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 The Renewal of Vows Ceremony



a talk by John Daido Loori, Sensei

Zen Mountain Monastery

New Year's Eve, December 31, 1992







[This is a transcription of a Dharma talk given by the abbot of
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt. Tremper, New York, at the conclusion
of Rohatsu Sesshin.]



Usually, this part of the Fusatsu ceremony is used to address
some part of the teachings of the Precepts, the moral and
ethical teachings of the Buddha. Every once in a while I speak
of the ceremony itself, the Renewal of Vows Ceremony. Tonight
seems to be a good time to talk about the ceremony itself, since
many of you are doing it for the first time. It's nice to know a
little bit about what's going on.



We begin this ceremony like we begin most of our [Fusatsu]
ceremonies, and that is with the Gatha of Atonement, or
at-one-ment,  and we chant,  "all evil karma ever committed by
me since of old."  The Precepts are designed to function in the
world of this and that, in the world of good and evil. They're
based on the realization of the Buddha. They are fundamentally
the definition of the way a Buddha, a realized being, lives a
life in  the world of differences.



Karma is basically, in its simplest way of describing it, cause
and effect. For every cause, there's an effect. And that effect
becomes the next cause, and it creates an effect, and that
effect becomes the next cause,  and on and on. And the one
characteristic of karma is the force to propagate itself, to
continue. Karma means "action."  And so here we're addressing
the evil karma that we've committed in times past.



And next we chant,  "on account of my beginningless greed,
anger, and ignorance." Greed,  anger, and ignorance are what we
call in Buddhism the Three Poisons. They're based on separation.
They're based on the illusion that things are separate from
ourselves. When you turn them around, when you turn it to the
other side, these Three Poisons become the Three Virtues. The
virtue of compassion, the virtue of wisdom, and the virtue of
enlightenment. Ignorance means having no light; having no light,
not knowing what's real. Not knowing what's real is not having
realized for oneself the unity of all things, the
interdependence and mutual causality of the entire phenomenal
universe. That's the basis of the Buddha's realization, and
that's the basis of the Precepts.



The next line we chant, "born of my body, mouth, and thought."
And these are the ways that we create evil karma. We create evil
karma by what we do with our bodies; by what we do with our
words, our mouth; and by what we do with our thoughts,  what we
think. And thought is the one that's usually the most difficult
to comprehend. We can understand how we create  evil karma by
what we do with our body. If you hit someone, you've definitely
created karma; there are going to be consequences, effects.  If
you say to someone, "I would like to hit you," that also clearly
would create  consequences and effects. But we should realize
that we equally create evil karma when we think, I'd like to
punch you in the nose, even if we have a smile on our face. It
communicates. There's no question about it. So how we use our
mind creates karma. And we'll talk a little more about it as we
get deeper into this.



So  "all evil karma ever committed by me since of old, on
account of my beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance, born of
my body, mouth, and thought, I now atone for it all."  I'm now
at one with it all. Basically what that means is recognizing the
fact that what you do and what happens to you are the same
thing, that cause and effect are one, not two. And when you
realize_not understand, not believe, but realize_that what you
do and what happens to you are the same thing, there's no way to
avoid taking responsibility for your life. There's no longer any
way you can conceivably say, "He made me angry," because you
know that only you can make you angry. And when that fact really
comes home, you empower yourself to do something about anger. So
long as he made you angry, you will continue to be a victim.



 But when you make that responsibility your own you empower
yourself to do something about it. Not only about anger, but
anything. That responsibility, that sense of responsibility,
encompasses the whole universe, because it's based on the
realization that we're not separate from the universe. What
happens to the ten thousand things happens to me. What's going
on in Somalia is going on right here. In the jungles of South
America. In the Ozone layer. Whatever affects this great
universe affects this body and this mind. That's the realization
of the Buddha, and that's the realization that these Precepts
are based on.



When you atone, become at one with it all, when you take
responsibility for it, you return to that oneness. Nothing
outside of it. The Gatha of at-one-ment creates the space for
the ceremony to happen. And then we chant the names of the
Buddhas. We chant:



"Namu past seven Buddhas.

Namu Shakyamuni Buddha

Namu Manjushri Bodhisattva

Namu Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Namu Avalokiteshvarara Bodhisattva"



and so on.



Namu means being one with, being one with the past seven
Buddhas. Being one with Shakyamuni Buddha. But how do you be one
with something? You students who are working with the breath, or
with Mu, several of you have asked about that, this Sesshin.
What does it means to be one with something?  It's about
intimacy, being one with something. It's not an idea. It's about
no separation, being one with something. It means whole body and
mind unity. Every thought, every breath, every cell in your
body, unified. Being one with something is very similar to
invoking something. To invoke means to call forth by
incantation, to conjure. To put into effect or operation. To
bring about. To cause is to invoke.



