Today we celebrate the seventh day of a meditation retreat. And some people have been sitting here for seven days and some others have, as you know, come in just for this morning to join the celebration. people have really, you know, given their whole heart to sitting here meditating for six and a half days now. And so congratulations to all of you. I'm very grateful and and happy that you were able to practice this way for seven days.

[01:04]

I hope that you can continue to practice as wholeheartedly forever. The teaching that I've offered to the group in some sense is quite simple. And I offer it again today. And the teaching is basically that All the Buddhas and all living beings are just one mind.

[02:10]

And there is nothing else. This one mind isn't born and does not die. It has no limitations and it is without any characteristics. It is an emptiness or an insubstantiality whose essence is compassion. It is itself and that's it.

[03:32]

In this mind, there is no distinction between living beings, any living being, and the Buddhas. There's no distinction. In this mind, Buddhas are living beings, and living beings, Buddhas. Buddha, the word Buddha is the past participle of the word bodhi.

[05:29]

Bodhi means awakened or awakening, awakening or awake. So bodhi becomes Buddha. Buddha is the past participle. Awakened rather than awakening. Okay? It's like Sierra Nevada. Nevada means, is a past participle of the Spanish word which means snowing. It's the mountains where it has snowed. Buddha is where there has been awakening. Awakening, awakening to what? Awakening to the one mind where the awakened ones and those who have not awakened are inseparable and are the same thing.

[06:39]

It's just that some beings who are inseparable from the awakened ones don't know it. But the awakened ones don't feel like the ones who aren't awake are separate from them. The ones who have not awakened are the life of those who have awakened. They have no life, absolutely no life, except all the Buddhas and sentient beings. But sentient beings They don't get it. When they get it, they're Buddhas. How come they don't get it? Well, because they grasp for some characteristic of what they are or what Buddha is.

[07:48]

Buddhas do not grasp for a characteristic of what Buddhas are or what sentient beings are. They stand in awe of themselves and all living beings. They stand, they sit in awe. Their poor little hands can't grasp anything. Their poor little minds can't grasp anything. They can't. Therefore, they're Buddhas. Because they don't grasp anything? They don't attach to anything. And they can't grasp anything because they can't see anything outside themselves. All living beings All Buddhas are not other than them.

[08:59]

They're just one mind. Not attaching to characteristics realizes Buddha. And Buddha is not attaching to characteristics. Buddha transcends all signs, and transcending all signs is to be a Buddha. But sentient beings attach to science and seek outside themselves.

[10:16]

So if a sentient being wants to train at the practice of a Buddha, what the sentient being can do is enter the training, enter the study of non-attachment and non-seeking. Because when you seek Buddha, you, excuse me for saying so, you insult Buddha by saying Buddha's outside you. When you seek, when you reach for some characteristic of enlightenment, you defile enlightenment.

[11:23]

So the training is to train at non-seeking, non-attachment, and we could also call it not moving, to train in not moving. Right now. Right now, you could study, what is it to not seek anything? What is it to open your hands, open your mind, open your heart, and not attach to anything? A whole universe is happening around us. What is it to not seek anything other than where you are right now.

[12:37]

What it is, is unsurpassed enlightenment. That's what it is. And there's no further characteristics, there's no characteristics of this unsurpassed enlightenment which is simply to not move there's a scripture in the Chinese Buddhist canon. And in the scripture, an unusual thing happens, is that one of the great bodhisattvas, one of the great enlightening beings, who we call Manjushri.

[13:48]

Manjushri means pleasant splendor. And that big statue in the middle of the room there, the one who's sitting up above us all, that's a statue of Manjushri. the embodiment of the principle of emptiness, whose essence is compassion. So the unusual thing about this scripture, besides what Manjushri says, which is even more unusual, is he actually asked the Buddha if he could give the Buddha a little talk, if he could give the Buddha a little lecture on not moving. The Buddha said, if you wish to do so, go right ahead. And so Manjushri gave the Buddha a talk about not moving, which you may understand as not seeking and non-attainment.

