of the Tathagata's words. And I think perhaps some people might not be familiar with the word Tathagata. How many people are not familiar with that word? Would you like me to say something about it? Tathagata is an epithet, one of the epithets for a perfectly enlightened being, a perfectly awakened being, which sometimes we say Buddha. So one of the epithets is Tathagata. Tathagata is a Sanskrit word, and also I think Pali sounds similar. And it could be translated into English as one who has realized ta-ta-ta.

[01:07]

In Pali it's da-ta-ta. Ta-ta-ta is like reality. So one of the epithets of a Buddha is one who has awakened to reality and that awakening is to actually become reality. Sometimes people translate Tathagata as one who has gone to reality and sometimes they translate it as someone who comes from reality. So the Tathagata's words are the words of a being who has awakened to reality. And from this reality place, or state, they offer teachings, they offer words. They also offer other things, like they offer light. Light comes off them.

[02:12]

But particularly because they're concerned for the welfare of living beings, they express themselves in such a way that living beings can hear words. Because living beings, especially human living beings, are wordy. They're linguistic beings. So the Buddhas offer themselves so that linguistic beings can make words out of Buddhas. So we just, some of us just chanted a vow, a verbal expression of a wish to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Why would anybody want to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words?

[03:14]

Well, one might want to because one hears that tasting the truth of the Tathagata's words is the same as tasting the truth of peace and tasting the truth of freedom from suffering. the Buddhas, awakened beings, have become free of words. I propose that to you. They become free of words. And from their freedom from words, they offer, they express themselves so that beings who are not free of words can learn how to be free of words. the meaning, the truth of the Buddha's words will free us from words.

[04:20]

So one of the Buddha's teachings is that living beings, in other words, living beings who are not completely enlightened, they live in a word, in a linguistically created world, a world created by the mental constructions of linguistic activity. We live within a world inscribed and subscribed and circumscribed by the effects of language. And in that world we suffer. In the world constructed by words is where our suffering exists. And becoming free of the world of words is freedom from suffering. those who have realized freedom express themselves to us who live within the world of words so that we can practice with our words and become free of them.

[05:28]

In that sense we can taste the truth of the Tathagata's words and become free. We also sometimes say instead of, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words, we sometimes say, I vow from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma. I vow to hear the true teaching. So hearing the true teaching is to hear the meaning of the Buddha's words. And by hearing the true Dharma and receiving it fully, we will be able to maintain the true Dharma, the true teaching, and thereby all beings in the great earth will attain enlightenment and freedom.

[06:30]

Today I'd like to actually, I'd like to try to show you the path of tasting the truth of the Tathagata's words, the path of freedom from suffering, the path of awakening. Towards the end of last year I gave a talk here and I said that something like Our primary work here, our primary practice in this temple is to welcome all beings, to welcome all humans, to welcome all non-humans, to welcome everything we experience,

[07:38]

to welcome all of our comforts and discomforts, to welcome our stress and distress. That's our primary occupation in this temple. And this is the primary occupation of someone who walks the path of making Buddhas, of realizing Buddha. with opening to what's happening and welcoming it. It can also be called generosity. We start with generosity. We start with generosity. We start with graciousness towards all beings. I said that. And I got a very nice response after the talk. For several hours I walked around the temple and almost everybody I ran into said, welcome. And I said, thank you.

[08:45]

And they said, you're welcome. And that kind of, after a while, calmed down. And now, not every time do I meet someone do they say welcome. Some people have forgotten, perhaps, to welcome me. I'm not trying to get any welcomings, but anyway. The thought arose in me a few days ago that the calling card of Zen is silence and stillness. And I thought that was a nice slogan. By the way, the word slogan is, I think it's a Norse, has a Norse root, and it means battle cry.

[09:52]

silence and stillness is the calling card of Zen, is kind of a battle cry on the courageous path of liberating beings from suffering. But then later I thought, no, silence and stillness isn't really the calling card. That isn't really how we start in practice. The calling card, I still think the calling card is generosity. Some people actually, for themselves, are not ready to start with stillness. And some people do not want stillness when they meet somebody. So we start with generosity. That's the calling card. So what's silence and stillness? because that's part of the Zen bodhisattva practice. I think silence and stillness is the key or the gate to tasting the truth of the Buddha's teaching. But we start with generosity.