Bodhidharma, in his teaching, spoke about invocation and what
it's about. He says,



"Buddha means awareness, the awareness of the body and of the
mind, that prevents evil from arising in either. To invoke means
to call to mind,  to call constantly to mind  the rules of
discipline, the Precepts, and to follow them with all your
might. This is what's meant by invoking.  Invoking has to do
with thought,  and not with language. To invoke you have to
understand the dharma of invoking. If it's not present in your
mind, your mouth chants an empty name. As long as you're
troubled by the Three Poisons, greed, anger, and ignorance, or
by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mind will keep you from
seeing the Buddha, and you'll only waste your effort.



"Chanting and invoking are worlds apart. Chanting is done with
the mouth. Invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking
comes from the mind it's the door to awareness. Chanting is
centered in the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to
appearances while searching for meaning, you won't find a thing.
Thus the sages of the past cultivated introspection and not
speech.



"This mind is the source of all virtues   And this mind is the
chief of all powers. The eternal bliss of Nirvana comes from the
mind at rest. Birth in the Three Realms also comes from the
mind. The mind is the door to every world, and the mind is the
ford to the other shore. Those who know where the door is don't
worry about reaching it. Those who knows where the ford is don't
worry about crossing it."



Keep in mind this was written around the year 500.



"The people I meet nowadays are superficial.  They think of
merit as something that has form. They squander their wealth and
butcher creatures of land and sea. They foolishly concern
themselves with erecting  statues and stupas,  telling people to
pile up lumber and bricks,  and to paint this blue and that
green. They strain body and mind, injure themselves, and mislead
others. They  don't know enough to be ashamed. How will they
ever come  to realize it?  They see something tangible and
instantly become attached. If you talk to them about
formlessness, they sit there dumb and confused. Greedy for the
small mercies of this world, they  remain  blind to the great
suffering.



"Such disciples wear themselves out in vain. Turning from the
true to the false, they talk about nothing but future blessings.
If you can simply concentrate your minds' inner light and behold
its outer illumination, you'll dispel the Three Poisons,  drive
away the Six Thieves. Once and for all and without effort,
you'll gain possession to an infinite number of virtues,
perfections,  and doors to truth. Seeing through the mundane and
witnessing the sublime is less than an eyeblink away.
Realization is now;  why worry about gray hair? But the true
door is hidden, and can't be revealed. I have only touched upon
the beholding mind."



That beholding mind is the mind that unifies us with these
Buddhas that we chant. That beholding mind is the mind that can
invoke the presence of all Buddhas and ancestors.



"Namu Past Seven Buddhas."  The past seven Buddhas are the six
Buddhas   that preceded Shakyamuni and Shakyamuni.



"Namu Shakyamuni Buddha," the historical Buddha, who after his
own realization , stayed in the world  and taught for
forty-seven years. It's because of that teaching that it was
transmitted mind to mind, from generation to generation. and has
come down to us  to this time, this place, this mountain. We're
unified with the historical Buddha.



"Namu Manjushri Bodhisattva. Namu Samantabhadra Bodhisattva." Of
these two Bodhisattvas, Manjushri is the Bodhisattva of Wisdom.
Samantabhadra is the Bodhisattva  of Compassion. In the Buddha
Hall, one sits on one side of the Buddha and the other sits on
the other side of the Buddha. Manjushri rides a lion;
Samantabhadra, an elephant. They represent the two aspects of
Buddha, Wisdom and Compassion.



"Namu Manjushri  Bodhisattva" means being one with the wisdom of
Manjushri. "Namu Samantabhadra Bodhisattva" means being one with
the compassion of Samanabhadra. "Namu Avalokiteshvara
Bodhisattva."  Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva  is the  Hearer of
the Cries  of the World. And one of the characteristics of
Avalokiteshvara is that she manifests herself in accord with the
circumstances. So she always presents herself in a form that's
appropriate to what's going on. In the bowery, she manifests as
a bum. Tonight, in barrooms across the country, she'll manifest
as a drunk. Or as a motorist on the highway, or as a fireman, or
a physician. Always responding in accord with the circumstances,
in a form appropriate to the circumstances. How is that?



Every time there's a stranded vehicle on the side of the road
and a motorist stops to help Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has
manifested herself. Those characteristics of wisdom and
compassion are the characteristics of all beings. All Buddhas.
We all have that potential. It's just a matter of awakening it.
You awaken it by realizing there's no separation between self
and other.



"Namu Maitreya Buddha," the Buddha of the future, to be born in
future generations. And "Namu Successive Daioshos." Daiosho
means "great priest." The Successive Daioshos are the succession
of ancestors who transmitted the Dharma from Shakyamuni Buddha
to Mahakashyapa, from Mahakashyapa to Ananda,  and so on through
28 generations in India, through 28*  generations in China, in
Japan,  and now to this country. Mind to mind. It's not the
scriptures that were transmitted,  it's  not institutions that
were transmitted,  it's not     ideas that were transmitted,
it's  not beliefs that were transmitted. It was the Buddha Mind
that was transmitted. It's the Buddha Mind that these teachings
are a manifestation of.



And then we chant, when we return to the ceremony, the Four
Vows:



Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.

Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them.

The dharmas are boundless; I vow to master them.

The Buddha way is unattainable; I vow to attain it.



