Good morning. Well, I feel like I won the lottery. I get to give the Dharma talk on such an auspicious day. Today is about liberation. Today is about freedom. Soon, we're going to have a Jukai ceremony. Jukai being a Japanese word that means receiving the precepts. So it's kind of a big deal. And this morning, beautiful bodhisattva ceremony, full moon ceremony, where guess what? We also received the precepts, stealth. You might not have been paying attention, but if you're in the ceremony, You were vowing to do some things.

[01:02]

I heard you. It was beautiful. Yeah. I love it when everybody chants like they really mean it. I have a reputation for loving to chant. Sometimes people have accused me of loving to chant too much. I don't know. I like to chant with vigor. That's true. I like to say it like you mean it. And I have a favorite chant. Actually, out of all of our liturgy, of all the things we chant, my favorite of them all is Great Robe of Liberation, the verse of the Kesa. verse of the robe. We say, Kesa, O Kesa, Kashaya, Raksu.

[02:10]

Yeah, check me out. I learned this. This is my first Raksu. It's 2017. Held up pretty good. Hope that's not spiritual pride. I'm wearing it this morning to make a point, actually, which is all Buddha's robe. Buddha's robe, the okesha, is a large rectangle made by sewing together smaller rectangles. This small rectangle compared to the oquesa but it is made according to the same fashion it is a rectangle composed of smaller rectangles sewn together and as i'm sure you must have learned from sewing classes or it's supposed to represent a rice field rice paddies with the walkways in between the rice rice paddies it's the rice field of happiness

[03:29]

So, this is a portable version of the okesa. So, for priests, they don't wear the okesa all the time. So, other times, they wear rakasu. I have a few rakasus. But this is my first one. And they're all equally Buddha's robe. So, If I speak about Kishaya, Okesa, Rakasu, for the purposes of this talk, I'm considering them interchangeable. I'm considering it as they're all equally Buddha's robe. As I've said before, more than once, I feel like... Berkeley Zen Center, Sojin Roshi, being such a devoted student of Suzuki Roshi, that this temple, for me, really exemplifies, like to a T, Suzuki Roshi's vision for how Zen practice might take root and flourish.

[04:58]

in the United States. Suzuki Roshi would say, not quite priest, not quite lay. Everyone equally practitioners. Everyone practicing together equally. I think that's really significant. Revolutionary, actually. Revolutionary. I don't think Suzuki Roshi came off as a revolutionary. But he was. He was. It's kind of radical. All right. So, if you come in person or online.

[06:10]

Hi, everybody on Zoom. This is going to be Jukai. Certainly unprecedented in my experience because we have eight ordinees and seven preceptors. we're all going to be, the preceptors, we're all going to be lined up in a row in the front of the Zen doll. And two of them are going to be a couple of our very esteemed lay Zen teachers. Ross Plum and Karen Sondheim will be joining us in joining in giving the precepts. Anna and And I think that's a really lovely thing. And again, so emblematic of Berkeley Zen Center.

[07:15]

How we practice together, teach together, take care of this sangha together. Yeah, I'm super happy this morning, I must say. Ah. the more the merrier. So, it is about receiving the precepts. It is a, well, the most significant precept ceremony. I can think of. Recently, somebody asked me for some examples of wedding services. I've done a number of weddings.

[08:17]

So I have quite a collection of. So I chose four choice ones. All precept ceremonies. I would never consider performing a wedding that didn't involve giving the bride and groom the Bodhisattva precepts, the 16 Bodhisattva precepts, following my teacher's example. Funerals, also precept ceremony. In a funeral, we give the deceased the precepts to help them on their way. About the precepts. I think for... I think for the Ordinese in general, it's a big deal that they're getting new clothing. Buddha's robe.

[09:18]

Sure was for me. It was a very big deal. Actually, Linda and a couple of my friends did Jukai in... And... But my responsibilities at Alta Base Medical Center kept me from... I could not go to the sewing classes. It was just out of the question. I couldn't work it out. So, of course, I came to the Shukai, you know, as... As we will this afternoon, after the ceremony, we'll have a lovely reception. I don't know, probably tea and cookies. I'm guessing something and lots of joy. Such a joyful thing. Just the most joyful thing. Mel comes right up to me, looks me in the eyes.