[14:58]

Manjushri said, blessed one, all living beings can attain awakening. All living beings can attain awakening. This fact is what I call not moving. Was that clear? All living beings can attain unsurpassed awakening. This is what I call not moving. And the Buddha said, for what reason? For what reason? Do you call the fact that all living beings can attain awakening not moving?

[16:18]

And I would put in parentheses, not seeking, not attaching to any characteristic. And Manjushri said, blessed one, if all things are without wish or attachment, all sentient beings have already entered the heart of awakening. Furthermore, this awakening does not have any marks of attainment. This awakening does not have any characteristics. Sound familiar? The one mind is without characteristics. The one mind, which is just all living beings and all Buddhas, is without characteristics.

[17:35]

this awakening is without the marks of attainment, without the characteristic of attainment. How so? Because the condition of a living being is precisely what is called awakening. Therefore, the attainment of awakening by a living being is called not moving. For a living being to attain awakening is nothing else than for a living being not to move. Because the condition of a living being

[18:38]

is precisely what is meant by awakening. And over the head of Manjushri there's a scroll that says, in Chinese, the condition of being a living being is immediately awakening. However, sentient beings want something to get a hold of, to attach to, so that they could be sure that their condition was awakening. This is awakening? This condition? Now, if you turn around and say this condition and then look at your condition and then see what your condition is like and grasp your condition as awakening, then that would be moving.

[19:57]

It is not your condition to grab your condition. However, it is your condition that you would like to grab your condition. You don't have to grab your condition, you've already got it. And the fact that you've already got it is not moving. And the condition itself is awakening. Blessed one, all living beings, if Manjushri would talk, he would be talking about each of you, each of us, all living beings, every person in this room already equally realizes all knowledge of the Buddhas.

[21:07]

This is what I call not moving. So just wherever you are throughout the day and night, for you, the attainment of bodhi is nothing else than for you not to move.

[22:11]

What you are is already Buddha. To realize that, just don't move. If you move the slightest bit, if you doubt that the slightest bit, if you think you have to be the slightest bit different, or that Buddha is something the slightest bit different from you, then that movement, that grasping, that seeking, blocks your realization of your nature, which is precisely what we call awakening. And it means awakening to the one mind where you and all beings and all Buddhas are practicing together in perfect peace and harmony. And from the realization of this mind, which comes to you from not moving from what you are, inconceivable activity spontaneously blossoms.

[23:32]

You are a Buddha then. And without moving, you respond appropriately to every other being in the universe. Without doing anything or moving, the great activity of Buddha's wisdom and compassion unfolds throughout the universe. Now hearing this talk, if you should happen to decide to start training yourself in non-attachment and non-seeking and not moving, you just have to watch out for one thing, and that is that you would attach to anything in your mind.

[24:54]

Just watch out for that. Just watch out for that. That's the main thing to watch out for. The main danger. The firmness of sitting still, of not moving, opens up the great tenderness of the Buddha's heart. Opens up your eyes to see the great beauty of all living beings. And when you see the beauty of all living beings, you are in awe and you're very gentle and tender with this beauty. Seeing this beauty and

[26:02]

being firm. You do not reach for it. You do not try to co-opt it, exploit it, attach to it. The stillness which opens your eyes also protects you from abusing the beauty which is revealed to you when your eyes open. We actually have this practice we do. After your eyes open and you start seeing how beautiful all living beings are, if a little bit of your old habit of grasping for that beautiful being arises, what we suggest is you put your palms or your hands together so you can't grasp them. And then once your hands are neutralized in this...

[27:04]

palms together posture, you still may feel impulse to try to grab them with some other part of your body. So it's all right, just turn it into a slight forward bend. Or a big forward bend. Or go all the way down to the ground. this almost unbearable appreciation which arises when your eyes open. And the opening of the eyes arises when you don't move. If you don't move, your eyes of wisdom open and you can see who and what people are. Namely, they're Buddhas. even though they don't realize it, you can see that they are.

