Receiving the Precepts: Jukai Ceremony (2023)
Photo by Katie Green
Receiving the precepts (jukai) is a turning point in Zen training where a student, surrounded by the sangha and supported by their teacher, commits to a life guided by the ethical teachings of Buddhism. The ceremony of jukai itself includes the taking of refuge in the Three Treasures, the Three Pure Precepts, and the Ten Grave Precepts.
Listen to and join in as Zuisei guides, and the Ocean Mind Sangha supports, Alexandra Komyo (“Radiant Light”) Brown, Norm Sonkai (“Revering the World”) Christian, and Adam Kaito (“Sea of Compassion”) Green in receiving the precepts during the ceremony that concluded the sangha’s in-person summer sesshin.
This talk was given 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
We are here to do our second Jukai ceremony, the Ocean Mind Sangha. Today Alexandra, Adam, and Norm are taking the precepts, the Buddhist precepts. First, you will need to bow. You can give your daughter to your wife because you'll need to stand. This is only the second time that we do this ceremony, so I will talk you through it, and also so that it's clear all the various steps that the two of you, behind your mat, are taking.
The first three bows that you are doing are to the Buddha behind me. So they are bowing to the Buddha, the historical Buddha. They are bowing to their own awakened nature. In their bow, in their gassho, the gassho is said to be the Buddha, the pure mudra of the three karmas: body, mouth, and mind. In bringing those opposites together, we are bringing all of our actions together. All of our intention is brought to bear to this moment.
Next, you will do three bows in the direction that your parents are buried, or if one of your parents is alive, in the direction that they would be now. This is in recognition of their lineage, in recognition of their making it possible for you to be here today, and in gratitude for their teachings—good, bad, and otherwise—and their karma, which of course flows in you. All of it is taking responsibility and being present, acknowledging all of it. Norm, you are bowing in the direction that your parents are buried in acknowledgment of their gift of life, in acknowledgment of everything that they have given you.
We have now covered the Buddha on the altar, and we are establishing the new altar here. You can stay. We are establishing the new altar here with me as the kaishi, the preceptor. This is an acknowledgment of the lineage from the ancestors being handed down all the time, since the time of the Buddha all the way to this point. If it goes out, it's okay. You will now do three bows in this direction. You can take a seat. Norm, you can't hear me because I'm mic'd to this meeting. We still have a little bit of technicalities to work through. Why don't you bring his chair a little bit closer?
Let yourself give yourself permission to be who you are and let that be the best you can be, the fullest of what you can offer others.
Norm, one of the people taking the precepts, is in Chicago. He was not able to be with us in person, but he is very much present in the room. Luckily, technology makes it possible for us to be here together. As we move through the ceremony, there’s a bit happening, and there’s a bit of talking that I'll be doing. Especially for the three of you, really come to this moment. You might not do this again. You will not do this again with me. You want to be really present to this meeting of minds. By mind, I mean all of it: heart, spirit, body that we are engaging together.
There's that image of the chick and the hen. The chick is inside the egg, the hen is outside. It is sometimes used in the teacher-student relationship. This is in no way an end; it is like a birth. I’m tapping on one side, you’ve been tapping on the other for some time, and now we’re meeting and helping to break that shell together so that you can burst forth into a fuller life. It's not even new—it’s a fuller, fuller life.
Invitation to All
So now the two of you could kneel, in Seiza, please. And if you need to use your Zabuton or your Zafu, that’s fine. I am going to invoke the Three Treasures by myself. I am invoking all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, that great lineage of ancestors, historical and non-historical, all the many beings in all realms that have made it possible for us to be here today. We invite them to witness, to support, to bless the ceremony, to bless you taking this step, and to give you their protection.
The rest of us, although they are the ones formally taking the precepts today, can also renew, can aspire, can establish or reestablish that aspiration to awaken. I will chant this by myself in Japanese, then in English, then in Japanese, so you can go up. Everybody, please gassho. 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 Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Be one with great wise Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Be one with great holy Manjushri Bodhisattva. Be one with Kossojoyo Daishi. Be one with Taisho Josai Daishi. Be one with the successive great ancestors.
Namu Ji Po Butsu. Namu Ji Po Ho. Namu Ji Po So. Namu Honshi Shakyamuni Butsu. Namu Dai Zu Dai Yu Kyoku Kanzeon Butsu. Namu Kaijin Fugen Butsu. Namu Dai Shin Manjushri Butsu. Namu Kossojoyo Daishi. Namu Taisho Josai Daishi.
