this century, not another century.

[30:54]

I wore my okesa during the teachings that I went to in India, but I also wore some version Western clothes. It was very interesting to be the only black robe in a sea of orange, yellow, and maroon. And I felt completely welcomed and inspired and encouraged for one puja when there were two Japanese priests who came for this particular ceremony And as part of the ceremony, I chanted the Heart Sutra in Japanese. I had what in Yiddish I think is called kveling, almost in tears to hear the Heart Sutra in the way that I'm used to having for some many days been hearing the Heart Sutra only in Tibetan and occasionally in English.

[32:02]

But there was this wonderful coming together and there is something about wrapping the Buddha's robe around ourselves, no matter what the garments are underneath, which is recognized and appreciated. So I hope we can continue in our effort to find what is authentic and true for us. The other lesson that came for me from going on this pilgrimage, and I think maybe in the nature of traveling, is some very hard lessons about impermanence. I felt like I kept running into my own mind, especially on those days when I was actually traveling. I've not done very much traveling, and I would do things like be sure I left all the keys to my luggage locks in the room I stayed in. This happened to me when I was in the airport at Hong Kong.

[33:06]

I was certain I'd left the keys back in my room at the YWCA, a very expensive taxi cab ride away. So I went back to the room and discovered that the keys were in the pocket of the jacket I was wearing. Things like that. And it was extremely useful for me to come to know myself rattled, sometimes frightened, sometimes stressed, and often surprised. The lessons have continued. On my way home, I heard that a very dear friend had died not a death that I was expecting, but also not one I was not expecting, given that she was rather old. And when I came home on Monday night, I was greeted with the news that part of our house had flooded.

[34:13]

So we continue to meet these opportunities for accepting that everything changes. How do we cultivate our ability to be calm and generous and joyful in the midst of things changing in the face of not just these big kinds of changes, flooding and death, but at every moment. When I was in New York for my friend's memorial service, we had occasion to read the quotation that she had chosen for her last book, a quotation from Saint-Exupéry, and I'd like to read it again for you as a way of closing. I think it speaks to what I'm bringing up for all of us today. This is the quote at the beginning of Buddhism, A Way of Life and Thought by Nancy Wilson Ross, and it's in the front of the book where she talks about how she came to be a Buddhist.

[35:26]

The quote itself is this. It's from Wind, Sand and Stars. Of what can we be certain except this, that we are fertilized by mysterious circumstances? Where is man's truth to be found? Truth is not that which can be demonstrated by the air of logic. If orange trees are hardy and rich in fruit in this bit of soil and not that, then this bit of soil is what is truth for orange trees. If a particular religion or culture or scale of values, if one form of activity rather than another brings self-fulfillment to a man, releases the prince within him unknown to himself, then that scale of values, that culture, that form of activity, constitute his truth. Thank you very much.

[36:30]

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