Some of you may not know that for about two years, I've been... Oh, praise Sonia. I've been giving a lot of attention to the flower adornment scripture. and how it relates to our daily life, and how it influenced the formation of the tradition called Zen in China, Japan, and America. In the first chapter, in the first book of the scripture, 400 And 40 verses are devoted to praising the virtues of the Buddhas, praising and describing the body of Buddha.

[01:09]

Many different kinds of beings and spirits and deities. by the power of Buddha's awakening are able to describe and praise the Buddha, the Buddha's virtues and merits. Welcome Marana. Now this praise, from the first verse, I'll say the first verse, it is The Buddha body pervades all the great assemblies, including this one, of course, filling the realm of Dharma without end, unmoving, silent, without any nature, and ungraspable.

[02:25]

It appears for the sake of liberating beings. That's the first verse, praising and describing the Buddha. And from the first verse, these words of praise, I believe are expressed by a vajra-holding of being, These words of praise do not reach what they're praising. Although they don't reach what is praising, they do praise. The Buddha body is ungraspable, inconceivable, And yet, this scripture is full of praising the inconceivable, ungraspable, unsurpassable Buddha body.

[03:44]

The body of awakening. Welcome, Betsy. So, in the tradition of this book, there is a great deal of verbal, mental, and physical acts of praise towards the inconceivable Buddha, the inconceivable awakening. The practice of the bodhisattva is a practice of praising paying homage, making offerings to something that's ungraspable. And the purpose of all these offerings and praises is to benefit living beings.

[04:46]

So we've been working for two years and we've kind of reached Book 13 and 14. Is that the day? Maybe I could bring up book 13 and 14. Book 13, I think, is called Ascent to Mount Sumeru. Mount Sumeru is the central mountain of Indian Buddhist cosmology, and various deities live there. And one of the heavens on the top of this great mountain is called the 33-fold heaven. And the leading deity of that mountain, of that heaven on top of the mountain, is called Indra. And Indra has a palace up there.

[06:00]

So in case 13, Indra invites the ten of the past Buddhas, starting with the one that's closest to Shakyamuni. So at Zen Center we chant, Bhibashi-butsu-dai-yosho, Shiki-butsu-dai-yosho, Bishapu-butsu-dai-yosho, and so on. We chant the names of six ancient Buddhas before Buddha. And then we go Shakyamuni Buddha, and then the Indian ancestors, the Indian successors, to Shakyamuni Buddha. So in Chapter 13, they do those six ancient Buddhas plus four more. And so they start with the most recent ancient Buddha, the recent Buddha before Buddha, which is Kashyapa Buddha. And it says, Kashyapa Buddha, the Buddha before Shakyamuni, had great compassion, supreme among the auspicious.

[07:13]

Now she has come to this place. She's ascended Mount Sumeru and entered my palace. Therefore, this place is most auspicious. Welcome, Charles. Praise to Charles. Charles smiled when he was praised. That's good. You all deserve praise. You are great bodhisattvas. You will become Buddhas. Praise to you. So now, Bhairachana Shakyamuni Buddha has ascended Mount Sumeru and entered the palace of Indra, which is called something like a wondrous, wondrous hall.

[08:25]

the Hall of Wonders. And now that Buddhas arrived, Buddha emits a great light, which shows that Buddhas in ten directions are also entering these palaces on Mount Sumeros, many, many Mount Sumeros, many, many Buddhas entering these palaces upon invitation. and the light of the Buddha illuminates their visiting of the Mount Sumeru. Chapter 14 is called Eulogies or Praises on Mount Sumeru. So it's about the praises of the Buddha body, continuing the praises of the Buddha body, that have been going on throughout the sutra, but this chapter in particular is called eulogies on Mount Sumeru, or praise on Mount Sumeru.

