I feel a quiet joy this morning at the prospect of continuing to discuss these precious virtues that roll about in the bodhisattva mind. the great virtue of patience, I feel we have time to discuss some more. Maybe before I do, I just might mention that someone said, well, what about anger? Or what about hatred? So patience is, the practice of patience or forbearance protects beings from hatred and protects beings from the horrible consequences of hatred and cruelty and violence.

[01:22]

It protects it sometimes by preventing its arising in the first place. But also patience can be practiced once hatred arises. So when hatred arises, either by depending on impatience or some other way, when hatred comes, of course, we practice the virtues with the hatred. Of course. We start by practicing giving with hatred. We learn to see hatred as a gift. We welcome it. We say thank you. We meet the hatred with the virtue of compassion in the form of generosity. Then we practice ethical discipline with the hatred.

[02:28]

We're careful with it. We're vigilant of it. We give minute attention to it. Then we practice patience with the hatred. However the hatred arises, When it comes, we should practice compassion with it. It is an object of compassion. If we practice compassion with everything that comes, we will not become, we will not hate. But when hatred arises in ourselves or in others, the Buddha teaches us to meet the hatred with compassion, inwardly or outwardly. So we've been working on the first three virtues.

[03:31]

If they're practiced wholeheartedly, there will not be any hatred arising from these conditions. But other conditions may give the gift of hatred, and then the practice of giving careful, vigilant attention to all actions for the welfare of all beings, and patience is brought to the hatred. In this way we get ready to dance with hatred, to be intimate with hatred, and to liberate beings from hatred and its terrible consequences. From the Shakyamuni Buddha down to the present, there are stories of the Buddha's martial art of meeting violence with friendliness and transforming it into awakening.

[04:44]

These stories are almost unbelievable. It's almost unbelievable that our founder could meet a mass murderer a serial killer, and meet him with friendliness and convert him in a matter of minutes. But we have stories like that. A friend of mine wrote a book called Buddha and the Terrorist, where he tells the story of the Buddha meeting this murderer and his friendship with him and his successful dance. I'd like to return to something that was brought up by Sonia yesterday about when you're cold. So in the Indian poet Shantideva's work, On the Path of the Bodhisattva, in the chapter on patience, verse 16, he says, I should not be impatient.

[05:59]

when heat and cold, wind and rain, sickness and bondage and beatings are given to me. For if I am, harm will increase. The harm they cause will increase. So Sonia brought the example of being in the Gringo Zendo and feeling cold And then her issue was, should I wear a scarf or not? That was one of the things she was considering doing in response to feeling cold. Is that right? She didn't mention any other things, which some people might have thought of, but that's what she thought of. And then she was also kind of concerned, am I... Or she was kind of considering whether she's being diligent in her practice to put the scarf on. At this point, I would like to address just the issue that when you feel cold, the instruction is don't fret about it.

[07:16]

Because if you fret about being cold, the cold can become unbearable. So I'm not saying Sonia fretted, but when you're cold in this zendo, or any zendo, or any place in the world, the thing is, don't fret about it. Meet it with patience. Be in the present moment of the cold. Don't think about how long you've been cold or how long you will be cold. Just be intimate with the cold in the present moment and don't fret. Don't fight. Have the capacity to feel what you feel. With the information, by the way, that if you fight it, it will become unbearable.

[08:21]

It can become unbearable. So anyway, sometimes we get cold here at Green Gulch. And if you're cold and you don't fret, that's good. And when you're not fretting, by the way, you can put a scarf on. But don't put the scarf on as an expression of fretting, because then if you do, then you might take it off in a few minutes and say, well, I probably shouldn't have done it. Well, maybe I should, but, you know. I should get a different, maybe I should get a cashmere one rather than this, you know. Maybe it should be a silk one. Maybe I should, you know, you get worked up about the cold. So we, cold does come, heat does come. Like at Tassajara, then not only do we have cold at Tassajara, but in the summer we have heat. And in Japan also, they have heat there too. And I often visited Japan in the summer when it sizzles, when it's humid.

[09:27]

And it's okay, it would be okay to be in Japan when it's hot. If you can be wearing a bathing suit, it would be fine. But usually I was wearing lots of robes, doing ceremonies indoors. And when you have lots of clothes on, especially your special clothes, it's kind of uncomfortable when they get really wet. They get really heavy and sticky, and it's kind of like uncomfortable. And then you have opportunity to fret or not. This reminds me of, I think it was a, I'm not sure whether it was a cartoon about Bugs Bunny. Do you know Bugs Bunny? He's a cartoon character. He's an American cartoon character. And he's a rabbit. But he's called Bugs Bunny. And he can talk. And he has most of the abilities of a normal human.