[10:59]

And then in Zen bodhisattvas, And how many people are not familiar with the term bodhisattva? Raise your hands, please. That's people more familiar with that term. Again, bodhisattvas are beings, human or perhaps otherwise, could be a dog, who are candidates or aspir... candidates or... aspirants to becoming Buddhas in order to benefit beings. The Zen Bodhisattva people sit in rooms, in empty rooms, like this. This room is relatively empty before we come in. They sit in empty rooms all around the world now. used to be mostly in China but it spread to Korea and actually to Tibet for a while and Southeast Asia, Japan and now the United States and Europe and South America and Africa and Australia.

[12:33]

Did I get all the continents? Zen has, now there's Zen all around the world and people are sitting in empty rooms and they're sitting still and quiet. In the Zen, the Zen bodhisattvas are offering their presence, their silence and stillness to all beings. They're welcoming all beings and they're offering their silence and stillness to all beings. Now I'd like to talk about how we practice generosity and move to silence and stillness and then move into tasting the truth of reality. when we actually practice sitting in an empty room like this room we sit in the seat just like you're sitting in the seats and we and we sit as an offering to all beings

[14:19]

and as a gift to all beings but also we consider all beings as a gift. We can't like now we can't see all the beings around the universe but we can sit offering ourselves to them. We start there. Many people sit and they wonder how does sitting here help all beings? Actually I don't know how but I do wish to sit here as an offering to all beings, wishing that my offering would be very helpful. And I also wish to sit here and I wish to understand that all beings are offering to me sitting here. I start that way. And then after I sit for a while, I notice that there's a being here in the sitting place.

[15:29]

And that being has various feelings. Sometimes various feelings, various emotions. That this being can feel his body on his seat. And he can feel his legs and his back and his abdomen and chest and shoulders and arms and neck and eyes and tongue. And that's a being which is quite present for me when I'm sitting here. The Zen bodhisattvas have to, not have to, they have the opportunity, and have to, but they definitely have the opportunity, whether they want to or not, of welcoming themselves, of welcoming themselves all day long, welcoming themselves. When they're sitting here, it's a great opportunity to welcome themselves because nobody's asking them at this time to answer the telephone, to cook lunch, to drive a car, etc.

[16:38]

The self of the meditator is being offered to the meditator and the meditator can receive it. Oftentimes when meditators are sitting, especially after a while, they notice what it's like to be sitting. And sometimes they wish they were doing something else. Sometimes when they're sitting they do not, they're challenged to welcome what it feels like. Sometimes it's a little uncomfortable because their body is uncomfortable for some reason. And they have trouble really feeling like, oh, how wonderful I have a chance to welcome and be generous towards this body. how wonderful that moment after moment I have a job to do of welcoming this body. And not just welcome this body and then that's it, but welcome it in the next moment. I propose to you that the path to tasting the truth of reality is the path of receiving your body when it's offered.

[17:54]

And it's offered every moment, so that would be that you would receive and care for your body moment after moment. Now this takes quite a few, usually decades, to learn how to receive the responsibility of caring for your body moment by moment. to receive your body moment by moment graciously. One very highly respected Zen master said that when he was 65 he finally was able to be mindful all day long. After practicing very wholeheartedly and becoming one of the most respected teachers in all of Japan, this person named Hakuin finally was able to receive his body, to welcome it moment by moment, all day long.

[19:08]

He aspired to that when he was a young monk and he finally got there after about forty-some years of practice. sitting here. We don't have much else to do, actually, most of us, than take care of our body and mind. So, there is a possibility for all of you who are in this room now, that when you leave and go home, you could perhaps make an empty space, maybe not a whole empty room, but make a little empty area someplace in your home where you sit for some period of time and welcome your body and welcome your mind.

