A couple of days ago, a person told me that he grew up in the Unitarian Universalist Church, and he said one of the good things about that church is that he got to see many other kinds of religions, and the only one he liked was what we call Buddhism. He said he liked the story about the Buddha, where someone said to the Buddha, Are you a god? Are you an angel? Are you a universal monarch? And the Buddha said, I'm awake. He liked that story. I did too.

[01:12]

And then I thought that the question, the way the question is put, has a kind of punch to it, because he's asking, Are you a noun? Are you a noun? Are you a noun? Are you a god? An angel? A universal monarch? And the Buddha says, I'm a verb. If they were speaking in Sanskrit, they might have said, Are you a deva? Are you a Ishvara? Are you a Chakravartin Raja? And then the answer would be, I'm Buddha. But somehow, translating and just saying, I'm awake, is very nice. We can all be awake.

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And Buddha is the past participle of Bud or Bodhi, past participle of Buddha. Being awake. It means one who is awake. Buddha. And when Buddha first started teaching, his first teaching was to a group of highly experienced yogis, and he immediately taught them wisdom. He immediately taught them the middle way. A middle way that avoids extremes, and that is peace and freedom. But he didn't always teach wisdom immediately, and often times he would teach ethical discipline, and based on that, teach ways of training

[03:33]

the attention to realize tranquility and mental stability. And then he would teach wisdom to people who were well grounded in ethical practice and concentration, tranquility practice. The last few years, I've been emphasizing wisdom teachings, and I still am putting a lot of effort towards the wisdom teachings in the Mahayana tradition.

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But as we approach the yogic practice of realizing wisdom, there are actually two kinds of emphasis. And one emphasis is towards developing a tranquil, balanced, flexible, and peaceful state of mind, alert, an awake state of consciousness and body, body and mind. And with this state, we are able, we're more readily able to receive the wisdom teachings. Now, this week, things are set up very well to develop tranquility. The Seshin, the formal

[05:53]

commitments of the Seshin are very conducive to developing a training in tranquility. So I would like to start with that emphasis. Even more basic than practicing tranquility, however, or the root of practicing tranquility in this tradition, is the feeling of being of compassion, the mind of compassion. So really, we start there. Can you feel, can you sense, can you see, can you hear a mind which wishes, a mind which

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wants freedom from stress and affliction and misery for all beings? And is there also the vow, the wish to make a commitment to devote life to the highest level, to the realization of freedom and peace and harmony in the hearts of all beings?

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Is there the vow to realize full awakening in order to facilitate the devotion of life to the realization of peace and harmony among all of us? Can you feel, can you sense, can you hear a mind which wishes to make a commitment to devote life to the highest level, to the realization of freedom from stress and affliction?

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Can you feel, can you sense, can you hear a mind which wishes to make a commitment to devote life to the highest level, to the realization of peace and harmony among all of us? This step towards realizing it may be called the practice of renunciation. Renunciation of what?

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Perhaps I could say renunciation of being distracted, from this heart of compassion. Renunciation from distraction, from the wish to realize peace and harmony among all beings. Renunciation of being involved in trying to get to the highest level,

[13:07]

to get some material thing, trying to gain some material thing. But, it's possible to sit here in this room and receive, for example, lunch, which is coming soon, and actually perhaps want to have lunch, because you think it would be good for your health. But, there's a way that I could want lunch, and there's a way I could be happy about

[14:13]

getting lunch that distracts, that's a distraction. From the thought of compassion. If I really want this great compassion to be realized fully, then it makes sense to me that I would give up wanting lunch in such a way that I would be distracted from it. And also, being afraid or being worried about not getting lunch might be okay.

[15:20]

The people in the kitchen are concerned, perhaps, they don't want us not to get lunch, they want us to have lunch, they're working hard so that we can have lunch on time, and they're somewhat concerned. But is their concern, or is our concern, about losing our lunch, about not getting our lunch, is it a distraction from great compassion? And is there the will to give that up, that way of relating to lunch? Also, seeking to have a pleasant experience, and being concerned about losing a pleasant experience,

[16:28]

being happy about, and focused on getting pleasant experiences, pleasant sensations, and being unhappy about unpleasant sensations. That can be a distraction from compassion, and am I willing to give that up, that relationship with pleasant sensation? On the way down here, walking through the parking lot, or by the parking lot, there was a UPS truck, and there was music coming from the truck. And I wondered, now, is that person playing that music

[17:30]

in order to get a pleasant sensation? It seems kind of harsh to say, or to consider, riding in your truck, and not turning the radio on, to hear some pleasant sounds. Is it so bad to turn the radio on, and hear some pleasant sounds? So I thought, well, that man, that driver, I don't know if he's focused on great compassion or not. I don't know if that music is turned on,

[18:35]

consciously or unconsciously, to get something, and that wish is distracting him from his wish to help all beings. I didn't know. But for us, here, right now, I ask us to look at that. When you turn the music on, are you turning it on to get a pleasant sensation, and is that going to distract you from your focus on great compassion? And if so, are you willing to give up listening to that music? Until you can turn it on, not to distract yourself from great compassion, but maybe even to help you focus better. That I turn the music on to help you focus,

[19:43]

to help you remember great compassion. And then, would you turn it on? Maybe you would. I don't know. Each of us has to look carefully. Is this action to get something, and is this motive to get something even a little bit a diversion, a little bit destabilizing this wholehearted attention to compassion? Check it out, moment by moment. And if I don't know, if I don't know, perhaps I just wait and don't turn the radio on until I feel it would help the heart of compassion. Eating lunch. The Buddha did eat lunch.

