In the text of the universe realized, the realizing the fundamental point, there's two images of boats. One image is of a person riding in a boat and looking at the shore and thinking the shore is moving. But if you look carefully to where you are and look carefully, you'll notice that the boat's moving. And the other example is going out in the boat and looking around and going out on a boat in the ocean. There's no islands and thinking that the ocean looks circular.

[01:05]

In the first example, there's a mistake. It's a misperception. In the second case, it's pointing out the natural limitation a perception. In the first case, it's a mistake to think that the shore is moving. In the second case, it would be a mistake to think that the ocean is actually round, but the ocean does look round. In the first case, if you return to where you are, and pay close attention to every action, you'll see that the self of the boat is moving. In the second case, if you return to where you are and pay close attention to your every action, the ocean will still look circular.

[02:22]

But because if you understand that where you return to is a place of action, and by tending to the actions that there's no abiding self, you also will not believe that there's a self of the circle, which there isn't. You can never really find the circle. And also you can't find the ocean. So again and again there's a practice of returning to where you are and finding your place right there. And at that place there is action, always, and attending closely to that action. And also to understand that attending closely to that action intimately learning about that action, make that action the Buddha way, is to devote the action to the Buddha way, is to devote your life through this action to the Buddha way, to make your life the Buddha way.

[03:56]

Someone said, express gratitude for those who have worked to provide and hold this space here. Of course, Tassajara, city center, all the places around the world that people have worked to provide and to hold the space so that people can come and find their place right where they are. Somehow if people don't offer a place and hold the place some people have trouble finding their place right where they are. So they go to a place where people hold a place for people to find their place and they find their place And hopefully when they leave the place that's being held for them to find their place, they go throughout the world and every step of the way they find their place.

[05:13]

But it's more difficult when someone's not sitting there saying, we're holding this place. But it's possible that you will leave here this place which is dedicated to the practice of people finding their place where they are, that you will leave this place and continue to find where you are. Continue beyond this moment into the next moment and the next moment continually finding your place right where you are. Some people during this session Actually, everybody that's participated in this session has received vast and boundless from the entire universe.

[06:24]

Everybody has, and some people have realized it. The universe is always giving gifts. The universe has gifts for you and you must be home to receive them. So this is a place for you to come home so you can receive the gifts the universe is giving you every moment. Every moment the universe gives you a self, gives you life. And there's no limit to the gifts that the universe gives you. But we must be able to receive the gift. That's our job.

[07:27]

And everyone's helping us and it's our job to realize that everybody's helping us Every moment is a gift to the universe, a boundless gift to the universe. But you must be home to witness the gift that you are. You must be home to giving yourself. The translation we've been reciting at this point in the text says, when you practice intimately and return to where you are, that's a beautiful description of practice.

[08:36]

But the other translations are different. Not better, but they make a different point. They say, when you make all your daily deeds, when you make all your daily deeds familiar and return to yourself, Another one says, when you become familiar with each action and come back to a concrete place. Another one says, when you give close attention to all your actions. So these other translations point out that yes, you practice intimately, but in particular Intimacy is focused on action, which means to focus on intention.

[09:44]

And to make every action, to dedicate every action to caring. When we when we have our meal, we chant, and the chant says something like, at one point it says, first is first this for the three treasures. Does that sound familiar? First this is for the three treasures. What it literally says is, the first bite. is for the three treasures. The first mouthful is for the three treasures. Character has something to do with a mouth and teeth. And I was on the committee where they translated as first.

[10:56]

They thought it was weird to say the first bite. Afraid of what Western people would think. these weird Asian people talking about the first bite. But that's, I think, more to the point. It's not just this, this, it is this, but this is actually, they're trying to when you bite, that first bite, this is for the triple treasure, this is for the three treasures. I eat this, I take this bite, this action, I'm with this action, triple treasure while I eat, while I bite. The second bite is for the four benefactors. The final bite, the third bite anyway, is for all beings in the six realms.

[11:57]

That's what this bite is for. That's what I want this bite for. And then we say, may all be equally nourished. Of course, people eat different things, but I thought, equally nourished, I would say, one meaning of that would be, may all be infused, may all actions of all beings be infused with nourishment. The nourishment of seeing that this action is the whole works. This action is the whole working through this action. So this emphasis is not just that you're watching your actions so that your actions will evolve

[13:00]

and that you will finally understand karma and be released. But that the whole universe will be realized in every action. And every action, every action of every individual will realize the whole universe. So that your study will be the accomplishment of all beings. So again, there's a basic principle that recognizing and accepting and understanding that an individual action, like a bite, the limited activity of a bite of food, that that limit of a bite of food

[14:01]

if you recognize that limited activity as a limited activity and you accept it as a limited activity and you understand it as a limited activity. Understanding that is the key to realizing the universe. It's the place where the universe is manifested in practice. The universe is not manifested in practice in a general way. It's realized in practice in a universal, concrete place. At universal, limited places. And we are in limited places. We are in circles of water and at those places We have this mind to carry all beings and the triple treasure and all benefactors with each thing we do.

[15:07]

Someone said, if you're constantly asking what is it that thus comes, when do you get a chance to just stop and enjoy the vast spaciousness? And one response to that would be you can stop and enjoy the vast spaciousness anytime you want. That's somewhat similar to the first bite. The first bite The first bite of vast spaciousness. Delicious vast spaciousness. Enjoy it. No problem. And also while I'm enjoying this vast spaciousness, My enjoyment of Vaspaciousness is not just for me to enjoy, although I'm a little guy here enjoying it.

[16:43]

It is delicious. I'm happy. Thank you. Thank you everyone for letting me munch on Vaspaciousness. I love it. But also, thank you. And please, I'm doing, I'm eating for you who have given me this opportunity. Give back. I dedicate my enjoyment and the merit of me munching on vastness, I dedicate it to the Triple Treasure. Also, while I'm enjoying vast spaciousness, I also wonder, you know, what it is. I have my own little munch on it. I'm here, I am enjoying it. oceanic vast spaciousness, but actually I'm just seeing a circle of it, and that circle of it could be my mouth. It's my little access to vast spaciousness. And I wonder what vast spaciousness is, because also it has access to me through my little circle.

