Good morning. So wonderful to sit with all of you on this very chilly winter morning. So today we are celebrating the Buddha's pari nirvana, his final passing into nirvana. And this is one of the four main events of the Buddha's lifetime that we celebrate. And we say it every time we do the meal chant for Orioki. Buddha was born in Lumbini, enlightened at Bodhgaya, taught at Varanasi, and entered nirvana at Kushinagara. So every time we eat a meal, we celebrate those four events of the Buddha's lifetime. So his birth, his awakening, his first teaching, and his passing away. And today is an auspicious event.

[01:03]

One of those events has happened this morning at 12.15 a.m. Felix Allen Sanaki was born. And Lori left yesterday rather than today, so she is there. We have pictures to prove it. Lori sent out a message to us. So the Buddha's parinirvana, it's... This is, you know, I said, we commemorate and we also celebrate because the understanding at the Buddha's time is that... Human beings keep being reborn again and again on the cycle of rebirth. This is not seen as a good thing. This is like you come back into this life of suffering and you go through it again and again and again until you finally get off the wheel, until you are freed from the bonds of this earthly life.

[02:13]

So the Buddha did all that needed to be done in his life. He fully awakened. So that's why it's not just nirvana, but the pari nirvana, his final passing over with no remainder. He is free from these earthly bounds. And we would, you know, from a more Mahayana view, I think we would say a more Zen view, that he has always been eternal. Before he was born, throughout the lifetime that he took on earth, the lifetimes that he had before, and he is still with us today. in his eternal form. But today I want to talk about the Mahaparinirvana Sutra that is a part of the Pali Canon, part of the early teachings. There's also a Mahaparinirvana Sutra that is quite different and it's a Mahayana scripture and it talks about the eternal Buddha and Buddha nature. And the Mahaparinirvana Sutra from the Pali Canon

[03:19]

is the longest sutra there is of all the collection of the Buddha's teachings. And it in itself is a collection of the Buddha's teachings that happened. I believe this was put together during the first council after the Buddha died. So as many disciples as possible all gathered together and they all recited all the teachings that they had heard so that they would be remembered and carried on. So there's a whole series of them. And I'm going to talk about just one middle part of the sutra. The beginning part is a whole series of teachings from different places and times in his life. That is, there's really nothing new in the Mahapari Nirvana Sutra, in a sense. except the story of what happened. But in terms of his teachings, these are things that he's taught in one way or another again and again over his lifetime of teaching, his 45 years of teaching.

[04:21]

So one of the things about the Mahipara Nirvana Sutra, especially when it gets to kind of the middle and end part, is that the Buddha knew that he was going to die. He was 80 years old. He was aware that sooner or later, sooner, he was going to die. And at a certain point, he had a very clear sense of when he was going to die. So he's been thinking about how best to take care of his disciples, the bhikkhus, the monks, how to take care of the sangha. This has been really on his mind because he was the founder. Everyone looked to him for 45 years. Everyone looked to him. Now he's going to die. What can he do? What can he say to ensure that the teachings of freedom and liberation that he can pass on so that they will continue? So this section that I'm going to talk about is about the Buddha's illness and then leading up fairly close to his death.

[05:40]

So when the Buddha was 80 years old, he decided to spend the rainy season near Vasali, together with an assembly of his ordained disciples, the bhikkhus. So the monks all gathered together during the rainy season every year because they realized that there were so many of them. that they would destroy the farmer's fields during the rainy season, trotting through them. So they all found a place to be together, and that's kind of where intensive retreats, like we're doing today, came from, of gathering in a place and doing it all together. But when the Buddha, when the Blessed One, had entered upon the rainy season, there arose in him a severe illness, and sharp and deadly pains came upon him. and the Blessed One endured them mindfully, clearly comprehending and unperturbed."

[06:51]

The Buddha was so settled in his practice that even with pains of severe illness, he could abide with them. It was not that he did not feel the pain, but he was mindful, clearly comprehending and unperturbed. Then it occurred to the Blessed One, it would not be fitting if I came to my final passing away without addressing those who attended on me, without taking leave of the community of bhikkhus. Then let me suppress this illness by strength of will and resolve to maintain the life process and live on. And the Blessed One suppressed the illness by strength of will, resolved to maintain the life process, and lived on. So it came about that the Blessed One's illness was allayed.

