I don't know if you were expecting that when you came for the one day sitting it would be on the day of the celebration and memorial of the Pari Nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. Were you expecting that? Did you know about that? No? Some of you knew and some of you didn't know. I hope this fact that this is happening today and that we'll be doing a ceremony doesn't disorient you from your meditation. Try to stay calm throughout the rituals that will be happening in the room.

[01:05]

Please excuse our ceremonies. I was attracted to Zen. I was attracted to the Buddha way through the Zen door I was not attracted to Shakyamuni Buddha originally. I vaguely knew about the Buddha. I'd seen statues, huge statues in books. But they didn't really move me much. What really moved me was actually a picture of a person, ordinary man, sitting in a zazen posture on a tatami mat.

[02:13]

And the stories of East Asian Zen monks were what really opened my heart to the Buddha's teaching. But through that Zen door, I've gradually come to be closer and closer to this word, Shakyamuni Buddha. I can't say I'm really intimate with whatever this is, but whenever I think of this day and his passing away, it's very easy for me to start crying. Not exactly that I regret that he had to go,

[03:24]

but just that I feel so deeply about Shakyamuni Buddha now. I still love the Zen door, but really the Zen door is to the Buddha that connects Zen and all the other schools. Well, the Zen master Unman said something like, I don't ask you about before the 15th of the month or after. Is that what he said? Something like that? Or without referring to before the 15th or after the 15th, what do you have to say?

[04:37]

And he answered for the monks, every day is a good day. When Shakyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma, he awakened Ajnatha Kondinya. In his last discourse on dharma, he awakened subhadra. All those who were to be awakened had awakened. Between the two shala trees, he was about to enter nirvana. And on the altar now you see the picture of the Buddha with his students in the two shallow trees as he's reclining there.

[05:49]

In the middle of the night, calm and without sound, for the sake of all his students, all his disciples, he briefly spoke the essentials of the Dharma. He was speaking to monks. All around the monks were great bodhisattvas where the monks couldn't see. And in the picture on the altar, there's not only the monks, but the great bodhisattvas are there too. he spoke to his monks. He said, O monks, after I pass away, respect and cherish the precepts. Follow the precepts as your light in the darkness, like a poor person finding a great treasure.

[07:04]

Please know that the precepts are your teacher. To have precepts is the same as if I were to remain in the world with you. Those who would hold the precepts ought not to engage in trade, to possess fields and dwellings, to rule over other people, or to keep servants or animals. Please refrain from raising plants and accumulating wealth, just as you would avoid a fire pit. You ought not to cut grass and trees, plow the soil, or dig the earth. Mixing medicines, telling fortunes, observing the star's positions,

[08:11]

predicting the phases of the moon and calculating auspicious calendar days are all things which ought not to be done. He was talking to monks, and here at Green Gulch, as you know, we do plow the earth... We do, in a sense, possess fields and dwellings. We don't keep servants or animals. But we do raise plants, cut grass and trees, and so on. He asked his monks not to do any of that. but just to concentrate on the path of freedom.

[09:18]

In China, when the Zen school arose, the Zen monks practiced farming. At this time in the history of the Buddhist lineage, these were the Buddhist recommendations to the monks. Later, the monks did not feel that it was appropriate to try to live by begging alone. Perhaps the Buddha would say, if the Buddha were living in China, that now things have changed and it's alright for the monks to do this. I think the point is that don't ever do anything that does not promote the welfare of all beings.

[10:41]

Only those actions which promote the welfare of all beings are conducive to liberation. And that's what the precepts are about. Human animals created precepts to help them be happy and free and kind to all beings. The practice is not for the sake of the precepts. The precepts are for the sake of the practice. Still, this is what the Buddha said, and I wonder about what we do today relative to the intention of his words at that time.

[11:50]

He went on to say, control your bodies, eat at the proper times, conduct yourselves in purity. Do not become involved in worldly affairs or act as a messenger, perform magic or mix potions or become closely acquainted with eminent people. Again, sometimes people entrusted yogis and religious people to be messengers in those days or to perform magic or to mix potions. The Buddha said, don't spend your time doing those things.

[13:01]

But still, I think if the Buddha saw someone who needed a potion mixed, the Buddha would do it. The Buddha also said at one point, these precepts are not for me. They're for you. I don't need these precepts. And one of the monks said, well, how come? You know, is this a double standard? And he said, it's like a person, like a king. who has a game reserve. And there's rules by which other people use the game reserve. But this person doesn't have to follow the rules because it's his game reserve. The precepts are conducive to liberation, but the liberated one The precepts are not an external thing to that person.

