Before I came to sit here, I prostrated myself before a statue representing infinite compassion. My talk with you this morning is an exploration about What is infinite compassion? What is it really? Can we find its heart and live there?

[01:01]

This weekend we've had a retreat here at Green Gulch and the central concern of this retreat has been the meaning, the living meaning, the living path of peace and harmony in this world. In terms of some kind of psychological process that human beings can experience, is there some path of peace in the midst of all this suffering of the world? This was our inquiry. Part of what we brought up was something that I brought up several times here already, and that is the teaching of three causes of enlightenment.

[02:34]

Among the innumerable causes of enlightenment, there are three that are particularly important. And could someone tell me what they are, since I've mentioned them several times already? Anyone will do. What are the three causes, or what are three causes? Non-dual meditation is number three. Bodhicitta is number one. The Iraqi situation? Yeah, accumulation and purification practice is number two. The Iraqi situation is … It's, yeah, it's like zero, number zero.

[03:40]

It's a situation. that makes us want to figure out, not figure out, but realize in enlightenment in the midst of this situation. The one great cause of enlightenment is suffering beings. That's the one great cause. If it wasn't for that, Buddhas would never appear. And so then it can be this one great cause of Buddha's appearing in response to suffering can be broken up into three parts, and these are the three parts. Bodhicitta means the altruistic thought of enlightenment, the desire, the commitment to realize what life is for the sake of all living beings.

[04:42]

And the next is to purify and accumulate positive energy and dedicate this energy to benefit. And the third is non-dual meditation. which is to make sure that the person who is generating this altruistic thought of compassion and who is working to develop and protect this altruistic thought of compassion to its fulfillment, that this person doesn't have a fixed idea about this process, that the person is open to revelation constantly, open to being able to change the approach, if necessary, at any given moment, able to give up his or her idea about what compassion is at any given time,

[05:54]

So it's important to generate a positive, compassionate thought, but then it's important to not have some dualistic view of what that is, and be willing to forget about what you think is right and wrong, even though you still think about right and wrong. I also have mentioned over and over that in order to enter into the path of non-dual meditation, you must receive the precepts, the bodhisattva precepts, the precepts of one who works for the benefit of others before you enter into the mysterious realm of non-dual meditation. You sort of implant these ethical precepts in your heart and then you enter into the realm of mystery.

[07:05]

And in the realm of mystery you need to be equipped with these precepts. And also in the realm of mystery you will be relieved and liberated from the precepts also. Because one of the things that can happen is that a person can once receiving the precepts, can take a hold of the precepts and hold them very tightly and cause a lot of trouble. But it's not that you don't receive them in order to avoid holding them tightly. You do receive them. You take them into your hands and then you see if you can let go of them. And then you take them into your hands again and see if you can let go of them. It's like receiving a baby. You receive the baby and then see if you can let the baby grow and change.

[08:18]

We would not smother the baby. But you don't not receive this precious, delicate, living creature into your care. You receive these precepts like a baby. And you take care of them all the time, but you don't smother them with your own ideas of what they mean. You watch them and see how they live and how they grow and what they reveal and what they need. And you don't know for sure. You have to listen to them too. And what other people think also. Another related formulation of three stages is that the first stage is to receive the precepts, the second is to receive meditation instruction, and the third is to receive instruction which has no

[09:36]

literally no outflows or inflows. So there's three types of discipline that a person who's working for peace can receive. First is the the discipline of the precepts. The second is the discipline of concentration activities and activities which generate positive energy. And the third is to receive a discipline of how not to gain or lose anything in the process, how to be free from ideas of gain or loss as you work to benefit according to these precepts. Could you see the parallel between those two formulations, how they're a little different?

[10:53]

Maybe too complicated for this morning. But since it's already too complicated, I'll make it a little bit more complicated. And then say that there's three, there's also in sort of parallel to this, there's what we call three cumulative pure precepts. And they are sometimes put very simply, don't do bad, do good and benefit all beings. And since probably you're really confused now, I'll just throw a bunch of Sanskrit at you too. The first one's called pratimoksha-samvara. The second one's called kushala-dharma-samgaraha-samvara.

[11:59]

And the third one's called sattva-kriya-samvara. Pratimoksha-samvara means the discipline of receiving the ethical precepts. Pratimoksha is the ethical precepts in Buddhism. Pratimoksha means conducive to moksha, conducive to liberation. So you receive a discipline which is conducive to liberation. That's the first one. Second, you receive the discipline of generating all positive good things. Kushala means wholesome or good. Dharma means things and samgraha means to gather. You receive the discipline of gathering all kinds of good things, all of them. And the third one is, sattva kriya means beings or being. Kriya means to clean up or purify, but it also means to help it function, to get it working.