[07:51]

I have known people who have done this, who were very, very ill. They were clearly in the dying process. And for one reason or another, it was like, not yet. I'm not going yet. I will live to see my grandchild born. I will see my son married, whatever it is. I'm not finished yet. There's more I need to do. And the Blessed One recovered from that illness. And soon after his recovery, he came out from his dwelling place and sat down in the shade of the building. Then the Venerable Ananda approached the Blessed One, respectfully greeted him, and sitting down at one side, he spoke to the Blessed One, saying, Fortunate it is for me, O Lord, to see the Blessed One at ease again.

[09:04]

Fortunate it is for me, O Lord, to see the Blessed One recovered. For truly, Lord, when I saw the Blessed One's sickness, it was as though my own body became weak as a creeper. Everything around me became dim to me, and my senses failed me. I think Ananda's response is really indicative of the place that the Buddha had among his disciples. You know, he's feeling like he's dying himself. They've relied on him for 45 years. Ananda was the Buddha's first cousin, and he traveled with him pretty much everywhere. He was his main attendant. And when you hear the early sutras, many of them begin, thus have I heard, and then it begins. And it's usually Ananda who was speaking, thus have I heard listening to the Buddha speak.

[10:12]

So he had this phenomenal memory and he retained all of the Buddha's teachings that he had heard. And Ananda goes on and said, yet Lord, I still had some little comfort in the thought that the Blessed One would not come to his final passing away until he had given some last instructions respecting the community of bhikkhus. The Blessed One answered him, saying, There is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the tatataka himself holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back. The Tatataka has no such idea that it is he who should lead the communities of bhikkhus or that the community depends on him. So what instructions should he have to give respecting the community of bhikkhus? Now I am frail, Ananda, old, aged, far gone in years.

[11:18]

This is my 80th year and my life is spent. Even as an old cart Ananda is held together with much difficulty, so the body of the Tathataka is kept going only with supports. It is Ananda only when the Tathataka, disregarding external objects with the cessation of certain feelings, attains to and abides in the signless concentration of mind that his body is more comfortable. So when the Buddha was deeply, deeply concentrated, he could be free from physical pain and suffering. But clearly he was experiencing it regularly otherwise. And he says, therefore, Ananda, be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves.

[12:27]

seeking no external refuge, with the Dharma as your island, the Dharma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge. He doesn't want to say, he's not, he was the leader, he was like the father figure for 45 years. And now he knows his physical form will be ending. And he doesn't want them to feel this is the end. He wants them to rely on themselves and rely on the teachings, rely on the practice. And how Ananda is a bhikkhu, an island unto himself, a refuge unto himself, seeking no external refuge, with the dharma as his island, the dharma as his refuge, seeking no other refuge. He's really encouraging them to know for oneself, to know for themselves the truth, the freedom that he has experienced.

[13:35]

And to have self-responsibility, not to expect that anyone else is going to do it for you. In a way, to be an adult, to stand on your own two feet, to have the courage to do it for yourself. The Buddha has said, our actions are our only true possessions. Our actions are our only true possessions. The Buddha goes on, when one dwells, contemplating the body in the body, earnestly, clearly comprehending and mindfully, after having overcome desire and sorrow in regard to the world, when he dwells contemplating feeling in feelings, the mind in the mind, and mental objects in mental objects, earnestly, clearly comprehending, and mindfully, having overcome desire and sorrow in regard to the world, then truly he is an island unto himself, a refuge unto himself, seeking no external refuge, having the Dharma as his island,

[14:52]

the Dharma as his refuge, seeking no other refuge. In other words, to be safe, to be home, to be complete. And the way he was teaching, it's the same thing in the Satipatthana Sutra. As he said, the four foundations of mindfulness, As he said, I have given you everything that I have to give you in terms of the teachings. I have already given you my treasure, my teachings, my heart, my life. Now it's up to you. This is what you do. This is how you carry it on. So the Buddha and Ananda went into the town of Visali for alms. to receive offerings for their meal, their noonday meal.

