The Womb of the Tathagata #3: Our Buddha Nature Precepts

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Origins of the Bodhisattva precepts; development and commentaries; the reasons for Buddhas appearing in this world.

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last time we were here i brought up some
in some senses some new
a teaching opportunities there actually new to us here
and some other ways they're really ancient teachings
ha
i've heard
for a while
and some of you may have heard that day so-called zen tradition
it is
deeply influenced are deeply informed
by the teachings of certain ah
great vehicle mahayana vehicle
teachings scriptures for example one of the once as dreams the winter which everybody is not surprised to hear is the heart sutra
and heart sutra perfect wisdom
the heart of great perfect wisdom in scripture
which is recited in zen
training temples
almost every day
in china korea japan
and in various countries in the west know the heart sutra and then another very influential scripture in the zen tradition is called the flower adornment scripture
the a tom soccer sutra
another very influential scripture is
the nirvana scripture
the maha party nirvana scripture
a up my on of tradition
and another scripture which is not so often mentioned which is
in the background of the zen tradition is called the brahman etc
and there's a
there so
in in in not in poly it's called and pali and sanskrit is called brahma giallo sutra or brahma jolla's ceuta there's a poly version of it a sanskrit version of it that are a concern with various kinds of
concentration practices
but does a my on a version of it
which is really very different
the brahmin net sutra it's about
the mahayana teachings and particularly but the bodhisattva precepts
and most people who studies and in the west i have not heard about this scripture
and have not studied it
but i feel like home it's good for us to know about the background of the tradition
even though we never heard of certain aspects of the background
in japanese monasteries and i don't know to what extent in korean and chinese monasteries zen monasteries
they have a
a ceremony which they do
twice a month
where are they on
recite the bodhisattva precepts
where they listened to the teachings about bodhisattva precepts
and when they and where they confess all their ancient twisted car so we do that ceremony in the san francisco zen center and has done some others and centers around the country
we do it we do it like once a month on the full moon
and i heard at some point that in
asia on at that ceremony they recite this they recite this scripture
this brahmin net scripture
but we have not been doing it so far at the seventies presents him

still even though he hadn't been doing it than in the background of the tradition which we have received from asia is this scripture which is the main
kitchen
most influential teacher on bodhisattva precepts

and
the last month i brought it up and also i
i told people how they could find the scripture online the of find it
and anybody else wants to find it you can find it to its online you've just look it up under brahman etc and you'll find a pdf and you can read it
so i'm bringing it up again
i just had this image of like i i took a couple of classes on
tonka painting
years ago and the the class far out by the the teacher of the class gave us a template
avance of a buddha
and is kind of little bit like paint like paid by by numbers has is it is different ways you can draw
the figure by following these lines and yeah you could draw quite a nice buddha with this iniquitous template that they gave us
the drawing the lines in and you know triangles and circles and then
and then you draw on a next level of detail next level of detail and you gradually can build in this whole this pretty
nice looking tonka painting without in on it's not by freehand is like filling in the filling in the parts and the colors
but you start by just making the overall structure so i'm starting by making overall structure of this teaching
of this kind of big picture of the background
the philosophical
ah background
of the bodhisattva precepts

so indeed
maha party nirvana sutra in the mahayana tradition one of the most famous statements in this to trip is all living beings without exception
our the buddha nature or usually translated as
possess buddha nature

and then in the flower adornment scripture there's a chapter on the manifestation of boredom manifestation of the to togheter but thus come one and in that chapter it says over and over something like him
now i see the buddha the buddha saying now i see
all living beings fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the buddha's
that's it was made repeatedly and then after some of the times said it says however because of misconceptions and attachments they don't realize
and then again sometimes it says after that therefore i have i'm here to teach them
about
this
way that they're fully possessed the wisdom and virtue of the buddha and of course also to help them like go of their misconceptions and attachments so they can realize it
the point of view is
ah
fundamentally already you fully possess
the most wonderful nature
by also superficially we may have some
problems realizing that
hmm
so in this prominent sutra
the first part of the future is a presentation and forty stages forty bodhisattva stages
which are the ten departures for the destination
the ten wholesome states of mind
the ten at a man team or hits the vydra like
vendre like states of mind and the ten grounds or bodhisattvas so these are ten state forty stages
her body surfing stages has the background of the bodhisattva precepts
the such second half of the sutures about the precepts
and
there's a preface to the list and as a preface to the listing of the precepts
and the precepts are have ten major precepts
and forty and minor precepts
and in the preface which is actually a multi-dimensional preface
ah
one of them statements that i
i brought up last time when i bring up again is that these bodhisattva precepts
our for all living beings that's what a destructive his perception for there for all living beings
whose original nature is pure
these precepts
our for everybody can be living being that has a body that has conscious and unconscious cognitive processes and intellect
that was these precepts of for and these all these beings
the original nature is pure

pump

before the precepts
our
specifically introduced there's various sectors and one of the sexes is called exhortation actually ended in the scripture in the original it doesn't have the heading exhortation this exhortation is not written in the scripture but
commentators have added the word exhortation an exhortation goes something like this
the radiant add a man keine precepts
are the source of all buddhas

the radiant out on t
presence on the source of all movies
and literally it says original source of all buddhas and then it also says all bodies it's also the original source of all body surface
it's the buddha nature seed these precepts are the buddha nature seemed
all sentient beings possess the buddha nature
all those
who have intellect consciousness body and mind are all encompassed by these buddha-nature precepts

it is precisely because of these ever present causes in the form of the bodhisattva precepts that there is without fail always
abiding in
the body of the term
in this way the ten major bodhisattva precepts appear in the world
and these dharma precepts
of the three times or reverently received and upheld by all sentient beings

