This morning, aside from our usual company of guests, which is all of us, we have some special guests from Korea. These are a group of nuns from the International School of Buddhist Studies who are on a study trip. They're being led by Professor Siyamanguang, who's And we've had a chance to visit with them earlier in the week, Sojin and myself and them. And they're bright, really interested in Buddhism. And they probably have the most practical outfits in this world. So welcome. And feel free to mix and talk with them after lecture. Thank you for the introduction.

[01:05]

Also, these nuns are not novices. They've been practicing for 10, 20, many years. And their institution is fairly new. It's a graduate, like a graduate college. So they're taking graduate work. practicing for so many years, which is a wonderful inspiration for all of us. We should all continue practicing as novices after we've been practicing for 20, 30 years. So we had a nice meeting with him the other day, and the subject of precepts came up. So, I thought that it would be appropriate for me to give a little talk on precepts.

[02:07]

How we approach our precepts and what the meaning of our precepts is. You know, in the olden days, when Buddha, Shakyamuni was practicing, the monks more or less practiced with the teacher. And after the teacher passes away, then the practice changes, the leadership changes, and there's a need for more rules and regulations, which help the Sangha to maintain its viability. So rules and regulations have always been a big part of Buddhism. But the transformation of rules and regulations has always been a big part of Buddhism.

[03:15]

In the beginning, after they had the first conference, shortly after Shakyamuni died, passed away, the monks had a big meeting to decide how they would continue. And so Ananda asked Shakyamuni Buddha, is it necessary to maintain all the minor precepts as well as the major ones? And Shakyamuni said, no. But Ananda forgot to ask him which was which. So Mahakasyapa, who was kind of a little bit tight, he said, then we'll just practice them all the same. So there are 250 precepts per month, 300 for nuns.

[04:19]

So, that Vinaya has always been present in Buddhism. When Buddhism came to Japan, Saicho, who was the founder of the Tendai school in Japan, kind of changed the regulations to 16 precepts for everyone. They nominally did the Vinaya precepts, but nobody followed them. So we have our 16 precepts from Saicho time, and Dogon also adopted those 16 precepts. The three refuges are the first three, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. The second pyramid, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. do no evil, do what is good, and work for the benefit of all beings.

[05:34]

Devote your life to the benefit of all beings. Then there are the ten so-called prohibitory precepts. Don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. There also is a development called don't do this, but do this. That's the way we see our own presets. So those are 16 major presets, which anybody who's been practicing over a while knows. So today, well, let me just say, so the presets the 250 and 300 precepts were divided into major precepts and minor precepts. So the major precepts are Harajika precepts, which are, if you commit any of these, you're kicked out.

[06:41]

You can never return to the Sangha again. They include killing your mother or father or Buddha and claiming to have a certain powers that you don't have. And there's one more which I can't remember. And then there's a whole hierarchy of precepts, kind of major, minor-major, and minor-minor, until you get down to local precepts. In India, Indians have always eaten with their hand, with their fingers. So some of the precepts are, don't mush the rice ball into your mouth, and have a big mouthful of rice. A lot of them are just about how you eat rice. So these are local precepts for a certain place at a certain time.

[07:47]

that are transformative, that are adaptable, are the minor precepts. The major precepts, everyone respects those. They're kind of immovable. But the minor precepts are adaptable. And there are 48 minor precepts of the Mahayana in China, the Brahmachala Sutra. delineates those 48 minor precepts. But Suzuki Roshi said, you know, we should develop our own minor precepts for this place at this time with these people. So I've been doing that. When I see things So I made a long list of minor precepts that are relevant, that actually should be major precepts, but the reason why they're minor is because they're adapted, but still, they're perennial.

[09:18]

I see them as perennial. So what is precepts? Precepts is called renunciation, actually. When we take precepts, it's called renunciation. So what is renunciation? That's the big question. Does it mean that I have to take all my worldly goods and throw them into the ocean? The ocean would say, hey, don't throw them into me. Renunciation means giving up. It also means letting go. Just letting go is renunciation. But letting go of what? Letting go of self-centeredness. Letting go of ego. That's renunciation. So this first one is practice letting go of control.

