Yesterday we heard about a series of events involving an extremely large number of divine beings offering the Buddha each throne being very elaborate and highly adorned and large, in that they alone gave the Buddha a throne. And after they all gave these thrones, the Buddha then manifested innumerable Buddhas to sit on each throne. everyone, all the Buddhas, sitting on all the thrones.

[01:04]

And then the divine beings, one Buddha was the real Buddha, and the Buddha explained that all the Buddhas were the real Buddha. and that all the Buddhas were the same and that all beings are the same and that all dharmas are the same. And then the Buddha had the situation appear as though there were one Buddha sitting on one throne and this whole assembly saw no more than one single Buddha again, apparently sitting on not such quite a nice throne either.

[02:19]

Then the Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Dhridhamati, The shurangama samadhi, the heroic progress samadhi, is not obtained by bodhisattvas of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth stages. It is only obtained by a bodhisattva dwelling in the tenth stage. It is only a bodhisattva dwelling in the tenth stage who can obtain this heroic progress concentration. And the Buddha says, what is this shurangama samadhi?

[03:30]

And then he says a little bit about it. But before listening to what he said about it, I thought I might address the issue that this samadhi is for the highest level bodhisattvas. a human being. Yes? I think the only sure way would be that a Buddha would tell you what level you are. But you could also, there's a scripture, there's a section of the Avatamsaka Sutra which describes the various stages.

[04:36]

And you could read that. So, for example, but before I give the example, let me just say that, you know, apparently we have a room full of quite a few human beings in the room, it looks like, and human beings might wonder, just like Craig just did, well, what stage am I? Am I, by any chance, at tenth stage? If I was, then I guess I could obtain this samadhi. But if I'm not, then the Buddha just said I wouldn't be able to. And if by such acute reasoning you came to the conclusion that you were less than a tenth level bodhisattva.

[05:44]

By the way, just parenthetically before I get into details, Manjushri is a tenth level bodhisattva. Avalokiteshvara is a tenth level bodhisattva. Samantabhadra, these are really famous about their tenth level. But there are some other excellent bodhisattvas who aren't. Like Nagarjuna, you ever heard of him, Craig? He was first level. one of the greatest sages in history has been ranked as a first-level bodhisattva. However, Gassanga has tenth level. So there's various ranking systems, a little bit like, you know, some other ranking systems you've heard about. I mean, ranking among the world, in the world. Still, And maybe it's the case that not everybody in this room is a Tenth Level Bodhisattva, so then if we aren't, then what's the point of hearing about a practice that's only for Tenth Level Bodhisattvas?

[06:53]

It's questionable whether we should even listen to about a practice that's so advanced. It's questionable whether we will listen to such teachings. Yesterday as we were sitting, I sensed that there was pain someplace in the room and that there was, you know, at least a little bit of impatience with it.

[08:22]

SOME ROOM FOR GROWTH IN RELAXATION WITH THE PAIN. THE HUMANS IN THE ROOM SEEM TO BE HAVING SOME OF THEM. MAYBE NOT ALL BUT HAVING A LITTLE TROUBLE SETTLING INTO THE EXPERIENCE OF HAVING A BODY under these circumstances. And the thought arose somewhere, what's the relationship between this kind of down to earth struggle, having difficulty following this schedule, and this totally awesome samadhi of the bodhisattva.

[09:39]

And I actually propose to you what the relationship is. It's just they're very close, these two situations. They're just some resistance apart. Because this samadhi is the samadhi for realizing an enlightenment. And in the enlightenment, this is an enlightenment where you don't get anything. However, because you don't get anything, because nothing is gotten, and because there's no way to get this samadhi and this enlightenment, amazing things are possible based on such awakening, based on such a samadhi. One justification for studying such a samadhi, for listening about

[10:57]

such as samadhi is that perhaps in the process of listening there might be some opening to it perhaps if we can listen to something which seems so far away and so like irrelevant to all of our concerns perhaps we'll enter into a mode of non-seeking perhaps something so great we'll realize this is not something to like try to grab a hold of. This is like not something to try to grasp, obviously. I'm not going to try to grasp it. And yet, I'm also not going to like close my ears to it. Just like I'm not going to try to grasp the Buddha, but I'm not going to close my ears to Buddha. Perhaps there will be an opening, perhaps a tenth level bodhisattva will come and help.

