Good morning. It's wonderful to see all of you here today on Buddha's birthday. And thanks to the kids for coming. I really appreciate your presence because we're celebrating children today as well. Is there anyone here for the first time? People, welcome. What an auspicious day to come as your first time. My name's Linda. And... So I'm going to be talking some about the Buddha's birth, and it's going to be just a very short talk today, and then we'll go on into the other very celebratory part of the ceremony. So there are four main events in the life of the Buddha that we celebrate. His birth, his awakening, his first teaching, and his passing into pari nirvana, or passing away. And there's kind of, when we talk about the Buddha, there's definitely two sides of the Buddha that gets talked about in the scriptures and just in how we read or think about him.

[01:10]

And originally, of course, he was seen as a human being, a very extraordinary human being, but very much a human person. The whole bunch of other people, mostly outdoors, as he did for so many years, going around and traveling, and not realize that someone is a human being. You're seeing all sides of them. It's like being roommates. Or your family. You know human beings. People used to say my mother was a saint, and I'm like, uh-huh, wait for the dinner table. And she was an extraordinary person. And now I can see her saintly side. So we all have these two sides. So this is very human. And it's also very with the people that we really appreciate to set them up really high. It might be some special teacher or it might be our parents. It might be heroes or superheroes.

[02:13]

But I think we have this innate devotional aspect. Many people. to express love in certain ways and to really go all out. So this is one of those times when we go all out. So here's the Buddha's all-out story. In the time of the Buddha, as I said, he was clearly a human being and discussed in that way. and was an amazing teacher. But after he died and people weren't so close to him, then the stories started as a way of expressing how people experienced him. And the people who wrote those stories were all very devoted monks. They were completely devoted to practice, and they had awakened. And from this feeling of deep gift, they wrote these stories. before it is said, that before the Buddha was born as a prince named Siddhartha Gautama, he had countless lifetimes as a bodhisattva, as a Buddha to be.

[03:28]

And he kept coming back birth after birth in all kinds of different forms. And in the Jataka tales, it tells about when he was a bird... or a mouse, all these different forms of life and the things, the very kind and amazing, remarkable things that he did in each lifetime. And as he went through these innumerable lifetimes, he became more and more pure and virtuous. And after, I think, about 10,000 lifetimes, he He was hanging out in Tushita heaven, where you go between rebirths, or at least where the Buddha did. And he decided that this would be his last birth, his final rebirth, that he would have done everything that he needed to do in this world, and he would pass into pari nirvana and not have to come back.

[04:30]

In other words, the ultimate freedom. So he chose... two people to be his parents, King Suddhodana and Queen Maya. And they lived in a beautiful, huge palace in northern India about 2,500 years ago, a very, very long time ago. And they'd been wanting to have a child, and the Buddha chose them to be his parents. So one night... Queen Maya had a very powerful and auspicious dream, a very special dream. She dreamed that the sky had just become a radiant white light. It was just this everywhere. And then all the light turned into this pure white elephant. And the elephant had six tusks.

[05:31]

He had three tusks on each side. And he entered her through her right side. And when the elephant entered into her, she felt this complete happiness and joy and peace. And in India, elephants were seen as sacred. So they're the symbol of wisdom and stability and so many good qualities. this dream of a pure white elephant with six tusks coming in through her right side. She said, I think something wonderful is going to happen. And the Buddha was indeed conceived. So this miraculous conception. And then some months later, as she recognized that she was getting close to giving birth, She asked the king, would you please make arrangements for me to go to my parents' house?

[06:36]

Because usually women went back to their parents' house to give birth. So he sent all these attendants with her, huge numbers of attendants. And to have her be more comfortable, she was carried in something called a palanquin. And it's like a little, it's like a tiny room that she would ride in. Four strong people carried her from the palace to the small village or the small town where her parents lived. And on the way, it was rather hot that day, and on the way, they were passing by a beautiful beanie grove, and there were many, many beautiful trees there. She said, let's stop there for a little while. So they came and they went under this beautiful grove of sala trees. Sala trees are really beautiful, big trees.

[07:38]

They're often used for timber. And I saw one once. I was in Indonesia and I was there for a gathering of the Buddhist women's conference, the Sakya Dita conference. mostly women from all over Asia. It was beautiful. And there was a shrine there with a solitary in the middle of it. And it has these roots that are in the air like vines. They're like wound all around the trunk. And everywhere on these vines are these huge pink flowers. And they're so fragrant. They just smell delicious. They actually use the wood for the resin for inspiration. The sweet-smelling. So this is where she was, and she was standing under this one particularly beautiful solitary. And she's big with child, and she reaches up one hand, and the tree lowered its branch down so that she could reach it.

