Last week we sort of glanced at the Eightfold Path and said we'd continue the discussion this week and also talk about the practice of Buddhism through the Eightfold Path. But I wondered if you had any questions left over or any thoughts before we started. No, I mean last time. I hope you had a nice week. I was glad I took it off. Actually, I was sick, so it was convenient to have a vacation and to have a cold. I planned my work schedule well. Any questions? Well, we started this class in talking about the historical context of Buddha. And then the problem as Buddha defined it, and the Four Noble Truths, which are kind of the answer.

[01:02]

And then we talked about meditation and wisdom. What's the third one? Mutation, wisdom... Morality. Come on. Well, I was embarrassed because every time I say that word, people say, oh, we don't want to talk about morality. This is Berkeley. This is, you know, we don't like to talk about that. Ethics is alright. Ethics. Yeah, that's good, actually. Ethics is good. We might have to change it to accommodate our style here. And we began to talk a little bit about the Eightfold Path and I asked you to think about which one appealed to you of the eight, which one did you find the hardest to practice.

[02:03]

And maybe as I start talking about them I'll come a little bit into focus, I hope. I also gave an alternative description that help to delineate one from another. And I'm going to go over that now. First, you must see clearly what is wrong. That's right understanding. Next, you must decide you want to be cured. Right thought, right view. You must act to aim to be cured. And that's right action. You must speak in the same way to aim to be cured. Write speech. Write livelihood. Your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy. Write effort. Your therapy must go forward at staying speed. Write mindfulness. You should think about it incessantly. And write meditation or concentration. Learn how to contemplate with deep mind.

[03:07]

So I'm going to start with, first you must see clearly what is wrong. And that was basically, starting out with the historical context of the Buddha, that was the dilemma that faced him and faces each of us, which is, well, you know, actually sometimes we have fun in this life and actually get things going that are kind of pleasurable, but there's this hook in there that we know we're going to die, We often avoid thinking about that. In our best moments, we still know that we're going to get old and die. So we have this idea, which we try to avoid, of impermanence, of suffering. And if we're lucky, we begin to see that we're not the center of the universe. In fact, that there is no center, that life is just what it is. So this is what Right Understanding is about. It's actually about the absence of delusion, as we were talking about in wisdom.

[04:16]

I'm going to go into a little more detail on this. This is from The Buddha's Ancient Path, and it's a very lengthy and wordy book, but you can sometimes pick out little parts of it that are pretty good. From the foregoing exposition of the Buddha, it will now be clear that right understanding at the highest level is merely the avoidance of all wrong views, illusions and perversions, which according to Buddhism are mainly due to the notion of a self or to belief in a personality. It is the understanding of the arising and ceasing of the aggregates. Through understanding of the aggregates, that's all the things we see and feel and hear with, That is through an intellectual grasp of the nature of the so-called being, dawns the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. You know, it's interesting to talk about the absence of the notion of self. I remember I was at a session, or as Joko Beck calls them, sessions, with Joko Beck, and she had everybody, she asked everybody, if you had to say why it is you practice or what it is you do as a result of practice, what would you say?

[05:29]

Everybody went around the room and tried to describe what the practice was about. And she said, practice is about moving from a self-centered view to a life-centered view. And if you've been around babies, you know that that's a long process. Well, you see that from the time they were babies it hasn't progressed very far. It takes a long time and a lot of work. The distinguishing characteristic of Buddhism. Oh, I thought this was really important because we were talking about did the Buddha do this or did he do that, all those magical things that were attributed to him. And I remembered there was a quote somewhere and I finally found it. The distinguishing characteristic of Buddhism was that it started in a new line, that it looked at the deepest questions men have to solve from an entirely different standpoint. It swept away from the field of its vision the whole of the great soul theory which had hitherto so completely filled and dominated the minds of the superstitious and of the thoughtful alike.

[06:35]

For the first time in the history of the world it proclaimed a salvation which each man could gain for himself and by himself in this world, during this life, without any the least reference to God or to God's either great or small. Like the Upanishads, it placed the first importance on knowledge, but it was no longer a knowledge of God. It was a clear perception of the real nature, as they supposed it to be, of men and things. And it added to the necessity of knowledge, the necessity of purity, of courtesy, of uprightness, of peace, and of a universal love, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure. So it almost seems like, I mean, if we look at the Eightfold Path as if it proceeded in an order, that you have to know before you even begin your practice. And yet, that's kind of hard to do. But one has to have at least a glimpse of suffering and at least an idea that this is a path that leads away or somehow lessens that experience.

[07:41]

Any other thoughts about right understanding being the first step on the path? Next, you must decide you want to be cured. And not only that, but in a way, be willing... When we talk about wanting to be cured, it's about I have a lot of things that I'm very attached to, my personality, my way of looking at the world. But if I really want to be cured, I have to be willing, or I need to be willing in a way, to let go of some things. So that's what I think the wanting to be cured means, that I want to be cured more than I want to hold on to some of these things that I value and that aren't that useful. One of the most powerful things I've read about right thought is the idea that thoughts are kinds of seeds that precede both word and deed.

[08:53]

All mental states have mind as their forerunner, as their chief and of mind they are made. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one as the shadow that ne'er departs. Well, the first verse of that is, Mental states have mind as their forerunner, as their chief, and of mind they are made. If one speaks or acts with a polluted mind, suffering follows one as the wheel the oxen's feet. And in the same way, if one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one as a shadow that ne'er departs. This is some from the Dhammapada. From these words of the Buddha becomes clear that the beauty or the ugliness of our words and deeds depend on our own thoughts, which are real. Thoughts travel swifter than anything we can conceive of, and they roam withersoever they list. I think he learned English as a foreign language. Their influence on us and the external world is tremendous. Each and every ugly, vicious, and morally repulsive thought pollutes the human heart and may cause untold harm.

[09:56]

Wrong words and deeds are expressions of a wrong condition of mind. But if a man concentrates on right thoughts, with right understanding, the good results that mind can produce are immense. So there are three important categories of types of thoughts that he stresses. They are thoughts of renunciation, goodwill, and compassion. We started the paragraph with mental states and then thoughts and types of mental states and words and deeds are down the line. Yeah, but it seems like it's hard to catch before it gets formed into words in our minds as thoughts. And that's when we can catch our mental state before it gets out there, loose on the world, polluting and causing untold harm.

