Under play, I wrote fullness. Now when you write the word playfulness, there's just one L here, right? Is that right? In a way, you could put two L's there, it's okay with me. Playfulness. I would say that in the fullness of play, it turns into a ritual. And I would say that in the fullness of play, it is enlightenment. Because in the fullness of play, the play cannot be grasped, cannot be an entity really. It's still an entity enough maybe to call it play, but it's not really existing the way it appears.

[01:01]

And in ritual, maybe ritual ripeness, that ritual is ripe when it helps others. And ritual is ripe when it's playful. Some people do rituals and the ritual is kind of like, what do you call it, immature or raw. What's the word for not ripe? Huh? Raw? Green, yeah. The ritual is green. What? What? Sterile. Oh, yeah. So anyway, the ritual is, when the ritual is ripe, it becomes playful.

[02:07]

So I wrote down here the word feedback, or you could say inquiry. So if someone's performing a ritual... the teacher of ritual might test to see if the ritual is ripe by seeing if the ritual practitioner can be playful with it. That make some sense? No? Deb, it didn't make sense? Someone's doing a ritual I don't know what, bowing. I often see people bow. It's a ritual they perform or sitting or walking meditation. So they're performing the ritual and I offer the service of testing the ritual to see if it's playful. Since these are physical forms, I verbally and physically check to see if the ritual is ripe by giving feedback to it.

[03:17]

and seeing if there's a playful response, if there's play there, I think the ritual is getting ripe. So people sit, you know, in meditation, they sit with their body posture. So I sometimes come and check their posture to see if the posture can play with my touch. Or does the posture say, no, we don't want any play here. Get away. Leave me alone. I'm doing a ritual. And I don't like this ritual very much either right now. So I don't want any input from you. And people who are like that, if they continue the ritual long enough, that... the ritual will cook in that unplayfulness and the ritual will get cooked and get very soft and flexible and it will start becoming a welcoming ritual and then when something comes to it it welcomes it and plays with it so after several days of sitting most people I touch are quite playful

[04:34]

But you've been only sitting for a little while, so maybe you're not all playful yet. But anyway, part of the practice is to let somebody play the role of the feedback person to you, and they also welcome you. I'm welcoming your feedback to me, didn't I? I welcome your feedback. Give feedback. I'm performing a ritual here. I'm doing the ritual of being the teacher. I welcome your feedback to see if I'm playful. Test me. And I wonder if you welcome my feedback to your ritual. So sometimes, as I say, I go around and I touch people's bodies. and touch people's minds when you're sitting. To see, you know, to let them know that I'm there. Checking out their spine, checking out their posture by touching their back or back and neck, shoulders.

[05:42]

To touch them to see how's the ritual. Is it ripe? Is it playful? Is it welcoming? And when you feel the touch, you can see, well, did I welcome that? Or did I want to eliminate that or reject that? Is he telling me that my posture is wrong? Is he correcting my posture? Or is he just checking my posture to see where I'm at? And anyway, I want to know beforehand, before I offer you that feedback when you're sitting, which I might do, do you welcome it? And if you don't welcome it, some people do welcome it. So if I offer this to those who would like it, do some of you welcome it? Yeah. So some people welcome it. I would like to give it. But if you don't want me to give it, I would like you to give me

[06:44]

the information that you don't want me to touch your back when you're sitting so please tell me if you don't want to and I won't and also not so commonly I sometimes check people's postures when they're walking in meditation so if you don't want me to check your posture when you're walking please tell me and I won't I welcome you not welcoming me. I vow to love you not welcoming me. That's my vow. To welcome all the people who don't want my love. That's my vow. And also to welcome those who do want my love. My vow is to welcome everybody. I'm not saying I always do it, but that's my vow. So I welcome you to welcome me and I welcome you to not welcome me.

[07:48]

But specifically, literally, please tell me if you don't want me to touch you when you're doing sitting and walking meditation to check your posture, to check your mind, to check your ripeness, to check your welcoming. And also you get to feel whether when you're touched, did you welcome it? Did you receive it as a gift. Did you give your body to the touch? Did you see the touch as a gift to your body? So this is an exercise to realize and check on playfulness in the ritual in order to realize enlightenment. This is how we realize enlightenment in certain schools of enlightenment by this kind of physical and vocal interaction. We're doing it vocally here And also physically, but mostly we're talking, but I'm also talking about physical contact.

[08:50]

Some people don't like to be touched, except under highly specified situations. I accept that. Is that clear? Any questions about this? Any feedback? You're welcome to give me feedback. And you're welcome to not give me feedback. Any questions, you're welcome to question me. You can also check my posture if you want to.

