With your kind indulgence, I would like to continue to discuss the three pure cumulative precepts, to embrace and sustain right conduct, to embrace and sustain all wholesomeness, and to embrace and sustain all beings. Yesterday, in discussing the second of these three, the gathering together of all wholesome things, I discussed a little bit about patience, and then yesterday, after the talk, I, in

[01:29]

the level of suffering is starting to accumulate very purely in different ways for different people. So I thought I would do a little bit more work on this practice of patience. The practice of patience is one of the most wonderful parts of the practice of gathering together wholesomeness. It is, we sometimes say, the prime cause of awakening. Patience is practiced in three basic realms.

[02:41]

One realm is basically with hardship, pain, suffering, difficulty, cold and heat, insect bites, illness, pain in the body, very strenuous tasks like moving mountains. And also it's practiced in other important areas, it's practiced with people who are insulting you or attacking you, practiced with real insults and affronts and cruelty that comes to you from human beings. The first kind, actually, is kind of the affronts that come to you by nature, by the nature of your body, the affront of your body to you, the difficulties of having a body.

[03:45]

And then, you know, natural phenomena, wind, rain, boulders falling on you, things like that. Insects who really, they are not trying to insult you, but they do. And then the third kind of place to practice patience is patience with reality, patience with the way things really are, with the Dharma. But today I'd like to emphasize, since very little insulting has been going on this week, as far as I can tell, people aren't affronting each other. Most of the difficulty I'm hearing about is the difficulty people are having with their body and mind during the session. That's kind of the one I have the most in mind, but the others may come up in the discussion. This is not exactly an apology, this is more like just to tell you something about myself.

[05:09]

As I was in the process of thinking about this session schedule, I wanted to make it not so strenuous in terms of sitting, because I thought, you know, you're just getting into the practice period, so I thought we'd make it kind of, you know, pleasant experience. Only ten periods of sitting, plus meals. Sometimes at Tassajara we've had sessions with twenty periods of sitting, counting meals. So I thought that was the intention. But I know that somehow when people sit still, no matter what the schedule is, fortunately actually, they notice that they're suffering. So even though the schedule is not so strenuous, it somehow allows us to quiet down enough

[06:14]

so we can feel our suffering, even if it's not in our knees, or our back, or our butt. One time I was in a yoga class, and I think I was down on the floor, I think, at the time, and I heard the yoga teacher say, if you stay in any yoga posture long enough, and I thought she was going to say, you will realize a blissful place. But she didn't say that. She said, if you stay in any yoga posture long enough, you'll realize that you're uncomfortable. It's like even if you sit in a chair, a comfortable chair, if you stay in the chair long enough and don't move, you'll get uncomfortable. And even when we're sleeping, we roll around at night trying to find a more comfortable place,

[07:21]

even though we're basically pretty comfortable. So we find the discomfort if we just don't move for a while, no matter what the posture is, no matter how well you do it. And you should do it well, so that you are promoting your health, so you can practice with your full life energy. But still, if you find a good posture, still that posture that you sit still in, you will eventually notice you're uncomfortable. But the thing about yoga practice is, the difference between being uncomfortable and ordinary people being uncomfortable, is that you know you're uncomfortable. You're aware of your discomfiture. So when we become aware of our discomfiture, even in situations like being in a nice warm bed

[08:23]

or in a healthy yoga posture, we can get a little upset. I remember in the early days of Zen Center, when they had sesshins, we had this very colorful sangha in those days. Not to say it's not now, but it was colorful in those days. One of our members was a wonderful fellow who was a former football player, played for Stanford, and he was only about my height, but he was a lot heavier. He got the award of the inspirational player of the team on Stanford. And he also became a movie, not a movie star exactly, but a movie actor. He played in the Planet of the Apes. He was one of the apes, who carried around those nice looking human ladies. One time he came to see Suzuki Roshi with a picture of him in his ape outfit

