This morning we had a greeting, a meeting, a New Year's ceremony. And... This is for those who wish to write a... to write something offering a few years ago here at this practice place someone said are there any formal ways or any ceremonies to express the student-teacher relationship, other than what that person had already been doing.

[01:09]

And I said, oh yeah, well actually we have a form that priests practice with their teachers at New Year's, and perhaps we could adopt that practice for lay bodhisattvas too. So then we started that a few years ago. And part of that ceremony is to bow to each other and say Happy New Year. Another part is to write traditional document, but also people can do something innovative if they wish. I received a letter and this letter follows the form. It says, I respectfully I respectfully, freely, and wholeheartedly wish you happiness, peace, joy, and Buddha's compassion in the new year.

[02:12]

I humbly ask for the guidance again this year. May the Buddha Dharma shine through you. Teacher, O Buddha, I practice with your protection. I humbly pray for your health and wisdom of body and mind, as well as unlimited prosperity. Actually, the person wrote, property. And long life. I also pray for peace and tranquility in every temple you visit and good news for all within and without.

[03:22]

I pray for this with my whole heart freely. The last time we met here for a one-day practice together was the day that Fred Murath passed away earlier that morning. And yesterday we had a, not yesterday, the day before yesterday we had a wonderful work party over the over the ridge at Green Gulch to prepare for him. We dug holes and made a chamber for his ashes, which are at Green Gulch now.

[04:31]

And we also made a hole for a memorial pole. And we found a nice rock and put the rock there. So when the stupa pole is built, we'll have a ceremony and you're all welcome to come. And many of you were there a couple of days ago to help dig the hole. And it was a lovely moment of kindness. So thank you all for helping. on New Year's Eve morning, our dear friend and abbot of Zen Center, Steve Stuckey, passed away. So here we are, having the opportunity to sit quietly in the midst of the comings and goings of life, of life being born and life passing away, and life being born and life passing away.

[05:35]

And we're so blessed that we can calm down and feel the joy of Buddhist teaching in the midst of all this change, which is sometimes really, really challenging. Sometimes we lose track. of how fortunate it is to be a human being and have a chance to hear the true Dharma. And there's an expression in Zen which refers to a special transmission that doesn't rely on the teachings There's lots of teachings in the tradition, the historical teachings.

[06:41]

And then many scriptures follow the historical Buddha. So sometimes we talk about a special transmission that doesn't rely on the teaching. So it's kind of funny that the Buddha gave teachings, but there might be a transmission of hearing the true Dharma that doesn't rely on the teaching. Maybe there's a special transmission of the which doesn't rely on the true Dharma. Maybe the special transmission is to hear the true Dharma without relying on it as you hear it. Maybe the true Dharma is the teaching of how to not rely on anything.

[07:45]

So these wonderful teachings are given to us and some things are given to us which we don't think are wonderful teachings. The special transmission is to not rely on the appearance of bad news and to not rely on the true Dharma. And when we don't rely on the Dharma, we hear the true Dharma. When the true Dharma comes and we don't abide in anything, we hear the true Dharma. Also, last time we met here, I brought up a story from the teachings, from the great vehicle teaching, in particular the teaching of the Flower Adornment Scripture.

[09:04]

And again, in particular, the last part of it, the last section, which is called the Gandavuha. scripture of entering the realm of reality. And I read a story, one of the stories, there's 53, 55, 56 stories of a young boy, of a boy, who somehow has aspired, has set his heart, his mind, on realizing perfect enlightenment. And he meets a great bodhisattva who recommends he go on a pilgrimage to visit many teachers.

[10:12]

And he does in this text. This is a story about his visiting, about his going to visit 53 teachers or 55 teachers. I read one of the stories last time where he visited a female bodhisattva teacher. So these meetings, these meetings with teachers are a description of the development. These are stories to describe the development of enlightenment. These are stories which can be used to meditate on the development of enlightenment. They're stories about his

[11:18]

of enlightenment for later generations to meditate on and see if we can meditate on these stories of enlightenment without abiding in them. To hear these stories means consciousness. These stories are appearing. And when these stories appear in consciousness, we have the opportunity to not abide in them. And these stories are appearing in our minds, which means they're appearing in the world. This book is appearing in our mind. This book is appearing in the world. Same thing. This book is appearing, I suggest to you,

[12:22]

that this book is appearing in your consciousness as a consequence of perfect wisdom. One of the consequences of perfect wisdom is the appearance of these teachings that you can see. Perfect wisdom cannot be seen. Perfect wisdom cannot be grasped. Perfect wisdom is that nothing can be grasped. Perfect wisdom is the lack of a basis to grasp anything. The lack of a basis in all things of being apprehended. As a result of that wisdom, there appears things that can be oriented towards, that can be seen, that can be touched, that can be hugged. And the story we read last time here was about a bodhisattva teacher that could be seen and be touched.

