Last night I came up here from Tassajara. It sounds like you can hear me. Can you hear in the back? All right. And I've been down there for about three months, and anticipating giving a talk this morning, I actually felt a little silly about it. It seems kind of silly to walk into a room. As I thought, I thought a lot of people would come out today to celebrate the birth of the Buddha, and I thought, how funny for me to sit up in front of all the people. And I thought, well, maybe they'll go away. But the feeling is here again. I feel a little silly. Why am I sitting here? How am I sitting here?

[01:08]

And actually, one of the ways I'm sitting here is that they asked me to do it a few weeks ago, and I said yes. And also the seating is arranged this way. And so on, many reasons why it's set up like this. And I've also been asked to try to make it short. And they didn't say so, but probably sweet too. Because after all, it is a day to celebrate a sweet thing. Birth of a baby. A baby, a human baby that grew up to be a great, compassionate teacher.

[02:13]

Which is what we all want to do, I think. up to be great compassionate human beings. And the part of feeling silly to give a talk about such an event is considering my own humanness. But then if I sit with that a little longer, I think to myself, now, where does Buddha take birth. Where did Buddha say that Buddhas are born? And one of his teachings was that actually Buddhas are born out of ordinary people. Ordinary people who are beset with doubts, confusion,

[03:26]

uncertainties as to their own worth and the worth of their own feelings and thoughts and emotions. This kind of situation is precisely where Buddha is born. The precise situation of being a living creature is where Buddha is born. The lotus blooms in the muddy water, not in a purified aquarium. Each of us has enough mud to produce a Buddha. I'm making these sounds and words, but really my hope is that together we reveal something which has no words, that we can inquire deeply inward,

[05:16]

and meet our true self. When Buddha was born, we have a story about when Buddha was born, he came out of his and being a very unusual child, could walk immediately. And he took seven steps and then planted his little feet on the earth and pointed to the sky, to the heavens,

[06:20]

with one finger and pointed to the earth with the other. And he said, between heaven and earth, I alone am the world-honored one. I'm always a little embarrassed to quote that because he sounds like such an arrogant little guy. He took a chance in saying that, but really he was speaking for each of us, that this is our innocent view of the matter.

[07:24]

The entire world honors you alone. And alone remember means There's an L missing in the word alone. It should be A-L-L-O-N-E. I, all one, am the world-honored one. I, little boy, I, little girl, all one. My confusion, my happiness, my ideas, my hopes, my wishes, my depression, my insecurities, each of them all one, this the entire world honors.

[08:39]

And this honoring happens in every living being. in its oneness, in its wholeness. So the little boy grew up and had lots of suffering and pleasure like all other living beings. And finally he found a way to be all one again. And his teaching is basically a teaching of how human beings can be absolutely alone.

[09:43]

Absolutely alone. that each of us can sit in our place and do our life. Our life alone, our life all one. And then all of us honor each of us. Buddhist practice is is an effort to be alone, to be all one with all other beings who are also searching for a way to be all one. So what time is it now?

[10:54]

Should I stop a little longer? I can't remember the, what is it called, the US Constitution, not the US Constitution, but I can't remember the Constitution. I can't even remember the preamble. But I do remember the points raised by the preamble. something like we, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, for the sake or in order to do this, we want to establish...

[12:25]

This perfect union, we want to establish domestic peace and tranquility, establish justice, promote general welfare, common defense. the blessings of liberty. And I thought that was also true for Buddha's way, these same hopes. Recently I've been encouraged by some instructions from a Zen teacher about how to be alone, about how to be one.

[14:48]

He said, neither esteem nor despise that which is near Rather, become adept at that which is near. Neither esteem nor despise that which is far. Rather, become adept at what is far. So what is near? A cough. A warm day.

[15:53]

Feeling in your stomach. What you're hearing. What you're thinking. Positive sensation. a negative sensation some anger some lust some confusion a personal aspiration a doubt These are near. How do you become all one?

[17:03]

How do you become alone with what is near? Don't despise it. and wish for something else. Don't esteem it and think it's where it's at. Don't give it a pat and say, uh, this is the way it should be. You don't need either of those, the esteeming or the despising. They're extra. Rather, become adept, become proficient at exactly what you're doing. Actually, we are always completely adept at what we're doing.

[18:06]

If we just don't do anything extra at that moment, or I should say at this moment, Just know veneration in addition to what you're doing. And someone asked me, well, what about veneration? What if you're venerating something or esteeming something? Should you not esteem things? No. Just Don't esteem esteeming. But don't despise esteeming. Just be adept at esteeming. If you're devoted to what you're doing, then don't pat yourself on the back at that time.