[17:51]

And my circle is could be said to be little. But then he also points out that, you know, the moon doesn't get crunched by being, as it enters, the light of the moon doesn't get crunched as it enters a drop of water. The drop of water has not exploded and the moon's not squished. The vastness comes into this small person, it isn't hurt. And this person can wonder, what is the moon? And not answer the question. Just wonder. And also remember that the moon that I'm eating is part of what allows me to eat the moon. But I'm not actually eating the moon. taking, paying close attention to a small part of the universe like your action right now and realizing that it's a small part of the universe right now and accepting that realizes the entire sky, the whole earth, the whole universe and the whole universe realizes you having a small bite of it.

[19:25]

The key thing is to return here and enjoy it, to return here and enter the process of the whole works, the process of the universe being realized. Enter the process, join the reality of the realized universe. But again, it's not just signing up and sitting in the grandstand. It's signing up and leaping into the process in the moment. In the moment. And being awake of what it's like when you and notice and remember the teachings that this is just a circle of water of what it's like to be of what the process is.

[20:29]

But once again the whole works through that circle. Sakyurashi said one time something like, there are these... I'm not so concerned about profound teachings. Give me a rock that I can put my hands on and move a little bit, or get you guys to move. But that's not... concerns for the universe, it just gives me something to pay attention to, some action to be intimate with, so I can realize the universe working here through this action.

[21:39]

When the dharma does not fill our body and mind, We think that the action is complete, the vastness is complete, the practice is complete, the understanding is complete. When the Dharma does fill us, we realize that it's very small and limited. It works through the limited. In its totality it doesn't do any work. Its totality is complete. It works through incompleteness. In its completeness it's done. And there is no completeness because it's working through all the incompleteness. And we are the incompleteness.

[22:49]

We are the life of the universe. And when we're sick, we're the life of the universe. And when we're happy, we're the life of the universe. When we're grateful, when we're ungrateful, in any case, we are the life of the universe. We're where the universe is working. You could say hard, but I would say fully. The universe is working fully through every one of its creations, and we are right now one of them. practice intimately and you will enjoy that you are the universe realizing itself as you. And that's a real tiny little thing. And that's the way the universe gets realized. And also this tiny little thing realizes the whole universe. So once again this emphasis between the small concentrated particular pattern of relationship which is the action of the moment of consciousness, that study is a traditional study from the early teachings and in the early teachings the Buddha didn't mention that this process

[24:19]

studying karma, studying action, studying intention. He did mention that it was a path of liberation from the suffering and ignorance which karma drives. He did mention that. Later it was shown and demonstrated that the universe is involved in the pattern of each action and by studying action the entire universe is realized And by realizing liberation through this action, the entire universe is liberated. So the accomplishment of the study of the drop of water is the accomplishment of the moon and the whole sky. The universal vehicle is not realized through generality, it is realized through limitation, through specificity, through action, through action, through action.

[25:35]

Being present with action is being at the site where the universe is realized, the site of enlightenment, is this mind and its activity. Its activity when not attended creates worlds of suffering. Its activity when not attended has the consequence of creating world. Attending its activity liberates worlds. The activity doesn't liberate worlds. The activity worlds of suffering, attending to the activity opens the world up, realizes the universal vehicle. It's the practice of attending to action that liberates and the action unattended enslaves.

[26:39]

Unintended, unattended, even good unintended actions contribute to enclosure So there's an art of attending. That's the art. That's the essential art of zazen, the art of attending to thinking, non-thinking, which is beyond thinking. So I like the translation now, which instead of saying, think of not thinking, I think it's better to say, think of that which does not think. Turn your thinking towards that which does not think, is the awareness which then can be turned back into thinking again.

[27:47]

back on the action. Thinking is the definition of action. The action evolution, moral action is the one we're looking at. The art of zazen is the art of cultivating the consciousness beyond thinking which studies thinking, illuminates thinking, and resolves the problem of thinking. It's the consciousness which illuminates karma, understands karma, and realizes Buddha's cognition. Buddha is the understanding of karma. Those who have great illumination are Buddhists. Those who have great illumination of intention, the patterns of relationship, are Buddhas.

[28:51]

That consciousness is beyond thinking. That's the art of sitting meditation. But as I said over and over, in order to be effective at this non-thinking, we need to be settled. In order to receive the gifts that come with non-thinking, we need to be honed. And then once practiced non-thinking, study the karma, study the intention. Any response or feedback to me or any feedback on the teaching? Yes, Lee and... The length of it, did you say?

[30:09]

Did you say the length of the pentacle arising? Oh, the length of the pentacle arising, yeah, uh-huh. Yes, the link, the twelve links you're speaking of, maybe? The first link is consciousness, the next one activity, karma. You mean in particular those links? Yeah, so there's a chain which in three links are...

[31:17]

consciousness, karmic formations and consciousness. So karma is responsible for ignorance and suffering. So you can go backwards from karmic activity to ignorance and back to old age, sickness, death and so on, the mass of suffering. Okay? Karma is a condition for ignorance. Ignorance is a condition for suffering. Suffering is a condition for ignorance. Ignorance is a condition for action. Action is a condition for consciousness and action is a condition for action.

[32:22]

Karmic formations do not arise without consciousness. Consciousness does not arise without karmic formations. Turning the consciousness which depends on activity illuminates activity Illuminating activity resolves and finds the selflessness of activity and illuminates and resolves the selflessness of ignorance. You can also go in the other direction. Speaking of those three, I'm emphasizing here to bring the consciousness back, to bring the third link back, in a sense, to the second link, over and over. focusing on action. Now some people focus on other points. Talking about here studying action.

