Receiving the Precepts: Jukai Ceremony (2025)
Photo by Annelisse Fifi
The jukai ceremony marks a significant moment in a Zen practitioner’s training: in the presence and with the support of their teacher and sangha, the student commits to a life grounded in and guided by the ethical precepts of Buddhism. More than just a list of dos and don’ts, the precepts are an expression of the reality of no separation between self and other, and receiving them is likewise both a public rite of passage and an acknowledgment of an inner calling to a life of compassion that has already begun to be answered.
In this jukai ceremony, which took place at the Ocean Mind Sangha’s most recent in-person sesshin, Zuisei gives the precepts to Marguerite Kisei (“Delighting in Life”) Battaglia and Casey Kanshin (“Perfect Mind”) Benjamin.
This jukai ceremony was led by Zuisei Goddard.
Transcript
This transcript is based on Zuisei's talk notes and may differ slightly from the final talk.
Receiving the Precepts: Jukai Ceremony (2025)
Explore further
01 : Precepts: Taking Refuge with Zuisei Goddard
02 : Formal Training at Ocean Mind Sangha
03 : Gatha of Atonement and Sixteen Precepts of the Buddha Way (pdf)
Good afternoon. Today we are doing a jukai ceremony, in which Marguerite and Casey are receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts. They have been studying and practicing these precepts formally for at least a couple of years, and my hope is that they’ll continue to do so for the rest of their lives—refining them and clarifying what it means to live the life of a bodhisattva, an awakening being. This is someone who’s both waking up moment to moment, and sharing that wakefulness with everyone they meet.
These precepts are part of Buddhism’s Three-fold training (trishiksha) of sila (moral and ethical teachings), samadhi (meditation), and prajna (wisdom). When all three aspects of our training are in harmony, we are in harmony with ourselves and with the world. We move through life with both clarity and kindness, fueled by a deep sense of care.
We’ll begin with these students doing three full bows to the Buddha. They’re bowing to their awakened nature; our awakened nature, to the example of Shakyamuni Buddha, and to the lives of all the countless buddhas who have been with us since.
Next you’ll do three bows to your parents, in the direction where they’re living or are buried. If they’re not together, pick one direction, but hold both of them in mind. You’re acknowledging the gift of life that they gave you, and by extension the opportunity to be here today.
Now you’ll do three full bows to the kaishi, preceptor, in this case, me. Together we’re continuing the blood line of the ancestors, the unbroken line of women and men since the time of the Buddha whose lives have made it possible for us to practice and wake up. As you take these precepts and make these vows, you’re joining this bloodline, you’re formally entering this stream.
Invocation of the Three Treasures
Next we’ll do the Invocation of the Three Treasures. With this invocation we call all the buddhas and bodhisattvas to witness your vows and aspiration. We’re inviting them all to bless this ceremony, as it were, and give Marguerite and Casey their protection, their guidance, their merit and wisdom. And as we move through jukai, the rest of us can also take refuge, atone, take the precepts anew. We don’t have to wait to do it formally, and if we have, we don’t just do it once. Vow is always here, and it’s always now.
I will chant by myself three times. Everyone please gassho.
Be one with the Buddha in the ten directions
Be one with the Dharma in the ten directions
Be one with the Sangha in the ten directions
Be one with our original teacher Shakyamuni Buddha
Be one with Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
Be one with Great Wise Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
Be one with Great Holy Manjusri Bodhisattva
Be one with Koso Joyo Daishi (Dogen Zenji)
Be one with Taiso Josai Daishi (Keizan Zenji)
Be one with the successive great ancestors.
Gatha of Atonement
Next we’ll chant the Gatha of Atonement. We recognize that karma, volitional action, is created through by and enters the world through the three karma doors of action, speech, and thought. And because, as this gatha says, we get tangled up in the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, here we’re taking responsibility of any harmful karma we may have created, so we can start fresh.
On the other side of the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance are the three virtues of generosity, compassion, and wisdom—that’s what we’re aiming for, to live on that side of the fence.
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,
Now I atone for it all.
