I like the saying, in the subtle round mouth of the pivot, the spiritual work turns. In the subtle round mouth of the pivot, the spiritual works turn. And another saying that comes to mind is that the Buddha way, the way of peace and harmony among all beings, is basically

[01:02]

leaping. It's basically leaping clear, or jumping beyond. If we're feeling twisted and constrained and in great difficulty, the Buddha way is basically to jump clear. If we're feeling free and at peace, having a good time, the Buddha way is basically leaping clear. If we're in a good state or bad state, no matter what state we're in, the Buddha way is not to camp out where we are, not to hold on to our suffering, not to hold on

[02:07]

to our bliss, not to hold on to our freedom, not to hold on to our bondage, but to jump free. Actually, it's not even to jump free, it's jumping, it's the jumping, it's the leaping, it's the turning, it's the turning right where we are. That's the Buddha way. In practicing giving, in practicing, rather, leaping free, leaping clear, is practicing giving, is practicing ethical discipline, is practicing patience, is practicing diligence, is practicing tranquility and is practicing wisdom. These practices are what leaping clear is. And leaping clear

[03:12]

is that when you're doing those practices, when you're practicing giving, when you're practicing ethical discipline, when you're practicing patience, that you leap clear in the practice, and the practice is leaping clear. And that wasn't too difficult for me to say, but to practice it is our great challenge. Now, what I was thinking of focusing on was this focus. I was thinking about focusing on this turning point, on the pivot, the pivot where we turn. Of course, wherever we are,

[04:20]

there's a pivot there. Where is the pivot? Right where we are now. Where is it? What's the place where we turn and what's the way of being at that place where the turning can happen? In this way, I want to talk about being at the crisis of the moment, finding the crisis in the moment. In each moment, there's a crisis point, and that crisis point is where I suggest the spiritual work turns. Of course, in most moments, if I'm somewhere

[05:20]

in the neighborhood of the moment, if I'm somewhere in the vicinity of where I am, I like to be sort of off in the bleachers looking at a distance at the crisis point. It seems safer to be at some distance from crisis. But the crisis is the turning point. Crisis means turning point. Its root, the Greek root means turning point, and the root of the Greek word is to decide, or to separate, or to sift, like in a sieve. The place, the turning point where some things fall through and some things don't. The decision point in each moment.

[06:24]

Where is it? What's it like there, at the place where we turn, at the place where we're living the actual spiritual life? And I invoke the Chinese character, or a Chinese character, for crisis. Actually, it's not a Chinese character, it's a compound, a Chinese compound of two characters, and one character is opportunity, and the other character is danger. At a crisis point, there's danger, and there's opportunity, which is part of the reason why we'd rather not be at the crisis point, but be at some distance that seems safe, where there seems

[07:25]

to be no danger. But where there seems to be no danger, we have, when we're in a place where it seems there's no danger, we are closed to the opportunity of turning. We're actually at the pivot. But when we close our eyes to danger, when we say, I'm safe, when we think there's no danger, when we close our eyes to danger, we close our eyes to the opportunity of the crisis. If we close our eyes to danger, we close our eyes to the Buddha way. It doesn't

[08:35]

seem so bad to close your eyes to danger. It's a natural thing for us to do. When you go to the movies, something scary, go under the seat, close your eyes, plug your ears. It seems natural for a child to do. But in that closing of our eyes and ears to the danger of the moment, we also block out the opportunity. It's there waiting, but we're turning away from it. And also, turning toward the danger isn't quite right either. But just being present at the place where there is danger, and not turning towards or away from the danger, then

[09:36]

you don't turn towards or away from the opportunity. Turning towards turning is not turning. Turning towards the pivot point, we move away from it. But to be open to the pivot point, to be open to the working of the spirit, means to be open, but not turning towards danger, or away from it. And being open to opportunity of the turning, to be open to the moment of the pivot, and not leaning towards it or away from it. Crisis, a crucial point or situation