can do this now
i'm so
there's his book called being upright which is called
pin number
mr title and as a subtitle which says something like zen meditation and bodhisattva precepts
he says and what is not for process but the message of the book is zen meditation is bodhisattva precepts
and zen meditation is shorthand for them have not it's long version of zen zen is sometimes called sin and sometimes has called zen meditation and sometimes it's called zen practice
then according to that book being upright zan is a bodhisattva precepts
what are the bodhisattva precepts again remember they are the original source of all buddhas
different heard that before yes i just started to a minute but you didn't hear saw say it again
the bodhisattva precepts are the original source of all buddhas and heard that before
the buddha says
in this scripture i'm gonna recite the scripture
and so the buddha says over and over the bodhisattva precepts are the source of the original source of all buddhas to buddha says these precepts of the source of me and my friends my my cohort
my boot a cohort the source of us buddha's is this bodhisattva precepts
and the sources of body surface it's the bodhisattva precepts these bodhisattva precepts are the buddha seed

so that's the dust in that book says than and bodhisattva precepts and meditation but really as zen meditation is the bodhisattva precepts which means zen meditation is the original source of our bridges the original source of all buddhas is and meditation
that's what that book says some other people read other books were says something else but this book is saying the bodhisattva precepts ours and meditation and vice versa
and that book doesn't say as much as this sutra says and partly the reason to the search i didn't see this sutra at a time of making that book
if there was a new addition
maybe they should be another book called being upright to

which points out that the original source of all buddhas and bodhisattvas is the bodhisattva precepts and that's what zen meditation is

i wrote the book i i'm i told a story about how the book came to be and one story is that i heard about the bodhisattva precepts
like when i was ordained i heard about them
i recited them
i recited the sixteen bodhisattva precepts
of this particular school a bodhisattva precepts
so someone might say and either and maybe i'll just say it just to say it
that all the schools of my on of buddhism
the source of them is the bodhisattva precepts
and so the soto zen school the source of it is the bodies for presents and and as part of the practice of zen we recite the precepts
which are the source of the school and i recited them but you know
i didn't really notice that much
i don't even remember for is in english or not think maybe it was in japanese
and he went over the years i heard about the bodhisattva precepts and i noticed that we didn't discuss them very much a zen center
looking back now i see that suzuki roshi talked about the body some for precepts
the last summer of his life
hmm i attended those lectures
and maybe because i attended that i heard the word bodhisattva precepts a little bit
basically he didn't talk about them that much except that last summer
and some of you can research the archives to see if that's so but i didn't hear about i don't see much teaching from suzuki roshi about the bodhisattva precepts which are what what are they
yeah have the original source of all buddhas he didn't talk about it that much until the last summer
of his life
and some of us hardly even notice that he was talking about it when he was talking about it but now with know we can look back i am anyway i heard about these precepts but i don't i didn't hear any zen teachings about these precepts that i couldn't think of any
and so i asked cut euro she one time what about that we are there some scriptures about some teachings about it and told me about a book
which was called
in japanese zen chi show which means essence of zen precepts
which is essence of then bodhisattva precepts
and he told me at that time but if you read the book you want initially sound like precepts
and he's in a way it didn't
but in a way it did so i asked cause tanahashi to help me or help help let me help him translated from
japanese and chinese into english and we did we translated it

and
and i said it and then and then after were translated he said you should give a modern commentary on this
about
eight hundred year old texts
so i did
and then after i gave the commentary somebody said to me we'd like to publish a book by you
and i said oh
and
why i said i just gives him i just gave some talks on the bodhisattva precepts and maybe that would be good because people have not heard about these bodhisattva precepts and maybe a big good put that up their into the zen world there's these bodhisattva precepts
which people don't seem to notice are there and so remained his book
so the structure of this book that i saw at the time was
that is sixteen bodhisattva precepts that were put together it seems by the
great founder
observe or soto zen in japan a hey dogan
the the master
dharma teacher hey hey dogan that he put together this sixteen bodhisattva precepts
as the precepts to be transmitted in the school which which are still transmitting sixteen bodhisattva precepts
it's a piece of paper over there which there's some copies of those sixty precepts if you'd like to see what they are but i told you before what they are right
they're the three pure priests do the three refuge briefed us there's the three pure precepts and there's the ten major bodhisattva precepts
and the ten major bodhisattva precepts are the ten major bodhisattva precepts of description but the scripture does forty eight minor ones which follower it
but somehow dog is angie and his friends put together they took the ten from this scripture
and at an suffixed know prefixed the ten with the three refuges and made the three refugees the first three precepts and then the next few precepts they made the three
basic three full bodhisattva precepts which are
to embrace the sustain the forms and ceremonies to embrace his his damn all wholesome activities and to embrace the sustain all beings because three pure precepts of bodhisattvas and then these ten major for the suffer precepts makes sixteen so
i pointed out that in this book the the foundation of this trenches the pub this of these talks on the bodhisattva precepts is the bodhisattva precepts
the book being upright is
about the bodhisattva precepts which are
the original source of all buddhists the books being approached about the original source of all buddhas the book is about zen practice which is the original source of all buddhas

then the next thing that the book is based on his
i said in that book
a commentary on those sixteen bodhisattva precepts written by the person who put him together
a dog in this commentary on the sixteen bodhisattva precepts is called
in japanese killed you came on which means essay on the teaching and conferring of the precepts
practice on the bodhisattva precepts so this was
written by duncan's nj
and this text is in
the zen chi show
sitting upright is constructed the
it's it's origin it's source is the sixteen bodhisattva precepts
it's origin it's source is the origin is source of all buddhas and then it's also based on dog and centuries commentary on this switch on the scripts on these precepts
but it's also but then after dog is you wrote this cured you kindly
some of his disciples made commentaries on the cure your timeline
some of his disciples to actually live with him and talked to him about this cured you came on which he wrote they then wrote a commentary on this unless killed your kindness and those disciples on a sunday
and jogo
and the commentary they road
on the courage or came on dashboard a soccer precept is called zen chi show as the subject precepts
and then that's what i that inspired me to give those talks
now now what i'm telling you is something that i did not know when when i was doing that work which is that is killed you time on
is based on the bodhisattva precepts but it's also based on the sutra
so in a way between the sixteen bodhisattva precepts
and dog is edges kills you came on is this sutra

