i have a title for my offering this morning this afternoon this evening which is bodhisattva aspirations and practices realizing them bodhisattva aspiration and training realizing them. So there are infinite ways to express bodhisattva aspirations. But many of those aspirations include

[01:01]

realizing the Buddha's teaching, actualizing the Buddha's teaching, and thereby the whole earth and all living beings together will attain the Buddha way. So the aspiration is to realize the teaching, realize Buddhahood, so that all beings together will attain the Buddha way all beings together will be free and at peace this is the almost inconceivably wonderful Bodhisattva vow and also welcome Charles But this vow, in order to be realized, needs to be practiced.

[02:06]

We need to train to realize it. So I don't know if everybody in this assembly has this vow rising in their heart, in their mind. Over the years, many people have come to me and said, I'm sorry, I do not have the bodhisattva vow. I do not aspire to... realize the awakening of a Buddha. I don't. I just want to feel better. Or I just want to get through the day. And I'm not so concerned that other people are free. I want to be free, yes. And yeah, I've met people who honestly say, I want to be free. I want to be able to do what I want. I want to be happy. But I can't say I want to work. I want to devote my life to all beings being happy and free.

[03:08]

But anyway, my talk's about the bodhisattva vow, the bodhisattva aspiration. To free all beings so they may live in peace. To attain the unsurpassable way of awakening these are bodhisattva vows so what are the practices what are the practices the practices are the practices of the bodhisattva way and to summarize the practices so we have the aspiration and then the practices to realize them are basically, first of all, to settle into being present. That's the first part.

[04:13]

To take our seat in our present experience. To settle down right where we are now. to find our place here. And this is, for many of us, a lot of the time, the most difficult thing to do. What is the difficult thing? To settle down in what's going on right now. What's going on right now is often very stressful, very uncomfortable, frightening, full of emotions which push us and pull us all around, full of wishes to be someplace else than here, in the midst of

[05:27]

Whatever's going on, including these difficult things I just mentioned, the first part of the practice is to be present with it. Actually, it's not the first part of the practice. The first part of the practice is the aspiration. The next part is to settle into presence. And presence... And what's going on right now for us turns out to also be presence with Buddha. Or it is to be in the presence of Buddha. In order to be in the presence of Buddha, we need to be present with our own difficulty. And even our own ease. Whatever. Right now, the first step in realizing the bodhisattva vow is to settle in whatever seems to be happening.

[06:40]

The next step, or the next dimension of the training, is that When we are present with all beings, when we are present with Buddha, when we are in Buddha's presence and we're settled there, we are offering ourselves to the Buddhas. In presence we are offering ourselves to the experience we are offering ourselves to all beings. When we are present and not going anyplace else, we naturally offer our presence. And in this intimate presence of ourselves and all others, and again, we're not completely present unless we're present to all beings.

[07:49]

Again, being present to all beings is not necessarily easy It is actually, it's the most difficult thing for a living being. When we are present that way, we are, what's the word? We are aided, we are supported by the Buddhas. They lift us up and bring us into the bodhisattva samadhi. So once again, first aspiration, then settling, And when completely present, we are admitted, we are invited and carried into the bodhisattva samadhi. And we also call the bodhisattva samadhi sometimes the ancestor samadhi. And in the Zen tradition, we speak of the ancestor samadhi.

[08:53]

the Buddha ancestor Samadhi which again we often call Zazen but this Zazen is not my Zazen it is the Zazen of all of us it is the practice of all of us the Bodhisattva Samadhi is not done by me alone the Bodhisattva Samadhi is not done by you alone the Bodhisattva Samadhi is done by all of us together with all Buddhas and Buddha ancestors. Again, when we are willing to do the extremely difficult work of being present, we are admitted into this samadhi where all Buddhas are. And in that samadhi, we receive the teachings we receive the teaching and in the samadhi we remember the teaching and in the samadhi we practice the teaching and in the samadhi we realize the Buddha Dharma and then we can help all beings we can help all beings before we realize the samadhi but not as fully

[10:34]

as in the samadhi, realizing the Buddha Dharma. And since the bodhisattvas want to realize helping beings in the best way, they need to receive this teaching, practice it, and realize it. That's a kind of summary of the whole path I just gave. And this summary is taught in the flower adornment scripture. or this is a summary of what is taught in the flower adornment scripture and what is taught in the zen school and last week we had a session in sweden many of the people in this assembly today were at that session and this is what i'm saying today may be recognized as a summary of that past week session When we are present, and even if we're not present, this teaching is given to us, the teaching for bodhisattvas.