[13:01]

So you receive the discipline of getting all beings together clean and working. And this is parallel to the one I said before of receiving the precepts, entering into concentration practices and so on, and what we call non-leaking disciplines. Because in fact to work for the benefit of all beings, to work to develop people, you have to have a discipline which has no sense of gain or loss. A sense of gain or loss when working with people interferes with actually being effective to help them. All right, I shouldn't say, I'll say it not differently. It's not that you don't have a sense of gain or loss,

[14:04]

It's that you do not cling to a sense of gain or loss. You are not subjugated by a sense of gain or loss. Senses of gain and loss do waft through your consciousness when working with people, but you don't hold on to gain and avoid loss. You manage to find a way between those two, which is the space where we really help people, which nobody owns and nobody knows about any more than anybody else. It's a mutual place. I offered you all that material and maybe in the future it can be clarified. We can go over it until we understand it better, but I just put it out there as a kind of overview of the complexities of a fairly simple setup.

[15:13]

So coming out of this, last night I presented a koan, and I chose this koan not really thinking that it was or was not apropos. of our discussion, or of our discussion this morning, or of our world situation. I just presented it because we've been studying a book called The Book of Serenity, which is a collection of these Zen stories. And we were on case number eight before, and so I thought we'd talk about case number nine. Case number nine is called, Nanchuan Kills a Cat. It's a story which has circulated widely for about 1500 years. The story goes like this.

[16:18]

One day, Nanchuan's eastern and western halls were arguing over a cat. Eastern and western halls means the meditation hall is divided into eastern and western sides. The monks on the eastern side and the monks on the western side. So the monks on the two sides of the hall were arguing about a cat. And they actually had apparently a cat right there, and they were arguing about it. Anand Chuan saw this. He took and held the cat up.

[17:26]

And he had a knife too. And he said, if someone can say something good, I won't kill this cat. If you can't, I'll cut it in two. The monks were struck dumb. And Nanchuan cut the cat in two. Later, his great disciple, Jiaojiao, who had been out and about during this event, came home and he told Jiaojiao what happened. And Jiaojiao took off one of his sandals, put it on his head and walked out.

[18:30]

Nanchuan said, if Jiaojiao had been here at that time, I would have spared the cat. Or if you, Zhaozhou, if you had been here at that time, you would have saved the cat. So, as I said at the beginning, This is all about infinite compassion. How is this story about infinite compassion? So... Again, when I first brought it up, I didn't notice the parallel between the monks in the East being in a power struggle with the monks of the West.

[19:45]

But that's what we have now. Is someone holding a cat up right now, is the world holding a cat up and saying, if someone can do something good, this cat will be spared. If no one does something good, the cat will be cut in two. Is that the situation in the world right now? In a sense it is. We can't exactly see one person called Nanshwan who's holding the situation up to the entire world, but something is holding the situation up and saying, unless somebody does something, this cat is going to be cut in two.

[21:01]

Is that somebody? I think it's some body, one body. Can you do it? One star I could. Then something happened in the Middle East. I lost my enthusiasm.

[22:12]

You lost your enthusiasm? Sometimes I just feel like being asked to just mind your own business. You don't want to interfere in other people's lives. This story is asking you to do something. And one of the things this story is asking each of us to do is to see in this story what is the point.

[23:29]

What is the vital point of this story? Well, how does this story bring up for us and give us an opportunity to see what we can actually do to actually promote peace in this world. What is there in the story to show you this way? Do you see something there to show you what is the point? Pardon? Yeah. What is the action? No, before he came in, before Jaojo came in. First of all, before Jaojo, when Nanshuang, we have arguing people, people in struggle.

[24:33]

Now the situation is held up. If you can do something about this situation, if you can say something now, this cat which I'm holding up will be spared. What is it? Pay attention and not be struck dumb. Yes, it certainly is that. They are paying attention, but they're struck dumb. So one meaning of this story is you better be ready to respond. Even when you have a potential war situation in front of you, you better be ready to respond. That's one meaning. What? Right, somebody could have said that. Somebody could have just said, please spare the cat.

[25:36]

That's one response, isn't it? Not to become so attached to things that you lose the sense of their value? That's right. That's another thing. Don't be so attached to life that you lose the sense of life's value. In other words, if you really value life, be careful not to be attached to it. What does good mean? Actually, another rendition of this story is he just said, if you can speak, I won't cut it.

[26:41]

All he asked them to do was speak, and they couldn't even speak. He just asked them to speak, and they didn't speak. He didn't even say, do something, speak something good. Just if someone can speak, I won't cut it. Isn't that amazing? He held the cat up, and all he said was, if someone can speak, I won't cut it. And they didn't say anything. Except the person who held it up took responsibility, didn't he? That one did it. He took responsibility by holding it up and saying, if you don't take responsibility, if you don't respond to me by saying something, this will be cut. You can't take responsibility alone. That's right, too.