[15:54]

And after the meal, they went to a shrine and they sat down. And the Blessed One said, Whosoever, Ananda, has developed, strengthened, and brought to perfection the four constituents of psychic power could, if he so desired, remain throughout a world period or until the end of it. the Tatataka Ananda has done so. Therefore, the Tatataka could, if he so desired, remain throughout a world period or until the end of it. But the Venerable Ananda was unable to grasp the plain suggestion, the broad hint. He did not beseech the Blessed One. May the Blessed One remain, O Lord. May the Happy One remain, O Lord, throughout the world period for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well-being, and happiness of gods and men.

[17:01]

And when for a second and a third time the Blessed One repeated his words, the Venerable Ananda again remained silent. Then the Blessed One said to the Venerable Ananda, Go now, Ananda. Do as seems fit to you. Even so, O Lord. And the Venerable Ananda, rising from his seat, respectfully saluted the Blessed One, and keeping his right side toward him, took his seat under a tree some distance away. This is like one of the main moments in this sutra. The Buddha is saying that he could stay for another world period, however long that is. He could stay. But he would need to be asked.

[18:05]

And Ananda doesn't pick up the hint. As I was preparing for this talk, I was thinking, how would that be for the Buddha? He puts it out there three times, and there's just silence. And it's a mystery. This is never explained or really given an account of, like, Why is the Buddha saying this now? He said, you know, I'm coming to the end. He knows it. And he's just said, be an island unto yourself. But I think he's saying, I'm willing if you ask.

[19:08]

I'm willing if you ask me. I'm willing if you need me. And Ananda doesn't pick it up. And you know, we're all Ananda sometimes. Every one of us. There's things that we miss. And we don't know it in the moment. Or maybe we had a feeling we're missing something in the moment, but we don't know what it is. We're just not picking it up. And maybe later we find it out. It's like, oh my God. How could I have missed that? Apparently one of the commentaries says that the demon Mara the trickster was distracting Ananda during that time. I also read that it may be that Ananda, with this phenomenal memory that he had, did not reflect so much on the Buddha's teachings.

[20:09]

He wasn't of a reflective type. He was just... He just received this. Apparently he was afraid to reflect on the teachings because he was afraid that he would corrupt them and not remember them word for word, that his own thoughts or experience would start to get in there. So he may have been just taking this in but not seeing the meaning. I used to be a proofreader and I was just in proofreading mode. I wasn't... I wasn't taking in the meaning of it. It's very hard to do those two levels at once. And when the Venerable Ananda had gone away, Mara, the evil one, approached the Blessed One and standing at one side, he spoke to the Blessed One saying, Now, O Lord, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away.

[21:12]

The time has come for the parinirvana of the Lord, the passing away without remainder, no more rebirths in the saha world, the human world, the world of conditions, the world of endurance, completely free. Mara goes on, "'You said to me, "'I shall not come to my passing away, evil one, "'until my laymen and laywomen "'have come to be true disciples.'" wise, well-disciplined, learned, living according to the Dharma, having appropriate conduct and having learned and are able to expound the teachings clearly and in detail and are able to refute wrong views. And you also said to me, I shall not pass away until this holy life taught by me has become successful, prosperous, far-renowned and widespread. All of this has come to pass in just this way. So, O Lord, let the Blessed One come to his final passing away.

[22:17]

The time has come for the Pari Nirvana of the Lord. And the Buddha responds, Do not trouble yourself, evil one. Before long, the Pari Nirvana of the Tatataka will come about. Three months hence, the Tatataka will utterly pass away. So this is the prediction of his own death, his own passing away, who said that the Buddha was all-knowing, he could see into the past, the present, and the future. And with full awareness and clear comprehension, the Buddha renounced his will to live on. And upon the Buddha's renouncing his will to live on, there came a tremendous earthquake, dreadful and astonishing, and thunder rolled across the heavens.

[23:23]

And the Blessed One beheld it with understanding and made this solemn utterance. What causes life, unbounded or confined, this process of becoming This the sage himself renounces. With inward calm and joy he breaks as though a coat of mail his own life's cause. He renounces this process of becoming and with inward calm and joy he breaks as though a coat of mail, as though a coat of metal his own life's cause. Ananda inquires about the cause of the earthquakes and the thunder and the Buddha gives a series of teachings about this and other topics.

[24:27]

He talks about the first thing is the eight causes of earthquakes and one of them was the prediction of his own death. And he concludes by telling Ananda about his entire conversation with Mara, the evil one. And then, Ananda, I answered Mara, the evil one, saying, do not trouble yourself, evil one. Before long, the pari nirvana of the Tathataka will come about. Three months hence, the Tathataka will utterly pass away. And in this way, Ananda, today the Tathataka has renounced his will to live on. So all of this followed immediately just to bring you back to Ananda expressing this great joy at the Buddha being recovered, looking well, being upright.

