This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Buddha's Birthday celebration meditation and dharma talk with Gil Fronsdal. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Buddhist Birthday-2024 - Gil Fronsdal

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on May 05, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Buddhist Birthday-2024

Good morning, and welcome to the Insight Meditation Center and to the Buddha's birthday celebration. The Theravada¹ Buddhist tradition tends to do things simply, so we roll all the special days of the Buddha's life into the same day. We are celebrating the Buddha's birth, his enlightenment, and his passing away.

Each of these events is traditionally depicted as peaceful. His birth was depicted very peacefully: his mother was standing under a tree holding a branch, and the Buddha was born and immediately took seven steps—he began his walking meditation right away.

His enlightenment, of course, presented him with many challenges. We are all presented with challenges as we reach for our greatest potential to discover a non-conflicting peace. He found that peace in his awakening.

His death is also depicted as being very peaceful. He knew his time was near and laid himself down between two Sal trees² in India. They say that, out of season, the Sal trees burst into flowers that fell around him. He gave his last teachings to the people who were there, and he did a very respectful thing. He said, "I'm about to die. Do you have any last questions you really want to ask? This is your chance." He made sure that they were settled. When they said they had no questions, he went into deep meditation, cycling through different depths of absorption, and passed away in a very peaceful way.

The Possibility of Freedom

We celebrate the Buddha's birthday as a way of respecting the phenomenal discovery this man made. I think of the story from the 1950s—or perhaps it was said earlier than that—that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes. Then, Roger Bannister³ broke that limit. After that, many people did it because he showed it was possible.

The Buddha showed it was possible to be free—to let go in such a deep, profound way that we can experience the goodness of our hearts. He showed we have a profound capacity for the heart to be at ease, loving, and peaceful. We don't have to live in the grips of our inner conflicts, fears, or the ways we carry the burden of our society, family, and personal history. It is possible to release the yoke that we carry and to be free.

He did this in a way that kept him deeply connected to this world of ours. Even though he was totally liberated, the Buddha stayed for forty-five years, deeply connected to the society of his time—teaching, supporting, guiding, and counseling many people.

The Buddha as a Mirror

One of the first teachings I received about the Buddha statue came from a story about Suzuki Roshi⁴, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. Someone asked him, "Why do we bow to the Buddha?" He said, "Because then we're bowing to ourselves."

That act is not meant to be submissive toward some person who lived long ago. It is really honoring and respecting something in ourselves: our potential, our possibility, our capacity for freedom and peace—our inner Buddhahood that is waiting for us. For those of us living 2,500 years later, the Buddha is a kind of mirror. When we look at the Buddha, the idea is that we see ourselves.

I can confidently say that all the depictions we have of the Buddha are someone's fantasy. We don't really know what he looked like. As Buddhism moved through different cultures, the Buddha took on the facial features of that culture. Some of the earliest Buddha images were made in the Greek kingdoms of Afghanistan and Pakistan—the legacy of Alexander the Great conquering that part of the world. Consequently, some of the earliest Buddhist images look very Greek. Later, they appeared with Indian, Cambodian, and Chinese features.

I like to believe this is because everyone sees themselves in him—our potential and our capacity. I was recently in Japan, and some of the Shinto shrines did not have images of a deity on their altar, but rather a mirror. When I asked why, they said, "So you can see yourself on the altar."

Dignity and Nobility

Sometimes teachers like me overdo certain teachings, saying, "Let go, let go, it's all about letting go." Or we might go further and say, "Let go because there is no self." Maybe there is something good about those teachings at the right time, but what gets lost is that the teachings of the Buddha have a profound respect for each individual. Each person is a valuable human being. We have a certain dignity that can grow into nobility.

We are not supposed to become "Mr. Nobody" who just sits there. We are letting go of the things that diminish our value—the ways we deprecate or limit ourselves. One of the ways we limit ourselves is with conceit, thinking we are really special. But the antidote isn't to feel we aren't special; it is to realize we are important and valuable without holding ourselves above others.

Heaven Above, Earth Below

The children will soon bring in the Pagoda where the baby Buddha stands. This is usually the centerpiece of the ceremony here. If you look closely at the statue, you will see he has one finger pointing to the sky and one finger pointing to the earth.

The legend says that after he was born and took his seven steps, he stopped, pointed to the sky and the earth, and said—perhaps because he was a prodigy—"Heaven above, Earth below, I alone am the honored one."

That might sound conceited, and while it is a myth, I teach the children that each of us should be able to say that for ourselves. We can also recognize that everyone else can say it for themselves. It isn't about holding ourselves above others, but recognizing that everyone is the "special one."

