I've been saying lately things like, please give close attention to . Please be mindful of the story that's in your mind in the present moment. And again, to be present with the story in your mind moment by moment and really graciously observe what the story is. I've also said please graciously observe in each moment your actions.

[01:13]

It's the same thing. Or please graciously Give attention to your intention. Please give close attention to your karma. These are all sayings that are... that come from the story that is good to give attention to your story. Your mind has this activity, has this action of creating stories moment by moment, and every story that's created has a consequence.

[02:21]

This is a basic fundamental teaching of the Buddha. every story that arises in your mind, every action that arises in your mind, the activity of consciousness has consequence. And if there's close and gracious attention, awareness of this activity, this activity, this story, will evolve positively. And eventually, the story, under this kind of gracious observation, this story will turn into light. The light of Buddha's wisdom. your story about your relationship with the universe will open up and reveal the story of your relationship with the universe, but your relationship with the universe will be revealed.

[04:09]

And that relationship is light. is wisdom. Wisdom is your actual relationship with the universe. It's the reality of your relationship with all beings. I've been saying, it sounds more or less familiar, and some of you maybe it doesn't sound very familiar at all, but anyway, Some of you sound somewhat familiar too, right? This sounds, particularly Catherine, who taking, you know, notes for these various teachings I'm doing, sounds pretty familiar to you, right? Does it sound familiar to you, Xiaohong? What? It has similarities. It has similarities.

[05:15]

Karen, somewhat familiar? How about you? I haven't seen you for a long time, but it sounds familiar anyway. Max? Mm-hmm. Jerry? Huh? Yes. Alenia? Yes. Lynn? Yes. Elizabeth? No. Doesn't sound familiar. Not the part about wisdom. Are you happy to hear about that? Mm-hmm. Cindy? Yes. Tom? Tom? You only met me once before, recently. This is new and yet it's very, very... Bernard? The gracious part's new. Yeah, I've been emphasizing the gracious part lately, which I'd be willing to say more about today, but it's very important, the gracious part.

[06:17]

Now, another thing I kind of noticed fairly recently was I noticed that when I was actually saying, when I was actually trying to express in words what the Buddha's meditation is, I noticed that it was different from what I had been recommending. A tiny little bit of oops, but then I felt okay because I thought something else. I think what I just told you and what I am recommending is in a sense a means a skillful means for entering into the Buddha's meditation.

[07:32]

The Buddha's meditation, or the meditation of Buddhas, which we sometimes in Soto Zen, we call it Zazen. However, Could you pass this bowl very carefully back to Donna? And could you put some hot water in there, please? Well, I was going to say that we have Zazen instruction at Zen Center where people come and get Zazen instruction. But the Zazen instruction that they receive is different from what I just said Zazen was. So one kind of zazen is the zazen which is the meditation practice of a Buddha or the Buddhas. Another kind of zazen practice is the zazen practice which somebody thinks they're doing. So, and that is, but somebody thinks they're doing is not the same

[08:45]

as the Buddha mind, although not separate at all. So what the Buddha is practicing, the Buddha's meditation is the meditation of the relationship among all beings. their meditation is the relationship. It's not a meditation which is a story. It's not being meditating on a story about our relationship with each other. It is the actual relationship. That's the meditation practice of a Buddha. The Buddha's meditation practice is reality itself. And I I was struck recently by an alternative translation of the description of zazen.

[09:52]

The one I'd been familiar with before, the description of zazen, is each moment of zazen is equally wholeness of practice, equally wholeness of enlightenment. And the translation which I heard before but struck me more deeply is something like, each moment of Zazen is the same practice and the same enlightenment for both the person sitting and for all beings. Each is when is how and when.

[11:05]

Your practice and everybody's practice is the same. and how your enlightenment and everybody's enlightenment is the same. That's the wholeness of practice and the wholeness of enlightenment. Zazen is is the way your practice is the same as everybody's, and the way your enlightenment is the same as everybody's. That's the zazen. And that is the light, that's the light of wisdom. And that's what Buddhas are up to, is they're in that mode too, but they're fully awakened to that light. They're not the slightest bit someplace else from that light. Their stories don't pull them away or cover up the light anymore.

[12:15]

So the practice that I've been which I will continue to emphasize because we're making a book out of this emphasis will be on karma, will be on stories, how to study them to open up to this light. But strictly speaking, the practice of Zen practice is the Buddhist practice. It's the practice of enlightenment, or it's the enlightenment of practice. That's the practice. But there's another practice which, if we don't do that practice, we'll be blinded to the Buddha. If we don't pay attention to our stories, we'll be caught up in them. Like, Susan's my good friend. She's so nice to me. Not a bad story. But if I think, if I hold on to that story, I'll be blinded to my actual relationship with her.

[13:22]

Which is light. Which is so... intense and dynamic that it gives off spiritual light, and I can't see, I can't grasp the relationship anymore. I'm inundated by the light of Buddhist wisdom, which is fine, of course, but then the mind creates a story, and if I don't know how to study the story and hold on to the story, I'll be blinded again. So our stories themselves don't really blind because they're not at all separate from the light. But if we hold to them, then we somehow, the holding blinds us to our actual relationship. So I'm both encouraging a practice that kind of, yeah, it's kind of like a study of blindness practice, study of delusion practice, study of attachment to illusions

[14:30]

which our mind is constantly conjuring these wonderful stories and sometimes horrible stories, you know, of our relationship with people. So and so is really, I'm not, yeah, I'm not kind to so and so. I'm not respectful of so and so. I'm cruel to so and so. and I think that that story was so-and-so and I hold on to it and I suffer. But if I give gracious attention to that story, the story will open and the story will not be, you know, annihilated. It just will be the wonderful curtain that parts and shows the truth of our relationships. So that kind of study in a sense is a means to the realization that the practice of zazen is not really a means.

