We just chanted this essay or these verses by Heihei Dogen Daisho. Sometimes I've said that this is his vow, his personal vow that he wrote. But it is that it's a writing which is a vow which is intended to arouse the vow as we read it. But the first part is kind of literally a vow. We vow, it says, from this life on through to hear the true Dharma. So those are the words, saying the words, we vow to hear the true Dharma. Saying the words is not necessarily the same as actually the deep intention.

[01:01]

and commitment of a vow to hear the true Dharma. But that's what he wrote for the sake of arousing such a vow. This same person, E. A. Dogen, said that the, you know, all Buddha ancestors who take care of and transmit it have made it the true path of enlightenment to sit upright, practicing in the midst of

[02:32]

self-fulfilling awareness or self-receiving and self-realized samadhi. That practicing in the midst of that awareness is the true path of enlightenment. So I'm proposing to you that this awareness in which the ancestors, the Buddhas and ancestors, sit upright, which is the true path, is an awareness which is generated by and carried forth by great vows. So they're sitting upright in the midst of great vows, vast, inconceivable vows.

[03:36]

This self-perceiving and employing awareness is the mind of the great vow. And it is practicing in the midst of that great vow. So there seems to be a slight difference between the bodhisattva's vow and the bodhisattva's practice, which is in the midst of the vow. The vow is, in a sense, the context or the, yeah, the context or the, almost the life of the bodhisattva. Practice.

[04:41]

And how do they practice? Well, they sit upright. And one way to understand sitting upright is that they, they contemplate In the midst of their vow, they are contemplating the way everything really is. So, it's probably not a surprise to you that bodhisattvas would sit upright and contemplate the way all things are. that they would sit upright, like Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva, sitting upright contemplating that all form is emptiness and all emptiness is form, that feelings are emptiness and emptiness is feelings and so on, that all things are emptiness. Bodhisattvas contemplate this. This is contemplating the way things really are, that all things are empty, unborn,

[05:51]

unhindered, inconceivable. And also, emptiness is all things, forms, feelings, and so on. This is what Bodhisattva is meditating on. This may not be a surprise to you. But what about the vow? Well, also they contemplate the vow. But also they contemplate the way the vow really is. also is empty and vast like space, inconceivable, ungraspable, unborn, undying. They live by their vow and they practice contemplation of the way things are. They live by their vow and they practice contemplation of the middle way. the middle way that everything is.

[06:54]

There's a scripture which some of you may be very familiar with. It's called the Diamond Sutra of Perfect Wisdom. Vajracetika Prajnaparamita Sutra. Towards the beginning of the sutra, the main interlocutor of Buddha and Sutra. And Subuddhi generally is the disciple of Buddha who asks the questions in the Prajnaparamita Sutra most. So he asks the Buddha in this scripture, or he says to the Buddha, it is rare how the Dattagata, how the Buddha blesses bodhisattvas, blesses fearless bodhisattvas with the greatest blessing, and how the Buddha entrusts the fearless bodhisattvas with the greatest entrustment.

[08:29]

Even so, how should bodhisattvas set forth on the path? Stand, walk, sit, conduct their mind. I was struck by that, even so. I hadn't really noticed that before, recently. So Subhuti is saying how the Buddha blesses the fearless bodhisattvas and entrusts them. So after he blesses them and entrusts them, it seemed like in some ways, well, What more is there to say or do?

[09:36]

They've been blessed and entrusted. But even so, even though you've done this, you don't know how these bodhisattvas who want to walk this path, or how somebody who wants to walk the bodhisattva path, how they should walk, stand, and take care of their body and mind. Somebody who wants to walk the bodhisattva path and is fearless in doing so, the Buddha blesses and entrusts the person. Still, please tell us how the bodhisattva will go. So then the Buddha says, great question. And then he says, those who wish to walk on the path of the bodhisattva should give rise to this thought.

[10:42]

And I would say those who wish to walk on the path of the bodhisattva should give rise to this vow. Here's the thought, here's the vow, here's the thinking. However many beings, and then he goes into great detail about all the possible kinds of beings, however many beings in however many realms, in the realm of complete nirvana, I will liberate them all. That's the first part of how they... The next part is, and though I liberate countless beings, not a single being is liberated.

[11:48]

So the bodhisattvas vowed to liberate all beings and also it says, In the realm of complete nirvana they liberate all beings. So the bodhisattvas are in the realm of complete nirvana and in that realm they liberate all beings. And although they liberate all these beings, countless beings, there's not a single being liberated. In other words, they live in this vow, and they contemplate the way things are. They live in this vow to save all beings, and they do save all beings, and in the realm they save not a single being saved, because in the realm where they save beings,

[13:04]

They contemplate the way beings are. They wish to save them, but the way they save them is to contemplate the way they really are. And their contemplation of the way beings are is based on their wish to save them. They don't just contemplate the way beings are. They contemplate the beings which they're devoted to. So this is making the vow, living by the vow, and then practicing contemplating the way things are. Making the vow to benefit all beings and then contemplate all beings. So it's making vows, it's living vows, and it's also contemplating the way vows really are.

