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Bodhisattva Practices
And during that opening chant, I felt a chanting way up in the air above the agenda. But I wasn't sure if that was a chanting or an airplane. It's coming now. but I could hear it, too, and I went, well, the upside of the building is going overhead. And then when you stop, I thought I heard the airplane, but I wasn't sure. Do you know? Was it an airplane? Anyway, it was. We were commenting with the airplane. You see, I... I wanted to say something about... Something that was a problem during the class around alaya. And that is about alaya being a resultant. And what does that mean?
[01:01]
And now I propose to think about it like this. The word that they use, the Sanskrit word that they use there would be paka. It's a kind of a resultant. But this alaya which is resulting is an alaya which is one of three transformations. And all these three transformations, alaya, manas, and the acquisition, manas, and or the resultant, thinker, reflector, and the acquisition of the six-fold object, those three are all working together. So the way I'm understanding Vassalbandha now, when he says it's a resultant, what he means, his primary intention here is to say that alaya is causally produced, that it codependently arises.
[02:08]
That he's telling you right off that it's codependently arises. First thing he tells you about alaya is that it's codependently produced. And a lie is also a seed for things. And a lie is also a result of past. It's a result of other things. And as a result of the past, it's also a cause for the future. But there's no past, present, and future separate here. So a lie is not a substantial thing. But the meaning of resultant, I think, is that it's dependently arisen. So personally, Vassilban wants to tell you about it so you don't think a lie of this place or this substantial stuff that everything comes up out of. It is a ground in a sense, but it's a codependently produced ground. It's an ungraspable ground. And it's always working with these other two transformations.
[03:14]
And it has the power to be like a seed. But the thing is, when people think of it as a seed, then they think of it as this core, this thing, which can be the resource for images. Which is true, it is. But it's not a substantial thing. It's a core that can reproduce. And it's also a result of everything else, including the past, but also it's a result in the present of these other two transformations. It's a result in the present, not the result of something before it. But also, it's a result of things before it, but so are they, so are the other transformations. So I think the main point, anyway, that he wants us to know right from the beginning, be the dependently arisen phenomenon. It has no inherent existence in itself. And it always works with the other two simultaneously. Can you explain at this point the difference between and the foundation
[04:25]
I'll do that in class. I think I just want to sort of clear that point up, because that was sort of, I think, kind of a problem at the end of the last class. This other one, I think, it is a part that we're working on, so we'll definitely work on it from the beginning of the class. Okay? And last time, we talked about the Bodhisattva practice of confession and repentance, and I was studying the platform scripture of the sixth ancestor, quite known, and he had a section on repentance. And I took a note on it, but I can't find it here. But basically, one of the points he makes that I want to say is that he says, It's useless or meaningless to repent in front of the Buddha.
[05:46]
When I read that, I thought of a conversation we had. Muga was saying, well, is it better to do it by yourself? Is that OK? Or is it good to do it in front of the Buddha, in front of somebody? And I think it's better to do it in front of somebody, in a way. And then the six ancestors said, it's meaningless to do it in front of the Buddha. I think what he means, if you read that, and I want to tell you in advance, what I think he means is two things. One, is what he means is that to merely say in front of Buddha, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I really regret doing this. But that is meaningless unless you also actually cut off doing the thing in the future. He's saying that just for people to come and confess, which is probably a prevalent practice in China at this time, in front of the Buddhas or in front of the teachers, is meaningless unless you actually have the resolution to definitely not do it in the future.
[06:51]
So that's one way I think he means, that it's silly to just be confessing in front of the Buddha. Another meaning, of course. is that the Buddha is not in front of you. So although you can testify in front of the Buddha, the Buddha is not a Buddha out there. So that can be used too. And I think I've also mentioned to you before The statement from the dual mirror samadhi, the meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse. And literally, that means it responds to the arrival of energy. It. What is it in this case? The teaching of blessings.
[08:02]
The arrival of energy. Energy comes. What energy? Energy. The energy of your life. You put your energy out there. Here's my energy. And there's a response. They also say inquiry and response come up together. It's like... See, this is inquiry. The response happens at the same time. It isn't like... Well, it's... The response is right there. That's the response. You see? So, in that way, when your energy comes, there's a response simultaneous with that. And what is that response? It is the teaching of thusness. And what is the teaching of thusness? It's the thusness. Whatever that is. That's the response. But if you don't go like this, there's no response. If you don't say, ow, there's no response. When I go, I go, ow, what's the response?
[09:08]
It's right there, too. That's the response. I didn't make the ow. I went, I did something, and then there was an ow. But the ow, what was the ow? It's the teaching of duskness. So we do confess. And we also should confess, as Ancestor says, there is a confession, and then there's the repentance, and then there's a resolution, repentance resolution. So the term that they use in the platform sutra is chan kwe. And he says, what does chan mean? Chan means that you confess, that you avow what you did. What does kwe mean? Kwe means that you say you're not going to do it anymore. So confession or repentance and resolution, those two is what you need by repentance. And again, there's no counting about saying, well, I don't know if I'm going to do it.