[20:22]

And have that be, you know, that you're actually doing that and you don't have to do anything else. And welcome your body, including... your mind, and welcome your mind, including your body. Welcome what your body feels like. Welcome what your mind feels like. Welcome the feelings of your mind, including the feeling or the thought, I'm distracted. It's hard to be present here. I forgot to welcome. Welcome everything that happens, even if you feel unwelcoming. Welcome that. Start there. And you can do that in your home. You can also go to Zen centers. You can come here. You can go to the San Francisco Zen center. You can go to the Zen centers in Mill Valley. There's Zen centers in Santa Rosa. There's Zen centers in Redwood City. There's Zen centers at Berkeley. There's Zen centers at Oakland. There's a lot of Zen centers around here. You can go to there if you don't have an empty room yourself.

[21:25]

You can go in there and Be generous with your body and mind. And with the suggestion that this is the path to realizing reality. The next step, once you welcome what's happening, is to practice being careful of it, careful of what's happening, careful of your body, careful of your mind. To practice ethics in the limited sense of being careful of what you say and what you do and what you think. So once you allow something that's arising to arise, practice being kind and gentle and careful with it.

[22:28]

If you think a negative thought be careful not to say something bad about the negative thought. You've let the negative thought in now speak respectfully and kindly towards the negative thought. If it's a positive thought Be respectful to that and also don't try to hold on to the positive thought. And don't try to push away the negative thought. Don't reject it. Be careful of it. Be gentle of it. And then move on to the next way of being patient with whatever. Physical comfort, physical discomfort, positive emotions, negative emotions, all kinds of things that happen to you while you're sitting. be patient with them, which means try to be in the present with them. And then, based on these, you may be ready to consider what you're sitting here for.

[23:43]

Now, if you happen to be sitting here, wherever here is, with the interest to taste the truth of the Buddha's words, if you are interested in realizing the truth which will liberate you and other beings, you might remember that now. And now with these first three practices of generosity, ethical carefulness and patience. See if you feel enthusiastic about practicing those and see if you feel enthusiastic about practicing stillness and silence. You may have noticed that as you're practicing these first three that there's quite a bit of chatter going on

[24:47]

that you may not be silent, that part of what you're being generous towards is chatter in your own mind or other people's minds. In this room, when we're meditating, and perhaps if you're sitting in your own home and meditating, you might not be talking out loud, but there might be talking going on in your mind. And so again, I'm suggesting, if you sit and you notice that there's a conversation going on or chatter going on, like a lot of people when they're sitting, the chatter that's going on is, I'm not a very good meditator. Some, few people, the chatter that's going on is, I'm an excellent meditator. I'm actually better than most of the people around here at meditation. But I'm ashamed that I think I'm better than them. So really, I'm an excellent meditator, but I'm basically a bad person. But actually, now that I noticed I'm a bad person and admitted it, I'm kind of becoming a better person.

[25:54]

And some of the people around here are bad too, but they don't admit it, so they're not as good as me. Well, now I just put them down, so that's bad. So some people are, this kind of thing goes through people's minds when they're meditating. And I could go on. There's no end to the thinking that goes on when people are meditating. And the thinking is in words, of all things. Because people, humans, are wordy. They talk to themselves and they have conversations with other people in their mind and they also talk to other people. This is our thing. When we sit down, the words go on. And at the beginning of meditation, we either verbally or non-verbally, we welcome all that talk. Good, bad, pain, pleasure, boring, interesting.

[26:57]

Zen is really interesting. Oh, this is fabulous. Wow, these insights, wow. Or was that just because I drank coffee? This is really boring. I'm getting worse and worse. Many kinds of things are being said in the minds and we welcome them. The welcoming could also be talking but it can also just be a feeling of welcoming and openness. And then there's talk about how to be careful with and talk about how to be patient with all this talk. And if you can be kind by being generous and careful and patient, now you're getting ready to be quiet and still. If you're not kind and generous towards your thinking, it will be difficult to be quiet.