[28:10]

They are unrealized Buddhas which are called living beings. Some have a long way to come before they stop moving. You can see, perhaps, this is going to take a long time for this person to stop moving. This person does not believe this teaching of moving yet. So they're going to move for a long time before they stop moving. They're going to seek a long time before they give up seeking. Their training in non-attachments is going to be a long one. You can see this in some banana slugs. As they move over the ground, you know, oozing out this stuff which makes them stick to everything and makes everything stick to them, it's going to be a long training for them to stop moving.

[29:14]

But when they stop moving, they will realize awakening. They will understand and realize that they are inseparable from all living beings and the Buddhas in one mind. So they deserve our respect. And when we see what they are, we feel very tender towards them. And we want to help them enter Buddha's way and learn at their own rate what it means to not move and realize bodhi. And also, that tenderness realizes not moving.

[30:25]

Not moving is a very firm and determined response to the teaching of one mind. But the way to realize that not moving is by that tenderness. The tenderness with which the awakened person applies to the banana slug and the teenage human. That tenderness is also what we apply to ourselves in training ourselves to not move. We see ourselves, we see some tendency or a big tendency to not feel not ready to give up moving. We feel there is a tendency there to attach to certain appearances, to certain characteristics. I see that tendency. I'm not yet ready to give up that grasping, to give up that seeking.

[31:30]

Well, I admit that. I'm patient with myself. But at least I understand that this is precisely what must be dropped. but I'm tender with myself because even though I don't believe it yet, I must be tender with myself as though I did believe it. Believe it means even though I don't believe that I'm in fact already awake, I should treat myself as though I were a Buddha who doesn't realize it yet. So be tender with yourself in educating yourself and training yourself at not moving.

[32:31]

In many generations, of the Zen tradition, different teachers teach this same teaching of not moving, the same teaching of non-seeking and non-grasping, non-attachment. They teach it in different ways, different times, different congregations. It changes, but it's very pervasive, this teaching in the Zen tradition. It's simple, but it's kind of also could be shocking. When people contemplate such a teaching, they sometimes feel, again, contemplating a life of not seeking anything, of not moving, moment by moment not moving, of moment by moment not attaching, people think,

[33:57]

You know, it just seems like they get scared. What will happen to me if I don't grasp my lunch, if I don't seek my lunch, if I don't move to get my lunch? How will I eat? How will I move if I can't move? If I don't move, how will I move? People get afraid of that. Well, movement is an illusion. That's why it's okay to give it up. There is change, and every time a new moment arrives, there is a change.

[35:13]

Our place changes, our time changes, our body changes. And our place changes, and our place changes, and we call that movement. But in each moment, we don't move. Sentient beings have trouble contemplating not moving because they're attached to characteristics and they seek outside themselves. But I just want to make clear, which I said earlier this week, please be clear that not moving can happen, can be realized right in the world of movement.

[36:36]

The world of movement is the world of living beings. And the world of non-movement, of not moving, is the Buddhahood of those beings who think that they can move. The Buddhas who do not move are inseparable from the sentient beings who think they can move. If you want to understand that, Practice not moving, even while you're still a person who thinks that they can move. So in all the movements of your day, don't move. In all the movements of your night, don't seek to be another place. Right now, if you wish to realize awakening, don't seek anything other than this.

[38:30]

Don't seek outside this. Right now, don't move. the sentient being that's sitting here, I thought of something and was trying to grasp it.

[39:52]

But can't remember what it was, so... So I'm trying not to move away from being a person who's trying to get a hold of something interesting that he thought of. Or at least he thought it was interesting. I remember one of the things I thought was interesting. You want to hear it? It's not like, you know, what do you call it, me or somebody in the temple here has, what do you call it, informants placed throughout the Bay Area.

[41:17]

It's not like I place them there. There is a crew of volunteer informants who are circulating through the Bay Area. So I stay here most of the time, and they come and tell me what's going on out there. They tell me about how you're practicing. They come back and they say, you know, I saw so-and-so, and they look like they're moving. I mean, they were moving, but also they looked like they actually forgot about not moving while they were moving. And I saw so-and-so and they really seemed like they were attaching to some characteristic of Buddha. I mean, I don't ask for people to do this. They just come and tell me. They voluntarily tell me how people are doing out there in their practice. Sometimes they come and tell me, you know, I saw somebody in the street the other day and the person actually was like not moving. Now, it looked like the person was dancing at the bus stop, but really, when I inquired, I found out that they weren't moving.

