cutting out part of the vividness and part of the input to the situation which you've been letting go of. You haven't been attacking to the input, so you start losing it. Then you have to sort of invite it back a little bit so that you have vividness and brightness too. I sense that that was a lot of information. I'm sorry, but it happened. Yeah. It's a little ugly in the zone. I suppose it is. Did I talk about the zone? I did? Sorry. Mhm.

[01:02]

Mhm. Mhm. Thank you. This cycle, some people think that it's really about, primarily about the dependent core rising, the trough that it's about, and other people interpret it as about the dependent core rising of the universe.

[02:48]

Certainly the Buddha taught that the universe is dependent core rising, but whether this characterization of the universe or not, but some debate. Some people say this is also how, this is also a story about how the entire universe is true, that the Buddha had that insight into that truth simultaneously. Well, um... Yeah.

[04:24]

So, one way to respond is that this is the story of individual existence. This is the story of individual existence that had to do with limited lifespan. But the context of this story is life that's not individual. That it's only human beings that see life as individual. And us seeing life as individuals makes us see life as having individual lifespans. So we project it onto other animals too, and plants. That's the way we see it. So there could be an end to that way of seeing the world, and in some sense, that would be a loss, because there would be a certain way of seeing that would be lost then if no one saw it that way.

[05:26]

And that would also mean the end of suffering, because that would be the end of seeing beginnings and ends of life. Yeah, it might be. I don't know. But another possibility is it might be the end of becoming too, but it might not be the end of life. Life may be infinite, but infinite life can manifest being to see life as in individual packages. That's cut off from other ones. And seeing life that way entails those individual packages being born and dying. But the Buddha has said that that's not really true, that that would be the way things really are, that they're coming and going. That's an illusion.

[06:27]

And if everybody saw that, then there might not be any coming and going anymore. But there might be a life that starts to come and go. And that would be, maybe some people, if they thought about it, they might say, gee, that would be too bad if we didn't have any days around, at least the way we used to think. But maybe we'd have new problems. And we require new Buddhas to help us with those problems. But for the time being, it looks like we're not going to have that happen for a while. And although this may be a possible trajectory of Buddhism, that it would liberate all beings from the ways of thinking which create beings who are born and die. So we wouldn't have anymore like cute little babies born and cute little babies dying, or ugly little babies born and old ugly babies dying. We wouldn't have that anymore and some people would miss that, but we don't seem to be near that so far. In the meantime, could Buddhism be helpful to people

[07:29]

even though it has this scary possible trajectory. Which might not be so bad once you finally got there. And all you got is like, billions of Buddhas who are still entertaining the world of individual existence for the few people who are left thinking that way. You know? So you have 19 people left who are still thinking in terms of, you know, this is my turf, get over there, don't take my stuff, you know? Throwing, you know, globs of dirt at each other. on the planet Earth, and there's an infinite number of Buddhists sitting and watching a show of things in their seats. And then they're saying, should we teach these people Buddhism too? Because if once they learn, it's going to be all over and we're not going to have any shows anymore. Could we face the silence without any children distracted? And if they couldn't, all we've got to do is let those people read the books and they'll have more work to do. But in the meantime, We seem to have plenty of people for the Buddhists to help, and the Buddhists don't even seem to be able to help all the people, you know, as much as they would like to.

[08:38]

So, anyway, I think it's kind of like it's a problem we haven't yet got to, even though I feel the implication. You're not supposed to have a problem with it. You're not supposed to have a problem with old age, sickness, and death. You know, nobody's telling you you should have a problem with sickness. I mean, I'm not. Is anybody telling you you should be having a problem with it? No. If you don't have a problem with old age, sickness, and death, great. Would you please help the people who do? Because there's plenty who do, who are scared to death of old age, sickness, and death. And if you don't have a problem with them, then go hang out with them and share with them what it's like to not have a problem with it. Show them what it's like to be able to, like, save old age, sickness, and death, and, like, get over it. No, no.

[09:42]

Stop. That's not Buddhism. Buddhism doesn't say the end of anything. That's the key thing. There is no end of this. Nothing gets annihilated. This is an explanation of what it's like to have life that doesn't last and doesn't end. This is what Buddha said. This doesn't go on forever and it doesn't end entirely. So people say, well, how does it happen? This is how it happens not being having an end. This doesn't have an end. And it doesn't have, and it doesn't last. It doesn't go on forever, and it doesn't get annihilated. This is the explanation of how you could have this stuff happening that doesn't get annihilated and doesn't go on. So there isn't really an end. An end is just something that is imagined in this cycle. This explains how we come to think in terms of it's over or it's last.

[10:44]

But the Vedic isn't a last thing or an over. It's more dynamic. And this is an explanation of how dynamic it is and how it happens that you have beings that are created that come to think it's not so dynamic. The Vedic does end or it doesn't end. So there won't be anything. Like, you know, final. It's simply the ceasing of thinking that there's an end. That's what this is about. This is about, if you think in terms of ends and beginnings, this is the cycle you go on. If you cease to go on this cycle, then you're free of thinking about ends and beginnings. Okay? Wait a second, though.

[11:50]

You said the end of ego. There's not an end to ego. There's not an end to anything. So you can have it be about ego. That's fine. But to have it be about the end of ego, it's not the end of ego. It's the understanding of ego, which means that with understanding ego, there's a season of suffering. Does that make sense? It doesn't say the end of ego. It says that with ego, with ignorance, you've got this situation. When there isn't ignorance, when there isn't ego and ignorance anymore, you don't have this situation for the moment. It's not like it's annihilated. Yeah? Yeah?

