I wanted to start, I want to start, by I guess saying something that seems really simple to me, and maybe it'll seem simple to you. Which is, that the practice of the Zen ancestors, I'll say it softly, could be, the practice of listening to the cries of the world.

[01:00]

Did you hear that, Hannah? Could you say it back to me? Not the whole thing, just, the practice of the Zen ancestors could be, what? Whole is fine, yeah, W-W, whole world. The practice of the Zen ancestors could be listening to the cries of the whole world. Now I could also say, the practice of the Zen ancestors is listening to the cries of the world. Was that simple? Is that a simple statement? Hannah, would you feel comfortable bringing me that statue that's on the left-hand side

[02:17]

of the Buddha? The Buddha's left? Would you please bring me that statue? Mm-hmm. That's right. Is that right or left? Buddha's left. Buddha's left. You're right. Remember that. Buddha's left. You're right. Come this way, Homa. Homa, come this way. Come, come around this way. Yeah. Buddha's left. You're right. Or Buddha's still here. You're right. So this is a statue of the Bodhisattva, and this Bodhisattva's name is listening to the cries of the world. This Bodhisattva's name is listening to the cries of the world, or Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

[03:18]

or Guanyin, which means listening to the cries. Guanyin means observing the cries, but when it comes to cries, we say listen. And another name for this is, in Chinese, is Guanjizai, which means listen to the cries of the world. Listen to the world cries. It's another name for this statue. I bought this statue in Mill Valley. Next to the theater? Next to the theater. And I didn't tell the story that I was going to tell people that, in case there's a run on these statues. Anyway, this is a statue of a great being, or you could say this is a statue of a great

[04:28]

way to be, to listen to the cries of the world. But that character also means to observe, the first character. So, when you observe sounds, we sometimes say listen. When you observe sights, we say look. So, another way to understand this is that this being is the practice of observing all living beings with eyes of compassion. That's a great way to be. That's an enlightening way to be. So this is an enlightening way to be. The enlightening way to be is to observe all living beings with eyes of compassion.

[05:29]

That's an enlightening way to be. Is that simple? Yeah. And this statue is a personification of that way of being. Is she looking at you with eyes of compassion? Can you see her eyes of compassion? Can you see her ears of compassion? Anyway, there it is. And I'm saying the practice of the Zen ancestors is this practice. Would you put this back to Buddha's left?

[06:30]

Thank you. This statue has feet on the bottom and the feet are golden. It's got gold toes. Not just gold toenails, the whole toe is gold. What does that mean? What does the gold toe mean? I don't know. It has a gold face too. It has a gold face too. It has gold hands and gold chest actually. Okay, so anyway, there she is. And now Elenia, would you bring me the statue to Buddha's right? Mm-hmm.

[07:34]

Here he comes. Bodhidharma. He's coming from the west. Northwest in this case, I guess. Here he is, Bodhidharma. This statue is heavier. This is heavier. And Bodhidharma, what big eyes you have. All the better to see you. Now, again, I could say softly that his practice, this is the statue of supposedly the founder of Zen in China who came from India to transmit the Buddha mind. This is a statue of a supposedly great being,

[08:45]

an enlightening being who came from India to transmit the Buddha mind seal face to face. And his practice was to listen to the cries of the world. That was his practice. He is a great being who listens to the cries of the world. And his eyes are eyes of compassion that observe all living beings. Wherever he is, he is observing with eyes of compassion. This is the Zen ancestor. He had a simple practice.

[09:50]

Basically, simple. Observe with eyes of compassion all sentient beings. It's a simple practice, but sometimes it's hard to remember it. When sentient beings slap you in the face, you may get distracted by the slap and forget the practice of observing this slap or this slapping being, to observe this slapping being, this insulting being, to observe with eyes of compassion. But that's the practice of the ancestors. The ancestors might have gotten distracted too. But being distracted wasn't their practice. They got distracted from their practice.

[10:58]

In their immature years, they forgot that their practice was to observe all insulting beings with eyes of compassion. They're insulting us, but really they're saying, please observe me with compassion. They're calling for compassion in an insulting, disrespectful way. It's all that they don't know any other way at that moment. What they really want is eyes of compassion to watch them and [...] assemble an ocean of blessing beyond measure. That's what they want. This assertion by me

[12:17]

that the practice of the Zen ancestors is observing all sentient beings with eyes of compassion, I'm asserting this because it's so fundamental that people don't say it every minute. This is so fundamental that some people never even heard it in a Zen temple. Well, since everybody knows it, we don't mention it, right? But since we don't mention it, some people don't know it. So here I am saying it because we don't say it during every single Dharma talk. As a matter of fact, some of you have never heard anybody say what I said before, right? That the practice of the Zen ancestors is to observe all living beings with eyes of compassion.

