Now, may I ask a question, may I ask a question? How many people are here for the first time? Would you raise your hands? Welcome to the new people, and how many people are here for the second time? Welcome again. Starting out, I would ask, how many people have not heard the term, or don't understand

[01:21]

the term, Bodhisattva? Would you raise your hands? So, Bodhisattva, Bodhi means in Sanskrit for awakening, and sattva means being. So, a Bodhisattva is a being, in a sense, an awakening being, a being who is awakening, a being in the process of awakening. And this means that the being is in the process of awakening, but it also means that the being is in the process of awakening together with other beings. In a sense, all beings are in the process of awakening together with all other beings. So, in that sense, everybody is a Bodhisattva.

[02:24]

An additional meaning of the word Bodhisattva is those beings who want, who are consciously aware that they wish to be in the process of awakening together with all other beings. And so, usually in Zen, we don't use the word Bodhisattva for people who are not consciously aware that they are in the process of waking up together with all other beings. Even though everybody is in this process, we usually use the term Bodhisattvas for those who wish to be in the process of awakening together with everyone. And those beings who wish to be

[03:27]

in this process, and wish everybody else to be in the process, they also understand that some people do not wish to be in the process. Or, that some people wish to be in the process with some people, but not with other people. I saw a movie recently, in a sense it's a movie about L.A., but in a sense L.A. is a movie about the world. It's a movie about racism, in a way, but really it's a movie about people who want to be in the process

[04:32]

of awakening with some people and not other people. So they have stories in there of, for example, a policeman who really loves his father, whose father is suffering, probably has prostate cancer, and his father can't sleep at night, and he can't sleep because he cares so much for his father, he really loves his father. He wants his father to be free of suffering, and there's some other people, however, that he does not particularly, he's not aware that he wants them to also be awake and free of suffering. And many people

[05:35]

in the story, you can tell there's some people they really love, and some people they really want to become free with, but there's some other people they don't yet understand that they want to wake up with those people. In Zen meditation, which many of you probably already are familiar, we put a lot of emphasis on being present, being aware that we're here, and that we're here now. And we also put emphasis on being here in the present, being in this place

[06:49]

in the present, without trying to get anything from being here, without trying to get any particular state by being here now. We may feel that being here now, without trying to get any state, will be good, but we're not actually trying to get a state of experience. It turns out, however, we understand that if we can be present in time and space, if we can be present without trying to get any state, without any craving for a state, if we can be present that way, in fact, we do get a state. The state we get is a state of tranquility and ease. We do get that, but the

[07:56]

catch is if we try to get it for ourselves, we don't get it. Matter of fact, we continue to be agitated and in a state of craving. Someone asked a teacher of a different branch of meditation, does Zen people practice and achieve states of tranquil concentration? And the person says, yes they do, but they don't get to have them. So, if you practice being where you are, which is just, you don't have to really do anything to be where you are, but if you can accept that you are where

[09:01]

you are and you are who you are, period, you will become very concentrated, you will be very concentrated and calm, but you don't get to have that, you just are that. You don't get to have that though. If you have it, you lose it. If you have it, you separate a little bit from it, and then you can lose it a little or a lot. That's a basic practice of tranquility. But there's more to the meditation practice than just being present with no gaining idea. There's more. In the background, this practice is because we

[10:04]

think it would be good to be such a person, to be a person who is present, in other words, to be a person who is himself. We think that's good. To be a person who is present and not trying to get anything out of life, but present to life, caring for life, for the sake of life. We think that's good and we wish, we want, all beings to be awake to reality, so that they will be free of suffering. And in order to help beings wake up to reality, we ourselves need to hear the true Dharma, we need to hear the true teaching. At the beginning of this talk, we chanted, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. The Tathagata is an epithet for Buddha. I vow to taste the truth of the Buddha's words.

[11:11]

Really, you could say, I vow to taste the truth of everybody's words. In everybody's words, there's a truth. The truth is unhindered by anybody's words. I vow to hear the truth of the wind, and the waves, and the baby crying, and my enemies' insults. I vow to hear the truth that nothing can hinder. That is the Buddha's truth. That is the word of the Buddha. Sitting, standing, walking on this earth, or even in space, and being present,

[12:30]

without trying to get anything for myself, I am calm. We are calm when we're that way. If in that calmness, or even before that calmness, if we want to hear the teaching of the Buddha, if we want to hear the teaching of the Buddha, then we are like these Bodhisattvas, or we are like being a Bodhisattva, because Bodhisattvas want to hear the true teaching, the truth. They want to hear it, so that they can more fully function in the process of waking up with all beings.

[13:38]

So, not only do I suggest to you that the meditation practice of these beings who are in the process of awakening with all beings, they actually practice in this process a meditation, a meditation to bring this process into manifestation. And the meditation practice that they practice is partly to meditate on wanting all beings to awaken with all beings. And when they are present and they want this, and they think that they want this, and they feel that they want this, or when we are present and we think that we want this, and we feel that we want this,

[14:43]

what is proposed is that Buddhas, those who have completely realized this awakening together with all beings, who live throughout the universe, will come to us and present their face to us. And they will cause us to hear the true Dharma. Also, the teachings of the truth actually can be put into physical form, and they can be put into a physical form.

