Good morning. There are a lot of new people this morning. I feel like I should give beginners' talk. But something occurred to me when we were doing our Riyāko Fasāts, our bodhisattva ceremony, just now. Ryakufusatsu means short repentance ceremony, and we call it bodhisattva ceremony as well. And in this, it's called repentance ceremony, and the first part, you know, we acknowledge all of our karma from in our greed, hate, and delusion from beginningless past.

[01:04]

And that's really the extent of our dwelling on our faults. The rest of the ceremony is our inspiration or renewing our intention. So it's a pretty good ceremony when you think about it. In the old days, the full repentance ceremony, which the monks used to do twice a month, and some places still do, was the entire 250 rules for the bhikkhu were recited, and then if anybody had broken any of those rules, then they would speak up. and their practice will be reviewed according to their fault. But this ceremony is a descendant of that ceremony, but that's why it's called short.

[02:13]

But we don't actually look at our faults one by one. We don't dwell on our faults. We just acknowledge that each one of us, without exception, has created a lot of problems for ourselves and for others ever since we can remember. And we just acknowledge that. We say, I know. I really acknowledge that. Whatever it is, I've done it. at some time, in some place. And we're all in the same boat. It's not that you did something really bad, and I did something kind of bad, and maybe somebody else did something not so bad. We don't compare our faults. We just acknowledge all faults as our own.

[03:19]

but without naming them. We don't say, I did this, and so forth. But to acknowledge is important. So we don't pick and choose what we did wrong. That's important. It covers everything. In other words, we can accept responsibility for all the causes and conditions in the world since beginningless time. And then, instead of dwelling on our faults, we just renew our vows. First we return or acknowledge the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of our own mind. That's when we do all that bowing to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

[04:26]

We acknowledge the aspects of our mind, of our own being, which are those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And then we renew our bows and feel pretty good. So, this is an important aspect of our attitude towards repentance. Repentance really means to turn away, to turn back, to turn around, re-enter, repent, and establish our wholeness again. We don't care so much about dwelling on past faults. That's a kind of hindrance, as a matter of fact. In Buddhism, dwelling on our faults is considered a hindrance. acknowledging our faults is correct, but turning, acknowledging and then turning away from doing what we feel is a fault, working on ourself.

[05:38]

But dwelling is, that's where we get bogged down. self-pity and sympathy. So it's a big problem and big hindrance. So when we see a problem and we acknowledge it, just make the effort to turn away, to turn around, come back and to continually keep establishing our sense of direction and our sense of intention. So we acknowledge each other and accept each other with our faults, with each other's faults.

[06:51]

Otherwise we couldn't accept each other at all. And Sometimes, even though we turn around, then we get pulled back. So we turn around and then we get pulled back. That's why we have this ceremony once a month. In the old days, they used to have it twice a month. And actually, you can do it every day. In Buddhist service, sometimes It's just acknowledged every day, in a very short way. So, every day we have the possibility of starting our life in a new way, so that we don't, we're not caught by our karma.

[07:53]

Getting beyond karma is a point of studying the Dharma. we study the dharma, practice the dharma, to get free from the karma, free from the consequences or free from creating karma of attachment to either good or bad. and so that we can have some freedom. Because what inhibits our freedom is the results of our actions. Baby has a lot of freedom, even though they have no place to go.

[08:56]

Baby doesn't have much range, you know, so within the small range of activity that a baby has, they have lots of freedom. because they don't yet have karma. The results of their actions, their volitional actions, is not built up, holding them back. But little by little, we learn how to act in the world and our desire leads us into various habitual actions which create attachment and suffering, and those actions are called karma. And the result is the fruit, sometimes called retribution, but retribution I think is a little heavy because what it means really is returning, you know, something.

[10:00]

But the retribution has a connotation of punishment. But if you don't look at it in the realm of that connotation, it just means returning the fruit of your action to yourself. So in Buddhadharma, in Buddhism, when we practice, we try to be very careful not to create actions that, or not to produce actions that create attachment and suffering. So when we do that, which we're always doing, no matter how careful we are, we acknowledge the fact that we do that and continually remind ourselves and renew our direction.