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There is eating after enlightenment, but the eating after enlightenment doesn't distract from the enlightenment. So we have the opportunity to train ourselves to eat and see if we can eat without distracting ourselves from the most important thing in our life. And if we start eating and we feel distracted, perhaps sometimes we can stop for a moment and remember and recover our mindfulness of what's most important to us, whatever that is. And then the fear that if we stop eating

[21:50]

we won't get enough to eat. That's a reasonable fear. But is that fear that you won't get enough to eat, is it distracting you from great compassion? If someone else is not getting enough to eat and being concerned for that could distract you from great compassion or it could focus you on great compassion. You could feel great compassion for someone and also want them to get their lunch. But you also could distract yourself from great compassion by getting too upset about the possibility of them not getting lunch. And of course the same for yourself. It may be good for you to receive your food

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at an appropriate moment. It may be really good. But there's a way of looking at that that needs to be renounced. There's a way of that being a distraction from the wish to realize awakening for the welfare of the world. That the Buddha recommends letting go of. We may want people to treat us well.

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That's often a good thing, especially for those who treat us well. It's a good thing. Is that desire to be treated well, to be treated kindly, to be treated with respect, is that desire distracting us from great compassion? If so, can it be released? If so, can it be released?

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If so, can it be released? Do I wish wholeheartedly and sincerely for all beings to be at peace and live in harmony with each other, free of fear and greed and hatred? Do I wish that? Do I want that? Do I want every breath to be given to that? And do I want to remember that?

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Do I want to learn how to remember that if I feel that moment by moment? Do I want this life to be remembering? Do I want this life to be the practice of remembering great compassion? Moment by moment. Is it my faith that that would be good? Do I feel that that would be good? Is that what I want?

[28:22]

Is that what I want? So here is a possible faith and here is a possible practice. And if this is the faith and this is the practice, then there again comes the practice of renunciation of anything, of any distraction from this heart of compassion and being mindful of it. The practice of checking

[29:28]

into the heart, remembering the heart of compassion and giving up distractions from it. And then there is the practice, hopefully, of noticing if I forget my faith and if I forget this practice. And then there is the practice of revealing and disclosing any lack in caring for this faith, any lack in practicing this way. And there is the teaching that revealing and disclosing any lack, any forgetfulness of this great compassion, by revealing and disclosing

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any lack of practicing mindfulness of great compassion before the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will melt away the root of these distractions. And there is the teaching that this is the pure and simple color of true practice, the true body of faith, the true mind of faith. . When there is a radio in front of me,

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may I remember great compassion. And from that remembrance, is it appropriate to reach out and turn the radio on or not? When I walk by a truck and someone has the radio on, how do I hear the sound and see the driver without being distracted from what's most important? Perhaps if I stay close to this heart of compassion, I can walk over to the truck

[32:47]

and ask the driver, what is that music? And talk to him without forgetting about great compassion, without thinking that I'm better than him or worse than him, and look into his eyes when he tells me what the music is, to not be afraid to meet him. Open heart to open heart. .

[33:50]

It occurs to me that this is a week when we can practice such a mindfulness, mindfulness to inquire into our own heart and mind and see if we feel and want to feel, want to feel and feel great compassion. And if we don't find it, to be mindful that we didn't find it, and to look again and again until we find great compassion. And if we find it, if it appears to us, to be mindful, to care for it, if we wish, because great compassion is the wish to care for great compassion.

[34:56]

Great compassion is appreciating great compassion, taking care of it, because it can be lost, or our awareness of it can be lost, even when we have a glimpse, even when we feel our whole body and mind filled with great compassion, we can still lose it. And again, there's the practice of revealing and disclosing that we lost great compassion, we lost it, we got involved in something else, many, many things to get involved in, in this world, besides full, wholehearted attention to great compassion, easy to get distracted, so lots of opportunities to reveal and disclose

[35:59]

our lack of faith and practice. Before the Buddhas, together with the Buddhas, in the company with the Buddhas, I confess I got distracted from great compassion, and now I feel coming home again. Practicing Tranquility Practicing Tranquility is one of the aspects of protecting and maintaining great compassion. Practicing Tranquility

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It's not separate from the considerations I have just raised. Looking into my heart for what's most important, looking to see if I really want most of all everyone to be free, fearless, harmonious, and happy. Looking at that is not separate from developing Tranquility. Now we have a week, we can practice like this, if we want. There are many more aspects, but perhaps this is enough for today. Practicing Tranquility

[38:52]

Is this the pure and simple color of true practice? To discover and care for great compassion? Is this the true body of faith in great compassion? The true mind of faith in great compassion? Maybe so. Please take care of it. Things are numberless.

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I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it.

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