I feel some talk coming on. Some words are arising in this poor mind. One of the words that is arising is bodhisattva. Another word that is arising is compassion. Some people here are very familiar with the word bodhisattva. Probably they hear it or say it every day. And some people may be unfamiliar with the word bodhisattva. How many people are somewhat unfamiliar with that word, bodhisattva? It's a Sanskrit word and actually I think even in Pali...

[01:12]

Is it bodhisattva in Pali also? Bodhisattva in Pali. So originally this term was used to describe the historical Buddha, the founder of the tradition in India, was called the bodhisattva during his life leading up to the time when he became the Buddha. So all his years from his birth to his attainment plus many past lives he was called the bodhisattva. And then later this term bodhisattva was used more widely than just for that one person who became a Buddha in this historical arena we live in.

[02:16]

And like any word, the word bodhisattva refers to something which is never fully grasped by the word. So the way the Buddha was before becoming Buddha, we can't really get the fullness of that by the word bodhisattva. And so now we use the word bodhisattva to refer to a kind of being, could say a kind of being or you could say a way of being, a way of being or a form of being. And the Sanskrit word that's used here for being is sattva. I think sometimes people say, use the, make the, what do you call it, the English kind

[03:27]

of word sattvic, sattvic, like a person who has a lot of soul or a lot of being, sattva. And bodhi means awakening. So literally it's awakening being, but another way to think of it is that there's a kind of being that's mainly about awakening or there's a way of being which is primarily about waking up or another way to put it is it's a kind of being whose genius is awakening or whose genes, whose inheritance or whose genetic makeup is that it yearns to, it yearns

[04:35]

for awakening. And I like the word genius because genius originally was the name of the protective deity of the home or the hearth, actually, in Rome, in Roman Empire. So, the house had a genius which was the spirit that protected the hearth of the home, and we all have a kind of a genius which is something about us, some kind of like thing about us that we yearn to realize, that we yearn to care for. And there's this way of being which potentially could arise in us, a form of being could arise in us which is a being which primarily is concerned with waking up in order to help

[05:39]

all beings more fully. So in this room right now, we have actually statues, like we have this statue of the Buddha this big statue in the middle is a statue of a Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva of infinite wisdom, Manjushri, and behind Manjushri is another Bodhisattva, smaller statue, the statue of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of infinite compassion, and behind me, this beautiful statue behind me is a Bodhisattva in the form of a monk, this Bodhisattva is wearing the clothes of a Buddhist monk, and this is the Bodhisattva called Earth Store or Earth Womb Bodhisattva, a Bodhisattva who particularly like is willing to go into any state of torment

[06:46]

to help beings. So here's a great Bodhisattva behind me, and then the great Bodhisattva is in front of me, and the Bodhisattva in front of me is wearing like a royal princely clothes, this Bodhisattva is wearing monk's clothes. So these are representations, artistic representations of different dimensions of this Bodhisattva being, and these Bodhisattvas are born of compassion, so many of us feel compassion sometimes, and it's possible that when we're feeling compassion, this spirit,

[07:47]

this Bodhisattva spirit, this Bodhisattva being could arise in us, in our minds and hearts, this wish to become authentically awake to the nature of things in order to help beings. Recently, I heard on the radio or something, that, is it a man named Scott? Scott Peck, is that right? Author, recently died, and he wrote a book called, one of his books called, A Road Less Traveled, is that right? And I read part of that book one time, the beginning of it, and he says that in the teaching

[08:54]

of the Buddha, or in the tradition of Buddhism, there's a teaching that all life is suffering, and when I read that, then the next talk I gave, or shortly after that, I brought that up and said, I disagree with Scott Peck, and I felt sort of bad because I was only talking to 200 people, whereas he's talking to millions, and I thought he was representing the Buddhist teaching not correctly, and I felt, you know, but he had the advantage. I still feel that it's not correct to say that life is suffering, or all life is suffering. I don't think that's correct, but it's somewhat correct.

[09:54]

It's like, I don't know exactly what, like at least half correct. In other words, it's correct for a lot of us, a lot of the time, that life, that all aspects of our existence are suffering. Another way to say it is that all aspects of worldly existence is suffering, and by worldly existence, that means cyclic existence, or existence which is existence where things seem to arise and cease. Sound familiar? So most of us are familiar with life in the form of something's arising, something's ceasing. People are born and people die.

[10:54]

In that world, from that perspective, life in that way is all suffering. Yikes? You feel a little yikes there? I do. Like, at least for me mentioning that to you. People say Buddhism is so negative and pessimistic. Well, I can see when you say, if you stop there, that's pretty much, that is pretty rough. So, for example, it's taught that when you have positive sensations, there's suffering in positive sensation, there's suffering in negative sensation, that's pretty clear to people, and there's suffering in neutral sensation. Or you can say there's nauseation in positive sensation, nauseation in negative sensation,

[11:57]

and nauseation in neutral sensation. In other words, however you feel, there's suffering in that, if you're having, if you're feeling, if the feeling is a feeling that's arising and ceasing. But before I go into more detail on that, let me just say that I don't agree that all of life is suffering, because not all of life, not all of life is life where things are arising and ceasing. There's another aspect of life, or another way to live, whereas you're actually alive, you're alive, but you're not arising and ceasing and nobody else is either. You're actually alive with everybody, including you're with everybody who thinks that they're

[13:03]

arising and ceasing, and they're alive, and you're alive, but there's no arising and ceasing. You actually accept that there's no arising and ceasing. Most people accept the appearance of arising and ceasing. They have resistances, of course, but they accept that there's a birth and death. But not too many people accept that there isn't birth and death. They accept that there is birth and death, but they don't accept that there really isn't. It's possible to be alive and accept that there's nothing arising or ceasing, and in that realm of acceptance, that kind of life is not suffering.

