Sometimes in this room we recite the words, now all Buddhas and all ancestors who uphold Buddha Dharma have made it the true path of enlightenment to sit upright in the midst of self-fulfilling samadhi. Now I propose to you a practice. And it's a practice of those who actually are taking care of the Buddha Dharma or caring for it.

[01:05]

the enlightened truth or the truth of enlightenment. The truth of enlightenment, they care for it. And they care for it within a realm or in a state. And that state is the state which is the same practice and the same enlightenment for all of us. It's being present in this realm of self-awakening as awakening others that the Buddha ancestors take care of the Buddha Dharma.

[02:08]

This is the path of the practice of the Buddha ancestors, is to live in the moment of the same practice and the same enlightenment of all beings. And this is also said to be where each moment is equally wholeness of practice, equally wholeness of enlightenment. Where each moment is whole-hearted. where each heartbeat is wholehearted, where it's the heartbeat which is the same practice and the same enlightenment for you and me and all beings.

[03:35]

in this practice, in this realm, in the realm of this practice, in the realm of this practice which is the practice of all beings, there is the practice of giving, there is the practice of ethical discipline, there is the practice of patience, There is the practice of enthusiasm, diligent effort. There is the practice of concentration. There is the practice of wisdom. All these practices live in this realm and each of these practices, each and every one of them, is the same practice for you and me and all beings. It's the same giving.

[04:53]

And for example, it is giving away, giving up, making a gift out of the discrimination between yourself and others. It's not hating the discrimination between yourself and others, and it's not liking it. It is making a discrimination, any discrimination, all discriminations, making them gifts. My practice discriminated from your practice, I give it away. And this giving, which is giving and not seeking, this not seeking, which is giving, is in accord with the practice which is the same practice as you and me.

[06:10]

I give up the discrimination between you and me as a gesture, as an expression of the practice which is the same for you and me. We just recited a verse, a verse given to arouse the vow, to arouse the bodhisattva vow.

[07:29]

At the beginning of this verse was a vow from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma. that could be called a bodhisattva vow. And you could say that this is the pure and simple color of true practice, that you vow to hear the true Dharma. Every moment you vow to hear the true Dharma. you vow to hear the truth of the Dharma. You vow to hear the truth of all beings having the same practice and the same enlightenment.

[08:32]

This is difficult to be mindful of all the time. We have a body and mind which is very busy discriminating. which has all kinds of tendencies to keep watching to see how things are going relative to our own life. Just a moment ago I was with a little dog and the dog's the dogs, which I call human mother, was saying that this dog is into watching rather than witnessing.

[09:57]

Like watching anxiously to see what's going to happen next. Are we going for a walk or not? But not just witnessing what was going on, but watching to see what's going to happen now. What am I going to get or not get next? It's hard for her to practice giving. It's hard for her to understand the instructions to practice giving. To to look at the vow to hear the true Dharma. It's hard for her, and it's hard for us, because we're busy too.

[11:02]

And on top of all the other work we have to do, some of us feel overwhelmed with our responsibilities. It seems in a way, now also I'm supposed to Be mindful of the bodhisattva vows. Yeah, in a sense, yes. You're busy doing things and now on top of that give close attention to everything you're doing. Be mindful in every action. of giving everything away, of making everything a gift. Be mindful in every action to give your action and make your action the bodhisattva way.

[12:07]

To make this exhale a gift, to make this inhale a gift, to make this posture this moment and this posture this moment and this posture this moment for the rest of the day. Every moment you have a posture. Every moment you have postural action. Every posture you experience the rest of the day will be your karma. a body. Everyone will be there. You will act physically all day long and for the rest of your life, of course. Now, how about being wholehearted about it? Join all your physical actions

[13:19]

to great bodhisattva vows. Some of you have perfect posture. But perfect posture is not necessarily the path of the bodhisattva, the path of the Buddhas. unless that posture is united with and nourished by the great vows of the bodhisattvas, which, for example, is very simply, got a posture? Here. I give it to all beings. Got a posture? I give it. Got a posture? I give it.