[27:58]

If you keep saying, shut up, stop that, this is stupid. Or keep talking, of course. It's a Now you can consider actually being quiet and still. And actually think, I really would, I think, I feel like, yeah, I feel enough kindness now so that when whatever comes I have a chance to be quiet with it. If an insult to me comes or a compliment comes to me, I can just perhaps practice being quiet and still. Great speakers like the Buddha, according to the stories I've heard, spend time sitting or standing still in a quiet place.

[29:22]

They have spoken in world-changing ways, in great ways, but they have gone to a place of silence and stillness. And from that place they have realized the truth beyond words and spoken. The Buddha was not a writer. but some of the Buddha's disciples over the 2,500 years are great writers. And I would say other great writers in the world today who are not necessarily considering themselves disciples of Buddha, they too, I think, from the stories I've heard, the great writers, they sit basically in empty rooms and they often lock the door and sit quietly and the great writing comes. They sit quietly and they enter reality and from reality they come back to teach the world something liberating.

[30:39]

I often quote Kafka, Franz Kafka, who says, you don't have to leave your house. You don't have to leave your desk. All you have to do is listen. Not even listen. Just wait. Not even wait. Just wait. Just be quiet, unmoving, and alone. The world will present itself to you to be unmasked. it cannot help it.

[31:53]

It will roll before you and reveal itself in ecstasy. I feel that Kafka was kind enough with his mind and his body that he could see based on that kindness the great function of being silent and still and alone. And in that aloneness and stillness we realize our true relationship with all beings. We see them take off their mask and dance with us in ecstasy. And the Buddha teaches the same thing.

[32:57]

Silence, stillness. Stillness, silence. It is the key to enter the realm of reality. It's available all day long. We have to be kind to ourselves to avail ourselves of it. And we can be kind to ourselves. It's just hard sometimes because what we are is really painful sometimes and stressful. But what we are and what other beings are are calling for kindness, calling for kindness, calling for generosity, And if we can offer that to others and ourselves, then we can be still and silent and enter. So I wrote, you know, on a piece of paper I wrote down

[34:19]

The calling card of Zen is silence and stillness. I retract that. But anyway, I did write it. And then I walked by a book which was on a desk in front of me. And the name of the book is Absence of Mind, which someone gave me. And I'd been just opening that book now and then to look at it since I received it. and I opened it right after I said that calling card is silence and stillness. I opened it and I looked at a page and the word I saw was stillness. So I thought, how auspicious. So I looked a little bit more at that page and I saw it said stillness and quiet. And then I looked a little more and I saw that this is that this is the words of a man named Emerson a man who I think sat in an empty room and was silent and still and now he's talking about silence and stillness and I don't remember what he said exactly but it went something like this

[35:46]

In silence and steadiness, we enter the secrets of the mind. And we realize the secrets of all minds. And we taste reality, we taste the truth. Our problems exist within our minds. Our problems do not exist outside our minds. If we become free of our minds, we become free of our problems without the minds being harmed in any way. By being really kind with our minds and really still and quiet with our minds, we can enter the actual dynamic relationship of our mind and all minds, and understand the secret of our mind, which is the secret of all of our minds.

[36:59]

This is what the Buddhas realize, and from that place they are free of words and free of suffering. Can you stand some more? I've heard that the Buddha teaches for the welfare of living beings. That's the main thing that Buddha is teaching about. Buddha is just offering teachings to help living beings. All the things the Buddhists say are to help living beings.

[38:04]

In other words, to help them be free of suffering. Living beings, the Buddhists say, suffer because they don't understand themselves or others. They don't understand trees or rocks or pain or pleasure. They don't understand their mind. Because they misunderstand their mind, they're stressed and afraid. The Buddha teaches them about their mind because if they understand their mind, they will be free of their mind and free of suffering and at peace with all beings. And they'll also be able to teach others if they wish, which some do. When Buddha first started teaching, he taught that the mind, in other words, all that we know with our mind, all these things that we know with our mind are impermanent and stressful and without self.

