The fourth case of the Book of Serenity is called The World Honored One Points to the There may be some question in some of our minds as to whether or not there is a clear ecological imperative in Buddha's teaching. In this case, this story is very clear. Buddha points to the earth.

[01:04]

As soon as a single mote of dust arises, the entire world is contained therein. With a single horse and a single lance, the empire is extended. Who is the person who can master any place and meet the source in everything? As the World Honored One was walking along with the congregation,

[02:19]

He pointed to the ground with his finger and said, this spot is good for building a sanctuary. Indra, emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass and stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built. The world honored one Smile. Right now your entire body and mind points to the earth.

[03:26]

And the Buddha says, this is a suitable place to build a sanctuary. Do you have any doubt about that? Do you have any doubt that your body and mind point to the earth? Do you have any doubt that the entire earth points to your body and mind?

[04:43]

then to make clear the radical nature of this instruction, Indra, the emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass and stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built, and the Buddha smiled. So, basically what's being suggested here is that you use what is at hand. You use the first thing. that appears to you.

[06:01]

And then Indra using a blade of grass further emphasizes that you use something that's very fresh. something green. This is the fourth case of the Book of Serenity.

[09:11]

And after the fourth case comes the fifth case. And I'm not going to talk about the fifth case tonight, but I'll tell you before that the way I see the fourth and fifth case is something like this. The story we just heard is a story about what appears in our life. It's talking about every particle of dust that arises as our life. Every particle of body-mind experience that arises as our phenomenal experience.

[10:16]

And it's saying that this freshly arisen green particle is a good place to build a sanctuary. This is what I would call the house, or the eco. This is what we need to deal with. And the fifth case, the next story, talks about how to take care of the house. This case makes clear what the house is. The next case is about housekeeping or housecleaning. I could also say this case is about healing.

[11:38]

And the next case is about the work of healing. using what's at hand is what's being recommended. But the green piece of grass also points to the fact that using what's at hand is not to say that you use what you think is at hand, but that you use

[12:43]

what is actually at hand. Of course we forget about using what... skipping over what you think is at hand for something better. But even what you think is at hand is not even quite enough really at hand. In order to use what's at hand you actually have to abandon all human emotion. You have to put aside all dogmatism all positions, all views you have about what's happening.

[13:46]

It doesn't mean you don't have these views, it means you have to abandon them in order to actually use what's happening. was that you have no doubts about the house.

[18:30]

I'll tell you about housekeeping. A monk asked, say again, what is the ultimate meaning of the Buddhadharma? Sagan said, what is the price of rice in the Luna Lake? There's a verse which celebrates this story. The accomplishment of the work of peace, the accomplishment of the great work of peace, has no special signs.

[19:39]

The family style of peasants is most pristine. Only concerned with village songs and festal drinking, How would they know or care about the virtues of shun or the benevolence of Yao? The accomplishment of the great work of of peace and harmony in this world has no special signs. The family style of peasants is most pristine, only concerned with village songs and festal drinking.

[21:00]

What are the village songs around here? What is festal drinking in this valley? The world-honored one points to the ground. It's one of the village songs here. Abandon all human emotion. Climb to the top of a 100-foot pole and keep walking.

[22:17]

There is an interconnection between each person in the world and each person in this valley. Are you aware of this connection? And do you know how to take care of it? Are you aware of your connection with every person in this valley? And do you know how to take care of it? Do you take care of it? Or does the other person take care of it? Do you doubt that you're connected to every person in this valley right now?

[24:23]

If you doubt it, I urge you to settle your doubt about that. If you don't doubt it, how will you care for it? If you feel the connection, are you totally devoted to that connection? Are you totally devoted to every person in this valley? To everything in this valley?

[25:47]

every square inch of the house here. Are you totally devoted to this green place, to this green connection, to this fresh fragile connection between you and every other person and thing. And if you can answer, if you have no doubts about your connection with all beings, and if you have no reservations about complete devotion to all beings, then what about them?

