Good morning. This morning I'm going to talk about Buddhist precepts. This afternoon we're having a lay ordination ceremony and the central part of this ceremony is Buddhist precepts. So, taking precepts is called Jukai. Ju meaning giving and receiving. Kai is precepts. So often this is referred to as precepts ceremony or Jukai. But it's more than just taking precepts. In Japan, there's a ceremony called Jukai, which is for lay people.

[01:09]

And because Buddhism is part of the culture, when they have a Jukai ceremony at a temple, maybe 100 or 200 people come and just take the precepts. It's not the same kind of practice that we have in America where so-called lay people are practicing in a way that is not exactly like lay people practice in Asia. So our practice is somewhere in between monk or priest practice and lay practice. So you can't exactly say it's late practice in the usual sense or that we're simply taking the precepts because we get the people who we give lay ordination to are people who are actually practicing.

[02:18]

And you have to have some. sense of putting your body mind on the cushion and showing some dedication and determination as an actual practice. So we don't call it exact. It's more than just you guys. And it's an ordination. There are two kinds of ordination. One is Zaki and the other is Shuki. And they're both called Tokuda. Tokuda means ordination. Zaki means ordination for people who are living at home. Zaki Shuki means ordination. left home or not left home, it's a little bit uncertain here in America.

[03:37]

Nevertheless, we have priest practice, lay practice, so to speak. And people sometimes compare them and say, well, should I be a priest or should I be a lay prisoner? If you have an affinity to be ordained it makes sense for you to do that, but to think that you have to practice toward becoming a priest is not the proper way to think about it. It's simply an affinity, and they should not be compared as to which is better, which is right, which is wrong, or am I worse, or is she better, and so forth. It has nothing to do with that. It's beyond comparison. Someone has an affinity to be a man, someone has an affinity to be a woman, and you should know which one you are.

[04:45]

And sometimes you're in between, you should know that too. But it's beyond comparison. You don't say one is better than the other, one is more right. Correct. It has to do with what you have an affinity for. And if you feel that you should be striving to become a priest, but you're not certain, you shouldn't do it. You should only do that when you feel, that's exactly what I was born to do. At least from a certain age. There's nothing else in the world for me except that. That's the only way you should become a priest, or think about becoming a priest. Otherwise, it's great to develop a wonderful lay practice. Most people develop a wonderful lay practice.

[05:46]

It's great. So today we have lay ordination, which includes the precepts. It's a wonderful occasion and I would like to invite all of you to come. But if you do, we won't have room for you. So first of all, well, at some point I'm going to read the precepts to you. But there's a talk by Ziggy Rishi called Observing the Precepts. And so I'm going to comment on this talk. He talks about first he talks about what is what are the precepts.

[06:51]

Then he talks about student teacher relationship because taking precepts is also you're taking precepts from somebody. What we do is when we decide that we want to take to have lay ordination, We ask the teacher, and the teacher says yes or no. Sometimes we have to ask a couple of times in order to test our sincerity. And then we sew our robe, called the Raksu, which is a small robe. Some people say, oh, this is just a kind of representational robe. This is it. Okesa. the robe that covers your body for a priest. But we also wear the small one as an informal robe. But it's the same robe. It's not just kind of a, you know, a toy.

[07:54]

It's your real robe, whether it's big or small. I remember I cut a yuriroshi in another priest in Japan sometimes. He had a little pouch that he wore around his neck so that he had a little little little robe, you know, that was maybe two or three inches square. And so he would wear that or when he slept so that he'd always be wearing the robe. So, we sew the robe, which takes quite a long time, because you sew it by hand in a very specific way, and then you give it back to the teacher, or the preceptor. The preceptor might not be your teacher, may or may not be your teacher, but the preceptor is the preceptor, and at that point is a teacher for you.

[08:55]

And then the teacher gives you a name, a dharma name, and writes it all on the raksu. And the dharma name... The way the teacher, or the preceptor, sees you and then sees kind of like your characteristic, some characteristic, deep characteristic, and then what you should be working toward, or with. I don't want to go into explaining all that, it's too much. And then the teacher gives it back to you in the ceremony. So you're offering it up. You may never see it again, but you're offering it up. That's true generosity and trust.

[10:02]

And then the teacher, after giving you the name and all that, gives you back to you in the ceremony. There's something about this giving and receiving that's the meaning of the character Jew. So it's a kind of back and forth. You're giving the orderly something. And there's a kind of circularity that goes on that connects and creates the atmosphere for receiving the role. And you're also given a lineage paper, which the preceptor makes up for you. And all the ancestors are on the lineage paper and they're all connected through a red line which represents the blood vein of the Buddhas and ancestors who are all connected and you're connected to Buddha's family.