[14:21]

Got a posture? I give it. Every moment this posture is a gift to all of you. Got a discrimination? Got a discrimination between me and you? Make it a gift. Got a discrimination? Make it a gift. Got a vocalization? You won't be talking all day. You will be posturing all day and thinking all day, but you won't be talking all day. So talking, you won't be able to constantly give your speech away, but you can give your silence. You can give your silence. When you're speaking, the bodhisattva way is to make that speech a gift. Bodhisattvas practice giving, not seeking. They don't sit to get something. They sit not even to give something. They sit as giving.

[15:23]

I don't come to sit so I can practice giving. I come and practice giving. I sit as giving. Not sit to give. Sit as giving. Each moment of sitting is giving. And I vow to practice giving. I promise to make every moment a gift. Then my sitting, then my walking becomes wholehearted. And I give up the distinction between my giving and your giving. or between my stealing and your giving, or my giving and your stealing. I give up the distinction between I, the kind one, the patient one, and you, the nasty one, the impatient one, the disrespectful one.

[16:27]

I give up that discrimination when it arises, hopefully. I give up the discrimination between me and you when it arises. When it arises, give it up. Give it up. Give it away. Make it a gift. This is hard, of course. Usually, when the discrimination between you and someone comes up, especially you and someone who is disrespectful, In other words, the discrimination is respectful, disrespectful, respectful, disrespectful, disrespectful. Oops, it's not disrespectful. Oops, it's not disrespectful. Rude and polite. Now it's unrued. It's rude. That's the discrimination. I'll just hold it for a little while before I give it away. And while I'm holding it, I will attack the person for being rude. They deserve it. And then I'll give it away.

[17:29]

Now, how about before they're punished for their rudeness by you, the avenging angel, how about when that rudeness, that rude discrimination arises in your mind, as it arises, give it away. Before you, you know, do something with that discrimination of rudeness. Well, how about politeness? Well, same. Give it away before you say thank you. Give it away and say thank you. Rudeness, disrespect, respect, politeness, me, you, you, me, me, you. Every one of those things comes up. They do come up. Join those actions which are coming up, which are arising.

[18:35]

Join them if you wish to practice this way of the bodhisattva practice giving. Giving lives in the realm where we have the same practice and the same enlightenment. In the realm of Buddha Dharma, we have the same practice and the same enlightenment. Giving is one practice that lives there. And it happens to be first on the list. Bodhisattvas live in the realm of all beings practicing together. And they practice, first of all, giving. Then they practice ethical discipline. Now tomorrow we have a bodhisattva initiation ceremony where people will be receiving what are called the 16 great bodhisattva precepts

[19:48]

or you could say 16 great bodhisattva vows. So you can see these vows as you could see them under the heading of ethical discipline but you could also see them under the heading of giving and so on. Anyway, these vows live, these vows are given in the realm of our practice, which is the same practice as all beings. These vows, these precepts are given in the realm where we have the same practice and the same enlightenment. The practice of giving is to realize the realm of Buddhadharma.

[20:58]

The practice of these precepts is to realize the realm of Buddhadharma where Buddhas live and practice. Often these precepts are interpreted as intended to prevent wrongdoing and stop evil deeds. There's nothing wrong with preventing wrongdoing and stopping evil deeds as far as I know. Sounds good to me. But these precepts are not given with that intention. They are given with the intention of realizing the practice of the Buddhas, which of course doesn't oppose anything.

[22:03]

I don't know if I should say of course. I just say these precepts are given to realize, to express and enter the practice of the Buddhas. They are practices in the realm where the Buddhists practice. They're not practiced a place where people are doing evil. They're practiced where the evil people have the same practice as the good people. And they have the same enlightenment as the good people. That's the realm where these precepts are given. Here, someone else could take the same words and give them someplace else and say these precepts are to prevent evil, to stop wrongdoing.