Next is shasui or aspurging, which it marks the mind-to-mind connection between teacher and student. But this connection isn’t magical, since we all share one mind—the mind of the Buddha, the mind of all things.
Taking Refuge in the Three Treasures
Now we’ll take refuge in the Three Treasures. Having Invoked the Three Treasures, now we take refuge in them. We take refuge in Buddha, in awakened nature; in the example of every buddha and bodhisattva throughout space and time. We take refuge in the Dharma, in truth, in the way things really are. And we take refuge in the Sangha; first, in this sangha, this community of practitioners, then in larger sangha—Maha Sangha.
To take refuge (kie ei) means to unreservedly, wholeheartedly throw ourselves into and rely upon these Three Treasures, and as we do so, we’re trusting, relying upon that which is indestructible. We may fall, we may fail in keeping these precepts now and then. But when we do, all we have to do is allow them to lead us back.
I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha.
I take refuge in the Buddha, the incomparably honored one.
I take refuge in the Dharma, honorable for its purity.
I take refuge in the Sangha, honorable for its harmony.
I have taken refuge in the Buddha.
I have taken refuge in the Dharma.
I have taken refuge in the Sangha.
Now I will ask you “Do you take refuge in the Three Treasures?” and you will answer “I vow to take…” “Do you take refuge in the Three Treasures?” “I vow to take refuge in the Three treasures.”
Three Pure Precepts
Now we move on to the precepts themselves, starting with the Three Pure Precepts: to not create harm, to practice good, and to actualize good for others. The original teaching is from the Dhammapada: refrain from harm, practice good, and master the mind. In essence it’s saying: don’t do bad things, do good things, and know what you’re doing.
I’ll say the precept, give a short commentary and then I’ll read Master Dogen’s Kyojukaimon—his instructions for the precepts. Then I’ll repeat the precept again and ask if you’ll maintain it. You’ll answer with, “I vow to …”
I vow to not create evil. Before we form a thought, before we speak a word, before we take an action, we vow to not create harm, to not add to the suffering we see both inside and outside. And we vow to do this especially when we’re hurting and we want to hurt another in self-defense. “Others shall be harmful, we shall not be harmful,” as the Buddha said to one of his students during a teaching on the precepts. Others will be angry or jealous, but we shall not.
Master Dogen said, “Do not create evil. This is the abiding place of all buddhas. This is the very source of all buddhas.” I vow to not create evil. Will you maintain this?
I vow to practice good. Practicing good is how we wake up from the dream of ignorance, the nightmare of isolation. It’s how we ground our actions in what will help and not harm, in what is good for us, and what is good for everyone.
“Practice good. This is the dharma of samyak-sambodhi (great enlightenment). This is the way of all beings.” I vow to practice good. Will you maintain this?
I vow to actualize good for others. This is how our vows become actionable, how we ensure that our practice extends beyond our personal sphere and gets out into the world. It’s how we create a Buddha field—with our family, at work, with friends or strangers, in our communities. It’s like lighting a candle, and then using it to light others as well.
“Actualize good for others. This is to transcend the profane and to be beyond the holy. This is to liberate oneself and others.” I vow to actualize good for others. Will you maintain this?
Ten Grave Precepts
Now we come to the Ten Grave Precepts. The Three Pure Precepts say it short and sweet—basically, just do good whenever you can. The Ten Grave Precepts spell out the how. But even then, they’re not very prescriptive. They’re just guidelines, and each of us has to find our own way into them. That’s what’s so wonderful—you’ll see that the further you go, the more road there is ahead of you, the more there is to explore.
1. I vow to affirm life – I will not kill. This includes all the ways that we take life; from robbing a person from the opportunity to awaken by taking their life, but also the ways in which we disregard, erase; cut off someone’s life force. It includes the ways our choices in what we buy or eat may be killing someone in another part of world. This vow asks that we enhance life, not take from it.
“Life is nonkilling. The seed of Buddha grows continuously. Maintain the wisdom life of Buddha, and do not kill life.” I vow to affirm life – I will not kill. Will you maintain this?
