The Three Pure Precepts

From the March 2025 7-Day Sesshin at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center

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Morning. This session, tomorrow we'll have the the Dukay ceremony for for Chris and Dylan. I'm relieved they're both still here because I prepared, you know, so did some preparations this morning for for that. I mentioned at the very beginning, just uh for myself, just uh something of a focus on the on the precepts uh this week. But maybe I'll begin with the famous formula formula for something of the process of practice by by Dogen Zenji. Uh tomorrow in the Dukai ceremony, and I have part of it here, the precepts. Dogen wrote the Kyo Ju Kaimon. Uh his teachings and presentation of the precepts of forms the bulk of the ceremony tomorrow. Um Dogen Zenji is, of course, celebrated uh for many for many teachings, for many writings, an extraordinary person, a true uh Renaissance man, uh extraordinary insight, uh, but also joined with the ability to express and to write in both prose and poetry. Um, you know, we we see how his teachings have lasted these these many, many centuries and come down to us today. Uh in one place he says in Genjo Koan, to study the way is to study the self. We could say that's all of practice. To study the way is to study the self. But he goes further, to study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened or illuminated by myriad things, ten thousand things. Body and mind, as well as the body and mind of others, drops away. And this no trace or traceless trace continues always, forever. In that process of practice, it begins with to study the way is to study the self. That's the effort that we're all involved in. In Session and outside of Session, but Session is a time for focus, for single-pointed application, concentration, to study, to study self, this self-nature, this great mystery that we've all been involved in for however many years. All of the time since we first uh opened our eyes or since we became uh aware of the world and our place in the world as the world, then we've been very involved in this self-nature. Study the way is to study the self. When we approach from our foundational practice, the heart of our practice, the practice of Zarzen, and we're involved in the active study of the self, and we use a a different lens than the one commonly used in our everyday life. It's very important to use everything in our life as a means for awakening. Curious word, awakening. You know, to be real, to be awake and aware, engaged, now. You could say awakening. Dogen in his teachings on the on the precepts uh says that the the practice of the precepts is synonymous with awakening. It's not that we awaken or become more realized, and then decide, you know what, I think I'll do the precepts and start living these precepts. Sometimes, in an effort to gain greater realization, wisdom, and insight, we can uh ignore conduct and uh behavior. But that is a path that always is a descending path into harm and uh and chaos. And uh, you know, recent, middle, and ancient history is plenty of examples who who kindly warn us not to take that route. You know, in Zazen, we study the self, the active engagement in this uh in this life, in this appearance, in whatever word that we we put in there. You know, often, of course, where we might be more focused on the inwardly unfolding narrative of me and how I fit into the world. And that that always takes place to some degree. But we make effort in Sachin, we make effort in Zha Zhen to disrupt the tendency to play or toy with our identity and our relationship to people and things, and rather directly experience whatever is fuss inwardly and what appears outwardly, or that may be a provisional position, whatever's happening inwardly and outwardly, and at some point to experience that while having dissolved or let go of the preference system around the content. The art of Zarzen. Difficult, difficult. Nobody, I don't think, arrives at Shikantaza of just sitting practice. Aha. You know, Shikantaza, got it. So to study the way is to study the self, to study all of this, this great self that extends in in all directions. And in that effort to of practice, we learn or realize the forgetting of self. The forgetting of self. Which sounds like we've made progress. We study the self and now we can forget the self. It speaks much more to a uh letting go or a seeing through of the uh the division between the self and the world, and self and other. Now, in the precepts, we have sixteen precepts who we'll talk about in brief tomorrow, and for the purposes of talking in a Dharma talk, really can't do it justice to talk about sixteen precepts. Um but fortunately we have the three pure precepts, which is perhaps something more uh appropriate to to a talk, to talk on these three. Three pure precepts are do not commit evil, sometimes written as cease from evil or do not commit evil. The second, do good, and then the third, do good for others. Very seem very simple and straightforward on the face of it. These three pure precepts uh originate early in the in the Mahayana tradition, in the Avatam Saka Sutra and some other places, and they're particularly quite prominent in Zen Buddhism. You know, the focus of the precepts varies between schools of Buddhism and lineages of Buddhism. But we uh we cherish for three pure precepts in uh in the Zen tradition. Uh perhaps it you know it's useful that they're they're pithy and quite short. You know, in Zen. We value clean, precise expression, getting to the right to the point of things, not too much extra, not too much um extra words or stuff that's not not needed. But