[15:49]

They can be put into mountains, and caves, and trees, and they can be put there, and they are put there, for these Bodhisattvas who want to receive these teachings, and these teachings will be presented to the Bodhisattvas in the form of books. They will be delivered to the hands of these Bodhisattvas. And also, Bodhisattvas who are wanting to hear the Dharma in the process of awakening with all beings, they will be visited by deities who have met Buddhas who existed in the past,

[16:57]

and these deities will come to these Bodhisattvas, and they will inspire these Bodhisattvas to speak with the eloquence of the Buddhas. These are three modes of revelation, or three modes of inspiration, which come to beings who wish to live in the process of awakening together with all beings. If these beings are not present, then they cannot receive this revelation, so they have to be present.

[18:04]

And if these beings do not want that lack of desire, not for a state for themselves, but for hearing the teaching so that they can fully exercise the process of all beings' freedom. If these beings are not present and desiring the welfare of all beings, then they do not see the Buddha before them, and they do not hear the Dharma, and they do not feel inspired to the eloquence of the Buddhas. So the Bodhisattva's job is to admit what they are, and if a Bodhisattva doesn't yet want to be in the process of awakening together with all beings, then they're the kind of Bodhisattva that's not called a Bodhisattva. They're like all the beings who are in this process but do not yet know they want to be in this process.

[19:11]

And by not knowing that you want to be in this process, in some sense, you feel like you're not in it. We must be both present, without a gaining idea, and desire this great thing. And awakening, in particular, there is a teaching which has come which says that everybody and everything that ever arises in your life, all the things that come forward moment by moment, no matter what, realize you. It's a teaching that nothing is separate from you.

[20:14]

So the awakening, or the revelation, which means the re-revelation means back. Sometimes re-means again, but in the word revelation, the re-means back, or back to a previous situation. And veil means a veil. So revelation means pull back the veil. In a sense it means pull back the veil on your face for others to see, but it also means that the veil on other people is pulled back. That you meet people with their veils pulled back, and you see who they are. And who they are is you. Everybody is you.

[21:22]

And not just one everybody, but all the everybodies are you. Revelation is the pulling back of the veil from all beings, and to awake to who they are, namely you. And you are them. If you want to see this truth, if you want to hear this, not just hear this truth, but hear the truth of it, if you want it to enter you so that you can fully participate in the process of awakening, and you're present, you will receive this. This is the inspired eloquence of the Buddhas.

[22:28]

Maybe. Another important, I don't know if it's important, yeah, it's important, another important, or you might say crucial issue, is the issue of crisis. One of the meanings of crisis is crucial. Crisis, in English, has a root of to separate or decide. And I think in terms of a concrete image, the word crisis means a sieve.

[23:33]

So it's not just the separation or the decisiveness of some situation, but it's also the physical image of a sieve where things get separated. Like you can separate gold from sand, or sand from gold. You can use a sieve to get fine sand if you want to put it in the garden, but you can also use a sieve to get big stones out of the sand, if you want to use the big stones. In this separation there's a possibility of gain and loss, losing the fine sand, getting the big chunks. All this kind of thing is involved in the root of the word crisis. Crisis, the word means to separate or decide, but one of the main definitions of the word, the etymology of the word means separate or decide, but the usual definition is turning point.

[24:35]

The turning point in any situation. Turning point from seeing the veil to having the veil pulled back. And I'd like to bring up the Chinese word for crisis, a Chinese word for crisis is a compound of two characters, and one character is opportunity, and the other character is danger. Crisis in the dictionary doesn't say something about danger,

[25:48]

it just says turning point, but there is some danger in turning points. There's some danger in separation. There's some danger in revelation. There's some danger in inspiration. In some scriptures of the Buddhist tradition, there are deities, the Buddha Shakyamuni, in the evening and at night, mostly had meetings with deities. The ordinary human monks were, I don't know what they were doing, maybe they were resting, but the Buddha, in the late night, on many occasions had visitors who came and presented themselves.

[26:53]

Beautiful, radiant beings would come to him and talk to him, and he would listen to them and they would listen to him. And one of these deities said to the Buddha, seeing clearly the danger of death, one does deeds of merit that bring happiness. Seeing clearly the danger of death, a seeker of peace drops the world's bait. There is a danger of death, as you know, right? We're in danger of death. We're vulnerable to death, right? It's not something that we should go look for,

[27:56]

it's just natural that we are in danger of death. I propose that if I am not clearly seeing the danger of death, if I do not see the danger of death, clearly, that I'll miss out on some other things too. The danger of death is just present, it's not some place far away, it's always close. Seeing clearly the danger of death, one does good deeds, meritorious deeds. Not seeing clearly the danger of death,

[28:58]

but you still might do meritorious deeds. It's possible. I think people sometimes do meritorious deeds that are not clearly seeing the danger of death. Does that make sense to you? But sometimes people who are not clearly seeing the danger of death do not do meritorious deeds. Does that make sense to you? And sometimes people who do not see the danger of death do not drop the world's bait. What's the world's bait? Well, one of the main world's bait is that people are wearing veils and the veils don't look like you. The veils they're wearing do not look like you or your children. You know what I mean?

