Practice period, just about, and so it's about this time of year things start coming apart a little bit, as usual. But I don't want to start talking about that now. I just want to mention one thing, which is some misunderstanding about what to study in study period. And the guidelines that we agreed to say that you should study books related to Buddhism. So that means, you know, Buddhist texts and related material, which means maybe current publications, magazines, Turning Wheel, stuff like that.

[01:01]

But then there's the outer edge of what is Buddhist-related material, and that outer edge is up for interpretation. But there's so much Buddhist text to study that it seems like it's not necessary to go to the outer edges. to find something to study since there's so much really good material that is available. So if you have some book that mentions, like there are mystery novels which mention Zen priests and stuff like that. That's a little outside the outer edge, I think. beyond the pale. So there's really a lot of good stuff in the library that has never been read.

[02:10]

You might be the first person to read it. There are really some good books in there that haven't been taken out for years. And they're very interesting. If you want suggestions of what to read, deciding what to study can be very confusing because there's so much. So if you need some guidance or suggestions about what to study, you can come and see me and I can give you some suggestions. I'd be happy to do that. So tonight, we're going to study Chapter 6 in Wang Lu Long, the Ming version.

[03:24]

This also, this chapter also appears in sections in the, no, well yeah, it is in Yampolsky. and it's also in Wing Tset Chan, the Dunhuang version, but it's a little bit expanded in the Ming version. So you can follow it in the Yampol Ski or the Wing Tset Chan. see what the difference is. So this chapter is called Repentance and there are several sections. This seems to be, most scholars seem to feel this section is probably the core of the sutra and started out as an ordination ceremony because it has all the marks of an ordination ceremony.

[04:28]

without the ceremony being prescribed. So nobody knows what the ceremony was like exactly, but all the elements are there. Some scholars think that this was an ordination ceremony performed by the ox head school of Zen. The ox head school of Zen was a school that was It never was a prominent school. It didn't seem to be a prominent school. It was a kind of school way off in the mountains, but around the time of the fourth ancestor. And it gets short shrift in the histories, but the scholars are beginning to uncover more and feel that the ox head school is more prominent than people, than the history books show. And this is, I think, maybe the platform sutra was more a work of the ox head school.

[05:37]

Anyway, I don't want to get into this kind of stuff. But there's a lot of stuff in here to go over. And so I'll just start. Once there was a big gathering of scholars and commoners from Guangzhou, Xuzhou, and other places to wait upon the patriarch to preach to them. Seeing this, he mounted the pulpit and delivered the following address. In Buddhism, we should start from our essence of mind. At all times, let us purify our own mind from one moment to another. Treat the path by our own efforts. Realize our own dharmakaya. Realize the Buddha in our own mind, of our own mind. and deliver ourselves by a personal observance of the shilas, then your visit will not have been in vain. Since all of you have come from afar, the fact that I'm meeting here shows that there is a good affinity between us.

[06:39]

Now let us sit down in the Indian fashion, and I will give you the formless repentance. Indian fashion, I think, means crossing your legs. And shila means precepts. And so what he does is he starts to talk about the three basic aspects of Buddhist practice, shila, samadhi, and prajna. So when they had sat down, the patriarch continued. So the first is the shila incense. So apparently he has five incense sticks, offers five pieces of incense. The first is for shila, which is precepts or behavior, guidance, behavioral guidance.

[07:46]

The first is the Sheila incense, which means that our mind is free from the taints of misdeeds, evil, jealousy, avarice, anger, spoliation, and hatred. Spoliation means something like plunder or robbery or spoiling something. So evil, jealousy, avarice, anger, spoliation, and hatred. And the second incense is the samadhi incense, which means that our mind is unperturbed in all circumstances, favorable or unfavorable. We talked about samadhi last time, imperturbability. And the third is the prajna incense, which means that our mind is free from all impediments. that we constantly introspect our essence of mind with wisdom, and that we refrain from doing all kinds of evil deeds, that although we do all kinds of good acts, yet we do not let our mind become attached to the fruits of such actions, and that we are respectful toward our superiors, considerate to our inferiors, and sympathetic to the destitute and the poor.

