This word faith, I was somewhat conscious of the possibility that if I wrote the word faith on the board and discussed it a little bit, that it might stir up something. And I was unconsciously really aware of it. And in fact, the word faith did stir up things in people. And some sincere responses have arisen in response to that word. especially with the way I was defining it as what, as I define it as that which is most important in your life, that which you feel is the number one, the deepest or the highest or the most, yeah, at the heart of your life.

[01:23]

What is that? That's what I mean by, that's the way I'm using the word faith. You could say, well, you kind of believe that that's important. Yeah. Or I might even think, well, maybe it's, maybe, yeah, maybe, maybe. Maybe that is the most important thing in my life, yeah. Yeah, maybe that is. And I really am not trying to talk anybody into having the kind of faith that I've heard the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas have. I'm not trying to get you to have that kind of faith. I don't think so. But in fact, I do think that they all say pretty much they have the same faith, a very, very similar faith of the bodhisattvas.

[02:35]

The bodhisattvas and the Buddhas have told us that the Buddhas are born from bodhisattvas, and bodhisattvas are born from compassion. Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas, what's most important to them is unsurpassed, authentic, genuine awakening for the welfare of all beings. There's a consistent message like that in the tradition of the bodhisattvas. There are other kinds of enlightenment which are also involved in the Buddhist tradition, but they are surpassable.

[03:37]

They're not the kind of enlightenment that is for the welfare of all beings. They're the kind of enlightenment which sets an individual person free. And that's also an amazing mind. There can be other kinds of faith. And so what I say about faith, I think, could apply to different types of faith. I think some people, if I asked them what's the most important thing, they would probably say, the welfare of my children. The health and happiness of my children is the most important thing in my life. That is the most important thing.

[04:46]

So the bodhisattva is very similar to that, it's just that they kind of see everybody as their children. Certainly the Buddhists do. They want all beings to be as healthy and happy as some parents want their children to be. But some parents may not want all children to be, but some parents do want all children to be. Anyway, that's an example of what's most important to somebody who doesn't sound exactly like the faith of the bodhisattvas. So, some people who come to me and said they're not sure what is most important. And I say, well, yeah, that's why I asked the question, because I think for a lot of people it's not clear.

[05:55]

And it's really, yeah, I think, or there is the thought, that it's very important to be clear about what's most important. And to come back to that again and again. not just even more than daily, come back to what's the main point again? And there may be a space, a pause there where you don't remember what isn't the main point. Oh, now you do. Oh, yeah, right. And then the answer might be, the happiness of my children or the happiness of all beings, peace in the world. In other words, enlightenment for that sake, for that purpose. And then ask yourself again, and then maybe you also get, and then you do remember. That's the training aspect, is to keep asking yourself and remembering and asking yourself and remembering.

[07:04]

Not so much so that there's no pause after you ask yourself, but so that it's kind of like your faith becomes stable. We're constantly changing, and by training our faith can become stable. So again, people are coming. and saying they're not sure what it is, and I say, well, yeah, that's why I ask. It's because we sometimes are not sure, and it's good to be confident about your confidence, to have faith. So that's the faith, and it's a big deal. People are being churned up by the question, what is it for me? It's not what somebody telling you it's supposed to be. What is it in your heart? Yeah, that's the center.

[08:10]

That's the beginning of the Buddha way. Somehow, somebody thinks awakening probably is good. In the early days of Zen, in California and New York, the idea of getting enlightenment was very popular. So a lot of people were trying to get enlightenment. Get satori. Satori is a Japanese word which means wake up. And a lot of people in the 60s were attracted to Zen by the idea of getting this really great thing called satori. can show awakening. They heard stories about how happy people were when they got enlightened. But I'm not talking about getting enlightened.

[09:13]

I'm talking about that you might think that aside from getting it, you might think it's the most important thing in my life. which is, and the synonym for awakening is wisdom, perfect wisdom, and great compassion. Those are easier words for people, maybe, and take away the greats and perfects. Just wisdom and compassion, or smart and nice. Anyway, Buddhas are smart and nice. and deeply wise and greatly compassionate. That comes out of the awakening. And then there's this thing about aspiration.

[10:17]

And aspiration has, in some sense, has two parts or two types. One type is like aspiring or sometimes called an aspirational prayer or wish. Like, I wish for Unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment to be realized in this world. I wish for it. I pray for it. I beg for it. I aspire to it. That's part of it. There can be faith and not yet aspiration. Faith is something that already is there, pretty much. It's there. It's like, discover it. Aspiration is actually like an action of a living being. It's like a thought that arises in us.

[11:26]

A little bit different. The aspiration can be about the faith. But the faith is not something you have to do. It's something you have to just look for in yourself. It's there. And I don't know what it is. By the way, an echo just came to my mind at the beginning of Sashin. We'll probably say it again in a week or two. The Eno reads the admonition, and I think it sounds something like this. Sashin is an opportunity to rediscover anew, clarify, and realize our ultimate concerns. Sashin is a time to rediscover anew. By the time Sashin starts, you will have discovered your ultimate concern. But you might have forgot it.

[12:29]

So Sashin again, you can rediscover it again. You can rediscover your faith in Sashin. And not many people, they come to Sashin, you know, and they're somewhat shell-shocked from daily life. They signed up for Sashin and they kind of remembered that they did. And somehow they get to Green Gulch and they sit down and then they go, oh, yeah, right. This is like really great to be here. Now I remember why I wanted to come. It's time to rediscover your faith by sitting and having nothing better to do. After all is said and done, what is it? Yeah, I'm right. Here it is. That's your faith. At the last moment of life, what will be the most important thing?

[13:31]

That's your faith. And if you took care of it, you'll die peacefully. And if you didn't, you'll say, darn, I forgot it. So part of the training is to not regret this life, that you didn't take care of what was most important to you. So, Sashin, we rediscover what's most important and then maybe even clarify it and realize it during the sesshin. But you don't have to wait to sesshin. You can start now. The faith. In a way, I don't know if... I'll just say this. I don't know if it's true. Just saying it, I don't know if Buddhas give us our faith. I think our faith comes from our nature. I think the Buddhas help us realize it.

[14:32]

They help us realize it. So, now, I'm moving into the aspiration. Aspiration is, one aspiration is a mental activity of a living being, a wish, a prayer, a desire for something. And the other aspect of aspiration is aspiration going forth or going into action. That's the commitment or the vow. So there's the aspiration, but then the aspiration can commit to itself. going to action. Like I aspire to practice and now I'm going to practice. Here we go. One, two, three, I vow to do it from now on and even after realizing Buddhahood I will continue this practice.