[10:23]

He goes, you're next. I know, boss. I know. I want it. I'll figure it out. which I did. Such sweet memory. So Jin also told me once, there's really only one precept. Be. Oh, okay. I like that. Then what am I supposed to do with that? I'm trying. But guess what? I mess up a lot. Like, really, a lot. Dogen said, the life of a Zen student is one continuous mistake.

[11:27]

So, I'm very grateful for the 16 Bodhisattva precepts because they give me some guidance. They give me some guardrails. Like, spell it out for me, please. Thank you very much. Thank you, Buddhists and Bodhisattvas, for spelling it out for me. This is enlightened activity. Our actions of body really matter. It really matters what we say. It matters how we act. It matters what we do. It affects everything around us. And vice versa. We are affected by. Et cetera, et cetera. It really matters. It's called, you know, the relative realm. In the absolute realm, be Buddha. Sit Zazen. That's all.

[12:34]

Sit zazen. Be Buddha. One minute of zazen is one minute of Buddha. There he is up there. Sitting. Sitting so peacefully. Doing some kind of esoteric mudra. Which I have no idea what it is. But usually, you know, somebody wants to... Yeah, they put the Buddha on the altar because there didn't used to be YouTube videos, instructional videos, you know. So you could just point to the Buddha and say, do that. Do like that. Sit upright. Be Buddha. Okay. You know, as we always say, you move the practice off the cushion into the world. Then how is it? No? How do you extend your Zazen practice into your daily life? That's the question. In particular for an urban temple, a Zen center.

[13:41]

We have a handful of residents here, but it's not a monastery. It's not that kind of place. That's what I understand by Suzuki Roshi saying, not quite priest, not quite lay. Sure, I'm a priest, but in some fat training monastery where everybody's a priest, all doing the exact same thing. Which, you know, such places exist. And I can recommend it. But Berkeley Zen Center is not that kind of place. This is a place for the body to do this body practice. Regardless, all are welcome. All are welcome. All are bodhisattvas. And it's really so encouraging that we do this.

[14:50]

I've heard Chukai referred to as bodhisattva initiation ceremony. I like that. You know? Like, it's official. Now it's official. You know? You put on Buddha's robe. You're karmically implicated. People see you, they say, oh yeah. Yeah. And it's a responsibility. Actually. first and foremost, to yourself. As I said before, it's kind of like wearing a little sign that says, ask me about Buddhism. Which people will. You know, that eighth grave precept, I vow not to be avaricious, often translated as,

[16:03]

You know, if it's for monks, for example, I vow not to withhold the Dharma assets. I vow not to withhold the Dharma. So we have a long-standing tradition in Soto Zen of not proselytizing. Hey, it's practice. No, we don't really do that because guess what? You may hate it. I wouldn't want to be responsible for encouraging you to do something that you don't like. But if you are drawn to this practice, if you feel some affinity and you keep doing it, you might decide, this is my tribe. These are my people. I knew somebody who said, she told me, well, to be perfectly honest, I just wanted one of those bibs. That's not terrible.

[17:06]

That's not terrible. I don't think so. It's funny. It's cute. I don't think it's so terrible. You know, Dogen's Eihei Dogen Daigo Show, as you know, well, maybe you don't know, but his most significant life work, and he wrote a lot. It's called the Shobogenzo, the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, which consists of this big collection of essays for some reason. And he was shooting for 100, but I think he only made it to 97. Close. Died too young, 53 years old. What a life. Anyway, one of those fascicles is called Kesakudoku. which Kastanahashi translated as the power of the robe. It's very long fascicle.

[18:07]

There's a lot to it. In the Kesakudoku tells the story of the nun Upalavarna, one of the names of the women ancestors that we chant, who in a previous life, was like a geisha or, I mean, not Japan. So whatever, like somebody in the court who just a fun person to keep around, I guess, you know, apparently not a very serious person. And she put on an okesa as a joke. And then in her next life, she was born as a nun. I mean, she became a nun. In her next life, she became a nun because she had, because she put on the okesa as a joke. So you never can tell, you know? You never can tell.