[09:10]

And the fourth is the incense of liberation, which means that our mind is in such an absolutely free state that it clings to nothing and concerns itself neither with good or evil. And the fifth is the incense of knowledge obtained on the attainment of liberation. When our mind clings to neither good nor evil, we should take care not to let it dwell upon vacuity or remain in a state of inertia. Rather, should we enlarge our study and broaden our knowledge so that we can know our own mind, understand thoroughly the principles of Buddhism, be congenial to others in our dealings with them, get rid of the idea of self and that of being, and realize that up to the time when we attain Bodhi, the true nature or essence of mind is always immutable. Such then is the incense of knowledge obtained on the attainment of liberation. This five-fold incense fumigates us from within, and we should not look at it from a forehead from within.

[10:26]

I think maybe fragrance, fragrizes, makes us fragrant from within. So I'll just go over those a little bit. There are certain aspects which I think are important. So he talks about shila, samadhi, and prajna, which is the basic Buddhism. This is the three most basic aspects of Buddhism. But he talks about it in a very succinct way. The shila, in a sense, which means that our mind is free from unwholesome dharmas, basically.

[11:37]

Free from unwholesome dharmas. And the examples are evil, jealousy, avarice, anger and so forth. These are all unwholesome dharmas. And the second is the samadhi incense, which means that our mind is unperturbed in all circumstances, favorable or unfavorable, that we don't, even though we know when circumstances are favorable or unfavorable, The essence of mind is not disturbed by circumstances. So when we are always introspecting our essence of mind, as it's put here, and we're standing in the midst of essence of mind, then circumstances do not push us around.

[12:43]

So, for a Zen student, the practice is always to be standing or in the midst of essence of mind, and not to get caught by circumstances, which we always do. But it's very difficult. So Suzuki Roshi said we should always be... Our practice is the practice of being in the midst of big mind, which is the same thing. So in circumstances, although we're all subject to the vagaries of circumstances, we always come up standing on our feet. Like when you throw a cat, the cat always lands on its feet.

[13:56]

Most of the time. And the third is the Prajna, Prajna in a sense, which means that our mind is free from all impediments and that we constantly introspect our essence of mind with wisdom. So constantly introspecting our mind with wisdom is interesting, is one way to put it. Introspection is not, maybe by introspection you could say always returning. to essence of mind. We stray and then we keep returning. And especially in difficult circumstances, if we know how to return to our essence of mind, if we practice it all the time, then when we have difficulty or get into difficult circumstances, our impulse is to return to our essence of mind.

[15:10]

So that an essence of mind is imperturbable. So this is what we do in zazen. Zazen is to resume our essence of mind. Not that it goes away. The essence of mind doesn't come or go. but our mind strays from its essence and gets strung out. So Tassajara practice is very simple. When we have difficulty, you know, when feelings, emotions, all kinds of dharmas come up, And we think, well, how shall I handle this?

[16:16]

We should come back to our essence of mind, just like in zazen. So we're practicing zazen all the time. We should be practicing zazen all the time. And sometimes we have a kind of free and easy attitude, which is okay, but we shouldn't forget that that's what we're doing. So our daily activity is just like in Zazen. Our mind is always straying someplace, and we keep bringing it back. We keep constantly bringing our attention back to Zazen. Whether we're working in the kitchen, or digging a ditch in the garden. Whatever we're doing, we're continually bringing our attention back to it.

[17:24]

And this is not straying from essence of mind. We do stray, but we come back. So a thousand times a day, we come back to bring our attention back. And that's our practice. When big difficulty arises, you automatically come back to big mind. And although you may be perturbed, you're not thrown by things. So he says, the third is the prajna incense, which means that our mind is free from all impediments. and that we constantly introspect our essence of mind with wisdom, that we refrain from doing all kinds of evil deeds, and that although we do all kinds of good acts, yet we do not let our mind become attached to the fruits." This is a really important aspect, that we may do good things, but without expectation.

[18:32]

If you do something good, you just do something good, that's all. It's beyond praise and blame. And even though something may grow out of that, you're not attached to the fruit. You just do it for its own sake. This is how we practice. So, This way, we don't have to be worried about despair. You may think that doing something good is useless because nothing will come of it. If you're attached to the fruits, you'll fall into despair because you think, well, nothing will come of this, so why do it?

[19:40]

But if you're not attached to the fruit, you just do something without thinking about whether something will come of it or not. You just do something that has to be done. It's like working for peace. If you're working for peace and expect that your work will bear fruit, then you'll be very disappointed. you jump in the river or, you know, say life is not worth it because you're attached to the fruits. But if you just work for peace, because peace is what you work for, then you can be very happy. No problem. So, if you work for peace, it may bear some fruit. But whether it bears fruit or not, it doesn't matter. So if you do something for your friend, it may or may not help, but you just do it.