[23:11]

which I don't criticize at all. I'm just saying here the precepts are given to realize the actual practice of the Buddhas, which is a little bit more than just not doing evil, but not separate from doing evil and not separate from doing good. And these 16 precepts are vows which in the history of the movement, the so-called great vehicle movement, in the history of this movement, particularly these precepts, the first three are going for refuge in the triple treasure, going for refuge in Buddha,

[24:19]

Dharma and Sangha. Those are the first three of these precepts. So there are infinite bodhisattva vows. For example, there is the vow to join every action with paying homage to all Buddhas. That's a Bodhisattva vow of a noted Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva's name is Samantabhadra. And Samantabhadra practiced ten great vows. And the first one was, in every action, in the process of every action, every moment, pay homage to all Buddhas. Or you could say, make every action an action of homage to all Buddhas.

[25:25]

That's an example of a bodhisattva vow of a leading bodhisattva. As a matter of fact, in our meal chant we say Samantabhadra's name. Samantabhadra is his main claim to fame is he's the bodhisattva of vows. Vows and practice. And these are one of his vows. But not all bodhisattvas practice that vow. Maybe. But almost all bodhisattvas do practice the vow, do promise and practice, and practice and promise. They practice going for refuge in Buddha. They practice going for refuge in Dharma. They practice going for refuge in Sangha. Almost all bodhisattvas do that.

[26:28]

And then the next three are the practice of practicing all the forms and ceremonies of our tradition, which is often paired with avoiding evil. Next one is to practice all wholesome activities. And the next is to embrace and benefit all beings. Those are the next three. To embrace and sustain the forms and ceremonies of practice. To embrace and sustain all wholesome actions. and to embrace and sustain all beings. Those general practices are also practices which almost all bodhisattvas vow to do. And then we have 10 major precepts. And then there's also 48 minor precepts. So a total of 58 precepts which are of the prohibitive expression.

[27:38]

Things to give up. Things to give up. Things to give up. Like, for example, the first ten are giving up killing, giving up stealing, giving up sexual misconduct, giving up lying, giving up intoxicating actually others is the way it was put in ancient times. And there's a minor precept of giving up intoxicating yourself, but particularly give up intoxicating others. So we say give up intoxicating self or others. And then give up speaking of others' faults or slandering others. Give up praising yourself while putting others down.

[28:44]

Give up attaching to things, even wonderful things like teachings, Dharma teachings. Give up anger. Give it up. and give up saying anything disrespectful of the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Sangha. These are 10 major precepts and then there's 48 other ones but we don't practice those, we don't give those in our ceremony here. So those are bodhisattva precepts, bodhisattva vows, which are shared by almost all the different bodhisattvas like Samantabhadra, Manjushri, you and me. Most of us feel okay about those precepts, although some of us may have some unsureness of some of the practices. Those are the 16 bodhisattva precepts of the tradition of this temple.

[29:50]

And you can see them under the ethical discipline if you want. But what I'm emphasizing today for all of us is that these are given in the context of the practice of Buddhadharma. And in that context, these precepts are exercises in opening to wholeheartedness of the same practice and the same enlightenment of all beings. So I'm practicing not killing. I vow to practice not killing. And in that vow I also am mindful that my commitment and my promise to try to practice the precept of not killing, I'm doing that in the context of Buddhadharma. So I'm doing that as the same practice, as my practice of it, being the same practice and the same enlightenment as all of you and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

[31:04]

And your way of practicing it, whether you've committed to it or not, is the same practice as me and the same enlightenment as me Even if you say, I don't accept this vow. I don't accept this precept of not killing. Even if you said that. When I hear that, if I'm committed to that precept of not killing, then I... understand that I need to give up the distinction between me who says yes I do promise to practice the precept of not killing and someone who says I do not promise to practice the precept of not killing. As a matter of fact in order to prevent evil we must kill the evil ones. We must go around the world and we must kill the evil people.