[19:08]

I just wanted one of those bibs. Cool. That's fine. But you should know that when you do okesa, the raksu, you are actually wearing the precepts. When we receive the raksu, We are wearing the precepts. We are... It's a way... I see it. It's a way to help us get the precepts into our bones. Yeah. So... So it's not something you're thinking about a lot. No. It's just how you behave. Are you... effort to behave. Zen teacher, whom I greatly admire, Tony Patchell, he liked to say, they are not executive in content.

[20:15]

The precepts are not, thou shalt, not like that. It's just, this is how awakening beings behave. This is how bodhisattvas behave. This is how bodhisattvas operate in the world. Yeah. I really enjoyed reading over Keisa Kudoku. It's one of his longer ones. He has a lot to say about Buddha's robe. At the end of it, there's a postscript, something he added on later, which is kind of part of his journal of his time in China, which is another thing he wrote, which has been translated into English.

[21:25]

But this is a postscript to Kesakudoku. Dogen says, once when I was in Song, China, practicing on a long sitting platform, one of these, called the Tan, Chinese for platform. Practicing on a long sitting platform, I observed the monks around me. At the beginning of Zazen in the morning, they would hold up their kishayas, place them on their heads, and chant a verse. palms together great is the robe of liberation the robe of no form the field of benefaction i wear the tathagata's teaching to awaken countless beings this was the first time i had seen the cash held up in this way and i rejoiced tears wetting the collar of my robe Although I had read this verse of veneration for the Kishaya in the Agama Sutra, I had not known the procedure.

[22:34]

Now I saw it with my own eyes. I also felt sorry that there had been no master to teach this to me and no good friend to recommend it in Japan. How sad that so much time had been wasted. But I also rejoiced in my wholesome past actions. If I had stayed in my land, How could I have sat side by side with the monks who had received the Buddha robe? My sadness and joy brought endless tears. So many feelings. Yeah. And I think there will be a lot of feelings this afternoon. Yeah, I strongly suspect. It's a truly, truly lovely thing. So I was researching this and researching the Teizaku-doku.

[23:43]

Part of the festival, Dogen quotes or inserts, I guess you could say, a verse section from a sutra, which I have no idea what the sutra is, and I couldn't find out. We can internet search, so I'm sure if I asked my friends, Charlie Pokorny or Kokyo Henkel, one of them would tell me where the... Dogen is just like, you know, the 10 excellent merits of the Okesa. Because he had the whole Buddhist canon at his fingertips. So he just puts it in there. Allegedly, the words of the Buddha from some Mahayana scripture. We chant this at Tazahara when we have sewing classes. At the beginning of the class, we will chant this short. Well, not that short. I'm not going to read the whole thing to you. But it's a lovely thing.

[24:54]

The Ten Excellent Merits of the Okesa. And I found from summer of 1971, so the last year of Suzuki Roshi's life, a Dharma talk that was a part of receiving a robe. Apparently, students had sewed what we call nyohoi okesa, which is the variety that we sew. That's what Lori's wearing. That's what Linda is wearing right now. It's the kind where it falls down over your left shoulder that the priests are constantly adjusting and reaching back. The flap is not flapping forward. Yeah, when you see that, it's because this is sewed according to... very old style that was revived by various Japanese teachers.

[25:59]

It's an interesting history, interesting to read about. So Nyohoe means pure Dharma robe, like, you know, the OG. The other kind, style of okesa that I was wearing when I did the full moon ceremony, ties in the front like this, and yeah, it's equally an okesa. That's all Sojan Roshi wore for a long, long time, until somebody sewed one for him. Apparently, they sewed one for Suzuki Roshi, and he received it. They had this ceremony, and Rabbi Anderson read this English translation of the Ten Excellent Merits of the Okesa. And Suzuki Roshi gave a talk about it. He was joking about being, you know... You may think I'm some venerable Zen teacher, but here I am receiving an okesa for the first time. Which I think is really lovely.