[13:34]

And when people would see her, they would enter into a certain type of liberation. And when they held her hand, they would enter into another kind of liberation. And when they kissed her, they would enter into another liberation. And when they stayed with her, and when they held her, and when they heard her, all these different ways of experiencing her in consciousness or opportunities to enter the perfect wisdom from which her appearance emanated. So the wisdom of no abode is the way all things are. offer no basis for apprehension, for appropriation, grasping. And that wisdom has consequence, that wisdom has, you could say, and the rewards is that it appears in the consciousnesses of living beings.

[14:45]

And so then they can see an appearance of it and they can practice with it and they can learn how to practice with the appearance of the teaching in a way to stop abiding in it. And I relate this to what we're doing here today, of having a greeting with the teacher. Coming and greeting the teacher, wishing the teacher will continue to live. and wishing the teacher will continue to teach. And the teacher, the person who's playing the role of the teacher, could see the appearance of someone wishing that that teacher would continue to teach. And in the consciousness of the teacher, the teacher might wonder, what is a teacher? The people who are wishing the teacher well might also be wondering while they wish the teacher well, what is a teacher?

[15:57]

So, the actual term in this text that's used for the teacher, although the word is teacher is also used, one of the terms that's used over and over is, in this translation, is spiritual benefactors. This boy, Sudhana, and Sudhana means, sometimes one translation is good in wealth, or another translation is good in talent. This boy is one of the spiritual benefactors, and probably the Sanskrit original is Kalyana Mitra. The woman bodhisattva we talked about last time in this text, her name was Vasa. Mitra means friend, and Vasa was a type of god in the Indian tradition.

[17:10]

I think Vasa Mitra was number 17, wasn't she? She was the 17th. that, no, there's not. Anyway, Vasumitra means friends of the Vasus. And Kalayana means beneficial. So the term beneficial friend or spiritual benefactor. So this boy is visiting all these benefactors and I'll say again that the basic pattern is he has this aspiration and he meets a great bodhisattva and the bodhisattva has an interaction with him and he's deeply awakened and he's inspired by the interaction and then the bodhisattva says...

[18:24]

I have this liberating concentration. I have this liberation, which is called such and such. Each one says, I have this such and such liberation. But how can I teach you about bodhisattvas? You should go see another teacher." So then he goes and sees another teacher and he says, I've set my mind on realizing

[19:28]

I've set my mind on realizing the true Dharma, but I don't know how to learn or carry out the practices of bodhisattvas. I don't know how to... I want to learn enlightenment, but I don't know how to learn the practices and carry out the practices of those beings who are learning enlightenment. I've heard you teach bodhisattvas. Would you please teach me? And then the teacher teaches him in these amazing ways. And then after the teacher teaches him in the amazing ways, these are what the teacher has realized, the liberation they have realized, they show him. And after they show him, they say, I have realized this liberation which I have demonstrated to you, which you have seen.

[20:45]

But how can I teach you about the practices of bodhisattvas who are, and then he goes down and talks about what bodhisattvas are like. And he says, you should go see another teacher. Again, the boy comes and he says, I have been greatly inspired to wish for enlightenment and I have been helped by many great spirits. But I don't know how to practice. I have been practicing for quite a while now with many great teachers and they have helped me greatly but I don't know how to practice and I've heard that so would you teach me and then the teacher said I have realized such and such and then he shows this amazing and then he demonstrates it which I can give you some sample of it and then after the demonstration occurs

[21:58]

I have realized this, but how can I teach you about bodhisattvas? And then he talks about bodhisattvas. And after he talks about bodhisattvas for a while, after she talks about bodhisattvas for a while, you realize, how could anyone teach anybody anything about bodhisattvas? Because they are so amazing. So he should go see another teacher. So he goes and sees another teacher. He says, I'm on enlightenment, but I don't know how to practice. Even when I just got this amazing demonstration, the person who demonstrated it said that they don't, they said, how could I teach? And they sent me to you. And so I still want you to teach me. So the person does. And after the person teaches him, how could I teach you about these beings?

