I've heard that everything in the entire universe is engaging in Buddha activity. For example, the earth the stars, the galaxies, the grasses, the trees, the pebbles, the bricks, the tiles, all of us, everything is engaging in Buddha activity. I've also heard that brothers and sisters fight each other, and sometimes mothers kill their own children, and fathers sometimes eat them.

[01:03]

I've heard that too. And I've even seen brothers and sisters fighting, and I've never seen anybody kill anybody, but I actually saw a person kill himself. He was driving next to me on the freeway and I was driving and he drove up next to me real fast, and then kind of slowed down up here and then fell back and a few minutes later he went and zoomed by me again. And then he was kind of wandering around the lanes And I thought maybe he's drunk or on some kind of drug. So I kind of tried to stay behind him. And he wouldn't stay behind me. Then he would drift behind me. And I was trying to stay away from him.

[02:07]

And I didn't have a cell phone. If I had a cell phone, I would have called the police because he was endangering everybody on the highway. And then after a pretty long time, ...walk over to the edge of the freeway to exit. And I thought, good, he's getting off the freeway. But then he didn't turn off properly. He didn't make the exit very well. So he sort of went onto the side of the freeway, and then he went... His car rolled up the hill. And so I'm pretty sure he killed himself and the people in his car. It was just terrible to see a person kill himself like that. So I see things like that, and you do too. But the Buddha also tells us that everything in the universe is engaging in Buddha activity.

[03:09]

So somewhere in there is the true Dharma. I don't know where it is exactly, but It says, I vow to hear the true Dharma. And then it says, what does it say? It says, yeah, it says, although our past evil karma has greatly accumulated, but you could also say, It could also be, however, I vowed to hear the true Dharma, however, karma has accumulated such that I can't hear the true Dharma, even though somebody is saying it to me, even though everything is engaging in Buddha activity. Hear the cowbells? The cowbells are engaging in Buddha activity, but can you hear the true Dharma from the cowbells?

[04:16]

or a Zen priest saying to you, can you hear the true Dharma? Maybe not, because of karmic accumulation. You can't believe that all things are engaging in Buddha activity, and this Buddha activity He's resonating with the Buddha activity of the other things. So all the things are engaging in Buddha activity with each other all the time, never stopping, non-stop, unceasing. Everything's engaging in Buddha activity and will unroll widely inside and outside of the entire universe, the endless, unremitting, unthinkable, unnameable, true dharma.

[05:24]

And it says, all this, however, does not appear within perception. So the way things are working together does not appear within dualistic perception. The way things are working together cannot be packaged into something graspable. As soon as you package the way everything's working together, as soon as you package Buddha activity so you can grasp it, It's something you can grasp, you separate yourself from it. And when you separate yourself from it, you can't see it. And then if you separate yourself from how you're working together, and you act from there, then you're acting from there. has the consequence of making you likely to again in the next moment or sometime later, again package what cannot be packaged.

[06:30]

You can't package the way you're working together with people. But if you don't package it, you can't recognize it. So we package. But then when we package, it's not it. We separate ourselves from how we're together. We're together and we package how we're together and then it looks like we're separate. So, the forms of practice and the ceremonies of the Buddha Dharma and in particular the Soto Zen, the forms are to help people who have karmic hindrance become free of the karmic hindrance so they can realize the way we're actually intimately living together. And one of the ceremonies, one of the forms, one of the ceremonies is to sit in the upright posture together with other people.

[07:43]

That's a ceremony to dramatize that everybody and everything is engaged in Buddha activity. So you get all the people, all the humans together, and they sit like little Buddhas. So there's a Buddha. So you people are sitting like a Buddha now, see? You're enacting that you're sitting... So to help you realize that you are doing Buddha's activity. And not only are you sitting like a Buddha, but you're sitting like a Buddha with other people who are sitting like a Buddha. So we're kind of doing a little drama here called dramatizing that all the things and all... are engaging in Buddha activity and the Buddha activity of each person is resonating with the Buddha activity of the other people.

[08:47]

And this, you can see this. You can see these people sitting like Buddhas together with other people sitting like a Buddha. But this is just a story of how this is. It's just a, it's a graspable version of how we're actually doing Buddha's work. How we're actually doing Buddha's work cannot be recognized, even though it's actually happening. So this ceremony is to help us Realize that which is not graspable through what is graspable. The sitting practice. Also walking practice. You walk like the Buddha. So we actually now then when we get up we walk like Buddha walked. We follow the instructions that Buddha gave and which Buddha practiced. So when we walk together we also dramatize the Dharma, that all things are engaged in Buddha activity together.