[15:34]

That's the aspiration of these two aspects which can be looked at as separately because they are in some sense two aspects or two phases of the process. Now, another big, [...] big important thing is how does the aspiration arise in relationship to the faith? Again, some people hesitate to discover their faith because they already know that if they discovered it, then they might aspire to it. And then that might be like, oh, my. But if I don't know what it is, then I won't have the problem aspiring to it. So maybe we'll just, but if you're quiet, it'll come out and show itself. Even though when it does, it knows, and you know, and if you're quiet, you'll let it come out and you'll know that if you let it come out, you might be stimulated to make an aspiration in regard to it.

[16:45]

So the aspiration, the arising of the wish happens in face-to-face transmission. Once there's somebody here who has a faith, then that faith, one of the amazing things about this faith that's proposed in the Mahayana literature, the literature of the Bodhisattvas, is that by faith you will come face to face with the Buddhas. You'll see the Buddhas in faith. And then when you see the Buddhas, you might say hello or something. And they might say, hello. You may say, I'm very nice to meet you. And I say, it's great meeting you too.

[17:49]

And then in that conversation, suddenly this thing might arise in you. Whoa, what is this? There it is. It comes up in that conversation you're having with this Buddha that you meet. That conversation is where the aspiration comes from. It could also be like, for me, reading a story about some Zen monk. And kind of like, and then suddenly this wish arises in me. I want to be like that. That is like so cool. And it looks not only cool, but possible. One of the problems I have with the stories of Jesus is a lot of the stories is like, that has nothing to do with me walking on water. But, you know, some of the other stories about Jesus are kind of accessible.

[18:54]

And I might think, that's cool. I want to be like that. Then there's the aspiration. It happens by a meeting with somebody. In fact, meeting with the Buddhas. That's where the aspiration for perfect enlightenment comes from, is in meeting with the Buddhas. With your thoughts, with your eyes, your ear. It could also be that there's less stories about it. It could be a touch. It could be a smell. You could smell a Buddha. And suddenly, whoo! and also taste a Buddha. Not too many of the tastings, but for dogs maybe, smelling a Buddha would be like, whoa! That's what I want. And not that, but I'm going to roll in it and bring it back to my friends.

[20:06]

But for the stories of humans, not so much. There are a few about Buddhas that teach by smell. But mostly it's Buddhas teach by sound and posture, you know, postural gestures for eye and ear. I mean, when I say mostly, I mean in human history. Like in the realm of dogs, maybe it's a whole different story. it's the interaction, then this thing comes up. So I just read in a Mahayana Sutra that such and such a Buddha, whose name was like Blazing Light, when he was a cowherd, he gave another Buddha named, you know, Steadfast a certain kind of leaf.

[21:12]

And then after that, the thought, the aspiration arose in him. And then another Buddha, when she was a mendicant, a beggar, gave a Buddha something else. And after giving the gift to the Buddha, and the Buddha maybe saying, thanks, the thought arose. Another person who was a woodcutter, And another Buddha, another Tathagata, who was a woodcutter, who originally was a woodcutter, when he was a woodcutter, he gave Buddha a toothpick. The early Buddhist monks, one of their implements was a toothpick to clean their teeth. Part of the practice was to clean your teeth so they had equipment to do it.

[22:15]

And so he gave Buddha a new toothpick. And after he gave Buddha the new toothpick, Buddha received the toothpick and picked his teeth. And the thought of enlightenment arose. And then there was, anyway, somebody else, some other Buddha, when that Buddha had such and such a job, gave another Buddha such and such a gift, and after that. So giving Buddha's gifts is being pointed to as a situation of interaction wherein this aspiration might arise. So be careful when you give Buddha's gifts, because that might happen to you. Of course, there might be some faith in the first place to even be interested to give the Buddha a gift. And then again, that interaction is where it comes from. And then there's many other stories, many, many, many, many stories of sentient beings interacting with Buddhas and this thought arising.

[23:19]

So many stories like that. Maybe that's enough for now. Yes? Is the person in the stories you're telling, is the person who's giving the Buddha a gift, do they realize they're giving the gift to his Buddha? Not necessarily. Thank you. Sometimes you think, oh, it's the Buddha. And they still manage to give a gift. Sometimes they don't think it's a Buddha. but they still give a gift. And they give a gift from their faith that giving gifts is good, and so on. So we are not necessarily perceiving that the person we're interacting with is, you know, the Buddha. Even though, in a way... I sometimes felt that way with Suzuki Rishi. I sometimes felt like, don't you people see who he is?

[24:22]

don't you realize that he's actually available to you and you can hang out with him? I mean, I knew he was. I mean, I could see he really likes some of the, not like, he really would love some of the students at Zen Center. And they were like, had other things to do than be around. Don't you realize he's available? I don't know if they did, because they weren't like availing themselves of his availability. And I could see he was like, hey, I'm here, where are you, hello? Yeah, you don't necessarily know. And it still works just fine, even if you don't think so. So... Now it's time to flip the board. And the word, you know, we have this word jisha, which means person who carries things.

[25:26]

So right now, Valerian's serving as jisha, and he's carrying things. He's unscrewing things. And now we're going to try to flip this board. Here we go. So I wrote some Chinese characters and Sanskrit word. So here's bodhicitta, Sanskrit. And I think maybe in Pali it's bodhicitta also. Bodhi could be translated as awake or awakening, and citta is mind.

[26:29]

And bodhicitta can be translated bodhi, mind, awakened mind, awakening mind. And it applies to the mind which is aspiring, to awakening for the welfare of all beings. It's the mind, it's the altruistic wish for enlightenment, for the welfare of all others. Awakening. But it also can refer to the awakened. So it both means the mind that's aspiring, but it also refers to the mind of the fully realized Buddha. So it's the same word. And then so the enlightenment mind would emphasize that it's the mind both of aspiration and attainment. Awakening maybe sounds like it's the mind that's evolving towards awakening. And then these Chinese characters, these Chinese characters are very, you know,

[27:44]

big character in China and all over the world. And it's pronounced Dao, and it means a path or a road. Like in China and Japan, you see street signs that have this character in it. Such and such. In Japanese, it's pronounced Doherty. but also pronounced dou, which means a path, which means practice. This is a character which is sometimes used to translate practice. And it also means enlightenment. And it also means to speak. And so one of the famous plays in Chinese history is from the beginning of a text called the Tao Te Ching, which starts out saying something like, the Tao... which can be said is not the true Tao, playing with the play between saying and the path.