[13:19]

Some of you have never heard that before, right? Is that right? No. That some of you haven't, not that you haven't. Have some of you never heard that said before? Is that possible? Has some of you not heard that said before? No, no, nobody's going to say yes? Yes. Okay, thank you. Jeez. Now, that was funny, right? But jeez. Now, when I was a kid, there was, on TV, I never saw in person, but I saw on TV, there was a man, a human man, and his name was Edgar Bergen, I believe. And he had a little friend who looked like Bodhidharma. And about the same, about this size.

[14:22]

And his name was Charlie McCarthy. And, yeah, and Charlie was a, he was a puppet, actually. And Edgar could move Charlie's mouth behind Charlie, and then Edgar would talk for Charlie. But he would talk like this. Hiya guys, my name's Charlie McCarthy. Hi Edgar, how are you today? You look a little sad. And I actually used to watch that. And I thought it was pretty funny, actually, that the conversations between the puppet and the puppeteer ventriloquist. I thought they had funny conversations. Did you think it was real? Were you old enough?

[15:24]

Did I think it was real? Yeah. I know it was real. I knew it then and I know it now. It was real. That the puppet was real? I knew that the puppet was real, yeah. And I knew that the man was real. Have you awakened to that reality yet? So, but I... Yeah. Now I've got Bodhidharma on my lap, and Bodhidharma went to China, they said, and he had a conversation with the emperor. And the emperor said to Charlie, Who is this before me? And Bodhidharma said,

[16:26]

Not knowing. Not knowing. And then he went, and the emperor didn't understand. The character for the emperor did not understand. The character for understanding means like, one of the meanings of it is like, a tally, you know? Like you have a seal that's broken and then you put them back together, they're tallies. They merge, they agree. They're in harmony. The emperor couldn't harmonize with Bodhidharma's not knowing. Who is this? This is not knowing. This is not knowing. This not knowing, but actually it's not consciousness. The character is for consciousness. This not, what's here is not consciousness. This is not consciousness.

[17:28]

This is observing the cries of the world. And this observing the cries of the world left the emperor who didn't understand the meeting and went and sat at the Little Forest Monastery and faced the wall. And while he was facing the wall for nine years, he listened to the cries of the world, according to me. He was Avalokiteshvara, looking like Charlie McCarthy, facing the wall, observing, doing Avalokiteshvara's work of being Avalokiteshvara, which is observing all sentient beings with eyes of compassion, facing the wall for nine years. And based on that practice, we have this thing called Zen

[18:29]

coming from that practice. Listening to the cries, isn't that, for me it's like there has to be some consciousness to listen to the cries. There is a consciousness. There is a consciousness. And these words, listen to the cries, are words which are being delivered to the consciousness. So the consciousness can open to the practice. Then the not knowing is not consciousness. Right. The bodhisattva is not consciousness. Listening to the cries of the world is not your consciousness. It's an instruction to your consciousness about the practice.

[19:31]

The practice isn't your consciousness. The practice is for your consciousness. So like right now, you might think, or I might think, I'm listening to the cries of the world. I might think, I am observing with eyes of compassion all living beings. That's okay to think that. It's alright to think that. That's a nice thought. And that thought promotes the actual practice of listening to the cries of the world, which goes on even if I don't think I'm doing it. Bodhidharma doesn't have to think I'm listening to the cries of the world. He is. That's what he is. That's what you are. That's what you are as a bodhisattva. You are that. And you can also think that you're that. That's fine. And you're being told about this practice. You are being told about the practice of how you are a bodhisattva. But the way you're a bodhisattva isn't just your consciousness. For example,

[20:32]

I'm a bodhisattva. Or, I'm not a bodhisattva. That's your consciousness. Or my consciousness. My consciousness is, I'm a man. I'm a bodhisattva. I'm not a bodhisattva. I'm a Zen priest. I'm not a Zen priest. That's my consciousness talking. But there's a teaching which is being circulated, which is being aired here. The teaching is that the great way of being, the enlightening way of being, is listening to the cries of the world. And that isn't just you thinking that you are, although you might think that. And we're being told this because if you think about it, and if you remember this teaching, by remembering this teaching, you will realize that you're a bodhisattva. You will realize how you're a bodhisattva

[21:32]

by remembering the teaching of what a bodhisattva is. But this listening isn't just a consciousness. So here's the bodhisattva. The emperor says, who is this here? And he says, it's not consciousness. That's what the bodhisattva said to the emperor. The bodhisattva is looking at the emperor with eyes of compassion. The emperor says, what is this in front of me? And what's in front of him says, it's not consciousness. This bodhisattva is not consciousness. This observing you with eyes of compassion isn't a consciousness. It's an enlightening way to be. And it doesn't, it's not separate from the person. It's what the person really is. But what the person really is isn't what the person thinks the person is.

