Someone sent me an email, I think it was an email, and said that he kind of thought that teachings and writings were meant to encourage practice, but he felt that the teachings that were being given weren't doing the opposite for him. I think he meant he didn't feel the teachings were encouraging practice. And I appreciate that feedback. And I encourage the person to, if he feels like that, to express himself to me and maybe we can discuss how what I'm saying is meant to encourage practice. He also said he thought maybe the classics was maybe too advanced for him.

[01:12]

He's kind of a beginner. And in a way, this teaching is a teaching about the meditation of Buddhas, so in a sense you could say it's advanced. We're actually considering the way Buddhas practice, what Buddhas meditate on, how they meditate. So in a way it is very advanced. At the same time, the way Buddhas meditate is a way that totally includes everybody already. And it includes professional monks, you know, full-time monastic practitioners, but it includes lay people and it includes cockroaches and mountains and jet airplanes and it includes everything.

[02:16]

And it includes the way all living beings practice. So it's, in some sense, you could say it's advanced, but you could also say it is the most universal and readily accessible kind of meditation because the Buddha's is the practice of everybody. So everybody's in on it. However, it is also the case that the more universal a teaching is, in some ways, the more difficult it is for people to understand it. Or the more difficult it is for people to understand it, because when it's universal, you can't get a hold of it. It can easily get a hold of you, but you can't get a hold of it. You can't get a hold of anything.

[03:21]

No one can, but there are certain things you think you can get a hold of, like you think you can get a hold of your, you know, your other hand, or you think you can get a hold of a feeling or your breath or your posture. A lot of things is not quite the same as getting a hold of them. But you can think that you do, and a lot of people do think that they do, but a person might have difficulty thinking of how they would get a hold of the way that they're engaged in an enlightening process. That's a little harder to think about, how do you do that? Again, another way to put it is the more that's offered to a sentient being, the less likely the person would be willing to accept it.

[04:24]

If you offer people a little, they say, okay, thanks. A little bit more, they say, oh, thank you. But if you give them more and more and more, after a while they say, that's enough. Or it's too much. they maybe feel that they'll be overwhelmed if you would give them the mind of the Buddha with all its responsibilities. So this isn't saying this to say that you... I want you to express yourself if you feel overwhelmed or like have trouble understanding how to practice Yeah, how to practice enlightenment.

[05:26]

And again, people say, well, I can do a practice which would lead to enlightenment. To practice enlightenment? Of course, the Buddhas practice enlightenment. The meditation of Buddhas is their meditation is their practice and their practice is enlightenment. So we're learning a meditation which is to be absorbed in enlightenment. And the nature of enlightenment is that where each of us is right now, or the way we are right now, is not the slightest bit different from the goal, from the highest imaginable goal that a human being could have. The way we are now is not the slightest bit separate from Buddhahood. The only thing that separates us is our unwillingness to accept that intimacy, that fact, which most people

[06:44]

even if they like the idea, do not accept it. Like right now, accept it. And now. [...] That's the practice. To continuously accept enlightenment. and then see what life is like when you're in the mode of enlightenment. When I am involved in such a practice, life is different than when I'm not. Or when I feel and I seem to be involved in such a practice, life seems different than when I'm resisting or distracted from accepting and entering the practice of enlightenment.

[07:54]

On the way over here, I did not turn the radio on. I did not study Spanish. I did try to drive carefully and courteously. But what I basically was doing was I kind of like, while driving, I was paying attention to how this activity of driving was the coming of enlightenment, the coming of enlightenment in the form of driving. how the silent bond among all beings, not so much the silent bond of all beings with me, but the silent bond of all beings, including me, how that was coming to me as I was a living creature driving a car to this class.

[09:55]

And I was also noticing to be fairly consistent in that. practice of enlightenment. And, you know, I don't mean to try to like sell this to you or anything, but it was a very delightful practice. Happy. Not very happy. I was just happy coming over here. A few times I said, uh-oh, uh-oh. when I saw that I was moving into a very congested traffic zone. But it was, it was uh-oh. And cheerful, actually. And I was not, you know, I was not, I was, yeah, I was, I felt like I was driving appropriately to the coming of my relationship with all the other drivers. Excuse me, would you please come up here?