[42:27]

So I get various kinds of reports. So here's a report I got recently. In a certain kind of exercise temple, this conversation was overheard. So two women were talking. One of them comes and practices here regularly for a while and was telling her friend about how she comes and sits here. And her friend said, well, don't they carry a stick during meditation there? And the other person said, well, I've been sitting there for a long time and I haven't seen a stick or heard the stick. being used. Because when it's used, it makes a sound, kind of like this.

[43:27]

Ouch! No, they don't say ouch, because it's silent meditation. Inwardly, they make some comment, like ouch, or sometimes they say, you know, right on. Sometimes they say, oh, I see. Sometimes they say, why me? And so on. And sometimes they say, what's that bird doing on my shoulder? I said that once. I thought, I was sitting in meditation. I thought, what's that bird on my shoulder? How come there's a bird on my shoulder? And I looked and it was a stick. So I thought, Seems appropriate. I didn't argue. But anyway, this person had been coming to Zen Center for quite a long time and never seen or heard the stick.

[44:31]

And then she said, well, maybe they just used the stick for the monks. For the monks. What are the monks? Monks. What's the difference between the monks and the not the monks? What does she mean by the monks? What would that be? Those who like to be hit, are those the monks? Those who need to be hit? The non-monks don't need it? What does she mean just for the monks? Does she mean, well, there's some special training thing where they use the stick. Well, what would they need to do a special thing for some people for that they don't use for the other people? I heard that story recently, like yesterday.

[45:34]

And I thought, yeah, where is that stick? And I actually thought, well, actually what I'm talking about is the stick. This is the stick. Not moving. Don't move. That's the stick. That's the Zen stick. You've got the stick. That's it. That's what it's about. It's about. You know, really, no kidding. Don't betray yourself. Don't move away from what you are. And if you don't move from what you are, that is realizing Buddhahood. quite a stick.

[46:47]

But in Asia, they can't say that because they don't speak English, so they use a stick. Well, it's getting late, so... I guess I won't say the other things I want to say. But maybe you have some questions about this simple teaching of not moving, of not attaching to characteristics of things, of not seeking anything outside yourself. Yes? He said, isn't understanding attachment? How do you mean understanding is attachment? What do you mean by it? How do you see understanding as attachment? You're thinking that if you understand something, you're attached to it.

[48:01]

Could you give me an example of something you understand that you're If you understand what I'm saying. Yes, sir? Could you wait until we finish this one? Okay. Well, anyway, I'll just finish you first. Yes. Okay, so you're listening to me talk to him. Did you understand what I just said to him? Not yet? Okay. So actually I saw a slow motion photograph of an African Olympic long distance runner. Slow motion photograph of his face while he was running in the Olympics. And he won a gold medal. They showed his face while he was running in this race that he won.

[49:02]

His face was completely still. and calm. It looked like he was not moving. It didn't look like he was going anyplace. It didn't look like he was seeking anything. He really looked like a Buddha sitting there, and he was running. So I think, yes, it is possible while you're jogging to not move. However, if while you're jogging you're seeking something, then even if you stop moving and stand still, you're still moving. If you're running, and while you're running, you're looking for an alternative to the place you're standing right now, as you put your foot on the ground and you push off the earth, and you wish that you had an alternative place to push off from, you wish you had a different footing, then you're moving. But if you work with what you've got, And don't look for some alternative.

[50:03]

And don't seek something outside yourself for your practice. You realize the Buddha right there. Now, do you understand that yet? Okay, so now how is your understanding of that grasping something? Well, you might seek before you understand, but once you understand, are you still seeking? Seeking? Okay? He got it. Now that you got it, are you attached to that? Okay. Okay. So he said, yes, he's afraid he's attached to that now that he got it. That's his dilemma. Okay? Now, ready? To not seek to be other than the person you are who is attached to that understanding. Okay? To just be willing to be this guy, that's Buddha. Buddha. I don't attach to that either.

