This morning I want to talk about so-called bodhisattvas, four ways of guiding beings. And these four ways of guiding beings, they're not really methods. Sometimes it's Bodhisattva's four methods of guiding beings, but they're not methodical. They're just attitudes or ways. And they have very little to do with doctrine or study. The first one is giving or generosity.

[01:01]

The second one is kind speech. The third one is beneficial action. And the fourth one is identity action. We can talk a lot about Buddhism. We can talk a lot about Zen. There are hundreds of books that you can read. But basically, no matter how brilliant we are, or how well we know Buddhism or the doctrine, How we guide people is through our own actions.

[02:05]

So underlying all of the teaching is really basic behavior. And no matter how much we know, if we don't have the basic foundation of behavior, it doesn't mean anything. And sooner or later, people will be discouraged. So sometimes we can talk about the path in two ways. One way is about just settling. When we sit Zazen, we don't have anything to gain. We just settle on ourself.

[03:16]

Just pure being, pure existence, one with everything. And But on the other hand, we cultivate our life. We actually make an effort to cultivate our life in a beneficial way. So these are two sides of our own practice. But both sides are for the benefit of everyone. Sometimes we wonder, or we come up with a question, why do I sit Zazen? Or why do I practice? And we think of all the reasons that it's good for us. It makes me better this way or that way. Already I can feel the effects of Zazen, people say.

[04:18]

I've only been practicing for six months and already I feel the wonderful benefits of Zazen. Actual zazen goes beyond personal benefit. What we do for ourself is important, but what we do for ourself is really what we do for everyone. And what we do for everyone is really for ourself. So we can't always say, who is this for, or why am I doing this? When we first begin to practice, our effort is to do something for ourself, to find out something for ourself.

[05:23]

But when we understand something about practice or what we're doing, when we have a foothold, so to speak, when our practice becomes somewhat mature, then we no longer hold this idea about just doing something for ourself. And when our mind opens up, then we realize that what we're doing is something for everyone, not just for our own benefit. And that's when we begin to guide people. When our practice is mature, then without making an effort, too much of an effort, without trying, we actually are guiding people.

[06:37]

So we should know something about how we guide people in the way. If we think, I am guiding people, that's a kind of mistake, maybe. But nevertheless, when we're just doing wholeheartedly true practice for the sake of the Dharma, then without trying, we're guiding people. So our first method of guidance is generosity or giving, not holding back.

[07:47]

It's equated with absence of greed or absence of the desire to get something for ourself. And it has the feeling of doing something with an open heart, not withholding, not being mingy or stingy, either with things or with spirit. If we have an open spirit of generosity, then we don't have so much problem with being attached to things. In Buddhism we talk about non-attachment.

[08:52]

What is the meaning of non-attachment? It means within this world where we have to constantly make choices and pick and choose that our heart is always open to giving away or giving up. Instead of looking for how to hold on to this world, bodhisattva's practices how to constantly be giving up. And actually, the more we give up, the more comes our way. Strangely enough, as we know, the more that we give up, the more comes our way.

[09:58]

And the more that we hold on to things, or hold on to ourself, or hang on to anything, the less secure the world becomes. The world is a very insecure place because we hang on to it. But once we let go, we don't have such a problem anymore. So Bodhisattva, through realization, is always unburdening and letting go. And this natural generosity extends to everyone. So it's an attitude that if we don't have, then we need to cultivate.

[10:58]

Sometimes we feel, well if we don't have it, then it would be, feel unnatural to cultivate it. But if we don't have it, or if we have it just a little bit, we need to work on it and cultivate the attitude or habit of generosity. Not just with material things, but generosity of spirit. which freely gives and freely unburdens. On our own side it's an unburdening and for someone else it's a giving. And the second one is kind speech.

[12:14]

How we talk to people. How we make people feel when we talk to them. Dogen Zenji says that an old way of addressing people, someone, is please treasure yourself. Sometimes we say, please take care of yourself, but please treasure yourself. Makes a person feel that you care about them. Sometimes it's difficult to let people know that we care about them because we have a lot of anger or a lot of animosity but underneath our anger or animosity or envy or whatever there's the attitude of please treasure yourself

[13:40]

So a bodhisattva mind is to not be caught by anger or animosity within the midst of animosity or anger. Doesn't mean that anger and animosity don't arise. Our mind is never that clean. But underneath our mind is level. So it depends cultivating level feeling about all beings. Even though we may be persecuted by someone, still we extend this kindness and talk with kind speech. Kind speech has the ability to turn a situation.

