So for a couple of years now we've been contemplating and reading and reciting and discussing how a certain great scripture is inspires and reveals what we're doing in Zen practice. And also we've been contemplating how what we're doing in Zen practice is revealing this scripture. So this scripture talks about the meditation practice of the bodhisattva. And the Zen practice of our ancestors is bodhisattva practice and bodhisattva awareness.

[01:11]

And this huge scripture has lots of teachings about what's going on in the meditation practice of a Buddha or a bodhisattva. Related to this, I think, is that when I sat down just now with you, a great joy arose And I thought something like, yeah, family is a wonderful, wonderful thing. I just felt so much joy seeing your faces. It was different than earlier I sat with you and looked at your backs. That was nice too.

[02:16]

But now I got another hit of joy of seeing your faces. This is like the ancestor samadhi. is when you look at people and feel the joy of being in a family, a great, all-inclusive family. Some people in the family we've never seen before. But now we see, oh, this is a family member I never knew I had. How wonderful. and the ones I already was aware of, how wonderful too. This is the way it is in the Bodhisattva Samadhi. You see how wonderful everybody is. Even though you can see that they may be suffering, you also see that they're Buddhas.

[03:21]

And I'm very happy to see these Buddhas who are suffering. suffering people are Buddhas in the form of suffering people. And they're just as beautiful as Buddhas who are suffering beings in the form of Buddhas. Today I would like to again speak about this bodhisattva samadhi. And samadhi, we could say much about samadhi and hopefully we'll be able to. So today I start by saying samadhi is a complete

[04:29]

open, calm, compassionate presence. On that wall, There is a reproduction of the calligraphy of the founder of our tradition in Japan, Ehei Dogen, whose vows we just chanted. And this text, which is written in Chinese, the name of it could be translated, universal encouragements for the ceremony of sitting meditation.

[05:32]

Fū kan zazengi. So zazen is sitting meditation. And in the text, sort of in the middle, I came in this morning to see if I could find it. I haven't found it yet. But in the text it says the zazen, the sitting meditation, that I'm talking about is not dhyana practice. It is the dharma gate of repose and bliss. So maybe today I could say a little bit about Dhyana practice and then say also a little bit about the Zazen, which is the Dharma gate of repose and bliss.

[06:42]

Actually, maybe I'll start with the practice, the zazen, the bodhisattva zazen, which is the Dharma gate of repose and bliss. This Dharma gate completely includes all the practices of dhyana. It includes all the people who have practiced dhyana from the time of the Buddha. The Buddha practiced dhyana many people are still practicing jnana, which is often translated as concentration. So the bodhisattva samadhi includes all the jnana concentration practices but is not limited to them. As a matter of fact,

[07:51]

As I just said, Dogen said, the zazen I'm speaking of, the bodhisattva awareness that I'm speaking of, is not the jhana practice. But now I'm adding to that, it's not the jhana practice, means it's not limited to the jhana practice. But no problem of including jhana practice in the bodhisattva, the all-inclusive bodhisattva meditation. The bodhisattva meditation includes all beings who are not practicing concentration in any form, who are completely distracted and miserable. It completely includes them too. But it's not limited to their individual suffering. It includes all individual sufferings, but it's not limited to them. What's that that's not limited to them? The bodhisattva samadhi.

[08:54]

which is the Buddha Samadhi. So in this book, chapter 3 describes the Bodhisattva Samadhi. And in chapter 12 also there's a much more elaborate description of Bodhisattva Samadhi. Chapter 3, it's only three pages long, and it is inconceivably magnificent And it describes a meditation practice that's inconceivably magnificent and profound, which is called the Bodhisattva Samadhi. Well, actually, the name of the chapter is The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra's Samadhi. And then it describes the samadhi, and this samadhi includes all the samadhis, and it includes all the swirling oceans of worlds.

[10:03]

It's an all-inclusive samadhi. And in this samadhi the Buddha's teachings are being given and received. And Buddhahood is realized in this samadhi. What samadhi? The samadhi of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. an awareness in which all samadhis are being created, and all samadhis are entering and leaving, and where oceans of worlds are flowing through it, and where all Buddhas are present, and all sentient beings in all worlds are present. This is the samadhi of the Bodhisattva. which again includes all jhana practitioners. I still haven't got into to tell you about the jhana practice but may I postpone it a little longer?

[11:11]

So, in Chapter 12 there's, as I said, lots of description of bodhisattva samadhis. So in one translation by Thomas Cleary. It describes, sort of in the middle of the chapter, it describes, actually it states, there is a supreme samadhi. Bodhisattva is telling us And this bodhisattva's name is Foremost in Awakening. So the Foremost in Awakening tells us that there is a bodhisattva samadhi. And the name of the bodhisattva samadhi is Repose and Bliss.

