What we just chanted is a Bodhisattva vow written by A. A. Dogan, a legend. It's his own personal vow that he wrote. I welcome you also to write your own personal vow, your own personal Bodhisattva vow. You can also use his. It's a good one. As I mentioned earlier, one description of this practice period is to be mindful or to be meditating on the bodhisattva path. Have you heard about that before? That this would be the topic of the practice period? No? Well, now you have.

[01:03]

And another way to say it is, practicing for the welfare of all beings. Another way to say it is, practicing zazen for the welfare of all beings. Would you pass these, uh, these, these vows back over in this room, please? May I give you the hope of your freedom? Of course. May I give you the hope of your freedom?

[02:10]

Okay. Can you hand me up it? Now, you have another document in front of you, another text. This text in Sino-Japanese is called Zazen Shin. It's a poem, and there's two poems on this piece of paper. On one side, it says, Lancet of Seated Meditation.

[03:15]

You see that? On the other side, I think it says, what does it say? The pointedness of zazen? Acupuncture needle of zazen. So those are two English translations of zazen shin. The first one, the one that says lancet, was written by a Chinese teacher about 100 years before Dogen Zenji. The Chinese teacher's name is Wang Shishogaku Zenju. In Chinese, . So he wrote that poem about 100 years before Dogen. And then Dogen wrote a poem by the same name, Model on The ancestors.

[04:16]

Both poems, I would say, even if they weren't titled the way they are, that they're Balsasana. I would say that each poem is about the life of a Bodhisattva. The practice of a Bodhisattva. which in this school we call the practice of bodhisattva zazen. And of course one meaning of zazen is sitting in the zendo, but another meaning of zazen is complete perfect enlightenment, which you can do in the practice in the zendo, but also in the kitchen, and in this room, and in the fields, and anywhere. you can practice unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. That's one of the good things about the unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment, is you can practice it anywhere.

[05:24]

There are some enlightenments which you might only be able to do in certain places. We're not talking about that one. Maybe if you're ready, are you ready to recite this? Oh, by the way, before we do that, I wanted to mention, next time we chant EHE KOSO HO TSUGAMON, chant more like this. We vow from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma. You can just stand up. We vow with all being. We vow with all being. Let's start again. We vow with all being. Thank you.

[06:40]

Like that. Not so much like reading it, so that you don't stop at periods. It's okay to stop at periods, but maybe try to find someplace else to get your breath. So don't chant and stop, chant and stop. Make sense? So when you're chanting, kind of chant until you've kind of run out of breath, and then take your time, take a full inhale, and keep chanting the next time until you're out of breath. That way, the chanting goes on continuously. So the same way for this one. Try this one that way, too. Do we have one of those? I'll do this one. The pivotal activity of all Buddhas, the functioning pivot of all ancestors. Okay? So this is the Lancer Seated Meditation.

[07:43]

The pivotal activity of all Buddhas, the functioning pivot of all ancestors. We are the decreasing objects, knowing about touching things without it is inherently subtle. Living without decreasing objects is elimination. It's inherently mysterious. It's fundamentally subtle, but it doesn't live without discrimination. We are the dissipation, inherently mysterious. The music that will affect the hearing is the result of sound and imagination. I never would have thought I'd just get away from it all. It's not like it was a world without fear. I grew up without it. It's a breath of time. It's an elimination of dreams without grasping. The water is pushing right through to the bottom. I just chose to live with it all. The sky is light, so don't worry. It's been forever. What is wrong with me? You may hold these during class, and then at the end of class, would you remind me to invite you to pass them back?

[08:55]

So this is the one that was written by the Chinese teacher, okay? That make sense? If you turn the page and look at the next one, this is written by Dogen Zen. And you notice that the first two lines are the same as the first two lines of The other one. Can you see that? The Chinese original, the first two lines are exactly the same. You might say Dogen Zenji copied the ancestors, or transmitted the ancestors' first two lines. So one of the things I'm emphasizing, which you've heard me emphasize for a while, is this pivotal activity. This Chinese character could be translated as essence, necessity, or pivot.

[10:09]

Also could be translated as essential, necessary, and pivotal. Most of the translations that I've seen in the past use the translation necessity. No, essential. But I feel that the word pivotal tells you more about... It is essential, but the word pivotal tells you about the way the essential works. And this is about the working of the essentials. The working of the essential is the working of a pivot. And everything is, all phenomena, I would say to you, all phenomena are

[11:24]

So, for example, I am a pivot. I am a pivot of me and not me. That's what I really am, is a pivot. I'm not anything by myself. I am a pivot of self and other. Other is not myself, myself is not myself.

