I vow to take the truth of the Jataka's words. Good morning. Yesterday I performed a wedding and Later, one of the guests came up and said that they liked the wedding ceremony, as people usually do, because the ceremony speaks to them, rather than most ceremonies where they feel that they're just going through the motions of something. He said that his He didn't really know much about Buddhism, but his grandfather used to travel around a lot, and he collected Buddha statues.

[01:09]

And he had all these Buddha statues, and he remembered them. And I thought, you know, in past generations, people have traveled around and collected Buddha statues, and they appear American homes, and American kids grew up looking at these Buddha statues. And I think that has some influence on American children, some American children. I've never had people tell me this before. My grandfather, we always had this Buddha statue in the house, and I always liked it. And so I think there's this subtle influence of Buddha statues that have influenced people. And he said, well, the thing about Buddha is that he's always happy. Well, that's an interesting thing to say. If I was to characterize what it is about Buddha that's a main characteristic, maybe happy is good.

[02:26]

But it's kind of like what a child might say. And kind of a child-like perception. So that's pretty good, actually. But if I was to think of what is the characteristic of Buddha, that's not what I would have said. But I thought it interesting that he would say that. Then he said, Buddhists The thing I like about Buddhists is that they're always happy. And I thought to myself, oh. Of course, I don't think he ever knew any Buddhists. But I thought, well, that's pretty good. Let's see now, why is Buddha always happy? Why are Buddhists always happy? I thought, well, he's not wrong.

[03:30]

He may not be right, but he's not wrong. I always thought of Buddha statue as expressing maybe nobility or equanimity or some ineffable quality, you know, beyond happiness and unhappiness. But I think, you know, happiness is a characteristic of Buddha, but not the happiness that most people are... I think most people are looking for the happiness of Buddha, but we're looking for it in places that Buddha is no longer looking for it. Buddha's happiness goes beyond happiness and unhappiness.

[04:40]

Therefore, Buddha is happy. And Buddhists are going beyond happiness and unhappiness. Therefore, they're happy. When Buddhists go beyond We say the pursuit of happiness. Our nation is based on the pursuit of happiness. But if you pursue happiness, you can't catch it. Happiness runs faster than we can. So you can't quite catch up to it because it's not a thing. And when you get it, you can't have it because it's not an object. It's not a thing. So it's not something that you can put in the drawer or put in the refrigerator.

[05:48]

You can't preserve it for the next day. So what is the state of Buddha and why What is it that we admire about Buddha? And how do we achieve that? Buddhists, or people who practice Buddha way, whether or not you're a Buddhist, or people who I practice Buddha Dharma. Buddha is the example. So what is it about Buddha that's so exemplary or that we should bring to mind when we practice?

[07:04]

Of course, we don't want to copy somebody's way. We should find our own way. We should always find our own way. But when we do find our own way, in its true sense, then that's Buddha's way. So, we don't so much say, well, you should try to imitate Buddha, but we have precepts and some idea about how to conduct ourselves in order to live our life in an enlightened way. If we try to catch the Buddha who is inside the statue,

[08:05]

won't work. We have to find the Buddha in here. Then the Buddha in here corresponds to the... Then we can see ourself in the statue. But statue is just a piece of wood or metal where real Buddha is here. So we say The three treasures, be Buddha, be Dharma, be Sangha. Or return to Buddha, return to Dharma, return to Sangha. Or take refuge in Buddha, take refuge in Dharma, take refuge in Sangha. Just three ways of saying the same thing. So, to take refuge in Buddha, is to give up all of our pettiness.

[09:12]

When we look at Buddha, Buddha is a kind of a statue, is a kind of an idealization of what people feel represents Buddha, kind of our highest ideal. So, Highest ideal means to give up small mind, small mindedness or pettiness. I think a Buddha, a good Buddha statue represents a noble bearing because Buddha is always called the noble one. It means belonging to true nobility.

[10:13]

In the old days, nobility was the property of the aristocracy. But true nobility doesn't have any particular family or any particular hierarchy. True nobility is our true nature and belongs to everyone. So each person, everyone has the potential to be a truly noble one and to belong to the family of noble people. So nobility still exists even though The royal families are no longer part of world politics.

[11:21]

But true nobility should still exist in the world, but each person must bring that out in themselves. So, what is true nobility? How does Buddha get this true nobility? What is it that makes him truly noble? A true person of the highest caliber. So, what did he do? He gave up small mind. saw through to the reality of life. In the wedding ceremony, Buddhist Zen wedding ceremony, we say to the couple, treat each other as Buddha. How do you do that?