[10:33]

I think it was Bugs Bunny, but it might have been Elmer Fudd. Or it might have been, it wasn't Popeye. pretty sure, but it might have been Popeye. Anyway, some cartoon character was in his house on a summer day, you know, or on his porch on a summer day of his house in a hammock, really comfortable, drinking lemonade, and a fly came and started buzzing around his face. And he started fretting about it. He wasn't patient with the fly. So anyway, he tried to get rid of the fly by various means. And by the end of the cartoon, he has completely destroyed his whole house, you know, in the attempt to get rid of the fly. And there he is with his house in complete destruction.

[11:37]

He himself is like, you know, majorly wounded and injured, can barely walk, and the fly is buzzing around him. So the thing about cold and heat and pain and all this stuff is don't fret. It just makes it worse, of course. And don't even fret to think of the past moment of it or the future moment of it. Don't fret. Be still, open to it, And this is a great virtue. This practice of patience at that level is a great virtue. And as I think you will see, it will then make it possible to move into the next practice of heroic effort. Or you might say bodhisattva hard work is the next virtue. So this kind of patience will really help you.

[12:38]

I just thought also we had these stone masons working on a wall at Tassajara a few years ago across from the dining room. And they were working in September. And they're moving these big rocks. And it's still warm. But anyway, the main thing is they're moving these big rocks. And when they lift these rocks up with their hands, it often requires both hands to hold the rock. And then while they're working, various kinds of insects fly into their eyes and into their ears, into their mouth. And some of them just squirm around in the mucus areas. And some of them bite. And so here they are working, doing this pretty difficult work and also being attacked by these insects. It was amazing. They didn't drop the rocks. They didn't try... With the rocks in their hand, they didn't try to hit the insects.

[13:41]

They may have thought of it, but they thought, no, that probably would not be helpful. They... They were amazing. And the walls there to show their work. When sharp suffering and injuries are inflicted by others upon us, wise bodhisattvas keep their minds serene, joyful, and untroubled.

[14:44]

On the bodhisattva path, great struggles do occur, inwardly and outwardly. And bodhisattvas try to be serene, joyful, calm, patient, untroubled, not fretting with all that's given to them. This text by Shantideva suggests that, as I said yesterday, suffering has good qualities. Through suffering we become disheartened with the suffering and arrogance is dispelled. Compassion arises for those beings who live in the realms of suffering and non-virtuous deeds are shunned and joy is found in virtue. This can happen depending on suffering.

[15:53]

And then he discusses, which I mentioned also yesterday, that we do not usually become angry with the sources of great suffering. Like an example here is jaundice. And jaundice, yellow skin, can be a sign of liver problems, right? Hepatitis B. And in the case of our founder, Suzuki Roshi, in September of 1971, he turned quite yellow. And this jaundice is a source of great suffering. In his case, the jaundice was the jaundice of liver cancer. He didn't get angry at that suffering. And I didn't see any people at Zen Center, I didn't see any of the Zen students get angry at the jaundice or at his cancer.

[16:59]

So then Shantideva says, well then why do we get angry at animate beings, animate creatures like humans and flies and scorpions and rats? Because they too are a source of discomfort for us sometimes. But part of the reason why we don't maybe get angry at the cancer is we don't think that the cancer thought I want to be cancer and go make Suzuki Roshi sick. We don't think the cancer made itself. We don't think the cancer had this program to torture Suzuki Roshi and kill him and take him away from Zen Center. We don't think that. We think conditions came together with Suzuki Roshi and his living in Japan and the diet he ate and all those conditions, and he got cancer.

[18:07]

We know that there was nobody planning to cause this suffering to him. Just causes and conditions come together. And it's the same for when a living being becomes a source of suffering for us. They do not make themselves into the person who is a source of suffering for us. So difficult people, enemies, even people who say they're enemies and want to be our enemies, they're just like disease. They do not make themselves that way. There is no independent, autonomous agent operating. Without thinking, I shall be angry at that person.

[19:16]

People become angry with no resistance. And without thinking, I shall produce myself anger is produced. Anger doesn't think, I will not produce myself. And it doesn't do that. And people do not think, I shall become angry with so-and-so. People do think, I am angry with so-and-so, but it's not premeditated. They're taken over by causes and conditions and they can't help it. I feel angry. I am angry. I hate that person. I want to hurt that person. I heard on the radio a recording of a person calling a U.S. congressman, and the person's message was, I just want you to know that millions of people wish you ill.