[10:40]

in the course of anything, an unstable crisis, an unstable condition, an unstable condition in political, economic, personal or interpersonal affairs, in which an abrupt decision or an abrupt and decisive change is impending. A sudden change in an acute disease, for better or worse. A point in the story at which the hostile forces are in the most tense state

[11:44]

of opposition. Someone said to me recently, how can we be intimate if I don't feel safe? I think it's okay to feel safe. And then if you feel safe, do you feel safe enough to open to danger? No. Is there anything we can do to make you feel more safe so that you can then feel open to danger? To intentionally go into a dangerous situation is moving towards

[12:51]

the danger. So there's some situation which doesn't seem to be more dangerous than normal danger, but where we might be able to open to the danger. So this room doesn't seem more dangerous than that room, but I think if I go into this room, I'll be able to feel the danger more easily than in this other room. I don't think this room is more dangerous than the other room, because that would be foolish. That's not the point, to go into the most dangerous room. It's to go into the room where you dare to open to the danger the most. Because the place where you open to the danger most is the place where you open to the opportunity most. It's not where there's the most danger, necessarily. Basically,

[13:55]

there's always danger. What does danger mean? It's related, by the way, to the Middle English word danger, which means power or dominion, peril, damage, from Old French and Vulgar Latin, which means strength, or excuse me, sovereignty, or master. Exposure or vulnerability to harm, danger. It isn't the actual harm, it's the exposure or vulnerability to the harm, that's the danger. It's also the source of that vulnerability. What does vulnerability

[14:59]

mean? It comes from wound. It means susceptibility to being injured, being unprotected from danger. The Buddha did not teach, you are invulnerable, you are not in danger of death, you're not in danger of ill health, you're not in danger of getting old, you're not in danger of losing your job. The Buddha didn't teach that. The Buddha said, we are in danger of death, and not just on Thursday or Sunday. We're in danger every moment of death, we're in danger every moment of getting old, we're in danger every moment of being sick, we're in danger every moment of being injured, we're always in danger, any moment it can happen to any of us throughout

[16:04]

our life. It's normal to be vulnerable to being injured. The thing is to clearly see this. The Buddha didn't say, be afraid of this. The Buddha said, if we can clearly see our vulnerability, if we can open to our vulnerability, open to our danger, and see it clearly, then we will be in the place of leaping clear. He didn't say if we're afraid of our vulnerability, no. Or in denial, or running away from it, no. And he didn't say there was no vulnerability. Let's help each other face the danger. Opportunity. It's related to

[17:15]

a wind blowing towards a harbor. Abh, to, plus portius, harbor. Opportunities blowing us towards the harbor. Towards true safety. What's true safety? Leaping clear. Constantly leaping clear. Constantly jumping. I wanted to talk about crisis with you.

[18:33]

I wanted to talk about the situation where there's danger and opportunity. But I also realized, I felt, that to talk to you about this was dangerous. And then I thought, that seems appropriate. That I would talk to you about something that I felt was dangerous. That I would talk to you about something that was so simple that I wouldn't, you know, there wouldn't be much to say. Because I would just say, well, crisis, danger, opportunity, and that would be it. And then I would be in danger of various things.

[19:45]

Especially if you came a long distance, just to hear that. But I thought, that seems good for me to be, to bring up something that's dangerous. As opposed to some other topic, which I might bring up, which I thought, no, that's a safe topic. For example, like, Buddha is your friend. But if I say Buddha is your friend, which is true, I think Buddha is your friend, definitely. But do I bring that up because I think that's a safe thing to bring up? And then do I show a bad example of Buddha? And then, just before I came down here, I thought,

[20:56]

well, in the subtle round mouth of the pivot, the spiritual work turns. And I love that saying, but you know, part of what I liked about it was because I thought if I would say that, give you that quote, I would be safer. Because I'd have a little bit more to say. It wouldn't be so stark, like, okay, crisis, that's where it's at. And I thought, oh yeah, and the Buddha way is leaping clear. I can say that too, that'll protect me even more. I could hide behind these nice sayings, which I really love, but not just that I love them, but I'm using them to hide from the danger of telling you not much. The danger of what people might do to me if I don't give them enough to make their trip worthwhile.

