Would you like to hear about this ceremony? We just recited a vow of a Zen monk named Torday, a Zen teacher named Torday, one of the primary disciples of Hakuin Zenji, that was his vow. So, what I'm offering you now is a description of a ceremony of making a vow with a teacher. It's from a text called Munimata Alankara, which could be translated as Ornament of the Sage's Mind. This ceremony can be an ornament to the Buddha's mind.

[01:17]

Starts out, the part I'm going to read to you starts out, properly create great clarity towards the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of ten directions and bow down. Make a mandala and five offerings in front of the teacher. I just want to briefly mention, I don't know what those five offerings are, but they could be flowers, candle, incense, tea, hot water, those could be the five offerings, or they could be five good wishes for the teacher or for all beings and the teacher and so on. I'm not sure what those five would be, and maybe we should, if we did the ceremony, maybe we should just let everybody make the offerings that they'd like, whatever they would be.

[02:24]

They could be mental offerings, I feel. You could even have, I wish five times to give you the five offerings. Then it says, humble yourself before the teacher by sitting or kneeling, join your palms, and request three times, like this, person of good lineage before me, I wish to receive the Bodhisattva vow, therefore, if I am worthy to receive it, because of your mercy for me, please bestow the vow of the Bodhisattva ethics. To this, the teacher says three times, do you aspire to enlightenment?

[03:27]

In my presence, will you receive the foundation of training in ethics of the Bodhisattvas? That's one, and then the aspirant says, I will maintain them, and then again the teacher says, do you aspire to enlightenment, and so on, and the aspirant says, I will maintain them. I do aspire, and I will maintain these Bodhisattva ethics. And then the teacher says, repeat after me, I beseech the blessed Buddhas and Bodhisattvas gathered from the realms of the ten directions to consider me. So it could be like that line, and then everybody says that line. And then the teacher says the next line, I beseech the teacher to consider me so and

[04:35]

so, say your name, excuse me, I beseech the teacher to consider me, period. I, so and so, confess all of my sins, no matter how small, that have been performed, ordered others to perform, or admired in body, speech, and mind. Against the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, my parents and other sentient beings, in this lifetime or in another existence, I am aware of them, remember them, and do not conceal them. So that would be done three times, back and forth. Teacher would say it, Bodhisattva would say it. Then say three times, I, so and so, from this day until the essence of enlightenment is

[05:42]

realized, go for refuge in the best of bipeds, the blessed Buddha, endowed with great compassion, the all-knowing, the all-teaching, who has transcended all enemies and all fear, the great being endowed with an immutable body, endowed with an unsurpassed body. I go for refuge to the Dharma, the supreme peace of those who are freed from desire. I go for refuge in the supreme assembly of the community of irreversible Bodhisattvas. That's done three times.

[06:43]

Just as the Buddhas in the past, present, and future create the aspiration of enlightenment and have gone, go, and will go to Buddhahood in order to liberate, rescue, and completely protect limitless realms of sentient beings from suffering of samsara, and in order to establish them in the unsurpassed knowledge of omniscience, and just as all Buddhas know and see with the knowledge of the Buddha and the eye of the Buddha, which is unobstructed, and just as they have understood and continue to understand the reality of phenomena, I so-and-so, through this ceremony, in the presence of this teacher so-and-so, and in the presence of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, create the aspiration to unsurpassed,

[07:51]

complete, perfect enlightenment. And this is said three times also. And then, I dedicate the roots of virtue produced by my confession and repentance, my going for refuge in the three treasures, and creating this aspiration for enlightenment to unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. In this world without protection, without, excuse me, in a world without protection, without refuge, without a home, without friends, and without a haven, I will be a protector, a refuge, a home, a friend, a haven. I will free all those sentient beings who have not crossed over the ocean of existence. I will take completely beyond sorrow those who have not

[08:58]

passed completely beyond sorrow by leading them beyond sorrow to the unobstructed Dharma realm. I will quell the suffering. I will quell the suffering of those whose suffering has not been quelled. And this is said three times. I, so-and-so, by creating the aspiration to enlightenment in this way, will hold each and every refuge in the realm of limitless sentient beings to be my mother, my father, my sister, my brother, my son, my daughter, relative, half-brother, half-sister. Holding them in that way, I will begin to multiply roots of virtue to the limit of my ability, my power, and my capacity.