[28:57]

And then when Buddhism arose, it used the Chinese word for Tao also to mean enlightenment. The enlightenment which can be said is not the true enlightenment. Or the enlightenment which can be enlightened is not the true enlightenment. All kinds of plays you can do with that character. Dao. In Japanese, it's dou. And then this character, Chinese character, means heart or mind. And it's also the character that the Chinese Buddhists often use to translate, guess what? So, do, bodhi, shin, citta. Okay? And this can be translated as way mind or enlightenment mind or awakening mind.

[30:05]

but also oftentimes translated in Zen Center as way-seeking mind. She often said way-seeking mind for this character, Dao-shin, Do-shin or Dao-shin. Is your name Do-shin? Yeah. So Fu's name is Do-shin. How convenient. We've got Do-shin in the room. Isn't that great? And then there's another wonderful Chinese Sanskrit. Bye-bye, Anuttarasamnaksambodhi. True anyaktara samnaksambodhi gives anyaktara samnaksambodhi away.

[31:07]

Zazen gives zazen away. Bodhisattva precepts give bodhisattva precepts away. That's part of the training. Realization, give that away and give arrows away. And then now we have room to write something else with the chalk, not the markers. It's bodhi manda. And you could also write mandala. bodhimanda or dojo. So bodhimanda means the mandala or the circle of awakening.

[32:12]

And then the Chinese way is to take the character for way or enlightenment put together with character for place, which is dojo, which is used for zendo is a dojo, a Buddhist temple is a dojo, but also dojo is used for Aikido dojos, Judo dojos, and so on. It's a place for enlightenment but also a place for practice. And bodhimanda also refers to your seat in the zendo, that your seat is the bodhimanda. It's the place of practice. It's the place of enlightenment. Place. But it also means, in this context, mandala. So your zafu is a mandala, right?

[33:17]

It's a place where you sit. And do is practice or enlightenment. So dojo means enlightenment or practice place, practice mandala. Should I flip it now? Are you done with it? I'll do it later. Bodhisattvas are sometimes unskillful.

[34:20]

They sometimes act unskillfully. But they are aspirational beings that are acting unskillfully. Some people have not discovered their faith and therefore do not aspire to realize it. And they're very skillful almost all the time. So they're skillful people, but they're not aspirational beings. They haven't discovered their aspiration. But some bodhisattvas have not really got their practice together, got their act together. They're not very skillful beings, but they've got this aspiration and they've got this vow. And some bodhisattvas do have their scene together. They actually are practicing really well.

[35:23]

They're also aspirational beings. So the bodhisattvas differ from other beings in the sense of primarily by this aspiration, by their vow. They're not better than other people. They just have a different vow, which they are aware of. And when they forget it, in a sense, they haven't stopped being a bodhisattva, but they have forgotten their vows. And then when they remember it, if they would say, well, that isn't my vow, then they're not a bodhisattva anymore. I mean, then they're really... No, they're still a bodhisattva. I take it back. They're just a bodhisattva who says, I don't want to be a bodhisattva. So now I just say even the people who don't have aspirations are bodhisattvas in the form of people who don't have aspirations. Okay, so that's just sort of like kind of one of the main points in the bodhisattva path is this kind of the main point.

[36:33]

the faith and the vow. And then in order to realize the vow, we need training. So, yeah. Yes? Yes. Bodhicitta is aspiration side. So first is faith. And then stabilize the faith. Then comes bodhicitta. Then stabilize the bodhicitta. And the work of stabilizing, meditatively stabilizing bodhicitta is the whole path. It's based on the faith, though.

[37:36]

And stabilizing the bodhicitta also reinforces and refreshes the faith. And again, people can have faith, like I have faith that some music I've heard is like, it's like almost, it's up there with enlightenment. And I would love to be part of that process, the creation of it, and even a little taste of the participation in it is so wonderful. But I don't really aspire to it. I'm not really working at it, but I still think it's great. But some other things I aspire to, I'm committed to. Partly because I think they're even more important than the beauty of artistic activity in those forms. Although those forms I see as included.

[38:39]

So all the forms of virtue, all the magnificent artistic gifts that have been given in human history, they're all included under bodhicitta. Bodhicitta includes all virtue. So that's why I choose this one. And those other ones may come into play at some time, which would be great. But I'm choosing the main point is this one. And if I die and I haven't yet learned how to play the Moonlight Sonata, I don't think I'll regret this life, even though I really would like to learn it and play it. Yes? I guess I have a question about, like, this, like your presentation here is so explicitly stated in the Tibetan , and it was implicit, I think, probably in the original

[39:46]

Chan, the original Chan answer, this was just a backdrop out of which they were practicing. They understood this whole kind of faith, aspiration, vow, part of it. And sometimes, I guess, in the ways Zen had presented in the West, it's already with no gating idea. So to frame faith or aspiration or vow It seems like it's creating a goal, and we're being taught no goal. But it's like a provisional view, maybe, that's premature. It's like a premature, provisional view that kind of cuts the feet off of the path. What's the premature? That kind of the... What's the example of the premature? Well, I think, you know, sometimes your first encounter with Buddhism is like, just say right off the bat, none of this offering incense or bowing or any of that.

[40:54]

And that was probably delivered in a context where all the offering incense and bowing was taken for granted. I agree. Can you hear it? Can you hear what he's saying? That was already there in people's hearts, and then Dogen nudged them beyond that. But starting from that point and being like, oh, what we do is about here. Yeah, you're right. So you're saying starting from, you say premature, which I think what you mean is trying something advanced ahead of schedule. Exactly. And it seems like that's kind of the sense. Well, that's why I'm doing this. I guess I'm just trying to, like, I'm really appreciative of it and saying, like, yeah, it seems like taking the pre-backward step, backward step, to be like, okay, this is the tradition in which we're situated. This is where the backward step. That's why you would take it. The backward step is part of the training for this bodhicitta.