[23:04]

And then he describes the beings which sounded a lot like the person who's talking. This person demonstrates his wonderful liberation, and he said, how could I teach you about beings who have this liberation? Kind of like the liberation he or she just showed. And then sends it to another. And as I mentioned also last time, this is a lot like this drama of Zen practice in China. That monks would go to teachers, Say that they, you know, want to learn the path of enlightenment, but they don't know how. And the teacher would teach them and then kind of say, but how could I teach you? Because they're teaching how not to abide. And then they do this amazing teaching of how could I teach you how not to abide? How can I teach you to abide in teaching?

[24:21]

How can I live in such a way as to demonstrate how not to live, how not to abide in living? And part of the reason I bring this scripture again today... Is this supposed to be upside down? So, part of the reason I brought this is because this is a New Year's... to the... enacting the ceremony of doing a New Year's greeting with a spiritual friend, a beneficial friend. What is a beneficial friend? How can we discuss this without abiding in it, in the position? How can we be a student without abiding in the position of a student? How can we be a teacher without abiding in the position of teacher?

[25:30]

And yet, enact the ancient drama of going to the teacher. One place in this scripture where Sudhana has just received wonderful teachings from a teacher named Mega, which is M-E-G-H-A, which means cloud. And Mega has... At the end of the teaching, Megha says, I know this light of eloquence of enlightening beings. But how could I know the practice or tell of the virtues of enlightening beings?

[26:32]

This is the end of the previous session for Siddhana. Did you hear it? know this light of eloquence. I know the light of eloquence of bodhisattvas, but how could I know the practice and tell the virtues of bodhisattvas? I know the light of eloquence of the enlightenment of bodhisattvas, but how could I tell, how could I know the practice and virtues of bodhisattvas? And then he goes on to talk about these bodhisattvas. And he knows of the eloquence of these bodhisattvas, but he says, how could I know the practice of them? Of who? Of the bodhisattvas. Of who? Oh, who have entered the ocean of various conceptions and languages of all.

[27:39]

who have entered the ocean of various conventions of verbal designations used by all people, who have entered the ocean of logical connections of statements, who have entered the ocean of literalism, who have entered the ocean of designations of all objects past, present, and future, who have entered the ocean of teachings which is beyond verbal designations. who have entered the ocean of teachings of the Buddha, who have entered the ocean of explanations guiding the analysis of statements, who have entered the ocean of speech of all beings, who have gone into the pure rays of all spheres of sound, who are conversant with the ultimate designations of the wheel of phonemes. There's a little teaching here.

[28:44]

After he says he can't teach anything, he gives his teaching. What's the teaching? The teaching is, how could I tell you about those who have done the following? What have they done? They have studied language. Which you probably would have trouble repeating back to me. And in the process, those who have done this study, they are also those who have realized the truth which is beyond language. So here we have a little teaching given by somebody who says, how can I teach you about bodhisattvas? And then he teaches us about bodhisattvas. What does he tell us about bodhisattvas? Well, first of all, he tells you I know the light of their eloquence, of their wisdom, of their enlightenment. I know that. He tells us, and he says, how can I teach you? And then he tells us about him after telling you, how could I teach you?

[29:47]

And you can hear that how could I teach you as, watch how I teach you. How could I teach you? Could I teach you like this? About those who have studied language and and who have realized the truth beyond language, how could I teach you that by studying language, which means studying your consciousness, and studying the consciousness, you would be doing what the bodhisattvas do. And they, by this study, realize the truth which is beyond the language, which is going on right now, as you may be noticing. How could I teach you this? There is a country south of here called Vanas Vasan where there lives a distinguished person named Mutaka.

[31:00]

Him, how enlightening beings undertake the practice of enlightening beings and become familiar with it and how the mind is to be worked. Go ask Mutaka how the mind And as usual, Sudhana follows the instructions and having bowed to Megha and paid respects to the teaching, describing the faith rooted in him, he bows to Megha He pays his respects and he describes the faith rooted in him. He tells Megha the faith that has arisen in him. And then observing that all knowledge comes from following spiritual benefactors.

[32:09]

So he's received this teaching. He's from Muktaka. No, he received his teaching from Megha. And then he says, go see Muktaka. And then he bows to Megha, pays his respects. He describes the faith that has arisen in him while he's being with this person who gives him teachings after telling him how could he give him teachings. To somebody else. And as he's leaving, he tells his teacher about his faith, and he tells him that he understands that observing all knowledge comes from following like you. So I have followed you. You're telling me to follow somebody else. I will follow you by following somebody else.