[12:14]

So my puny Chinese scholarship was applied to the great scripture and went into the scripture to look for what are the characters for repose and bliss. The samadhi called repose and bliss. What are the characters? And I found them. So I said, now I'm going to go and look at Dogen's admonitions for sitting meditation and see what characters he uses. And not exactly surprised, but more like gratified that the Zazen he's talking about is not this jhana practice, not limited to jhana practice. It is the Dharma gate to this samadhi of repose and bliss." So he says, he took the same two characters.

[13:22]

Now, could this be a coincidence? But anyway, there they are. He's our Zen ancestor, our first ancestor in Japan, taught this bodhisattva samadhi of repose and bliss, which is all-inclusive, but not limited to jhana practice. So jhana practice could briefly introduce to you today as a practice of concentration, which has sometimes to say four, sometimes to say five factors, which are dealt with in sequential order. The first one, excuse me for saying, in Sanskrit is vitarka. And vittaka is translated as application of mind, sometimes initial application of mind.

[14:24]

So that would be, you could take and apply the mind, you and I could take and apply the mind, turn the mind towards applying it to some object. In a traditional presentation of these jhana practices, there are 40 traditional objects. But that's just ... even in the ancient or early Buddhist presentation of this concentration practice, the understanding is not limited to 40. But they give you 40. And some of these are called kasinas. And the kasinas are, for example, a mound of earth of blue color. So the meditator sits upright and looks at a blue circle with somewhat of a mound.

[15:29]

They make a little mound in blue and then look at it. And they apply their mind to it. And when the mind is applied to it, just to it, not to anything else, so it is applying the mind to an object and kind of like abstracting ourselves from all other objects. So in a sense, it starts out by being, what's it called, centripetal, gathering the mind onto this object-animate. applying it. This is a concentration practice. And then when the mind has been well applied, one is instructed to close the eyes and see if the object is as clear with the eyes shut as with them open. And then move on to the next factor, which is to even deepen

[16:37]

the presence with this object that we're concentrating on, which is called in Sanskrit, vittarka, which means kind of like continued or deeper application, with a little bit of kind of like vibrating around it. And then in this total absorption in this, for example, blue circle, Then let it grow until the whole universe is this blue. And by the way, I forgot to mention, the first Dhyana factor, after it's well settled and kind of complete, that you can see the thing you're looking at with your eyes shut as clearly as when they're open, then you let go of the initial application and go on to this next application.

[17:39]

They sometimes use the image of a bee settling into the flower. That's the vitarka. And then vibrating over that, you know, while it's drinking the nectar. And then even more deeply present with the flower, drinking the nectar. But before going on to the second factor, vittarka, you let go of the initial application, the initial encounter, that initial grip you let go of. Does that make sense? So first you, like, grip it. Then you let go of the grip and vibrate with it. And then you let go of that. And by the way, parentheses, I think, Once you let go of those first two mental factors, you can no longer speak or understand language.

[18:43]

You're getting really concentrated. You can't even talk anymore, and you can't hear, understand language. People could be talking to you, but you wouldn't know what they're saying because these two mental factors are what it takes to speak a language. So in other contexts, we learn how they're used to like zero in on words and then learn how to use them. So we let go of those. Those are the very factors that often cause agitation. Not those factors, but when they engage with things that are vibrating. So then you let go of the first two and then you enter into the first level of dhyana concentration. And then the next thing that happens is you just keep sitting there You're still with the object, but you're not even holding onto it anymore. You're just, like, present with it. And then watch out, I guess, for the third one, which is called sukha in Sanskrit, which means a bliss.

[19:51]

No, excuse me. It's called rapture in Sanskrit, which is called piti or priti. It means now you move into experiencing the rapture of being with this object. That's not sukha. No, sukha is fourth. First is vicharka, then vichara, then piti or priti, and then sukha. But now we're in rapture, so we move into a state of rapture with this thing, this object. And again, there's 40 possible ones. I just chose one of them. Now, okay, great. When the rapture is full, let go of it. And in letting go of it, you discover a subtle bliss. And then, settle with the bliss.

[20:57]

And this settling with the bliss, the concentration gets deeper. And then, you may not be surprised to hear Let go of the bliss. You've heard these instructions before you entered and you can't speak or hear languages but you've heard the meditation guides you to let go of this bliss which you understand is deepening the concentration. And this is not forcing yourself to be concentrated. This is using this pleasure to help you settle completely and not be distracted. And then the last factor is mental one-pointedness. This is a brief description of a concentration practice which was done way back, way back in history.