[09:56]

Another ceremony, or another form, called Confession and Repentance. So you chanted this EHE KOSO HOTSU GAMON. And that means the verse of arousing the of the high priest Ehe, who's Ehe Dogen, that Zen master. This is his own personal vow. And so he says that we and I vow to hear the true Dharma. However, because of past karma, sometimes I can't hear it, so I have to practice confession. and repentance. So confession and repentance is a practice which will help you enter into the process by which your karmic obstructions will melt away.

[11:08]

And this vow also describes the process. And the process by which it melts away is the process of your Buddha activity interacting with the Buddha activity of other things. So not only does this suggest to practice confession and repentance, but it tells you that when you practice it, you don't do it with the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. And in fact, that's what you're doing all the time, but you can't see it. But if you practice repentance and confession, you will be able to see it. However, the way you see it will not lie in the mind that packages things. It will be with the mind which is all Buddhas and all living beings.

[12:16]

That is a mind. All living beings together is a mind. It's an awareness. All living beings together, helping each other, is a mind. That's already happening. And within that mind And each living being has another mind which can imagine being separate from other living beings. And separate from other living beings with which the mind packages, [...] grasps, and then can grasp, and then can recognize. And living beings like to recognize each other. Autistic people sometimes can see each other, and they can actually see, but they don't recognize what they see.

[13:24]

So they have trouble in society with people who can recognize but don't see. They see recognizable versions of each other, not actual. And the people who don't see recognizable versions have trouble getting along with them. And fortunately, some people who can recognize people can recognize autistic people and be kind to them. So they still sometimes get love and support, even though they have with the other people who recognize everything. For most of us, if we don't recognize something, it doesn't exist. So if you can't recognize this situation where everything's helping each other, you can't recognize it and nobody can. Even the Buddhists can't recognize it. As a matter of fact, the Buddhists say that it can't be recognized.

[14:28]

By definition, it cannot be recognized. It can be cognized, but not re-cognized. What we do is we cognize something, and then we package it, and then re-cognize it. So usually, if we just cognize something without packaging it, it doesn't exist. It's like we don't know it, because what we... Yeah. And then translate, recognize. So what's it? Yeah, and what's recognize? Again. Yeah, right. Yeah. So usually when we just cognize,

[15:31]

we don't know, we don't usually call that knowing, because what we usually call knowing is recognizing. So usually we see someone, and then our mind imposes an image on them, puts an image on the person, but people, actually I don't walk around, I don't walk around with an image on top of me. I'm not actually walking around wearing an image. And neither are you. But when you see me, you don't let that bother you. You just put an image on me. And I also put an image on you. And the image I put on you is not the image of the whole universe. I put the image on that you're one person. When I look at you, I don't say, oh, there's everybody in the universe. But there is everybody in the universe.

[16:38]

And there is everybody in the universe. Everybody in the universe. Because this person is working together with everybody in the universe. But I can't grasp that. And I want to grasp it. So I make a little image. And then... But then I separate myself from her. So I practice confession. I learned to practice confession that I don't really believe that everything is engaging and I don't really believe that everything is interdependent. I imagine people and I believe that imagination or I imagine people and don't believe it but at least I imagine it. And if I act from believing my imagination of you, that's called karma, and that causes more imagination of you as separate.

[17:47]

So I confess that. And I feel somewhat uncomfortable about that too. And that discomfort to give up my imagination and also starts to change the whole process, or starts to not change the process exactly, but starts to melt away the obstruction. And gradually I start to understand, doing this confession with everybody, And then gradually I really understand I'm doing this practice with everyone. And then I have nothing to confess anymore for a little while. So many of you have practiced the precept of telling the truth, of not lying, and have told me that you do not see this

[18:52]

interdependence. You do not see it. You do not believe it. Others of you say you but then the next breath you say you don't believe it. Like someone told me that she felt she really wasn't getting enough support from the world, from people. So I'm not getting enough support. Did I think that? But if I confess over and over that I don't think I'm getting enough support from somebody, maybe you, if I keep confessing, and also if I confess it, and as my confession develops, I even dare to confess it to the Buddhas, or what does it say?

[19:56]

Confessing and repenting in this way, confessing and repenting in this way, one never fails to receive profound help from all Buddhas. So if you do not believe this teaching and you confess and repent, you will receive help from the Buddhas. The Buddhas will help you. but because of karmic hindrances, you don't receive what they're offering. So the Buddhas are teaching you that the Buddhas are already offering, the Buddhas are offering, the Buddhas are offering, but you say, later, a little bit later, I don't want it now. And also, you are asking the Buddhas to offer, But you don't know you're asking, sometimes. But you are asking. And so they offer. They offer, and therefore you receive.