[25:29]

And they have this conversation. Ananda goes away. He comes back. He hears about the conversation with Mara and that the Buddha has now renounced his will to live. At these words, Ananda beseeches the Buddha, May the Blessed One remain out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well-being, and happiness of gods and men. And the Blessed One answered, saying, Enough, Ananda, do not entreat the Tatataka, for the time is past for such an entreaty. But for a second and a third time, the Venerable Ananda said to the Blessed One, May the Blessed One remain for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well-being, and happiness of gods and men. So the Buddha lets Ananda know that the fault is his, that there is no going back.

[26:38]

The time is past. There was a moment and it passes. And sometimes that happens. Sometimes there was a moment and now it's gone, whether we caught it or not. And he says, but you, Ananda, were unable to grasp the plain suggestion, the significant prompting given you by the Tathataka and you did not entreat the Tathataka to remain. Yet, Ananda, have I not taught that from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, is compounded and subject to decay.

[27:39]

How can one say, may it not come to disillusion? There can be no such state of things, Ananda. And of that which the Tatataka has finished with, that which he has relinquished, given up, abandoned, and rejected, his will to live on, the Tatataka's word has been spoken once for all. Before long, the parinibbana of the Tatataka will come about. Three months hence, the Tatataka will pass away, and the Tatataka should withdraw his words for the sake of living on, This is an impossibility. Then he asks Ananda to assemble all the bhikkhus who dwelt in the neighborhood of Visali where they were. And when they were gathered, he says, Now, oh bhikkhus, I say to you that you should thoroughly learn, cultivate, develop, and frequently practice the teachings I have taught you, that the life of purity, the monastic life,

[28:51]

may be established and may long endure for the welfare and happiness of the multitude out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well-being, and happiness of gods and men. And what are these teachings? They are the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four constituents of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path. So together these are referred to as the 37 Factors of Awakening. There are various ways or aspects of practice and awareness. They're spoken of in the early Buddhist teachings than they are in Zen, but it's just different ways of organizing them. It's the same. It's all the same at the heart.

[29:53]

Sometimes I've thought of it as, you know, the early teachings and the Pali Canon and Zen and the Mahayana are like two different mandalas. Each one has the same, they both have exactly the same elements or overwhelmingly the same elements. There are some that are unique to each. But in some of them, certain elements are more in the foreground and certain ones are in the background. So it's where is the emphasis? What is the relationship between the parts? So what he's saying is this is the heart of what I've taught. Once a monk asked the teacher, a Zen monk asked a teacher, what is the teaching of a lifetime?

[30:58]

What is the teaching of the Buddha's lifetime? And the teacher said, an appropriate response. So the Buddha for 45 years tried to meet each person, each group, with a response to help them awaken that was appropriate to that person, that group in that moment. And these were summarized in the four foundations of mindfulness and the seven factors of awakening and all these different teachings. But they came mostly through stories like this, like this story. endless stories, the stories of the acrobats, the stories of the woman who lost her infant child and couldn't get over it.

[32:02]

So many stories can be distilled down into a kind of an organized thing, but it's all just meeting, all just moments of meeting, trying to help living beings, sentient beings, suffering beings cross over from suffering and confusion to awakening and freedom. These bhikkhus are the teachings of which I have direct knowledge, which I have made known to you and which you should thoroughly learn, cultivate, develop and frequently practice that the life of purity, monastic life, may be established and may long endure for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, well-being, and happiness of gods and men.

[33:07]

Again, he's saying, I've held nothing back. I've given you everything already. Just do it. Practice it. Uphold it. Continue it. That's what I ask of you. That's what I exhort you to do. Then the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus, So bhikkhus, I exhort you, all compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness. The time of the tatataka's pari nirvana is near. Three months hence, the tatataka will utterly pass away. Then he said, my years are now full ripe. The lifespan left is short. Departing, I go hence from you, relying on myself alone. Be earnest then, bhikkhus. Be mindful and of virtue pure. With firm resolve, guard your own mind.

