In the morning, after zazen, we've been thinking about discussing, we haven't quite got to it yet, but discussing how bodhisattva practices in the six realms. I don't know if you're familiar with the way the Tibetan Buddhists depict the Wheel of Life, but most of us, I think, are familiar with that diagram where there's a wheel held by Yama and In the center are a chicken, a pig, and a snake, which depict greed, hate, and delusion.

[01:06]

Greed, ill will, and delusion. And in this next ring are the six realms, or six worlds of sometimes called transmigration, I think transmigration is not properly a Buddhist term. More like transformation or becoming. Continual transformation or continual becoming rather than transmigration. Transmigration is a kind of Hindu term that was adapted by Buddhists, but it's strictly speaking not a Buddhist term. And then around the outer part of the circle are the twelve links of causation, which I don't want to go into right now.

[02:14]

But what I want to talk about are the six realms. The six realms are the heavenly realm, these are realms which we can all relate to, even though they're quite ancient, it's a kind of model of our world and worldly states. So one is the heavenly realm, and then there's the realm of the fighting demons, Asuras and then there's the realm of the animals and there's the realm of human beings and the realm of hungry ghosts and the hell realm So these are six realms and if you look at the wheel sometimes within each realm there's a circle with a Bodhisattva standing in that realm and the Bodhisattva represents our higher aspiration or our true nature which is

[03:45]

appearing in each one of these realms. So that even if we appear in the hell realm, there's Bodhisattva practicing within that realm. So the implication is that within each world, or within each realm, there's a way to practice, a way to be, a way to realize our true nature and to help beings. And these six realms are realms which are subject to karmic consequences.

[04:54]

Karma and its consequences. Karma, of course, is action. Volitional action. And the implication here is that through our actions we create our world or create our realms. We can, through our actions, we can create a realm of heavenly delights or a realm of hell or a realm of we can become a hungry ghost through greed and we can become an animal, resume just to our animal nature by forgetting our human nature and so forth. So through our actions, our volition, which is karma, we reap the fruit of these actions and find ourselves in these various realms and we progress from one realm to another and in one day or in one moment we can move from one realm to another depending on our attitude and our state of mind.

[06:16]

There are many more realms. I'm sure that we can think of many more realms. But we use these six as a kind of model. And I think these six probably include most of the things that you can think of. But the Bodhisattva doesn't live by karmic action. The difference is that the bodhisattva who appears in each one of these worlds lives through intention or sometimes called vow. So although each one of us is subject to transformation within these six realms, we also have the opportunity to have some freedom from these six realms and to help people through our intention and our vow, or our bodhisattva mind and action.

[07:36]

So the bodhisattva, or the person, acts as a Bodhisattva in these six realms, when moving through these six realms. And that's the Bodhisattva's work, or life, or intention, or vow, or purpose for being. So the difference between living through karma and living through vow is not that a bodhisattva doesn't have karma but within any particular state of mind or realm the bodhisattva has intention and lives according to

[08:43]

the vow or intention rather than just living for himself or herself in an acquisitive way. Bodhisattva doesn't have gives up the usual kinds of worldly practices in order to practice through that vow. Which doesn't mean that the Bodhisattva doesn't do ordinary things. So within the hell realm, a Bodhisattva will practice like ordinary humans in hell, but through the vows of a bodhisattva rather than through the delusions of someone who has usually landed in hell.

[10:01]

So we say that hell is just another place to practice. Difficult, though. Not easy, but Wherever we are, there's a place to practice and a way to practice. A way to fulfill that intention or that vow, which is Bodhisattva's main purpose in life. Although we say six worlds, or six realms, there are actually ten realms. And the ten realms are the first six that I just mentioned. Heavenly realms, human realm, fighting demon realm, hungry ghost realm,

[11:12]

Did I say animal realm? And the hell realm. Hungry ghosts, animals, hell realm. And then there are four more, which are not karmic realms, but are Buddha realms, which first is the realm of Buddha, and the realm of a Bodhisattva, the realm of a Pratyekabuddha, and the realm of a Sravaka. Bodhisattva is someone who is aspiring to bring forth their Buddha nature, their nature as Buddha. And Pratyekabuddha is a kind of an ancient term, an old term which was used for those beings who were actually enlightened as to their Buddha nature, but had no way or aspiration to help others.

[12:36]

And their practice was, or their understanding was acknowledged, but they had no way of practicing, no way of, no aspiration to help others. So they were considered a little less than Bodhisattvas or Buddhas. That's why Pracheka Buddha comes actually after Bodhisattva. And Shravakas were people who listened to Buddha, listened to Buddha's sermons. And there's a wide range of Shravakas, but Shravaka is someone who really is interested in hearing the Dharma, but may not have the opportunity to practice, or the desire, or aspiration. May or may not. who's very curious and very interested and also maybe faithful.