[21:03]

And when you receive, you request, and they respond. And they request you, also, to invite them. You're requesting and receiving and giving and receiving all the time. And so even if you don't believe that, little by little you can realize you offer that to Buddha. I don't yet believe that Buddha is even there to receive this offering, but I'm going to make it anyway. So some people go to Zen temples and make offerings to altars, and they actually say, the Buddha is going to receive this offering. But here I am making the offering. Or, I don't really believe that Buddha is receiving my bows, but I'm going to bow anyway. But most people, long enough, they start to realize that Buddha is receiving the bows, and then Buddha's bowing back, and Buddha's requesting you to accept the true Dharma.

[22:10]

And your bow is requesting the Buddha to give it and your bow is requesting the Buddha to bow some more and receive some more and to take care of this dharma. So this morning I added the practice of confession. The ancient twisted karma from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through body, speech, and mind, I now fully avow, I now fully confess, and repent. So, some people say to me that you do not believe this teaching. To you, it doesn't sound like the true Dharma. I thank you for that practice of confession. And then I tell you, even though you can't see or believe that everyone's helping you, and you're helping everybody else, even though you can't believe this yet, if you practice confession, you will be able to see it.

[23:32]

But again, not with the eye that packages, but with the eye that is the mind. in which all beings are helping each other. You will realize this Buddha mind if you continue to confess that you don't believe in Buddha mind. Many people do not believe this, but few people confess that they don't believe it. And fewer confess that they don't believe it millions of times. The great bodhisattvas confess millions of times that they do not believe that all beings are helping. That they do not believe that they're helping everyone, and they do not believe everyone's helping them. They do not believe that they love all beings completely, and they do not believe that all beings love them completely. They do not believe that.

[24:34]

They confess it over and over again and again and again and again. the obstruction to this reality. So one way to realize this is to sit in zazen and awaken to this reality. The other way is to sit and confess that you do not believe in this reality. They go together. One is called formal confession and repentance. where you actually say, I confess that I don't believe this teaching. I confess that I don't see that everybody is being kind to me. I confess that I do not see that. I also confess that I do not see that I help everyone. I don't even see that I want to help everyone. I confess that.

[25:35]

That's a formal confession. But there's a formal confession where you just sit Still. And you meditate on this reality. And that also is a kind of confession. Both of them melt away the confessions. So those are two forms, not to make yourself intimate with everyone. That's already done. but to realize it. And today we, after lunch at 2.30, we have scheduled a ceremony, another form, to realize how everybody's helping everybody.

[26:39]

And I'm sorry that I didn't ask your permission before the retreat started, but we had to plan ahead before the retreat. So I ask your permission to have a ceremony to give Buddha's robe to Eva at 2.30. May I? May we? And in the early days of Zen Center, in San Francisco, Suzuki Roshi sometimes felt that his American students did not like ceremonies. They liked sitting and talking to Suzuki Roshi, but they didn't like Buddhist ceremonies. So when he was doing a ceremony, he would say, today I'm going to do a ceremony, and you can come if you want to, but you don't have to, just, you know, it's optional. If you want to come to this ceremony, you can just, you can do whatever you want.

[27:46]

You can take a walk and go sit in with the trees and resonate with them, whatever you'd like. So you don't have to come to the ceremony, but if you want to do it as a ceremony to realize how Regula and Eva are helping me to be a Zen priest, and how I'm helping them be a disciple of Buddha, in the Buddha's robe, which they made. And realize how all of you helped them make the robe, and how them wearing it is to help all of you. and so on and so on and so on. This is a form to realize the intimacy of all beings that we do in Soto Zen. And also other lines, other lineages of Buddha's teaching also give the Buddha's robe.

[28:53]

Is there anything you'd like to express at this time? Simon? Formless confession is sometimes defined as to sit upright and observe the true characteristics of things. And the true characteristics of things includes that things have an imaginary characteristic. So, it is really true that things have an imaginary characteristic.

[30:12]

In other words, everything that we experience has an unimaginary aspect, well actually, has an aspect which is lacking imagination, and it has an aspect of imagination, and it has an aspect of interdependence. So to sit upright and observe that interdependent things are overlaid with the imagination of independence. Once again, to observe how interdependent beings are overlaid with an image of independence. Independence is overlaid with the fantasy of independence. So one characteristic is interdependence, another characteristic is an appearance or a fantasy of independence.