[14:12]

As a matter of fact, it is a life which is free of suffering. It is peaceful, and there's no birth and death. And one next step is, and this teaching appeared around the time of the Buddha. The Buddha taught this teaching, and he called the world of birth and death samsara. Samsara means going around, means going from birth to death, the birth, the death, the birth, the death, and suffering throughout. And then he also taught that there's nirvana, which is peace, and in nirvana there is life. The Buddha and the Bodhisattvas live in nirvana, but they also live in samsara. And they give that teaching that there is two ways of life.

[15:17]

Cyclic existence, which is suffering. The life of freedom, nirvana, nirvanic existence, which is freedom from suffering. And then later, it came out among the students of the Buddha, that nirvana and samsara are not separate. And this is something that some people became very happy about, that idea, that discovery. Not only is there a possibility of freedom while still being alive, but that freedom is not separate from bondage. Next question. Some of Buddha's disciples in the early, well, even maybe up to today,

[16:27]

throughout the history of the tradition, some of Buddha's students who grew up in samsara, heard the Buddha's teachings, practiced them, and entered into the liberation and tranquility and peacefulness of nirvana. Some other students of the Buddha did the same thing. They entered into nirvana, but they did further study of the Buddha's teachings and realized that the implication of the Buddha's teaching was that the nirvana which they attained was not separate from the samsara which they became free of. And so they lived, they continued to live in samsara and nirvana, more or less simultaneously.

[17:29]

So the bodhisattvas, these beings who are born of compassion, they understand that all samsaric existence is suffering, but they also understand that all samsaric existence lacks substantial existence or has no self. Because they understand that samsaric existence is of the nature of suffering, they don't cling to it. And because they understand that freedom and samsara have no self, they don't cling to freedom. Because of compassion, they are not disgusted by the suffering of samsara.

[18:54]

And because of understanding the lack of self of samsara, they're not hurt by it. Therefore, they're willing to live in the world of bondage. Due to understanding, bodhisattvas don't dwell, don't attach to or be the world of suffering. Due to compassion, they don't attach to the world of freedom.

[20:09]

But also, due to compassion, they don't attach to the world of suffering. Due to compassion, which understands selflessness, they don't attach to samsara and they aren't disgusted by samsara. So they go to liberation out of compassion and they come back from liberation out of compassion. And they don't attach to the world of suffering out of compassion. And they don't attach to nirvana out of compassion. So both out of compassion and wisdom, the bodhisattvas do not attach to freedom or bondage. Thank you.

[22:07]

. The beings that are born of compassion want everybody to be free, want everybody to experience the side of life, which is freedom from suffering. When a loving bodhisattva sees the world, she suffers. It's painful. Somebody's trying to get up, but they can't. Could you help her?

[23:28]

She's got a nosebleed, it looks like. When a loving bodhisattva sees the world, sees people who are in bondage, and who are suffering all the time in that world, they suffer too. But because she meditates on the world of suffering and sees it as it is, she does not become exhausted living there. And again, how does she see the world of suffering? How does she see the beings who are suffering, for whom she feels suffering? She sees this realm as not separate from freedom. She sees freedom is not the same as bondage,

[24:32]

but inseparable. She does not prefer freedom over what it's not separate from. And wants everybody to be free at the same time, without preferring freedom, without being attached to it. And she can show the way. She knows the way to freedom, and she wants to show it. She wants to show people the road to freedom, wherein they will understand that freedom is not separate from bondage. Understanding that freedom is not separate from bondage is freedom. And it also allows you to live in the world of bondage without getting exhausted, without being afraid of it, without getting disgusted with it.

[25:36]

So if a bodhisattva is getting disgusted with samsara, she needs to go back to her meditation practice and start looking at samsara, observing samsara as it is. When she starts to see it as it is, the exhaustion drops away, or rather, she becomes free of exhaustion. So I can look into my heart and check out, is there any disgust for samsara? And I can also look in my heart and say, is there any pain in me with regard to samsara? If I feel pain with regard to samsara,

[26:41]

then I'm like a loving bodhisattva. If I feel disgust about samsara, if I feel disgust about the world where things are born and dying, born and dying, if I feel disgust, then I'm not like a bodhisattva. Or I would say I'm not like the really loving bodhisattva. I'm maybe a beginning bodhisattva who's kind of weak, not yet strong enough to look at the world that I feel suffering with and see it as it is. I can't yet see it as it is. So because I don't see it as it is, I feel some disgust. So that shows me my meditation practice is not, it needs work. So again, when you see the world of suffering,

[27:43]

when you see the world of birth and death and feel pain about it, when you suffer with it, you're just like a bodhisattva. You're just like a baby Buddha. You feel compassion just like they do, but if you feel disgust for the world of birth and death, then you're different from the bodhisattvas. And they would be just like you, except that they meditate on the world that they feel pain about in such a way that they aren't disgusted by any suffering. They're not disgusted. In other words, they don't reject it. They're not embarrassed about it. They're not afraid of it. They're totally open to it. Because, and in their openness, they continue their meditation on how birth and death really is.