[10:12]
I don't know if I'm going to be able to not do it anymore. Well, forget that. You don't need to talk about that. You just say you're not going to do it anymore if you're ready to say that. Just say it. And before you're done saying it, you'll be done saying it. Maybe you may say, well, I'm not going to be able to do what I just said. Well, then you, so what? That's a different matter. That's a doubt. You've already committed yourself, and that's part of the process. That is the process. The doubt thing is a different thing. Several years ago, gave a talk, and I think, I don't remember what he said, but he was talking about this French, I guess she's a political writer, and maybe some other writings. I think she did. Her name was Simone Weil. Right? Did I say her name? Was she a political writer? Yeah.
[11:19]
Yeah. So Simone Weil, somewhere along the line, somebody told her that she should pick some kind of poem or something, and that she should memorize it, and then use Medicaid on it. And the poem she chose was an English poem by a guy named by a guy named George Herbert. George Herbert was a priest in the newly-born English church. And they had started so they could have lots of wives. And George Herbert wrote this poem. He wrote three poems called Love. And I don't know which one she memorized, actually.
[12:23]
But I think the poem Love, number three. I hope so. Anyway, if not, I still like this poem. It's called Poem by George Coger. When I was a kid, I... A friend of mine and I found these poems, which we call metaphysical poems. They're written by George Herbert and people like George Herbert and Francis Bond, not Francis Bond, Henry Bond, and these other metaphysical poets. But the thing about these metaphysical poets is since they're writing about metaphysics, they can write these poems which are apparently kind of sexy. Because this is just metaphysics, right? And you can say anything, right? You can talk about, you know, going up into Jesus is whatever, you know, or, you know, Mary is whatever, and doing this and that with Mary was perfectly all right, because this is promising metaphysical.
[13:27]
You didn't have to hold back. You could really get into all kinds of fleshy comments. This is a poem which is obviously about spiritual matters, but it's really got You know. Love. Badly welcome. This is about confession and repentance, okay? I feel. It's about the dynamic between the arrival of energy and the feelings of guilt and the teaching of rescue. That's my feeling about this. I like this poem, so I memorized it. But I'm not going to do my memorizing so much today. Love made me Yet my soul drew back, guilty with dust and sin. But quick-eyed love, observing me grow slack from my first entrance in,
[14:37]
Sweetly questioning. No, drew nearer to me. Sweetly questioning. If I lack the event. A guest, I said. Worthy to be here. Love said, thou shalt be here. I, the unkind, the ungrateful? Ah, my dear, I cannot look on thee. Who made these eyes? But I, said love. Truth, Lord, but I have marred them.
[15:50]
Let my shame go where it doth deserve. And know ye not, says love, who bore the blame? Then I will serve. Ah, my dear. You must sit down, says love, and eat my meat. So I did sit and eat. But she memorized this poem, and this is a poem she meditated on and supposedly had a good enlightening experience. Love made me welcome, yet my soul drew back, guilty with dust and sin.
[16:58]
But quick I love, observing me grow slack from my first entrance in. Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning if I lacked anything. A gift. I answered, worthy to be here. Love said, thee shall be he. I? The unkind, the ungrateful? Ah, my dear, I cannot look at thee. He made these eyes, but I. Loved it, replied. Truth, Lord. But I admired them. Let my shame go where it doth the earth. And know you not, says love, who bore the blame, my dear that I will serve. You must sit down, says love, and taste my meat, so I can sit and eat.
[18:01]
So I propose to you that this is a story about what you have to go through in order to sit still. And that you're sitting still is not because you can sit still, but it's because of love. And love forgives you. Because love gives you your eyes in the first place. So even though you're marred in what your faith is, love gave you the eyes in the first place and love forgives you. Because love bears the blame. But you have to recognize the problem. This person who drew away has confessed. OK, so next I come to the bodhisattva practice of rejoicing in the merits of others. After you sit down, eat, and you feel forgiven, you will be able to, well,
[19:14]
to really appreciate others. So Samantabhadra says to the children of Buddha, again, oh noble-minded person, how should one rejoice at the merits and virtues of others? To do so, one should think the following way. In all the realm of Dharma and the realm of space in the ten directions, there are infinite Buddhas equal to the amount of infinite atoms throughout the Buddha domains in past, present, and future. From the very first moment when they were infinite Buddhas, In the very first moment when these infinite Buddhas brought forth the thought of enlightenment and set their minds to attain all-knowing wisdom of the Buddha, they have diligently practiced all spiritual deeds to eons of kalpas equal to the amount of infinite atoms throughout all Buddha domains.
[20:35]
In each and every kalpa, they have sacrificed an infinitude of heads, eyes, hands, feet, in the fulfillment of the altruism of the bodhisattva. They have performed all of these arduous acts, fulfilled all the requirements of different paramitas, realized the various stages of a bodhisattva's wisdom, accomplished the sphere of enlightenment of Buddha, and eventually have entered into parinirvana, with the acts of distributing your relics. In all these great acts of merit, I will emulate them and rejoice. Nay, I will rejoice in the merit or virtue of even though it be infinitesimal as a grain of dust that may be possessed by any being in any realm of six worlds and four births.