[31:16]

And we put the picture of independence upon something that's interdependent. So like, if I'm holding hands with you, we're doing that together, but then I put a picture on top of that thing we're doing together as though we were doing it separately. That's usually happening. And also, The picture of independence is actually not actually there in the interdependence. So observing these characteristics of phenomena, to sit upright and observe these, is to notice that you believe. that the appearance of independence is true and you don't see the interdependence. And also it is to see that you don't see the absence of the fantasy about things in the things. By confessing the absence of the fantasy, you do see the presence of the fantasy.

[32:24]

Just like to say that you don't see the interdependence. You don't see the way everything's working together. You don't see the way things are working together. You actually think things are not working together. You think things work not together. You contemplate that, and you just contemplate, but you don't say anything. You don't say, I confess. But you see, you actually see how your mind does not believe in interdependence, how your mind does believe in independence, sometimes you see actually that independence is not in the independence. The separateness is not in the mutuality. You see that, and then you see another characteristic of phenomena, which is their true characteristic. So by observing, which is emptiness, which means that things are empty of your fantasy of independence,

[33:27]

Everything really lacks the fantasy of independence by meditating on that true character, which is a formless kind of repentance. You just see it, and that also melts away the karmic obstruction. So one is a formal confession, and the other one is meditating on emptiness. Emptiness of what? Emptiness of self. Emptiness of separateness. Look at, there really isn't any separateness in them. Nobody has any separateness. But it looks like they do. It looks like they're over there on their own. On her own, on her own, on her own. Looks like that. But actually, it isn't there. Not there at all. Except as an image. And when you look at that absence, that melts away. So both by saying that you see fantasies and don't believe interdependence, and by observing the absence of fantasies of independence, those two ways complement each other in the process of

[34:50]

removing the hindrance to seeing and hearing and tasting and touching and smelling and thinking the true Dharma. Michael? Sometimes I, like usually, of course I believe in separateness, but what I sometimes do is try with my conventional to see how things are made. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. [...] things that exist just by themselves because of all this history.

[36:19]

Yeah. Did you understand what he's saying? No. He's saying sometimes he uses his thinking and he imagines all the different causes and conditions coming together to create something like him. Like, for example, you can read about books which say that carbon atoms that are in your body you know, have been shared by all the living beings in history. Some scientists will tell you that. That there's carbon molecules in you that previously existed shared. Things like that. This is a way to imagine interdependence. Okay? And so I told you when I first came here that I... you know, I felt like everybody in Sweden was coming. You know, so I was walking around in Stockholm and the people were very happy.

[37:24]

They were having, you know, lots of people having beer and I guess mostly beer I saw. And they were just very happy, you know, and they were being kind to each other. You could see they were being kind to each other and they were being kind to me. They didn't know they were being kind to me. I was drinking their kindness, which was all over the place in the late evening in the sun, you know. And then the airplane people, the people who were in the retreat took me to the airport and the airport people took care of me. The people in the airport control They got the plane up and down. Everybody was very, I could see all these, I can imagine this way how everybody's helping me, right? And we tell children, we say, they drink the milk and we say, that milk didn't just come from the bottle. It came from a cow, but also the cow got it from the grass and the sun because the sun helps the grass grow and the earth and the water and the farmers and the

[38:31]

People milking, all these things come together and you get to have this milk. Now this milk is coming through the kindness and support of infinite numbers of cows and farmers and grasses and trees. All these things are resonating. So now all the Buddha activity is going into your mouth. We tell the children that. So they have a picture of this. And even if we don't say Buddha activity, still they do have a picture of Buddha activity. how this is all working. But this picture, which you can recognize, doesn't reach the way it actually is going. Because you can also tap pictures that aren't like that. But in the pictures that aren't like that, still the thing is, the help is going on. So if you have a picture that looks like people are helping each other, that's a picture or a story of how they're helping each other. But the way they're actually helping each other cannot be grasped.

[39:32]

For example, I may see that you help me with the ceremony today. And of course, I can see Eva and Regula help me with the ceremony. They think I'm helping them with the ceremony. which I can see that too. I can see I'm helping them and they're helping me. But I can also see, I asked Beate, she's helping with the ceremony. And then I can also see me with the ceremony. I can also see Bernd's helping me with the ceremony. And also Barbara's helping with the ceremony. So Barron's doing lots of organization and Barbara's going to iron my robe and she's going to wrap the packages. And Richard's helping with the ceremony because he's giving us the paper to wrap it. And also he said okay to have it here. But all of you are helping too because you said I could do the ceremony or said we could do the ceremony. Everybody's helping, okay? So then I think, oh, now I see how, I see how, I have a story of how you're all helping me.