which i now see that really is
it's the bodhisattva precepts
the sutra
can you come on
think i show and then being over it
you may not remember what i just said but it's been recorded i guess and
i can go over it again and again until we all understand what i'm saying
here's a diagram of
when he died diagram i wrote another layer
at the center i wrote
buddha mind equals bodhisattva precepts
that's it the center of the whole thing
and i also wrote buddha mind is the zen tradition the zen tradition is about face to face transmission of the buddha mind
but it's also of course for about face to face transmission of the bodhisattva precepts at the center
this face to face conversation
among all beings among all of us this conversation we're all having
is the mind of all buddhas
the conversation went to having
is fundamentally and originally the bodhisattva precepts
and then around the next layer around is buddha mind are these mahayana sutras and i just told you about this one right this is one of my own sutures
which is based on what the buddha mind the motor mind isn't is in a ways it's not a scripture
all these wonderful scriptures are not the buddha mind but from the buddha mind these sutures come up
somebody somebody appears in the world will start talking
when we can't risk say shakyamuni buddha started talking he appeared in the world and talked and that them rotten them that what he said was description but the scripture was actually based on something
silent and inconceivable
the scriptures are based on put a mind
but buddha mind can talk
and the talk of the buddha mind is the scriptures and there's the early scriptures that came the ones are written down in pali and sanskrit which taught people how to practice toaster scriptures which came from the buddha mine their scriptures that came from the bodhisattva precepts
even though the tom didn't mention the bodies of the precepts
but i'm not synthesizing so much the ones that didn't mention the bodhisattva precepts i'm emphasizing the ones that did and the ones that did our
the brahman etc the mahayana brom and etc it does mention the bodhisattva precepts it's heavily into mentioning the bodies of from resumes over and over bodhisattva precepts are buddha nature precepts
and all living beings fully possessed buddha nature so these precepts are for all living beings but another and then so it's also based on
or expressed through the nirvana sutra and the other tom soccer sutra so those two sutras together with this sutra
our round the buddha mind
and then around that
obama knows my on a sutures we have the essay on teaching and conferring the bodhisattva precepts by dogan and around that we have
the essence of than precepts written by his students and around that we have our life which is a stunning all of that now
we can forget about pokemon
suzuki roshi and them nirvana sutra in the of times like section zinc i show and kill you came on prominent we can forget about that and we can just like directly just contemplate the original source of all buddhas
the sixteen bodhisattva precepts we can just look out directly but i just i might mention that
there's these other circles of
residents surrounding these precepts which are available to us
to help us to to promote our meditation
on the border mind
which is the bodhisattva precepts
or to meditate on the bodhisattva precepts which is the buddha mike

