I could say that the practice of awakening Buddha's way is based on enlightenment, that it starts with enlightenment. Or, I could also say that Buddhism starts from suffering. If you look at, for example, the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha, you could say Buddhism started when he was enlightened, or you could say Buddhism started when he saw that there

[01:04]

was suffering, when he saw that there was old age, sickness and death. That's when it started. But it's a cycle, actually. It's a cycle of suffering and enlightenment, and you can pick any part in the circle to say where it starts. It actually doesn't start any place, or have a beginning or an end, but still, if we look, we say it starts at enlightenment, or we say it starts at suffering or grieving. There are, anyway, these two aspects. When Shakyamuni Buddha was enlightened, he was asked

[02:27]

to share his enlightenment, and he shared his enlightenment, but people didn't understand. So then he shared his suffering, and they understood, and he gave the truth of suffering. So during these first three days, I've been emphasizing illness, dukkha, suffering, dukkha, grieving, the process of grieving, dukkha. The pain and suffering most of us who are sitting here know about, particularly maybe during the sitting time. During the breaks

[03:34]

on the sun, some of us may not be so aware of dukkha, the grieving. Suffering is broken up sometimes into three types, or grief is broken up into three aspects. The first aspect is called dukkha-dukkha, which means suffering-suffering, or grieving-grieving. This is like pain in your knees when it gets strong enough so you don't think it's cute at all. This most people know about pretty well, sometimes. For example, if you sit still, dukkha-dukkha will usually appear to you. If you wiggle, run around and talk enough, you may not know about dukkha-dukkha.

[04:40]

For example, if you're giving a lecture during sasheen, you can talk for hours and hours and not even notice the pain in your legs. But if you're listening to a lecture, it's pretty hard to sit for more than an hour. Certainly, after two hours, almost everybody has burning legs if they don't move. But the lecturer, because he or she is distracted by what they're saying and jumping around, being entertaining, they don't notice the pain in their own legs. They see the other people are moving, but they don't know about their own pain. Dukkha-dukkha is there all the time. If you simply sit still and don't wiggle and look away, it comes up right into your nose. Dukkha-dukkha is always there, always there. Later I'll talk about what I mean by always there. Always there doesn't

[05:55]

mean that it exists, really. But in a relative world, in the world of delusion, there is If you sit still, dukkha-dukkha will appear. But there's two other kinds of dukkha, two other kinds of grieving. One is called sukha-dukkha, or dukkha-sukha, which means the suffering of pleasure. Now, I told you about that one yesterday. That's the one I had a big hit of on Sunday afternoon. I just really got this extreme pain. It was the strongest pain I've had so far, far more than the pain in my legs. The pain of looking at the beautiful sunny hills and knowing that I cannot go swimming. Or I could, but it wouldn't work very well. I want to go out in the sun. I wasn't in physical pain, but I was in a worse pain, in a way,

[06:57]

because of the beautiful, gorgeous day that I couldn't enjoy, unhindered by this schedule. And yesterday I had another sukha-dukkha day. Today it's going to probably... I'm getting into it now, so it's not so bad today. I'm sort of used to this wonderful weather. Today it's even worse, in a way, because it's... not only is it sunny, but we have these lovely mists floating in over the hills. This is sukha-dukkha, the pain of having the pleasure held a little bit away from you, or taken away, or you can't really enjoy it. Now, on the other hand, you can get into that kind of pleasure. It's the pleasure of driving through a beautiful landscape and you can't stop long enough to enjoy it. So it's kind of... it can be an aesthetic wonder, too, if you learn how to use it just right. And then there's what we call... let's see if I can put the Sanskrit... I forgot. I tried

[08:11]

to find Abhidharmakosha this morning, I couldn't find it in the library. Anyway, there's another kind of sukha, which is the dukkha of conditionality. So even when beautiful things are not taken away from you, and even when ugly things are not shoved in your face, even when you're quite balanced and centered, still there's a kind of suffering just by the fact of your experience being conditioned. This also appears to you if you sit still, this kind of dukkha. These three kinds. To experience one of them is good. If you can experience all three, you actually have experienced the truth of suffering. The truth of suffering has these three aspects. In other