[21:59]

Or the danger of people thinking I'm cruel, because there's so many people having such a hard time, how can you dare to bring up danger to people who are having such a hard time? And I think, yeah, how can I dare? If somebody's having a hard time, how can I dare? How can I dare to feel the danger of being with somebody who's having a hard time? Do I dare to go into the dangerous situation of being with somebody who's having a hard time? Someone who doesn't feel safe and is yearning to feel safe,

[23:05]

who feels every step that they might fall to the ground. How can I dare to be a person like that? How can I dare to join in being a person for whom every step is dangerous? How can I walk knowing that every step I might slip, every step I might make a mistake, every step I might be cruel, how can I enter into that crisis point? I'm trying to encourage myself to live in crisis as much as possible, ultimately in every moment. And if nobody else wants to join me, that will help me live in crisis all the more.

[24:16]

And if everybody does join me, that will help me live in crisis all the more. If all of you are living in crisis and opening to it, you will encourage me to join you. If you're living in crisis, it won't add to your crisis that I'm around, and it won't detract. You'll be able to include me in your life. Oh, here comes the crisis person, no problem. He's going to come up and ask me if I'm in crisis. Or if I go and see him, I won't feel safe. But I'm already not feeling safe, so I can go meet him. I'm already open to danger, so I can go enter the danger of being with him. As a matter of fact, I can check and see if he's ready for the danger of being with me.

[25:18]

Maybe he's not, and I'll catch him. And that'll be dangerous, because he might be upset, he might be angry, and I'll be upset at me embarrassing him, the preacher of crisis, running away from crisis. So the Eno is now trying to move the insect into a better crisis situation. It's a dangerous insect? Don't put it in the donation box. Don't put it in the donation box. So this person says, How can I be intimate with you if I don't feel safe? Let that turn.

[26:26]

How can I feel safe enough to be intimate with you where I'm not safe? Or rather, how can I feel safe enough to feel the danger of being intimate with you where I can realize the safety of leaping beyond our relationship? How can I realize the opportunity that's there when I open to the danger of being with you? How can I feel safe enough to dare to open to how dangerous it is to be with you so I can realize the opportunity of being with you? Danger. Exposure.

[27:31]

Again, we're always exposed to each other. Can we open to that exposure? Can we open to that exposure? Sometimes I think when I'm teaching that it would be good for me to take my clothes off. But if I take my clothes off and I think of taking my clothes off as an act of exposure then I usually don't take my clothes off because I think that would be too much exposure. Part of the exposure would be exposure to how people would say, well, that's against the law. That's indecent exposure

[28:37]

to expose that much. It's indecent. So then I would be opening myself to what people do to you if they think you're being indecent. And there's another part of the exposure there's some parts of myself which I might be willing to expose you know, like my deltoids or something not bad deltoids but then maybe there's some stretch marks near the deltoids I'd rather not expose. Expose myself like all of myself and think of what parts of me don't I want people to see because that would be dangerous if they saw them they might not like certain parts of me If I go into the meeting and expose myself

[29:39]

there's some danger that I won't be appreciated that I won't be respected that I won't be yeah that I won't be safe Someone asked me

[31:07]

if I would tell her the words to a poem which she heard long ago and I said yes so now I'm going to recite that poem if it's alright with you may I recite the poem this is a poem by a Chinese person who lived about 1300 years ago named Wang Wei this is a translation from Chinese into English it's called Autumn, I think it has turned cold the mountains grow more vast and more blue the autumn the autumn waterfalls are louder I take my cane

[32:12]

and go out the gate for a walk I can hear the last crickets singing in the chilly evening I am happy the rays of the setting sun shine through the evening smoke that hovers over the village I throw back my head drunk with beauty and sing the willow song at the top of my lungs Wang Wei

[33:15]