[20:19]

And that person did not make herself that way. And yet she really expressed ill will very penetratingly and very cruelly. But she is not to be met with anger and disgust and ridicule. She should be met with compassion because She is not making herself that way. She is like a disease. All the mistakes that are in this world and all the various kinds of evil arise through the force of conditions. They do not govern themselves. We should not react to them with hatred but generate compassion. Once again, if we do react to them with impatience, with impatience, with impatience, with hatred, if we do react that way, then we should meet our own impatience and hatred with compassion.

[21:32]

That's kind of like a rule. Then Shanti Davis says, the conditions that assemble together have no intention of producing anything. Like right now, your eyes and your teeth and your skin and your history and your hair and your family and your friends and your flesh and your bones, all those conditions that come together to make you, none of them intend to make you. But they do. The conditions that assemble together have no intention of producing anything, but they do. And neither does their product, like you. You don't actually intend to produce yourself. You don't have the intention to be produced.

[22:38]

Do you? There is no independent operator. There's no independent agent. There is a smooth operator, but there's no independent operator who's making you and you're not making yourself. It doesn't mean you're not responsible. It means you're not independent and therefore You should be compassionate and be treated with compassion. Another little game you can play with Buddhist epistemology is that you can't see without the coming together of visual objects, a sense organ, and a previous cognition. Colors don't intend to create vision.

[23:47]

Eyes don't intend to create vision. But when there's electromagnetic radiation of a certain kind and there's sensitive tissue of a certain kind and they touch and there's a previous consciousness, In the previous moment, there can be the arising of visual consciousness. And when visual consciousness arises, there can be anger with that consciousness. But the eye, the color, the previous consciousness do not intend to create the anger, and the anger doesn't intend to create itself. They all just come together. or like a mirror and a reflection in the mirror. The reflection doesn't intend to be reflected. The mirror doesn't intend to reflect the reflection, the form.

[24:51]

They come together, and there it is. So in this way, as we meditate on people's hatred, people's injury, people's insult towards us, if we meditate this way, this reasoning comes together with the patient's practice. So patient's practice is partly just having the mindfulness to be aware of our capacity to have the experience of pain and be in the present with it, and then also to reason with whatever the pain is, whatever the suffering, to reason with it so that we do not become hateful. To reason with it so that we can be compassionate. So there's two parts. Two main parts I'm emphasizing.

[25:55]

One is to be grounded in the feeling of the pain, in the present. And also in the present time and the present place, feel it where it is in the body or in the mind. Feel it right where it is, right now. Be grounded, be present, and then reason with it in this way. If you're not present with it, then you will fret. And if you fret, big problem. But even if you're present with it and not fretting, you still might need another kind of fretting that might come up in you is the fret of to blame it, to say it's responsible. It did this on purpose to me. which is a kind of mental fretting. So you need to give up the fretting of fighting it and also the fretting of blaming it. No blame.

[26:56]

And the reasoning, this reasoning about this very important topic, which is suffering, this reasoning not only protects against hatred and encourages compassion, patience and other kinds of compassion, it also starts to open unto wisdom. So this way, this kind of reasoning that comes up around pain is taught under the practice of patience, but actually it's a wisdom practice. You're actually reasoning and paying attention to Buddha's teaching of dependent co-arising. So the full practice of patience really kind of requires the beginnings of study of dependent core rising. In other words, the wisdom starting to grow here in the patience.

[28:00]

It also is growing in the giving practice and also in the vigilance and carefulness practice. These six virtues of the bodhisattva mind are really one mind. They're just different dimensions of the Bodhi mind. So we did this first three now, and now moving to the fourth virtue, which is called heroic effort sometimes. It's called, the word, the Sanskrit word is virya, which means it's related to virile or bold. It means energy, effort, enthusiasm, courageous effort, zeal, enthusiasm, endeavor, and also bodhisattva work.

[29:00]

It's work. It's about working. when poet Shantideva, the poet sage, Shantideva is teaching about this enthusiasm, he praises it, as the Buddhas praise it, because all the other virtues need this enthusiasm. It's like the energy or the effort that goes into giving and goes into careful vigilance of all behaviors, and goes into practicing patience in being present and reasonable.

[30:04]

It goes into all practices of compassion. It goes into concentration. It goes into wisdom. In some sense, it sometimes seems like it should be first, but it's not. It's fourth. And one could think about why it's fourth. But anyway, there it is. It's number four. Virya, the perfection of effort. And maybe you'll see, and maybe I'll try to remind us why it's fourth is because you can maybe see how patience is really necessary in order to do some of the work. Like, for example, to build a rock wall. You kind of need patience to not drop the rock on your foot while you hit the insect. You need patience to sit still when it's cold.