[20:53]

It may bear fruit, it may not, but you just do it. So he says, do not let our mind become attached to the fruit of such actions and Be respectful toward superiors. What is a superior? Superior is someone who maybe knows more than we do or is venerable, maybe old. And considerate to our inferiors and sympathetic to the destitute and poor. That's very nice. And the fourth is the incense of liberation, which means that our mind is in such an absolutely free state that it clings to nothing. In the midst of things, it clings to nothing and concerns itself neither with good or evil.

[21:59]

It doesn't mean that our mind doesn't see good or evil, but it doesn't break down good or evil in a dualistic sense. This is a very tricky place to say that it concerns itself with neither good nor evil. Because someone may do all kinds of bad things and say, you know, an enlightened person that concerns themselves with either good or evil, so I can do anything I want. Many people get caught by this kind of statement. So we have to be careful.

[23:01]

It doesn't mean that there is no good or evil, or that you can do whatever you want, but A person who is completely in touch with essence of mind should be always doing the right thing. But it's very tricky. So it's a very, very tricky place. And we should be careful about that kind of statement.

[24:01]

So, not clinging to good or evil doesn't mean that you don't pay attention to good or evil. Okay? There is evil in the world, and there is good in the world. But good and evil are just two sides of one thing. two sides of one coin. So one should be attached to good or evil. But we should recognize what is good and what is evil. And sometimes what is evil will at another time be good. And sometimes what is good at another time will be evil. So good and evil are not necessarily fixed. morality changes. And if we cling to certain mores and ethics and don't allow for change, then we get stuck in views of good and evil.

[25:14]

And you can see it happening all around. with various issues. So it's important to see everything as it is. So not being concerned with good or evil or attached to good or evil means to see everything as it is. and not be attached to views. You were going to say something, Wendy? No, I just thought... Part of what I feel about this is that part of what I'm clinging to is actually to not exclude yourself from doing your thing. And I think that there's a feeling or a tendency to try to only include yourself in the good,

[26:21]

and try to exclude the evil, and then you get stuck in a sort of judgment of everything that comes up. But if you don't exclude what you think is evil, then you're not, you know, dividing yourself from the fact of what you're saying that could be changing. And that if you're... Another thing is that it seems to me that if you don't as he said, cling to things being either good or evil, you can see things as they are. And if you're constantly making a judgment, trying to decide whether something is good or evil, or good or evil every moment, you don't see anything. You only see things according to your conception? Right. I wonder if you could say something about this, it seemed to me, or it's been my experience, especially during seishin, to seek, to experience mind caught up in a judgment of like and dislike, and I'm not particularly good or evil, but it seems like pretty much the same thing, and then in a kind of split-second shift, to have all of that drop away, so much so, and so dramatically, that it seems like some kind of

[27:50]

shift of physical, chemical state, where that kind of dualistic judging occurs and then no longer occurs. And yet, this seems inconsistent with what you often say, and what texts often say about a special state of mind. And I wonder how this relates to... Well, that's just another state of mind. The awareness of chemical changes? Well, I mean, there's a kind of rapidity of the shift. It doesn't seem like a conceptual shift. It seems like the whole being shifts where at one point it's caught up in thinking, oh, I can't stand this, or I like this, and then all of a sudden it's like there are no more sides,

[28:53]

That's seeing things as they are? Yeah, that's more seeing things as they are. That allows you to see things as they are, when they're no longer making judgments. And yet it seems, the question I have is, that seems to be something special or something, or some kind of special state. Well, it's non-dual, but it's not special. It's just your non-dual mind. It's undivided mind. which is the natural order of mind, undivided. But it's not a special state. It's the norm. That's what Buddha calls the norm. It feels pretty special.

[30:02]

It's like your old home, you know. It seems very special when you come home after you've been there away for 35 years. Maybe you can correct what I'm trying to understand here. I'm not sure if I'm understanding it. It seems to me, for me, I understand Shiva or something, I think I understand Shiva. And then Samadhi, I seem to have an intuition, a bodily kind of intuition, yes, imperturbability, that means something to me. And then Prajna, seems to me that Prajna is something, paradoxically, in a way you could say we do it, even though we don't do it, but maybe. but it's something that you can make a conscious effort to do, you can choose to return to the mind, which is actually samadhi being produced by an action of prajna that you do.

