I always think of Hunan in Spring

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I feel moved to say many things.
One thing I wish to say to you,
it's a proposal that bodhisattvas,
what are bodhisattvas again?
Enlightening beings.
What are enlightening beings again?
Pardon?
All of us?
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
We had a bodhisattva vow ceremony here
on the 19th of March
and people made these vows.
They vowed to attain
unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment
in order to benefit all beings.
They said,
in a world without friends,
I will be a friend.
In a world without protection,
I will be a protection.
In a world without refuge,
I will be a refuge.
In a world without a home,
I will be a home.
They made vows like that.
Those are bodhisattva vows.
Bodhisattvas are vowing beings,
beings of vow.
They vow,
they make these great vows.
Okay?
So, I propose to you that bodhisattvas
are devoted wholeheartedly
for caring for all living beings.
And that may not be a surprise to many of you.
Right?
For me to make proposals like that.
Bodhisattvas
vow to care for everything.
All living beings, of course.
But they vow to take care of everything.
Because bodhisattvas
do not dwell in discrimination between things.
So, if something appeared to be not a living being,
they wouldn't really dwell in the appearance of that thing
not being a living being.
And they would take care of that too.
So, in particular, I suggest
a bodhisattva is devoted to words.
So, I imagine if I say a bodhisattva is devoted to all,
to welfare of all beings,
you might not be surprised.
But maybe you're surprised if I say
a bodhisattva is devoted to words.
Might as well say all words.
A bodhisattva is devoted to her breathing.
She's devoted to her inhalations and exhalations.
Perhaps, is that not surprising to you?
That bodhisattvas are devoted to their breathing?
Are you not surprised?
Not surprised.
I'm reminded.
You're reminded, yeah.
I got a message that somebody's mother had fallen
and broken her hip, so I called the person
to check in to see how he was.
And after he told me about how he was taking care of his mother,
he said,
I want to thank you for saying the same thing
over and over to us
without ever getting bored.
It's just so wonderful that you
you always seem to enjoy
saying the same thing over and over.
Bodhisattvas are devoted to all beings.
Bodhisattvas are devoted to all words.
However,
or in addition to that,
they do not dwell in the beings that they are devoted to.
They are wholeheartedly devoted to all beings,
and they do not dwell in anything,
even the beings that they are devoted to.
So, maybe it's simple to understand
that their devotion to the welfare of all beings,
their willingness to do anything to help people,
that sounds like compassion.
But they also practice wisdom.
They practice the perfection of wisdom,
so that their compassion is unhindered.
And the perfection of wisdom is
not dwelling,
the perfection of wisdom is not dwelling in anything.
The perfection of wisdom is not dwelling in anything.
And if we're not dwelling in anything,
that's the perfection of wisdom.
Bodhisattvas are committed to that practice too.
So, they take care of words,
they take care of words wholeheartedly,
unstintingly,
thoroughly,
carefully,
compassionately,
and they don't dwell in them.
Bodhisattvas use words
without dwelling in them.
Or, Bodhisattvas aspire to use words
without dwelling in them.
And if they find themselves dwelling,
then they confess and repent,
and go back to try to use words
without dwelling in them.
This is a proposal from me to you,
which you might not be able to find in a scripture.
But what you can find in a scripture is,
a Bodhisattva who courses in perfect wisdom
does not review
any reality
behind words.
And, in consequence,
does not dwell in them.
That's from the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines.
Yes, Laurie?
I just wanted you to say that again.
I will, yeah.
I'll say it again,
I'll say a compact version of it,
and then I'll expand it.
The compact version of it is,
a Bodhisattva...
I'll do compacted,
and then unpack it,
and expand it twice.
A Bodhisattva does not dwell in words.
A Bodhisattva who courses in the Perfection of Wisdom
does not dwell in words.
A Bodhisattva who courses in the Perfection of Wisdom
does not review any reality
behind the words.
And, in consequence,
does not dwell in them.
So, basically,
Bodhisattvas do not dwell in words.
They don't dwell in anything,
and also they don't dwell in words.
Bodhisattvas who course in Perfect Wisdom
do not dwell in words.
Not dwelling in words
is coursing in Perfection of Wisdom.
But, it adds this thing,
the Bodhisattvas who are coursing in Perfect Wisdom
do not review a reality behind the words,
and, in consequence of that,
they don't dwell in them.
So, there's a little instruction in there,
in addition to the instruction of
Bodhisattvas don't dwell in anything,
in addition to the instruction that
there's no abode in words,
it says they don't review a reality behind them.