[27:34]

Are they totally devoted to you? And if they aren't, what will you do then? Will you wait patiently? until they realize their connection with you and until they decide to be totally devoted to you and all the other beings here or will you tug a little bit at the connection like fishing you throw a little bait out there and dangle it Encourage them to see the connection and commit themselves. How will you relate? I heard this, I saw this videotape a while ago about some workshop that's mended with men and someone said, talking to the men, when was the last time you admired a younger man?

[29:35]

and told him so. I thought when I heard that, that's a good idea. I'm old enough now so there are some younger men, men younger than me. And then later I talked to another man who'd seen that same program. He liked that expression too. But he said what he did when he heard that was he took that question and put it in his heart and carried it there. Although I liked that idea,

[30:44]

I didn't put it in my heart. So if you like the idea that the Buddha points to the earth and points to the earth as the earth first appears fresh from death as a green sprout free of all of our ideas and emotions that there is a vital fresh connection between us always if you like that idea Rather than just like it, why don't you put it in your heart?

[31:52]

Put something green in your heart, something very green and fresh. This will be healing to you as a source of your relationship, of your fresh unprecedented, unexpected, unpredictable, uncontrollable relationship with other beings. He has this green heart. green of total devotion. This is just a village song.

[33:07]

It's called Green. It's a short song. It's not too big to lodge in your heart. Do you have any doubts? Any questions?

[34:14]

Blue is basically the same color, but when it gets up a little higher. When it's up there, it's blue. When it's down here, it's green. Tell me another song. Let go.

[36:34]

Let go. [...] Let go Let go of all of your ideas of what good and bad are. Right and wrong. You and others. Okay? And keep going. That's what green means. Okay? Same song. Yes? Definitely, the resurrection of the self is green, that's what green means.

[37:41]

But it's not really green unless... Green, you know, grass grows up out of a grave. Okay? That's the green I'm talking about. I'm talking about freshness. But this is a freshness which is really fresh. It's the freshness that comes right after everything goes away. So I don't know if there's any other, you know, Greens, I think, takes care of most of the Village songs.

[39:06]

But if you have any questions about some other song you might think is better, that might, you know, that might be better. But as far as I know, most of the Zens, most of the songs I know could be boiled down to Greens. as far as the house goes. That doesn't take care of everything. Then you have to take care of the house after you find out what the house is. But... Or blue. But I thought about it for a while and I think almost all the songs can be called green. short. And whatever songs they are, they should have that quality of a new sprout, of a fresh life that's forgotten about everything else but what's happening.

[40:18]

So do you have any doubt Not so much about green, but do you have any doubt that what you should be dealing with is what's right now appearing under your feet, or under your nose, or before your eyes? Do you have any doubt about that? To doubt that is to doubt green. I think you should take care of something other than this unprecedented freshness That's the same as doubting what I'm talking about because of greed. Okay? So please look deeply and see if you do have any reservations about dealing with this immediate present. The real present, not the present you think is the present, but the actual present, which is far before and after. My idea.

[41:29]

But our practice is completely new. It's never accomplished and finished. And isn't that great? It would be really dead if it were ever accomplished and finished. In each moment, we have a new opportunity. A Zen master's life is one continuous mistake. One continuous falling short of some ideal. If we set up some ideal, we will never But always renewing our effort, always continuing our effort to regenerate your system so the light increases its power till the day we die. Suzuki Roshi said, actually, when he was ill, things teach best when they're dying. He was a fierce teacher when he was dying. And I think we see that in Katagiri Roshi as well.

[43:04]

To see him walking up the stairs, when I was there, he had just enough strength to come downstairs and sort of make a jundo around the floor there that has the zendo and the buddha hall and the library. He would come down the stairs, walk around, and slowly If somebody happened to be there, he'd rush out, and he'd go back up the stairs. And clearly it was an intense effort for him to go up the stairs, but his posture was erect. He had to use the banister, and he would put one step at a time. But the dignity with which he went up the stairs was extraordinarily moving. So, our effort in practice and our opportunity to practice never ends.

