Often when we chant these verses by our ancestor, Dogen, and we reach the place where it says, although our past evil karma has greatly accumulated, indeed being the cause and conditions of obstacles in practicing the way, So many of us, like the author of this, wants to practice the way, the way of, for example, of compassion. We want to practice the path of great compassion. However, because of karmic accumulation, like for example, an example of karmic accumulation might be that someone is frowns at us or insults us. And then because of our past karma, rather than saying, how are you today, my friend?

[01:04]

Or, how are you feeling today? Or, is there anything I can do for you? Instead of doing that, which is what we aspire to do, right? We, because of karmic accumulations, we do something else. we feel obstructed in coming to give compassion to people when they're mean to us, or when we see them as mean, rather than see them. So seeing them as being mean is a little bit more like a karmic accumulation rather than seeing them as calling for compassion. Because of our past karma, we don't see that everybody's asking for our greatest kindness. So, although our past evil karma has greatly accumulated, indeed being the cause and condition of obstacles in the way, and it says, may all Buddhists and ancestors who have attained the Buddha way, who are like settled into that and are not distracted by it,

[02:14]

karmic obstructions, may they be compassionate to us. Yes, may they be compassionate to us. And then it says, and free us from karmic effects. But when it says that, sometimes I think, maybe people think that the Buddhists are going to free you from karmic effects, like they're going to come over and free you from karmic effects. They do free us from karmic effects, but the way they free us from karmic effects is by being compassionate to us. And the way them being compassionate to us frees us is it shows us how to be free. So it says here, May all Buddhas and ancestors who have attained the Buddha way be compassionate to us and show us through this compassion how to be free of the karmic effects. We have to do the work of practicing compassion in order to be free of the karmic effects.

[03:19]

But we're asking the Buddhas, please show us how to do it. Please show us how to come back with compassion in this world of karma. So be compassionate to us, and by showing us that, we can learn how to practice in a way that will free us from karmic effects. So the Buddhas don't do it for us. They do their compassion, and that encourages us sometimes to do our compassion, and then together we become free of karmic effects. Anyway, that's the way he put it and I'm just commenting on it to help understand that Buddhas are not going to do our practice for us and we can't do our practice without them. So please, may Buddhas practice with us so that we can practice with Buddhas.

[04:23]

May they be compassionate to us so we can be compassionate to them and everybody. May they be compassionate to everybody so we can be compassionate to everybody. I wasn't expecting to talk about that today, but I just couldn't resist. So we have this, it's kind of a setup here that we usually, we have a gathering like this, and I sit on this seat, this teaching seat, this Dharma seat, and I offer some words and gestures. So I'm kind of going along with that setup. What do you think? Is it okay? Okay. Yeah, so because of that, he came so far.

[05:24]

Probably should go along with the program. And so I feel called to offer a little something. And as I thought about offering a little something, I also thought of this great scripture, this flower adornment scripture. I'd like to offer something inspired by the scripture. And then when I thought that, I thought, oh yeah, that's how the chapter 12 starts. is that Manjushri says at the beginning of the chapter to this great bodhisattva called chief of goodness or foremost in goodness.

[06:32]

Manjushri says to that bodhisattva, okay, I just talked for the last book. I just delivered Chapter 11, and I talked about all the purifying practices of bodhisattvas. Now would you please tell us about the virtues of the practice? And so then Chief and Goodness, at the beginning of the 12th book, says, Benevolent one, you ask this of me in order to liberate ignorant beings. Now I will say a little bit. I will make a little offering as best I can. But it will be like a drop of water of the ocean.

[07:34]

That's how I feel too. So now I'll give you a little drop. And the drop is that this study of this great scripture, which has been going on for almost two years here in this temple and other places, part of the reason for doing this study is to help Zen students understand sort of the source or the origin of our practice. especially Chinese Zen, is very much inspired and influenced and supported and enlivened by this scripture. And this scripture has many, many teachings, but one of the fundamental teachings of this scripture is that

[08:39]

each of us includes the whole universe. And each of us, of course, is in the universe, but we're not just in the universe, we're in every particle of the universe. So it's not just that I'm in the universe, which most people would go along with, but actually I'm in each one of you. And each one of you is in me. Somebody just said that to me today. I'm in everyone and they're in me. But I keep forgetting that. Especially when some of the people who I'm included in slap me with insults. Now some of you don't forget that because you never heard it before, but those of you who have heard it and think it's really totally cool, you may notice that you sometimes forget it.