[13:02]

Hey. Yeah? Yeah? Well, but it's not like end of suffering, like there is no more suffering. Like it's annihilated, that's what I'm saying. See? Just for the moment. At that moment, that's the end of the doctor. That's okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Beverly told me later that one Theravada teacher says that it's really only at the craving point that people get out of this cycle.

[14:11]

She said they can't get out of the good position point. But Nagarjuna disagrees. Anyway. We are conditioned, right? I think that's... Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. I thought you said that the condition, you've got the condition already.

[15:17]

I accept that. And I'm talking about it. Actually, I'm proposing training which will train the attention in such a way as to do the condition. And Beverly thought that some Theravadis would understand that it's not possible to subdue the disposition, but that it might be possible to subdue the craving. But, you know, that's a subtle difference between what's given to subduing the craving and subduing the disposition. Because when we get back to this position of something happens, And you have craving for something more or something less. Craving to get involved in the search of thinking. That's similar to disposition. So, I'm... I think the same meditation could apply and you could understand it to apply either to craving or disposition on the search.

[16:26]

No, not something like that. It's more like bodhisattva precepts appear to you, and then dispositions arise, and you don't get involved with dispositions, and you look at the bodhisattva precepts. And if you look at the bodhisattva precepts and get involved with dispositions, it will be hard for you to understand the bodhisattva precepts. If the bodhisattva precepts are part of your life, then practicing meditation in this way will help you understand. But if you look at the Bodhisattva Precepts and you cling to your discursive thoughts about them, your mind is in turbulence, so it's hard to understand what they actually mean. And you can practice the Bodhisattva Precepts in the form of, this is what they mean, I know what they mean, and you practice them in a self-righteous way. And like Patty was bringing up, thinking about how energetic it is, how much energy you can feel when you finally feel like I see how good these precepts are, I know what they mean, I'm going to practice these and it's going to be great.

[17:50]

That's nice, but then you can put your own personal charge onto the precepts and then make them get distorted. And then if other people say, Salvi, you know, you actually are breaking the Bodhisattva precept, you may feel like this is total insanity because this person keeps breaking them and I'm not, and they think I'm breaking them and they're wrong and I'm right. You know, and I mean, that's just obvious to me. I am practicing this precept right. I'm doing it correctly. I'm a bodhisattva, and this person is criticizing me, and that's obviously not a bodhisattva. So, of course, if you look at the story from outside, you will see that you just broke some precepts there. You slandered the person, you put yourself up above them. So obviously, you're breaking the precepts. Not to say you're not a bodhisattva, but it looks like you're breaking the precepts. But you think you're not. So that's why we need to let go of our opinion, preferences, and views in order to practice these precepts. There are wonderful opportunities, but if we can, we're emphasizing that illness is also a wonderful opportunity.

[18:56]

So we have ceremony to receive the Bodhisattva Precept, and after you receive the Bodhisattva Precept, you practice meditation so you can not practice these self-righteousness. Because you have ideas about what they mean, and if you grasp those ideas, then you think you know what they mean. So you practice them according to what you have decided they mean. And then again, if someone doesn't agree with you, there's going to be trouble. But if you practice them without grasping your views, and you say, I'm doing my best, I don't really know what they mean, because I have a feeling they're very deep. And they're not so, you know, there's lots of possibilities here. But I'm trying to do my best. And even according to my understanding, which I'm trying not to hold to, it seems like I violate them quite briefly, but, you know, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm doing fine. But here's an opportunity, these precepts are opportunities for enlightenment. That's what they're called, opportunities for enlightenment. And the opportunities are more available if we can not run away from the silence of the precepts. The precepts are sitting there saying,

[20:01]

precept of not killing but there's nobody telling us what it means and we want to like fill that in with this is what it means okay but since we came we're not talking about the precepts so much we're talking about the opportunity offered by the event called stillness sickness that's also an opportunity for the same practice so the precepts are very helpful when you see them they help to give you an opportunity to realize your life by practicing it But also, when illness comes, illness is also the Bodhisattva's precept. Illness is the Bodhisattva's precept. Illness is, for example, I've been stressing, illness, when illness comes, is an example, an opportunity for don't take what's not given. In other words, take what's given. When illness comes, thank you very much. I'll work with it. It's a difficult gift you gave me, but thank you for this difficult gift. It ought to be different, I thought.

[21:08]

Shall we discuss some more or shall we sit quietly for a bit? Wait a second. Other people had their own rate too. So are we going to get into small questions or should we sit quietly for the next one? How many steps? How many people would like to have to step? About 50 steps. Yeah. When is this close? Now, did anybody misunderstand the question? Did you understand? When you voted, did you understand what you're voting for? Fraud. Fraud. Okay.

[22:29]

Well, if we can be quick. There was the teacher, and there was Dean, and there was Beverly, and Diane. But Diane has not started reading the books. I think so. I think it applies to all animals, not necessarily to plants. I think the blue day doesn't apply to plants, but does to animals. Well, in some sense, I would say that the main difference between us and animals is language.

