Good morning, everyone. It's a fine, cool morning. And with the prospect of some sunshine later this afternoon. And with the prospect of this wonderful ceremony that we're going to enact today. Lay ordination, giving and receiving the precepts. otherwise known as Zaiku Tokudo or Jikai, which will take place in the Zen at 3pm. And all are welcome to join us as this is a joining of sangha in deep relationship. And unfortunately, participation and in-person attendance will be limited to the Ordnese and their special guests.

[01:02]

But everyone else is welcome to join on Zoom, and we look forward to seeing all of you. The ceremony has been long awaited, as you probably know. The occurrence of COVID has put off things for quite a while. And so now we have a number of Courtney's, which is wonderful. Nick Robinson, Heather Sarantis, Joe Buckner, Yoni Ackerman, Helen Chang, Nathan Britton, Philip Sherard, Diane... In tenacity, Pertholomew. And the preceptors will be Ozan Allen Sinati or Avid, Jerry Oliva, Ryushin, Andrea Thatch, and myself.

[02:10]

So what is happening here? Often we recite precepts and vows as part of our ordinary daily practice, a little different. This is about recognizing and celebrating intimate interrelatedness in the sangha and recognizing effort and and goodwill of all of the Ordinese. They've done a lot of work, studied sewing in Raksu, which I'll get into later. So precepts such as

[03:27]

16 voting software precepts are sort of about how we conduct our relationships with self or others. There's some way in which we relate to ourselves. How do we want to act? speak move about make choices in our lives and then also how do we relate to other people's activities how is it uh how are we further engage in relationship with others An important point about the ceremony is the giving of precepts, the formal giving of precepts, in such a way as that they are completely given and cannot be returned, cannot be given back.

[04:49]

Ceremony is a way of intimate of sharing an intimate moment with each other. And sort of what is this moment? We already show up completely and are invited to vow an impossible task, which none of us know how to do. We come together to recognize each other and our commitment and love of the practice of not knowing. This is one of the many ways in which our Sangha supports everyone by creating and enabling and acting ways for us to support each other. And how do we support each other in the ceremony? By bearing witness, by seeing the organese,

[06:00]

by hearing them, by sharing the same space, breathing the same air. The ceremony begins with an invocation, inviting all of the Buddhists of the past, present and future to join us. in this space, a vowel by their kidneys of their past unwholesome karma. This is an acceptance of mistakes and otherwise unwise actions or choices. In some sense, it's about clearing the air for the purposes of giving and receiving precepts. One forgives oneself by abandoning any idea of improving your past while staying connected to what you most deeply care about.

[07:19]

Next, there's a ritual purification performed by the abbot of the space and all of the participants and guests and by extension, the whole of the present moment, whatever it is included. Including all of you folks on Zoom, you're all part of the same space and you're helping create a ceremony. The next part of the ceremony is to receive the free refuges and the precepts from the preceptors.

[08:40]

This is a little different from the usual recitations we have in other ceremonial settings, such as the full moon ceremony where we chant the precepts. This is. This is the ordinary stating their deepest intention in front of everybody. It's an announcement of the of a shift in relationship on several levels. Between practitioner and precepts. Between. Ordini and Sangha between now and some other moment. As part of the... In addition to receiving the precepts,

[10:06]

your needs will receive a new name and meant to convey the preceptor sense of each person followed by a Dharma name pointing to a direction or path of potential growth. They will also receive a rock suit like this. This garment here. And which they have sewn. It takes a long time. Every time the needle goes into the cloth, your knee

[11:10]

recites, I take refuge in Buddha. Lunging in wholeheartedly. How many stitches? Who knows? One of the things that is encountered by doing this practice of sewing is that it's very precise. And there's always the impulse arising to want to get it really right. Want to make sure it's done perfectly. But there's no real correcting of stitches.

[12:21]

You throw yourself into it. You do the best you can and accept that as in life itself. So the number of stitches probably is about the number of good reasons for not going down the rabbit hole of perfectionism. So

[13:28]

How do we practice these precepts that we've been given? It's true for all of us, this question. Without getting caught in some sort of dualistic interpretation. I'm forgetting I'm a bad Buddhist. Any number of things you can think of. So without trying to build up your self-image or cut yourself down or falling into self-evaluation, we simply take on this practice.

