I have been deeply moved by hearing stories of laziness and negligence in the practice of compassion and even the appearance of cruelty of American people towards American people. And I wondered how we can arouse, how we can encourage and lift up more compassion in this great land we live on together.

[01:22]

At the end of one of the stories that I heard, I saw a quote from a French friend of the American people named Alexis de Tocqueville. In the 18th century, I think he said, maybe 19th century, The greatness of America lies not in it being more enlightened than other countries, but in its ability to repair its faults. And this applies not just to Americans, but the greatness of a human being.

[03:02]

He said, a human being has the ability to repair their faults. It's necessary, however, in order to repair our faults that we are aware of them. We need to be aware of any lack of compassion in our hearts. I need to learn, if I see others who seem to be lazy, in their practice of compassion who seem to not even be interested or wish to practice kindness towards others. I need to look into my own heart and find the wish

[04:17]

to realize great compassion towards everybody, including people who are being lazy in their practice of compassion, of course. I had no trouble being moved and actually feeling happy that I was so touched by the pain that arises in the lack of compassion. I feel good that this really touches me. And the question is now, how can I live to encourage more compassion in myself and others, or in others through more in myself.

[05:23]

So I'm not pointing the finger at lazy people. lazy people point their finger at lazy people. I'm pointing the finger at myself. I'm turning it around and trying to remember to look and discover compassion inwardly. And if I find any, to give it as a gift. When I was 13 years old, I was one Sunday afternoon having... I was suffering.

[07:07]

And in my suffering, the thought arose that if I would just go to school on Monday and just focus on being kind to all the students and teachers, that my problems would be... the problems I was having then would not be there. I would only have the problem of being kind to everyone. And it's very hard to be kind to everyone. It's easy to be unkind to some people.

[08:11]

But to be kind to everyone is really hard. And not being kind to everyone is the mistake of human beings. And it's based on another mistake, which is being primarily concerned for oneself. Is your brother here with you? Are you his brother? Welcome. So I went to school, and I lived at the bottom of a hill.

[09:21]

And I walked up the hill, and my school was at the top of the hill. I opened the doors, And there were many students there in the halls. And as soon as I saw them, these people who I was going to practice kindness towards, I forgot and immediately thought of what they were thinking of me. I was talking to someone recently who I've known for a long time and he brings a problem to me over and over. A certain very painful problem he has with his mind. And I've been listening to him for quite a few years and I just for the first time thought, oh, maybe we could try something different.

[10:30]

today I could suggest to you that you just focus on helping others rather than trying to solve this agonizing mental dilemma." And he said, I was just thinking of that myself yesterday. And then he said to me, and this practice of focusing on the welfare of others, I don't have to wait till next week to practice it. We can practice it now." And I thought, very good. Yes, let's practice it now. Let's not wait. It would be okay to wait except that it is to be practiced now. That's when you practice it. Not next week. I mean, next week's okay, but that's not when it's practiced.

[11:36]

It would be okay if we were in next week, but we're not in next week. We're here on Sunday morning and... Now, can I focus on... really cherishing all beings and learning to care for them equally, to care for all of them equally, to learn this. So sometimes we say, care for everybody as you would your only child.

[12:46]

But then when you're caring for everyone as you would your only child, then care for your only child the way you would care for everybody. How can we remember? How can we remember? How can we be concentrated and mindful all the time of compassion towards all beings? May I say this is our business, our only business,

[14:01]

And in addition to focusing on wisdom excuse me, in addition to focusing on compassion we also need to focus on wisdom. As if compassion for all beings in each moment wasn't enough As if it wasn't enough, it isn't enough. Well, it would be if we could actually do it, but we can't because we need wisdom too. We need wisdom because without wisdom we will get distracted from compassion. and or our compassion will become exhausted in this difficult work. But with compassion joined to wisdom, or wisdom joined to compassion, there is the possibility for us to be consistently, unlimitedly,

[15:55]

equally compassionate to all beings. So part of compassion is to have the compassion to have the diligence and enthusiasm to develop wisdom also in order to make the compassion complete. Because compassion is not complete until we realize that the beings we feel compassion for are no other than ourself. As long as we think all the beings for whom we are devoted are separate from ourselves, we're somewhat drained by that misconception.