[14:08]

So the Buddha could hang out with eminent people, but he recommended that the monks don't. There's a story of a Zen monk who trained for many years in the mountains around Kyoto. When he finished his training, he went down into the city and spent time with the rich and beautiful people of the capital. But he realized after a little while that he wasn't ready for that life and went back up in the mountains and studied for many more years. And then he came back down again and he could handle the exposure to the eminent, which also often means rich and powerful and beautiful. With a clear mind and right mindfulness, you should seek awakening.

[15:24]

You ought not to conceal your wrongdoings Express mistaken views or lead people astray. In receiving the four kinds of offering, know that it is a proper amount and be content with it. When you receive an offering, you should not hoard it. Now I shall speak briefly of how to protect the precepts. Precepts are the basis of true liberation. Therefore they are called pratimoksha, that which leads towards liberation. By relying on the precepts, you will give rise to all the jhanas and to the knowledge of the end of suffering. For this reason, O monks, you should keep the precepts and not let them be lost.

[16:30]

If you keep the precepts, then you will obtain good. If you do not keep the precepts, no merit will arise at all. Therefore, you should know the precepts are the dwelling place of equanimity, which is the ultimate merit. O monks, you have been abiding in the precepts, therefore you should control the five senses. Do not leave the senses unguarded, allowing them to enter the five desires. It is like a cowherd brandishing a stick to keep his cows from wandering into another person's seedbed. If you indulge the five senses, the five desires will become unbounded and you will be unable to control them.

[17:36]

Again, it is like a bad-tempered horse, which is not controlled by a bit, falling into a ditch and pulling his rider down on him. Likewise, the suffering of being injured by a robber lasts only for one lifetime, while the harm caused by the five senses by not guarding the five senses extends through many lifetimes, creating very great pain. Do not neglect to be mindful. For this reason, the wise man controls his senses and does not allow them to wander unattended. He guards them like prisoners and does not let them wander about. Even if he lets them go free, before long they will all be extinguished.

[18:44]

So the Buddha is recommending that as we experience the five senses, we guard them. Guard them means do not indulge in them. Do not lean away from the negative sensations, the negative colors, sounds, smells, tastes or tangibles. Do not lead towards or be prejudiced towards the positive sights, sounds, tastes, smells, intangibles. This is what he mentioned in his last few moments among his students.

[20:01]

The senses themselves are sometimes called robbers. It sounds like kind of a nasty way to talk about normal sense processes. There's really nothing wrong with the senses. It's the lazy, unguarded, non-vigilant, unmindful presence with them. That's the problem. Once we lean into them, we can be carried away and do whatever So he says, be very careful of the senses, moment by moment, color by color, sound by sound, be mindful.

[21:11]

Continue to be upright and alert. When a sentient being comes near you and you see them, and the sight of them is a negative sight, a negative sensation, a negative feeling arises, if you lean away from that sentient being, from that negative sensation, this can lead to great harm for that sentient being and for you. You can abandon them or harm them. Similarly, if there's a positive sensation that arises at seeing this sentient being, if you lean towards them, this can also lead to great harm to that sentient being and to you.

[22:26]

To meet this person uprightly, A compassionate and wide response will naturally arise. You will become harmless and beneficial. O bhikshus, O monks receiving food and drink, you should accept it as medicine. Do not take more of what you like and less of what you dislike.

[23:32]

Just take enough to support the body and avoid starvation and thirst. As a bee takes only the sweet taste from flowers without harming their color or scent, so, monks, should you. Accept just enough of people's offerings to avoid distress. Don't ask for too much and destroy their good intentions. This is compared to a wise person who knows the strength of his ox and does not overload it. O monks, by day practice good with determination. Don't let your time be wasted. Likewise,

[24:37]

In the evening and the morning before sunrise, do not neglect your efforts. In the middle of the night, recite the scriptures. Thus you should order your life. Do not let your life pass by in vain, without achievement. Please remember that the whole world is being consumed by the fire of impermanence. Please seek to awaken yourself. O monks, remember your shaven heads.

[25:41]

You have already abandoned ornamentation, you wear plain clothes and practice begging. Look at yourself in this way. If pride arises, you should extinguish it immediately. Burgeoning pride is not appropriate even for those living in the world, let alone those who have left home to enter the way. who subdue their bodies and practice begging to achieve liberation. O monks, a dishonest mind is incompatible with the way. For this reason, please cultivate honesty. Please know that dishonesty produces nothing but deceit.

[26:43]

One who has entered the way, therefore, does not dwell in that place. For this reason, monks, you should have upright mind and act on the basis of honesty. O monks, you should know that a person of many desires, by seeking greatly for her own gain, has much suffering also. The person of few desires, neither seeking nor desiring anything, does not have this sorrow. Simply for this reason, Please practice fewness of desires. How much more so should you practice it because it gives rise to all good merit?