[31:14]

You need patience to make the effort to take care of certain things because certain things are difficult to take care of. So it often occurs to me in thinking about this effort on how patience is involved. When Shantideva talks about this practice, he mentions the sort of opposite of effort as laziness. And he talks about three kinds of laziness. One is the laziness of indolence. Two is the laziness of self-disparagement. Two is the laziness of unskillful behavior, unskillful conduct.

[32:25]

And three is the laziness of self-disparagement. The laziness of indolence is, you know, just recently, the thought occurred to me, who is he writing this for, this teaching of these three kinds of laziness? And it occurred to me that he might be writing it for full-time monks, according to the story I heard, he delivered this teaching, this teaching of the path of the bodhisattva life, the way of the bodhisattva.

[33:39]

He delivered this to a group of monks. He was talking to a group of monks when he gave the talk. He gave the whole book in one talk, supposedly. Supposedly. Maybe he took some breaks or something. I don't know. Probably he did. But anyway, the idea is he actually just spoke this one day. So he lived in India, this person whose name was Shantideva. And he was considered... by his fellow monks as way below average in intelligence and effort and more or less everything. I think they thought he was one of the dullest

[34:45]

of the monks. They didn't hate him. He wasn't a mean guy. Just really dull. Quiet. And So one day the monks were with him. I guess there was a full assembly and the monks were with him and some of them said jokingly, hey, maybe today we should ask Shantideva to give a Dharma talk. So then they turned to him. He said, yeah, let's do that. So they turned to him and said, hey, Shantideva, would you give us a Dharma talk? And he said, okay. He said, go sit on the teacher's seat. And he went and sat there. And then out of his mouth came this spectacular Sanskrit verse of this teaching, the Bodhicaryavatara.

[36:01]

which is one of the most beautiful poetic works in Sanskrit, and extremely wonderful and profound Dharma teaching. And as he was speaking also, his seat rose up into the air very, very high into the sky, and his voice spread throughout the whole Indian subcontinent. The monks appreciated it. They felt a little silly in their former opinion of him. So they thought he was kind of lazy and dull. But in fact, he wasn't. But I think monks, especially in India, they eat up till lunchtime in those days, and they didn't eat in the afternoon.

[37:13]

So the afternoon they would oftentimes be kind of sleepy. And they didn't have to do any manual labor. So I think being kind of sleeping all afternoon was a possibility for the monks, the Indian Buddhist monks. And I think Shantideva might have been suggesting to them that the one kind of laziness which is opposed to this heroic effort is sleeping all day, or sleeping all afternoon anyway. And Yeah, so this is an issue, sleep. How much sleep should we give? And like during Sashim, people are pretty rigorous and people are not sleeping all day during Sashim. People are tired and struggling with that, but That indolence thing is, I think we're doing a pretty good job often in Zen practice with indolence.

[38:20]

Also that we, you know, when we're on a break, they ring a bell and we get up and we come back to the Zendo rather than just staying in a room all afternoon. In particular, I notice the thing about this indolence is like when you're when you're in a particular position and you're called to move or called to perform some service, that you'd just rather stay doing what you're doing and you don't want to be bothered. You just don't feel like, excuse me, can I talk to you? Yes. You don't have that quick response like, I'm here for you. One of my friends, I heard her talking to someone who she just met, and the person says, what do you do? And the person says, what do you want? Or, what do you need? So this thing about being ready to give yourself is the spirit of this effort.

[39:33]

You're just sitting here waiting. Yes. You're present. Yes. And ready to serve beings. But sometimes it happens in Zen centers that people are sitting and occasionally they get comfortable. And some people who haven't been comfortable ever before sometimes get comfortable. They say, wow, I'm finally comfortable sitting. Wow. Then the bell rings. And they don't want to get up. No. No, I'm staying here. This is great. Siddhiki Rishi said one time, sometimes when we're sitting, I feel like I could sit forever. But when the bell rings, I get up and do walking meditation. So even if you're sitting concentrated, blissful, like really happy to be practicing Zen meditation, like it's really like, I never thought it would be this good, actually, and it is just terrific.

[40:44]

This is great. I'm so happy. And somebody says, would you please give it up? And no, thank you. That's indolence. Indolence to stay in your excellent state of blissful concentration. That's indolence. The perfection of concentration, of blissful concentration, is to give it away. When somebody asks for it, can I have your concentration? Sure, here. Would you please get agitated for me? Okay, how? This effort is what rouses us from where we're at.