[11:16]

For some time, I was in a school that told us that when we thought we were present, we were really not present. We were deluded about being present. And obviously, that teaching, if it was a teaching or not, did sink into me because I often tried to be present The question is, am I really present? Am I awake? Or am I dreaming that I'm awake? So that's my question. It's a question? Yes. What's the question? How do I know that I'm awake and not just dreaming that I'm practicing? I understood the question.

[12:42]

Let me say it back to you. How do I know that I'm practicing rather than dreaming that I'm practicing? This enlightenment does not appear within perception. However, this enlightenment illuminates perception. It can illuminate perception, but it doesn't appear within perception, and it's not the object of perception. Or rather, I'll just say it doesn't appear within perception, and perception doesn't appear within it.

[13:52]

And as you practice, you come to realize this enlightenment. When you realize this enlightenment, in a sense you know that the way you are is to practice enlightenment. Enlightenment is the way you are practicing. You know that. However, it's not like you know it like you know things now. You don't know it, you know, with your dualistic. So if you, if now you think that you're present, you do not have to know that you're present. You can just think that you're present. And you practice thinking that you're present, if that's what you're thinking.

[15:05]

And then you practice with that, but the practice isn't that. The practice is understanding that enlightenment of all things is coming to be, is coming forth as you thinking that you're present. Now you could also think that you're not present, and the practice could function just as well with the thought, I'm not present. You could also think, I think I'm present, but that could be a dream. You could be thinking that. All those are three different ways of thinking. In each case, this practice applies. That's why it's such a universal practice. There's no situation of anybody definition that isn't the coming of this. This is the tathagata, the coming of suchness, the coming of this enlightenment.

[16:11]

Nothing, there's no place it doesn't come. And you can dream of being present and you can dream of doing this meditation. But dreaming of doing this meditation is part of the process of learning to do the meditation. The meditation is to dream of how you right now, what you're doing right now, is the coming of enlightenment. The way you are right now is practically enlightenment. You dream of that. You think of that right now. And you could be thinking anything.

[17:13]

You could be doing anything while you start to do that practice. When you start to sink in, you notice that the practice somehow has effects. It starts transforming what you do think. Like you say, uh-oh, instead of some other things, when difficulties come, or ooh-wee, or something like that. You're more ready for life because you have basically accepted all life. coming as you. You're not all life, but all life comes as you. But all life in this quiet, mutually enlightening kind of life, which we call the enlightenment. So you can think, I'm present.

[18:14]

You can think, I'm not present. You can think, I'm driving a car. You can think, I'm not driving a car. You can do anything Be involved in any way that you are as a living being. And that's an opportunity for doing this practice of enlightenment. Because you are actually, you're what you are in this way of approaching practice. Within is enlightenment. And the way you are functioning is the way you are practicing enlightenment. No matter what. No matter what. No matter what you are practicing? No matter how you're practicing, yeah. No matter what you are practicing, you don't have to consciously practice what you are always practicing? No, well, you're always practicing, but if you don't realize you're practicing, then you don't realize the practice. I mean, you have to understand that you're practicing.

[19:16]

Well, if you're practicing your intention, if you're thinking this way, if you're meditating in this way, that is your intention at that moment. And you also could be dreaming that you're doing that, and you could get some feedback which would alter your dreams about it. But it doesn't mean that when you're dreaming, a dreaming person is not outside the bonds. But not all dreaming people, not too many dreaming people, percentage-wise, not too many dreaming people dream in this way. And when you start dreaming in this way, it makes perfect sense. It logically follows from this type of dreaming that you would, There are people who are dreaming in this way to check your dreaming.

[20:23]

If you're not dreaming in this way, you might think, well, why should I check with other people about my dreams? They're wrong and I'm right. I've got nothing to do with most people. And the people I agree with, I can maybe talk to some of them, but why, what's the point? I don't have to talk to them if they agree with me. It's fine with people I don't. You know what I mean? In other words, when you're dreaming of feeling separate, there's no point in checking out things with people. When you're dreaming of not being in this silent bond, you wouldn't necessarily be open to all beings. But if you're doing this type of meditation, you would open to all beings. It would follow that you would open because you're meditating on how you're open. and how they're open. And you would more and more be able to do that. And if you didn't, you would more and more see, well, maybe that's someplace I should grow into.