[27:51]

This practice avoids pain and gives rise to merit. The person that few desires does not manipulate others' minds through dishonesty. nor is she carried away by the six sense organs. The mind of one who practices fewness of desires is tranquil and has no worries. Whatever is at hand is enough, and there is never insufficiency. For one who has few desires, there is nirvana. Such is the practice of the fewness of desires. O monks, if you want to be free of all suffering, you must know contentment.

[29:02]

The state of contentment is a condition of prosperity and ease. One who is contented is happy when she has only the earth to lie on. One who is not contented is dissatisfied even when she dwells in a celestial palace. One who is not contented is poor no matter how rich she may be. One who is contented is rich no matter how poor she may be. One who is not contented is constantly pulled by the five sense desires and is therefore pitied by one who is contented. Such is the practice of contentment. O monks, if you seek the bliss of unchanging tranquility, you must leave behind the hubbub of society and live alone in a quiet retreat.

[30:28]

On Thursday nights, I have a meditation class in Berkeley in a place called the Yoga Room. The class starts at 7.30 with quiet sitting meditation. Usually at that time, the neighbors outside the yoga room put their dogs out. So the dogs, more than one dog, and they start barking. Also at that time airplanes fly overhead and there's lots of street noise and buses particularly with those turn signals and their big engines. Also in the same building there's two ballet classes, two ballet rooms and each one has their own piano. So there's two sets of piano music playing ballet music in various obnoxious combinations contradicting and conflicting with each other.

[31:41]

Quite a few people in the class have dropped out. Superficial calm does not hold up in the yoga room. Very noisy. The hubbub is there. What does it mean to leave it behind? It means just that. It means leave it behind. And sometimes, in the midst of all that hubbub, one finds a place of peace right in the middle of it. It's not that your senses stop functioning, but it all drops away, even while it still goes on.

[32:49]

It drops away when you no longer try to get rid of it. There's a place where we're not fighting the hubbub and not attracted to it either. This is what the Buddha is pointing to. One who lives at this place is honored by Indra and all the gods. For this reason, you should leave your own and other communities and live alone in this remote place. Intent on extinction of the origin of suffering. One who enjoys company receives sufferings of being in company. Just as when a large flock of birds living together in a tree is in danger of withering.

[33:59]

If you are attached to the world, you sink into the common suffering, just as an old elephant drowning in a swamp cannot get himself out. Such is the practice of tranquility. O monks, if you diligently practice meticulous right effort, nothing will be difficult. For this reason, please be diligent in practice of right effort. Just as a constant trickle of water will bore a hole in a rock, if the mind of the practitioner is inclined to indolence It is just like one who rubs wood to start a fire and rests before the wood is hot.

[35:10]

Even though such a one wants to have fire, the fire cannot be had. Such is the practice of right effort. O monks, do not let your mindfulness be lost. Do not forget right thought. If you do not lose mindfulness, the passions cannot enter. For this reason, monks, please always maintain mindfulness. If you lose mindfulness, you lose all merit. The power of your mindfulness is strong. You cannot be harmed by the five sense desires, even though they may arise.

[36:16]

Just as if you enter a battlefield wearing armor, there's nothing to fear. Such is the practice of not losing mindfulness. O monks, if you unify your mind by practicing concentration, your mind abides in peace. When your mind abides in concentration, you can understand the marks of the arising and extinction of all things in the world. For this reason, monks, you must always practice concentration with diligence. If you attain concentration, the mind does not become scattered. Just as a horse which conserves water Just as a house which conserves water keeps the banks of the pond in good repair, so the practitioner, for the sake of the water of wisdom, should concentrate in meditation and not let it leak out.

[37:27]

Such is the practice of concentration. O monks, if you have wisdom, you have no greed. Always examine yourself and do not let wisdom be lost. When through my teaching, then through my teaching, you can attain liberation. If you do not do so, you are not following the path. Nor are you a layman either. Truly, wisdom is a stout ship which carries you across the sea of old age, sickness, and death. Again, it is a great lamp illuminating the darkness of ignorance. It is an excellent medicine for all sicknesses.

[38:31]

It is a sharp axe which cuts down the tree of afflictive passions. For this reason, all monks, through listening, thinking, and practicing, please increase your wisdom. If you have bright wisdom, you will see clearly into the nature of all things, such as wisdom. Finally, monks, If you engage in all manners of useless talk, your mind will be confused. Avoid idle talk. Even if you have left home, you will not attain liberation if you engage in idle chatter. For this reason, monks, please immediately leave behind confused thought and useless talk.