[14:10]

In the same chant at noon service, I believe, after saying that the true path of enlightenment for the Buddha ancestors who take care of the inconceivable Dharma, the true path is to sit upright in this self-fulfilling awareness. A little bit later he says, from the first time you meet a teacher... without engaging in incense offering, bowing, chanting Buddha's name, repentance, or reading scriptures. You could also say, without making bows, but he didn't go that far. You should just wholeheartedly sit and thus drop away body and mind. So wholeheartedly sit and drop away body and mind. What is that? It says, without doing any of these Buddhist practices, just wholeheartedly sit and drop away body and mind.

[15:54]

So I propose to you to consider that this is to vow, like the Bodhisattvas and the Buddhists vow, and then to contemplate the way things are. And again, if we contemplate the way things are without the vow, I propose that it's pretty difficult to contemplate the way things are wholeheartedly. So the Buddha has said in the Lotus Sutra, I'm always thinking. I'm always thinking.

[16:58]

Help all beings enter the supreme way and quickly accomplish Buddhahood. So the Buddha is saying that she's always thinking this way. But simultaneously with that thinking, the Buddha is also contemplating the way the thinking is and the way the beings thought of are. Sometimes there's a true zazen.

[18:02]

And in some context what that means, if the person who's speaking is a Buddha or a bodhisattva, true zazen means the zazen of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the satsang of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. So again, I propose to you that the sitting meditation of Buddhas and bodhisattvas is carried forth by, it is accomplished by great vows together with the practice of contemplating the way things are. Two together, not one or the other. It's to make vows correctly, And correctly means to realize that the beings that you wish to save are vast and inconceivable, ungraspable, infinite, unhindered, unborn.

[19:19]

These are the beings that you wish to save. And you wish to save them. Without the vow, the contemplation will not live. Without the contemplation, the vow, not correct. Because you could get into thinking that I wish to save all beings and these beings exist. These beings are born. These beings increase and decrease. These beings are better than those beings. And so on. Delusion is not as good as enlightenment. So part of this is I'm devoted to all beings and want to give them the best assistance to enter this and attain Buddhahood, realize Buddhahood, and

[20:25]

I regard all beings the same. And beings means humans, non-humans, and non-humans means animals and mountains and rivers, and non-humans means enlightenment and delusion. I treat enlightenment and delusion, men and women, friend and enemies, I treat them the same because I do the same thing with everybody. Namely, I vow to help them enter the way, and I contemplate the way. The thing I do with everybody is I contemplate the way everybody really is. And I do that so that my vow will be correct. So even the words and feelings of the bodhisattva vows can get off. unless the bodhisattva practices meditating on the middle way, on emptiness. But again, meditating on emptiness cannot really come to fruit without the bodhisattva vow, without the Buddha vow.

[21:39]

I don't think we can really wholeheartedly do anything without the vow. the vow which opens us to the totality of our life, which is all beings. But if we open up to all beings, unless we contemplate them properly, we still won't be wholehearted. So the simple instructions to just wholeheartedly sit is wonderful. And the wholehearted sitting entails, requires these vast vows and vast dedication to all beings. So it's very simple. Just be devoted to all beings. That's called wholehearted. And then when you sit in that dedication, you're sitting wholeheartedly. But if you're sitting wholeheartedly, but there's somebody who you're not dedicated to, there's somebody

[22:49]

who you don't really deeply desire to assist entering the supreme way, then you're not sitting wholeheartedly. But, again, if you're wholeheartedly sitting, in other words, you're sitting in the vow to help all beings, completely give yourself to all beings and completely open yourself to all beings, completely open yourself unlimited responsibility with and for all beings. Still, to be wholehearted, we have to contemplate the beings which we're open to. So the wholeheartedness not only has that openheartedness and unlimited devotion, but it also has contemplating the way things are quality together. That's wholeheartedness. And if you sit that way, that's all you have to do.

[23:53]

But of course, that's something we have to learn. And it's challenging when we're struck by pain or struck by certain kinds of words which kind of spin us around. we sometimes forget our orientation of, oh, now what am I doing here again? I'm desiring to always think, I've lost it there for a second, but now I want to go back and always think of how to help beings enter the supreme way and realize Buddhahood. And also, I'm paying attention to the way they really are. Yeah, back again. Oh, no, I lost it again. Now what is it again? So that's Dogen's statement that because of our past karma, we can be spun around by the beings that are coming to us. And as we get spun, we sometimes get concerned, you know, for whether we're going to fall down and hurt ourselves, kind of get distracted from what?