[21:30]

So it's okay if you're dreaming that you're present and you're really not present. Because it's round and round. You really are, most people are, but they're distracted from being present. You say, well, that's not being present. Right. You're distracted from your actual presence. And then you hear about being present as a good thing, so you start practicing presence, but you're not really doing it for a while. You don't really know what you're like for a while, but you're trying. Because you're trying to learn this, you're open to get education on how to be present. That's why you're asking about this. I have a sub-question concerning this. When you were talking about you were driving and you were, excuse me for paraphrasing, I'll paraphrase you wrong, you were trying to see how enlightenment was appearing in the form of your driving.

[22:36]

Yeah, not quite right, no. The way I was feeling was I wasn't trying to see how I was just driving as or within enlightenment coming in this form. But I wasn't trying to see how that was, but I did get to see how. That wasn't what I was trying to do. I was trying to be mindful of what I was doing as the practice of enlightenment. And then I noticed that did change the way I was driving and the way I was feeling. And my attitude about life changed. But I wasn't trying to see how it was exactly. although I knew that I would get to see how it was, that wasn't really what I was trying to do. I was trying to remember the point that what I'm doing is the practice.

[23:39]

What I'm doing is the function of enlightenment. I tried to be mindful of that. But I wasn't trying to see what that would be like. I was more like trying to see how, you know, like, how you stay on the road and not hit the car in front of you. I was trying to see how to do that. While, and I was noticing how, you know, that these practices can be done at the same time. The practice of driving and the practice of enlightenment can be done at the same time. Now there's some practices which I don't think can be done at the same time, like the practice of being cruel. I think at that time, you're going to lose one or the other of these practices. Yes? You want to come up here, please? You can come and go as you will, as you wish. That's the practice of enlightenment. Yeah. Don't forget. All the way back there.

[24:44]

I'm curious to hear how you were with time on the drive. I'm curious to know if you had a clock in the car or a watch you were watching. Yeah, there was a clock. I was watching the clock and happy with what I saw. I thought, hmm, wow, looks like I'm going to be there kind of on time. I kept thinking that, wow, it's working out. I felt quite blessed, you know, it doesn't always work that way, but tonight I just, the giving me good news again and again. So what happens when a clock is not giving you good news, when you're accepting enlightenment as it's coming? I'm embarrassed to say I don't know. I'll let you know. I'll try to continue this practice and let you know if the clock shows me something and I feel kind of like no thank you about it.

[25:51]

But I didn't feel that way tonight. I felt kind of like, wow, thanks. I didn't say thanks, but I felt kind of like blessed. Traffic and the car and the clock and the police and everything, everything was working quite nicely. I just read an article about what they do in Finland for traffic violations. They fine people in relationship to their income. So that if a poor person gets a ticket, you know, it hurts. And then if a rich person gets a ticket, it hurts. But it has to be more for the rich person for it to hurt. Somebody actually got a ticket for speeding, quite a wealthy person got a ticket for speeding of $204,000. And he could pay it. Did it make a difference to him?

[26:55]

Huh? Did it make a difference? This was not a Buddhist text. It didn't comment on the way he accepted this, this phenomenon. But I think in this meditation you feel blessed when you get tickets like that. You go, you go. You maybe say, uh-oh, I'm going to get a big one. Here it comes. You're more, you're up for it. You're up for life. It's called, you know, Nirvana. Huh? Because you're taking responsibility. Not taking, you're receiving responsibility. Now you have a chance to... And you contributed to this, but so did the government of Finland and the car makers and... You're practicing meditation on this relationship with all beings, so what unfolds is the unfoldment of enlightenment for you. You're in that mode, and when things come, it's of the practice, including that you're driving fast and you make a lot of money, they get a big ticket if you're in Finland.

[28:09]

And you see it that way. Now, if you go to Finland and you don't hear about this, then that's the causes and conditions where you weren't informed. So I don't know who tried to drive there. But people in Finland all know about this, and they mostly like it. And it doesn't seem to... They don't feel it reduces the number of citations, but it reduces... makes the pain even. It equalizes the pain so that the rich people and the poor people suffer equally for similar crimes. But it doesn't seem to reduce the crime rate. And I told you before in one of the previous classes, the point of meditating on the Bodhisattva precepts is not actually to reduce the crime rate.

[29:11]

is to increase the enlightenment. It's not about elimination, it's about realizing enlightenment in a world that has these speeding and so on and so forth. So if I find a case where I'm doing the meditation and I don't like what the clock says, I'll let you know how it was. But tonight it wasn't that way. Tonight it was a happy relationship with time. and all that stuff. Happy, dangerous relationship, because I could have been late, you know, could have had an accident. There's a lot of dangers in terms of being able to fulfill my responsibility to the class, but it was good. Yeah, but I'll keep an eye out for when I have problems with time, when I'm doing this meditation to see if I have any problems with time.