[09:11]

words, in conditioned existence you can't get away from these three. So we've been talking about going down into the dragon cave of grieving. And if we can face and sit still with this truth of suffering, or even one aspect of the truth of suffering, and if we can realize that in some sense this suffering or this ill is endless, boundless, it's hard to realize it's endless, but at least if we can be ready for it to be endless, if we can accept that

[10:13]

it's not going to get better, and there's no end to it, and we can still experience this and just sit there with that, then also we know it's not going to get any worse. And we become fearless, because we've actually faced the worst, namely, that this is going to go on forever. That's not true like a fixed principle, that's true like something which may set you free. That's true like a big relief. In other words, not hoping for improvement anymore. So sitting still, not wiggling away from your suffering, twenty years of bitterness and so on, this is what we've been looking at, this process of going down. So some people

[11:20]

have the experience of actually being quite happy now, being quite at peace. So in terms of the process you can say that once you settle, the grieving is allowed. In other words, I'm not recommending that you turn yourself towards grief, that you turn and you look for suffering and go towards it. That's not what I'm suggesting. I'm just saying, if you sit still, naturally it appears. So some people are sitting still now, and they feel quite at peace and at ease. The process of grieving has, at least temporarily, completed itself. So the process of grieving is complete. There is an end to grief, and the end to grief is by the path called sitting

[12:31]

still. Now in terms of the process of grieving, there is an end to grief, and the end to grief is by the path called sitting still. The story I mentioned yesterday about Yun-Yin and Da-Wu, you can say that the process of grief or grieving is sweeping or sitting or being busy. And the relief or the enlightenment is the one who's not busy. So right while you're being busy there's one who's not busy. And what is enlightenment anyway? We sometimes say,

[13:38]

we can't talk about it, but you also can talk about it. Enlightenment's, you know, you can say, well it's when if somebody asks you what your name is you say, my name's Brother Reb or something like that. You feel like you're everybody's brother or sister. And everything that shows up in front of you is really interesting and wonderful. Everything. Even being locked up in a dark room on a sunny day, it's fantastic. You're just totally interested in it. How neat that would be to go down into a dark, cold basement on a beautiful, sunny day and study the cockroaches or look at the plumbing around the washing machine. How fantastically interesting. And then, wouldn't it be wonderful to be kicked out of the basement, out into the street and play touch football or smell the flowers in the garden? Anything is totally

[14:41]

wonderful. When you're busy, you're busy. I looked it up in the dictionary. It says, when you're busy, you're busy. And it's a wonderful thing to do. It's a wonderful thing to do. And busyness is also to be engaged in something requiring time or attention. Like grieving requires time and attention. Suffering requires time and attention. Not idle or at leisure. If you sit still, you know, if you sit still, you realize what it means to not

[15:48]

be idle and not be at leisure. People sometimes say, how's Green Gulch? I say, idyllic. And another meaning of busy is to be full of busyness activity, to be bustling. When you're in pain, when you're in dukkha-dukkha, you're bustling, aren't you? Bustling with hot pain. Another meaning of busy is foolishly concerned. And another meaning of busy is having intricate details and many separate parts. Right in the busyness, right in that intricate, busy,

[16:50]

separate, intricate, bustling pain, right there is also one who's not busy. Okay? They're always back and forth. In terms of Buddhist iconography, who's the busy one? Who's, huh? Samantabhadra. You can say, yeah, Samantabhadra. But usually also, even more specifically, we say, Avalokiteshvara is a busy one. And who's the one who's not busy? Huh? Manjushri. Manjushri's not busy. That one there. Doesn't move. Everything's the same to that one. Doesn't know anything. Doesn't even know about suffering. Are there two moons? Is there Avalokiteshvara

[17:56]

and Manjushri Bodhisattva? Which one is this? Is this Avalokiteshvara or Manjushri? Which one is it? Manjushri Bodhisattva, for Manjushri Bodhisattva there's only one moon. Avalokiteshvara is not too sure. Maybe there's two, maybe there's a billion. Avalokiteshvara is to get down into the intricate workings of suffering and grieving. Manjushri cuts through it all. Della Girtz gave me a book called The Book of Qualities. It's got things in here like