[28:46]

They watch the illusion of birth and death over and over, over and over, until they see, until they see, excuse me, until they see and or open to and accept that right in birth and death, right in birth and death, there is no birth and death. There's no separation between birth and death. There's no birth without death. And because there's no birth without death, there's no birth and death. They accept that. They don't have to make that be so. They accept it, and they accept it by meditating on the illusion of birth and death. And also, they don't just do it abstractly, they do it from the position of feeling pain

[29:47]

of those who are suffering, and who are caught by the illusion of birth and death. The thought occurs to me that what I'm saying, in some sense, is quite simple. So maybe I said enough. Now, I also think, but if I asked each one of you

[30:50]

to give a summary of what I said, maybe you wouldn't all be able to do so. And maybe you wouldn't even want to do so. Maybe you'd just soon forget everything you heard this morning. But could I give a little summary before I stop? Is that all right? So the summary is, according to me, it's not the Buddha Dharma that all life is suffering. Just kind of half of it's suffering. One of the two options is suffering in life. One option in life is suffering, the other option is peace and freedom from suffering. That's my understanding. One's called samsara, the other's called nirvana. Did you hear that part before? Then, the other thing is that samsara and nirvana are not separate. They're actually one big life,

[31:54]

which has two possibilities in it, two main possibilities. The world of samsara is the world, the world of suffering is the world where things seem to be born and dying. That seems to be how things are. And the world of nirvana is where things don't seem to be, where you understand that that's just an appearance. Birth and death is an appearance. There's really just life, [...] life. And if we do not understand that samsara and nirvana are the same, we can still become free of samsara to some extent by meditating on samsara properly. Namely, seeing that the realm of birth and death

[32:55]

is always suffering and is always impermanent and doesn't have a self and isn't pure, if you meditate on the nature of samsara, you can actually become free of it. But to take that meditation even further, you can understand that the freedom from it is not separate from it. And bodhisattvas, because of compassion, don't just want to meditate on birth and death and become free of birth and death. They want to meditate on birth and death and become free of birth and death without developing any disgust for birth and death. So that they can live in birth and death after becoming free of it and understand the inseparability of the two so that they don't get exhausted in birth and death,

[33:57]

showing other beings how to become free of birth and death. I notice that I'm feeling a little uncomfortable because many of you look really depressed. And when I feel uncomfortable like this, I feel uncomfortable like this. So I'm kind of apologizing to you if this talk has been a kind of talk that seems to have... I mean, I would say I apologize

[34:59]

and I share the responsibility of the appearance that this talk arose and ceased. And that I feel responsible for the samsaric quality of this last few moments. And I'm not saying that if you were meditating on the samsaric quality of this event and that if you were open to that this talk didn't really happen, if you were open to that this talk didn't really arise or cease, that you would be free of suffering and that you would look differently than you do now. For all I know, you are all free of the illusion that this talk has happened.

[36:01]

I don't know if you're free or not. You're starting to look more like what I imagine someone would look like if they were free, namely, you're smiling. You look like you're kind of getting the joke of birth and death. Birth and death is a little bit of a joke. So one story of the Buddha when the Buddha woke up is that the Buddha laughed because the Buddha was no longer fooled by the appearance of birth and death. The Buddha realized it's a joke, it's a trick, it's an illusion, a necessary illusion so that you can wake up from it and help other people become free of it. And I'm also kind of sorry, in a way. I confess, I'm living in samsara, I'm kind of sorry, I don't have a song about this. I mean, I can't think of one right now.

[37:09]

Is that about this? Huh? What? You think so? I think you're right. Yeah. Face the Music and Zen is a song about how to live in samsara in a way to become free of it. I agree. I agree. But I also feel like, I feel like you may have lots of questions about this, so I would be happy to meet with you later in a question and answer setup if you have some questions about this, about any of this. I sang that song so many times,

[38:28]

I think probably some people would think that if I sang it again, it might arise. Right? Well, I'm proposing to you that I can sing that song without it arising. I can sing the song without it happening. It doesn't really happen. But it doesn't mean that you don't sing a song. It's just that the song, while you're singing it, isn't arising and ceasing. Of course, people can see it that way. But I'm actually suggesting to you that when you talk to people and when you're singing, you could open to the fact that the singing is not arising and ceasing. It's not a cyclic event. It's a freedom event. And because of freedom, you can sing. And the singing is not something that happens.

[39:31]

It's free of happening and not happening. It's not caught in a box of this song either happened or didn't happen. It's free of that. That is possible. And if some people don't want to hear me sing this song another time, you can feel that way. Of course, you can feel that way. But that feeling that way, it's possible to open to feeling that way doesn't actually happen. It's more wonderful than something that happens. It's free of happening. So, if you don't like this song that might happen, or if you don't like this song that might be sung without happening, that's wonderful. It's wonderful, especially if you can see that when you don't like it,

[40:36]

that that not liking isn't really happening, if you could open to that while I'm singing. And I also will try to open to that while I'm singing, that my singing is actually free of happening. And maybe you can tell by the way I sing that that's how I feel about it. Or maybe you'll say, He's singing, but I don't think he understands that that's not happening. He looks like he kind of is falling into that old trap of, yeah, this is happening. I don't think he's that open yet. And you know, you're probably right. Because it's really a very advanced practice, a very advanced attainment to actually open when you're listening to a song or singing a song, to actually open to the awesome reality that it's not happening. It requires lots of training, so don't feel bad about me not having attained that state.

