Good morning. So, we just got finished with our Bodhisattva ceremony. and where we recited the 10 precepts. And the sixth precept is, I vow not to slander. And then Dogen says, in the Buddha Dharma, go together, appreciate, realize, and actualize together. No fault finding, no haphazard talk, do not corrupt the way. So this sixth precept is actually about fault finding.

[01:05]

Slander is where you say something either true or false about someone, but usually it's in order to hurt them. or to say something inappropriate, even if it's the truth, you know. But usually, the truth is skewed to benefit the slanderer. So, we can... interpret or translate this precept in various ways. Slander is just one way of interpreting the precept, but fault finding is maybe just as appropriate.

[02:14]

To not find fault which is one of the hardest things for us, because every time someone displeases us in some way, we immediately find fault with something. So the precept is saying something like, well, he says, in the Buddha Dharma, go together. Go together means work together, practice together, practice with people you like and practice with people that you don't like, practice with people that bother you, practice with people that you love, actually to be able to practice with everyone. Our goal of practice ultimately should be

[03:17]

and that whoever you meet is someone that you're practicing with, and every situation that we meet is a situation of practice. This is how we extend our practice into our daily life. We often forget this, and then when we meet a situation, we just react. So in order to avoid fault finding, it means don't react, which does not mean don't respond. We respond to every situation. We don't turn away from situations. We don't try to escape from a situation. Whatever confronts us, we respond to, but reacting is different than responding. is to be caught by the problem that's presented to us.

[04:38]

If someone comes at us with anger, then one of the reactions is to come back with anger. a response would be to come back with something else. As Buddha says in the Dhammapada, anger is never quelled or settled by So, pretty hard, you know, to come back to anger with love, but it's possible. And every, most every religion would say to confront anger with love.

[05:46]

They may not all follow that precept, but nevertheless, that's the basis. So then he says, appreciate. How do we appreciate? We appreciate what we like, and we don't appreciate what we don't like. But as a Zen student, you learn to appreciate the good things that happen to you, and you also learn to appreciate the not such good things that happen to you, which is very difficult because we usually fall into one side or the other. So in all of this, you know, precept is difficult because precept says, do this and don't do that.

[06:54]

But in your real life, you find it almost impossible to keep the precepts. Sometimes people say, I really feel hesitant to take the precepts because I know I can't keep them. But we don't take the precepts intending to keep them. We simply take the precepts. And the precept is a tool for our life. Even though we can't keep the precept, the precept is there. And it's our inmost request. It's not something like chains to bind you or to confine you. It's actually, precepts are actually a means to help free you up. Because what we get caught by is our emotions and our limited thinking. So how do we appreciate whatever happens?

[07:58]

The only way we can do that is to let go of our dualistic thinking, which is almost impossible. This is why practice is a series of barriers When we enter practice, we're always confronted with barriers. And if we don't realize that, then we get discouraged and we go somewhere else. Not everyone can practice this practice because it really presents us with lots of barriers. The 10 precepts are 10 barriers. and we have to be able to go through each one. If we only look at the precepts on a dualistic level, we find that we can't keep the precepts.

[09:08]

The only way we can keep the precepts is to let go of our dualistic thinking, our discriminating mind. And sometimes people fault the practice. They say, this practice, there's something wrong with this practice. It doesn't accommodate to me. I'm sorry, but I never really, I never felt myself the fault with the practice. I always felt How can I do this? And so I put the effort on my side. How can I do this? So each one of these precepts is a kind of koan. This is definitely koan practice.

[10:13]

No fault finding is a koan, big koan for all of us. How do I deal with a person who insults me, who doesn't accept me because of my race or because of my background or because they think I'm stupid or whatever? How do I deal with that? Do I run away? Do I keep haranguing them? How do I act? How do I show my big mind? That's the challenge, is how do we produce or show our big mind? How do we manifest big mind in every situation? If we can do that, if we can stay with that practice, make that effort, then we know that we have a practice. And whether people know you or don't know you, they will appreciate you.

