I feel moved to say many things. One thing I wish to say to you, it's a proposal that bodhisattvas, what are bodhisattvas again? Enlightening beings. What are enlightening beings again? Pardon? All of us? Congratulations. Congratulations. We had a bodhisattva vow ceremony here on the 19th of March, and people made these vows. They vowed to attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. all beings.

[01:01]

They said, in a world without friends, I will be a friend. In a world without protection, I will be a protection. In a world without refuge, I will be a refuge. In a world without a home, I will be a home. They made vows like that Those are bodhisattva vows. Bodhisattvas are vowing beings, beings of vow. They vow, they make these creations. Okay? So, I propose to you that bodhisattvas are devoted wholeheartedly for caring for all living beings. And that may not be a surprise, right? For me to make proposals like that.

[02:04]

Bodhisattva's vow to care for everything. All living beings, of course. but they vow to take care of everything. Because bodhisattvas do not dwell in discrimination between things. So if something appeared to be not a living being, they wouldn't really dwell of that thing not being a living being, and they would take care of that too. And in particular I suggest a bodhisattva is devoted to words. I imagine if I say a bodhisattva is devoted to all, the welfare of all beings, you might not be surprised.

[03:12]

But maybe you're surprised if I say a bodhisattva is devoted to words. Might as well say all words. A bodhisattva is devoted to her breathing. She's devoted to her inhalations and exhalations. Perhaps, is that not surprising that bodhisattvas are devoted to their breathing? Are you not surprised? Not surprised. I'm reminded. You're reminded, yeah. Someone I got a message that somebody's mother had fallen and called the person to check in to see how he was. And after he told me about how he was taking care of his mother, he said, I want to thank you for saying the same thing over and over to us.

[04:14]

without ever getting bored. So wonderful that you all seem to enjoy saying the same thing over and over. Bodhisattvas are devoted to all beings. Bodhisattvas are devoted to all words. However, or in addition to that, they do not dwell in the beings that they are devoted to. They are wholeheartedly devoted to all beings and they do not dwell in anything that they are devoted to. So maybe it's simple to understand that their devotion to the welfare of all beings, their willingness to do anything to help people, that sounds like compassion. But they also practice wisdom.

[05:19]

They practice the perfection of wisdom so that their compassion is unhindered. And the perfection of wisdom is not dwelling, the perfection of wisdom is not dwelling in anything. The perfection of wisdom is not dwelling in anything. And if we're not dwelling in anything, that's the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattvas are committed to that practice too. So they take care of words. They take care of words wholeheartedly, unsteady, thoroughly, carefully, compassionately. and they don't dwell in them. Bodhisattvas use words without dwelling in them, or aspire to use words without dwelling in them, and if they find themselves dwelling, then they confess and repent and go back to try to use words without dwelling in them.

[06:32]

This meet to you, which you might not be able to find in a scripture, but what you can find in a scripture is a bodhisattva who courses in perfect wisdom does not review any reality behind words and in consequence does not dwell in them. That's from the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines. Yes, Laurie? I just wanted you to say that again. I will, yeah. I'll say it again. I'll say a compact version of it and then I'll expand it. The compact version of it is a bodhisattva... I'll do compacted and then unpack it. A bodhisattva does not dwell in words.

[07:44]

A bodhisattva who courses in the perfection of wisdom does not dwell in words. A bodhisattva who courses in the perfection of wisdom does not review any reality behind the words and in consequence does not dwell in them. So basically bodhisattvas do not dwell in words. They don't dwell in anything, and also they don't dwell in words. Bodhisattvas who course in perfect wisdom do not dwell in words. Not dwelling in words is coursing in perfection of wisdom. But it adds this thing. The bodhisattvas who course in perfect wisdom do not review a reality behind the words, and in consequence of that, they don't dwell in them. So there's a little instruction in there.