[42:01]

And I guess I'm just trying to make the point, which is already on the board, but like in the Zen tradition, how do we actively cultivate faith, aspiration, and vow? Whereas the mechanisms for that are so explicitly laid out in like Siddhartha Vedanta. But it's not explicitly detailed in the Zen path. And how do we go about that? You mean, how do we go about explicitly detailing it? I think that's what you're doing now. I appreciate it, but there's no precedent for me. I was always just, whenever I'd ask this question, I'd be able to stay. Yeah. Well, there is a precedent for me, and now I'm explicitly, what's the word? Explicitly something yet? Staying in it. Explicitly staying in it. Rolling it out. Yeah. So you're acknowledging that maybe implicitly these things were part of the Zen tradition, I would say.

[43:10]

But now I would add to that that explicitly it's part of the Zen tradition. And you also say, well, maybe it was, but we haven't heard about that part. And maybe the reason we haven't heard about that part is because when some people came west or even met people in the east from the west and they brought up this, those people got disturbed. So then they showed them something different. And what they showed them was something beautiful. And without getting into faith or mentioning that they just met Buddha and they wanted to be like this Buddha they met, not knowing it was a Buddha, they just wanted to be like this person. They didn't know he was a Buddha. Like when I first heard about Hakuin, I didn't know he was a Buddha. I just thought he was cool. I wanted to be like this monk. So I think it may be easier for people to think of being like a monk than being like a bodhisattva or a Buddha. So then the Zen people said, forget about bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

[44:14]

We don't say that word anymore. And then they do stuff and people say, that's so cool. And then they start trying to be like that person. And then the person tells them, are you trying to get something? Are you trying to get to be like me? So there is a goal, and the goal is to be a Buddha. But if you try to get being a Buddha, that doesn't go with being a Buddha. So then you get the instruction, don't try to... When you're a Buddha, you don't get anything. Like in Diamond Sutra, which we might chant at noon service, the Buddha says to Subuddhi, when I attained... anyatara-samyak-sambodhi. Was there anything? Did I get anything? And Subodhi says, no, Lord, when you attained anyatara-samyak-sambodhi, you did not get a single thing. Therefore, it's unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Was there anything by which I attained it? No, there was not.

[45:15]

So that's part of the Zen tradition. And it's for people who have Buddha as a goal. So some people say, don't even say Buddha because then they'll try to get it. Say Zen Master and they'll try to get Zen Master. So whatever you say, if it's cool, people might try to get it. And then there's a teaching, don't try to get anything. That's what the training is. The training starts with and continues with give everything away, including the gold. But it's also maybe might be helpful to point out that in India they had a tradition called the Mahayana and Zen is heir to that tradition and so is Tibetan Buddhism.

[46:17]

They're heir to it and those Mahayana teachings. I also thought I might mention that the Theravada teachings what we call Theravada teachings or the Pali Canon, it doesn't have Mahayana scriptures in it. There's not very many Mahayana scriptures in Pali as far as I know. There might be a few because Mahayana Buddhism did go to Indonesia. I think it even went to like Java or someplace like that. It spread way down Southeast Asia. And so maybe some Mahayana texts were written down. There were Mahayana Buddhists living in those areas. But I think that the Pali Canon, they don't usually let the Mahayana, I don't think they have Mahayana scriptures in the Pali Canon. If anybody wants to find out about that, let me know.

[47:19]

So you have the Pali Canon, the teachings of the Buddha, and the commentaries, and the Abhidharma, and so on. Then you have a Sanskrit literature, and Sanskrit literature has a lot of the same scriptures that are in Pali. Like we have the middle-length sayings in Pali. They're called Majjhima, which means middle, Majjhima Nikaya, the middle length basket collections, Majjhima Nikaya. And in Sanskrit you have Majjhima, Agama, the middle length collections. So both in Sanskrit and in Pali we have the teachings, the scriptures of the historical Buddha. And in Sanskrit we also have this huge collection of Mahayana scriptures. Only a small part have been translated into English and also only a small part of the Sanskrit

[48:28]

parallel to the Pali Canon have been translated because the Pali Canon got translated into English early on and has reduced the need for people to have the Sanskrit translated. Does that make sense? So we already have basically the early teachings. And some of the Sanskrit is being translated, but there's not much pressure on that translation project because they're quite similar to the Pali. And among the Mahayana we have like The Lotus Sutra, which is so important, and we're so happy to have you. Thank you, Lotus Sutra, for getting translated. Now about nine times into English, it's great. And we have even the Avatamsaka Sutra translated. And we have the Sambhinam Vrchana Sutra translated. And we have the Lankavatara translated. And we have the Srimad-devi translated. We have the Golden Light Sutra translated. And, you know, a few others.

[49:33]

Diamond Sutra translated. Heart Sutra translated. Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom translated from Chinese and Tibetan and Sanskrit. So we've got a lot of the Perfect Wisdom translated. It's great. But it's like, you know, I don't know. I would guess like, I'll just say less than 5%. of the Mahayana sutras have been translated into Western languages. And a lot of them were translated into Tibetan. So we have a huge number of Mahayana sutras about the Bodhisattva path that have been translated in Sanskrit. And a few in Sanskrit, but a major storehouse is Chinese and Tibetan. So they're sitting there waiting. If we were able to look at them, we would have quite a different perspective on the bodhisattva path, because there's all kinds of ways of talking about it which we've never even seen or heard about.

[50:45]

Not to say what we've heard isn't great, because I think the reason we've heard the most important ones in a way. But the other ones are also very interesting to get amazingly different perspectives on the bodhisattva way. And of course, Pali doesn't have the Zen, the Zen texts. Yes? How do you propose some encouraging words on the uninterrupted, on the uninterrupted thing you were speaking about yesterday? What was the uninterrupted thing? Was it, was that by any chance, until Pastor Awakening? You want me to make some encouraging words about enlightenment? Yeah, I think maybe for you I would say, is that uninterrupted, unthinkable, unnameable, Dharma, Buddha mind, is that the most important thing in your life?

[51:59]

That's my question. So let's just work on remembering that. If you can remember that, you will be encouraged to remember that. And also, if you start getting tense about it, let me know, and I would encourage you to relax about it. Because you don't have to be tense. Part of the training is not to be tense about what's most important to you. I'm very tense. Yeah. I'm like a fake snake. Yeah. It's just like, I shouldn't have known. It's kind of like, every thought. Yeah, so that's your human situation. But along with your human situation, is maybe becoming more familiar with what's most important under the circumstances that you just described.