[11:13]

And then the line goes back up to emptiness and Shakyamuni. So, all the ancestors and you are connected. And it's a lineage, meaning a bloodline, blood veins, that runs through all the ancestors and you. And then you end up being on top of Shakyamuni, standing on his head. Everybody stands on everybody's head. And then you end up standing on top. So it's very democratic. Maybe there's a certain equality that is beyond comparison. You may think, well, I'm the last one, which puts me on the bottom. But that's not so because it's a circle. You are. There is an inequality which is called hierarchical.

[12:17]

And then there's an equality which is called horizontal. Both are necessary. Both are present. It's simply the reality of how things are. So Suzuki Roshi says, In the full lotus position, we cross the right leg over the left, and the left leg over the right. Symbolically, the right is activity, and the left is the opposite, or calmness of mind. In other words, stillness and activity. One leg represents stillness, the other leg represents activity. These are the two aspects, fundamental aspects of our life. If the left is wisdom, then the right is practice.

[13:19]

And when we cross our legs, we don't know which is which. If you sit in a full lotus position, when you cross your legs, at some point you don't, you're not sure which is which, because they're equal. So even though we have two, symbolically we have oneness. So, this lotus position is the oneness of duality and the duality of oneness. So, Zazen is Buddha's way of teaching us. When we sit in Zazen, we are being taught by Buddha all the time. So our posture is vertical, without leaning to the right or the left, backward or forward. This is an expression of perfect understanding of the teaching that is beyond duality. When we extend this, we naturally have precepts, and the study of how to observe our precepts.

[14:24]

So, Sri Yukteswar Rinpoche, I remember always saying, when you sit in zazen, you are observing all the precepts. And then we all think, well, of course, because we're not doing anything. We can't get in any trouble. But that's not the reason. We're keeping the precepts because we're practicing the non-duality of duality. We're practicing the fundamental thing, which is the source of all the precepts. So it looks like precepts are something that are rules that bind us. Don't do this. Don't do that. Don't do this. Don't do that. But actually, precepts are come from ourself and come from our non-dual practice as an expression of

[15:25]

the confluence of wisdom and compassion, which is called prajna. So, he says, when we extend this, we naturally have precepts and study of how to observe our precepts. This posture of zazen is not just a kind of training, but is the actual way of transmitting Buddha's teaching to us. Words by themselves are not good enough to actualize his teaching. So, it is transmitted through activity or through human relationship. In addition to precepts, we have the relationship between teacher and disciple, or teacher and student. The disciple must choose the teacher, and then the teacher will accept the disciple, although sometimes a teacher may recommend another teacher.

[16:30]

Between teachers, there should not be any conflict. So if a teacher thinks another is more qualified, she may recommend that person to him or her. Once you become a disciple, You should devote yourself to studying away. At first, as a disciple, you may wish to practice with a teacher, not because you want to study Buddhism, but for some other reason. Still, it doesn't make any difference. If you devote yourself completely to your teacher, you will understand. You will be your teacher's disciple, and you can transmit our way. This relationship between teacher and disciple is very important, and at the same time, it So they should both make their best effort. You know, there's no rule as to how to do that.

[17:42]

Because our practice is based on intuition, we have to feel our way. And a good way to decide or discern whether a teacher and a student should practice together is when, as I say this many times, the teacher doesn't want something from the student. As long as the student wants to stay there. OK. Maybe. OK. But when the student leaves. OK. No attachment. No attachment. So the teacher responds to the student, but it's really the student's obligation to make that connection.

[18:47]

Is there an obligation for a student to be loyal to a teacher, to not just go off because he feels like another teacher? Do you owe something to the person perhaps first touch? Well, let me say something. You know, some teachers will say that. But the rule, the so-called attitude stays the same. Sometimes people say, well, you know, they go off to other teachers. That's their choice. I should, I'd rather say, oh, you should stay with me. And that's the teacher's attitude. But I wonder if the student has some kind of, should, on his own side, have a sense of, you know, it's better in their student's attitude to have a sense of loyalty and to not switch away from the teacher. It's a part of appreciation, perhaps. Something like that.