[40:36]

But then I find out that there's someone I don't know about who actually is also saying it's okay to have the ceremony. And actually somebody else, I find out, told all of you to help me. But I don't even know this person. But he told Simon to help me. And she told Eva and Regula and she told Bernd to help me. Somebody else I didn't even know about. Then I find out, oh, that person told all of you to help, or six people told you all to help. So then, but even then I don't know the story. And then I find out later that somebody else was helping. No end to the stories you can tell to explain how anything happens. But still, everybody does have a story of how it happens. And that story is okay.

[41:37]

And sometimes the stories are really terrible. But none of the stories, even the happiest stories, reach the merit of one person's zazen. So it says here at the end, know that even if all the Buddhas throughout time and space as innumerable as the sands exert their strength and with the Buddha's wisdom try to measure the merit of one person sitting. If all the Buddha's try to figure out all the things to come to make your sitting practice in one moment, they would not be able to do it. But still the Buddha's story of how you practice a moment of Zazen She can have a story. All of our stories about everything, including yours, they're all good stories of dependent core arising because we're, Buddhas are, you know, Buddhas know about dependent core arising so they can tell stories about dependent core arising. But they also say the story about dependent core arising does not reach the dependent core arising.

[42:45]

They say that too. But they still tell stories for people because Why not? We have to. Why not? We have to. Want some examples? So, the Buddha was teaching for a pretty long time, but the Buddha did not have chief disciples. He had many disciples and he had many enlightened disciples. From a few weeks after he was enlightened and from a few weeks after he started teaching, he had enlightened disciples. Within a month he had five fully enlightened disciples. They weren't Buddhas, fully enlightened. In other words, they understood the teaching well enough to become completely free of suffering themselves. So he had many enlightened disciples, but for many years he did not have chief disciples.

[43:54]

And I don't know if people said, Lord Buddha, why don't you have any chief disciples? But anyway, he didn't. And one day, two men came to visit him. And their names at that time were not yet what they are known by today. But the names that they wound up having were Shariputra and Mahamadgalyana. So these two disciples came to study with Buddha. And when Buddha saw them coming to the assembly, he told the assembly, here come the chief disciples. When he saw them coming, he saw that the chief disciples were coming. And he told the other monks. And the other monks said, Excuse me, teacher. How does it happen that these people coming now are the cheap disciples and we've been with you for many years and you haven't chosen us to be cheap disciples?

[45:04]

So they have a story, right? They're good monks, which is true. That's a true story. But that true story that they're good monks doesn't reach the way they're good monks. But it's a nice story. The story that the Buddha would choose from among his group of regular students, he would choose his chief disciples. That's their story. And it makes sense because they've been helping Buddha and Buddha's been teaching them. But there's another part of the story which they don't know, which is that in many past lives, the Buddha was friends with these two people. And also he was friends with other people in the assembly too. which he sometimes told the people and sometimes didn't. But everybody in the assembly, all his students, he said in past lives, basically all his students in past lives were his mother. Everybody in this room, according to certain Buddhist teachings, all of you have been my mother.

[46:10]

And I have been your mother. You've been my only child in many lives. And I've been your only child. And that's all. Sometimes I was one of ten of your children. And sometimes you didn't take good care of me. And sometimes you did. This is a story of... Okay? So then the Buddha says, people in past lives basically... served me in certain ways, and I wanted to express my gratitude for their service, and I asked them what I could do to show them appreciation for their kindness to me, and they said, be your chief disciple when you become Buddha. I'm going to stop because it's such a nice story and I wanted to get on the tape.

[47:23]

Is it going to get on the tape now, you think? So anyway, in past lives, these monks, these friends, asked me if I would, when I became a Buddha, would I make them my chief disciples? And I said, yes. And here they are. So now they're my chief disciples. this is the story he told them so that they could see how this is all working together, right? But the Buddha also says that the story he told does not actually reach the causation of them becoming chief disciple. That story does not reach the process. But he told them that rather than saying the reason why they're being chosen as chief disciples cannot be reached by any story. He didn't say that. So first you tell stories about how people are being kind to you in Stockholm and Switzerland, which people can understand the story.