[33:24]

Every experience is the whole works. Every experience is the whole working. A feeling is the whole working. However, action is in a sense more clearly and obviously and easily accessibly the whole works because action is a pattern of relationship of consciousness. It's an easy door, easiest door in a way, to understand that this phenomenon doesn't exist by itself, it is just a pattern of relationship. that what you do for example some good you want to do is pretty clearly it's not good if it has a bad result you intend it to be good but you understand as you study more and more that you don't know if it's good until you see the result you don't know it's good until you see the consequence so you do it with an awareness that this is a circle of water because you're dealing with a relationship

[34:39]

And it's not up to you by yourself whether it's actually good. However, from the way it looks where you are, it looks good. So, here we go. Or the way it looks to you, it's bad. But here we go. But you're not done even with the bad one. Because you know that this is a relational dharma you're looking at. The other ones are too, but not as clearly, not as obviously. So turning the consciousness back onto, this is another understanding of the backward step, turning the karmic light of consciousness back onto your every action. When you illuminate karmic formations, you illuminate ignorance, you illuminate delusion. And those who illuminate karma and ignorance are Buddhas. Now this is not easy because the consciousness we've got to work with is a consciousness which depends on karma.

[35:46]

And karma has created obstructions in consciousness. So it's not easy to use an obstructed consciousness to study that which contributes to its obstructions. Although it's not easy, it's extremely appropriate because you looking at the source of the obstructions is highly appropriate so it's the most appropriate in some sense the most difficult thing to look at it's being recommended and particularly in Soto Zen it's being recommended to practice intimately with every daily deed studying scriptures is okay in Soto Zen but it's important that when you study them you remember that you're involved in an activity and you study the intention of the activity of study you learn the intention of the activity of studying a scripture you don't have to study scriptures if you study what the scriptures are telling you to study

[37:06]

And if you can remember what the scriptures are telling you to study, it's okay to study scriptures. But if you forget what the scriptures are telling you to study and study scriptures, you're wasting your time. You're wasting the time the universe is giving you to study what you're supposed to be studying, namely the activity which is your relationship to the universe. Your action is your relationship to the universe. If you study your action, you will realize your relationship with the universe. So your activity can be studying Buddhist teachings and so on. It's okay. It can be anything. But what is the intention? The intention in the action is the part to look at. And there's always one there. And if you stay there, it will be illuminated. And then ignorance will be illuminated. And then right in this situation of karma, and ignorance and suffering, right in that situation, there will be the realization of the Buddha, which is the realization of how delusion is the manifestation of the whole works.

[38:34]

It's the realization how delusion is the actualization of the fundamental point of delusion. Buddhas understand the fundamental point of delusion and enlightenment. But if you don't have enlightenment to study, you have delusion. If you realize the fundamental point of delusion, of ignorance, Buddha is realized. Is that enough on that, Lee? Is that too much on that, Lee? Sarah? I have a Christian friend who asked me once, in a way, I understand that there is a force in the universe that wants only good. I don't understand. There is a thing that finds good things in good things. seems to me in various ways it seems to me that that's so but the good that I think that this force is working towards is not the good which is the opposite of evil I would say it's the it's the way everything's

[40:03]

working together in harmony. That this harmonious and peaceful mutual nourishing and assistance among all beings is the enlightenment activity of all beings and the assisting loving activity of all beings. And there's a pressure from this process that all beings will realize this, because if beings don't realize it, they're not comfortable. So, you could say it's a little bit mean, because it doesn't let us just like, what do you call it, be on the dole, you know. It gives us gifts every moment, but it won't let us not understand that it's giving us gifts. It won't let us So it's not only that the universe is beneficent and that Buddha is beneficent, but Buddha also wants us to understand how this all works, Buddha's wisdom.

[41:21]

Because Buddha understands that the universe is pressuring us to understand. that how everything actually works, how everything is the whole works, how everything is the whole working. So this logical imperative that we realize the logic of interdependence and it just turns out that we're not allowed to be comfortable in not understanding. So there's a pressure on us to understand. However, it's a kind of pressure when possible. But if we won't study, it gets more and more severe. Back to, like, when whatever appears If you won't study this, well how about this?

[42:30]

And if you won't study then, well how about this? And if you won't study then, now will this be sufficient for you to start studying? When are you going to sign up? What do we have to do to get you to like start paying attention? We will do whatever is necessary to get you to start learning who you are which is the same as learning what peace is. Learning what peace is, learning what happiness is, learning what beneficence is, learning what harmony is, doesn't skip over anything. And if we skip over anything, then the harmony says, come on, look at that tomb, look at this, And you say, I don't have time. He says, come on, please. I don't have time. I'm not going to do, no. Please.

[43:32]

Somebody's going to have a tantrum if you don't pay attention. Okay. What do you want? What's the gift? Yeah, so I basically agree with that. a holly from yesterday. Actions that don't enter the karmic circle. So the Buddha said in one text that he said, you know, if someone says that every experience is due to action, you know, action meaning the pattern of relationship in consciousness, that would not be correct.

[44:43]

Our experience is due to And he lists eight things, you know, like bile, phlegm, and wind, and the relationship, change of seasons, attack from other beings, carelessness, and karmic fruition is one of the eight. It's just that the other seven, if you look at those, they're not evolutionary factors. Right. So Buddha didn't recommend, you know, in every moment focusing on which season it was or the bodily humors. although it's more like given a bodily humor, what's the action there?

[45:50]

Carelessness? Yeah, I can understand that. So let's continue to wonder about that, shall we? Because that sounds a little bit like karma, doesn't it? No, no, it's more like, it's also almost like carelessness or recklessness is more, huh? Maybe, but it's more like, I think, recklessness or carelessness. And so that sounds like related to not paying attention to the action, doesn't it? Someone else's recklessness? Yeah, yeah. And let's see, there was somebody else a while ago. Oh, yes.