[08:55]

In addition to the instruction of bodhisattvas don't dwell in anything, the instruction that bodhisattvas have no abode in words, it says they don't review a reality behind them. And that way of looking at words is conducive to not dwelling. And it's quite difficult to learn how to do that. Could you say, I don't see a reality behind it, so I need to first see there is a reality behind it. So I know what you're talking about. Yeah, so here's an example. I don't remember exactly when it happened. I think it might have happened on Thursday. I think it might have happened. There was a class in Berkeley at the yoga room on the mother of all Buddhas, which is what?

[09:59]

The perfection of wisdom. And I think it was after the class, I'm not sure, and I sort of had my eyes closed, and this thought arose in my mind. I don't remember if the thought was, I'm tired, or if it was, I'm hungry. But it really seemed like I was there being tired. It really seemed like I was, that there was somebody who was me who was there who was tired. It really seemed real. But I remember the teaching which is, the Bodhisattva doesn't reveal a reality behind the words. What are the words? I'm tired.

[11:01]

But it seemed like there was actually something in addition to the words, I'm tired. It did, it's like, I'm tired, like there's, I'm tired and there's somebody there in addition to I'm tired. rather than I'm tired, is actually the picture of me. That the me is I'm tired. If you take away the I'm tired, there would be no me there. When you bring in tired, it's like there's somebody there. And it seems like there's somebody's more than those words, I'm tired. Bodhisattvas do not review that there's somebody in addition or behind or underneath or next door to I'm tired. But I'm tired seems so real. I was shocked. I thought, wow, that really seems sincerely like there's somebody there that's more than just the words.

[12:11]

And I thought, wow. But the teaching says that these words, that the sense of me that was there is a pictorial representation of how words work. Words can actually conjure up a sense that somebody's there. And there is that. is the conjuring, but there's nothing behind the conjuring. That's the teaching from this perfect wisdom. I hope you got some good exercise there. The phrase, does not review, doesn't make sense to me. Does not imagine? You could say view, maybe that's easy for you, but the translation that I have here, it says review.

[13:15]

In other words, they don't view and they don't view again. What don't they view? A reality behind the words. So, if we look into ourselves, we may see a picture of somebody there. There, who's talking or listening or sitting. And that picture is a representation of the way our words, our grammar operates. The picture that appears in the mind of the self is a picture of a turn of the words. But most people think there's somebody in addition to the... that the picture of the person is somebody in addition to the words.

[14:21]

Bodhisattva is trained at the teaching of there isn't something behind the words, there isn't something behind the picture of the person. And the picture of the person, when I said, I'm hungry or I'm tired, whatever it was, there was not a picture of a guy with blonde hair, blonde wavy hair, which I used to have. There wasn't a picture of a bald old man. There wasn't a picture of a lovely young woman. or an old lady. There wasn't a man or an emaciated, demented old man. There was no pictures of man. There was just all there was at that moment in the consciousness. The salient thing was, I'm tired, and that seemed really sincere, and it seemed like there was somebody there. And I really kind of felt like it's something more than just, I'm tired.

[15:29]

But again, if you take away the, I'm tired, there would be nobody there. There is somebody there, but all it was, I'm tired. The identity of that person was those words, I'm tired. And generally people think there's something more to the person than words. So that's part of what I wanted to start by talking to you about. I have a little practice for you, which is count the number of times you raise your hand in the future. Probably you didn't count earlier, right? Three. No, it was about ten. How many times did you raise your hand? Three. I think she was only three. But just for your information, I was counting.

[16:34]

Just counting, I was not adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing, which I could get into. Huh? There's no, there's no such thing. There's no such thing. But I want you to know, I am, I am sometimes aware of some things. But if you think, if you think that I'm not aware, you can scream. Or you can, you can, if you think I'm not aware, you can tell me that somebody is raising their hand. Because sometimes I miss it. Like, if Eileen was raising her hand, I might have missed it. Did you raise your hand? But I saw Karen and Barbara. Yes, Barbara? When you say... I'm not telling you to reduce the number of times. I'm just suggesting you be aware. Observe, see if in your consciousness you see yourself raising your hand and notice how many times. Yes? When you say, I'm hungry, the I'm hungry is real. I'm not saying... Just a second, just a second.