[19:53]

Well, you know, maybe so. Okay, you're not going to teach that strongly, though. Because that thing, well, you have some obligation to me. And I won't say that. I want you to feel the obligation. I don't want to expect that you should feel the obligation. I don't expect anything. It's great when you have that feeling. So I'm not going to get the advice from the teacher about that. It's very tempting to do that. Very tempting to say, well, you should be loyal to me. And I don't care if I don't have any students. It really doesn't matter. So. I mean, in my case.

[20:56]

Other people feel differently. How do you feel about your teacher? Do you feel that it's important and proper that you have a sense of loyalty to Suzuki Roshi? I know you happen to, but is that important? Part of being a student who actually receives benefit from the teacher. Well, yes. I align myself with my teacher. And he understood me better than I understood myself. And so we had this connection. And because he recognized that connection, he asked me to be ordained. I didn't ask him. So I never wanted... there was no other teacher that I ever wanted to study with. And there's still no teacher that I ever wanted to study with. And I feel... I mean, who I feel would be above him. So I still keep milking the juice from him.

[22:05]

So as long as you feel that there's something happening, that's good. But there's nothing happening. No sense hanging around. So doesn't that mean the use of the word? Loyal is kind of like really contrived because it doesn't really have anything to do with loyalty. It doesn't have to do with that connection. I think that's right. Doesn't really have to do with loyalty in that sense. Benefits that you cannot. There is no obligation. There's no moral reason for me. Yeah. You know, I'm just turning and you want to turn with me. do my dance. But as long as you find another partner, go ahead. And people go off and do other things. They go to other teachers. Eventually, they come back. And when they reappear, without even saying anything, we just continue where we left off.

[23:14]

Without even saying anything. Like, where have you been? Or what have you done? What did you learn? It hadn't got anything to do with learning. It really has nothing to do with learning. Although we do learn things and we don't put down learning, but beyond learning, it's how we harmonize, simply how we harmonize. And the harmonization, which is you know, we recognize something in each other that is beyond learning. When we're on the same page, then there's no question. So, he says, the teacher and the disciple practice various

[24:16]

rituals together. Rituals is not quite the right word, I think, but procedures are, you know, like what you do in the Zen Dojo. Rituals are more than just training. Through this ritual, we communicate and transmit the teaching in a true sense. So when you walk into the Zen Dojo, you feel a certain kind of way of doing things. and bowing to the cushion, bowing away, sitting a certain way, just how you do all this together binds us in a certain way and when we do it without resistance, it connects us on a deep level because it's simply dancing. There's a certain dance that we do, and that connects us.

[25:19]

And it not only connects us, but it brings us to oneness. So, you take that, you know, looks at when we're sitting facing the wall, Your teacher can tell where you're at by looking at you from the back. When you walk into the Dōkasan hut, I can immediately tell where you're at by the way you handle yourself. I can tell what you're thinking. I know a question you're going to ask. So, intuition is really important. So, we put the emphasis on selflessness.

[26:22]

Why is it through rituals we communicate and transmit the teaching in a true sense? We put emphasis on selflessness. When we practice together, we forget our own practice. It is also others' practice. For instance, when we practice chanting, we say, recite the sutra with your ears. I remember at Sokoji Temple in San Francisco, where we first started Zen Center, There was always somebody who was chanting by themselves without listening to anybody else. And you could always hear that as something else was going on. So one time Suzuki Roshi put a sign up and said, chant with your ears. That didn't help either. So then he had to talk about it. Chant with your ears, please. So, recite the sutra with your ears.

[27:26]

Then with our ears we listen to others, while with our mouths we practice our own practice. So we listen with our ears and practice with our mouth. Here we have complete egolessness in its true sense. Egolessness does not mean to give up your own individual practice. True egolessness has forgotten egolessness. As long as you believe my practice is egoless, that means you stick to ego. Because you wouldn't have to say so, if you didn't have one. So, when you practice your own practice together with others, then true egolessness happens. That egolessness is not just egolessness. It also includes ego practice. But at the same time, it is the practice of egolessness that is beyond ego or egolessness.

[28:28]

Do you understand? So, this is also, it's important, you know. You can't get rid of your ego. Ego is your sense of yourself. If you're ruled by ego, that's the problem. So ego has to harmonize with everything, and then it's no longer ego. Or it's true ego. This is also true in the observation of precepts. If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts. Our inmost nature can help us.