[12:32]

And may I suggest you're just like me. You're a pivot. You're not anything by yourself. You depend on everything that's not you. And you include everything that's not you. And you are included in everything that's not you. So you are a place where inclusion and including and being included, you're pivoting between including and being included. You are including everything and you're including everything. And you're the pivot of included and including. I earnestly assert that for you to contemplate.

[13:42]

Buddhas are pivots. Buddhas do not exist by themselves. Buddhas pivot with sentient beings. Without sentient beings, no Buddha. Without Buddhas, no sentient beings. Because sentient beings do not exist by themselves. They exist with other sentient beings, and the way they exist with other sentient beings is brilliant. So they pivot with other sentient beings, and they pivot So Zazen is a word that is a synonym for this pivotal activity. And again, I told you before, this character, which is in the word crisis, remember that? Thank you.

[14:49]

Danger and function or activity. Crisis is the activity of danger. It's the activity of the possibility of harm or destruction. Crisis is like a danger machine. Buddha's mind is like a pivotal machine. It's always like a pivotal mechanism. Here's another principle which I think many of you are concerned about. You have the wish to live a life for the benefit of other beings, but you wonder, how does my practice relate to helping others? By this principle, since all beings are included in you, and you're included in them, your practice

[16:14]

of the provisional and the ultimate truths, the practice you're doing, is included in all beings. All beings are included in your practice. Which is, you know, how do we know that? Well, it's a teaching from the Lotus Sutra. The practice of the provisional and ultimate truths that are involved in transforming others are identical with the practice of the provisional and ultimate teachings in your own life. Your practice and transformation is identical with the practice and transformation of other beings. This is a Lotus Sutra teaching, and I guess I'm becoming, like it or not, a disciple of the Lotus Sutra.

[17:22]

So I'm suggesting to you that your practice includes the practice of all beings, and the practice of all beings, without exception, is included in your practice. So that's a pivotal activity of your practicing, and being transformed by the practice and the teaching, your practice of pivoting with the practice and transformation of all beings. So I believe that Dogen Sanji and Hongzhi pointing to this pivotal activity. This is the pivotal activity of all Buddhas, and here is the active pivot of all the ancestors. This is zazen.

[18:25]

Zazen is the way you are practicing together with all beings, and all beings are practicing with you. Zazen is the way you are enlightened with all beings, and all beings are enlightened with you. I propose that for you to contemplate. Are my misdeeds included in all beings also? Yep, and all beings are included in your misdeeds. Okay, thank you. So we don't encourage misdeeds. What we encourage is this. If you ever do any misdeeds, by any chance, the Buddha's pivotal activity is that all beings are included in that.

[19:36]

And you are included in all beings in that. I could say therefore. May I just say therefore? Therefore, it's a good idea, if you ever do any misdeeds, to confess and repent them. Because it isn't just your own misdeed. Your misdeed is now included in everybody. But if you confess your misdeed and say you're sorry, then your confession and repentance is included in everybody. and everybody is included in your confession and repentance. And this is Buddha activity. Buddha activity does not destroy sentient beings who are doing misdeeds. It doesn't destroy them. They are indestructible. What Buddha destroys is

[20:45]

any hindrance in this, Buddha makes it possible to pivot with the actual situation. If we have half the beings in the universe doing misdeeds and the other half not, what the Buddhas are doing is pivoting with the misconduct half and the virtue half. They're pivoting with both sides. And both sides are pivoting with each other. It's the pivoting that's the Buddha's knowledge, which is liberation and peace. Yes, Judy? What's the difference between destroying a sentient being and removing ignorance? And what is ignorance? The difference between destroying a sentient being, well, the difference is, number one, sentient beings are not destroyed.

[21:52]

So in one case you're talking about something that's not going to happen, and in the other case you're talking about something that is happening and is going to happen. It is happening that there's no hindrance. However, most of us sometimes don't quite believe that. But Buddha not only believes it, but is it. And you are going to be Buddha. So the reality of no hindrance is going to be realized. But destruction of beings is not going to be realized. It has not been realized, and it's not going to be realized. So that's why Buddhas are not into destroying beings. Buddhas are into demonstrating to living... Buddhas are into demonstrating this pivotal activity to beings, teaching to them, so they can enter. And also to teach them how to enter.

[22:54]

To get them to open to it, and then once they're open, demonstrate it, and then while demonstrating it, help them wake up to it. It's already here. This is Buddha's wisdom. It's already here. And Buddha's trying to help us open to it and then see it demonstrated and then awaken to it and enter it. Entering Buddha's wisdom is already what we call the case. It's already the situation. We need to open to it. And the first way we open to it is we open to what isn't it. We open to delusion, which we can see easily. But it's not easy to open to delusion, it's just easier to see it, because it's everything you see.