[53:08]

It's somewhat important that you might be spitting out venom, but that might not be the thing that you most want to realize in life. You may feel like, I've realized venom expulsion sufficiently. If I don't do it anymore, it's OK with me. As a matter of fact, I'd be happy to never do it again. Even though I might, I still... But what's really important to me is, what is it? And if it's this uninterrupted awakening, unsurpassable uninterrupted awakening, that would apply to, that would help you become free of venom by being compassionate to venom. So the training would be practicing compassion with everything. That would be part of the training.

[54:13]

By practicing compassion we remember the bodhicitta. By remembering the bodhicitta we remember, oh, like again, we remember, oh, but how do I practice this path of awakening? And then we go back to the training. So if I want to realize bodhi, then I understand that I need to train in order to do so. And if I remember, oh yeah, that's what I want to do, then I have to train. And so I have to train with what's going on with me. I have to practice compassion with what's going on with me. So I don't know if I at this point would recommend to you the last part of the Avatamsaka Sutra. which is called in Sanskrit, Gandavyuha Sutra. And it could be translated as a ray of stalks, which I don't quite understand why.

[55:19]

A ray of stalks scripture. And in that chapter, it has a story about you as a young boy who meets Manjushri. And in meeting Manjushri, and having a little conversation, this thing arose in him. This aspiration for uninterrupted, unsurpassable awakening arose in him. And he realized he wanted to realize it. He wanted to realize this awakening. And then And then he thought, which you might think too, you might be like him, you might think, I wish to realize this, but I don't know how. I don't know how to practice in a way to realize it. So I need some instruction in the bodhisattva training.

[56:20]

And he said that to Manjushri, and Manjushri said, of course, very good. It's wonderful that you have this aspiration, and it's also wonderful that you realize you don't know how to practice, so then you need instruction. And Manjushri gave him a lot of instruction. And then after he finished the instruction, Manjushri said, that here's the instruction, but this thing you aspire to is, and then he talks about this uninterrupted awakening. And as he starts to talk about it, you realize nobody knows what that is. And therefore he sends him to somebody else who also will give him teachings about this bodhisattva path. And each teacher gives him a teaching about how to practice And then after the teacher gives the teaching, each teacher says, however the bodhisattva path is, and then they describe it, and then like we're all awestruck by it and realize that although he gave teachings on it, really nobody knows what this is.

[57:25]

And yet we still want to practice it. And then he sends me to another teacher. So if you wish to realize this uninterrupted awakening, which will you know bring peace to you and all beings who have snake-like consciousness twisted squiggly venomous consciousness if you wish that then keep remembering that and then the question is what trainings are you doing well one of them the one training aspect is to keep remembering what's most important and then keep checking to see do you aspire to realize it And then what practice can you do in addition to just remembering? Just remembering is a practice. Remembering the main point and remembering that you aspire to it is one of the ways to train at that thing. But there's other ways, too. Like, for example, are you tense?

[58:27]

And you say, yeah, I'm really tense. Well, is there compassion to the tension? No. Is there compassion towards the lack of compassion? Well, yeah, there is. Now we're practicing compassion. Now is there compassion for the tension? Yeah, there is. If you bring enough compassion to the tension, the tension will relax. Or rather, it will be liberated. You don't have to even get rid of it. You can just have tension and freedom from tension at the same time. But you'd have to go maybe talk to somebody and tell them what you're up to, that you're on this path to realizing uninterrupted, authentic awakening, and you don't know how to practice. And then, would you please give me some practices? And then they give you some practices, then you try them, and then you can go back again and say,

[59:30]

I want to practice, but I don't know how to practice, and I'm going to give you a practice, and you try the practice, and then you go and say, I want to practice, but I don't know how to practice. So it's not exactly you forget all the practices, but you keep understanding that you don't know how to practice and keep asking for teaching. So you're basically, in a sense, you're constantly asking for teaching, or you're constantly studying the teaching. And if you're not clear what the teaching is, then you go have a meeting, And then in the conversation, you rediscover your aspiration and you rediscover some training to do which is appropriate to the aspiration. Because again, this bodhicitta includes all virtues. All the practices which lead to it are included in it. And so those were given to you with the prayer that they were encouraging. Yes.

[60:32]

Yeah. Well, yes. All right. Yeah, the Buddha mind includes all the other kinds. The Buddha mind includes all the kinds of enlightenment and all the kinds of delusion. But some forms of enlightenment do not, in a sense, they do not vow to include all the forms of delusion. I'll say that again. Some forms of enlightenment do not arise with the vow to engage with all forms of delusion.

[61:37]

Because there is an awakening from the delusion in that process. You have a deluded being. You know about them, right? You've got a deluded being who wakes up and realizes that they were deluded. And they're free of their delusion. And they're at peace. And in a way, those are kind of like the stories that attracted people to Zen in the 60s. People who had these awakening experiences. But they didn't have the vow to engage with all suffering people. Isn't there a little bit of ego involved? Let's say that there is in one case, and let's say that in another case there isn't. Let's say that in the second case the freedom from ego has been realized. The person's free of ego. They didn't get rid of it. They just understood what it is, and now they're not enslaved by it anymore.

[62:41]

They've still got an ego, but they're not enslaved by it because they see what it is. And they woke up and say, oh, that's an illusion, which I need to get my oatmeal. But they do not have the Bodhisattva vow yet. They're not aware of that. And so that's not the Buddha's awakening. The Buddha's awakening happens in conjunction with this vow. So it's a greater enlightenment. That's also possible. No, I think you said, isn't there some little bit of ego? So there's two cases.

[63:42]

One is you have awakenings while you still are not completely free of ego. There can be little enlightenments in that path. You do have little enlightenments. You understand a little bit better, a little bit better, a little bit better, but still you have not dealt with the major issue, which is you still kind of believe that the self is, for example, exists on its own. But you have had little enlightenments. And then you have a bigger enlightenment, where you no longer believe in the individual, permanent, independent self. You're free of that, and you never fall into that problem again. That's sort of like the beginning of the official Buddhist practice. However, there's a huge potential path of development after that from this awakening to being a Buddha. And in order to take that path, you need to bring the Bodhisattva vow

[64:44]

So there are traditionally, in the early teaching, five paths. One path is the path of getting ready to practice. The next path is concerted effort in the practice. And the third practice is the path of seeing. In the path of seeing, you actually become free of the delusion, your delusions about self. Then it's followed by the path of integrating that with your life. It's a path of cultivation or meditation. And then there's another path where you've finished your training. It's called, you know, the path beyond training, ashaik shamarga. So these four paths, five paths, are available in the early teachings and for the bodhisattva. And the earlier paths, there are levels of enlightenment, stages of enlightenment going up to the middle one, the path of seeing. You do actually have stages of insight. However, you still haven't become free of the belief in self.