[51:04]

Okay? Look, he's getting happier and happier. This is a sentient being who is not moving. This is a Buddha. You get to be Buddha. The fact that you can be Buddha is called not moving. It doesn't last very long. No. He'd take it from him. Buddha didn't say it lasts long. The Buddha nature is impermanence. One of the Buddhist teachings of impermanence, the best example of it is the Buddha nature. Buddha nature is the prime example of impermanence. It's fleeting. It's the perfect example because not moving is impermanent. But that's why it's always refreshed and renewed too. Way in the back.

[52:09]

That was the wrong person, but go ahead, be the wrong person. How is it possible to not move in your love life? It's impossible. Yes. Yes. Take away the stay in the relationship. Anyway, you're in a situation where the power of sexuality is there, okay? You're wondering, how is it possible to not move? Okay? All right?

[53:13]

Okay. Now, the fact, all right, that you can attain awakening... that you can realize that you, a sentient being who feels sexual power, the fact that you can attain awakening is called not moving. That's what not moving is, is that you can wake up in that situation. So if you say, how is it possible to not move in that situation, that's the same thing as saying, how is it possible to wake up in that situation? Same thing. Now, is it difficult in that powerful situation, which is such a powerful situation for human beings, and we have so much equipment to fulfill that power? Is it difficult to not grasp in that situation, to not grasp anything in your mind?

[54:17]

It is extremely difficult. you have already attained awakening in that situation. That's called not moving. If you look, if you seek for some kind of not moving in that situation, if you seek for some characteristic of being awake in that situation, you move, you move away from the awakening which is already there in that situation. It is extremely difficult to not seek and to not attach to some characteristic in that situation. What we need to do is train ourselves in not grasping, not attaching, not seeking in that situation. How to go on with it? That's part of the reason why it's hard for us to devote ourselves to that concern with how is this going to go on is part of the reason why it's hard to pay attention to not moving and not grasping.

[55:29]

Because we think, if I don't grasp, will this thing go on? And the answer is, check it out. But we're afraid to check it out. We're afraid the whole thing may collapse. And it's like, this is one thing that's not supposed to collapse. It'd be very embarrassing if this thing fell through in the middle. But you know, maybe it will fall through into the enlightenment of that situation, into Buddhas in sexual relationship. Two Buddhas. Two Buddhas. Not just one Buddha, but two. In order to really realize the truth, it takes two Buddhas in sexual relationship. It's not like you have two Buddhas and there's no sexual relationship. If they're sentient beings, there's a sexual relationship. Sentient beings don't come without sexual relationship.

[56:33]

Somebody thought, you know, a friend of mine told me about a friend of his who was told by his high school biology teacher that bacteria are not sexual beings. And this guy said, and he decided to check it out. And he, in graduate school, verified that bacteria are sexual beings. And as Linda Ruth Cutts said the other day, there's bacteria in the core of nuclear reactors. Pretty much where there's a universe, there's life, and where there's life, there's sex. And where there's a universe, there's sex. Sex is totally pervading the entire universe, and Buddhas have sexual relationships with each other. But they don't move. And it's transient. And they don't seek.

[57:36]

and the sexual relationship proceeds in whatever way it proceeds. They're not attached to proceeding this way or that way. But sentient beings have strong tendency for sexual relationship to go one way or another, don't they? Very strong, very strong tendency, very strong stretching towards sexuality going one way or another. This is a sentient being. When a sentient being does not seek to be other than that, when a sentient being accepts that she or he has a strong tendency and doesn't move from that, a sentient being realizes that they're already awake even in the midst of having that tendency for sexuality to go one way or another. Difficult to realize this? Yes, because it's difficult to really realize non-seeking in that situation and non-attachment in that situation.

[58:43]

Is it possible? It is not only possible, it is already happening. Excuse me. The awakening is already happening, but unless we realize the non-attachment, we block seeing that there's a Buddha there with another Buddha. This is the ultimate truth. Way in the back. You had your hand way back there. Yes. How should we interpret the phrase, we should renounce worldly affairs relative to movement and not movement? Okay? Renouncing worldly affairs means you renounce movement. That's what it means. Good question. Renouncing worldly affairs means you renounce seeking. It means when you go to the store, you go to the store but not seeking.