You can sit back down for a moment. As you heard, these are the main Bodhisattvas at the heart of the Buddhist. Daito Roshi always used the name “Pantheon,” but the Buddhist cosmology: Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Shakyamuni Buddha, of course. The last two names, Kossojoyo Daishi and Taisho Josai Daishi, are Dogen Zenji and Keizan Zenji, who are considered the mother and father in our lineage, in the Soto lineage.
You really have the whole support behind you: wisdom, compassion, aspiration, grit, and perseverance to create a whole lineage of study and practice. All of it has been brought down to us over 2,600 years, to this point, this place, this time in Watermill, New York, and Long Island, so that you can be the beneficiaries and then pay it forward.
Atonement
Next, we will do the Gatha of Atonement. As my teacher always liked to say, the Gatha of Atonement is the Gatha of Atonement. You are now taking responsibility. We are all taking responsibility for our karma. The three wheels of karma—body, speech, and thought. We create karma with our actions; that is easy enough to see. We create karma with our words, which is why in Buddhism there are so many teachings, precepts, and Buddha's teachings on right speech. Words have power. As Dogen Zenji said, words have the power to transform, to turn the nation. We must be very careful, very loving, very aware of our words.
Our thoughts also create karma. What we think and nurture in our minds also creates karma. That is why we carefully, deliberately train our minds. We are about to take responsibility for the three poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance, to aspire and cultivate, turning them into the three virtues of generosity, compassion, and wisdom. I always attribute this quote to Deshimaru, or no, Katagiri, though I have not been able to find it: in the relative, we are always responsible; in the absolute, we are always forgiven. That is always true.
I will chant, and then you will repeat after me. Jess will lead us in the echo. Everybody, please gassho. You take one full bow. Next, we do the asperging, one at a time. Jess, if you could, when it’s Norm’s turn, bring the iPad close. Asperging is not really a purification; it is a meeting of two minds. This is water from the ocean, and this is a spruce branch from the mountain. We acknowledge the identification that is always present: you and I are one, and we are also different. In that meeting, in this moment, we form a different bond.
Taking Refuge
All of us here in this room have, to whatever extent, decided to make the Buddhist path our path. In this moment, the three of you especially are saying very deliberately: I want the Three Treasures to guide me. I want them to be my refuge. I want them to remind me when I forget. And we are saying to one another: help me remember. In the asperging, we acknowledge that unity, like the gassho, the coming together of these minds, which of course are not multiple minds.
You do one full bow. Seated bows, of course, Norm. Thank you. Having invoked the Three Treasures, you will now actually take refuge in the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
What are you taking refuge in? The Buddha is your awakened nature. It is always there, even when you don’t have access to it, even when you don’t feel it, even when in someone else you don’t see it. It is like the sun, always present, always shining. Sometimes it is obscured behind clouds. Our work is to do what is necessary to let the clouds disperse, to let the sun shine fully.
Taking refuge in the Dharma, you are taking refuge in the Buddha’s teachings, but also in truth. You are taking refuge in things as they are, which seems simple until you have to do it. Delusion, at its heart, is not wanting things to be as they are. It is aversion to what is. A great deal of our practice is learning to first see what is there, accept what is there, and when what is there needs to be more, recognize that and step into it. There’s accepting, but you never want that to turn into resignation. There’s a fine line where you challenge and inspire yourself, and that is also what we do for one another. There is also a deep acceptance of where you are, how you can practice, how often, how long, and how you let that fill everything. If it’s one drop, that drop reflects the moon. If it’s the ocean, the ocean reflects the moon, exactly the same. Let it fill that water completely.
Taking refuge in the Sangha: first, this Sangha, the Ocean Mind Sangha, your partners in crime, your noble friends. Then the larger Sangha, everyone who has said at some point, I want to wake up. Then beyond, everyone who will never even think about such a thing, who will not know, or who might know and won’t have the opportunity. Everyone is included. There is no way to leave anyone out. In taking refuge, we drop pretense. We are very simple, unadorned. We are just ourselves. That’s what I’ve been communicating this weekend: not to let any of this become a thing. All these accoutrements, as my teacher said, are just so we can be simply who we are, because we forget, because we can’t get to it. Let yourself give yourself permission to be who you are and let that be the best you can be, the fullest of what you can offer others.