so i i mentioned to you that the the buddhist said you know that the radiant indestructible your precepts are the source of all buddhas the origin of us bodhisattvas and the seed of buddha-nature all set
she pays without exception possess buddha-nature
and then he says
that it is precisely because of these ever pay present causes one of the causes
it's the precepts
the the bodhisattva precepts which one is it the origin of all buddhists because of the original source of all buddhas the bodhisattva precepts because of that there is without exception abiding in the dharma body in
this way the ten here's another word for you to learn the ten party moshe's
which means the ten things conducive to liberation
the ten party moshe's appear guess where guess where
what some recess
what did those are the bodhisattva precepts the temp the pretty much shows are the are the ten the ten party moshe's are the first ten bodhisattva for so these first ten bodhisattva precepts appear guess where
welcome where i'm an her
this is the minister this is the prominent feature of the prominent teacher says
because of these causes what of causes because of the original source of all bushes these bodies sought the precepts which the first ten recalled and ten book ten party moshe's they appear guess where you're in new york times everyday day in they appear in this world they
appear on fox news
they appear in the white house
these bodhisattva precepts appear in this world
because welcome how come because they're the original source of all buddhas they appear in this world
in particular these the first ten which are the first ten of this switcher
followed by forty eight more but they're the first their the ten major ones of our sixteen they appear in the world because of this source
according to description
because because that's the way we are and because that's the way they are they are we are they are the way we are and so they appear in the world where we are how convenient i might have i might say i might say
suggests
and so i do
they appear in this world and these dharma regulations
i received and upheld with reverence and respect by all living beings in the three times
hmm some of you have already done that you have received and upheld these sixteen bodhisattva precepts with reverence and respect haven't you
the to your satisfaction
all at one one two three kenya
and so at the end of at the end of dog is angie's essay on teaching and conferring the precepts it says that his other sixteen bodyside for pretty these are the sixteen precepts of buddha
we are instructed to receive with respect and reverence whenever they aren't so here we can see
and it taking a little slip out of the sutra and putting a defendant essay
which were you're allowed to do that you can pull out little parts and sutra and put him into your essays
yes but oh so i remember hearing the
aqua buddha sort of woke up and started you can other people eating your weren't really
until they started hearing the kind of ran into a problem than they would make a rule about and say okay well as a preset now and then they come into another practical situations to who yeah we'd better represent about that and and the and i remember this and the dish there's various lists there's there's tatters the theater their straighter and so
something and on when you say that these precepts are the original source of all who is hum i understand that they didn't exist but in that way before gouda and so now you're talking about them of hearing in the world
i guess those i can you clarify your sure yeah can i can see how i can clarify something like the loop recalling can like the conventional like this is a preset in new york me i kill verses are no killing vs this is preset that appears in the world naturally and
in the white house apparently and and all kinds of things that that's sort of more abstract and why and what's the and we talking about two sides of the thing air would you say two sides to you so the buddha
appeared in the world
and then charlie pointed out he heard that he didn't give these
precepts right away
now what was the source of the buddha appearing in the world
the bodhisattva precepts corn is teaching the boot up the source of the buddha appearing in this world is the bodhisattva precepts
oh i wouldn't use use sixteen were ten or hundred and fifty here i mean
and i just said to you that because voters come from these precepts the buddhist steps here because we good as come from these precepts
because there are original source and also that the original source of our bodhisattvas because of that and because all sentient beings are fully included in these precepts
direct their that ten precepts appear in the world ten precepts are not
the source of all buddhas
well they are but
it's not just the ten precepts that are the source of mobiles but because of this bodhisattva precepts which are the source of all buddhas the bodhisattva precepts in the form
of the ten precepts appear in the world
so the bodhisattva precepts of the original mind of buddha they're not confined to any language any form the buddha mind is not limited to any form or id number and or any number or any number or any word
gay and the source of this buddha which is not limited by any number any word the source of this is called the bodhisattva precepts
the buddha has come from the precepts
and then when you have a buddha than the buddha tells you about the precepts they tell you about where they came from as part of why i won't do this i want to tell you where you came from i want to tell you what your origin is as body surface
your origin is these bodies out the precepts
and because of and because as your origin
there's a peters paper over there which has the sixteen bodies that the precepts on it
and then the buddha goes on to say after telling you that when these precepts are being offered
we received them with reverence and respect in past present and future and then he says i who i the buddha will move will now once again recite the chapter
on the ten inexhaustible precept treasure notice could not to i will not recite the young ten inexhaustible precepts nature
better translation more flowing transmission the ten exhaustible
precepts treasure as what does a
and he says for this
great assembly i'm gonna know recite a scripture for you a chapter from the scripture about the precepts
and he says
these are precepts for all sentient beings whose original nature is pure the buddha is now going to recite
when the presets for us and then he says after he recited which i'm not going to read right now
he says i will henceforth recite the dimer precepts which i just told you about every half month
and he says you should recite them to
so
why is their interplay between these ten
precepts split which are precept of not killing of not stealing is their interaction between these ten
things which are conducive to liberation and the bodhisattva precepts
now these are bodhisattva precepts but there are things conducive to liberation bodhisattva precepts there's also bodhisattva precepts which are not
visible autumn where the boot has come but the but also come from
other from the ten precepts
and if you want to pretend like it don't our stand may go in
so you want to work this one a little bit the buddha's come from the bodhisattva precepts and because they do there appears in the world the bodhisattva precepts
and in particular there appear in the world that can party mochas
they appear in the world because of the buddha's coming from the bodhisattva precepts
which are the precepts of our true nature so buddha's come from the precepts of our true nature and then they give us the precepts of our true nature
and then they tell us that they're gonna given to us
but they're giving to those them their gift to us is a re citation
they're citing these precepts
that weren't that they come from
and then they tell us to recite them
and then they tell us he tells us in this scripture that after you receive them
with reverence and respect you should be like the buddha and you should recite them the buddha recites them and gives them we receive them and then we are encouraged by the buddha to recite them
and we can recite them on the same schedule as buddha which is done it has been done for a while that the re citation is done often
every half month
but you could also recite every day
every hour
the buddhist that i'm gonna do it twice a month
and you should doing
he didn't say twice a month
campsite stuff receiving it once it is sophia the self receiving an employee somebody is the bodhisattva precepts
that's are that you received the body on the part of the bodhisattva precepts is and you're receiving them another part of the bodhisattva precepts is that you're reciting them you're giving them so in the ceremony the traditional ceremony the preceptor recite the script parasites to teach the the precepts and them
monks sit cross legged with their housing
palms join and they received they listened to the precepts that receiver but they're also giving them
because
they are
their source is these precepts which now they're receiving him reciting
and this i skipped one of the scary statements in here blow scary snot all
on scary it buddha says if you receive the bodhisattva precepts which some have you done and you don't recite them than you are not a bodhisattva
now if you haven't received them yet
and you don't recite them no problem
but if you've gone to the trouble comfort receiving them if you've actually been recognized that you receive them they've been given to you and then you receive them with her his reverence and respect now the she received him with reverend and reverence and respect than be like the buddha
reciting if you don't you're not a bodhisattva
and you may say was kind of inconsistent buddha
toyota said these precepts are for all living beings whose original nature is pure why you why are you talking to us like that
we can discuss that

ah kay either you're gonna
but
chris linda linda linda yes linda
something he wanna to
or don't wanna and if i want to pretend what
they think what what can i pretend anything project the think i'll pretend like i'm saying linden what are you going in the camp
i'm gonna pretend to try to ask a question okay ah well it seems like to is i'm listening to you i'm feeling this dislike
oh yeah on know what is a con what is corner co on what is called co on what are popular thing is a public case of what
it's a public case of reality as what a call on us so what's reality reality is that the original source of us if these precepts these precepts article on
yeah so it will it seems like which is why chinese having a problem because just please precepts are gone
yes
yeah so the i guess this is obvious but so if the precepts being there
are the source of our being
and i mean is not the doesn't it doesn't say their this source of all beings it does not say that
okay just to make the clear is not saying that it saying it's the source of all buddhas
and all sorts of our party circles that's what to say is different
hell yes
the given that a precept seems to be a construction
he has given him to to tours of buddha
he has to be live instructor yes
so that's really interesting it is interesting though it seems like it's a interested if they saw the there seems to be unconstructive precepts and constructed prisoners permit well
yeah but help because how can there be a precepts in the unconcerned to other than yeah homie how could it be how could it be yeah maybe a law loss quit a lobby and constructed
glass kind of govern him constructed they govern the unrestricted or dizzy and constructed govern the laws
the come on look at least make them
the is yeah we have this sir
on constructed
on construct and stillness
in which the borders are living
so the we have a unconstructive source we have unconstructive origin of the construct
and somewhere in between
the unconstructive source and the constructed is the buddha's which are originally on constructed like us
we're fundamentally unconstructive and
because and in the way that we're fundamentally on constructed bodhisattva precepts is constructed boys that the precepts peering the world where people are dealing with constructions
and one of the constructions were dealing with is a teaching which tells us that originally
fundamentally we are on constructed this in stillness
we are immediate realizations originally and that's the bodhisattva precepts
which now
give rise to these ten major
bodhisattva precepts
not killing so not killing is a bodhisattva precepts that arises from the buddha's that arise from the bodhisattva precepts
and the buddhist live in and come forth from unconstructive stillness and silence and then they talk and coming from that place the way they talk is precept of not killing precept of no stealing the
these are expressions of unconstructive realization
and we've received them and recite them and will receive them we may be received them with constructed hands and constructed mind
and with constructed reverence and respect because we're receiving the constructions of the of the one who is
demonstrated the unconstructive source of are actually enlightened life