[09:30]

with this lady in a bikini holding her in his arms. He said, see this Reverend Suzuki, that's me. What do you think of that, huh? So, during one of the sesshins, he was having a little pain, and he thought to himself, one of his fantasies which he shared with us was, these Japanese guys have tricked us into this thing. And now we're sitting here suffering, but they're going around hitting us with sticks. They're getting back at us for the Second World War. I think I'll break their sticks and their bodies too. Anyway, he never did. He was always very nice to Suzuki Roshi, but he got pretty angry. He was amazing. He's an amazing guy. Anyway, fortunately or unfortunately, he's not around here anymore,

[10:33]

which is slightly dangerous to have him around, let me tell you. So don't get mad at me, okay? I tried to make a gentle schedule. It's only reality that's bothering you. But still I know that when we get in pain, we get disoriented, we forget. What's going on? What's the point of this? There was one of the great Buddhist nuns in history, an early sangha. She's named Patachara, and she is the nun who is referred to most often in the verses of the women elders.

[11:36]

She was a very penetrating and compassionate, charismatic teacher. She was born in a family, a well-to-do family of a banker in India, and when her family chose her husband for her, she didn't want to marry him because she had become in love with one of the servants. So she ran away with the servants far away from her home, which was Savati. And she became pregnant, but when she became pregnant, she wanted to go back home to her family to have them help take care of her during the birth. So as she was getting close to delivery time, she asked her husband to take her back to her family, but he procrastinated.

[12:40]

You can imagine he would be kind of chagrined to go back with her after running away with her. And finally, since he was procrastinating while he was away one time, she left without him. And about halfway back to Savati, he caught up with her, and shortly thereafter, out in the road, she gave birth to her first son. And they went back home to their dwelling place. She became pregnant again, and again her husband resisted going back to her family, and again she took off without him. But this time, again about halfway back, a great storm came up, and her husband again found her, and in the process of building her in the baby's shelter,

[13:51]

gathering wood and grass, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. And so she spent the night without shelter, covering her babies, I guess the new baby had been born, covering her newborn baby and her other little baby from the storm. In the morning, she found her husband and was paralyzed in grief for about a day. And then somehow decided that she had to go on, so she did continue towards her family home. She came to a river which was swollen with the flood, and being too weak to carry both babies across the swollen river, left the older baby on one side and carried the little baby, the newborn, across the river, and put the newborn on some leaves. Of course, feeling very anxious about leaving the baby, and watching constantly to see what would happen,

[15:09]

and she saw a hawk came and took the baby. She screamed at the hawk, and the hawk didn't pay any attention to her. And the other baby, hearing her screams on the other side of the river, thought she was calling him, and he came into the river and was swept away. Again, totally distraught, she could think of nothing other than to continue going back to her family. And when she got to Sabati, she asked a person there if he knew where her family was, and he said, don't ask me about your family. And she said, I have to know. He said, your family were all killed in the storm, the roof fell in on them, and they're now burning on the funeral pyre.

[16:11]

You can see the smoke. She thereupon went crazy, totally insane, and wandered about until her clothes fell off of her, and she was walking around naked. By chance, she walked into the assembly of the Buddha in the Jeta Grove, and the people there tried to keep her away from the Buddha, Dalai Lama. But when he saw her, he let her come in and went up to her and said, Sister, regain your presence of mind. Don't you know you're in the presence of someone who can help you?

[17:23]

Don't you know you've already cried enough tears to fill the ocean, and that your family can never help you in this life? And she regained her presence of mind, and the Buddha gave her his robe to cover her, and taught her about the path, and she asked to join the women's community, which had just been started by Buddha's aunt, foster mother. And she became a great teacher. So we have our limits of patience, and in fact, when we reach the limits of our patience, we go crazy.

[18:34]

That's why patience is so useful. It keeps us from going crazy in the middle of our pain. On the other hand, suffering does not have to be a negative experience. In fact, it has many positive qualities, because instead of reacting and going crazy in the face of our suffering, if we can meditate on it, many benefits arise. We can generate the mind of renunciation, and in that mind of renunciation, and in the peacefulness of acceptance, compassion arises effortlessly. Ru Jing taught Dogen that the Buddhas,

[19:45]

who have great yogic powers, do not have to hang around in this world of suffering, where you lose your babies in streams and things. They can go to places where there's no pain, really, no negative sensation, anyway. But they still do not realize... if a yogi goes there, they still do not realize the mind of renunciation. They can just go and hang out in those places and still be attached to the world. So, Ru Jing taught Dogen that the Buddhas always practice in the world of suffering. They practice right in the middle of it. And there, sitting in the world of suffering, they develop what Ru Jing calls nyu-shin, which could be translated as suppleness of mind,