I will chant in Japanese, then one verse in English, then one in Japanese. When I do the one in English, you will repeat after me. Everyone, please gassho. Namo kiyoe butsu, namo kiyoe ho, namo kiyoe so, kiyoe butsu mujo san, kiyoe ho ruen san, kiyoe so wago san, kiyoe bukyo, kiyoe ho kyo, kiyoe so kyo. I take refuge in the Buddha. Now I will ask you, and you will respond with “I vow to.” Do you take refuge in the Three Treasures? You can take a seat. One full bow, sorry.
Three Pure Precepts
Now we go into the three pure precepts. The three pure precepts are the map of how to live a good life. By good, I mean in goodness. The three pure precepts are: to refrain from harm, to practice good, and to actualize good for others. First, when you act, if you can’t say something good, if you cannot offer something good, stop, refrain, do nothing. This is probably the hardest one. In that moment, when being hurt, we want to hurt, to lash out, to let the other person know what they have done. Remember, not my responsibility. This is my field, my Buddha field. First and foremost, stop, refrain. It is renunciation: renouncing a right to be right, a right to be first, a right to be comfortable at the expense of another. Instead, we choose the right to be free. Then we take another step: practice good, actualize good in others’ lives. First, decide: having refrained from what need not be said or done, what can I offer? How can I be of benefit? How can I serve? Then take the next step and let that be alive in others’ lives, bringing them into your Buddha field.
I will give a little commentary: Dogen Zenji’s commentary, the Kyoju Kaimon, on the precepts. I will say the precept, give the commentary, repeat the precept, and then you will repeat, saying “I vow to.” You will do three vows at the end.
I vow to not create evil. This is the root of all our activity. The abiding place of all Buddhas. The source of all Buddhas. I vow to not create evil. Will you maintain this? I vow not to create evil.
I vow to practice good. This is the embodiment of your activity, the way we wake from the dream of delusion. Practicing good: the Dharma of Samyaksambodhi, supreme enlightenment, the way of all beings. I vow to practice good. Will you maintain this?
I vow to actualize good for others. This is the activation of our vows, making them actionable. How we live as Bodhisattvas, as enlightened beings. Master Dogen says, actualizing good for others is to transcend the profane and be beyond the holy, to fall on neither side, to liberate oneself and others. I vow to actualize good for others. Will you maintain this?
Three vows. You can take a seat.
Ten Grave Precepts
Now we go to the 10 grave precepts. If the three pure precepts are the cardinal directions on the map—harm, good, more good—the 10 grave precepts are the roads, the pathways, the trails. This is where you actually get in there, find your way through life. They are not rules; they are guidelines. You still need to bring them into your life, see how you practice them in a sustainable way. You still need to look at your life and ask, how do I really practice this precept? Hopefully, you will keep growing into them over time, returning to them, realizing more, integrating more. Each precept teaches a particular aspect of life: how do I work with it? They tell you in an open way, and then you bring yourself to them.
I will say the precept, give a little commentary, give Dogen Zenji’s commentary, then say the precept again. As before, you will say “I vow to,” but this time one vow after each precept.
I vow to affirm life, I will not kill. This covers all ways we take life, especially robbing someone of the opportunity to awaken, which is more egregious than taking physical life. Also, all ways we disregard or suppress others, or take life for ourselves away from someone else. Life is non-killing; 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?
The second is the vow to be giving, to not steal. First, refrain from taking what is not ours, which is all of it. Then extend the boundaries of what we see as ours, be giving what we think is ours. Instead of constraining, open what is by nature limitless. I vow to be giving, I will not steal. Will you maintain this?
The third precept is to honor the body, to not misuse sexuality. Sexuality that is self-centered, self-serving, rooted in desire in the sense that it involutes, takes, and does not give, uses power. Sexual desire is the strongest of the three poisons, so careful attention is needed. This precept asks to honor the container of sexuality, to see each other as people, not objects, not means. I vow to honor the body, I will not misuse sexuality. Will you maintain this?
The fourth grave precept is to manifest truth, to not lie. Lies protect the self. Seeing the self as an illusion removes the need to protect it. Let me be open and exposed. Lying harms others and is corrosive to oneself. Manifesting truth means walking the ground of reality lightly. I vow to manifest truth, I will not lie. Will you maintain this?