[44:14]

We never get it down completely, so there's no effort involved. And what a good thing. How dull it would be, how lifeless it would be, if we could just sort of tuck it in our pocket and say, Yes? I have a problem with this idea or suggestion of practicing as a model for others, because it doesn't feel to me like authentic practice. It feels very self-conscious. You do something when other people are watching, and if no one's around, then you have different behavior. So I'm not so interested in being a model for anyone. Okay. I can agree with that except that you are a model for a lot of people. That's from someone else's point of view. Right. But from my side, that has nothing to do with me.

[45:19]

Okay. All right. I dig it. I dig it. I feel it's very dangerous even for us to think of ourselves as models. Still, when I speak loudly or speak at inappropriate times and places, one of my encouragements for being more careful is that I'm not maintaining the practice of the monastery. But I think you're right, that to be self-conscious about, look at me, I'm doing this, is not what I mean or what I want to convey. But that it makes the fact that, for other people I am a model, willy-nilly, being a senior, for me makes... gives me more encouragement to do

[46:37]

what I want to do, which is to pay attention to my practice all the time. So it helps me to be more attentive. But I think this is a very good point you bring up. I'd like to hear what somebody else has to say about it. It is worthy that within an hundred thousand million couples, having met his feet and listened to, to remember and accept, by and of the taste of truth and love, It's now ten after nine, so I have to stop pretty soon.

[48:12]

But before I stop, I thought I might mention a few things. One is that at dinner tonight, one of the people in the workshop here this week, or the retreat this week, I should say, mentioned to me that the last formal talk that she heard here. She didn't have a clue about what I was talking about. So tonight, I'm going to give you some clues. First clue is that what we're talking about here is our village songs. I'm not going to be talking about anything fancy, like the virtues of Shun or the benevolence of Yao.

[49:20]

I won't be talking about that tonight, so just village songs, all right? And also to make sure that I'm not the only one who knows the song. I'd like you to sing the songs together so that you understand which songs are which. Okay? So the first song is, the title of the first song is, The World Honored One Points to the Earth. It's not a very well-known song in the United States at this time, but in ancient India it was very popular. So, since there's some confusion about exactly how this song goes, I'll say one line and you can say a line, okay?

[50:23]

Also, I don't know the tune of this song, so you can just do whatever you want. Are you ready? As the World Honored One was walking along with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and said, This spot is good to build a sanctuary. Indra, the emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass and stuck it in the earth and said, Sanctuary is built.

[51:27]

The world honored one smiled. That's the first song story. The next song is even a shorter one. It's called Sagan's Rice Price. And that was quite popular in the Tang Dynasty, China. So again, I'll say a line of the song and you can say a line. A monk asked Sagan, what is the ultimate meaning of the Buddha Dharma? Sagan said, what's the price of rice in Lu Ling? And also, Nassa and I, I'm just going to make a little commentary on these songs, which I already did before, but I'm going to do it again so that you'll understand better if I say it a second time, probably.

[52:48]

So in the first song, the World Honored One points to the World Honored One walking along with the congregation. And I should point out that the World Honored One's congregation was quite big, he had a lot of people working with him at that time, a wide variety of people and spirits were tagging along as he walked. So for example, even the emperor of the gods was there too. The Buddha was apparently, if you look at the people that were in his congregation, He attracted a lot of different types of creatures. Someone gave me a picture once of a little section of the Buddha's congregation. And there were some very, you know, it was kind of like Buddha's congregation looked like... Have you ever seen that movie Star Wars?

[53:55]

And remember that one scene where they went in this bar? They had all these kind of different kinds of creatures in there from all over the galaxy. I don't know how many of you, how many of you didn't see that movie? Aha! Explains everything. And so most of you saw it anyway. So remember how those people, that's what the, the Buddhist congregation was kind of like that. There's this wide variety of creatures, plus ordinary human beings, fairly enlightened ones and really enlightened ones and super-enlightened ones, they're all there, and so that's the kind of group that's walking along with them. So then he points to the earth, to the ground. So I want to stress that what that means, not one thing it means, this is not all it means, but just one point it means. The Buddha is indicating what he wants us to work with, and he says, this place right here is a good place to build a sanctuary, a good place to practice the Buddha Dharma.