[33:11]

And I understand that this following spiritual benefactors of the path of all knowledge. And so now I'm going to go visit another spiritual benefactor. And then it says, reluctantly he looked back It doesn't always say that in any case, but in many cases it says he's with his teacher and the teacher says, go study with somebody else. And he's sad to go away from this wonderful teacher, even though this wonderful teacher says, ask him how to observe the mind, how to study the mind. So then he goes on and as he goes on he's reflecting the light of the spell of eloquence of enlightening beings.

[34:27]

He just received his teaching from Magga about the liberation connected with knowing the of the light, of the eloquence of enlightening beings. Now he's reflecting on it as he's traveling. He's reflecting on the teaching. And he's also plunging into Bodhisattva's ocean of principles. And he's remembering that Bodhisattva's He's remembering about bodhisattva's mental purifications, and he's undertaking bodhisattva's productions of inclinations to goodness. And this goes on for a big paragraph. So he's traveling from Megha to Muktaka, reflecting on Megha's teaching.

[35:29]

I'm going to skip over all that he was meditating on as he was traveling. Because I want to make... And he does this meditation, this traveling meditation. When I was a kid, there was a TV show. The star of it was a guy named Jackie Gleason. And he came out and stood in front of the audience. It was a live show. But anyway, he stood in front of the audience. And then he said to the orchestra director, he said, a little traveling music, please. And the guy said, play some traveling music. And he'd run across the stage and do a flip. He was a big, fat guy. He would do a flip and then do splits. And as he got older, sometimes he would miss. Sudhana's traveling along with this traveling music, which is all these meditations. His intellect, you know, bearing on the radiant wheel of the teaching, his mind illuminated by the light of the treasure of the concentrations of universal knowledge.

[36:41]

This is the kind of stuff he was working on as he was walking for 12 years. boy. He somehow doesn't age too much. He's still a boy when he arrives at his next destination. For the whole 54? No. It's 12 years between Mega and Muktaka. So he meets Mega and then he's meditating and on Megha's teaching. And he's megatating on his mind. His megamind. He's megatating on his megamind by the teachings of Megha for 12 years. And then he arrives at Muktaka. No older. He doesn't say that. He finally arrives at where Mukhtaka is after 12 years.

[37:44]

And then, looking at noble Mukhtaka, he saw him. Sudhana saw Mukhtaka, and he paid his respects, and he says to Mukhtaka, noble one, I have met many spiritual benefactors, like Megha, who sent me here. Why do I say this? Spiritual benefactors are hard to get to see, hard to get to encounter, hard to visit, hard to approach, hard to stay with, hard to be perfected by, hard to be associated with. travel was quite an effort that he made there I can give you a little sample of what he was working on when he was traveling for 12 years now he arrives he meets the teacher and he says I have made some gains I've made some progress having met spiritual benefactors why do I say this?

[39:05]

I say this because spiritual benefactors are hard to get to see they're hard to stay with They're hard to be perfected by. They're hard to associate with. They're hard to meet. They're hard to stay with. They're hard to be perfected by. They're hard to associate with. I just happened, I'm mentioning that to you. Because you're a spiritual benefactor, I assume. About this. And then he says, but I have met the spiritual benefactor Meghe, even though it's hard. I did meet him. I did see him. I did visit him. I did attend to him. I did approach him. I was perfected by him. I did associate with him. So, noble one, I have set my mind on supreme enlightenment.

[40:09]

I have set my mind to attend on all Buddhas and say, Maybe I should do a little bit of so on. ...mind to know all Buddhas, to approach the equality of all Buddhas, to follow the vows of all Buddhas. I've set my mind to fulfill the vows of all Buddhas. I've set my mind to view the knowledge attained by all Buddhas. I've set my mind to produce all Buddhas. body. I've set my mind to accomplish the realization of all Buddhas in my own practice. And it goes on for a long time after that. And after he's done, he says, talking to Mukta, he says, noble one, I have come in such a to you. with such desires and wishes and intentions such thoughts uppermost in my mind aiming for such a realm determined to follow such principles intent on such purity seeking such a with such a humble mind applied to such good my faculties oriented in this way

[41:30]

Number one, I hear you give instructions to bodhisattvas. I hear you give instructions to bodhisattvas. And then he goes on, talking a little bit about the instruction that he hears that Muktaka gives to bodhisattvas. I hear that you give instructions to bodhisattvas. For example, I hear that you explain clarify procedure, explain and clarify the path. I hear that you take them across the bridge. I hear you open the door to the teaching. I hear that you cut off doubts. I hear that you dispel craving. I hear that you pull out the sorrow of confusion. I hear that you clear away the I hear you light up the obscurity in the mind. I hear that you remove defilement from the mind. I hear that you calm the mental flow. I hear that you remove deviousness from the mind.