[30:24]

I imagine you will. Well, hopefully I'll notice if I do, and I can tell you about it. I'll be waiting. Okay. I actually have sort of a testimonial that I didn't think about until you said this, but I've been... This is a little bit related to the blue question, I think, but I was talking to Medicare about... About your mother's hospital bed? Yeah. And the woman on the phone after an extended conversation said, you sound so relaxed and happy. She said, I don't ever talk to anybody who sounds relaxed and happy. But I had been... The last several times that people understood... You know, every so once in a while you say, do people understand me?

[31:26]

I feel like I didn't really understand, but that I can imagine what you're talking about. And today I felt like I was imagining the sun, you know, between all things. But that's sort of where I'm at. All right. Just wanted to say this. Is that okay? Yes. You can imagine the silent bond. You can imagine something that's inconceivable. But it's not inconceivable. You cannot... In other words, you can try to imagine it, and you can be successful at imagining it, but your imagination of it is not it. However, it still may be beneficial to imagine it. What I was doing was different. I wasn't imagining that I was in the silent bond. I was imagining that I was driving a car. The actual activity of driving a car is also inconceivable.

[32:30]

But what I was imagining was not the silent bond, I was imagining driving a car. And I was meditating on how driving a car and imagining, in conjunction with imagining that I'm driving a car, that being such a person is the coming is the Tathagata, is the Pata Agata. It's the Buddha coming back into the world in this form. I was meditating on that rather than imagining that. I don't understand the difference at all. I mean, I guess I don't understand the imagining but not the meditating upon her exactly. Well, like here, oftentimes we're imagining we're in a room, we're imagining, we're talking, so on and so forth. We're actually in the room, and the way we're actually in the room is not the way we imagine we're in the room, but the way we're in the room is the basis of our imagination.

[33:40]

Okay. Okay. And both me being a person who's imagining and me being a person who is the basis of what I imagine about myself, that's my activity now. And I'm involved in those two levels of cognitive activity. Could you give me some water, please? But you might not be mindful that you're imagining things. that you're in the room. Mindful that you're imagining you're in the room. And you might not be mindful of the teaching of what enlightenment is. You can hear the teaching that enlightenment is among all beings and how that bond

[34:43]

When all beings are involved in this bond, together they create this great light. You can hear that teaching and you could imagine something about that teaching, but you can also just hear it and use your imagination just enough to hear it. That's enough too. As far as you go, just say, okay, I understand. That's what enlightenment is. You can say, I understand. Huh? You can say, I understand. I understand the sentence. Enlightenment is this thing. That's what enlightenment is. It's not something that I think or happens to me. It's what it is. It's the way I'm related to all beings and them to me and the way that that relationship gives off this light which pushes people to realize it. So I hear that and I kind of understand that that's what's being said. And then the question is, how do you practice it? Well, like I say, whatever you're doing, there's two ways of practicing it.

[35:51]

The way I'm emphasizing now is the tathagata, the tathagata, the coming of the Buddha, the coming of this enlightenment into whatever you're doing. So it's more of a faith thing than an imagining thing. Although you're using your imagination somewhat to get the teaching, now you're going to use your, you still use your imagination, but didn't do when you first heard this teaching. When you first heard this teaching, you might have said, just to make it simple, you might have said, oh, okay, that's what he means by, that's his definition of enlightenment. But you're not going to practice that necessarily. Now I'm saying I'm going to practice it. So the person who wrote me the note stimulates me to think, how can I explain to people, initiate people into the practice of this teaching, which you see, and if you don't understand some level, conceptually or whatever,

[37:02]

then we can do that some more. But at a certain point, you understand it well enough to say, okay, now how do I practice it? Well, practice it when you're driving, for example, or when you're walking. And notice the difference between hearing about that practice and going, that's interesting or unusual or far out or wonderful, the teaching about what enlightenment is. And now how do you practice it? Then try to practice it. You can see it's a different enterprise than just hearing about it. Thinking about it also could have been the way you actually with it. Imagining it while you were conducting your life and continuing to imagine it while you're talking to this person could be another way to practice it, just to keep thinking about the enlightenment of all beings. The way I did it was I thought about that, but then I thought about how do you practice it, and how do I practice it when I'm driving a car? So you could have said, now how do I practice this when I'm going to be on the phone?

