A theme for this intensive is Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva's perfect wisdom. One inspiration for such a theme is the great Perfection of Wisdom Heart Sutra. In that text, the one who is speaking most of the text is the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. I don't mean to be insincere by using acronyms, but I would like to use acronyms.

[01:13]

That's perfect wisdom. Prajnaparamita. That's PP for Prajnaparamita, or perfect wisdom in English, or wisdom beyond, gone beyond. And then there's another acronym which I haven't used before, but I just thought of it, is PPP, Practicing Perfect Wisdom. Avalokiteshvara is described as practicing perfect wisdom.

[02:24]

So I imagine that Avalokiteshvara is practicing perfect wisdom and is at such a high level of maturity that she does it constantly. And I also imagine Avalokiteshvara practicing according to her name, which is that she's contemplating the cries of the world, that she's looking at them, observing them, listening to them. So part of his practice is to listen. And listening is part of the practice of the perfection of wisdom. Listening to suffering beings.

[03:53]

And another kind of simple version of Avalokiteshvara's practice is listen, train or cultivate the listening, hear and liberate. So I imagine we all listen somewhat. And I also imagine that most of us are sometimes half-hearted in our listening. And I propose that when we're half-hearted in our listening, we don't hear the Dharma.

[05:05]

That's the sad news. The good news is when we do wholeheartedly listen, like a highly cultivated bodhisattva, learns to wholeheartedly listen, trains the listening until it becomes wholehearted. Or as someone mentioned a while ago, trains the listening until each moment of listening you're totally consumed or you're totally burned up because the listening is so complete. By training to that kind of listening, then we hear the Dharma in the cries. We hear the Dharma in all voices when we listen in a really wholehearted way.

[06:11]

And when we hear the Dharma, then there's liberation for all beings in that hearing. And we can work to help all beings learn to listen wholeheartedly so that they can realize that everybody's included in this liberation that comes with hearing the true Dharma. That's a description of Avalokiteshvara's practice of practicing perfect wisdom. There's a synonym for perfect wisdom which we can also use, or which I would like to use, a synonym for perfect wisdom, which is, in Japanese we say Zazen.

[07:21]

In Chinese we say Zazen. In English we say sitting meditation. So there's many kinds of sitting meditation. that human beings can practice and also non-humans can practice. I haven't actually seen it but I heard about baboons getting together and sitting quietly. They've been observed, you know, gathering and sitting still and quiet for some time together. But I don't know what their sitting practice is at that time. And I understand from reports I hear from humans that sometimes human beings are sitting and they're not practicing the perfection of wisdom when they're sitting. They're not listening wholeheartedly.

[08:23]

They report half-hearted listening. And they report suffering because of half-hearted listening. They report a lack of realization of liberation because their listening is not wholehearted when they're sitting. Their sitting is not wholehearted listening. Maybe you can imagine somebody, when they're sitting, not wholeheartedly listening, not wholeheartedly observing all sentient beings. in the Lotus Sutra, Avalokiteshvara is described as, you know, in 33 ways, but one of the ways that Avalokiteshvara is described as, observing all sentient beings. Jigen je shi jo. Observing all sentient beings.

[09:26]

and I would say wholeheartedly. So a synonym for this practice of perfect wisdom is Zazen for some people. The Buddhism ancestors practiced Zazen, which is Avalokiteshvara's practice of perfect wisdom. And there's other attempts at zazen. People even say zazen to try to get something. Maybe you've heard about that. And Avalokiteshvara observes all the people who are sitting trying to get something. Listens to them cry. as they succeed and fail at getting something out of sitting, out of life. And in the Heart Search Avalokiteshvara mentions that actually when you're sitting there's nothing to get.

[10:42]

And also no matter what you're doing there's nothing to get. And then in the translation we chant, it says, with nothing to attain, a bodhisattva dwells in prajnaparamita. Is that how it goes? Relies on. With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on prajnaparamita. I saw a different way of translating it recently, which I liked, which was, With nothing to attain, one is a bodhisattva. See the difference? With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva, blah, blah, a bodhisattva. lives in perfect wisdom.