[08:39]

Cold of the branch. And at that moment, she realized that she was about to give birth. And she gave birth standing right there holding the branch of the solitary. And the child just came out of her right side. Not in an ordinary way at all. You didn't get born like that. But the Buddha was born like that. The magical Buddha was born like that. And he came out and... He was completely clean. It was completely clean and radiant and peaceful. All the attendants were just like completely captivated by this birth and this beautiful child. And she'd set him down. And, you know, when you were little, you crawled. That was the first thing you did. And cried. He didn't do any of those things. He took seven steps immediately.

[09:43]

And with every step he took, as his foot was stepping forward, a beautiful lotus flower came up from the earth to receive his foot so that he wasn't even stepping on the earth. One step at a time, seven steps on top of lotus flowers that just bloomed from the earth. And after he'd taken seven steps, he pointed one finger to the sky and one finger to the earth, and he said, I am the world-honored one. This is my rebirth. There will be no more rebirth for me. So now I'm going to back up a little bit to the moment of conception. And this is from the introduction to the Jataka tales, the Nidana Kata. So it talks about some of the omens that happened at the time of the Buddha's conception, when Queen Maya had the dream of the white elephant that came into her side.

[10:57]

And of course, nobody knew what the omens meant. They were just mysterious things, but the language is so beautiful. Now at the moment when the future Buddha made himself incarnate in his mother's womb, the constituent elements of the 10,000 world systems, like stars, like that many, at the same time quaked and trembled and were shaken. The 32 good omens were also made manifest in the 10,000 world systems, and a measurable light appeared. The blind received their sight as if from very his glory. The deaf heard the noise. The crooked became straight. Those who were lame walked. All prisoners were freed from their bonds and chains. No children had to do homework.

[11:59]

In each there was extinguished in the realm of the hungry ghosts. Hunger and thirst were completely allayed. Wild animals weren't afraid. The illness of everyone who was sick was cured. All people began to speak kindly. Nade and elephants trumpeted gently. All musical instruments played themselves. No one was touching them, but they played so beautifully. Bracelets and other ornaments jingled all by themselves. All the heavens became clear. A cool, soft breeze wafted pleasantly for all. Rain fell out of its usual season. Water welling up from the very earth overflowed, and the birds, flight, and sat on trees.

[13:04]

The rivers stopped flowing. They just were still. The seawater became sweet and not salty. Everywhere the surface of the sea was covered with lotuses of every color. All flowers blossomed on land and in water. The trunks and branches and twigs of trees were covered with the blooms appropriate to each one, like spring, but all at once. On earth, tree lotuses, there are no tree lotuses, they only grow in the water, but now lotuses are growing on trees, sprang up by sevens everywhere and breaking through each one. and hanging lotuses were born in the sky, and rained down everywhere a rain of blossoms.

[14:07]

In the sky, music was playing, and the 10,000 world systems revolved and rushed together as a bunch of gathered flowers. And it became a woven wreath of worlds, as sweet-smelling and resplendent as a mass of garlands or as a sacred altar decked with flowers. So we're going to do a ceremony where everyone gets to bathe the baby Buddha. And that'll be up here. And the baby Buddha is taking that stance with one finger pointed to the heavens and the other pointed to the earth, which is right after he was born. And he said, one. And then we're going to bathe the baby Buddha. And one story is that after he was born, nine dragons gave him his first bath.

[15:12]

And we think of purification as like, well, we purify our minds and bodies, which means particularly in Zen, that we stop dividing things so much into this and that and good and bad. But this idea of purification, in this case, because the Buddha was pure, we're actually purifying ourselves and all beings. So we'll put a little water over the baby Buddha and we'll each get a turn to do that. And Carol will tell us just how to do that. So, thank you so much for listening to this story. Beings are numberless. I vow to awaken with them.

[16:18]

Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end. ... [...]

[17:23]

I don't know what I was doing right then. [...] Beyond wisdom, hard to try.

[22:03]

When you're practicing deeply, you've got a branch out of the army to escape a lot of five-stop levels and never meeting our empty and what's safe from all suffering. Oh, sorry, good job. Oh, let's not differ from emptiness. And it is, let's not differ from four. Which is, let's not differ from four. Which is, let's not differ from four. Which is, let's not differ from emptiness. Which is, let's not differ from emptiness. And it is, let's not differ from four. Which is, let's not differ from emptiness. [...] Which is, let's not All of our mouths are perfectly empty. They do not disappear or disappear. I am not addicted nor pure. Do not increase nor decrease. Therefore, I am addicted to this.