[12:33]

This is not just for wedding ceremony. This is a Buddhist Sangha. In Buddhist Sangha, each one of us should treat each other as Buddha. Whether or not we measure up to your idea of Buddha. If we treat each other as Buddha, that puts everyone on the spot to become Buddha. or to realize Buddha. If we treat each other in a small and petty way, then we all have to defend ourselves. And then we start reacting to each other. So Buddha treated everyone as Buddha because he realized that everyone is Buddha. This is what made why people love Buddha, because he treated everyone as Buddha.

[13:39]

He treated everyone as himself. And what was important to him was not to get his way or even to make things right. We get very attached to being right and getting things right. And when people aren't acting right, then, according to our idea, then we start criticizing them. And as soon as we start falling into a critical mind, we become, put ourselves in a righteous place. Religious people get very righteous because they feel that they're defending the Lord and the right way to do things.

[14:42]

And then when they feel they're doing the right thing, people who are not coming up to that are doing the wrong thing. Then we fall into right and wrong. And then we become antagonistic and set ourselves apart from people. This is a very difficult question, the question of right and wrong. And within a Sangha, it can cause a lot of dissension. When we see someone doing something wrong, we want them to be right. And then we become right, they become wrong, and this causes a lot of dissension. And although we have certain rules and things that we want people to adhere to, as soon as we start becoming critical, we lose our Buddha mind. It's very easy to lose our Buddha mind.

[15:48]

More and more, I become less critical. I used to be much more critical than I am, even though people sometimes think I'm very critical. But I'm much less critical than I used to be. Because in a lot of ways I feel it's better to let things fall apart than to divide myself through righteousness. Last week I was talking about communion and communication, and that communion is the basis for communication.

[17:03]

to be one with someone in a deep way allows for true communication. If we don't embrace each other in a deep way, then our communication takes on a shallow aspect and often falls into argumentativeness. So rather than fall into, when we start falling into argumentativeness, if that's the right word, if that is a word, into argumentative states of mind with each other, we should stop and think about what we're doing. Why is this happening? That should be a kind of wake up bell for us.

[18:07]

Why is it that I can't get along with this person? Or that we are not getting along? Or that they're doing something that I don't like and I can't communicate that to them? And why is this happening? We should stop and think about that. And rather than going on trying to solve a problem in a logical way, you know, each person has their own logic. And each person stands on their own logic. We think that logic is logic. We tend to think that. But logic isn't logic. My logic is my logic, and your logic is your logic. What I think is the obvious thing is not your obvious thing. And what you think is the obvious thing is not my obvious thing.

[19:09]

So, when we get into that state with each other, it should be a sign that we need to have more communion, deeper communion. Deeper communion will resolve logical problems. And often the problems of logic in our communication with each other are not just about the subject of the argument. When we go deeper, we realize that a lot of the problem is our problem with each other, independent of the subject. So that's why it's really important to find a common ground in communion so that we can avoid the endless argumentativeness of lack of communication on a lower level.

[20:31]

Sometimes we have the thought that if everybody in the world satsang, we probably wouldn't have a lot of the problems that we have. I don't say we wouldn't have any problems. We always have problems. But, you know, We say the Sangha is one body, one body with many faces. And in the silence of Zazen, there's only one body. And it's like one body with billions of talking heads that are always yapping at each other, in one way or another. But the important thing is to realize that it's one body.

[21:39]

And when we get deep enough, we realize that it's one body. And the yapping head, this yapping head, is really me. Not just this one, but the one next to me is also me. But we see that the one, this one is other. And it is other. It's another head. But the other head is me. So, you know, Buddha, each one of us is Buddha. And each one of us is Dharma. Buddha, to be Buddha is to realize the one body. To be Dharma is to realize the many heads. And to be Sangha is to realize the harmony of the many heads and the one body.

[22:53]

So we say The main thing is to realize this harmony of the Sangha. Sometimes we emphasize Buddha. Sometimes we emphasize Dharma. And sometimes we emphasize Sangha. And when Suzuki Roshi came to America and Zen Center was formed around him, He said what's really important focus for us is Sangha. So he didn't put so much emphasis on Buddha or so much emphasis on Dharma, but emphasis on Sangha, how we harmonize with each other. Because Americans tend to be very individualistic. You know, what people say often, well why do we have to practice together?