And that way of looking at words
is conducive to not dwelling in them.
And it's quite difficult to learn how to do that.
But you said,
I don't see a reality behind it,
so I need to foresee there is a reality behind it.
Yes, so here's an example.
I don't remember exactly when it happened.
I think it might have happened on Thursday.
There's a class in Berkeley,
at the Yoga Room,
on the Mother of all Buddhas,
which is what?
The Perfection of Wisdom.
And I think it was after the class,
I'm not sure,
and I sort of had my eyes closed,
and this thought arose in my mind.
I don't remember if the thought was,
I'm tired,
or if it was, I'm hungry.
Maybe.
But it really seemed like,
I was there being tired.
It really seemed like,
that there was somebody who was me,
who was there, who was tired.
It really seemed real.
But I remember the teaching which is,
the Bodhisattva doesn't review a reality behind the words.
What are the words?
I'm tired.
But it seemed like there was actually something in addition to the words,
I'm tired.
It did, it's like,
I'm tired, like there's I'm tired,
and there's somebody there in addition to I'm tired.
Rather than I'm tired,
is actually the picture of me.
That the me is I'm tired.
If you take away the I'm tired,
there would be no me there.
But when you bring in the word I'm tired,
it's like there's somebody there.
And it seems like there's somebody more than those words I'm tired.
Bodhisattvas do not review that there's somebody in addition,
or behind, or underneath,
or next door to I'm tired.
But I'm tired seems, it seems so real.
I was shocked.
I thought, wow.
That really seems sincerely,
like there's somebody there that's more than just the words.
And I thought, wow.
But the teaching says,
that these words are pictorial,
that the sense of me that was there
is a pictorial representation
of how words work.
Words can actually conjure up a sense of somebody's there.
And there is that,
there are the words,
and there is the conjuring.
But there's nothing behind the conjuring.
That's the teaching from this perfect wisdom.
I hope you got some good exercise there.
The phrase does not review,
it doesn't make sense to me.
Does not see.
Does not imagine.
You could say view,
maybe that's easy for you.
But the translation that I have here,
it says review.
In other words,
they don't view and they don't view again.
What don't they view?
A reality behind the words.
So,
if we look into ourselves,
we may see a picture of somebody there.
It seems like there's somebody there
who's talking or listening or sitting.
And that picture
is a representation of the way our words,
our grammar operates.
The picture that appears in the mind of the self
is a picture
of a turn of the words.
But,
most people think there's somebody in addition to the...
that the picture of the person
is something in addition to the words.
Bodhisattvas train at the teaching
of there isn't something behind the words.
There isn't something behind the picture
of the person and the picture of the person.
When I said I'm hungry or I'm tired or whatever it was,
there was not a picture of a guy
with blonde hair,
blonde wavy hair,
which I used to have.
There wasn't a picture of a bald old man.
There wasn't a picture of a lovely young woman
or an old lady.
There wasn't a picture of a muscle man
or an emaciated,
demented old man.
There was no pictures of man.
There was just all there was at that moment
in the consciousness.
The salient thing was I'm tired
and that seemed really sincere
and it seemed like there was somebody there.
And I really kind of felt like
it's something more than just I'm tired.
But again, if you take away the I'm tired,
there would be nobody there.
There is somebody there,
but all it was was I'm tired.
The identity of that person was
those words, I'm tired.
And generally people think there's something
more to the person than words.
So that's part of what I wanted to start
by talking to you about.
I have a little practice for you,
which is count the number of times
you raised your hand.
In the future.
Probably you didn't count earlier, right?
Three.
No, it was about six or ten.
How many times did you raise your hand?
Three.
I think she was only three.
But just for your information,
I was counting.
Just counting, I was not adding, subtracting,
multiplying or dividing,
which I could get into.
There's no set thing.
There's no set thing.
But I want you to know,
I am sometimes aware of some things.
But if you think that I'm not aware,
you can scream.
Or if you think I'm not aware,
you can tell me that somebody is raising their hand.
Because sometimes I miss it.
Like if Eileen was raising her hand,
I might have missed it.
Did you raise your hand?
No.
But I saw Karen and Barbara.
Yes, Barbara?
I'm not telling you to reduce the number of times.
I'm just suggesting you be aware.
Observe.
See if in your consciousness,
you see yourself raising your hand.
And notice how many times.
Yes?
When you say,
I'm hungry.
