Avowal of Karma and Renewal of Vows

(Currently quarterly, generally Sunday nearest equinoxes and solstices, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Pacific time)

Avowal & Renewal of Vows 

We gather on the Solstices and the Equinoxes so that – in the presence of each other, the Beloved Community – we can acknowledge our past and harmful karma and renew our vows as bodhisattvas on the Path of Practice. To make a fresh start. Again and again.

And we always begin these quarterly gatherings by acknowledging that wherever we find ourselves in this country today, we’re inhabiting the traditional homelands of Native people -- people whose land was taken but not given. Eugene, Oregon, where I am now was home to the Kalapuya tribes. Whether or not you know the name of the Native people who lived where you find yourself today, please call them to mind. They are our ancestors right here where we live and our neighbors in the three worlds.

As Buddhists, we resolve to wake up to the truth of our interbeing with all existence throughout time & space. To see things as they really are, and to harmonize with the community of all beings. So that the effects of our actions of body, speech, and mind will tend in a direction away from creating more suffering, and toward liberation – toward freedom from suffering – for all of us.

So, the first step – a first step we have to take over & over again as we find our way through the beginningless tangle of causes & condition w/in which we live – the first step is to look deeply & acknowledge our past harmful actions – our participation in the causes & conditions that continue to perpetuate suffering.

And then to renew our vows as people on the path of practice – to live in a different way. A trustworthy, wholesome, life sustaining way in harmony with our True Nature and the flow of all existence. A way that tends toward liberation from suffering – for all of us.

Please recite the verses along with the kokyo but leave your mic muted. Even though you’re muted please participate fully b/c, like zazen, this is full bodymind practice. Imp to hear your own voice saying the words and to fully inhabit the physicality of the many bows. We say bowing “in your own way” to include the many ways from full prostrations to lying down bows. The important thing is to give the bow your full mind-body attention. To inhabit it as a form of mindful moving meditation.

Please be sure to engage in mindful movement during kinhin, whether walking, stretching, going to the bathroom, or mindfully moving in some other way. What we’re doing is not theoretical. This is embodied practice. Embodied in the zendo and embodied in our ordinary daily lives.

We’ll begin w/ the Robe Verse, have a period of zazen followed by kinhin, then the Avowal of Karma & Renewal of Vows ceremony, followed by kinhin and 3 more periods of zazen. We’ll close at noon with a short dedication.

The robe, in whatever form we wear it, is the Buddha field – the field of awakening – that we’re all entering by way of our intention to practice together today. Some robes are visible to the eye, others are not visible in that way. But all robes show themselves in the lives of  those who wear them. So the Robe Verse is for all of us entering the great Way together today, resolving to awaken. Please keep your microphone muted as we say the Robe Verse together.

(Doshi kneels & puts okesa on head and hands in gassho.)

Kokyo I: “Robe Verse” (1 time)
Great Robe of Liberation
Field Far Beyond Form and Emptiness
Wearing the Tathagata's Teaching
Saving all Beings

(Doshi makes offering and 3 bows. No bells
Doshi makes gassho to altar. O
Doshi makes gassho to seat. O
Doshi makes gassho to center O
Doshi sits.)

Kokyo I: “Zazen” (30 min.)
OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin” (10 min.)
O (signals end of kinhin)

When everyone is seated

Kokyo I:  x  “Avowal of Karma and Renewal of Vows”

(Doshi makes offering) (pick up script from zabuton to left of altar)
___________________________________________

Kokyo II: Three bows in your own way. Please consider standing for these first three bows even if you’ll be doing seated bows from then on.

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

AVOWAL OF KARMA

Kokyo II: Please recite 3 times aloud with your speaker muted. Make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each recitation. Please remain in gassho for the rest of the ceremony.

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

All my ancient, tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.
O Bow

HOMAGES

Kokyo II: Please recite aloud and make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each homage.

Homage to the Seven Buddhas before Buddha. O Bow

Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha. O Bow

Homage to the Future Maitreya Buddha. O Bow

Homage to Manjushri, the Perfect Wisdom Boddhisattva. O Bow

Homage to Sa man ta bha dra the Shining Practice Bodhisattva. O Bow

Homage to Avalokitesvara, the Infinite Compassion Bodhisattva. O Bow

Homage to the Succession of Ancestors, Women & Men, Known & Unknown. O Bow

BODHISATTVA VOWS

Kokyo II: Please recite 3 times. Make a bow when the bell sounds at the end of each full recitation.

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

Beings are numberless, I vow to meet them with kindness and curiosity.
Occasions of suffering are inexhaustible, I vow to touch them with patience and love.
Dharma Gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The awakened Way is immeasurable, I vow to embody it. O Bow

REFUGES

Kokyo II: Please recite each refuge with the kokyo. The Doshi then speaks alone. Make a bow when the bell sounds after the Doshi speaks.