[22:01]

At the time of Buddha they already were doing this jhana practice and the Buddha did these jhana practices and became proficient. And he has friends who are also quite proficient at these jhana practices. And some of his friends who practiced with him are in the audience for his first teaching. So he and the other great yogis of his time did this jhana practice. And then there's more, there's four more, but for now I'm not going to get into them. But I'm pointing out that this practice is a practice which seems to be done by the meditator. There may be other meditations around, but it's sort of like the meditator making her mind come into focusing on something and getting deeper and deeper focus. and producing this wonderful state of concentration, which involves rapture and bliss, but they let go of it.

[23:05]

And that deepens letting go of the bliss which comes in the meditation, deepens the meditation. Now this, the key factor here that I want to emphasize is this is a practice done sort of from the perspective of a meditator, a person, I'm doing this practice. It's not about this practice is being done in the presence of Buddhas together with all bodhisattvas. It's not that perspective. The meditator, sometimes called me, is performing this wonderful exercise. And there are many other wonderful meditations to be done. There's calligraphy meditation. There's lettuce cleaning meditation. There's piano. There's triple axel figure skating. There's wonderful Olympic diving. There's ballet. There's piano playing.

[24:07]

All these things are wonderful concentration practices which are sometimes often done from the point of view of, I'm doing them. They're still wonderful. Now the bodhisattva practice is, again, as described in Chapter 3 and in Chapter 12, is done in the presence of Buddha. So the bodhisattva meditator sits upright in the presence of Buddha. Face to face with Buddha. And she's not sure of what her face is and she can't really see Buddha's face like another person, but she is sitting, she's doing the practice of the samadhi of the bodhisattva. So Samantabhadra sits in the presence of the Buddha, who is not like a person, appearing as a person.

[25:13]

The Buddha that the Samantabhadra is meeting is a Buddha which is the fact, it's the face of the fact that all phenomena lack any existence in their own being. That's what the bodhisattva is sitting in the presence of, because that's what it means to sit and see Buddha. They're sitting in the presence of Buddha, which nothing can grasp and nothing can get away from. And they're offering themselves to great awakening, which no one can get away from or grasp. And in this offering to the Buddha, by the power of this awakening, they enter Samadhi. They're not doing it. They're not doing the entry into Samadhi.

[26:14]

They are offering themselves to the Buddha and the Samadhi and this offering conducts them by the power of Buddha. Or this offering is responded to by the power of awakening. The power of awakening carries us into the Bodhisattva Samadhi. But we have to donate ourselves to the Samadhi to the Buddha so the Buddha feels, what's the word, invited to pick us up, lift us up and carry us into the samadhi. And Samantabhadra did make that offering and the Buddha did lift him up and carry her into the samadhi. And then chapter 3 describes what happens once Samantabhadra got in that samadhi. But I'd like to go now to Chapter 12, to this supreme samadhi called Repose and Bliss, which in this case, it says that this samadhi has a light.

[27:32]

This samadhi emits a light, has a great light. So, yeah. So there is this samadhi, and this samadhi has light. So if one entered this samadhi... Just a second here. If one entered this samadhi, one would... one would... be confronted would be offered a great light, which is another expression for the face of Buddha. You're offered this light. Oh, how nice. I say nice because it looks like maybe the pages are the same in this version as in the other one.

[28:38]

So one version of this translation has three volumes. This is one. But maybe it has the same page numbers. That would make it easier for me to find it. Yeah, there it is. There it is. Found it. So this version is 1,500 pages, but I have another version of Volume 1, which is about 800 pages. But the part about this Supreme Samadhi is on the same page in these two versions, which, by the way, is page 346. There is a Supreme Samadhi. Who says that? Who says that? No? Samantabhadra's chapter 3.

[29:41]

Bodhisattva named something. Yeah, Bodhisattva named. Best practitioner? Yeah, kind of like best practitioner. The foremost in awakening. That's the name of the Bodhisattva who's telling us about this samadhi. So it's in this Bodhisattva says, there is a supreme samadhi called repose and bliss. Or he could have said, there's a supreme samadhi which Dogen calls zazen. Or what the people at the Zen Center call zazen. It's a supreme samadhi, by the way. Which can universally save and liberate all sentient beings. These samadhis are where and how all sentient beings are saved. Then, radiating a great light, the samadhi radiates a great light, inconceivable.

[30:45]

This is called inconceivable, causing those who see it to be pacified, calmed, tranquilized. But another translation says, which will enable people to enter training. It's a light which helps people enter into the bodhisattva training. Their resistance to the samadhi enables them to enter the samadhi. So it's a light that enables people to enter the samadhi where this light is. And then they tell you the name of the samadhi. This light emanated is called good manifestation. if any sentient being encounter this light, it will cause them to benefit without fail.