[11:03]

Before words. Do you think he's saying that... I mean, I so often hear your thoughts arise. So you have these thoughts arise. And it kind of sounds like he's saying to train your mind not to think the way that we habitually think. Is that what you're saying? What do you think, Ron? That's what it sounds like. Here's the quote that he's working from. Mental states have mind as their forerunner, as their chief and of mind they are made. If one speaks or acts with a polluted mind, suffering follows one as the wheel of the oxen's feet. All mental states have mind as their forerunner, as their chief and of mind they are made. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one as the shadow that ne'er departs. And that's a quote supposedly from Buddha. From these words of the Buddha, it becomes clear that the beauty or the ugliness of our words and deeds depend on our own thoughts, which are real.

[12:03]

Thoughts travel swifter than anything we can conceive of, and they roam whithersoever they list. Their influence on us in the external world is tremendous. Each and every ugly, vicious, and morally repulsive thought pollutes the human heart and may cause untold harm. Wrong words and deeds are expressions of a wrong condition of mind, but if a man concentrates on right thoughts with right understanding, the good results that mind can produce are immense. What was your comment again? Well, it sounds like he's saying you can control it. Like, I mean, often I hear thoughts arise, so he knows you have these thoughts, and it you know, like, somehow train your mind to have... I think that's partly what he's saying. And also, he's kind of going back and forth between... he's using the word mind and thoughts, and he's separating them, or he's talking about these two different aspects.

[13:11]

And I think what he's meaning by mind is what we were talking about, about consciousness, although it can... you know, you can use it in different ways. And I think from... Zen, we don't talk so much about trying to establish a wholesome consciousness, but traditional Buddhism does. And that wholesome consciousness would lead to wholesome thoughts, good thoughts. That's more their drift. I think in Zen, we just don't say it so bluntly. I'm going to skip ahead a little bit to right after, because I think he makes it clear about how you do that, and under right effort. But just before we go on, I noticed that you were saying how thoughts were real, too. Like, well, they're real. Like, they have effects, right? Like that fable that you told Ross the other night about, well, you think that words don't have an effect? Well, you know, you insult someone, and the guy got all upset.

[14:14]

Words have effects, and they're real. Yes. Yeah, he doesn't really say what he meant when he said that. When he said, but thoughts are real, well, exactly what does he mean? Yeah, I think my interpretation in the context is Somehow people think, if they think it and nobody knows, it doesn't have an effect, but there's something going on, so it needs to be dealt with. In fact, in the next quote that I'm going to read you, it adds a little substance to that. The Buddha very commonly is quoted as saying, hatred never, by hatred is appeased in this world, by love alone is it appeased. This is an ancient principle. Highly developed thoughts of metta seem to possess magnetic power. By radiating such sublime thoughts, it is possible to influence and win over people, or at least to provide them with some metta. He wrote that book to me.

[15:15]

But I think that what he's saying when he's saying they're real is there's some substantial effects to thoughts. Yeah. It seems to me that thoughts and mind are separate. I agree with Ron. I think that what he's saying is that the mind is deeper than the thoughts. The thoughts are an expression of the mind, but there's also an emotional content to the mind, and there's a feeling content to the mind, and it's sort of our purpose. that we relate to, the thoughts come and they go in meditation, but you don't relate to them, you don't follow any logical sequence. It's sort of like cultivating the intuitive rather than the logical, and mental tends to imply logic.

[16:20]

Yeah, sounds right. So the reason I was going to go ahead to right effort, because I think it answers a little bit of what you're saying about, and Ron was saying about traditional Buddhism working at cultivating the right kind of consciousness. And right effort, there are four kinds of effort. Preventing the arising of evil, abandoning, and that means thoughts. Let me turn to that page so I can get the full benefit of the quote. The effort to prevent. A monk puts forth his will to prevent the arising of evil, of unwholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen. We have to learn how to do this. That's what we're practicing about.

[17:26]

So there's an actual effort going on, and then it goes on to explain how that is done. Now, then the next kind of effort is the effort to abandon. Herein a monk puts forth his will to abandon the evil, unwholesome thoughts that have already arisen. He strives, develops energy, and strengthens his mind to this end. The effort to develop. Herein a monk puts forth his will to produce and develop wholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen. He strives, develops energy and strengthens his mind to this end. The effort to maintain. Herein a monk maintains a favorable object of concentration. This is called the effort to maintain. So that there's actually We don't have to sit passively by waiting for unwholesome thoughts to arise to scorn them or to just let them be. That there's some effort that can be put to working on developing a wholesome consciousness. I want to say a little more about effort while we're there.

[18:28]

In right effort, your therapy must go forward at the staying speed. Effort implies mental energy. And the Buddha is actually quoted as saying, I don't know where this translation came from, Fie on this life! Fie on this life! It is better for me to die in this fight with passions than to live defeated. And the importance of effort, it's very much stressed by the Buddha, and it's very central to the whole Buddhist philosophy, because the Buddha did not believe that he could save anyone. That people could only come to, and if they wanted to, an applied effort. So if he had the power of salvation, as sometimes we imbue to our own gods in the Western world, effort would not be that big a deal. But because he could only point to the way, and it is up to us, in a sense, to travel it and to push ourselves forward on it, effort is very important.

[19:35]

So he had a lot of trust in the capacity, innate Because this whole image of not bending toward or trying to cajole or bring people into the fold is quite... I mean, it's kind of like sitting on your cushion, ultimately. It's just really staying there and not forcing or directing traffic in any way. So there's a lot of faith in human beings. It's very moving, I guess. Refreshing, too. Yes, and everybody leaning and grabbing. You know, there's a point back there, going back to Andrea's thing about plot and John. It's a kind of... I don't want to try to answer it or explain it all, but just to point out that there's some kind of tricky ground in there.