2. I vow to be giving – I will not steal. This precept encourages us to refrain from taking what isn’t ours—which is all of it—so how do we use things and use them well? It also inspires us to extend the boundaries of the self; to give of our time, our resources, our attention, recognizing that the lines we draw between self and other are nowhere but in our minds. This precept asks us to not get small; not constrain what is by nature limitless.
“The mind and externals are just thus. The gate of liberation is always open.” I vow to be giving – I will not steal. Will you maintain this?
3. I vow to honor the body – I will not misuse sexuality. To misuse sexuality is to engage in harmful desire, in abuse. Of the three poisons, desire is the strongest. Among desires, lust might be the most harmful, because of the way it turns our heads. But, this precept isn’t asking us to renounce desire. It’s asking us to have a wider view, to not get myopic, to see each other as people, not objects; that we be whole in body and mind. It also encourages us to fully honor this body and THIS body; and to never forget that they are not two.
“The three wheels—body, mouth, and mind; greed, anger, and ignorance—are pure and clean. Nothing is desired. Go the same way as the Buddha.” I vow to honor the body – I will not misuse sexuality. Will you maintain this?
4. I vow to manifest truth – I will not lie. We lie to protect ourselves, but when we see the self is an illusion, what is there to protect? When we’re not prey to the eight worldly winds of praise and blame, success and failure, pleasure and pain, fame and disrepute, when we’re completely open and exposed, there is no need to cover up, no need to bend the truth. Lying harms others, but it is also corrodes our own body and mind; and it’s exhausting because we have to keep track of our untruths. Manifesting truth, on the other hand, is walking on the ground of reality, where we can travel light.
“The dharma wheel unceasingly turns, and there is neither excess nor is there lack. Sweet dew permeates the universe. Gain the essence and realize the truth.” I vow to manifest truth – I will not lie • Will you maintain this?
5. I vow to proceed clearly – I will not cloud the mind. Not with drugs or alcohol, not with sex, not with television or our phones, not with fantasy, not with stories about ourselves or about others. When we choose to proceed clearly, when we want to be in alignment with ourselves and with others, then the right actions follow; when they don’t, we notice, and we course-correct. Remember that the mind is naturally clear, cognizant, and bright; this precept is letting it be so.
Master Dogen said, “‘It’ has never been. Do not be defiled. ‘It’ is indeed the great clarity.” I vow to proceed clearly – I will not cloud the mind. Will you maintain this?
6. I vow to see the perfection – I will not speak of others’ errors and faults. We harm so quickly, so easily, with our words. But seeing our own and others’ perfection, our wholeness, we see how unnecessary it is to criticize. It would be like the eye criticizing the nose or the spleen, since we’re all one vast, single body. This precept is not saying we shouldn’t call out wrongdoing. It’s speaking about the impulse to use our words to harm. Instead, we strive to speak peace and be peace.
“In the midst of the Buddhadharma, we are the same Way, the same dharma, the same realization, and the same practice. Do not speak of others’ errors and faults. Do not destroy the Way.” I vow to see the perfection – I will not speak of others’ errors and faults. Will you maintain this?
7. I vow to realize self and others as one – I will not elevate the self and blame others. Like the previous precept, this one asks us to see that fundamentally, there are no others. It’s what Master Ruiyan saw when he called out, “Master?” And he himself answered, “Yes, master.” “Don’t be deceived by others, anytime, anyplace.” “No, I won’t.”
“Buddhas and ancestors realize the absolute emptiness and realize the great earth. When the great body is manifested, there is neither inside nor outside. When the dharma body is manifested, there is not even a single square inch of earth upon which to stand.” I vow to realize self and others as one – I will not elevate the self and blame others. Will you maintain this?
8. I vow to give generously – I will not be withholding. The second precept asked us to be giving and to refrain from taking what doesn’t belong to us. This precept asks us to not hold back, not fall under the spell of lack. Notice how often in the world those who have the most give the least. This precept asks us to practice abundance, to rest in generosity, and trust that everything that you need will be freely offered to you, because it will.