[46:58]

Yeah? Yes, we're already there. We're already there. We need to recognize that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Right. And we say this because people can dream at home. We can be distracted. Yeah. Cognition?

[48:30]

Cognition is a synonym for like awareness or basic awareness or consciousness. C-O-G-N-I-T-I-O-N. Is that right? Yes and yes. Pattern of relationship. Yes. and see the pattern of relationship, if it looks general to you, then start with what it doesn't look general. In other words, some, again, what do you call it, some concrete, you know, sorry, but concrete version of

[49:39]

And that's usually when people start getting a sense of their intention, it's like a concrete kind of gross version of it. Because it's hard to find a relationship. But as you study the concrete, more and more you realize it's a relation. When you study the concreteness of your action, it's not actually in a bubble. But it's hard to find a relationship that doesn't have any limit. Yes, but even before you look at the genesis, you might just say, oh, there's an impulse or there's an intention to clean the bowl. You see, oh, there's, quote, an intention to clean the bowl. oh, that had an origination and that has a ceasing.

[50:44]

After a while, it seems to be gone. There's no more intention to clean the bowl, maybe, after a certain point. But then you notice, oh, but this has to do with this cleaning the bowl. What the cleaning the bowl is has something to do with whether the bowl gets cleaned. how long it takes, and whether I get, you know, what do you call it, that little, what do you call it, that award at the end of the session for the best bowl cleaner. All these things, you start to see that this bowl cleaning is a relational thing. Then you start to think, oh, actually, it's a relationship. It's a pattern of relationship. It's not just clean the bowl. And I guess It's limited, but it's also, in addition to being limited, it's self on the action. It's not just mind. but there's a me there who has the action or does the action.

[51:51]

So there's a bunch of chunky little isolated entities imagined in the action. But as you study it more carefully, it says when you pay close attention to your action, you will see that nothing, including that action, is a self or has a self. You'll see that. But that's also similar when you... the way you open up to that usually is to see that this thing that skillful washing the bowl depends on the consequences of the skillful washing the bowl. The unskillful also depends on consequences, but also depends on past. And actually you start to see that the action which seemed to have a self But it's a relationship between past and future. It's nothing in addition to that. It's just a transition point. And so on. It seems like the direction that I want to go, that I've been practicing for a long time, is to go to the invitation of the emptiness of the black, and the existence of the self, of the tension,

[53:07]

You know, working with this what you're just saying, looking at an action and then having such additional perspectives on the action of the body, this story is a normal part of such study. It will become clear, but it won't become clear necessarily quickly or slowly. It's complex because there's karmic obstruction involved in looking at karma. including scriptures which you have participated in studying. That has an effect on the way you look. And comic books also have an effect on the way you look at action. All past patterns and present patterns and future patterns affect the present pattern.

[54:32]

And so this is not recall this isn't you necessarily will immediately become intimate with but you can work on it with some confidence perhaps that this is a good thing to work on study learn about I see you and I think I don't know who's next but maybe yeah pardon maybe you heard me say that those are the fruits of

[55:36]

that can be referring to is the state of tranquility. Did you say it might be okay to feel and flexible and joyful? Yeah. It might be okay to feel that way? You're considering that? In this place. It looked a little brimming.

[56:58]

The game is changing. And I contributed to the change, but you contributed to the change too. But the information and the reality that tranquility is being full and brimming of vitality and being buoyant and joyful and flexible and concentrated and stable, that information has been around for a long time if you look at people who are practicing that way, those who have not yet attained that state, but who are working on it, they may look like zombies.

[58:14]

And they may feel like zombies. Those who look like zombies are not actually zombies, they're angry people who look like zombies, because they're angry that they're zombies. They're angry that they haven't yet attained concentration. Or they're jealous of the people around them who have attained concentration. But some of them look like zombies, but aren't. And they're perfectly happy with the way they are. They're full of joy that they look like a zombie. They're not going around like, Hey, I have attained buoyancy. Here I am. Look over here. They are enjoying... And, of course, when you become buoyant, you can see more clearly who's buoyant. And you can see that those who are buoyant don't necessarily look buoyant, but there are certain subtleties in the way that they move which reveal that they've attained a state of tranquility. Sort of like the warm-up to learning the Buddha way.

[59:25]

Because when you're in that state, you hear about the Buddha way and you say, yeah, I would like to learn about that. And then you start studying it and you say, boo, this is extremely hard. Wow, this is like really deep. This is like endless. You know, I look for it. That's the buoyancy, like keep boing, boing, boing. You jump in and everybody pulls you to shreds and you go, this is great. And they punch you some more and you say, oh, this is fabulous. You say, this is not fun. They say, oh, you need to practice more tranquility. When you're tranquil, they can pummel you and you sort of say, oh, let's learn more. Can I learn more about how you do this? Show me how you do that. So we need this kind of like soft, pliant, joyful body and mind in order to do the hard work of studying karma, of facing karmic obstructions, of wondering what they are, of seeing how is this the Buddhadharma, and then also getting instruction about, oh, when we say how it is, you're not supposed to tell us.

[60:39]

Don't say that this is it, that misses the point. Okay. But now you understand, right? That that's necessary. It isn't exactly okay. Tranquility is not exactly okay. It's necessary. And that's more like a little bit more serious. It's necessary. We need it in order to do the work. We also need patience in order to be tranquil. And we need patience with tranquility in order to work with the pains that come in the tranquility. We need generosity, we need the precepts, we need diligence. All these practices work together, we need them all. And we need, which means we need a buoyant, generous, joyful, patient, ethically disciplined, enthusiastic, flexible, calm state to study the self.