[34:11]

Whoever entirely pursues the dharma, the teachings, and the discipline the vinya, the rules of conduct and practice, shall go beyond the round of births and make an end of suffering. So the Bhikkhu's, the Buddha's last words are, you know, behold now, all compounded things are subject to vanish, strive with earnestness. So there's a very widespread and still popular, still very prevalent chant in Pali based on these last words. And the way I learned it was like this.

[35:14]

And it translates, all conditioned things are impermanent. They have the nature to pass away. Those who understand this completely will find true happiness. All conditioned things are impermanent. They have the nature to pass away. Those who understand this completely will find true happiness.

[36:18]

He's teaching about emptiness. He's teaching about impermanence. There is no inherent self. This is the nature of all things, all phenomena. These are the marks of existence. And in our ordinary human minds, we tend to experience change, impermanence as suffering. But when we see it clearly, then we find true happiness. when I was in my teens, I read Carlos Castaneda. And one of the things that stayed with me from those books, it's about shamanic traditions in Mexico, talked about taking death as an advisor, as a practice.

[37:35]

And this is, you know, to take death as an advisor, to take death as a a guide in a way, how can we wake up, how can we remember that life is short? And for all of us, the time remaining to us is quite unknown. So, on this occasion of the Buddha's Parinirvana, how might the Buddha's death and the change of all that is in our lives spur you to awakening, to living what is most important in your life. I think our human minds are just wired to not like not knowing at all. It's scary. It's threatening.

[38:41]

We don't know. But not knowing is one of the truly foundational teachings in Zen and throughout the Buddhist tradition. But in Zen we talk about it as not knowing, or beginner's mind even. So how do we lean in, rather than pulling away, how do we lean in to the not knowing? and find a way for it to open us, to be with it and to find our place with it, to find our ease with it, our familiarity. I think one of the great gifts of repetitive practices

[39:43]

of which zazen is one, the schedule is one, monasticism and the practice periods are one, is that you get to see the same thing over and over and over again. It's like, oh, okay. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but I see that I can handle it. I see that I can be present with it. I see that I can show up for it. I had an old friend who almost died twice in the still early days of AIDS. He came very, very close. And then the second time it was like he'd given everything away. He'd gotten rid of all of his possessions. The end was very close and then they had the new medication and he came back. So he had to restart his life. And then again he got terribly sick and could have died.

[40:47]

And that was when I knew him was the third time he got rather close. And he said, I've forgotten how to die. I was so settled with it both times before. I knew I was going to die and I made my peace with it twice and I'm out of practice and I hate it all over again. I'm terrified all over again. And then he got better. And he's still alive. But we often don't really turn toward things unless we're up against it, unless it feels like there's no choice. Which is why so often people, when they have serious heart attacks or cancer or whatever it is, it's like... Wait a minute, let me look at my life.

[41:49]

What's the most important thing? What's the most important thing? I've always remembered this line from Mary Oliver. So what do you want to do with this one wild and precious life? And whatever comes to you that you most long to do, maybe it's possible for you, and you never really considered doing it. But you might consider it. You might really explore it and see. It might be a big thing, it might be a smaller, apparently smaller thing, but the thing that's really important.

[42:51]

And for whatever reason, it also might not be possible. In the way your life is now, it just might not be possible. Or if it involves other people, it might not really be possible for them. But if it's been something that is niggling in there, can you make peace with it? Can you make true peace with your life? Whatever that looks like for you. And the way to practice that is by all the little letting goes every day. That's the repetition practice. That's why we don't just sit one period of zaza, have one good period and it's like, done. Got that. Because it comes and goes. It's like, oh, today was good, or yesterday was good, and today's like, hmm, where did that go?

[43:55]

So letting go again and again, knowing what is true in the depths of our hearts, and letting go of the clinging, like the relationship. It's not the thing, it's the relationship. That's the second noble truth. There is suffering, and the suffering might be not looking at something, and it might be clinging to it. How is it for you? What suffering wants to be let go of? And even more broadly, can you make complete peace with the person that you are? Not the person you think you should be or want to be, but the person that you are, just as you are. To look upon yourself with generosity and kindness and honesty and love.

[45:03]

Tenderly love this one person that is your own being. I think each one of us, for each one of us, there is a teaching that touches us very deeply. Find it. Know what it is and stay close. Thank you very much.

[46:08]

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