[20:37]

And that... In a way, in its best sense, what you are reading is a very sophisticated kind of an approach, but if it's not done... a lot of sophistication, or somebody who's had some experience, it becomes just another kind of manipulation. It's like repression. Like what? Repression. Yeah. That's what came to mind. It could be misused that way. But I think you're right, and I also think that as Buddhism developed, some people were sophisticated and some weren't. And I think what became available was a way of practicing a life of good conduct. So they may have used some... Well, there was a lot of faith and effort and perhaps lack of sophistication, I think, also. Yeah, or mindfulness. I mean, that's the danger, is that instead of being aware or learning,

[21:40]

from what's happening to you, you have a preconceived idea of what you should be and what you shouldn't be. And then it's just one more system instead of awakening. Yes. And getting back to Lois' point too, in fact, I've read various tales of the Buddha, especially with his son Rahula, trying to win him over and taking him on trips to heaven and showing him all these things to keep him in the practice. So there are stories that there were various people that he tried to win over. But on his deathbed, he said, would you like to throw away, you know, all these rules? He had never written them out because he didn't want, you know, what Ron described to happen. It's like this is a practice that's alive and would you like to throw out all the rules that we've written so that you can just, you know, be your own light. So he did have a lot of faith that if people followed these practices that they would be enlightened and that the way that they followed would be true.

[22:54]

Just one quick view here. Did you think he had a sense of of this being true for all time, through all different kinds of history? Did he project forward? Because when you talk about thoughts arising and what are good and wholesome thoughts in one era, you know, in the Victorian era, what we think about today were not wholesome thoughts. So, I mean, I'm wondering how, you know, has he said, or what do you think? Yeah, he did. He thought about that. Even had its, I think it was, I don't know if it was other, what? Oh, I'm sorry. And the violence retreat talks about future ages. Well, there's a whole system of the Dharma ending age, and he had certain epics lined up of 500 years.

[24:02]

I don't know if it was Buddha who said it or his followers, but I think it was him. And he said, in 500 years from now, there'll start to be a decline. In 1,000 years, there'll be a worse decline. In 1,500 years, there's going to be a... Oi, oi, oi! So we are in the real degenerate. If you didn't know her. Yeah, I kind of get it. But we're going to talk a little bit about that. I think that one of the things that's happened with Buddhism, as Ron talked about, what are we going to call Zen now, on, is that it changes flavor from country to country and new ideas emerge, which is maybe why I said, why don't we just throw out all the rules and go with the way. But of course, and then after he died, they had like 10,000 hours of meetings to figure out. Right, I'm going to go through that. We talked about the practice and they had all the councils. We've talked about right understanding and right thought and right effort. We're a little bit out of order, but let's talk about action.

[25:03]

It's one of my favorites. Number three? Yeah. You must act. You must act in a way that aims for you to be cured. And I read somewhere, and I couldn't find this quote, but it was quite powerful for me that thoughts in some way, and there may be a couple more steps I've left out, thoughts build a kind of pattern or attitude, and from the attitude come these habits, and from that comes your life. So there's this way that with our little thoughts we create, we keep our life, and we create our life for us. And that's another reason why the thought is so important to catch. I also One of the things I like best about this book is what he says about right thought and conduct. Let's see if I can get to that. I've talked about this a little before in some talks, which is when I read this it had a very profound effect on me. I used to come here to the community room and go through a crisis of

[26:07]

my shoes nobody's looking i could just run across the room and get what i need and get out and uh conduct builds character no one can bestow the gift of a good character on another each one has to build it up by thought reflection care effort mindfulness and concentrated activity just as in the mastery of an art one has to labor hard so to master the art of noble conduct on which a good and strong character depends one must be diligent and on the alert A good character is, in all cases, the fruit of personal exertion. It is not inherited from parents. It is not created by external advantages. It is no necessary appendage of birth, wealth, talents, or station, but it is the result of one's own endeavors. If we would acquire a sterling character, we ought to remember the Buddha's words of warning against negligence and daydreaming, be vigilant, be ever mindful. I think that one of the reasons this quote had such a profound effect on me was that it was quoted to me while I was in Japan.

[27:18]

Kathleen Williams actually was giving a practice discussion when we had a women's practice period there and she read this. And I had been really struck by the goodness of the Japanese people. certainly recommend, anytime you get a chance, do drop into Japan. To see the way Buddhism has permeated the way people interact with one another is very powerful. Because we often talk about being in the zendo, and God, we know how to be with each other in the zendo, but when we get out, other people aren't playing by the same rules. How do we do this? And you go to this country and see people essentially almost virtually all of them, playing by these rules. And it's very powerful. And I was struck, I was on a walk and some schoolgirls had approached us, and this was I think a second or third day I was over there, and they approached us and they said they wanted to practice English, could they be our tour guides in the city? We were in a small city and we said yes, and so

[28:18]

We practiced our Japanese and they practiced their English and they took us all around the city and we all had lunch together and then we had gone shopping and then we went back to a museum and they were with us. They said, we have to go get our bicycles and I was carrying some packages and they said, but while we go get our bicycles, we'll carry the packages for you so you don't have to carry them. And, of course, if anybody said this to me in the United States, my suspicions were, well, now I know what they've been after all along. They've been waiting to rip me off. And, of course, these thoughts arose, but I had to, you know, I was like, well, I have to test it. You know, I have to test. Is that what's happening or not? I mean, it's only $100 worth of stuff, so here, you know, so they took it and went off and got their bicycles and came back carrying it and carried it back to the hotel for us. But I was really struck by the goodness of these people and this was repeated, I mean, if you If I asked someone a question about, geez, I'm having trouble using this phone, it wasn't like, oh, well, you know, that phone doesn't work.

[29:27]

It was like they would start running around to get a phone to work for me. It was like, oh, we must help you immediately. And there was so much goodness given away without anybody keeping score and for nobody's benefit. But for the sake of goodness alone, it was very powerful to experience this. the amazing experience of feeling safe somewhere and where people are practicing over and over again acts of kindness throughout the day for the sake of it. It's not like anyone will know that they've been kind or that they've been careful. Another striking thing is that I didn't see anybody with a cold over there who wasn't wearing a surgical mask. They don't do that for their benefit. It's so that they don't give it to anybody. And that's a very uncomfortable thing to do, you know, to see people riding down the street with a surgical mask on or, you know, on the subway with a surgical mask.