[23:44]

And the Buddha spoke to us. The Buddha has manifested and gave teachings in words. And these words were given to people who had words already. And these words that they had, which made them human, were what the primary thing the Buddha used to address humans, was words to address the people who had words. So this teaching of the Buddha has come to great extent verbally to people who speak, and our speaking is very much having to do with our delusion. Our delusion is very much tied up in our language, and the Buddhist teaching is very much to help us untie the entanglement in our confusion and ignorance around the way we use speech, the way we use words, and our misunderstanding of the relationship between words and what they refer to. We've basically said, Even though you people all know it's not true, we basically think that words have an actual meaningful relationship with the object that applies to this, to this one of our delusions.

[24:52]

So the Buddhists talked to that, talked to this one. So that's the main difference, that you have language in the Buddhist folk. But the other animals, as far as you know, did not have a Buddha. We talk to them in their language. They don't seem to have language, but they really do. So they're having them in a group of people. That's one story about this. Other animals suffer, and while they're suffering, you have to deal with it. You have to deal with it. And if we become enlightened, we stop and we cause them less trouble. And it's still better when we're at this level. We tend not to harass them, and miss them, you know. We were more calm. But they're cruel. But when they're happier, but they also get a chance to pick up, you know, dharma by kind of a small group.

[25:56]

Not non-verbal. And then, we can get into other states. Okay? Definitely. Well, fear seems to be something that, well, some people are afraid. They do all kinds of things that aren't good for their health. They eat improperly. They overwork, overexercise, underwork, underexercise, watch lots of TV, you know, drive really fast. In other words, because people are afraid, they do a lot of crazy things. They sometimes do things which they wouldn't do if they weren't afraid. Sometimes people take drugs and smoke cigarettes and beat others and get poisoned because they're afraid of what would happen if they didn't do it.

[26:57]

Peer pressure, things like that. I think fear leads us to do many harmful acts to ourselves and to others. And some of the harmful activities to ourselves cause us illness, and some of the harmful activities to others cause us illness. And harmful acts in diet, exercise, and so on. Not that making a fear is stressful, even before we do something to avoid it, to distract ourselves from it. And especially sustained fear. Fear for a few seconds is about long-term fear really debilitating us. So you can get rid of the mis-strapings and all kinds of problems and things too. Is that enough? Yes.

[28:07]

Yes. Yeah. OK. Yeah. Well, you comforting other people who are suffering, you can do that without yourself trying to get rid of their suffering. You can know someone who has a pain which you understand may be fairly steady, indefinitely and you can you can you could spend a lot of your time and energy trying to make that person as comfortable as possible under the circumstances of their life you could you know just you being with them and wanting to wanting to help them might make them feel better uh

[29:30]

Giving them music, giving them a massage, bringing them nice food, bringing them flowers. Just spending time with them might help them feel more comfortable with their pain, might help them relax for Christmas. You can do all that without trying to get rid of their pain because you might understand and accept that they have this pain that they're going to have. You might completely accept it. And they might be also, but even though they are, you still might try to make them comfortable, if possible, in the 50 senses. And with yourself, too, to make you try to improve yourself in the midst of your difficulties, I don't see it a problem unless you're trying to manipulate yourself. And if you're trying to manipulate yourself, then basically you're saying, well, thank you. To try to make yourself comfortable without trying to manipulate yourself.

[30:38]

Try to make somebody comfortable without basically trying to make them be different. This is the great, you know. That's the difficult point, which is how do you want to help someone and want them to be helpful and you want them to be more comfortable and happier without disrespecting the way they are now? How can you appreciate the way they are now and hope for them to feel better? And work for them to feel better without trying to manipulate them out of the state they're in and into another state? How do you do this? That's what I'm suggesting you learn how to do. Partly because sometimes when you try to manipulate somebody into some better position, it doesn't work. But if they do this, and if you got into a position of not respecting the way they are, you and them are in the same soup, liking it less.

[31:40]

They were okay before you came along and tried to fix them. Now they also think they could be better. And now they feel less comfortable because you come along and got on this thing and you're making them feel better without simultaneously respecting the way they are now. So that's what I'm talking about. To try to help somebody is to express that you're trying to help without really trying to get rid of the way they are. Well, I would say to change that slightly by saying that I think many of us are struggling with the fact that pain appears.

[34:01]

And to say that pain is, I would say is an example of getting somewhat distressed and giving in to some feeling about pain. Certain pain appears to all of us on a regular basis, whether we notice it or not. If we get into the pain is, pain isn't, those are called streams that take us away from the middle way. The middle way is the way to face the way pain appears and disappears. Buddha's trying to encourage us, just watch how this pain comes and how does it go. And that's a struggle too, but that's a struggle that Buddha represents. So if you feel a struggle with pain, with the appearance of pain, then I think you're on the It's entering the middle way. That's the struggle. How do we settle with and face the coming and going, the arising and ceasing of suffering? Without getting into it is or it is not.

[35:05]

Take us away. And if you get into those, there's still a struggle. Because then you're always struggling with, you know, it is and you're struggling with it is. In fact, you could have that struggle too. So you told me you had that struggle. And the Buddha is saying, well, that's a fine struggle, but why don't you come and have a different struggle? Why don't you struggle with the appearance, with the arising and ceasing of pain, rather than the existing, or non-existing? Those are a little bit away from the phenomenal simplicity of pain. Pain comes in, you know, just like pleasure. It appears, it arises, it increases. Try to tune in to that. And that's a struggle too, but this is, as the Buddha said, this is a fruitful struggle. If you can be with this, and be with this, and be with this, then it will come to be that you will finally realize that it's not, there's not an inherently existing self there that suffers. So this way of observing your pain

[36:09]

will liberate you from ignorance which is contributing to your anger. Yeah, I think that's right. I think fear is a kind of discursive thought because you're getting into, like, stuff, you know? Well, yeah. And discursive thought, if you train discursive thought, that also contributes to illness. I think we've already got to the moment. So now the question is, how can we tune into it in a very straightforward way of watching it come to us and meet it as it comes.