[11:50]

In the samadhi of the precious mir-samadhi, we are given this teaching of thus. The teaching of the Alatamsaka Sutra, the Flower Adornment Scripture, is the teaching of thus. which I will get into more a little later. When we are present, we are allowed into the samadhi where the teaching of thus is transmitted to us. And then in the samadhi and arising from the samadhi, we take care of this teaching which we receive in presence, in samadhi, and we give it to all beings. I wanted to give just today one or perhaps more than one, and I think some of you will bring up others, situations that we're in where we have trouble being present.

[12:59]

Sometimes people come and meet me and they tell me that They think somebody doesn't like them. They say, I think so-and-so doesn't like me. And sometimes I don't know who they're talking about. And sometimes I do. Sometimes they tell me the name. And sometimes when they tell me the name, I say, it's possible that so-and-so doesn't like you. That's possible. People, human beings, sentient beings do actually sometimes not like something. They dislike other sentient beings. It does sometimes happen. And sometimes sentient beings like other sentient beings.

[14:17]

It seems, doesn't it? And sometimes they neither like nor dislike sentient beings. That seems to be what's going on sometimes. And again, sometimes when people mention that so-and-so, I think so-and-so doesn't like me, I say, it's possible that they don't. I'm not saying they don't. They might. but also they might like you, who knows? But anyway, even if they don't like you, and it's possible they don't, I think knowing this person, that although they don't, whenever they don't like you, they also love you. So bodhisattvas, I'm not saying bodhisattvas like everybody. Those who aspire to Buddhahood in order to help this world, I'm not saying they like everything, everybody. Okay?

[15:19]

Got it? I'm not saying that. And I'm also not saying they don't like everybody, or that they don't like somebody. They might. Bodhisattvas can have like and dislike in their consciousness. They don't vow never to dis... I haven't heard the vow, I vow never to dislike anything. It's the vow that they're compassionate with everything. Even if they dislike someone, they are totally devoted to the welfare of that person that they dislike. That's the bodhisattva. And if they like someone, they're also totally devoted to that being. And if they neither like nor dislike, they're totally devoted to that being. This is the way the bodhisattvas are when they're well trained. Sometimes, however, in order to be that way, in other words, to love beings no matter whether you like them or not, we need training.

[16:29]

And the stories that attracted me to the Zen were examples of bodhisattvas who were attacked by other people. And when they were attacked, I think it was painful. They didn't like the feeling of being attacked. It wasn't something they liked. It wasn't pleasant. But they loved the attacker in a kind of mild way. Not like, whoopee! You're attacking me, and it's really painful. Yay! It's more like... Oh, okay. I feel the pain. I'm here. I wonder what's going on. A compassionate response to being attacked painfully. I heard stories like that. And then what really got me was that they responded the same way when people praised them and were very kind to them.

[17:43]

No matter what, whether it's pain, pleasure or neither the trained well-trained Bodhisattva comes back like tofu firm and mild okay this is happening I'm here with you and I'm devoted to be here with you no matter what I'm so glad I've been training so that I don't get distracted when you're very nice to me or very mean to me. This is an example of a situation to settle into. I don't like this illness. I don't like this cancer. I don't like this dementia. But I love it. I'm devoted to it.

[18:47]

So the same thing in response to others is in response to our own physical and mental state. We may not like what's happening, but the bodhisattva trains to love, to be devoted to what's happening. So-and-so may not like me, but I am devoted to so-and-so. Such-and-such is painful, but I'm devoted to the pain. I'm not a masochist. I want to be a bodhisattva with all pain. I should say, neither liking or disliking, or liking, or disliking, no matter what.