let's let's get to the heart of the matter and get to the core. The three pure precepts begin with uh cease from evil. Evil's uh a powerful word. If we look, you know, we look into the the definition of that word. Often in in Zen or in Dharma I find that if you look up the etymology of a word, then often the the second definition is the most fitting. And the second definition is um uh evil is harm, creating harm. So so in our first pure precept, we uh cease being harmful. We have the Buddhist word, not just Buddhist, it's in also Jainism and Hinduism at least, ahimsa. Do the least harm possible. You know, that's a wonderful, that's a wonderful and sober uh assessment of a human life. Do the it's like you are gonna do harm. So try and do the least possible. I always used to I used to think many years, you know, I just want to um do good, maybe I can like 51% can be good, and it'll outweigh the bad that's like 49%. If I could just, you know, it's like trying to trade the stock market. If you win 51% of the time, that's that that's your edge. So in this great, like kind of karmic life, let me just try and do 51% good, you know. And then uh a close friend uh made the point to me that that's probably overly optimistic. I was just like, really? You know, can we can we, you know, maybe maybe doing the least harm possible might be might be more reasonable. You know, I I sort of make light of it there. But uh what is it to not commit evil? Uh Dogin Zenji says it is the dwelling place of all of the Buddhas, Dharma and precepts. It is the very source of all of the Buddha's Dharma and precepts. It is the heart of this precept of do not commit evil or cease from evil. That is the dwelling place of all of the Buddha, Buddhas, Dharma and Precepts. Who does not wish to hang out in the same space as all of the Buddha's Dharma and precepts? That's the practice of Sethin right there. The source from which everything comes out. All of the teachings emnate, this very world emnates this source. What is this source? You know, far beyond sitting and toying with the circumstances or temporary conditions of our life, can we rather sit and align ourselves with this source from which all of the Buddha's Dharma and precepts emerge? The source, do not commit harm. What is involved in committing harm? Well, we have many examples, just open, you know, check your screen notifications. Harm pouring in examples from all over the world all of the time. In our own life and in the life of everyone else, we see this uh we see this uh crack in the mirror, we see this flaw in life that harm emerges from. But to commit harm, there needs to be two things in the world. There needs to be self and other, the world divided. That really strikes in all of the great traditions, religious and spiritual traditions of the world. At the heart lies this basic split in the human condition where we create other, another person on the outside. And of course, you know, I sit here and it sounds preposterous because there you are over there, and I'm over here. And self and other are clearly divided. But self and other are clearly divided in the relative discriminatory way in which we navigate and perceive reality. But is it fundamentally so? We can make a good scientific proof for the fact that all beings, all things reduced to their, you know, uh beyond the microscopic. We get down of a quantum level where atoms are 99.9% empty space. That's all of us and everything. 99%, 99.9% empty space. We can look at it intellectually in that way, but at the root, self and other are undivided. But that doesn't sustain and that doesn't nourish. To realize self and other are undivided, to genuinely realize and embody and to see that the world and all things are one in their fundamental nature, that is Dharma practice, that is enlightenment and awakening. And that does not need to lie somewhere in the future or in some more beneficial circumstances. It is the way things are, always have been, always were now. And it's either realized or it's not. That's like the cold hard truth of Zen. That it's realized or not. But there's no barrier. You know, and in our practice, we we see that. We have that experience, even the you know, could be the worst Dharma practitioner in the world. You can't help but be a little bit enlightened. But not enlightened to be, you know, to uh escape the world or to escape this nature. But when we really look, again in talking about Zazen in the study of the self, if we can truly align as the world, if we can allow the internal and external appearance of the world to be voss, without clinging, without attachment and aversion to the content, then Dogen says you're like a tiger gaining the mountains, or a dragon entering the water, you find your home. We realize this original nature. Begins here with these precepts: do not commit refrain from harm. Perhaps that sounds esoteric so far. But when you bring it into our everyday life, this is the world that we live in, the way that we live and connect and interact with one another. Countless practice opportunities to avoid creating harm. Desist from harmful action. This is the heart of the precepts, synonymous with awakening. How can you hurt someone when that someone is not separate from ourselves? But we do as human beings. We cling, we're self-centered, we feel separate. But the opportunity in the practice of Dharma is to go well beyond our simple human craving. In exploring and studying our human nature, we can realize and embody our Buddha nature. Do not commit evil, you know, stop doing harmful shit. Good start. Practice good. The second one, do good. Do good. So interestingly, the first one is refrain from. That's often a