but i would like to ask your personal guidance about how to work with
business and what happens for me is i see less than ten and the ground etc if i see it a bunch of list of ten and the first part and then can we haven't heard and i i have a tendency to relate to them as a checklist and to go hey the well i trying
you to pay more attention to this one is one maybe not so much today this one
you know i really need to pay attention to and i think that maybe that works okay with that
we've had precepts but of non-social or turn well with her and can permissive can qualities
am i think using them as a checklist
anyway i don't know about using those checklist
but i could see a list
and that that i recite if a recipe for me it's more like a recitation list and you could say every time you are you every time you recite one of those things you can detect it off recitations done but it's more about recitation then it's it's it's really about reciting it
what goes on in my mind is why i recite them the one won't make it right up and it will say you should pay attention does find no well actually two one might light up but as possible they all laid up maybe every time he recited you hear pay attention me
when you recite it you also might be listening to it
and this the material that occurs in the first part of cetera
is all these teachings about the mahayana it's all these teachings about
the buddha mind but they're not so much given in terms of these
these the later precepts are phrased somewhat differently mostly like not not not not not
and the first the first part is a somewhat different teaching but it's part of the context of the source of all buddhas the source of all bodhisattvas and their the context of our original nature which is pure the first part so
is that an intellectual
i think which i think if you if you if you will read that your intellect would be engaged in its
maybe not maybe i realized maybe it's possible to recite the first part and or the second part of the scripture navy as possible to recite scriptures without using intellect but my intellect says i don't think so
what if you would memorize this text it wouldn't be because you consciously
had memorized it
he would be because you unconsciously memorized it
because you've consciously heard about this scripture but you can't say back to me some of your can't say back to me what i said to you just know when if you say it over and over your unconscious cognitive process becomes transformed and you would be able to decide to skip you back to me consciously but the recitations coming up by the
unconscious which has been trained
but when it comes into your consciousness your intellect is operating
it's a notice and oh i said that sentence correctly or incorrectly but they all the way as settlers came up into your mind your camp conch paula stuff up like that so is the first part also a training the first part is a training to it's all it's all about training what training our original name
nature which is pure this whole thing's this whole my honor teaching her this type of miami is teaching us that our original nature is pure and that everybody's like the his training us in them so they can realize it is trading us in
we fully possessed the wisdom and virtue of the buddha but we don't realize it one of the way you realize it
is by reciting
scriptures but this scripture he's stupid as to say that he's reciting the whole all the teachings he gave earlier
forty stages he doesn't say he recites the forty stages every half month
it's like the precepts are in away
just gives expression a distillation
of the model is infinite my own teachings
which almost everybody could could remember on are frequent on of on a regular basis you could remember precept of not kill him
when you remember that you're remembering these forty stages with their full commentary that that's in the background of
precept of not killing life so the buddhist says hi recite these little nuggets every half month
and by the way i just when through forty stages of bodyshop for practicing and i can go through more than forty because they're just coming out of me because i have the source i'm the source of all these practices because i come from all these practices and i can tell you about them but in particular i'm saying this this scripture say
it doesn't say recite the horse sutra every half months it doesn't say don't either because if you recited the whole scripture you would recite these ten along with it he saying just this ten hyman recite these ten
every half the buddha's gonna spend her time doing that
amazing
just like a story i told you over and over i'm riding on the airplane with suzuki roshi to go to portland oregon he doesn't know yes cancer i know as cancer here we go and what does he teach me how to count people in japanese
how many a ten ten
he teach me how to say one person to person three
up to ten he teaches me the ten
precepts for counting people in japanese
and i think that i've kind of thinking why is he spending his time here so then to is spending his time teaching these people these ten precepts for counting people in japanese
but now i know pray
because he appeared in the world from these precepts
and the buddha appears and he also taught this the buddha's appear from the precepts it's not like the is our first and the precepts are second the precepts are first the buddhist second the precepts our first the border is second the precepts of first but you can all say
the precepts at first but a second precepts a third buddhist forth
it's a it's a cycle between the origins of the buddha as his precepts
which is or which is the whole all these teachings of origin of buddha but also the boot is the origin of these teachers
so
the sudden exclude the infinite variety of ways we can study it just saying
the book the buddha's gonna spend her time reciting the scriptures to have the buddha's gonna go precept of not yeah just says you the blizzcon and he'd be in the world reciting these know
for us
so the boys reciting a but also very them for us so you can recite them for us
yes in terms of practicing with them the thing that makes sense to me is that will recite an episode of remember to try to live by them nice to like check them are hiking the stumpy that that when we actually try to practice repent it leaves you back
it leads you to realization like saying any the anyone goes back to
was say i'm practicing with non-toxic me not using intoxicating substances so if you want to do that man after notice when i want to you know have a drink right and then i notice like what is your am my avoiding at some particular been lying or trying to get to
some particular fbi and then begin with that and then why and so it can influence i think i slightly into kind of you slightly different thing you just prospective
you said in order to do that i had to notice when i want to what avoid something grasp yet you have to notice that in order to do that
but then i say but what if you're not doing that when if you not notice and what if we're not just don't what if your yeah i know what if you're not trying to avoid or grasp why you're not
right one if you're not then you sit with what is which is why that you're not which which is that you're not doing the subject right now right
that's when the or man
they are that got that in order to realize his precepts you have to sit with what is right right
you with any kind of on it takes you back to that which takes you back to let their true nature of self and other which deals with back to right but
i'm just pointing out that you do not have to be trying to you interested in practicing intoxicants you do not have to be into that
and you'd not have to notice that you into it if you're not into it
you do not have to be into taking intoxicants grant in order to practice the precept of not intoxicated we i mean first day
there's all kinds of and toxic saying i mean the ideas i know i'm just so you do not have to be trump you don't have to be involved in intoxication in order to practice the precept of not intoxicated
scipy sort of effortless when you are hit that plan
i don't know but effortless the because we're going for saying not intoxicating are in this election says not selling intoxicants were actually set were reciting that
so you can practice that precept of not selling intoxicants even if you're not into selling intoxicants you don't have to be into selling intoxicants in order to practice a precept know if you aren't selling and toxicants then it would be appropriate to this practice to notice that you are
on that would be good
and noticed them yet you are is compatible with reciting this precept
we didn't have a point of reciting the precepts so that you live i am
why already you notice when you're not if is if you sit
the point of these precepts
is to realize
reality is police precept is to realize
buddhahood
now buddhahood completely includes noticing what you're doing
but you don't have you don't have to do
what unwholesome things can order to be buddha
why not
no but if you if you are doing unwholesome things you do after notice it
reciting the precept helps you notice when you're not behaving well but you don't have to not behave well in order to practice the precept
so it's okay enough to be involved in unwholesome behavior you don't have it is not required to be involved in an unwholesome behavior in order to practice these precepts but what is required for does this is too
remember them and excite them
i thank you think that you remember him recite them so that you them or time i know it's islami for characters like for this noise is is kind of london it in a way no it's more like to wake up to but that's what your life is rather than to live in a
chord with something as thought it was this and year over here
so you're not trying to live in accord with them you you're trying to wake up to that you already are
because the origin of body surface is these precepts
this is why this teaching
is not give you should not try this at home
you should just always do it together with the saga and the border
this is a difficult in case
which comes from zen guy show these precepts are not about avoiding
on wholesomeness there about realize the buddha nature
know if you're involved in and wholesomeness is it good to notice that your yes would it be good to confessed and repented yes what's the point of confessing your repenting some way so it ought to avoid evil
and know these precepts are not about avoiding evil it's about waking up to that your original nature's pure is somewhat quite a different perspective but if you awakened to the your original nature's pure it will totally
facilitate you noticing when you do things that are not pure
but it's not so that you won't do those things anymore
it's solid you wake up
to what you really are which will help you notice
when you watch or not will help you notice when you're not in accord with which are
but not about avoiding eighty nine eleven we give out of working at it's just is just when you said live according to them well when you when you use them as like a guideline and can be i guess i think there's a donkeys and the whole but yeah but not not not guidelines
like i shouldn't do this or i should do this but that that when you and you know i just like will have to prove that does not with sexuality so when you are practicing and that way than that is how the buddha nature is realize not by avoiding something or doing some
nothing else for by the that the attempt is still comes back to i guess the attempt to live in a accordance with it because because that's how you realize with an extra not because you want to avoid doing certain things or do other things that because that the struggle that the attempt to live in that way
re that's that time realize through the nature

