We are on the eve of a ceremony of commitment. Of commitment to the Triple Treasure and then also commitment to further traditional bodhisattva precepts. The three pure precepts and the ten major bodhisattva precepts. The structure of our ceremony is that first the ordinands receive the refuges, the refuges go for refuge, receive the three pure precepts, and they receive the ten major bodhisattva precepts.

[01:25]

sometimes if people look at the ten major bodhisattva precepts and the forty-eight minor bodhisattvas, they might not realize that before receiving these ten or fifty-eight precepts, it is traditional to first go for refuge in the triple treasure. So it seems like the Mahayana in Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, and now in the West, probably in Mongolia too, or other places where it's practiced. When they speak of the bodhisattva precepts, they mean the precepts that we use, plus 48 minor ones, or some other variation, but that these precept vows are received after the triple treasure. So we will follow that way tomorrow.

[02:46]

And again, seven people in this room will be going through this process of initiation. Is there any thing anyone would like to offer at this time? Yes. Would I say who they are? Yes. Marie. Your own. Jane. Jane. Angela, Scott, and Carolyn.

[03:58]

Is that seven? Or Johnny had to leave. Oh, and Johnny. You know Johnny? He was sitting right over there this morning. And Johnny. Yes, tell me your name again. Yes, Michelle. The ten major bodhisattva precepts. Not killing. Not taking what's not given. The traditional way to put it is not killing, not taking what's not given, not misusing sexuality, not lying, not .

[04:59]

These are the major bodhisattva precepts. And then not slandering, not praising self at the expense of others, possessive, especially of the Dharma, not harboring ill will and not disparaging the triple treasure. And then I think one of the precepts in the 48, I think the first, second, or third, I don't remember, is not to take intoxicants. So from the Bodhisattva point of view, It's more important that you don't contribute . And it's also important that you don't do it yourself.

[06:06]

But in the history of the San Francisco Zen Center, the Westerners started coming very strongly in the 60s. So that it wasn't just selling drugs. It was not using them, too, because people say, I don't sell any drugs. But actually, the way we put it at Zen Center is we incorporate one minor one, we tag on to the third major one, to the fifth major one. Also, literally, it says, it has a character for wine, you know, rice wine. Back in the old days, a wide variety of intoxicants. Now we have to, we don't just say rice wine.

[07:11]

No intoxicants, more generally understood. Yes. In these ceremonies, I've heard this line, From now on, all beings are your teacher. Do not be fooled by other ways. Well, not being fooled by other ways means, well, in some sense, it could be that you understand that there's really not another way, that if there seems to be another way, you may be under the influence of being fooled.

[08:16]

You think there's another way. All beings being your teacher, a lot of people who come to Zen Center say, you know, that everybody's their teacher and, yeah, they learn from everybody. So in some sense they already understand that, it seems, but those people often bring that up in the context of not feeling like they want a teacher. They don't want a teacher because everybody's their teacher. And they'd like to stay with everybody being their teacher. They don't want to limit their teacher to one person. So I don't think we should limit our teacher to one person. But although everybody's your teacher, most people don't know that they're your teacher. You haven't formally committed to them and told them that they're your teacher.

[09:18]

But he's your teacher and yet also it may be necessary to commit to one particular teacher. And that one particular teacher is, you know, you start off with one particular teacher who is the Buddha. That's the first teacher. And you connect to that teacher. And now that you committed to that teacher, now everybody's your teacher. And now that you've committed to that teacher and everybody's your teacher, now you can make other commitments. But to somebody else, and that's different from Buddha, it's in the context of your basic commitment. that you're committing now to maybe one or two or six other teachers, and you're clear about what the commitment is and what the precepts are with the teachers. So you could have innumerable student-teacher relationships, but they're not really another way.

[10:30]

They're just one teacher. And also the Buddha doesn't mean just one Buddha. There's innumerable Buddhas. That's the way Buddha is, is that Buddha is innumerable. So, open to learn from anybody, committed to basically one Buddha, or all Buddhas, and there's no other way and also be clear about what your commitment is to the Buddhas, and also be clear about what your commitment is to human teachers who are appearing in the historical arena with you. Yes, Michelle? Can you say you're committed to one Buddha mind? Yeah. Can you say you're committed to one Buddha mind? Yes.

[11:34]

Well, some people think it's like two different kinds of beings, like bodhisattvas. Sometimes they translate it as bodhisattvas and mahasattvas. But I think most of the mahasattvas are bodhisattvas. So mahasattvas are big, you know, are like the big bodhisattvas. The big bodhisattvas. Yeah, the great bodhisattvas, you're inviting them. But you also say, well, I'm inviting the little bodhisattvas too, and the mahasattvas. So mahasattvas is actually an advanced stage of bodhisattva. So you can easily understand that you're inviting all the bodhisattvas and the very advanced bodhisattvas to pay attention to you now while you receive this robe of the Buddha Shakyamuni tradition.