[13:43]

So these are the four types of being who have aspiration and either are free from the six worlds or know how to operate or have an intention to free themselves and others from being caught or captivated by the six worlds. Bodhisattva and Pracheka Buddha have a little competition not competition, but contrast. Whereas the Parcheka Buddha has enlightenment, there's no aspiration to help beings. And the Bodhisattva has great aspiration to help himself or herself to find liberation, but also

[15:01]

The vow is, or intention is to help others. To, we say, save or awaken with all other beings before becoming a Buddha. So Bodhisattva is one with great aspiration. And so we really honor Bodhisattva because we're all Bodhisattvas, potentially Bodhisattvas. And how a Bodhisattva enters six worlds, a Bodhisattva is not afraid to enter the six worlds. Prachekabuddha maybe is removed you might find a Pracheka Buddha sitting alone on a mountaintop.

[16:05]

But Bodhisattva enters right into the six realms and finds his or her practice right within the six realms. So one easy way of thinking or remembering this six realms and how to be Buddha or Bodhisattva within the six realms. When we put our palms together in gassho, we bring all ten realms together. This is a very important practice for us. Putting our palms together is the same as sitting in zazen. and you can say that this the thumb on your right hand is Buddha and the first finger is Bodhisattva and the middle finger is Pratyekabuddha and the fourth finger is Sravaka, listener and the fifth one is a Deva or being who

[17:27]

lives in the heavenly realms. Heavenly realms are not the highest realm in Buddhism. Buddhism acknowledges all the heavens of antiquity and of the old ancient world. And devas are kind of like beings that appear and disappear. We may not have so much... we may not necessarily believe in such beings, but we use them as a kind of metaphor. So, whether you believe that there are devas or not, these are the so-called beings that inhabit various heavenly realms.

[18:31]

But of course, heaven, heavenly realms are what we're always aspiring to. In normal life, people want some kind of wonderful happiness. And you can call the various happinesses that we aspire to as heavenly realms. And then on the other hand, This thumb is a human being, and this first finger is fighting demons, and animal world, hungry ghosts, and hell. So this little finger on the right hand is the sixth realm added to these five. You have to put it here because we only have ten fingers.

[19:35]

It comes out even. So when you put your faint palms together, the two thumbs, human being and Buddha, come together. Frightening Demons and Bodhisattva comes together. And Pracheka Buddha and Animal World comes together. And Shravaka and Hungry Ghost comes together. And Deva and Hell come together. So, when we put our palms together, all beings and all worlds come together right here. And this is a simple way to bring all worlds together, all realms together in ourself.

[20:40]

And it's symbolic of how we practice, or how we ourselves as bodhisattvas, moment by moment, day by day, live in this world of which we belong and yet are not attached. We can talk indefinitely on how we practice as human beings in the six worlds without attachment and yet with complete involvement and how we help beings in this at the same time. How do we help ourselves and how do we help beings? Hungry ghosts, you know, are depicted as beings who

[21:57]

are continually hungry, continually needy, and within the midst of plenty, their throats are so small that even no matter how much they stuff into their mouth, it can't get down the throat. So, there's always the feeling of being unsatisfied. And I'm sure we all know Someone like that. In the heavenly realms, people feel so good and feel so superficially satisfied that they don't think of the dharma. It doesn't occur to them that there's a problem. And this is the heavenly realms, although they seem desirable, are actually a big trap.

[23:11]

Money, dope, religious intoxication worldly satisfactions that are euphoric and set up a kind of craving in us. And we feel that when we're in those realms and being satisfied by them, we feel that very secure. But heavenly realm has its limit and then we go into some other realms

[24:28]

So when the karma of, when the fruit or karmic fruit of our actions is no longer ripe, then we go into some other realm. So there's no permanence. And Bodhisattva, this effort of the Bodhisattva is how to practice, how to live our life in this insecure world where even heavenly realms are in the end not satisfying. So the human realm of the six is our normal life, life of a normal person.

[25:54]

But what is normal is maybe different for everyone. We may all have a different idea of what is normal. What is the norm? Buddha always said, what my teaching is, is how to find the norm. Always to find the norm. Not some heavenly realm, or not some hell realm, but a correct way for human beings. without attachment and without aversion. Without pushing away everything undesirable and without attaching to what's too desirable. So usually we're trying to climb out of hell. When it gets too hot, we want to climb out.

[26:56]

But even if we try to climb out, It just gets hotter. You notice that when we try to climb out, it usually gets hotter. So, the only way to get out is maybe knowing how to be there. So it all comes down to how to really practice. Not how to get out of something, how to practice right where you are, how to be right where you are within, in a true way. And then in time, through the virtue of our practice, we move into another realm.

[27:59]

But if we try to escape, we can't do it. No matter how much we try to escape from our realm, we can't escape. But if we know how to be right where we are, in its due time, we'll move, or be moved. This is a secret of our practice. Not a secret, but an open secret of practice. How to just be where we are. When we try to escape, it just makes life more painful. You may even get to the other side of the world, into a heavenly realm, but it won't last because we have, karma doesn't go away.