[09:41]

Praising what? Praising awakening. Awakening, as you may imagine, is just awakening. And yet, the bodhisattvas, in particular, the leading bodhisattvas of the sutra, even though awakening is just awakening, and you can't improve it. The bodhisattva vows to praise it, to praise it, to praise it, to praise it. The reason for praising it is to realize it. Without praising it, it is not fully realized. It is already the truth, the reality. bodhisattvas vow to praise reality praise awakening to to reality a praise praise understanding which is the same as reality which is in accord with reality praise it so the the chapter starts with a little bit of praise like 10 maybe 10

[10:56]

versus praising Buddha but then it offers something kind of new which is it talks about ways of thinking and seeing that kind of inhibit or close the eye that sees the Buddhas so again it starts out by praising just like we did today in this assembly praising But then the chapter, the book, mentions ways that we can not see the Buddha. Then after telling us ways of not seeing Buddha, it tells us ways to see Buddha. And the way that they talk about not seeing Buddha is kind of surprising.

[11:57]

Because it might sound like seeing Buddha. So I think the first verse talking about not seeing Buddha is, even if one always looked at Buddha, for a hundred thousand eons, not according with absolute truth, but looking at the savior of the world, such a person is grasping appearances and is increasing the web of ignorance. Bound in the prison of birth and death, blind and unable to see Buddha, So I wanted to share that kind of surprising statement. Even if one always looks at Buddha for 10,000 eons, well, that doesn't sound like a big problem.

[13:10]

Looking at Buddhas for even a minute might be an act of praise. Sounds fine. Where does the problem start? It starts with not according with absolute truth. Looking at Buddha, even for a moment, not to mention for 10,000 eons, but not according with absolute truth. Looking at the savior of the world, so if you look at the picture of the Buddha and you think and you grasp that this is the savior of the world such a person is grasping the appearances so we can look at Buddha but we I should say if we do look at the Buddha but we look at the Buddha in accord with

[14:17]

absolute truth then we look at Buddha realizing that the appearance we're looking at is not is not the Buddha the Buddha is not an appearance right now we're looking at appearances on this screen Ultimate truth is that what we're looking at is free of the appearances of what we're looking at. The ultimate truth is I'm looking at the rosy, I'm looking at various rosies, but absolute truth is saying the appearance of rosy that you're looking at is an appearance of rosy but rosy is actually free of the appearance that you're looking at and the rosy that's free of the appearance I should say rosy being free of the appearance of rosy is the ultimate truth but if I look at

[15:44]

John or Janet or Sylvia, if I look at their appearance and think that their appearance is them, then I don't see Buddha. If I look at them and know that they are actually, ultimately, free of the appearance that I see of them, then I'm seeing Buddha. To know that all things have no existence whatsoever in their own being, and contemplating this and understanding this, one sees Vairochana Buddha. Again, in this chapter it says,

[16:46]

Ordinary people see all phenomena, all things, and when they do see all things, they are merely turned by appearances, and never fathom that all phenomena are devoid of appearance. So they do not see the Buddha. So, I look at you, I see an appearance, but you're actually completely free of the appearance of you that I'm seeing. But without training, people think and believe and grasp that the appearance of beings, the appearance of all phenomena, are the phenomena. And grasping the way things appear as being the things We suffer.

[17:52]

It is affliction. So once again, praising the Buddha is the name of the chapter and we're praising the Buddha and the instruction is how to see Buddha. Because seeing Buddha is part of liberating beings. So part of liberating beings means to contemplate that all phenomena, all forms of existence whatsoever have no inherent nature. And to contemplate that and remember that And that's how we see Buddha and save the world. This is for beings who are wanting to save all beings, this teaching.

[18:59]

And again, as I said, ordinary beings are turned, are merely turned by appearances. Even highly cultivated people are turned by appearances, turned by words. So part of our experience is that we are turned by words. So we offer praise of all beings to see and to help them not grasp the appearance of things. To let go of grasping the appearance of things. Not to try to stop seeing appearances, but remember that what you're looking at is completely free of the appearance that you're aware of.

[20:11]

And remembering that that process of appearances is going to continue. To see the form of Buddha as empty. One sees Buddha. Buddha is, it says in this chapter, it praises the Buddha by saying, Buddha is vast emptiness filled with compassion. I feel like what I've just said might be a lot, so I'll pause now to see if the Assembly has some offering.

[21:23]

In response, yes, I see Stephen and Diane. Hey, we have So I think in my mind, the last statement, I guess the flower garland sutra made was exactly right. The vast emptiness filled with compassion. The appearance would be that there is some separation between the that which appears in the being to whom that which appears appears. But I guess the compassion, the reality of compassion, the vast emptiness of compassion, filled with compassion, is we can't find an appearance that we aren't...