[20:47]

softness of mind, meekness of mind. By sitting in the middle of the suffering of the world, they develop this suppleness of mind, this softness of mind. And Ru Jing says, it is the will, it is the wish, the desire to drop body and mind. So, by practicing patience, not only can you maintain calm and peaceful mind in the face of the slings and arrows of misfortune, but you can also realize this meekness of mind. You can also see clearly and dispassionately

[21:51]

that samsara, that the world of birth and death, of being born and dying in confusion, is not ever going to work out. It is, for sure, simply misery. And therefore, you can see clearly that you do want to let go of it. Not a hysterical, angry wanting to get rid of it. A clear, effective, steadfast desire to let go of it, to renounce it. In this calm acceptance of pain, this wonderful mind comes up, the mind of renunciation. And it comes up spontaneously. And this spontaneous and continuous wish to drop body and mind, this spontaneous

[22:53]

and continuous wish to attain complete and utter freedom from every trace of dissatisfaction in life, can be born in the practice of patience. And you cannot, this mind cannot be born except in the practice of patience. It cannot be born except in the middle of suffering. We do not develop this wish when we feel, when we think we're feeling good. Matter of fact, when we're feeling good, without this mind, we simply attach to it and don't notice that we're running around in circles. Without such firm mind of renunciation, there is no way to reach any of the higher goals

[23:53]

along the spiritual path. And no way to experience the boundless happiness of liberation and awakening. So it really is worthwhile to put up with it all and to do so joyfully, even though you're in pain, to joyfully practice patience. And again, you cannot practice patience thoroughly unless you do it enthusiastically. So again, not only if you get to the center of your suffering will you find peace there and calm there. Not only that, but in that peaceful calmness at the center of your suffering, you will be able to see that this situation is not going to work out. From that clear awareness

[24:55]

in your seat, you can see that. And also, from that seat, if you look around at the other people, you don't have to work at giving rise to compassion. It naturally comes up. And it isn't a hysterical, angry compassion. It is simply sympathy. And then, for yourself and all beings, you wish to drop it all, drop the cause of this suffering, which is attachment. Which is all that stuff. On the other hand, if you don't learn this, if you don't learn how to face your suffering, not only will you be feel helpless and unhappy and hysterical and angry. Not only that, but you will be unable to understand the Dharma. So it's a double

[25:57]

benefit of peace and renunciation. Or it's a double whatever trouble of not only fighting and having the misery and fighting it, but also you can't understand the teaching under that circumstances. And you can't even be sure that samsara, even then you think, well maybe samsara will work out. You're so confused. Think, well maybe if I fixed it it would be better. The funny thing is when you're calm and at peace you can see you can't fix it. Because it's inherently flawed by attachment. But when you're upset you think, well if they would just change the schedule a little, you know, it wouldn't take that much. Or change it a lot. Or let's get out of here. Or whatever, you know. You think there's some way to fix it in your lack of acceptance. Well, understandable. This is understandable. We get kind of,

[27:02]

we get kind of upset. And who can we blame for this? Japanese. So this practice of patience is one of the things that, you know, protects us from all kinds of trouble. Gives us a nice calm, peaceful mind in the middle of misery. And also generates this fantastic, beautiful supple mind. Which when the supple mind is fully realized, then the natural dropping off of body and mind and your mind correspond. You catch up with the fact that your body and mind are really being dropped off all the time. So again,

[28:15]

the way I'd like to practice it is basically, you know, and it's hard to say sometimes where I feel I am, but basically I'm being, you know, I'm being affected by these slings and arrows, by these thorns, by these irritations, by this huge suffocation, whatever it is. And I try to get to the, somehow get a feeling of getting in the center of it. Wherever it is, I try to get into the center of it. But if I have been fighting it for a while, then I kind of like I'm on the outside of it. I'm still fighting with it, but I, how to get from my resistance to my suffering back to the center of it is sometimes tricky. Because if you run back in, it's kind of subtle how to get back into the middle of a, of a mass of thorns. But if you can kind of just somehow get yourself into the middle, there's a middle. And in that middle of all that