[37:12]

Meet it as it comes. Meet it as it comes. Give up all kinds of stress. And also meet everything else that comes. Pleasure, breath, colors, smells, whatever. Meet whatever comes. Ideas, concepts, meet whatever comes. And this is the way we can learn to respond to these things in the appropriate way, the way that also delightfully encourages other people to do the same. Right.

[38:37]

Right. [...] If you can just let the hoppiness be unhoppiness. Then you know I can stay here. Or just stay in this state. And you're not lost with yourself in it, but just lost with it. And there will be no here or there in between. And you have to give it an analysis.

[39:49]

But not to end in the sense of the annihilation of our consciousness. Just release. Burn off. And not getting involved in the cursed thoughts about, what about later? How long you can last. In this permanence, I'm like, that's nice. Thanks for the relief. Let's do that again. What was it again? Can you arrive in? Can't we make this more interesting? We could, but we're just going to let that go for the time being. This is quite a struggle to live this simply. with psychological topics such as suffering and breath. What do you mean?

[41:33]

Good morning. There's a famous scripture called the Vimalakirti Sutra and It's very popular in China. It's about a lay person who is quite enlightened. I was a little sloppy when you used the term bodhisattva, but I didn't check to see if people were familiar with the term. Anybody not familiar with the term bodhisattva? So bodhi means awakening or enlightenment, and sattva means being. So bodhisattva kind of literally means an enlightening being.

[44:01]

And bodhisattva is the term that was originally used to describe the Buddha and all his life before coming awake. So one meaning of bodhisattva is someone who is progressing towards being a Buddha but not yet fully realizing Buddhahood. Another meaning of bodhisattva is, well, not another meaning, but an elaboration of that is, it's a being who not only is heading towards enlightenment, not just enlightenment, but towards Buddhahood. Because the Buddha actually had, the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, had disciples who were enlightened. But they weren't specific to the Buddha. But then later in Buddhism there became this aspiration that we have to become a Buddha, not just to become a licensed Buddha, but to become a Buddha.

[45:06]

And so the Bodhisattvas are those who aspire to be Buddhas in order to benefit the world. And so and when this aspiration arises in somebody this aspiration to become a Buddha for the welfare of the world that's called the arising of the thought of enlightenment or the birth of the thought of enlightenment or the birth of the aspiration to attain Buddhahood for the welfare of the world And that happens to people sometimes. And at that time, in some sense, they're born as a bodhisattva. So in this scripture, there are enlightened people who aren't bodhisattvas.

[46:17]

Tribal Buddha who are enlightened, but not bodhisattvas. In other words, they have not aspired to be Buddhas, but they're enlightened. And there's also bodhisattvas in this scripture. And one of the famous bodhisattvas is Manjushri Bodhisattva, which is the bodhisattva of perfect wisdom. And the other bodhisattva, the other major bodhisattva, which is the layperson, which is kind of a hero for the future of scripture, is the Mala Kirti. And So, at the beginning of the scripture, there's a wonderful beginning, and there's kind of a cosmic scene, and there's the Buddha, which is his group. The Buddha hears, or knows, that the Bodhisattva Vimalakirti is sick, so he asks some of his enlightened disciples to go visit Vimalakirti.

[47:20]

where kind of the Malakirti kind of scolded them. Found some weak point in their understanding. So they're kind of shy to go visit him because they're kind of afraid he's going to scold them again. So they all say, I'd rather not go. But finally, you know, it's kind of like that It's kind of like that story of the three Billy Goat Gruffs. The three... Yeah, the three Billy Goat Gruffs. You know that story? And finally, not exactly the same, of course, but... Finally, the Buddha comes to Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Manjushri Bodhisattva is not afraid of Himalaya. The Bodhisattva perfect wisdom.

[49:02]

Okay, I'll go. So he goes to visit Vimalakirti. And Vimalakirti means pleasant splendor. He's like the prince of the Buddha's disciples, of the Buddha's bodhisattvas. He's quite a splendid little chap. He's often young, like 16 years old. And often very feminine looking. Or you might say, what do you call it, androgynous. Kind of very small, I think. He goes to visit the malachiarists. And they start out with, you know, a certain kind of repartee. It's not that important, but I just wanted to give you a feeling for the way that they kind of chat, these two great Bodhisattvas.

[50:19]

Very magical feats are performed when Dhammalakirti sees Manjushri coming. and Majjhiva's got this huge entourage with, I think he comes with 8,000 other bodhisattvas and 500 enlightened disciples and a great number of various kinds of gods celestial beings and dharma protectors, and then many hundreds of thousands of gods and goddesses. So it's coming with a group of, you know, many hundreds of thousands, plus all the bodhisattvas. And they're coming along with Manjushri because they figure, well, if Manjushri and Vimalakirti had a talk, this should be quite interesting.