[14:33]

We simply resolve to do this practice. We keep trying to do something, to create something that won't go away. But a project is always doomed to failure because of impermanence, everything changes. I wanted to say a little bit of something about impermanence. I've been thinking about that a lot. Our experience, well, my conclusion after thinking about it for a while is that our experience of impermanence is how we know that we are alive.

[15:41]

And there's really nothing other than the permanence. It's just You can't get outside of it. Change is the substance of our life. If you can use the word substance. So it's not as though There's no point to practice. Our teacher Suzuki Roshi used to say, I'm told. We are already enlightened, but we can use some improvement. So to hold the improvement side, the effort side slightly.

[16:46]

I'm going to emphasize that we are fundamentally awakened, but we need to practice in order to realize that, to bring that alive. So just do your best to live for the benefit of all beings and leave the rest to Buddha. Just to do this precept practice is to examine your actions in the light of your aspirations and learn from your experience how you want to meet the next moment. Suzuki Roshi emphasized how to make a right effort without getting caught in gaining mind. So it gets down to this point of, it gets down to, I don't know what words to put on,

[18:52]

Our old favorite standbys are warm and empty. Where do these meet? Do they meet? Can you find that spot? Is there that spot? Where can you live with that? There's an old sin story that I want to this site, which I like a lot. It's Case 21 from the . Yun Yun sweeps the ground. And it's very simple. Sort of on the surface. One day Yun Yang was sweeping the ground, which is something we all do.

[19:58]

They say that the word ground references the mind. But in any case, Yun Yang was sweeping the ground. He could have been washing the dishes, doing the laundry, reconciling his checkbook. involved in a hundred different activities that we all do constantly every day. Washing her face, using the toilet. The other character in this story is Dao Wu. Dao Wu and Yun Yang were We knew each other intimately for many years. Yinyan transmitted Dharma to Dengshan, the founder of a subtle school in China.

[21:10]

But in any case, Yinyi Dao Wu was... And Dao Wu said, too busy. Too busy. Isn't that the truth? How can you escape it? Maybe you can't. But Yunnan said too busy. Dao Wu said too busy, but maybe Dao Wu was being too busy observing his friend. Yunnan said in reply, he's someone who is not busy. Whoa, who's that? Is that the enlightened one who's already enlightened?

[22:17]

I could use a little improvement. The one who's not busy. Yun Yun pushes back and Dao Wu says in that case there must be meaning there must be a second perfect reality out there implying that Yun Yun Yun is maybe taking it down a dualistic attitude saying it's okay for me to be busy because There's also someone who's not busy. But is that just theoretical? So in reply, Yun Yan says, holds up his broom and says, this. And Da Wu walks away.

[23:25]

So it comes to a place where you have to stand up in whatever position you have and celebrate that. If there is a unity of busy and one who is not busy, but it has to be enacted. It has to be practiced. When encountering the precepts and trying to figure out, how can I possibly practice this precept? We have to find that spot. I vow to take what is not

[24:30]

I vow not to take what is not given. What ways do we take without recognizing whether or not something is given or not? How can we use this lens to examine our behavior in a way in which benefit clears the way for the appearance of one who is not busy. So in the ceremony, we make space for the person who is not busy.

[26:05]

We make space for your knees to show up completely and to be given completely. given the precepts completely and we celebrate the buddhist teaching the buddhist precepts as a way of others wake up to what we do So I have not used very much time. But there may be questions about the ceremony or anything else I've said, which I would make space for now.

[27:10]

And if... Anyone else on Zoom land has a question. Mary Beth, this is a tech host, and she'll let me know if anyone has a question or wants to say anything. And I wouldn't say anything you wish to say at this point. Thank you. I think that what leaps out to me from something you said is the point that that I have often made and that I feel in this ceremony, the precepts are transmitted to us in a thoroughgoing way, and there's something powerful about the fact that, as you said, we can't give .