[11:02]

And that's exemplified in zazen. When we sit in zazen, Our intention and our direction is just to sit. But our mind keeps wandering. We keep falling off. Just without even trying, we keep falling off. And our intention is to keep coming back. So in zazen, our mind falls off, and then we bring it back. Falls off, and we bring it back. And the same is true of our life. That's how we practice in our life. Without even trying, we are continually falling off, continually wandering, and then we bring ourself back. Constantly bringing ourself back. And this constantly bringing ourself back is our practice. You may feel that you're not so good because your mind is always wandering, or because you're always making a mistake, or because you find that even though you're trying to practice, you're always falling off.

[12:09]

And in zazen, people feel that they're not really doing zazen because their mind is always wandering. But it's our natural state is for our mind to wander and to keep falling off of our direction. So a path or direction is a kind of way of staying within a form. Sometimes the path can be very wide, sometimes very narrow. And both is good. But when we practice in a narrow path, then we really begin to realize how our mind wanders and how our intentions get pulled around and how we lose our intentions, how easy it is to lose our intention.

[13:17]

And through strict practice, we train ourselves. Tomorrow, I'm going to ordain Anne as a priest, 2.30 in the afternoon. And to ordain a priest means to initiate someone into a very strict path, strict way of life, narrow path, and strict way of life. Everyone is welcome to come to the ceremony and encouraged to come to the ceremony.

[14:28]

I think it will be beneficial for people to see and to experience the ceremony. Actually, everyone who comes takes part in the ceremony. So although the ceremony is for one person, each one of us takes part in the ceremony. So even though there's an audience, so to speak, there's also an inter-being with the person who's being ordained. We all chant together and sometimes we bow together and give this person a lot of encouragement. As yet, in America, there is not much precedent for what a priest's life is like.

[15:32]

So we see many forms, we've seen many forms of priest's lives in America. My feeling is that when someone is ordained as a priest, that it's very good for them to have some strict monastic training for a time. So when I go to Tassajara to lead the practice period in September, Anne will go to Tassajara too, and that would be a good opportunity. for her to practice in that kind of way. The model for priests has changed in many places and depending on the circumstances and times.

[16:36]

In India, Priests were monks, wandering monks at first, and very strictly celibate and homeless. And during Buddha's time, the monks started to collect or practice in viharas during the rainy season. And so they set up the traditional practice period, three month practice periods. They'd wander part of the year, and then they would settle together for part of the year to train. And to some extent, that pattern still exists, but in different ways. You know, people can't live in

[17:41]

America the way they live in India. And when Buddhism came to China, the monks in China couldn't live the same way that the monks in India were living. And when Buddhism came to Japan, the monks in Japan couldn't live the way the monks in India or China were living, strictly speaking. So wherever Buddhism goes, there has to be some modification of what the practice is to fit the times and the place and the people without losing the essence. Suzuki Roshi used to talk about the monk who came from India to China. And he couldn't eat the food in China, and he couldn't wear the same kind of clothes in China that he wore in India.

[18:43]

He'd freeze to death. So he had to go back to India. Isn't that a kind of shame? So the Indian monks had to adapt themselves to China. And the Chinese priesthood took on a completely different characteristic than the Indian monks. And the same with Japan, to where what you find in Japan, if you compare it with India or the eastern, southeastern countries, is a completely different kind of practice. And sometimes people will compare them and they'll say, well, this is the real way and this is some kind of concoction. But each place that Buddhism goes, if the practice is sincere and the essence is there, has a kind of development.

[19:56]

Buddhism is not a stuck religion. It's a religion of development. and all the changes that through all the ages and all the countries that have hosted Buddhadharma have contributed to its development. So in America we see a lot of different kinds of Buddhists. And we see Buddhists that look like they came from India. and Southeast Asia. And they wear a certain kind of clothes that is peculiar to those countries. And the Chinese and Japanese wear a certain kind of Buddhist clothing that is peculiar to their environment, developed through a thousand years, two thousand years. But there's something that's the same.