[29:59]

Have you ever seen anybody that doesn't look like your only child? Have you ever seen anybody that does look like your only child? Well, when they're wearing the veil of looking like your only child, or even not only your only child, but your only totally beloved child, when they're wearing that mask, you often fall for the bait of the world. You think they're your child, which is true, but you think they're not you, so you fall for that too. But that's not so bad as when you fall for the mask that they're not you and they're not your only child. Because then we can do really non-meritorious, non-virtuous deeds towards people who we think are not our only child.

[31:03]

We believe the veil that they're not. We fall for the bait of the world. But, if we clearly see the danger of death, then we don't fall for the bait of the world. Then we do meritorious deeds, not just sometimes, we do meritorious deeds when we clearly see the danger of death. And clearly seeing the danger of death is one of the examples of what it's like when you hear the true Dharma. If I'm present and I want to hear the true Dharma,

[32:05]

then I will hear the true Dharma, which makes it possible for me to clearly see the danger of death, which includes also the danger of old age and sickness, those dangers also, and the danger of losing my mind, and the danger of losing my job, and the danger of losing any good reputation I have, and the danger of talking in front of large groups of people. Those other dangers. If I clearly see those, then also we will drop the world's bait. We will open to revelation if we open to the fear, not the fear, but the danger.

[33:09]

First of all, we fear the danger and close to it, but if we open to this fear and see it, then we will see other things too, we will see that virtue is the way. That's why it's very good to be calm for starters. In our calmness, in our being able to be present with what's happening without trying to get anything, that helps us also be able to see the danger of death, even when we're meditating in a nice earthquake-proof building. This building is not actually called earthquake-proof, it's called, what do you call it? It's retrofitted to 8.9 on Richter scale, but it doesn't mean it's earthquake-proof, because if it's a 9.6 earthquake, then maybe it would collapse on us. But still, wherever you are, wherever you're meditating,

[34:16]

there is a danger of death. From earthquake, from heart attack, from cancer, from fire, from flood, there's a danger of death all the time, and if you're relaxed, you can open to that danger and play with it and be creative with it and open to the revelation that everything in the world is you, is giving you life right now. So I learned about these penguins, you know, there's a penguin movie out now,

[35:18]

and so part of the penguin story is that the male penguins, when they're in the water, when they're of the reproductive age, after they mate, the female, the mother, gives the males the eggs, the female gives her partner the egg to take care of, and then she has to go a long ways to get some food for herself, because by the time she gives her egg, she hasn't eaten for three months, so she's on the verge of starving to death. So she has to take a long trip with the other mothers to the ocean where she can get food for herself

[36:18]

and bring back food for her baby, who will be hatched by the time she gets back probably, because it takes her a long time to walk from the breeding grounds to the ocean. When she gets back, she's full of food, however, her partner, the male, has not eaten for four months, and for four months he's been standing, protecting the egg, and during those four months is the winter. So the eggs hatch in the early winter, and then they go through the hardest part of the winter with their father, holding them between his legs under a flap of skin. Now the fathers seem to get the idea that this baby is pretty much them, which is great, and so they will hang in there for their baby.

[37:23]

The mothers also know the baby is theirs, but also they are going to eat now. They have suffered for three months hatching the baby, but now for the sake of the baby they have to go and get some more food, but they also get some food. The fathers now are standing there not getting any food for four months, and when the storms come, the fathers huddle together, and this particular species, the emperor penguin, about a thousand of them I guess, a thousand males huddle together in the storm for the sake of keeping each other warm. However, they have to take turns being at the center of the mass. If the ones at the outside stay at the outside, they'll freeze. The ones at the outside have to move into the center

[38:29]

of the heating pad, and the ones at the center have to move out to the edge. They have to keep trading places during the storm. They have to keep moving also, otherwise they fall asleep in the cold. They have to keep moving and circulating the ones in the center to the outside. If the strong ones stay at the center, then the weak ones would die, and if the weak ones died, then the medium strength ones would be on the outside, and if they were kept on the outside by the strong ones staying at the inside, then they would die, and gradually there would just be one strong one at the center, and it would die. The strong ones have to go, the dominant ones have to go to the outside too, and not just go halfway to the outside, they have to go all the way to the outside, otherwise still some of the weaker ones will die on the outside. They can be aggressive, these males,

[39:33]

they can be perhaps putting their offspring ahead of other offspring, but in the storm, when they are very clearly aware of death, they do the right thing. They drop the world's bait. And they act for the welfare of all other beings in Antarctica, which means all the other penguins. When we're clearly aware of our own death and the death of those we love, our eyes open up. We're aware of the danger. It's there to be seen. The blue jays are interested in the produce.

[40:43]

But apparently they don't like it as much as they do like cookies and stuff. They don't seem to be... The zucchinis seem to be quite available, but they're not eating them. They mostly like our bag lunches. My father once said... to some of his friends, he said, if you're out in the lake, drowning, and you're in the middle of the lake, and a black man came up in a rowboat to help you, do you think you'd refuse? He didn't say, however, if you were riding in a rowboat and a black man was drowning,

[41:51]

would you refuse to help him? Didn't say that point. Maybe if you're in the boat, and somebody who's not your own child, somebody who is of a different race, is drowning, and you feel safe, and you don't clearly see the danger of death, clearly see it, maybe you won't help that person. But if we clearly see the danger of death, clearly see it, not afraid of it, but clearly see it, we will see that this person, in a way, is more important than us. The other person, in a way, is more important than us. The other person is more who we are than who we think we are. That's called not falling for the bait of the world. The bait of the world is we think

[42:53]

other people are at least a little bit less us than us. That's the way the world looks, in a way. It's really the other way around. Other people are really more who you are, more who I am, than who I think I am. I need to be calm in order to dare to open to that. And I also need to want to hear the Dharma. And when I hear the Dharma, the Dharma I hear is everybody else, all beings who appear different from you, are really you. The Buddha is whispering that in my ear, and when I really want to hear it, the Buddha's face appears to me and says, yes, I actually am saying that to you.