[15:43]

That's why we don't stop practicing enlightenment when we're enlightened. That's why we don't stop practicing this practice when we wake up to it we continue we eat before and after enlightenment and we practice zazen not before but at the same time as enlightenment and we eat before and after that so the zazen of the buddhas is enlightenment it is enlightenment But before enlightenment, we have to pay close attention, give close attention to our ongoing activity of our mind, which can ramify into speech and postures. So we're paying attention to stories in our mind, stories in our mind which have consequences, stories in our mind which are ramified into speech, which have consequences, stories in our mind which ramify into postures,

[16:51]

So I have this story that I'm telling you to sit here and move my arms in the air in these dramatic ways. I have this story that this might possibly be okay with you if I sit here and act funny like this. And my job is to watch that and be gracious towards it. And I encourage you, even to the point of saying, that's your job too. I really do think it is your job in the sense that it's your job if you wish to open, enter and be entered by Buddha's wisdom. Then this is your job. If you wish to be blind to Buddha's wisdom, your job is not, don't watch your stories. Don't pay attention to what your mind is, how your mind is functioning.

[17:59]

It will be your job if you do not wish to open to Buddha's wisdom. And as you know, that job is being well done, so you don't have to tell anybody to do it. The only people I have to tell to do it are the people who want to give it up. I have to tell them, or I don't have to, but Somebody has to tell the people who are not paying attention, don't pay attention. And they say, oh, yeah, well, I'm going to pay attention. Oh, you are, huh? Okay, good. So in a sense I'm teaching a means to get over the blinding to the light. And then when we're in the light, then there's no means. A practice, that's the central practice of the school.

[19:04]

That's a practice which is not a means and it's not an end. It's a practice which is point of the practice. It is the practice of enlightenment. It's the practice of realizing, of realizing the real, of manifesting, actualizing reality. And so one could alternate between giving close attention or, yeah, giving close attention to the story of your relationship with the universe, and then kind of like, okay, I'm ready for the light.

[20:18]

I paid my light. Any light want to come in? Or you can do them simultaneously. Because in fact they are simultaneous. The light is coming all the time while we're telling stories. So you can tell stories and simultaneously be ready. Or, another way to put it is, as you're telling stories, be ready. Be ready for the story and ready for the light simultaneously. And being ready is another way in a sense to be generous and gracious with your story. Be ready for your story. With your story. Let your story be your story. So that mode is both giving close, generous attention to your story, to your activity, and also you're ready for that story to explode into light, or for the Lotus Sutra to explode into light.

[21:28]

I thought I just might tell you one more story before opening up, before exploding this meeting into light. Is that okay? One more? So the Lotus Sutra the Mahayana Sadharmapundarika Sutra, the Lotus of the Wondrous Dharma. It starts out with the description of the scene. Apparently the Buddha's, this is kind of an elder Shakyamuni Buddha. I hadn't really, I'm not saying that I know that for sure, but I've heard it's an old Shakyamuni. It's not the newly enlightened Shakyamuni. The newly enlightened Shakyamuni was the one who set the Dharma wheel rolling with those five guys, those five yogis. Right? I found this middle way.

[22:30]

Generally speaking, people are inclined towards extremes, he said, in his early teaching career. And I found a middle way. Remember that one? That's a good one. Right, Max? Yes. Have you memorized it? Have you memorized that part after the enlightenment? Yeah, do you memorize that part? You lost it? Before he memorized it. Anyway, he's maybe out of practice, right? You haven't been practicing it every day? Yeah, so it would be nice if you had that memorized so we could just say, okay, Max, Thus I have heard, Max. Anyway, so that was the early teaching, young Shakyamuni, like 29 or something, 35, 35 years old. This is an old one. So he's sitting there on Vulture Peak in Rajagriha. And he's got a group of people here.

[23:32]

And then they tell you who's here. They tell you all the arhats. They don't tell you the names of the arhats. They just tell you there's a lot of arhats. And then they've got this bunch of bodhisattvas too, and then they tell you the names of the bodhisattvas. And when I first read that Lotus Sutra, I read the translation from Sanskrit by a guy named Kern. So you have all these Sanskrit names of bodhisattvas in this 19th century orthography, which, you know, Anyway, I stopped reading the Lotus Sutra during the names of the Bodhisattvas back in 1968. I was reading, I wanted to read the Lotus Sutra because Suzuki Rishi was going to be teaching at Tassajara in the fall of 1968. So I said, okay, I'll read the Lotus Sutra.

[24:34]

But I didn't, I just didn't, I don't think I even got the list of names. it was so difficult for my story to handle. Anyway, later I came back again, a year later and tried again, and a year later and tried again. And then the time was right and I've got to put the cup down here. the light came. And the light came, the story, right? The Buddha's sitting there and after they say the names of the bodhisattvas, this light came out of Buddha's forehead and illuminated, he says, it illuminated 18,000 Buddha lands in the east. Didn't mention the west and the north and so on. Just talked about in the east, 18,000 Buddha lands were illuminated by this light. A few days ago, I read a description of this scene, and it said the same thing.

