a tradition of giving and receiving 16 Bodhisattva precepts. And the first three of these Bodhisattva precepts is the going for refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That's the first three precepts. This morning I was talking about going for refuge in Buddha, to go for refuge, to enter into the practice of the Buddhas. That's the first bodhisattva precept. The first teaching for the bodhisattvas is enter into Buddha, enter into the practice of the Buddhas.

[01:02]

So those are the first three. The next three are called the three pure precepts, and the first pure precept is the precept of forms and ceremonies, actually to embrace and sustain forms and ceremonies. So to embrace forms and ceremonies is There's a teaching about embracing forms and ceremonies. And the next one is to embrace all wholesome activities. And the third one is to embrace all beings. So those are the three pure precepts. The first of the ten major precepts, and they're actually precepts which are put negatively. So the precept of not killing, the precept of not stealing, and so on. So I wanted to, and if any of you would like a copy of these Bodhisattva precepts, they're up on the altar there.

[02:12]

You can receive one up on the altar when you leave, if you would like. So I want to speak about not killing. It doesn't say no killing, but there isn't any killing. It doesn't say do not kill. It's the precept of not killing, the teaching of not killing. Or you could almost say the teaching of non-killing, which is different from the precept of don't kill, That would be a different teaching. Teaching. Like a lot of people teach their children not to kill. Don't kill your brother. Don't kill your sister. Don't kill your mother. Don't kill your dog.

[03:13]

Don't kill, you know, don't squash ants, you know. So a lot of people get that teaching. But this is a teaching about not killing. And someone just said to me recently that she heard that this precept of not killing, for example, and not stealing, that they're not rules. And she said, then I think, well, I guess I can kill them because it's not a rule. Then she said, well, maybe I should make it a rule. because I don't want to hear that they're not rules and then go ahead and kill things. I think the precept is not a rule. I said, yeah, that would be a problem to think that they're not a rule and then think that actually the precept of not killing, since it's not a rule, is a permission to kill.

[04:14]

That's not really what it means either. So I felt... To say to her was that the precept of not killing is a teaching. You can receive this teaching. The teaching is not killing. Now think about that. Be mindful of that. How about being mindful of that all the time? Just be mindful of a teaching, a precept. And again the word precept means to hold to hold or receive or take beforehand. So just now, for the rest of your life, now, the precept of not killing, just bring it with you everywhere you go. Always observe it. Think about it. What is, in this situation, right now, for you and me, there's a precept called not killing.

[05:17]

What is that precept here, now? So I'm bringing this up for you, and I have received this precept of not killing, and I'm taking care of this precept of not killing. And when I received this precept of not killing, I was asked to promise to take care of it and not let this precept be lost. And I said, Yes, I will. I will take care of this precept. So I'm taking care of it and I'm bringing it to you to take care of, to think about, to be mindful of. This precept is a jewel that we take care of. And it can be turned and looked at for many different ways. and I wanted to say what Dogen says about it.

[06:29]

He said, life is not to kill. That's what life is. Let the Buddha seed grow and succeed to the life of Buddha's wisdom. Life is not killed. It isn't that you kill life and it turns into death. Life does not turn into death. Life has its own position, and it's the phenomenal expression of life. It doesn't change into death. Death does not change into life.

[07:29]

Death is death, life is life. Birth is birth, death is death. They don't change into each other. The conditions are there, and when the conditions go away or change, life goes away. Death arises when the conditions are there, and when the conditions are not there, death goes away. Death comes and goes. Birth comes and goes according to conditions. You don't kill life and make it into death. This is a teaching for us to look at. And life itself, what life really is, is life is not killing. And someone said to me, many people say this to me, that they feel that something is missing.

[08:32]

For example, if you're practicing the precept of not killing you might feel that something is missing. When you're filled, when you fully do the precept of not killing, and you give yourself to the precept of not killing completely, you feel like something's missing. When you practice the precept of not killing a little bit, or even quite a bit, but not fully, you might think, missing in the practice of this teaching of not killing. Someone says to me, I'm worried that I can't practice. So you could worry that you can't practice the precept of not killing.

[09:46]

You could worry that you would not be able to practice it. If you tell me that, I accept that you're worried about this. But if you're not worried about not being able to practice the precept, but you're actually practicing it, if you're actually practicing it, you're not worried about not being able to practice it. You're just practicing it. Practice it. You're not worried about not being able to practice it. You're busy. You're practicing it. Now, you might shift from practicing it to worrying about it. Maybe you won't be able to. But then you stop practicing it. Now you're worrying. Okay? Okay. Thank you. You give me your worry. I'll take it. If you need it back, let me know. Now, are you ready to go back to the practice? Yes. Now, if you're doing the practice called, I'm practicing...

[10:49]

Not killing. How do you practice it? Well, I'm thinking about it. I'm wondering what it is. I'm practicing wondering what is not killing. I'm actually... And I think that the way I'm practicing it is nothing's missing. Fine. But you are practicing it. Yes, I agree. And you think nothing's missing. Okay. If the person keeps practicing and the practice completely fills them, then they'll say, something's missing. There's something missing. When you're doing a practice and you feel something's missing, that shows that it's filled you. Let's see, Laurie will explain. I'm not feeling well today. This is one of Buddha's precepts.

[12:09]

Not killing is one of Buddha's precepts. And the way of entering into Buddha, we talked about this morning, tidy up your life, ...now to enter into the practice of all beings. And then if you're in the practice of all beings, you'll hear about the bodhisattva, some bodhisattva precepts, like not killing. So now here's not killing. And you give yourself to practicing. And so if you feel that you're completely doing it and nothing's missing, that's okay that you feel that way. and that's probably, then that probably, you might say, if I feel like nothing's missing, probably it hasn't completely filled me, or I don't feel myself completely to it. Consider that aspect of the meditation. Now, if you do feel like something is missing, that might be really good.