[51:28]

We'll hear some good teachings here today. So let's go. And so then Manjushri was moving towards Vimalakirti's house, which was in the city. A city probably not big enough to hold this group. And they're going to his house, which is not that big. So Vimalakirti, seeing them, knowing about them coming, thought to himself, Manjushri, the Crown Prince, is coming. with numerous attendants. Now my house, now may this house be transformed into emptiness. So then his house becomes empty. All the furniture goes out of the house. And so Manjushri and his group can get inside. And I just might tell you that later in the story, Manjushri invites In addition, this group invites 32,000 other bodhisattvas to come to the house.

[52:34]

But this is a special thing because now he doesn't invite these bodhisattvas, but he invites these bodhisattvas with their thrones. And these bodhisattvas have very large thrones. So the house wouldn't be big enough for it. There's hundreds of thousands of guests, plus these 32,000 bodhisattvas with their huge thrones, which are like thrones that, you know, about the size of Mount Madonna. So then Vimalakirti had to expand his house at that point. But the first day, anyway, he just emptied the house. So now all the people come. And then Vimalakirti saw the crown prince, Manjushri, and addressed him. Manjushri, welcome, Manjushri. You are very welcome. There you are, without any coming. You appear without any seeing.

[53:41]

You are heard without any hearing. This is the way we all quickly address this Manjushri on Sunday morning. Manjushri declared householder It is as you say, who comes finally comes now. Who goes finally goes now. Also, who comes is not known to come. Who goes is not known to go. Who appears finally is not seen. This is interesting. Good sir, is your condition tolerable? Manjushri's asking the sick Bodhisattva.

[54:44]

Good sir, is your condition tolerable? Is it livable? Are your physical elements not disturbed? Is your sickness diminishing? Is it not increasing? The Buddha asked about you. If you have slight trouble, slight discomfort, slight sickness, if you're distressed with life, if you are cared for, strong, at ease, without self-reproach, and if you are living in touch with supreme happiness in your sickness. And then Manjushri asked him all the time, Householder, from whence comes this sickness of yours? How long will it continue? How does it stand? How can it be alleviated? And Vimalakirti says, Manjushri, my sickness comes from ignorance and the craving for existence.

[55:58]

Like I said before, illness dependently co-arises and ultimately depends on ignorance, but also on craving. Just ignorance by itself, although that is the source of illness, The illness usually doesn't develop until you get around the trade. So that's what Nirmala Kripa says is where his sickness comes from. And he said, it will last as long as do the sicknesses of all living beings. That's how long 40 sattva will be sick. Were all living beings to be free from sickness, I also would not be sick.

[57:08]

How so? Manjushri, for bodhisattvas, the world consists only of living beings, and with sickness and sicknesses inherent in living in the world. For all living beings free of sickness, the bodhisattva will be free from sickness." And then at the end, he goes on for a while, but I'll just say, at the end he says, you ask me, Manjeshwar, when comes my sickness? The sickness of bodhisattva will rise in great compassion. At the beginning he says, Sickness comes from ignorance and craving. Medical ambience says that sickness comes from great compassion. And in some sense, both are required.

[58:12]

But in some sense, the first reason for bodhisattva sickness is great compassion, because bodhisattvas, especially high-level bodhisattvas, could receive a great check out of the scene. But checking out of the scene is not Buddha. Checking out of the dependent core arising is illness. Checking out of the process by which old age, sickness and death arise, checking out of that is not what Buddha did. Buddha's act is to check out, temporarily, every now and then. Checking out of this is called realizing nirvana. In other words, you realize the cessation of samsara, the cessation of this cycle of the arising of illness. But the cessation does not mean the annihilation.

[59:16]

It's just a little break. Taking a little break and entering nirvana. supreme, sublime, pink and bliss. Just a break. And in that break, you're free. But Buddhas don't stay in that break because the life of Buddha and the life of a Bodhisattva is living being. So the Buddha leaves nirvana or lets go of nirvana, lets go of freedom from illness and embraces all living doings and all the illnesses. Bodhisattvas are born into this world because they wish to come and play with living beings.

[60:21]

Out of great compassion, they wish to let go of their bliss of nirvana and come and play with us. But in order to get in to this world of birth and death, where to play with us, they have to pay the price of getting a body. And in order to get a body, you have to kind of like hunker down on something. You've got to have a little bit of attachment and a little bit of ignorance, you know. And then they say, OK, I'm a little ignorant. They do have a body. Then you have a body so you can be in this world and play with these. So bodhisattvas are born like that. Everybody has to be a little ignorant to be born. But it's possible to be born not just by ignorance. Most beings are born by compulsion, forced by their habits. Bodhisattvas are born not just by compulsion, but they have to be a little ignorant to get in here.

[61:28]

So they have ignorance and craving to get a body. They're really born out of love and the joy of playing with sentient beings and sharing the Dharma with them. Don't worry, soon there'll be breakfast. And you can dive into the granola and swim with the raisins. Now, sometimes when I think about this kind of teaching, I think, well, here I am in the world of sickness. But, you know, I chose to do this. Because I'm a bodhisattva. I didn't fall into this by accident.

[62:39]

I wanted to do this. I want to do this. Because it's something really good. It's kind of a problem. There's lots of problems in the church. But there's something really wonderful here. And it's the possibility of practicing the Buddha's teaching with everybody. Even, you know, who... with everybody, no matter how sick or confused they might be. So, if you're here in this world of suffering, well you have some time And if you're a bodhisattva, if other people are ill, you're ill. So, you're in a world where there are illness and other people are ill, so you're willing to be ill for the fun of being together with sick people, practicing with them.

