We just recited something about may we, together with all beings, realize maturity in Buddha's wisdom. And when I heard that I thought, it's like here we are together and we're in Buddha's wisdom. That's where we live actually. But Buddha's wisdom is, you know, what do you call it? It's non-imaginative wisdom. It's imageless wisdom. And we live in this imageless wisdom. And we also live in a world of images, which is our normal active consciousness. And we can realize maturity in the wisdom in which we're living by putting down roots with our imagination. We can imagine being devoted to realizing wisdom

[01:24]

for the welfare of all beings. By these kind of branching streams of consciousness, we put down roots into the Buddha's wisdom in which we live. And in that way, Buddha's wisdom matures through our thought. At the beginning of our thought, our thoughts are just seeds of Buddha's wisdom. But as we continually let them permeate and branch into the Buddha's wisdom, we aspire for them to lead to maturity in Buddha's wisdom. In karmic consciousness, I said those words. In karmic consciousness, I imagined those words.

[02:31]

And I imagined that I said them. And I imagined that you listened to them. And so, in the story of the great Chinese artist, Su Dong Po, when he went to see that final good friend, the good friend said to him, yelled at him, how dare you come trying to get these dead human words. You must learn to hear the living words of nature. So, in karmic consciousness, when we hear words,

[03:46]

we can notice perhaps some impulse when we hear words to try to get them or get some meaning out of them or get some juice out of them, get some wisdom out of them. This is a normal thing that can arise, but this is not recommended because the words that appear in karmic consciousness are dead. The words that are given in karmic consciousness are dead words. Or they're words for something that's already gone. Still, we must listen to them. We can't like... well, you can. Occasionally it's okay to cover your ears to some of the dead words in karmic consciousness. For example, if you're a Zen student and you've just become enlightened, maybe you should cover your ears to the dead words of humans for a little while,

[04:47]

just so that you don't slip back into trying to get something from dead words. When you hear the true Dharma, maybe you should plug your ears for a while. It's kind of nice with your ears plugged. But until you're enlightened, you probably should listen to the dead words. But the recommendation is don't try to get something from them. And if you notice you're trying to get something from dead words, confess and apologize for trying to get life from dead words. In this way, by being honest about any impulse to get things from dead words, it's possible that you will be able to wean yourself from this habit. It's not to wean yourself from dead words. You should continue to listen to dead words, but wean yourself from trying to get something from them.

[05:49]

And little by little, you may be able to listen to the dead words of humans and listen to them and listen to them and listen to them without trying to get something. And then, in your weaned state, you may be able to find the living words in which we live. Also, I was struck, at the beginning of what we chanted, I was struck by the end and the beginning. The end is, may we realize maturity in Buddha's wisdom.

[06:49]

May we realize maturity in the wisdom in which we're actually living. And the beginning, it says, when I, a student of Dharma... So I've told this story before, but I bet not everyone's heard it. Right? Once upon a time, I was at Tassajara. During the guest season, and during guest season at Tassajara in the summer, there's often guests. And I was kind of... I was in the high office of Abbott at the time, so I had the opportunity, since I was leading a workshop, to get to eat the excellent breakfast that they served to the guests in the guest dining room. So there I was, eating guest breakfast with some guests,

[07:57]

and one of them said to me, Are you a student here? And I said, Yes. And then later, that person found out that I was living in the high office of Abbott, and she was very happy to hear that although I was in the high office of Abbott, when she asked me if I was a student, I said, Yes, rather than something else I could have said, which you might be able to imagine. And I wasn't just saying it. Well, I probably should say I'm a student. I am a student of Dharma, or I aspire to be. When I'm a student of Dharma, then things are really good. Buddhas are students of Dharma too, so it's not that bad to be a student of Dharma. In the Mahayana,