[21:39]
or any kind of existence in the ten directions throughout the universe. Again, all the sravakas, parijagabuddhas, and thoroughly learned ones and partly learned ones, with all such saints in the ten directions in three times, I rejoice at whatever merit they possess. The infinitely vast merits of bodhisattvas, their self-sacrifice and their courage in carrying through the most difficult acts of bodhi, their determination and perseverance in pursuing the supreme enlightenment. In all these immense merits, I will rejoice. My rejoicing in these merits will cease when the realm of space is ended, or the karma, sorrows, and passion desires of all beings are ended. But since these are endless, so will be my rejoicing endless, thought after thought, without interruption. in bodily, vocal, and mental actions without becoming weird or jaded.
[22:43]
I won't give up. I won't grow up. I won't wear a hat. I won't believe what they say. I'll keep trying. I'll do this impossible thing like a silly kid would. I won't give up. So rejoicing in the merits of others is rejoicing in the incredibly vast. merit and virtue of Buddhists and Bodhisattvas, you know, who, you know, in all the context that I'm reading these long things about, Bodhisattvas give their feet, their hands, their fingernails, their toes, their eye, their ears, their nose, their tongue, their head, their wives and children, their husbands. And they give the wives and children and husbands their love. They give the stuff. And when they see the people coming to get the stuff from them, to get their eyes, to see the people coming to ask for their skin, they open joy.
[23:52]
They open joy. These people are coming to ask for their skin and their teeth and their fingernails. Well, this is kind of hard to understand, right? And it says again and again, when they give their fingernails and when the people take their hands, or cut their skin off, they kneel before them and they say, please take it. I'm so happy. This is going to be so great that you're going to take this because I'm going to do you a little favor. I've been waiting to do you a favor. Take my skin. And they don't go like this. They don't say, ooh, ah, ah, ooh, ah. They don't go like that. They go, when they take the fingernails off, they're joyous. They relax. They say, here, take the next one. I painted them this morning before you speak. When the people take these parts of their body, they're calm and relaxed and joyous and loving. This isn't like, you know, you can take it.
[24:55]
No, these people have got some kind of attainment. These are far-out characters, these bodhisattvas. They have got patience. down all the way to the tips of their fingers to the tips of their hair they are patient they can take anything so that if people need anything no problem fingernails sure if they're a king my empire fine i'll be your servant no no problem whatever people need they give it joyously calm so it's not maybe you think about this you could This is amazing. Wow. This vow is to rejoice in the attainments of such creatures and Buddhas, which are even beyond that. These are just like the workers for Buddha. But also, it is to rejoice in the infinitesimal merits and virtues of anything, of beings in hell.
[26:00]
Like if somebody in hell does the slightest favor for somebody else in hell, Or somebody in hell, when they lash him, if they just don't get angry at that time for a second, there's a little tiny merit. There's a little tiny virtue. You rejoice in the tiniest ones and in the magnificent ones. All of them. And you never stop. So that's the spirit of this rejoicing. And rejoicing is, you know, Again, considered you've already sought the land, it's really this great, great practice of rejoicing in others. And you can also rejoice in yourself that comes along with it. But mostly, you concentrate on others because there's a lot more of their merits than yours. Everybody know what a kalpa is? Anybody that doesn't know what a kalpa is? I don't know what it is.
[27:02]
But anyway, so there's kalpas and yin and stuff. And then there's virtues and merits. Virtue and merit are a little bit different. They're slightly different English words. And so when they say, usually when you see translations of English of virtue and merit, they're translating two Sanskrit words, which are guna and punya. Guna is usually translated as merit, I mean virtue. Guna means quality or a virtue of a person or of a person's practice. Virtue is actually quite a complicated word, especially if you look it up in a philosophical dictionary. But basically, it means a quality, an excellent quality, particularly a spiritual quality. It means goodness. It's related to Latin root, virtus, which means madly, or courageous, or strong.
[28:05]
And it's related to words like, Sanskrit words like virya, which means courageous effort, things like that. is virtue. the virtues of religious practice. And then a slightly different word is merit. Merit means more value or excellence, or it also means an aspect of a person's character deserving approval or disapproval. It also means spiritual credit, granted for good works. It also means good fortune. That is, I get up, fuku, muso, fukudene. Muso, fukudene. Muso means no marks. Fuku, then. Fuku means a merit or a good fortune. And then is feel.
[29:09]
Okay, it's feeling. Literally, it would be feel, The clothing of the field of blessing, or the field of good fortune, which has no marks. no mark, blessing field, clothing. So the field of merit is the Buddha. The field is enlightenment, and all the people practice. So the the virtue of these good qualities of people, and also the merit, is that when people do good things, there's some benefit for them and others in the situation. So we're not only working, the bodhisattvas and buddhas are working for the benefit of other people, to save people from suffering, but also to, you know, clean the streams and make the roads to go there.