[19:15]

Just be devoted to what you're doing. If you're ambivalent about what you're doing, Don't pat yourself for being ambivalent, and don't despise the ambivalence. Be really good at ambivalence. Babies are really good at crying. And at that time, they usually don't say, you know, I'm good at crying. They also don't say, I'm not so good at crying. Babies are hopefully good at shitting and so on. Human beings are excellent at living moment by moment

[20:19]

and they're miserable at living any other time. That is misery, is to live a little bit ahead, a little bit behind, a little bit above, or a little bit below. Stupid children. don't know how to do that. Therefore, that kind of misery is unavailable. The more sophisticated we get at esteeming and despising our moment-by-moment actions, the more misery we bring upon ourselves and spread among others. So for perfect union, common defense, general welfare, liberty, and justice for all.

[21:29]

Take care of yourself. Become adept at what's right here that you're doing now. And the person who asked me to make this a short talk asked me a while ago, well, you know, this isn't exactly what the person said, but she said, well, you know, I'm going along all right, taking care of my life. That was an adept noise. Did you hear it? But it just seems kind of flat, and it's not very deep.

[22:35]

So if you have kind of a flat life, you might want a deep life. When you have a flat life and you want a deep life, to some extent you're despising your flat life. On the other hand, if you want a deep life, at the moment you want a deep life, Your life is a life of wanting a deep life. This is no deeper than anything else or shallower than anything else. It's just a desire for depth. It's something that living beings can do.

[23:43]

You can be adept at desiring depth. But the depth that you desire is just nothing compared to what's really deep. What's really deep is... What do you say? It's so high you can't get over it. It's so low you can't get under it. It's so deep that it might not even be deep at all. But there is something that's deeper, in a sense, than our ordinary life. And that happens simultaneously with our everyday life. That's why he also said, don't esteem or despise the far, the deep.

[24:47]

Rather, become adept at the deep. But the only way to become adept at the deep is to become adept at the shallow. If you become adept at the shallow it shows that you are not esteeming or despising the far. If you esteem the far, if you esteem the far, if you esteem the deep, you won't be able to be adept at the shallow. If you esteem and venerate the far, you will despise the near. If you despise the near, you actually, in fact, do not become adept at the near, and therefore you do not become adept at the far.

[25:54]

you lose on both counts. You lose on the surface and you lose at the bottom. Does that make sense? I don't know if you believe it, but... So what is being suggested is that there is a near and there is a far. The far is... uh... not just that you're happy for example not just that you're getting fed not just that you're at peace not just that you're tranquil and uh... safe but that all living beings are at peace have welfare are defended have justice and have liberty.

[26:59]

That's Tafar. That's one way to talk about Tafar, the grand benefit of all living beings. But if you esteem that, if you esteem it, you actually do not become adept at it. And again, what I'm suggesting here is become adept at all living beings' happiness rather than just going around thinking that it would be a good idea. Thinking that it would be a good idea, esteeming it, is not to become adept at it. I don't despise that dog. But sometimes I do slip and esteem the deep, esteem the far.

[28:16]

And also sometimes actually I despise the near. And sometimes I esteem the near. Sometimes the near seems to be really neat. But again, rather than pat yourself on the back when you do something nice, just do something nice. Rather than slap yourself in the face when you do something stupid, just do something stupid. Faith in the teaching that the Buddha gave at his mythical birth, between heaven, between the firmament, between absolute Firmness and strength. And between the earth, unshakable receptivity.

[29:27]

Perfect flexibility. Between these two, I am alone. I am one. Therefore, if I believe that, I can just be stupid without slapping myself or praising myself at that time. Just really be stupid. Or if I'm smart, I can just really be smart. That shows I believe Buddhist teaching. And that is also the way to become adept at the far, to help all beings. and to let the whole universe honor your aloneness, your oneness. Each of us is a local place for the cosmos to celebrate itself through exactly what we're doing.

[30:32]

That's the only way it can happen. It can't happen from something slightly different from what we are. There is no such thing, no such place, no such time for the cosmos to live. It must live exactly as we are, regardless of the fact that we don't think it should be this way. And we think the cosmos would like to celebrate itself someplace a little bit different. It doesn't want to. That's the teaching. That's the world-honored one. The world-honored you precisely as you are. Unesteemed, undespised, flat out, exactly as you are.

[31:36]

This is where Buddha is born. according to Buddha. The situation of a suffering living being is exactly what we mean by Buddha. But it's not so easy to be precisely a living being. As a matter of fact, it takes our entire life energy at every moment to be precisely a living being. It's the most energetic, most subtle art there is. It's called being adept at the near. We can't give it too special a name, otherwise we'd be esteeming it. So let's all just try to be little baby Buddhas, okay?

[32:43]

Amen.

[32:50]

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