[08:58]

one of the things to look out for when you're choosing a Bodhisattva preceptor is check to see if she still studies, if she's still studying the Dharma. If she's completely graduated from study, maybe not a good teacher for you. Some people do graduate, but you're recommended to look for those who are still studying. Fortunately, I still love to study. It doesn't mean I qualify, but I am still a student, and I'm not just doing it to look humble. And I'm also not doing it just to look greedy for more knowledge. And if I try to memorize the entire Buddhist canon, it's not because I'm greedy for knowledge,

[10:02]

it's because I think it might be useful to beings if I do. It might be helpful to see if that can be the case. However, I may not be able to succeed at that rather big memorization project. If someday I cannot understand the dead words of humans, if I can't quite understand what the dead words of humans are about, and I can accept that I can't understand them, and I can accept not trying to get something from them, if I've studied properly, even though I may not be able to understand the dead words of humans, I may be able to still hear the living words of perfect wisdom.

[11:04]

I might not be able to remember your name or my name, and I might be able to recite the scriptures, but not know the name of the person who's reciting. But what I really want is to be able to hear the Dharma, even if you take away my karmic consciousness, and I don't understand human speech anymore. My aspiration is to hear the true Dharma. I don't aspire to hear human words, dead human words, but I do hear dead human words. So what's my training again? To listen to the dead human words without trying to get anything from them, in hopes that the mind which hears the pure Dharma will develop, and that will be good.

[12:10]

And when a person who can still understand human speech, reaches the realm of hearing the true Dharma, they're very similar to a person who can't understand human speech anymore, who has reached the same realm. They both are hearing the Dharma, and they both can take care of it. So that I will now give a pause to the dead words, and see if you have any dead words you'd like to offer, which I vow to listen to, without trying to get anything from them. Yes, Paul?

[13:17]

I wonder if you would comment on the phrase that I think it's Munya says in the opening sutra, liberate this life... Liberate the body which is the fruit of many lives. You want me to comment on that? Want some dead words? My comment is, what's your question? Well, okay, I don't know if it's a question My question is more of a curiosity about what that triggers in me, what's that pointing to, I guess is my question. What's that pointing to? Being free from the attachments of the body? Yes, I think so. Dead words. But yeah, free of the attachments of the body. Liberate this body, which is the fruit of many lives,

[14:18]

during which there was attachment to the body. And so, just in case, because of past attachments to the body, this present body is an opportunity for present attachment and aversion. I wish to liberate this body. You're welcome. So, the Master Lung Yat said, supposedly, in a course in Chinese, Yes. I'm a little confused about what... I can't imagine what it would be like for you or for a being

[15:20]

to not understand the dead words anymore. Well, sometimes it would be like... It would be the situation when we say a person has Alzheimer's. So that's what you're talking about. Well, that's one of the... That would be a particular example. Or, also, I could be in a foreign country and not understand the language. And when I don't understand the language, I could still be trying to get something from it. Even though Chinese or... Russian is just as dead as English. It's just that maybe with Russian I don't try to get anything. So, it may be good for me to go to Russia. But... Not really. It's good to actually hang out with people who are really enlightened, who are giving you dead words, because then you might be tempted to attempt to get meaning from their dead words because they're so enlightened. And it's good to speak their language

[16:24]

so that you're even... Any temptation to get something from dead words, you can notice. Like, when that person's talking, I don't try to get anything from it. But when this person does... Like, when some people are talking, everybody's like... That was really good. What was that again? That sounded really brilliant as it went by. Bring it back again. I couldn't get anything out of it. So, no, don't go someplace where you don't understand the language just so you can avoid trying to get something from the dead language. If you wean yourself from trying to get something from language, that's like weaning yourself from trying to get something from life in karmic consciousness. And then, if you wean yourself from trying to get something, you're open to hearing the living words of wisdom,

[17:30]

which will then support further listening to dead words without trying to get something. You listen to people talk, and you listen to them, but you don't try to get something. Can you imagine? We have on the altar Shakyamuni Buddha statue. In front of Shakyamuni, we have statue of Prajnaparamita. To the left side, we have a statue of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen in China. And to the other side, the right side, we have Avalokiteshvara. But really on both sides of the altar, we have the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. One is a kind of a fierce weirdo version, and the other is a lovely female version. They're both listening to the dead words of humans. But of course, neither one of them are trying to get anything, right? Avalokiteshvara isn't listening to your cries