[55:12]

He didn't say over there, he said this place right here. So the first point is, this is what you use. All is this. Never skip over this. work with what's most close first, and then the next thing, and the next thing. Let's always start with what is closest. Now, I say human beings, generally speaking, always have a tendency to skip over what is closest. that their main problem is we feel a distance from the closest thing. So the Buddha has to tell us specifically, please take care of what is closest to you. And when you take care of what's closest to you, that's a good place to build a sanctuary.

[56:20]

In other words, also, you could say that Buddha is saying, you know, the place to build a sanctuary is where you're not splitting yourself from yourself anymore, where you're not separating yourself from what you are. In other words, the place to build a monastery or a temple is in non-dualistic thought. To make this clear, what this is, then Indra takes his blade of grass and sticks it in the earth and says, the sanctuary is built. And again, he took what is right at hand. He did what the Buddha said. He used what was right at hand or right at foot and used that. And also, He used something to build a sanctuary that people don't usually think you would use to build a sanctuary.

[57:30]

He didn't use the ordinary building materials. He didn't use the ordinary architectural designs for sanctuaries because he used what was at hand and he had no idea of using anything other than that. And not only that, but what he chose, which is what I have been stressing this week, is he chose something green. And the meaning of him choosing something green, again, is endless. Again, if the dinner table is quite educational, you should come there sometime. Anyway, if you're giving a talk, people give you lots of further material. So at the dinner table, besides learning that the last talk was unintelligible, I found out something about green.

[58:38]

For example, I found out that if you picture the blue sky like, what's his name, silver. Say, what about blue last time? If you take the blue sky, the yellow sun and put them together, you get green grass, right? I mean, the colors, if you mix the colors you get green, but also the sun and the sky on the earth make grass, right? Or you could say, The sun is the daddy and the sky is the mommy, and you put them together and you get the grass, get the green. Now, what I just said is not true or false, but it's kind of fresh. Because I just heard it tonight. And now we can all forget that.

[59:42]

And so I'm listening for green, all this week I've been listening for green and watching for green. So I've been hearing people saying and acting and talking about green. I told this story before, I want to tell it again. One of the people here was walking through Lascaux Caves, where they have those very ancient paintings. of animals and hunters and so on. And the lights turn on for each section as you go through and then they go off. And he was with a group and he let the group go on and he stayed to look at the paintings. And he went under the guardrail and went up to the paintings and put his hands on those stencil drawings or the hands that he sometimes that you see pictures of on the wall. And as he put his hands on the handprints, the lights went out. And he said, I put my, I touched, my hands touched the hands of the first artists and the lights went out.

[60:57]

And I said, that's green. That's what we mean by green. He said, when you touch, when your hands, when your body and mind touch the body and mind of the first Buddha and the lights go out, That's what we mean by green. So yes, we build it here, but also the lights go out. Here's another one. This is part of a poem by Robert Penn Warren. I don't know if I got it right, but something like, at the death of ambition does the deep energy spurt forth, cracking crusts.

[62:00]

So, I propose to you that to allow green to come forth in your life, you have to let your ambitions die, which reminds me of another one of our favorite village songs, which is, people who want to study the way must abandon all human emotion, which is the same as the lights going out or letting ambition die. Anyway, give up all your dogmatism about what enlightenment is, what compassion is, what Buddhism is, and then something fresh will come, some fresh Buddhism will come to you. It may not be the Buddhism you want or the Zen you want, but it will be fresh.

[63:08]

Oh, that's greed. Greed. [...] G-R-E-E-N. It was greed that he went under the bar and went over to put his hands in it. But he'll never do that again, right? At the place you are, which is the place the Buddha says to build your practice, build your sanctuary, build a sanctuary for all beings at that place, then in addition to being at that place and not skipping over that place, then abandon everything and then green will come.