[29:16]

heat and flame and pain, in the middle there, it's cool. It's peaceful. It's actually kind of cozy. And not only that, but there's a lot of Buddhas in there turning Dharma wheels. So somehow, that's how I often find it helpful. It's like, get into the middle of the pain. Find the middle. There's a place there. Get into the very middle of the place and get into the middle of the time. Get into the very, very, very, as close as you can get to the present. And don't think of the past at all or the future at all. Or even if you think of the past or the future, get to the, kind of like the present of the past and the present of the future. You're safe there. All right. Okay, so that's...

[30:19]

I bring that up now because we're in the middle of it. And we don't know exactly what part we're in now. We're either in the sixth day of a nine-day session or the sixth day of a ten-day session. But it looks like it might be a nine-day session. Sorry, Stuart. There's always next time. But we had our fun, didn't we? So next, the next precept is the precept sattva, kriya, shila. The precept of developing, maturing, purifying beings. And again, I would say that this precept

[31:21]

of benefiting beings, of helping beings mature themselves along the path really does require that we practice the first two precepts thoroughly. We're not going to be able to develop beings if we don't work on ourselves and develop our patience, for example, and our enthusiasm, for example, and our concentration and so on, and our generosity and our ethics and our wisdom. Now, before we get thoroughly accomplished at the previous two precepts, it doesn't mean that we can't start working on developing beings and helping beings and benefiting beings. You can start working on it right now even though you have not completely purified your mind and tamed your mind.

[32:23]

It's just that by working on the previous two thoroughly you will be able to help people you know, to the greatest possible extent. So, what kind of things are these things that help people well? Just giving food to people who are hungry can be quite beneficial. Working with dying people and sick people, just being with them can be very beneficial. Practicing patience

[33:29]

with people can be very beneficial. Many of the stories of how to benefit people that I think of are also stories of where teaching is going on. So, in a way, the ultimate benefit to people is to give Dharma teaching. But, they may not see it as Dharma teaching. For example, one of the stories that turned me towards Zen was the story of Ryokan sitting in his house on a full moon night hearing a robber come up to his house and before the robber even came in throwing his possessions out the window to the guy and saying I wish I could give you the full moon too. Really, joyfully, lovingly giving away everything to this person before the person even asks so they receive a gift before they have a chance to steal anything. This is benefiting beings. This person

[34:30]

actually understood this as Dharma teaching but some people might not. Generosity is a great way both to practice the second precept of accumulating positive energy and wholesomeness but also as a way to convert beings to develop beings. Also, that's like that story in Les Miserables about this hardened criminal who was completely turned around by a priest giving him some silver plates after he had stolen them and been caught and the police brought the thief back to the priest and said did this man steal this silver from you and the priest said no he didn't steal it I gave it to him and the police said oh let him go and the man said how could you do that father I stole this from you he said no you didn't I gave it to you and not only that

[35:31]

but he went to the cabinet and pulled out silver candlesticks here take these too and the man broke down and he said I just bought your soul from now on you will not be possible for you to do any more cruel or evil things and he was he was converted by this radical and ruthless generosity and well you won't accept this well here take some more we're not kidding here so there's teaching and generosity at the same time and often times giving people gifts is good to do before you teach so that they're opened and relaxed before you give the teaching

[36:33]

and I know we don't like that when we see those places down in Skid Row where you have to well what they do there is they get first they make you sit through the sermon and sing the hymns and then you get fed right the Buddhist way is a little bit more like first feed you then then give the teaching and I was actually the subject of something like this recently myself it was interesting to watch it being done to me I went to visit my sister in Los Angeles and so I came to see her and her husband was there and they're Jehovah's Witnesses so I sat they had made me a nice nice snack which my sister which my brother-in-law told me everyone thinks that my sister makes absolutely the best chip dip so she made her like super best chip dip with the you know