[24:05]

Can't I just practice at home? Or can't I just go up on the mountain? So, his emphasis was to bring everybody together to practice together because we don't have such a, inherently, a strong feeling of Sangha. We don't have a strong feeling of family in America. In America, family is just going the other way. And he saw that as a big problem for the West. So Sangha is a family feeling. And individual feeling leads to self-centeredness. And if you look at our country in the past 12 years, where individual achievement has been so emphasized, and it's no wonder that some people are talking about family values.

[25:22]

Matter of fact, the people that are splitting it apart the most are the people that are talking about the family values. So, how we take care of each other, how we take care of ourselves and how we take care of each other is how to be Buddha, how to act like Buddha. So when we have a close sangha, we bump into each other and rub each other the wrong way. This is human nature. Human nature is to find fault with each other. When you live at home and come to Zazen, there's not much problem. But when people live together in a close situation,

[26:28]

brings up many problems. So, when we have a lot to do with each other, it brings up many problems. So, what's important is to not get caught by reacting to each other. not get caught in reacting to when people are doing something we don't like, or we see them doing something wrong, to not get into reaction, because we just exacerbate the problem. And instead of one person being wrong, two people become wrong. One of the characteristics of Buddha is composure. Composure doesn't mean just putting on a false face that everything's okay.

[27:29]

True composure means that instead of reacting to things and becoming like the thing that you're reacting to, that you come from your own place. How do you transform some difficulty into something that works. They say skill, but I don't like to use the word skill so much because it has the feeling of learning. You learn something and you can do it well. I think it has more to do with just being standing on the truth, or standing in reality. And if we're standing in reality, the proper mode will present itself.

[28:40]

So, when we start reacting to each other, we get caught by the feeling that we have. So sometimes I think it's better to just let things go on in a bad way than to allow ourselves to get caught in reaction. If you can't get caught, if you can't release yourself from getting caught by reaction, better to just let things deteriorate than to get caught that way. until you can find the right way to bring up something. It becomes a koan for us. When somebody does something wrong and we can't do anything more than react, then that becomes a big koan for us. And rather than keep reacting, to find out how can we respond in a way

[29:54]

that creates harmony in the Sangha. That should always be the uppermost thing. How can I deal with this in a way that creates harmony in the Sangha, rather than getting into argument and breaking down? It's real easy. The easiest thing in the world is for dogs to start barking at each other. One dog starts barking and the other one barks back. And then we reduce ourselves to the animal realm. It's true. We reduce ourselves to the animal realm. You know, there are the ten realms. I don't want to get into that.

[30:57]

I do want to get into that. The realm of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Shravakas, Pratyekabuddhas and Shravakas and Devas. Then there's the realm of humans, fighting demons, asuras, or fighting demons, hungry ghosts, animals, and hell. Those are the realms. Deva realm is the heavenly realm, which is one of the six realms of the six worlds. And, you know, these realms We transmigrate through these realms every day. Sometimes we're Buddha. Sometimes we're just a human being. Sometimes we're an animal.

[31:58]

Sometimes we're a fighting demon. Sometimes we're a hungry ghost. Sometimes we're a heavenly being. Sometimes we're a shravaka. It means a listener to Buddha. But You know, when we bow, each one of these fingers represents one of those realms. And when we bow, we bring them all together. We are in one body. One body with ten realms. So, when we find ourselves in this position, of contentiousness, or seeing something wrong, bring our palms together, to bring our mind together, and create this kind of harmony out of a problem.

[33:10]

But when it's a problem, how do we create this? That's our practice. when we find ourselves falling into these states, to be careful. So this goes, you know, Sangha is also the whole world. So when we're practicing in the world, at large, how do we create a harmonious situation around us, out of a chaotic situation that we walk into, or out of a difficult situation that we walk into? People say, it's fine when we're in Zendo, but as soon as I walk out into the street, you know, and go to work, and I forget all about all this, there I am, you know, in the chaotic world.

[34:21]

How do you create a harmonious situation in the chaotic world? How do you transform the space where you are into a harmonious space? It's not easy. Instead of going like this, you want to go like this. You know, we like some situations and we don't like other situations. But if we're willing to be grateful for any situation, then we have a way to go. So when you're offended, to say thank you very much, instead of use so and so. It's really hard, it goes against the grain. It goes against every reaction you want to have.

[35:25]

But that's the basis of non-dualistic life. To be able to accept everything equally. And then you'll know how to respond to a situation. you find out how to respond to a situation. Because first of all, when you say thank you for this problem, you're embracing the problem. You're embracing in community. Then you can figure out, maybe you do need to hit somebody. But it's the basis for So if we are stymied, figuring out, well, how can I communicate in this situation?