The I'm hungry is real.
I'm not saying...
Just a second, just a second.
I want to point out,
she said, when you say.
So they're the words,
I'm hungry.
The words, I'm hungry.
The reality is you go feed yourself,
you've got a body,
your body's hungry.
That's the reality, yeah.
So words aren't an illusion.
In that moment,
I'm hungry is real.
Words are conventional truth.
And the statement,
I'm hungry,
is really those words.
But it's not really hunger.
It's not really hunger.
There's no like reality of hunger.
You know.
And there's not a reality
of the I am hungry
in addition to the words,
I'm hungry.
And when that statement,
I'm hungry,
arose in the mind,
in the consciousness,
I did not think at that time,
I said that.
That I didn't do.
I could have.
I could have thought,
oh, I'm saying.
No, I could have said,
I say.
I say I'm hungry.
I could have said that.
Or somebody else could have said.
I didn't say it out loud,
but somebody who could read my mind
could say,
you said,
I'm hungry.
But in this particular example,
there was just,
I'm hungry.
Or I'm tired.
And it was really sincere.
Whatever it was.
But I was struck
because I had just done this class
on perfect wisdom.
And there was exactly what the,
I saw what Bodhisattvas do not view.
I was not looking with Bodhisattva eyes,
but the teaching showed me that.
The eyes I was looking were,
here's this sincere statement,
I'm tired.
So sincere.
But there was no sincere person
in addition to those words.
But it seemed like there was.
And I thought, it's so real.
And that is part of our life,
is that it seems so real
that there's something in addition
to our action.
The self,
in consciousness,
is an actor.
And the actor often thinks
that their actions are something
in addition to them.
But of course,
you can't have an actor
without their actions.
If you take away the action,
you lose the actor.
They're not two different things.
But,
an action is
often
words.
Like,
I'm practicing Zen.
But in Zen,
in Zen,
we say that
I'm practicing Zen,
there's no self in addition to that.
That is the self.
And the self is just words.
It's not that we don't have a self,
it's just that the self is not in addition
to what the self seems to be saying.
Also, what just popped in the mind was,
and I could have said what just popped in my mind,
but I edited it for your sake.
I said what popped into consciousness
was one time in Japan,
and again I could say,
one time when I was in Japan,
I experienced a thought.
And the thought was
nodokawaita.
Anybody speak Japanese here?
Nodokawaita.
This thought arose
in the mind.
And I thought,
or there was the thought,
see, there was the thought,
but in consciousness,
when there is a thought,
it's like I thought,
or I think.
I thought,
what does that mean?
That Japanese word,
I didn't know what it meant.
Did your husband speak Japanese?
No.
Her name is Umazawa,
but she doesn't speak Japanese.
Don't be confused.
Nodokawaita,
I knew it was Japanese,
but I didn't know what it meant.
And this,
this thing arose in my mind,
and I didn't think,
at that time,
I thought that,
or I said that.
I didn't think that.
It was like a visitor.
But that was who I was at that time.
I was
thinking the thought,
and I didn't know what the thought,
what the words meant.
And then I remembered what the words meant.
It literally means
throat is dry.
Nodokawaita is throat.
Kawaita,
no, kawaita means
has become dry.
The throat has become dry.
It's a Japanese expression for
I'm thirsty.
The throat is thirsty.
And then,
when I found out what it meant,
I realized
I was thirsty.
My study of Japanese
had produced the right words
for me at that time,
for my body.
I didn't know what the words meant.
When I found out what they meant,
I thought,
oh yeah.
And then I did it in English.
I'm thirsty.
But in all these cases,
in nodokawaita,
in seeing what it meant,
and then to say it in English,
in all these cases,
the Bodhisattva
does not review a reality
to the thirstiness
or to the person who is thirsty
that's behind the words.
And that's what it takes.
That training is what it takes
to not abide in
I'm thirsty,
I'm tired.
So, good luck.
See you in nirvana.
John?
You said that.
Sese?
Yes.
So you said that the
self was an actor.
The takeaway of action
is the actor.
And I was wondering then
if you could say that
the self is acting.
The self is a verb.
The self is not
a noun.
So...
No, I won't say that.
I'll say the self is a process.
But I won't even say it's not a noun
because nouns can be in the process.
I hit the ball.
You can also say I hit.
But the noun is somewhat implied.
You hit something.
So,
you can put the noun in or not,
but there's often nouns
even if you don't say them.
So,
the process can include
verbs, nouns,
subjects, objects.