[65:49]

And then after you're free, you still have a lot of work to do, even on that path. On the bodhisattva path, the work after that enlightenment is much longer. Can you wake up without faith? This Christmas I was at my parents and I got really sick with bronchitis. And often what happens is when I'm at my parents, I start to get this feeling up because my father is quite abusive, usually after a good day. that starts to come. So either I tend to cling to him being kind, or I start to be a bit afraid that he'll start.

[66:53]

But anyway, this didn't happen, and I stayed calm and was able to somehow hold both of those. And I realized that that when I'm in that place, I'm supporting him, whereas if I'm in either one of those, I'm supporting his anger and rage and thinking. And what happened, I mean, this is a person that's been going on for a while, but I felt like he was really puzzled by his kindness. And he didn't know how to be in this kindness, because it's something that he's not, he doesn't know how to be with it. And I don't... What is the best way to support someone like that? Well, that sounds like a really good way that you did. Kindness. And maybe he'll find his way eventually.

[67:56]

Maybe he'll learn how to be kind from somebody showing it to him. Because that's how we learn it. We learn it by somebody showing it to us. Most of us. Most babies know how to be unkind and possessive, but they don't know how to share and let go. That training comes later. So you're starting to learn to share and let go and that can be transmitted to your father. Thank you. Yes? I've recently come in contact with the Zen Bodhisattva path somewhat recently and have known a little bit more about the Theravada. And it's so remarkable for me, the liturgy.

[69:01]

I haven't read it before. And I started to sew, and I was given a teacher. And I was having face-to-face home permission with him. He looked like he was coming to me. like a path to kindness, like this is how it works. And it seems as though the package of Zen, which has lots of uru from the outside looking in, has this kindness that says, we're going to do this together in the life. We're going to unfold a path without doing it. We're going to do a lot, so we can unfold a path without doing it. And I just have a lot of gratitude for this Zen because It's just made by, it's like a fabric of air. And it is not the same. And maybe someday you'll discover the same thing in the Theravada. But it's wonderful that you discovered that.

[70:04]

And I'm very happy that you've discovered that. Congratulations. Yes? What happened at the end of this story? At the end? Well, at the beginning, at the beginning, he... I asked what happened at the end of the story, after the... No. Sudhana. What happened... Well, he visits 53. He starts with Manjushri. And then the 52nd person he meets, the 52nd teacher he meets is Manjushri. And then the next teacher is Samantabhadra. 53. Hmm? Yeah. And Samantabhadra is like the boss of the Avatamsaka Sutra, which is the bodhisattva of vow and practice of the vow.

[71:18]

So then at the end of this huge sutra, he meets Samantabhadra, who is at the beginning of the sutra, thousands of pages earlier, we're introduced to Samantabhadra's Zazen. At the end, we have Samantabhadra's vows. So at the end, he hears about these ten vows of Samantabhadra, which are, again, they're part of Zen, but maybe not articulated. But maybe I'll just articulate them now, shall I? Number one, homage, to put it simply, homage to infinite Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Number two, praise. First homage, then praise, the same. Then make offerings to the same. Then confess and repent.

[72:22]

your karma, your shortcomings. Then number five, rejoice in the merit of other practitioners. Number six, ask the Buddhas to teach Number seven, ask the Buddhas to stay and teach. Don't go. Don't go. Please stay a little longer. I know you're uncomfortable, but stay a little bit longer. Was that seven? I think I maybe missed one. Maybe number eight, basically imitate all the practices of all the bodhisattvas. All of them? Well, you know, take your time. Anyway, imitate all the practices in bodhisattvas. I think, again, I missed one. The last one is dedicate the merit of all these vows and practices, dedicate the merit of it to the peace and freedom of all living beings.

[73:40]

I'll research which one I forgot. That was only nine. So that's the vows at the end of the book. So the book starts and goes through lots of vows over and over, many different vows and things throughout the whole thousands of pages and reiterates with this simple story. Also in the Avatamsaka Sutra, The last chapter is chapter 39 where we get these ten vows and practices of Samantabhadra. And back in chapter 39, back in chapter 37, we have the very popular chapter called Manifesting the Buddha or the Tathagata. And that's the chapter where the Buddha wakes up and says, oh, now I see. that each and every living being fully possesses the wisdom and virtue of the Buddhas, but because of attachment and misconceptions they don't realize it.

[74:52]

So I guess I have to train them so they'll see this. Basically train them how to be compassionate to their attachments and misconceptions and for Sam, the venomous attachments and misconceptions, how to practice with them so they drop away and we can realize the way we really are. So that sutra is, you know, some of you have recited it and you've seen Many, many practices talked about in there. And that sutra is, that people say, you know, that is one of the most influential sutras for the Zen school. Now nobody in the Zen school reads it. So they don't realize that that sutra is our sponsor.

[76:01]

Of course, the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra are also our sponsor, and the Lotus Sutra. So the Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Avatamsaka Sutra are really important for Zen. And this Golden Light Sutra, which I'll probably talk about pretty soon, is a very important sutra for Mahayana Buddhism in China and India and Tibet, but especially in Japan. And the main part of that sutra is about confession and repentance, which is one of those vows that I just told you about and which is part of our liturgy. And I also have mentioned to you that Kadagiri Rishi said to me one time, quite late in his life, he said, I'm starting to see how important confession and repentance is for Dogen Zenji. And again, when I came to Zen Center, there was nothing about confession and repentance in our practice.

[77:10]

This gradually became articulated that that was an important part of Zen. And it comes from that sutra. Not just that sutra, but that sutra was very influential in pointing out that a big part of the Bodhisattva path is this confession and repentance. So part, you got the faith, you got the vow, and then you got the training. And early in the training, you have homage, offerings, renunciation, confession and repentance, which is recapitulated in our Bodhisattva Precept Ceremony. We do a Bodhisattva Precept Ceremony. We make offerings. We pay homage. We pay homage to the Buddhas.