[27:02]

That kind of spirit, beginner's mind, what he always emphasized. And in the Jukai, in all our ordination ceremonies, it's a rebirth. Or a new birth. Everything's new. The Ordinese might have been advised to wear new underwear. To take a bath and to be just as fresh as you can be. Because you're new. You're newly born Bodhisattva. Linda and I went to a priest ordination ceremony for our dear friend Cam Isaric at Green Gulch last Sunday. Beautiful ceremony. And Linda and I, we got to be like visiting dignitaries. It was pretty cool. Yeah, it was nice. It was nice. Jiryu, Dave's brother, the abbot of Green Gulch, he ordained Cam.

[28:11]

And, you know, on that occasion, when we do a priest ordination, the priest, To B, the ordinary, when they enter the Zendo, they're just wearing a kimono. Not this robe. They receive this robe as part of the ceremony. Initially, when they come in, they're only wearing a kimono. It's like they're naked. They're close. And that's the feeling. They're just freshly hatched chick. All new. Then they're clothed in Buddha's robe. But the other thing that occurred to me, I really appreciate about this, how we hold Suzuki Roshi's spirit, how we are continuing to try to enact Suzuki Roshi's spirit.

[29:13]

The two ceremonies we call, we could say, Shukei Tokudo in Japanese. Shukai tokudo means leaving home, attaining the way. Zaikei tokudo means staying home, attaining the way. They are so similar. The differences between are few. Few. Just for priest ordination, you receive more stuff. And you put on an okesa. And you receive a rock suit. priests or Yoki bowls. But the meat of the ceremony, the avowal of karma, all the other parts of it, they're the same. It's the same ceremony. Yeah.

[30:17]

Yeah. That's kind of what I really wanted to emphasize. this morning, in the spirit of being joined by lay teachers, the preceptors, and just how Berkeley Zen Center does it. The Zen Center continues to uphold Suzuki Roshi's spirit. I think so. I think so. We were hanging out with Jerry, who's going to be here this afternoon, one of the preceptors. Linda and I and Jerry were hanging out together in the Abbott's office the other day, and we were talking about, you know, it's actually a lot of work to prepare for Jukai, for the preceptors.

[31:18]

There's a lot of paperwork. You're going to make the... lineage document, the Ketchumyaku, which is a Japanese word meaning blood vein. The basically genealogical chart from the ancestors. And then also a women ancestors document. Circle of women ancestors. Both of those. And then the the fiddly wrappers, the paper wrappers that they go into. That's the hardest part for me. I imagine, you know, in my Jukai cohort, there were 15 people received the precepts. Roshi got good at it.

[32:22]

He never had anybody doing it for him. Some teachers do. Some teachers get people to help do it for them. Not so did he. And I bet he got pretty good at it. Anyway. And we were commenting, you know, appreciating that It's silly to make comparisons, you know. Here's me, you know, I make fun of my calligraphy, old lefty, you know, struggling with an ink brush from over here. I'm just doing my best, you know. And that's great because the spirit of Zen practices just do your best just to bring what you do. That's all. And what you got, that's the complete expression of who you are.

[33:28]

That's your offering. Sojan always used to say this on the occasion of Jukai. Well, maybe not always, but often would say each Rakasu is a complete expression of the person who sewed it. It's so significant that we sew our own Rakasus. And, you know, thanks to wonderful sewing teachers like Gene Salkirk and others. Rebecca Mayeno was my sewing teacher because there were 15 people. We actually had two sewing classes a week. Linda was doing the other one. But that's the one. One time, one time I could come on the night, not because Linda was doing it. We were barely aware of each other at that point. But one time I was there and Linda was helping me. But mostly it was Rebecca. Perfect.

[34:32]

They're all perfect. I know. I know. A lot of people. They're Roxus. Agonize over. But. I made a mistake. I don't like that stitch. I don't like that stitch. And. A lot of the time, sewing teachers are like, no, you're not going to take those stitches out and start. Just keep going. Because it's perfect just the way it is. You know, they're going to keep you on track. They're going to make it so that basically they all look the same. And yet each one is complete expression. I was feeling discouraged. I should let them have a close look at this one. But it's still hanging together. At the end of...