[39:36]

If you want to attain the bliss of Nirvana, you need only extinguish the evil of useless talk. If you want to attain the bliss of Nirvana, you need only extinguish the evil of useless talk. Isn't that amazing? If you want to attain the bliss of nirvana, you need only extinguish the evil of useless talk. But that's really hard to do. All monks Of all meritorious practice, you should wholeheartedly concentrate on shunning every form of self-indulgence, just as you would avoid a robber.

[40:45]

The beneficial teaching of the greatly compassionate, world-honored one has now been completed. whether you live in the mountains or by the water, under a tree, or in a remote place, or in a quiet room. Set your mind on the teaching you have received and do not let it be forgotten. You must always endeavor to practice with right effort. If you die vainly, Having done nothing, you will regret it in the future. I am a good doctor who recognizes the illness and prescribes a medicine. Whether or not the medicine is taken is not determined by the doctor. Again, I am like a good guide who shows people the best path.

[41:49]

If they do not take the path after hearing about it, it is not the fault of the guide. All monks, if you have any doubts now about the Four Noble Truths, please ask them immediately. Do not harbor doubts without seeking to resolve them. Three times the World Honored One exhorted the monks thus, but no one in the assembly spoke out, for they had no doubts. At that time, Anuruddha, who had highly developed ability to read others' minds, perceived the minds of those in the assembly and said to the Buddha, World honored one, though the moon may grow hot and the sun grow cold, the four noble truths taught by the Buddha cannot change.

[42:58]

The truth of suffering taught by the Buddha is of true suffering, which cannot turn into happiness. Attachment is truly the cause of this suffering and there is no other cause. Suffering is ended when its cause is ended. When attachment drops away, so does true suffering. The path of the end of suffering is indeed the true path and there is no other. World-honored one, all these monks are certain and without doubts regarding the Four Noble Truths. If in this assembly There are those who have not yet accomplished their task. When they see the passing of the Buddha, they will be grieved. But even those who have just entered the teaching will all attain awakening when they hear the Buddha's words, just as in a dark night a flash of lightning illuminates the road.

[44:14]

If there are those who have already accomplished their task in crossing the sea of suffering, they will only have this thought. How swift is the passing of the World Honored One. When Aniruddha spoke these words, everyone in the Great Assembly clearly understood the meaning of the Four Noble Truths. But the World Honored One, wishing that all in the Great Assembly might become stronger, spoke further to the Assembly with a mind of great compassion. O monks, do not grieve Even if I were to live in the world for as long as a kalpa, our coming together would have to end.

[45:22]

There can be no coming together without parting. The teaching which benefits both self and others has reached completion. Even if I were to live longer, there would be nothing to add to the teaching. Those who were to be awakened, whether in the heavens or among human beings, have been awakened. Those who have not yet been awakened all possess the conditions for awakening. If all my disciples practice the teaching from now on, through generation after generation, the Dharma body of the Tathagata will exist forever and will not be destroyed. Therefore, please know that all things in the world are impermanent.

[46:26]

Coming together inevitably means parting. Do not be troubled, for this is the nature of life. Diligently practicing right effort, you must seek liberation immediately. Let the light of wisdom destroy the darkness of ignorance. Nothing is secure. Everything in this life is precarious. Now I enter parinirvana. It is like getting rid of a bad illness.

[47:31]

This evil thing which you should discard is what we call the body. It has drowned the sea of birth, old age, disease and death. How could there be a wise one who would not rejoice in letting go of it? All monks, please always wholeheartedly seek the way of liberation for all beings. All things in the world whether moving or non-moving, are characterized by disappearance and instability. Stop now. Do not speak. Time is passing. I am about to cross over.

[48:40]

This is my final teaching. These words have been transmitted to us as a brief version of the Buddha's final teaching to his students.

[49:59]

He was able to teach like this on the verge of death. Perhaps you have some doubts or questions about the Buddha's teaching, about how it applies to you in your life, and whether you wish to make a commitment to the teachings which he recommended. If you do have doubts and questions, please ask them. clarify your questions just like the Buddha asked his disciples to do so. This may take you years, but the question is that you wholeheartedly clarify all these matters

[51:21]

all these practices, all these teachings. Don't skip over anything in the teaching and you will attain the way. The only thing he said in here about it being easy was he said, for those who wholeheartedly practice meticulously right effort, it won't be hard. But it's hard to practice that if you think there's any alternative. So now as we remember the passing of the great sage, it's a good day to consider whether we will receive and care for his teaching, as he said, so that it will live generation after generation.

[53:05]

So this teaching has been intimately transmitted from Buddha to Buddha for a long time, and now you have it. So please keep it well. our intention.

[54:54]

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