[43:54]

Everybody, each person, is really who you are. Don't be afraid. There's a danger of death, that's part of the deal. But that doesn't mean that you can't wake up, even though there's a danger of death. Just because there's a danger of death doesn't mean you can't wake up. As a matter of fact, there is a danger of death, and you can wake up. But if I don't clearly see the danger of death, in every meeting I have, then I might not notice that the person I'm meeting is more me than I myself. But we need to take care of ourselves

[45:03]

so we can relax with the danger of death, so that we can receive revelation of the Buddha's teaching. There may be trouble ahead, so while there's music and moonlight and love and romance, let's face the music and dance. Before the fiddlers have fled, before they ask us to pay the bill, and while there's still a chance, let's face the music and dance.

[46:04]

Soon we'll be without the moon humming a different tune, and then there may be teardrops to shed. So while there's music and moonlight and love and romance, let's face the music and dance. I worked on that one line. I got a little better this time, although it's not the usual way. Although the fiddlers have fled... This next part is hard. This is not the way it's usually done, but I can't do it the way it's usually done, that's what I'm saying. Before they ask us to pay the bill, and while there's still a chance...

[47:16]

I can't do it the regular way, but the regular way is... When I do it, it sounds like this. Before the fiddlers have fled, before they ask us to pay the bill, and while there's still a chance, let's face the music and dance. Every time I do that part, Maya goes, Ooh! It wasn't too bad this week, right? Yeah. I can sing like that because I'm somewhat clearly seeing the danger of death. May our intention and inquiry

[48:18]

Extend to every being, Place with the true Command of the Lovers today. Is there anything you'd like to discuss? Yes? Yes? The danger of death? Fear of death causes us to do virtuous acts? No, no. Good point. She said, I was saying that there's a fear of death which causes us to do virtuous acts. I would say, No, no. Fear of death does not cause us to do virtuous acts usually. It's seeing death clearly. Seeing the danger of death clearly

[49:22]

is different from being afraid of the danger of death. So I'm glad you brought that up. It's not being afraid of the danger of death. It's not the fear. Seeing clearly the danger of death includes not being afraid. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Right. The fear of death leads to some of the... The fear of death doesn't always lead to unwholesome things. Sometimes you're afraid of death. For example, particularly if you're afraid of the death of someone you care about,

[50:23]

sometimes you do something fairly meritorious even though you're afraid. But if you weren't afraid of the danger of death for this person you cared for, you'd be more effective than if you're afraid. So seeing clearly, seeing clearly the danger of death, and there's always a danger of death, that's what leads us to do virtuous deeds. Fear of death sometimes leads us to do very un-virtuous deeds. Like, if you're afraid of death, you can be made to do the most anything. Like, you know, some of the things that people have done because they're afraid, for example, of their senior officer, killing them if they don't do it, they'll do certain things

[51:25]

which ordinarily they wouldn't do, to say the least. But if they're afraid of being killed, if they don't do it, they will do something which they think is totally horrible because of the fear. Out of fear, people will kill people they love most of all. A mother who is afraid can kill her own children. So fear is not the same as seeing clearly. So, since the danger of death is always present, we have lots of opportunities to learn to see it. So right now, if you don't feel particularly afraid of death, it's a good time to start looking at... excuse me, if you don't feel terribly afraid of the danger of death, then now would be a good time to start meditating and looking at the danger of death.

[52:27]

There is a danger of death all the time. So now start looking at it. So then, if you're looking at it constantly, then you won't be caught off... then you're less likely to be caught off guard and become afraid of it when it manifests in certain ways which are not so common, like someone attacking you. So it's possible to be attacked and see the danger and respond skillfully and non-violently, even when someone's manifesting the danger of death very strongly. Does that make sense? I remember right shortly after 9-11, the Secretary of Defense said, now Americans, when they walk out the door, they look right and left, up and down. They look when they go out of the house because they think there's some danger. And he said,

[53:28]

this is not right. And I thought, sounds fine to me. There are some ideas like Americans should be able to walk out of their house with no sense of danger. We have the right to actually imagine that there's no danger of harm or death. Like America can be a place unlike the rest of the world where there's danger of death. We have a place where there's no danger of death. This is a very unrealistic attitude. And it's because we're so afraid of death that we're trying to make a place where there would be no danger of death. So fear makes us try to set up a situation which is very unrealistic. You feel that some people are using

[54:42]

people's fear as a way to manipulate them. It does look like that, doesn't it? And it seems to be hyped. And the more frightened people are, the easier they are to control. Some people think that. It's not true, but they think that. But the more people who are afraid, although I don't think they're more easy to control, I think they're more easy to frighten more once they're afraid. But frightened people are not actually under very good control. But they are very likely to do unskillful things like go to war and kill people. Frightened people are... It's easier to get frightened people to kill than to get unfrightened people to kill. You look like you're frightened.