[22:37]

viscerally connected to and suffer with radically with the meaning of compassion. Sorry for this lecture, but it seems to me a lot like the one bright mirror or the ancient mirror. We look into this mirror and we're taught by the mirror because... If it's a Han, if it's a local, it's us. And if it's a foreigner, it's us. And it's so far us that we suffer with it. We suffer with it. We suffer with it. And if we grasp the appearance of it, we fail to accord with how we're suffering with it.

[23:51]

The appearance is our window into it. So we don't want to detach ourselves from the appearance which we do and don't grasp. I mean, the appearance is part of our compassion. Yeah, I would say the suffering that we're suffering with is not an appearance of suffering. Suffering has an appearance but the appearance the suffering is completely free of the appearance of suffering well it's free of the appearance in the sense that it's free of the appearance that we aren't radically viscerally connected with the appearance that's one of them that's one of the appearances that it's free of yes

[25:05]

The appearance of separation is one of the appearances which, if we grasp, is suffering. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to say this right, but during meditation or chanting, if an entity comes up in my consciousness or in my experience, and I continue the practice focusing on this entity, and it kind of drops into my heart, and it can change from like a...

[26:19]

a fixed idea of the person or the entity to infinite possibilities for that person or that entity. That would be somebody that I love or that I care about, that I'm holding them in my heart. So that's one case. But another case is someone who is causing a lot of trouble and or the appearance of trouble or is the entity causing trouble or, you know, it's like how I'm thinking about it, how to practice with that situation, how to, um, have faith that that entity also can be, um, can evolve into infinite possibility. Does that make sense?

[27:21]

Yeah. So this chapter is about that the situation you described sounded like you're telling us about appearances. And some appearances are, for example, of beings who are causing trouble. It's an appearance. If you remember that all things whatsoever have no existence in their own being and contemplate that, you will see Buddha, which is infinite possibilities. And the infinite possibilities of Buddha are also the infinite possibilities of the thing which you're seeing an appearance of, whatever this thing is that you're seeing an appearance of, also could be many things.

[28:26]

Seeing how there could be many things is seeing Buddha. Right now they're just a troublemaker. So, because we're all... interconnected. I don't know if that's the right word. And we continue practicing and suffering with the reality as it exists. But if we continue practicing, we are helping to realize that infinite possibility. What do you mean by practicing? Well, In meditation, you're chanting, trying to let go. Well, again, if you're trying to let go, if you think trying to let go has any existence on its own, then you won't see.

[29:32]

If you meditate and think that meditation is as it appears to you, then you won't see Buddha. But if you meditate knowing that your meditation, whatever it is, has no existence on its own, and you continue to meditate, contemplating that teaching, you will see Buddha. You will see that Buddha is your meditation. But if you don't, excuse the expression, salt your meditation with this teaching, It won't reach its maturity. You won't see Buddha. Okay, I will stop. Thank you. Thank you.

[30:32]

Good morning, Rob. Good morning. Thank you for being with us this morning. You're welcome. It's good to see your appearance. So my question is kind of similar to the previous question, but for instance, and it has a couple of parts, what's the relationship between an image of Buddha and the reality of Buddha? um the relationship is let's see the relationship between an image and the reality is that in reality the image is absent in the phenomena. So, the relationship between the image of Buddha and Buddha is that the image of Buddha is completely absent, never reaches the Buddha. So it's a relationship of, you know, the absence of the former in the latter is the relationship, ultimately.

[32:01]

And grasping The former grasping the image as the Buddha is affliction. Unless you just do it very lightly for fun. Or for inspiration, perhaps. Yeah, or for inspiration. Go ahead. No, you go ahead. Well, so... Now we have an appearance of you, and we have an appearance of me, and those appearances are different. But I think you're saying they're a reflection of the same reality. So now why are the appearances different? Chapter 10 of the Book of the Flower Adornment Scripture says, Mind is one, so why do you have these different appearances? Yeah. And Reb, why do we have them? And then, that chapter explains, gets into that question of, the mind is one, how come we have differences?