[19:00]

change, perfection and, oh, suffering. Suffering teaches philosophy on a part-time basis. Suffering teaches philosophy on a part-time basis. She likes icy days in February when she can stay home from school, make thick soups and catch up on her reading. With her white skin and dark hair, she even looks like winter. She has a slender face and dramatic cheekbones. Suffering's reputation troubles her. Certain people adore her and talk about her as if knowing her gives them some special status. Other people despise her. When they see her across the aisle in the supermarket, they look the other way. Even though suffering is considered a formidable instructor, she actually is quite compassionate. She feels lonely around students

[20:09]

who dislike her. Even more painful to be around those who idealize her. She is proud only because she recognizes the value of her lessons. So, this is the grieving and the enlightenment, these two moons. Are they one or two? Anyway, again, you don't have one without the other, actually. But, in fact, people have trouble learning about learning the entry. They have trouble learning through telling. If you tell everybody everything's all right, they don't necessarily get it. If they do, fine.

[21:11]

And that's one kind of teaching, perfectly good, in Manjushri's style. And later, maybe, we'll talk about that style. But first of all, we also talk about this other way, the busy way. But they're not really two, are they? So, this is a kind of a summary of where we've been and where we are. Is it clear now about these two sides? The idyllic and leisurely, the happy, enlightened side, which is why

[22:18]

we practice in Buddhism, because we heard it gives great, great peace and joy to us and all beings. But also, we're here because of suffering. We're here because of those two sources, the joy source and the suffering source. One's busy, one's at leisure. One takes time and attention, the other one doesn't take. The other one doesn't take time and attention. It's just life. Oh, and somebody gave me this little quote here. I heard a rumor, it's Jim Spiegler. To stand happy and free in the midst of life, enjoying it just as it is, that is our opportunity and practice as human beings. Just to stand

[23:26]

or sit happy and free in the midst of life, enjoying it just as it is, that is our opportunity and practice as human beings. Says the bottom Tolstoy. Of course, he didn't say that. That's a translation. In a better way. In a better way. That wasn't from Jim Spiegler. It's from the kitchen? It's on the kitchen grease board? Okay, now I'd like to go off in a new direction, if you're ready. Okay? Got that stuff about suffering all straight? Yeah? Can I just conclude that the suffering of pleasure is about impermanence? I think they're just, not necessarily taken away physically, but they just pass, so no

[24:33]

matter what you really enjoy, it's going to be gone. Right, even before it's taken, even while you have it. Well, even while I was out in the sun, I knew that pretty soon I was going to lose it, and there was a limited amount of exposure I was going to be able to have to these beautiful plants, so even then I felt it. So Japanese poetry is full of that stuff, you know. They love the spring so much, because when they see the cherry blossoms come out, they instantly feel the fall, and they just love that lovely blossom that's soon going to be gone. And they write all their poems about this, and love too, and you know, they really dig it. No Japanese people here today. Yes? What is the difference between the not-happens, not-burning, and the during-happens, not-burning? Even when you're not dealing with something that's pleasureful, these three also, if you

[25:38]

notice, are similar to greed, hate, and delusion, right? They're similar to positive, negative, and neutral feelings. So even when you're not particularly ... some things when they're impermanent don't bother you at all, like the impermanence of pain doesn't bother you. It's the impermanence of lovely things, it's the impermanence of things you really like and that make you feel good, that impermanence annoys you. Limited access to wonderful stuff is painful, or the fact that it's in limited access means it's impermanent, it's not going to have it. But some things you don't really care about one way or another, still it can be annoying just because you realize that they're conditioned. This is the most difficult one to realize because you're looking right down into delusion itself. You see, whenever there's aversion or attraction, there's always also with it this basic delusion. So even