i say just second
the struggle is how you are realizing put an inch of yes
yes
but the buddha nature realize the buddha nature you will realize something you don't realize when you're struggling
which is that you're already pure
so when you're struggling years still think that buddhist a little bit different from something that's going on here
but that struggle you're going through his heart you're waking up it is
but if you think you
guiding yourself this way or that way that's
that's something you have not yet awoken to that that's originally pure that that guiding hear some of this way of that way
you're waking up to what you are in ah you're waking up to what you already fundamentally originally argh
in the in that way that you are
is the source of all buddhists who are saying we're giving you these teachings these precepts but they'd actually not so much thing used as guidelines
but using that teachings about the way you are
but that might involve you thinking well i'm not that way
i'm not an according to them teaching and so i gotta struggle your well this is higher struggling this is how you're coming to understand is is a struggle but the struggled isn't
isn't necessary
except when you're struggling
as is finishes is subtle explain yes the maybe i don't know who's first go here
say that is really easy for us and protection for a minute
what are your it to precepts
they look out for the method
to do
his one went out the i think as a message
school as you can do that you can behave this way do we sit in the new a break and how much you can cause that of like and can be caused by behavior right and
the buddhist sometimes offer methods to help people wake up to that there's no method
on thanks for the method and now i realized that there's no matter whom but i needed that method to get it into his com and still are raking because an arm processor or of time interesting
as much
and
the buddhist says that he's gonna recite these things which sound like a methods
sounds like
it's telling you something to not do or something to do
that's that's what he's saying that he's can recite not killing the teaching of not killing the teaching of not stealing he's going to recite that he wants us to recite it
which these are the some of the main things that people are you trying to use as a method to have peace in this world so yeah let's use these as recite these
i remember where they're coming from they're coming from our original nation which is pure yes i can say that i i was remembering any one thing that civil permission to say about the precepts and and sam are handwritten
man and not worry is that he keep pair of a roman precepts keep and the south which is something that it and come back to a lot and speaks to that question around struggle and and for me i i'm not just very comforting to remember i'm getting stuck
around a particular precepts are under way and practicing with that and
he just remember that if i keep my reading your mind and i you have to understand what the original mind that the precepts will keep themselves and a about managing myself in a simple way said that a certain outcome happen yes done about managing yourself and it's about you reciting
precepts
for example every half month
but i gotta get up have to be managed for yourself i can be just you say in the precepts
which you're not trying to manage yourself into practicing but you're reciting them for some reason and maybe it has something to do with the buddha told you to and you're not manage yourself into doing what buddha told you to do
and the is not managing you into doing what the good at georgia to do and yet you're doing what the bullet hole you look is kind of like me amazing
seeing with the buddha said
precept of not killing i just did it but didn't just do it we just did it
as
i'm not understanding what
adds to what your your block like how does this add like you said you could write a whole book about that now you could ride from a different angle about the precepts but i guess it's not clear to me what an ass
well i think it's one thing as is it ignore this precept helps me see
that dog is and is coming from
and he did not tell us in this children coma he did not tell us i'm inspired by the brahmin had surgery to write this he didn't tell us that and i didn't know that the people who wrote the zen k show which is a commentary on this i didn't know that people put that together also wrote commentaries on this
sutra now i do
but how does that make a difference
or just like you know how does it make a difference that you know you what college your mother went to
you didn't know before are you do
and i realized oh because she wanted that score is she says that his groceries as that poem all the time which he learned in that class she took at the college and i didn't know she went to that college and they didn't even know that her teacher was john berryman you again did you go to university minnesota budget i did yeah so she went
the university of minnesota saturday and there was a professor there named john berryman
amazing human being
bullitt who is like living there when i was got going to school
i'm thinking maybe i'm the older than you so maybe you didn't have classes with him while i didn't but i knew his wife yeah i do was wait to a younger wife and so here he is professor and so it's like now you know that i was influenced by john berryman and ah
john berryman
taught a class on don quixote
and he opened the book
and it is the first sentence which is something life
this is this is called face to face transmission is something like this
in a certain part of la mancha
there lived a gentleman rather over forty who and then bam goes
he screamed
sir is telling us how old he is
enterprise
so it's like learning that about me that he taught me when you're reading is that when he got to that part rather over forty he totally
that meant a lot to him that he wasn't being told how old this guy was was the forty one was a sixty five was he eighty three was he liked demented we don't know he's he's telling us i'm not gonna tell you how old years and then we're not even telling you where you live
and
and john berryman at a nervous system then reacted to that and that resonance went to me and made me feel like you know when i read that i didn't even notice
canada and made me feel like you know you can notice more deeply so this is like helping us realized where dog adventures is coming from which he didn't tell us
and he came from a lot of places but this cured you kind
which is very important in soto zen preset practice and which is core text of the zinc i show which is the core text
a being upright i didn't know and i wasn't told by dogan that this
try and point in this that this prominent suture is very important and this sutra and is a lot of basically quotes in here from here with each other's site which is fine with me
but now i found out
and then else as i said i've also found out through my studies which i'm enjoying very much so one of the differences it that this scripture makes is it makes me
in some ways appreciate being upright even more it helped me appreciate my own book more than i realized that i had the sutra now and see how the such as playing into that book how it's richer than i thought and harder than the people who ropes and chi show they were entered this is this is one other me
main inspirations and now i realize that so it makes a big difference in me again like finding out or did my mother goddess minnesota i didn't know that now i see where she has a funny accent
you know it's like enriching this this time of fabric
that's one difference it makes it an adequate also action
can say correct some misunderstandings i had like not thinking that this was not coming from subscription but he made it up and zone and also it helped me see that he was how creative he was with these precepts that he didn't use exactly what was it here than this is the precept he this is the sutra that he grew up with before it
is in
he grew up with this one but then he made a change so the foundations of soto zen are very much concerned with how these precepts or a modification of the precepts her dog and presents or modification of these prisms to understand dogan is to understand where he what he did it did not use
so that's how it could add to the book
but rather than change the book which is a nice book i can read another book called advanced being apart
the latest the latest news on being upright
or the enriched version of being upright coupon or the you know what everyone to call it anyway
my study which led me to to write a book from speaking about that book has not been greatly enriched by this sutra which again enriches my interest in the background suitors of this sutra so i'm i'm i'm in the middle of a great enter
richmond which makes a big difference in me
if i can make an outrageous statement now may i be it makes me want to live longer it makes me why it makes me book will be willing to to live to be as old as i can be to share this amazing teaching with you it's not just for me it's that i want to tell you about your the richness of years
a dharma ancestors that is richer than we knew is more wonderful than we knew and it's even more wonderful than that and we're going to like you know like i told somebody recently i feel like i'm sitting on a dormant volcano
this teaching and the background ages of this teaching i just feel very invigorated by and and i'm just trying not to you know
spill lava on you
but you know this is not going to be the last time are going to do this because it's things the things you know his create lava comes up and makes mountains in a mountainous being made by this this this sutra is wonder it but it has he's even bigger and more well known ones in the background of it it's like though
those have made this particular bodhisattva precepts and but it's coming from this huge mahayana backroom and the such as thing is huge mana my on a background is inconceivable unconstructive background of the body sought to put away
it comes down to these
prince that's not killing life and comes down to this little nuggets which buddha says i can i can talk about other things but i'm i'm reciting these things
and you should too
he didn't say he didn't forbid you to recite all the my on the sutras every half a month of course that would be fine
he said
maybe don't have time so this to teaching for all sentient beings it's for for monks who actually could twice a month recite the sutra
and the recitation would take them from one half to the next half because they've been non-stop if they're reciting procedures
the this is for lay people do you can recite these ten things at once a month it was every my you can do the pact i'm gonna do it you can do the same practice as me it's actually quite practical and also you can not
the patterns are shipped of of carson
yes front of all i had a physical card
some
yeah i feel like i'm just looking at during i i be like a violation of us cannot direct me towards feel i'm like oh wow my bitch really scared
when it seems like what you're putting your this is just not sure if you want to practice that we want their how
they actually are when
with we're not violating the precept how they're pointing to are good in leisure
it makes sense yeah so you said something but he said we were not violating a precept they point to our nature
gave me the precepts that remember
you are really true because
you can say the pre-dawn siri not
you can definitely say these precepts are pointing to your true nature yes
that's what does with set him that these precepts are buddha-nature precepts and buddha nature present do come a point to good a knee-jerk yes it seems to me that like when i say that what has been violated cause a lot of suffering anyway
i i think that
see that you're violating precept for most people is
is what's called it's sorrowful at least it's painful and sorrowful to see the violation of these precepts yes yes yes yes yes yes that's called repentance
repentance as part of the practice
i didn't read the previous few pages back his tiny bug repentance about noticing when these precepts are not one were not killing life doesn't seem to be appearing was used to be appearing his killing life
and when killing life appears yes
it is painful when that appears that a painful appearance yes
and then if i do it if i do the killing or i do the line then i have the opportunity to say i did it and i feel sorrow that's part of this practice
that goes with his recitation practices so i either i notice it and i recite or i recite and i notice and then i say i'm sorry if i see that didn't practices that's part of the recitation
and i also have a teaching that goes with these which it says these are buddha nature precepts
these precepts are not to remind me that i'm pure but if i feel like i'm being in pure these precepts are to help me be kind to that i feel i'm being impure and to confess it and to say i'm i feel
bad about that
if i do
this is a portrait like simultaneously remember from like when realizing the violations that are teenager is dreamy it's not like another
i think it's okay to do with simultaneously but you can also alter me and just feel bad about about being unkind just feel just feel flat out doubt about it that's fine i that was that was unkind and i'm really sorry
but we can understand
that compassion
is in
omnipresent partner
that the bodhisattvas and buddhas are found in the present partners to all of our unskillful behavior
no matter how
on skillful we are
the buddhas are never the slightest bit separate from us it's okay to remember that but but we wouldn't want to remember that and had that be when he caught a spiritual bypass and not feel that i feel bad i was just not very kind to you and i'm sorry i wasn't
careful in the way i spoke to you i'm sorry i really am sorry i wasn't careful the way i had to do that spoon
i didn't do it with reverence and respect
i'm sorry
and also i'm not telling this to you but i also feel
the buddhas are present with me as i confess that i wasn't careful when you confess that you're not be careful the buddhist are totally their support you to say
that wasn't careful and i'm sorry that's buddha activity
and then when you aren't careful
the can also remember i'm practicing i'm saying the precept be careful
i'm pract i'm reciting that precept
yeah i'm doing my job and part of my job is to recite the presa be careful not kill
not steal has been careful
i'm reciting and then if i if i think oh i didn't practice it
and i say it and i feel sorry the buddha's or with me when i'm reciting it and not thinking about whether i do it or don't i'm just reciting not killing life period
i can also remember the buddhist or with me the buddha
the buddha encouraged me to recite that precept
he said you should have read you should recite the precept of not killing i'm not doing what the buddha told me to do said it right here on age forty two he said i should recite it i just resign if i just did what the buddha instructed me to do i am now living buddha as teaching and the boy is with me
while i do it
so buddhas or with me when i'm performing buddha's teaching when i'm following bhutto's instruction the buddhists or with me
with me guess
when i'm not following buddha's instruction
like has been a monk i haven't recited the precepts
and i notice it and i say i'm sorry now in practicing buddhists instruction wishes to confess when i don't remember these present and not only am i following bridge structure but the buddhist with me just as much when i'm following her instruction as well i'm not
she hasn't back away from me when i'm forgetful and distracted
and she gives me a method recited the precepts to realize that there's no method because
food as always with me and i'm always with buddha
never not but the buddhist didn't say your i'm always with you never not
didn't just hit and he did say i'm always with you never hooked and that he said and and i'm always with you never know and i'm going to recite these precepts every half month
i'm long nose with you all the time no matter what and your with new no matter what we're together in this enlightenment this is a kind of and light emitted is and by the way i'm going recite these ten precepts
have a half month you should do so he's with us all the time and then it gives us something to
these hit and then he uses something to help us understand that
which is reciting his business and then everything that comes up with them
which is a lot
and then
yeah yes did i hear you say you in retirement in this twice a month
ah
i do not read it but i i will if you skimp for saying so
kim precise hockey