[09:55]

When certain people are talking to you, you forget that they're included in you and you're included in them. And forgetting that might make it difficult to listen to them with great compassion. But this teaching of all of you are included in me and I'm included in all you helps me listen to you with great compassion. It's not a guarantee, you know, before practicing it for many eons, but it helps. Again, basic teaching here. I'm included in everybody and everybody's included in me. And there can be karmic hindrances that make it hard for me to realize that.

[11:00]

But the teaching is this inclusion is unhindered. There's actually no resistance to it in reality. So the teaching here is strongly influences Zen. And the example today is, one or two examples today is that this book was written in India, right? We don't know for sure, but it's probably around the third or fourth century in India. And in India, I can see some influences of this scripture in India. I can see in the works of some Indian masters and mistresses, I can see them quoting this sutra in India. But when this sutra got into China in the 8th century, finally got translated, the full thing, this full sutra got translated in the 8th century in China, I would say the influence was

[12:15]

more magnificent. And particularly it influenced this new school, which became the Zen school. It strongly influenced the formation of the Zen school. And especially our particular lineage, the so-called Soto Zen lineage in China, was strongly influenced by this scripture. But I remember from another branch of Zen whose name is Yuran Wu, which I think means round or perfect awakening. Yuran Wu is the commentator in the book, in the Blue Cliff Record. So he had this famous and venerated collection of 100 Zen stories called the Blue Cliff Record. And the person who wrote the commentary's name is Yuran Wu.

[13:19]

And he wrote a poem. And the poem has been translated into English. And it goes like this. Life is a manifestation of the whole works. Death is a manifestation of the whole works. The whole works is not an appearance. The way that I'm included in you and you're included in me, and the way each of us is included in all Buddhas and all Buddhas are included in each of us, the way that is, is the whole works.

[14:29]

The entire universe, the whole works, works through each one of us. you can't get a hold of the whole works and you can't get away from it. It pervades all appearances, but it's not an appearance. So that's an example of where I see the sutra has influenced, has inspired this noted and esteemed bodhisattva teacher, Yuran Wu, to offer us this poem. Also, the character that I translated as life can also be translated as birth. Life, birth, is a manifestation of the whole universe, of the whole universe working through everything.

[15:39]

And death is a manifestation of the whole works too. This is his offering. He didn't say it. This was inspired by the Flower Adornment Scripture. But maybe it was. I think it was. It was inspired by the dharma of the sutra. Now, the next step in what this little drop I'm offering today, the next step is that, what's the word? this teaching also influences an understanding of the bodhisattva precepts. It seems to me that because life is the manifestation of the whole works, life is not killed.

[16:51]

killed. When we understand that life is a manifestation of the whole works, when we understand that, that is perfect awakening. And in that perfect awakening, in that manifestation of the whole works, life is not killed. You can't kill a manifestation of the whole works. And the other side is, life is not killing. Because life is a manifestation of the whole works, life is not killing. So the bodhisattva precepts, the ten great bodhisattva precepts, The first one, it's a big one, the first one of the Bodhisattva major precepts is called not killing.

[18:04]

And Dogen Zenji's disciple, the second ancestor in Japan in our tradition, told us about Dogen Zenji's understanding of this first precept. This is attributed, this is Dogen's understanding conveyed to us by his great disciple, Kon Eijo. So, not killing. And the commentary is, life is not killing. Dogen's commentary on the not killing is, life is not killing. That's what life is. I said that. Dogen says, what is life? It is not killing. What is life in enlightenment? It is not killing. And then it goes on and says, let the Buddha's seed grow

[19:23]

and succeed to the lineage of Buddha's wisdom, not killing life. And then the last kicker is, life is not killed. Today I'm offering the thought that this understanding of the Bodhisattva precept, not killing, seems to me, teaching the Avatamsaka Flower Adornment scripture. Because I'm included in all of you and you're all included in me, there is no killing of me. of this life. And this life is not just me. This life is me and all of you.

[20:28]

And you and all of us. That's what this life is. And in this life there's no killing. This life is not killing. And this is a teaching which people might be afraid. If people hear this teaching they might think, well then I can do whatever I want. So if you think that, you should forget about this teaching and never go back to it again. This teaching is intended for bodhisattvas who want to succeed to the lineage of Buddhist wisdom, which is not killing life. And I just briefly mentioned the same applies to the next nine precepts.

[21:42]

not killing. The next one is not stealing. Not only that, but these ten precepts are like us. Each of these precepts includes the other precepts. Number one includes the other nine. Each of the other nine include the other nine. So also each of us includes the ten precepts and each of us includes one of them and ten of them and each of us is included in each of them. We are included together with everybody else in not killing, in that precept, in that truth, in that wisdom. And again, not stealing. Life is a manifestation of the whole works.