[37:37]

tortilla chips right there and down in the land where that stuff is grows and so I had my chip dip and then they gave me some some coffee this coffee that has kind of like amaretto flavored coffee and various other interesting things happened but then they sat me down and they brought me a big basket full of stuff for for the trip back to San Francisco cheeses and peanut peanut filled pretzels and you know a big a big thing full of stuff all kinds of crackers to put the cheese on peanuts and stuff a lot of my favorite things anyway then after they gave me that they said my sister said

[38:40]

have I ever have we ever given you one of these books the book they gave me was not one of the watchtower things one of the magazines it was a book nice book said no you never had so we'd like to give this to you and then they gave me the dharma too and I just sat there I didn't invite this particular delivery but I was patient so everybody was doing well I was patient they were generous they were giving me now what they consider to be the good news I was listening to it and it all worked out and after a while my brother-in-law started to get on a little bit of a thing and I kind of just started to speak up a little bit he started talking about the evil people and I said wait a minute now but then a guy came to visit so that ended all that anyway I thought then I said this is a pretty good technique here I am pretty happy with my goods

[39:40]

also she gave me my baby book which I wanted which my mother kept my first several years little pink baby book this maybe sounds my intention anyway in my effort in teaching you about patience a minute ago my effort in that way is my effort to benefit beings I hope that that teaching about about patience is beneficial that's why I did it and yesterday when I was talking to some suffering beings my intention was to help them deal with their suffering to help them not get angry especially at me for this schedule and it seemed like it was somewhat helpful

[40:44]

they seemed like they stopped being angry and even said thank you so my intention was this is an example of teaching about patience teaching about the second precept is the third can be the third precept or at least the intention is the third the intention of the third precept most of the Zen stories that we study and most of the Zen stories that I bring up the reason why I bring them up is because I think they've they've they sustained and embraced me they've encouraged me they inspired me they make me happy so then I thought well maybe I bring them to you and other people

[41:44]

and I say here here's my gift of a Zen story which I hope will embrace and sustain you and then I hope you will embrace and be inspired by that you'll see something in this story which will encourage you down the path that this story will inspire you and encourage you to practice Zazen so the stories and me or whoever bringing them to you is another example of trying to mature beings to help beings to benefit beings at whatever level they're at but these stories are not necessarily for some people some people want money or food or pretzels whatever they don't want Zen stories but in that's why I like to be at Tassajara because Tassajara is a place where people not only like food but they also like Zen stories so since you know I've got a lot of Zen stories rather than a lot of foods nice place for me

[42:44]

teaching dancing can also be a way to benefit beings a way to encourage beings but I'm not a dance teacher I have now I have a story about kind of a cross between a story which shows the practice of patience of the student and the teacher practicing this precept of developing and benefiting beings this is a story which Mel read to you last practice period I hear and it's a story that took place in China but I'll read

[43:50]

this translation which has a Japanese way of saying these Chinese people's names so the priest Kisei of Sekken was a stern cool and aloof teacher I heard another translation was he was stern he was strict and disciplined and frugal with himself he was respected by the monks a group of monks including Zen Master Hoen of Mount Fu in Go Province and Zen Master Gikai of Mount Teyue in Etsu Province came to practice with his community it was a cold and snowy day

[44:50]

when they met Master Kisei he yelled and drove them away not only that he poured water on the visiting monks hall poured monks water on the visiting monks so they have a what he called Tangario room right usually in monastery they have a ante room you can't get into this monks hall right away they have a waiting room for itinerant monks Tanga is the word for itinerant monk so Tangario is the room for itinerant monks for travelling monks and if you're travelling you stay in that room but if you want to stay if you want to enter the monks hall you just stay in that room for a long time until finally they notice you're there and ask what you want and they'll let you in if you stay there long enough usually so they were in this this visiting monks hall and he threw water on them so that everyone's clothes got wet all the visiting monks

[45:53]

fled except for Hoen and Gikai Hoen and Gikai simply arranged their robes wrung them out and sat down in the Tangario room again Kisei came and in a scolding voice said if you two monks don't leave I'll beat you up Hoen said approaching the master the two of us came hundreds of miles to study Zen with you how could a dipper full of water drive us away even if you beat us to death we won't leave Kisei laughed and said you both are go hang up your bags later he asked Hoen to serve as Tenzo