[41:48]

Rouses us to practice virtue. For example, when you're in bliss, it rouses you to practice the virtue of giving your bliss away. Got bliss? Yes. What do you do with it? Give it away. Got bliss? What do you do with it? Make it a gift. It was a gift to me. Now I give it to others. I give it to the Buddhas, and I give the merit of giving it to the Buddhas, to all sentient beings. It doesn't disturb the concentration. It perfects it. So this practice of diligence, this practice of zeal, is a warm-up to practice concentration. And then when you practice concentration, you apply it to the concentration so that the concentration doesn't get stuck in concentration, so that the concentration doesn't become indolent and lazy. So it's possible to make a big effort to get someplace, and once you get there, then to become lazy.

[42:53]

It's called resting in your laurels, right? Resting in your achievement, or not much resting, but being lazy in your achievement. I worked hard to get here. Now I'm going to stop, but now I don't have to make any more effort. Another word for laziness is to be satisfied with yourself, satiety. You know, I don't want to work anymore. I've worked enough. This effort is not I've worked enough. It's like I wish to work more. The next one, which when I first heard this I thought didn't sound like laziness, but then I thought of teenagers. They're very energetic and they often do unwholesome things, but they're very energetic about doing unwholesome things, so it doesn't seem lazy.

[43:58]

So laziness, the previous one is not very energetic. you're in some situation and you just stay there. You have what you call inertia. But laziness can also be to do unwholesome things, to do fruitless things, to do things which don't really help anybody. to talk with people, you know, to chit-chat in a way where you're not really concentrating on telling the truth. You're not speaking with carefulness and vigilance that your speech is for the welfare of others. There's energy there, but it's a kind of laziness vis-à-vis practicing virtue. You're being lazy about virtue even though you're moving your body and mind energetically.

[45:08]

You're not really concentrating on making your speech a gift to the person you're talking to and to all beings. You're not really remembering practice virtue while you're talking. That kind of talk is a kind of laziness, even though lots of activity is going on. So laziness isn't just indolence. And the third kind of laziness, which I really appreciate being mentioned, is the laziness of self-disparagement or despondency. I appreciate this point being made. In the form of, not so much, well, it's not so much, oh, that's really hard, because it might be hard.

[46:13]

Would you please move that mountain? Oh, that's really hard. Well, yeah, it would be. It's more like, that's too hard for me. I couldn't move that. It's more like that. It's like, I can't attain unsurpassed, complete, authentic enlightenment. That's too hard for me. I'm not up for that. You know? Even if I practice patience, you know, and if I practiced... virtuous conduct and carefulness and vigilance of all my actions, and I practice patience, and even if I made a big effort still, I wouldn't be able to really accomplish anything. I'm just a worthless sinner." Well, the Buddha doesn't argue that we're sinners. The Buddha just says, if you make this kind of effort,

[47:18]

If you learn to make this kind of effort, you will perfect the body of a Buddha. You will enter the realization of the greatest possibilities of existence. You will, if you make this kind of effort. And to tell yourself that you can't is a kind of laziness. the Tathagata, the omniscient Buddha who speaks only the truth and never lies, has proclaimed with undeceiving words that if they are able to bring forth the strength of perseverance and heroic effort, even weak and feeble things like gnats and stinging insects that fly in the air

[48:25]

like bees that drink nectar from the flowers, like every kind of dung-eating beetle, even they will gain unsurpassable enlightenment that is so hard to find." In the Subahu Paripritsa Sutra it says, This moreover is how bodhisattvas should perfectly train themselves. They should reflect that if even lions, tigers, dogs, jackals, vultures, cranes, cows, owls, worms, insects, flies, and stinging gnats will awaken into the state of unsurpassable Buddhahood, why should they, human beings, allow their diligence to weaken? a diligence that will lead to Buddhahood. We had a workshop here recently, and we'll have more, on beekeeping.

[49:36]

And one of our community members offers this class on beekeeping. And in the blurb for the beekeeping, somebody told me, it says, this workshop isn't really about beekeeping, it's about wonder. Bees, as you may have heard and seen, are hardworking. I think Jonathan Swift said, or somebody said, instead of putting their dirt and excrement into the hive, they put sweetness and light into it. You know, wax and honey. They put sweetness and light in there, and they work hard. They're not lazy, those bees. If they keep that up, they will attain Buddhahood. And ants, ants are so selfless.