[41:37]

I feel a little bad about it, but you know, I assuage myself by saying, Well, that's really advanced. So it's not that bad if I haven't got there yet. I know a lot of other great people who didn't get that far. So now you look happy. You've recovered from this talk somewhat. You're ready to go on with your life. I am, too, ready to go on with your life. Somewhat. I'm trying to be ready to go on with your life. That's my vow. Wow. Oh, yeah. There may be trouble ahead. So while there's music and moonlight

[42:41]

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. Soon we'll be without the moon. Humming a different tune. And then there may be teardrops to shed. But while there's music and moonlight and love and romance,

[43:43]

let's face the music and dance. Let's face the music and dance. Does this mean clap? Bohemian. From Beaker. Yeah, the Beat Generation from New York City. May our intention please extend to every place. With the true merit of Buddha's way, beings are numberless.

[44:45]

I vow to save them. Is there anything you'd like to discuss? I know it's hard to hear. Can you hear me okay? Yeah. Yes, Ugo? Singing is like a concept or an act of accepting that birth and death do not exist. Accepting that birth and death do not exist? It's not exactly that birth and death don't exist. They do exist, you might say, dependently. Depending on certain things, there is the appearance of birth and death. So we don't say that birth and death doesn't exist.

[45:50]

When we say there's no birth and death, we don't mean it doesn't exist. We just mean you can't find it if you look carefully. And what you'll find if you look carefully is that birth and death, you'll find that life is basically quiet, that life is basically nirvanic. It's peaceful and quiet. Things are basically in a state of quiescence. But that doesn't mean that when they're quiescent they're not fully alive. As a matter of fact, it's saying that the fullness of life, a life of freedom is quiet and peaceful. This is another way to put it. But you also can't find, if you look carefully, you can't find the peace either. You can't find the birth and death if you look carefully.

[46:57]

Then you're free of birth and death. And you're open to the vision and acceptance that things are very quiet and peaceful. But that also can't be found. So that's why you don't get hung up on peace and quietude. But nothing can actually finally be grasped. That's what we mean by no birth and death. You can't get a hold of it. You can't actually grasp it if you look carefully. You can't find it. But those who understand this, still when they see the appearance of birth and death and they see being suffering, they feel suffering. They feel pain. And even in the state of freedom they still feel compassion. Even when they're in nirvana. The nirvana of the Bodhisattva is a different nirvana from some other people's nirvana.

[47:58]

In their nirvana they still feel compassion. They still feel pain when they see other people suffering. But they understand that there's an illusion. That's sometimes called the Mahayana miracle, is that Bodhisattvas care about beings which they know cannot be found. But they still care about them anyway. You know, I care about you even though I can't find you. You know, that's just the way I am. So on. Okay? Tom? Can you say that birth and death exist but you just don't attach to them? Is that another way of saying it or not? If you say that birth and death exist, and you don't attach to it, then that's another way to say is that you understand the way birth and death exist are such that you can't attach to them. So if you think birth and death could be attached to,

[49:06]

you don't understand it yet. But when you understand birth and death correctly, you know, clearly, you'll see you couldn't attach to it because it's not out there or in here. There's no place to get it. So understanding birth and death, understanding the way birth and death exist is freedom from birth and death. Understanding the way birth and death exist is the same, or not exactly the same, but it leads to not attaching to it. Nothing to attach to. You see there's nothing to attach to, but there's also, you can't attach to it that it's not there either. You can't attach to that either. So, correct understanding of birth and death leads to not grasping it, leads to freedom from it. And when you're really free of birth and death, you're happy to enter into the world where birth and death seems to be happening. You're not disgusted by it. But some people are rather free of birth and death,

[50:08]

but they're also disgusted by it. So this is not the full understanding of birth and death. That's why the Bodhisattva being able to be free of birth and death and not be disgusted is considered the Buddha's understanding. Because Buddhas are willing to come into any realm where people are, and people are experiencing birth and death, but in order to come into the realm they sort of have to participate in the illusion of birth and death, otherwise they wouldn't be there and be able to respond. But there's no disgust. Yes? Well, if there's no birth and death, does that mean there's no us? It's not that there's no us. There's no us separate from others. There's that. The you being... There's no you existing by yourself. There's never been such a thing as that.

[51:08]

There's the idea of me existing by myself. But that idea is total falsehood. It's a fantasy. It has no basis whatsoever. That doesn't exist. Birth and death exists in a kind of interdependent way. The appearance of birth and death exists in an interdependent way. There's causes and conditions for it. And there's causes and conditions for dreaming of being independent. But the thing you're dreaming of, there's no causes and conditions for that. Therefore it doesn't exist. What you're dreaming of is something that doesn't depend on causes and conditions. Because if it did, it wouldn't be separate. So what I'm dreaming of is me? Huh? What I'm dreaming of and what we're dreaming of is our existence? Your dreaming is based on your existence. And you're dreaming of your existence, but your dream is not your existence.