[10:33]

So control is a way of... we want to order the world according to our idea. Order the world in a certain way and make sure that everything goes in the right way. So that's control. So control is a kind of bargain. In order to control, we have to let go. So who's doing the controlling? When we just let go and give ourselves over to Buddha, Buddha controls everything. You know, Master Rinzai is reported to have said, I control the whole world.

[11:35]

Somebody said, well, how do you control the whole world? He said, everything is going just exactly the way I want it to. That's a little exaggeration, but the meaning is deep. The meaning is very deep. not always, but make everything calm down so that we'd be okay. But it doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. We can't control all of our surroundings, as you see in this world today, especially. We put out a fire over here, but it's only smoldering and it comes up again. So, when we let go and turn ourselves over to Buddha, Buddha informs

[12:43]

Buddha takes control. So renunciation means to step off of being self-centered to being Buddha-centered. Buddha isn't centered when you start to practice. This is what practice is. It means that I step off of my self-centeredness and allow myself to be Buddha-centered. That's renunciation. that everything works, strangely enough, but it doesn't necessarily work according to the way I think it should. So then there's the practice of letting go of ownership. This is what you do when you become a monk, you let go, you don't own anything. But still we have responsibility for things. When we own something, that which we own, owns us.

[13:51]

If I have a house, the house owns me as well. So whatever I engage with is a dual ownership. It's an ownership from both sides. There was this controversy in Berkeley not long ago, or in the Bay Area, in San Francisco, about who owns the dog. You know, dog ownership. My dog, you know. And there was some people who said, I don't own this dog. I take care of this dog. I'm the steward of this dog, which is actually true. It's not ownership. But for convenience's sake, we say ownership. It solves some problems. But it's not so, because although if I own the dog, the dog owns me, for sure.

[15:00]

So whatever we engage with is a reciprocal ownership. So we have to be careful what we own and what we don't own. They're not my glasses, but I appreciate you letting me have them because I need them. And Eikin Roshi would say, although I don't own this typewriter, I really need it. And so thank you for letting me have this, even though I don't own it. So we have to be careful about what we use and what we own and how we think about it. in order to have our freedom. So how we allow ourselves to have freedom from rather than being chained to ownership.

[16:06]

So then I'm thinking of the practice of excuses. There are reasons and there are excuses. There's a reason for doing something. And sometimes we do something, but it's wrong. And we make an excuse. We excuse ourself. So I would say, don't keep apologizing for something that you do over and over again. Oh, I'm sorry I'm late again. Oh, I'm sorry I'm late again. Oh, I'm sorry, I did this again. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. Oh, I'm sorry. A message to Dogen says, when you fall down to the ground, you use the ground to help you back up. That's a wonderful concept. It's great. You use the same ground to help you stand up as when you stumbled.

[17:13]

But if you think, You can't simply use something over and over again. Sometimes someone will say to me, oh, I did that again. Excuse me. And I say, I won't. I don't excuse you in order to catch them up. Of course, I will always excuse you, but not always. What is there to defend, basically?

[18:17]

We build walls around ourselves, and the more concrete our walls become, the more defensive we become, the more separate we are. So, in order to allow ourselves to not be separate. We have to let go of our defensiveness, which is really hard because that makes us vulnerable. Vulnerability, you know, is probably the most difficult because we all walk around with our self-protection and how to be actually Let things enter us and we enter things. I think this is probably as important an understanding as we can have, is how we enter into and let things enter into us.

[19:37]

So that there's really nothing to defend. That's total renunciation. Renunciation is letting go of defensiveness. To allow to face whatever is in front of us without fear. You know, it's like we may have some feeling of attainment, but as soon as we have a feeling of attainment, we should let go of the attainment. Let go of grasping the attainment. We should acknowledge the attainment. Yes, I understand this. Oh, that's wonderful. And then become a beginner again.

[20:40]

So we're always letting go. And starting over and over in a fresh way, moment by moment, is what keeps our innocent nature intact. Innocent meaning not defiled. Not defiled means pure. And pure means non-discriminating. So then there's the practice of not having to be first, but you can also be last, or even better, just be in the middle.