[59:48]

Or, even more radically, if you're a seeking person who's like, you know, going to the store seeking something, you do not seek to be other than the seeking person. But you do that as a practice of not moving from being this seeking person. And therefore you realize, you realize Buddhahood in this person without changing this person at all. But you notice, you're there, seeing this person's going to this door to seek something. This person's running up the hill to seek something. Every step of the way, or not every step, this step, I do not seek for this person who's seeking something to be anything other than this seeking person. That being aware of not moving at that moment is giving up worldly affairs. Right in the midst of this worldly affair of somebody trying to get up a mountain or buy a chocolate bar.

[60:54]

Does that make sense to you? And by the way, in that chant also it says Buddha's compassion, okay? And Bodhisattva's compassion. Buddha's compassion does not mean that compassion is a characteristic of the Buddha. The Buddhas have no characteristics, but there's compassion all over the place. But it's not a characteristic of them. Yes, was there another question there? I just answered it. Oh, good. Do you want to ask it again? Supply the question. Okay, so you have a case where a sentient being is angry? Is that what you're saying? Oh, so you sit still in meditation and you notice there's anger there?

[61:59]

Okay, well that's a sentient being, right, who's angry? Okay. One of the things, when you first start approaching the practice of not moving, what you do is basically maybe you slow down and actually stop moving for a little while, and then you notice maybe that you're angry or afraid or something. So then you've got maybe an angry sentient being. Okay? So that sentient being, the fact that that sentient being can awaken is called not moving. And for that sentient being... who is now angry and also was aware that she's angry, for her to be awakened is nothing other than that she doesn't move. The anger is not the awakening. The not moving away from the anger is the way that she realizes that she's already herself, as she is, awakening. guess what?

[63:01]

It can happen right in the middle of an argument. If you just stop moving and stop seeking and stop attaching right in the middle of the argument, you can realize unsurpassed wisdom. That's what's being said here. Okay? Back there? I don't know, I can't see you. Yes? So, are you saying that I'm not moving? When I meditate, I try not to move, and I'm able to be more in tune, and as a result, I have no mind. Is that what you're saying? It's a... Well, yeah, right. Right.

[64:07]

Right. Right. Yes? Did you say that the Buddha said that we can all attain awakening? Did I say that the Buddha said that we can all attain awakening? I don't know if I said it. I said that Manjushri said... Manjushri said... and Buddha probably said it too, probably Manjushri heard it from Buddha, but in this particular scripture, Manjushri said, the fact that all beings can attain awakening is called not moving. Can they? That's the whole point of Buddhism, is that they can. That's the whole thing about Buddhism, that all living beings can attain awakening And not just all living beings, but the entire universe can attain awakening. That's what it's all about. So you want me to say yes?

[65:09]

Yes. Yes? Yes? Could you stand up, please? When you said that it's already snowed, I understand that medicine is like snow, but there's probably darkness and it's water, then grass, and not grass. Right. It's very difficult to hold on to the medicine Yes, that's right. That's right. You cannot hold on to awakening because it's impermanent. And when you start, so if you have awakening, you can't hold on to it and you understand that it is impermanent. But also, when you understand that things are impermanent, you stop holding on to them.

[66:20]

And when you stop holding on to them, you realize awakening. Did you get that? You almost got it. One more time, okay? So you see, you can see that the snow melts. Awakening melts. Awakening changes. It goes away. But going away is not a characteristic of awakening. It just says it's impermanent. So the way you would relate to awakening, it would not be appropriate to try to hold on to awakening. That's not a thing to be held on to. It's a thing to be realized in each moment by not moving. And I also added on, if you relate to anything, anything or any person or any creature, if you relate to them in terms of their impermanence, you would relate to them the same way you would relate to awakening, which means that you would relate to each being as Buddha.