[12:47]

In the historical context, on the stage of history, the Buddhist robe was not present at the time that Buddha was awakened with all beings under the Bodhi tree. He did not have the robe we now make and wear. And clothes, though. And before that, he didn't wear clothes. He was walking around probably more or less nude, and in a very emaciated state, and with tremendous yogic ability. That's the way he was. But then he decided that was a bit much, he started to wear some clothes. But he didn't have the style of the robe worked out yet, he just wore a little bit of clothes somehow.

[13:53]

But then later in the history of this tradition, there was a request a royal patron, a king, that he actually create a particular style of robe that he and his students would wear. The king felt it would be clearer and support the Sangha, but the Sangha wore similar clothing. So then the Buddha, together with Ananda, design the style of robe that we wear now. So again, in historical times, this robe we wear, the robe was developed by the Buddha, and the way of making it was set, and the Buddha wore that kind of robe, and pretty much it's followed fairly well through all the Buddhists. But many people wear different robes, like the Dalai Lama has the...

[14:59]

But that's not really a Buddhist robe. That's like a Tibetan monk's robe. When he does a big ceremony, he wears the patch robe. For big initiations, you'll see that the Tibetan teachers and other teachers who don't necessarily wear that patch robe all the time. They wear it for big ceremonies. And Thich Nhat Hanh also, if you see him, he seems to be wearing just a simple kind of like a brown patch robe. But when he does precept ceremonies, then he wears this patch robe. I don't know how many panels the one he wore was, but he wears the patch robe for big ceremonies. yes not to praise yourself at the expense of others and not to put yourself up at the expense of others I've heard one way of talking about this not scripture of this precept but

[16:22]

Just basically, when you praise yourself, you kind of inevitably put other people down because you leave somebody out. If you ever do anything good and you want to mention it, it's probably good to first of all mention that because everyone, by the support of everyone, this good thing happened, you know, through my body, speech, and mind. You can say it somehow. It might be the people down. But, you know, you probably should mention everybody, and this list is very long, so maybe praising yourself is really what takes so long to thank everybody. You probably should just forget it and move on. Yes. Yes. In the early part of the tradition, the way the Buddha taught, somebody asked, Buddha said, he said, the teaching of all Buddhas is wholeheartedly practice good

[18:04]

and purify your mind. That's the way it's taught in the Dhammapada, for example. This is the teaching of all Buddhas. And partly I understand it as saying avoiding evil and practicing good, that purifies your mind. That's how you purify your mind. But then it got changed in the Mahayana to refrain from evil, practice all good, and benefit all beings. So, it got changed from doing this to purify your mind, and it got to do this to purify other people. Now, of course, it does purify your mind, but the emphasis is to do this for the welfare of others. But that's a reworking of the Dhammapada.

[19:13]

But also in the Mahayana, these three pure precepts are phrased somewhat differently. In Refrain from Evil, it's phrased as embrace and sustain the forms, the ceremonies, and the regulations. That's the first one. So it doesn't really say anything about evil. It's these things, these forms and these ceremonies which are conducive to liberation. And then it says practice all wholesome activities. And then it says develop or purify all beings. So in Soto Zen... say that first pure precept is more that way of saying that we, not so much the way it is in the Dhammapada of avoiding evil, but put it more in the form of practice forms and ceremonies and regulations, which when you practice them, to transformation and liberation, doesn't say anything about evil.

[20:25]

However, that does avoid evil. And also, there is an understanding that these are respectively the true body of Buddha, the bliss body of Buddha, and the transformation body of Buddha. The true body of Buddha is practicing these forms and ceremonies. When you practice these forms, when your body, speech and mind accord with these forms, that's the true body of Buddha. It's being realized there. When you practice doing good, that's the enjoyment of the body of Buddha. And when beings are being transformed, that's the transformation body of Buddha.

[21:30]

That's Buddha in the world, transforming beings. So the three bodies of Buddha are put in correspondence with these three pure precepts. It's not separate, and it is understood that the four vows are understood in receiving these precepts. But it's true in the ceremony we didn't usually. We could, you know, like we end lectures with the four vows, We could say the four vows at the end, but that's not the traditional way.

[22:33]

But in the temples where people say they do this kind of precept ceremony. And we say the four vows more often than we do these precept ceremonies. Precept ceremonies are like an initiation. The four vows are like daily, more like daily kind of thing. the daily expression of our vows. But I've often thought that the four great vows, their universal vows, are not mentioned in our precept ceremony. No. You could practice a precept without vowing to practice it. You could like, somebody could say, let's steal some cookies from the kitchen.

[23:38]

And you might say, no, I don't think so. I think we should go ask the head cook before we, if we want the cookies, let's go ask the head cook and see if the head cook will give us the cookies. The other person said, no, I want to steal them. I said, I don't want to. I'm not going to do it. So you refrain from stealing. But you did not promise him that you won't. Yeah, but the promising is different than the precept. Just like the precepts are not the same as the ceremony of doing it. The precepts are kind of weird. They're kind of like reality. But are you committed to reality? The Buddha is your true home. Are you committed to that, though? So here's the three jewels of our tradition, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. They aren't a vow. You have to promise.