[33:07]

And then it says, like, the Earth is one, just one Earth, but we have mountains and rivers and forests and oceans and prairies and cities, and so, anyway. That's the way things work, is that a mind that's one can appear in many different ways. And to realize the oneness of mind, we need to not apprehend the different things as being themselves or anything else. This chapter is about becoming free of difference by remembering that all different things are ungraspable and inconceivable. So I praise all the appearances of this assembly but I also praise the assembly which is beyond the appearances of this assembly.

[34:16]

So I praise you and you and you and you Yes, as an appearance, but I also praise you as a reality. You are a reality of the one mind of Buddha. But I have to be careful not to grasp the image of you as being you. And if I do grasp it, I can notice that that's suffering. I can feel that that's affliction. You can feel that. I can feel the affliction of believing that what I think of people is them. Uh-huh. But are you saying, I mean, it's one reality, but then are the appearances different aspects of that one reality, or is that still too much substantial? Yeah. What you just said was another appearance.

[35:24]

Okay, but the question's still there. Yeah, the question's still there. But I'm just telling you that the question was an appearance. Yeah. And that appearance doesn't reach what you're interested in. That appearance of that question doesn't reach the Buddha. But after you ask it, you realize, I haven't really asked anything at all. That was just an appearance. Well, I think what I'm asking is, are the differences in the appearance different aspects of the same reality, or is that not a helpful way to think about it? The different... Are they different aspects of the same reality? Yeah. They're not really different aspects, it's just that different aspects and one aspect... It's not that the different aspects are aspects of reality, it's that the different aspects or aspects of reality are in accord with one aspect of reality.

[36:41]

I think I need to chew on that for a while. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. Hello, Reb. Hello, Enrique. A phrase that comes to mind hearing your talk today was something we would chant, grasping at things is surely delusion. That's kind of what we're talking about today. Yep. And grasping at things, which is surely delusion, obscures the the harmony of things and oneness or different things and sameness and we can notice grasping and again grasping has an appearance so even when i notice grasping i'm also aware that's just an appearance of my grasping but

[38:15]

There it is, appearance of grasping and it hurts. Grasping is painful. I was wondering, I was trying to wrap my head around this notion of seeing. In my mind, what you're seeing with your eyes is always appearance. And not only is it an appearance, but generally speaking, we don't see things that haven't been formed yet. It's an appearance which is actually congealed into something coherent. Yeah, that's how our eyes work. When we're seeing Buddha without grasping the appearance of Buddha, Is that something we do with our eyes or is it something we do with our minds or something else?

[39:20]

Something you do with non-grasping. Non-grasping does it. And also, non-grasping is not something you can grasp. Non-grasping is not something you do by yourself. But we actually, in reality, we are non-grasping. Ultimately, we're not grasping anything. temporarily or provisionally we are grasping but we're not even our own grasping we're not doing by ourselves but we think we do do it by ourselves and that's ignorance I was kind of conceiving this as using a mind's eye rather than the eye of the organ.

[40:21]

You could say the mind's eye or you could say the wisdom eye. The wisdom eye opens when you contemplate that what the eye sees, like for example, the image of a Buddha that you remember, that the body of Buddha is ungraspable, and I'm looking at a graspable thing. The actual reality body of Enrique is ungraspable, and I'm looking at a graspable image of Enrique. Thank you, Rabbi. It's always great to see you. Great to see you. And great to see an appearance of you too. I don't know if I'm grasping or not, but I saw images, first images of the telescope in Chile, and I was moved by it so deeply that

[42:09]

I wish I could share the images with you right now, with everyone, because it's talking about there is no way to grasp. There is no way to, you know, it's just, it's beyond any word, actually. So I think you are talking about or the chapter 13 or 14 is talking about space. The reality of, we think we are a solid thing and we're not, you know, based on the microscope, which is the plenty of space between even atoms. And, And the funny thing I've heard is the scientist, after he understood something about space, he says, I have to put my slipper on and then walk.

[43:23]

Yeah. I'm very much moved by this, but I don't know if I'm grasping or not, because I don't know. There is no way to grasp it, but I'm trying. Yeah, well, trying is, what do you call it, good enough for suffering. Yes. I appreciate the way you teach because every time I say, next time I'm not going to open my mouth. And here I am again. There is an urge that I want to open my mouth. And would you help me understand this? Yeah. Wonderful.