[39:18]

These teachings are medicine for living beings because living beings think that things are permanent, that things will give them pleasure, and that things have a self. So the Buddha gave these teachings to sentient beings to relieve them of their misunderstanding of themselves and others and all things. And these teachings were quite successful in liberating beings. And then later another teaching came, a teaching for those who wish to be bodhisattvas or buddhas. And that teaching was, everything we know is mind. I'm not saying you're my mind, I'm just saying that the way I know you is my mind. Not even my mind is mind. It's not even mine.

[40:24]

My is also mind. My, mine, yours, you, all that is mind. Everything is just conscious construction. That's what we know. That's where we live. That's the trap we're in. And here's a teaching which tells you where you're trapped. And how to be free is to address your experience with this teaching. According to this teaching, the mind, the body, the self, others, the entire world has three characteristics. One characteristic is the fantasy characteristic or the imagined characteristic, the imaginary characteristic. Everything we know has an imaginary characteristic. That's one of the characteristics. Another characteristic that everything has is called the other dependent characteristic.

[41:30]

It's the way everything is dependent on on other things for its existence. The other dependent character of our life, the other dependent character of our self, the other dependent character of others, the other dependent character of the world, of the universe, the other dependent character is the secret of the mind. It's the mystery of the mind. It's the mystery of the mind. If we enter this mysterious other dependent character of our mind, which means to enter the mysterious secret, somewhat hidden, somewhat hidden, other dependent character of our mind, if we enter there, we will taste the truth and realize peace and freedom.

[42:41]

What is this other dependent character hidden by? It's hidden by the fantasy character. It's hidden by the way we imagine things are. It's hidden by the way we imagine ourself and imagine others. But our mind does have that quality, our life does have the quality that what we see, what appears to us, is appearances of people. People are not appearances. People are other-dependent, mysterious realities. But we can't get a hold of other-dependent, mysterious reality people. So we have images of them which we can get a hold of. And what we use to get a hold of people and our self hides the mysterious truth of everything. And there's a third characteristic, which is that this mysterious way that the mind is, this

[43:48]

rolling, writhing, flowing, ecstatic world is free of what's hiding it, is free of what's superimposed upon it, is free of what we use to get a hold of it. It's free of it. It actually is free. We never do get a hold of it. But trying to get a hold of it, we separate ourselves from it. This is a teaching from the Buddhas. With this teaching we have a chance to let go of the appearance of things, not deny the appearance, not deny appearance, not to reject the appearance, but just to let go of it and enter the mysterious reality which supports appearances, where we're all dancing together in peace.

[45:01]

When I'm meditating, if I'm looking at the floor or in fact looking at some person in the room, I must admit what I'm seeing is the appearance of the floor and the appearance of a person. If I'm looking at my own body, I'm looking at the appearance of my body. When I hear this teaching a little bit, I want to peel back the appearance and see the reality. Taste the reality. I want to taste the truth of the Tathagata's teaching. I want to taste the truth of the floor, of my body, of the light, of everybody I meet. But the way they appear is getting in the way. So partly I think, could I just get the appearance out of the way, peel it back, and enter. It's a normal human impulse which I do sometimes feel when I think of the teaching.

[46:12]

But this teaching does not say peel away the apparent reality which is covering truth. Because if you try to peel it away you say that it's somewhat real. We practice kindness towards what obstructs the truth. We practice kindness towards the unreal to realize the real. We practice kindness towards the appearance of fame and gain and insult and loss. We practice kindness towards that And when we practice kindness enough, we're ready to be still with it and alone with it and quiet with it. And then, without pushing it away, it takes its mask off. The mask drops away. The body and mind drops away.

[47:16]

What body and mind? Not the real body and mind. The apparent body and mind drops away and we enter the real body and mind by being kind to the apparent body and mind. But it's hard to be kind to apparent body-minds sometimes. Sometimes the apparent body-mind is so beautiful we just want to eat it, like little babies. Like one lady said, I just want to bite their butts. They're just so mmm. Well, when you want to bite a butt, we should be kind to that impulse. But this meditation is not biting these delicious things. It's welcoming them and being careful of any impulses to bite them. It's neither touching them or turning away. It's being close and respectful and patient with the present moment and then being still and quiet.