[31:52]

So entering the samadhi, there's a light that's being emanated which performs these miracles in this world. And then the next few lines of this first presentation about the supreme samadhi and the first light, the first light which is called, what's it called? Good manifestation, remember? That's the name of the first light that's in this samadhi. Are you ready to hear something interesting, that I think is interesting? This is the first of 44 lights. So, I don't know how it came up to be 44, but now 44 lights are going to be named by the bodhisattva, form of some way, going to tell us 44 lights, and then going to tell us the specific qualities of these 44 lights, the specific miracles that these lights in the samadhi perform.

[33:06]

So, 44 times they tell you about the light, they give you the name, they tell you what the light does, and then the last part of each section is they tell you how this light is created. How is it created? Good. By this way, what way? By this way, what way? The way of being in this samadhi and receiving this light and liberating all beings. In this way they can attain unsurpassed knowledge. And then it first shows the Buddhas this knowledge in this samadhi which is coming to them by this light. So then this light, they first show the Buddhas, they show the Dharma, they show the community, the Sangha, and shows the right path. This is the part somebody thought was kind of strange.

[34:13]

It also shows Buddha's tombs and images. So in this samadhi, in the first light mentioned in the Samadhi, it illuminates all the places where Buddha's relics are entombed. And when I read this I thought, oh, that's like, there's this one movie company called Searchlight, Searchlight Productions, or Searchlight Films. So we used to have these searchlights which were originally used to spot airplanes, right? But then after the war, they were used to tell people where the movie theaters were or where a grocery store was opening. These lights, which are looking from the sky for the airplanes, now people use these lights to find places that they want to go to. So these lights also tell us where all the Buddhist temples are, if you want to go to any. In Samadhi, you know where they all are.

[35:14]

It's a little bit like, you know, the navigation function we now have in our cars. And then it says, by this the light is formed. So first of all, in each case, 44 times, it tells us about the light that this samadhi emits, it tells us how it functions, and then it tells us how this light is created. So the way the light is created, the way the light functions, is that it inspires us to practice, to see the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, to see the practice places, and in this way, That's how the light is created. So in each case it tells you the light and then tells you the practices which the light sponsors and then tells you the practices which the light sponsors create the light. So it's a cycle of the light inspiring us to do these practices and then doing these practices creates the light which inspires us to do the practices which create the light which inspires us to do the practices which create the light.

[36:22]

44 times. This is the, what's the name of this samadhi? It's called, this is the samadhi of repose and bliss, which Dogen talks about in his way, which is much shorter than this. So he's presenting it a little shorter, but he tells us still about the great power of this samadhi, this samadhi of repose and bliss. This goes into more detail. So he says we have this simple practice of just sitting and by the way it's the dharmagate of repose and bliss. And then he tells you a little bit about the realm of repose and bliss. And then in the end he says, in the end of the text he says, succeed to the legitimate lineage of the ancestors' samadhi. And then The treasure store will open of itself and you can use it at will. So there's a treasure store in this samadhi and you can use it to help all sentient beings, as you wish.

[37:30]

So this is one Supreme Samadhi where 44 lights are described with their miraculous powers and also we're told about the practice which comes from these powers and that creates the lights again. And that's not the only Supreme... They don't mind saying Supreme Samadhi... Supreme Samadhi repeatedly. There's a bunch of Supreme Samadhis. Samantabhadra's samadhi back in chapter three is also a supreme samadhi. There's unlimited supreme samadhis which include all the other unsupreme samadhis and also include all the other sentient beings who are trying to learn the Buddha Dharma. So that's a little bit about bodhisattva samadhis and I kind of would like to keep talking about these bodhisattva samadhis for quite a bit longer.

[38:41]

And the thought of continuing to talk with you and discuss with you these samadhis kind of like lifts me up and makes me willing to go on with this hard life. And someone asked me a question earlier. And I see you, Charlie, but I'm going to call on this person who asked me this question, because I think it relates to what I just said. Are you ready? Justin. Oh, I asked you at the Hassan if you could talk about practicing in the face of overwhelming negative political power. So his question is, how do you practice, for example, we could change the question slightly, how to practice the bodhisattva samadhi in the presence of overwhelming power. Even, you could say, overwhelming political power, overwhelming negative power.

[39:46]

So how do we practice in the face of it? So, I would say, in this tradition, in the face of that, we sit upright and enter the bodhisattva samadhi by the grace of Buddha. And therein we receive treasures that we then can use in the face of overwhelming political power. And these treasures liberate the beings who are involved in this overwhelming political power. And very many beings are involved in overwhelming political power. So this is for all the beings who are involved in this. And those who are, what's the word, horrified by this overwhelming political power, they're involved in it too.