[42:34]

I hear that you cool the fever of mind. He's been sent by Megha to Muktaka to learn about the mind and he's heard Now we find out what he's heard about Muktaka, what Muktaka does as he's teaching bodhisattvas, and it goes on. And after all that, he says, Noble One, tell me how enlightenment being is to learn, commence, carry out, and practice the way of the bodhisattva, and how one who is so engaged can quickly purify the sphere of practice of bodhisattva. At this juncture, Muktaka entered into an enlightening concentration called the Collection of All Buddhas. And then it goes on to say what happened when he enters this.

[43:36]

Can I pass over that? May I? It would be hard for you to listen to this. So I'm passing over what happened when the teacher entered into this concentration. And then Muktaka, mindful, perfectly cognizant, arose from concentration and said to Sudhana, I go in and out of a liberation of Buddhas, which is called unobstructed meditation. He just went into this thing and then he comes out and he says, I go in and out of this state of mind of the Buddha's, which is called unobstructed manifestation.

[44:39]

And then he says that as I go in and out of the unobstructed manifestation, liberation of Buddha's, As he goes in and out, then he says, I see to the east. And he tells what he sees to the east. And he tells what he sees to the west. I see to the south. And he tells what he sees to the south. I see to the north. And he tells what he sees to the north. I see to the northeast. And he tells what he sees to the northwest, to the southeast, to the southwest, to the zenith, and to the nadir. He tells these. In other words, he looks throughout the universe and he tells the boy what he sees when he looks in these directions as he's going in and out of this samadhi of the unobstructed manifestation. Again, it's going to take a while for me to tell you about this, but it's here.

[45:44]

And I could tell you about this someday and then you could see if you could not abide in what I was saying. while listening. Okay. After all that, which is a, you know, mind-blowing trip he went on with the boys, mind-blowing trip that he went on with the spiritual benefactor, then Mukhtaka said, I know this Buddha liberation of unobstructed matter. which I go in and out of. And as I go in and out, you know what happens. You remember what I just told you about what I see when I go in and out? Well, I do that. In this case, I wrote in, but, it doesn't say but. Usually it says but, but this time he just says, how can I know the practice or tell the virtues of enlightening beings who are, and he goes on and tells you about them,

[46:50]

So go south and see the monk, Saradvaja. Go to him and ask him how enlightening beings are to learn and undertake the practice of enlightening beings. So... Yes, not quite yet. Then... He follows the spiritual benefactor's instruction, paying his respects to Muktaka, eulogizing, contemplating, desiring, and dwelling on Muktaka's countless virtues, with love for spiritual benefactors, taking spiritual benefactors, seeking to please spiritual benefactors, not contesting the knowledge of spiritual benefactors, seeing omniscience as realized by following spiritual benefactors, obeying spiritual benefactors, to be spiritually healed by the techniques of spiritual benefactors.

[48:08]

his thoughts following the direction of spiritual benefactors, thinking of spiritual benefactors as a mother because they get rid of all the artificial. Like, you know, in the womb, the placenta clears up. Thinking of spiritual benefactors as a father because they produce all good qualities. muktaka and then he goes on another journey and all the while he's going on this journey he's reflecting on the instructions of eminent muktaka following muktaka's directions remembering the inconceivable get the picture He leaves Mukhtaka and then the traveling music. The traveling music is Mukhtaka's teaching. And he listens to the music of Mukhtaka's teaching as he travels and travels and travels to see Saradvaja.

[49:18]

Finally he gets to where Saradvaja is and he saw Saradvaja. by the side of the street. Oh, excuse me, as a side place for doing walking meditation. And he saw Saradvajas sitting in concentration, following his breath, not moving, not thinking, not, not thinking. straight, his mindfulness on the immediate present, and so on. And then it goes on to some things that Sudirna saw while he was looking at his next teacher. I'll tell you a little bit about what he saw. He saw an inconceivable, miraculous display of