[25:47]

After just describing the scene, the scene is exploded by the light coming from the Buddha's forehead. I had never thought it was exploded by the light before. I like to hear that it was exploded. I thought it was like weirdified. Do you know what weirdified means? Yeah, exactly. I thought it was like, time to close the book again. But I didn't. It wasn't that bad. 18,000 realms in the East was not that bad for me. And actually it would have helped when I thought about, well, it wasn't just in the East, it was also in the West and the South and the North northeast and northwest, southeast, southwest, up and down. Buddha lands in all directions were illuminated by the Shakyamuni Buddha's realization of this wisdom, of this light.

[26:58]

And also I don't remember the Shakyamuni Buddha saying in the Lotus Sutra, all of you people have this light that I just... All of you have this. I don't remember him saying that in the Lotus Sutra. I don't think he did. But later, in China, some Zen teacher said, all of you have this light. But if you look for it, Because looking for it again is going into a story. I'm going to find that light. Where's my light? I heard I got a light. Where is it? So that story of looking for the light, if you graciously attend to that searching for the searchlight light, searching for the searchlight story.

[28:11]

If you create a tentative story, you open to the actual light. That's my proposal. And the actual light is the actual practice. And that's what we're taking care of fundamentally, but we're also taking care of the various ways to drop the blinding, to drop our blinding, our blinding activity. And to be blinding activity. And all the skillful and unskillful things we do. We can do skillful things when we're blind. And to be aware of the skillfulness and unskillfulness of all the things we do in conjunction with these blinding stories. And these stories are blinding, but again, they're also the place where the light will come through.

[29:11]

So they're blinding and revealing simultaneously. And they're totally not separate from the light. Stories have this relationship with all of the stories, and all of our stories are about the relationship between all of our stories. But all of our stories about the relationship between our stories are not the relationship. But still, all the stories are related and the light is totally the way they're related. And so we need to be gracious towards all this everything you need to be gracious towards all of our stories and of course if you could see nobody would have to tell you to be gracious anymore nobody would have to encourage you but before you can see through your stories you need to encourage yourself and others to be gracious to be generous with your stories and then of course

[30:19]

Be generous with other people's stories who amazingly disagree with you sometimes, who amazingly think that their story is better than your story. No, no. Yes, they do. And not to say that they're right, but just whether they're right or wrong, whether you're right or wrong, be generous, be gracious. And then you're open to how we are beyond our stories, beyond our karma. So I hope that you can graciously get ready to carry the understanding that there's a non-dual relationship Buddha's meditation and the meditation of those who are getting ready for Buddha's meditation and those who do not want to get ready for Buddha's meditation.

[31:34]

They just want to hold on to their stories. So among the unenlightened, there are those who are not being gracious with their stories. They're not. I mean, why shouldn't you say they're not? They actually are, but they don't want to be. Because they don't want to be, they act like they're holding on to their story. They really are being generous by holding on to their story. But they don't get it, and a lot of other people don't get it. But some people have stories and they say, I would like to learn how to let go of my story. I would like to learn how to be generous with my story. And those are the people who are in training to be a Buddha. The other people are also in training to be a Buddha, but they say, no way, I don't want to. I do not want to become a Buddha. I want to become an imam or a rabbi or an atheist. Because atheists are becoming more vocal and articulate now that they're more and more on the verge of extinction.

[32:36]

Now America is a place now where you might get assassinated for being an atheist. It didn't used to be. It used to be like there was freedom of religion and non-religion. But now it's like almost against the law to not believe in God around here. Not only God, but Christian God. You noticed? It's like a dangerous, you don't believe in God? And everybody should be armed so that they can shoot any kind of non-Christian to protect themselves from non-Christians. That guy who killed those people in North Carolina, was it? Virginia? Was he a Christian? See? He wasn't a Christian, see? That's what they do. Yeah. See? Anyway. The atheists now are speaking out. There's an article in the New Yorker now called, I think it's called, Atheism with an Attitude.

[33:45]

But it's true. but they're nasty, a lot of these guys here. I think, good point, but what are you so angry about? He's talking so nasty about these religious people. Huh? I think that's just Christopher. No, I think I felt that way too, but what's his name? Frank Harris, is it? Sam Harris. Sam Harris. I have really good points. Totally good point. Like he says, religion is an area of human activity where it's considered like a virtue to not listen to people who have different opinions. It's considered a virtue to not converse with people of different faiths. And of course I think that's a very good point and I think that we really should start having a conversation with people who have different views. That's part of being gracious with you, is to have conversations with people who have different stories.

[35:04]

But he points out that a lot of indigenous people feel you shouldn't talk to people who have a different story because they might erode your grip on your own story. So it's a good criticism and I really support that, but there's a tone of hatred in the way he puts it, like these people are stupid, you know. Yeah, they may be, but, you know, love them. Let's have a little love for these people. Like my grandson is sometimes stupid. He's stupid how he thinks he's going to trick me in that he's right. Like, you know, I did take him to Burger King twice, and I'm the only person that ever took him to Burger King. What? That's twice. Twice. And once on the way to the Marine Mammal Center, and there's a beautiful Marine Mammal Center over there, has beautiful kind of like lagoon with tons of

[36:15]

pelicans, and these animals. Anyway, a couple years later, I asked him, you know, I was referring to that outing to the Marine Mammal Center, and he said, I remember what we had for lunch. I said, what did we have? He said, I had Burger King. So we had Burger King there, and then I took him to one more time, but then I saw this movie. I didn't realize that Burger King was what they were doing was on a par with McDonald's. So I said, I can't take you there anymore. But anyway, I did take him. And then, so then he said later, I explained to him why I wasn't. Actually, Burger King doesn't, isn't actually junk food. He said, it's only 20% junk food. So he just pulled that 20% out of the air and said it's 20% junk food. It's 80% good food, he said. He just made up this story.