[17:36]

I want to point out, she said, when you say... So the words, I'm hungry. The words, I'm hungry. The reality is you go feed yourself, you've got a body. That's the reality, yeah. So words aren't an illusion. In that moment, I'm hungry is real. Words are conventional truth. And I'm hungry is really those words. But it's not really hunger. It's not really hunger. There's no, like, reality of hunger. But, you know, and there's not a reality of the I am hungry in addition to the words I'm hungry. And when that statement, I'm hungry, arose in the mind, in the consciousness, I did not think at that time

[18:40]

I said that. That I didn't do. I could have. I could have thought, oh, I'm saying. I could have said, I say. I say I'm hungry. I could have said that. Or somebody else could have said, I didn't say it out loud, but somebody who could read my mind could say, you said I'm hungry. But in this particular example, there was just, I'm hungry, or I'm tired. And it was really sincere. whatever it was. But I was struck because I had just done this class on perfect wisdom. Exactly what the... I saw what bodhisattvas do not view. I was not looking with bodhisattva eyes, but the teaching showed me that. The eyes I was looking were, here's this sincere statement, so sincere.

[19:42]

But there was no sincere person in addition to those words. But it seemed like there was. And I thought, it's so real. And that is part of our life, is that it seems so real that there's something in addition to our actions. The self in consciousness is an actor, and the actor often thinks that their actions are something in addition to them. But of course, you can't have an actor without the action. Take away the action, you lose the actor. They're not two different things. And the action is often words, like, I'm practicing Zen. But in Zen, in Zen, we say that I'm practicing Zen.

[20:49]

There's no self in addition to that. That is the self. And the self is just words. It's not that we don't have a self. It's just that the self is to what the self seems to be saying. Also, what just popped in the mind was, and I could have said what just popped in my mind, but I edited it for your sake. I said what popped into consciousness was one time in Japan, I could say one time when I was in Japan, I experienced a thought, and the thought was nodokowaita. Anybody speak Japanese here? Nodo kowaita, this thought arose in the mind. And I thought, or there was the thought, see, there was the thought, but in consciousness, when there is a thought, it's like I thought, or I think.

[21:54]

I thought, what does that mean? That Japanese word, I didn't know. Does your husband speak Japanese? Her name is Umazawa, but she doesn't speak Japanese. Don't be confused. I knew it was Japanese, but I didn't know what it meant. This thing arose in my mind and I didn't think at that time I thought that or I said that. I didn't think that. But that was who I was at that time. I was thinking the thought and I didn't know what the thought, what the words meant. And then I remember what the words meant. It literally means throat is dry.

[22:58]

Nodo is throat. Kawaita means has become dry. The throat has become dry. It's a Japanese expression for I'm thirsty. The throat is thirsty. And then when I found out what it meant, I realized I'm thirsty. my study of Japanese had produced the right words for me at that time, for my body. I didn't know what the words meant. When I found out what they meant, I found out, oh, and then I did it in English, I'm thirsty. But in all these cases, in nodo kawaita, in seeing what it meant, and then to say it in English, in all these cases, The bodhisattva does not review a reality to the thirstiness or to the person who's thirsty that's behind the words.

[24:07]

And that's what it takes. That training is what it takes to not abide in, I'm thirsty, I'm tired. See you in nirvana. John? So you said that the self was an actor, and to take away the action, it was an actor. And I was wondering if you could say that the self is acting, the self is a verb, the self is not a now. No, I won't say that. I'll say the self is a process. But I won't even say it's not a noun because nouns can be in the process. I hit the ball. You can also say I hit, but the noun is somewhat implied.