[52:10]

Yeah, so you dream about yourself, but your dream is not you. And my dream about you is not you either. But my dream about you depends on you. I can't dream about you without you. I never dreamt about you before I met you. And when I met you, I immediately didn't just meet you, you know, empty-handed. I whipped out a dream about you. And then I threw the dream over you and got you. So you made my dream. Huh? I make your dreams. Well, I do create your dreams, yes. I'm responsible for your dreams, but not just me, everybody else is too. Everybody's responsible. The Bodhisattva has limitless responsibility. The Bodhisattva is responsible for all suffering beings' dreams and responsible for them believing their dreams are realities. The Bodhisattvas accept responsibility for that,

[53:16]

but they also understand all the other Bodhisattvas are accepting responsibility for it. And they also understand that other people who don't want to be Bodhisattvas say, well, I'm not going to be responsible for everybody's dreams. So is it 50-50 me and the whole rest of the world? 50-50? Yeah. Concerning you, it's 100% the world and zero you. The one thing you're not responsible for is you. It's supposed to be a relief. The one thing that doesn't make you is you. Everybody else makes you but you, but you make everybody else. So it's not exactly 50-50. It's more like 100%, 100% with one exception. The one thing you think you do make, you don't. You make everything else, you contribute to everything else,

[54:20]

and the one thing you don't contribute to is yourself. But everybody else does. Still, although you didn't contribute anything, you're still responsible for yourself, you're just not responsible for making yourself. And that's what people say. They say, well, if I didn't make it, I'm not responsible for it. Well, there's one exception. There's one thing you didn't make that you're responsible for, and that's yourself. Everything else in the world you didn't contribute to, so you're responsible for everything. And everybody else is responsible for you. The Bodhisattvas accept that statement. They do not resist that statement. In other words, they feel no violence towards that. It is violent to not accept your responsibility for all beings. That's violent. And when you accept it, the violence is eliminated. You're welcome. I don't know, there's a lot of hands, but let's see.

[55:22]

Yes, go ahead. I have a few questions. We'll just ask one, okay? Just one, because other people want to ask questions too. Your first question is? My first question is, I'm wondering if you could discuss the difference between detachment and non-attachment, because I get those confused, especially when you're talking about the oxymoron of bondage and freedom. And I'm also wondering if you could give some tangible examples to kind of illustrate how you were talking about how you can't have bondage without freedom and vice versa. And I'm also wondering, because I took your mind course, how much of our separation from other people and from things comes from our cognition and language itself, which has no real way of bringing things together.

[56:25]

So, you know, what's the difference between... So, what do we mean by detachment? And, you know, what does it mean to be detached from something which you're intimately related with, you know? So, you're dependent on everybody, so what does it mean not to be detached? What does it mean to be detached to those you're connected to and depend on? Right? Because you're linked with everybody. You depend on everybody very intimately. So what does detachment mean? Well, one thing it means is you're not greedy about the connection. Isn't that different than non-attachment? Because a lot of times when people call you detached, there's a negative connotation such as, Oh, you're so detached, that the association is like being cold or not being compassionate. Well, that association wouldn't be apropos to what we mean... So, sometimes we say detached, and sometimes we say non-attached or non-attachment.

[57:31]

Detachment, non-attachment. So, if we can use those terms, I think we have to maybe use both those terms to mean the same thing and just explain that what we mean is that that is not being greedy about the things you're intimately connected with and not being disgusted by them either. So everybody, you're connected to everybody, you depend on everybody, and everybody depends on you. Now, don't try to take anything from this intimate relationship. Just only receive what's given. That's the way... And then if you don't feel good, if you're not ready to do that, then there's still a little greed there. And what we mean by non-attachment is that you have no greed for all these intimate relationships. So I have this grandson, right, that you heard about,

[58:34]

and now he lives in L.A., so I have this... I'm very closely related to him and he's far away. So how do I work with that connection that I have with this person to watch for the greed there? That I feel this strong connection and yet I'm not receiving his face. You know, it's not being given to me very much now. So... But I'm still connected to that face wherever it is. Now the other possibility is that you're connected to something and you feel uncomfortable about it and you feel disgust. So that's another sign that you're not practicing non-attachment, because you're disgusted by some uncomfortable thing. So those would be signs that you're... you don't have this non-attachment which goes with your compassion.

[59:36]

So the Bodhisattva has this great compassion and non-attachment because she's meditating on everything she feels compassion towards. She's also meditating on the middle way of that thing. She's watching how that thing she feels compassion for really is. So if you see how things really are, you're meditating on how they really are, you will be non-attached. You won't be greedy about it and you won't be disgusted about it. And since you love all beings, you need this non-attachment, otherwise you're going to get exhausted. It's exhausting unless you understand the beings that you're devoted to. So when we care for people wholeheartedly, that's good. Now then we have to meditate with that on the middle way. And that meditation, when it becomes mature, lets us be engaged with these people we love and be of service to them

[60:43]

without getting pooped out and basically burned out and basically, you know, evacuating the scene. Because we're getting burned out because we don't see the actual nature of this being that we're devoted to. So Bodhisattva has great compassion, which means open-hearted to each person and all beings, and they practice meditation on the middle way, which, one way to put it is, that they see that things don't actually happen, therefore they don't push away or attach to them. And that vision goes with being fully alive with everybody and then showing them how they can realize that too. Okay? Yes? I just want to double-check my understanding.