[48:25]

and the body and mind of appearance, the fantasy body and mind, drops away and we enter the secret of the mind. The secret of the mind is truth. Truth is the secret of mind. The secret of mind is that mind is just mind. And the world is just mind. The curtain is over everything. I wish it would open and show me the liberating reality. And that wish is also another curtain over reality. I'm saying, okay, take it easy now. Be kind to this curtain which is hiding what you really want to see.

[49:28]

the truth is right there all the time, just happens to have a very effective curtain over it. And if we have to develop the right attitude towards the curtain, and if we do, the curtain will say, good girl, bye-bye. So I have this poem which I often bring up, and it's a poem about this process And now it's getting a little late, but can I read it? It's a children's poem, which is kind of a simple summary of what might be kind of a challenging talk. Was it challenging? So-so? Well, even if it wasn't a challenging talk, it's challenging to practice it. And even if it's not challenging to practice it one moment, to do it consistently takes some training.

[50:35]

So here's the poem. It's a children's poem. It was written in French. It's about how to paint a oiseau. And in English, it's how to paint the portrait of a bird. And it says, first paint a cage with the door open. Excuse me for commenting, but painting a cage with a door open means paint a body and mind, like your own, with the door open. Paint your body and mind, which is your cage. We are encaged in our body and mind. This isn't an insult, this is just a teaching. Our body and mind is a cage. Our mental, linguistically constructed version of our body and mind is not our true body. It's the cage version of our body. We have a real body which is free of the cage body.

[51:39]

The freedom of our body from our ideas of our body is one of the characteristics of our body. The body itself, which is free, is free. And we also have an idea of our body. And that's what we're trying to deal with. And that's the cage. So paint a cage. But paint the door open. Paint a generous cage. A welcoming cage. A cage that would welcome somebody to come and live in it. That's not the poem. That's my commentary. I'll try not to comment too much on the rest of it. But you start, first paint a cage with the door open. And then it says, then paint something pretty, something simple, something beautiful, and something useful for the bird. The birds, we're trying to invite the bird to come into the cage, okay?

[52:43]

So one of the simple things you put in the cage is stillness and silence. One of the pretty things you put into it is generosity. One of the beautiful things you put into it is ethics. One of the useful things you put into it is, well, I don't know what. Did I say patience? Put those things in the cage for the bird. Then place this canvas with the cage with the door open. Put it in a garden or a green garden or put it in a forest or a wood. And then hide behind the tree.

[53:51]

Without speaking. Without moving. Can you believe this guy's teaching these kids to do this? To sit behind the tree? The Buddha sat, we usually think of the Buddha sitting in front of the tree. The Buddha sat under a tree. We don't usually think of the Buddha hiding behind the tree, sitting silent and still. But maybe for the children, we hide behind the tree, sitting silent and still, and Buddha's sitting in front of the tree. The picture's sitting in front of the tree, silent and still. And we're sitting behind the tree, silent and still. And then it says sometimes the bird comes quickly but she can just as well spend long years before deciding to come. So when we're sitting there looking at the appearance of the world which is hiding the truth of the world when we're looking at our imagined version of people which is hiding the truth of them

[55:08]

For the truth to come, it may take a long time. That's why we need patience. We don't know when the curtain's going to drop. But then the poet says, don't get discouraged. Wait. Now, Kafka said, don't even wait. wait years if necessary. Kafka says, don't wait, wait right now. But the poet says, wait years if necessary. He said, the swiftness or slowness of the coming of the bird has no rapport with the success of this painting. How fast reality is revealed has no rapport with success of this meditation course. Don't get concerned with how long it takes. Actually, be ready to do this forever because everybody needs to join and it's going to take a while.

[56:22]

But anyway, sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow. If she comes, when she comes, if she comes, observe the most profound silence this is just a little message to you just in case you do this practice and the bird comes just in case you sit still with your body open just in case you sit still with your mind open and appearance drops away And reality comes to you. Just in case, when it comes, continue to be silent and still.