[63:47]

Because it's such a joy to be with anybody. And not exactly especially if they're sick, but just whether they're sick or healthy. Illness is inherent to the world of body. And you're happy to be here. So the bodhisattva has this vow to attain good-hood, but also the bodhisattva has the vow to save all beings. In other words, I'm willing to plunge into any hospital scene, into any hospice, into anything. I'm even willing to plunge into politics. and small talk, because there's some people who live all the time in politics and small talk, and I need to be there, not just in the hospital with the sick people who appreciate my administration, not just taking care of my own sick children, which I want to do that too, but I want to take care of my parents and my spouses and my students and my teachers.

[64:57]

and my political leaders, and my political opponents, and the worst of all, the small talkers. I want to face the big challenges, but not just the big challenges, the little tiny ones, which nobody really needs me to take care of, but I have to. So I want to be in all these situations. This is how Bodhisattva is born. So it's kind of like an expressive approach to consider whether you're ready to live in this world, whether you choose living, not that you're brought here by compulsion of your past thoughts, but that now you're here, you might make a virtue of acceptance. Now that you're here, why don't you say, I want to be here. And if it brings out too tough, I'm willing to be here.

[66:01]

If it's a bit rough, I'm willing to be here. Play with you and bring your efforts to understand. That's what we might say. So it's both ignorance and craving, but also great compassion. Without great compassion, you might think, well, I think I'll just get rid of the ignorance and craving and check out of it. But again, that's not Buddha. The life of Buddha is the cycle of birth and death. Buddha doesn't attach to the cycle of birth and death. Buddha just embraces it. Buddha doesn't attach to the world of nirvana. Buddha just embraces it. Buddha does not prefer nirvana over samsara. Buddha doesn't prefer hell over death. What he thought was... as they move along in the path get to a point where they do not prefer lightning over delusion or help over sickness.

[67:03]

They understand that actually there is no coming and going, so there is no sickness, but also they understand that there is sickness and they wish to go play with those who are sick. Okay? Ruth, which means compassion, Do you agree with your name? Well, that's why I'm telling you this before breakfast, okay? and finding the seeds of compassion, now you can go deep breath, and then when your blood sugar comes up, you may be up to enter all realms of woe. Bodhisattvas don't go into these difficult places where people are suffering, kind of like, oh God, I gotta go in there and help those people.

[68:14]

I'm like, God, no, they kind of go like, they're feeling so good, they're so happy, that they're willing to enter. got to feel that's why you have to take care of yourself and practice meditation so i get feeling kind of like hey this mind is ready to go to hell you have to have them you have to you know face what happens and release the discursive thought meet whatever happens And don't get involved in your fixed perspective. And your mind will be ready. And if I say to you, hey Ruth, want to go to a hospital? You say, yep. Or you say, nope. But as soon as you say nope, we're basically in a hospital. So that's what a hospital is. People are getting ready to say nope. I had it. I want to tell one more story.

[69:16]

Somebody came into that room to talk to me and they brought a book, one of these books. And they handed it to me and I said, is it a gift? And he said, no. That's being willing to enter, right? You understand? Being willing to be somebody who doesn't want to give that guy that book. No, I don't... You know, you can't have that book. This is like bodhisattva coming to play. You understand? Yeah. Like, you can't just be... You've got to be born into a particular body. Right? Sorry. You don't get a generic body. You don't get a generic human body, you know, like without any fingerprint. You get a unique body, that means you have to spend time like getting through a unique mommy and a unique daddy.

[70:23]

So far that's the way, or you know, they're making variations on the theme, but basically the genetic thing is unique. You have, you sort of have to limit yourself. And in order to limit yourself in that way, and kind of like get your consciousness into that little groove, get a body, there has to be a little bit of perversion there. It's crazy. You can't say, well, you know, the universe says you want to be born, and I say, well, maybe, no, not necessarily. Maybe later. Well, if you say maybe later, then it's going to be later. And if you keep saying maybe later, you're not going to get home. I think actually now is the time. I see those people, you know, they're doing it, and now is the time. I will animate that zygote. There's some kind of like, you know, now is the time and that's the place and this is my mountain, you know. You sort of have to like bend yourself a little bit. You have to be a little off to get born. Fully realized people.

[71:29]

So the Buddha's already, the Buddha in terms of being a person has already and now they realize Buddhahood. But strictly speaking, it's hard for Buddhas to be reborn. They sort of can't... But bodhisattvas can... Prior to complete Buddhahood, bodhisattvas can be reborn. Okay, they can be a little off like that. But the Buddha, while being a Buddha, and the Buddha, which isn't just a Buddha that takes a body. So there's... In this scripture, and... In many scriptures, there are two bodies that Buddha has. One body is the body that gets born, that takes form, and that body grows up, gets old and dies. But the other body of Buddha doesn't come and go. And when that body of Buddha becomes a Buddha in its human body,

[72:34]

That body died, and that body got fixed, and Shakyamuni Buddha was fixed. He had lots of illnesses, they were recorded. He had back problems, he had toe problems, he had headaches, and of course at the end he had that serious illness. So his body did get fixed, but he was the Buddha. And this Buddha did, according to our teaching, did not, if not reborn, he's over. But, this Buddha, is a manifestation of the Buddha, which really has to take birth in order to be in the world with me. It doesn't just stand up in vast openness. It gets specific. So when a Buddha is born, a Buddha is not a Buddha. It's a Buddha being born as a Bodhisattva. And a Bodhisattva can develop into a Buddha, or a Bodhisattva can develop, and without becoming a Buddha, be reborn again. I feel a little bit bad about telling you this because it's so abstract, but Buddha, Buddha takes birth as a Bodhisattva.