[40:50]

We want to help them wake up. And we want to help those who seem to be exerting the power, we want to help them wake up. And the samadhi gives us treasures, gives us precious jewels, precious tools to confront with compassion these powers. And to not, I don't know what, collapse. Give up. the practice of this samadhi. The samadhi helps us not give up the practice of the samadhi. It lifts us up in the midst of all this suffering to offer blessings and jewels of compassion. That's what I think the sutra's saying. That's what I think Dogen's saying. And by the way, Dogen lived... he lived in a hard time too. Like when he was rocking around Kyoto, you know, there were dead bodies on the streets and dead bodies floating down the, what's it called, the, what's that river that runs through Kyoto?

[41:56]

Kamu, the Kamu River. He was in Uji and dead bodies were floating down the river and dead bodies on the street. He lived in wartime and powerful, overwhelming power was functioning in his society, and he lived in that situation. And this is his response to how to practice with it. What is his response? The bodhisattva samadhi, which is the dharmagate of repose and bliss, which includes everything, and it's for the sake of benefiting everything. Charlie? So we've been studying this sujet for a while, and I've been listening to it, and we were singing it. And it just occurred to me that, you know, I love music, but there's some bands that I listen to that I just have a lot of trouble getting into.

[43:02]

they've got all these bands that are really into them and go to their concerts. And I ask them, like, what do you like about that band? Because I listen to it and I just not get it. And like some of these bands, they go on and on. Their songs are really long, 44-person long sometimes. You know, and... Sometimes they say, well, you know, you just got to get in the zone or something. Sometimes they say you have to be on the right drugs to enjoy this pain. So I'm wondering, what drugs do I need to be on to enjoy this pain? Oh, well. So this music you're talking about could be considered another example of overwhelming power. How to practice in the face of overwhelming musical power.

[44:08]

You're not liking it. You're not into it. So I would say the bodhisattva, it's not to get to like it, We enter a realm where we'll be able to love it. But love it doesn't mean like it. We're entering a realm where we are where we are lifted up to be able to bring the light of this samadhi to the situation of this music which this sentient being is not into. Which this sentient being finds terrible. So it's not so much change myself so that, but offer myself to the way of being, which you could say, well, that's a change. Offer myself to a way of being which is in conjunction with or together with all beings.

[45:11]

And therein I will be able to be in the realm where this music will be liberated. and all beings that are listening to it will be liberated, including the ones who like it. They also need to be liberated. And not to mention the ones who just can't get into it. But it doesn't mean you have to go to a concert. But if you find yourself in the concert, then this sounds like a job for Bodhisattva Samadhi. Bodhisattva Samadhi is for these difficult situations which are basically omnipresent. The Buddha accepts the omnipresence of difficulty, of suffering, of overwhelming power, and relates to it in this samadhi where all this light is inherited and put to use.

[46:16]

And so this sutra is kind of like overwhelmingly long. It's kind of underwhelmingly long. Underwhelmingly long, yeah. Underwhelmingly long. This sutra is saying, you can call this sutra whatever you want and you'll never run out of things to call it. And this sutra includes everything you say or ever will say. And this sutra is actually saying, not only is that so, but if you take care of your question right now, back a few pages, yeah, so this part I read was on page one, excuse me, was on page 346. That's the part I read about this supreme samadhi called Good. Called what? Repose and Bliss.

[47:22]

That's on page 3... 46. And back on page 338, it talks about the Every Atom Samadhi, which is saying that this particular moment of overwhelming oppression, this particular feeling of overwhelming oppression, this particular feeling of pain, and also this particular feeling of pleasure. That particular tiny thing, if you enter, you can enter that, that particular feeling, and entering that particular feeling you enter infinite excuse me, entering that particular feeling and entering samadhi through that particular feeling, you also enter samadhi through all feelings and all situations. So it isn't just that you get to enter samadhi with this oppressive situation, but when you or I enter samadhi through this particular, we also enter through all particulars.

[48:30]

So it's not... All particulars. It says that when you enter this samadhi, when you enter the bodhisattva samadhi through one atom, you enter all atoms. And then it goes on to say, however, the atom doesn't have to increase in size. It can accommodate all the samadhis of all atoms. Page 338. And then later, after this, later, the Zen school comes along and the great teacher Yuen Man comes along and a monk comes and says, what is this every atom samadhi, brackets, in the sutra? What is the every atom samadhi? The monk asks Yuen Man. And Yuen Man says, rice in the bowl, water in the bucket. How do you enter the every pact of samadhi?

[49:36]

Where is it? See the rice in the bowl? We got rice here in this monastery, fortunately. See what particle of rice? Enter samadhi on this particle of rice. Enter samadhi on this bite of rice. Enter samadhi on this rice tastes rotten. Enter there. And you enter samadhi everywhere. And when you enter, everybody enters with you. This is another example of this sutra being brought up in Zen tradition and the teacher showing how to apply it to daily life. But it's hard sometimes to remember to enter the samadhi on this painful feeling, on this horrible appearance. It's hard, but that's what's being said here. When you enter on this one, you enter on all ones. And if you can't enter on that one, enter on this one.