[29:07]

The fruits of our actions don't go away, no matter how far we go. So we have to resolve our problem right where we are. This is called bodhisattva practice. And if we know how to do that, if we know how to practice, we can accept the painfulness of our situation. And we can see reality with our two eyes. And then we can have some real freedom in this world. But if we try to escape, we just get stuck deeper. So, you know, when we put our hands together in gassho, this is our complete mind, whole, complete mind.

[30:27]

And all these worlds are an expression of whole mind. And without ignoring any of these realms without trying to create them and without running away from them. Right in the midst of wherever we are is where we establish our practice. So in that sense we say there are no obstacles. There's always something. And whatever we meet with, whatever our position in this world, that's our place to practice. And the question is, how?

[31:30]

So how is a big koan. Standing our ground. How can I? Do you have any questions? If you have a question, please. I was just thinking, as you're talking about this, that there's these ten rounds, or six rounds, and when you're talking about it, it sounds like, you know, we're going to stop by getting any one of these rounds. Well, you know, it's like what a person thinketh, so they are, right?

[32:42]

So when we're fighting, when our mind is consumed with anger and ill will, then that's what we are. At that moment we are an asura or fighting demon to one extent or another. Maybe a little one or maybe a big one. But you can no longer say at that point that you're bodhisattva. But when you reflect on your mind at that moment, or your actions, then at that point you're Bodhisattva. So, it's like one moment you may be enlightened, the next moment you may be within complete delusion. But the fact that you know the difference is enlightenment.

[33:49]

And the bringing yourself back to your practice is, or the bringing yourself back to Bodhisattva mind is the practice, is your practice. Just the act of coming back. And it's just exactly like sitting in zazen. Even though you have this intention to sit with good concentration, your mind is always running off into various realms. And then you remember and bring that member back. Bring that member of your mind back. And that's the practice, is the recollection, or the coming back. So whatever realm we're in, we're easily turned by it.

[34:54]

But then we know, oh yeah, there's a way. It's my practice to act in a certain way. And so you have a way to go. They all exist at once potentially, but when one is there, that covers the whole world. Yes? Yes, how can a shravaka be faithful without practice? Well, a shravaka, listening is a kind of practice. You know, listening and thinking about the dharma is a kind of practice. That's an area of practice. Sometimes we say, you know, Because of... we feel that putting your whole body and mind into one thing completely is practice.

[36:03]

And that just listening to Dharma is not, you know, practice. But actually it is practice. And if you read texts, Zen texts, it says, stop, you know, listening to this and stop reading that and just sit zazen but actually we appreciate the person who's just reading or just listening and we appreciate that person's buddha nature even though they may never get to the cushion or may never get to what we call practice. There are people actually who think about it a lot, and that's their practice. In the same way, a scholar has a practice. So, maybe someone who doesn't know that they're practicing has a practice.

[37:15]

So without judging, you know, it's hard to judge. And on some level, we make judgments. But on a bigger level, there's no way to judge who's doing what. So I remember when I was a taxi driver a long time ago in San Francisco. I learned to appreciate a lot of different kinds of people who ordinarily I wouldn't have thought so highly of. Our practice actually is to see and recognize the Buddha nature in everyone.

[38:28]

That's the bottom line. And that's what putting your palms together means. Okay. Vow, intention and desire. We say desire is undesirable. But we don't, you know, sometimes we say try to get rid of desire and blah blah. But actually turning desire, you can't get rid of desire because desire, without desire there's no motivation. But motivation can go in various ways. depending on what we desire. So our desire can, desire is very pure and wonderful and it easily gets turned by unwholesome activities and wants things that it shouldn't have, that we shouldn't have.

[39:53]

In the texts, it says, you should get rid of desire. But actually, it means turn desire, so it's directed in a way that's beneficial. So, turn desire so that it becomes a vow. The energy from the desire is channeled through the power of the vow. But I like the word intention, because it's not so strong as vow. Vow is pretty strong. Intention means just turning, you know. If we talk too much about vow, then vow gets to be really, we can get all tangled up in vow. And then if we don't fulfill our vow, we feel very guilty. And so you have these extremes of vow and failure, success and failure.

[41:07]

And of course there is success and failure, but practice includes failure. And if you're only thinking about vow, you get this aspiration mind, in which failure, you feel, you think that failure is wrong. So, you may have to be very careful when we talk about vow. So I talk about intentions, which just means how you direct your mind, how you direct your way, how to go. And it includes great aspiration, and it includes failure. So, failure within intention is still included. No matter how deep the hole is or how far you fall, there's still a way to come back up.

[42:17]

It's still included within that wide Failure is just another place to practice. In other words, we can't get out of it. If we have good intention, right intention, then wherever we are, there's a place to land. Like a cat, you know, you throw the cat and it almost always lands on its feet. I'm going to stop now. Thank you very much.

[43:05]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