[29:31]

Siddhiki Rishi always talked about our inmost request. What is our inmost request? Like, what is that? When we say inmost request, it does something to you. But then, there's the question, well what does that mean? When we understand the precepts as an expression of our inmost nature, that is the way as it is, then there are no precepts. When we are expressing our inmost nature, no precepts are necessary, so we are not observing any precepts. So this is advanced observation of precepts, which are a combination of wisdom and compassion, called prajna, as I said. If it's only wisdom, there's something missing. And if it's only compassion, there's something missing.

[30:34]

On the other hand, we have the opposite nature. So, we want to observe our precepts. We feel that the necessity of observing precepts will help us And when we understand the precepts in this negative or prohibitory sense, that is also the blossoming of our true nature. So we have a choice of how to observe precepts, one negative and the other positive. Also, when we do not feel that we can observe all the precepts, then we can choose the ones that we feel we can work with. So, what he's saying here, Yes. It's important to observe the precepts, the ten prohibitory precepts, and the sixteen precepts and so forth, to learn those precepts and to absorb them. But the real precepts are beyond this. This is like learning how to write and then actually writing.

[31:39]

It's like learning how to drive and actually driving. When you're learning how to drive, you know, you're paying attention to all the things you're doing, and you're looking at the road, at the white line, you know, and you're trying to stay on your side of the road. But when you know how to drive, you don't think about it consciously so much. You just drive, you know, and you're aware of what's going on around you, and you harmonize. We stick to the rules that's called dead precepts. Live precepts are our compassionate mind and our wisdom mind expressed as prajna. So that compassion is always the underlying aspect of precepts.

[32:48]

Not harming, basically. Precepts are not rules set up by someone. Since our life is the expression of our true nature, if something is wrong with that expression, then Buddha will say that that's not the way. Then you will have precepts. The actual event or fact is first, not the rules. So in Buddha's time, he didn't really someone would come to him with a problem. And then he'd say, well, you shouldn't do that because you can see that's harmful to yourself or to others. So the rule is, don't do that. And our people would bring, the monks would bring a question to somebody about someone else.

[33:50]

Why is this guy doing this? And then he would judge that and say, built up that way, just one by one, as a response to what was harmful and what was not compassionate. For instance, there was a monk who died from being tickled to death. So one of the precepts, don't tickle. So there are major and minor precepts. You know, after Buddha, when Buddha was in his deathbed, Ananda, who was his cousin and exponent, asked him, should we keep the minor precepts?

[35:04]

And I can remember what he said, something like. Maybe. And I'm sure they answered or not. He did. He said, after I'm gone, you don't need to keep the minor precepts, just keep the major ones. And then when they had the when they had the big meeting of all the archives, They brought up this question about the precepts and Mahāgāshapa said, well, since we don't know what he said exactly, we should just keep them all. Ananda forgot to ask them which were which. Yeah, which he forgot to ask. Good point. So that was the beginning of the Vinaya. 250 precepts for men and 300 for women. So in Japan, most of the schools reduce the precepts to 16.

[36:11]

Taking the three refuges, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the three pure precepts, not to do what is good and to avoid what is evil and to devote yourself to the well-being of all beings, basically. And then the ten prohibitory precepts. And the ten prohibitory precepts are the major precepts. But there are other major precepts, aside from that. But these are the ones that are accepted by... And then the rest, local precepts, are minor precepts. In China they have the Brahmajala Sutra, which named 48 precepts, minor precepts. In America, we haven't devised our minor precepts yet, although that's something that I have in note form.

[37:17]

Minor precepts for conduct in this day and age, given the circumstances that we live in. Right. So those are the minor precepts. You should devise your own minor precepts. But the major precepts are perennial. Yes. Could you expound upon those at some later time? I would be curious to hear. Yeah, I have done that. But I will. Yeah. They have more with it to do more with how we conduct ourselves. You go egolessly. So is it whether you go this way or that way? It's a little complicated. Either way, you will have some presets.

[38:22]

At first, you should depend on your teacher. This is the best way. And you begin by following the prohibitory presets. But then what you become familiar with our way, you will have a more positive observation of precepts, which means you embody the precepts and be able to understand to find what your your innate precepts in a given situation. Then he talks about the teacher and the student, how the teacher should. Relate to the student. He says how a teacher points out the student's mistake is very important. If a teacher thinks that what his student did is a mistake, he is not a true teacher. It may be a mistake, but on the other hand, it is an expression of the student's true nature.