[36:31]

First of all, you have to accept it and say, thank you, which allows your mind to open up beyond your ego. Ego is a great defense mechanism. We're all defending ourselves. If you say thank you for something that you don't like, you realize how much you're defending yourself at that point. That's the indicator of how much you're defending yourself, because you get this reaction. I don't really want to say thank you. But it opens you up. Thank you very much. Then you have to deal with that. And that gives you the opportunity to be on an equal footing.

[37:38]

It brings everything down to equality. Then you know how to act in a differentiated way. Once you reach equality, then you know how to act in the realm of differences. But if you're only in the realm of differences, without realizing the equality, then it's nothing but contentiousness. It's just you against me, because there's no common ground. It's really hard to give up our egotistical barrier. That's the hardest thing there is. Really hard. And I don't say we can always do it, but I think that we should try. It's very humbling.

[38:41]

But humbleness has a kind of poor connotation these days. We think it means groveling. It doesn't mean groveling. It means seeing reality. It means taking a stand in reality where everything is equal. The four wisdoms are being able to see everything just as it is, like a mirror. And then there's the wisdom of seeing everything equally. Then there's the wisdom of seeing everything differently. And then there's the wisdom of action, given the other three. And understanding these four wisdoms is the task of the Zen student, and being able to find your way with those four wisdoms as a basis.

[39:58]

So when we're only reacting, we just toss everything out the window and enter the animal realm of barking dogs. Barking dogs are great, I love dogs. But we need to get into the human world. The purpose of Buddhadharma is not to be super, but just to be human, just to be completely, thoroughly human. Part of human nature is animal. naturally we have this, but animals are also noble beings, all animals. People sometimes speak about animals in a kind of degrading way, you know, this is what animals would do or that's not, but actually animals are noble beings and are in their way far more advanced than humans.

[41:31]

They're always trying to do their best, frankly. So if we observe the animal world, we can see that they're all trying to do their best, and we should respect that, and learn something from that. Trees and plants are also trying to do their best. Human beings are trying to do their best, but it's really hard. Really hard. Because we're still in a state of development. Although animals and plants are also in a state of development, human beings are more complex. I think it's important for us to have sympathy for other human beings because our lives are very complex.

[42:45]

And we expect a lot from each other, but what do we expect from ourselves? Do we expect the same from ourselves as we expect from others? I think that's something that we should look at when we start criticizing. Do we expect the same from ourselves as we expect from others? And what can we do? So, each of us has our own particular fault. It's maybe different than everyone else's fault. And we also, each one of us has our own particular virtue, which is different from everyone else's virtue. make it simple.

[43:59]

We want it to be really simple. So we look for simple solutions. And simple solutions get us into more trouble. Solutions are simple, but they're not simplistic. We look for simplistic solutions. And then we get angry because they don't work. I still feel that communion is more important than communication. They're both important equally, but before you can have communication on a deep level, there has to be communion. And when we're not making it, that means the communion is not deep enough. So try again when you have this problem. What's wrong with the community?

[45:01]

Where are we not meeting each other? Well, we're not going deeply enough. And you can't say that person is not going deeply enough. The only person you can get deeper is yourself. So expectation for yourself has to be really high. Let me say, be strict with yourself and compassionate with others. And I remember Suzuki Roshi saying to me one time, he said, if my students quarrel with each other, I'll leave. I knew he wouldn't leave, but he felt that. He felt that very strongly. And I can understand how he felt. When you see your students quarreling with each other, it makes you feel really bad.

[46:04]

Your Thich Nhat Hanh is always saying, you should have a little have a smile on your face. If you do that, then it will help your disposition. And people say, well, I don't like to force my feelings. I understand that. I agree. I don't like to force feelings either. But you have to keep reminding yourself about your disposition. Buddha is more concerned about his disposition than he is about whether he's right or wrong, or about whether others are making him feel good or bad.

[47:15]

The reason why Buddha is always content is because his contentment is independent of his reactions. His contentment is coming from his own deep source and isn't dependent on how things are going. Even though how things are going affect how you feel, definitely. But the main source of his disposition is not pulled around by how things are going. So, The smile comes from not being upset by things, even though he tries to harmonize everything.

[48:21]

First, harmonize yourself with yourself. Then you can harmonize everything with that self that's harmonized with itself. Some people don't like harmony. It's OK. But if that's what you like, and please work for it.

[48:42]

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