[17:00]

The sense that we're separate from each other drains us, even when we're doing good, even when we're giving ourselves to them. Of course, it's also draining to take from them and be cruel to them. But with wisdom we will no longer take from anyone. And when we give, we do not give to anything separate from ourself. we have a scripture called the Diamond Scripture of Perfect Wisdom.

[18:16]

And in that scripture it says that if you wish to realize unsurpassed awakening, for the welfare of all beings, you need to think, I vow to... This is an abbreviation of what it says, I vow to lead or carry all beings, all beings, to nirvana. I vow to carry every kind of being to peace and freedom and happiness, to the realm of peace and freedom and happiness which leaves nothing behind.

[19:27]

And at the same time, that I lead innumerable beings to nirvana. In fact, no being has been led to nirvana. But I must vow to help all beings enter nirvana in order to realize that no beings at all have been led to enter nirvana. And I need to understand that no beings at all are led to nirvana in order to consistently work to lead all beings to nirvana.

[20:36]

If we just think, oh, there's no beings to be led to nirvana, that's not understanding that there's no beings to be led to nirvana. That's just thinking that. So don't think that until after you fully commit to be devoted to the happiness and peace of all beings. then in the midst of your work of trying to help all beings, then also remember that there's nobody that you're helping. And then go back to do this amazing thing of being devoted to the welfare of every being. And then remember there's no being there that you can find that you're devoted to. In China there was a... In northern China there was a scholar monk, a Buddhist scholar monk, and his name was Deshan, which means mountain of virtue.

[22:06]

And he studied this Diamond Sutra. He studied the sutra which says, vow to save all beings and remember there's no beings that are saved. And he was an expert on this sutra and on many commentaries. And he heard about in the south of China, that there were some people who were saying that they had a path to enlightenment that was outside the scriptures that he was studying. And he became angry and sullen and indignant about this proposal and decided to go to the south and destroy these people, these heretics, who were the Zen people.

[23:13]

And as he moved into the South, as he was traveling through the mountains, he came upon a refreshment stand which was operated by an old lady. And this lady sold these refreshments. These refreshments in Cantonese are called dim sum. And in Mandarin they're called

[24:20]

Tien Shin, which sounds like my name. Tien Shin, which means, in this case, the Tien means dot, dot, and the Shin means heart. So they're called dot heart. You hit the spot in the heart, which means refresh. So she was selling these refreshments, and the monk... carrying his scriptures on his back, which he was going to use to refute the heretics in the South, asked her if he could have some refreshments. And she said, what's in your backpack? And he said, these are copies of the Diamond Sutra and commentaries on the Diamond Sutra. I'm a teacher, monk. of this sutra.

[25:27]

I'm going to the South to protect Buddhism from the Zen people." And she said, I have a question for you about the sutra. If you can answer it, I'll give you some refreshment. If you can't, I won't. And he said, go right ahead and ask your question. She said, in the sutra it says that the present mind cannot be grasped. Past mind cannot be grasped. And future mind cannot be grasped. with which mind will you be refreshed?"

[26:33]

And all he could do in response to that was frown. And no refreshment for him. She was trying to refresh him with her question. but he couldn't accept the refreshment of her question. And the old lady said to him, you know, if you want to meet some Zen people, I recommend we start with Master Dragon Pond.

[27:40]

He lives just a few miles from here. So Virtue Mountain goes to see Master Dragon Pond. Long Tan. Long Tan. Dragon Pond. So he goes to Dragon Pond, and Dragon Pond's the name of the teacher of the temple. And in front of the temple, there's a dragon pond, a pond where dragons live. So Mountain of Virtue goes into the temple, goes into the temple buildings, and he looks around and doesn't see anybody. As he approached, Master Dragon Pond hid behind a screen.