[22:33]

Although that's part of what the person is, of course. Okay, now, I really appreciate you letting me have you in my arms. I really appreciate you not striking me with a bolt of lightning and letting me be your successor. I'm supposedly your successor. Isn't that amazing? That you've been succeeded for about 62 or 63 generations? And that's me. And then there's, oh, look at that guy. He's one of your successors too. Hello. Good boy. See, he's happy to meet you. Are you happy to meet him? Sometimes bodhisattvas don't talk.

[23:35]

Is he from China? Well, apparently he's from China. Because, I mean, he definitely was in China. I was in China. Aul was in China with me. I was in China with Aul. And we were there also with another guy named Andy Ferguson. And when we were there, Andy Ferguson saw this Bodhidharma walking around Beijing. And he bought him and brought him to America and gave him to me. And I brought him to Novo. Is he from China? I don't know. Are you from China? I'm from India. I'm from India and I went to China and then I went to San Francisco. And I landed in the San Francisco airport and then I went to Green Gulch. And then from Green Gulch I went to Novo. But I'm originally from India. I'm an Indian bodhisattva.

[24:38]

I'm an Indian practicing, listening to the cries of the world. And he hasn't blinked since. And he hasn't blinked since. Okay, now who is going to take him back to the altar and put him in his sitting position on the altar? Okay? Got him? Not just yet. Okay, there he goes. Bye-bye. Okay, that's... So that's the simple part of the lecture. That's the simple Zen. That's Zen simple. Zen simple is our practice is bodhisattva practice of listening to the cries of the world. Okay? That's what I say. And I don't say that during every talk. But don't forget it because that's the basis of the whole thing.

[25:41]

That's the basic bodhisattva thing. Okay? Now some people have their hands raised but I just want to mention before I deal with these people who have their hands raised I just want to mention that most of what is characteristically most of what you find in the records of the Zen ancestors most of what you read or hear from the records of the teaching of the Zen ancestors who are practicing observing all beings with eyes of compassion the records of these people of their teaching they don't very often mention what their basic practice is. If you look in the records of many Zen ancestors you might find no mention of them saying my practice is to observe all sentient beings with eyes of compassion. In most of their records

[26:41]

you will not find that. In the record of me you will find that. It has just been recorded auditorially and visually. It is now in my record. So if you look in my record you will find that I said this is basic Zen practice. But I'm saying the people who didn't mention it I'm saying it was their practice. Bodhidharma I don't see anything in his record where he said that was his practice. So how can I say that he said it? How can I say it? Because I'm his successor. I'm telling you who my ancestor is. My ancestor is Avalokiteshvara. That's who my ancestor is. I'm telling you about my ancestor that he was a bodhisattva that he was filled with compassion and just oozing out of him and into him and out of him and into him

[27:42]

and into him and out of him that's what my ancestor is. I'm telling you that. But he didn't say it as far as I know. He maybe never said it but maybe he said it over and over so they didn't write it down. Maybe he said it all the time and they just wrote down the stuff that nobody ever said. Like to the emperor not consciousness. Nobody ever said that to the emperor before. But the emperor already knew about Avalokiteshvara. Who is this guy? He said well I'm Avalokiteshvara. He could have said that. I'm Avalokiteshvara. After he left after Bodhidharma had left the emperor's teacher who was there said the emperor says who was that? So the emperor says to Bodhidharma who is this? Bodhidharma says not consciousness. Then Bodhidharma leaves and the emperor says who was that? And his teacher says that was Avalokiteshvara.

[28:43]

So Bodhidharma didn't say I'm Avalokiteshvara you moron. But the court the imperial teachers told the emperor that he had just met Avalokiteshvara and the emperor was really sorry he didn't notice. And he wanted Avalokiteshvara to come back. And his teacher said well he's not going to come back. And his teacher didn't say but you could go and study with him. Now again what I was about to say was and I did say it that in the records of the Zen ancestors you will not find in all of them you might find in some of them this saying that our practice is the practice of Avalokiteshvara. You may find that in some of them. But you might not. That's why I'm telling you today is because you might not. And that's why I'm being recorded to say this I guess so that it can go on YouTube now and people can hear

[29:45]

that Bodhidharma was Avalokiteshvara. And if you practice like that you're Avalokiteshvara. And then you're a Zen ancestor. So what is in the records? So I propose to you another simple statement. What the records are is their teachings from the Bodhisattvas. What Bodhisattvas? Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Their teachings to other Bodhisattvas on how to observe all sentient beings with no outflows. Outflows. Now Avalokiteshvara observes with eyes of compassion and there's no outflows. So Avalokiteshvara observes, listens to the cries of the world with no outflows. Outflows are like impurities.