[78:12]

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha. We pay homage to Bhairochana Dharmakaya Buddha. We pay homage. We make offerings to the Buddhas, and then we practice renunciation. So part of bodhisattva training is remember your faith, remember your vows, and then practice giving away everything and start by giving away to the Buddhas and give yourself, donate yourself, pay homage to the Buddhas, make offerings to the Buddhas and then practice renunciation in all ways and then practice confession and repentance and then we go on to other practices like three pure precepts, the ten major precepts. So our practice actually includes this bodhisattva path. It's actually right there.

[79:18]

And so that's what I was looking at with you, is how our practice that we're doing, and we have been doing, actually includes basic Mahayana training for bodhisattvas. And we can like zoom in on some parts of it and look at them in more detail. Yes. It might be. It might be. I'd be happy if it was. And I just want to also say, and talk about this more in detail later, that there is both monastic and lay renunciation. that bodhisattvas who are not monastics also have the opportunity to practice renunciation. Renunciation is part of the bodhisattva path. But there's lay and there's monastic and lay.

[80:27]

Anything else this morning? Yes? Sure. Once you take these screws out, the board becomes very unstable. So if you happen to do that, be careful. Because these things are not just holding one side in, but they hold the whole thing up. Yes, now it's the other side. I have a question that's to the left of faith on this chart.

[81:48]

The left of faith? Is this which left? You mean over here where there's space? The whole game starts in this story, if you will, with faith. And I'm just so interested in where the faith comes from in the first place. And then I think I've asked you about this at other times, and I thought one time you said maybe inspiration, maybe something that gives you the idea that something's even possible. But I'm just curious to say, To me, that's as important as anything else, is where it proves them. And I know the sorts of trainings that we have. So I know the focus maybe is on the training and the practice. But as somebody who lives in mafia, I am. And if I have to make it to the audience, I am.

[82:50]

You know, is it grace to have somebody at faith? And so I guess I'm curious. I want the answer from the question. I'm also interested why you don't talk about that. It doesn't seem like an important part of where faith comes from. Where faith comes from. Well, one thing that comes to my mind is I haven't heard discussions about where the faith comes from. But that doesn't mean that I haven't heard people say what you just said, wondering where it comes from. But there doesn't seem to be discussions of where it comes from. It seems to be more discussions of where the aspiration comes from. Because the faith doesn't seem to be an action. It's not really karmic. I think it's something about just the way we are.

[84:02]

I think we, which is kind of like, you know, that we are, that it's part of being a living being is that there's some faith there. But what about the people at Safeway who aren't here? What about? They have, a lot of them have faith in other things, like they have faith in Jesus or money or their mother. And some people have faith in their mother, and then they shift, and they think, well, actually, I don't have faith in my mother anymore. I don't trust my mother. I don't bet on my mother anymore. But for a while there, I did kind of trust my mother. I think it's almost like it's an organ. It's a spiritual organ, faith. And it's like looking for where to be applied. Yes? which translates to, I tried to recreate this, but at one point in my study, the etymology of the word has a context with the word with heart, the P-H-A part.

[85:20]

And I was just wondering if you said like an organ, Because it's just wholehearted with life. It's connected with heart. Yeah, it's a wholehearted life. And then how can we live wholeheartedly? We're concerned about that. But how do we get this heart in the first place? someone might say, well, if you need to know, if you go this path, you'll know about that. But it's more important, let's go to work now, rather than how come we have to go to work. Well, because I want to. And the type of work I want to do in the Buddha Dharma is work which will lead to an awakening from delusion and where we'll be able to see the way things are, including we might be able to see how it is that we have, that faith is part of what our life really is.

[86:21]

And just one other thing that popped my mind is when Dogen was dying, he said to one of his students, considering the Buddha Dharma, there are 10 million things I don't yet understand, but I have the joy of right faith. So he had right faith. He didn't say what it was. But it's like basically he was a faith being and an aspirational being, and he had all these practices he did. And you said something about you feel some sense of a, did you say like a boundless ignorance? Well, there's a teaching which says that consciousness is, you know, is basically ignorant, and the ignorance is boundless. So that's the normal human consciousness which you're kind of starting to wake up to.

[87:24]

That has got lots of, like we said yesterday, there's delusion and ignorance all around in consciousness. And then somehow there's the sense that living fully is possible for a person like this because of something, because their original nature, that they actually also possess wisdom. When there's wisdom with this ignorance, Ignorance and the wisdom live together. The compassion and the suffering are inseparable. There's no floating compassion and there's no floating suffering. Suffering always has compassion with it. Compassion always has suffering with it. Delusion always has wisdom with it. They're never separate. So we're being told that it's possible to discover that even though without changing anything about our ignorance, to discover there's wisdom right there, that Buddha's awakening right there with the delusion.

[88:29]

And maybe there's a wish to, maybe there's a feeling like that's really what's important, is to understand that. How does that happen? It seems extremely profound, and we can realize it. So again, when we say that the wisdom is always there with the delusion, someone might say, this is really profound and difficult to understand. And someone else might say, yes, but it is possible to understand it and then demonstrate it. Yes? So I'm wondering, I may be pulling through the phone bundle. Another question came about explicitly and increasingly the practice of our everyday life, like we eat together, jump together, bowing, and even carrying the incense.

[89:52]

Having any conversation, this piece into the paper. Well you said several things there. One thing I would like to say is that The bet is the aspiration. And what I'm betting on is the faith. So the betting is an aspiration. I want that. I want this. I also remember when I became abbot, I made one of my statements. I said, my faith is Zazen. So Zazen is my faith. And now I say, I bet on that.

[90:57]

I say, I'm going to do that. So I think that the practice definitely cultivates, the practice realizes the faith. So maybe you understand that the aspiration arises through the way we're living together. So we're living together, and the process of living together, this aspiration arises, and then there is putting the aspiration into practice to realize or to realize the faith, to verify it. Like it says here, this is the exact transmission of a verified Buddha. So we practice to verify the faith. I believe in the way things are, and then I practice to realize that.

[92:00]

Yeah, and that's like the faith of the Buddhas. Their faith is being Buddha. For them, it's not like they believe in Buddha. Their faith is their faith. It's the faith of them. And when we have faith in what we're doing right now, then our faith is is like Buddha's faith. So it's not like that the thing is over there. But if I think that way, it's OK. I'll get over that by practice, by training. Because we don't get anything when we realize the faith. So Buddha's practice. Pardon? Buddha's practice. We have some guests outside. Buddha's our what? Buddha's our faith.