[26:48]

when there's not aversion, or dukkha-dukkha, or even when there's not sukha-dukkha, or this suffering due to impermanence, you always have in the background the impermanence of conditionality. That's the one you have to get most settled to see. You can actually come down to the actual dharmic experience and when you don't even mind it one way or another you actually see how yucky it is that everything is actually conditioned. This again is the subtle door of entry into liberation, because at that point you are actually seeing that everything is conditioned, and when you can see that everything is conditioned you also are right at the door of seeing that because everything is conditioned, everything is free. Because things are conditioned it means that they have no inherent existence. The fact that they have no inherent existence means that they can't cause you any trouble. So

[27:53]

that's the most subtle of the three aspects, and when you start to actually feel the uneasiness due to conditionality, you're actually at the door of emptiness, of realizing emptiness. And that's the most, again, the most subtle one of the three. And I've seen people right here in this group see that. It's wonderful to see a person see it. Yes, anything else? Mark, did you have something? No? Okay. Yes. Emotional pain could be in all three. You could have, for example, a person who

[29:08]

could have emotional pain which is just simply painful, like anger. Someone asked me, you know, what dharma is dukkha, or what dharma is suffering or grieving? And the dharma that it is, first of all, is the dharma of feeling, basically, namely negative feeling, but also positive feeling, when you're going to lose it, or neutral feeling, when you realize it's conditioned. So it basically has to do with feeling. Grieving is fundamentally related to feeling, or basic evaluation, or judgment. Which also is basically related to the self. Judgment and feeling are fundamental to building

[30:13]

the self. So by focusing in on anything, this feeling aspect becomes revealed to you, and as the feeling aspect becomes revealed to you, a cornerstone of the self is also revealed. Yes? A lot of New Age philosophies right now are using a kind of foundation, or a technique, to take a negative feeling and make it a positive, create your own reality. So in some ways, it's like a dukkha-dukkha that's livable, but not really getting into the heart of the suffering.

[31:15]

Are you asking me if that's what it is? You know, that's that kind of oppression I wondered about. I've often had a little bit of doubts around that, that you cannot get rid of your suffering, you'll just have a, you know, create a different reality and have a positive attitude. Well, did you hear this poem, the Roka poem? Yes. So you have to have a positive attitude about your grieving process, otherwise the grieving can just become depression. And some people, if they actually are in a state of depression, it wouldn't be good to have them sit down and just sit still and go into the grieving. That wouldn't be healthy. So part of this positive attitude towards sitting, for example, and towards what comes up when you're sitting, again, I'm not saying please look at the suffering, I'm saying sit still and naturally the suffering will appear,

[32:23]

all three varieties will appear. And I'm saying actually have a positive attitude towards the appearance of these phenomena. Let yourself know that you're doing a time-honored, that your vulnerability to these experiences is an ancient practice. And if you just concentrate on something, you become vulnerable to these experiences. They're there all the time, but will you defend against them? So a positive attitude towards their appearance, you don't like them, but you know that they're part of the process you have to go through to wake up. That positive side is good, and that you can create. You can give rise to a positive spirit, and this is also the spirit of enlightenment, the thought of enlightenment. Namely, to be willing to expose yourself to the suffering of all beings. This is a positive spirit of

[33:26]

enlightenment. To try to convert pain into pleasure, I don't think the New Age philosophies, I don't think that's what they're meaning, that wouldn't make any sense. That's simply denial. So if they're saying that, it just doesn't work at all. But to have this feeling of, to be vulnerable by virtue of being concentrated, and to let yourself be vulnerable to the suffering of all beings, particularly your inner suffering, because if you're not afraid of your inner suffering, you won't be afraid of external suffering. If you're afraid of your inner suffering, you're certainly going to be afraid of external suffering. So if you just concentrate, your inner stuff, your inner viruses of pain will come up. If you can live with those, you have a chance of living with the whole ocean of suffering of all creatures. This is the thought of enlightenment. So if that's the way the New Age philosophy is talking, that makes

[34:27]

sense. And that is a positive, you are actually producing a worldview, which is the worldview of enlightenment. Not the worldview of everything okay, but the worldview of, I'm willing to be exposed to the suffering of other beings. But you don't, again, you don't go around and stick your nose in other people's business. You don't go around and say, you got a problem? That's not what we're talking about, because still you'll choose the people's suffering you like. You'll choose the suffering of people who suffer the way you like to look at it. But if you sit still, you will open up to the suffering, not only of the suffering of the people whose suffering you think is interesting, but you'll open up to the suffering of people who have uninteresting suffering. You know, like some people like the suffering of people who have AIDS, or alcoholism, or drug addiction, or cancer. They like that kind of suffering.