[12:10]

Tenth level bodhisattvas want all sentient beings to become tenth level bodhisattvas. They want to help with that. So in one sense it's kind of ridiculous and a little dangerous to even hear about this samadhi. The sutra says that even hearing about it is a great advantage. Well, you've heard a little bit about it. But it might be dangerous to hear about this samadhi in the sense that we might forget, or we might pretend as though we're not completely aware of it. Also, But that's the advantage of Sashin, is that most people can keep getting grounded in the sitting, in the struggle of the schedule.

[13:16]

But if you didn't have such a hard time in the schedule and it got easier, then the Samadhi is also reminding you, the teaching of the Samadhi is also reminding you not to forget the great works that are behind this little retreat. Now a word or two about what level you might be at. At the time of this sutra, this is one of the oldest Mahayana sutras. It was written probably, like I said, before the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Vimalakirti Sutra and so on. But at the time of this writing, he articulated the theory and the names for the ten stages of a bodhisattva.

[14:29]

But when they did, for example, the first stage of bodhisattva, the primary practice is the practice of giving. It's the perfection of giving is the practice for the first level. And one of the things that's realized on the first level of practicing giving is freedom from fear. Death, freedom from fear of losing your mind, freedom from fear. of losing your reputation, your good reputation, freedom from losing your livelihood, and also freedom from fear of speaking to a very large group of people or gods and goddesses. So if you haven't got over fear yet, then you might think, well, geez, I haven't quite got to the first stage.

[15:37]

And you could be open to the possibility that we haven't even got to the first stage bodhisattva. So I think it might be good to be open to the possibility that you haven't got to the first stage of a bodhisattva, and therefore also not the second, and so on, that you're like, Good to be open to the possibility that we're kind of like beginners in the big program. If you were certain, if you had like certainty that you just happen to be a tenth level bodhisattva, you would have no problem being open to the possibility of not even being a first level bodhisattva. That would be one of the small things that you could handle if you were 10th level. Now, if you're having trouble accepting that you're not even at the first level, maybe you're not at the 10th level.

[16:42]

You might be at the first level and still have some problems with being somewhere in the neighborhood of the first level, like before it, way before it. But I think by the time you'd realize the first stage, you would no longer be afraid of not even having gotten to the first stage. Because you wouldn't be afraid. You wouldn't be worried about your reputation anymore. Like, you haven't even got to the first stage. So-and-so hasn't even... Have you heard that so-and-so hasn't even got to the first stage? You wouldn't be afraid of people going around saying that about you. I don't think. You wouldn't be afraid of having a really kind of mediocre reputation around the Zen center. So if you're at all concerned, you probably haven't got to the first stage. Well, they see there's a practice.

[17:49]

It's called the practice of giving up concern about your reputation. Rumors or direct presentations, like rumors that people are saying, you're not a very good meditator, you're not a very good bodhisattva, you're not a very generous person, you're not a, you know, you hear these rumors, how lousy your spiritual practice is. Or people actually just come up to you and say, you know, you are really selfish, petty. Your intelligence is not very firm. These kinds of insults you might be directly receiving if you can and just relax very quickly. Matter of fact, you might relax even before things come to you in a relaxed state so that when they come,

[18:52]

you can continue your relaxation of hearing your not-such-good reputation. Now some people are, you know, in some ways I would say, according to certain ranking systems, some people in this group right here are doing pretty well. Some people, I think, might be ranked as doing So if any of you feel like you're doing quite well, I would say, that's okay. But can you like relax with that sense that you're doing quite well? You know, not be too happy about that, how well you're doing. Just kind of like, okay, if I am, fine. And if I'm not, okay, I accept.

[19:55]

This is a gesture towards the samadhi, towards entering the first level of bodhisattva, to not be concerned, to not be afraid about your reputation, about how other people think you're doing in the practice. To not be afraid, actually also, and worried about how you are doing in the practice, not to mention what people are saying about you.