[48:33]

And then you can say that's the story of how people are being nice to you. That's the story of how you're being nice to people. And that's good. scientific about it too, if you want to, and test it in the laboratory. Many things like that you can do, but no matter what the story is, nothing actually reaches the way that we're in peace and harmony. And that's a problem because science wants to be able to observe. And you cannot observe this with dualistic consciousness. And I can go into more detail on that later if you want. Ask me and I will. But it's okay to do those stories. And then after you do the stories, then listen to the teaching that that's the story of one person, another person's story, another person's story, and then get all the Buddhist stories about what somebody's zazen practice is, about what somebody's eating practice is, about what somebody's walking practice is, and you'll never be able to fully comprehend it

[49:37]

Everybody gets a little because the things you imagine are related to what the thing is. So it's not a false story. It just doesn't fully reach it. So the stories of cruelty are also part of the story. But the stories of cruelty and the stories of kindness don't reach it. But it's okay to have stories. as long as you don't think the stories actually fully comprehend anything. But again, if you do think the story comprehends, then you confess the story truly comprehends what's happening. In other words, I do not believe the teaching that this process of all things fully engaging in Buddha activity and helping each other. I do not believe the teaching that this process of dualistic consciousness, I don't believe that.

[50:43]

I think it does appear within dualistic consciousness. But some other people say, I don't see it appearing in dualistic consciousness, therefore I don't think it's going on. So some people have a story does appear, which they can recognize, and then they say, therefore I believe in the teaching that all things are engaged in Buddha activity. Other people have a story where they don't see it, and then they say, therefore they do not believe it. But these two stories leads the person to say they do believe it, and the other one leads them to say they don't. Both of those stories are not actually how it is. Okay? But still, please continue to do stories about how it is. And you will. Yes? So you wouldn't even say one story is nearer than another one?

[51:48]

That's better than another one? Because if you don't... I mean, I... I would say that. I would say... Yeah. Better in the sense that one story people to listen to the next story. I think, and the next story, the next one's a story too. The story that, yes, everybody's being friendly and helpful, that sets people up for, and that story doesn't reach the way you're friendly and helpful. But if it's a story of how we're not being helpful, it may be difficult for them to hear the story that that story does not reach the way things are. Only in this respect, it is better. It's not nearer. It's not at all nearer because, as we say in English, this is as good as a mile. If you miss something a little bit, it's the same as missing it by a lot. In other words, it's not it. I mean, to come close is still not it.

[52:52]

So really, neither one of them make it. All bad stories about our life don't reach our life. Stories about our life don't reach our life. They both completely miss. Completely. Because in our life you will not find any kind of story. Like Suzuki Roshi said, if you think you have a good practice, if you think you have a bad practice, you still have your practice. No matter what you think of it, you had your practice. And none of your ideas about your practice are your practice. They both completely miss. Encourage people to consider that they both completely miss. But sometimes, actually some people, the way to get them to open to the teaching is to tell really bad stories.

[53:53]

And then that's what makes them, and then say, that bad story doesn't work. But what, you know, a lot of people do is that they say, oh yeah, you know, they're willing to practice kindness until they get to certain bad stories. And then they say, now I can't practice kindness anymore, you know. They're willing to be until those people manifest in such a way that the story they tell about the person is that this person is my enemy. So since I have the story that they're my enemy, I don't have to be kind to them. Since this person hates me, since I have the story that this person hates me, I don't have to be kind to them. But if I have the story this person is nice to me, well, now I'll practice kindness. Or, you know, so the story that people hate you may be more difficult for you to practice kindness with them if you say they hate you.

[54:59]

But the Buddha and the history of the Buddhist tradition is to practice kindness with people who you have a story that they hate you. Love thy enemy is a Jewish teaching, isn't it? Christians practice it too, don't they? So when the Christians heard that the Islamic people hated them, they went to the Middle East and they practiced kindness towards them, right? They went because they practiced kindness to them, right? Because they loved their enemies. But there's another story is that they didn't practice loving their enemies. They didn't listen to the teachings of Judaism and Christianity. They said, hate your enemies and kill your enemies. A story like that, right? That they didn't practice that.

[56:04]

But actually, during the whole crusades where the Christians and the Muslims were killing each other, actually they were in perfect peace and harmony the whole time. But it looks like they didn't understand that. But perhaps sometimes they did. Perhaps some of them understood fully and were teaching. Right in the middle of the battle, some of them did understand. It's possible. But whether they understood all the Muslims and all the Jews and all the Christians and all the Buddhists are always engaging in Buddhist activity, all the time, unceasing, unstoppable, always, inside the universe and outside the universe, everywhere. Because the Buddha activity is what's actually going on. That's what we mean. It's Buddha activity and it's peace and harmony.