[19:51]

Mind, avoid it. Now, then comes the teaching. What is the teaching? The teaching is the teaching of suchness, which is what? It's the teaching that right in the pain, right in the middle of pain, is great compassion right in the middle of great compassion is all pain every particular event includes the whole universe every particular event is an opportunity to save all sentient beings.

[20:55]

That teaching comes through when we can accept this particular event and settle with it. I just saw that that man has entered the group. This teaching which we receive in samadhi helps us, helps us who aspire to bodhisattva practice. It helps us be consistent in this practice of loving everything. Even in the midst of dislike, we love. Even in the midst of greed, we love. Even in the midst of hatred, we love. Even in the midst of confusion and fear, we love.

[22:00]

We love, and the teaching helps us love. Makes it so we can do it consistently, eventually, consistently. Compassion. Compassion. settling into this terrible situation. It is so horrible and I'm completely here in order to be in the samadhi of the ancestors. That's the way they practiced. Yeah. I watched Suzuki Roshi. I got to watch him towards the end of his life. When he had cancer in his liver, and it was painful, and he was a good bodhisattva in training to be completely there, he showed us how to be a sick bodhisattva.

[23:16]

I didn't feel like he liked the cancer, and I did not feel like he disliked it. felt like he was really devoted to being there and showing us how to have liver cancer. I was really encouraged by the way he was sick. His teaching was different from the... It seemed different than... before, but it was so clear, so bright, so encouraging. Yeah. So again, this is the settling part. And then once you're settled, you can receive this teaching. And then in addition to being settled,

[24:21]

Take care of the teaching of thus. And that will help you continue to be settled and continue to be open and continue to transmit this teaching to others so that they can be settled and open and present and transmitted to others. This is again an overview of a very challenging process. Yeah, what comes to mind, I see the faces of some people in that session last week. And I had the kind of, what's the word, the circumstances of arriving in Sweden just in time for the session. I went directly from the airport to the session.

[25:22]

I had no time to adapt. And I was so tired. And when I got to the retreat, the people who were taking care of me said, please rest. And I said, OK. And then the next day, I got up in the morning, and I felt kind of normal. I could sit up. I was sitting next to Michael, and I was awake. I could see him. And I asked him if I seemed to be awake during those first couple periods. Did I? Yeah, I was awake.

[26:23]

I was surprised. And then there was breakfast, and I was awake during breakfast. And then there was Dharma talk and discussion, and I was awake. And there was lunch, and I was awake. And then after lunch, I just crashed. And the people who were attending me said, please rest. So I rested. It was... I was having a little bit of difficulty, but actually I did rest. And I was supported. You are supported. You are supported to rest, to settle into whatever. In my case, strong bodily jet lag. So the first afternoon, I was just resting. And then, yeah, and then I got up for dinner and

[27:25]

and then went to the evening sessions and I was kind of okay. And the next morning, the next morning, I was awake again. And for the sitting and for the Dharma talk and for lunch, I was awake. I was kind of like, okay. And then after lunch, crash. And the attendant said, please rest. And I said, okay. but come and get me after the rest period, for the next period of sitting. And the attendant said, I'll come, but if you don't answer the door, I'll just go to the zendo. And I guess I did not answer. And I rested through the whole afternoon again. And then the evening, I was up. And the next morning, Again, I was awake. And then during the Dharma talk, I said to people, you know, I've been resting over in room 11.

[28:33]

But maybe I don't need to be in a separate room to rest in a reclining posture. Maybe I could come and rest in this room. And some of the people, anyway, said, OK, yeah, come on. So I went into the room. There was a platform behind the altar. I got up on the platform and laid down for the whole afternoon. And I slept the whole afternoon, except when the bell rang for walking meditation, I sat up and I felt kind of, oh, okay. And then I felt crash. So I spent the whole afternoon in the meditation hall with the Great Assembly, resting. I was resting, and I was with them. Of course, I was with them too when I was in room 11, but I wanted to demonstrate that, and everyone supported me to do so.