[30:13]
and build bridges so people don't have just a hard time crossing rivers, and grow flowers, and build lovely buildings. And all the things you can do which make the world a healthier and more lovely, ecologically balanced thing, those are also merits. Those aren't exactly qualities of spiritual practice. So you work to help the world and to save sentient beings. So these two kinds of things you're rejoicing over. And oftentimes, they can get it, of course, that someone has a lot of virtue and does build a nice building, or someone has a lot of virtue and cooks a good meal, or rules a garden, plants a garden. Mark went up to San Francisco with me last time I went. And when I gave a talk at Green Gulch, I told myself, do not worry about Mark.
[31:15]
Don't worry that he's heard this lecture before. Stop him from doing it over, because everybody else hasn't heard it. So I gave the lecture that I gave here, there. Of course, it was a little different, but I was a little worried about repeating something to somebody who's already heard it, except that I know that it protects them from being jaded. So I'm not worried again to tell this story that I told when Mark was up there. And that is, it's a story about the fact that, about, I'll just tell the story and you can tell me what it's about. It's a story about Pablo Casals. Not Pablo Picasso. Or Pablo Neruda. Casals. the cellist. So this young man, I forgot his name, I think he was a Polish cellist, and he did a recital for Pablo, and of course he was a little nervous playing in front of the great master, and he did a very good job.
[32:22]
And it didn't exactly screw up, but... You didn't do some of the stuff you really wanted to do for the teachers. It's almost a story. I told you. Oh, sorry. I had a birthday. All right. Suddenly, he did the recital, and he didn't get a very good job because he was kind of tense or something. And then Casals was just like, well, how was Casals doing? I was just in my thoughts afterwards. Anyway, Casals was very excited. He's super enthusiastic about what a wonderful recital the guy gave. So anyway, afterwards the guy felt kind of funny, felt disappointed because here he was having a chance to perform in front of the master and get some real feedback on his performance.
[33:29]
And all I got was this exuberant praise for a sort of half-assed recital. And then, I think maybe 10 years later, he met Casals again, and he got a chance to do another recital. And again, Casals was very enthusiastic and crazy. And afterwards, he went up to him and said, well, thank you very much, sir. And I think he said something like, well, now it was a good recital, too, by the way. You're right. But about 10 years ago, I gave a recital, and you were really exuberant, and you praised me, but I felt funny because I kind of screwed up. Casals got actually kind of angry with him and said, I don't know the technical terms, but didn't you do this, you know, right? And didn't you do that, right? And didn't you approach this line, phrase that way? And didn't you do those things? He said, well, yes. He said, well, that was great. He said, I leave it to fools to criticize.
[34:30]
My job is to praise what's good. And you did some good things, and I really like that." And I'd say, well, when you're great like that, you can go around just praising people. But actually, everybody can do that. You don't have to be super great at something to praise people's merits. Even a stupid person can see people's merits. Everybody can see some merit, probably. But most people concentrate on people's faults. This is really foolish. So to see infinitesimal, to rejoice in infinitesimal, if I look at each person, I can definitely see at least infinitesimal merits in all these people. Definitely. There's no problem. There's nobody who I don't see some infinitesimal merit in, really. Even my worst enemy has probably got more than infinitesimal amount of merit. Richard. And then to rejoice in that and forget about the errors or faults.
[35:37]
That's his practice. And that's practice, real practice. Yes. This year is going to be really so strong for us in our pursuit of technology. It's going to be [...] strong for us in our pursuit of technology. Well, one is just, if you can find a tiny one, you can find... I want to tell you, this is, I'm telling you now, this is the answer. If you can find a tiny virtue in anybody, then rejoice in that. If you can find a big, whatever virtues you can already find, then rejoice in them.
[36:40]
So rejoicing in the merits will give you more energy and open your eyes more. The more you rejoice and the more you see, the more you'll see. So the main practice is to do that practice is to start doing it. And as you do it, you'll do it more and more. That's the main practice, yeah? Well, look for it, but also when you look for it, when you see it, rejoice in it. The rejoicing will then encourage you to look for it more because you're not only going to find it, but you'll feel happy that you found it and rejoice in it. Then you'll be more likely to look again. That's one way to do it. But there's another way to do it. Did you want to say something? That's true. That's true. So it goes both ways. If you can practice non-discrimination, then you can do this practice better. If you can do this practice, you can do non-discrimination.
[37:42]
This practice aids the practice of non-discrimination, and non-discrimination aids this practice. Also, in the Platform Sutra, it says, if you are a person who truly practices the way, do not look at the ignorance in the world, for if you see the wrong of people in the world, you being wrong yourself will be evil. And what is it? Confucius says, if you see something good in people, emulate it. If you see some fault in somebody, look at yourself. So if you see something good, praise it. The best way and one way to praise it is to try to be that with yourself. Emulate it. That's one great way of praising it. My great praise of him was to try to be like him. So praise and rejoice at the merits of others. And if you see faults in people, if your eye gets off track and you somehow can't help but see a fault, then when you see the fault, then don't deny the fault.