[64:30]

Indra will. pop up green grass before you. And then when the Buddha indicates the place, Indra indicates the green, then you find the green, then I suggest once you find the green, take care of the green. Of course you can't hold the green because if you hold it you lose it, but Anyway, once you get a feeling for green, then keep green in your heart. So this week I've been trying to keep green in my heart and it's not so easy to keep green in my heart because you can't keep it in your heart. You keep finding it in your heart. It keeps reappearing if you keep abandoning all your ideas about what Buddhism is and about what other Buddhists should be like. So I think some of us walk around Tassajara with some idea of what Buddhism is, what my practice is or should be, and also we even have some ideas about what other people's practice should be.

[65:41]

And of course they seldom do what we think they're supposed to be doing. But if I abandon, if I can't abandon all my ideas about what they'd be acting like if they were good Buddhists, then I might get wonderful surprises all the time about what they actually are. And I might even be able to be really encouraged by the fresh, unprecedented expression of the enlightened way that they're now demonstrating. But if I have expectations, then I have a problem. My practice gets kind of stuffy and other people's practice is worse. Has anybody ever noticed that?

[66:44]

But I find that when I somehow, by some lucky chance, if that deep energy comes up out of my body and cracks open the crust of my idea about the way people are supposed to look and act when they're Buddhist, when they're kind or when they're insightful, when that cracks open, I start to really appreciate people. But it doesn't last. You have to keep working at that on a regular basis. but to keep giving up all your stuff so this thing can come forth. When it comes forth, it's not so difficult. It's pretty easy. But anyway, it's possible to see how great other people are. I wonder what tremendous, great practice they have. Did you people know that Buddhas are 16 feet tall and are golden?

[67:54]

Well, maybe I should go on to the second case right away. So I propose that once you have once you have found the place to practice and once green has been revealed to you and you put it in your heart and then keep looking to your heart and keep abandoning everything and perhaps again and again seeing this freshness of your practice re-emerge, that then you carry forth this person who has green in his or her heart, you carry forth that work. Or, as I was also saying before, Buddha indicates the house, and the house is green. And the next case, about the price of rice, talks about housework, or housekeeping, or householding, or ecology. Ecology that's based on a fresh, unprejudiced view of what reality is.

[69:15]

And so I propose to you that your ordinary housework, you know, literally, your housework of taking care of your own body and mind, your own house, this valley, your business, whatever it is, your own caring for your house, becomes piecework if you have green in you. If it's green housework, then housework actually is piecework. But housework without that greenness in it can just be basically taking care of your own house. And it might even make you be defensive and be able to go to war to protect your house. But again, my proposal to you is that you have a green house.

[70:18]

You care for your house with this fresh body and mind. that then you won't be possessive of your house. If someone comes to take your house, you might be able to do something miraculous, like say, please take it, after I check with my wife for a second, or husband. Because you should give them first dibs on taking the house, because they're closest. We had a peace ceremony here on Saturday and I was a little bit nervous or I could even say kind of scared because it was a ceremony I'd never done before, a peace ceremony.

[71:22]

In particular, doing a peace ceremony with lots of guests coming here and children and So the time came, I was actually hoping maybe we wouldn't even have the ceremony, but somehow people kept asking me about it and I didn't run away. So there we were having a little discussion about how to have this ceremony. The Eno was asking me what the ceremony would be and what did I say, just so I played by ear. So we went there to see what the ceremony would be like, because we didn't know what it would be. So we gathered everybody around and I think I told some people beforehand to ask the kids something like, you know, ask the kids to think about what they think peace is, because maybe they would make some statement about what they thought peace was. or what they thought the Cold War was or something.

[72:26]

So I said something about the Cold War, and most of them knew something about it. So we talked about that for a while. And so we talked about the form of the ceremony, and what we decided was that, for the indoor part, that each child would bring a flower to offer for peace and harmony in the world. and they would offer incense for all the people who have died in wars, and if they wanted to say something, they could say something. And then we would chant some bliss chant. We decided to chant the verse for the protection of life. after we discussed that form of the ceremony. And each child would go and pick a flower, choose their own flower, and we would provide flowers for anybody who couldn't find one.