[27:43]

And yet you have to speak. You can't take responsibility alone, and yet you have to take responsibility. You can't do it by yourself. and nobody else can do it for you. Somebody has to do it. Zhaozhou did it when he got home. You have to understand the other thing first. You have to answer your response before he gets home in order to understand what he did. Who tried to figure it out? Yeah, they tried to figure it out. Right. It's too late then. You can't figure it out. That's part of it too, that subconsciously we all want

[28:46]

the cat dead, just so we don't have to suffer anymore. We all want this over with. We wish they'd just go to war and put us out of our misery so we don't have to wait any longer to see whether it's going to happen or not. There's a shadow like that that would just like to get in a war and see somebody get crushed. That's part of it. But before the shadow, there's somebody who can act. There's something very clear in this story, something very clear. This story is not... Non-Chuan did not kill the cat. He didn't kill the cat. The arguing and the silence killed the cat. The monks killed the cat. Their attachment to the cat, their attachment to themselves, their attachment to what they were going to say, all that killed the cat. Non-Chuan didn't kill the cat. What's the main point here? They couldn't change.

[30:05]

They couldn't change. They had received the precepts when they entered the monastery. Here they're confronted with, but they're having problems. They're struggling with each other, and as a result of their struggle and a result of receiving the ethical precepts, they can't move. They can't change and move through this. We are in a situation like that, too. Can you change and respond and save this cat? Where do you look to see the place where you can change? Look, where is the message which shows you very clearly what you should do? Compassion. I want to be right. That's why I hold my position.

[31:07]

That makes them wrong. If I have compassion, then there is no right or wrong in this. Can you see the compassion in this story? Can you see compassion very clearly sitting in the middle of this story? Can you see it? Can you see and be intimate with the compassion which is in the middle of this story? If you can't, change and see it. Whoever can't see it, change. Let go of that person and move on. Yes? Pardon? It might be withdraw. It might be to go forward from it.

[32:07]

The point is move, change. Let go of it. Unless you can see it already. Can you see it already? Do you see the point of this story already? Then change and move on. Don't stay in not being able to see this. It's quite clear. What I know of Asia, putting a shield on your head is an ultimate act of humility because you take your Yes, he changed. And also putting a shoe on your head is an act of mourning. He mourned the cat. He mourned his fellow monks.

[33:09]

But he also simply, he made a response. And I'm not judging his response. I just say, what's our response under these circumstances? Without worrying about whether it's right or wrong, what is it? Yes. Yes. Uh-huh. Yes. Yes. We don't know, but... If you go to monasteries, especially monasteries where the monks are known to be celibate, they often have cats.

[34:26]

And they're often arguing over the cats. Have you noticed that? We had some... Where was I? I was here anyway and some Christian monks were visiting And they were into this cat down at their monastery a lot. And someone said something about it, and they said that it wasn't exactly an argument, but it was kind of a concerned and heated discussion about the cat, about how certain things were happening with this cat. And someone made some comment about it, and one of the monks said it's traditional to be discussing these kinds of cat problems in monasteries. And it really is. I've noticed it when I've visited different monasteries, both Christian and Buddhist. The cats are a big deal. Not dogs so much, more cats. How many cats are there at Kasahara?

[35:31]

I think there's eight. I think it was more likely that they were discussing, for example, is the cat Buddha? Does the cat have Buddha nature? Something like that is probably what they were discussing. Or they were probably discussing feeding schedules or veterinarian practices. Should the cat receive this kind of medical attention or something like that? I don't think it was a matter of possession. I think it was probably a matter of possession in the sense of deciding something about the cat's future. you know, feeding or some people probably thought the cat weighed too much or weighed too little or, you know, or that the cat should have a friend or something like that. But anyway, they were, they actually, I've actually seen it, monks in monasteries actually do have real arguments about cats. And they actually take positions and then they actually can hold to those positions.

[36:34]

holding to a position about a cat could actually lead to a cat dying. A little thing like holding on to a little value can cause a big problem. Monks can get their meditation can be completely disturbed and thrown into a turmoil by some value which they hold, like, for example, some aesthetic value about the way the meditation hall should be run. They can get really upset about when they hold on to that value. And holding on to those values can lead to actually the death of an animal. Yes.

[37:50]

So among those who have received the precept, who have in their heart the precept not to What can you do now? Among the people here who want to avoid a war, who have that value, how do you hold that value? Are you holding that value in such a way that you can now do something about this before there's more trouble? So this story is offered with the hope that we can see in this story an indication of how we should act in such a way as to promote peace in this world right now.