[38:49]
Just turn around and look at yourself. Because you probably haven't been doing the previous practice of confession and repentance thoroughly. If you do that more thoroughly, then when you look back out again, you probably again will see merit. and virtue rather than false. But again, if you see false, don't deny that you see the fault, but see that you have made a fault. You're off when you see faults. So turn around, and look back here, and then go back out again. So that's important. And if you see the merit, then don't just see it. Rejoice in it. Yes? At this point, could you say something about the practice practice of talking to others. Sort of having a problem with... Talking to others? How the distance, the compression, repentance, and turning your, your background yourself. Talking to others?
[39:51]
Yeah, about, you know, I have a, you know, there's, there's somebody you have a problem with. Okay. All right. Did you have something? Yeah, that's what he said. That's what his ancestors said. If you see faults in others, then you're wrong. If you see virtues in others, you're right. Buddha only sees virtues and merits in people. Buddha does not see anything wrong with anybody. If you see something wrong with somebody, you've got a problem. That's it. There's no exception to this in Buddha Dharma. The enlightened ones see the merits of others. They don't see the problems of others. Now, in relation to what Brian is saying, I trained as a Zen monk now for more than 20 years, and so if you people do anything wrong,
[40:56]
in the realm of Zen monkhood, you know, Zen forms, if you just let me deviate from certain expectations I have, I notice immediately. You know, if the bell is a little bit off, or five o'clock too, I notice them right away. If the lights are a little bit different than I'm used to lighting them, anything off from what I think is most beautiful, I notice like that in ten directions and three times. Okay? But when I notice those things in my mind, I don't think anybody did anything wrong. I don't. I think, oh, now I have a chance to relate to somebody. These little things are ways to help people. They're not the people who are doing things wrong. They're these don'ts. They're learning these don'ts. When they start out the first half of the practice period, or sometimes the whole practice period, they just make all these these behaviors that are different from the standard form.
[42:00]
But this is not, I do not, if I'm awake, if I'm in the right state of mind, I never see them making any wrong. I just see opportunities to relate to them. When I was a young monk, it's as if he or she taught me things. I never, ever felt like I did anything wrong. And the more I practiced these priest forms, I felt like I was putting myself out where he could relate to me. I learned the chants not to do them perfectly, but so that he could talk to me about the way I was chanting. It's a media. It provides media for expedience. So if you've got a problem with somebody, you think there's something wrong with them, the only reason to talk to them, Brydon, is to tell them something about yourself, which is a great gift. So you should tell people about yourself, but you don't talk to other people about their faults.
[43:07]
That's completely off. You tell other people about how they affect you. If you're telling them not about your faults, either you're just telling them about yourself. You say, for example, when you hit the bell the other day, that hurt me. when it hit. It was hit in such a way that I felt pain. But if you feel like you're criticizing them, there's something wrong with them when you say that, you shouldn't say that to them because this is not correct. You're just ramifying your own delusion. But to tell someone that they hurt you is good information if you don't really feel like they did anything wrong. Like if Ryan steps on my foot unconsciously, I don't think he did something wrong, but I'll tell him that he did it. Because he should know that he's stepping on my foot and that it hurts. If it hurts. If it doesn't hurt, I might not tell him. But I still might tell him just because I want him to know that he is stepping on my foot and I think he doesn't know it. Any other questions about that, Brian?
[44:08]
Does that make sense? him all the time so he could see it, and then he could comment on it. And I haven't always been able to follow that way of basically commenting on form as a gift, but that's the way I recommend. And if somebody's bothering you or hurts you, it's OK to tell them they hurt you. As a matter of fact, it's a gift to tell them that they hurt you, but not because they did something wrong by hurting you. If you think they did something wrong, wait until you get rid of that idea. If you think they did something wrong, turn the thing back on yourself until you can see that all that happened really was that you got hurt and then you made a judgment. The judgment of their error is something that you need to work on. Your judgment is evil.
[45:10]
But the fact that they hurt you, that's true, and they probably should know. And you telling them that they hurt you without any judgment against them is a gift. you're making yourself vulnerable to them. You're telling them that they have power in your life. And also, if you tell them after you put aside and overcome your false impression, your own erroneous thinking, and you give it, and if you feel that this is just kindness, that's what I think a very good practice to do, both of those things. And that's not a case necessarily of rejoicing in the merits of others. When you tell someone to hurt you, that's not necessarily rejoicing in their merits. But in a way, it's rejoicing in your own merit that you can be kind enough to go out of your way to tell someone the effect they had on you so that they can be more aware of their power in your life and other people's lives.