[23:04]

No form of pulmonary cell reception. No form of issues. It's just the next. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, [...] no. Consciousness. Leveling merits and loss of the world's extinction of you. If I could tell the love of the great and bad, but also the world's extinction of you. I don't stop reading my origination. I don't stop reading your path. I know how slow the problem is he meant we're nothing to do at any time. Will be solved by the two eggs on.

[24:09]

Prashnarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr It was a pretty poor girl inside, who progressed to this year and well, from the show. What a pretty tall. I used to so many years of surprise, and with the lights made there for one girl to go, by the show. But I'm interested. It is a great transcendent mantra. It is a great pride, my child. The English is the most smart child, the English tools you bring it. The English is the most to really be aware of the stuff for me, when it gets to work with all of us, for some of the wrong thing, but I wish to be a part of it, [...] to be a part of it.

[25:14]

I am a person who is [...] a person This is a beautiful and a lot of times that let us sit down to be in our end today. We'll see you in front of us. We'll see you next time. Busynesses and busynesses are different from all of them. Variousness and busynesses. Variousness and deepness. Automatic understanding is pure to provide feelings, perceptions, or emotions, consciousnesses. Very good job. Although to try, I just have a right to get the emergency, the baby can be drawn right here, a lot of measures of failure, but apart by understanding the point of view, it should not be increased, no, it should be increased, but at all, it should be increased, but at all, it should be increased, but at all, it should be increased, no, [...] it should be increased, no.

[26:42]

No body, no mind, no cover it, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no mind, no breath, no mind, no breath, [...] no breath. It should also be felt right, no outpish, and also, regardless of singing, would it that bit to the same amount of police, but I think you can stop it, but I think you can stop it, but I think it was the only place I would like to be in a parent's house, because it's waste. But I want to cry from day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day-to-day.

[28:02]

You get a separate track, so you get one job. You get a separate break, my [...] job. This is the end of the day of [...] the day. We'll see you later. We'll see you later.

[29:07]

We'll see you later. We'll see you later. Thank you. of all of the different cultures of life to get back to see that the community is not enough to be given to the world to disappear, but I am not seen to get nowhere to grow ever, which now you have to be British, so I want to be British, and [...] I want to be British. No body, no mind, no problem, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no pocket, no mind, no eyes, no sense of no realm of mind, I just guess, no ignorance, I've also no extinction around it, and I'm still a level of great and death, and I'm still no extinction around it.

[30:27]

No suffering, no origination, no stop. No bad, no cognition, and I'm also going to sing with. We have nothing to say about. We'll be stuck while I'm pretty great, so. Ration, and our pizza. We'll be fine with several pictures without any. No figures exist. But I'll repart from that pretty corporate here, what dwells in everyone else, in that great world follows the best place to see you at night. Right now, I can't be sad, and [...] I can't be sad. This is the great transcendent mantra. This is the great folk mantra. This is the utmost mantra.

[31:28]

This is the supreme mind. Which is able to believe all the suffering and disturbing mouth walls. So reclaim the rationality of itself mantra. Proclaim the mantra, not seconds, [...] On the great compassion comes forth the pure Dharma body.

[33:30]

Uncreated, we pray that the darkness of our delusions may be illuminated by true compassion. On this fourth day of April, we are gathered here to offer sweet tea, flowers, candles, water, and capes to celebrate the birth of our great teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha. And out of gratitude we wish to offer the merit of the recitation. of the Great Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Heart Sutra. The wonderful Numbumbara flower bloomed upon this day, and the meaning of this festival is found within its blossom, even as its sweet fragrance fills the whole universe. So does Buddha Dharma cover the world. The birth of Shakyamuni brought the sun of hope to a world of darkness and illuminated the whole universe. Shakyamuni was born with the marks of a Buddha and for immeasurable time pursued works of great compassion, found and transcended the cause of suffering.

[34:34]

All beings, whether saints or laypersons, praise this magnificent understanding. The Buddha's 300 sermons are for us as rain is for trees and grass, just as rain causes flowers to flourish. Touch our hearts. At this very moment, the rain of the Dharma pours into the lake of kindness. The merit of the Buddha's life may be likened to the wind, which, as it bends the grass and fans the leaves, moves the good seed of the Dharma to take root in the hearts of people, even after two thousand years, and will continue to do so not only in this world, but also throughout every world. We, the followers of our great teacher Shakyamuni, bow in gratitude for this kindness and compassion as we celebrate this birthday. We pray that Shakyamuni's halo, which is the light of the Dharma, will illuminate the darkness of delusion for those beings of this world who have not yet heard these teachings.

[35:42]

We pray that all beings may be saved and thus prosper for all eternity. We pray that the seed of Buddhahood and blossom into the flower of enlightenment, so that its beauty may fill the universe. Oh, oh, [...] oh.

[36:39]

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