[25:02]

What was it again? Oh, yeah. I actually desire to help all beings enter the supreme way. That was it. It wasn't that. And oh, yeah, and I'm also going to Pay attention to the way things are. And then again, things change. So then we confess, I lost it. And we confess it in the presence of the beings who we are devoted to. All beings, but in particular, primarily, we do it in the presence of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I think that a lot of Zen students think that they shouldn't be thinking. Sometime or other they shouldn't be thinking. They should be spending some of their time not thinking. But I just want to point out that the Buddha has said, I'm always thinking.

[26:06]

And I heard another Zen teacher say, if we want to realize the true source of anything good, he didn't say this, but basically anything good that you might think of, the true source of humanity, the true source of compassion, the true source of enlightenment, if you want to realize that source, just completely empty your head. So someone might think, well, that would be like having nothing in your head. But another way to do it would be just to realize the emptiness of your head, or the emptiness of what's in your head, the emptiness of your thoughts, the emptiness of your thinking. So Buddha's always thinking these vows and always emptying these vows. Your head is full of Buddha vows,

[27:15]

and empty them. Empty them by contemplating them and realizing their emptiness. But I'm kind of emphasizing also, well, first of all, let's do some thinking. What kind of thinking? Well, bodhisattva thinking. Bodhisattva, Buddhas think. So bodhisattva vow is to start thinking like bodhisattvas because they're thinking vows all the time. The kind of thinking they do is vow. It's called a vow. That's the way they think. All their thinking is vows. I propose to you, all the bodhisattva's thinking is vows. But the bodhisattvas practice contemplating the middle way of the vows, namely the vows don't exist or not exist, and so on.

[28:23]

Now, another interesting, for me, parallel is that, again, at noon service, if you're you were chanting and at the end of what we chant it says I don't know what your translation says currently here but at the end of this translation it says even if all the Buddhas in ten directions as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges and with the Buddha's wisdom try to measure the merit of one person's zazen they will not be able to fully comprehend it And one person's zazen may mean one person's Buddha zazen, not one person who thinks they're practicing by themselves zazen. One moment of... And Buddha zazen is to sit upright in the middle of this self-fulfilling awareness. Buddha zazen is this wholeheartedness, which is the same as dropping off body and mind.

[29:34]

So if all the Buddhas tried to measure one person doing that kind of practice, they wouldn't be able to fully comprehend it. They could measure it, but they wouldn't be able to fully measure it. And almost exactly the same thing is said at the end of this big sutra called the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Flower Adornment Sutra, at the end, the main bodhisattva of the sutra, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who's the bodhisattva of vows and practice. Bodhisattva vows and bodhisattva practice. He's the one who represents that. So he's talking to his young student, Sudhana, and he just happens to be describing, he starts talking about the virtues and merits of the Buddhas.

[30:46]

And he says, if all the Buddhas got together, innumerable as sands of the Ganges, and tried to measure the merit of Buddhas, they would never be able to do so. are immeasurable, and the merit of this zazen practice are both immeasurable. The merit of the Buddhas and the merit of the Buddhas' meditation are immeasurable. I mean, you can measure them, but you'll never finish. In one case, speaking of this immeasurable Buddha practice, just wholeheartedly sit. That's the practice described as just wholeheartedly sit.

[31:47]

In the other case, the practice, the way of realizing the merits of the Buddha, which is also the merits of the Buddha's practice, by thinking. So in the text we'll chant at noon service, just wholeheartedly sit and thus drop away body and mind. That practice is immeasurable, even by all the Buddhas. Now, which is also unmarriageable, which accomplishes the marriage of the Buddhas. The merit of the Buddhas is immeasurable and there's a practice which accomplishes it. And what is the practice that accomplishes it? Well, it's a practice which is ten different practices, ten different virtues, ten different vows, which Samantabhadra then

[32:58]

So the bodhisattva of vows and practice teaches that the way to accomplish the Buddha's merit and virtue, which is the way to accomplish the Buddha practice, which is the way to accomplish the Buddha way, is by thinking how. Well, yeah. It's thinking, like, I'll just do a short version now. This isn't really a long text. It's a small text at the end of a huge text. This is like Samantabhadra's instructions on, in some ways, ten ways of thinking, but also ten vows. They're called the Ten Vows of Samantabhadra. The first vow is to think.