[35:32]

But they don't like the suffering of, for example, powerful business people, or the suffering of calm meditators. They don't like that kind of suffering. Well, that's not really the bodhisattva spirit. The bodhisattva spirit is to be open to the suffering of all the creatures, even the ones who look kind of happy, and seem fairly stable. If you select what kind of suffering you're open to, I would suggest it's a kind of superstition. And I would tell you that there's a connection between superstition and burnout. Okay? Superstition and burnout.

[36:33]

So if you go around, again, exposing yourself to the suffering that you think is suffering, that's like sitting down in a chair and assuming that it will hold you up. If you sit down in chairs like that, assuming beforehand that the chair will hold you up, or you go to help people beforehand and you think you know who the suffering people are, you'll get burned out. But to concentrate on what you're doing, you will be open to the fact that chairs may not hold you up, and that there's suffering in places you never thought of. I mean, not only that there is suffering in those places, but you feel it. I mean, you are open to it. Then you don't get burned out, strangely enough. Isn't that funny? If you're open to the full range of suffering, and the full range of impermanence, rather than what you think is suffering, what you think is impermanence, then you don't get burned out. But if you are open to suffering according to your understanding of it,

[37:43]

rather than it appearing to you, emerging from your life because you're concentrated in what you're doing... Do you understand that? It's sort of funny, but I really believe that. This is called the kind of suffering where you... I mean, the kind of compassion where you open up to the fact that there is suffering in places you never thought of, and you open up to the suffering of people according to your idea of suffering, is called sentimental compassion. But when you open up to suffering through concentration, or through your own practice of staying still, this kind of compassion is simply compassion, and you do not get burned out. But the sentimental compassion, Vimalakirti says, the sentimental compassion will lead to burnout. He didn't say burnout, but he says, you will eventually run away from suffering beings. You will abhor them. But you will not abhor them if you don't direct yourself towards suffering,

[38:48]

but simply it comes to you. You hear it all the time. And the same way in your own body. Again, if you don't move, by not moving, by putting your energy into not moving, you get exposed to suffering in yourself of the full complement. You can not any longer filter what kind of pain you get. You don't select according to superstition. But that's great, because if you select, you burn out. If you don't select, there's no burnout. Yes. Yes. I have been listening to you the last few days, talking about grieving and suffering, and I feel, at least at my level of knowledge,

[39:49]

that, of course, suffering is a necessary stepping stone, especially in Buddhism, so that a person realizes and is able to see what they must evolve from, and what other people are going through at the same time, so you can establish some connection there. But I think there's a real danger, at least on my part, and perhaps with other people, of having too much of a preoccupation in its ultimate sense. I think that if you take it to its ultimate point, it becomes counterproductive. I think the main thing is, at least for me, to realize that the sun is the thing that sustains us. The what? The sun. The light. The sun. The sun. Not the moon.

[40:50]

And I think that's why we call it enlightenment, because that's really ultimately what will sustain us, is the light and joy, rather than the suffering, or the preoccupation with suffering. It's kind of like the use of ritual. If a person gets too wrapped up in ritual, they forget the meaning of that, and they just go through the motions and lose the sense of it. Ooh, what a temptation I have now. I'm sorry. For the people here who have been able to sit still, listen to him.