[11:18]

but if we're always finding fault, you did this, you did that, you're acting this, blah, blah, blah, putting it onto someone else, even though they are at fault, then we never get anywhere. We simply get tangled up in our own reactions. So then it says, realize, he says, realize and actualize together. realize and actualize together means not to run away. It means to stay there and work things out, find out. Whenever somebody presents their discriminating mind and creates a problem, there's some reason why that happens.

[12:22]

some reason for things. Things don't just happen out of the blue. And to be able to let go of the reaction and to reason out, why is this happening? Why does somebody act this way? What's going on? What's the background that produces this act? If we can do that, then our mind will be reasonable we won't need to react so much, and we can act in a way that's appropriate and actually help that person. Sometimes we think that people are intransigent and will never change, but people do, and they change in ways that, for reasons that we don't suspect. I remember one time when I was a taxi driver and a guy took out a gun and he held it at my head and he said, what would you do if I wanted your money or something like that?

[13:39]

I can't remember exactly what he said, but what would you do if I wanted to hold you up or wanted to shoot you? And I said, well, if you have to, go ahead. If that's what you have to do, go ahead. And then he put the gun away and he said, I'm really ashamed of myself. What could I do? Tell him not to? He wanted me to beg, you know. I'm not saying that I was brave or something like that. I just was addressing his was not opposing him. You know, when a dog sees somebody that's frightened, they run after them. That's why dogs love to chase cats.

[14:43]

They feel the fear and then they feel their power. So people who want to dominate, dominate through fear. If there's no fear, it's hard to dominate. So, if each one of us practices our virtue, then the problems that arise can be easily dealt with. but if we stick to our ... the Sixth Ancestor sense. I read this poem of the Sixth Ancestor a little bit. Hui Nung, Daikon Eno. He says, One who treads the path in earnest

[15:51]

If we find fault with others, we ourselves are also in the wrong. When other people are in the wrong, we should, he said, ignore it, but I don't think we can ignore it. I would say we should look for the cause. For it is wrong for us to find fault. By getting rid of the habit of fault finding, we cut off a source of defilement. when neither hatred nor love disturbs our mind, serenely we sleep. Those who intend to be the teachers of others should themselves be skilled in the various expedients which lead others to enlightenment." So this is a very radical statement. Even if people are in the wrong, we should not get into the habit of fault-finding. So what else can you do? what's the alternative to finding fault?

[17:02]

That's a big question. In the beginning of the poem he says, One who is a master of the teaching and of the mind may be likened unto the sun in empty space, or in the sky, such a person teaches nothing but the Dharma for realizing the essence of mind, which means that one who sincerely practices the Dharma and whose life is devoted to Dharma is like the sun, it's like there's light all around, If your life is devoted to that kind of practice, or this kind of practice, then fault-finding is not part of your repertoire.

[18:18]

one is only constantly emitting love, indiscriminately, in all directions. And that person's object in coming to this world is to make people aware of erroneous ways of acting, And then he says, we can hardly classify this dharma into sudden and gradual, but some will attain enlightenment much quicker than others. For example, the way of realizing the essence of the mind is above the comprehension of the ignorant. We may explain it in 10,000 ways, but all those explanations can be traced back to one principle,

[19:28]

to illuminate the darkness of our mind. We should constantly set up the light of wisdom. Erroneous views keep us in defilement, while right views remove us from it. But when we are in a position to discard both of them, then we are absolutely pure. That purity is called nirvana, or non-duality. We have wrong views and right views. So we say, someone has a wrong view, but I have a right view. This is right and wrong. We have to let go of both wrong views and right views, and see things as they really are. And otherwise we get into the problem of wrong and right. I'm right and you're wrong.

[20:34]

This way people continue to have vendettas, revenge. Vengeance is really what happens, even when we don't recognize it. We retaliate for the slightest and often we don't realize that we're retaliating. And then when we retaliate, then we make someone be defensive, and when we're defensive, we can't accept who you are. When you make me feel defensive, it makes it hard for me to accept who you are, or what you're doing. So, skillful means is to be able to disarm somebody. Have them put down their gun, or put down their whatever it is that they're threatening us with.