A noun can be the object of the subject.
The full
function
of language and grammar
can occur
and the bodhisattva does not
reveal a self behind it.
And
the self is in that process of language.
It's in it.
It's not behind it.
And also,
there's not a reality
of the action
behind the action
of the words of the action.
I practice Zen.
There's not
a practice of Zen behind those words.
There's not a self practice of Zen
behind those words.
The practice of Zen
is
sometimes involved
saying I practice Zen.
Or I would like to practice Zen.
I aspire to practice Zen.
In other words,
I aspire to say,
I aspire to Zen
without thinking that
there's something in addition
to what's just been said.
That's practicing Zen.
And to say that's practicing Zen,
there's not a Zen
in addition to that statement.
Zen is realizing
that there's no
Zen
in addition to the word Zen.
There's no Zen center
in addition to the word Zen center.
And yet the word Zen center
or the word Nobode temple
in the mind
makes a picture
and there it is.
Now can you see
that that picture
is a representation
of the word?
It's a picture that's evoked
by the word Nobode monastery,
Nobode hermitage,
Nobode sangha.
Can you see the pictures?
Nobode sangha.
Can you see the picture?
I can see the Nobode sangha.
And I can also say
that there's a temptation
and certainly a strong habit
to think that there's
some sangha in addition
to the word Nobode sangha.
But there is a recognition
of the activity
that's occurring
that these pictures are forming.
There's a consciousness of
when we say Nobode
it brings this picture
of this sangha together.
There's a picture coming forth
that's forming
and there's some recognition
of that activity
even though there's no basis
behind it.
Yes.
And
that's just talk.
The Buddha is saying
and that picture is just talk.
That's what Buddha said.
That picture,
all these things,
all the phenomena
that are appearing in consciousness
are just talk.
He doesn't say reality is just talk.
He's saying that the appearance
of things in consciousness
are just talk.
And if you can accept that
and understand that
you're open to reality
which is not just talk.
But the word reality
is just a word.
And there's no reality
behind the word reality.
The word Buddha
is just a word
and there's no Buddha,
there's no reality of Buddha
behind the word Buddha.
Understanding that
is what we generally call Buddha.
Yes, Breck.
You know what that is, right?
It's a word.
It's a word.
And we're devoted to that word.
And I'm not behind it.
How does
how does
how does this relate to
a resulting action?
So,
hunger.
The thought arises
there's hunger.
Yeah.
And then an action
pursuant to that action
that thought could be eaten.
Yeah.
So,
if there's nothing
behind
the words hunger
does that relate
in any way to...
There's no reality
behind the word hunger.
In a sense
there's no reality
to the word hunger
in addition to the word hunger.
But there
there are
it's not that there's nothing
behind it
because there's causes
and conditions
which give rise to
I'm hungry.
There's causes and conditions
in this case
that gave rise to
Nodokawaita
which gave rise to
I'm thirsty.
but that's
that causal process
is not
behind the words.
It's how the words are made.
But the words themselves
there's
the reality of those words
does not come from
that there's something behind it.
So again,
the meaning
of the process
of my body
the meaning of it was
Nodokawaita
I'm thirsty.
The meaning
that's meaningful to you.
But
there's not a thing
behind
at your life
at that moment
of making sense
of your body
by the words
I'm hungry.
There's nothing behind
those words hungry.
I'm hungry.
There's nothing behind
that word
I'm hungry.
But there is
a causal process
that gives rise to it.
There's nothing behind
yourself
but there's a causal process
which makes it.
So myself
was right there
when I said
I'm tired.
It was right there.
And there's
a causal process
which led to that
linguistic statement.
And there's also
a causal process
which leads to
a feeling
that there's somebody
more than the
that's got the words
I heard the words
I didn't say it out loud
I heard the words
in my mind.
I'm tired.
A very sincere
event
in my life.
Very real.
And those words
were a causal process.
And the self
that I was
who I was
was the
I'm hungry.
That's who I was.
And there's a causal process
which made me be that way.
What I'm pointing to is
there's also the feeling
that there was somebody
in addition to the person
who was feeling
who was having that experience
who was having that idea.
And there isn't.
There's nobody behind
I'm hungry.
Can you take away
the I'm hungry?
There's no person.
The person has action.
The actor has action.
But it's a process
and you can't get a hold
of the person
aside from the action.
But if you think
that there's a person
in addition to the action
I'm hungry is an action.
If you think
there's a person
in addition to it
that's the mistake.