[44:38]

Praise to the urge to open your mouth. Praise to the urge to not open your mouth. And praise to the teaching which says the impulse to open your mouth has no existence on its own. And if you think it might help? That's another thing to praise. Another thing to honor. And the greatest honor will be to bring the Dharma to it. The Bodhisattva vow of helping all sentient beings, I think the more I try, the less I conceive.

[45:39]

Because with trying doesn't work, right? Trying doesn't work, but remembering the teaching that the trying has no existence on its own, that works. Not trying also doesn't work, but if you're not trying and you remember this teaching, you'll see Buddha. But you could say, well, remembering the teaching is trying, and I'd say, okay, fine. You can say it's trying. But anyway, remembering and contemplating this teaching about trying and not trying, you will soon see Buddha. Buddha will manifest right before you. when you treat trying and not trying equally with this contemplation of chapter 14.

[46:43]

Welcome, Josh. Hi, Rob. Lovely to see you. I've got a question. I don't quite know how to put it, but it's about the difference between what you're talking about, about contemplating or perceiving or understanding that appearances are ungraspable or that what things really are is beyond how they appear. And sort of something I find myself doing sometimes of kind of going around with an idea about this teaching. So appearances are there and maybe they're bothering me. And the idea comes up, well, they're not really real in the way they appear. And I'm trying to like use this idea in some way to address the experience I'm having with appearances. It feels like it falls short of what you're actually talking about. And I just see what you had to say.

[48:04]

Would you say that again, try to say it more briefly? You said, what is it that's falling short? Kind of harboring, maybe even fussing at, an idea that the appearances I'm perceiving are free of intrinsic reality. So, you're kind of breaking up as part of my problem. Okay. So, you have an idea, perhaps, that what you're looking at is actually beyond what you're seeing. what you're looking at is free of how it appears to you. For example, you had this idea that I am free and beyond your idea of me.

[49:16]

Yeah. Yeah. So I agree with that. So what's your question? It feels like an idea rather than an understanding. He says, I've heard the teaching and I've kind of almost grasped at the idea of the teaching. Yeah, well, it is an idea. The idea is, here's the idea. This person you're looking at actually has no appearances. He is devoid of appearances. I do not have appearances. I don't come with appearances. However, you see appearances of me, a variety of appearances of me. But I actually have no appearances. The mind of sentient beings projects appearances onto me. So, it would be great if the beings who are projecting, who are

[50:24]

I should say, who are projecting, but also the beings in whom projections of me are arising if they just realize that I am actually completely beyond their projections that they're experiencing of me. Without, in any way, disrespecting the appearances. Matter of fact, praise the experiences. Be respectful of them. And give them a great gift, which is, hello, appearances who have nothing to do whatsoever with him any more than they have to do with anything else. So if you see a man, that appearance of me completely has nothing to do with me any more than it has to do with all the women in this group. I'm not separate from it, but they don't reach me.

[51:30]

Even being separate from them is too much. So maybe we say beyond or free of them. I am free of all the images that are appearing in your mind of me. And you are free of the images of you that are appearing in my mind and in the minds of all these people in this assembly. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. I think that answers my question, but in a way that's often defined. I think I'm answering my own question now. I think the issue is not whether I've got an idea based on the teachings that I'm using to address how appearances are. It's just whether I'm grasping at that idea.

[52:33]

It's the same as grasping at anything, isn't it? I can grasp at that idea. And if I grasp at it, I'm kind of trying to make that into something that's real when it's beyond the appearance of itself. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Thank you. You're welcome. Hello, Reb. Hello, Assembly. Thank you so much. First of all, I want to thank you for showing up in your appearance and And remembering that you have those Zoomers who don't get to see you regularly. So I'm one of them. So it is a really treat. And also, I really appreciate the topic, especially that for your birthday, I sent you a poem, remember?

[53:43]

In a thousand forms. Have you known that poem? Did you know that poem before? Did you? I mean, it's so relevant, right, to what you're talking about right now. Except when I read that, I thought, well, he's praising all the things that are easy to praise. Right? He doesn't talk about argumentative husband or... Or robber on the street or anything. Praise to arguments with husband. Right. So when you started the praising... There was a box, it was said on the bottom of the box, argument with husband, I would praise argument with husband. I would say argument with husband, I deeply respect you. I will not disparage you. You will become Buddha.