[25:10]

You hit something. So you can put the noun in or not, but there's often nouns even if you don't say them. So the process can include verbs, nouns, subjects, objects. A noun can be the object of the subject. The full function of language and grammar can occur And the bodhisattva does not review a self behind it. And the self is in that process of language. It's in it, it's not behind it. And also, there's not a reality of the action behind the action of the words of the action. I practice Zen. There's not a practice of Zen behind those words. There's not a self-practicing Zen behind those words. The practice of Zen is sometimes involved, saying, I practice Zen, or I would like to practice Zen.

[26:19]

I aspire to practice Zen. In other words, I aspire to say, I aspire to Zen without thinking that there's something in addition to what's just been said. That's practicing Zen. And to say that's practicing Zen, there's not a Zen in addition to that statement. Zen is realized in addition to the word Zen. There's no Zen center in addition to the word Zen center. And yet the word Zen center or the word no abode temple in the mind makes a picture. And there it is. Now can you see that that picture is a representation of the word? It's a picture that's evoked by the word no-abode monastery, no-abode hermitage, no-abode sangha. Can you see the pictures?

[27:23]

No-abode sangha. Can you see the picture? I can see the no-abode sangha. And I can also say that there's a temptation and certainly a strong habit to think that there's some relation to the word no-abode Sangha. But there is a recognition of the activity that's occurring, that these pictures are formal. There's a consciousness of, when we say no-abode, it breaks this picture of the Sangha. there's a picture coming forth that's forming. There's some recognition of that activity, even though there's no basis behind it. Yes. And that's just talk. The Buddha is saying, and that picture is just talk. That's what the Buddha said. That picture, all these things, all the phenomena that are appearing in consciousness are just talk.

[28:29]

He doesn't say reality is just talk. He's saying that the appearance of things in consciousness are just talk. And if you can accept that and understand that, you're open to reality. Just talk. But the word reality is just a word. And there's no reality behind the word reality. The word Buddha is just a word, and there's no Buddha, there's no reality of Buddha behind the word Buddha. Understand. is what we generally call Buddha. Yes, Breck. It's a word. And we're devoted to that word. How does this relate to a resulting action?

[29:38]

So hunger arises with hunger. Yeah. And then an action pursuant to that thought could be eat. Yeah. So if there's nothing behind the words hunger, Does that relate in any way to... The reality behind the word hunger, in a sense, there's no reality to the word hunger in addition to the word hunger. But there are... It's not that there's nothing behind it, because there's causes and conditions which give rise to, I'm hungry. In this case, it gave rise to nodo kawaita, which gave rise to, I'm thirsty. So, but that causal process is not behind the words. It's how the words are made. But the words themselves, the reality of those words does not come from that there's something behind it.

[30:44]

So again, the meaning of the process of my body, the meaning of it was noda kawaita, I'm thirsty. The meaning that's meaningful to you. There's not a thing behind at your life at that moment of making sense of your body by the words I'm hungry. There's nothing behind those words hungry. I'm hungry. There's nothing behind that word I'm hungry. But there is a causal process that gives rise to it. There's nothing behind but there's a causal process which makes it. So myself was right there when I said, I'm tired. It was right there. And there's a causal process which led to that linguistic statement. And there's also a causal process which leads to the feeling that there's got the words. I heard the words. I didn't say it out loud.

[31:45]

I heard the words in my mind. I'm tired. A very sincere event in my life. very real and that's those words causal process and the self that I was who I was was the I'm hungry that's who I was and it was a causal process which made me be that way What I'm pointing to is there's also the feeling that there was something to the person who was feeling, who was having that experience, who was having that idea. And there isn't. There's nobody behind, I'm hungry. Again, you take away the I'm hungry, there's no person. The person has action. The actor has action. But it's a process and you can't get a hold of the person aside from the action.

[32:46]

But if you think that there's a person in addition to the action, I'm hungry is an action. If you think there's a person in addition to it, that's the mistake. If you think there's a person in addition to the action. The self has actions, but the self is not in addition to the actions. If the self has no actions, it doesn't exist. But as you may be able to look inside and know that you do have the action of thinking that you do things. you can see, oh, I think, I do things. I think, I think, therefore I am. Yes?

