Mind has no form. Self has no form. Buddha has no form. When you shine the light back, you see that. Mind has no form. Self has no form. Buddha has no form. And body and mind of themselves drop off. Actually, you see that they already always were dropped off. all day long, turn around and shine on this capacity of the mind to imagine. Including again, renouncing the desire to be able to do this.

[01:02]

in two ways. Please excuse me for, first of all, being somewhat sectarian in the sense of feeling like bringing in the interdisciplinary scientific study of the self in modern psychobiological neurophysiological studies. Excuse me for some feeling I have that that's not the essence of Dharma. But really, another part of me says, Excuse me, because I do think it's Buddhism in action. There's one thing that I thought was pretty important in this new science of studying the self. And I wanted to spring it up at this time. The psychologist says, only when the child is capable of objectifying activities Only when the child is capable of externalizing her imaging activity can she become aware of both the activity of imagining and of herself as the imager.

[02:43]

First, when we're little, we imagine. We have this uninterrupted mind which can imagine, which has the activity of imagining. And the time comes in our development when we can have the activity of imagining and see the activity of imagining and also us as the imaginer. Only when you can objectify the activity of imagining and see yourself as the imaginary. Objectifying the activity of imagining is what? What's that? Huh? It's seeing an image. You see something out there. That's objectifying. It's actually, there's not, this is psychology, right?

[03:50]

They're telling you the activity of imagining, it's an activity of imagining. It's not something out there. You're imagining something. When you objectify it, you think that there's an image out there. Get that? This is mind only in psychology. objectifying an activity in your mind. That means you see it out there. Then you also feel like there's an imager in here. And the child learns to do that. They objectify a mental activity and think it's outside themselves. So there's the imagined and the imaginer. This is right. This is how the self is created. And that's what it says here.

[04:51]

This ability creates the self. And the self is in parentheses. Just like in Dogen. There isn't really a self. It's quote self. Just like Dogen says, to carry the self and meet things is quote delusion. So I'm happy that the interdisciplinary scientific study of the self has come up with such a perfect rendition of third century Buddhist psychology, Mahayana Buddhist psychology. This ability creates the self and a differentiation of objects that are not self. that is an external world. This is how it happens.

[05:54]

If we turn around now and look at that capacity, that activity, which you can't see, this whole process of creating a self is illuminated and drops away. I'd like to continue with the story. Case 32. Okay. And people want to ask questions. Should I take the question now or should I do the story? Too bad. Maybe later. Okay, so what happened? The monk comes to see Yangshan. Yangshan says, where do you come from? He says, I come from you.

[06:56]

new province, in other words, from this dialogue with my mother where I was able to gradually objectify my imaging process. So then Yangshan said, do you think of that place where you come from? He says, I always think of it. And then Yangshan says, thinker is the mind And the thought of is the X. And that character can mean object, image, environment, and meaning. Arta is in Sanskrit. Then he says, therein, in other words, in the realm of the externalized, objectified, In the realm of what's thought of, there are mountains, rivers, land masses, pavilions, people, male and female, animals, domesticated animals, and so on.

[08:21]

In other words, the whole universe is in this Objectified imagination. Then he says, reverse your thought and think of the thinking mind. In other words, think of the uninterrupted mind. In other words, make your mind like a wall. And it's this line I told you about. It's about a fourth of an inch long. But if you blow it up, it can be many, many miles long. We don't know if it's a second mile, 400 miles, months, or years. But anyway, after that, reverse your thought and think of the thinker.

[09:24]

Think of the imaginer. Think of the capacity to imagine. imagine. Are there many things there in the capacity? When I get here, I don't find anything at all. And I see, partly by what follows in the story, maybe I'll say the rest of the story. And he says, After the monk says, I don't see anything, existence, any existence at all, then Yangshan said, this is right for the stage of conviction, the stage of faith, but it's not yet right for the stage of a person. You... Oh, then the monk said,

[10:30]

don't you have any other particular way of guidance? And Yangshan said, to say that I have in particular or not wouldn't be accurate. Based on this insight, you get one mystery. You get a seat and a robe. From now on, see on your own. Going back to what the monk said, when I get here, I don't see anything at all. There's two phases of this, not seeing anything at all. One is that when you turn around and look at the capacity to imagine, you don't see anything. You can't see the capacity to imagine. You can't see the faculty of imagination. It's like looking at a person's face.