[54:47]

In fact, when you started praising this morning, all of us, I was surprised with that. That was new for me, at least. That was first time for me seeing you praising. And I thought, well, actually, this is a good practice because it exposes our attitudes to the forms. Right? Which is really good. So the more I praise, the more I start seeing how I feel. And another thing I wanted to say was this morning, I mean, you know, it seems like the inconceivable Buddha body has a sense of humor, maybe. Do you think? It has everything, including a sense of humor. Like this morning, like, you know, I think we're in a, my husband told me about this idea of chicken test. Have you heard of that? So he told me that he heard something that in some body of, whether it's military or police in the States, in your country, they use this chicken test for their own people.

[56:03]

for the soldiers or policemen and the guy takes this rubber chicken you know the toy that like a toy for dogs that when they squeeze they it squeaks you know and he goes and starts doing these things with this chicken to those to his soldiers let's say and if the soldier reacts to this chicken and starts laughing he gets to do 50 push-ups And my husband, of course, jumped into his own conclusion. Well, that's because they are trying to create these unfeeling robots out of these policemen. I said, no, they are trying to create enlightened people who don't get stuck in appearances. Of course, we fell into an argument because my husband could not see that and I didn't know when to stop. So... But so then he started talking rubbish and it was like fantastic because he told me about the chicken test and then he started projecting some of his childhood stuff that I know he's working on.

[57:10]

So I was not really surprised, but I was. And there it was, the introduction, the chicken test is just about to happen. And I did it. I jumped into the picture. I got angry or flustered with my husband. So it's just like the reality is having fun with us, training us in some way or another how to stop being grasping, right, in any way, pushing away or clinging to it, whatever. And I guess it's just we are in endless training. Endless training. Endless training. Maybe so. So I think that's all I wanted to say. Morning, Rob.

[58:15]

Good morning, Linda. I'm about to ask you a profound question, but I keep hoping somebody will mention that I see the appearance of a new room that you're in and a new house and everything. I hope somebody else would say this in case it was, like, inappropriate, but nobody did, so I just want to mention that and say, well, how are you? You're in new circumstances. How are you? Well, I don't know how I am, but I'm observing how I am. It's different. I'm different. Yeah. Well, that was a big thing I noticed. I just mentioned it. I have another question. I think the last line that you spoke in your talk was, Buddha is vast emptiness.

[59:19]

And so I was... I want to ask, is Buddha vast form? Say again, is Buddha... Vast form? Is Buddha vast form? Yeah. Is form other than appearance? Nope. And also, form and appearance are not other than emptiness. But what I quoted was, the lack of inherent existence of phenomena is Buddha. When you say, is Buddha form? I would say, yeah. And since Buddha is a lack of inherent existence of all phenomena, it can be an appearance. Buddha can appear for our welfare. So Buddha can be a form in order to liberate us. But...

[60:21]

Then there's another teaching which is that the lack of inherent existence is Buddha. So the lack of inherent existence can appear to be something that exists inherently to teach us. So again, the first verse is Buddha is ungraspable. Buddha it lacks any inherent existence and can appear. But the appearance lacks inherent existence. But it does appear because people need to see forms so that they can pay their respects, so they can say thank you for the teaching, so they can listen to the voice. I always... that the forms that they don't that I keep seeing forms or appearances I don't have to think that they have inherent existence and but emptiness form but form and it makes sense to say form and emptiness not to just say emptiness

[61:48]

Well, it makes sense to say form an emptiness, not to say emptiness. Not to say only emptiness. Well, it wasn't the only emptiness, it was just that sentence ended. Yeah. So it's Buddha. So the form... At the end of the talk, that's just the end of the sentence. And then you asked a question after that sentence ends. And you said, is Buddha also form? And I said, yes. but sentences do sometimes seem to need to end. Like for example, with Buddha. Okay, I'm okay. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for your offering. Hello, Reb.

[62:52]

And great assembly. It's wonderful to be with you. I have a question about suffering. I've been suffering a lot lately. I feel like I've been grasping at a lot of things and suffering, and sometimes I petulantly say, well, if I have to suffer like this, I hope it benefits all beings. But I wonder, I mean, I'm just kind of looking for a simple practice, and I wonder if the awareness of one's suffering and then bringing compassion to it and then the wish that that benefit all beings. Is that a good enough simple practice? You know, I would say, take away enough and just say, is that a simple practice?