[67:21]

So many hands. What time is it? It's 11.30. Okay. Well, okay. How are you doing with this? Some people want to go home? A few more questions? Who should I call on? This guy? Is awakening and the realization of awakening the same thing? Is awakening and the realization of awakening the same thing? No. Both. He said, which is impermanent? The awakening... Oh, excuse me. I take it back. He said, which is impermanent? The awakening or the realization? The awakening is impermanent? Or the realization is impermanent? What kind of awakening, what's the difference between awakening and the realization awakening?

[68:31]

The realization awakening is called Buddha. The awakening unrealized is called a sentient being. However, sentient beings and Buddhas are inseparable. And what a sentient being really is, is a Buddha. And a Buddha is a sentient being. And that's one mind. where the realized and the unrealized are inseparable. The unrealized are those whose nature is Buddha, who are, when they don't move, Buddha, but who are still moving. I mean, they still think they're moving. So if they would just give up this worldly affair of moving, they would realize that they're Buddha. And Buddha does not prefer the moving to the not moving. Buddhas don't prefer Buddhas over sentient beings.

[69:33]

Buddhas do not prefer being Buddha over not being Buddha. Buddhas do not prefer enlightenment over delusion. If you prefer enlightenment over delusion, then you're a sentient being. When you stop preferring enlightenment over delusion, When you stop preferring being some other way than the way you are, then you're Buddha. But as long as you prefer, then you're still enlightenment itself, but that preference makes it unrealized. However, the realized ones feel completely one with you in in your preferential state. And they don't prefer for you not to have preferences which make you block your realization. Matter of fact, they think it's darling. Any other questions before we go? Way, way in the back there. Yes.

[70:37]

Thank you. She said, I would assume that most people enter this practice because they're seeking something. In other words, you would assume that most people who enter this practice are sentient beings. Is that right? And you might be right. We don't have a census. But certainly some people, some sentient beings enter the practice and they are seeking something. That's why they're sentient beings. Okay? I agree. So the chakra and the uterus, yeah. If that's our initial step, it's not our foundation, but it's our initial step. Our foundation is the person who's not moving, who then moves and seeks.

[71:39]

But the reason why you seek is because you want to go home to the one who's not seeking anything. I guess she thought that was the answer. Yes? Does that mean it's okay? What do you mean by okay? If you're seeking, then you want to attach, yes. seeking to not to learn how to not move yes it does it is yeah it's it's like it's like you you see this idea of you see this thing called not moving and you make it into a sign you grasp it okay and that's moving so that's part of the training is you try to learn how to not move and the first thing you do is you move again it's a new kind of not a new kind of moving called not moving okay so you make moving into another thing you do

[72:52]

rather than realizing that you're really moving when you just recognize what's happening already. And you do not seek some other kind of movement, some other kind of non-moving than the one you've already got. This crummy old not moving I've got now, this is the one I've got. This is my real not movement. But I don't attach to this either. This is a training. Because the tendency to move, to seek, to attach is so strong that we can convert those things, those practices, into exactly their opposite. We can make non-seeking into something else we seek. We can make non-attachment into something we attach to. We can make non-moving into something we move towards. But you just pointed it out, so you caught yourself, so you know that wasn't it. But being the way you are before you before you did anything, and being the way you are right now, that's not movement.

[73:56]

The way you are actually is Buddha. The way you are actually, your actual condition is what's called awakening. Awakening, or being awake. But if you think that awakening would be some particular way, It might not coincide with the way you are, so then you think you should do something to be awake. So then you're back into the seeking thing again. So again, there's this phrase, what you think or do one way or another prior to awakening does not help awakening. But that's not because what you're thinking or doing is not good. It's because what you're thinking and doing is already awakening. but you don't think so. Therefore, you seek to do more of it until it works, or to do something different.

[74:59]

But that'll never work. You've got to realize that what you're already doing is itself awakening, including that you're seeking. You've got to see that your seeking is already awakening, but then it wouldn't be seeking anymore. It would be awakening. and you'd be out of a sentient being job. And also you wouldn't feel like there was an improvement. Sentient beings think if I became a Buddha, that would probably be better. Buddhists don't think they're better than sentient beings, from what I hear. Even though they don't think they're better than sentient beings, They want sentient beings to have a chance to realize that they're Buddha. But not because they'll be better, but just that they should know what they are. They are actually awakening. They want them to know that, but they don't think they'll be better. Yes? Yes?