[30:29]

And that's just their way of taking care of other people. And it's very profound. There are some very basic rules in the game board here, which are part of the precepts. No killing, no stealing, and no sexual misconduct. And I thought it was kind of interesting, Lois, you asked about whether he anticipated other ages. It seems like some things are pretty perennial. But in the speech that is attributed to the Buddhas about sexual misconduct, Monks, I know not of any other single sound. I know not of any other single smell. I know not of any other single flavor. I know not of any other single touch by which a man's heart is attracted as it is by that of a woman. A woman's sound, smell, flavor, and touch fill a man's mind.

[31:33]

Here is a sermon on sex, and then he goes and repeats it. Monks, I know not of any other single form of woman for man, or man for woman. He covers both sexes on that. Here is a sermon on sex explained in unmistakable language, the truth of which no sane man dare deny. Sex is described by the Buddha as the strongest impulse in man. If one becomes a slave to this impulse, even the most powerful man may turn into a weakling. The sexual urge, especially in youth, is a fire that needs careful handling. If one is not thoughtful and restrained, it can cause untold harm. There is no fire like lust. Passions do not die out, they burn out. If a person is addicted to women, now, of course, you know, in the Theravadana or Hinayana part of Buddhism, the monks are celibate. But he allows, and even in Buddha's time, they allowed for marriage among laypeople, of course.

[32:41]

But for laypeople, the rules are, if a person is addicted to women, given to a life of debauchery, is a drunkard, a gambler, and squanders all his earning, this is the cause of his downfall. Not satisfied with one's own wives, If one has been with whores and the wives of others, this is the cause of one's downfall. And now we get to the Hollywood producer. Being past one's youth to take as wife a girl in her teens and to be unable to sleep for jealousy, this is the cause of one's downfall. So I guess they had similar problems in that time. You know, it seems to me that I would like to mention that I've thought to it I was married, but I'm unmarried now, and I do think that the sexual urge, it doesn't necessarily relate to the intercourse or anything of the kind. It can be like the mind, and it can be a functioning motivation, even if no sex takes place.

[33:44]

It can be a preoccupation. It can be a stimulus. It doesn't have to have fulfillment necessarily, so it's quite possible Gandhi, for instance, was very preoccupied with sex. Slept with all those young women even though he didn't have sex with them. Right. That's true. Very possible. And that's where the reason for his milk diets and stuff like that. The senses had a hold on him and he had to that in order to get to equilibrium. So are you saying that the sexual energy can be harnessed for other purposes and that it also doesn't necessarily relate to intercourse? Yes. Gandhi was a little strange that way. I mean, from the biography that I've read, He actually would sleep with young women and not have sex with them, but he would have violent tremors during this experience, and it was kind of a strange habit.

[34:55]

I mean, he didn't have sex with his wife, but he had all these young women in his bed. Right. Another interesting practice. Keep right speech about it. Okay. Right speech. Speak with an aim to be cured. Now, he lists four kinds of problems in speech and warns against them. No falsehood. Tell the truth. No slander or tail bearing. In fact, that's T-A-L-E. And in Pali, in the Pali language, the word for slander is, it means breaking up a fellowship. Abstain from harsh words. So harsh words is another problem. Be pleasant and courteous. And the fourth is to abstain from frivolous talk or gossip.

[36:09]

In fact, in Pali, the word for sage is the one who keeps silent. Is there anything you want to say about that? Any comments? Or we are going to keep silent in sage-like fashion? The next, the fifth step is right livelihood. Who said fifth is right speech? No, fourth. We've got five because they went over effort. Right livelihood, your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy. One of the things that I thought was interesting that I'd read about livelihood was that livelihood may also mean a way of living in balance, not just referring to the way you earn your keep or your living, but also about living a balanced life. For example, getting enough exercise and living a life that's not too stressful and eating well and taking care of other people.

[37:14]

So there's a broader way to look at livelihood than just what you do for work. Buddha actually gave a lot of instruction to laymen, and I'm going to read some of those to you. But for monks, he said there are four basic needs that must be taken care of, otherwise it causes increased suffering. That was a need to have your robes or clothes, food, lodging, and medicine. But he had very specific, or at least is recorded and attributed to Buddha, very specific instructions to laymen about how to earn a living. And some of those I have here and some I don't. Such instructions as to, you know, save a quarter of your income, invest a quarter of your income into your business, and very specific instructions. It is an admitted fact that poverty is the main cause of crime if people are deprived of the four requisites mentioned above, which I mentioned of robes, food, lodging, and medicine.

[38:22]

If they are deprived of these, the bare necessities, or if these are scarce, especially food, people's minds are not at rest. They cannot and do not think of moral behavior or give a thought to righteous living. Necessity has no law, and they stoop to unjust and unrighteous ways of gaining a subsistence. Owing to a lack of economic security and of money, people are led to commit theft and other crimes." Sounds like our problem right now. In order to raise the social and economic conditions of a country, the farmers and traders should be given the necessary facilities to carry on farming and business, and that people should be paid adequate wages. Thus, when they have enough for their subsistence and are economically secure, crime is lessened and peace and harmony prevail. In another discourse, the Buddha explains to a banker who founded a monastery for him the four kinds of happiness a layman ought to enjoy. The first is ownership or economic security so that he has sufficient means acquired lawfully by his own efforts without resorting to the five trades detailed, you know, weapons and so on.

[39:31]

The second is the joy of wealth or happiness gained by the judicious expenditure of lawful wealth. The third is the bliss of not being in debt. Has everybody paid their taxes? The joy and satisfaction that comes with the thought, I owe nothing to anyone. The fourth is the bliss of being without blame. which is the satisfaction derived from the thought, I am blessed with blameless acts of body, speech, and mind. All these discussions and sermons in Buddhism go to show that the layman, as a member of society, should work hard to earn a living and strengthen his economic and social position, lest he becomes a burden to himself and others. But at the same time, he should avoid wrong and unrighteous ways of living and not deviate from the path of duty and rectitude. Thoughts about livelihood. Okay, and the next, number six on the path is right effort, which we've covered.