[50:39]

They've been around for 30 million years. Their biomass is almost exactly the same as the biomass of humans. Human beings are, on average, one million times bigger than an ant. And there are one million times more ants on the planet than humans. They are, within their community, they are incredibly selfless and hardworking. They will attain Buddhahood. They don't say, well, that's too much for me. I can't do that. I can't attain Buddhahood. They don't say that. And fungi... Now we know that fungi are also bodhisattvas. They're not lazy. They work while we're asleep. They work, they work, they work.

[51:46]

They take the excess and give it to those who need it. They take poison and denature it. They serve the planet. Without them, we would not be able to practice the Buddha way. They selflessly, quietly support us to practice the way. They don't complain. They will attain Buddhahood. And if we don't practice like that, this is called laziness of self-disparagement. If we make this effort, we will become Buddha. If we say otherwise, we're being lazy. If we and those like us who have attained the best of all kinds of existence, the human form, who have the faculty and understanding of speech and are able to distinguish good from bad, if we cultivate the bodhisattva mind, if we cultivate the mind

[53:21]

which aspires to supreme awakening for the welfare of all beings without succumbing to despondency, if we do not relinquish the practice of the bodhisattvas, why ever should we not be able to realize enlightenment? Surely we will achieve it. For it is said that even those who have been inconstant in their cultivation of the bodhicitta will attain enlightenment. We may accept that striving in this way we will indeed attain great enlightenment. And now here comes a really subtle point which I think now in the middle of session you may be able to hear this. At the same time that you might understand and accept that with great effort we will be able to attain great enlightenment, still you might be alarmed and frightened at the prospect of having to give away your life and limbs.

[54:40]

You might be. I must admit, when I hear about giving away my life and limbs, I do sometimes... I am sometimes a little challenged by that thought. So here's some instruction to help us understand about the prospect of a situation where we would have to give away our life and limbs or organs. But it's 11.10.

[55:54]

Maybe it's too much to bring this up now. What do you think? Should I bring it up tomorrow instead? Huh? Pens and needles? Should I do it now? It's kind of a big topic. So again, now maybe you've been able to accept that the idea that you will be able, if you make this effort, you will, we will together be able to attain great awakening. And yet, you still might now, if you hear about giving away your life and limbs, which the Buddha Shakyamuni said he did in the past, part of his career was, he gave his life, he gave his body, he gave his limbs under certain circumstances. And in the history of the Buddhas, they do give their life and body.

[56:56]

They give it away sometimes. And if we are alarmed This shows that our fears are misplaced. How so? We are failing to distinguish between the kinds of intense suffering that we ought to dread and the slight discomforts that are unnecessary to fear. We are confused about what to adopt and what to abandon. And we are frightened by things of which there is no reason to be afraid. This is a big statement to say that it's misplaced to be afraid of losing your life and limbs.

[57:59]

But that's not really something we should be afraid of. We can be afraid of it, and we are, but that's really not the place to be afraid. Isn't that kind of surprising? Once again, what's being suggested is that it's misplaced to be afraid of losing your arms and legs and your life. That's not what we should be afraid of. There's no reason to be afraid of that. We do not have to be afraid of losing our body and our life. We're going to. We're going to lose it. We're going to lose our life and limbs. Not necessarily one at a time, but sometimes, you know, one finger, one toe, one tooth, one eye. Sometimes it's one after another. Sometimes it's all at once. But we are going to, we're either going to lose it or give it away. But it's going. This is not something to be, it's not necessary to be afraid of, but most people are, right? This is saying, this is not what we should be afraid of.

[59:04]

This is a mistake. What we ought to be afraid of is the failure to generate the bodhisattva mind. We should be, that's one of the things, one of the few things to be afraid of. That would be terrible. If we didn't make this mind which wishes to attain enlightenment for the welfare of others, I'm afraid of that. That's big time something to be afraid of. We ought to fear the thought that it is unnecessary for us to... We ought to fear the thought that it is unnecessary for us to suffer the pain of having our heads and limbs cut off for the sake of others. So if I think, for example, it is not necessary for me, I don't have to, it's not necessary or it will never be necessary for me to donate my sister my kidney.

[60:19]

That thought I should be afraid of. Not just ashamed if I have a thought. How stingy of me not to give my sister one of my kidneys. It's no kidney off my back. But I'm kind of afraid of thinking that thought. My sister has not asked me for my kidney. My brother hasn't asked me. But I understand that your siblings are people that you might, if they needed a kidney, you'd be a potentially good donor. So if they need a kidney, they might ask you. I'm afraid, and the ancestors are saying, I should be afraid of the possibility that I would say, it's not necessary for me to give you my kidney.