[14:47]

Most of the time, when someone speaks to us, we react to the tone of voice or to the attitude. And if someone speaks to us in an angry tone of voice or an irritated tone of voice, our reaction is to come back on that same level. But if our mind is settled and leveled in equanimity, we can come back from our own place and influence that person rather than being influenced in a way that we don't want to go. But it's very difficult. It means that we always have to be standing our own ground and not be swayed by praise or by blame or by irritation or by someone's anger, but to always maintain a calm, steady mind that doesn't get knocked off its place by something.

[16:12]

and can come back or address with kind words, kind speech. This is one of the most difficult things in our life. When people are living very closely, we start to irritate each other. When we're not so close, you know, It's easier to be kind, nice. But when you get in a very tight situation, close situation with people, then we start to see each other's faults. And when we start to see each other's weaknesses, we fall into certain attitudes towards others' weaknesses. And it's almost inevitable very hard to not attack someone's or chip away at someone's weakness or vulnerable place.

[17:18]

And it takes a great act of mindful volition to stay on the correct level, on a level which is not attacking and maintain respect and positive feeling toward a person. Four of the Ten precepts are about speech, about how to deal with correct speech. So very important. We say body, speech, and mind. All my actions, all my ancient karma due to body, actions of body, speech, and mind.

[18:32]

So, how do we maintain an attitude, a bodhisattva attitude concerning speech? This is something that all of us need to work on constantly. How do you pick just the right words, just the right phrase, just the right intonation, which benefits yourself and others? and leads people to the Dharma. Because what we say is very influential. And if we feel that we're practicing Dharma, it has to be expressed in speech, everyday speech. Sometimes, we get into a situation with our Dharma friends and scratch our heads, say, is this, are these Buddhists?

[19:48]

Is this the Sangha talking to itself? What's going on here? It's okay, as long as we remind ourself, as long as we know what's happening. speech and mind will always get out of hand. But how we deal with that, how we bring it back, how we recollect our mind, that's the important thing. It's just like sitting in zazen. Our mind is always wandering out, wandering on something, and we bring it back. So, in exactly the same way we practice zazen, moment after moment in our daily life by coming back to that place. Always maintaining that equanimity. Maintaining our true ground.

[20:53]

And this is the Bodhisattva's life practice. It means more than anything else. It's got to be more than anything else. has to mean more than security and entertainment and interesting objects in this world. It has to be more than fame and gain. The third is called beneficial action. means actions which benefit everyone. What are my actions about? In other words, what am I doing? Who benefits from what I'm doing? Or what's the reason for doing what I'm doing? I remember when

[22:05]

Before I started to practice and became a priest, I used to pick and choose my friends according to their disposition and affinity with my interests. But after becoming a priest, I no longer, before that, little by little, no longer picked and choosed my friends, or even thought about who was a friend and who was not a friend. I think when we, if you become a priest, you no longer are in the realm of who's a friend and who's not a friend, or who you choose. You don't choose. Just everyone that comes your way is who you deal with.

[23:09]

And your life becomes public. It's no longer, you no longer have a kind of private life. There may be some feeling that you want some privacy, but You no longer have a private life. Your life belongs to... somehow it's out there and belongs to everyone. It's also good to have some private life. Hakuin Zenji, who did many wonderful drawings, had one drawing that he did of a Bodhisattva Kannon, sitting by the side of the brook on a rock, away from everything. And the caption under the picture said, even bodhisattvas like to have some privacy.

[24:19]

You know, if we worry too much about how we're benefiting everybody, that can be a kind of selfish, a little bit self-centered. We have to take care of ourself, and that's very important. If we're only taking care of everyone and not taking care of ourself, then something's missing. Someone else has to take care of us. So, our main thing, first, we have to be able to take care of ourself. So this is our Individual practice is we take care of ourselves and we don't burden people with ourselves. That's our self-cultivation. And that is really helping to guide people. If we can show people or give people an example of how we really take care of ourselves, that's very helpful.

[25:32]

And then we can also help take care of others. But mainly, it's not a matter of ourself or others. It's just, we're just taking care of the dharma. Or we're just taking care of the sangha. Or we're just taking care of Buddha. If we get into too much saviorism, then we can get a big ego. But nevertheless, what are our actions about? And what are we doing? And why are we doing what we're doing? As I said before, when we first come to practice, it's for ourself. which is natural and normal. But when we have maturity and understanding, our practice is just for the sake of the practice, for the sake of the Dharma, for the sake of the Sangha.