[31:04]

Well, prajna is the result of... I mean, samadhi is the... Samadhi and prajna go together, like a lamp and its light. Remember that? No, a lamp and its light? Yeah, the lamp. Samadhi is... Samadhi is the lamp and prajna is the light. So samadhi is settledness. And the brilliance of that settledness is prajna.

[32:13]

In other words, prajna works. It becomes obvious when the mind is calm. So that's why it's called imperturbability. That's samadhi. Well, you know, dhyana is imperturbability. He says here samadhi is imperturbability. But either one. Samadhi is actually calmness. and connectedness, oneness, one-with. Samadhi is actually one-with, non-separation. I have intuition as a state. Yeah, and intuition is prajna. Intuition means directly knowing. So it's not my

[33:21]

my wisdom, it's wisdom, which is the universe's wisdom. The wisdom of Buddha nature, actually. There's two aspects to prajna. Prajna is sometimes prana. which means intelligence or knowledge. It's an aspect of prajna. But the other aspect of prajna is Buddha nature's wisdom, which includes thinking, but is independent of thinking. And it's intuition. what we call intuition. That makes me happy.

[34:24]

I can understand. If I think of it as intuition of this calmness, that makes me happy. Well, intuition is... Prajna is intuition. Calmness is calmness. But calmness includes intuition. Intuition of something. Well, it's knowing. Knowledge which is beyond thinking mind. Independent of thinking mind. So, I think later on we can talk about that when we talk about alaya vijnana and the various states of consciousness connected with the three bodies of Buddha and the four wisdoms. They think prajna, if you see it, it doesn't come to a conclusion that the skandhas are empty.

[35:36]

Perceive and see. Perceive that they're empty? Yes, I'm saying that when you're talking about the equation, it's knowing directly. Knowing directly that the five skandhas are empty. Yeah. Perceiving. Yeah. So, yeah, prajna is to perceive that the five skandhas are empty. Right? Yeah. Just the perceiving that the focus can be. That's the one thing. Bare perception? You mean? No, the term, when I was studying Hara Sutra, they were talking about that when you see directly, you perceive, your intellectual mind is active, but you don't conclude out of that. You don't conclude? No, you directly experience existence as it is. Yes, you don't make a concept. Part of it, yes. Right. So, but then I'm sort of turning off the deliberation. Deliberation? Yeah, I'm sort of like, not available to it in a certain sense.

[36:38]

It's like, it seems to me that it's also describing the same thing as imperturbability. Well, they're all connected. They all, you know, there are various ways of talking about something. There are various aspects of something, and there are ways of talking about something, so they usually lap over one end of the other, and you can talk about one, and it seems like you're talking about the other. So, the fifth is the instance of knowledge obtained on the attainment of liberation. So, this is when one has attained liberation, The mind clings to neither good nor evil, and we should take care not to let it dwell upon vacuity or remain in a state of inertia. So this is, in other words, we should step off the 100-foot pole, is what he's saying.

[37:42]

When we have some realization, the mind is still, you know, and people cling to this stillness, feeling that, or what he calls state of acuity, no thought, and feel that this is enlightenment. So people get stuck here. Hakuin talks about this, talks about this is the dark cave of people who get stuck in enlightenment. in the vacuity of enlightenment. So when one realizes this great stillness, then you have to step off into activity again. So then he says, rather than

[38:48]

dwelling in vacuity or remaining in a state of inertia, rather should we enlarge our study and broaden our knowledge. So after we sit tazen, we come into the dining room and start studying. So that we can know our own mind, understand thoroughly the principles of Buddhism and be congenial to others in our dealings with them. get rid of the idea of self and that of being and realize that up to the time when we attain bodhi, the true nature or essence of mind is always immutable. Such then is the incense of knowledge obtained on the attainment of liberation. This five-fold incense fumigates us from within and we should not look for it from without." Okay, so then the next part he says, now I will give you the formless repentance which will expiate our sins committed in our present, past, and future lives, and purify our karma of thought, word, and deed."

[39:53]

So that's, you know, we say, all my ancient twisted karma, from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born from body, speech, and mind, I now fully evolve. That's what he just said, sort of. He included the what? The future, yeah. That's right. Yeah. Learned audience, please follow me and repeat together what I say. And then, may we disciples, so and so, be always free from the taints of ignorance and delusion. We repent of all our sins and evil deeds committed under delusion or in ignorance. May they be expiated at once and may they never arise again. May we be always free from the taints of arrogance and dishonesty, and we repent of all our arrogant behavior and dishonest dealings in the past. May they be expiated at once, and may they never arise again.