[29:39]

This is my difficulty in settling into, in the middle of a retreat that I'm supposed to be leading, having jet lag. I was working at settling into my situation. And I did not hate it. And I did not like it. But I loved it. And there we received the teaching. And we were in the Bodhisattva Samadhi together, receiving the teaching of thusness and taking care of it for the next for the rest of the session. And now I'm sharing the fruits of the session with this assembly. And maybe that's kind of enough. Maybe that's clear. Maybe you have a possible job assignment.

[30:44]

Is that enough for now? We can discuss. what I've offered, or something else. OK. I see some yellow hands. And we might like what these people offer, or we might not like it. But we have the opportunity to love it. Here goes. Ready to love? Let's love Luca. See if we can do it. I'm glad to see you're well. You do look rested. I want to return to what you said in the beginning. And my sense is one can't be free unless in one's totality all other beings are free. That is just like

[31:51]

Whether they are or not, they're free. You give them that totality. And even though all beings are free, they don't believe they're free. So the conundrum is to offer freedom to those who are already free. Yep. Yep. And I hope that's helpful. It's actually to offer freedom. to those who don't realize they're free. They are free, but because of attachments and misconceptions, they don't realize it. So we just keep offering it. Keep offering. To help them give up their misconceptions and attachments, and then they'll realize that they are free. Thank you. Be well. That was easy to love you this morning. Thank you, Rev.

[33:09]

I think I'm going to be the one that's not easy to be loved. Okay, here it goes. Hold on to your seats, everybody. Yes. It might not be easy. Yes. And that is... I hear the word love as escape from... likes and dislikes. No, it's not. That's exactly what it's not. You hear it that way, but that's not what's meant. Love means not trying to escape. That's what it means. Loving beings means don't try to escape from liking them or disliking them. Yes, so that means to be, and that's what I love the teachings that you keep offering, Because every time I sit, okay, all I need is to sit. Sitting is enough. Sitting is what brings me... Take away enough.

[34:13]

Take away enough. All you need to do is settle. Settle. Exactly. So, settling with what is. Yes. That I can see love. But other than that, it's... It's moving away or moving toward or moving. That's what love is, just being settled in the situation and giving up going away or holding on. So that is why I say it's hard. It's hard. To be loved. We are built to try to go away or hold on. And if we try to go away, we settle with that. We don't try to get rid of trying to go away. So that's why love is hard. That's why love is hard. Thank you. You're welcome. That wasn't too difficult to not go away from you.

[35:18]

Let's see if we can not go away from Bastia. I'll see if I can shake you up in your seat. Well, actually, no, I really appreciate your talk. And some of my loved ones really close to me are giving me lots of challenges. And what I see is that it is really an opportunity to become truly intimate with myself, to see how... I want to push the eject button in many different ways that I didn't even know they were eject buttons. It is such a subtle way. We're so creative in inventing ways to escape. And the more I practice this and choose to stay and settle, this is how we are freeing others because...

[36:31]

they see that if I can sustain this and if I can be settled in whatever is coming up, it really opens their eyes. It's like, wow. It transforms them in many ways that they can even probably not even explain, but it's amazing. It's just that ordinary magic, but it's magic. You can't produce it. If I try to make it happen, it's not going to happen. I have to truly settle in all honesty. So, yeah. Thank you for bringing us to this place. Thank you for reflecting it. Vasya, you used the word magic.

[37:35]

The word that's coming to me this morning is grace. I feel like I've heard the talk you gave today maybe a hundred times, different versions of it, or actually not that different version. And I'm kind of on the verge of tears because it's like it has seeped into my blood and my bones and It's not something I think about. But I'm in a situation now where all around me I feel like there are bombs and fires with people I love in their lives. It's not me on fire today. But big, major life stuff, as big as it gets. And I am moved that I'm able... to be present with them and to be ethical and patient and have humor.