[13:14]

It doesn't, can't guarantee that that means that it's filled, but if it's filled, It is a guarantee that you'll feel something's missing. But just that you feel something's missing isn't. Like somebody who hasn't started yet, they might feel that something's missing, but that's not the same. You need to go through the phase where you think that nothing's missing. That to realize something's missing. Do you equate the state of nothing, nothing being equivalent to having a rule? No, I wouldn't say necessarily equivalent, but I think that that would be one of the ways that you, that could be one technique by which you don't, is to make the precept limited to being a rule, or your frame on it, your frame on the precept. I'm just looking for clues as to how you're holding it. Like, would then the sense of something missing also be an uncertainty about the precept?

[14:20]

It could be an uncertainty about the precept, but also it could be that the thing that's missing is the precept. The precept is missing. You've devoted yourself to the precept, and now you can't find it anymore. Well, the precept is missing. The precept is empty. In other words, the precept has been a way that you can open to the truth. I feel what you're saying is the opposite, the contracts of being full and then empty. But the truth is neither nor. So I get lost in the either or.

[15:29]

I don't know. It kind of feels weird. It feels funny. It shakes. Life is not to kill that. That's life. That's life. That's life. But it's not just life. Life is not to kill life. Life is not to kill that. Not to say you want it to, but somebody might want to kill that. You just told me about this uncertainty, this being lost. A lot of people want to kill being lost. They want to kill lost and go over to found. But found is another version of killing.

[16:30]

Now you really can't find anything, so life is really not to kill. But you can find something, it's disrespectful, and it kind of kills it. So finding things is not really life. It's a delusion that living beings get into finding things. The concept of not killing is like saying, okay, think about not killing. Think about, although your mind frames things, Meditate on that frame so that you don't hurt anybody or anything your mind puts on it. And if you feel lost, something's missing. But the precept's missing, being found is missing, but being lost is in some ways closer to the precept than being found.

[17:38]

To the conflicts around this precept. opening to the dynamism of not killing. Yeah, not killing, a way of life called not killing. What is it? I don't know, I'm lost, I'm devoted to it. Not to being lost, I'm devoted to something, and my devotion makes me lost. And my habit is I'd like to find out something. No, I'm not going to go that far to say I would like to find out what this precept is. I'm not going to go that far. I'm not that cruel that I'm actually going to find out what this precept is. No. Somebody may, but I'm not going to do that. But I am going to be devoted to it, just like the people who have found it. upon a way to get a hold of it.

[18:44]

They're devoted to it too. But looking at myself, I think that if I found it, that would be less devoted than to be devoted to it without finding it. Or to be devoted to it so much that I can't find it. That there's no me in it anymore. completely given myself to Buddha's precept of not killing. And there's no me left over to find what the precept is. It's taken over. And I'm lost. If you want to know about me, I am lost. Or if you want to know about me, I have been lost. All that's left is the precept which nobody can find. But the precept is alive and the precept is life. The precept is alive.

[19:46]

When the precept is alive, life is alive. And the precept is life. This precept is life. And this precept is Buddha's wisdom in the form of not killing. And if you can say to yourself or somebody else, don't kill, while practicing not killing, fine. It is possible to say to someone, to say to a child, please do not kill your sister. But you don't say that. You do it as a gift, not to kill this child who's about to kill, who's about to dream of killing. was dreaming of killing and thinking of acting it out for various beneficial results. Being an only child, finally. So I told the story, which I can tell again.

[20:55]

My wife's out of town, my daughter's mother's out of town. And my daughter and I are taking a bath. My daughter's three or four, maybe five. And she says, let's go in the kitchen and get the dishes and put them in mommy's bed and break them. So I say, okay. And she says, no. So, I don't know, that's my story about practicing the precept of not killing mama. Somebody's thinking of killing mama, and I hold their hand and walk into the killing practice with her, and she realizes she doesn't want to kill mama, she wants to practice not killing mama. And the Buddhist seed grows.

[21:59]

How do you do that? That's totally alarming. How do you do it? Yeah, it was wonderful, wasn't it? It was so great. Well, splish splash, I was taking a bath. Round about a Saturday night. Like that. You're playing. What are you playing? You're playing bodhisattva precepts. What do bodhisattvas do? They come and play precepts. They come and they get in the bathtub and they play with them and they transmit the precept of not killing in a playful way. And when they're really into the play, something's missing. What is it? Me? I'm missing. The precept? The precept's missing. Buddha? Buddha's missing. And we're acting out the missing right now. We're putting missing into form.

[23:09]

We're putting you can't find it into form. So wonderful. It's not killing. Life is not to kill. So please, if you wish, think about this precept all the time. Enter into Buddha's mind, enter into Buddha's mind, enter into the practice of Buddha, and take care of the precept of not killing. Take care of it. Take care of the jewel all the time. Thank you for cleaning the temple. Thank you for tidying up the temple. Thank you for cleaning your body and mind. I'm so happy to clean bodies and minds with you. Now please, it's Saturday night.

[24:15]

It's party time. You took your... Okay? Now take your clean body and mind and please give it away tonight. Give it to every person you meet. Give your body and mind. Enter Buddha's way. Please. You're invited. We're invited. And like I say, if you need an explanation, Lori's here. She'll explain everything to you later. Unless she has to leave. Do you have to leave right now? Well, yes. Another time. So maybe later, Carolyn. If you really want to know. May Buddha's intent equally extend to every

[25:23]

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