[21:06]

To not be afraid of being on the first stage or before the first stage. To not be afraid that there may be a really long series of learning processes that we need to go through to get to the samadhi. to listen about the samadhi without being concerned whether you maintain it or not, or whether you ever will. And yet, maybe listen to it and think, I hear you talking, Buddha. I hear about the samadhi. Just listen to it. see what happens as you listen.

[22:10]

What then is this Heroic March concentration? And here comes approximately one hundred meditation instructions. They're descriptions of the samadhi, but they're also instructions in the samadhi. This samadhi is purifying the mind like space. Purifying the mind like space or cultivating the mind like space. Cultivating as though it were space.

[23:23]

Cultivating the mind like you would cultivate space. That's what the Samadhi is. There's other ways to cultivate the mind that you may have heard about. Have you heard of other ways of cultivating the mind? Other than as though it were space? Or like you would cultivate space? Hmm? Have you heard? Huh? Like what? Cultivate it like a wall? Cultivate the mind as though the mind were like a wall? or cultivate the mind like the wall would cultivate the mind. I never heard of cultivating the mind like the mind was a wall. I heard of cultivating the mind like a mind would cultivate the wall. But now I've heard it, thank you.

[24:25]

It's a new way. Cultivating the mind as a wall would cultivate the mind, I think is very similar to cultivating the mind as though it were space. How would a mind cultivate the wall? Cultivate the mind. Have you ever seen a wall cultivating the mind? How does it cultivate the mind? Anyways, any other ways you've heard of cultivating the mind besides as though it were a space? Yes? ...mind as though it were breath? And then, what ways have you heard of cultivating awareness of breath?

[25:33]

Hmm? Okay. Cultivating the mind as though it were like breath. Any other ways? Cultivate the mind by watching the mind. Cultivating the mind by watching the mind, uh-huh. But cultivating the mind as though it were what? What other ways have you heard of thinking of the mind besides space? What? An ocean. An ocean? Empty? What? Garden? Garden? Like a garden? Yes? What? As though it were body?

[26:34]

How about as though it's garbage? How about as though it were a bad child? something to get control of, something to punish, something to eliminate. Have you heard of that? Something to suppress and so on. Have you heard of those ways to look at the mind that way? So this first one is to whatever you're relating to in the mind, treated like you would treat space. What do you do with space? Do you try to get space organized? Do you try to get space, do you try to suppress space or move space to the right or left? Do you try to grasp space? Do you seek anything from space? Well, somebody might seek something from space, but I think the idea is

[27:38]

Relate to the mind as you would relate to space. And if you think of the mind as the body, relate to the body the way you would relate to space. If you think of the mind as breath, relate to the body as you would relate to space. That's in accord with this instruction. I guess it would be okay to count space or follow space, but it's hard to follow space or count space. You can do it though. That's the nice thing about space. You can count it. It won't talk back and say, don't count me. And you can follow it as though it were coming and going. Like space is coming, space is going. You can do that. But after a while you might get tired of space we're coming or going.

[28:42]

You could say that the space separated you from beings or joined you from beings, but in fact it doesn't. So the thing that this Samadhi is, it is to purify the mind as though it were space. Purify the mind as though it were space. Cultivate the mind like you would cultivate space. This samadhi is to exhort the minds of all beings examining and bringing forth the minds of all beings, observing the present state of mind of all beings.

[30:26]

Based on this samadhi, A bodhisattva can... Each being you meet, based on this samadhi, you would be able to look at them, observe them, and in that... bring forth their state of mind. It would be okay to talk to them and ask them, What's going on? That could be part of it. That could be part of the examination process. How are you feeling today? The examination could be verbal or physical. And through this examination, the state of mind of one and many beings would come forth. This is part of what the Samadhi is about. It is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the spiritual faculties of beings.

[31:49]

It is determining and understanding the cause and fruit of all beings. And by the way, this knowing the weaknesses and strengths of the spiritual faculties of beings, this is one of the ten powers of the Buddha. So this samadhi is one of the ten powers of the Buddha. It is knowing the fruition of action in beings. This is another power of the Buddha. The samadhi is penetrating the various aspirations of beings and after penetrating them, not forgetting them.