[55:55]

Are you frightened? No. You're just what? Yeah. And I think part of the way to become able to see the danger of death more clearly is to acknowledge if we have fear of the danger of death. So acknowledging if we do feel afraid of death, acknowledging that would be a normal part of being able to look at death clearly. As long as we're afraid of it, we can't see it very clearly. I'm not saying it's illegitimate.

[56:55]

I'm just saying if you're afraid of the danger of death, I'm just saying if you're afraid, you will not be able to see it clearly. I'm not saying it's illegitimate. It's quite common for unenlightened people to be afraid of death. It's perfectly legitimate. You take an unenlightened person and you put the danger of death near them and they become afraid quite frequently. It's just that the fear, although it's legitimate, it interferes with them being able to act virtuously. In different ways, reactionary and logical,

[58:00]

when death hits you. When what hits you? Terrorism or whatever. Yeah, I agree. When terrorism appears, I think you can respond virtuously or non-virtuously. I agree. And I'm saying that if when terrorism comes, if I become afraid of it, then my fear will undermine my virtuous activity, whereas my fear will actually aid non-virtuous activity. Fear facilitates cruelty. Fear facilitates racism. Fear facilitates trying to dominate people. And I call racism and wanting to dominate people and violence, I call them unskillful. And I'm saying that fear facilitates all these unskillful things

[59:03]

and fearlessness facilitates virtue. That's what I'm saying. And if you feel that the Spanish people did something virtuous, I don't say that they did that because they were afraid. Maybe they did it because they wanted to protect people from violence. But those people who are afraid of violence are not as effective in protecting people as the people who aren't afraid. And some people who are just gentle, relaxed, kind people are not afraid of death. And when violence comes, they meet the violence and disarm it. Some other people, when violence comes, they become very afraid, they become very aggressive, very violent, and they attack it. And then we have a war. So I'm saying a key issue

[60:04]

is to face fear and get over it. I'm not saying it's illegitimate. Delusions are legitimate. They arise because we don't understand. It's natural that when you don't understand, you're deluded and afraid. But I'm talking about seeing the danger of death clearly. Which means the danger of death is all around us all the time and to see it clearly with fearlessness. Then when somebody comes or some situation arises where there's a danger of death, we can relate to it skillfully. When people come who look like our enemy, and who might say, yes, I am your enemy, and we feel danger from them that they're going to kill us, it's possible to relate to them in a virtuous way. And sometimes they don't hurt us and actually they wake up.

[61:05]

There's many Zen stories about where the meditator is attacked by a violent person and is not afraid and comes back with a very loving response and the person voluntarily disarms themselves and expresses love and gratitude in that crisis. I'm not saying this is easy. I'm just saying that's what I want. This is what I want. I want us to learn to do this. I want us to be able to go up to people who are violent with fearlessness and do something really skillful and beneficial with somebody who's violent and afraid. I don't know anybody who's violent that's not afraid. Never met such a person. But I have met people who are afraid and violent. I have met them and sometimes when I meet them I'm afraid of them.

[62:08]

So at that time I feel like, well, I'm not ready to play. I have to take care of myself and get over my fear. When I'm over my fear then I come back and say, okay, now I'm ready to play with you. This is what I want. How about you? Hmm? You want it? Okay. Yes? Yes? I wanted to say a question. I watched the documentary of Sorrow and Pity last night. The first time I went to see it. And I'm thinking of extreme cases of women who were violent in the literature world. And those women who gave us the history while the other women who wouldn't cooperate with the enemy were killed. So I'm just... What can we do to keep women from violating? Are they then virtuous ones and the ones who cooperated with the enemy were not?

[63:12]

Say again? Those who... Those who what? Capitulated to the enemy were unvirtuous. And what's the other alternative? The other ones that cooperated and allowed themselves to be violated, were they the virtuous ones or were they not the virtuous ones? Oh, wait a second. I thought you said the same thing twice. Did you say the same thing twice? Yeah. I don't know if you meant to, but you said the same thing twice. I thought you... Let me say what I heard you say. I heard you say, were those who capitulated non-virtuous and those who cooperated... So capitulation and cooperation sound similar. I think you mean, were those who resisted and were killed, were they the virtuous ones? And were those who didn't resist too much and survived, were they the virtuous ones or vice versa? I would say I would have to be there case by case to see.

[64:14]

If a person is being forced into having... Sex is just a case. If a person is being forced by military personnel to have sex, if that person is doing it out of fear, I would say it's non-virtuous, probably. They're probably betraying themselves and doing something unwholesome, probably. On the other hand, if someone does not cooperate out of fear, I would say that that too is unskillful. But if someone doesn't cooperate, like somebody is approaching you, now I'm going to force a sexual encounter on you and you're not afraid of them and you just say, no way, man, I'm not interested. And he says, I'm going to kill you if you don't. You say, I'm ready, let's go. I'll be back later. You know, we'll talk about it after you kill me.