[73:44]

And Bodhisattvas could become Buddhas, but then they don't get reborn. Buddhas don't get reborn, sorry. Because Buddhas, among the things Buddhas attain is they attain a state of completion such that they don't ever anymore get kinky and get born. Bodhisattvas, however, can get virtually to the level of Buddha but not finish the job so that they can be born again and again and again to keep stirring the pot. If all the Bodhisattvas became Buddhas, there would be no Buddhas in the world. A Buddha takes birth as a Bodhisattva. We have lots of Bodhisattvas possible in this world. now that the Buddha's gone. Do bodhisattvas generally know if they've chosen to be born for the welfare of all beings?

[74:52]

Is that your question? I didn't hear it, but I imagined that's what it was, because that would have been a good question. Wasn't it your question? Fantastic. I don't have to hear you anymore. Here's another teaching, which this teaching predates the introduction of the full-scale teaching about these Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattvas are the way the Buddha... Bodhisattvas and, once in a while, a Buddha are the way the Buddha takes birth in the world. And there's different kinds of ways of taking birth. The most common type is that At the moment of conception, when the... I mean, there's some different theories about when that would be, but in some theories it would be at the moment of conception, there is consciousness. So according to these, you know, controversies and all, there is kind of life and consciousness at conception.

[75:54]

But when, you know, at what point in the embryonic phase that conception occurs, there might be some debate. But anyway, at conception, there is birth. And then there's development in the womb after birth. The delivery of the baby out of the uterus into the arms of the pediatrician is not the actual birth in the Buddhist tradition. The birth conception is prior to that. That's when the birth happens. Conception, consciousness. At the moment of conception, most people are not aware, are not awake, and do not say, okay, that's conception. And then they continue to be unconscious through the embryonic fireworks. And then at delivery, they also are unconscious. The next level of development is that you're conscious at conception, but you lose it during the embryonic turmoil.

[76:59]

And also, you don't recover the birth trauma. The next stage of development is your conscious at conception. You're conscious during embryological development. And you're conscious. Did I do conscious at embryological development? OK, so that's the next stage. You're conscious during embryological, but you're losing at the trauma. The next stage is you're conscious at conception. your conscious at the embryological development and your conscious even through the birth from going through that little tide and needle there and those are like the super bodhisattvas and buddhas if they're conscious through the whole process they come out and they say whew well I signed up for this of course they can't speak English that's too much

[78:03]

But actually they say that Buddha came out and spoke English. He came out of his mother and could walk already, took seven steps, pointed like this and said, I speak English. And this is what I have to say. So, yeah, so it's possible that some beings are so developed that they stay conscious while they're dying, and then they're conscious at conception when the next life starts and they're conscious through the whole development, even in this tremendously wild scene of being in a womb. And I think you know that there's some kind of, you know, if you look at most babies in the womb, I think in most babies, a lot of babies in the womb, there's some signs that some of those babies are kind of alert. Sometimes the baby seems to be like having something to say in that, like, oh mom, what's going on? You know? So there's various levels of alertness and awareness according to this process.

[79:07]

And the early Buddhist scriptures say that some beings are aware of that whole thing and they don't blank out. But you can imagine, you know, what a shock it would be to be born at that last phase there. Even if you were kind of like in there, kind of, this is not too bad, you know. But then when it came time to go through this smashing transition through this dark tunnel, but you might feel kind of like, oh, I wish I could pass out. Can you imagine that? And then also a lot of children, as you know, when they're young, a lot of times when their parents are being mean to them, or brothers and sisters are being mean to them, a lot of kids are getting a heavy hand at these guys. They cannot just stand there and look at this mean person, this person being cruel to them. You're a bad girl. You should stop crying. They kind of like go, okay, I know how to get out of here. Me and my teddy bear are just out of here.

[80:08]

Well, Teddy, how are you today? I'm fine. And daddy's yelling at you, but you don't have to hear a thing because it's too much. It's too threatening to imagine. Is he going to kill me? Or is she going to run away and leave me? The children are pretty good at spacing out, fantasizing another universe. Or as we also sometimes say, running away from silence. So we've developed at quite young, fine techniques to space out and not be aware of what's going on. But we actually have them at perception. Even a shock of conception, some people coming up, boing, and go back to sleep. He got born, but, you know, it is too much. Oh, God. Here I am splitting into two, now four. It is just too much. So, you know, it takes a lot of meditation practice to be able to, like, go through that and stay upright.

[81:16]

But the idea is that you can meditate so that as you change from one cell to two, to four, to eight, to sixteen, you can stay present. You can do that, you know? And then the idea is, I should say you can do that, but it's not really you doing it. The meditation's so strong, the meditation continues through these changes. Okay. Oh, God, now, oh, there's this final column coming in here. Oh. Oh, my God, nerves are building. that you can stay present so that the meditation stays with that, the awareness stays with that. And then the idea is that if you can do that, meditation can also go through Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and third, whatever. That you can stay present and upright and alert and happy that you came through this stuff. But not everybody stays with it. Everybody has some consciousness, otherwise you wouldn't be born, But in the tremendous changes that we go through in those first nine months, most people lose it.