[40:55]

May we be always free from the taints of envy and jealousy. We repent of all our sins and evil deeds committed in an envious or jealous spirit, and may they be expiated at once, and may they never arise again." Now, you notice that he doesn't pick out particular things for individuals. And in the old Buddhist, well, the monks, Buddhist monks who take the 250 precepts practice the Pratimoksha repentance ceremonies. Every other month they have a ceremony where one of the monks reads or recites all the 250 precepts, and when one of the monks, when they come to a precept that one of the monks has transgressed, he says, he's supposed to raise his hand. He says, I do. I did.

[41:57]

And then he explains what he did, and then the elders decide what the consequences will be. It really makes me want to consent. It really does, but they're very honest, supposed to be very honest. And there are five things, five transgressions which automatically constitute expulsion from the sangha. One of them is having any kind of sexual relations. And then there are the sets of major precepts and minor precepts and there are various categories. But in this ceremony of repentance

[43:11]

recognizes these various stereotypes as belonging to everyone. So everyone recites the same transgressions. You know, when we do our Bodhisattva ceremony, Riyaku Phusats, Fusat is repentance, and Ryotku is short, abbreviated. So it's an abbreviated ceremony. And we don't, you know, confess our sins, right? But we accept all of the transgressions as our own. So, this ceremony that we do is considered non-dualistic. and that we don't set up some good things we do against some bad things.

[44:19]

We don't pick out the bad things and separate them from the good things. We just recite, or we just say all of our ancient twisted karma, which includes everything that all of us have done. It's not just my own, but we acknowledge all of the transgressions and twisted karma of all of us as being our own. So in this way, it's not picking and choosing, or, you know, this guy did this and that guy did that, she did this, and I'm okay. compare ourselves in that way. Whatever one person does is something that we all do, or something that we all somehow share with.

[45:31]

So if you do something, make some transcription in the Sangha, all of us share in that. Sometimes in Japan, Japanese monastery... Did I say this before? That when one monk does something, the teacher will come sometimes and hit the monk sitting next to him. What did he look for? What did he look for? Murder. Anybody. Oh no, murder is not considered, killing an animal is not considered murder. Murder is only people.

[46:33]

So murder and theft and lying and lying in a sense of declaring your attainment false attainment. Okay. So learn in audience, this is what we call formless chen phu, repentance. What is the meaning of chen and phu? And the Sanskrit word is samayati. Chen refers to the repentance of past sins.

[47:37]

to repent of all our past sins and evil deeds committed under delusion, ignorance, arrogance, dishonesty, jealousy, or envy, et cetera. So as to put an end to them all is called chen. And fu refers to that part of repentance concerning our future conduct. Having realized the nature of our transgression, we make a vow that hereafter we will put an end to all kinds of evil committed under delusion, ignorance, arrogance, dishonesty, jealousy, or envy, and that we shall never sin again. And this is fu. So one is to acknowledge and the other is to turn. Repent means return. Return to your direction or reconnect with the path. So in Buddhism, repentance means

[48:41]

to acknowledge and then to re-enter or re-turn around. So in our ceremony, we acknowledge all our ancient twisted karma. That's the acknowledgement. And then we re- renew our intention. That's what the ceremony is. renewing our intention. First of all, we acknowledge our ancient twisted karma, and then we renew our intention to continue to practice. So it's very much like this. On account of ignorance and delusion, common people do not realize that in repentance they have not only to feel sorry for their past sins, but also to refrain from sinning in the future. Since they take no heed of their future conduct, they commit new sins before the past is expiated, how can we call this repentance?

[49:46]

So it's necessary to make the effort to not do it again, even though you do it again. So this looks tough. And sometimes people keep doing the same thing over and over again. And then they get discouraged. and think, well, I've done this two or three times already, you know, and I just can't help doing this, and I just keep doing it, and so maybe I better quit, which is a big mistake. You may have to do the same thing over and repent, so to speak, over and over, maybe a thousand times, And then one day you realize you haven't been doing it for a while. You haven't been doing that for a long time.