[46:55]

at that time the assembly was suffering from his aloof style and unappetizing food one day when Kisei the master went out to a nearby village and while he was away Hoen took the key to the storehouse without permission and took some noodles and some oil and made a delicious breakfast for the monks Kisei returned and joined the meal after the meal after breakfast was over he sat outside the Zendo and sent for the Tenzo Kisei said did you really take noodles and oil from the storeroom and cook this meal for the monks Hoen said yes I did please punish me Kisei told him to estimate the price of the materials and compensate the community by selling his robes and bowl he gave him

[47:57]

thirty blows and kicked him out of the monastery Hoen stayed in a nearby city and asked his Dharma brother to plead with the master to pardon him but Kisei would not forgive him Hoen also pleaded even if I'm not allowed to return I would like to request just to be able to enter the abbot's room for Doksan Kisei still did not approve one day Kisei went to the city and saw Hoen standing in front of a traveler's shelter which the monastery owned Kisei said this shelter belongs to the monastery how long have you been living here have you paid rent Hoen said no he said you should calculate the fees and pay up Hoen was not disturbed he did not get angry

[48:58]

he carried his bowls in the city collecting food which he sold and made payment for his rent later Kisei went to the city and saw Hoen begging returning to the monastery he told the assembly that Hoen was a true had true intention to study Zen and finally called him back so this is the students really practicing the second precept accumulating a lot of a lot of good Dharma there and the teacher is developing him nice combination and of course the story in this particular case since it's been transmitted so long had a very happy ending it all worked out really well after he got back so the kitchen's gonna leave pretty soon so let's see how many stories do I have left I'll just tell

[50:02]

the one about you know again the one of Yunyan of Cloudy Cliff coming to Medicine Mountain and also of course the story of Medicine Mountain going to Stonehead and Master and Horse Master remember when Medicine Mountain went to Stonehead he said please teach me and Stonehead said being just so won't do not being just so won't do either being both just so and not being just so won't do at all how about you that's Satva Kriya Sheila that's the precept of benefiting beings it didn't work though did you notice he did his best he showed he did as he tried but didn't work then he went to see Matsu Matsu says sometimes I make him raise his eyebrows and blink sometimes I don't make him

[51:06]

raise his eyebrows and blink sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking is is right sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking is not right how about you that time it worked he was matured and he bowed to Master Ma Master Ma said well how come you're bowing what did you see he said when I was with stone head I was like a mosquito trying to bite an iron bull and Master Ma said that's very good very good but your teacher is still stone head so the two of them worked together to realize the fruit of the precept of benefiting beings

[52:07]

the two of them helped this monk Yaoshan Medicine Mountain not take himself seriously anymore so then the monk Yun Yan Cloudy Cliff comes to visit Medicine Mountain and Medicine Mountain said what do you do about birth and death right before your eyes and Yun Yan said there is no birth and death right before my eyes and Medicine Mountain said how long did you study with Bai Zhang and he said 20 years Medicine Mountain said you studied for 20 years and you still have not yet gotten rid of your commonness

[53:08]

commonness in fact he never did get rid of his commonness did he that's his great gift to us he really was common but getting rid of his commonness was never necessary all he had to do was be liberated from his commonness and then he was able to go on to be common forever and his commonness has been transmitted to us later it all worked out in that case too but in both these two stories these Zen stories I think of another aspect is that you should not do anything to displease worldly people you shouldn't treat worldly people like this and actually it's a kind of tricky point because I told the story at Green Gulch and I don't know if people at Green Gulch like to hear it I don't know if you people like to hear it either this is not a very nice way to talk to people 20 years and you have not yet got rid of

[54:14]

your commonness even though it's actually a compliment it sounds so you kind of got to make sure what you've got here is somebody like Yun Yan but in fact it looks like he's saying you wasted 20 years but he didn't waste 20 years he actually didn't and then later Medicine Mountain pushed him a little farther and said tell me more about what Bajon taught he said well one time he came up into the hall and when everybody was assembled he chased them out with his big stick and as they were running away he said hey you guys and he turned around and he said what is it and Yashan Medicine Mountain said now today