[38:09]

In other words, how is the way I'm on the phone the practice of enlightenment? And how is the way I'm on the phone the practice of how all beings are in this quiet bond with me and me with them and them with each other? How is the way I'm talking to this Medi-Cal person realizing that? without sort of like thinking about, what is that? It's more like, how is this activity coming up? And you're concerned. You're giving your attention to this, whatever you could say, amazing issue of how enlightenment is functioning, current activities. And not again to see exactly or find out, but to see what you're doing as that. Because that's a certain type of Tathagata.

[39:13]

That's a certain type of Buddha, is the Buddha as the Buddha comes into what you're doing. There's another side too, which we can talk about, is where you go towards the realization of that. while still having, you know, a sense that you're not in that kind of relationship with people. And you go towards forgetting about that story and realizing this other story, which is that the way you are is that, rather than how is the way you are that. that you don't think that the way you are is it, and how can you forget about that by studying your limited idea of yourself? That's going to the target, to suchness, or going to Buddha, rather than Buddha coming to you.

[40:16]

So tonight I'm emphasizing the Buddha coming to you, or enlightenment coming to you, as whatever you're doing. And you will see that, I think, that what you're doing will be different as you do this meditation. And you, you kind of saw that, and so did the person on the phone. I mean, yeah, but... Hmm? Well... Go ahead. Well, just what I said before, that I was, you know, I was imagining, you know, that I was sort of... That can be, you're imagining... you could also say that is a practice. Me imagining is what I'm doing. And since I'm imagining, that's the practice of enlightenment. If you weren't imagining, then if you were doing this practice, you would say, no, I'm not imagining.

[41:18]

That's the way enlightenment is functioning. That's the way it's practicing. It's practicing as in what I am. That's the kind of thing enlightenment is. It's how you are. And so you could be imagining or not. And each of us could imagine in a different way. But some of us might not be imagining. That would be okay too. But even though we weren't imagining, we could still remember and be mindful that this unimagined state... You can be in states where you're not imagining. You can practice tranquility and turn your imagination, you can be in states of direct perception where you're not really imagining much. Those too could be situations that you understand as the coming of the Buddha, the Buddha coming, the Buddha, the coming of the Buddha.

[42:20]

When I say the Buddha, we think it's somebody else. It's the coming of your actual relationship with all things. So that's fine the way you did it, but I just want you to know that when you stop doing that, you don't have to stop the practice. Thank you. Got your name. Yeah. What if the person on the phone made Helen angry or said something to make her afraid, feel afraid? Thank you. That's a little bit like John's question. He's kind of wondering, what would the practice be if I got angry at the number on the... I was going to say that too. If I was coming here and I was late, I could imagine feeling anxious or concerned for people in the class.

[43:29]

Is that enlightenment coming forward? Is that enlightenment presenting itself? Yes, but you don't think that that's the practice of enlightenment. Therefore, you don't realize that it is. Why can't you think it's? As soon as you do, you're not angry anymore. As soon as you do that, you're practicing. But it sounds like what you're saying is enlightenment is only feeling peaceful, feeling good, feeling happy. No, enlightenment is the way, it's the silent way that all the unhappy people that all the unhappy, angry people right now in the world are in bond with the happy ones. And even among the happy ones, some of the happy ones are enlightened and some aren't.

[44:33]

It's the bond between the enlightened and the unenlightened happy ones with the unhappy ones. The Buddhas are not unhappy. Those who practice this way and realize this way are not unhappy. They feel pain about the pain of all the unhappy people. They feel pain, but they're not unhappy about that pain. As a matter of fact, they're joyful. So the enlightened beings are in this relationship with the unenlightened. Some of the enlightened are really upset, but they're not separate from the enlightened ones. That's the enlightenment. Enlightened means those who have no more delusions about this enlightenment. In such a way that they become enlightened. Enlightenment is the cause, in a sense, the source of people being enlightened or realizing enlightenment.

[45:35]

And the way you realize enlightenment is through the practice. And then you start practicing with that anger and see how the anger is the coming of the Buddha as you as an angry person. Your anger is like, it's over. Anger doesn't only last for a moment. But if you bring practice to the anger, that's it for that anger. The anger is now, it's more like, like I said, it's more like, I don't know what. Uh-oh. Or, geez, that's stupid. Something kind of blessed about this occasion of anger. But it's not that easy, of course, to accept this practice and welcome the Buddha into a state of anger. That's part of the question. When you don't like what's on the clock, can you then Right there, catch it and go, oh, how is this becoming light right now?