I take refuge in Buddha.

Doshi: Before all being
Immersing body and mind deeply in the Way
Awakening true mind. O Bow

I take refuge in Dharma.

Doshi: Before all being
Entering deeply the merciful ocean
Of Buddha’s Way. O Bow

I take refuge in Sangha.

Doshi: Before all being
Bringing harmony to everyone
Free from hindrance. O Bow

(Doshi makes offering.)

PURE PRECEPTS

I vow to refrain from causing harm.

Doshi: It is the abode, the source, and the law of all Buddhas.

I vow to devotedly do what is good.

Doshi: It is the teaching of unsurpassed complete Enlightenment.
It is the path and the practice.

I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings.

Doshi: It is transcending profane and holy, taking self and others across.

CLEAR MIND PRECEPTS

I vow not to kill, but to cherish and cultivate the great web of life.

Doshi: Not killing life, the Buddha seed grows. Transmit the life of Buddha and do not kill.

I vow not to take what is not given, but to cultivate fairness, gratitude, and generosity.

Doshi: Self and objects are such, two yet one. The gate of liberation stands open.

I vow not to misuse sexuality, but to remain trustworthy in relationships, honoring the intimacy of bodies with respect and joy.

Doshi: Let the three jewels of self, objects, and action be pure. With nothing to desire, one goes along together with the Buddhas.

I vow not to lie, but to cultivate truthful, kind, beneficial communication.

Doshi: The Dharma Wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither surplus nor lack. The sweet dew saturates all and harvests the truth.

I vow not to intoxicate myself or others, but to cultivate clear thinking, and to remain tuned in to the common ground of our shared life.

Doshi: Originally pure, don’t defile. This is the great awareness.

I vow not to dwell on the mistakes of others, but to cultivate wise, respectful, beneficial ways of responding.

Doshi: In the Buddha Dharma, go together, appreciate, realize and actualize together. No fault-finding. No haphazard talk. Do not corrupt the way.

I vow not to praise myself and downgrade others, but to value myself and others equally.

Doshi: Buddhas and Ancestors realize the vast sky and the great Earth. When they manifest the noble body, there is neither inside nor outside in emptiness, nor a bit of dirt on the ground.

I vow not to withhold spiritual or material aid, but to share all that I have to offer, giving freely and generously.

Doshi: One phrase, one verse, is the ten thousand things and one hundred grasses. One dharma, one realization, is all Buddhas and Ancestors. From the beginning there has been no stinginess at all.

I vow not to harbor ill will, but to cultivate loving-kindness, understanding, and forgiveness.

Doshi: Neither negative nor positive, neither real nor unreal. There is an ocean of illuminated clouds, and an ocean of ornamented clouds.

I vow not to abuse the Three Treasures, but to respect the Buddha, unfold the Dharma, and nourish the Sangha.

Doshi: To expound the Dharma with this body is foremost. Virtue returns to the unfathomable ocean of reality. Let us accept it with respect and gratitude. Thus on this [solstice, equinox] day we offer the merit of the bodhisattva’s way through all world systems to the unborn nature of all being.

Kokyo II and sangha:

All Buddhas throughout space and time; O
All honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas; O
Wisdom beyond wisdom, maha prajna paramita. O o o o oooooooo

Kokyo II: Three bows in your own way.

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

_______________________________________________________

Kokyo I:
“Kinhin” (10 min.)
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin”
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time OO (signals end of zazen) → “Kinhin”
time O (signals end of kinhin)
When doshi seated and settled OOO → “Zazen” (30 min.)
time O (signals end of zazen)

Doshi goes to stand facing the altar.

Kokyo I: When doshi is in place facing the altar: X

Dolkar: We will now chant the universal mantra for compassion, Om Mani Padme Hum, 9 times.

Kokyo I: X (signals end of Om Mani Padme Hum chanting and beginning of Mary Ann's recitation)

Mary Ann: 

Shantideva's prayer

Now and forever may I become
A protector for those without protection.
A guide for all who have no direction;
A ship for those on the great sea of loss;
A bridge for beings with rivers to cross.
A sanctuary for all in danger and flight;
A lamp for those who are seeking the light;
A refuge for those who find no safe place;
And a servant to all in sure need of grace.

As long as space forever unfurls.
Wherever beings reside in this world.

Till then may I abide and persist.
Wherever sorrows of our world exist. 

All Buddhas throughout space and time,
O (Doshi goes to altar. Bells follow text not doshi.)
All honored ones, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas,
O (Doshi makes offering at altar.)
Wisdom beyond wisdom,
(Doshi returns from altar.)
Maha Prajna Paramita.
O o o o oooooooo
Three bows in your own way: 

O Bow

O Bow

O Bow

(Doshi makes gassho to altar.) O
(Doshi makes gassho to seat.) O
(Doshi makes gassho to center [camera]) O