[30:47]

Outflows are like looking at people who are suffering with eyes of compassion and thinking that if they weren't suffering they'd be better than if they were suffering. That's an outflow. The Bodhisattvas see us doing unskillful things to ourselves and others and they observe us with super compassionate eyes. They don't think, and they're sorry for us hurting ourselves, but they don't think that we would be better if we weren't hurting ourselves even though they would like us to give up hurting ourselves. They think we're just like them. They don't think that they're great Bodhisattvas and we're stupid people. They do think that, but they understand that the great Bodhisattva is the stupid person. If you don't understand that the great Bodhisattva is the stupid person, that's an outflow. So they look at all

[31:50]

the stupid people who are hurting themselves and others and it hurts them to see it and they're happy to feel the pain of seeing us hurting ourselves. They're not happy that we're hurting themselves. They're happy that it hurts them and they're happy to feel that hurt and that's part of their observation and they have no outflows of thinking that they're separate from us and they have no sense of gain or loss. So they don't think that they're going to get more famous if their students get more enlightened. Or maybe they do think that they'll get more famous because maybe they will get more famous if all their students become enlightened, but they don't care about that and they don't care about that they'll become less famous if their students get enlightened or get more enlightened than them. They're not concerned with gain and loss. They're not caught by it. They have no outflows. Most of the Zen teachings are so that when we're practicing the observing we're not trying to become famous or worried about

[32:51]

becoming unfamous. The teachings are about how to purify our listening. That's what most of the teachings are about. They're teachings to people who are listening to help them listen more purely, more free of any duality. That's what the teachings are mostly about. But they're teachings to these bodhisattvas and they don't mention who they're talking to because it's understood. This is a Mahayana teaching. It's a teaching for bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas are into listening to the tribes of the world. This is a teaching to help bodhisattvas do their job. This is a teaching for the people who are on that job and it's a wonderful teaching, but often people don't understand that it's a teaching for people who are doing this thing. They don't mention the thing, they're just talking

[33:52]

to the people who are doing it. Just like the sixth ancestor, six generations after Bodhidharma we have a person called the sixth ancestor. He's the first, number six, said to the monks, Zen has nothing to do with meditation. That's an instruction to people who are doing meditation. They're all meditating and then he says to them, this practice is about, has nothing to do with meditation. That's an instruction to purify their meditation. What's their meditation? Listening to the tribes of the world. And then here's the teaching. This practice has nothing to do with what you're doing. So they don't get stuck in thinking that what they're doing is the practice of what they've practiced. It's to purify the practice. But when you hear that, you think, oh, the sixth ancestor said

[34:52]

it's got nothing to do with meditation so let's not meditate. That teaching was for meditators. He wasn't telling them to stop meditating. He was saying, you're meditating and please understand that what I'm teaching you has nothing to do with what you're doing. But I wouldn't be saying that to you if you weren't doing that. So that's basically two very simple things. One, what Zen practice is, and it is listening to the tribes of the world and it can become listening to the tribes of the world with training. Training at listening, remembering to listen and then listening to the teachings. The listening can become wholehearted. And when it becomes wholehearted, it's Buddha's wisdom. So it's both the practice of listening and observing and the practice of not abiding in the practice of listening. So that's this temple.

[35:56]

This temple is for bodhisattvas who are listening to the cries to help them have a mind which doesn't abide in listening to the cries. So that's super clear, isn't it? It doesn't mean you don't have a lot of questions. But isn't that clear? I thought so. So I see Eric and Bruce and Sonia. Do you want to say something? I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm looking. Go ahead. Well, that was the first time I heard that Bodhidharma said not consciousness. Yeah, usually they translated it. Here's other translations. Here's one translation. I don't know. And great translators have translated it that way. I don't know. But literally the character is the character for not and the next character

[36:58]

is the character for consciousness. It's not, it's, now that word consciousness has colloquial meaning and it also has, it's a Buddhist term for consciousness. So sometimes it's translated, the emperor says to Bodhidharma, who is this? And Bodhisattva says, don't know. That character, however, more fundamentally, it's this character here. How does it go? It goes. This character means not, basically not, or it's a negation. It isn't really, basically, don't. But it's often translated as don't know or not know or I don't know. But literally, I just discovered that, I mean I saw it before but it just hit me recently that it's not consciousness.