[37:19]

And I think he thought I was going to fall for it and take him back to Burger King. Anyway, but I love him, his stupid little tricks he tries to play on me. And yeah, anyway. If we're too critical, you know, it just makes people all the more at risk of grasping their story. So gracious with our stories opens to the light. So gracious will help us when the light comes to be in the mode of graciousness. We won't get blown out of the water Our scene, our story will explode, but no beings will not be hurt. But if you get open to the light and you're tense, you get knocked down maybe, if possible.

[38:26]

Not by the light, but by your resistance to it, taking a position. Okay, here comes the light. Okay, I'm ready. Boom. Boom. Again, I ask you to share the responsibility to take care of the understanding that we have two kinds of practices in Zen. And the other is the actual journey. The actual journey that's not really going anywhere, but just trying to include everybody in enlightenment. The journey of enlightenment. The journey of of light, the journey of being ready for Buddha moment by moment, and also realizing that we're in a human body which is constantly generating stories like, oh, this person's being really nice to me, this person's being too nice to me, this person's being way too nice to me, this is not appropriate, this person's being really mean to me,

[39:42]

et cetera. All these stories, our mind isn't going to just sit there. It's going to go, boop, story, [...] story. It's going to do that. Okay, well, fine. We've got something to take care of. Something to watch. And it's very quick. And other people seem to be quick, too. So it's got to be ready, and generous, relaxed, ready. Okay? Yes, Carolyn. Can you say what constitutes a Buddha land? What constitutes? One of those 18,000... Why isn't it just... How come there's not just one? Oh, how come there's one? Oh, uh... It's because... that there's this, it's kind of funny, you know, that we do this, that we, you know, what I mean by we is we the universe, you know, us the universe.

[40:54]

It's funny, to me it's kind of funny. When I was attracted to Zen, it wasn't by Buddhas, in the form of like being Buddhas, and it wasn't about Buddha lands, and it wasn't about long lists of names of bodhisattvas and light coming out of the forehead. It wasn't that stuff. It was more, you might say, low-key. It's more like it was actually exactly the same thing, But I didn't see it that way, and I wasn't interested in this other way. I closed the book when it had the names of the bodhisattvas. And even the part about the light coming out of the forehead, not too interested in the light. So you're asking me about these Buddha lands? I just want to tell you that I wasn't interested in Buddha lands. I was interested in somebody... who's got something in his hand and somebody comes up to take it from him. And before they can take it, he goes, opens his hands and says, I want to give this to you.

[42:04]

I was turned on by the human enactment of the light in the form of a poor monk who's getting robbed, who's on the verge of getting robbed, but before he gets robbed, ...possessions into gifts, so the no theft occurs. And not only that, but he wished he had more to give, too. He wished he could give the full moon, too. That's the spirit, that's the light that turned me on to Zen. Then I find out the Zen teacher, Suzuki Roshi, oh, he's teaching the Lotus Sutra? Okay. If he's going to teach the Lotus Sutra, I'll study it. So there it is, Buddha lands. So now what am I going to do? So there I am in Buddha land talk land. And Zen teachers are studying Buddha land, about Buddha lands?

[43:09]

Okay, well that's enough of that. Close the book, come back another year. Okay, so now I find out that part of the deal that the universe does is it has these Buddhas Not just people who are like expressing the light of Buddha's wisdom by being generous. Not just that. But people who have this position called Buddha. And what's that? Well, it's this special thing where you have a world and then nobody knows about Buddha's wisdom. Everybody's like in story land, you know? cockroach land, worm land, dragon land, dinosaur land, mammal land. Disneyland, Adventureland. And also this book you're talking about, this guy talks about, he says, such and such mammals. This guy talks about mammals a lot. And this one atheist talks about this kind of mammal and that kind of mammal referring to different religious groups.

[44:17]

Stupid mammals, arrogant mammals. You remember where I was? Mammal land. Mammal stories. Okay? But no stories about... Study your stories, cockroaches. Cockroaches unite. Give gracious attention to your cockroach stories. There's great variety, but there's some similarity too because you all have those greasy, shiny backs. So your stories are similar and you make similar worlds. You're creating worlds with your karma. Nobody's telling them that. All your stories have consequence. The way to freedom is right view. There's nobody saying that. There's just people, people, you know, persons, cockroach persons, human persons. There's persons who have stories. Infinite, all over the universe, beings making and nobody telling them.

[45:22]

And then suddenly things get really bad. the suffering gets more and more intense. And then a Buddha is born. Where there wasn't a Buddha before. And then... Wait a second. Wait a second. Now there's a Buddha. Like Shakyamuni Buddha. There wasn't a Buddha in the neighborhood before that. And he said so. I mean, shortly before. And so there he is, and he starts teaching. And when he starts teaching, on this planet, in India, on Vulture Peak, there was a Buddha Land. And he made it a Buddha Land together with all those beings, and he told them about it. He was making a Buddha Land with them. And he needs a Buddha land for people to come and hear about this light.