[61:51]

That's an old teaching, real old. Sometimes when you come to Zen Center, you don't hear it the first thing when you walk in the door. What you see is a bunch of zombies. And you start becoming one. And then you hear about this practice of tranquility and then you become a buoyant person who looks like one. And then somebody comes up to you and says, are you a zombie? And you say, well, I know, I look like one, but actually I'm a ball of buoyancy and joy. Want some? Yes, Esther? Yes, Esther and then Elena. Can I take the first part, just the first part?

[63:08]

She said, is it useful or appropriate to consider physical sensation as karmic action? Did you say intentional action? No, it's not appropriate to see it as the way that karmic action matures. Physical sensation is the way intentional activity comes to consequence. However, that's not the same as to say that karmic activity is the cause, is what makes the sensation happen. The sensation can be due to many factors, but the sensation will be the place where the karmic consequence matures. I know that's a real complex thought, but anyway, feelings are not... Feelings of pain, pleasure, and neutral sensation are not actions.

[64:15]

They are results. Experiences are results. The word that they use for feeling or sensation, the Chinese character, means to receive. Feelings are received. You don't do feelings. Feelings are received. Every moment of consciousness has a feeling, which is a receiving fruit. And it is a receiving, but it also is a maturing of past action. But the past action is not the cause of it. It's one of the eight types of cause of it. So the analogy I would give you, which is a rather complicated one, would be many conditions lead to something happening, like a feeling, like the weather, bodily conditions, various social factors, and also intention are in the background of something happening.

[65:18]

but it's the place of the origin of the action which receives the fruit. Whereas the season doesn't receive the fruit of the feeling. The karmic karma matures as the feeling. But once again, feeling is not and action. And one of the things that surprised me is that the world of hell, for example, being in a hellish experience where you feel tormented, when you're living in a world where you think everybody is a cruel guard in your prison. Have you heard about that? That's called prison with mean guards. Some people see the Zendo that way. There was one, one of our Suzuki Roshi students thought Suzuki Roshi was part of a Japanese revenge for World War II, you know.

[66:29]

That they sent these little priests over to trap Americans in these torture chambers and beat them up. So when you, that's kind of, that's... But being in hell is not an action. And its karmic quality is neutral. It's not good karma. It's not bad karma. It's not really, it doesn't have a karmic quality. And it's actually undefiled. It's just an experience. No, no. No, no, no. When you're feeling in pain, at that time there's an intention, but the intention of the moment is not the feeling. The feeling is the result or the maturing of past intentions. So like somebody slugs your cheek or slugs you in the face and you feel some pain or pleasure, at that time there's an intention there. Like, I'd like to help this person or I'd like to get away from this person.

[67:33]

There's an intention there. So there's intention simultaneous always with a feeling. But the feelings... Say again? No, it's close, but the intention is in the thinking. The intention is the thinking that not only accompanies the feeling, but which includes the feeling in the pattern, which is the thinking. The thinking is the pattern of the consciousness in which the feeling arises. There's many other factors in the moment. Feeling is one of them. Feeling is part of the pattern of your thinking, the pattern of your intention. So every moment there's a feeling, and the feeling is part of the pattern. The pattern is the intention. It will have a consequence and one of the consequences is the maturing of the intention and the way intentions mature is as pain and pleasure. That's the way they mature as suffering and ease.

[68:36]

But when understood one attains liberation from the whole cause and effect process. That's the first part of your question. So feelings are not actions. Anger, in a sense, is not what we mean by karma. But anger is a pattern in which a moment will have a certain pattern. And often anger is part of a pattern which is unskillful. But anger by itself, it could arise in some context in which the pattern could be skillful and beneficial. Again, is what? Hmm? What? Paying attention to the pattern. If you pay attention to the pattern, no matter how bad it is, That's what Buddha would do. And paying attention to the pattern, the intention in the moment where there's lots of negative emotion, is the process of liberation, or one of the key factors in it.

[69:52]

Okay, what's the next part? When you use the word thought, what do you mean? Do you mean the cognition or do you mean thinking? Thought can mean the general cognition, but thought can also be a concept. Thought is usually not used as equivalent to thinking. Okay. Yeah, a word can be a thought. So you have a thought? Yes? Yes, what about it? No. A thought would be part of the pattern in which you would find your intention. So a thought arises, whatever, anything, and then there's some intention in relationship to that thought, or rather the relationship

[70:59]

The intention is the action, not the thought. So a thought arises and you think, oh, this thought is for the three treasures. That's a certain intention. Or this thought is an opportunity for cruelty and I would like to be involved in it. That's another But there could also be another thought, another kind of like aspect of thinking which counteracts the cruel thought, the cruel intention. So the resolution of various patterns within the pattern could come up with all these different possible patterns. And the pattern of intention is the karma. And some patterns are so complex that even Buddha would look and say, I don't know about that one, especially considering that we don't know what the consequence is going to be. But some patterns really do look really nice, like the person is feeling angry and says, I'm going to feel this anger for the triple treasure.

[72:04]

The first bite of this anger is for the triple treasure. The next bite is for the three benefactors. The next bite is for the welfare of all beings. Those attitudes coexisting with anger might make the state of consciousness look pretty good. But we don't know yet. Some more. Study some more and watch what's the next thing that happens. So it's not like, okay, now I'm done. I know what's going on. No. Next one, next one, next one. Keep studying. Okay? Elena? Should we come back later? Okay. All right. Jeff, you get at least one question per session. No, you contribute to the creation of your own intention and you contribute to the creation of my intention.

[73:07]

Thank you very much. You've made some real difficult intentions. We all contribute to each other's intentions. We do not make our own by ourselves, but we contribute to our own. So we are responsible for all of our intentions and we are responsible for everybody else's intentions. We are responsible for the world which all of our intentions have created. We're all responsible, we're all contributing, every intention has consequence. The world represents the consequence of intention, including all the different feelings which all the different individuals are experiencing, that's part of the world too. So you contribute to your intentions because when this intention, once this intention arises, I should say not so much you contribute to your intentions, but your intentions which arise in you, they contribute to further intention.