[28:46]

So he couldn't see him. So he walked into the room and he said, I've come to Dragon Pond, but I don't see a pond and I don't see a dragon. And Dragon Pond, the teacher came out from behind the screen and said, therefore you see Dragon Pond. And they conversed late into the night. Perhaps Deshawn Mountain Virtue was trying to convert him and show him his errors in his way. I don't know. But anyway, they talked late into the night and Dragon Pond said to him, it's late. Perhaps you should retire. So,

[29:51]

Virtue Mountain walks out of the hall, walks over to the door of the hall, raises the screen, and steps outside and said, it's pitch black out here. I can't see anything. And Dragon Pond says, oh, just a minute. And he lit a paper lantern and brought it to him. And just as he handed it to him, just as Dragon Pond handed Virtue Mountain, the light, he blew it out. And together they experienced great enlightenment. Together great compassion was born. Virtue Mountain was studying scriptures about compassion and wisdom for many years.

[31:04]

But he thought there was something that he could get a hold of. With the aid of meeting Dragon Pond, he realized the mind which aspires to the welfare of all beings without grasping anything. So, as is often the case at moments of happiness like this. They bowed to each other and Dragon Well said, What did you understand? And Virtue Mountain said, From now on, I will not doubt the utterances of Zen teachers.

[32:24]

The next day, Dragon Pond went up into the teaching hall and told the monks that there was someone who had teeth like swords and a mouth like a bowl of blood. And he would establish the great way throughout the land. and then Dengshan, I mean Deshan, virtue mountain, took his scriptures out into the courtyard and burned them. Commentator on this story, particularly, I think, pointing to the time when the teacher gave the light and then blew it out.

[33:37]

He said that that's not very, you know, that's kind of, what do you call it, the word was kind of unseemly or kind of not very nice to give somebody a light who's going into the dark and then blow it out. But the teacher felt so much compassion for this sincere practitioner who wanted to learn compassion that he had to do it this way. And fortunately, he was successful. From there on, from then on, the monk, Virtue Mountain, was able to remember compassion for all beings every moment.

[35:45]

Every person he met, he urgently practiced compassion with them without grasping anything. Therefore his compassion was continuous. I'm proposing that I not only have to remember, always remember, living for the welfare of all beings, but in order to be able to do that I also have to remember that I don't know who you are, who I am.

[37:02]

devoted to. Otherwise when I open the door of the school I will forget my good intention. When I see your face unless I remember not to grasp your face I might forget my intention to live for your welfare Remembering that there's no beings to lead to nirvana helps us continuously work to carry all beings, to assist all beings to enter into peace, to enter into peace and happiness. Somehow I need to be reminded.

[39:01]

I need to be reminded, I need to be reminded, I need to remember. And I'm not in control of being reminded or remembering. So I plant seeds of remembering and seeds of being reminded. I encourage you to remind me to practice compassion and wisdom. I need your help. And each of us has to request that others help us, that others remind us and help us remember to make every action for the welfare of all beings.

[40:03]

To learn to do this, and at the same time to remember that no beings can be found. If you don't ask people to help you with this practice, they might not. Some, however, even without asking, will help you. But that's rare. If you request it, that could be a condition for increasing the possibility of success in the practice of compassion. Who have we asked to help us Who have we requested to help us practice compassion and wisdom?

[41:11]

Who have we asked how our practice of compassion and wisdom is going? When was the last time you asked someone to give you feedback on your compassion and your wisdom? When did you last ask if you seem to be grasping anything or trying to get anything for yourself? Our greatness lies, I agree, in our ability to repair our faults.

[42:15]

And our basic fault is forgetfulness and lack of mindfulness and lack of diligence in practicing compassion and wisdom. And if we can be mindful of these shortcomings, I have no words to say how wonderful that will be.

[43:01]

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