beginning place. So it's a beginning, always the beginning and the ending place for us as practitioners. You can see the negative action of an imprecise action of the inappropriate action, usually in advance. Zarzen is awareness, awareness, awareness, awareness, attention, attention, attention. When we realize and live from this open and still point, then one can see. You see your own mind, your own pattern, your own the way that we react to people and phenomena. And perhaps for the first time now we have found space, agency, and choice in how to respond to people and things. You know, we open that possibility ever wider. So we can sit at the source, be still in oneself, refrain from negative action. But this isn't a place where we just you know hang out in. Now comes the action, do good or practice good, practice non-harmful action, practice helpfulness, practice kindness. At the root is always this awakening. As simple and straightforward and as beautifully difficult as can one be present and aware now, without being consumed and overwhelmed by one's self-centered narrative that causes the split. It's not that that disappears, but is there agency, space, and choice around with this one, hand in hand? Human nature, Buddha nature. There lies the capacity then for do good. But not to do good from some um, well, we could adopt a moral code or you know, a code of ethics, and these things are important, and life has these, you know, people have um kindly and carefully prepared ways, and we can plug into those. That's for precepts, too. Those of us who've taken Du Chai, you know, or those who are about to take Ju Chai, we are taking on and sustaining and maintaining the precepts. That's how they live. And it involves voluntary restriction, it involves going beyond self-centered craving, and it involves a step forward with a heartfelt wish to sustain and encourage the collective good for everybody. So heart of the Mahayana tradition is that contract that says, you know, I want everybody to prosper ultimately. Everybody's included. That's the bodhisattva vow. No one left out, everyone gets a cushion. Everyone's included. But test that against your own criteria for how you live in the world. There's some people left out in the cold. Yeah, or is there a path to redemption for everyone? A very short path. A dot. And this practice good, you know, we have these ways to uh that we can lean on, or use as guidelines. But the heart of our awareness practice and our zen is to respond naturally to the causes and conditions that are in appearance now. You know, when the plate breaks on the floor, you get the dustpan. When the sink is full of dishes and there's no one else to do the dishes, you take care of the dishes. When somebody Is in need of a kind word. Offer a kind word. When this one here is in need of a kind word, offer a kind word. But always this, you know, this this response of good fortunately does not rely on human-formulated criteria. But rather, if we truly align as the present appearance of the world, then that appropriate response can move through us. You really wake up and the world puts you to work for good. That's wonderful. That's something that can be trusted in. Be present and aware. And you look around you, you know. Sometimes you wonder, you might wonder for purpose. You know, I can sit at home, you know, which I've been doing a fair amount of lately. I just look around in like 30 square 50 square feet, and there's purpose of plenty. There's stuff that needs to do in everywhere, taking care of people and things. You know, as this self, again, to study this self, not restricted to just the fingers and toes, but this self that appears as this local but ultimately limitless environment where we hang out, where we live, where we engage. Moving from self-centered or restricted focus to engaged, outward, inquiring focus. The same criteria for Zarzen as it is for everyday practice, which is just a limitless expression of Zarzen. You know, we prize Zarzen because it's like we're all dumb as rocks. And, you know, you have to sit a lot. Or I do. You know, you just have to give some time to Zarzen. If you wish to be a Buddha or practice Buddhism, then yeah, you gotta sit. That's what Buddhas do. Steal another Dogan quote. Why do Buddhas sit if they're enlightened? Because that's the activity of Buddhas. That's what Buddhas do. We spend time in stillness, silence, just thisness. So you keep the doors open, you keep the landscape broad, and you don't forget awakening. It's so easy to regress or fall back into the story of me and the story of the world. That will happen always as you inhabit a human body. So it's no matter of getting away from that one or jumping on the lifeboat and leaving the self behind. But what is the nature of this self? And who's running the show here? Is it you and your desires and your misguided conditioning or me and my misguided, I should say me. You know, that one is um difficult to trust. So we practice good, don't wait. Don't wait. But watch for that self and other divided, and the world, the splits that the world is that people are always presenting. You know, where everybody thinks they're on the right side. I'm on the side of good. They're not. That's what they think. Right? And then our third one uh do good for others. So quite curious. So you know, it's do good. Cease from evil, do good, but they're now do good for others. So for practicing good, Dogin Zenti says, the Dharma of Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. This is peerless enlightenment, cross into the other shore. The dharma of Anuuttara Samyak Sambodi, the very way of practice and being practiced. It's a very important