[73:28]

So then one of the parents had asked asked her kid what he thought peace was, and he told her, but he didn't want to say it in front of other people, so she said, someone suggested to me something about this, and she said that peace, maybe peace could be a game, and maybe it could be fun. Now, to tell you the truth, even before I heard that, I often thought that, I never thought exactly that peace would be fun. One of the things I had problems with peace is I don't think it's fun. I think, you know, peace is kind of like no war, right? It's kind of like take away war, and what do you have left? Peace. But this kid said, no, peace could be like a game. It could be fun. Ah, that's pretty good, don't you think? Wouldn't it be nice if peace was not just not war, but also like a good time and lots of fun with picnics and stuff?

[74:35]

And village songs and drinking? I usually sort of think, well, maybe we should be careful because if we start singing and drinking, then maybe we'll start a war. So let's keep it cool, right? But this kid said, no, maybe it could be fun. And then somebody said, then some adult said, let's see now, what games could we play? We could play tug of war, but that might not be right. And then someone said, well, we could all get together and press on something. And then someone said, and then some kid said, we could push on something. And then somebody said, we could have the push of peace, the peace push. And then someone said, yeah, we could put up a wall and we could push, the kids could push the wall down. We thought we could put up a wall of adults and then the kids could push the adults over. So that was the idea.

[75:37]

And then, so we did the ceremony inside. and the children were very well behaved because they knew a game was coming. And they sat there and they listened to us, you know, and the other abbot and I talked, got to give little speeches to them, you know, and they actually sat there and listened to us, because it was kind of like, it's kind of like, you know, kids listening to Santa Claus, they're very attentive. You ever seen that, when they go to see Santa Claus? They aren't distracted, they think this is something interesting. So, there we were talking to them and they sat there and listened to it kind of like it was an event in their life, you know, like they actually did a Buddhist ceremony. Now, I'm not into conversion and converting people either, I want you to know that, but when it happens it's always a thrill. And there were some people who came to that ceremony who, you know, they didn't know what they were getting into exactly, but

[76:38]

They were so happy with what happened to the kids that at the end of the ceremony, they bowed all the way to the floor. It was amazing. I never thought some of these people would ever do that, but anyway, they did. And then we went out and we made these two walls, and we also told the children not to hurt the wall. You know, you couldn't like kick it or slug it, you had to just push. You know, not to stay away from the eyes and that kind of stuff, right? So they came running at the wall and they actually kind of, they knocked a good share of the first wall over and then they knocked the second wall over and then they wanted to do it again. So they did, they put the walls up again, they knocked them over again. They actually did knock the walls, I mean they really knocked them over. They really had a good time. Afterwards I asked some kids, I asked one kid, I asked the one who talked about, who thought of the word push for peace or push, peace, push. I asked her if she liked the ceremony and she said, And she said, I like the part about pushing over the wall.

[77:43]

I said, that was part of the ceremony. She said, I like that part best. So I thought that that was really a great ceremony. I mean, I didn't know how to do it. Nobody knew how to do it. And it was really a kind of a village event. Everybody got together. The kids participated. The adults helped. It was really a a wonderful example of a kind of meaningful thing that we can create for the children and for ourselves too. So it's a kind of festal thing, festal drinking. Here's a poem about Huggleworth. I only play of a war, da [...] da, where nobody loses and everybody wins. That's my daughter's favorite sword. Something I've been rolling over with before.

[78:45]

So, I don't know if you can hear the songs that we sung tonight or not. But The Price of Rice and Lu Ling is, for me, is basically saying If you have this freshness, you know, this fresh life that comes to you when you really abandon everything, that then with that you may be able to hear the song that people are singing, the village song, and see the village dance. And with that freshness you may be able to devote yourself to everybody that you meet, to really be devoted

[80:03]

to working for their happiness, and for looking to help to see how well they're doing, to find something to appreciate there, and to know that part of the freshness is that people are really fresh, that they're presenting to you who they are, And also I would say that when they present to you who they are in such a way that you cannot figure out by any sign that you've heard of before, that they're doing what is good, that in some ways that really challenges you to enter into the actual life of the Buddha way. Because again, when you abandon everything, That means you also abandon your ideas about how people would look if they were looking good, if they were doing the right thing.