[18:37]

and trying to get something from them. She's receiving them graciously and showing you that no matter what you say, she's not trying to get anything. She's offering her listening. And because she's offering her listening, she can hear the living words of Prajnaparamita. And she does hear the words. She hears the perfect wisdom of the Buddhas, because she listens to all beings without trying to get anything from them. But this is an art that we need to train at for quite a while to get the feel for it and then become more and more consistent with. It's simple but difficult to listen without trying to gain anything.

[19:38]

Also I want to mention, I said earlier, but I'll say again, to be doing good when we're practicing good, when we're aspiring to practice good, when we're aspiring to make what we're doing be offered to goodness, there might be some tendency to be concerned whether somebody notices, whether our attempt to practice goodness is being known by someone or being known by many people. So that's the impulse to be concerned about becoming famous as a good person. But also inwardly, to be concerned with knowing whether you're doing good is similar, it's like inner fame. That you would know that you're doing good is like wanting other people to know that you're doing good. Both of those, Avalokiteshvara gives up. She listens to all cries of the world,

[20:42]

she does good, but she's not concerned about anybody knowing about her or her knowing about how good what she's doing is. So watch inwardly and outwardly for that and if you notice it, then we have a practice for that. A powerful practice of yeah, I kind of, I wanted to do good and I wanted to know I was doing good. I wanted to do good and I wanted somebody to know I was doing good. So, the Buddha ancestor tradition is do good and forget about anybody knowing about it. And if you are concerned about it, confess and repent and try again until you can do good and like, hey, something's missing that usually was there. What was it? Anyway, something unfamiliar about that attempt.

[21:47]

Oh yeah, I didn't know if it was good and nobody else knew either and that was fine. And the more you do good, the more you might notice more and more subtle versions of wanting to know that it was or wanting somebody else to notice that it was. Especially if you do something really subtly like, I wish somebody would see how subtle that good was that time. That was like, that was like the coolest. I wish I knew that it really was. Oh yes? In a situation like you just described, I thought subtle, but a little before that, where a person tries to do something good and is tainted by the desire to get something

[22:51]

or to be noticed, is the recipient, does that cause an effect on the recipient? Does what cause an effect? The trying to get something. Yeah, it does. It hurts the recipient. It hurts them. And it hurts them because they miss an opportunity. Well, I shouldn't say it hurts them. It depends on how developed they are. If they're not well trained, they may be misled. Because here they see someone doing good. They see, oh, that's like somebody's mother or father. They're doing good for the child. And the child feels like, oh, thank you so much, you're such a dear, you're so kind to me. And I notice that you're trying to get something from it. And since you're so wonderful, I guess I should try to get something from what I do too. So you're hurting them by setting a defiled example,

[23:51]

even though you are doing good. Like, you know, I just thought of this mother in the earthquake of 1989. The mother who was with her child and got under the freeway. The freeway crushed those people. I think she was in that crushed car. And she opened her body to give her baby something to drink. Not milk, but blood. But we don't know if she was concerned that she would become famous. But sometimes mothers and fathers do really give themselves to their children. And sometimes they do without trying to get anything. But sometimes they do, trying to get something. And that trying to get something confuses the recipient of the gift. Who is grateful to the giver

[24:52]

and therefore sometimes thinks I should be like the giver. So since my father gave with strings attached, I should probably give with strings attached. Rather than my mother gave, she gave to me, but she wasn't trying to get anything from what she gave. That second part is the rare gift of wisdom. And if we set a bad example, we should apologize to somebody who is mature enough to hear that. I gave a gift, but I was trying to get something. I'm sorry. And those who I gave to, some of them may say, Oh, I could see he was trying to give, but he was a little off there. There are many stories of somebody giving something and their friend saying, Well, it was good that you gave it, but you know, it was really a defiled generosity. Again, like that story I tell over and over