[65:18]

That person could be quite virtuous in telling the person that you are not going to cooperate with this particular activity and you don't go along with it because you do think it's unwholesome. You think it's unwholesome to have sex with someone who is forcing it on you and you're not afraid. So you just don't do the unwholesome thing and what you do is you say, no. And some of those people probably did say no and sometimes didn't get killed, I would suppose. Sometimes the aggressor might have sort of said, my God, you know, woken up because this is a bodhisattva in front of them now. And some of the other people might have, who went along with it, they might not have been afraid either and they might have gone along not out of fear but because they think it would be better to go along than be killed. But you can choose not to be killed sometimes but not out of being afraid but because you think it might be better to do it that way. I think the key factor is are you afraid

[66:21]

and therefore trying to avoid what's happening rather than work with it skillfully. But you have to look at each case. I can't tell from those categories I can't tell who was being virtuous. I think some of the women in both categories, those who were killed and those who weren't, could have been virtuous and some of them could have been non-virtuous. Some of them could have been totally frightened and only concerned with protecting themselves and be willing to do, not, you know, some of them would also, there's probably also stories of where they not only cooperated but where they forced other people to do it. You know, where they became, where they served the enemy by collecting other women to serve the enemy. So they're harming other people too. And they could have been doing it all out of fear

[67:22]

or they could have been doing it for some other reason, not out of fear, a feeling that this is a way to convert the enemy. Some people feel like people who are forcing sex on you, the way to convert them is to have sex with them and have them wake up to how cruel they are. But be there, close to them, to say, you know, this is really cruel what you're doing. And in that environment sometimes they will wake up. You know, I'm here and you're having sex with me but I want to tell you this is, this is really, you know, there's better ways to do this. And sometimes the person, male or female, will say, oh really? Yeah, what do you mean? And it's like this instead of like that. Oh yeah, okay. It's possible to wake people up right in the middle of when they're doing something violent. If you're not afraid, but if you're afraid you're less likely to be able to wake them up. Because when you're afraid

[68:24]

you're concerned about yourself, not about them. But if you're not afraid, when someone's trying to hurt you you can be more concerned with them than yourself. Can you imagine that? If you love someone and they're trying to hurt you, you can be more concerned about them than you are about yourself. Even though they're actually big enough to hurt you, you can be more concerned about them and say, you know, you can hurt me, you can dominate me, you can overwhelm me, but, you know, I really care about you and I think, I'm not sure this is really what you want to do. Is this really what you want to do? And they sometimes will say, Oh, actually, no. Well, what do you want to do? I say, well actually, and they tell you. But if you mostly care about yourself you might not be able to have that conversation. Yes? I don't know if they do that, though.

[69:32]

I don't know what they do. From ancient times, apparently, warriors have got extremely intoxicated before battle in one way or another. There's records of them getting, you know, as far back as alcohol goes, warriors the night before a big battle getting really drunk and also drinking during battle. Like in the British squares that they had during the Battle of Waterloo, those squares that they had that Napoleon's horses couldn't break through, they had these guys, these riflemen in these squares and they had officers in the center and a high percentage of those riflemen who were on the front line were completely stoned. Plus, the officers on the inside were saying to them, If you back away from that line, we will shoot you. So they had fear from their back of their officers executing them if they broke the line. Plus, they were also drunk. I don't think they got over their fear.

[70:37]

But that line stood and the British withstood the assault of the French Army. But most of the men in the line were afraid, I think. So I don't think that these people who are doing this are necessarily over their fear. I think it's possible that many of them are very afraid and highly intoxicated, either with drugs or religious dogma, which has been cranked up by very skillful intoxicators. So Suzuki Roshi talks about how part of the meaning of the precept Do Not Intoxicate Self or Others is do not use the teaching to intoxicate people. You can intoxicate people with words. You can get people really revved up. Particularly, you can frighten people so revved up that they lose touch with their fear. When you're afraid, if you get really angry,

[71:41]

it gives you a little break from your fear. Does that make sense? If you're like really afraid and then you switch to being totally enraged, you feel less fearful. Rage is fear-based, but you feel a relief from the fear. Some people can first of all scare a group of people and then take those group of people and get them to be angry and they'll feel better because you're getting a little break from the fear. First you frighten them and you tell them, you know, these people are going to hurt you. Plus, if you don't fight them, we're going to hurt you worse. So why don't we just work up ourselves into a state of tremendous furor against these people and start screaming and hollering and banging war drums. So I don't know, but I think the people who are doing this are people who are pumped up into a state of intoxication. That's what I think. I don't think they're coolly,

[72:42]

clearly seeing the danger of death as they approach this murderous activity. I don't think that, but this is my view. I could be wrong. I'm open to that possibility. From what I know of the history of these people, they don't seem like clear-sighted, fearless people. They seem like people who are afraid that this superpower is going to overwhelm their culture and destroy the planet. I think there are millions and millions of people in the world who think the United States is just going to gobble up the entire planet. They're afraid of us, of this country, of this military force. People are afraid, and out of that fear, I think they're coming back with this violence. That's my view. The world is afraid of us. Lions and tigers, from my understanding, lions and tigers, if you're far away from them,

[73:45]

they don't come running to kill you unless you're an antelope or a water buffalo. But they're not afraid of antelope and a water buffalo. But they are afraid of humans. And if humans get close to tigers and lions, they move away from us because they're afraid. But if you get too close, they become so frightened that they will attack you. Tigers and lions, I think, are very afraid of human beings, and for good reason. We're better predators than they are. Not because we have claws and teeth, but because we have guns and bombs. And they figured that out over the centuries, that the humans are bigger killers than them, so they're afraid of us. They do not want to get near to us. But out of their fear, they will come after this very dangerous predator, which then usually turns out that they get killed. But in their fear, they make the big mistake of attacking a human.