[40:34]

The seventh is right mindfulness, or you should think about the way incessantly. There's a wonderful story here, attributed to the Buddha. Once upon a time, monks, an acrobat climbed his bamboo pole and called to his pupil. Now, boy, climb the pole and stand on my shoulders. When the pupil had done so, the master said, now, boy, protect me and I will protect you. By thus looking after each other, we will show our tricks, earn money, and come down safe from the pole. The pupil, however, said, no, master, that won't do. You protect yourself and I will protect myself. Thus, self-protected and self-guarded, we will show our tricks, earn money, and come down safe from the pole. That is the method. Now monks, just as a pupil said to his master, I will protect myself, so should you practice the arousing of mindfulness. Mindfulness should be practiced for self-protection. I will protect others, thus the arousing of mindfulness should be practiced.

[41:40]

It should be practiced to protect others as well. By protecting oneself, one protects others. By protecting others, one protects oneself. How, monks, by protecting oneself, does one protect others? By repeated practice, by developing, by frequent occupation with it. And how, monks, by protecting others, does one protect oneself? It is by forbearance, by harmlessness, by loving-kindness, and by compassion. Monks, you must practice arousing of mindfulness saying, I will protect myself, I will protect others. Forbearance, harmlessness, loving kindness, and compassion are virtues through which one brings protection and security to others. None of these virtues can be cultivated without mindfulness. The person who is mindful is conscious of his thoughts, words, and acts. Right mindfulness guards a man from deviating from the path of righteousness and encourages him to do that which is good. Thus, through arousing mindfulness by repeated practice, by frequent occupation with it, one protects oneself and others."

[42:49]

And he also speaks about mindfulness as keeping watch. Be vigilant, be mindful, be well-disciplined. O monks, with thoughts well collected, keep watch over your mind. And I think that was a little bit about what you were talking about as these thoughts come up. And it talks about the interconnectedness or interrelatedness of both effort and concentration or effort and mindfulness to fulfill meditation. Meditation is fulfilled by the conjunction of the last three factors of the path. effort, mindfulness, and concentration. In fact, well, there's a compound word in, I'm not sure, I think it's Sanskrit, but the compound word occurs frequently in the discourse is clear comprehension, and it's a combination of mindfulness and concentration.

[43:57]

Any questions? And the last step is right meditation or right concentration. Learn how to contemplate with deep mind. I think it's interesting and we've mentioned in this class that the Buddha was not the one that invented meditation and had been in practice before the Buddha, but he had a specific way of using it. Prior to Buddha's teaching, meditation was used to gain special powers or special holy states of mind. But with the Buddha, it is the insight that with calm concentration of mind as its basis, this enables the yogi to purge his mind of all defilements and see reality. Therefore, it is a typical doctrine of the Buddha himself, a unique experience of the Master, exclusively Buddhist, and was not in existence prior to the advent of the Buddha.

[45:08]

And that is using meditation as a way to tame the passions or rid oneself of defilements or unwholesome thoughts. That is exclusively Buddhist. This candy talks about also the link between not being concentrated and suffering. Right concentration and right understanding of the path cannot be separated. Together they support each other. Without a certain measure of concentrative calm, no insight can be developed. And without some measure of insight, some knowledge of the nature of life, no concentration can be developed. And the so-called fruit or advantages of

[46:15]

of our practice, the reward of our practice. The development of insight means the attempt to understand the five aggregates of clinging as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and without self. So the meditator, ardent and wise, continues with his insight meditation until one day for the first time he gains insight into the true nature of himself. that is of his aggregates, and partially experiences nirvana, thus attaining the first stage of realization. This achievement breaks the three fetters, self-illusion, the delusion of an I presiding over the aggregates, doubt, and indulgence in wrong rites, rituals, and ceremonies, so that he becomes a stream-enterer. At times at most, well, we're not going to get into discussion again about Reaper, So I won't go on to that. But there is a lot in Buddhism about the stream-enterer and being reborn so many times, and I think most of that originated in the Mahayana. But through this realization, his words and acts are perfectly moral, and he abstains from killing, stealing, adultery, lying, and the use of intoxicants.

[47:27]

And we talked about that as sort of the completion of wisdom that manifesting wisdom, wrong actions don't arise in the same way. And that's just the way it is. One doesn't have to put forth the same kind of effort to stop oneself from doing something that isn't right. So, questions, thoughts? I gave you some pretty dramatic readings, at least some of it was. I was going to talk a little bit, and I have some others too. I was going to talk a little bit about practicing Buddhism, and I brought with me something, and we might want to pass it around, I'm not sure if you guys would like to look at these pictures or not.

[48:28]

They're pictures of people practicing Buddhism all over the world, and it's pretty nice pictures. So, immediately following the Buddhist death, as I mentioned, he had said, I don't have any rules, nothing had been written down, but as Ron mentioned, they had many, many meetings, and they started looking at how they could, how could the followers, how could they capture his way of thinking, and he had not really proposed a consistent system that had been written down. So there was a lot of the busyness on the part of the Sangha trying to fix this. And there arose in Buddhism 18 schools of what later was called Hinayana Buddhism. But it was called Hinayana Buddhism only by the Mahayanas, who said, this is the lesser vehicle, the Hinayanas, and we're now the greater vehicle.

[49:35]

So a more favorable... There's actually only one school, I think, still around, the Theravadan school of Hinayana Buddhism. Mahayana arose about the same time as Christianity. And so right now Theravadan Buddhism is practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. And all the other Buddhist schools, Tibet, China, and Japan belong to Mahayana. Theravadin means the doctrine of the elders, and the elders were the disciples of the Buddha that began to write all this down. And actually, it was written down by three disciples, most of it was written down by three disciples who had memorized it. And even though that may seem far-fetched to us, the oral tradition is still actually practiced in East Asia.