[46:42]

Well, at that point, when you tune into that dimension, you're not... I don't think... We'll see, but I don't think you're going to have a problem with the number anymore for the second there. The second that that practice happens... Now, is it difficult to remember this when... Well, yes, it is. But some people who aren't angry, they have trouble remembering it too. It's hard to remember this. First of all, it's hard to even hear it. It's rarely heard. Then when you hear it, to let it sink in and say, okay, I think I got it there. And now how am I going to practice it? And then say, okay, that's how I could practice it. And then to give yourself to that practice. This is wonderful, but rare. Then... you get distracted from it, and you get angry, and then to remember again and come back, I don't think the anger lasts. As soon as you remember, you're not angry anymore.

[47:44]

And it would be hard to remember when you forget and get into anger, it would be hard to remember. But when you forget and get into some other things, it's also hard to remember. But sometimes when you forget, it's easy to come back. Sometimes you come right back, which is great, wonderful. How does that go for you? It goes well. Yeah. Sit with it, yeah. That's the thing. Sit with it. Sit with it and remember it. You have to be told and retold until this takes hold. You have to keep telling yourself to do this until you can stay with it for a while. And then you can see, oh, this is a good thing to do. It is. Really good. Yes. You're watching a movie, you're lost in the movie, and all of a sudden you realize, oh, this is a movie. And it was sometimes like, I was a little late getting here, and I was noticing, oh, gee, you're getting a little worried about being late, aren't you?

[48:54]

And I looked at myself and I kind of chuckled. I just noticed my own reactions. And when I did talk about the movie, it became sort of, it wasn't, I wasn't... I wasn't absorbed by it. I was here, and I was noticing it going on, and I was noticing the road, and in a way it became... It became just... Sounds like you feel pretty good about that. I feel good about the fact that this can apply to any... thinking or thought or experience that I have. It's a universal attitude. And I like that because it's empowering. I don't have to worry. Whatever happens, it's not that it doesn't matter what happens. I don't know if it's a universal attitude. It's more of an attitude of how the universal is working through your attitude.

[49:58]

Okay. What I mean is it's an attitude I can apply to any experience I have. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So I don't really have a universal attitude. I'm not a universal thing. But the universe, this is the universe. Each of you is the universe as you. The universe is based on you, but you're not the universe. And that's actually, it's not a universal thing. cognition or teaching, it's actually quite specific about how to relate to all beings and how to practice enlightenment. It's a way of justifying your relationship with the universe.

[50:58]

Justifying. Do you need to justify your relationship? Pardon? Do you need to justify your relationship with the universe? Well, there's a nuance in the word justify which I can see, well, you might think, well, I don't have to justify it, but justify in order to rectify or, you know, make just. To make your relationship with the universe justice. To make your life justice. To realize that your life is justice. to realize justice as your life, to establish justice as your life, moment by moment, is to, in some sense, to justify or to make just your relationship with the universe. Not just your relationship just with a couple people, which that would be good to justify that too, or to have that be just, but we're talking now about your justice with everybody. a subset of that would be, you know, in some sense a subset of enlightenment.

[52:08]

To have apparently a just relationship with some people, that sounds good, but we're talking about something totally non-exclusive or all-inclusive, and how to practice that and remember that. And again, This is a practice for people who live in delusion and for people who live in situations which are not explicitly, literally set up for this meditation practice, like daily life in the streets of Berkeley or the Bay Area. Not everybody agrees that the whole setup is for the purpose of this meditation. But they don't have to. And you don't have to think that either. But this instruction can make it so that whatever is happening is an opportunity to practice this.

[53:17]

Because this practice also doesn't, or I should say, this practice does go along with you not being attached to it in any form. And also you're not being attached to not practicing it, too. You're not attached to being and you're not attached to this enlightenment. However, maybe you do want to practice it. And practicing it naturally goes with you not being attached to it. Well, then you know that something's funny there. The practice hasn't sunk in very much at that time. But then again, okay, that's, what's that? That's how the practice is happening for me now. So then there's the practice again. And as you do it more and more, you will less and less be attached to it.