[33:23]

Penetrating the various aspirations of beings and after penetrating them, not forgetting them. So there's a tendency in my mind to say, well, that sounds like a practice that's accessible here, you know, in this ordinary world. To actually be interested and penetrate understand what beings' aspirations are, and having understood, to remember what beings' aspirations are. To live a life of penetrating aspirations is part of the function of a Buddha.

[34:42]

As far as I know, on this list you will not find the Buddha giving people aspirations. The Buddha may inspire people, but when people are inspired, when they're inspired, they aspire. So when they're inspired, they breathe in the inspiration. then they breathe out, they breathe into something. That means, aspire means breathe into. Once the Buddha comes, then beings aspire sometimes to Buddhahood. And then Buddha understands, the samadhi understands, the samadhi penetrates the aspiration and remembers the aspiration. of examining beings and bringing forth their state, penetrating and inquiring into and penetrating their aspirations and remembering them.

[35:56]

A dimension of this samadhi is being realized. Although we don't have to say, whoop, I'm a tenth level bodhisattva all of a sudden. In fact, we are doing the work It sounds like we're doing the work of a tenth-level bodhisattva. It sounds like Buddhas and tenth-level bodhisattvas penetrate the aspirations of beings and remember that. It's a concentration that facilitates this way of being with beings. I'm trying to, you know, be balanced here between one extreme of saying, okay, I'm a tenth-level bodhisattva.

[36:58]

The other is a tenth-level bodhisattva. Or I can't do the practices of a tenth-level bodhisattva. Maybe there's a place in the beginning where I don't identify myself as advanced and I'm open to being retarded in the bodhisattva practice, and yet I can be open to the practices of a Tantra, of a Bodhisattva, of a Buddha? Can I be open to these practices without grasping and saying, I've attained them? Do I ever need to say that I attained them? Maybe never. Maybe all I have to do is consider whether I would like to do, for example, this aspect of this Samadhi. would I like to penetrate the aspirations of beings and remember them? knowing the multiple and various tendencies acquired by beings.

[38:22]

This is another power of the Tathagata. Being at ease with the sounds of Brahma, which you might say is being at ease with celestial music. being at ease with the sounds of great harmony and the concentrations and teaching beings the diamond-like concentration and mastering at will the absorptions and the attainments. This is related to the seventh power of the Tathagata.

[39:33]

And this is a big one. Teaching beings the diamond-like concentration to know what that would be. This is a special concentration that happens just before becoming an arhat. It's called Vajrapamo Samadhi. It's the Samadhi that lets you drop the most subtle attachment to the bliss and is the final Samadhi before entering Nirvana. So this is one that may seem like, gee, I don't know how to, I don't know about this aspect of this Shurangama Samadhi.

[40:37]

I don't know, I don't exactly know how to teach Samadhi yet. Have to wait on that one. But maybe some of you know how to do that Samadhi. You could teach people. Discerning the paths which lead to various destinies. seeing how people behave, watching how they behave, and discerning how the path is heading in a certain way. Being able to see, this person's headed towards being a Bodhisattva, this person's headed towards being an Arhat, this person's headed towards being a Pratyekabuddha, this person's headed to hell, this person's headed to heaven, this person's headed towards, you know, fear, animal, headed towards

[41:41]

insatiability and so on. You can see maybe. Start to discern how certain ways that people are behaving are headed, the tendency of their karma. And while this discernment's happening, at the same time, remember, you're purifying the mind at the same time. You're working with the mind like space at the same time that the mind's presenting you through this kind of discernment. Cultivate that discernment. This person's going to hell. Cultivate that discernment like you would cultivate space. This person's headed towards, this person's going to be a great bodhisattva. Cultivate that discernment like you would cultivate space. So you see in this samadhi there's plenty of stuff happening.