[82:22]

Are barely conscious. And they stay barely conscious until they're about 20. And in effect become conscious. I think somebody around here is suffering. I just got through six years of hormonal shock. And I'm starting to recover now. And I think I've been suffering really intensely all the way through there. And I hear Buddhism being talked about. I think those practices. But maybe I'll first go finish college and have six kids and then start. Because, you know, that would be neat. Or maybe I won't. Depends. Different people start at different times. But now you've all started. you can expose its Buddhist faiths.

[83:27]

That's what the scripture says, and it says, I forgot exactly, but anyway, I think the Buddhas and some Bodhisattvas are the ones who can be aware through the whole process. Yeah, I think there are some acrobatic prophets around. I haven't met anybody who actually told me that they were really awake at conception, development, and so on. I myself must say I don't have vivid memories of the whole process. So I'm not one of them. But I've met some people who I think If they're not bodhisattvas 24 hours a day, seven days a week, they have their moments of bodhisattvahood.

[84:31]

And I've met some people who, I think, they kind of feel like they're glad they came. And they're not squeamish about being in this world. And they're kind of happy to be able to be with suffering people. They're absolutely appreciative. And they have almost no limits on the realms in which they're willing to enter. So the people in this room, who I've mentioned, who are like completely up for taking care of the most miserable beings on the planet. People who are suffering tremendously. They're not afraid of that. They're not afraid of shit. They're not afraid of vomit. They're not afraid of blood. They're not afraid of insanity. But some of the people are afraid of small talk. or are afraid of being in rooms full of quite healthy people who are on total power trips and willing to kill each other for political advantage.

[85:33]

They don't want to be in those rooms. So that's the limit to the bodhisattva. There's some room you don't want to be in. But at the same time, part of your practice is to accept and relax with your limits. If you relax with your limits, Relax at your limits. Relax at the limits. Calm down and your mind becomes still visible. You're ready. Also let go of the limits or the distinction between yourself and certain types of beings. Let go of the distinction between your suffering and another being suffering. And some people, their suffering is such that they're very feeling for you. Let go of your distinction. The way they're suffering, you feel like, oh God, what do you want? You can have it for yourself. Some people, you know, you let go of your distinction. It's like taking care of them as I take care of yourself. Other people, the distinction is holding up.

[86:35]

So a lot of people, the distinction between them and some, the suffering of some very wealthy, powerful people, they hold that up. They don't like, they don't like hoping for those people to suffer. Now I'm going to be like, helping you who have so much? Forget it. But no, everybody, so gradually, the Bodhisattva wants to help all beings, not just the poor, but also the rich. The rich, also the poor. Not just the sick, this type of thing, but also that type of thing. All types of beings And the meditation will help us let go of the limit to who we care about. The Buddha doesn't make costs. The Buddha doesn't let anybody go. The Buddha wants to help all beings. The Buddha wants to help all beings. But we have to accept there's some beings we don't yet want to help. They have some problem there. We have to work on that. reject or lie about the limits we feel, we just let them do their, try to take care of our minds so that our mind becomes flexible, joyful, calm, and ready to let go, ready to help all beings.

[87:56]

And I think some people are like that in the present situation they're in. and they act just like a Bodhisattva, and then they reach some limit, some other situation, and then they don't act like a Bodhisattva. And some people, it's hard to find any place where they settle in this. They help almost anybody. It's amazing how generous and giving some people are across a wide spectrum of views. But I know some people who I mean, they're willing to help this kind of person, that kind of person, that kind of person, but this other kind of person assaults them in a way that's not just because of the category, but because the person has, you know, like an allergic reaction to the person. Like the person smells in such a way, the person just, their whole body is curled up. So on some physical level sometimes, even though philosophically, you're willing to be a service and engage your body sometimes, of course. It goes into kind of a spasm when you're around some people.

[89:02]

Even though you, theoretically, you're up for it. And so that's when the meditation needs to address that. How can you get your body to relax with somebody who you practically have a chemical reaction to? Which sometimes happens. Some people are allergic to some other people. But, you know, that requires a lot of training to let your body relax, even to something that's really difficult at the physical, visceral level of resistance. So I haven't tested, you know, some of the people I've met are just amazing and I haven't kept them to find out if they're at any place where they have some resistance. But I've seen some people who are really amazingly compassionate in a wide range of situations. I've talked to a lot of people that are amazingly compassionate in a narrow range. And anyway, there they're on the right track and then they get to a border where they don't extend it and they just extend it.

[90:06]

But I hadn't seen anybody who... I've seen some people who I hadn't seen in the limit, but I usually figured, well, keep watching, you'll see it. And, you know, as I get to know, something's amazing. Oh, it's all there. Oops, there's a little limit there. Hello? Hello, how about this? But still, the fact that somebody's compassionate, even in the narrow range, I'm very happy about. Aren't you? So that's fine and then we just have to expand it. Help them expand it. And also be compassionate with them if they have limits. Be grateful that they're kind here and be compassionate with them if they're not kind there. And also with yourself. Be glad that you can be compassionate with this person and be patient with yourself if you're not ready to be compassionate. Absolutely. And this way you can spread it. So I think it is breakfast time, overdue, so you're welcome to go eat.

[91:20]

I'll give you breakfast. And I think we resume at about 10 o'clock. Or let's just say 10 instead of about 10 o'clock. Although, you know, I think it is good sometimes to say, I think we should have a workshop called about, no, called maybe mysticism. Or sort of, almost mysticism. So, but let's actually come back at 10.

[91:46]

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