[38:40]

And that I, it's a little bit, I think what Basio or maybe Homa was saying about just trusting the process, that that alone, it's like that, it's enough. But as I'm watching my, excuse me. It's not that alone. It's not that alone. It's that together with all beings. Yeah. Yeah. Settling is not you doing it alone. You're settling with all beings. Thank you. Anyway, I. You know, you said the first step is aspiration. But to me, even having the aspiration, there's grace in that. Why? Why did I have the aspiration to hang in? years. I don't know. You didn't make that aspiration come up in you. No. It was a gift. Yeah, yeah. So bodhisattva aspirations are gifts to beings. When this gift comes, we become a bodhisattva.

[39:42]

Well, I am just, I'm like a little billboard today for staying the course and for, you know, you once said that the, which I just hated when you said, speaking of hated, you said Your greatest joy is to be there with people who are suffering. And I went, why would that be the greatest joy? Why wouldn't the greatest joy be there with people while we're all having a great time? So I've been thinking about that for a long time. And I've got a lot of people suffering around. And maybe I wouldn't call it joy at the moment. I'll call it gratitude. That I am able to be in a way... that appears to be helpful. So I don't know what else to say except thank you for being it. You don't just talk this stuff. That's my experience. You be it in a way that is like a model for me. It isn't necessarily the words you say for me.

[40:45]

I know it may be for other people. It's watching you be what you're talking about is what has made such a difference to me and continues to do so, and I really am grateful to you. Thank you very much. Good morning. Good morning. So good to see you and so good to be here in this assembly. I'm just... a little distracted by what the past two speakers have said. They were really inspiring. My initial question, why I raised my hand, was I appreciate that presence and settled presence can be healing to a person who's suffering.

[41:48]

I know that from sitting with you or sitting myself or sitting in general. And I'm just wondering when you, and I know like if you encounter somebody, say you're in the grocery store and you encounter somebody who's suffering, again, there's something about your presence that could ease their suffering or what you say or your interaction with them on some level. I'm just wondering if it's a, electronic communication or even if it's not electronic is there and you're like it's not just about relieving somebody's suffering it's about pointing them to the practice for themselves which you refer to how what kind of opener or conversation you know how do you how can that be done how does that

[42:51]

Is it just like whatever comes up, having the attention and whatever comes up hopefully puts that into service? Or is there something else that can be said? Is it just faith that the right words will come out? That's my question. Whatever comes up. being settled with that and also being settled with that doesn't mean you do the settling all by yourself you settle with and for all beings that being settled doesn't necessarily relieve other people's suffering what relieves their suffering if they would learn what you just showed them if you're settled with all beings in your suffering, you're free of your suffering, even if the suffering doesn't get decreased or increased.

[43:58]

So the Buddha doesn't exactly relieve people's suffering, the Buddha practice relieves people of suffering. So Buddha doesn't go around relieving people of suffering, Buddha shows people how to practice so that they will be relieved. So if you're practicing in the grocery store, You show other suffering beings, you're suffering, you're practicing with your suffering, and part of your suffering is to observe other suffering, who you care about, so it hurts to see them. But you settle with your pain, and you show them how to settle with their pain. That's what relieves them. Because again, Suzuki Rishi did not get over his cancer. It was painful. But he showed me and others how to be present with painful cancer. And that's what helped us to this day.

[45:00]

Not that he was this magician who made his cancer go away. He was a magician who knew how to have cancer completely, wholeheartedly, and to show his students how to be with cancer. Very painful cancer. Buddha shows the practice, shows the teaching. Doesn't do it for people. But he shows it for them, for them to see. And in a way that hopefully they'll want to try it. I want to try that. That was cool. But how do they know what it is? How do who, how do what? How do they know what it is? How do they know what it is that you're doing? They don't know. Buddha doesn't know either. You can't get a hold of being present.