[63:53]

And then you could take away simple and just say, is that a practice? And I would say, yes. And then you could say, is it a good practice? And I would say, I don't know, but it does sound like a practice. and to say that it's good or okay it just seems like a bit of unnecessary to say that what you're doing is good it's more like I would like to try this I wish to do this practice of bringing compassion to my suffering now then they could say does that help other people And I'm saying the way you help other people is the way you take care of yourself. If you take care of yourself, that is how you're taking care of me. If you don't take good care of yourself, you're not taking good care of me. If you take good care of yourself, if you're compassionate to yourself, if you're friendly to your own suffering, you're friendly to me and to my suffering.

[65:06]

But it is a practice. It is a basic, very basic, very essential practice of the bodhisattvas to be compassionate with their own suffering. And they do that in relationship to all beings. Yeah, it seems to me that it takes both awareness and it takes faith. Yeah. It's based on faith that being compassionate to my suffering would be the life I want to live. And that the life I want to live is a life that helps everyone. And actually, I don't usually say this, but I also want to live a life where if I'm not kind to myself, that's the way I'm not being kind to everybody.

[66:12]

In other words, I want to live a life of reality, which is, if I'm not kind to myself, I'm not kind to you. It's an unhappy aspect of reality, it seems, that not taking care of me also doesn't take care of you. But actually, I'm sorry, I think that's true. which is more motivation for me to take care of myself. So taking care of myself is the Bodhisattva way. Taking care of myself for the sake of all beings is the Bodhisattva way. But also being aware that not taking care of myself hurts other people is part of the Bodhisattva way. Okay. Yeah. You know, you so often, when one of us describes a difficult emotion to you, you say, can you be kind to that too?

[67:13]

And to me, that feels like the absolute essence of the practice. And I feel like when I do that, I don't know how to say it differently, but I feel like Buddha is there. I feel like it just turns everything. The trick for me is remembering. You would think that I would get into a positive feedback loop, but it's still hard to remember to do it. You are in a positive feedback loop. You are. But there's some other feedback loops too. this kind of practice does create a positive feedback loop. Being compassionate to these things does feedback positively. But there's other feedback loops, sorry. So I think it's endless training. Well, I will say that my own suffering has definitely...

[68:19]

given me the desire to help, to help others. Yeah, that's one of the things that inspires us to help others. Thank you. Thank you. It appears that there's no more hands raised, so maybe... Oh, there's a hand. Yes, Mike. Mike. Thanks, Reb. Can you hear me? I can. Great. Thank you. Nice to see you. Thanks for teaching us. My question is, you gave a talk...

[69:23]

Once, I think it was before 2009, when your talks were on a webpage as MP3 files. And this talk was called or was about a boatman. And what I think I remember was this boatman, ferryman, didn't steer. I've been trying to remember this. And some folks I've been talking with have been interested in this idea, too, of a boatman who's not trying to steer in this river of life. Can you refresh my memory? Was that Deshawn? Is that in one of the classic koan books? Is it a story from one of those? Is there anything you can say today about what that was? Thank you. I'm thinking now which story you might be referring to. A boatman who wasn't steering, wasn't trying to control.

[70:36]

Anyway, it sounds really good. Fair enough. Excuse me, I have a poem by Kabir that does what Mike is asking about. If you want to get in touch with me, I'll give you that poem. Thank you. Could you post it to the Zoom meeting in a little note, the name of it maybe? I think the title of it is The Empty Boat, and it's so relevant to the topic because nobody got angry after the boat was hit because they thought there was somebody. But if they realized there was nobody in the boat, nobody to fault, then suddenly all anger is gone.

[71:37]

So it's a fantastic poem. Thank you. Did I read this little poem? Yes, please. Because it was right at hand. My little boat is sailing smoothly. No storms or thunderclouds engulf it. This seeker is very lucky. I have no dread of capsizing, no fear of the depths. Turning upside down won't even muss my hair. If a mountain should fall on my boat, I wouldn't feel the load. I surrender to the blessed teacher who showed me the way. Kabir said, someone who rose without a head can speak this truth. A rare boatman knows the worth of this untellable story. I don't know if that's what you wanted, but that's what I gave.