[41:52]

For the people who have not yet been able to sit still, don't listen to him. Once you sit still, you don't have to talk about enlightenment anymore. And you don't have to talk about how joy sustains us, and that's really where it's at. Once you sit still, you will be very happy. Very, very happy. All the suffering will drop away. You will realize enlightenment. You don't have to talk about it anymore. You will attain enlightenment if you can sit still. But if you can't sit still yet, then you should listen to the teaching that suffering is where it's at for you. Suffering is really, really, really good. Not because you should turn towards the suffering,

[42:56]

but because you should sit still. And saying suffering is good is not to say suffering is good for itself, but to tell you that when you sit still and the suffering comes, don't worry about the suffering. That's not a bad sign. As a matter of fact, it shows you that probably you're starting to open up due to the fact that you're not running away anymore. So, what you're saying is true, particularly coming from someone who has been able to sit still. They understand and they agree with you completely. But for people that don't yet know how to sit still, what you're saying is dangerous. What I'm saying would be dangerous for who? I don't know. For somebody who's depressed, I guess. Anyway, if you're still wiggling,

[44:06]

then if you keep saying to yourself, Oh, enlightenment's where it's at and joy is sustaining us, you'll just keep wiggling and keep suffering. You'll never get comfortable. You have to sit still. And it's not because you should go towards suffering, because sitting still is not the same as suffering. It's just that when you sit still, the suffering is no longer... you're no longer able to hide from it. That's all. I'm not saying please suffer. I'm saying sit still. I'm saying that's enlightenment. The practice of enlightenment is to sit still. And I'm just saying, if you suffer in that process, that is just that you're becoming aware of it. And I'm saying it will drop away. Again and again, people who sit still go into the suffering and it drops away. Sometimes it takes many years.

[45:08]

Sometimes it takes just a few minutes. It depends on how still you sit and on various other karmic forces. Satsang with Mooji ...still. And I'm just saying, don't worry about the suffering. And I said also, Buddhism starts from wherever you want to say. You can say it starts from enlightenment and bliss and joy and the sun, or you can say it starts from suffering. Take your choice. Buddha's life, if you look at the story of Buddha, it includes both those stories, both those aspects. If you look at the story of your own life, maybe you don't see clearly those two aspects yet. Maybe you don't yet see your enlightenment yet. ...seeing the moon so bright here...

[46:21]

...and the moon began to be obscured by the water... ...and I don't think that any of us imagined the moon being right there. It's just such an obscurity. ...and the moon began to be obscured by the water... Right. Keizan Zenji says, everybody wants a bright, clear moon. He said, but nothing so wonderful as the hazy moon. Yes. ...and the moon began to be obscured by the water... Could I do what? ...and the moon began to be obscured by the water... ...and the moon began to be obscured by the water...

[47:34]

...and the moon began to be obscured by the water... Well, going in reverse order, the gateway to liberation is... One of the gateways to liberation is called emptiness. The actual realization of emptiness is a gateway to liberation. Now, the emptiness of what? Well, the emptiness of anything, but in particular, the emptiness of suffering. All right? So, if you can see clearly, if you can see anything clearly, and settle with anything clearly, you will be able to see, eventually, that it has no inherent existence. And ironically, or I don't know what, but as people sit still and get clear, what often appears to them,

[48:38]

the experience that comes up, among all the other experiences that comes up, is the feeling of suffering. So, just by coincidence, the thing that people are often looking at at the moment of realizing emptiness is suffering, the experience of suffering, either of these three kinds. And particularly, the most subtle one is this conditionality of... or this suffering of conditionality. Because it's like... First of all, the person zeroes down into suffering, and then the final aspect of suffering you're looking at is the conditionality, because the conditionality is the same as the emptiness. So it's in that area that one is often looking at, looking, or aware, as one realizes that phenomena have no basis, or as you go to the bottom of the floor, so to speak. Now, you're wondering what this has to do

[49:48]

with being open to other people's suffering? Well, first of all, being open to your own is... Being open to your own makes you open to other people's. That's just that simple. And if you're widely open to your own, open to your own in all kinds of different varieties, like, for example, I've mentioned before here, Zen Center, that I've been at... I was at a gringo sashin, and I was open to my own suffering in the sashin, but then after the sashin, I went to San Francisco, and my wife told me about this enormous car repair shop that the car repair built. And I realized that, you know,

[50:53]