[61:45]

Yes, double-check understanding. Also see if you have something to alter my understanding. Okay. Add on. Okay. I see my identity, what I think I am, intellectually, it is not what I am. It's what I think I am. Ah, I agree. That's wonderful. Based on that premise, when there is pain, When there's what? When there is pain, suffering, it is, the suffering is up there, but it's also subjective. Yes. In some ways, only in some ways, I think I am creating my suffering that the outside of me is presenting to me.

[62:50]

Not creating, but presenting to me. Okay. Because I think that I am not prepared. I'm kind of losing my balance, thrown up. All of a sudden, what is occurring? You're thrown off by what? By a change. You're thrown off by change? And the change itself, to which I am not prepared for, is creating suffering to the artificial me that I think I am. Yeah, well, it's not actually creating suffering to the artificial you, because there is no artificial you, which is creating suffering in you, which is not artificial you. The actual you... What is artificial? It's my identity. Okay, your identity. It doesn't really cause suffering to your identity. It causes suffering to the person who has an identity.

[63:51]

So, if we're not balanced, or if we're not sufficiently balanced, then when we experience change, it's painful. So, part of our practice is to try to find a way to be with change, so that we don't feel pain just from change. But even those bodhisattvas or those beings which have enough meditative stability to not feel much pain as they change, still, those great meditators, when they see other beings suffer, they feel pain. But the pain is not coming from meditative instability. So, once again, if I don't have enough meditative stability, then I will suffer just from change, just like Sunday to Monday will make me painful. Like, oh... Summer Monday... Monday morning... But if you have enough meditative stability,

[64:57]

then Monday morning, you go... But, you know, it's absorbed in the stability and it's not that painful. But even if you're calmly going through change, if you're a bodhisattva and you love beings, you still feel pain at their suffering. And that's what the Buddha would feel. Buddha would feel pain seeing other people suffering. It's this amazing thing that they feel pain even though they don't believe their ideas about people anymore. And they're completely stable and calm. They still, in that great calmness, they feel pain that they share pain with other beings. And that's not because of not being prepared, that's because of love, that's because of compassion. And they're not disgusted by these people who are suffering and giving them pain.

[66:01]

The bodhisattvas, when they look at people who are suffering, they feel pain. But because they understand the beings and the pain, they don't feel disgust about the beings or the pain. So they don't get exhausted. From feeling disgusted by all these suffering people. There was this guy, this poet I often think of, his name was Lew Welch. And he's one of the beatnik poets, right? And he, I think it was in one of his poems, he walked by this guy who was sitting in a doorway, I don't know, with his head in his hands or something, and he just saw that guy, and he just felt so much pain seeing him. He said, you know, if I see another one of those, if I see somebody else suffering like that, I'm done, I'm over with this. I'm not going to tolerate one more slug of pain

[67:10]

seeing somebody suffering. So he partly was like a bodhisattva, of feeling suffering when he saw suffering beings. But he was disgusted. And so he killed himself, as far as we know. He couldn't stand to see suffering beings. So he partly had the bodhisattva's heart, but he didn't have an understanding which helped him live in this world where he cared for people so much. It's possible to care, in a sense, too much. John? When you use the term disgust, are you talking about fear? When I say disgust, what? Are you talking about fear? Fear? That would also be a problem. I think... It's different from fear, but I think also you could say the bodhisattvas see suffering beings,

[68:13]

and they feel pain when they see them, and they're not afraid of the pain. But they're also not disgusted with it. They don't feel fear or disgust, I would say. Pardon? They don't reject samsara. So they're not... They don't attach to nirvana or reject samsara. The nirvana which they realize allows them not to reject. They realize nirvana and don't attach to it and don't reject samsara. Of course, they also don't attach to samsara, because they see that it's suffering, and they also see that it can't be grasped. Both those reasons. Okay? I don't know who is next. I just see there are many hands there. But let's see, one man, now a woman, maybe? Yeah.

[69:20]

Yeah, that's right, too. I think this... Would you say it again, the last part? When you look at things, you see that the problem comes from wanting it or not wanting things? Yeah, so I guess I'm just saying that I do see that what you're saying, if you look at that, you would see that that causes suffering. I'm just saying that underneath those things which you see as roots, there are deeper roots. So I'm just saying that, I'm actually saying the deep root is not emotional, but these afflictive emotions of wanting too much of something or wanting less of something, in other words, greed and hatred, those afflictive emotions arise

[70:29]

from a deeper misunderstanding of the nature of things, which is that these things are out there and they're separate from us. When we feel that the world, which is us, is separate from us, that's very painful. It's like rejecting your mother. And also when you feel that what's giving you life, which is the universe, when you feel it's separate from you, and you feel pain, then you want to get rid of the thing, but really what you want to get rid of is the pain, and the reason why you have the pain is because you think the thing is separate. So I'm suggesting that the sense of separation between your awareness and the world, which does appear, that appearance, is the same as, it's the same as the sense of things arising and ceasing. So another way you can look at this is

[71:32]

like when you give a gift, you have the giver, the receiver, and the gift, or the giving, those three things, when you see them as separate, then even the process of giving is painful. To see them as not separate, to see them as separate is the same as seeing that things are arising and ceasing. To see that things don't arise and cease is the same as to see that the subject, I mean the giver, the gift, and the receiver are not separate. It's the same. And seeing that kind of thing, then in that vision, you do not feel wanting something unreasonably, and wanting to get rid of something unreasonably. You don't feel greed and hate when you see that. So I'm suggesting that this vision is, the misconception about the way things are is at the root of these afflictive emotions, which certainly do cause great suffering. They're called, they're roots, the three roots, you know,

[72:38]

the three bad roots, greed, hate, and delusion. But their root is basically ignorance, or misconception about the way things are. So if you get to there, those are eliminated. That's the proposal of the tradition, pretty much. Let's see. Maybe, yeah, I think that man was next. Hi. If you're attached too strongly to, for example, a girlfriend, and you really want to be with her, Yeah. and she doesn't want to be with you, Yeah. how do you see that in letting go and attachment, and getting more peace in that kind of situation? So somebody, I want to be with somebody. Yeah, because you project on them certain qualities that you really must have, in a way.