[34:07]

This is a short form, okay? To think. I will constantly... I vow to constantly pay homage to all Buddhas. That's a way of thinking. I vow to do that. And I'll go into more detail about vows later, but it basically... Think like this, how? I will, I vow to constantly pay homage to all Buddhas. That would mean when scratching your cheek, I would be paying homage to all Buddhas. It doesn't say I can't scratch my cheek, but just that while I'm scratching my cheek, I'm paying homage to all Buddhas.

[35:11]

And it's not exactly that I think I'm the Buddha, and that I think I'm stroking Buddha's cheek, but a little bit like that. I'm stroking a cheek and also paying homage. Whatever I'm doing, in body, speech, and mind, always vow that that will be paying homage to all Buddhas. That's, well, that strikes me as kind of being rather wholehearted. Everything I would do would be that way. And I'll be that way. I vow to be that way. This is what the great Samantabhadra first of all recommends if you wish to accomplish Buddhahood.

[36:21]

Although Durbin didn't exactly say it this way, he sort of did, that when you're sitting in a Zen center, or walking in a Zen center, every moment is giving homage, paying homage to all Buddhas. And next, constantly, no matter what I'm doing, body, speech and mind, constantly make offerings to all Buddhists. So again, whatever action I'm involved in, all my thinking, I'm not thinking to make all my thinking thinking as and of offerings to Buddhists. So if I think of opening a door, that's not exactly thinking of making an offering.

[37:28]

but my thinking of opening the door, I vow that that will be an offering to the Buddhas. Sometimes I might think of making an offering to Buddha. I make whatever thinking I'm doing an offering to Buddha. And if I say good morning, that isn't exactly the same as saying homage to Buddha. Right? But while I say good morning, that I can... intent, promise, and feel that really I'm also not just saying good morning to somebody, but I'm making that good morning to somebody an offering to Buddha. That's the second vow. The third vow is to praise all Buddhas constantly with body, speech, and mind. It speaks of singing the praises of Buddha. but it also speaks of singing the praises of Buddha with your body and your mind, not just your voice.

[38:36]

And I'll just finish the list and come back to it later, but just give you the overview. And the fourth one is, the fourth vow is to think. I will confess all my shortcomings in the presence of all Buddhas. And the fifth one is to think and to vow. I will rejoice in the merits of others. And the sixth is to think. I will request the Buddhas to turn the wheel of the Dharma. The seventh is, think, I will beseech, I will beg the Buddhas to stay in the world if they're about to go away.

[39:49]

The eighth, no, the seventh. No, you didn't say the seventh. So one, number one, homage. Number two, offering. Number three, praise. Number four, confession of my shortcomings and repentance. Number five, rejoice. Number six, request to teach. Number seven, beseech to stay. Number eight, to do all the practices that all the Buddhas have done. for example, to meditate on the way things really are. But all the other practices they've done, to think, will do all the practices that Buddhas have done to think that. And number nine, to think, I will accommodate and come into accord with all living beings.

[40:58]

Sometimes it's translated as, I will serve all living beings. So it has to do with sort of accommodating to them. The Buddhas we actually imitate and copy. Sentient beings we kind of accord with to serve them. And number 10 is to dedicate the merit of all these vows and all this wholeheartedness. to dedicate this to the enlightenment of all unenlightened beings, all living beings. Those are the ten vows. Ten ways of thinking. Ten ways of thinking exaltedly. And thinking that way accomplishes Buddha's practice, accomplishes Buddhahood, accomplishes wholehearted sitting. So I propose to you that if you're sitting, if you're ever sitting and you ever thought you were sitting wholeheartedly, and a lot of people don't ever claim that, but if you ever could imagine, if you just could imagine that someday you would be sitting wholeheartedly, like completely present, distracted, like

[42:21]

Finally, you're completely here and no place else ever. You really found the place right where you are. And the practice is actually happening. And you're really here. You might think, wow, I think I'm wholehearted. Well, I just say, well, you want to check to see if you're wholehearted? Is... Just to check to see if you have any, if there's anybody, any being in the universe that you don't feel open to and want to serve. Is there any being who is... Do you have any problem with making what you're doing an offering to Buddhas? In your presence, in your wholeheartedness, is there any limitation like that? Is there anything you don't want to have to do with? Is there any work you don't want to have to open to? And if there is, is there any way you can do that in offering to Buddha, a praise to Buddha, an homage to Buddha?

[43:25]

And then, also, are you contemplating the way your wholeheartedness is? Or are you grasping it as something that you can get a hold of? You may have attained it at the same time attaining it by realizing that it's vast, unborn, ungraspable. But still, it's been realized. Would you like me to post those 10 things on the bulletin board? Yeah, I'll put this on the bulletin board.

[44:16]

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