[50:37]

there are people who do memorize these scriptures and can recite them pretty much word for word. So supposedly some of it was captured in that way. And I think in some way, and it sort of lends to the discussion that we'll get into about the way we practice Buddhism, there's some important distinctions to be made between Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism. The first was The difference between monastic life and practice outside of a monastery. In Theravadin or Hinayana, Buddhism is entirely a monastic practice. And one becomes a monk for one's own benefit, not in order to be useful in society. There's a relationship between the Sangha and the society in that the monk is dependent on the society for his food, they must, part of their practice is to be out begging.

[51:41]

And so they're manifesting an example of the Buddhist way in their begging and in their demeanor. And so they're an inspiration. But it's kind of a subtle and not direct way of doing good deeds. And the Another big difference that distinguishes the two schools is the way the respective practices regard the Buddha. The Hinayana schools place great emphasis on the events of the Buddha's life and the scriptures claim to record his actual words. And although the Mahayana schools have a great deal of veneration for the Buddha, they see him as an example of transcendent principle and not as someone who was special in a certain way. So that's a difference in the approach too.

[52:46]

Another difference, and I think it relates again to monastic and outside of monastery practice, is the difference between the ideal of the Theravadin school, which is the arhat, and the bodhisattva. And the arhat is the monk that we described practicing and attaining samadhi for that, for himself, for that's the way and it's what he needs to do. And the bodhisattva is the one who attains samadhi and will be reborn or else returns to the world if we get it in one lifetime to help others make this journey. That's one of the distinctions between the two, isn't it? Yes. The Hinayana is the ideal of the Arhat and Mahayana is the Bodhisattva. the third one is to purify the mind, and the Mahayana is to do disabled things.

[53:59]

And our three vows are disabled. Yeah, we are definitely of that school. And another difference is the emphasis on compassion in the Mahayana school and wisdom in the Theravada school. So those are just some of the differences. Any questions, thoughts? I thought that was kind of interesting. The challenge presently confronting Buddhism is to introduce an increasingly educated and affluent lay population to the fundamental nobility of the religion and to make plain its compatibility with the prevailing spirit of the age. Without a sustained attempt to win back people to follow Buddhism, the Sangha's in danger of becoming ever more peripheral to the developing societies."

[55:00]

And it goes on to say, in fact, it's kind of ironic that the forces of what this author describes of ideological materialism have brought mayhem to many of the Buddhist lands of Asia. Yet ultimately, it may be the technological materialism of the West rather than the tyranny of the Red Guards or the Khmer Rouge, which proves deadly to Buddha's way. So there's some concern that... Is that one of the main reasons for the Buddhist Peace Fellowship? Yeah, I think that's one of their goals, yeah, to keep turning the wheel of the Dharma. So, to get to this week's readings and the way we practice here, we have a Mahayana practice, but both Mahayana and Theravadin practice consistently with a belief in these three treasures, the Buddha, the law or the Dharma, and the Sangha.

[56:09]

something that we actually chant here and we have faith in the Buddha because he found this way and he's the source of the teachings and we also as Mahayana see him as this example of this transcendent principle. We have faith in the Dharma, the law, that he gave us as our path. And we have faith in the Sangha because it is our means of practicing. It's the way we practice in an everyday way. We meditate together. And we practice together in session, working together. And we can very much watch the arising of unwholesome thoughts during that process. So they're described in our practice, four indestructible objects of faith.

[57:23]

This is on page 40 under Shakyamuni's philosophy. The four indestructible objects of faith are the Three Treasures, the Buddha Law and the Order, and the Collection of Precepts. So that's kind of the foundation of how we practice. And I think we've spent a lot of time so far talking about the Buddha and his life and the Dharma. So I included something, a couple of little pieces on the Sangha, and especially one that I enjoyed on Monks Make Excellent Friends. And Shindo Oyama is a priest, a woman, who is head of a temple we went to in Nagoya, when we were over there. It's one of the last remaining temples for nuns in the Soto sect.

[58:29]

It's quite lovely. But she wrote a book, Zen Seeds, which is little nuggets. And she talks about the importance of having friends, monks being excellent friends, having friends who are practicing together. We derive strength from the group and able to persevere. And I think most of us have had that experience. There may be some more quotes from Dovon on that, about how hard it is to sit by oneself, and the ease of relative ease, of sitting a 40 minute period in the Zen bell, when surrounded by others. And what a powerful experience it is for us to sit sashin together, and watch other people really struggling with their pain. It's very intimate. and very inspiring. And it's a very important part of our practice.

[59:35]

I think I mentioned earlier that when I was at Daitokuji in Japan, one of the monks, there was a Swedish visitor who said, you know, well, you know, when do you monks go on your hermitage? And he said, we always practice with other people. Because it's such an essential part of becoming human. in working on our delusions. That's one thing I like about the practice here, is the group meditation. Because I'm a Quaker, we have a group meditation also. But it's different. It's vocal. People speak during the sounds. So that's one difference. But the Sangha is a community. And it seems to me that's very important because that's how it relates to the West. The West really has lost their sense of community.

[60:39]

So the opportunity for developing a sense of community through Zen is very great. Actually, it's important that you bring up the sense of community because I know in our open meetings sort of the number one issue of what people wanted from the Zen Center was more the sense of community and we've really been working on trying to provide that sense and coming up with activities that would help us, you know, other than our silent activities, activities that could help us build more sense of community. So there's the advantage of having other people to sit with and how one can sit for longer periods of time and one is inspired by sitting with others. And in the Primer of Soto Zen, which is page 103 in the next little reading, it talks about how it can affect our conduct.

[61:41]

Don't try to learn, this is the second paragraph, second sentence, don't try to learn the essential points and the examples from the past right away. It's best, however, that you be fully grasped before you go alone to practice in the mountains or conceal yourself within a city. If you practice by doing what the assembly does, you should be able to attain the way. It is like riding in a boat without knowing how to row. If you leave everything up to a competent sailor, you will reach the other shore, irrespective of whether you know how to row or not. If you follow a good teacher and practice together with the assembly and have no concepts of the self, you will naturally become a man of the way. And on the next page, which is 90, down in the last paragraph, let's see, I guess this is the second sentence in the last paragraph.