[46:28]

So he's the Buddha. But the other people aren't Buddha. They became enlightened in this Buddha land, but they aren't the Buddha because he's the one who got to be the Buddha because he was the first one. So Buddha lands are places where Buddhas are teaching. And before the Buddhas are teaching, the places aren't Buddha lands. They're suburbs. And in the suburbs, if there's not a Buddha out there teaching them, caught in their stories without anybody offering, or in the neighborhood. And not everybody in the Buddha land, by the way, is ready to receive this teaching. So I might actually, there might be some debate about whether the people who are near the Buddha who are not yet ready in the Buddha land or not. But Buddha lands are where Buddhas are teaching. And there's infinite numbers of places where beings are doing this.

[47:33]

And so there's infinite number of Buddha lands in this infinite cyclical universe. And then the Buddha, like we had this Buddha here, the Buddha passes away. The Buddha takes a form for people to hear the teaching, lives for a while and then goes away. But at the same time, in a world where there was a Buddha appearing and a Buddha going away, simultaneous with that are infinite other Buddha worlds where there are currently existing Buddhas who have not yet passed away. So we right now don't have our Shakyamuni anymore, but we have infinite other Buddhas who are still on the job near Manakaya form all over the universe. And they can teach us too. And in meditation we can go to their Buddha lands, because they're actually sitting there in a Buddha land someplace.

[48:34]

We can go there in meditation and actually meet them face to face. In other words, the light of the way we're related to is the face of those Buddhas who are sitting in Buddha lands right now. And so in the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni is sitting there saying, I'm teaching here. There's Buddha lands where other Buddhas are doing the same thing right now. And then in one of the chapters of the Lotus Sutra, one of the past Buddhas actually comes and sits with Shakyamuni, and they teach together. So this is, you know, I didn't come for this. And somebody's nodding, shaking his head like, he didn't come for this. But there it is. It comes up, you know, when you ask questions, like when you hear the word Buddha Land, this stuff comes up.

[49:38]

And it's part of the terrain around all these nice, accessible little Zen monks who are like being very generous and kind of like, yes, that's very simple. They don't actually show you the lights coming out of their forehead because they're not Buddhas. They're just the light. When we're generous with each other, when we're kind with each other, that is the light. If you look for it, it goes dim, but it's there. And then there's Buddha lands. and that's part of the overall Buddhological project. Jonathan? Say again? How can you discern when you're being gracious? If you're being gracious and While you're being gracious, you could have a story like, I'm being gracious.

[50:51]

And you could understand that that story is true. However, the story is not the way you're being gracious. It's correct that you're being gracious if you have a story like that. It's called the story of Jonathan being gracious. But the story is not the way you're being gracious. And if you would like be gracious, if you were actually being gracious towards the story you have, which is correct, of you being gracious, that story would be exploded. And in the light that would be revealed there, you would understand that you're being gracious. When you see the light, you actually are discerning that you actually are generous. But it's not like another story, like I'm generous or not generous. It's this light. And so that's what it's like to discern generosity. Before that, you're generous.

[51:55]

Everybody's generous all the time. You have a light, but somehow you don't feel like your story of generosity or your story of stinginess is something you can grasp, and you feel like you're grasping it. Then you don't discern your generosity. you actually don't discern your stinginess either because you can't discern stinginess. You can only dream of stinginess. It's not a discernment. It's a discrimination. Stinginess, these are the stingy people, these are the generous people. That's a distinction. That's a discrimination. Discriminating consciousness is looking at the stingy ones and the generous ones, okay? That's not discernment. Discernment would be The stingy and the not stingy are close friends. And see the light of the stingy and the not stingy doing their thing together. Seeing that light, you would discern generosity and you would discern that everybody is generous and you would discern that people don't understand it.

[52:58]

So discernment, you would feel joy, you would be inundated and you would be inundating this light, you would be contributing to it and contributed by it, that would be the discernment of generosity, and you would be fearless and joyful. But it wouldn't be then to think, oh, I'm generous, and then that would be the discernment. That would be just a discrimination. You could also think, I'm not generous. It's another discrimination. But to understand that no matter what you think, that is light. And not to grasp anything you think, then you're open to discernment of the reality of of your generous nature. Your generous nature. Everybody's generous nature. Understand also and discern everybody has the same generous nature.

[54:04]

And most beings also have stories about it which they think are true and hold on to and therefore they're blind to it. And even though they're blind to it, sometimes they think that they are generous and somewhat happy to think that they're generous and believe that story. But the real happiness is to get over the stories that were generous and open to the actual generosity. Well, I encourage us to be generous with your not much. Is there anything else you want to bring up before we... Yes, Reverend Shoho? Your presentation of... My presentation? Saying there's something I practiced before that's a means and then there's a real Buddha satsang that's happening.

[55:12]

Yeah, mm-hmm. I never understood your presentation of stories as being realistic things, like being real things. Stories are really stories. But stories are not just... Like if I make up a story of us flying through the sky right now together, I don't think that that's a story about some reality. It's me just fantasizing something. But it's a cognition. It's not a cognition. It's actually the activity of cognition. And it's made through all of us. It's made by you asking for that, for saying that, and me then dreaming up a story, or rather a story that is dreamt up in my mind because you asked that question. Here I am sitting here, you say that, a story pops up. So there's a story, and it really is a story. It really is an intention, and it is an activity.