[55:15]

or no he said why didn't you say this before now today through you I understand brother Bajon and at that Cloudy Cliff was awakened but Kazan Zenji said that when he when he brought up the story and told Medicine Mountain he was not awakened when he told the story but the way he said the story awakened the master in fact the way he was was pure Zen heart even though he didn't realize that he was coming forth just like he had been doing for 20 years and he was Satvakriya Sheila he was developing the master and didn't even see that he was he was embracing and sustaining the teacher

[56:18]

when he saw that he had awakened the teacher and he had conveyed the teaching the teaching came back at him and then the teacher developed and matured him but the teacher developed and matured him by him being perfectly developed and mature to show the teacher who's teaching who and in fact that's the way Satvakriya works the beings are developed not in one direction it's a two way thing it's two two together do it I hesitate to tell this next story but I'll maybe I'll just tell it this way it won't be so bad maybe a follow up to this was that one day a student came to see an abbot a monk came to see

[57:20]

an abbot and the abbot said to the monk what do you do about birth and death right before your eyes and this student didn't say there is no birth and death before my eyes it's true there is no birth and death before your eyes but if you say so this is a crude understanding of no birth and death before your eyes if there's really no birth and death before your eyes you don't have to say so if there really is no birth and death before your eyes then you can have a problem with birth and death before your eyes completely have a problem with it. So in this later story, the monk said to the question, what do you do about birth and death

[58:24]

before your eyes? The monk said, I'm sad about it, I indulge in it. And the monk was willing to go on and really elaborate about how thoroughly caught up and stuck she was in birth and death. But the abbot said, that's enough, thanks. Not because he really didn't want to hear anymore, because there was something wrong with it, but the point had been made. This person was thoroughly involved in birth and death, therefore completely free of birth and death. Yen Yen had not got to that point on this particular question anyway, but in terms of his understanding, he was really good, really common. So then the monk said to the abbot, well, and then the abbot said, that's enough,

[59:38]

and then the monk said, but you told me I should have a problem with birth and death and tell you about it. He said, yeah, you did, that's enough. And then the monk said, well, what about you? How about, what do you do with birth and death before you right now? And the abbot said, I brush my teeth and I floss. And she said, well, what about birth and death right now? And the abbot said, I taste the results. But I don't always actually brush my teeth and floss, particularly sometimes I forget to floss. And the monk said, well, how is it then? And I said, I taste the results. And the monk said, referring to the story of Dogen writing Buddhadharma Sangha on a

[60:44]

piece of paper and hanging it on a pillar when he was about to die, the monk said, what are you going to write on a piece of paper and put on a pillar? And she said, what words are you going to write? And I said, words, words, words. Then the abbot said, actually, that's too smart, that's too smart. Really, when I'm close to birth and death, really, I'm going to write Buddhadharma Sangha. I'm not going to write something smart, something special, something clever. I hope I don't. I hope I write something really common, Buddhadharma Sangha. And I hope I take refuge in that rather than some smart thing I thought of saying. So, sattva-kriya, shila, the precept of maturing beings, is really just total devotion to triple

[61:54]

treasure to Dharma, Buddha and Sangha, that's all it really is. But it takes this form sometimes of clever statements, but sometimes not so clever, especially when you come right down to it. There's nothing really that clever. So of course we could study these three precepts and particularly, as I said, we could go over a million Zen stories and look at each one as an example of how the compassionate Zen practitioners endeavored to mature, not just as students but themselves, and how the students similarly endeavored to mature not just themselves but their teachers, because the students are what make a teacher. We students must make good teachers, we teachers must make good students, it's a mutual thing.

[63:03]

And so from now to the rest of our lives we can look at all the stories of all the Buddhists as examples of how to mature beings. So tomorrow I think we can start studying the ten grave precepts, we can start studying the precept about not killing. We can start studying the ten grave precepts, we can start studying the ten grave precepts.

[64:25]

BUDDHA SUDDHO MUNCHO ZE GANGYO BEINGS ARE NUMBERLESS, I VOW TO SAVE THEM. DELUSIONS ARE INEXHAUSTIBLE, I VOW TO END THEM. DHARMA AND THE AIDES ARE NON-BLESSED, I VOW TO ENTER THEM. BUDDHA'S WAYS ONCE RECURSIBLE, I VOW TO BECOME.

[65:06]

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