[76:03]

I already said that. Yes? I think you might have answered my question a little bit later again. If a person is not moving and then moves, and they accept themselves as now a living person or now seeking, that's their condition. Yes. Are they not moving? Their condition itself, no matter what they're doing, sentient beings do quite a variety of things, no matter what the condition of a sentient being, that condition is itself awakening. without exception. Okay? That's it. No matter how much you're seeking, the condition of seeking is itself awakening. When you see that, seeing that, accepting that, that is not seeking.

[77:05]

That is just saying, okay, I'm seeking. Here I am seeking. Wow. That's it. And I don't wish to be somebody who's not seeking. Or I don't wish to be the Buddha that I'll be when I accept it. Yes? I feel like you're trying to grasp a characteristic of awakening. And I will help you not to do that. No, I think you stop now. You stop now. You stop trying to grasp your characteristic of awakening. That's what I feel you're doing. If I'm wrong, tell me. What's the hand over there? Yes. If I grasp what you're saying.

[78:11]

Then you're a sentient being. Yes, yes. So right now you say, you say that if I grasp what you're saying, and I say then you're sentient being, and then you said if a sentient being were to be this person who is grasping things, grasping what I'm saying, In saying that I'm saying this instead of that, in grasping what I'm saying in terms of what it appears, if you're sentient being that way, and you would just be that, not if you would just be that, but the way you are just that, that is okay. So I do what I'm doing and be who I am. You do what you're doing and you be what you are, yes? And that's it. Thank you. And if that's easy, you're not doing it.

[79:17]

Because the most difficult thing for a sentient being to do is just be what they are. So if you think that's easy, then you're dreaming of being yourself. It's very difficult just to be yourself. That's the hardest thing for us to do. Yes? Yeah, right. In other words, they think they're moving. The Buddha knows that this is not moving. This is like not moving, [...] not moving. And look, I'm in a different place. I have to move, I have to move to get to a different place. I have to move to get my lunch rather than not lunch, not lunch, not lunch, lunch. Not lunch, not lunch, not lunch.

[80:23]

One of the great stories of Buddha, one of the sort of almost unbelievable stories of the Buddha is that the Buddha was actually tracking down a mass murderer named Agulimala. He was a mass murderer and a serial murderer, both. Killed people in groups of 1 to 40. And kept going. He actually supposedly had almost killed 1,000 people, which was his goal. And the Buddha was looking for this guy because the Buddha wanted to help him. And this guy saw the Buddha, and the Buddha wanted to kill the Buddha. Can you believe it? This is supposedly a historical event of our founder... tracking down a serial murderer. This should be made into a movie. So, and the killer wants to kill the Buddha. So the Buddha's walking along. The killer sees the Buddha, comes running out after the Buddha. And this guy's like, in fact, he can run fast. He's running after the Buddha, and he starts to notice after a little while that he's not making any, he's not closing the gap between him and Buddha by his running.

[81:33]

Your running doesn't close the gap between you and Buddha. Got it? No matter how fast you run, you'll never close the gap between you and Buddha. So the murderer says to the Buddha, hey, bub, how come I'm not getting closer to you? You're walking at a normal kind of slow rate, and I'm running faster and faster, and I'm not getting any closer. How come I can't catch you? Buddha says, because I'm not moving, because I stopped. Stopped. And I stopped killing. I stopped lying. I stopped stealing. I stopped moving. The way you close the gap between yourself and Buddha is to be still. And when the Buddha said that, Agulimala stood still for a second, and he woke up. The mass murderer woke up.

[82:38]

when he realized that running was not going to get him closer to his prey or to the Buddha. He didn't even know it was Buddha, but he stopped and he woke up. Isn't that amazing that they say that that story, that that's happened? Said, I think, you know, that this is great. I think some people would like to keep going on, but something tells me that I should stop. What is that? How do I ever get that message? Did you hear that, folks? Something is telling me that I should stop. Maybe it's Buddha telling me I should stop. Yes, sir. May our intention

[83:43]

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