[23:56]

But we're not open to everything we see. Some stuff I'm not open to. But if I can open to all the stuff that I can see, I also open to Buddha's wisdom, which I can't see, but which I can open to. And once I open to it, then I can see it being demonstrated, and then I can wake up to it, and then enter. It's already here, and part of the price of admission is to open to what open to all aspects and all beings. So in my case, to open to each of you and me. And in your case, to open to everybody here and so on. And as you know, that may be, again, that's part of the crisis that we're in.

[25:03]

People are having trouble opening to all beings. Right? Trouble opening to all human beings, all political parties, the whole environment. Opening to the dangers which the environment's in, that's hard for us. But that's our responsibility, is to open to the crisis. If we open to the crisis, Yes? You talk sometimes about the pivoting point, for example, of rare and not rare, and sometimes of, I understand, rare and all beings. Would you see that as a different pivoting point? Same. All beings are another way to say not-reb. Well, all beings pivot being reb and all beings who aren't reb.

[26:10]

If you want to throw me over into all beings, reb and not-reb is reb and all other beings. All of the beings that are included in me and I'm included in them, that's the pivot. And so my job is to be totally Rev, and then I'll realize. Then I open to not Rev. When I'm totally Rev, I become not Rev. If I resist Rev, then I'm resisting not Rev. and I'm resisting the pivot. Yes? What's the relationship between pivotal activity and stillness? Pivotal activity occurs in stillness. Are they the same thing?

[27:14]

No. They're not the same thing. Stillness is like pointing out that you don't have to move to pivot. You don't have to go someplace else to be pivot. Matter of fact, if you move away from where you are, you miss your pivot. Like I was saying on Monday, if you resist where you are, you get stuck where you are. If you don't resist where you are, you're in a pivot. And so not resisting where you are is stillness. Stillness is like an initiatory practice. Stillness is reality, but also you do the ritual of sitting still to see if you can actually sit still, and see if you're really not wiggling at all from where you are, and not thinking about what's next.

[28:17]

And also not trying to get away from boredom when you don't think about what's next, Stillness is like part of the practice to realize this pivotal activity. And stillness is pivoting with movement, or not stillness. I think of like pivoting like in basketball, like one foot is like stationary, the other foot is moving around. So one side is rooted in the stillness while there's some sort of activity going on. Or, in this case, there's activity in this nama. So, we chant a new service, a section of Bendoa, Shobo Genzo Bendoa, this section about self-receiving and employing samadhi, Jijyu Zambai. And in that section of the text, it talks about

[29:21]

All the things that are going on in stillness. How we're all doing Buddha's activity in stillness. We're not doing something to do Buddha's activity. We're realizing Buddha's activity in stillness. And then mind and object are entering realization and going beyond enlightenment. Entering realization and going beyond enlightenment. Pivoting. There's a question. Over here there's a statement. Yeah.

[30:27]

Yes? Is pivoting like the front and back foot locking? Is it like that? Yeah. It's like that. The front foot is pivoting with the back foot. Yes. I'm wondering about, you know, not to practice this idea that you practice in a consecutive way towards yourself, towards a loved one, towards a stranger, towards a so-called enemy, right? Well, usually it's one in that order. Usually it's yourself, then somebody who, then a stranger, somebody neutral, then a loved one, then somebody who's maybe have some resentment towards it.

[31:28]

And actually, sometimes they teach metta before yourself. Some people can't do it themselves, so they suggest doing it with somebody you already respect, but don't have any lust towards, like an old teacher. On the verge of death, if possible. So there's that progression. So whatever the order, I guess I'm wondering about... Can I say something about the order? The order is... in increasing challenge. Right. Though different ones are easier for different people. Well, usually, almost everybody has a harder time having loving kindness towards a loved one than an enemy. Or a neutral person. Almost everybody has more trouble with that. So, relatively or not, I'm wondering... What do you think about?

[32:31]

I often think about this question about red, not red. You and other beings. I think about sometimes as me, Helen, and other humans. Me, human, and other mammals. Me, mammal, and other animals. Me, animal, and other beings. Me, being, and other things. I'm not sure about difficulty, but I guess I wonder about that. Those are examples of pivoting. You are living those pivots. You're pivoting with non-mammals. Some people think you're a mammal, right? Maybe you do. Well, you are. But if you're completely a mammal, then you become non-mammal. And if you're completely an animal, you become not an animal.

[33:36]

If you're completely a Democrat, you become not a Democrat. And not necessarily Republican or Republican. There's lots of not Democrats. Yeah, those are all. Everything you are, whatever category you're playing on, you can pivot on. Because it is a pivot. And you can sometimes do increasing difficulty, but sometimes more randomly. Easy, then really hard, then easy, then medium. And that sometimes is difficult. Maybe easier sometimes if they just get harder and harder. But it doesn't necessarily work that way. Well, since you perfectly understand, there's not much more.

[34:39]

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