[56:14]

It really is. However, the way it is is not embraced by itself. It's embraced by everything, so you can't actually get the way it is. It's not any different. It's not separate. However, it's not the same also. It's not dual. Okay? But to grasp it, it does seem separate. So the way it works is that if you grasp the story, then somehow you don't see the light. But it's not separate from the light, because all the stories are related to each other, and the way they're related is the light. So the essential includes all the stories, And if we are gracious with all the stories, we'll open to the essential function of all the Buddhas. But if we're stingy with the stories, we'll be blinded to the thing which the stories are inseparable from.

[57:15]

And this activity of being open and being closed, how is that function? The being open? And being closed. Well, let's open first, okay? Open. Open. is not different from the essential function. And open is a condition for appreciating and realizing the essential function. Being closed is not different from the essential function. However, it is a condition for feeling separate from the essential function and being miserable and afraid. etc. But it's not at all the same. But that's the way it works. Being closed and stingy with your own mind, with your own stories, holding on to them as true or false. That's not separate from the essential function of Buddhas. Buddhas are spending their time diagnosing that situation. The Lotus Sutra teaches two things.

[58:17]

It teaches the illusions which we grasp to, Those are totally part of what Buddha's activity is, to bring attention, gracious attention to the illusions which are the cause of suffering, and then also give attention to this universal practice, which neither of them are separate, but if we don't give attention to the illusions, we become caught. But the Buddhas are right there working with us while we're being caught. They don't feel like we're separate. They think we're stupid, and they love us. But our stupidity is not at all separate from their perfect wisdom. And they were open to our stupidity and be generous with our stupidity because they did the same thing. They were stupid once and they opened to their stupidity and they became free of it. But the stupidity is not at all separate from the essential function of the Buddhas. Not at all.

[59:18]

They became Buddhas, and now that they're Buddhas, they deal with others in a non-separate loving way to encourage them to do the same. We say that we are Buddhas and ancestors and we are one with them. We are what? We are Buddhas and ancestors. We will be. Oh, when we are Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha ancestor? Yes? Would you speak more slowly, please? When we're revering Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha ancestor. Okay, now. So when we sit and listen to our stories, we are already one with that function of Buddha? It didn't say, he didn't say. When revering Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha ancestor. He didn't say. Not revering. ancestors, we are one Buddha and ancestor.

[60:22]

He didn't say that, but I do. I supplemented what he said. He didn't say, when you don't revere the Buddha's ancestors, you are one Buddha and ancestor. But the world was not ready for him to talk like that. That was too twisted and If you revere Buddhas and ancestors, you are one Buddha and ancestor. If you don't, you are one Buddha. We are one Buddha and ancestor. Either way. However, if you revere them and hear this teaching and continue to revere them, this teaching, you will realize that you are one Buddha and ancestor. The other way is you will not realize it. You will keep being miserable. Actually, Sora did say that. That's a lack of faith and practice when you don't revere Buddhas and ancestors. You should treat everybody not as though they were Buddhas, but you should treat them like Buddhas.

[61:28]

Not everybody might be a Buddha, but everybody might be a bodhisattva. It's just a strong tendency to believe in the next moment. There's a strong tendency to believe in the next moment? Yes, there's one moment, right? Yes. And to believe in the next moment, it seems like... There's a strong tendency, yes, that's part of the teaching of the Buddhas, is that there's a strong tendency to believe these stories. But that's making a... You talk too fast for me. Got to talk slower so the old man can hear you. Okay? So I think we all understand that there's a strong tendency to believe our stories. And believing is not generous, by the way. Be generous with believing. Now what's the next thing you're going to say?

[62:28]

Thinking in a way of there's a means and then there's this real practice that... No, no, no. I'm not saying it's a real practice. I'm saying it's a Buddha practice. Practices which aren't the practices that Buddhas do. The Buddhas do, all the way we're practicing, Buddhas are doing all of those. But the Buddhas are not doing like one person's meditation on their karma. The Buddhas aren't doing just that one. Your responsibility and my responsibility is to keep track of my stories. That's my job. as a disciple of Buddha, as a bodhisattva. As long as I have a body and mind that are creating stories, I have to take care of them. Just like I have to take care of you. Right? That's my job. That's been assigned to me by you. The Buddhas don't have like one job like that.

[63:33]

All their job is, is all of our jobs. That's the real practice. They have the practice which we can join, which is they have the practice which is the same practice as each of us. That's their practice of Buddha's. That's the Buddha's practice, which is the same practice that all of you are doing, which is not separate, but it's not one of your practices. The one practice that each of us has to do is the practice of watching our stories, our karma. Nobody else has to watch ours, except the people who are watching everybody's. So by watching ours, we enter the practice of watching and see everybody's yet. but we enter the practice which is the same as everybody who is telling stories. Everybody is telling stories. I want to do the practice which is the same as all those people that are doing the stories. That's the Buddha practice.

[64:35]

But the Buddha doesn't do the practice. So those who are doing that practice only are the Buddhas. Other people who are still telling stories and had the slightest bit of tendency to believe them, they have to be watching just that one, for starters, and be generous with that. Then they open to the practice of Buddha. Practice to keep track of your own practice. It's a real practice. It's just that it's not the universal practice, it's your practice. that you have to do, and nobody else has to do that one the way you do. So we have to be limited in order to open to the infinity, but the infinite realization is to open to all the limits, all the limited beings, and finding the same way and the same enlightenment of all of them. This is, you know, I know this can be obnoxious, but I ask you to take responsibility of the big universal practice and the specific limited practice of taking care of your own limited story and being generous with that and being aware of this other huge and unlimited practice, being aware of it, of the out there for you to enter and enter it.