[50:48]

You forgot all about it. So sometimes just doing something over and over and over may seem endless, but at some point there's an end to it. And if one doesn't become discouraged, things will change. It's like the fact that you have that much perseverance has an effect. The fact that a person has that much perseverance and just keep doing it over and over, knocking your head against the wall over and over, will finally make a hole in the wall. Or in your head.

[51:52]

So then he says, learned audience, having repented of our sins, I kind of translated sins as transgressions, crossing a line. We will take the following four all-embracing vows. And so the four vows are... The four vows. We vow to deliver an infinite number of sentient beings of our own mind. Now the vows here are a little bit different than we usually hear them. Because it says, we vow to deliver an infinite number of sentient beings of our own mind. So, of our own mind is very different. is then what usually is said. We just said, I vow to save all sentient beings, right? We vow to get rid of the innumerable defilements in our own mind. We vow to learn the countless systems in dharma of our essence of mind. And we vow to attain the supreme Buddhahood of our essence of mind.

[53:00]

You know, the four vows are response to the Four Noble Truths. Do you know that? No? The First Noble Truth is life is suffering, sort of, more or less. So the response, the Bodhisattva response to life is suffering is that we vow to deliver an infinite number of sentient beings of our own mind from suffering. And then the second one is suffering, cause of suffering is desire. We like to say delusion because we don't like to say desire. But desire is actually what it says.

[54:03]

And so the response to that is we vow to get rid of the innumerable defilements or delusions or desires of our own mind. And the third one is, there is a way for deliverance. And so the response to that is, we vow to learn the countless systems of dharma in dharma of our essence of mind. And the fourth one is, there is a path and we vow to attain the supreme Buddhahood of our essence and mind." So the four vows, each one is a response to one of the Four Noble Truths. And then he says, he explains what he means by all this, or he explains the meaning of it.

[55:08]

We vow to deliver an infinite number of sentient beings, but what does that mean? Here's your answer, folks. People say, what does that mean? I can't do that. Well, what does it mean? It does not mean that I, Wei Lang, that's his name in this book, am going to deliver them. It doesn't mean I am personally going to deliver all these people. And who are all these sentient beings within our own mind? They are the delusive mind, the deceitful mind, the evil mind, and such like minds. All these are sentient beings. Each of us has to deliver ourselves by means of our own essence of mind. Then the deliverance is genuine." So he's saying, saving all sentient beings means saving all the sentient beings of my own mind. The delusive mind and so forth.

[56:11]

the avaricious mind, the jealous mind, the mind of unwholesome karma, unwholesome dharmas. This is saving, and all these are beings, all these are sentient beings, all these dharmas are sentient beings in my own mind. Now what does it mean to deliver oneself by one's own essence of mind? It means the deliverance of the ignorant, the delusive, and the vexatious beings within our mind by means of right views. With the aid of right views and prajna wisdom, the barriers raised by these ignorant and delusive beings may be broken down so that each of us is in a position to deliver ourselves by our own efforts. Let the fallacious be delivered by rightness, the deluded by enlightenment, the ignorant by wisdom, and a malevolent by benevolence. Such is genuine deliverance." So that's the first one.

[57:13]

That's how he explains the first one. So it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and save all the people in the world. Although, you know, if you think about it, how are you going to save all the people in the world? From what? It's a monumental task just to save yourself. You know, old physician, heal thyself. Right? So, yes. Right. Right. But this is the first step, right?

[58:20]

This is, you know, this is realistic first step. That, you know, as we're speaking, Thousands of sentient beings are falling off the face of the earth. How are we going to save those ones? Let's just think of a good way to look at it. Mind movies? Mind moves. Yeah. Well, you see, when we save one sentient being, all sentient beings are saved.

[59:21]

Yeah. Yeah, of course. But meaning what? Yeah. Well, yes. If one person is completely saved, that means that that one person's mind is all minds. Do you think it's too easy to say, just realizing that all sorts of beings are inherently saved? Inherently saved, yes.

[60:38]

When we realize that, yes, when you have realization, you realize that all beings are saved. That doesn't mean they don't suffer. So, yes. Well, what does saved mean really? means not creating, no longer creating suffering for ourself or others. In other words... It's not the same as realization and enlightenment. That is, yeah, realization and enlightenment. It's not creating, not being in the cycle of the creation of suffering. for ourself or others.