[10:05]

From this day forward, no matter how small, I will give gifts, guard ethics, enhance patience, work with effort, enter concentration, analyze with wisdom, and study skillful methods. All for the sake of the welfare, benefit, and happiness of all sentient beings. I will follow in accordance with the Mahayana those endowed with great compassion who, beginning with the aspiration of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment, entered into the great bodhisattva level. Therefore, I will train to be a bodhisattva. From this day forward, I may be called bodhisattva, asked to be cared for by the teacher, and all that is said three times.

[11:08]

Thus, in the presence of the image of the Tathagata, bow down and ask all buddhas and bodhisattvas to be aware of your earlier dedication of merit, of your holding beings to be family members, of your amassing of the collections in order to protect them, and of your following the Mahayana. The teacher says, in my presence, you, so-and-so, have correctly received and uphold the bodhisattva vow of ethics. So, that is a possible ceremony which we could practice here if people want to. You can have copies of this when you leave to look at, and so that's a possible ceremony we would do here. And so, after you look at this, we'll maybe set a date for the ceremony and

[12:21]

see who wants to come. Any questions about this? You wouldn't read it in the ceremony. I would say a line and you would say a line. I would say a line, you would say a line. I would say a line, you would say a line. Rather than you reading it. But I would say, you know, I would say a line. So, you wouldn't have to read it. You'd listen and then say it, listen and say it, rather than read it. And I was saying a group, so as a group you probably get it, especially by the third time. I would be sorry for all my evil karmic acts, but I don't even think I remember the ones I've

[13:26]

committed in this lifetime. Yeah. I feel like there's a line in there where it says I remember them all. In this and previous lives. Let me read it again. It's towards the beginning. Mm-hmm. It says, I so-and-so confess all my sins, no matter how small, that I performed, ordered others to perform, or admired, with body, speech, and mind, against the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, my parents, other sentient beings, in this lifetime or in other existences, I am aware of them and remember them. So I think, I don't think that means that I remember them all,

[14:30]

or I'm aware of them, doesn't mean I remember them, but I remember some. I'm aware that I've done them. I'm aware that they've happened. I'm aware that I have done them, even though I don't remember them, and I also remember quite a few, but I'm aware that I've done more than I'm, so I'm aware of them, and I could even change it, sounds kind of funny, I'm aware of them and remember some of them. I'm aware of them and remember a few of them. I remember a small proportion of them. But the ones I don't remember, I'm also confessing the ones I don't remember. All the unskillful things I've ever done, I confess, even though I don't remember them all. So if there's some way to change that, I'm willing to change it. Yes? How would you define the word sin in that context?

[15:32]

Sin. I don't know what the original is, but I think it probably means basically, you know, unwholesome action. But on some level, any dualistic action is unwholesome. But within dualistic action, there are those that are considered to be, bring benefit, and those who bring harm. But the greatest benefit is to lead you to a place where you don't even commit the sin of thinking dualistically. But I think the things that you feel that you've done, that you regard as unwholesome, that you regret, the things that you feel you're sorry you did, all those would be things that you would be confessing. So a conventional idea of unwholesome? Yes, your conventional idea of anything that's unwholesome, you would confess

[16:39]

all that you can remember, and all that you have ever done, you would confess that. And we do that, of course, we do that in our normal ceremony at Zen Center, we confess it. We say, all my ancient twisted karma. Actually, what it actually says in the original, it doesn't say ancient twisted, it says ancient evil. You know, ancient unwholesome. So unwholesome means that which is not conducive to enlightenment. So I'm spying to enlightenment now, and I'm confessing all the things I've ever done, which are not conducive to my aspiration. And I have done things that I think maybe aren't conducive. Anything else? Yes. Would it be possible to talk to me about what it means to you?

[17:51]

Quite a bit, yes, it's really quite a bit. It's the aspiration to unsurpass complete perfect enlightenment. It's the aspiration to care for all these beings in this very complete way. It's a great vow, yes. So your question is? Yes, you could, yeah. And if I couldn't talk to all of you before the ceremony, we'd do another one later. We could do them quite frequently. But you could talk to me about it before, yes, definitely. That would be a good thing to do. Yes. I have a lot of concern about the vow, I have a lot of concern about myself. You have a concern about yourself? A lot, yes. So that's one of the main things to confess.