[74:46]

So not only do they get killed eventually, but their whole family will probably get killed. I think that the terrorist attacks are based on their being afraid, not that they're fearless. That's my view. What do you think? You think they're fearless? I think that they have, in some of the cases that we have so much about, suicide bombings, and the introduction of guns, and sacrifices, I think, I think that they have eliminated the fear of death to achieve a higher purpose for them to succeed.

[75:48]

You don't believe that people that are fearless are fearless? Well, I would say you might be right. You might be right. Maybe they have overcome their fear of death because they think that this would be good to defeat these aggressors, these American aggressors, or these English aggressors. Maybe they do. You might be right. So it's a different situation than what you're talking about. Well, it's... Yeah. You might be right. But it's also possible that they have not overcome fear of anything, that they are afraid, and that they... Because I think, actually, if you're not really afraid, I don't think you come up with killing people as a beneficial thing. I'm proposing that if you're clear-sighted

[76:50]

and not afraid of your own death, in that clarity, you can see that harming beings does not benefit any beings. I think you can see that harming Americans does not help Iraqis. We're connected. The Americans and the Iraqis are intimately connected. If you harm Iraqis, it hurts Americans. If you harm British, it hurts Russians. If you harm Chinese, it hurts Mexicans. Anybody you harm harms everybody. I think when you don't have fear anymore, you can see that we're related. And anybody you kill, you're killing your brother, you're killing your sister, you're killing your mother. I think that when you're not really afraid, you start to see clearly. And when you start to see clearly, you realize, although people are being cruel, it doesn't help to be cruel back. And you can see that your own children can be cruel to each other. You can see your own children, who are brothers and sisters,

[77:50]

can be harming each other. But when you see clearly, you don't think, well, since they're harming each other, I think I'll kill them both. That would be good. You don't think, because you can see, these are deluded children. And they're harming each other, and I love them both. And not only are they harming each other, but they're harming me, and they're harming everybody. When you see that, you don't anymore want to harm anything. You see, when you get over fear, you see that these people, these terrorists, are us. You see that they're us. And when you see that they're us, again, then you're not afraid. Fear helps you see, and seeing helps you be fearless. Excuse me, fearlessness helps you see, and seeing helps you be fearlessness. They circulate. So I don't think that people who want to kill other people see clearly. I think they're afraid. But still, I also say that

[78:52]

if you don't agree with me, you're me. So I respect you, of course, since you're me. And since you're me, you might be right. And since you're more me than me, you might be more right than me. Yes? How do you skillfully overcome your fear? How do you skillfully overcome your fear? First, you want to. Second, you see it. Hmm? First, you want to become fearless. Second, are you ready to commit to a program of becoming fearless? On that commitment of becoming fearless, for the sake of being kind to all beings,

[79:54]

then you start to face your fear and relax with it. Relaxing with it when it's not around. When it's not around, that's a nice idea, but it doesn't have much traction. Relaxing when you feel it. Now, if you don't feel it, you say, well, I commit to practice relaxation when it comes. How do you make it come? Or how do you make it surface? Well, one of the ways to surface is to go into a little room and talk to a Zen teacher. That's one of the ways. I notice that people come to see me, they come in the room and they say, I'm scared. Even though they weren't forced, they voluntarily come in and they suddenly feel scared. It's funny, huh? And they feel scared because they suddenly feel separate. So, basically, if you want to become free of fear,

[80:59]

get in touch with it if you want to, make a commitment to that practice of becoming free and then enter into situations which will help you become aware of it. Enter into situations where you can really feel your separation from somebody. So going into a room, small room, if the room is big enough, if the person is far enough away, you don't feel it so much, like the tigers. But get close enough so you can feel this person, like real close, but also separate. And then you'll start to feel your fear. And then you can relax with it, potentially. But it may take 40 years. But at least you're in the program called relaxing with the fear that you feel when you're separate from somebody who's real close. Especially separate from somebody who you think is somebody. Not separate from somebody who you don't think is anybody, like separate from some almost non-entity. So I'm not afraid of a non-entity.

[82:03]

But somebody who you actually think, now this is somebody I want to really, like, meet. And now that I'm getting in the same room with them, I want to get out of the room. I came to Zen Center to practice with the founder of Zen Center, Suzuki Roshi. I was a devoted student to both practicing sitting and to him. I was around all the time. He noticed. He gave me a chance to spend time with him. He invited me into his little room. And when I got in there, he gave me his full attention. And I said, well, thank you. I'll go now, okay? I didn't feel terribly frightened. I just wanted to get out of the room because I was a little bit frightened that he would see who I was and notice that I wasn't perfect. If you're in a room with a teacher, even though you don't think the teacher's perfect, if you think the teacher can see you, which they might be able to do because you're right there in front of them. And they've got nothing else to look at, really.