[61:30]

Now to say I don't want to is slightly different. I could say I don't want to, but I understand that it really is necessary for me to be able to give. And some, you know, And then the comment is being made that the thought that it's not necessary for me to give my head and my limbs and my life for the welfare of others, that thought does not scare most people. Most people think, yeah, I don't have to give my money.

[62:35]

I don't have to give my car. I don't have to give my house. I don't have to give my body. I don't have to give my life for the welfare of others. Most people are not afraid to think that. They just think it. No problem. The bodhisattva mind is, we should be afraid to think that way. That's a terrible way to think. But we do. We do think that way, don't we? Well, I would say, well, it's okay to think that way. I feel compassion for us when we think that way. But I'm still afraid of thinking that way because it's terrible to think that way. We are terrible sometimes to think that way. And we should be kind to ourselves. But it's still terrible. even in this lifetime, I've got bounced around a little bit.

[63:38]

I had polio when I was a little boy. I recently was riding a bicycle in Houston and got kind of pushed off the road and onto the sidewalk and the femur broke. My heart kind of got attacked. These are not big deals, but anyway... over our long evolutionary history, each of us, we are the result of a long evolutionary process. And we, part of our evolutionary process has involved us having our heads cut off quite a few times by other humans, by Neanderthals, by, you know, gorillas, buffalo. Anyway, we have been we have been mutilated, amputated, crushed, maimed many times in our evolutionary history.

[64:45]

You know, many times for a long time. But the comment is, but this has been no good, all these injuries, because we didn't do those injuries for the sake... We weren't there to say, and may this be for the welfare of all beings. So it didn't, you know... we are going to have some problems. We have had them in the past. Now we need to find this mind which says, whatever happens to me, whatever damage occurs to this body, whatever this body is asked to give, this is for the welfare of beings. In the past, all these amputations that have occurred were no use because we didn't say, may it be for the welfare of all beings. Just a second. Before you cut my head off, let me just say, may this be for the welfare of all beings. Maybe we did. Maybe that's why we're here. Maybe we did. That's why we're here. Some of us may be more advanced than the rest of us.

[65:50]

We should always be careful of that because somebody in the room might be somebody who is actually a bodhisattva. Excuse me. So those difficulties that we've had in the past, and Shantideva says, these hardships, compared to them, the hardships suffered for the sake of accomplishing unsurpassed Buddhahood are indeed limited So now that we're contemplating the path to Buddhahood, the sufferings we're going to have are going to be limited. The sufferings of the past were just unlimited, and in the future they will be unlimited.

[66:53]

But the ones on the Buddha path are actually limited. They won't go on forever. They end at Buddhahood or at bodhisattvahood. Those problems end. The sufferings for the sake of accomplishing Buddhahood are indeed limited. Is that clear? The sufferings we've gone through in the past are more or less unlimited. And if we don't start practicing, the sufferings in the future are going to have no end. They're just unlimited. But if we enter into the practice, they will be limited. But hear about the limited. This is the limited. Therefore, we should bear with them. We should bear with the sufferings we have. Once we're on the path of practicing patience, we should not only be patient with our suffering, but we should be patient because being patient with our suffering will limit it, will train it, will confine it, will tame it, will turn it into benefit.

[68:07]

We should almost be happy for this suffering. now that it's occurring within the path, it's wonderful suffering. Before it was just like more suffering, no beginning, no end. Now it's coming into training. Therefore we should bear with these sufferings, knowing that the suffering in question is circumscribed and it can be no longer than three countless culpases. It can be no longer than three great eons. That's the max. This is bodhisattva mind. It's a little bit far out, right? But this is, I consider, like confined. A kalpa is a long time. We only have three big ones. There'll be no more. you will attain Buddhahood in three kalpas.

[69:11]

Three big ones. Now, if you stop practicing, then there's no end to the suffering. And not only that, but you're going to contribute to other people's So the example here is that it's just as with the tip of an arrow stuck in your body, actually not the tip, I think it's more like the whole arrowhead's in your body. I guess the tip of the arrow is the arrowhead, not the whole arrow in your body. The head of the arrow goes into your body. So then the person maybe has to make a little bit bigger cut around the arrow where it went in in order to get it out. So... this arrow's got into us, and in order to get it out, it's going to be somewhat painful. And we sort of, it's good to put up with the pain.