[28:17]

there's something, there's some internal shift, an essential shift within us receiving these precepts directly that just the weight of our thoughts, words, and actions. Having received them, Even though we can't keep these precepts, which is to point out perfectly, just like you can't sew the rakasu according to some abstract perfect ability, neither can we keep the precepts that way, and yet something internally has really shifted. Yes. people who have received the precepts since that, even if we can't voice our kitchen.

[29:27]

Thank you for unpacking that. Yes, you're listening. Thank you for a really beautiful and deep talk, Peter. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Thank you. There's something else in your talk that really caught me, or really connected for me, which was the warm and empty dust of me. And I was thinking about how you live in a body. We all do, but I was thinking about your experience. You live in a body that's always really changing from moment to moment. After you live in that body. Yeah. Could you say more about that place where those two meet and how you live there?

[30:29]

Well... Could people hear that online? Can you hear that in the room? No. So nobody could hear it? I'll try and then you can correct me. So Ryushin asked, thanking me for my talk, and asked if I could say something about how it is to live in my body, in a body which is changing perceptively. And, you know, we all know that our bodies are changing. Some of us have a more direct experience of that than others. And some of us, including myself, have a different kind of... I've been thinking a lot about Reishan's talk last week about right efforts and how making an effort to show up

[31:46]

Let's see, let's put it a different way. I'm needing to make a different kind of effort, a different quality of effort. It has to do with leaving clear of my old habits of thinking because thinking are what determine how I move and how I experience my body. And so because my disability involves not being able to accurately or initiate large movements, walking, et cetera, et cetera, I have to think big. That's one example of consciously changing the relationship with my body.

[32:59]

And that works pretty well, except when it doesn't. It's an interesting exercise in Paying attention to. Habitual thinking, habitual motions. Does that address what you heard? Yes, in part. I'm wondering if I could ask a follow up question. Sure. You also talked about how. Yes. I'm thinking about my experiences where I see lots of people. Live in a body. and come to the end of their life. And there's a way of being with that that sometimes their life really happens, I would say. I'm wondering if you could unpack that a little bit in terms of what you were talking about.

[34:04]

Well, it raises a question of how you adapt to your experience of change. change becomes more of an ongoing project, taking up more and more of your time. You do make an adaptation that kind of brings you closer to the moment you're in. That's all I can say right now. Thank you. I wonder if you would comment on the role of people with their name on the document and relationship of the ceremony to the ancestors, the presence of the ancestors.

[35:11]

Yes. Yes, thank you. Thank you. People try, when you're asking a question, Peter has set a wonderful, quiet tone to this talk, but we should try to project so people here online can hear. Okay, I've got the advantage of having a microphone, so I'm not needing to project as much. But thank you, Jerry. And again, that's another facet, another layer, another way in which precepts and transmission of the precepts is about relationship. It's like it brings you into receiving the precepts in the lineage document, brings you into relationship with the lineage, the people who have devoted their lives to making this teaching accessible, have transmitted it to others. And

[36:14]

It's important to, when we say, live for the benefit of all beings, that includes those beings as well in our lineage. And without the transmission of that teaching, where would we be now? So it's tremendously important to acknowledge and to share in that relationship and to give back, in a sense, to those who have given to us through their devotion. Does that address what you wrote on? Thank you. I'm sorry. The fact that we are now in that lineage.

[37:24]

Yes. When we received the paper with our name on it. Yes, that's true. Thanks for mentioning that. There are these names on that lineage paper at the end, which is also the beginning. There's a a line which connects all the written names on the lineage paper in red called the bloodline, and from the ordinary to Buddha. Yes. Hi, Peter. Thank you so much. Hi, Sue. Beautiful, clear talk. And the question I have is that it's for the organese and they are getting their rakasus, taking the precepts. There are people sitting around in the room, some of whom have rakasus and have done jukai, some of whom do not.

[38:32]

And could you say something about the way in which we don't want this to be a sort of ceremony that makes a division between those who've done it and those who haven't, but rather How is it that the people who are receiving the precepts are doing it for everybody and we're all doing it together? We have done it before or not. Somehow, I always like to experience the way in which it's a gift to everyone and no one needs to feel left out. Can you say something more? Yes, thank you. Again, it's about relationship. It's about the joy of living for the benefit of all beings. It's about the gratitude I feel towards the word knees for having made this effort for everyone.