[46:16]
Yes? I think it's terrific that we can know that all the deviations from their previous experience have not communicated with us. I think that's so terrific that I don't think that's possible. I have so much to do with my daily practice that I feel a little bit like a cookbook. That I can wiggle and [...] I'll feel active. But I think the feeling and the vision is that you have enough doubt. Yeah. And there's no reason to stop wiggling. What is the whittling? The whittling is the practice of not judging. No, it's not. I don't recommend that you practice not judging.
[47:22]
I recommend that when you do judge, you turn it around. I haven't always been able to do this. When I was your age, hold you. When I was your age, I was a do-on, actually. And I was in the first group of dawn at Tassajara. And yeah, that was when I was a dawn, when I was your age. And I was like, I was not, I was irritated with these things at that time. But 20 years of turning around has some effect. 20 more years, probably I'll I probably won't get angry at all anymore. I won't get irritated at all anymore. I'll just always feel joyous when somebody does me the kindness of showing me some way to relate to them. But 20 years is, you know, it has, you know, you can get into it with it. But I was the same thing. I was irritated and judgmental about these things when I was 24.
[48:25]
Well, yes, I was saying, when I do turn it around, I get a little, you know, I think it's really, it's sort of worse, the fact that... Well, yeah, well then, that's right, exactly. That's what I mean, that that takes you back to the previous stage, and then you're in repentance and resolution again, and then you say that poem. And now that love forgives you. Love forgives you. Love gave you the eyes to see this in the first place. You've got to see this about yourself in order to be able to clean yourself up, in order to then be able to see how wonderful other people are. So again, this practice, if you have trouble doing this practice, then that sends you back to the previous practice. But you have to work more on confession and repentance. Either formally or just through the feel of pain. How's that kind of thing?
[49:28]
Pain of being petty. We don't like to be petty. We want to be magnanimous. And that's part of what monetary is about. Monetary is to get it. It's to get a taste of how petty you yourself are. And to feel how terrible that is. And then to be forgiving for it. And over the years, you'll gradually, your eyes will open up a little bit about how wonderful everybody is. And not everybody is the same. Some people have unbelievable, you know, blinding virtue. Other people have just a little bit compared to that. But a little bit is really beautiful. Sometimes it's really beautiful to see a little tiny bit of virtue in certain people. It's an exquisite jewel there in its certain texture.
[50:30]
Got a question? Is it still there? It's still there, but I don't think it's a bit anymore today. Yeah. I was just reading that, um, it has been learned in nature that the question of the human and the acquired life, which talks about, um, shows the human for information, and we know our, our child to be perfect, is that, it's just a reflection of what we call isolation. Mm-hmm. As we, uh, as we, uh, well, there's more and more of these human nets, right, to, to, to complete it out. Or you can be perfect if you can see how wonderful other people are. Yeah, right. To make me perfect first will never work. If I want to be perfect, I better start up here. Once I've got everybody else perfect, I'll be okay.
[51:34]
The people who see The people we see are surrounded by perfect beings. They're pretty good. Buddha actually saw everybody was perfect. Really did. I mean, not holding back at all. Buddha saw everybody was replete with all the wisdom and compassion and qualities and virtues, the wisdom and virtues of the Buddhists. Buddha saw that in everybody. But Buddha also saw people don't believe that because of their attitudes. That's why this is a great practice. And if you slip, step back one step. If you can't do that one step, step back one step and back. Pretty soon you'll wind up in the front of the practice that you couldn't do. Yeah? I think I understand what you were saying about . To do what?
[52:39]
When you don't have what energy? When you don't have what energy, what do you want? You know, not to be successful. but I just wanted to say that I felt that it's really important not to be stopped by my age and that's what's important for, you know, I'm trying to do the recovery that I'm doing and so what keeps on happening is that Yeah, so you're saying, some people say, actually, I remember when my, again, when I was One of my playmates was a guy who had trouble saying the vowels because he actually, I think, didn't say them because he couldn't.
[54:09]
And I've seen that a number of times. People do not say them because they say, well, I can't really do that. I can't really say vowels, so I'm not going to say I'm going to. In that case, I would still recommend that you say so, that you say them anyway. It's like someone who says, well, I'm not going to say, for example, The disciple of the Buddha does not kill. Then you say, even after acquiring Buddhahood, will you continue to follow this precept? And they say, well, I don't know if I will, so I'm not going to say yes. I think you should say yes. I mean, if you can't say yes, say yes. I agree. And if you think, well, maybe I won't be able to, so maybe I shouldn't say yes, I say, go ahead. If you can say yes, say it. Okay? Okay. So I think I agree with you, but there's a little twist there. The twist is that I'm saying to you, you're hearing me say, don't say blah-di-blah unless you really feel it.