The fifth grave precept is to proceed clearly, to not cloud the mind. Any time we turn to fantasy instead of reality—through drugs, alcohol, sex, television, phones—we cloud the mind. Walk lightly, see things as they are. Choose to proceed clearly, self-liberate. I vow to proceed clearly, I will not cloud the mind. Will you maintain this?
The sixth grave precept is to see the perfection and not speak of others’ errors and faults. This is right speech. Harm can occur quickly through words. To see perfection does not mean never to speak up, but to use words wisely, affirmatively, and with courage. I vow to see the perfection, I will not speak of others’ errors and faults. Will you maintain this?
The seventh grave precept is to realize self and other as one, to not elevate the self and blame others. Recognize that highs and lows, praise and blame, are projections of the mind. Cover the ground upon which you stand. I vow to realize self and other as one, I will not elevate the self and blame others. Will you maintain this?
The eighth grave precept is to give generously, to not be withholding. Do not fall under the spell of lack. The more you give, the more is offered to you, not as a reward, but as a natural law. I vow to give generously, I will not be withholding. Will you maintain this?
The ninth grave precept is to actualize harmony, to not be angry. Anger can be self-protection, but imbued with ego, it destroys. Liberate anger and use it to liberate others. I vow to actualize harmony, I will not be angry. Will you maintain this?
The tenth grave precept is to experience the intimacy of things, to not defile the Three Treasures. Do not separate from Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Live the Dharma with body and mind; all virtues return to the ocean of reality. I vow to experience the intimacy of things, I will not defile the Three Treasures. Will you maintain this?
We are now complete with the 16 precepts: the Three Treasures, the Three Pure Precepts, and the Ten Grave Precepts. They are handed down by Shakyamuni Buddha, generation after generation. It is now given to you. Will you maintain them? Just “I will” is fine. Will you maintain them well? Really maintain them well? And when you break them? Really? What will you do?
The recipients now receive the rakusu, the Buddhist robe. It is a vast and formless field, a field of liberation. It is not a medal. It acknowledges the promise, the vow to walk the way of wisdom and compassion.
Dharma Names and Their Significance
On July 15th, 2023, Alexandra Brown has received the 16 Precepts of the Buddha Way, the rakusu, and the Dharma name Komyo, Zuisei, Preceptor. Adam Green has received the 16 precepts, the Buddha’s robe, and the Dharma name Kaito, Myotai Sensei, Preceptor. Norm (Norman Christian) has received the 16 precepts, the Buddha’s robe, and the Dharma name Sankai, Zuisei, Preceptor.
Komyo means bright light. “Ko” means light, a ray, to shine. “Myo” means bright, dawn, the passage of night. Komyo is a bright light that shows things as they are, bright in their nature. It is not a false, forced, or artificial light. It is like the sun: it shines even if sometimes hidden, even if you cannot feel its warmth. In practice, this light has always been there, reaching everywhere.
Kaito: “Kai” means ocean or sea—without edge, covering the earth, reflecting the sky. It is also a sea god, like a Bodhisattva of the ocean: powerful, benevolent, and mysterious. “To” means compassion, humanity, person. This Dharma name reflects spiritual qualities, aspirations, and places of practice that need attention as one grows and serves. It is a name partly already embodied and partly to be stepped into over time. Kaito means sea of compassion or ocean of kindness. The ocean accepts all rivers, teaching the acceptance of all experiences. It is a living, dynamic reality, a source of challenge, adventure, and a reminder of interconnectedness.
Sankai: “Son” means respect, revered, valued, beloved. “Kai” means world, field. You are a field of benefaction and respect, offering that to the world. This name asks you to meet others as integral parts of the world, not as means to an end. Every person is a world; meet them there. The Diamond Sutra says, “It is not a world, therefore it is called the world.” Sankai embodies entering this new relationship, which is also an ancient one.
The moral and ethical teachings are not meant to constrain but to liberate and awaken. When you fall asleep, they help you remember and wake up again, moment by moment, day by day. They are beacons, not rules. They show the way, help you get up when you fall, and reveal the fabric of a human life. Follow the pattern clearly, right here, right where you are—the only place where it exists.
Congratulations, my chicklets. May your lives go well.
Receiving the Precepts: Jukai Ceremony, a dharma talk by Zen Buddhist teacher Zuisei Goddard. Audio podcast and transcript available.
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