[61:42]

Salvation, if you read the text, says no longer being reborn into the world. That's the logical outcome of Buddhism. There's no more rebirth. So, the cycle of rebirth is the cycle of ignorance, caused by ignorance, and karma, which is continually rebirthing itself. That's Buddhism. The cycle of karma is continually rebirthing and freedom is to be outside of the cycle, no longer in a cycle of rebirth. Why is that?

[62:46]

I don't understand. That seems to be setting up this goal, this thing that we should try to attain rather than seeing the perfection that's inherent right here, right now. Setting up a goal? Well, you said, yeah, you said the logical outcome of Buddhism is to get out of it, but there's no way to do it. Yeah, it doesn't say that here. I'm not reading that. Right, but I don't understand, I don't understand why. Isn't that saying that there's a goal, that there's something to be attained? Yeah, there is. There is something to be attained? Yeah. Other than this, Very present moment? The attainment of this moment. In other words, you know, the attainment, it doesn't mean attain something that you don't have. Okay? It means attain yourself, myself.

[63:47]

So, but, you can say, not being subject to rebirth in the cycle of suffering for ourself or for others. So in other words, it's not necessarily whether we're reborn into the world after dying, but we're not creating cycles of suffering right here. in our life, for ourself or for others. Okay? So that can be construed various ways, right? And people believe in reincarnation, construe it as, you know, finally there's no more birth in the world. And if you don't construe it as reincarnation,

[64:54]

you can see it as not perpetuating the cycle of suffering. So, to step out of the cycle of continually creating karma that creates suffering for yourself and others. And that's saving sentient beings. So that's what he's saying, saying save the sentient beings of your own mind so that you're no longer creating karma that's detrimental, that causes suffering for yourself or others. That's freedom. So I'll just read that passage.

[66:00]

Now, what does it mean to deliver oneself by one's own essence of mind? It means the deliverance of the ignorant, the delusive, and the vexatious beings within our mind by means of right views. With the aid of right views and prajna wisdom, the barriers raised by these ignorant and delusive beings within our own mind may be broken down so that each of us is in a position to deliver ourself by our own efforts. We can only save ourself And actually, but we have big influence on others. When we find our own salvation, then we have big influence on others. So although he states it this way, it's still a big koan. Saving all beings is a big koan. And this is, not being attached to the fruit of your good acts, right?

[67:01]

So, if you set out to save all sentient beings, it's like trying to catch the tail of a comet. Suzuki Roshi says, if you try to catch the tail of a comet, people will pity you. So, you deal with what's close at hand and you continue the vow. You just take this impossible vow. It's an impossible vow. But you don't worry about the fruits. You just live by the vow without worrying about the fruit of your actions, whether it will actually mean anything or not. whether it will actually come to fruition. It's not your business. And then he talks about the second one.

[68:09]

As to the vow, we vow to get rid of the innumerable evil passions in the mind. This is the second vow, which refers to the second noble truth, getting rid of the evil passions within our mind. It refers to the substitution of our unreliable and elusive thinking faculty by the prajna wisdom of our essence of mind. In other words, we trade in our elusive thinking faculty for prajna. We trust prajna, actually, which is pretty good. It actually means to have faith in our true nature. And the less we have faith in our true nature, the more clever we have to be. And the less we have... I mean, the more faith we have in our true nature, the less clever we have to be. And then the third, as to the vow, we vow to learn countless systems of dharmas

[69:20]

That's a response to the third noble truth. It may be remarked that there will be no true learning until we have seen face-to-face our essence of mind, and until we conform to the orthodox dharma on all occasions. The Chinese are always talking about the orthodox dharma. Can I back you up? You can back me up. OK. Please. Thank you. Right views is the first of the eightfold path. First or second of the eightfold path. It means to see things as they are. And fourth, as to the vow, we vow to attain supreme Buddhahood. I wish to point out that when we are able to bend our mind to follow the true and orthodox dharma on all occasions, and when prajna always arises in our mind so that we can hold aloof from enlightenment as well as from ignorance, and do away with truth as well as with falsehood, then we may consider ourselves as having realized the Buddha nature, or in other words, as having attained Buddhahood.

[70:46]

So that's pretty interesting, to remain aloof from enlightenment as well as ignorance. Because enlightenment and ignorance, or delusion, are just a duality. So, beyond enlightenment, we call it the Prajnaparamita Sutra, Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Sutra. Beyond means beyond the duality of wisdom and ignorance. to do with truth as well as with falsehood. I remember in the precepts that Bhagavarishi devised, he said, not to be attached to anything, even the truth. That's what he used to say. Don't be attached to anything, even the truth, which is good.