[57:08]

the hard part is to realize it. And you have heard stories of people who when they're spit upon, when they're punched, when they're insulted, they understand this is peace and harmony and they have a peaceful, harmonious response. And people tell stories about them that way. And sometimes Peaceful response, people tell the story that that wasn't a peaceful response. And then later they change it to it was a peaceful response. And then they change it to that it wasn't a peaceful response. But the Buddha keeps saying everybody is actually having a peaceful response in the realm beyond conception. And then we want to realize that in this world and get the world where there is conception where you can't see the total peace and harmony in the realm where you see some war and some peace to dramatize more peace.

[58:33]

And the more peace you dramatize and also dramatize Dramatize, dramatize more war. But as a drama, as a drama, not believing it. Dramatize. Pretend to be at war. That it can look just like war, but it's not war. There really isn't any war. And it can look like harmony, but the appearance of harmony is not the actual harmony. So we want to dramatize all day long in order to realize peace and harmony. And sometimes we should dramatize an argument. It helps sometimes. That's why if you don't agree with me and you think I'm wrong, that would be a good chance for you to use that to see if you can dramatize that, express that.

[59:48]

Yeah? Yeah, dramatize being separate, right. Dramatize it as a way of getting free of it. I don't recommend... believing it, particularly. But if you do, then I would say, express yourself even then. Because if you express yourself, we can become free of everything you believe. Jesus says, what you keep in back will destroy you. What you bring out in front will liberate you. So in the back, We believe we're separate in the back. We believe that other people are selfish. We have that idea. We have that story. Okay, bring it out in front. Tell the story. Show the story. Dramatize the story.

[60:48]

And we will become free of it. And we can become free of it because it's not true. If it were true, we would not be able to be free of it. But everything, all stories back then, All of them are not true, none of them are true, even the good ones. The good stories back there will destroy you too, if you don't bring them out. So attaching to good stories will destroy you, and attaching to bad stories will destroy you. But bring out the good stories and bring out the bad stories, play with them, and you will become, we will all become, we will all, I say become, but actually we will all realize that we are in peace and harmony. Because we already are. We just haven't realized it. And realize means understand, but also make it real. In this small-scale world of duality, make it real. And so I have a story that we're doing very nicely.

[61:50]

But I also tell you, you can dramatize war here. Dramatize. I was watching on the airplane a movie about robots, and there was a robot war. And the good robots against the bad robots. And I thought, people do like to have war. They like to war. And I thought, let's have wars, let's have all our wars be movies and plays. You know? Because we like to see that conflict. We like to see harmony even when there's... Let's make all of our wars now dramas. Because we like that story. Dramas, dances, music, and dharma practice.

[63:02]

Dharma war. Yes. I want to go back to the thing of conflict. There was a recent situation where there was conflict with another person. And it was very much, I think, because we were committed to each other that we had a lot of trust in each other. We were sharing our conflicting stories and letting it come out and change each other's stories and grow from that. Brian? Would it be better? a lot of times the best show to put on is a show of love and compassion.

[64:07]

That's often the best show. But sometimes there's a better show, which is to put up a show where people do not see love and compassion, and then watch how they saw it, and then watch them discover the love and compassion. Like there was a movie, I think it was called something like Christmas Story or something, and it was about this woman and this man, and they had two kids, and they lived in a house. And they didn't have much money, so they had trouble paying the bills and feeding their little ones. And the husband was kind of stressed, and the wife was kind of stressed, And the kids were kind of stressed. Do you know the word stress? Hmm? Do you know the word stress, Regula? You don't? You don't? Stress.

[65:10]

Stress? Yeah, so you know that word? Okay. Have you ever experienced stress? Today when you were learning how to put the robe on, did you feel any stress? She was twisting and turning. So anyway, the whole family was stressed. And also the husband loved bicycles and wanted to open a bicycle shop. He wanted to use their savings to open a bicycle shop. And his wife didn't want him to do that because She wanted to keep the money for emergencies, and she thought he was like a silly artist or something. She just didn't think it was safe, so she said no. Getting close to Christmas. Anyway, she was pretty unhappy, and he was pretty unhappy. But anyway, it was a sad situation. And then what happened?

[66:13]

I'm not sure what happened, but I think what happened was, what? Later, a little bit later, yeah. And so I think that she, they went to town with the kids and I think the husband took their money into the bank, you know, the money that he wanted to use to open the bicycle store. And I think that he went into the bank and bank robbers and took his money. And I think they killed him. I think that's what happened. And then the bank robbers came out of the

[67:19]

And then the bankers came out and... Yeah, and came out and they took their car with the kids in them. Police chased them and they drove off a bridge into the river and the kids... went under the water. And she was kind of upset. And then an angel came, and this is shortening the story quite a bit, but the angel came and showed her a letter that she wrote When she was a little girl and she read the letter and when she read the letter she realized that everything was working in peace and harmony.