[83:04]

I can look at the books in my bookcase. I can look at the ceiling. There's some nice Buddha statues in there. Hi. But actually, the person's like a living person is right in front of me. It's not that difficult to see them, especially not too difficult to see that they're afraid when they are. So, do you want somebody to see that you're afraid? Well, maybe. But if you're afraid, sometimes you don't want someone to see you're afraid, right? Not to mention some other things you might not want them to see. Well, anyway, there you go. You go into this nice situation, close the door, and then suddenly you get in touch with your fear. So then you can relax with it. And sometimes people do. They come in, they sit down, they feel really afraid, and they say, Can I just sit here for a while and deal with my fear? And I say, Mm-hmm. And they sit with it and they relax with it and they say, I can breathe better now. And you do that over and over.

[84:08]

And after quite a while, you actually can go into a little room and meet somebody who you want to meet and who might be able to see who you are and whether you're afraid. And you feel the fear and you relax with it and you get over it and then you start playing with them, et cetera. And then you become enlightened, et cetera. But generally speaking, we're afraid of people because we think we're separate from them. And if you're separate from someone, that makes you aware of the danger of death. Because anybody you're separate from could kill you. Or at least they could take your muffin. Does that make sense? Young lady? Okay, that's the program. That's the part of Zen called go to see the teacher and get over your fear. Yes? I feel a lot of fear

[85:12]

about what's going on in what we read about in papers and what's going on in our country. And I'm equanimous in this word, equanimity. I'm not sure what it is. Can you tell us what it is and how we can be equanimous? Equanimous. Equanimous. Equanimity. In a sense, that's what I was talking about at the beginning. To be able to be like here, like I'm over here, you're over there, to be able to have our physical experience with no expectation. Just to be present with not expecting anything or trying to get something but just try to learn to be here. And when there's pain or pleasure and the arising of the pain or the arising of the pleasure in both cases, you just continue to be present. And you don't wish when there's...

[86:15]

And when the pleasure comes up, you don't kind of try to hold on to it and feel depressed when it moves away. Or when the pain comes, you don't feel like, oh, darn. It's more like, pain time, welcome, welcome pain. Not so much, oh, yay, pain, but more like, pain, welcome. Pain going away, welcome. Welcome, bye-bye. Welcome, hello. Here comes pleasure, welcome. There goes pleasure, welcome. In other words, the comings and goings of pain and pleasure, and not to mention, here comes a neutral sensation, like blah. That whatever comes and goes, you basically are undisturbed. You're equal. You're equal with whatever. This is part of what's necessary to open to fear. So it's a basic state that's very helpful. And when people are cruel to each other, generally speaking, you probably will feel a lot of pain

[87:16]

when you see people being cruel to each other. I almost never cry when people are cruel to me. But the time I cry is when people are really kind to each other, or when people are cruel to each other. That's when I cry. But I almost never cry when people are mean to me. I'm pretty good with that. Question from the audience It's not so much, whichever is fine. It's not, well, it's, yeah, it's whatever is fine. Like, in other words, my pain is fine, my pleasure is fine. It's not the same as, cruelty is fine, but the pain I feel when I see cruelty. Actually, it's good to feel pain when you see cruelty. If I see cruelty and I feel pain,

[88:21]

I feel good that I feel pain when I see cruelty. And if I see kindness and I feel good, I feel good that I feel good when I see kindness. And in fact, when I see people being kind, I almost always do feel good. Now, there's an exception to that, though. What if my grandson's being kinder to my wife than to me? Right? If I'm equanimous, if my grandson is kind to my wife and mean to me, which is often the case, if I'm equanimous, I still might feel a little bit of pain when he's kind to her and cruel to me. I still might feel some pain that he's being cruel to me. But if I'm equanimous, I'm okay with feeling uncomfortable that he's mean to me and kind to her. But I might have to do a little bit of additional work to feel happy that he's kind to her

[89:21]

and cruel to me. Or anyway, unkind to me. But the equanimous will help me feel good about him being kind to her. And it will help you, the equanimousness will help you be enthusiastic about trying to bring kindness to situations where people are being cruel. People who are being cruel, if you bring them enough kindness, they will become unafraid. They will start to relax with their fear. And as they relax with their fear, they will stop being cruel. But you may have to give a lot of kindness for people to relax with their fear. But if you're equanimous, you have the energy to continue to bring kindness to situations where people are being afraid and cruel to each other. Does that make sense? Of course, it's very hard to accomplish, but that's the way.

[90:25]

Okay? When you're equanimous, you're much more likely to be skillful. As a matter of fact, almost guaranteed to be skillful, even if you don't yet have full awakening. You will at least be skillful. Yes? What time is it? It's 12.35. Oh, 12.35. You have a nice watch. Your watch is the one that gives us more time. I have a friend who's considering suicide. I've had a friend who's committed suicide. And I'm wondering what the most skillful reaction, skillful way to really deal with the situation is. Because I can see myself with my friend who actually did commit suicide, I can see that as an embrace of death.

[91:27]

And that was a very viable option for her. And by respecting that choice as much as I could. And now I'm in that situation again, so I wonder what your take on it would be. This person is considering suicide because... what's their condition? This person is really unhappy.

[92:09]

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