I offer that the ground of Buddhadharma is great loving kindness and great compassion for all sentient beings. The fruit of this ground of loving-kindness and compassion for all beings is great, perfect enlightenment, which is understanding that all beings are our self.

[01:07]

It is understanding which is helping other beings, helping others. Because of this ground, we practice this fruit, the fruit of helping others. And this practice of helping others, the practice of enlightenment, involves being grounded in the phenomenal world. involves completely embracing and sustaining the dependently co-arising phenomenal world.

[02:18]

And with this being grounded in the causation And studying is involved in the grounding of causation. There is the observing of the ultimate, which is the object of observation, which purifies all phenomena. dependent co-arising, the causation of all things, is first and foremost beauty of all things.

[03:33]

It is beautiful. It is inconceivable. And by being grounded in it, without conceit, we may open to the ultimate truth, which purifies all phenomena and thereby helps all beings. On Saturday, a group of us were studying a Mahayana Sutra that was teaching about the character of ultimate truth. And it gave examples of many elder practitioners of the Buddha's teaching who were

[04:50]

skillful in being grounded in the phenomenal world, who were skillful in studying the Buddha's teaching about the phenomenal world. But it was said that although they were quite skillful at engaging the phenomenal world, they still had pride of their understanding. And thereby, they could not open to the ultimate. So the suggestion is that The ground of our practice is compassion and loving-kindness for all beings, which means to fully engage all beings.

[06:01]

But to do so without conceit is very difficult. To be kind without conceit, without approving our own understanding of kindness, To be compassionate without conceit, to embrace and sustain practices and beings without conceit, is very difficult without pride. But this is necessary. It's not just that we be free of pride and conceit. but that we fully engage the phenomenal world, which is the basis of the compassion, which is the ground of the Buddha way.

[07:04]

to be grounded in our body and mind and its relationship with all beings. In Soto Zen we have two ways. One is to wholeheartedly sit and the other is to listen to and question the Dharma. to go and meet a teacher and listen to and question the Dharma. The Sesshin is set up on that model. It offers days when you can wholeheartedly sit

[08:26]

when you can moment by moment practice being silent and still. Silent, still, and open. This is the way we can be grounded in the phenomenal world. And together with that, there are offerings of teachings in this tradition which you can listen to and question as a way to see if there's any conceit or pride of understanding. We practice enlightenment and teach the Dharma by being grounded in the dependent core arising of all phenomena and by observing the object of purification of the phenomena.

[10:11]

Phenomena are coming to us. We are phenomena that is coming. Moment by moment the gifts are coming. Never a moment without the gift of phenomena. Being silent and still is the beginning of the unconceited way of being with them. We are observing them and we have understanding of them, but our understanding must not be proud We must not approve it and grasp it.

[11:26]

We have experiences, we have understandings, but we must not apprehend them as really true. Otherwise, we close to what is really true and what purifies all experience. loving-kindness and compassion for all beings, silence and stillness and openness with all beings.

[12:34]

and then silence and stillness and openness with understandings that are arising. When silent and still, open and gentle, patient and welcoming with whatever comes,

[14:27]

It is possible that we will not be proud of our understanding of what is coming. That we will not attach to it or our understanding of it. being grounded in this way, we are ready to observe the way things really are. We are ready to observe the ultimate truth of everything that comes to us.

[16:01]

Some bodhisattvas wishing to practice loving-kindness and compassion for each and every living being do so. They embrace In this way, all beings, they are open, gentle, and patient, non-violent, not overbearing, calm with each and every living being they encounter. And they practice this devotion towards all beings without attaching to them, without being proud of their practice or their understanding.

[19:10]

They communicate their understanding but are not conceited about it. If they do not communicate their understanding, they are also not conceited about it. Communicating, not communicating, fully embracing each being, each moment, they are able to observe the ultimate. object of purification of all phenomena and help beings. They vow to learn to be consistent in this practice. In the midst of dependent core rising, they vow to fully embrace dependent core risings, observe the ultimate without conceit, without pride.

[20:47]

If you wish to join them, I believe they welcome you. If you do not wish to join them, I believe they welcome you. I hope to be free of conceit. I hope to be free of the influence of conceit. And I do have a view that this practice, this ceremony of sashing is a well-formed opportunity

[22:06]

practice loving kindness and compassion to all the beings you meet and to open to observing the ultimate truth today this morning and onward together. Of course, it's easy to forget and easy to slip into pride, but we can recover and re-enter. in a moment.

[23:14]

I'm very happy that now we are here. And that now we are here. and that now we are here opening to the bodhisattva way. May our intention equally extend

[24:17]

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