line. The way of practice. Like this is, I mean, many of you faced this all week, you know. Like, work practice is a wonderful teacher at Yokoji. It's like, what now? I thought, we came to retreat and they've got me chopping bushes down, or whatever it is, you know, or you're tromping through snow. It's like the way you practice, it requires a kind of like a trust and a leaping off and a stepping into this is what is required now. I can run it through the kind of like what I'd prefer or what I think should be done, or I can simply engage with the present need and inhabit the role in which I find myself. Right? Zen is that. It's like being the ultimate method actor of your own life. It's like I did not audition for this role. I would have preferred the other part the other guy got. Turns out, oh god, I'm the drunk who dies in the second act. We don't make it exactly. Who knows? But this is the role of the lifetime that we're all involved in. Being who you are, but not just like a static, just be who you are. You know, sometimes that gets misused in our practices. Like, just be completely who you are. It's important to hear that, it's important to know that, to realise that. But be who you are and then improve. You know, but not improve in an effort to be like, you know, the Ubermensch. Improve in along the lines of reduce suffering, promote benefit. Express and foster compassion and love, refrain from hate and division. That's that's the improvement, the practice, the action. But fortunately, to be practiced, to practice and be practiced. You know, the flow and the the wonder then of Dharma practice. It's like, oh wow, I'm actually not driving. I thought I was driving. I thought I had to like micromanage every little decision here. Turns out this is driving itself. You can be practiced, be awake, let the world practice you. You're in the right place at the right time for that, always, without exception. Practiced and being practiced. Oh, you know, at the root, the collective, it is a collective awakening. Do good for others, transcending the ordinary and transcending the holy. Liberate oneself and others. Transcending the ordinary and the holy, liberate oneself and others. Again, great statement of Mahayana tradition. Yourself and others, the transcendence of ordinary and holy. It can feel that we're involved in some something called spiritual practice, something called Dharma practice. But what is that ultimately? You know, all of these robes, the short hair, and the incense are traditional, skillful means that have come down over hundreds of years that said, look, you know, if we follow this schedule and you put yourself fully into it, you can't avoid realization. That's how it works. It's work for thousands and tens of thousands of people. You can you don't have to worry about it, you just have to do it. Let the schedule be your teacher. Put yourself in. And the practice, the way takes care of you. You know, as I said at the beginning of session when I was reading out the the opening precautions, um the reward is one's wholehearted practice. I always used to think like, oh, really? I mean that sounds terrible. That's what I get. I get wholehearted practice as a reward. But if you really look it into it and realize that, you know, the reward is one. You are wholeheartedly alive. All of you whole. The world is whole, whole-hearted, wholeheartedly engaged, all in. All in, all the time. Not the five dollar tables, but all in. Can't lose. Yeah, then we can go beyond notions of you know ordinary or holy. What is this? What we call the Dharma. This is our life. Gone in an instant. Most people who ever lived long dead, or not born yet. Presently, we are here. Living this life. The Dharma always like is very forgiving and offers innumerable second chance, second, third, file, ten thousand chances. Begin again. Now, begin now. Don't look too much in the rear view mirror. Learn your lessons, but don't look stare into the rear view mirror. Step forward. Now begin again. How? Well, what are we doing? Speaking, listening, walking, eating. What else is that? What else is needed? That's useful. Yeah, yeah. I appreciate your sense of humor. It can sound very serious at times, you know. But this is serious too. It's a matter of life and death, that's true. Coming to terms with who and what this is, what we are. That's our that's our effort, that's our work. I always like that. I read in uh Robert Aitken, who was one of the pioneers in one of the first American teachers to have Dharma transmission, he said when he uh you know read the he was working on the three pure these three pure precepts, he said he felt embarrassed because he'd received this advice in kindergarten. But it took 50 years to sink it. Be nice, don't don't do that, be nice, play nice. Still rings true. So please keep in mind that you know, as as again, thank you for your your efforts this week. And and with it being being Saturday, uh, it is a time for what you came here for, you know, what drives you, if it feels like a barrier to be surmounted or a gap to be closed, or if you're just here for the food. You know what whatever it is, the food, is please uh please do your very do your very best. Something we miss sometimes is this practice isn't you know it's not just for this one. This is this a good session for me or not. Did I pass my car and that I progress? You know, it's like look around. The very fact that you are sat here now supports everyone else here, supports the room, the place, the world. The whole world could not be here unless you were sat here right now. This this is always the opportunity of a lifetime. So let's please um finish the session well too. Thank you.