[93:11]

Buddha's our faith. Buddha's our faith. And our faith is Buddha. And we're trying to wake up to that. Buddha's our what? We'll accept. Buddhas are faith itself. Buddhas are faith itself. That's fine with me. Buddhas are faith itself. Buddhas are you yourself. Buddhas are the way you really are. Yes? I've heard the word bodhicitta used before as the first inspiration for practice. And that No. The first time it happens is the first inspiration to practice. But bodhicitta arises, when it first arises, that's the first time it arises. Bodhicitta has the beginning. The inspiration, it's not just the inspiration.

[94:18]

You get inspired to aspire. So bodhicitta isn't just inspiration. It's having an inspirational meeting something inspires you to aspire. And then when it first arises, that's called the arising of it. And then for many, basically for a long time, you keep taking care of that bodhicitta. So it's not just the first moment, but there might have been an initial stimulation or inspiration You breathe in some Buddha, and then you want to breathe out Buddha. Hopefully, I hope that's so, that all of us being here is bodhicitta in action. Yeah.

[95:24]

Yeah. Well, it doesn't exist. It's a little bit too groovy for existence. It's too cool for existence. And it's also too cool for non-existence. It's like enlightenment is basically leaping beyond existence and non-existence. And it's not even stuck in leaping. It's like really super cool. And it's already leaping right now. So we're in the process of realizing this already leaping bodhi. And we all want to help everybody realize this authentic bodhi for the welfare of all beings, right? That's what we're doing here. Yes? Say again?

[96:42]

I agree. The arena of delusion is our consciousness. But? But? The word wisdom is a delusion in the arena with the word delusion. Yes. It seems to me both wisdom and delusion, the minute we think about it or we talk about it, we are already trapped in the land of delusion. There's no way out. So we, so... Well, the thought there's no way out, did you say that? That thought is a delusion. Yeah, everything is delusion. No, not everything is delusion, but everything that's appearing in consciousness is delusion. Including the teaching, everything that appears in consciousness is delusion. But if you listen to that teaching, which is, you're looking at delusion, there's also teachings about how to relate to that delusion, which are also delusions.

[97:51]

But by applying these delusions... to these delusions, you will experience freedom from delusion without getting rid of anything. It comes from the way things are actually happening in the arena and beyond the arena. It comes from the way things are actually dependently co-arising. No, there's nothing beyond the arena. There's things other than the arena, like other people are other than you, but they're not beyond you because you depend on them. Like your mother is not beyond you, but she's also other than you. But there's no you without your mother. Yeah, you can do it like that.

[99:07]

You can say an island in an ocean, or you could also say, which I often say, is a clearing, an opening in a forest. The consciousness is an opening in a dark forest. But the dark forest is not enlightenment. Enlightenment is understanding the relationship between the dark forest and the clearing, and also understanding the relationship between this clearing and all other clearings. And that understanding comes from? It comes from belief that it's possible to wake up from the delusions of this clearing. Yes, but that belief is a human mind thing.

[100:13]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is a human mind thing, but it can lead to wishing to practice and by doing the practice we realize freedom from the faith from the aspiration from the practice and from delusion by understanding the way things are. It seems to me that that kind of understanding comes from No. It doesn't come from a place where there's no language. Freedom from language doesn't come from someplace other than where there's language. Freedom from language lives with language. And wherever there's language, there's also not language.

[101:21]

There's no language without not language. So, for example, there's no clearings without a forest. There's no consciousness without, for example, unconsciousness. There's no language In consciousness we have language, but there's no consciousness where there's language without a vast unconscious process where there's no language. But that vast process makes possible language in our consciousness. That's part of the relationship which gives rise to this place where there's language and there's also not language. And they're always there together. And there is possible to realize that But the realization that it doesn't occur someplace other than the language or other than the not language. It isn't like you go over to the not language to become free of language.

[102:24]

And of course, just being stuck in language, you don't realize freedom from language. But by letting language completely be language with the aid of teachings, you realize that language is not language, and then you become free of language without getting rid of it, without going someplace else. Because we don't want to go someplace else from the place that needs liberation. We've got this arena where there's all this trouble, all this delusion. It's not like we're going to go away from that, say, see you later. There are enlightenments like that, too, where people go away from the arena. Ah, what a relief. Ah, it's so nice over here. It's great. No. You got suffering. You got language. You're trapped. And you're trapped in language by language. Yes, totally. But we don't accept that sufficiently sometimes.

[103:25]

So we need encouragement to be completely trapped in language and have completely trapped in the thought that I'm not going to escape. And when you get to that place with the aid of all kinds of teachings of compassion, when you can finally let yourself be totally trapped, you realize you're not trapped. But the realization is not like over here in the not trapped side. It's in the relationship, which is the way things are. So the proposal is we can be free, but we've got to get in there and deal with this stuff wholeheartedly. That's the training. Like, freedom sounds really good, I aspire to it, now I have to train. But how do you train? By engaging with all these sentient beings who I want oh, I think it would really be good if they were free. And sentient beings often appear in the form of the words in your consciousness.

[104:32]

So in the arena, there's all these words, all these delusions, and they're all calling for compassion, and we're training and practicing compassion with them. And if you could listen to me, you'd be really enlightened. You'd be so enlightened if you could listen to me. And you do, you try, but you could do more. You could like really listen to me rather than going over there to the commentary area. I doubt that. And I really don't want it to be. It's more like another, another. So you talked a lot about the thinking and now thinking. And I think you tried to talk, sorry, thinking and not thinking. And you were trying the whole time to explain what is now thinking.

[105:50]

More than that, but anyway. That's what you tried to make me into. And you're welcome to keep trying. So non-thinking is the way to deal with your thinking. Non-delusion is the way to deal with your delusions so that you realize that your delusions are wisdom. They're inseparable. Non-thinking is training with your thinking. It's putting the bodhisattva training to work on your thinking. That's non-thinking. So you practice compassion with your delusions, with your language. And even though you use words to practice compassion, you do use words to practice compassion with your words.

[106:52]

And there's also a bunch of words which say practicing compassion with words frees us, helps us enter into and pass through the words without getting rid of them. And that's non-thinking. That's how to fully and wholeheartedly engage with your thinking. And you're already working on that. It's a question of doing it more thoroughly So that must be enough, right? Well, you know, it's kind of like it's getting really late and how would you be, can you write down your question or ask me, you know, I think it's getting kind of late and people need to go to the bathroom and

[107:53]

So can we conclude this session? May our intention...

[108:06]

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