[09:59]

Hmm? How will I know if it's right? How will I know if you're right? You will not know if I'm right. How do you know if I'm right? I'm not into knowing you're ripe. I'm just checking to see if you're ripe. But I won't know. Huh? What do you think?

[11:12]

I love it. I think I'll need the microphone.

[12:19]

You're welcome. So earlier this morning... Is it working? No, it seems to be working. Yes, it's working. Yes. Yeah. Well, usually if you rattle me, I work a little better too. Sometimes, anyway. Okay. A little while ago you were talking about ritual enactment of reality. And I wondered if there's any other way we... It's like it goes in circles. Words don't really quite work.

[13:21]

But it seemed to me that maybe Reality changes all the time. So we can't grasp reality. We can't hold on to reality. We can't stop reality. Want some feedback? Yes, please. I don't know if reality changes all the time. I think reality is that things change all the time. But reality isn't really a thing. And so I don't know if I agree, I don't know if I want to agree right now with realities changing all the time. But I do think the reality can't be grasped. Can't be those other things you said? Can't be stopped. Can't be started. Doesn't have a beginning, doesn't have an end. However, it is the way beginnings and ends are. It's the way stopping and starting is.

[14:26]

Thank you. I didn't realize in my wording what I meant to say was what you clarified, that things change all the time. So... a ritual enactment of reality has to be play, because it's not reality. I think reality is playful too. So that's why, but in order to realize that it's reality, we need to be practicing playfulness. Because one opposite of playfulness is stuckness, is fixed, is grasping. Yeah, fixed, rest, what did you say? Resting? Grasping. Grasping, yeah. So reality is not grasping, and reality doesn't grasp, and reality doesn't, can't be grasped.

[15:34]

So playfulness, reality is playful. So playfulness is a way to realize that reality exists. and then when you do something to realize something which can't be grasped definition of playful when you do something to realize something that can't be grasped that's what I call ritual you can realize something that can't be grasped in a form knowing that it doesn't grasp it but realizes it like someone's really kind to you But that kindness doesn't grasp kindness. And to be kind in that way, you're doing a ritual of kindness, which is you're really trying to be kind, but you know that what you're doing doesn't reach the reality of kindness. But you go ahead and do it anyway. And because you know it doesn't reach it, you're playful and open to feedback.

[16:38]

The person says, that's not kind. You say, I know. I wanted it to be, but I know it wasn't. So you're open to feedback when you're doing rituals, if the ritual is ripe. Now, again, if the ritual is not ripe, then you're not playful. But if the ritual is ripe, you're playful. And if you're playful and you want to enact reality, then what you do is ritual. And so playful and welcoming are really related. Playful and welcoming are kind of synonyms, actually, the way I use them. playful, not grasping, not dwelling, welcoming reality, realizing ritual. And so something that kind of goes along with that, earlier today I told you that it seemed like when my mom died, my world changed.

[17:42]

Mm-hmm. And before your mom died, your world changed. That's what I realized after I talked to you, that it changes all the time. Yeah. That was just kind of a thing that was sort of like... But mom's dying are really helpful to realize the truth. So mom's dying is a gift. Yeah. It helps us wake up. Because I thought, you know, I thought there was this way, you know, I told Karen last night, you know, there was this way that my world was before and then there's this way it is now and I can't seem to reach the old way. Duh. But... that old, there's always, like that's always happening. I just didn't recognize that. So anytime I'm trying to reach the old way, I'm just going to be struggling. Yeah. So moms are here to help us realize the truth that things are changing. That's what moms are here for, to help us realize that. And if we realize it, that's good. And if we don't realize it, then they say, okay, you haven't realized it yet, so now I'm going to die to see if you get it.

[18:48]

One last gift. Bye-bye. Get the picture. And if we don't then, then they have to come back and haunt us. You're not practicing yet. Well, but that is, you know, that if mom isn't really an entity and I'm not really an entity and dying isn't really an entity, then if I don't get it from mom dying, then the universe... Then you can get it from mom after she dies. Yeah. She's not an entity. She can keep teaching you reality when she's no longer so-called alive because she's playful. Mom is playful. So reality... The reality of mom is playful. So the world changes all the time, and when I'm playful with it, then when you check my posture, I'll probably wiggle. Maybe, but not necessarily.

[19:51]

Maybe, I don't know. You might say, okay, I'm going to be playful. I'm going to be real stiff when he touches me. Not going to move at all. lots of possibilities, infinite possibilities in reality, in ritual, and in play. Thanks for the play date. I now graciously invite you to have a delicious brunch for the sake of all beings and to walk to the feeding area for the sake of all beings playfully enacting reality.

[20:57]

And so you're invited to come back at about eleven o'clock and we'll start with Buddha's sitting meditation.

[21:11]

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