[35:47]

the ceremony where Suzuki Roshi received this new okesa, he gave some words of appreciation. And it really touched my heart because I felt like this is Suzuki Roshi expressing his way, expressing his vision for the practice of Zen in the United States. which I've never read this before. I mean, I haven't read most of them, right? Every Dharma talk that's been recorded has been transcribed. So there's a lot out there that's all accessible on the web. So here's some of what I want to say on that occasion. My spirit is always aiming at one thing. One truth, which can be true with everyone.

[36:52]

Lay person and priest, Japanese and American, and Indian people, we are in just one truth. That is why I always say it is not such an easy thing to achieve Buddha's way. But there is something which all of us aim at. The okesa is the symbol of that one expression of this one goal, one spirit. I love that so much. All right. No, I'm not going to chant the whole thing, but I will chant. I'm not going to chant the end of the Ten Excellent Merits of the Tesaya. I have now recited the ten excellent merits of the kishaya. For eons, more comments could be made, but I'll say this.

[37:55]

A dragon who wears even a shred of kishaya can't be devoured by a gold-winged garuda. A person who holds the kishaya while crossing the ocean will not fear dragons, fish, or harmful beings. Lightning and thunder, heaven's wrath, will not frighten the monk who wears kishaya. Carries the kishaya with respect, no evil spirits draw near. When one arouses beginner's mind, leaves home in worldly affairs to practice the way, demon palaces in the ten directions will tremble, and such a person will immediately realize the body. Boom. How about that? It's just a dragon who wears even a shred of a kashaya. I just love to visualize that dragon. A little shred.

[38:57]

Where'd you get that shred? Where'd you get that from? Hmm. Ah. Well, just my words of appreciation for this amazing, auspicious day and the beauty of receiving the 16 Bodhisattva precepts and Buddha's robe. So, we have time for questions. Thanks for your attention. If you could not put a trap in front of me, just right over here.

[39:57]

Just a little bit closer. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Greg's playing with the laptop now. Thank you, Greg, for your words. Very inspiring. And congratulations to all the people who are suing Jukai today. Yeah, very magical, powerful moment. And I appreciated how you said, I look at my ride, it's kind of sloppy, especially I was looking in front of me, Joe is beautiful. Okay, so I appreciate you saying every stitch is that full expression of who we are. So don't say that. My question is, what do I do with this thing when I die? Oh, well... I should probably tell my wife.

[40:58]

You should tell your wife? You know, it could go with you. You could be... Oof. Feelings. Right? In the middle of the Zendo. Yeah. He was wearing an okesa. And then did that beautiful ceremony where we chanted the enme juku kanagyo and saw him off into the van. Van went off to Pacific internment. He's still wearing that okesa. You could do that. Yeah. Or you could leave it to somebody. Maybe someone would like to have it as a memento of your beautiful life.

[41:59]

It's really up to you. Thank you. We have one question online, Greg. So we do. It's Kenpo. Hi, Greg Roshi. Thanks for your talk. Hello. You're welcome. Your story about the person who said that they just wanted one of those bibs. Something that Hozon, I believe, said about Ron Nestor when he came to Berkeley's time. He saw Ron and he said to himself, I want what he's got. Yeah, so I still feel like that, especially around Jutai time when I see the new Ordonese. So thanks for Thanks for sharing your talk. So just understood you.

[43:01]

That's something that Alan said about Ron. I want what he's got. Yeah. It wasn't limited to the Rocky suit, but it was something more about his character. Yeah. Well, that's something they say in the recovery work. You hear a lot in recovery. Someone will say about their. Sponsor. Wow. You choose a sponsor. It's like, I want what he's got. Wow. That's amazing. That's the way I felt about Mel. That's for sure. Yeah. Well, thanks again. Yes, Lori. We often repeat this thing about how they're not commandments. But honestly, I would say they're not commandments. Or, me thinks thou dost protest too much.