[11:36]

You cannot see their capacity to see. You can see the eyeball, and if you took the eyeball away, they wouldn't be able to see. But you can't see their ability to see. It's a material capacity, a faculty, but you can't see it. In the same way, you cannot see the mental capacity or to think. So when the monk first turns, when you first turn to look at this capacity, you can't see anything at all. You can't see anything existing there. So he could have said that. Said that, Yangshan wouldn't have said, this is right for the stage of faith. He would have just said, you're getting on to shamatha now. the monk might have said the same thing when he was in shamatha but he wasn't talking about that he was talking about after he looked and couldn't see anything and then he was continuously with this looking and not being able to see anything he then was able to naturally join this continuous observation of the uninterrupted mind it naturally joined then

[13:06]

with the ongoing process of seeing images, of meditating on images. So one part of the mind is looking at the uninterrupted mind. The other part of the mind is looking at the rectified imagining. When those two become united, then you have mental one-pointedness. Now the objects are seen. This stabilization. And they're seen for what they are. Namely, they're just mind. And when they're seen this way, this is the miracle of vision. And suchness comes in. And when suchness comes in, then you again don't see anything existing at all. It's the second not seeing anything existing at all that he's talking about here when he says, I don't see anything existent at all.

[14:10]

That's why Yangshan said, this is right for the stage of faith. In other words, you have been convinced that there are no external phenomena. Everything is just your mind. In other words, you have realized emptiness. You have understood suchness. That's the story. However, it's not the full thing. He gets a robe and he gets a bowl. Just like Mio got a robe and a bowl. But then he had to go. Where is he going? He's going to see on his own now.

[15:11]

Do I have any further guidance for him? To say that I do wouldn't be accurate. He has to see on his own. In other words, bodhisattva now has to re-engage in existence. It doesn't see any existence. You have to go back in. You have to go back into the five skandhas. You have to go back into the pain. You have to go back into the square dance. You have to see form and understand that it's just a mass of foam. You have to feel feelings and know that they're just illusions. And so on. You go back into the five aggregates. Knowing that they're illusions, but not disowning them, not degrading them.

[16:17]

Intimately flowing. This monk didn't say that. So he just got one mystery. And he got a robe and a bowl, but he didn't get a room. a robe, a bowl, and a room. What's the room? The room is where the sentient beings are. It's where the Vaisakandas are. It's where the Bodhisattva re-engages after realizing emptiness. So, I gave a different answer at that point. He said, crossing the summit of the mystic peak, it's not the human world. Outside of the mind, there are no things. Outside of things, there is no mind.

[17:22]

Filling the eyes are blue mountains. I think that's enough babbling from me. So please, you know, trust everything to sitting upright, breathing out, and leap into the light. Of the uninterrupted mind. Your self will be illuminated. And body and mind of themselves will drop away. So you got the compassion.

[18:27]

You got your bodhicitta. Now you need realization. Bodhicitta is, I resolve to the Buddha body. I want to help people fully, therefore I wish to realize the Buddha body. In order to realize the Buddha body, bodhisattvas have to meditate. They have to jump into the ungraspable mind and realize the ungraspable Buddha body. So, we have a few more days of nothing to do but that. But after that, our life. So, you know, fasten your safety belts and get ready for this not to stop at the end of session.