[46:02]

You can't know what being present is. But you can know trying to get away. You can know trying to get rid of it. And those things, again, you can learn how to be kind to them. You can learn something without knowing what it is. Just like you can learn English without really knowing what English is. English is inconceivably, it's inconceivable. And we can practice it. OK, thank you. You're welcome. I don't know how you touched my heart, but I experienced what you were saying.

[47:23]

I experienced that. And this... it manifests itself with tears I may not make any sense but that's okay I'm very grateful and I receive a lot from you today and many days and Who knows if there would be another session like that. So I thought I might as well express my gratitude to you. Thank you very much. And to the assembly. You started out by talking about bodhisattva samadhi.

[48:45]

And for me, the word samadhi often has connotations of some supernormal state of consciousness or some different state of consciousness. But the way you're talking about it, and I think the way you're kind of demonstrating it this morning, is that there's an everydayness. And I wonder if you could talk about that specialness and everydayness quality. Well, we enter samadhi by being present with everydayness. We're somewhat familiar with everydayness. we're somewhat familiar with trying to get away from everydayness, resisting it, trying to control it, which is more everydayness.

[49:49]

So settling with that messy situation is necessary in order to open ourselves to our membership, our inheritance, which is the samadhi. The Buddha gives this samadhi to us But we have to be present to receive it. The samadhi is beyond everyday and extraordinary. But we have to settle with ordinary in order to be in a place that's beyond ordinary and beyond extraordinary, which is not either and can be either. So samadhi is beyond but including. ordinary. But the hard work is to really, really settle with ordinary. And if we don't, it's our lack of settling that somehow closes the door, which is really always open to this undistracted presence with the inconceivable Dharma.

[51:00]

When we're willing to be completely, or we're completely willing to be ordinary, then we get to be in the realm of the inconceivable Dharma, which helps us again, again and again, be present to show people how to be present. The samadhi, which we receive when we're present, encourages deeper and deeper presence, which can be shown to people, which can appear to people according to what they need to see. What the people need to see in the supermarket is different from what they need to see in the meditation hall. But samadhi is not really extraordinary and it's not ordinary. It's the inner penetration of extraordinary and ordinary. Well, it's not exactly that that samadhi can exist within the ordinary, but it is

[52:07]

It is in the ordinary. They're not different. We just don't pay attention to them. And in samadhi, we receive the teaching that they're not different. And because we're settled, it really sinks in. If we're not settled, then we don't get to be in the realm where the teaching really sinks in. It sinks in in a samadhi. In the samadhi, we feel Buddha pat us on the head. Thank you so much. Hi, Rob. I think a long time ago I had trouble with the idea of saving all beings.

[53:09]

So I kind of retranslated it into meaning I would drop my judgment to everyone I met, everyone who came into my life. I would try to let go of my judgments and opinions that were negative or positive or just to be with them. And so I just, I don't translate that to I'm going to love a person as much as I'm going to see my faults, my judgments, and let go of those judgments. And I've had the experience of letting go of a judgment that may or may not be specific to one person, but I just realized I have that judgment about many similar people. And I just... see that judgment in me. And I'm grateful that I'm seeing that judgment and I can let go of that judgment.

[54:12]

But I'm more focused on, or I'm more joyful about my transformation. And I don't know if I transform anyone else or the person I'm letting go of my judgment with. Yeah. Again, It would be great if we could let go of our judgments, but the path to letting go of our judgments is to be kindly settled into our judgments. If you're really present in your judgments, they will be released. It seems like I'm seeing them as a judgment and not as... reality of right but seeing seeing them as judgment and seeing that they're just a judgment requires really being accepting how it feels to have judgments which is often very uncomfortable so letting go of them would be good but don't trying to get rid of them will not let go of them trying to let go of them is not the way to let go of them i um

[55:29]

I don't think it's much of a try to try to let go. I think it's just seeing them. I just kind of feel like I see those judgments. And I'm saying that just to see them requires completely being present with them. Because it's hard for us to be present with these judgments. We're usually trying to hold on to them or get rid of them. So if you can be present with them, you'll see that they're empty. Right, right, right. When you see they're empty, they're released. Right. I don't try to release them. I just try to be present. Yeah, right. Which is really hard. But please continue to give yourself to be present with these challenging judgments. Okay, thank you.