[71:48]

It means don't be attached to some idea of the truth. But this is the same as good and evil, right? The same as any duality, even as high as it may seem. So I think we should be ready. to give up our idea of truth for the truth. We should be able to give up our idea of enlightenment for enlightenment. So the interesting thing here is that he's taking the four vows and using them as a way to practice.

[73:02]

Which is pretty good, actually. Saying, if you practice, here's how you practice the four vows. And there's actually a way to do these things. Or at least there's an attitude So then he says, learned audience, we should always bear in mind that we are treading the path, for thereby strength will be added to our vows. Now, since all of us have taken these four all-embracing vows, let me teach you the formless threefold guidance. I don't want to take out the threefold guidance tonight. Maybe I will.

[74:10]

This is a very important point. We should always bear in mind that we're treading the path. That's the most important point. We should always know that whatever we're doing and whatever happens, that we're always practicing. And as long as it's within the realm of practice, we always have a way to go. There's always a way within practice. So, no matter how far out we may get or discouraged or confused, as long as we always bear in mind that we're treading the path, we will have strength in our determination.

[75:16]

So then he says, let me teach you the formless threefold guidance. We take enlightenment as our guide because it is the culmination of both punya, which is merit, and prajna, wisdom. We take orthodoxy as our guide because it is the best way to get rid of desire, And we take purity as our guide because it is the noblest quality of mankind. You know, purity means non-duality. Hereafter, let the enlightened one be our teacher. That means Buddha. And on no account should we accept Mara, the personification of evil, or any heretic as our guide. This we should testify to ourselves by constantly appealing to the three gems of our essence of mind. in which, learned audience, I advise you to take refuge. They are Buddha, which stands for enlightenment, Dharma, which stands for orthodoxy, and Sangha, the order, which stands for purity."

[76:24]

So he's taking enlightenment, orthodoxy, and purity, and equating them with the three gems, which is Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That's pretty interesting. to let our mind, and he says the three gems of our essence of mind, so Buddha, Dharma, Sangha is Buddha, Dharma, Sangha of our own mind. This is Buddha, this is Dharma, and this is Sangha. And at the same time, this is Buddha, this is Dharma, and this is Sangha. To let our mind take refuge in enlightenment so that evil and delusive notions do not arise, desire decreases, discontent is unknown, and lust and greed no longer bind. Right?

[77:28]

This is the culmination of punya and prajna. To let our mind take refuge in orthodoxy so that we are always free from wrong views, For without wrong views, there would be no egotism, arrogance, or craving. This is the best way to get rid of desire. And to let our mind take refuge in purity so that no matter in what circumstances it may be, it will not be contaminated by wearisome sense objects, craving, and desire. This is the noblest quality of mankind. To practice the threefold guidance in the way above mentioned means to take refuge in oneself, that is, in one's own essence of mind. Ignorant persons take the threefold guidance day and night, but do not understand it. If they say they take refuge in Buddha, they do not know where he is. Yet, if they cannot see Buddha, how can they take refuge in Buddha? Does not such an assertion amount to a lie? Learned audience, each of you should consider and examine this point for yourself.

[78:35]

I just saved a ladybug. That's pretty good. Each of you should consider and examine this point for yourself and let not your energy be misapplied. The sutra distinctly says that we should take refuge in the Buddha within ourselves. It does not suggest that we should take refuge in other Buddhas. Moreover, if we do not take refuge in the Buddha within ourselves, there is no other place for us to retreat. Having cleared up this point, that each of us take refuge in the three gems within our mind. Within we should control our mind, without we should be respectful towards others, and this is the way to take refuge within ourselves. Yeah, so... Within, to control our mind, means to really pay attention to our own practice. And without, we should be respectful toward others.

[79:48]

In other words, compassionate toward others, and respectful, and not think, I have a very strict practice, and these guys are all moving off. Or, I have a very austere practice, And these guys are just fooling around here. Something like that. So, if we have very strict practice, we should be very careful not to show it off. But to be very discreet. and help others to feel that whatever they're doing, they're practicing. So we should be strict with ourselves, but not going around shaking our finger at other people.

[80:55]

If we want others to have a good, strict practice, then our influence will help them do that. But if we go around setting ourselves up as different, people will not be influenced by us. So, that's as much as I'm going to do. That takes care of that part.

[81:33]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