If you think
there's a person
in addition to the action.
The self has actions
but the self
is not in addition
to the actions.
If the self has no actions
it doesn't exist.
But as you may
able to look inside
and notice
that
you do have
the action of thinking
that you do things.
You can see
oh I think
I do things.
I think.
I think.
Therefore I am.
Yes.
Excuse me.
I think
therefore I
I think
therefore I am
but I
now we say now
but I
am nothing
but the I
is nothing in addition
to the thinking.
That's the Buddhist part.
Yes.
Thinking is arising.
Thoughts that
were
that gave rise
to this person
who was tired
at that moment.
That became a Zen.
You know there was
somebody who was
something
that was interested
in Zen.
So how does
how does
so
I'm thinking about
how those two things
fit together
in this very moment.
Some things are arising.
Someone is
arising saying
hunger.
I'm hungry.
And then there's
all the previous
cause and effect
that brings that
certain form to it
at that time.
Yes.
So
you wouldn't
you wouldn't
call that
a person
in the way that we're
so anyway
I'm thinking about
how those two things
are together.
I wouldn't
at this point anyway
in responding to your question
I wouldn't say that the causal process
that led to the thought
I'm
I'm tired
or I'm hungry
I wouldn't say
that that causal process
is
a person.
I wouldn't say that.
But
maybe later I will say it.
But right now I'm not going to say it.
So
the causal process
that leads to the thought
in my mind or yours
I'm tired
I'm hungry
I'm sad
the causal process
which leads to that
is
the Buddha has taught
it's inconceivable.
The causal process
the karmic causal process
that leads to the arising
of
I'm
thirsty
is inconceivable.
Just like
you know
Nodokawaita
How did that happen?
Well, I studied Japanese
for a little while
and also I went to Japan
and so in Japan
I thought Nodokawaita.
But
the causal process by which
how I got on the airplane
how I studied Japanese
in the United States
in America
all that stuff
how it all works together
so that you can speak Japanese
or speak English
and how you do or do not have lunch
and how you do or do not
go to the yoga room
and give a class
and you know
energetically talk to people
and then go get in your car
where the thought arises
I'm tired
or whatever it was
you could have been tired
or hungry
or thirsty
all those could have arose
I don't remember which one it was
but they would all be
not too surprising thoughts
what was surprising about it
was
number one
the wholehearted sincerity of
I'm
tired
it was just
it was vividly sincere
and then
boom
the noticing that I thought
there was somebody
in addition to it
what led to that
is inconceivable
however
talking about
what I talked about in the class
was a condition for it
but not every time
that you go to a class
and talk about
this very thing
do you then get in your car
and it pops up
a perfect example of it
actually a perfect
counter example
so now I say
a bodhisattva does not view
a reality behind her words
you hear that teaching
I said it several times today
but then
later during lunch
or during work period
the thought might arise
in your mind
I'm
touching the earth
with my hands
and it might be
really sincere
and you might say
and I think
there's something
behind this
I think there's somebody
more
than the statement
I'm
touching the earth
so you can say
the conditions for that insight
have something to do with
hearing this teaching
but how does that work
I don't know
how does it work
that we have words
for our bodily state
well the basic theory is
you got a body
and the body has evolved
to have cognitive processes
which serve the body
which make images of the body
and then that cognitive process
has developed
to a point where
it created consciousness
and then in consciousness
we have this wonderful idea
of an actor and an action
but in the body
there's not an idea
of an actor and an action
in an unconscious process
there really isn't any appearance
there's a concept maybe
but there isn't the appearance
of an actor and an action
and they certainly don't appear
to be separate
when the body is moving
it's not like there's
somebody in addition
to this movement
but in the mind
you can say
oh yeah I'm
moving
it looks like that
but what I'm saying here is
the appearance of the movement
is linguistic
it's the way grammar works
and it's a reality
it's conventional truth
it is true
that it does seem
like there's somebody
who's hungry
but that somebody
who's hungry
is a picture
of I'm hungry
a beautiful
vivid picture
I'm hungry
and the teaching says
now watch
do you think that
that I'm
is in addition
to that picture
and
yeah
and do you think
the picture is in addition
to the words
yeah well
this is saying
it's not in addition
I want to tell a story
before lunch
so
I see some people
raising their hands
did you count them?
the times you raised
did you count
thank you
so here's the story
which also I told
I have a memory
there's a memory here
there's a memory in the mind
I have the memory
that's myself