[22:45]

The implication there is life is not stealing. Life is you're included in me, I'm included in you. And that mutual inclusion is not stealing. That's what not stealing is. Not stealing is mutual inclusion. is live that life of mutual inclusion is what not stealing is. But I see somebody about ready to faint, so I'm going to just stop at number two and not do the other eight. But maybe later I'll do the other eight. It would be nice if I could do the other eight someday or one of them a year or something. The big one, number one, is not killing. The big one is life is not killing.

[23:47]

That's what life is. And how come, what is life? Life is not killing. That's it. But also what is life? Life is the unhindered mutual inclusion of me and all of you and all of you and me and me and all Buddhas and all Buddhas and me. That's what life is. And those who are devoted to that life, which is the life of Buddha, this is who this precept is for. This is who this teaching is for. In other words, it's for everybody. except, I take it back, it's particularly for those who are maturely committed to this teaching and these precepts. Committed to the teaching? What teaching? I'm included in everyone. Everyone's included in me.

[24:49]

What's the teaching? The teaching is not killing. I'm committed to not killing. I'm committed to that. And this teaching is for me. And if anybody else is committed, similarly this teaching is for you. To help you do this amazingly challenging thing of remembering in every moment that whoever you're talking to, you're included in them. therefore they're just as wonderful as you are. And even if I'm not wonderful, still I'm treasuring myself. I'm no good, but I'm not going to trade in myself for somebody else. So that's my little bit, I think, that's my little drop of water for today. Another drop of water is, would you say your name? Charlie. Charlie. Charlie. So this is the little drop from the not little ocean.

[25:59]

Yes? It seems like an expression of what you spoke this morning while we were sitting. Yeah. Would you say it again? That was so wonderful. Do I remember? It turns out I do. Part of my practice is to memorize this sutra, and I have a ways to go. But the first verse of this sutra is, the Buddha body extends, pervades throughout all the great assemblies. This is one, but it doesn't just pervade this one. It purveys all of them. And it fills the realm of Dharma, the realm of truth, the realm of the teaching, the realm of reality.

[27:08]

It fills that realm without end. What does that? The Buddha body. silent and still, without any nature, ungraspable. And it doesn't say, and yet, but it's almost like, and yet, it appears in the world to liberate beings so they may dwell in peace. That's a more elaborate version of the first verse of this huge scripture, which is on page 65 of this translation. I didn't memorize it yet, but that also seems like chapter 14, that verse that Catherine read.

[28:15]

those who get confused about what they're seeing. I don't remember at all, but it seems like you could find it. Do you remember? No. But thanks for bringing it up. Yeah. So the Buddha body appears for those who are attached to ignorance. And the appearances of compassion help them be compassionate with the situation of being ignorant. And by being compassionate with the situation of ignorance, they become free. And then they can live in harmony with other people, some of whom have not yet become free. and are insulting them, and not appreciating them, or not learning the teaching fast enough for them. You're welcome.

[29:27]

Yes? You mentioned that death was also the homework. Yeah, life is a manifestation of whole works. Death is a manifestation of whole works. Yes. So life is a manifestation and death is a manifestation. Also, the way the Chinese often translate samsara, which is cyclic. Samsara means going around and around from birth, death, you know, different forms of embodiment, flipping around. The way the Chinese translate that is birth and death. So you can say birth is the manifestation of the whole works. Death is the manifestation, but you can also say samsara, the world of cyclic misery is a manifestation of the whole works. But our Bodhisattva precept does not say, actually it says not killing, right?

[30:33]

But the commentary is life is not killing death. But it means, some people think it means not killing living beings. But I would say life is also not killing samsara. Our actual life is not killing cyclic existence. And it also isn't killing nirvana. It's not killing either one. It's not killing any individual living beings. and it's not killing cyclic existence in general, and it's not killing death. Pardon? How do you kill death? Louder. How do you kill death? Well, you don't. Death is not killed. But some people do try to kill death. what comes to mind is, what do you call it, this flourishing industry of cosmetic surgery.

[31:43]

Various people are resisting, more or less intensely, dying and death. Some people are trying to get rid of death, and one of the ways they do it is by killing. Yeah, so it is not possible to... Death is not killed. But some people try. And also life is not killed, but some people try. They actually try to kill life because they're ignorant. But the non-ignorant, in a moment of non-ignorance, we do not ignore that this silverfish, I'm included in it. It's hard. especially if it's eating some precious Buddhist text. They eat Buddhist texts.