[32:05]

They are evil. They must be killed in order for us good people to triumph in the world. It's just, that's the way it is, some people say. And I, if I wish to practice the precept, the Bodhisattva precept of not killing, which I actually do, I also, if it's a bodhisattva precept, it is not me practicing it and him not practicing it. It is giving up that distinction between him practicing it and me practicing it, or me practicing and him not practicing it. It's to give away that distinction. There is a distinction and he would say, yes, I do not agree with you. In this case, I'm not practicing not killing. It would be wrong to not kill this person because they're evil. I don't speak of this person's faults.

[33:17]

When I say they want to kill, When I say they reject in this case the precept of not killing, when I say that, I say that without discussing his faults. I do note that there's a difference in our commitments, but I don't put him down and I don't talk about him in such a way, at least I should say, I vow to not talk about him in such a way as to make you care for him less. That's another bodhisattva precept called not discussing others' faults. That means not discussing them in such a way that anyone would feel less compassionate towards the person. not to speak about someone in such a way as to intoxicate people and distract them from giving away distinction between the person I'm talking about and themselves or the person I'm talking about and me.

[34:24]

How can I talk about someone who does not want to practice the precepts which I want to practice? How do I speak of that person without putting them down without besmirching them at all? How do I speak about them and awaken in myself and them the same practice and the same enlightenment? Well, I probably would speak respectfully and endearingly about the person who does not want to practice these Bodhisattva precepts. And I might speak endearingly and respectfully of those who do want to practice the Bodhisattva precepts, which is easy for me, without raising them above those who do not wish to practice the Bodhisattva precepts.

[35:25]

So, there is a comment on the precept of not discussing others' faults, which is within Buddha Dharma, all beings, all beings, all things, all events, all phenomena, all are the same path. Everybody's on the same path. The Marines, the U.S. Marines, the Republicans, the Democrats, the Taliban, the Israeli warriors, the Palestinians, the Russians, the Germans, the French, the men, the women,

[36:34]

the drugs, the drug dealers, the police, everybody is on the same path in the Buddha Dharma. There is a Bodhisattva precept which is called, don't slander, don't slander, don't slander yourself, don't slander others, because everybody is on the same path. If you speak of someone's faults, can you speak of it from the Buddha, Dharma. When you speak of someone's fault, understanding that this person you're talking about is on the same path as you and Buddha. That's that precept. That precept is don't discuss others' faults. You receive that precept and promise to practice that precept, then you're promising.

[37:37]

You're vowing to practice. If I see someone's faults, I give away, I give away that discrimination. I don't deny it. I don't obliterate it. I don't suppress it. I make it a gift. And I remember that this person who is on a different path from what I've committed to according to my discrimination, this person is on the same path as me. I just discriminated that they were on a different path. That's my discrimination. In the Buddha Dharma, nobody's on a different path. That's a comment on this Bodhisattva precept of not speaking of others' faults. I see others' faults. I know a lot of other people who can see others' faults. Yes, we can do that. Fine. That's a discrimination. in the realm of buddha dharma it becomes a gift in the realm of buddha dharma it becomes a gift not something to hold on to and believe in and hit people with it becomes a gift and also in the realm of buddha dharma i see and to train myself to enter i remember the teaching that this person is on the same path as me and also as all beings

[39:04]

All are on the same path. This is difficult. I vow to remember that. All are the same dharma. All are the same realization. All are the same practice. This is something. This is a bodhisattva precept. This is a bodhisattva teaching. which people tomorrow will receive and promise to keep thinking about. Can you imagine to promise to keep thinking about everybody's on the same path? Wow! You really want to promise that? Oh yeah! except it's going to be hard. Yeah, it's going to be hard to remember that when people seem to be running off in all these different paths. Get them back in your control here.