[56:31]

Thank you, Charles. Okay, bye-bye. Morning, Reb and Assembly. I hope I can get this question out and have it connected to this teaching that you're offering today. I've been thinking about sorting out the difference between consciousness and awareness. And the word that comes to me is, or when I think about it, is that we try to... Not try. We allow our consciousness to be saturated by the teaching or the aspiration so that when what comes up in awareness, it can be manifest or applied.

[57:46]

So I'm seeing it as different parts of the training, which is allowing saturation seems to one of the words that works for me. So I wonder if, can you refine that or help me understand the subtle nuance difference if there is one? So, various people are using the word awareness and consciousness in different ways. Yeah. What I'm proposing these days is we have three kinds of awareness, three kinds of awareness, one kind, is ordinary dualistic consciousness. Yes. Where there seems to be a self. Right. I call that consciousness, or self-consciousness, or consciousness of self. Next kind of awareness, that's an awareness.

[58:51]

Next kind of awareness is an awareness that's not conscious. I'm not there in that, but there's awareness. Like, for example, I don't know what, walking down stairway and then tripping and then not falling down. There's an awareness there, but not necessarily... I wouldn't even... My consciousness wouldn't necessarily even notice what happened. But there was an awareness. It's an unconscious cognitive awareness. And then other kind of... Awareness is wisdom, which understands consciousness, sees it for what it is. There's no self in it, but it sees the consciousness where there is a self, and sees what goes on in that consciousness. It's an awareness of the way things really are, but there's not a self there.

[59:55]

It's just a light. It's a penetrating awareness. And it also understands the unconscious cognitive processes, and understands how the unconscious works together with the conscious. So all three are awarenesses. One is deluded, one is wisdom, and the other is partially wisdom and partially delusion, the unconscious. Awareness then is the rubric, and then awareness has these subtle parts. I think I was thinking it the other way around, but the way you're expressing it, it sounds like awareness is the rubric, and underneath that is the nuanced types of consciousness. There is awakened awareness and diluted awareness.

[60:59]

And so can I just go back? I'm just kind of pivoting on the word saturating consciousness or awareness now that what you're offering in these abodes of teaching or taking things in is that we're allowing them to settle in awareness. So when a situation arises, it's there's an appropriate response. Without your thinking about it, what should I do? Is that... So we have this conscious awareness where there seems to be a Reb and a Sonia. And now there's going to be some words which are, that when the teaching comes into this consciousness where there's Reb and Sonia and Charles and so on, when teachings appear in that consciousness, if they're attended to with kindness and attention, the consequences of that is that it transforms the unconscious cognitive processes.

[62:18]

Yep. Okay. And the unconscious... cognitive awarenesses, are the foundation for the conscious. So by receiving teachings and carefully listening to them in consciousness, the unconscious is transformed immediately, and it sponsors the arising of more willingness to receive the teachings in consciousness. So there's a transformation process going on which I think you might call saturation, the unconscious processes become saturated by the teachings which we contemplate consciously. And because they're saturated, the teachings come up more into consciousness, so that after a while we're more consistently remembering the teachings, and remembering what we've learned about them, and remembering that we want to practice them and remembering to not abandon any being inside or outside.

[63:25]

This is the saturation transformation. And wisdom is watching the whole process and the more this process goes on, the more the wisdom is unhindered. Is the wisdom watching? The wisdom is, not exactly, it's watching, but it's more like the wisdom is the way things actually are. Yeah. The way things actually are is in awareness. Yeah. And it's actually where this teaching is coming from. Which we are happy to receive, which when we're happy to receive, we are at the happy reception of the teaching, our body and mind is transformed, and the transformed body and mind sponsors us to again be willing to listen to this teaching even though it's difficult and be patient with it and with our struggling with it because we also are receiving the teaching of patience from wisdom wisdom is teaching us patience compassion generosity respect and concentration and so on

[64:42]

I'll just say one more thing. I think when I listen to that, I feel like wisdom is allowing those things to register or come in. I don't know if they're teaching, but anyway, I think I'm just having this porous, fragile being willing to be saturated, allowing things to come in rather than Thank you for helping me flip the script on awareness and consciousness. Thank you for the encouragement. It's contemplating that this thing to my own difficulties with the settling process.