[57:24]

Don't say, oh, finally you came, I got you. It came, reality will come because you're not trying to get it. Reality will come when you say, I'll be silent and still. And when you come and reality says, hey, you're silent and still. You look like somebody who wants to meet me. Reality comes to those who are silent and still. It comes to those who respect it. If you don't respect it, you don't respect it. You show the truth that you respect it by being silent and still. You say, I respect you so much, I'll just sit here quietly and unmovingly. And I'll keep doing that. And after you come, I will continue to express my respect for you by being silent and still with you. Someone say, can't you say, thanks for coming? Yes, you can say thanks for coming. But do it silently.

[58:27]

And don't move. When reality dawns upon your life, continue to be silent and still with it. When you're practicing silent and stillness, you're just like somebody who behaves properly in the presence of reality. Sit silent and still behind the tree, reality comes, can now even be more silent because now you're going to be somewhat tempted to try to get a hold of what you've been longing for your whole infinite life. Many people do grasp it at that time. It's completely understandable that we would. We even grasp things which are considerably of less value. When the most valuable thing appears, wouldn't we be tempted to get a hold of it and tell everybody what we found and go on TV?

[59:34]

Yes. Yes. That's why we warn people, when it comes, don't grab it. Don't grab the bird. Don't grab reality. If it comes. When it comes, continue to be silent and still. We also have this expression, turning away and touching are both wrong. Because it's like a mass of fire. So when the fire appears, the reality blazes before you because you've been so good, because you've been so kind to your life of appearances, because you've been so still and calm and quiet with it. Now it's being given to you. Continue the practice that led you to this opening. Continue it. Now we're observing the most profound silence.

[60:51]

Now something more happens. It says, observe the silence and stillness until the bird enters the cage. Reality has now appeared before you. You continue to practice silence and stillness. You don't try to get a hold of it. You don't try to get a hold of it. And what does it do? It enters the cage. It enters you. If it appears to you, what appears to you? It doesn't really appear, more like dawns on you. When appearances drop away, reality dawns. And when it dawns, be still. and don't try to get a hold of it. And if you don't try to get a hold of it, it enters you. Your stillness and your not trying to grasp it, lets it enter you. If you try to get a hold of it, you push it away. Being silent and still, the bird enters the cage.

[61:57]

And to make a long story short, Once the bird enters the cage, you, I shouldn't say you, yeah, you, not you, you and not you, the bird and not the bird, the cage and not the cage, the paintbrush and not the paintbrush, paint the cage away and make the cage into a beautiful tree, a beautiful forest for the bird. put beautiful boughs into the bird's feet, you have beautiful insects. But this is all happening, believe it or not, this is all happening with no movement. It's happening in silence and stillness. This amazing thing of the reality entering the cage, reality and the cage together, painting each other away, and painting in new realities, painting each other away, painting new realities, bringing in everybody, liberating everybody, everything's happening, and all this is happening in stillness and silence.

[63:19]

And then it says, now does the bird sing? And this is a children's poem, which is kind of scary. The author says, if the bird doesn't sing, it's not a good sign. Someone might say, that's a mean thing to scare kids with. But anyway, that's what he said. He says, if it does sing, it's a good sign. It's a sign that you can sign. And the singing of the bird, of course, is the Buddha singing and giving this teaching which the Buddha has realized in this way to all beings. So I'm very happy to be practicing this way but I confess to you that sometimes I I do sometimes wish that I could that the bird would come sooner that reality would take off I should say that appearance would take off its mask that the world would take off its mask and take off its mask and take off its mask that my body and mind would take off their mask and show me

[64:56]

ultimate truth and liberate everybody. I sometimes wish it would happen other than the way it's happening. Because actually, it's happening right now. And I wish I could see it sometimes, other than this way. Thank you for listening to this kind of long talk. But I really appreciate that you did. I appreciate your your kindness and your patience and your generosity and your stillness and your silence and your compassion.

[65:39]

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