[50:24]

the liberation of bodhisattvas coming forth from every pore of the body of Saradvajya. He saw emanating from the souls of Varadvajya masses of noble people, numerous as atoms of countless Bodhilands. Anyway, he just saw a lot of stuff coming out of the body of this guy. Just amazing stuff. Coming out of the body of this meditation. And finally, you know, after skipping 99% of it, I'll give you a little snippet of what he saw coming out of the body of Saradvaja. He saw from the circle of hair between Saradvaja's eyebrows as many moons... as atoms in countless Buddha fields emerge, innumerable moons coming out of the eyebrows, outshining all these celestial monarchs, turning all worldlings away from lust of enjoyment

[51:50]

of lust to enjoyment of visions of Buddha, pervading the cosmos, engaged guidance of infinite beings. From his forehead, Sudhana saw as many gods as atoms in countless Buddha fields. From the top of his head, I saw emerged as many bodhisattvas as atoms in countless Buddha fields. And many more things. He saw, he [...] saw. He saw, he [...] saw. He saw. Yeah, just amazing. And then finally, Sarad Bhaja says to Sudhana, I know the state of perfect wisdom, which you just observed, what happens to somebody who knows this.

[52:59]

But how can I know the practice or tell the virtues or show the realm or reveal the sphere or describe the power of great vows of enlightening beings? Who knows? have entered the ocean of states of perfect wisdom and the cosmos who know where all the teachings lead, and so on and so forth. So, you should go and see a laywoman named Asha. And go to her and ask her how enlightening beings learn the practice of enlightening beings. And so then Sudhana, pleased, uplifted, transported, overjoyed, joyful, happy, invigorated and sustained by Saradvaja, his spiritual benefactor, having entered the religion, having attained illumined knowledge, having attained the light of concentration, his consciousness illumined by the light of the principles of teachings,

[54:13]

paid his respect to Saradvajya and left, looking at him again and again, bowing to him, thinking and meditating on him, praising him, recalling his virtues, keeping them firmly in mind, joining in with his vows. seeking his vision, remembering his words, recalling his appearance, contemplating the excellence of his knowledge, plunging into the sphere of concentration, fixing his mind on his sphere of undertaking, reflecting on the scope of his experience, his knowledge. Then, Sudhana, uplifted by the virtues of the spiritual benefactor, Saradvaja, set forth sent forth by the spiritual benefactor, having gained access to the vision of spiritual benefactors, putting in of the spiritual benefactor into practice, and this goes on and on and on, on and on and on, of all the practices he's doing as he's heading towards Asha, the laywoman.

[55:35]

And then she gives this amazing teaching. And he asks all kinds of interesting questions. But maybe I'll bring up those questions. I'll bring up his interactions with Pakshali. I just want to go to the end of his talk. And just mention that after she says, you know, after she does all this teaching with him, she says, how can I teach you about the practice and the virtues of bodhisattvas? And sends him on to see good old Bhishmotara Bhishmotara Nirgosha. And so then after Sudhana leaves Asha, after paying respects reflecting on the extreme rarity of lightning beings, on how hard it is to get on good terms with spiritual benefactors.

[56:49]

Did you get that one? He's just had this wonderful meeting with her, and he's thinking about how hard it is to get on good spiritual terms with people. how very difficult it is to get to meet people of truth, how hard it is to attain the faculties of enlightening beings, how hard it is to attain the purity of intent how hard it is to find colleagues, how hard it is to focus the mind accurately on enlightenment, how hard it is to apply the teachings leading to the state of freedom from distress, how hard it is to find ways to develop invincibility of the mind, how hard it is to get to see the ways to quickly develop omniscience. So as he's leaving her, you know, he's so, you know, so happy.

[57:58]

Meditating on how hard it is to have such wonderful, good fortune. I wanted to emphasize the thing about spiritual benefactors. And I did. My granddaughter says, I did it. But actually, we did it. We did it. You let me say all that stuff. And maybe you'll let me say it again. As he left Asha... paying respects, reflecting on the extreme rarity of bodhisattvas, how hard it is to get on good terms with spiritual benefactors, how difficult it is to get to meet people of truth. You know, where are the people of truth?

[59:02]

And wherever they are, How would you be able to meet them if they were there? What would it require from you or what would it require from us to be able to see them? Because some of these people, the people who live around them, don't even see them. The story I told you last time about... What was your name? Do you remember? Last time. Vasumitra. When Sudhana went to visit her, some of the people, when they saw this radiant boy, they said, why would you want to visit a person like her? They didn't see her. They lived in the same town and they thought she was not a good person for him to visit. Some other people, however, could see her. If there's a spiritual teacher, how can you see it?