[81:09]

This is very difficult and that's why we suggest this abandonment, which we also call drop body and mind. Dropping body and mind, drop body mind, drop your life so that you can see That this person offering you this thing which you are having trouble handling because it really is unprecedented and you cannot compare it to anything else. That this is what you have to work with. Someone went to a lecture recently and afterwards she said to me, she thought it was a really, really good lecture, not my lecture, somebody else's lecture, and she said, I thought during the lecture how powerful the Dharma is and how powerful we are to be able to resist it.

[82:25]

So sometimes We look at people and we see how powerful they are to be able to resist the dharma. I mean, they are resisting the dharma. I mean, like, you know, like, what are they doing in Tassajara? You know, kind of like resistance. Like, you know, some people right here, it's really up there in the charts in the resistance level. And you can look at them and you can see this tremendous resistance, but there is also tremendous power there, life. They're probably, you know, just like fighting for their life, like just at the edge of a cliff, just the last-ditch effort possible to resist the dharma, because the dharma is so strong, you know, coming out, getting all around them dharma. And you see them like that, you know, and you think, oh, how ugly, they're resisting dharma.

[83:36]

But what is it that you're looking at when you can't stand to see that? You're seeing the dharma, too, in the form of this person resisting the dharma. The most horrible thing, right, to see someone resisting dharma. Resisting that which will cure them. Resisting the truth, the green truth which will heal them. It's so terrible to see. But that's the dharma for you, or for me, that's looking to see that. I'm resisting too." So we need to be devoted in order to catch these chances, great chances, that we offer each other, that the guests offer the residents, the residents offer the guests, the residents offer the residents, the guests offer the guests. It's just people are offering these great chances all the time. People are insulting people. You know, just great, tremendous opportunities. You know, people bow to people and they don't bow back. So great. Just terrific.

[84:42]

And that's why you gotta have that green. So you can see, oh yeah, this is green. Green is painful. Green is a slap in the face. Green is cold water. Green is deer flies gouging out your flesh. I'm not saying you shouldn't eat deer flies. Buddha said that, not me. When I'm ready, I'm going to vow to not kill deer flies in particular. But I'll think about it before I say so. I am ready to say I'm not going to kill mosquitoes anymore, on me anyway. I've given up killing mosquitoes. Pretty good, huh? So please find this greenness, you know, in your life.

[86:10]

And the way you find it, again, is to completely be contented with your position in this drama here. And abandon everything. And then when you find that green, keep finding it again and again. And then go among people and do housework with them. Do green housework. which is peace work. This brings peace and harmony to the world. It's not easy. It's not easy. I didn't say it was easy. Now did you understand this lecture? There's several other things I wanted to mention, but there's not time, so I'll just sing one more peasant song with you.

[87:11]

This is also a special request. This song... I think most of you know, except maybe those of you from foreign countries, but if you listen along, you may be able to get it. This is written in 1927 by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern. And you're supposed to sing it slowly, but don't drag. It's called Old Man River. It's a peasant song. sung in New York City. Okay, ready? Old Man River That old man river He must know something But don't say nothing

[88:18]

He just keeps rolling. He keeps on rolling along. He don't plant taters. He don't plant cotton. And Demdat Plancet is soon forgotten, But Old Man River, it just keeps rolling along. You and me, we sweat and strain Body all aching and wracked with pain Tote that barge, lift that bale Get a little drunk and you land in jail

[89:26]

I get weary and sick of trying I'm tired of living and scared of dying, but old man river, he just keeps rolling along. May our intention evenly penetrate every being and place. With the true merit of Buddha's way,

[90:37]

Shakyamuni Buddha, [...] good silver doors stay on you. Meanings are numerous, I haven't saved them. Diligence are incrustable, I haven't turned them. Dharma is around us, I vow to enter.

[91:45]

Buddha's way is unsurpassable, I vow to become. The guy said to the man, he said, when was the last time you praised a younger man or admired a younger man and told him?

[92:18]

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