[55:13]
You think I'm saying that. I'm saying it's silly to say you don't really feel it. Yes. But I'm not saying don't say it unless you really feel it. I'm saying say it and really feel it. And I'm saying it's silly not to really feel it. So I say say it, and when you say it, and you say, I will not do any more evil, say you won't. Definitely go ahead. And if you think, well, I won't be able to, that's a different thing. Put that aside. And when you say it, say I won't do it, and say I'm not going to do it. Say I did it, I don't like it, and I'm not going to do it. So I'm just, I'm not saying you shouldn't say it. I'm saying you should say it, and I'm saying you should say it with whole heart. And when you say the word, you should say it with your whole heart. And if part of you says I'm not wholehearted about it, put that aside and just talk about the part that's saying it wholeheartedly. That's what I'm saying. And some part of you is saying it wholeheartedly, right?
[56:18]
I told that story about that German woman, Irmgard Schlegel. She's a German woman who went to Japan and practiced then. She also thought it really weird to bow. And she was bowing one time, I think she was bowing one time, and she said to herself, I think this is ridiculous, but somebody's bowing like hell. But if you don't say it, if you say, I'm not going to stay to bow, then you don't say it. But if you say, I vow to save all sentient beings, somebody's actually saying that. Somebody's saying, I vow to save all sentient beings. I'm going to do that. Somebody's actually saying those words. Somebody ultimately is saying, oh, I don't know about that. Well, forget about that. Just concentrate on the one who's actually going to do it. And that's not even a want, but concentrate on that spirit. That's all. That's not silly at all. What's silly is to let the feeling that you're not going to do it, that you're not going to do it, but you can't do it, let that take over and stop you from appreciating your true nature.
[57:25]
That's what I'm saying. I think that's what the six ancestors are saying too. You should be engaged in your own practice. Don't see right or wrong in others. If one is a true practicer of the way, one will not see faults in others in the world. That's . One who practices steadfastness does not see faults in the people everywhere. This is the steadfastness of your true nature. If people practice and cultivate imperturbability They ignore the mistakes and defects of others. Their nature is thus not perturbed. So when we see the faults in others, we are perturbed. We feel upset.
[58:26]
We feel bad. OK, well, I'd like to give one more lecture now. Make yourself comfortable. I'd like to draw together here. This is right out of the same thing, but it's more in terms of, you know, kidnapping Machada City and Zen and stuff like that. And that is, the sixth ancestor of Zen said, What is it in this teaching that we call zazen?
[59:31]
Sitting. Sitting then. In this teaching, sitting means without any obstruction anywhere. Outwardly, And under all circumstances, not to activate thoughts. Sitting means outwardly, or outwardly, not to activate any thoughts. No thought activity of objects. No thought of objects. No object of thought. That is what's sitting beneath them.
[60:37]
No object of thought. It means that in regard to outward things, like if I see Noreen, if I see Gale, these are outward things, right? When I see them, no thought is activated. That means no object of thought. Doesn't mean there's nothing out there. It means that when you see an object, that's it. There's no further activity. There's no object of thought. Meditation, or Zen, means that inwardly, to see your true nature and to not be confused. But of course, if you look inwardly and you see an object there, then your mind is not activated over the inner nature that you see either.
[61:38]
You can turn inwardly and outwardly that way. So inwardly means, again, not an object. Another translation. In this method, to sit means to be free from all obstacles. and externally not to allow thoughts to arise in the mind over the sphere of objects. To meditate means to realize the imperturbability of your original nature. Buddha said to one of his disciples, you must train yourself thus. In the seen, what you see, there will just be the seen. In the seen, there will just be the seen.
[62:46]
In the heard, there will just be the heard. In the cognized, there will just be the cognized. In the reflected, there would just be the reflected. See that same thing? In the seen, there's just the seen. In other words, in the seen, there's no thought activity that arises on that occasion. There's just the seen. Here's Buddha recommending the practice of objectless awareness and no thought of objects or no objects of thought. Then he explains a little bit. Now, when in the seed there will be just the seed, and in the herd just the herd, and in the cognized just the cognized, then you will not identify yourself with it.
[63:47]
In other words, you see something, and it's just the seed. You don't identify with it. But if there is a scene and then there's a thought that arises, some thought activity on the occasion of scene, then you identify with it. But if there is just the scene when there's the scene, you will not identify it with yourself. When you do not identify yourself with it, you do not locate yourself in it. When you do not locate yourself in it, it follows that you will have no here. or there, or in between. And this would be the end of suffering. It's the Buddha. And Dogen Renji says, sound of the valley stream enters the ear. The light curses the eye.
[64:48]
Outside this, no thought. Buddha also said, when you approach the five khandhas, it means, again, when you approach color, when you approach feeling, or, of course, if color approaches you, or feeling approaches you, then Color, feeling, conception, emotions, and consciousness are pots of misery. The five skandhas come at you, or you go at the five skandhas. They are sources of misery. In other words, you see something, and then your thought is to go at it, or it comes at you.
[65:50]
There's further thought. there's no approach to these events. Then these very events become bliss thoughts. If you don't approach the sound, it becomes a source of bliss. Not approaching the sound is the same as when you hear something outside, there's no thought in addition to that hearing. So Dogen Zenyu says, when you use the five khandhas, you use colors and sounds and thoughts and feelings. You use them, only them, to realize Buddha. So you do use your experience, but you never approach your experience, and your experience never approaches you. It's just experience. Exactly. When myriad things advance and confirm themselves, that's it.