[60:05]

How can you see him or her? Well, before I say how, Siddhanta is saying it's hard to get a chance to see them. They're rare. But is it that they're rare or is it hard for us to see them? Or is it both, that they're rare and then, even then it's hard to see them. And even if you see them, it's hard to get on good terms with them. And this is saying, and he This progress on this path of bodhisattvas is a progress of seeing spiritual benefactors and meeting them and being on good terms with them. So before I go into detail about his meeting with who? Asha. Asha. I just wanted to see how you feel about what he's been telling you over and over about how he's on this path and he's a very happy he's a happy camper and he's a happy walker and he's a happy talker and he's a happy listener he's a very joyful boy and at the same time he's saying this thing I'm doing is really hard I'm getting on good terms I'm seeing these people and it's hard

[61:35]

There was 12 years between two of them, right? And he was making a tremendous effort during those 12 years to remember the teachings of the previous one as he's approaching the next one. So, you know, someone might say, well, we had a good teacher here a while ago at Zen Center and he passed away. We had a good teacher here at Zen Center a while ago and he passed away. We had a good teacher here at Zen Center and she passed away. And before she passed away, she told us to go see another teacher. And I'm reflecting with joy on the teachings of that teacher who passed away. I'm so happy to go visit the next teacher, but it's hard also to keep going. This reflection he's doing, this amazing meditation he's doing as he's traveling to visit the teacher, now he's saying, well, it's hard. get to see the teacher. You get to see the teacher.

[62:42]

He got to see the teacher by meditating on the teachings that he had already received. You get to the next teacher by meditating on the teachings of the last teacher, which could be the same name as the next teacher. You can meet teachers like Suzuki Roshi, and then you meditate on her teachings, and then as you're meditating on her teachings, you approach meeting her again. And then you receive more teachings. And then she says, go meet the next teacher. And then you go meet the next teacher, meditating on the teachings of the last teacher. Before I came to the San Francisco Zen Center, I had already received teachings, but not from, you know, flesh and blood teachers, I received teachings from books about teachers. I read spiritual benefactors, I received those teachings, I thought about those teachings, and I traveled meditating on those teachings as I approached a flesh and blood teacher, and then flesh and blood teacher passes away, and so on.

[63:55]

So here is a suggestion. Meeting spiritual teachers getting on good terms with them, listening to their teachings, and so on and so forth, is the path that's been described in this text. And I'm just also saying that this text says, this text, that this practice is difficult. It's very difficult. At the same time, it's It's the way bodhisattvas progress by their relationship with spiritual benefactors. The spiritual benefactors do not do the work they provide. And the teaching they provide is hard to get and hard to remember and hard to be at peace with. So here's the dynamic. Any questions? There's no ending. And it's never-ending. Well, that's also discussed here.

[64:58]

There is an ending when everybody is doing this work. When everybody is doing what it takes to meet spiritual benefactors and be on good terms with them and thereby attain enlightenment, then your work would end. But that's when it ends. It ends when everybody does unbelievably joyful hard work And that's one of the things he discusses with her. Yes. Is the hardship, I'm just, I'm really curious in knowing this hardship, is the hardship coming because of abiding it? Yeah, that makes it hard. The mind wants to abide in it. And the mind that wants to abide sometimes does abide. So wanting to abide is part of it, but actually the abiding is the real problem. If you want to abide and don't, then you're not going to have any difficulty.

[66:00]

It's difficult to consistently not abide. Especially when there's kind of like, it would be nice to abide here, isn't it? Like here, he's with these great teachers and the teacher said, go away. He wants to stay with the teacher. Even though he knows that he should follow the teacher's instruction, which is... Like I said when I became abbot in the Founders Hall, I said, Suzuki Rishi came here to practice with us. He stayed here to practice with us. And he left here to practice. That's part of the teaching is go away. And it's hard to go away from something really good. But we know that that's what something really good might say to us. Let go of me. Everything.

[67:01]

But start with me, something. We're not finished with me. Because you really want to hold on to me, the teacher of truth. Let go of me and move on. That's part of it. Abiding in the goodness of the teacher is part of the reason. But the other thing is that when you abide... arises in your mind, so then also distraction makes it hard too. The teacher gives you a teaching, and if you're abiding in anything, there's turbulence, and the turbulence makes it hard for you to remember the teaching while you're going to the next teacher. He is remembering the teaching, but it's hard for him to remember the teaching. He keeps saying, this is hard. He talks about his successes, but then he tells you It's hard for me to remember. It's hard for us to remember the teaching of the teacher. Because of the turbulence of consciousness and because of the lack of consciousness, it's hard. But still, here's the practice.