[42:45]

Lots of discernments, penetrations, observations, knowledges. It's like, and not just some knowledges, but a lot of knowledges and a lot of beings. There's a tremendous amount of information being presented here. And, yes? She said, is it necessary to make such distinctions? Well, you said distinctions, though. Distinctions are not the same as discernment. Well, it seems kind of, it seems like it's kind Well, she said it's like passing judgments on people so maybe they don't have room to grow.

[43:56]

That's what she said? If I relate to that right away, I would say passing judgments on people doesn't necessarily mean they don't have room to grow. Passing judgments on people may interfere with the person who's passing the judgment's growth. But you can go pass judgments on a Buddha and that won't limit your growth at all. But it might limit your growth if you pass judgment and relate to that judgment as though it were solid. So in this situation, it is the case that sometimes judgments are helpful. Like someone may say, would you please judge me? And you might say, well, how do you want me to judge you? And they tell you. And the judgment might just pop right up as soon as they tell you what judgment they make. But you don't have to grasp that judgment. Hmm?

[44:57]

Well, it's not necessarily to say that they're not solid. I don't want to go on saying they're not solid, but in fact, they're not. But even if, you know, whether they are or not, I'm going to relate to them as though they're space. So if I had judgments about somebody, I'm not in control of my judgments. Somebody may come up to me and say, please judge me. And sometimes people do. They come up and say, please judge me. They say, I'm really a bad person, they might say. They have said, I'm really a bad person. I'm into all kinds of bad stuff. And you may feel like, I'm not going to judge you. And they just keep begging you until you say, oh, yeah. They want you to judge them that way. And they work real hard to get you to judge them as whatever, bad. And they not only want you to judge them that, but they want you to tell them that you've come up with that judgment so that they know that they've succeeded in getting you to judge them the way that they want to get you to judge them.

[46:07]

And there's something about the relationship that manifests a judgment in your mind about them. Even though at first you could tell that they thought these things and you really didn't think them. I have this niece. And she may have gotten over this, but anyway, a few years, my niece, this niece is an incredibly beautiful young woman. And she has this idea in her head that she's ugly. And so anyway, I never could get with that program of coming up with that judgment that she was ugly. But I think it might be useful sometimes to be able to see and understand how she sees she's ugly. That might be helpful. And say, oh yeah, I see what you mean, yeah. To grasp that, that would not be what the bodhisattva would do. They wouldn't grasp that distinction or that discernment.

[47:12]

but primarily if I grasp distinctions and I grasp judgments that arise in the mind. It's my growth, for sure, but it may not limit yours. You may grow from my judgments of you. It's possible for you to grow if you don't grasp what you hear from me in terms of my judgments of you. It's the non-grasping and sometimes Some people are not very judgmental. Some people are. In other words, I would say some people currently are not heavy into judgment, and some people are. But what may happen, actually, is that people who don't as they relax more, as they become more and more non-grasping and non-seeking, they open up to that realm of heavy-duty judgment. And they get a gift of going through a process of being a big judge.

[48:17]

And then can they continue the practice of openness that gave them the gift of this challenge of judgment when the judgments come? And at first they may not be able to. Being a neophyte in judgment, they may revert to doing things like this. But again, if they can then let go of the judgments, they can get more and more difficult judgments to deal with without grasping. So the point is, not so much that we don't have judgmental thoughts, because it sounds like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have lots of judgments, but no attachment to them. A lot of people can be, of course, not very attached to their... Some people meet some people and they're so withdrawn from the capacity of their mind that they aren't challenged. But as they open up, they find challenges like thinking certain things about people that they never had to think before or that they gave up thinking because they found it so difficult to think those things.

[49:33]

So a lot of meditators, one of the most difficult things for them is what bad opinions they have of other people, the negative judgments they have of other people, because they know that that's very dangerous if you grasp those opinions. If you have a really negative opinion of someone and you're holding on to it and they say, what do you think of me? And you tell them, you know that that might get you in big trouble. You're really no good. So better not to think that in case they ask you. Or if you do think it, better talk yourself out of it quickly or put it into hiding. So if they ask you and say, oh, let's see, what do I think of you? Then you can sort of like look in some area that seems safe. Be a nice person. And really it wasn't opinion, just looked in, you know, what do we have in the safe area to tell people? What can I tell them that will make them, you know, not hurt me? So you search through, you know, what protects you.