[44:07]

Or, they're sort of not that different. I don't think the intention of the Christian commandments necessarily was fundamentally that different from our precepts. I'm sure you're right. The way I understand that is, yeah, I think I said briefly, I'm not thinking about it. Or I want to practice in such a way that I don't have to think about my bones. Yeah. So it's a different way of relating to it. You know, it's not verbal, I guess I could say. They're spelled out in... because, you know, we're the language. And that's very helpful. To me, that's quite helpful that they're spelled out that way. And the way, as I see it, anyway, in my point of view, the way we practice is, yeah, it's not policing.

[45:26]

you know, or even self-censoring. Exactly. At least not on that sort of frontal lobe, neocultural level. It's the whole body thing. That's how I think of it. That's how I relate to it. I'm not expressing myself very well. You're doing great. You're doing great. Okay, thank you for the encouragement. I think that we, having it be like a guilt trip or a shame or, and we, I just quite, I just wonder if the, if in the original Moses putting down the tablets or whatever, I'm not sure they meant for that either. We'll never know. Okay, thank you. Wait for the mic. For the people at home, the people in Zoom.

[46:30]

You mean like this? Okay. Thank you, Greg Roshi. How you talked about the various types of robe as the same robe and painted for us this picture of this endless field, this endless robe. all these interlocking rectangles. And today people receive their rope, but what's interesting is on the back there's an individual of their new Dharma name, which is unique to them. And I wondered if you could talk a little bit about that and also about what it means for a preceptor to choose the name for the ordinary. Well, I will say a little more this afternoon, a bit. But I could say now. Well, to start with, generally, in this tradition, this milieu, I say Suzuki Roshi lineage,

[47:46]

You know, not too long ago, Linda and I went to Chicago for Branch's Dreams Conference. All these, my gosh, there's so many. Around the world, even. Suzuki Roshi lineage. Coming together and sharing. Yeah. I think it's pretty much across the board. We wouldn't give the precepts to someone I met yesterday. Right? There's There's someone you had a relationship with. We used to say to Berkeley Zen Center for a year and you're interested in receiving the precepts, you know, let Mel know. It was pretty basic, you know, but he already had a sense of me before he was thinking about the name. So it's an expression of that. Frequently, we miss the mark. That's true. That's true. Sometimes people don't like their name at all.

[48:47]

That happens. Unusual. But I was just like, what? The teachers make their best effort. Yeah, I can say now. I collaborated with Karen Sondheim because... Marley has been studying the precepts with Karen for over a year. You know, I've barely been here for... I definitely have a wonderful practice relationship with Marley now. And so it was a lot of fun for Karen and I over lunch at Sconehenge to cook up a Dharma name for Marley. I think everybody has their own process, and there's lots of help, resources available.

[49:50]

In my case, if I come up with a name I like, then I vet it with my friend Yuji Ito, who lives in Japan. But he had practiced, he was part of the Soto Zen International at Sakoji, and then he also practiced with us at Tassahara, and really... His English is quite good. And so he can give that perspective of, you know, propose the Dharma name to Yuji. And he said, well, that's pretty good, except unless if they went to Japan, it might sound like you're calling somebody a simpleton. So you want that information, you know. It's very helpful to vet it with a Japanese-speaking person. names what we do in this tradition you know we there and then we do our best to make them in the kanji the characters and there are four characters way name dharma name right and yeah we just do our best

[50:59]

It's Colleen. I just want to share another fun Rock Sue story. Our mutual friend, Danny Parker, in Florida, lives rather close to Cape Canaveral. And he's now a priest, but before when he did his jukeye, his kids thought it was a rocket suit. Of course. Of course. There is also that way of thinking about the road. Well, I truly hope that everyone who receives the precepts today will keep their practice down to earth. This is our way. Stay grounded.

[52:16]

Don't go flying off into the stratosphere. Well, maybe a little bit. It can be pretty joyful. You might go into the stratosphere a little bit. Then come back. Please, come back. Stay grounded. Okay. Feels good. Right? Excellent.

[52:48]

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