[21:45]

But then we say, OK, I won't be number one. I'll be the last one. That's also kind of egotistical. But how to just be maybe the third one or the fifth and allow yourself to have that renunciation. Strangely enough, when you allow yourself to simply be moved, you are the boss, as my old teacher would say. So, then there's the practice of letting go of the need to dominate a situation, to be right, to control something, control the situation, and to be able to let go of that need, and to simply allow yourself to be moved.

[22:56]

In other words, what is your place in a situation? When we assert ourselves too much, we're out of place. And when we don't assert ourselves at all, we're out of place. So how do you find just the right place in a situation, given every situation is continually changing? As my old teacher would say, everything is falling out of balance constantly, and regaining its balance constantly. So, out of balance, regain. Out of balance, regain. So, to be flexible enough to allow yourself to move and be moved. And this is what humility is. Humility means to know exactly your right place. To be, without being too much or too little, just right. So, then there's the practice of sitting back and letting others take the lead.

[24:03]

That's sometimes very difficult. Where are they taking me? Where are we going? But I'm losing my control when I let somebody else take the lead. Sometimes. So, if you have a problem with that, then letting go is renunciation. you let go, and how you let Buddha take the lead. Then there's the practice of letting go of resentments. Resentment is an unwholesome dharma. We do have resentments. It's natural and normal to have resentments. It's natural and normal to have jealousy and envy. All these things are quite natural, and to have anger come up.

[25:05]

But there is a way to deal with these strong emotions. And the way to deal with these strong emotions is to let go. Letting go means to come back to Buddha. to come back to the center of your life, center of your body, center of your mind, is Buddha. The three precepts, you know, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. I take refuge in Buddha, take refuge in Dharma, take refuge in Sangha. This is renunciation. And that's what you're doing all the time. It's not that you do that once when you have ordination. Moment by moment, you're returning to your true self. And when you're returning to your true self, that's control.

[26:08]

You're letting go of self-control and giving control over to your Buddha nature. And then that's returning to calm mind, over and over. If you practice returning to calm mind over and over, you can do it. If you don't do that, and then somebody asks, how should I return to calm mind? They can't do it, because they're not practicing it all the time. How can I stop being angry? They want instant control. We have to practice all the time, moment by moment. And to be aware when strong emotions arise and not use them to fuel a dominant position. So sometimes, you know, people will be having a disagreement and someone will be using their strong emotion to dominate the disagreement.

[27:23]

And some will come to me and say, that person scares me. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to deal with that. So there is a way to deal with it. But if it frightens you, you can't deal with it. So we should be careful about how we use our power of emotion to force a situation. So in a way it's bullying. So then there's the practice of not letting your mind get ahead of your body. You know, we're always thinking. And we think that the body is a vehicle for the mind.

[28:26]

We're just carrying the mind around in our body. And so we put the mind king up on a pedestal, and the body is just a servant of the mind. But actually, mind and body are not two things, and they work together. So when the body is working in harmony with the mind, then your body, your emotions, your feelings and your breath are all working in harmony with your mind, with the thinking mind that is, then there's no getting ahead or falling behind. There are so many examples.

[29:26]

When you're walking out the door, and your mind is thinking that you have to get someplace, you have to do something, and you see somebody, and you open the door, and you're out the door, and your hand is behind you to close the door, but there's no real effort, no concentration on the moment of what you're doing. It's all in the head. The head is leading, so the body is trailing behind. So to actually be aware of how your body and your mind and emotions and feelings are all working together on each moment in harmony, things get done. So that's called being flexible.

[30:40]

So you should have a flexible mind all the time. This is a precept. This is a minor precept. It's a major minor precept. Flexibility is the key to everything. It really is the key to everything. To be flexible. Have a flexible body and a flexible mind. And they go together. And so when we feel ourselves being rigid, you know, when we feel our breath appear in our chest, we know that there's something wrong, something out of harmony. Because the breath should be down here, in the hara, all the time. And then once here, there's some anxiety, or there's some fear, or something like that.

[31:45]

Otherwise, why is your breath up? Why is it going all the way down? There's some blocking, some blockage. So this is where the breath should be all the time. And that makes us feel grounded. If our breath is not here all the time, we're not grounded. So that's a key to practice. Where is my breath? right now. And you should check it and work with the breath, with your activity. So it's not just body-mind, it's body-mind and breath working in harmony. So then there's the wonderful precept of taking correction without excuses or back That's really hard. Because as soon as you say something to somebody, it's not quite right.