[74:11]

So you are a person who arises through the interaction of the universe born, and this body interacts with the world, cognition arises, intention arises, and that intention becomes a condition for further intention. But the world made the intention, so the world is responsible for the intention, but then this intention is responsible for the world. So it's very mutual, and there's no locus of unique responsibility. The responsibility is working everywhere. it's working at each place, and each place is responsible for all the other places where other intentions are working. Okay? Is that clear? And the next is Lynn. Yes, Lynn? Did you say often there is thought? .

[75:22]

Yeah. Yes. Yes. But the answer is yes. Yes. She says, does that also have intention? Whatever she described, any state of experience, yes, it has intention. There is an intention. In some situations, it's easy to find the intention. Some situations are hard to find the intention. But there are intentions in dreams. You could meditate on the intention that you have in your dreaming. Whether you're dreaming with your eyes open or your eyes shut, there's an intention in all consciousness. This doesn't come across the tape, but her mouth is wide open.

[76:40]

I don't know what that means, but you look aghast. Depends on the therapist and the client. Some clients are primarily concerned with and they do not wish to notice their intention. Some clients are only concerned with noticing their intention and some therapists really want their clients to tune in to their intention because a lot of therapists are disciples of Buddha and they really think that that would be helpful. Some people are too, what do you call it, too agitated to effectively look at their intention. If they look at their intention, they just become more upset with not being able to find it. And they can't find it because they're so upset. If you're really disturbed, it's hard to see what your intention is. It's hard to even look anyplace. Look, you see your disturbance and then you get upset about seeing your disturbance and you become more disturbed.

[77:46]

So some psychotherapy is actually more akin to helping the person become buoyant and at ease and flexible and concentrated. Some therapists are working on tranquility projects, which is fine. Then once they are rather tranquil, then they might get them to start looking at their intention. So it depends on the therapist's understanding, the client's condition. And the same in Zen. Sometimes somebody says, I want to study intention. You say, but first of all, settle yourself before you start studying yourself. You're too agitated right now to do that effectively. So why don't you calm down first and come back to where you are and settle. And then when you feel that way, we can start looking at what your intention is. You'll be much more able to find it. So it depends on the person. You could be doing this work. It's fine with me if the psychotherapists are really bodhisattva meditation instructions. No problem.

[78:47]

Some are. Some may not be. But bodhisattvas, wherever the person's at, hopefully, will try to give an instruction which will help them. the study of karma, which means the study of intention, which means the study of interdependence in consciousness, and the relationship between interdependence in consciousness to interdependence between the consciousness and the formation of the world. We usually start with here. As you understand this, you see how this is related to the entire universe. That's the theory by which meditation might be helpful to realize peace in the entire world. This is, you know, my response to realizing and addressing the misery of war and violence. Yes? There was somebody...

[79:50]

I see Jane, but there was somebody else over there. No? Oh, yeah. Linda. No. It doesn't go with increased responsibility. Increasing responsibility is... you know, it's okay to measure it, but basically you're completely responsible for everything, but you're not uniquely responsible for everything. So increased awareness of responsibility is possible, but your responsibility can decrease. You're always precisely responsible in relationship to your precise contribution. and your precise ability to respond. That's always the case.

[80:53]

It's just the way it is. However, in some cases people don't look at their karma and therefore they don't necessarily look at the way they're involved in the creation of the world so they don't see how they're responsible. So they don't feel responsible. But they are. We are responsible. Like some parents don't feel responsible for their kids, and some kids don't feel responsible for their parents. Okay, fine. You are, but you don't see it. When you start to see it, you may think your responsibility increased, but your awareness showed you your responsibility. There's no boundaries on responsibility. but we have different responsibilities. My responsibility to your children is different than my responsibility to Linda's children and mine. Different responsibilities, but there's not some limit on them.

[81:55]

Only the mind would put the limits on it. Set up limits and boundaries for meditation purposes, but there are not limits on responsibility. They're just devices to help people find a place to return to where they are. So like we have, the Eno has a certain responsibility for the Zendo, different from you. But we're all responsible for it. Does that make sense? Jane? Change your mind. My mind changed. Michelle? Tom? Somebody else? Sarah? One example, the ball, cleaning the ball. The intention arises to clean the ball, but the moment I look for intention, I'm already in thought. So it feels like there's a constant changing, a constant arising of intention, and it's always muted.

[83:01]

Yes, that's right, it's always changing. Yes, that's right. And so I cannot take a picture. Did you say you cannot? Well, I can't think of it. It's the past. That's right. It's not any more than that. Yeah. It's the past. Yeah. It's the past and the future. So you've got to rise up from the past and it goes to the future. But the way you experience it, it's always moving. It's always changing. Okay. It's always now. As a concept, I can understand the past. It's an experience. It feels it's always needed. So I can take a picture and keep it. Yeah, it's probably true. You could, but it wouldn't, you know. Maybe some people do think they can take pictures and keep the pictures. I notice people do that sometimes.

[84:06]

They go around, take pictures, and keep them. And I have a picture of these people taking pictures. I don't have a camera, but I have an internal camera where I take pictures of people who take pictures. Because there was a time when I had a relationship with these people of looking at them and seeing them taking pictures. And that had an effect. But at that time, there was a pattern in my relationship with them. And so I got a little... And it's changing. The question is, at least because it's that good in the gross way, you don't have to... I feel like I can get a sense of intention. I get a sense of intention. I'm cleaning my body. I keep constantly paying attention. The attention is all the time there, pointed to the intention.

[85:08]

Yes, right. I'm able to keep going all the time. Yes. The moment I, in my case, when I move, I'm aware of my intention. ...move, you forget about looking for the intention? Yes, I'm looking at it. Yes, I'm looking at it. Right. So you, at some point, you notice in your mind the intention to pay attention. You notice that. Then you think, okay, maybe now I'll pay attention. So you start to pay attention, but then when there's movement, you have trouble paying attention. remembering that you wanted to pay attention to the intention. This is quite typical of such study. But you do sometimes get a sense of the intention. When you first get a sense of the intention, that doesn't mean you really see the intention, you just have a sense of it. That's a start. Then in the next moment you forget even to look.