“One phrase, one verse, ten thousand forms, one hundred grasses, one dharma, one realization, all buddhas, all ancestors. Since the beginning, there never has been anything to withhold.” I vow to give generously – I will not be withholding. Will you maintain this?
9. I vow to actualize harmony – I will not be angry. Like lying, anger too is about self-protection; it’s the self not wanting to feel itself, its vulnerability, too much. Filled with self, anger destroys. Stripped of self, anger turns into care, into love. We can therefore self-liberate anger and use its energy to liberate others.
“It is not regressing, it is not advancing. It is not real, it is not unreal. There is an illuminated cloud ocean, there is an ornamented cloud ocean.” I vow to actualize harmony – I will not be angry. Will you maintain this?
10. I vow to experience the intimacy of things – I will not defile the Three Treasures. This precept says it all: don’t tell me about the precepts, show me the teachings in your life. Get close, get close, get close and don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk. That’s the only thing that will help us be truly free.
“Living the dharma with the whole body and mind is the heart of wisdom and compassion. All virtues return to the ocean of reality. You should not comment on them; just practice them, realize them, and actualize them.” I vow to experience the intimacy of things – I will not defile the Three Treasures. Will you maintain this?
“These sixteen precepts; the three treasures, the three pure precepts, and the ten grave precepts, have been handed down by Shakyamuni Buddha generation after generation, to my teachers, and down to me. Now I give them to you. Will you maintain them well?”
Recipients: “I will.”
Kaishi asks a second time, “Will you maintain them well?”
Recipients: “I will.”
Kaishi asks the final time, “Will you really maintain them well?”
Recipients answer, “I will.”
Q: And when you break them?
Recipients receive lineage chart, rakusu, and dharma name, then do three full bows.
Ocean Mind Sangha. On this 25th day of October 2025, Marguerite Battaglia, having received the sixteen precepts of the Buddha Way, a lineage chart, and rakusu, is being given the dharma name Kisei. Zuisei Goddard, preceptor.
Ocean Mind Sangha. On this 25th day of October 2025, Casey Benjamin, having received the sixteen precepts of the Buddha Way, a lineage chart, and rakusu, is being given the dharma name Kanshin. Zuisei Goddard, preceptor.
“Everyone please Gassho.”
When sentient beings receive the sila (precepts),
They enter the realm of the buddhas,
Which is none other than the great enlightenment.
Truly, they are the children of the Buddha.
Jundo. We’re formally welcoming these fledgling bodhisattvas into the sangha. End with three full bows to Kaishi, then they take their seats
Jukai Names
Marguerite, your name is Kisei. Ki means delight, or to rejoice. Sei means life. It's the same sei that’s in sensei, teacher, one who “comes before another.” So, Kisei is one who delights in life, who rejoices in life—exactly as it is, and exactly as she is. Kisei doesn't need to be smarter, faster, more serious, more reverent, or anything that she isn’t already. Kisei knows how precious life is, and she doesn’t waste it. She knows joy, and she knows how to share it with others. She is exactly who she is—and that is an infinite source of delight. Kisei, “Delighting in life”
Casey, your name is Kanshin. Kan is perfect, perfection, wholeness. Shin means mind/heart. In Buddhism, there’s no distinction between the two, so mind isn’t the brain, it’s the person’s core, it’s their being. So, Kanshin is “Mind of Perfection” or “Perfect Mind.” Perfect as in, perfect as it is, as in whole without break or flaw. As in there is nothing to fix or prove or improve. Because there’s nothing broken, and there never was. Which means you can let go of all striving, all trying, and use all that energy for those things that will give you and those around you joy. Kanshin, Mind of Perfection.
All of us here today are witnessing and supporting Kisei and Kanshin as they take their vows and enter into a new relationship with themselves, and with the buddha, dharma, and sangha. You two, having received the Buddha’s robe, this vast and formless field of benefaction, your work is to till that field; to give it form so we can all benefit from it. Please don’t think of these precepts as rules but as guides. When you get lost, they’ll show you the way back.
So let that robe become the fabric of your life—and since it already is that, all you have to do, is be the buddha that you are. Congratulations. May your life go well.