[33:48]

Excuse me. I think, therefore I am, but I, now we say now, but I am nothing, but the I is nothing in addition to the thinking. That's the Buddhist practice. Yes. This thinking is arising just now about... Thinking is arising, yeah. ...the previous actions and thoughts that gave rise to this person who was tired at that point, that became a Zen. You know, there was somebody who was something that was interested in Zen, and then... So, thinking about how those two things fit together in this very moment, someone is arising, saying, hunger, I'm hungry. Yes. And then there's all the previous cause and effect that brings that certain form to it at that time.

[34:55]

Yes. So, you wouldn't... a person in the way that we're... So anyway, I'm thinking about how two things are together. I wouldn't, at this point anyway, in responding to your question, I wouldn't say that the causal process that led to the thought, I'm tired or I'm hungry, I wouldn't say that that causal process is a person. I wouldn't say that. But Maybe later I will say it, but right now I'm not going to say it. So, that leads to the thought in my mind or yours, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm sad. The causal process which leads to that is the Buddha has taught, it's inconceivable. The causal process, the karmic causal process that leads to the arising, I'm

[36:01]

thirsty. It's inconceivable. Just like, you know, Nodo Kawaita. How did that happen? Well, I studied Japanese for a little while, and also I went to Japan, and so in Japan I thought Nodo Kawaita. The causal process by which how I got on the airplane, how I studied Japanese in the United States and America, all that stuff, how it all works together so that you can speak Japanese or speak English, and how you do or do not have lunch, and how you do or do not go to the class and, you know, energetically talk to people, and then go get in your car where the thought arises, I'm tired or whatever it was. You could have been tired or hungry or thirsty. All those could have arose. I don't remember which one it was, but they would all... Not too surprising thoughts. What was surprising about it was, number one, the wholehearted sincerity of, I'm tired.

[37:12]

It was vividly sincere. And then, boom, the noticing that I'm tired in addition to it. What led to that is inconceivable. However, talking about what I talked about in the class was a condition for it. But not every time that you go to a class and talk about this very thing, do you then get in your... up a perfect example of it. Actually a perfect counter example. So now I say, a bodhisattva does not view a reality behind her words, you hear that teaching, I've said it several times today, But then later during lunch or during work period, a thought might arise in your mind, I'm touching the earth with my hands. And it might be really sincere, and you might say, and I think there's something behind this.

[38:14]

I think there's somebody more than the statement, I'm touching the earth. So you can say the conditions for that insight have something to do with hearing this teaching. But how does that work? I don't know. How does it work that we have words for our bodily state? Well, the basic theory is you've got a body. And the body has evolved to have cognitive processes which serve the body, which make images of the body. And then that cognitive process has developed to a point where it created consciousness. And then in consciousness we have this wonderful idea of an actor and an action. But in the body there's not... In an unconscious process, there really isn't any appearance. There's a concept, maybe, but there isn't the appearance of an actor and action, and they certainly don't appear to be separate. When the body's moving, it's not like there's somebody in addition to this movement.

[39:19]

Mind, you can say, oh yeah, I'm moving. It looks like that. But what I'm saying here is the appearance of the movement is linguistic. It's the way grammar works. And it's a reality. It's conventional truth. It is true. that does seem like there's somebody who's hungry. But that somebody who's hungry is a picture of I'm hungry. A beautiful picture. I'm hungry. And the teaching says, now what, do you think that that I'm is in addition to that picture? And... Yeah. Yeah. And you think the pictures in addition to the words? Yeah. Well, this is saying it's not in addition. I want to tell a story before lunch.

[40:26]

So I see some people raising their hands. Did you count them? The times you raised? Did you count the number of times? Thank you. So here's the story. There's a memory here. There's a memory in the mind. I have the memory. That's myself.

[40:47]

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