i will henceforth recite the dharma precepts of the buddha every half month i did say that school you for saying it but i i will
you should too
question her excuse me as at the buddhist center
question is if you're gonna do that and we want to good the same time
creature tell us when the i'll do it on the full moon and in the new moon for part of the day that i have not said throwing to say it's over is open ended any time of the day you do that i'll be with you and and time i do it during the day you'll be with make
but i will do it not days and
and i might do more often but that's
i'm not less tell you my dahlia like today is not new one is it
no it's not a full moon new moon i think is on wednesday
these precepts
in brooklyn next wednesday i'll be in brooklyn our site these precepts
numa
this is our tradition
which is that we the source of our practices his precepts and the buddha told us to recite them
he didn't say we do at same schedules him but he taught for schedule he's going to be on we could join them in that and i don't think buddhist would mind to forget it more often than twice a month
and i know many of you do quite frequently recite not killing life when a spider is crawling over your face
recite not killing life
gently removing the spider from your cheek
but sometimes even the spider bites neighbor you not so gentle so then maybe here
sorry
no matter what guess where the buddha's are
yes
no matter what guess where the bodies officer
that's
in the bodhisattva as come from these precepts and therefore the body surface are these person
and much more but this is like a again a little device a little method for us to focus on to wake up to our true nature
and yeah and there's so much more to discuss
and again at the end of this
at the end of this essay on receiving the precepts
after giving the sixteen percents target says these are the sixteen precepts of buddha
in general we are now instructed to receive them with respect and reverence
so
there's an opportunity
i think this is the longest time that we ever had a know abode congratulations
human clock you were here
and amazingly i just sat here and you sat here and we're we're of so comfortable where we just amazing
the as amazing race
yeah so i'm i'm just so happy to be studying this material on and i'm trying to like not get too excited about it
he could he has killed
just the ten side
he actually said
everybody says