[66:03]

and do both until somebody tells you to give up the first one, which probably never will happen. But you will someday. When you're a Buddha, you'll give up the individual thing and then you'll be gone. Bye-bye. I won't have you anymore. So Buddhas pass away and go back into this pure Dharmakaya. Yes, Brandon and Lynn. Yes, Brandon. Will you speak up, please? In a way, we're doing them simultaneously. Some people are not being gracious with their stories. Some people are not consciously trying to be gracious, and they consciously think that they're not being gracious.

[67:14]

They don't speak of it as not being gracious. They speak of it as, I'm right, and I'm not going to talk about it. I just am right, so shut up and do what I say. Some people practice that way. They're actually being gracious, but they don't get it. But some people are actually trying to be gracious with their stories. So that's one way to practice. The other way in the sense that you're also involved in the same practice as everybody. And the way that you're involved in the same practice with everybody, that's the practice of the Buddha. However, most people are not enough into their own story, not generous enough with their own story, to really open to the way that they're practicing the same as everybody else. But you are. There's a way that you are practicing the same as everybody, and that's what is the Buddha Zaza.

[68:19]

That's always going on. You're always participating in that together with everybody in the same way, in the same enlightenment. That's always going on. And then something else is going on sometimes. Like right now we have this kind of story. This is gone now. I'll never come back again. Now we have another. And then there's a practice of being generous with that. And the more you practice with that, the more you open to the other one, which is already going on. Speak up, please. No. You don't need to split your intention. Your intention will open to one or the other. You'll notice, like when you hear about the same practice and the same enlightenment, your mind opens to that story. And then you're generous with that story. And then your mind might open to this to this radiance.

[69:22]

And in the radiance, at that time, you don't really have a story at that time. So your attention actually is not, you're not actually looking at a story. I mean, you're looking at a story, but you're seeing light. I mean, you're looking at light and you see a story. So I was talking to a group of priests the other day about there is a In the Saumya Nirmocana Sutra, we're in a section on talking about the samadhis of the bodhisattvas, and it has these three types. The first one is basically meditation on stories, the next one is meditation on light, and the third one is a combination of the two. And then the Buddha is a combination, but the Buddha is simultaneously seen both, and I would say bodhisattvas, first of all, look at one, then look at the other, and then they go into a state of flickering between them, where they're actually doing both all the time. But there's a flickering that's not simultaneous quite. It's more of a flickering.

[70:24]

It's a combination, but not a simultaneous combination. So in fact, people do look at their stories generously, open to the light, see the light, then when our story comes, practice with the story, see the light, But you want to sort of do one at a time. Here's the story, and I love being generous with it. It's already, I feel better that I'm practicing even though I've got this story, and I'm still holding on a little bit, but I'm being generous about that too. But I feel like I'm on the ball. I'm doing what I've always done. I feel good about that, and also I notice the stories are getting better, which is nice, and my vision is improving, which is nice, you know. There's less stories about me being right and everybody else being stupid. I don't have those stories anymore very much. There's less stories of me hating people. And also I'm getting less attached to them simultaneously. It's wonderful. But I also understand this is still a story because I still have a little bit of grasp in here.

[71:32]

And then suddenly, boom, the thing explodes and now we are in that realm of unconstructedness and silence and stillness. Can't grasp anything, no problem. Don't even know that there's no problem, but there isn't one. There's discernment, there's radiance, there's joy, there's... And then a story comes. I'll go back to the practice there again. That's how it goes. I've heard those stories about that. Have you heard those stories? You heard one just now. Okay? If you're ever out of work, pay attention to the work you're into. You're never out of work. You're always working. Yes, Lynn? I'd like to ask more about seeing through the story.

[72:35]

You're going to ask a question about seeing the story? Believing the story, seeing through the story, connection. Can I say something? Yes. Before believing the story, before noticing that you're believing the story, notice the story. First of all, find the story. Where's the story? Okay? So you've got the story. Now you can check. Now you've got the story. Check to see if you believe it. No question. No question what? I believe it. Okay, good. So now you believe it. So now what do you do when you notice you've got a story that you believe? How do you practice with that? If the story affects me so I have emotional reaction, I got thoughts about myself. That's part, that's a story. Is that what? Story. Physiological reaction is part of a story.

[73:38]

Yes. Does that mean you believe it? You know, this line that you're going in is... a little bit of a distraction from what I'm suggesting, which is just be generous towards the thing that you're trying to learn about. Don't try to figure out whether you are or are not attached. I'm not... You sound like you're trying to ascertain whether you were attached or not, given certain kinds of... No, I'm trying to understand the instruction.

[74:44]

Okay, so the instruction is, once you find the story, be generous with it. Whether you did or not. Pardon? Whether or not, whatever you... Whether you believe it or not? Whether you say, oh, that's just a story, or whether you feel deeply affected by it. Either way, right. Now, okay, either way. That's the basic thing I'm suggesting. As the optimal way of working with stories is before anything else happens, number one, generous. Number one, gracious. That's the first response. Oh, my goodness. Well, oh, my goodness. Oh, my graciousness. Oh, gracious. And also, welcome. Welcome. But maybe that's too much. Gracious. Be a gracious hostess. And gracious hostesses do not, you know, give the guests cocaine.