[21:00]

even though there are many, many differences. And the ways of practice also are very different. So a priest in India may be a monastic kind of person, whereas a priest in Japan will spend time in a monastery, spend time in a temple, and maybe spend time teaching kindergarten or working with people in the world in some way where people don't recognize them as priests or monks. I think for America, there are many different ways that a person can be a priest. I think monastic training is really important And I think that practicing in a temple, helping others to practice, is important.

[22:08]

But at some point, just being in the world with people, without any sign, is also important. And maybe being in the world recognized as a priest. is also important. At Zen Center in San Francisco now, we've been developing a training program for new priests. And the training program is four or five years, something like that. One year of which is spent just out in the world, which I think is a very good thing to do. just to recognize that side of development. I'm not so worried about that with Anne.

[23:15]

I think that she's already spent 30 years out in the world working with people. She doesn't need to do that. What she needs to do is spend more time training and enjoying her life as a monk, as a priest. I think that's the one thing in her life that she wants to do more than anything else. She's not interested in anything else. So we should let her enjoy that. And that will help us. To be a priest, you know, you don't have to do much more than just really want to do that. That's enough to just live a life of pure dharma. But you should also share that with people in some way.

[24:21]

Our obligation as a priest is to pay back the obligation to our teachers first. And the way we do that is by developing ourself. That's called paying back our debt. In early Buddhism or monastic Buddhism in India and in Southeast Asia, begging is the sole support of a monk. They're not allowed to raise crops, or even handle money. And they're solely dependent on begging for their sustenance. So, since they're supported in this way, their obligation is to develop their character and to help people

[25:35]

through spreading the Dharma. Not spreading in a way like hooking people or proselytizing, but manifesting the Dharma for people to see. So that's karmic debt of a priest or a monk. You pay back your benefactors. So you pay back your teachers and your people who supported you. Not by money or goods, but through your training, through your hard intentions. So if you're wasting your time, it's like stealing. These days, we don't have that support system.

[27:18]

When Buddhism came to China, the Chinese people are very hard-working. Not that the Indians aren't. And of course, all countries have a strong family tradition. But the Chinese, especially, have a very strong family tradition and a strong work ethic. They didn't like it, you know, that young monks were going out begging because it was hard enough to raise crops and keep the family going that all these young men are going to the monasteries and begging. And here we are working out in the field. So in China, although monks did beg still, but they developed a work, the monks developed a work ethic. And The monasteries, of course, got land holdings, and the monks were working in the field.

[28:25]

The Zen monks, a lot of the Buddhist monks that weren't Zen monks, didn't work so much. But the characteristic of the Zen monks was that they developed a work ethic. And Zen monks survived in China, where a lot of the other schools of Buddhism declined, because they could do that. And they weren't above supporting themselves by working. So there's a work tradition also for priests. And in America, it's almost impossible to be a priest without doing some kind of work, unless you're supported by an institution, which is not too common anymore. You have to do some work to support yourself. But that's not bad. I think that's good. In Japan, a lot of the priests work too. So there are various combinations of how a priest can exist in the world.

[29:26]

But it's very good for priests to practice with people in a visible way. The thing that makes, one thing that is a characteristic of a priest is that they are visible. symbol of the Dharma. Not symbol, but manifestation. Visible manifestation of someone who is practicing the Dharma. They wear certain clothes and shave their head and they become very visible. So, in a way, that person is really on the spot. It means every time they make a move or do something, they have to remember that their head is shaved and they have Buddhist clothes on. So, it makes the person very aware of the fact that they're practicing something.

[30:37]

So that's a, even though it puts the person on the spot, it's very helpful to the person. And then other people look at that and say, well, that's a good example or that's a bad example. And a person, if a monk does something wrong, people say, hmm, bad. Right away, it becomes something very visible. But if someone who's not a monk does something, we recognize that, but it doesn't have the same feeling to it, because monks are supposed to do something that's supposed to be good, not supposed to be bad. But everyone is good and bad, including all monks and priests. All saints are bad as well as good. So everyone, without exception, has a bad side as well as a good side.