he hasn't said a number
he does not says enough
so
i think i think in sort of like caught our school he can recite these sixteen that would be i think
just beautiful
i take refuge in brunettes on and then
ten major prohibitory person not killing not stealing
so i would suggest you do these sixty if you want to do
i just wanna say that
yes right
i just thought of that off
that one another scripture that for important as zen is called the platform sutra which i mentioned last time and the platform sutra could be restated as the bodhisattva precepts platform sector because the platform was a bodhisattva precepts platform
and in that sutra
it says
bear with me

well it says a court says cetera so part of this sutra benefit to me is that it helps me see the origins of
the platform cetera
a platform sutra actually says
a blog
a bodhisattva precepts sutra doesn't say the whole name in the boys have to precept sutra he says these precepts are for all sentient be
actually doesn't say that leaves out the first part these precepts
our
that all sentient beings original nature is pure
and then it also says

after reciting this for vol to prejudge chatted
where it says are sentient beings are numberless i've asked to save them than the sixth ancestor the literary construction sixth ancestor says
but don't think that you're the one that does the saving
when we chatted
sentient beings are numberless i vow to save them and ancestor says don't think that you save them what saves them
buddha and what buddha it's your original nature your original nature
i my original nature will save all sentient beings so what i need to do is realize my original nature because that's where it's gonna save all sentient beings i want them to be saved
and i'm gonna join the same salvation process by the realize you my original nature