[50:38]

And when you enter on this one, you enter on the one you can't enter yet. So enter samadhi on whatever you can enter on, and the things you can't enter on, just feel sorry for yourself and go enter someplace where you can. So I see, Vince, Homa, Catherine, Linda, Gloria, and Sonia. That's a lot. Ready, Vince? By the way, I want to mention, I do not have my hearing aids on. I do not wear them in situations like this because if I wear them, I start whispering. So I'm not wearing my hearing aids, so I'm talking loudly enough, pretty much. And if not, you can raise your hand. But if I put them on, my voice really drops. So I'm not wearing them. So you need to really talk loudly. Vince. So I was just going to say, in samadhi there is no self.

[51:44]

No, there is self. There is a self. Everything's in the samadhi. However, there isn't... But the self is being illuminated as ungraspable. There's no graspable self anywhere. But in the samadhi it's pretty clear that the self is not grasped. So these sentient beings who... are holding on to self, they get this light and they realize there's no self to hold on to. But it's not that the samadhi doesn't eliminate grasping. It doesn't eliminate confusion. It illuminates it. It illuminates everything in the universe. And then it makes possible to practice. Once things are illuminated, we can practice with them. So I think Honolulu might have been next. Thank you, Rev, for walking step by step. So what I would like to have the capacity, because I feel I lack capacity, is to face

[52:59]

The door of forgetfulness. To face the door of forgetfulness. Yes, face it. So now I'm facing the door of forgetfulness. And here I am at the door of forgetfulness. Now I wish to offer myself to the samadhi. And offer myself to the samadhi I am lifted up and carried into the samadhi through the door of forgetfulness. And one of the examples here of the 44 is this light illuminates those who are forgetful. And they also, the forgetful ones, are carried into the samadhi. And there they become free of forgetfulness. It doesn't really eliminate it. But we have to be upright in the face of this door of forgetfulness and then offer ourselves to the samadhi without trying to get anything.

[54:17]

Not trying to get better mindfulness. Just offering ourselves to the samadhi where imperturbable mindfulness is already living there. We just need to go to the place where it lives. Thank you for your question. Catherine. Just, when you... Louder, louder, louder. When you listed the four steps of the concentration, like the tathaka, the... Tathaka, vichara, piti, and sukha. Sukha, and then the mental one pointed definitely. That's sort of the culmination of the concentration practice. So if you have bodhisattva samadhi, is it inclusive of this more self-centered, you know, sort of like, oh, so it's inclusive of all that. Yeah. So when, you know, somebody, like, talks about samadhi and they're not familiar with bodhisattva and they try to go into this concentration practice, is that fundamentally any different from...

[55:29]

from bodhisattva samadhi? It's not fundamentally different because it is included in the bodhisattva samadhi. So it's not really different. It's part of the bodhisattva samadhi. However, If the person is not offering themselves to the Buddhas and all sentient beings when they sit and practice the jhana practice, they may not be, what's the word, ready or open to entering this other realm, which is right in front of them. They're kind of like, you know, later bodhisattva samadhi, I'm working on this samadhi, I'm working on this concentration, I'm not into this other one. So it's available, but they don't say, I would like to enter the bodhisattva samadhi no matter what I'm doing, including if I'm practicing this jhana practice, I would like this to be my offering to the bodhisattva samadhi, and I would like to bring this practice of jhana practice into the bodhisattva samadhi with me.

[56:35]

Or I would like to go with it into the bodhisattva samadhi. That's like a training. You have to know to request that. It's like a training, yeah. It's called training in your vow. So the difference is that one person doing the bodhisattva, Shakyamuni Buddha did this, he did this jhana practice, but he had the bodhisattva vow. So when he did the jhana practice, he entered the bodhisattva samadhi with the jhana practice. And then they have Buddha. But to enter the Dhyana practice without the bodhisattva vow, we're not ready then to accept the inconceivability of what we're doing, the vastness and ungraspability of this wonderful practice. It's a wonderful practice, and there's lots of other wonderful practices, but none of them can really be grasped. And the bodhisattva understands that and still goes ahead and practices it, but they're good. May I just ask?

[57:37]

Louder, please. If the light, you know, you're moving, there's this light that is released, is this a metaphor for light, or exactly, you know, because when you do see some... It's not a metaphor for light that you can see reflected as colors. You can't actually see light. ordinary electromagnetic radiation of a certain wavelength band. You can't see it. You see it as it's reflected on things, like colors. You can't see light, but you can see colors on certain surfaces. We call that seeing light, but really you're seeing a reflection of it. So the light we're talking about is not blue. or green. However, if you see a blue light, like the one we're talking about, if you see a blue light, you can enter samadhi through the blue light.