[54:27]

And also you'll be less and less attached to not it. To, you know, to thinking that you're not in a relationship with everybody. And then practicing according to that teaching that you're not in a bond with all beings. Now most people are practicing according to that teaching, and then they're doing the practice of delusion. Delusion is also a practice. But most people think of it as a practice. They think it's the practice of righteousness. of them right and the people are different than them being wrong.

[55:33]

That's the way they think about it. Yes. First class we were talking about our homework, which was to notice that we didn't feel close, that people were our close friends. And I think at that class or the other class, we kind of talked about another practice that would kind of be talking about today, because it seems to me, I just want to clarify in my mind, kind of, It seems to me like today you're talking about a practice based on faith that when you're driving that this... It's not so much based on faith. It is a faith practice. Right. It's not... Okay. So that's a good point. So earlier I was talking about more like Tathagata. Going to suchness. Start with where I'm at, I don't feel close to everybody.

[56:36]

Okay? Start there and go. Forget about the perspective of I'm not close to everybody. Get over that. But look at it. By admitting that that I'm a self who is not in this relationship with all beings. I'm not in this mutual relationship with all beings. Not everybody's my close friend. Not every situation is a situation of close friendship. That's where I'm at. And you study that one. So in both cases, I'm talking about studying the self. One self is a self that's not in this relationship with all beings. That's the first assignment. The second practice, the one I did tonight, I didn't do that one tonight. I did the other one. I studied how the self is within this relationship and how the way I am is the coming of that relationship rather than how I feel cut off and separate from some people or a lot of people.

[57:45]

And I wasn't studying that while I was driving. I was doing the coming of suchness, the coming of the Buddha. So in that sense, it was a faith practice, rather than the going to Buddha via something separate from other beings. So in one case, I forget the self who is not in relationship with all of you. The other case, I watch how what I am is my relationship with all of you. This is always the coming of the Buddha. But it's actually both. It's also that I can feel separate. So you're right. The first assignment was to go the other way. This wasn't an assignment. This is me reporting to you how I was practicing with you tonight on the way over here. I was coming from the other side. And both ways can be practiced by lay people in daily life.

[58:55]

You don't have to be in a monastery to do this practice in either direction. And I also, you can just come up here, you don't have to raise your hand. It's just that if you don't raise your hand, You might be talking to somebody else. You might have to wait a little while. Yes? What about the self that isn't there until it arises? That's one question. And how is that? I didn't understand what you said because I don't know of any self that's there before it arises. I mean a self. When you were speaking about either having this vision come towards you or thinking or studying how you're not part of it as the two alternatives? Is that right?

[60:01]

Okay, sort of, yeah. Then I'm asking how this relates to the self-receiving and employing samadhi where the self is a practice of instead of the self being there and receiving something, or being there and not receiving it, there's a self that just comes up and then it changes. And I'm not understanding how that practice there are, as far as I understand, they're changing conditions rather than a solid, substantial, fixed thing. How that relates to the either or that you were discussing. Well,

[61:01]

It's kind of a complicated question. Are you asking about one situation where you feel like you're already here? Is that one situation you're talking about where you feel like you're already here? It sounded to me, now I'm realizing, that it sounded to me in what you were saying that there was a self that was there and something was coming to it, or you said the other alternative would be to study that self and see why it wasn't. Let's take this one situation. You say there's a self and something's coming to it. That's what it sounded to me like. So the self and something coming to it is similar to the self going to something. In both cases, you've got a self. But let's take the one example.

[62:12]

You've got a self and something's coming to it. That's the situation. Where you don't feel like everything is your close friend. Because you're already here and then there's something comes to you. It wasn't like something comes to you here. So that situation That's another version of I'm here and not everything's my close friend because I'm already here and now something comes. And then maybe it's my friend, maybe it's not, but the point is and something comes. That's called an a priori self, a self before the thing. But a self before the thing, and the thing is not necessarily your close friend.

[63:15]

You might say it's your close friend, but you might not. And again, I think there's lots of cases you can find where you think you're already here before somebody comes to see you. And so in that case, when the person comes to see you after you're already here, it's possible that just some of those people will be seen as close friends. Does that make sense? But if the coming of the person is more or less simultaneous with you coming to be, then you see that this person or this thing is a close friend. But if they're a little bit after you or way after you, you know, they're a junior to me, forget them, whatever, you know,

[64:16]

with you, when you're born together with whatever is coming, person or mountain, then you feel, then you understand that this thing is your close friend, that you're in this bond with them, that you're not there before them and they're not there before you. It's not just that you're not there before them, they're not there before you either. They depend on you, you depend on them, you have a close relationship. So your example is an example which we know about of what we've got is self that's not in this bond. We see it. I've got a self and this self is not in this relationship of everybody being my close friend and me being a close friend to everybody and them all being close friends with each other. I'm not in that place. I'm a little bit in it. I've got a few friends that kind of more or less their life is my life. My house is your house. It's kind of like with a That's not the bond I'm talking about.