[19:31]

But now, get a good start. so that you can continue turning it around and shining it back on the uninterrupted mind all through the summer, all through the fall, and into the endless future, that you can continue this practice until you realize the Buddha body. I'm so happy that you have compassion. You do. I know you do. And I know not all of you have been struck by lightning of this bodhicitta, but in the meantime, start this practice ahead of time so that when it strikes, you can go right to work. But some of you have this mind that we all need to

[20:34]

realize this truth. That's what I think, believe it or not. We attract ourselves to this very hard work. And there's this book called Minding the Mind. Maybe you've seen it. One of the people in there is Daoshin's disciple, Hong Ren, the fifth ancestor of Zen. And after many, many paragraphs, at the end of the paragraph he says, Work hard! Work hard! And the next word is, Diligently blah blah blah.

[21:39]

And remember, diligently, the root of the word is lovingly devoted to. Work hard in a loving way at this practice. Do your part of the Mahayana. Hold up your end of the deal. I know it's hard, but there it is. You have this opportunity. So I'm in awe of the Bodhisattva vehicle, but I'm also very happy that I have been exposed to it and have a chance to make my living. And I'm very happy for you that you've been exposed to it and you have a chance too.

[22:51]

Are you happy for yourself? By the way, if you get depressed at looking at the mountain of the bodhisattva practices, It's okay to go over and, you know, play on a little mound of dirt for a while. It's okay, you know, to recover from your depression at thinking, oh my God. So, you know, if you feel really like totally frustrated and incompetent at meditating on an imageless, objectless mind, of turning your attention to something you can't get a hold of, If you feel depressed about it, go work on something you can get a hold of. When I was a little boy, I used to play in the dirt.

[23:59]

And as a matter of fact, I used to play with little trucks in the dirt. I used to play in the dirt and push trucks around in the dirt. I don't know. I like to do that for some reason. But I particularly like to do it on hills, little mounds of dirt. And in my years of practicing in this monastery, I often, when I would be digging, you know, I did a lot of digging here. When I'd be digging, I would often think of when I was a little boy, digging in the dirt is very similar to pushing little trucks over the hills and stuff. And you can do that. You can get a hold of a little truck, put your little hand around the truck and put it in the dirt. Take a hold of that shovel and stick it in there and dig that dirt. You can reach down and make a little dent in the dirt with your hand, make a little pile. Then you start to feel impressed. And then when you feel more relaxed, then turn around and look at what you can't see.

[25:09]

the source of your mind. You know, they can take your trucks away, and your shovel, and your spade, and your arms and your legs, but they can't take the uninterrupted mind away from you. Okay, ready for another day of Are you enthusiastic about another day of hard work? Another day of patience with your pain? Don't be afraid to say yes. Be afraid to say no. Whoever took those howls, please come and keep us. Yes? You think you ate one?

[26:16]

We got one down. One can come to my house. Oops. Yes. Do you forgive them too? He's working. Yes. Yes. I ate half of Linda's and I ate half of someone else's. This is Buddhism in action. Yes. This is reenacting the ancient scene. Now we do this, you know, this group confession. This is what it used to be like. Where the monk would actually say, I ate an owl. Precisely half an owl. My God, I never thought it would happen.

[27:19]

Yes? Martin? You had to tell the truth, Martin. Maybe something else you did you could tell me about. I was specifically speaking about people who really ate the olives. But that's great, isn't it? Thank you. that there were 10 owls, right? Yeah. And they were not all of the same quality. We had three people working on them. And I would say that there were five that were really superb. And it was those five that were super. So the people who took these owls actually Well, maybe they just maybe they didn't comb through.

[28:25]

Maybe they just, you know, had this kind of like artistic touch. But Brooks and I are working on this together. And, you know, when you said one, that's one point five. I thought you meant point five in terms of like from one to ten. I thought you meant, but you meant one to ten in terms of accounting for the owls, for the five owls. So we got three and a half owls more to account for. That was two owls? That's two owls. So we have three more to account for. And Martin was willing to confess, but he didn't actually do it. But there are a few kitchen workers missing. If I was going to rate my happiness at your practice from one to ten, it wouldn't be one and a half.

[29:47]

There will be more around 11. So thank you very much, and please consider enthusiastically practicing this bodhisattva vehicle for the rest of your life.

[30:05]

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