[62:50]

Don't think that because you have heard or seen something once, there is no need to hear or see it again. For those who have already aroused the mind that seeks the way, each hearing serves to polish the mind and make for progress, even though the subject may be the same. Those who do not have this mind may not gain very much on the first or second hearing, but if they keep listening steadily, it will slowly soak in as a garment that gradually gets damp from walking through the fog and dew. If they hear the words of a good person many times, shame naturally arises for not having the mind that seeks the way, and that mind will truly arise of itself. Therefore, no matter how familiar they are to you, you must look at the sacred scriptures many times. Although you may have heard The words of your teacher many times you must listen to them again and again. Gradually your mind will be stirred to greater depths. Do not repeatedly draw near to anything that hinders the practice of the Way, no matter how painful or difficult it may be.

[63:52]

Draw near to a good friend and practice the Way. Okay. This just, I think, really describes well part of what we do here. and the importance of Sangha practice. I put in another reading which was a pretty big departure, not enough segue in there for the next reading about The Moon Cannot Be Stolen, is where it starts off. I took out some of the more gruesome aspects of this article. It was in The Path of Compassion, the book put out by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. And I thought it was a really impressive use of practice to work with the experience of being raped. And the violence in our society is so profound and ever-present that I think it's something that is pretty basic to our life together, thinking about it, we think about it.

[64:59]

We used to have a night watch that walked out along Milvia at five in the morning. I remember coming here, and the first times that I came here, we still had that night watch. I thought, well, that's interesting, you know, whatever that person is. I didn't realize it was a Zen center person. He's having his practice at five in the morning, just like I'm having mine, and you realize it was somebody doing the night watch. And in one of my very early experiences, when I used to sit with Mel and Duai Wei, there was a woman there. And she was raped in her apartment. She came home and there was a man waiting there. And I remember her telling me about the experience and how she had remained calm during it. And she felt pretty proud of the fact that she hadn't become hysterical. I guess, you know, I guess she didn't, you know, lash out at this man or whatever.

[66:02]

And then, I guess it must have been within another couple weeks, maybe it was a month, maybe it was a few days, she came back and said that he had raped her again. He had gotten into her apartment again. And at this time, she couldn't control herself. She really started to scream and fell apart. And I guess I've thought about that a lot. She felt in some way that this was a failure of her practice. That she screamed? That she screamed, yeah. And so I guess it strikes me as some difficulty that we have in practicing in the world on how we cope with some of these more difficult experiences and how our practice helps us through and what demands or expectations we may have of ourselves in terms of being calm or being Zen-like in some way. when we have very difficult encounters. Do you have any comments to make about that?

[67:07]

I had a weird thought that he came back because he didn't understand the first reaction. Well, that was my thought when she told me, you know, it was like, well, I guess, you know, she likes this or whatever. That's right, that was my reaction. But it's very hard to... Well, I mean, I felt also that she, her lashing out, I mean, this is all hypothetical since I don't have any contact with it, but that she lashing out, you know, was also lashing out on her practice at that moment, you know, feeling abandoned. Yeah, it hadn't protected her. Right, and so I feel, you know, her vulnerability in that second action, more than self-presence and compassion towards herself for feeling her faith waver at that moment. It's cruel to herself, not to be critical of her, but I mean just that.

[68:07]

Yeah, it's hard to know. On the other hand, if it hadn't happened again, she wouldn't have known. Yeah, you know, maybe it would have been, who knows? I mean, yeah, it's really hard to know, but we try to make as if we have some control over our life in some way, in ways that we don't. But I remember that during that same period of time, I was over in the city, and Suzuki Roshi was talking, and a woman was saying that a man had walked into her house, and what should she do? And he said, welcome him. It was a different situation, though, because it turned out the man was there at the meeting. And so she told this wonderful story of a man who came into my house, and I didn't know who he was, and I didn't know how to talk to him, and he may still be there. What should I do? And Suzuki Roshi said, well, you should welcome him. And then the man spoke up, and he told inside, you know, I walked up these stairs looking for the Zen Center, and I saw this woman,

[69:13]

And I approached her, and, you know, we both looked at each other in surprise, and I kissed her. He told another story, another part of the story. And so what should I do? And he was there, and so there was a lot of laughing. But I know that this is very difficult, what to do about the danger that we're in, and to what extent do we protect ourselves, And to what extent do we offer ourselves up to it? And it's something that we all work through. One of the... Let's see if I can find my right place. Oh dear. I guess I lost it. One of the other little gems that I got when I was in Japan we met through a strange series of coincidence. corporate executive who shared with us his ideas about integrating Dogen and Dogen's practice into running a multi-billion dollar corporation.

[70:36]

And a friend of his, who was also president of a very large multinational conglomerate. I think we'd be really shocked if we knew how much of the United States was owned by the Japanese. He wrote this book of his remembrances of being this corporate president. Yeah. And how he used Dogen. And I think it's kind of interesting that they're having, the Japanese in a certain way, are having a field day with American businesses and maybe it's because of Dogen. Let's see if I can find something here. Concentration on the simple task at hand. The Buddhist monk Dogen lived in the Kamakura period some 700 years ago. He studied in China and was in direct line of succession to the legacy of Buddha.

[71:42]

The basic thesis of Dogen's thought is epitomized by the idea of the Genjo Koan in his first volume. He's giving a corporate talk to some other business. I'm in no position today to present a detailed discussion on the concept, but will have to settle for a lame attempt at paraphrasing. Our subjective perception, Dogen warns us, tend to blind us to the natural order of the universe. It is therefore important to free ourselves of our subjective biases. I believe Dogen's counseling goes on. The path to understanding is through total concentration on the performance of whatever immediate simple task may be at hand, be it sweeping a garden, cooking in the kitchen, or by extension working hard at one's job. Total concentration on our activities without harboring wicked thoughts is the only way to achieve an intuitive sense of the natural order of the universe. As the sun shines down on one's body, so will the universal truth reveal itself through bodily awareness. I believe Dogen's counsel is an important one, and one which should be positively adopted in corporate management.