[65:23]

So your example is an example of study that self. Study that self, study that self, study that self, study that self. This is part of the practice. Study that self that's not in close relationship with everybody. Study that, study that, study that. Reach the end of that and forget about that. That's one type of practice. It's a very important type of practice. That's a type of practice where you go to You go to suchness. That's the Buddha. It's going to nirvana. Okay? So that's... The other part, which I emphasize in my example of driving here, is the coming. In other words, seeing that what I am is the coming. Whatever I am right now is the coming. So I'm tuning in to the other side. That's another way to practice. I'm not remembering the self.

[66:26]

I'm remembering the teaching as myself. And I think you are a person who actually has these kinds of tathagata. You're somebody who has to get over this limited idea of yourself, and also understand that your limited self is the coming of the universe, is the coming of enlightenment. You, in your limited sense, enlightenment, and also you have to get over your limited sense too. So both sides, both types of practice, we should know how to enter. So did that relate at all to what you were doing? That related. Okay. And you think, I'm driving this car unconsciously. I'm driving this car. I've got to get to this car.

[67:27]

And instead... Wait a second. So you could practice that way. That was the first assignment. I'm driving this car. Okay? I'm driving this car. This car is not my close friend. I'm driving it. That's one kind of practice, okay? So just let that be one kind of practice. Study that kind of thing if I'm driving the car. That's one kind of practice. Yes? And the other kind of practice would be mindfulness, like something that's arising. Because I'm asking now whether the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is a way to arrive at the momentary, causal, changing situation, rather than, I'm dying this time, I'm getting somewhere. Would that be the same softness or meeting with relaxation as opening up to this vision you're talking about?

[68:31]

Could that be a way? Are you asking if the Four Foundations of Mindfulness will be useful in realizing the... I think so. Yes, it definitely will be helpful. So when I was driving the car, I was practicing Four Foundations of Mindfulness. I was practicing mindfulness of my body, and my feelings, and my... I was meditating on these things. I was doing those practices while I was doing this more sort of fundamental practice. So I was enjoying the practice of enlightenment, or enlightenment in practice, but I was also doing these Buddhist mindfulness practices. You know, feeling what it's like to be driving the car, noticing the distance between me and the other cars, as part of the practice. That was part of it.

[69:32]

And to try to do this without that foundation, it's just less grounded. And, yeah, it's less grounded, less, what's the word, fertile. Because you're not engaging with the fullness of yourself in relationship to things, or the fullness of yourself. relationship to things, seeing not as in relationship. In both cases the fullness of your experience will be helpful to in one case realize how you're cutting your rich self off from beings and another is how all beings are practicing through you in a rich form. So yeah, these four foundations of mindfulness which we're not going into in this class but which And maybe that's what this person meant by too advanced is that maybe he doesn't have enough to be able to do this practice in a fruitful way, I don't know.

[70:44]

But yeah, basic mindfulness should be very helpful to check out the person who is the coming in the form of this person functioning. So they can be the same time. You do them simultaneously. What are they? They are? The four foundations and this... Self-fulfilling samadhi? This receding, the bond. This is self-fulfilling samadhi. The practice of enlightenment is the self-fulfilling samadhi. Two different words for the same thing. Like I said, all this silent enlightenment does not appear within perception. That's from the Self-Fulfilling Samadhi.

[71:47]

It just said, they don't say all this enlightenment does not appear within perception because it is unconstructedness and stillness. They just say all this. But what they're referring to is what's previously where they're talking about how the enlightenment of everything is enlightening everything and being enlightened by everything. It's talking about how everybody's engaged in enlightening everything and how all the things that we enlighten shine back and enlighten us. We're enlightening each other all the time. We're engaged in this. Everybody's engaged. However, this does not appear within perception because it is unconstructedness and stillness. That's what I was talking to you about tonight. And that's from the Self-Fulfilling Samadhi section of the Bendoa, of Dogen's text on how to practice. And just to fill people with questions, which I... I think is great.

[72:48]

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