[37:59]

This thing that's in front of you, this Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is not consciousness. Bodhisattva is wisdom. So I've talked to you before. There's consciousness where there's a self and which is giddy and disorienting. Karmic consciousness. And then there's unconscious cognitive process which is most of what's going on in our mind. And then there's wisdom. Wisdom is not consciousness. Wisdom is the way that consciousness is not consciousness. So Bodhidharma said not consciousness. Wisdom is consciousness, not consciousness. That's the wisdom. And it's another, all three of these are minds, all three of these are awareness.

[39:03]

Bodhidharma is consciousness, not consciousness. That's what he presented to the emperor. The emperor couldn't get with it. And then he found out that Bodhidharma just gave him this gift and he wanted to hang on to it, but it was too late for an imperial meeting anymore. It was over. So, not consciousness is a a new translation that you're one of the first people to hear. But the character is literally the character that future years people use for consciousness. Well, I found it helpful, and I was wondering if you could describe how the element of knowing, not knowing, don't know, how would you describe that aspect within not consciousness? Because to me they seem very different. I don't know. Yeah, how would you promote the knowing aspect?

[40:04]

How I would do that is just watch me for the rest of my life and you get a chance to see this is how I'm going to do that. So, here's an example. Consciousness, we're quite familiar with. That's usually what we know, is consciousness. We also know unconscious cognitive processes, but the way we know unconscious cognitive processes is not is not where there's an I. I know unconscious cognitive processes. The way I know them is I can speak English, for example. I can move my hands. So, I know unconscious cognitive processes in a different way than I know conscious cognitive processes. Now, the way consciousness is not consciousness,

[41:06]

that is the way this is not this, the way that is, is another mind. It's a mind. The way this is empty of this is a consciousness. It's an awareness. It's a cognition. It's a mode of knowing. So, the Buddha wants to teach people, wants to open people and teach people Buddha's wisdom, which is Buddha's awareness. Buddha's awareness is not consciousness. It's not self-consciousness. It's not a mind where there's a self that seems to be separate from others. It's not that. But Buddha's wisdom doesn't eliminate that consciousness. In fact, Buddha's wisdom is the way

[42:10]

that self-consciousness is not self-consciousness. That is Buddha's mind. Buddha's mind, which Bodhidharma transmitted, is the way self-consciousness is not self-consciousness. It's the way the unconscious cognitive process is not the unconscious cognitive process. It's the way anything is not anything. That pivotal activity of karmic consciousness, not karmic consciousness, that's wisdom. That's Buddha's wisdom. And that's not a consciousness. That's the way consciousness is pivoting with not-consciousness. So Bodhidharma is talking to the emperor. The emperor's consciousness is talking to Bodhidharma. And Bodhidharma says, your consciousness is not consciousness. That's the Buddha's activity. But he didn't say the first part.

[43:14]

He said the second part. And the emperor couldn't turn with him. But he was turning with the emperor. Trying to show the emperor that he was turning with him. He raised his eyebrows. Well, I was also kind of wondering the same thing about the use of the term non-consciousness. Listening to cries of the world. It could also be translated, that character could also be translated as non-consciousness. Non or not. So you mean non-consciousness is not dualistic. So it means non-consciousness is not dualistic. There's no possibility. It's not dualistic. What's before you here

[44:19]

is not dualistic. The Bodhisattva is not dualistic. The Bodhisattva is you in the form of somebody else. And you are in the form of somebody else. And somebody else is you in the form of them. That's what a Bodhisattva is. The Bodhisattva is the enlightening being, the great being, is non-dual. I guess the reason the question arose is usually I would have thought there's dualistic consciousness and non-dualistic consciousness. But you prefer to say that... I read in the 90s the word consciousness for that, I would say. There's dualistic consciousness and there's an understanding, there's a mind of dualistic self-consciousness. And there's a mind which understands

[45:22]

dualistic self-consciousness. And the mind that understands that is not a consciousness. There's no self in the mind that understands that the mind with a self is actually not a mind with a self. That understanding is, I would say, is an awareness. It's a wisdom. But Buddha's wisdom is not consciousness. But it transmits to consciousness a way to practice so that consciousness realizes that consciousness is not consciousness. Or so that there is a realization that consciousness is not consciousness. That's what Buddha's wisdom is trying to transmit to us. And the way you understand that is by with your consciousness, for example, hearing the teaching of listening to the cries of the world. If you listen to the cries of the world,