[31:40]

But we tend to feel that if someone is dressed up as a priest, automatically we can trust them and that they're very good. And so it's very good for a priest to acknowledge their fault. As long as we acknowledge our fault, we can accept somebody. whether a priest or not. But if we hide our faults and never acknowledge them, then people can't trust us. So whatever we do, we need to acknowledge it and to accept it. Then people will accept us. help us. So monks and priests need help. You think that they may be very strong leaders, but strong leaders need help too.

[32:49]

A strong leader always needs to, because a strong leader will be going in a strong direction, a strong leader needs Something from the other direction that says, wait a minute, look at this. Did you see that about yourself? And the strong leader says, well, I don't care. I'm going this way. Or something. Sometimes the strong leader needs a big blow. But hopefully, the strong leader will say, well, what do you see? Please tell me. What am I doing? How am I doing? So that's very necessary to always be open to seeing your own faults. But this goes with everybody. We're all our own strong leader. In one way or another, we're all leading ourselves somewhere. So if we don't own up to ourself,

[33:51]

what we're really doing, we get into lots of trouble. But someone that's very visible and that people depend on needs to do that more so. Not needs to do it more so. We all need to do it more so. But it has a lot of responsibility to others, not just to themselves. So when a person becomes ordained, we take off the hair and put on different clothes. And our intention is to live in the truth. And if we don't do it, we should get feedback. Maybe you have some feedback, some question.

[35:10]

Malcolm. else. And the more we can do that with ourselves, the more we can accept the world as it is and influence it. Pretty hard to influence the world except by force. Because it's hard to influence the world through persuasion, gentle persuasion.

[36:11]

People want to influence it by force. But for Buddhists, I think by example. If we can't influence the world by example, we just have to work on ourselves more. That's the only solution that we have. But we have to forgive ourselves. And that repentance is actually, that acknowledgment is to see it as it is and not dwell on it. Turn to the other direction over and over again. you know, no matter how hard I try, some certain things I can't do, no matter how hard I try to do them, every time I turn away, you know, I get turned back.

[37:21]

And... it's difficult. But... there are other things that are okay, you know, I'd like to say something about this, too. When I was back in Tucson, getting ready to come here and bringing everything to an end, I spent tomorrow we'll be going through each one of the precepts. And they're really beautiful.

[38:25]

But it's also overwhelming, because every time we do this we say, I vow to do this, I vow to do that. And I know I really don't do that. I have an intention, but I don't do all those things. like everybody else. So I talked to Mel about the precepts, you know, and how to understand that aspect of things. And then what Mel said was, what the precept does is turn us, all the precepts, they turn us in the direction that we want to go. And that was reassuring to me, because that's possible, you know. I can vow that I will do it, you know, and I'll do it sometimes or another, but that So, anyhow, when you all see all of my faults after tomorrow, don't be surprised.

[39:34]

I'll still be the same old person. Sir? I didn't quite understand when you talked about a person with a shaped head having it applied, that they had to try harder. Yeah, I think I didn't want to say that they should try harder. That's why I didn't say that, you know, because I don't think they should try any harder than anybody else. And everyone else should try all the same, right? So I didn't want to make that as some outstanding requirement. and I don't want to make it as an act and a requirement.

[40:48]

Or to make the priest stand out as some special person. This is where their life is turned. And that kind of commitment is what it's about. in our particular time and place. We have monks and lay people, priests and lay people, but the practice is sometimes mixed up as to who's who. Everybody, you know, we're all Bodhisattvas.

[41:58]

That's the main thing. Some people practice as Bodhisattvas this way. Some people practice as Bodhisattvas this way, on this side. Some people practice as Bodhisattva priests. Some people practice as Bodhisattva lay people. And Sometimes the roles get mixed, but they're different roles, and we should appreciate them both, whatever they are.

[42:31]

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