Amidst Shakyamuni Buddha, foremost among speakers, who taught dependent co-arising to graciously free us from all self-conceit, homage to Manjushri Bodhisattva, Prince of Sweetness and Light, homage to Nagarjuna, Dayasara, may their wisdom and compassion sustain us this morning and in times to come. The Great Being, Nagarjuna, composed the fundamental verses on the Middle Way that you'll be coming

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to, and they're so gradual, but this is it. One of my favorite verses is 24-24. It's the Way to Enlightenment, Possessing Self-Nature. If the Way to Enlightenment has inherent nature, then its practice will not be possible. But if the Way is practice, your assertion of

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a way involving self-nature is inadmissible. So one interpretation of this is that if the Way had self-nature, it wouldn't need us to make any effort. And if there was a way that required effort, it wouldn't be a way of self-nature. This is true. But an interpretation which is more enlivening and inspiring to me is that if there were a fixed way, if there were an inherent way to practice, then we would never be able to be creative, and all the ways we practice

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would have to be already set. And when there is the practice of the Way, you cannot see any inherent nature to it. Therefore, our ancestors, and even perhaps we, will be able to creatively and freshly practice the Way. Because of the truth embodied in 24-24, when Kainadaiva came to visit Nagarjuna, Nagarjuna could playfully and unprecedentedly send him a whole bowl of water.

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If the Way had inherent nature, you couldn't have practiced that Way. And because it doesn't, when presented with the bowl full of water, Kainadaiva could place a needle on the surface of the water and bring it to Nagarjuna. Thus, they joyfully realized that they were of like mind. After that, Nagarjuna shared his teaching seat with Kainadaiva, which, as you know, means

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one-eyed God, or one-eyed deity. He shared his seat just like Shakyamuni Buddha shared his seat with Mahakasyapa, just like Dogen Zenji shared his seat with Kona Ejo, just like now, today, the Dharmapala teacher of the practice period shares his seat with Shiksa. This bowl of water. And then, he, a traveling monk, carried a little summoned kiss with

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him. So, they had a needle. Whipping out a needle and placed it on the surface of the water. He used the surface of his chin. That's a pun, isn't it? Imagine how carefully he set the needle down on the surface tension, so it won't fall, needing the great openness offered to you. Other translations of this say that he put the needle into the water because certainly this needle penetrated the water. But it's also true that

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when you put the needle on the surface of the water, it also penetrates the water, all the way to the bottom. So, you can read it either way, the needle on the surface or in the water. Because the way of not having him is different, you can read this story infinite ways. You can make this story into infinite stories. Every generation can understand it a new way. Because of their devotion to the way, they must understand it in a new way because the way does not have an end. This is the

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tradition. A tradition of constant refreshment because the way does not have self-nature and needs constant refreshment and is constant refreshment. Meeting in this way, it's difficult to distinguish master and disciple. A true meeting. These two were unusual. Akhandaiva was already a

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person of wisdom when he arrived. And Nagarjuna did not give him any words of explanation. And Akhandaiva did not inquire. They just flat out met. But, even though it was so, there's no inherent nature to that meeting. So, you can and must find a new way. Difficult to distinguish. And even though the student and teacher are similar, they are not the same. Even though they become mixed, there's no trace of mixture. Even though they become

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mixed and are similar, they don't break down into hugginess. Mixed, you know where they are. Put them next to each other, they're not the same. They sit together. They're difficult to distinguish. This is the way they are. Last night, I told the story of the ball and the needle. And later that night, a middle-aged man came to visit. He held his hand and said, the ball is like a jewel. The

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needle is like half of a two-part Buddha mind seal, or something like that. I said, please come closer. He said, good night, and he puffed it. And here you are. I stood up, right? In the famous palace. Later that night, in meditation, I received another visitor. This was a female deity in the

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form of a monastic building. She asked about the teaching of this lineage, and I told her about it. But I also told her that the way, the revolutionary way, also has form. It's not just emptiness. And we use the forms to surface our attachments, to surface our obsessions, so that we can realize the emptiness of them. We use the form of the body, the form of the breath, the form of the mind.

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And by being upright with these forms, we notice and acknowledge our rigid responses to them. I told her of the lineage, and of the ancient teacher, Prajnaparamita, who, sitting upright and contemplating his breath, had no obsessions. When breathing in, he did not obsess about the realms of body and mind. He had no dispositions regarding the five santas. He didn't identify with them. He didn't separate them. He didn't say they existed. He didn't say they did not exist.

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Breathing out, no obsessions, no entanglements with myriad circumstances. Just uprightly breathing in and breathing out. This was the scripture he always recited. But in a recently discovered diary of his, he revealed his early years of practice, and the many obsessions that he discovered while breathing in and breathing out. And how he studied them, uprightly, until their dependent co-arising was revealed to him. And he became free of obsessional breathing. He became free of potential responses of inhalation and exhalation.

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After attaining the way, he went on retreat in the forest, waiting for the opportunity to be called back in to the messy life of teaching and having lunch at Raja's office. So the female deity said, well, what is the practice for him? He said, well, it's just to be clearly aware. She said, well, then I'd like to do that practice. And I said, well, I agree.

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Then she said, how will I know when it's enough? I said, to know when it's enough, or even be concerned when it's enough, is an obsession. As you sit and the words, is it enough, arise in the world, and you hear them, you just listen and have compassion for the one who hears and the one who says, is it enough? You listen to the, perhaps, lack of confidence to ask the question. Or maybe you hear, it is enough, and you listen to that too. That's all.

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No word reached this clear awareness. You hear the word, but you don't reach it. Because the mind is not activated by the word. When you hear, is it enough, it sounds like celestial music. Is it enough? Is it enough? That's how I talked to her. She said, I sound like an idiot. It's not enough. It is enough. When it's music, it doesn't reach you. When it's music, it doesn't reach you.

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When it's music, it doesn't activate the mind. It realizes the mind. When it's music, the mind does not say, it's beautiful. When it's beautiful, you know it's not beautiful. You understand the jewel is not the jewel, because the jewel does not reach you, and you do not activate your mind around the jewel. Because it is beautiful. And you let whatever cries there are, be there.

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And you don't go someplace where there's less cries. Not that you say, please, don't cross it. It's quite a lineage. Are there any women in it? I said, it's up to you. It's not about liking or not liking the lineage. It's not about happiness or being rewarded for what you do.

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It's not large or small. It's just about relinquishing self-conceit. Self-conceit. Conceit means making too much out of something. It's not about relinquishing self. It's about not making too much out of it. It's not about yawning with your mouth open or eyes without covering you. No one knows what it's about. No one knows. So, it got late.

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And I suggested that maybe she leave. And after, she would take all my obsessions with her. And she did. And I slept like a fool. When I woke up, under my pillow, I found a new set of obsessions. And I've been studying them ever since. Are you clearly aware of what's happening and the obsessions you have about it? And any conceits you have about your experience?

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If so, congratulations. If so, congratulations. You'll soon be free. You'll soon be free. Please, come closer. [...]

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Please, come closer. If I think, I might think, now what have I done? I've just issued an invitation. What have I done? [...] It's a nice color. It's a nice color.

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It's a nice color. [...]

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It's a nice color. It's a nice color.

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