[50:39]

But a bodhisattva might actually not be afraid of the answer that comes right away. And so the person says, what do you think of me? And this thing comes up, boop. And I say, oops, do you want to hear what actually came? It's really like amazing, you know, I don't know. This, you want to hear it? The person may say, well, how bad is it? And you can prepare them for it. This is just an idea. This is like not a reality, but you asked and this amazing thing came about what you are, you know? And so you may talk back and forth about their aspiration and their, you know, their state of mind and all that in the process. And then finally you say, okay, I want to hear it. And you say, well, I thought you were a fish. That's what came. But I thought, you know, if I told you that, you might be insulted and be called a fish. The person might be very happy to finally find out that you actually thought they were a fish.

[51:44]

That might, you know, that might help them become fearless, that they could hear something that just happened to come. No big deal. It seems anyway that as I go through this, it seems to be opening a picture of a universe of events, a whole universe of events, and a lot of information about all the different aspects of the universe in detail. And then working with that in a way that brings up the greatest growth for all. But not, you know, well, you'll see, not necessarily always like giving information just because it's there, but giving information in the context of understanding because you've made a big effort to find out who you're talking to.

[53:03]

And it isn't exactly like you're planning. It's not like you're planning and trying to figure out what to do. Entry into this samadhi, the price of entry into this samadhi is giving up trying to figure out what you're doing. It doesn't mean you don't have the ability to figure out what you're doing. You're trying to figure out what you're doing. You're not trying to do that in this space. You've given it up. However, your ability to figure out what's happening is still there and can be used. But there's no attachment to that process, it just manifests. And it manifests in relationship about the person. So when you know that somebody has a sore shoulder, when you know that, that changes the way you relate to their shoulder. It isn't exactly that you don't touch the shoulder. You just know, sort of, not to touch it or to ask how to touch it or to be very gentle with it.

[54:10]

You just know. You don't have to, like, it's no big restraint. It's just you know that you've changed. So when you know people, condition is the way you relate. And bodhisattvas have all this information plus They're not manipulating the way this information flows and circulates with all the other dimensions. This Samadhi is knowing the former abodes without encountering any impediments. This is another one of the powers of the Tathagata.

[55:12]

this is ten, the tenth one of one hundred, one hundred things that are mentioned about the samadhi. And I'm not, I'm really not attached to going through all one hundred, but at the same time, I probably will. I mean, I already have, but I mean, I'll probably go with them with you. But I would be easily diverted in this aspiration. And I must confess that I feel like going through these hundred aspects of the samadhi, which is only a small part of the rest of the sutra, would be kind of a heroic progress.

[56:23]

But I'm not attached to this heroic progress. It seems though that it would be good, potentially good, to expose ourselves to more information, more images and ideas about what this samadhi, some of what this samadhi entails. To give us some sense of what people 2,000 years ago thought of bodhisattva's meditation was like. But I really do, what do you call it, I wish to be a disciple of the Samadhi, which means I wish to know if this is too much or too little or whatever to be listening to the teachings about the Samadhi, to learn about the Samadhi in this way of going through this text.

[57:44]

So I welcome your feedback. Do you have any now or later? Do you have any now? Now that you've been inspired, is there some aspiration? Pardon me? like to reveal it? Would you love to reveal it? She said, I can't say. Yes? I was unclear earlier, you were talking about the sky like samadhi, and you asked people other types of samadhis, or cultivating the samadhi like a body, or like a garden, or a wall.

[58:49]

No. What I meant to say was, this first instruction was, or this first description, is that they purify the mind like space. They purify the mind as though the mind were space. So how would you purify space? How would you cultivate space? That's how they cultivate the mind. That's how they purify. They would... So... You know, or the sky. You know, look up at... So you ever look up at the sky? Ever try to cultivate it? Have you tried to purify it? Well, bodhisattvas try to purify or try to cultivate the mind like they would... In other words, they kind of like do cultivate space.