[46:23]

there will be the dawning of the wisdom that the cries of the world are you. You are the cries of the world. There's no need to be afraid of all this suffering, which is actually who you really are. Bodhisattvas are this understanding. And they practice this understanding by listening to themselves in the form of all living beings. And they receive this instruction from the Buddhas. So long. I was remembering something that I was reading about listening. And if I apply the practice of anagram to that word, it's got silent in it. And with the letters around,

[47:25]

I was thinking about your teaching about silent and still, which I think Bodhidharma was kind of silent and still. And that was his practice of listening. And that... She said that listening is an anagram for silence. Silent. Silent. So listening, Sonja has discovered that listening, or listen, that listen is an anagram for silence. So deep listening, in order for me, for us to deeply listen, you kind of have to be quiet. Sonja says, in order to deeply listen, you have to be kind of. She said kind of. Silent. Quiet. Kind of quiet. And the other way around, when you're really silent, you're listening. In order to listen, you need to be silent.

[48:29]

And in silence, you need to be still. That's why we encourage remembering silence. Because in silence, there is this listening. By listening, the Bodhisattva is living in silence. Thanks for the anagram. Thank you. And I thought that maybe the ancestors didn't give this simple practice, or speak this simple practice, because I think everybody came here to practice, or has come here, because they could hear not only the cries of the world, but themselves. And so I'm looking, maybe others are looking for practices, to articulate practices, to work with, to be able to be with the cries of the world.

[49:33]

So that if you didn't hear it in the first place, maybe you'd be in a stock market or something. Maybe. But a lot of people come to Zen temples because they heard the word Zen, and they thought it was so cool. Never have they heard the cries. They heard, they didn't hear, well, they didn't know they were hearing the cries. They were, of course. They didn't know there were Bodhisattvas. And they came to know there were Bodhisattvas, because they heard really cool Zen teachers, and Bodhisattvas. But they didn't know that these teachers were Bodhisattvas. And there was no mention of compassion. But they were attracted to the Zen center, because they really liked the way the Zen teachers talked to the Bodhisattvas. But they didn't understand who the Zen teachers were talking to, were Bodhisattvas, and they didn't understand that they were Bodhisattvas. So people come into the Zen center,

[50:33]

and they hear about Bodhisattvas, and then they go to the teacher, and they say, excuse me, but I just wanted to confess, I'm not a Bodhisattva. I don't care about the other people at the Zen center. I'm not here to help them. I'm only here to get them to help me. What the hell helped them? And they say, can I stay? Even though I don't care about the other people, I only care about them helping me be happy and at ease. And I don't care about whether they're unhappy, it's time to pay attention. And we usually say yes. In many Zen stories, they kick the person out, who is that honest? And then the person begs to come back, and they say no, and they beg to come back. And after two years, they come back, and they become a great teacher. Because they were honest. About what? That they don't want to be a Bodhisattva. And by being honest about not wanting to be a Bodhisattva, and telling a Bodhisattva that,

[51:36]

you will realize that you always were a Bodhisattva. Part of the problem that happened in the Zen center, is that nobody mentions compassion. So then people do cruel things, because they didn't realize that this teaching, which doesn't mention anything about being kind, was a teaching for how to purify your kindness. So then they're mean. So then people say, how come people in the Zen center are so uncompassionate and mean? I don't know. Nobody told them to be kind. They didn't realize that that's what they came for. But of course, that's what we're all here for. We're all here to become great Bodhisattvas. We're on that path. I really like this kind of review of fundamentals today.

[52:36]

And I was wondering if you could define consciousness. You've mentioned that word so much, and you've talked about it so much. Sometimes I'm not sure if I actually have a clear understanding of what you mean by consciousness. I think the basic definition for me is that it's an awareness where there seems to be a self, or there seems to be somebody there who's not other people. There's a specific awareness of that, or of the notion of self. Yes, but it's also an awareness of other. There's a self there that's aware of other. I'm here aware of you. That's consciousness. These are my feelings. Those are your feelings. This is what I think. That's what you think. That's consciousness. If you take away the self, it's not consciousness. That's not what I would call consciousness.

[53:37]

And the unconscious cognitive process, there isn't a sense of self there. There's nobody there. However, things which are considered to be other in consciousness, they're appearing in the unconscious process. It's just that there's not a self saying they're other. Like, in consciousness, there's like... If my consciousness says, Justin, I'm here. In my consciousness, I don't think Justin is me. I think Justin is other. In my unconscious cognitive process, there's also a Justin, but he's not seen as other for me. He's just like Justin, and Betsy, and Kurt, and Kirk. Kurt. Are you Kurt? Kurt. Kurt and Kurt. So, in my unconscious, there's Kurt and Kurt. And Betsy and Justin. But it's not me and Kurt in my unconscious. It's just...