[58:41]

And entering samadhi through the blue light, you find this other light, the light of samadhi. But the light of samadhi is not blue. Even though you entered through blue, the samadhi is not limited to the door you entered. You enter through this atom of blue light into the samadhi, and the samadhi is not called blue samadhi. It's called repose and bliss samadhi. But you entered through blue. So you're sitting upright, blue happens, you enter samadhi through the blue. You offer yourself to Buddha while you're seeing blue. And so you enter samadhi through that door. When you get there, the situation isn't blue or green, but all colors are there. But no more the color you entered through. Same with every atom samadhi. You enter through this molecule, this color, this atom.

[59:46]

But once you enter, that atom is no more or less there than all the other atoms. And so you enter all the atoms at the same time. This is like, this is true. You don't have to say this is true. You don't have to say that. But if you say that, I'll let you say it. But I'm not saying this is true. I'm saying this is an instruction about how to enter the realm of truth. This is actually being suggested. Is the suggestion true? You have to try it. You have to try it. These are teachings to be verified This is talking about if you want to enter the bodhisattva samadhi where the dharma is received and given and then carried from the samadhi for all beings, this is an instruction for how to enter the zazen that Dogen is talking about, the samadhi of the ancestors.

[60:50]

This is how to enter it. And then after you enter, you can tell us what you find out there. I realized the light. I was blinded. I realized the light and the main thing about this light was I was blinded by it. It was a light that blinded me. Yeah. And I'm no longer afraid of giving myself to all beings. Yes, Linda. I do. I, you know, I try to follow your teaching. I say, look, could I, could I bring the Bodhisattva Samadhi to this experience? Something like that, you know. And then, Louder. And then actually the kind of love you're talking about does emerge. And I was just thinking, it's kind of hypothetical, but do you think it's possible that in that love a Bodhisattva might be inspired to warn people about that music and maybe cut off their electricity?

[61:52]

In that, in that what? In that, say there was a kind of a bodhisattva awareness. In this bodhisattva samadhi? In the samadhi, the love, not like the thing you're talking about, that includes the musicians who are, you know, promoting hate. So, You're saying, is it possible, X. And I would say... So in that love, I just thought, my thought went to, oh, I hope I'm... Could I be inspired to warn everybody in the room about the harm of the music or cut off their electricity? I would say there are infinite possibilities of how the bodhisattva would use the samadhi to protect beings. Yeah. Infinite possible. This samadhi is about how to protect beings. And after protecting them, awaken them.

[62:54]

That's what this samadhi is about. It's about awakening beings. But first of all, you protect them so that you can give them the teaching, so they can awake. Yes. And again, you described your situation, and when you were describing it, I thought, of Superman. And when Superman says, this looks like a job for Superman, Superman says that in some terrible situation, some really bad situation that most ordinary first responders can't deal with. So actually, then he changes into his bodhisattva outfit and he protects beings. He's into protecting beings. He's not into hurting beings. He may cut off the power for a whole city in order to protect beings. Whatever protects beings which is infinite possibilities of that they would definitely be able to do that. That's the point. And these really bad situations are for these bodhisattvas who have access to these resources where they can protect beings.

[64:01]

with this teaching, with this teaching of compassion. And be able to hang in there in these horrible situations. Let's see, who was next? Was Sonia next? Or was Sonia before you? Okay, so Sonia, and then Gloria, and then Darren, and was somebody else? And Diane? Okay, let's see. Is it Sonia? I'm kind of back at a basic place. You mentioned entering on the samadhi, let's say, of rice or water, and you enter into all samadhis. No, you enter into all atoms. You enter samadhi in all atoms when you enter through one. And so how I'm understanding that is that when I fully enter that atom, I understand discriminating consciousness.

[65:11]

And once I let go of that, then it's kind of all atoms, or all names, or all objects. Is that... I heard what you said, and so... Did you say something like, when you enter through this atom, you enter through... I understand, or I realize, discriminating... Well, you actually... Discriminating consciousness sees an atom. Yes. And then you enter that atom of discriminating consciousness. And then in the samadhi, you understand discriminating consciousness. Which then opens up all atoms. Well, first of all, before it opens up all atoms, which is very important, you become liberated from discriminating consciousness. So you enter through this door into the samadhi and then you understand the door. And then you also enter samadhi through all the other doors and understand what they are. But we do use discriminating consciousness to find an atom. to find a rice particle.