[39:35]

And knowing that in this particular circumstance, I feel gratitude for the fact that this effort is being made and that people are sharing the event, whether or not they are participating as Ordonese, they are participating as Sangha members. It's a Sangha event. Oh, if someone's waving at me, it's Mary Beth. Yes. Thank you, Peter. Just a couple of things.

[40:38]

First, Kabir put in the message, he estimates 1,500 stitches. That's a lot of rabbit holes. You can avoid. Yes. And then secondly, I just want to thank you. Reminded me so much of the great joy I had. when I went through Jukai and you know, I feel, I felt then that was an indelible thing. I didn't know what it meant exactly. I still don't know what it means exactly, but it's joy to make this commitment. And I just, I wanna thank you for reminding me of that. Sure. Yeah, there's nothing more joyful than making a commitment to an impossible task. I was once at a Sashin, an early experience of practice in San Francisco.

[41:40]

Liz might have been there at the same time, I can't remember. But there were a number of Japanese priests, I think Son Roshi and another priest named Taisan. They talked at some point, and Tyson sung his favorite song, belted it out, The Impossible Dream, which I will not do. Dean. Thank you, Peter. I was just talking before I got here today to someone about she's talking about wanting. She started a meditation class with someone.

[42:43]

And I talked to her and I said, well, I said, one of the really important things is you make a commitment to it. if you can't do it you make a commitment and out of that commitment and that sort of persistent failure to meet that commitment we learn something I said I don't exactly know why or how and in listening to you I realize that's exactly what we're doing with the precepts we're making a commitment to something that's pretty impossible to get right so I'm curious, can you talk a little bit about why it is making a commitment to something that, because we're human, we likely cannot get exactly perfect. What is it about that commitment, making it, that is so enriching to our lives, especially in this world?

[43:55]

It changes your relationship to the thing you're doing. It changes it utterly. It makes it worthwhile. I mean, I don't know this. But it shifts something in you. So it's possible for it not to matter so much what you think is going on, what your judgment about how you're doing is. You're just going to do it. that aspect is present.

[44:58]

So there's more possible, it's possible to have more joy in it, in the activity, whatever that might be, whether it's zazen or practice. Thank you. How are we doing on time, somebody? Well, We have time. It's 10 after. I'll take a few more questions. Sure. Yes, Hannah. You talked about thinking big. Can you talk more about that? I need a lesson in thinking big. No, I'm not so sure what you do. talking about something rather literal uh having to do with uh bodily motions my neurologist said you should go and do exercises that involve large limb movements so i i took up swimming again and um i was if i could swim a couple of lengths of the pool without drowning which was a little bit of a feat but um

[46:24]

Because I used to swim regularly and it used to be sort of a great sort of exercise event. But now it's like I've got to do the stroke completely. Or I can't even stay in the water. I mean, it's not good. Or I have to step forward. in a normal size, normal gait. Or else I start to go into stutter, stutter, stutter, trip and fall on my face, which I haven't done. But anyway, it's that kind of disability where you have to overcompensate. You seem like it's actually a different kind of thing. It's actually a... It's like taking charge in a new way. So I don't know if that addresses what you're what you're interested in.

[47:37]

I think I need to take charge of my mind in a new way as I'm forgetting things. Well, sometimes you have to allow yourself to You know, it's a fine balance, I would say. I mean, I just, to me, there's a kind of effort required, again, to I don't know, learning how to take charge of your life is something that all of us experience a lot when we were younger. And I can see we share some of the same challenges today.

[48:40]

Ross. Thank you, Peter. I was taken by the word shift, precepts, where the students take precepts. And when I came to practice, it was all about my self-centeredness and my dissatisfaction. And then when I was ordained, I didn't know it then, but hearing it today goes back all those years. Now feel there's a shift in relationship not so much to myself, but to others that was not there before. And so this transformation of relationship between self and other took decades and decades. And hearing it today, wake up to what Soju was trying to tell me all this year.

[49:42]

So thank you for hearing the lineage and transmitting it today. birthing birthing more baby buddhas in a few hours thank you thank you i see now the ears up so let's do it

[50:00]

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