[26:45]

I used to come to Zazen for myself, but now I just come to Zazen. But I also come to Zazen to be with everyone. If I sit Zazen, it helps you to sit Zazen. And if you sit Zazen, it helps me to sit Zazen. If I'm practicing, it helps you to practice. And if you're practicing, it helps me to practice. So we share our life with each other. We share our life of practice with each other. And we can't say, who's good and who's bad and who's influencing who. But all together, we make something work. It's pretty hard to help people

[28:01]

to really help people may not be so easy. But that's why, you know, we take it out of the realm of doing it for me or doing it for you. But I know that if we just do it, it helps me and it helps you. I remember there was a teacher in Burma, I think it was, a Chan Cha, maybe Thailand. He said, don't say, I'm cleaning this toilet for you. Don't say, I'm cleaning the toilets for or something like that.

[29:06]

Just cooking, just cleaning, just taking care of things. No praise, no blame. When we can have this kind of attitude, then our life can be pretty settled. And even though we may not know what we're doing, we know what we're doing. The fourth one is identity action. Identity action means to realize that beyond this personal self that the whole universe is myself. And when we come across somebody, when we meet someone, we can identify with someone.

[30:18]

And when we can identify with someone on a deep level, as myself, then we can begin to understand each other on a differential level. Each one of us individually is completely different, but completely the same. So, when we understand that we're completely the same, we can appreciate that we're all completely different. And when someone comes, no matter how difficult our meeting, there's always a way. So we can always find a way. So because we can drop our own way, identity action means that we can actually drop our identity and take on

[31:30]

or identify with whoever comes along. Identity action means that our mind is like a mirror, has no special idea about anything, but is receptive to whatever comes and reflects whatever comes. This is wisdom of great mirror, round mirror wisdom, which can see whatever comes, just as it is, just as it really is. And part of that is great equality wisdom, which sees everything the same. It makes no distinctions.

[32:34]

And then the great observing wisdom allows for all differences and appreciates all differences. And then the perfecting of action wisdom does right action. based on this. This is the Bodhisattva's identity action. So, when a thief comes, we can become the heart of the thief. When a saint comes, we can be the heart of the saint. When a housewife comes, we can be the heart of a housewife.

[33:40]

When a carpenter comes, we can be the heart of a carpenter. Whatever comes, we see it as ourself. When we are aware of these four ways and actually cultivate them, this is the basis for meeting people in the way. Generosity, kind speech, beneficial action and identity action. And all four contain the other four. So when practicing one, the other three are always there as aspects.

[34:50]

So there are actually 16 ways. Do you have any questions? Yes? As you alluded to, for me it takes a great deal of maturity to try to live the philosophical attitude and to play at the cost of struggle. At what? so much in life as it will revert to a child who can lead somebody by slamming them up against the wall with my action or something. I guess if you're in a situation where it appears as if the other is not trying to treasure

[35:55]

Me. And I'm trying to trade it with being in the law enforcement system. And how to open up to see where you're coming from. And still honor where I'm coming from. And have this other authority. It's black and white. This is the way it is. There's no room for what you want. To live with that. Yeah. The two things. First one is patience. Second one is no expectation. Where we get into trouble is through our expectation. We have the expectation that someday we'll be happy. Or someday things will be okay. Or sometime. Or they should. Or they will be right.

[37:06]

Or they will change. Or that, you know, we can expect something, or we should expect something from some place, somebody. But that may happen. but to expect it sets you up for suffering. You may have some pain because you're frustrated, but to expect something from the other side is to set yourself up for suffering. The important thing is What we do, what would you do? Because when you come down to it, when you die, there's no way you can change that.

[38:13]

The only thing you can do is meet it. And how will you meet it? And this stands for all situations. Thanks a lot. You're welcome. I don't know if this is a little abstract enough, How is it guidance? It's guidance in that through identity, action is how we meet and guide each other.

[39:54]

This is where everything meets, is in identity, action. So, you know, we can say Buddha is out there, you know, and I'm here, human being. But Buddhas and human beings are not two different things. This is identity. If humans and Buddhas are two different things, then it's too far out there. How can I How can Buddha ever guide me if he's out there? And I'm just this human being. Possible, but... One of the important acts of faith in Soto Zen is human beings and Buddhas are not two different things.

[40:58]

To realize that you are Buddha. So that's identity in that sense of myself and Buddha are not two different things. There's no gap, there's no chasm, there's no up there and down here. I think I was seeing you there for a list of four. It's the principle. Right. Yeah. Identity action is the principle. Then it forms just like in the six paramitas. Prajnaparamita is the principle which underlies all the others. Is there action involved?