[75:48]

You know, generally. Although I want to be gracious about that. What? Be gracious with your story and that gracious environment will allow the story to evolve, will allow the story to be a condition for positive evolution in terms of future stories. A terrible story comes and is treated... The potential of that story to be a condition for a more wholesome story will be realized. More wholesome story, be generous with that. That will be a condition for a more wholesome story. So first of all, graciousness. Now, if you notice in the story that part of the story is you want to figure the story out, find out if you're attached or not, that can be part of the story. We'll be gracious with that. Physiological reactions are part of the story too.

[76:52]

Be gracious with that. And you said several times, seeing through. And I'm saying to you, I'm telling you this story about a kind of reality. And the story about this reality is that if you're gracious with your stories, your stories will turn into light, which is the same as you'll see through your stories. The light will come through the stories. You'll go through the stories. It's the same. And turn into wisdom. Is it beyond deception? Beyond conception? Yes. This is non-conceptual wisdom. This is non-discriminating wisdom. By studying your stories, discriminations and judgments, by studying that, graciously, you will go into the realization which is beyond your discrimination, beyond your stories. So you don't have to do anything but what you just said.

[77:56]

That's all you have to do. and you open up to something else that you're already doing but you don't realize. So it'll seem like you're doing more because now you don't see how you're helping everybody. So then after you open to this light, you'll feel like, well, I'm doing more. I thought I was only helping 13 people, but now I realize it's a rather large number. And now I'm not just helping people, I'm helping all beings. So in a way, I'm doing more now, but not really. You're just opening to that you're doing more. So opening to what's happening and you will realize you think you'll do more than your story says you're doing. You're also, right, for example, if you have a story that you're doing good, fine. If you're generous with that story you're doing good, you'll open up to the fact that you're also supporting everybody that's doing anything evil.

[78:57]

You're also completely supporting all the evil ones. You're helping all the evil ones. you're Mara's main supporter, you know, not main, you're Mara's close, friendly supporter. You're open to that. So you don't have to do any more. All you have to do for starters is be generous with what you think you're already doing. And you do think you're doing something. What you think you're doing is what you're thinking is what you're doing. So be generous with that. You don't have to do any more than what you think. And then you're open to how things are. So, you don't have to, I mean, it will happen. If you open, it will happen. It being what? Wisdom? Wisdom will happen? The end of suffering. The end of suffering will happen? Well, it will be realized. Suffering actually is better than happening and not happening. The end of suffering doesn't really happen.

[80:02]

The end of suffering means to be at the end of things happening and not happening, too. In the realm where things are happening and not happening, you're still suffering. You know that world where things happen and don't happen? Okay, that's the story land. We have stories of things happening and not happening. If you're generous with that, you open to the light which is beyond the realm of things happening and not happening. And that's the end of suffering. But the end of suffering doesn't happen. It doesn't happen or not happen. It doesn't increase or decrease. It's like emptiness, right? It isn't born. The end of suffering isn't born and doesn't die. It doesn't happen to you. It doesn't happen to you, no. I mean, it doesn't happen to you. that suffering, however, does happen to you. Because that's the world you're living in, is where things happen to you and where you happen and don't happen. But, you know, you said happen, so I'm, you know, you said it, so I'm pointing out, no, no, end of suffering doesn't actually happen.

[81:15]

Huh? Yeah, but it can be realized in the realm where there's not really happening and not happening, which is a realm where your stories turn into light, where the story of happening turns into light and the story of not happening turns into light. So then you just have light rather than happening and not happening, and that's the end of suffering. Okay? Yes, Cindy? May I repeat a story? It's getting into lunch hunger land. Stories of lunch land is coming. So if it's not too long a story. It was told by Christopher Hitchens last night, that book passage. Now, is Christopher Hitchens the guy who wrote the book that was reviewed?

[82:19]

I didn't read the article yet. Yeah. Christopher Hitchens. Yes? Yes? This person goes up to a hot dog vendor and, you know, okay, and... Christopher Hitchens tells this story? Tells this story. He has a sense of humor somewhat. And the vendor says, what would you like on your hot dog? And he said, one with all of everything. One with all of everything or one with everything? Make me one with everything. Make me one with everyone, okay. Make me one with everything. No, there's another wave. So he gives the guy... A $20 bill. Right. And he waits around and then he asks, where's change? And the vendor says, change comes from within. Okay. It was funny.

[83:19]

See, everybody here has heard the story. It's a problem. So if they hadn't heard it, they probably would be laughing. You laughed at the first part. Did you laugh at the second part too? I laughed at the second part because I hadn't heard the second part. Oh, okay. Now we could have lunch, if you like, and I'd like to suggest that if people want to eat in silence, that they either eat in here or on the back deck, and people who want to converse during lunch can sit on the deck up. or in the little study hall next year. So if some people want to eat in silence, they can have some quiet place. Is that okay? In here or back there? Does that work for people? It makes the people who want to talk have to be outdoors more, but I think the heat generated by warming will keep you warm. And then also this afternoon,

[84:27]

We have the opportunity to do work practice, and it can be whatever works for you, including nothing. Some people will be lifting pieces of sheetrock and stuff like that, so there will be heavier work and raking work and cleaning work and whatever works for you. That'll be the first thing we do after lunch. That'll be the first thing after lunch. So you might want to change during lunch into something you feel more comfortable working in. Although most of you who aren't wearing robes look like probably they'll work for you. I myself will be changing into my work costume. Would it be okay if during part of lunch and work period I went home to check on my Yes, definitely. It's definitely alright to leave and come back in general, which is what we do in the realm of stories.

[85:33]

We leave and come back. But in the light, we don't come or go. We're always together. Yep. May our intention equally extend to every being and place.

[85:59]

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