[72:49]

We tend to be swayed by our subjective perspectives to act in factions and make all manners of mistakes as we diverge from the proper course of our work. Well, it's quite funny how sincerely they believe this, and how he's tried to incorporate Dogen in every aspect of his corporate way, to eliminate hierarchy, to foster communication, and to promote clarity, and always to keep the consumer's best interest in mind. I mean, that's what he says, and they're very successful. Correct yourself, and then he also quotes Prince Shotoku, who we don't read much about him, but apparently, I don't know when this was, he was before Dogen, I think maybe 600. He wrote stuff that preceded the Magna Carta in terms of human rights. And correct yourself if you want to change others.

[73:54]

Your own example in conduct, in other words, has a greater influence than anything else on others. I believe the Prince is completely correct when he affirms this point. In practical terms, one of the fundamental tenets of the type of management I espouse is always to act from a spirit of benevolence as we try to serve the interests and needs of our customers to the best of our ability. Some of these consumers are affluent while others may be sick and poor. We need to view each and every one of them sympathetically in light of their own individual circumstances. The practice of benevolence as advocated by the Buddha calls upon us to try our best to alleviate any pain from which others suffer, and to provide every little bit of satisfaction and comfort we can. Whatever the particular conditions and features of a person's attempt to earn a living in society, there must be some way we can draw on the expertise we have in our own field in order to contribute to his or her well-being. In terms of corporate management strategies, it is essential that we make all our workers sensitive to the unbounded possibilities for genuine service.

[74:56]

In the dog-eat-dog world of business, corporations are usually preoccupied with competition and survival. But I have personally committed myself to the goal of trying, above all else, to serve consumers in a spirit of benevolence as described. Day and night at work or at home, I do my best always to act entirely in accord with this commitment. This is the pursuit of learning through mind and body, and it's, you know, one of the vanity press, I'm sure his corporation published for him. But it's quite amazing that, and I think a little bit of what's going on with Japan taking over the world, when they have such a spirit of concentration, as well as serving others, they get the products right. So, we have a little more time for discussion, and I had one more reading, which I liked, from Joko Beck's Every Day's End, but I didn't write that on there, so you'll just have to know that that's what it's from.

[76:07]

This? The Pursuit of Learning Through Mind and Body. You won't find it over here. Let's see, where was it published? Published by Cow Corporation. And, you know, it's just a Vanity Press publication. It was given to us by our friend George Maruyama, who owns a hotel chain and some supermarket chains, or his company does over here in the United States, and owns the lowest Santa Monica in whatever part of the world. But, It's kind of a redundant and rambling of his experiences trying to incorporate Buddhism into his corporate life. And so how he practices with his employees and his family. more discussion about ways that people find to practice with their work.

[77:24]

I also brought in this, I think the Buddhist Peace Fellowship was giving an announcement from Thich Nhat Hanh. Mindfulness must be engaged. When I was in Vietnam, so many of our villages were being bombed. Along with my monastic brothers and sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we continue to practice in our monasteries or should we leave the meditation halls in order to help the people who were suffering under the bombs? After careful reflection, we decided to do both. To go out and help people and to do so in mindfulness. We called it Engage Buddhism. Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing? We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help. If we maintain awareness of our breathing and continue to practice smiling, even in difficult situations, many people, animals, and plants will benefit from our way of doing things. Are you massaging our Mother Earth every time your foot touches her? Are you planting seeds of joy and peace?

[78:42]

I try to do exactly that with every step, and I know that our Mother Earth is most appreciative. Peace is every step. Shall we continue our journey? So I hope that we're all thinking about this practice outside of the zendo. It's always a question that comes up. People say, I know how to practice in the zendo, but how do I apply it in my life. So I'm kind of finished for tonight, and if any of you have any ideas or things that you feel like you'd like to cover further in our last class, open to suggestions, I left it open as an overview, or I'll continue talking about everyday practice next week, depending on what people want to work on.

[80:21]

Thoughts, suggestions? Too many sages in there. Do you think it's possible to just do meditation and not to read and think about it a whole lot? Yes. What do you think? I don't know what to think. I try not to think as much as I can. It's too confusing. What do you think, Ron? I think you're a lot better off just sitting without studying than you are studying without sitting.

[81:35]

And it also depends how much sitting you've done. But if you're just starting to sit, I think it's entirely fine just to sit without sitting. I don't seem to be getting a lot out of breathing at all. I can't remember at the end of a paragraph. I think it's okay. It's okay just to trust your experience in sitting as really being valid. It may not be as articulate as things you can read, and it may not be as neat, but it's actually... A way to begin? Well, it's more than just a way to begin. It's really the vital part. It's the heart of it. But the hard thing is just to have the confidence that that's okay. Because we're so used to things being in beautiful packages and kind of more easy to comprehend. Excuse me, can I say something?

[82:38]

I want to say, I think I got caught up a lot in studying and in reading, and it can be very iffy. And I find that sometimes I don't practice, I don't meditate, I don't sit. And I'll finish that, and then I'll sit, and then it's 5 in the morning, and I'm still reading. And I never did sit that day. So I think, in a way, it's a detriment. It's fun, but... It's not fun for me. I can't read. I just... I can't read. Well, your body took over, didn't it? Don't do it. It's okay. I haven't given up. Give me the readings back. for like 10 years, you know, and really get into it, and feel like this is something that works for you, and you like doing it, and you're consistent with it, and then you still don't want to do any studying or reading, that would be a little... That's a long way away, we're talking about. Yeah, you just start thinking about it. Everything changes. But actually, and Mel is, I don't know if you've heard him talk about this, but this is one of his

[83:49]

favorite points is that when you start, and starting can be for several years, you just don't worry about reading. Just worry about sitting. Don't worry about it. Just do it. It actually encourages people not to really take up reading at the beginning, necessarily. If you're interested, then it's fine, but it doesn't really say you should start studying. You should start to sit. I guess our class is over. Nobody has any suggestions for last class, so we'll just proceed, I guess, with talking about practicing in our own. Sorry, I'm going to miss it. Yeah, we'll miss you too. Yeah. Bon voyage. Thank you. Have a safe journey. Where are you going? I'm going to...

[84:51]

We'll have to do our own tape recording. For a joke, we'll put in a tape of a rap group or something. Ross will come back and say, well, did they do it right? So I'll see you all next week.

[85:20]

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