[72:38]

Thanks, Linda. What is that? Can you show us the book and tell us who the writer is? It's my book. It's a book of, just somebody get my email and write to me. Linda.Hess at Stanford.edu. Sorry, Rabbi, I just barged in. Okay, you didn't barge. You were invited. You let us know you had something to offer. Thank you. I see you, Charlie. Charlie, yes. Hi. Hi. When I think of a story that you've told, and I really want to remember what that was or hear where it was, I go to the audio archive. And so I did that real quick, and I typed in Boatman.

[73:39]

And 17 recordings of you talking about the Boatman came up. So first of all, that's a practice I recommend. On Reb's website, you go to Audio Archive and you can search for those. And the one that came up at the top of the list is a similar story. And the title of the talk is The Boatman Does Not Use a Wooden Goose. And that reminded me, this is from 2011. which I think was at a Sashin at Green Gulch, if I recall. No, this is actually from no abode. But there's some stories of the wooden goose floating and the way that it navigates the rapids. And I recommend checking those out too. Those are some beautiful stories that Tenshin Roshi has told. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that reminder about the archive.

[74:40]

Thank you. And that particular expression is from a verse that appears in Case 41 of the Book of Serenity. And the name of the case is, Lu Pu is about to die. And then as Lu Pu is about to die, he says this poem, which is something like, it's not useful. When you're in precipitous straits of the rapids, it's not useful to put out a wooden duck. So what some people do, and I did the rapids in the Grand Canyon. Before we went through the most difficult rapids, we went along the side of the river. and looked at the rapids just to get a feeling for them. And then we went through and we all survived.

[75:43]

But this particular verse is saying it's fruitless or it's worthless to put out a wooden duck when the waters are really rough. But people do do that. They put out a wooden duck to watch how it goes through the water. to sort of get a feeling for how the water goes. This is more of a radical teaching as saying, don't look ahead at the water to see how to go through. Stay in the present turbulence without looking ahead to see where you're going. And then after he gave that poem, Lu Pu died. It's a really difficult koan, I recommend it. As a matter of fact, it says over and over in that koan, it's so hard, it's so hard.

[76:47]

Or I think he says, it's really tough, it's really tough. So how to stay right at the center when it's really tough without looking ahead of what's the next thing? So it's 11.28. Maybe we could take one more question. I don't know this. I don't know who should be first. Maybe somebody, I don't know, Tim or Dawu? Thank you. Yeah, I just was very... Inspired by what you just shared in terms of not looking ahead.

[77:53]

You know, we have a C-section scheduled for August 6th, first thing in the morning. And then we'll be right next to another operating room. So the plan is to take our baby back. and immediately put him into heart surgery so that they can fix the problem with his heart. And yeah, it's been an interesting koan to practice with and to know right now all the doctors say he's doing very well. very happy in utero and very thriving and growing and we're practicing the best we can and sort of that image also of that you've shared before of pressing on the fold I had that image come to me of like when you're doing the origami right now we're pressing on the fold and we know that there's another big fold coming and yet

[79:10]

There's ways that in the relative that we are doing our best to prepare. And there's also some way where it's impossible to prepare. And I just, there's this sort of trust in the practice. Yeah, I just thought there's a little bit of a different, there's a nuance between preparing and getting settled. Yeah. seems like you're getting settled you're getting you're grounding yourself to get ready for the next fold yes it's not ready and so it's not so hard right now the next few turns will be require tremendous concentration so get ready and get ready means get ready to who knows what yeah We don't know what it's going to be.

[80:11]

We don't know which way it's going to turn. We just want to stay in the boat. So now the water's not so rough. We're just settling in the boat. We're getting ready for unpredictable events. So it's okay that it's not so difficult now. And I mean, there's plenty of appearances of thoughts that will come and, you know, the voices will say all sorts of opinions and fears. And, you know, I, I think it's helpful for me to remember that those are our appearances of just some projection into an unknowable future. Yeah, and you're doing that, you remember that, you're getting settled in that teaching, and now some of the parents that might come might be more challenging, and you might forget how to be with them, how to teach them.

[81:18]

But you're getting ready. As Tamla said, readiness is all.

[81:24]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_95.65