Pointing to "Heaven above and Earth below" also points to the way our practice acts as a bridge, or a Middle Way. We can be deeply embodied and grounded here, and we can soar in the vast, ethereal dimensions of the mind in meditation. If you choose only one or the other, you are in trouble. Mindfulness is the bridge where we can be in both—standing present within these different dimensions of who we are. It connects our deep personal world with a phenomenal connection to the people around us.

The Altar of Renunciation

On the altar today, we have the Buddha at the moment of his enlightenment on the top. The figure laying down is the statue of his last days. The children will bring in the baby Buddha in the Pagoda to place in the center.

On the wall is a thangka—a Tibetan painting—of the historical Buddha as he renounces his royalty. He renounces the life of privilege, wealth, and power for something even more wonderful. He found it in a life of radical simplicity that was not bolstered by wealth, status, and praise.

A little footnote to that picture: when my wife and I were married at the San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm some thirty years ago, that picture was our wedding gift. Perhaps it presents us with this bridge—that both sides, renunciation and connection, are important.

Love Makes a Family

The baby Buddha represents some of the most beautiful things in a human heart. Families have some of that beauty when they love each other.

We are going to sing a song that was sung at the Spirit Rock Family Retreat for years. There was a wonderfully dignified abbot, a Theravada monastic named Ajahn Pasanno⁵. He is one of the most inspiring monks I know in his simplicity, ordinariness, and dedication. In his tradition, monastics are supposed to carry themselves with a certain decorum—not singing or dancing. But at the Family Retreat, things happened that were not quite what monastics usually do. He would sit in the front of the hall while Betsy Rose sang this song, and he would sit there with complete upright dignity, with tears streaming down his cheeks, unselfconsciously letting them flow.

The baby Buddha represents the love and the best qualities we can have as a human family.

Love Makes a Family

Love makes a family, Love makes a family, Love makes a family, Love makes a family.

I have a neighbor who was born in Peru, Her parents adopted her, it's true. They chose her and she chose them too, And their love makes a family.

Down the street are generations three, Grandparents, parents, and a little baby. And their house is filled with harmony, Love makes a family.

Down the street live Mommy and Mama, Their family is happy and fun. They love their daughter and their son, Love makes a family.

This is the place we bring our families, We gather to learn mindfulness and harmony. We sing and we play and we sit quietly, And we share our family love.

Taking Refuge and Precepts

Today is like "High Church" at IMC, so we will do a little bit of ritual. We will chant the Refuges. For those who don't know, "Going for Refuge" comes from the Pali word saraṇa, which literally means "to walk." One walks to what serves as a support, protection, and inspiration: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. This is meant to be found in yourself, not just something outside. It is generated by our practice and our own goodness.

Note: The assembly chants the Refuges in Pali.

I have heard some teachers say that when a student comes to them expressing gratitude and asking, "What can I do for you?", the teacher replies, "Practice." That is what you can do. Practice includes living an ethical life. If we feel grateful for what the Buddha did, we can live an ethical life. It is not just for the Buddha's sake, but for the Buddha in you.

We will take the precepts in a simple way today. I will lead this chant, and you can repeat after me.

For the sake of our life together, I commit to not harming. For the sake of our life together, I commit to not stealing. For the sake of our life together, I commit to respecting the body and hearts of others. For the sake of our life together, I commit not to lie. For the sake of our life together, I commit to not intoxicating myself.

The Four Divine Abodes

Now we will learn a song about the Four Divine Abodes⁶. After we learn it, the families can come up to wash the baby Buddha. You take a ladle and pour water over the Buddha three times. This is a symbolic way of cleaning your heart.

In the House of Loving Kindness

In the house of loving kindness, I am glad to live. How sweet it is to open up my heart and let it give. The windows are all open, there's nothing here to hide. In the house of loving kindness that I have inside.

In the house of true compassion, I am glad to be. Knowing every living thing has feelings just like me. All the joys and sorrows, the anger and the fears. In the house of true compassion, all are welcome here.

In the house of joy and happiness, I'm glad to dwell. Grateful for my blessings, wishing you the same as well. The world is full of riches, there's enough for you and me. In the house of love and happiness, I'm glad to be.

In the house of balance, I am glad to spend my time. Coming home from stormy days that shake my heart and mind. I can swing so high and low, but somewhere in between, In the house of balance, it is peaceful and serene.

In these four Divine Abodes that live inside of me, There I go for Refuge, to be happy, to be free. It only takes a little breath, a little change of mind, To take me to the sweet abodes where peace and joy are mine.

Closing Meditation

Since we are a meditation center, we will do a meditation for three breaths. Close your eyes, count for three breaths, and then we will finish.

[Silence]

Thank you everyone for making the Pagoda and bringing the Buddha to us. The Pagoda is now available for everyone to come and wash the baby Buddha. May you find the Buddha in your own heart.