I wasn't actually open to all my kind of suffering, that somehow I wasn't sitting still enough during sashin. I was open to knee pain, butt pain, the pain of... anyway, various kinds, but not that one. But still, when I got to San Francisco and I experienced that pain, then I was open to that pain. Then I felt that pain. I just wasn't... I just hadn't gotten... I hadn't got a lot of experience with that one during the sashin, but the fact that I felt the pain of that, well, that's pretty good. But the fact that I resisted it and tried to find somebody to blame for it, that wasn't so good. But then I went to the hospital,

[51:55]

and I saw this little baby girl, my niece who had just been born during the sashin, and she had been born with a heart that didn't work, so they did an operation on her to rebuild the heart. And I looked at her, and there she was, three to four days old, with this big cut from her throat down to her stomach, and she was still sort of under sedation, and she was trying to cry, but she couldn't cry. You know, her face, her eyeballs, her eyes were shut, and her eyes were bulging way out of her head, but she was trying to cry, but couldn't quite cry yet. And then I stopped resisting the car repair bill. I stopped trying to find somebody to blame for it. So basically, sometimes other people's suffering

[52:58]

will help you open up to your own and drop your own sometimes. But first of all, you usually have to handle your own before you can handle others, but, you know, help goes both ways. And the key to being open to your own suffering, I mean, the key to it, or being open to your own suffering, then will finally lead you down to the place where you see that everything, suffering, all things, have no basis. And this is what we call not being busy. So when you're involved in sitting or whatever, you're busy. You're involved in time and attention activities. And this is kind of busy. This is, as Dawu said to Yunyuan, you're too busy. Why aren't you at ease and relaxed?

[54:02]

Why aren't you living in the realm of beyond time? But anyway, we have to enter that way. Sometimes. In the Theravada path, the entry into the Buddhist path, the stream enterer, the topic is the Four Noble Truths. Meditation is on mindfulness of the Four Noble Truths. And as you get closer and closer to the gate, the other three of the truths drop away and you're left with one truth, the truth of suffering. So in the Theravada path, you always enter the path, the actual Buddhist path, through the truth of suffering. And again, the most subtle of the truths of suffering is the truth of... due to basic ignorance or conditionality.

[55:05]

And this is the... this is the front side of emptiness. As you come down to it, you see things being conditioned, [...] conditioned. And then you would say, well, since they're conditioned, conditioned, conditioned, then it means they have no inherent existence. And when they have no inherent existence, there are no problems. So the door flies open and you fall through into unobstructed, complete, perfect enlightenment. But it's that net that you go... that you get into and go down that way. There are other methods, but this is the... this is the time... the way I'm talking now. Okay, so... that was... that was intended to be a kind of review of the first... the first kinds of... the first three days.

[56:06]

So now we're halfway through the session, and I hope it's clear now that... how this works and what your job is. You know what your job is? Sit still. Sit still, yeah. That's all you have to do. You sit still, you initiate yourself into... into Buddha's way. I mean, you're already initiated, but I mean, you actually be able to enter the door. You can sit still. And... and... it's hard to sit still when the... when the heat comes on... when the heat comes on, when the heat's on. It's hard to sit still anyway. But then... the half you sit still, and it gets hotter, then of course it's even more likely you'd like to move. And then if you don't, then it gets hotter. But...

[57:10]

it does eventually cool off, and... then you have a nice clear view. And everything... you sort of... you can use it at will, as they say. Yes. That's what I was trying to say. Thank you.

[58:21]

I vow to save them. Even though their spirits are so low. I vow to cut them. Cannons of truth are boundless. I vow to kill them. Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters of the household, I vow to be grounded. Sentient beings are merciless. I vow to save them. Even if violence are inexhaustible. I vow to cut them. Channels of truth are boundless. I vow to kill them.

[59:26]

Brothers and sisters of the household, I vow to be grounded. Sentient beings are merciless. I vow to save them. Even if violence are inexhaustible. I vow to cut them. Channels of truth are boundless. I vow to kill them. Brothers and slaves are surpassable. I vow to be grounded. Channels of truth are boundless.

[60:17]

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