[59:51]

They look up at the blue sky and they go, I'm with you, babe. You know, I'm... But you don't try to fix the blue sky usually, do you? You don't try to take it with you. I mean, some people maybe do. Like, I'm going to take that blue sky over myself. But most people get over that. But you do relate to the blue sky. Sometimes you... I mean, I don't know if you do, but when I was younger, I used to do it more. And I think maybe I should do it more in the future. But I used to lay on my back and look at it and just look at it. But I didn't try to get anything from it. And if I wanted to get something, I would stop looking at the sky and, you know, go to the refrigerator. Yeah, well, I didn't do that, but some people do that, like take a picture of the blue sky. Write letters to the sky? Oh, yeah, write letters to politicians.

[60:54]

Yeah. So that's how you cultivate space? By writing letters? There is a practice in Samadhi, but most people don't cultivate space by writing letters. That's just the you in the space. There's not much to do with it. I shouldn't say there's not much to do with it. There's plenty to do with it. What kind of relationship do you have with a blue sky? What kind is it? It's like, what do you get from it? Are you trying to get something? Are you trying to control it? Now, if clouds come and the sky becomes overcast, then you might try to do something.

[61:54]

Or you might pray for rain to come. That might be the way you relate to the mind. Anyway, that's getting into clouds and rain. That's not just relating to the space. So, relate to the mind as though it were space. What would you do with the mind then? And I think the way a wall relates is similar. You don't know how to do anything with space. Walls don't know how to do anything with the mind. They don't get involved with it. They don't run away from it. They don't run towards it. They just stay upright until they fall over. And when they're falling over on the ground, what does the wall do with the events, do with the mind? It doesn't do anything. But it doesn't also go away from things. It's right there, wherever it is, in whatever state it's in. So that's a a key factor in relating to all information and all this data, all these knowledges, all these awarenesses of beings.

[63:09]

So I think that the two go together, that this openness to what's happening goes with getting lots of information. And getting the information, continuing to practice openness with the information, brings more. And continuing to practice openness with the information brings more. And starting to cultivate grasping and seeking around the information starts to close down on the information. And then if you relax with that, then you get the information of the relationship between closing down and seeking and the decrease of information, the decrease of knowledge of beings. Buddha's thrive on knowledge. Buddhists thrive on knowing what people are up for and into and about. Buddhists are interested and know and remember what people are aspiring to.

[64:13]

And it's easier to notice and remember when you don't manipulate and seek in your relationships. And then opening and getting a gift of information about beings is also a test to see if you can continue the practice of cultivating the mind-like space when you're given certain juicy details, like that someone hates you or someone is hurting themselves, or how can you continue to be relaxed as a person reveals to you their suffering, their confusion, or their great aspiration. And then to show them this openness, to encourage them to become even more forthcoming and bring their state even more to the fore, so that it can be more illuminated. And in this way the process of awakening is facilitated through the samadhi.

[65:19]

to be firmly resolved on meeting whatever happens, to meet the onslaught of relationship with this complete relaxation. In this instance, it's a samadhi. It is a firm, settled commitment to a way of being called the Heroic Progress. Yes? You're speaking of inspiring with no sense of gain. Am I speaking of aspiring with no sense of gain? I didn't think I said that, but that's part of it, is to aspire.

[66:22]

The Bodhisattva does aspire. The Bodhisattva wishes to breathe life and breath into enlightenment for the welfare of all beings. That's what the Bodhisattva aspires to. And if possible, to aspire to that, without any grasping, without any seeing. Yes. Because the thing you're aspiring to has no content. And having no content allows the greatest benefit for all beings, because there's no fixed idea of what would be helpful in the middle of awakening. Awakening is the wish to benefit all beings without any attachment to any fixed idea of what that would be. Yes? Uh-huh.

[67:26]

Well, Stan says he has trouble with the word cultivate, and part of the root of the word cultivate, it has the, part of the etymology of the word cultivate is it has a till in it. Till, called till. The till means, and till means like to till the soil, and till means to labor. you know, has a kind of a straining or hard work aspect to it. So cultivation has the connotation of hard work. And so we're cautious of, you know, getting too heavy and dirty and hard working, right? So we should be careful. The word cultivate has that, you know, like other words, it has a dark side. So all these words, sky, space, emptiness, compassion, practice, cultivate, purify, all these words are dangerous.