[68:03]

There's the practice. See if you can remember the teachings. a perfect wisdom, try to and notice that when you can, you don't regret it, and that you don't have a hard time. That's what I'm saying here. This whole spiritual benefactor thing, it's hard. Even though it's wonderful, it's hard to settle into it and be on good terms with it. Find it again and again and again. It's hard. That's what the great disciples sang. The super disciple sang, this is hard and I'm doing it. And then he does it again. He says, it's hard and I'm doing it. So any other questions? He's always abiding in teaching, even though he's going from one teacher to another.

[69:11]

Still, he's always abiding. Well, it doesn't say, well, sometimes it says abide, but he's reflecting on, he's trying to reflect on abiding in it. He's trying to reflect on it without grasping it. So like the previous teacher who was taught who just mentioned about how bodhisattvas study language very carefully. They thoroughly examine conventional truth. And they realize the ultimate truth, which is free of the language that they thoroughly study. So we have to study so thoroughly that we don't abide in what we're studying. But I think he's kind of saying that there's There's still a little bit of abiding, but that's more of a problem than what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be devoted to the teaching without abiding in it.

[70:13]

We're supposed to be devoted to the welfare of beings without abiding in anything, even intention. We must have these intentions, and then we must have these teachers, And we must approach these teachers. We must open to these teachers. We must listen to these teachers. And the teachers are there to teach us how not to abide in them as we're devoted to them. How not to be influenced by them while we accept their influence. It's hard. But each teaching, it's sequential. So what you got from one teacher... helps you with the next teaching. Right. When you get to the finale, or whatever, calling the finale, you're able. You're able. That's the idea. You're able. Yes. I feel like you're telling us to be careful when to get ready for when that time when music starts playing.

[71:17]

Yeah, that's part of it. told. And there will be traveling music. There will be traveling, at the end of the day today, there will be traveling. And I hope there's music to accompany you. I hope that the teaching resonates through you as you leave this place. And you're going to go someplace else. And I have not been able to tell each one of you which teacher you're going to, I'm sorry. But maybe I can say, when you leave this place, please go see your next spiritual benefactor. The teachings you've received so far in your life as you travel. See if you can remember the teachings that you've already received as you travel. That's the traveling music. And then you might travel and travel, and you're listening to the teachings, you're listening to the music of the teachings, you travel and you travel, and then you say, oh, here's the next teacher.

[72:23]

I was with Suzuki Roshi one time, I've told this story many times, and I wasn't happy And it was novel for me. I'd been having a hard time from the time I first arrived at Zen Center until that moment, until that I'd been having a hard time with the practice. And with being with him, not that he was hard on me, or a difficult teacher, it was hard to not get distracted. Oh, look, there's a scene from Zen Mind Beginner's Mind up on the thing there. Anyway, I experienced a diminution in difficulty. A dimming of difficulty occurred in me, and I thought, huh. So I went and I told him, I said, I'm feeling like it's not too hard. Is anything wrong? And he said, you know, maybe sometimes for you it's not difficult. And then he took a piece of paper and folded it over.

[73:38]

He said, when we do our, we fold the paper, but then before we fold it again, we press on it. Folding is quite difficult sometimes, but once it gets folded, you press on it. It's not so difficult to press on it once it's folded. But you're not really doing, it doesn't seem like you're doing. Don't feel too challenged when you're just pressing on a fold. But that's part of what makes the fold, you know, settle down onto itself. So I understood to say, you've done a fold or two, and now you're maybe just pressing on it. The next day, they had a board meeting. I was at Tassajara at that time. And they had a board meeting, and they asked me to leave Tassajara. and go to the city center to be the director of the city center. And I went to Sri Krishna and I said, the next fold has come.

[74:41]

There's rhythm in it, you know. It's not always difficult. It's just difficult. And then it's not. And then it is. First there is the mountains, then there is no mountains, then there is... First it's difficult, then it's empty. It's not difficult. There's no difficulty, there's no easiness, and then it's difficult again. So it's a little bit uncomfortable to, in a way, sit in the teacher's seat and play the part in the ritual of being a spiritual benefactor. If I just remember, I don't know what a spiritual benefactor is. And how could I tell anything about what it is? And yet I'm playing the role of the spiritual benefactor with you.

[75:55]

And that's what I want to talk to you about, because that's sort of what the day's about. May our attention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way.

[76:24]

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