[86:11]

the activity occurs, but you don't look to see what the intention is. There was an intention, there was a pattern, and when you actually see it, you can also, part of the pattern is, when you see an intention you can say, but that's not the intention. You can have a comment on the intention, but the comment on the intention is included in the pattern too. So you notice, oh, when I look for intentions, more complicated by noticing that they're changing. I accept that. And I work with that. I have a more complex, I have a really complex pattern here, which includes reflections on relationships of awareness to the pattern itself. But the point is you're generally looking in the direction of being aware of your action. looking in the direction of becoming familiar with your daily action. This is encouraged. And sometimes you will get a little glimpse.

[87:15]

Here's an action, and there was an intention in the action. There was an intention in the action. There was a wish in the action. And then it changes, and you see again, you see. And sometimes you feel, I really wish to have a wish in this intention. and now I'm in a zendo where I'm about to receive food and I'm saying, the food I take will be. Then when you finish the chanting and you bring the food to your mouth, you notice you don't remember that you're going to make this first bite for the triple treasure. But sometimes you bring the food and you say, you notice the triple treasure is coming with the food or the triple treasure. Sometimes you notice it and you go, hmm, It happened. I was taking a bite and it was for the triple treasure. It happened. I was there. Amazing. But it's equally amazing to, here comes the food.

[88:17]

Hey, I'm not wishing this for the triple treasure. Oh, but that's another thing you can do it for. This is the first bite, but it really should be the third bite, which I'm supposed to dedicate to my neighbor who is in heaven. You know? It's kind of funny to get in there and actually notice that you are an intending being. You are a conscious being that has and sometimes you notice and sometimes you don't. The more you notice, the more you notice, the more you notice. The less you notice, the less you notice, the less you notice. The more you become skillful at this, the more you become skillful at this. But it's infinitely complex. The universe is infinitely complex. The pattern of the universe contributes to the pattern of our intention, and the pattern of our intention contributes to the pattern and complexity of the universe. Studying intention is studying the formation of the world. Understanding the formation of intention is understanding the formation of the world.

[89:22]

Understanding the formation of intention greatly is Buddha. Buddhas also understand the formation of the world because understanding the formation of intention comes with understanding the formation of the world. They go together. ...of intention, of karma. And you're telling us about some of the practical, experiential challenges that occur when you start looking at it because it's a high-speed, complex process. That's why you need to be buoyant and silly. Like, hey, I'm going to study this even though it's really complex, but I'm just going to be, I'm going to keep doing it. And if it's too much, I'm getting tired, this is too much, I'm getting upset, okay, well, time out. You know, go sit down and calm down. Okay, I'm ready to go back and study intention.

[90:23]

Last time I really got upset, but this time, this time, even though I got upset last time, I want to go back and do it again. I was walking around Tassajara one time with my grandson a couple years ago. Three years ago, he came to visit for a few days, and he'd never been away for so long. He was away for four days, and on the second or third day he said, I want my mommy, I want my mom. This is what his mother used to say. My mother used to say when she was with me and her mom wasn't around, I want my mommy, I want my mommy, I want my mommy. I want my mommy, I want... And then later in the day he said, remember earlier today I was... My mommy? Wasn't that silly? Remember earlier today I was saying, boy, studying karma is really hard. I can't do it. It's too hard. Oh, jeez, I get upset. It's such a mess. I try and I can't. It slips away and I... Remember how I was that way? But now I want to study it. But it's hard. We have to be calm in order to study it effectively and be relaxed in the fact that you're studying something and you can't get a hold of it.

[91:30]

I want to study it, but it keeps slipping away. Yeah, right, let's go. Even if you get a hold of it, then later you're not going to get a hold of it. You're going to finally get to a place where you study what you could get a hold of and what got a hold of you. Karma, you know, we do think we can do something, and we do think something is doing something to us. And it's very clear what something is doing to us, and it's very solid, and okay, okay, let's study that. And as you study, you find out, well, actually, I can't get a hold of what I'm doing or what's being done to me. So in some ways, you're already seeing the way you'll see it when you understand. I mean, you can't grasp the process. Maybe you're already enlightened. And this is what it's like. And if you argue with me, that's okay. You want to argue that you're not enlightened? No, he doesn't. He seems okay with that idea.

[92:35]

That's great. And you're not insulted. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, agitation. Yes. Yeah, doubt. Excuse me, but I'd like to say that the five hindrances are specifically hindrances to tranquility practice. There's other kinds of doubt, but there's the doubt that comes up when you're doing tranquility practice. So those five hindrances are for that kind of practice. And that kind of doubt is usually addressed by telling your meditation instructor that you doubt the efficacy of tranquility practice.

[93:43]

And you express your doubts and you talk it over with them until you feel like, okay, I'll go back and practice tranquility some more. Once you're tranquil, you have different kinds of doubt. like doubts as to the nature of existence or something. But the doubt we're talking about in the Five Hindrances is a doubt that it's worthwhile to practice tranquility. A doubt, for example, that it's worthwhile to do certain activities to reduce agitation. Because you tried these exercises to reduce agitation and they didn't work. So then you doubt that they're worthwhile even endeavoring it. So then you tell the instructor, Oh, you doubt that these are effective? I do too. You're doing them backwards. Do them this way. And then come back and tell me. Then you do and you try and you say, I did them that way and they still didn't work. How did you do them? That's not the way. And then you try again. Because you talk it over and you think, oh, maybe that would work. And you try it. And finally, you're tranquil. Once you're tranquil and you start studying, then you have doubts about whether you understand the teaching properly as to the nature of reality.