[68:50]

But the Buddha, look at the Buddha's example. She was willing to use them anyway. Being in this world is dangerous. Language, you know, the Buddha used language that people could understand, but it was dangerous because words are potentially disorienting. So if we see some problem in a word, I think it's good to express the problem and to notice the danger of the word. Some people could get all tired out and burned out cultivating space. You know, like, God damn it, I can't cultivate this space, I'm getting nowhere. That might be part of the process of learning what's meant by cultivate space. is to, you know, overdo it really hard and to, like, just frazzle your nerve endings by trying to, like, get something accomplished in space. Space program.

[69:54]

Someone has an idea, yes? Yes. That's right. So another nuance on that teaching is it says, cultivate the mind like space. So you could say cultivate the mind like space would cultivate the mind, or purify the mind like space would purify the mind. Practice like space would practice. In other words, practice like a wall would practice. practice that way. Human beings don't usually practice that way. Usually they practice to get something, to accomplish something, to avoid something, seeking something.

[71:12]

But space doesn't seek anything. Space is really unsuccessful. Space doesn't grasp anything. And walls don't seek anything or grasp anything. So for us to learn how to be like space, is a samadhi, to make the resolve to be more like space, sattva samadhi. But it isn't just that, it's also knowing all this stuff. It's like being like space, but knowing that people are suffering. Being like space and knowing that people are aspiring Being like space and knowing that somebody has certain karmic tendencies. Being like space and with all this information. Being like space knowing that, you know, somebody hates you.

[72:13]

Being like space knowing that somebody's afraid of you. Being like space knowing that somebody thinks you're fantastic, wonderful. Being like space, knowing that somebody thinks they really need you. Being like space, knowing the situation of all beings. This is the bodhisattva. They're not just being like space in space. They're being like space in the packed world. They're up to their eyeballs in stuff being like space. relating to all this like space would up to their eyeballs in physical body and relating to that without seeking that this pain would go away relating to our difficulties like space would

[73:16]

not trying to get away from it, but completely embracing it and completely being embraced by it with no alternative. And then the reward is more to deal with. And then if you can relax with that, the reward is more until you're dealing with everything in the universe, like these bodhisattvas. open to all beings, all being situations? How could we be that open? So we consider, little by little, how open they are and then how could we be that open? And how open are they? And how could we be that open? To widen our perspective of how open

[74:18]

Bodhisattvas are actually learning to be and what they do to help themselves be that open and how with that openness then they can deal appropriately with all that they're open to. This is the great playground of Bodhisattva. I thought, you know, a rose just now in this mind, bring on the beings.

[75:37]

And I thought, bring on the beings. So it's not exactly you're asking everybody to come and bear down on you and give you all their suffering. Maybe that's too much to ask for it. But it's more like, If it comes, I hope to be able to welcome it. But I'm not sending out invitations yet. I have enough to deal with now. And I hope that I can welcome whatever does come to me, moment by moment, and that I would be able to open to everybody coming. But be careful, don't invite, don't ask for a challenge. Because then you may back off later. But just try to be open to the challenges which will be given to you. Today.

[76:38]

Now. And I feel... It looks like we're pretty well challenged here. So that seems fine. I don't feel like anybody's like, too easy a time. So I think you can all grow on what's being offered to you. You can welcome it wholeheartedly. But again as I say this there's a little bit of excitement at the wonderful opportunity of, you know, the next gift, the next challenge. A little bit of excitement, like, yeah, come on, challenge, challenge.

[77:43]

But I say, wait, easy, easy, easy. Don't ask for a lot of big chunk of space. Just say, okay, okay, easy does it. Pardon? Right. It's enough. Even though in some sense it's very inspiring and exciting to contemplate the later phases of your development, the great growth that's going to come to you potentially through this practice. Hey.

[78:41]

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