[32:48]

You know, let's do it this way. Backbiting and resentment just comes up. Why are you telling me this? So we feel hurt. When somebody corrects us, we feel hurt. That's just normal. So to step back and swallow. and let go of that. It's really important. So you can't teach people, you can't teach someone, you know, if you ever have been teaching, I teach people to ring the bells and do the service and so forth, any correction, although it's, oh yes, I see, oh thank you, uh-huh, but still there's some resentment that's there because you're telling yourself Either I know it or I don't know it, but I don't feel good about not knowing or about doing it not right.

[33:51]

And so how to teach people in a way that doesn't bring this up is really important. So it's really good for the teacher to learn how to correction? Well, that means somebody's incorrect. It's difficult. Anyway, it's one of the most difficult things. And then, don't use excuses like, I'm not good at that, or this is just the way I am. In Zen practice, I'm not good at that. I'm not good at that is just what's needed. Because we always give you something that you're not good at to do. If you don't like cleaning the toilet, that's your job.

[34:55]

If you don't like washing the dishes, that's your job. So be careful about what you like and don't like, or what you let on that you like. Don't throw me into the briars, right? So, then there's the practice of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is the need to always feel you're right. And you know that you're totally inflexible about it, even when you're wrong. Don't strut around like the cock of the lock, like you're a very important person. I am this important person.

[35:55]

It's the same as don't show off. Don't show off. Everybody has something wonderful, but as soon as you show it off, it's terrible. And then it's, don't talk about someone without their knowledge. Don't talk about people behind your back, which is really hard to do, because as soon as you know something, you talk about it behind someone's back. It's the most common thing that exists, except for As soon as you know something about somebody, you talk about it to somebody else. It's just life. But be careful. You should really be careful about that one.

[36:59]

And the other one is, don't assume that one party is right until you hear the other side of the argument. And then the other person comes and talks to you and tells you about that one. Oh my God, that one's really awful. They're both awful. So when you listen to one side, one person is so convincing, you know, that then you get this terrible picture of the other person. So I never base my judgment, if you want to call it that, on what one person says about another. You should never do that. Because that's what creates terrible dissension.

[38:07]

Always hit both sides before you make any judgment at all about anybody. Like, not to refrain from gossip. Just talking about people, you know, for the fun of it. I always make it a point to not listen... I make it a point to not overhear conversations. And people are having conversations around me, you know. I just make a point not to listen. It's just automatic. What are they saying? I just don't. So I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's the way I do it. And so I can keep my mind

[39:11]

So anyway, these are some of the minor presets. Of course, they're just normal. Everybody knows about these, right? But to actually think of them in terms of renunciation and presets is, I think, important. I also have some others, but that's enough. And I wonder if you have anything to say. You might have your own minor precepts or major precepts. And I think that's wonderful. And if you do, you should let me know what they are so that we can make this collection and discuss. Maybe some of them are not worthwhile, but I'll bet they all are. So if you have time for one, I have time for one. your emotional power to dominate a situation.

[40:33]

I was thinking about how we all have various sources of power, whether they position their emotional intensity or whatever, or our self-regard. I want to talk about the flip side of this, which is not giving in to ... not using power over And not using power under, not giving in in order to get what you want. Well, there's a book by Terry Dobson, and he named it, Giving In to Get Your Way. And he was a Aikido, he worked with the Aikido master in Japan, and he was a very wonderful guy. kind of tough guy with a red roaster. Anyway, he used to come and give us demonstrations and stuff.

[41:38]

But that was interesting, you know, because in a way that's what that martial art is, is to let the opponent flip themselves. So, you know, Reacting just creates more dissension. So how do you diffuse an argument so that either nobody wins or everybody wins or the right person should win, but that should be understood by everybody. So that, oh yeah, I see that you're right and you let go. But there's no formula, you know, and everything has a flip side. So there's right and there's wrong and there's Buddha.

[42:44]

That's precepts. Precepts is right and there's wrong and then there's Buddha, which is neither right or wrong.

[42:56]

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