[65:58]

If I'm with someone else with whom I feel unsettled, it's this old pattern of interruption as a strategy to make try to feel more settled or try to find clarity. And I'm wondering if you... I guess there's a lot of different contexts for interruption, but yes? Maybe I just mentioned that when there's an awareness of some strategy to be less distracted, that that strategy is calling for compassion so the strategy to be more to give up distraction or a strategy by which distraction can be given up that's another thing to be kind to if you're already being kind to distraction you can be kind without it being a strategy like you're kind to it but you're not trying to get rid of it

[67:16]

You're just being kind to it because it's calling for your kindness. If we're kind to distraction, the distraction calms down. If we have a strategy to get rid of the distraction, it flares up. And some people feel somewhat successful having strategies to get rid of distraction. And I propose that that's not the real... way to let go of distraction let go of it not by trying to get rid of it but by loving us not liking or disliking if you're really settled with distraction you're not distracted and we can notice distraction we can notice impulses to get rid of distraction we can be aware that there's strategies to get rid of distraction and strategies to be concentrated I remember kindness as an opportunity and the impulse to interrupt not necessarily suggesting whether or not to always

[68:42]

try to let go of interruption or pursue interruption, but just remember being kind with a sense of distraction and the sense of wanting to become calm. Yeah. It would be great if we could let go of distraction. It would be wonderful. It would be good if we could let go of our attachments. But trying to get rid of attachments is basically another kind of attachment. But being kind to attachment is not trying to get rid of attachment. It's like, I'm with you, hello attachment, I'm here with you, and I'm going to be your friend for as long as you need me, I'm going to be here. And then the attachment says, oh, wow, this is what I want. And I'm going to take my mask off now and show you what I really am. I'm not really... I'm not really attachment.

[69:46]

I'm just a being who is trying to help you develop compassion. And now that you've got it, I'm going to show you, I'm just your friend. You don't have to get rid of me. Now we have peace. That often when there's an impulse to interrupt, maybe I could just ask with compassion or you you could give the gift of asking not trying to get anything just give that gift a few a few sessions ago i had a title for the talk which was The acronym was FFF. Face fear with friendliness. Trying to get the light off my glasses.

[71:01]

There we go. Yes, Rosie. It's so lovely to see you and to see you rested. I really noticed the last time I was with you, you looked so exhausted and in my eyes. And you are, I'm happy that you could go with Sashin. Really, that was an incredible story about it that you told. It really went straight into me. What I'm wondering is, so far I haven't heard you speak of, and I wonder, I'm guessing that this was so helpful to you, the whole teaching of being with your sensations and your breath.

[72:05]

In a painful situation. This is so totally always helpful to me, the way when you speak of that and everything you've spoken about today goes right in with all the ways your teacher has helped so many years. Just keep coming back to... For me, the Dharma gates are so much with the body of the body mind and with the breath. And those are invaluable at this point with my own pain and feeling, being with the suffering of so many, as Tracy was saying earlier, that just... Everything she said was just like what's happening with me.

[73:07]

This is in our 80s. Life and death come just like this over and over, moment by moment. And to be with you is just enormously encouraging. Please stay with us. It's just enormously deepens my practice to just see you and be here with everyone with you. Thank you so much, Rosie. I just want to say what she said, what Rosie said.

[74:17]

Thank you so much for your presence. Just thank you for being here. And thank you for the gift that you are. And I can't tell you how deeply we all appreciate it. Infinite gratitude. Thank you. I don't see any yellow hands, so maybe that's enough for today for this session. Wonderful to see you all again, as always. Looking at your faces is wonderful.

[75:11]

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