[66:54]
It isn't that myriad things advance and confirm themselves and you go along with it, or they come to you then. Just things advancing forward and confirming themselves, just sounds being sound, a sound happening, a sight happening, for all these things to happen, that's enlightenment. That's the end of suffering. It's not that you approach them. It's not that you identify with them. It's not that you locate yourself in them. You don't do that. And therefore, that's the end of suffering. Yes? . Don't tell me that you hear my voice and then you try to be empty. You hear my voice. That's what you do anyway. You always hear my voice when I talk.
[68:12]
But just let it be that. And then don't do anything more. That's what's recommended. Don't try to be empty when you hear my voice. Or don't try to stop your judgment when you hear my voice. Okay? Another translation of what our didactics just said is when To witness and act from the advent of things is enlightenment. So if I talk, that's the advent of something, of sound to you. To witness that sound, that's it. That's enlightenment. Just to witness that sound. In other words, for the sound to be the sound, that's enlightenment. That's the end of suffering. But it's interesting that he translated this to witness and act from the advent of peace.
[69:18]
Okay? So when I say boo, it's just boo. And that's all that happens for you. Okay? You're there witnessing that advent and you're acting from that advent. In other words, as soon as I say boo, you say, hi, or I got a question or let's take a walk or shut up, you know, Point is, you don't just sit there like a log, or you do sit there like a log, and then you're just log. And the next moment, who knows what you'll do? You'll do something. You might hear another sound. You might scratch your nose. You might lift your eyebrows. A life flows from that, OK? A life flows from sounds being just sounds and thoughts being just thoughts. You act from there. So it's not that you don't do anything, you don't learn anything. You learn a lot. But you learn from things being what they are rather than you being separate from them and looking over there at them and getting all entangled in identification and location and attachment and all that.
[70:28]
People act from that too. But acting from that is delusion and misery. But to act from no object of thought or to act from The scene that you've seen, to act from the sound entering your ear, to act from there is enlightenment. You learn a lot. That's how you learn. You learn other ways, too, but when you learn those cases, it's not very helpful. You may be able to tell I believe the teaching. I believe this is the teaching of Buddha. I believe this is the teaching of the Sixth Antichrist. I believe this is the teaching of Dogen Renji. I believe this is the teaching of Sanatana Varshi. And I also believe it's the teaching of George Herbert and Simone Weil.
[71:28]
It's the teaching of enlightenment coming out all over the place. You know, it's everywhere. But in you, too. It's your teaching, too. It's what you're already doing. It's really the way you are. I believe it. And the more I believe it, the more I practice it. And the more I practice it, the more I believe it. And I don't really believe it completely yet, because I don't really practice it completely yet. But the more I practice it, the more I believe it, the more I believe it, the more I practice it, and so on. And I believe the same for you. The more I see you practicing it, the happier you look. And the more inspired I am by it, the less you practice it, the more I wonder what I'm doing. I think, well, I need that. I don't criticize you when you're not taking care of yourself as well as you could. And look at what I'm doing. If I'm inspiring you to do the right thing. Because when you don't take care of yourself, well, it hurts me.
[72:33]
And then I think, I don't criticize you, but I look at my own practice things. And you give me an opportunity to work on my practice. If you're taking care of yourself well, well then I don't have to take care of my practice because I already am taking care of my practice because I do see how wonderful you are. And in fact, you're fine for the time being. It's not exactly a great though for me because I get to do this other practice called saying yay. The practice of saying, yay. Saying, hey, yay. Hang in there. But if I see people hurting themselves, it does hurt me. If I see somebody gouging their flesh, it hurts me to see that. But then I think, oh, now what am I doing?
[73:35]
How do I practice that this person can gouge flesh right in my face? Maybe I say, sometimes guys will say, well, how's my practice? Flesh gouging. Well, it's pretty good. Pretty good. Like you can do more better. And I'm going to keep gouging my flesh out until you get it together. People will keep suffering until you get it together. People keep looking sad. It's sadder and sadder until you get it together to see how wonderful they are and then to use their sadness in such a way as to say, well, actually, we'll do it this way. The way we're sad is actually we turn the lips like this a little bit more, turn them like this.
[74:42]
You take people's sadness as an opportunity to teach them more about the property in a really interesting way. Not the really interesting way, but it's an opportunity to show your love. But you can't show your love if you think there's something wrong with it because you're temporarily blinded. So when you're blind, you know, get your eyes back. You got them back, then you can go to work again. But we do get blind quite frequently because thoughts are activated about external things. We don't just let external things be external things. We don't just let the seeing be the seeing. So then the mind goes, And then we identify and get all tangled up and so on. So then we're helpless and not helpless to ourselves and others. So then we have to turn around, take the backward step, and all that.
[75:44]
So now we can have a little break and just period us out.
[75:50]
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