[21:50]

We easily feel threatened. And when we keep reacting to anger and atrocious acts, There's no end to it, it just keeps escalating. Then we have national vendettas, nations that can never settle with each other, because of, you did this and you did that. Someone has to get enlightened sooner or later. Bodhi is imminent in our essence of mind. Bodhi means enlightenment. Enlightenment is imminent in our essence of mind. An attempt to look for it elsewhere is erroneous.

[22:53]

Within our impure mind, the pure one is to be found. And once our mind is set right, we are free defilement, evil karma, and expiation in evil realms of existence. If we are treading the path of enlightenment, we need not be worried by stumbling blocks. You know, stumbling blocks in this practice are a means rather than something that stops you. we always will find a stumbling block somewhere, we'll always find a barrier, always find something that's difficult. But to take up the challenge of difficulty or barrier is what practice is. If you can take up the challenge, then your sincerity will carry you, no matter how big the challenge is.

[23:59]

If you really make sincere effort, you will pass through the barriers. We need not be worried by stumbling blocks, provided we keep a constant eye on our own faults. We cannot go astray from the right path. Since every species of life has its own way of salvation, They will not interfere with or be antagonistic to one another. If we leave our own path and seek some other way of salvation, we won't find it. And though we plot on until death overtakes us, we shall only find regret in the end. If you wish to find the true way, right action will lead you to it directly. But if you do not, you will grope in the dark and never find it. One who treads the path in earnest sees not the mistakes of the world. If we find fault with others, we ourselves are also in the wrong.

[25:03]

When other people are in the wrong, we should look for the cause, for it is wrong for us to find fault. By getting rid of the habit of fault-finding, we cut off a source of defilement. When neither hatred nor love disturbs our mind, serenely we sleep. those who intend to be the teachers of others should themselves be skilled in the various expedients which lead others to enlightenment." And he says, neither hatred or love disturb our mind. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't have love, but love should not be the opposite of hate. True love is not the opposite of hate. It has no opposite. It simply is your metta mind. There is the love, which is the opposite of hate, but that's not the love that he's talking about. He's talking about these two, duality of love and hate, but metta is beyond or above, not concerned with love and hate.

[26:12]

only concerned with well-being, for the wish for the welfare of everyone, and it's not personal. So, even someone who acts badly towards you, you can respond with metta, because metta is your way of life. There's no other way to respond if metta is your way of life. So to cultivate, and you know, Suzuki Roshi didn't talk so much about precepts one by one. He recognized the ten precepts and so forth, his understanding was to deepen your practice, to sit zazen a lot and deepen your practice.

[27:25]

And when you come to the bottom of your, or when the bottom of your black lacquer bucket drops out and you find the bottomless existence of yourself, then metta will spring up naturally. and be your way of life. So rather than trying to cultivate, you know, precepts one by one, to find the source of compassion. When you find the source of wisdom, then compassion naturally springs out and expresses itself in all directions as illuminating mind. So he says, when the disciple is free from all doubts, it indicates that her essence of mind has been found.

[28:27]

The Buddha land is in this world within which enlightenment is to be sought. To seek enlightenment by separating from this world, it is as absurd as to search for the horns of a rabbit. Rabbits don't have many horns. Right views are called transcendental. Erroneous views are called worldly. When all views, right or erroneous, are discarded, then the essence of bodhi appears. This stanza is for the sudden school. It is also called the big ship of dharma for sailing across the ocean of existence. Kalpa after kalpa, a person may be under delusion, but once enlightened, it takes only a moment to attain buddhahood. One of the ways of practice is to be able to take in the meanness of the world and transform that meanness and express it as metta.

[30:01]

If that's a practice, then even though you will be confronted with many obstacles, they won't become barriers. This is what all of the Buddhas and ancestors have always done. So to look at our own shortcomings, that's the most important, to work on ourself. And when working on yourself is what will transform those people around you.

[31:17]

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