[32:47]

It's not easy to actually apply this, but this is an encouragement to respect and not kill any living being. Yes. Charlie, did you have your hand raised? You answered my question. Oh, great. Happy to hear it. Yes. Hoping to make sense. She's hoping to make sense. I hear that, and it almost sounds like slang, like, yeah, give me the whole works on my burger, you know, something. Yeah, that has two meanings. The whole works has two meanings. This is Tom Cleary's translation of Zenki. Other people, like Kaz Tanahashi, translates this Zenki. So in Chinese it's Shou, Zenki, Gen.

[34:00]

Shou, life, Zenki, the whole works, and Gen is manifestation. So the whole works, that's my name, right? So I like Cleary's translation because colloquially the whole works means the universe. the whole shebang, the whole thing. But standard English, the whole works is a sentence which says the whole works. But it's both. It's everything working through everything. So it's everything and it's also the teaching that everything's not just everything. Everything is interpenetrating everything. Everything is also the interpenetration, the harmonious interpenetration. It's both. That's the nice thing about that translation. fragmentation does work well.

[35:02]

That's what it's saying here. Fragmentation pervades all other fragmentation and it also pervades any non-fragmentation. And the non-fragmentation permeates all fragmentations, all little... I forgot to say, I didn't say the whole poem. So another line of the poem is, this manifestation is always bits and pieces of the upright heart. So, There is fragmentation but the fragmentation also permeates and is permeated by. It's also working. There's nothing that doesn't work.

[36:04]

Everything's working with everything. And the purpose of this is so we practice total respect of every little fragment, every little bit and piece. And if I or any of us can accept or take in that the whole works and then everything is, and we are in everything. Killing isn't even, it's like not possible because what... Correct, it's not possible. So that's when I think the whole, that sense of wholeness, you know, If we're not going into that, then yeah, you could chop it up and think, I can get rid of death, I can get rid of the things I don't like, I can kill someone. You can think such thoughts. But you can still think such thoughts, it's just that when you take a thought like that, you realize that that thought includes all other thoughts. So go ahead and think that thought.

[37:09]

Because if you forget that that thought includes all other thoughts, you might try to get rid of that thought. But that thought sits as good as a thought about wholeness. No matter what you do, you include everybody. But if we cling to any little particle, we lose a proper attunement to this teaching. The Buddha body, you can't actually cling to it, but if you think you can, there's consequences. And those consequences include everybody. You're welcome. Okay, those three came up together.

[38:14]

So, north, Timothy and Houma. It's not so much that tension means the whole works. Tension is you could say, the way to practice in order to open to the whole work. So Tenshin means like north is north. That's Tenshin. Like what's north? Well, north's north. That's Tenshin. Just let north be north. That's the whole works. Cleary translates Tenshin as naturally real. in the Precious Mirror Samadhi, the term Tenshin's there.

[39:19]

And again, Tenshin has a colloquial meaning in Chinese, which is like to be childlike or naive. Like somebody said, who's that? That's north. But the standard Buddhist interpretation of Tenshin is ultimate truth. But when I received the the precepts with Suzuki Roshi, he told me Tenshin means Reb is Reb. So Reb is Reb, or Kriya is Kriya, or Andreas is Andreas. That's the whole works. You being you is the whole works. You just sitting without trying to get anything you're in attune with it. If you're trying to get anything, you lose attunement with it. You open and attune by being willing to be this person who, by the way, includes the whole universe.

[40:30]

So, I told somebody earlier today, After having this hip operation, I was feeling really bad. I wasn't in like strong, you know, pain, the kind of pain that they can give you a medication for. I had a little thing, a little button I could press to get that stuff. I didn't feel like I needed it. But I had a different kind of pain, which was like I was spinning. I was really super nauseated, and I just kind of felt like, I can't do this. This is just too much. I can't stand this. But then the thought came, but everybody's like this. So I guess I can't. But sometimes it's really hard to just be who we are. But that's who we are includes everybody.

[41:35]

And because it does, everybody wants us to do our job of being this person in this moment. And then we got a new one the next moment. I was completely myself, but then I had to be another person in the next moment. It was so hard. Oh, yeah. Would you please put that clock right there? Thank you. Oh, that's good too. Yeah, that's good. Thank you. That's good too. Try some other place, see if I keep saying that. He's putting it in all these good places. Whoa, yeah, that's another one. See if you can balance it on Suchitra's head. So next was Timothy. So life and birth are manifestations of the whole world.