[66:13]

So we find this rice grain, we enter through there, we find this pain, we find this horror, our discriminating consciousness sees the horror, now we enter samadhi through that horror. And then we understand the horror, and then in the light of the samadhi we understand the horror, and beings are liberated from the horror. But do I... I understand that I have named this horror. That would be part of what you would understand. Yeah. But you might not, before you enter the samadhi, you might not yet understand this thing that you call this Adam horror. You're the one who called it that. As opposed to somebody else who's saying, what is success? Yeah, right. But you enter through that, but you might not yet understand that what you're entering through is your own mind. Yes. But when you enter samadhi, when you look at this door that you're talking about, whatever it is,

[67:15]

when you're looking at it and now you enter samadhi, by offering yourself to the samadhi and lifted into the samadhi through this thing, then you'll also understand this thing. For example, the ingraspability of the thing and also ingraspability of people who have disagreements with that. And a piece of that might be also understanding impermanence and that everything is changing. Yep, that would be a big piece of it. Like noticing the gap between what you're making solid and then changes. And some people have expressed problems with the word eternal. In the sutra I recently found a place of finding true permanence, it said. In the samadhi you find true permanence. Can we change that to true eternity?

[68:17]

You like permanence better than eternity? A little bit? What was the question? Do you like permanence better than eternity? No, no. So the sutra says, what do you call it, true permanence. True permanence? And I thought, oh, true eternity. But in our text it says, in our poem it says, true eternity still flows. That's better. That's the best of the sentence. True eternity still flows. That's what they discover, is that true eternity still flows. That's what you discover in the Samadhi. Who's next? Gloria. people are keeping up with who's next and it's sort of amazing to me I'm just saying and I want to thank you for what to me is coming through as simplification instead of multiplication there's a lot going on out in the world and it's like whoa you know and that's how it's kind of meant to be but

[69:40]

If I take care of what's right in front of me, that is really beginning to resonate for me. Like somebody saying, but we need to take care of this. And I'm feeling like what I'm hearing you say, I really, really take care of what's in front of me. It's happening. It's happening. And also, really take care of what's in front of you together with the Buddhas. So I got this thing to take care of. And in the presence of Buddha, I offer myself to a samadhi where I can actually really take care of this thing. And not just this thing, but all those other things, which I'm not ignoring. I want to take care of them, but I have to enter this one, and use this one to enter the samadhi, and then I will take care, then not I, but the samadhi will take care of all the other doors. Exactly. That's the other side of the multiplication.

[70:44]

So we're mentioning multiplicity, but we're also focusing in on a particle to discover multiplicity in the samadhi rather than having multiplicity distract us from the particle. Yes. In my community out in the world, it's stated that You know, a lot of times you'd be told, get in where you fit in. And that's what it feels like to me. Everybody's doing what they please. Get in where you fit in. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. So I needed an example. And what came to my mind right now, every time Jasmine Crockett, who's a representative, who, when she sees it, she gets in on it. on the floor and it might not be to everyone's taste, but she gets it and there's something that's lifted. I just need an example. So this has been really helpful.

[71:44]

And you're helping her. And then Darren had his hand raised. Did you have your hand raised? So Darren and... Yeah, for me, I had a thought and also a question. Louder. I have a question about invoking Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You do? To liberate all beings. In the context of entering Samadhi as an actor, inviting Buddha to accept me, this awakening being, entry, samadhi, through the Buddha, that act of inviting seems like it's critical for the... Yeah, it is.

[72:45]

...to the awakening of the being into the bodhisattva, samadhi. And yet I'm puzzled because In that samadhi, wanting to be free of anything being different, but also... In that samadhi, you're free of wanting things to be different and wanting things to be the same. In the samadhi, you're free of wanting things to be different and wanting things to be free. That doesn't mean that those wants aren't there, because those are living beings. And those wants get illuminated. in the samadhi. Yes, and part of the want is invoking Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to take action in the universe of all possibilities. Yeah, you could want that. And the samadhi is to be free of that want. That wonderful want.

[73:46]

May the function of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas be unhindered and penetrate everywhere. Yeah, and the sutta is saying that's already going on. But go ahead and want what's already going on. That's fine. However, you have to enter the realm of where it's going on if you want the complete story. So you enter where you're free of your wants for the very best. I want the very best for all beings. Okay, fine. Well, how about the samadhi? Actually, I request admission to the samadhi. I offer myself to the samadhi. Because I've heard that in samadhi, not only is what I want being realized, but also there's freedom from my wish that things are being this way. Because it gets... This wonderful situation of reality of the samadhi, of the Buddha's understanding, is tainted by me holding on to wanting it.

[74:50]

So I want, but I'm not attached to my wants in the Samadhi. And if I want now, but I'm not attached to my wants, great. And still enter the Samadhi to check it out. And if there is any attachment to my wants in the Samadhi, the Samadhi will illuminate the attachment. Thank you so much for your wonderful offerings to this Bodhisattva Samadhi. May your offerings continue.

[75:21]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_91.52