[73:41]

Yeah. So, now you said more, you said, now you see someone and you project on them qualities which you must have. Okay? So you think there are some qualities out there separate from you. Okay? And you must have them. And actually, in some sense you're right. You must have them. You must have them. The frustration is that I can't have them. No, no, no. You must have them. You must have them. And you do have them, actually. But you see them, you're right about you must have them. It's true. You must have them. But you don't believe you already do have them. You think they're separate from you. And because of that, you feel all kinds of upsetting emotions. So we have to meditate until we realize that what's out there, we do have to, we must have everybody.

[74:44]

Everybody is our life. We must have them. And we realize it more than others. But when we realize that, it's true. We must have them. It's false that we don't have them. It's false that we're separate from them. That's false. But believing that that's true, hearing that, is a start. But we also have to admit, I do feel like that's out there, separate from me, and I don't have it, and I must have it. And I think, yes, you must have that. And it would be good if you realized that's the same with everybody. That's who you really are. Way in the back. What's the best way to absorb the pain that you see in the world? How do you deal with it?

[75:49]

How do you thrive with it? How do you change it? How do you help other people with it? If you want to thrive with the feeling of pain that you feel in this world, you want to thrive with it? Did you say thrive? You want to feel at peace with pain? And you want to help other people feel at peace with pain? And you want to know the best way to be at peace with pain? So if you want to be at peace with pain, that's what you want? So if you want to be at peace with pain, the first practice is giving.

[76:51]

The second practice is precepts, ethical precepts. The third practice is patience. The fourth practice is diligence. The fifth practice is concentration or mental stability cultivation. And the sixth practice is wisdom. Those are the practices that we practice in order to be at peace with pain and show others how to be at peace with pain. Those are the practices. And we usually start with giving, actually. If you can, start with giving. So that would be when you feel pain, then you you make your feeling of the pain a gift. And you make the pain a gift. And you make the receiving the pain a gift. And you also do that with everything else in your life. So not everything you do is pain, necessarily,

[77:53]

or you don't necessarily see it as pain, but you make all your actions gifts. And you make everybody else's actions gifts. You start to see the world as a process of giving and receiving. And you give up the vision that you're taking things, or things are being taken from you. So that's the first practice, is the practice of giving. And it connects to the last practice, which I mentioned earlier. The practice of wisdom is also the way, you know, that completes the picture of how we adjust to pain. The practice of wisdom is where you finally see, through practicing giving, you see that the giving, the receiver, and the gift are not separate. And that makes your giving more successful at realizing peace and pain. So bodhisattvas happily live in a world of pain, and they feel the pain, and they also realize peace,

[78:55]

and show people how to practice giving, ethical precepts, patience. Of course, patience is directly related to pain in particular, whereas giving is related to pain, but giving is related to everything, including pain. And as you practice giving, you get more and more open to pain. And of course we can't be at peace with pain if we're not open to pain. And giving is how we become open, we begin to become open and at peace with pain. But it's also how we become, how we open and become at peace with our desires and with everything we meet. Okay? So there you have a little course called the Six Perfections. Which is, you know, it's this endless ocean of wonderful practices. Let's see,

[79:57]

I don't know, who had their hands raised when? Is one person over here from a long time ago? Over here? Yes? You're one of the old timers here? I experience myself as something eternal, my awareness, my consciousness, and in some ways the fact that I'm going to die is counter to that feeling that I'm forever. Is that feeling that I'm eternal, is that an illusion? I would say that it's, what do you call it? I would say that it's true that you're eternal, but I would say the eternal is an illusion. No compounded thing, which you're a compounded thing, no compounded thing lasts. You don't last. You don't even last for more than one moment. Now we've got a new you and another new you.

[80:57]

You're constantly changing. This person is constantly changing. But, in each moment you are eternal. But it's not an eternal in terms of lasting. It's eternal in terms of that nobody can put any boundary on you. There's no time limit on you in the moment. But to say you last or you endure is not correct and that puts you back into the time thing. But in the moment we're all eternal. And when we realize our eternity we're not afraid of impermanence. So realizing eternity is very closely related to realizing peace and nonviolence. Realizing eternity is very similar to realizing that birth and death are an illusion. But eternity is not really an illusion

[81:59]

unless you make it into something that lasts. Things lasting is an illusion. And that things last, that things arise and last that's an illusion. But we don't reject it. Bodhisattvas are not disgusted by this illusion. And they're not disgusted by the misery of people who believe it as a reality rather than an illusion. And in that love for all beings and seeing them as ungraspable they also open, in opening to the ungraspable beauty of all things that's eternity. Because things are always that way. Always that way without always being something that's lasting. And always that doesn't last. So I think eternity is real, ungraspable, unlimited, and doesn't last

[83:01]

or not last. So your feeling of eternity I think would be a great service to you in protecting you from being afraid of death and from if you're open to eternity you're open to all these other wonderful amazing things and vice versa. Who's next? She's next? Okay. Maybe somebody should keep track of when these hands go up. Yeah. She's feeling confused and lost. With pretty much almost every answer you've given I'm just wondering if it's me or if it's the topic and if it's me how do I get out of this confusion if it's the topic can you please simplify it in a summary?