[70:12]

And nowadays we even have pain medication to help us put up with the pain of pulling the arrows out. Now, in this big project we're on, as we evolve, we may come into worlds where they don't have anesthetics, so things may get tougher again. But right now, actually donating parts of our body, they have ways of making it fairly comfortable, at least during the operation. Then afterwards, you even get pain medication to recover from the removal of the body part. But in our long evolution to realizing Buddhahood, we may be born in a world where we're being asked to donate, make donations without anesthetics. But still, this is a limited thing which we should put up with for the sake of the welfare of all beings, right?

[71:17]

It's tough, tough in a way. And so what we're talking about here is zeal, right? Enthusiasm for this kind of heroic practice. Now, I'm going to jump ahead a little bit here. I hope it will work here, but I just want to mention that also that Of course, people will wonder about giving away one's flesh. Yeah, people will wonder how... I guess I'll have to go back. So then the next example, the next verse is pointing out that the Buddha, unlike ordinary doctors who have painful treatments in order to cure people, the Buddha has very gentle treatments. Very gentle treatments. The great physician of the Buddha has gentle treatments compared to those of ordinary doctors.

[72:24]

And the Buddha's treatment are not only gentle, but what they're curing is a more profound and immense suffering. And then the comment is, people may wonder how giving away your flesh and life can be described as a gentle treatment. The answer is that there is no need to do this in the beginning of your practice. Actually giving away your body parts and your life is somewhat advanced. It's going to be part of the deal. In your evolution, you are going to be asked for big stuff. Big gifts are going to be requested. It will be necessary at some point when asked, and it's going to be helpful to do it. But you don't have to do that at the beginning of your practice.

[73:29]

You don't have to do it today, for example. And it's also recommended not to make donations that are too advanced. We'll talk about that later. You shouldn't do things that are too advanced. And especially, you shouldn't donate body parts and then when you're not ready, because if you change your mind in the process, it's really bad to say, well, I didn't really want to give that once the operation starts. You should only give when you really are ready to follow through. And so it's very advanced to give body parts or give your life and then actually be able to follow through with serene joy. So that's kind of an advanced practice. And I like this statement too, that people who are completely incapable of being generous should train themselves by passing something from their right hand to their left hand and back again, and gradually getting used to the act of giving, like I was talking about juggling.

[74:42]

Some people just can't give anything. They just cannot understand giving. They can't. I mean, they heard about it, but when they think of giving, they always think, well, I give, but I'm giving in order to get something. Like I give money to the grocer to get... lettuce, or I work at Green Gulch to get housing and food, or I sit Sazen to get calm. Why would you do anything to not try to get anything? People cannot understand. They're incapable of practicing giving something without trying to get something. They just don't understand it. So here's the exercises. Take something like glass, maybe not even have water in it, and just pass it from one hand to the other. and back again until you can do that without expecting to get anything out of it. And if you keep this up and get better at it, you will eventually be able to pass your life back and forth with no expectation.

[75:49]

So this is just a little bit about the practice of effort, of bodhisattva work. And this last one is talking about getting over the laziness of thinking that you cannot become Buddha or that you're not going to be able to give what needs to be given, or that you're really not a person who is trying to open up to really giving your life for the welfare of others, and giving all of your life to the welfare of others. And tomorrow I'd like to go into the wonderful practices which support the development of this enthusiasm. The practices of aspiration, of steadfastness, of joy, and of rest.

[77:10]

So that's That's the bodhisattva virtue. And I think we have three more days, so I think we could do another day on effort, and then we can move on to the perfection of concentration and wisdom. And then we'll be ready to go to work for three, for a max, max of three kalpas. during which time Supreme Buddhahood will be realized. So I disclose to you that I have had for some time some difficulty with the prospect of giving my life, or while still living, giving my body parts for the welfare of others.

[78:40]

I've had some problem with that and I'm feeling much more comfortable now. with this. And I'm feeling also more comfortable with the idea that it will be necessary. I will need to do this. I don't know when, you know, I don't know when I'm going to be called to donate body parts, but I understand that I will, that probably will be necessary in the long practice ahead of us. Some of you will come and ask me for such things. And I do not say that I won't need to give it to you. And I do not say I will be able to, but I vow to learn to be able to when it's necessary, to give what is necessary. And I do not say it will not be necessary because at some point it will. I feel good about that. I feel more ready for the, you know, what do you call it, the bodhisattva practice now.

[79:42]

I hope you do too. There may be a Shantideva in his room somewhere. Thank you for letting me speak, Shantideva, wherever you are. May our intention equally extend to every...

[80:37]

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