[40:08]

Well, that's fine too. Make that a gift. Get these people on the right path. Make that a gift. And remember that they're on the same path already. All the different paths are one path. That's the bodhisattva world. We're on the same path, we're in the same boat, we have the same practice. And we have discrimination. Of course, that you can see, that you know. You know all humans and all animals, you know that we all have discrimination. So you can say we're all definitely on the discrimination path. That's for sure. But not only that, but the Buddhas, who also have discriminative powers, who understand them and are free of them, they are also on the same path with all of us discriminators. And those Buddhas have the same enlightenment as us.

[41:13]

They don't have their own. We, and that's a discussion maybe for later, we can have our own enlightenment. There are some people who have their own enlightenment. There is such a thing as somebody who has their own. And it's amazing. This morning we pay homage to the Arhats. These are people who have their own enlightenment. It's amazing, they're enlightened. But Buddhas don't have their own enlightenment. Their enlightenment is the enlightenment which is the same enlightenment as ours, which is not a reduction in enlightenment. It's the Buddha's enlightenment. It's a bigger one. It's so big it includes us. And we include it. We include the enlightenment and the practice of all Buddhas. We have the same practice, the same enlightenment, the same Dharma, and the same path. This is a Bodhisattva precept. So we watch our behavior

[42:14]

and make it a gift throughout the day. Don't seek anything from this practice. Make this practice a gift every moment. And if you wish to receive the precept of not slandering, for example, or not killing, for example, consider this practice in this context of the same practice, the same path, the same Dharma, the same enlightenment as you and all beings. And just, if you wish, listen to me say that this has been said to be the true path to enlightenment. But it's tough.

[43:17]

It's tough when people are going off to invade foreign countries. It's tough when people drive oil tankers in and out of our beautiful bay and accidentally run into a bridge and spill 68,000 gallons of oil into the waters and and hurt all the animals and pollute our beaches, it's very difficult for us to feel that we're on the same path as those people, the same practice. It's hard, but it seems like this is the recommendation of the ancestors on the Bodhisattva path that we that we practice giving through this extremely challenging world, that we make what we're doing, we are doing stuff, yes, that comes naturally, and to make every action a gift, which means you have to be there to give the gift.

[44:31]

So we vow to be here, to be aware of what we're doing, and then make what we're doing, not just a general sign-off, like, okay, all my actions are gifts from now on. Where do I sign? But each one, you have to sort of like see it to give it. It isn't just an absentee generosity. Giving this action, giving your actions, because if you don't, you won't be able to appreciate this bodhisattva life. But it's hard. And yet, if we say to ourselves, if somehow everyone supports us to say, make every action a gift, isn't that where we all want to be? When I closed the book, I must confess I was not mindful of making that action a gift.

[46:22]

Now I'm confessing to you that I missed the opportunity as I closed the book I missed the opportunity to see that that was a gift. To close the book without seeking anything and to make my notebook closing action a gift, I missed. And now I'm confessing. But now I'm remembering to make this confession a gift to you. Now I'm remembering that my words are gifts. Gift, word, speech, gift. Not seeking anything by talking to you. Discriminating, saying these words, discriminating, making the word discriminating a gift.

[47:34]

tuning in to the gift-giving channel. They are shopping channels, right? This is the giving channel. Tuning in to the giving channel is one expression of the pure and simple color of true practice. And as you know from what you chanted, there's a confession practice right nearby, which is, I confess I'm channel surfing. I got off the giving channel and got into the shopping channel. I went to get some entertainment and I forgot that it was a gift. I confess it.

[48:39]

I confess it. And now I'm back on the giving channel. And this is where I want to be. I want to be on the giving channel, not the getting channel, not the seeking channel. I want to give this life, not seek this life. I do know that sometimes I'm on the giving channel. You can be on that channel. And I know that I forget and veer off it. And I give the gift of expressing a prayer today for the nine people who will be receiving the Bodhisattva precepts and committing to the Bodhisattva precepts tomorrow.

[49:54]

I pray that this will be a good day for you to meditate on these precepts and become wholeheartedly ready for this initiation. And I hope that all of us who have or have not gone through this ceremony will support all these nine people in getting ready to get ready to be ready. May our intention

[50:33]

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