[42:07]

Yeah, the action is to do. To do? To do that, to realize that. Principle is maybe like dharmakaya, you know. Principle is stillness and action is movement. So within stillness is action, and within action everything is completely still. What do you do? the way the mind is focusing. Well, it's how we relate. Yeah, the action is in how we relate.

[43:09]

So the identity action is manifested in the way I am thinking and feeling and touching and moving about. Yeah. And how we meet. What is real meeting? What is true meeting? That's important. What is the real, true meeting? You know, when we meet, what meets? That's actually what we have to clarify. I'm not even quite sure how to express this question, Well, better to do it and let it fall apart than not to have done it at all.

[44:18]

I think. Shakespeare said. You find out by trying. You know, it's better to try it and get hurt and be silly and naive and so forth. We're all that way. We all make big blunders. Join the crowd. I think I need more... I think sometimes we all have to set the limit on how to be generous and do that. Yes, right. Okay, that's a good question. It's being just generous with no setting limit.

[45:40]

That's right. You have to know what your limits are. You have to know your boundaries. I can be very generous to you, but I won't let you have my clothes. I need them. I may let you have something, but, you know, and I won't let you have all of my time. You can have some of my, you can have a lot of my time, I won't let you have all of it because some of it needs to go here, some of it needs to go there, some of it, you know, needs... So, how we distribute ourself is important, and how we draw our limits is important. Otherwise, we just get lost. So, generosity has to be guided by discernment, Discernment, I'm using that term, discernment, probably a better term.

[46:46]

You can talk about love and wisdom. Love wants to be, wants to give, you know, constantly give. And it needs some wisdom to hold it back and make it work in the right way. We have to make our life work according to circumstances. If I'm talking to people all day and all night, my wife's going to get really mad, you know. So I may be making one person happy, but I'm making somebody else unhappy. So, you have to know how to discriminate. Even though you want to be completely non-discriminating, you have to know how to discriminate, how to make things work for us.

[47:56]

So, sometimes it's very kind to somebody to limit their time, or limit your giving. If you give everything to somebody, they may get spoiled. If I give my kid everything he wants, he'll just get spoiled. So you have to really set strict limits. Sometimes get real angry. But the anger is not real anger. It's not It's not rooted anger. It's only surface anger. Don't you do that. Bad boy. It's not real anger. It's just expedience.

[49:00]

So sometimes it's very compassionate to be angry at somebody. It's helpful. Everything is a means. If you can use everything as a means, it's not a problem. It's not that you're always going out with a sunny, beaming face. Nobody can do that. Everything that comes up can be a means, if you know how to use it. But when we get used by things, then we're no longer in our place. And kids are like, they can do this pretty well. They haven't developed their egos yet to the extent where they hang on for any length of time. One moment they're really nasty and angry and you think, God, you know, what's this kid going to grow up to be like? And then the next minute, happy and pleasant and just like that.

[50:08]

Because it's not rooted. It's just on the surface. It's just something that's happening. you know, the clouds are having that kind of a configuration. But then, they're gone, you know, and the sun is shining. So, you know, there's no formula, but you should be able to use whatever comes up, as long as you're not treasuring your emotions in your heart. We really treasure our emotions. We just hang on to our emotions for dear life and identify with them. This is me and I can't let this go or I'll be dishonored or I'll be, you know, what will people think of me? What will I think of myself? And so we just deepen it and deepen it, deepen it, deepen it.

[51:09]

Pretty soon we're stuck. We have to be able to let things come and go. Let them come and go. Not be attached. And not to hold on to an idea about somebody. We really get stuck here. This guy is no good. No good. And more and more, you know. And then we pick out little things that reinforce our concept, our view. And then we keep making them, you know, creating more and more of an image of somebody being bad or right or wrong, you know. And we have this image of a person in our mind and it just keeps getting colored and reinforced. And then it's very hard to let go, very hard to reconcile. So this is

[52:13]

Difficult stuff. And we stop identifying with them. See, that's the hard part. We no longer identify with them. When you sit zazen, hopefully, everything falls away. You're not holding on to anything. Karma's gone. And you can see the person for what they are. You identify with them. We identify with everybody. During Sashin, you know, it's one person. We identify with everybody, even though we irritate each other in little ways, and we have feelings, but it's, you know, you can see how it's ephemeral. So, we build up the image in our mind and keep reinforcing it, and we no longer can identify And that's bad news.

[53:15]

We always have to be able to give the person a chance by letting go of our idea. Okay. Thank you.

[53:37]

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