[18:57]

A lot of us have spotted that one. On more than one occasion I've noticed some self-concern. And some of those self-concerns I kind of regret. And I confess them. I don't think they were helpful. So, yes? It's my total limitation, I feel I'm a limited being, and you're offering an unlimited aspiration. And I cannot fulfill this unlimited aspiration with the limited being that I am. Well, I guess that's a good point, because limited beings, according to this, limited beings aspire to become unlimited beings. They aspire to, like, people who care about some people are aspiring to care about all

[20:02]

people. So the idea is that limited beings can aspire to unlimited compassion. And that limited beings can gradually give themselves over to unlimited compassion. That's the idea, that limited beings can become un-surpassed perfect enlightenment. That's the theory here. My thought is, for people who aren't priests or have gone through Kyokai, maybe you could talk about it a little more, because for some people to go through those two steps was a, like, for me it was a really big deal. And it changed my life. And for Homa to do this, or maybe people that come here and haven't received the precepts, this could be very important, and maybe talking about it a little bit more would be helpful.

[21:14]

And I'd like that we can do it more than once. Yeah, right. So I hear you saying that maybe talking about it more might be helpful to some people. Yeah. I'm not to criticize any other traditions, but I heard of another movement or another religious movement where they get children to vow to practice the ways of the church for a billion years. And I don't want to force people to do anything like this at all. I don't want people to do something like this before they feel they understand and they feel kind of mature in their readiness to, what's the word, receive and uphold

[22:17]

this bodhisattva vow. I wouldn't want people to go. I think it should be enjoyable. It should be an enjoyable experience, not a terrifying one. Anything else you want to bring up tonight? Yes? Just quickly, but receiving and upholding, or vowing, isn't that we do it every time. It's that we try, right? I mean... You aspire, you receive, and you aspire to uphold it. You aspire to receive it, and then you do receive it, and then you aspire to practice it. And, as I've mentioned on some occasions, a sangha teaches that bodhisattva ethics have four aspects. One is to receive the precepts, to receive the vows. The second is to aspire to practice them.

[23:19]

Third is to fail at them and feel some sorrow about that. And fourth is to not fail at them. But not failing at them, number four follows from number three. So it's number one, number two, number three. Number one, number two, number three. Number one, number two, number three. Number one, number two, number three. And then finally it's number one, number two, period. Which is number one, number two, and number four. But we fail quite a few times. And with the correct type of discomfort or regret around our failure, what we've aspired to do, we gradually become transformed into just receiving and aspiring, aspiring and receiving. Eventually we become this thing we aspire to. But there's quite a few failures before that with regret.

[24:25]

And that's part of the process, a big part of the process. The first three steps are done over and over. Q. For some of us who aren't able to get here every month, how will we find out when this precept ceremony will take place? A. I think that this precept ceremony, if it's going to take place, would be announced on the same website as... There probably will be an announcement. There's going to be a precept ceremony. You are invited to a precept ceremony. Something like that. Or there will be a precept ceremony. And this is a picture of the ceremony. And I guess the people who would come to it might be people who have looked at this for quite a while, thought about it, and felt like what they feel,

[25:29]

and then maybe asked the questions they have about it. And so we feel ready to do it. So I feel like it may take quite a while for there to be an understanding such that some group of people feel that they're well enough prepared to do this ceremony. And then when we feel like there's a bunch, a bunch, a certain number that are ready for it, then we'll say that we're going to do the ceremony. And we can also talk about whether we would have people doing it and some people being witnesses, or whether everybody that's there is somebody who feels ready to do it. So there could be some dialogue about that. And it could be done, you know, we could do it like once a year or twice a year or something. You could also announce it through emails, just like the announcement of the sittings.

[26:32]

That's what I'm saying. It could be just like an announcement that, you know, like you're invited to the one-day sitting and you're also invited to, not invited, but we're going to have this and if you want to know about it, here's the form of the ceremony. And after looking at it, if you feel, if you have questions, we can talk about the questions and or you can participate in the ceremony if you feel that you understand what's involved and would like to attend. Something like that. Yeah, very sweet, but hopefully not too sweet. Well, thank you for opening your hearts and minds

[27:36]

to this amazing possibility of such a vow and such a ceremony. And I am not in a hurry, but I just thought I'd bring it up for your consideration, something a little bit different for you to experience a little bit different flavor of practice than what we have done, many of you have done already. It's a little bit different kind of experience that we could possibly practice together. And thank you very much for your great effort today. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless.

[28:36]

I love to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I love to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I love to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I love to become it.

[29:03]

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