[39:08]

And this indication, although it's clear, is not direct. It's not a direct finger pointing to what you should do because it can't be that way because each of you should do something different. Each of us has a different role in this drama and I don't know how many of us cannot perform our duty and still have things come off peaceful. What is our role? What is our responsibility? Are we holding up the cat? And if someone else is holding it up, are we responding? Are we sitting, struck dumb, stuck in our position of caring too much about life or not caring enough about life? Yes? You mean that's one of the things that could catch you?

[40:26]

Yeah, that's one of the things that could catch you. Anything can catch you, and that's one of them. That's one of the stories you can hold onto tightly to and not be able to respond. Excuse me for speaking that way. I don't. I'm just speaking loudly. For me it's a matter of changing my position, getting off of my position, my mental position, Instead of, I was sitting here thinking, well, what can I do? But that's not it either, because I've become attached to what I can do. And it's just opening my mind and getting off my position to open up, and that will lead me to do whatever it is, rather than concentrating on the doing.

[41:35]

Yes. Generate the thought of enlightenment, generate the thought of benefit for all beings, receive Buddha's precepts, and then get off it. Then change. But it is not you that causes the change. You don't engineer the change. You let yourself change. You will change. And that change will be an expression. You will express yourself. It will be an action. It will express yourself. You will say something. You will do something. What will it be? It will be something. What will it be? Look and see that. Witness that coming forth, that action which comes forth from receiving the mind of compassion, receiving the ethical disciplines, and then watch what happens. Act from there with no fixed idea.

[42:39]

Even though there's ideas, none that you hold none that you're fixed to. You change and move through. You find a mind which is not disturbed by birth or death. This is the living life of compassion. That mind is sitting right under all of our noses right now, if we can recognize it. And Nanchuan's holding the cat up right now. And if we don't do something, there's going to be more trouble. Can you do something like what Zhaozhou did? You can. I think we can. And also, it's not like you have to do it all on your own.

[43:48]

Everybody else can help you. If you also don't hold on to the idea that you personally have to do it all on your own, also open up to the possibility that everybody's helping you do it right now. Perhaps even this could be it. But this cannot be inaction. This cannot be being struck numb. Even your silence could be it." But he didn't allow that that day. He said, you have to speak, and they didn't. He could have said, you have to shut up forever, but that takes too long to find out. That is the problem. Ego attachment is the problem.

[44:49]

And ego attachment then gets applied to right and wrong, gets applied to the precepts, gets applied to compassion. And applying your ego attachment to compassion kills compassion. So again, I'm saying the causes are generate compassionate thoughts, receive the precepts, do things which promote good and positive energy in this world, do all the good things you can possibly think of, purify yourself in every way you can, and then forget about the whole thing. But not forgetting like you would think forget, really forget. And see what you do. And witness what you do when you forget. And see if it's peace and harmony. And if it's not, try again.

[45:54]

This planet has real problems. This planet forces people to develop profound and real compassion. Pretend compassion can work maybe by a creek in Sonoma County. But real compassion is being put to the test here. When you talk about forgetting, I feel if we don't forget, we get bored. If we don't forget, we get bored? If we don't let ourselves forget, we find the boredom. Yeah, right. So if you can forget about peace, peace won't be boring. So even when peace is achieved, let go of that too. And then even peace and harmony could be interesting. Even living in a quiet place where nobody's killing each other could be very exciting.

[47:33]

Even a kind of a friendly good morning could be exciting if you really forget about the fact that they said good morning just like that yesterday. If you let your mind be simple, the ordinary life can be very exciting, even thrilling and refreshing, moment by moment. So part of the mind of compassion Part of the message in this story is someplace in the story that's obviously very simple because it doesn't even stand up and say, look at me. It's sitting right there under our noses, this story. Something there, very simple. If you can have that simple mind, this story itself will be extremely interesting. And the everyday little events will be very interesting. You won't have to have a war to be intensely involved with your life. But people do have intensity and do have energy, and if they don't find this mind of simple compassion, then they have to jazz everything up and get into taking over other countries and stuff like that to keep interested.

[48:48]

I mean, shopping's fun, but imagine getting a whole new country. Very exciting purchase, you know? The cost is too high? Yeah, maybe, hopefully people are finding out that the cost is too high. But the point is, people will go for something very expensive if they don't feel their life. And if you keep going for more and more expensive things, you feel your life less and less. Somebody has to make peace and harmony look like more fun than war. And not just make it look that way, but feel that way about it. Peace could be fun. The things that bring peace and harmony could be fun. Could be more fun than the intensity of this drama that we're in.

[50:01]

Mm-hmm. More interesting than the movie I saw last night? You should never go to movies. I'll remember that next time I'm in London. Forget it. Yeah, forget that, too. May our intention

[50:38]

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