It's an incredibly powerful way to close out the old year and
enter the new. Vowing to save all sentient beings. But they're
numberless! That means there's no end to the number of them. And
yet you vow to save them. Impossible! It can't be done. But you
vow to save them. And by the way, if you intend to save all
sentient beings, you'd better be prepared to be saved by all
sentient beings. It goes both ways. Cause and effect goes both
ways. Effect doesn't follow cause, nor does cause precede
effect. They're one, and they move forward in time and they move
backward in time.



 "Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them." By
definition they're inexhaustible. How can you possibly put an
end to them? "I vow to put an end to them. The dharmas are
boundless;  I vow to master them." Boundless means having no
edges. To master them means to put a frame around them. It can't
be done. "I vow to master them." "The Buddha Way is
unattainable;  I vow to attain it." It can't be done. "I vow to
attain it."



[* not sure of number]

To me, the impossibility of these vows is the essence of this
practice. We call it "filling the well with snow," carrying
shovels full of snow down from the mountain peak and throwing it
in the well. The sages do it all the time, and they get other
sages to help them do it. Of course, you can't fill a well that
way. But that doesn't seem to bother them. They're not concerned
with the goal; it's the process that they're involved in.
Practice and enlightenment are one. It's not the goal of getting
all sentient beings saved, it's the practice of saving all
sentient beings. Of putting an end to desires, of mastering the
dharmas. Of attaining the Way.



And then we chant the Three Treasures:



Being one with the Buddha; with all sentient beings,

Raise the Bodhi mind! Let the supreme way be realized.



"Raise the bodhi mind" is the aspiration for enlightenment.
Being one with the dharma, with all sentient beings, penetrate
all sutras, let wisdom be like the ocean. Being one with the
sangha, with all sentient beings, lead the people, let harmony
pervade everywhere. Buddha, dharma, sangha. Buddha, the
historical Buddha, and at once all sentient beings. Buddha means
enlightened one. Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha, but at
once, the whole phenomenal universe. Sangha, the community of
practitioners of the Buddha's dharma,  and at once the whole
phenomenal universe,  all sentient beings. So Buddha, dharma,
and  sangha is at once the individual and the whole universe.



And then finally we bring the whole thing to a conclusion by
giving it away. the whole ceremony of the precepts. The Eno
chants, "May the merits of maintaining the Precepts permeate the
dharma world, and may our sincere vows to accomplish the Buddha
Way be realized together." May the merits pervade the dharma
world, the whole universe, the whole universe of things; may the
merit of this ceremony reach everywhere. It means to give it
away. And it's in that giving, giving away of ourselves, giving
our life, giving our practice, that we unify with the ten
thousand things. When we give thanks, when we express gratitude
in our services, we give back to the Buddhas and ancestors that
which we receive. If we didn't give back like that, it would
makes us thieves, we would just be taking. That's the same
dynamic in the teacher-student relationship. The teacher gives,
the student receives; the student gives, the teacher receives.
It works both ways. Otherwise you feel inadequate,  you don't
feel right about it, you don't really make it your own.



 At the beginning of the month we did a Rohatsu Sesshin at
Greenhaven Prison_we have a Sangha there_and did a Precepts
Ceremony during that time. And usually when I do the precepts
ceremonies I have a little envelope that I keep  the materials
for the ceremony in. And when I finished I just took that and
put it in one of the side rooms, and we went on with the other
things that needed to be done. I didn't look at it until this
evening, as I was preparing to come here to give a Fusatsu talk.
And when I opened it a little note fell out. I saw it for the
first time 45 minutes ago.



It's handwritten. And it says,



"You answer so many questions that I have glanced at  from time
to time. They seem  not at all that important so I shove them to
the side. They are not important until answered. Then they
become overpowering. And mostly they're just everyday question
that any new student might  come across.



"Smoking is not a good thing for your body, medically speaking.
But when I saw a man smoking it was sort of a statement saying,
'Hey, look, my friend, I'm human just like you. I have traveled
far and I have far to travel.'  I see the young lady hoping and
wondering, hovering in the background at mealtime, making sure
everything is all right; and when it's not, running to make
things right. I hear a woman talking in such a way as to explain
without explaining things as if to an idiot, making you feel
safe in exploration of different chanting methods.  I saw a lady
introducing herself and asking the inmates their names, not
caring there's a number attached,  making an inmate feel like a
person. Now that's something special   A man sits on the
sidelines yet in the middle, quietly but confidently showing a
way  by example to people not quite as knowledgeable, but trying
and willing to learn, if they could have a teacher such as this.
You cannot buy happiness, but when it's given from the heart,
take it and cherish it. And then give it to someone who needs it
more. This always will be someone other than yourself.  For
indescribable gifts given so freely by a few,  thank you."



 It's signed,  A Person



There isn't any Buddha that could make it more complete. Dana.
Giving, receiving. And that's what this new year should be for
us. To give ourselves to the teaching, to the dharmas, to the
ten thousands things.   To whoever needs us, whenever they need
us.  There can be no finer vow,  it's the vow of all Buddhas and
ancestors. And it's because of that vow that we're fortunate
enough to  have this incredible Buddha Dharma here, in this
country, to practice, to stay.