[24:41]

You have to pledge. You have to commit to them. Then you go for refuge in them. But the precepts, they're refuge precepts, but they're precepts to go to refuge. But when you go for refuge, then you vow. Then you commit. Then you say, I'm going to go. So some people are Actually, very good, they practiced the precepts quite well, but they have not promised to do so. Some other people have promised to do so, but don't do so well with the precepts. But they have committed. They have said, I will practice these. They don't say, I will practice them perfectly. Well, they say, I vow to eventually practice these perfectly. I vow to become a Buddha. That's, you know, the Buddha way is unsurpassable. I vow to become. And a part of that is I vow to practice these precepts.

[25:45]

And I vow to confess and repent when I don't practice them. So some people, again, some people are really good at confessing and repenting their shortcomings. They're really good at it, but they haven't promised. The Sammonese, he promised to do it. Yes, Carolyn. Yes. Yeah, yes. Before the Buddha transmitted bodhisattva precepts, there was the individual vehicle precepts that were transmitted, and they did the bimonthly recitation of the precepts.

[26:57]

And there was a bimonthly of shortcomings in the practice. But also, at the beginning of the Buddha's teaching, the Buddha did not give the precepts. The early students did not receive precepts. The Buddha did not feel it was necessary. His first students were ethical enough so he could immediately teach them wisdom practices, and they could practice them because they were already quite ethical and concentrated. And then after some time, the Buddha mentioned to the Sangha that of the Buddhas that lived before him, the six Buddhas before him, three had long-lasting teaching and three had short-lasting teaching beyond their life.

[27:58]

He said there were historical Buddhas before him. He said their teaching lasted a long time, three that didn't. And one of Buddha's disciples named Shariputra said, well, what's the difference between the teaching of those six people? He said, well, the six that had long-lasting transmitted precepts, and the three that had long-lasting transmitted the precepts along with their teaching. And the three that had short-lived did not transmit the precepts. So it's like if you take three poles and you can balance them against each other, you know, like a teepee. But if the wind blows or something, they usually fall down. But if you tie them together at their intersection, they hold up much better. The precepts are like tying the teachings together. And the precepts are committing to them. I didn't say that the three, maybe they're like the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

[29:04]

If you tie them together with the precept, they'll last longer. They won't last forever, nothing does, that you put together. And then Shariputra says, well, then the Lord will now, you know, the Lord should give. And the Buddha said, the Lord will decide when to give the precepts. And then Sri Sariputra said, well, when will that be? And he said, I think it will be when the community gets very big. We'll probably need to give them. Because when the community was not so big, Buddha, you know, there wasn't much need for any rules because people behave quite well when they're right under Buddha's nose. But as the group got bigger... and started to develop facilities like monasteries and stuff. Then they started to need regulations and ceremonies. So now we have the precepts.

[30:07]

Georgia? Do you have not? Well, confession would mean that you would... ...in your practice... And repentance is that you feel some, the meaning of the word repentance, the usual meaning in English is a kind of sorrow about something you've done that reforms you. Three parts of repentance. Sorrow relative to your own action. It's not sorrow about other people's action. Sorrow about your own action but a kind of sorrow that repents you, that makes you want to act differently. If you wish to act in accordance with these Bodhisattva precepts, and then you don't, then you confess, I didn't. These precepts of compassion, I promised to practice, and I didn't.

[31:12]

I wasn't kind enough in this case not to steal. I wasn't kind enough in this case not to kill. And I'm sorry. I feel sorrow. And I want to recommit to not kill and to not steal. And, you know, I feel more... I'm sorry that I did it, but I feel more determined to do better. And you say that, and you feel that, and you are a different person as a result of the sorrow. It changes you. And you're more sincere and committed to compassion as a result. You're welcome. Yes? When I first came here, we didn't, first thing in the morning, do confessionary repentance and take refuge. Right, we didn't. And now we do. Now we do. I was wondering if we missed it at the beginning or decided it was something we should add that was... When I was Abbott, we started when I was Abbott.

[32:26]

And the reason we started was because I was informed. I was informed. It wasn't exactly a revelation. It was more simple than that. I saw that... They practiced that on a regular basis in the morning at the beginning of service. Or, you know, that it was, you know, it's in the regular sutra book to do that. And I noticed that we only did it like, kind of like... Well, we... Did we start doing... Yeah, I think we started doing full moon ceremonies before... We started to do it in the morning on a regular basis, yeah. So that was a practice that I brought up and the community said okay and it's continued. So at least if you live in Zen Center at least once a day you practice what you said you would practice when you receive the precepts.

[33:35]

Because you said I will continue this practice Once a day, anyway, you say, all my ancient tristed karma from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion. And once a day, you admit that you have a history of greed, hate, and delusion. In other words, you're a bodhisattva, a tristed bodhisattva. And you fully avow this. And then, now you're ready to return home to your true nature, triple treasure, after this admission that you have this long history of action, born of greed, hate, and delusion. Well, usually we end at 5.30 and it's past, so...

[34:39]

I thank you again for your wholehearted presence here. And may we practice the Buddha way for the welfare of this world. May our intention equally extend to every be that place with the true magnet of the death's way.

[35:18]

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