[68:36]

And I forgot to tell one other part and that was that she was having an argument with her husband and she took a walk It was winter. She took a walk out of the house around the block. And then all this stuff happened after she took the walk. And the next thing you see is the bank robbery and the kids getting killed and stuff like that. But after she reads this letter, suddenly we realize she's still walking around the block. And she's coming back around to her house. after she's gone through this drama of not much money, irresponsible husband, kids to take care of, and then they get that big fight and she goes out for a walk in the winter. And then she has this dream about her husband being killed, losing all their money, and then her kids getting killed, and then realizing the heart that wrote a letter to Santa Claus.

[69:48]

that she used to be a girl like that who would ask Santa Claus for help. And then she wakes up from the dream and realizes she's still walking around her block, her house. And she goes back into the house, and there's her children and her husband, and they still don't have much money. But now she thinks things are really nice. And she tells her husband, and open the bicycle store, bicycle repair store. Now she can see that her dream, that things are not going well, and that she has kind of a bad husband and bad situation. Of course things could be much worse, but also she has a heart which can appreciate the world, and actually her present situation is really peaceful and harmonious.

[70:54]

She could see it. But she had to go into a very bad dream before she could see it. So sometimes the story of peace and harmony is nice, but sometimes it's better to tell a story of being very unhappy And nobody's, and your wife's not helping you, your husband's not helping you, your kids aren't helping you, you're poor, you're stressed, and your husband wants to use all your money to buy presents and you can't afford it and it's a terrible story. And then you wake up and see, actually, that's all a dream. But sometimes it's better to tell the nightmare first rather than tell, have the harmonious. But then you could do another play. It's very harmonious. And then the harmonious people have a nightmare. And then they wake up again from the nightmare and realize the harmony. So there's different ways of telling the story. And on some days, this story is good. Some days, that story is good. The question is to be creative in such a way as to wake yourself and other people up from the dream.

[71:59]

The dream that we don't love each other. That's a dream. Now, you can also have a dream that we do love each other. That's a dream too. But the reality is that we love each other, but the way we love each other, no dream reaches. The way we're working together with the trees and the birds and the tanks and the guns and the terrorists, the way we're all working together is nobody's idea, nobody's story of that. The way we're working together is that we are supporting each other, because if we weren't supporting each other, we wouldn't be here. The story of creation is a story of support, not a story of lack of support. Nothing exists without support, but we have the idea that things can exist without support.

[73:05]

So then we think that it's possible to live in the universe without the whole universe supporting us. But actually, not only does the whole universe support us, but the whole universe is based on us. It's the basis of the entire universe. And the way that is, no story reaches. But still, the Buddha tells all kinds of stories to help us realize infinite, ungraspable peace and harmony. with these stories and these dramas, but try to remember what the point of the stories and dramas is, is to wake us up from the dream that we're independent. And also the dream, or I should say, and wake us up from believing our dreams. But you can use dreams temporarily to get yourself to become free of them. So bring your dreams out and enact them, like I want to be a knight or a princess.

[74:08]

or a director, or a doctor, or a terrorist, and use that dream to free beings from dreams. Like my grandson, you know, his mother buys him stories about rescue heroes. You know, they have They have superheroes, but some of the superheroes are mean. They're somewhat mean, aren't they? I don't know, are they? They're nice guys? Anyway, there's some big powerful beings that aren't nice who have weapons and so on. So my daughter buys him these heroes who rescue people from danger. Like one of them specializes in fires. He went in and saved this person from a fire, and then they got all the people out of the fire, and they're looking at the fire, they're trying to put the fire out in the building, and this person standing next to this person who saved these people from the fire, and she says to him, how did you come to be such a hero to go and save people like that?

[75:26]

And he said, once I was in a fire and someone came and saved me. And at that time I made a vow to never leave anyone behind. So she buys these things for him. But he's a sattva hero, right? But he needs some story like that of some big, powerful person. So how can we be creative to make up these stories which are helping us open to reality. My grandson said to me recently, he said, what kind of superhero? And I said, what's your favorite superpower? And I said, my favorite superpower is being helped by everyone and helping everyone. That's my favorite superpower. And he said, to make things become invisible in my hand. Well, he meant to put chocolate in the hand and make it disappear.

[76:39]

He didn't say to make things appear. He wants to make them invisible. I think he had another one after that. But anyway, he has his stories. I have mine. None of our stories reach. What's your favorite superpower?

[76:59]

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