[42:44]

But when you say that death is a manifestation of the whole world, my understanding of death is meaning in association with the absence of things. Well, you could look at death as the absence, but also you could look at life as the absence. Sometimes people think they have a life and something's missing. They want more or less of something. They don't realize that the life they have cannot be beat. because it's manifesting the entire universe. When you understand that, you no longer try to, like, improve your life. You take care of it, because it's this amazing, wondrous opportunity for awakening. But so is death. Because again, personally, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be oscillating between the manifestation of the whole works and not a manifestation of the whole works.

[43:48]

I want whatever is going on to be the manifestation of the whole works. So if it's life... Yes, this life includes all beings and is included in all beings. If it's death, this death is including all beings and includes all beings. No, and is included in all beings. My death, if I become a death, my death will be included in all you too. And my death will include all you. And that's not my death. Death includes the whole universe. Life includes the whole universe. Samsara includes the whole universe, and so does nirvana. Realizing that samsara includes the whole universe also realizes nirvana includes the whole universe.

[44:56]

Respecting life as much as death and vice versa. My wish is that this teaching will help me and you respect all life and all death. Because neither one exclude anything. And neither of them are excluded. There's nothing that death isn't excluded from. Nothing has a border that death can't penetrate. And nothing has a border that life can't penetrate. Life and death are part of this amazing Dharma. Everything's harmoniously interpenetrating and interpenetrated. We shall go on with this.

[46:00]

Yes. That's good. That was a nice . Do you feel complete? That's another one. My wish is maybe, I don't want to even use the word may, because the verse you read at the beginning of this morning, there was no may in it. Louder. The statement you read this morning, the verse you read this morning, There was no may. It was given. It just given. Yeah, but before I gave it, I wished that this would be a great, a nice little gift for you.

[47:09]

There was a wish which supported the gift. So there is a wish. Buddha does have a vow. In my English, in my Farsi English word, vow is wish there's a kind of stillness. Vow has no... It's complete. It is the whole. It is whole. Yeah, but Buddha's wish is that way. Thank you. So when you were reading here, I wasn't reading. The chants. It's coming from me, not the book, huh?

[48:09]

No, no, no, the chant. This chant, okay, yeah. The chant that we were reading. I noticed there's a lot of may. May the Buddhas have the compassion. May we write, you see, there's a lot of may. And all those mays could also be translated as I wish or I pray. Yes. So it's still trying to reach. There's a reaching in May. There's a reaching. In the statement you said this morning. But it's a reaching, but it's a reaching to somebody that's not other, that's not separate. It's a reaching for Buddha. So this is a reaching for Buddha. But it's reaching for a Buddha that has the same nature as the reacher. And the body of the reacher and the body of the reached. But if you don't reach, you don't understand that there's nothing separate to reach for.

[49:13]

So you have to reach to celebrate and realize that the reacher and the reached are one body. The reaching must reach to realize it is what it's reaching. The reaching is the reaching. Exactly. I see what you're saying. Thank you. Just like somebody says, in Zen there's nothing to do. It's true, nothing to do. However, we need to celebrate that in order to realize it. So I got it, nothing to do. Okay? But if you don't celebrate that, you don't realize it. It needs to be celebrated. But not as something other than what the celebration is not doing anything. It's just visiting what's already so.

[50:14]

And then somebody told me a joke this morning which was something like, the Buddha way is really difficult, And there's nothing to it. Well, wow. These last few seconds were really, what do you call it? A lot happened. The last time I looked at the clock, it was the same time as what it says now, basically. So we had a nice little discussion. It didn't take any time. Congratulations. Is that enough for this morning? Yes? Would it be too simple? This is a big... Too simple? Okay, let's see. This one is too basic, but there's no birth or death. I was thinking more like arising and vanishing, transformation and change go on.

[51:20]

It's the whole universe. It's not that anything really comes or goes, but it's just that the thing is, it's not really death, it's just the next thing. That's what like too basic. Did you say too basic? Yeah. No, I think it's just the right amount basic. I mean, maybe it's no birth, no death is more poetic. Also, on the Han, there it says, Great is the matter of birth and death. So we honor birth and death. There it is. Great is the matter of life and death. We honor it. And honoring it, we realize there isn't any. We honor it into emptiness. But we don't just say it's empty. we say, it's a big deal.

[52:23]

Life is a big deal. Death is a big deal. We respect all life and we respect all death. And it's a big deal. And we realize, and not doing, not respecting it is a waste of time. But by devoting ourselves to all lives and all deaths, we'll realize no life and no death. But realizing no life and no death doesn't get rid of life and death. It's a fruit of realization. Now, is that enough for this morning? I know it wasn't much, but is that enough?

[53:15]

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