Wang Wei was calling himself an old man when he was 40 today I think he tuned into his fragility and vulnerability early in life so that he could open to the opportunity of beauty he used a walking cane early in life so he could feel when he went out for a walk as though he were going to fall any minute he opened to the vulnerability of our situation and he got drunk on beauty I'm not recommending getting drunk on beauty but he says he did I wouldn't even recommend getting high on it but I

[34:26]

I just say if you want to open and live in beauty the price of admission is opening to how vulnerable you are right now if I close to beauty I close to vulnerability if I close to vulnerability I close to beauty well last Sunday I went to the Mill Valley Community Center which is the there's an exercise room there for Buddhists you're welcome to come and exercise there in a meditative way sometimes when people are using the exercise equipment and if they fall asleep

[35:30]

while they're exercising I sometimes come and adjust their posture ask them if they wanted to use the machine that they're sleeping on anyway last week I was there and out of the corner of my eye I watched this football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the don't tell me the Washington Redskins and the Washington Redskins were being, in a way they seemed to be being very mean to the San Francisco 49ers they looked like they were being mean they looked like they were like really intoxicated with testosterone and maybe some other kinds of steroids but they were jumping up and down and throwing San Francisco 49ers

[36:30]

around the field and they were scoring lots and lots of touchdowns and after they scored a touchdown they jumped up and down with joy beating up on the other team and then I just looked out of the corner of my other eye out the window and I saw these humans I think they were mostly women and they were taking care of these very very tiny little humans these people were at a distance but these babies they were so tiny they could walk but they were extremely tiny little creatures and these women were standing around them taking care of these very very tiny fragile little living creatures who could walk but were always on the verge of falling down and it was so lovely to see these tiny little figures moving on the playground in one direction seeing these huge extremely powerful

[37:32]

humans bashing each other and I thought I don't want to watch those mean people anymore but then I thought well the nice thing about watching them is I really feel I could actually feel for the San Francisco 49ers the way I do for the kids they were like weak little children getting in danger you know and I thought well maybe this very aggressive situation is good because it helps people get in touch with some people anyway especially the people who are from San Francisco get in touch with their fragility and vulnerability to see how our football team can be just totally crushed because part of me thought don't watch out of that eye just look at the little babies

[38:37]

the vulnerable little darling babies but I think more the point is don't get stuck in pro football and don't get stuck in taking care of little babies take pro football dangerous opportunity taking care of babies dangerous opportunity wherever you are do you see the vulnerability do you see the danger it's always there and can you sympathize with that and enter it and show other people that place where we're all actually together endangering each other and setting each other free endangering each other and setting each other free find that place where we're working together on the Buddha way don't be turned off at that point just because you see danger all around it's not it's characteristic

[39:38]

of the Buddha way that it's surrounded by danger the jewel is surrounded by danger if you can relax and enter that spot it's right there all the time okay so I'll just do one more thing to endanger myself not to endanger myself but open to the danger I live in I'll sing a song not only will I sing a song but I won't even sing the whole song I don't know which is most dangerous they're both dangerous if I sing the whole song that's dangerous because you have to listen to longer

[40:38]

if I sing half the song that's dangerous because you might be angry at me for just saying half whatever I do I'm in danger but do I dare to face that I don't know that's my intention is to live to live at the center of the turning point where the practice lives even though there's danger all around there's also opportunity all around you give your hand to me and then you say hello and I can hardly speak my heart is beating so and anyone can see you think you

[41:39]

know me well but you don't know me no you don't know the one who dreams of you each night who longs to be with you who longs to love you right no you don't know me no you don't know me no you don't know me hand to every being and place with the true merit of the way I wanted to say the other side of the song

[42:41]

which is not wasn't intended by the usual composer but I think it's important the first part is okay I think or we could change that too but anyway you give your hand to me and then you say hello and I can hardly speak my heart is beating so and anyone can see I think I know you well but I don't know you no I don't know the one I dream of each night who longs to be with me and longs to know me right no I don't know

[43:42]

you I don't really know you and I'm dangerous dangerous did you say which things you can stand to learn from? is that what you said? that's the reason I don't know you I can't make the choice I can make my decision later but sometimes I don't know um I

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