[94:48]

So that's a different type of doubt. Does that make sense? Yeah. You're welcome. Sarah? Is it useful to look at it? I did look at it. and it is part of the study, but what do you call it? There is personal karma, and what was the other type you mentioned? Yeah, national karma. Usually the way they speak of it is individual karma and collective karma. National karma. The nation doesn't have an intention, but the sum total of all the intentions of the nation... you could call it national karma.

[95:50]

But it's really the collective karma of the people who live in the nation. And collective karma is what's responsible for the creation of worlds. Therefore, I and you, even though we voted against the war, you know, when they called us up and asked us if they should invade, and we said, please don't. You know, please don't invade Iraq. Remember when they asked us and we said, please don't. but they went ahead anyway, but still were responsible. If you ask me, you know, if you should do something, and I say, please don't, I'm still responsible if you do. So no matter whether we agree with what our friends and children do, when our children make mistakes, we're still responsible, even though we said, please don't do that, we're still responsible. And if we say, please do, and they don't, we're responsible that they don't. Whatever, anyway, we're implicated in the universe. But still, in a certain area, the collective karma of people who do things in that area makes a collective contribution to the creation of the world.

[96:57]

The world is the result of collective karma. But collective karma, your karma and my karma is not collective karma. your karma is yours and mine is mine, but yours affects mine and mine affects yours. And then there's a collection of our two karmas which affect each other. So a group of people, all their karmas affect each other and then there's a collective total of their contribution which makes a world. And the meditation on the relationship Meditation on karma is meditation on relationship, which includes meditation between your intention and other people's intention. Between when other people say, we vow to harm, you watch how that intention affects your intention. It does. It maybe makes you go along with it, or makes you more strongly committed to saying, I don't agree with you.

[97:58]

I don't agree with your intentions. I want to non-violently respond to your intention towards violence. But you wouldn't have felt that way if they didn't tell you they wanted to do this, they had this violent intention. Their intention affects your intention. We are that way. We are together here. And so our intentions, our individual, but our individual intention is due to everybody working through me right here. working through this person right here. Studying this place and this intention is the first step. You can't skip over this, because this is the place where you actually can see firsthand how the pattern of your intention is related to other intentions and other feelings and other beings. You can see it here. Then as you see it, you see that actually Of course, as your awareness changes, it has a different effect on their awareness than if you were not aware.

[99:07]

Evolution of your intention in relationship to your study of it affects other people's evolution. So we have these various teachers in the world who have been studying intention and encouraging others to study intention and that has had a certain effect and some of us like the effect that those the contribution of those who have studied their contribution and we don't generally like the contribution don't study their contribution we feel I shouldn't say don't like we feel really pained when we see the kind of contribution that's made when you don't attend to your contribution. It's very painful to see what people do when they're not paying attention to what they're doing. And then collectively is totally implicated as you study more and more clearly.

[100:10]

As you see your own pattern, you see the group pattern. Seeing one more clearly, you see the other more clearly. That's definitely part of it, especially emphasized in the Mahayana. In the early teaching, the individual intention was emphasized and not much was said about how to meditate on the Kali. But in the Abhidharma Kosha, the early teachings, and in the Buddha's words, he did teach at the early level that the worlds are a consequence of karma. He did teach that. But he didn't meditate on it the way, for example, the Abhidhamasaka Sutra does in the chapter on the formation of worlds. The Mahayana got more into meditation. The world has to be brought into meditation. this process of studying karma. But it was in the early teachings too. So it's not a new, it's not, it's in accord with Buddhist teachings but elaborated because the Mahayana is emphasizing that if you understand karma and you resolve it and you become free from the karmic process, it is not really important unless everybody is drawn into that.

[101:27]

Bernard? Done? Pardon? Okay, it's over. John. Oh, John. John, that's cool. Yes, John. Yes. Studying karma is a psychological study. Can I just say something? Just for a second. In my first psychology class in college, they said, psychology is a study of behavior. They did not say that psychology is a study of cognition. Okay. And we're going along with that. Studying behavior or action, studying karma is psychological. Excuse me. is that a consequence of taking a vow or practicing a principle that when that intention arises, it's a cognition?

[102:59]

How often? Yeah. I think I would say yeah. So let me just see if I got your point. You have cognition, which is another intention, right? And then there's a vow, did you say? The vow is another intention which might have been made earlier. or that's implied by actually your life. And the vow might be to work for peace. But the current intention might be to work for lunch and that you would get fed before other people or something. So that intention right now seems to be in dissonance with this vow. Is that the example you're talking about? And the dissonance, to notice the dissonance and confess the dissonance and repent the dissonance of the transgression between the current intention and the general universal vow.

[104:10]

They will come into harmony by repeatedly confessing the dissonance. That's what it says in the Ehekoso Hotsugamon. When your faith or practice are at odds with the intention of the Buddha, If you notice that and confess that, you will receive inevitably, always, lots of assistance to bring them into accord. And before they're in accord, there will be some pain. And the pain will help you be motivated to get this out there so that the dissonance will finally be resolved. And your intention will, even though your intentions maybe don't sound so universal, like I have the intention to flush the toilet or open the door or close the door. By working with the dissonance between flushing the toilet and saving all beings innumerable times, finally flushing the toilet is totally in accord with saving all beings. And you see that and understand that and share that and show other people how to do that.

[105:15]

But the dissonance is part of the process The pain of the dissonance is part of the pressure which forces us to unify and harmonize the current intention with our great intentions. Did that address your issue? No. Yeah, that's possible. But still, that's not best. It's good to notice those ones that don't have the pain in them. But the pain sometimes helps get your attention back on track. If it were painless to be inattentive to karma, why go to the trouble? Just coast along here and have lunch.

[106:18]

It's probably getting close to twelve. It's actually past twelve. So it is getting close to lunch. So probably we should conclude this. Is that okay? May our intention...

[106:39]

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