[25:53]

about one of the great disciples of the teacher Tsongkhapa, the Tibetan teacher Tsongkhapa. One of his disciples' name was Drom. And Drom lived in a monastery and in the monastery there was a senior monk. And Drom said to him, You know, it's so heartwarming to see the way you give yourself to the welfare of the monks. It would be nice if you did something spiritual someday. And then again he would say, It's so moving to see how you carefully educate the monks on the practice. It's so great. It's so great to see how you teach them the ways of the Buddha. It's so moving. It would be nice if you did something spiritual someday. And after a while the monk said, What do you mean? He said, Stop trying to get something out of life.

[26:56]

So you can be a very good practitioner and give yourself to people, but still try to get something. And that's a little misleading to people who aren't really developed. Like Drom was not misled. He just said, That's great what you're doing. Just snip off that extra part of trying to get something. He wasn't discouraged. He saw a great opportunity to appreciate him and point out his shortcoming. It seems like the opportunity to perfect that can come later in life when you're an adult taking care of your parents. Yep. It can come later in life and later in life and later in life. So no matter how late it is, you can still work on this. But it's good to start now. Let's start now. Let's start doing good without trying to know

[28:02]

that we're doing good or be known for doing good. Okay? So, as far as I know, in my karmic consciousness you're doing good. But, also as far as I know, some of you are having a little trouble doing good without knowing that you're doing good. Some of you still want to know that you're doing good. And none of you are so gross as to want to be known as doing good. Only me have that problem. And I confess it to you. It's not what I came to Zen to learn. I didn't come to learn how to be famous for the good I'm doing. I came to not care about whether I'm known or unknown. That's what I want to learn and that's what I'm still studying. Please join me in doing good

[29:05]

without trying to get anything for it and without knowing whether it's good or not. But I know that's hard, so part of it is to be patient with how hard it is to learn that. Catherine? Thank you. If we can listen without grasping and without an agenda, and if stories always open the heart, does that listening from that place of non-grasping or an agenda then allow the story to open into compassion? Yeah. Or listening to the story without trying to get anything opens the mind to hear the Dharma that's surrounding the story all the time.

[30:09]

But because we often times to get something from the story or improve the story rather than listen with no gaining idea, because of that we close our ears to the Dharma which is surrounding the story. So if we can listen to stories in this renunciating way, in this renouncing of getting something from the stories and yet listen to them attentively. Listen, listen to my heart song. Listen to it wholeheartedly. Listen to the cries wholeheartedly without trying to get something from them. And then you're open to hear the true Dharma. Oh, yes? The more I hear, the more I... I know everybody knows it, I'm the last one to know, but I'm here to get freedom.

[31:12]

Thank you. Yes, and it's just... We are all very grateful for your gift. Thanks for giving it. I didn't know that I'm here to get it, but as you speak it, I realize yes, because when you were talking about the imagination and the imaginary mind, I was sitting in this afternoon, I felt, even the thought came, that the mind of no imagination, that's the mind I like to live in. Live in the mind of no imagination. And then when you were speaking about the roots and then how this imagination, and then as you were speaking it, I felt like, I don't want to go there. I don't want to go to that imagination. It's like this baby crying. I hear your confession, but I don't hear your repentance.

[32:16]

But I hear your confession. It's that you don't want to put down these branching streams of imagination, but you must wholeheartedly do that if you want to realize maturity in non-imagination. And I know it's hard, but we have to put down roots of imagination into the soil of non-imagination to mature in non-imagination. And it's hard to put these down, because as we put them down, we start to notice we're trying to get something from them. So it's difficult. I heard the image is like putting your feet down into mud where there's broken glass and thorns. But just be careful as you put it down. Thank you very much for another wonderful day

[33:20]

of non-abiding. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Divisions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gaze around us. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. What a wonderful way to spend a day that's not my birthday.

[34:16]

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