[39:29]

Very interesting point. When we understand this, then we have respect for our student's true nature and we will be careful about how we point out mistakes. Being aware of the student's true nature, we assess that through wisdom on the one hand and compassion on the other. So no matter how angry we feel that the student's mistake. Compassion should take precedence over our feelings. Not secrecy. I see. Sure. You sort of implied you didn't like people who were secret chanting, not a secret secrecy. Yes. Well, OK. So to make a sign for everyone, not just pointing out some person like this guy doesn't chant in synchronicity.

[40:43]

not pointing that out, but simply giving the message about how to do something, not you are doing something. So this is a kind of skill, you know, upaya. Instead of pointing out to somebody their mistake, You make an announcement to everybody about how you do something so that you're not putting somebody on the spot and you're communicating. Of course, sometimes that person will think there's everybody else, which frequently happens. The other day I parked my car. on Shattuck Avenue, and there's just one kiosk, I guess you'd call it, one place where you put the money in, or your credit card, for the whole block.

[41:50]

It used to be you would just go to the meter and put it in and walk away. Now you have to go up to the middle of the block, if you're at the end, and put your credit card in, but then it sticks. I didn't want to put my credit card in there. I could barely get it out, you know. So then I look for the change in my pocket, you know. I'm getting more and more. My blood is getting warmer and warmer. I'm looking for all those quarters. I always carry a whole bunch of quarters with me for this purpose. But so I'm walking back to my car and here's a cop giving me a ticket. Right. He's writing it down. Hey, God damn it. You can't give me that goddamn ticket. Well, here's the goddamn ticket. He said, do you have your goddamn ticket?

[42:56]

And I said, he did. He was very cool. I was hot, but he was very cool. He said, put this goddamn ticket in your car. And he walked away. He didn't give me his ticket. But then I thought, you know, I felt good that I was expressing myself. But, you know, it wasn't his fault. He's just doing his business. And then I thought, well, he could have looked down the street and seen me, you know, or this. But that's just my expectation. I had nothing to do with him. So. But he was very cool because, you know, he didn't get upset by what I said. And so I had to hand. He was. He did a better job than I did. Comparisons are odious. So now the city of Berkeley is going to have to hand us all cards that say I'll be right back.

[44:02]

And then. Well, I won't tell you anymore. I know it's time to quit, but give me a few more minutes. So in the scriptures, five points are made about how to be careful. One is that the teacher has to choose his opportunity and not point out the student's mistake in front of many people. If possible, the teacher points out the mistake personally in an appropriate time and place. Secondly, the teacher is reminded to be truthful, which means the teacher does not point out his disciple's mistake just because he thinks it's a mistake. When the teacher understands why the disciple did so, Get it off the top of your head. The third reminder is for the teacher to be gentle and calm and speak in a low voice rather than shouting.

[45:05]

This is something very delicate, like truthfulness. But here the scripture puts emphasis on having a calm, gentle attitude when talking about someone's mistake. It's very interesting. You know, if we whisper, someone will listen. and feel calm, they'll feel your calmness. And then be much more amenable to cooperating. When you shout at somebody or speak with a loud voice, then you're talking at somebody, and they'll have a defensive attitude. So, it's easy to back someone into a corner, and when you back them into a corner, just through your body language, or your kind of brusque way of speaking, you feel defensive. So, I notice this with my dog, you know, which I don't, but if I shout at him, you know, he's defensive.

[46:17]

But if I whisper, he can be at the end of the block, and I'll say, So the fourth one is that the teacher gives advice on points or points out the disciple's mistake. solely for the sake of helping that person, and does not do this just to get something off her chest. Here the teacher is very careful, noticing that when the teacher is making some excuse, when the student is making some excuse for what he did, or when the student is not serious enough, then the teacher should ignore that person until he becomes or she becomes more serious. You know, give them a chance to find out, to figure out, well, what's the matter?

[47:18]

Even though we give advice only for the sake of helping the students, still, this does not mean to always be easy with a student. Sometimes we should be very rough or tough with a student or or we cannot help in a true sense. So it's not just one way or another. Sometimes you have to be very tough. The last one is to point out that. It's not just the teacher, but also the disciple's friend. As a friend, the teacher points out some problem or gives some advice. This is different than being a therapist. A therapist is not your friend. Not your therapist. So it is not easy to be a teacher or to be a student when we cannot rely on anything, even the precepts. We have to make our utmost effort to help each other, and we do not observe our precepts just for the sake of precepts, or practice rituals for the perfection of rituals.

[48:23]

Even though we want to do something well, it's not for the idea of perfection. We're studying how to express our true nature. That's all. I have the precepts here, but you can hear them if you come to this.

[48:42]

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