[54:40]

Kurt. And there's also... There could be me, too, but the me in the unconscious is just like... It's like... Justin, Betsy, me, Kurt, Justin... Kurt. It's like... It's not like the center... It's not the center of what's going on there. It's just one of the... It's just one of the people. In my unconscious, I'm one of the people. My body is one of the bodies. It's not like, I'm there, and this is... That's unconscious. And that's most of what's going on in our mind. We're talking about various sense consciousnesses. The I consciousness, your consciousness. Sense consciousnesses. There's I. Okay? But there's also sensory processes going on cognitively with not I in that cognitive process. And those are consciousnesses. And the objects are not out there subject to the subject. So...

[55:42]

Consciousness is subjectivity. Okay. I'm hearing... Thinking about why... She said many teachers don't talk about looking with eyes of compassion and thinking it's because of non-consciousness that actually there's nobody doing it. It's not like... In a way, is it really even a practice? It can be a practice, but actually it's also just what is. It is the practice. But there's nobody doing it. It's the indescribable. It's like the indescribable. You can describe it, but your description won't ever reach it. Yeah. So...

[56:43]

It is the practice of reality. So... Observing all of you beings with eyes of compassion is what reality is doing. But you can't. In a way, you can't do it. The whole universe is looking at the whole universe. Giving rise to the whole universe. That's our life. The practice is to join that process. But it's not that this universe looking at the universe is what the self is doing. The self is part of the whole universe. It's looking at the whole universe, which has the self in it. Giving rise to a universe where there's a self. Actually, infinite selves. Because there's infinite consciousnesses. Individual consciousnesses. Individual consciousness is a cognitive process that has an individual in it.

[57:46]

And also, this individual appears to be not interdependent. So it's a type of awareness that is diluted. So the universe has infinite diluted consciousnesses in it. And it looks at the universe which has infinite diluted consciousnesses in it. And that gives rise to a universe with infinite diluted consciousnesses. Which means consciousnesses which has a self which thinks it's not interdependent. And that self can't really look with the eyes, completely with the eyes of compassion on the window. It cannot. And it is totally included in that. Because the eyes of compassion see the self which can't look with the eyes of compassion

[58:47]

as exactly the same as the eyes of compassion. So the eyes of compassion see the self which thinks it can or cannot look with the eyes of compassion. It sees the diluted self as exactly the same as the eyes of compassion. But it doesn't think that the eyes of compassion are doing it. Because even the eyes of compassion aren't doing it. The eyes of compassion of the whole universe has the eyes of compassion. So there's no place to abide in the whole process. It's more to think about. More to think about. More to remember. All the better to... Why do you talk like this? All the better to remember. Why are you so strange? All the better for your mindfulness. I'm wondering if you are...

[59:47]

Can you speak up? Oh, we're hearing aids now. Just a second. One second. Hearing aids for the people in the suburbs. Did you know you were in the suburbs? No. Charlie's in the wilderness. Yeah. So if you're still practicing with an immature practice and maybe you hear some of the cries of the world, but in response you feel things. You feel despair or you feel fear or many. You could feel many things. And maybe there are some outflows. Probably there are. So I guess I was curious if you could talk a little bit about the relationship between listening to the cries of the world

[60:50]

and acting, taking action in a world that's crying when there is immature... There is this imperfect outflow and response to the cries of the world in the self or the non-self. Well, I will. I'd be happy to and I am. I am. Did you ask me to do something? What did you ask me to do? Did you ask me to say something? And I said, yes, I know. And I am. I'm doing what you asked. Do you see? Do you see? What do you see? Do you see what I'm doing? And do you see that before I even spoke I was already responding to you? Do you see that? You were talking and I was like... I was like responding.

[61:52]

Did you see it? This is reality. Your question and my response come up together. Immature practice doesn't understand that. Immature practice thinks, I asked you to respond to me and you didn't. But I responded to you before the time when you looked. You looked after my response. Immature response sees that when you ask a question you're already being responded to. Immature thinks you ask a question and then later you're going to get a response. This is part of the later response that is being offered to you. Immature... Did you say immature listening? I didn't, but... Did you say immature practice? Yeah, the immature practice of listening is that we haven't really arrived

[62:58]

at mature practice of listening, right? Yeah. You didn't look and you got that. Immature listening is that we haven't yet become mature in our listening. You still look like you're listening. Are you understanding this? I'm listening. Isn't that it? I'm asking you, is that clear to you? You have this look on your face like, I don't know what you're talking about. Rather than, uh-huh. But you're not saying uh-huh. Do you need some help there? Probably. You brought up immature listening, right? No, you brought up immature practice. Immature practice is not yet mature practice. Okay, now you're nodding. Immature practice has not yet arrived at mature practice. Okay? Immature practice is still in the realm of, for example, of duality.