[84:03]

You're feeling confused. It's basically going over my head. Everything is going It's going over your head? Well, what isn't going over your head? What isn't going over your head? I don't know if it's a trick question. When you say going over your head

[85:13]

does that mean you're not getting anything? Is that kind of like you're not getting anything? I'm not getting your answers. I'm getting the questions but I'm not getting the answers. Well, that's good that you got the questions. Actually, that sounds really The questions I could relate to and I didn't get the answers was how to deal with pain in general whether it is emotional or physical another question which I paraphrase is how to deal with not having what you want to have the gentleman asked about the girlfriend question that can be generalized to say there is something out there you want to have whether it's a girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever whatever it is, the ideal something but you can't have it and let go of it that was the question I understood or the question of the pain your answer to the pain was make it a gift or make the pain a gift I didn't get any of that. Just a second.

[86:17]

I've got to check my watch. Oh, we have a lot of time before lunch. Okay, so so let's see I heard you say I heard you say that some of the questions you could kind of relate to the questions some of the questions in other words, you kind of got the question I kind of felt like I got the questions too. Okay, now I would suggest you come over here and sit next to me. Why don't you come and sit here? Maybe you can understand me better if you sit closer. Want to? Do you want to come and sit closer? It sometimes sinks in better if you sit close. You can sit there or here. Do you want to bring your chair with you? Okay, so I just want to say that

[87:19]

when you said you got the questions but you didn't get the answers part of me felt really good because I feel like if people ask a question and then I respond in such a way that people still have a question that that's really good. Why is that? Because I think that wisdom makes you constantly continue to question what's going on. Like this, you know, have you heard of the Czech novelist named Milan Kundera? Yeah, so he says I write stories I write stories and then I write other stories which confront my stories which say, you know, which confront my stories which give people questions about my stories.

[88:19]

He said the beauty of the novel is that it counteracts the stupidity of human beings to have answers for things and promotes the wisdom which is constantly questioning. So when you said that's one way to put it but when you said you could relate to the questions and then my response left you with questions I thought that seems really good. That's kind of like that way of continuing to question is kind of the Bodhisattva's meditation. It isn't the Bodhisattva's meditation like looks at this person and then has the answer about who she is. It's more like I look at the person and then I look at you again and I have another question and I look at you again and I have another question. I'm constantly like in wonder. I'm wondering about who you are.

[89:22]

So now I have this story about you but then I continue to meditate and I have another story which keeps me from thinking my previous story was really who you are. So I if I keep questioning you I will never reject you. I will never be disgusted by you. I will never be attached to you. But if I have my story about you and I think now I finally got the answer of who she is. I don't want to use the word stupid but Milan Kundera would say that's stupid. That's stupid to say my story about this woman is who she is. So if I care about you and want to and care and when you're suffering that means something to me. Does that make sense to you? Does that make sense to you? That I would care about you? Does that make sense? And if you were suffering and I would feel pain does that make sense? No, but I care about you.

[90:27]

I'm one of the few people that care about you. I'm on the team of people who care about you. And so when you suffer it hurts me. I feel pain. But that's not the end of the story. The next part of the story is I wonder who you are. I look to see how is she really? Who is this person? What is she saying? What is she being? What is her relationship to me? And when the Bodhisattva who cares for you does this meditation they don't come to a conclusion about who you are. They don't. They keep questioning. They keep studying. They realize that they'll never be able to get a hold of what you are. That you're too vast actually. You're beyond their

[91:29]

grasping equipment. So I can relate to questions really and answers are dangerous and should not be held to. Which is very similar to letting go of the answer. I think part I have a story now. Here's a story which I'm not going to hold on to. And the story is that maybe you think it's good to get to be able to grasp what I'm saying. And that would be good. Then you'd have the answer. But there's something wonderful about you not being able to grasp how I'm responding to these questions. So that they ask a question and I respond and you still have a question. I think that's really part of what I'm talking about. It needs digesting, yeah. And digesting that is meditation. But not digesting

[92:32]

and then holding on to it. Just like when you digest things you don't hold on to them. You turn them into you process them. And that's part of your life. Right? You don't get the food and hold on to the food. That wouldn't be healthy. Except for I saw this movie called Super Size Me. And they did this experiment with McDonald's french fries and they put them out to see how long they last. After ten weeks they looked exactly the same as the first day. They didn't change at all. They somehow managed to create these indestructible french fries. But there's something unhealthy about that. So usually when you receive things you shouldn't hold on to them. So these people ask questions you receive the question and you don't hold on to it.

[93:33]

Then I respond and you receive my response and you try to get hold of it but actually my responses are built to be let go of. But you don't get them in the first place so it's hard for you to let go. So you're immediately a success. You do what everybody else should do with my questions who got them first. Yes, I think maybe Lee was next. I don't know. Just a story.

[94:33]

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