[64:00]

So the responses that are going to come in immature practice are going to seem, perhaps, dualistic. And maybe unhelpful. And maybe afflictive and afflicting. That's part of what comes with the immaturity. The mature practice, what comes from there is the performance of non-duality. It's the performance of reality. It transmits peacefulness. It's not harmful. However, part of the non-duality of the mature practice is to understand that the immature practice, that didn't yet understand non-duality, was caught up in duality, is the same as the mature practice. But in fact, the immature practice does think.

[65:03]

The immature practice thinks, this is mature or not mature. And it would be better if I was more mature. That's immature practice. That's not immature practice. That's just thinking. Immature practice, basically immature practice is still falling for thinking. It's still falling for discrimination. It's still falling for gain and loss. So, as I said earlier, you hear the teaching, listening to the cries of the world, but when you start to practice it, you do it with some impurity, with some helplessness. Like, like, you know, it would be better if things were like this, or it would be worse if things were like that. It falls for that thought. That's what it is. Immature listening hears those thoughts and gets caught by them. Rather than hearing those thoughts,

[66:06]

mature listening to thoughts like, it would be better if it was like this, and worse if it was like that. Mature listening hears those and is not caught by them, and hears the dharma through those statements in both cases. And hearing the dharma of things are not good, things are good, it would be better if things were like this, it would be worse if things were like that. This kind of consciousness, right? In mature listening, there's a whole hearted listening to that consciousness talking. And there's a not being caught by it. And that listening to the cries without being caught by them, creates the blessing of practice. And the mature listening is not trying to get rid of the thinking that comes from immature listening.

[67:15]

The mature listening is not trying to get rid of the thinking that comes with immature listening. It's not trying to get rid of judgments. But even in mature listening, it doesn't want to and it doesn't get rid of this thinking. In mature listening, all the kinds of thinking are still coming up, it's just that in mature listening, there's no being caught by any kind of thinking. Including the thinking that mature listening is different from immature listening. Immature listening can hear the thought that immature listening is different from mature listening. Immature listening can hear that thought. Mature listening hears that thought too and does not get caught by it. And not being caught by it, the responses that come up with not being caught, liberate all beings.

[68:26]

Being caught by the thought that mature listening is better or different from immature listening, being caught by that is immature. And from that immaturity, there is a transmission of suffering and misery. Immature listening understands that and isn't caught by that. And transmits blessing. Immature is caught by maybe we should try to get rid of some of this type of thinking. Maybe we should upgrade the thinking. It's caught by that. In mature listening, it isn't like we don't have that thought. Hey, let's upgrade the thinking of these people. Let's get this thinking, let's get the maturity of their listening. You name it.

[69:29]

Mature listening is listening to it. It's listening to all infinite deluded thinking. And not being caught by any of it. And that kind of listening is what saves the world. Immature is listening to and being caught by some or a lot of all of that thinking. And therefore, we have suffering. And immature listening is not trying to stop that. It's listening to it. And it's listening to it without being caught by it. And it's transmitting this non-binding mind of compassion to all the immature listeners. So that they will also not be caught by their... being caught. Okay? Now, that might be clear to everybody.

[70:32]

And I just wanted to add one more thing which came up at the beginning of what you were saying. Listening to the cries of the world really starts with listening to the cries of your own consciousness. So start by listening to what you're thinking. Your own cries. If you skip over them, that will hollow your listening to others. There's a lot of people who think listening to the cries of the world is not listening to me thinking that I'm not too good at listening. When I think I'm not too good at listening, that's one of the cries. Or if I think I am above average at listening, that's one of the cries. Or if I think I don't know how to listen, that's one of the cries. Or if I think it's stupid to listen, they should listen to me, that's another cry. These are my cries. For me to listen to. I'm better than her. She's better than me. I can't be like him. I can be like him. These are cries in my own head. I'm a Zen student. I'm not a Zen student.

[71:32]

These are cries in my own head. So I listen to cries in my own consciousness, inwardly. And I listen to the cries of what seem to be other people. And some people are, actually, they do think, and they seem to be right, that they listen to the cries of others more than they listen to the cries of themselves. Even though when they tell me that, they have just listened to their own cry, because they just told me that. They missed it. It's getting up towards the, what do you call it, bewitching hour? You watch, going along, somebody's going to get bewitched. Or bewitched, bewitched. Or bewitched. Bewitched is easier to say than bewitched. Bewitched. So, maybe it's time to have a lunch break and make a stop.

[72:39]

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