[11:47]

But another translation is, with nothing to attain, one is a bodhisattva and lives in prajnaparamita. But really to be a bodhisattva is to have nothing to attain. And when you have nothing to attain, and not just because you're feeling depressed, But because you actually realize nothing to attain, that is a bodhisattva. There's a popular phrase that's in tea rooms, which is, bujji kore kini. Is that right? Having nothing. This is a highly cultivated person, somebody who has nothing. In a sense, we're all highly cultivated, but we don't realize it because we don't have enough cultivation. And as you cultivate a little, you think, well, I got something.

[12:49]

Like Dogen says, when the Dharma does not fill your body and mind, you think you've got something. But when it fills your body, you realize Well, he says something's missing, but you could also say you realize there's no attainment. When it fills your body and mind, you realize there's no attainment. And with such a no attainment, you are a bodhisattva. Another translation is, because of no obtaining of a bodhisattva. And that goes two ways. One is because of a bodhisattva not obtaining anything, but also because you can't obtain a bodhisattva. Because of no obtaining of a bodhisattva,

[13:53]

one lives in perfect wisdom. And so both ways, both you're a bodhisattva when you have nothing to obtain and you're a bodhisattva when you don't obtain being a bodhisattva. This is what Avalokiteshvara I hear talking about. This is Zazen of the Buddhas and ancestors. To sit with nothing to attain being a bodhisattva without obtaining a bodhisattva, being a bodhisattva without being able to find a bodhisattva. I want to be a bodhisattva. Am I talking too loudly? I want to be a bodhisattva. I don't know what it is. I can't find it. In the Prajnaparamita in 8,000 lines, the Buddha's talking to Subuddhi, And in the Eight Thousand Lines Perfect Wisdom scriptures, Subuddhi seems to be a well-trained student of perfect wisdom.

[15:01]

So the Buddha sometimes asked Subuddhi to explain to the bodhisattvas And so he actually, in one case, would you please explain to the bodhisattvas something, and something, Sariputra, I mean, Subuddhi, and Subuddhi says, I'd be happy to, blessed one, but I can't find any bodhisattvas to explain it to, and I can't find any perfect wisdom to explain to the bodhisattvas. And the Buddhist basically says, you really do understand the perfection of wisdom. You explained it really well there. Yeah, that would be great. Then I could knock it over accidentally. Make an obstacle course up here to test my mindfulness. That's what I was thinking of.

[16:10]

So there can be, and I'm not really a member of the Dharma police department, so I'm not trying to prohibit or put an end to people practicing sitting and trying to get something. If anybody's trying to get something out of sitting, you're welcome to practice here too. Really. But I'm not really talking about that kind of zazen. I'm talking about zazen of... which is the practice of perfect wisdom, which is the totally culminated enlightenment. That's the zazen that I am acknowledging the worth of I think it's worthy of our devotion, that satchasasana, which is the practice of perfect wisdom, because it relieves all suffering and distress.

[17:29]

I don't want to derail the main point at this time by mentioning that a while ago I was talking about worshipping something. Oh, we actually chant here on a regular basis, which you may have noticed, a hymn to the perfection of wisdom. Did you notice that? Homage to the perfection of wisdom. It's part of a hymn. And a hymn is a a song of praise or an expression of worshiping something? And a friend of mine said, well, if we're worshiping in Zen, does that mean that Zen's a religion? Does that mean Zen is a religion? And I would say that Zen is really cool. And, you know, Zen is not going to, like, say, this is a religion, or this isn't a religion, or this is both a religion and not a religion, or neither a religion nor not a religion.

[18:54]

Zen is going to have a really cool response to that question, is it a religion? A lot of people say Zen is not. And then some other people say Zen is. But Zen doesn't say that. People say that. Zen is like really quiet about the whole matter. However, I have observed that the Zen practice places, they're acknowledging worth of things left and right. They're saying, oh, this is like really great, this perfection of wisdom. It's unsurpassable freedom and happiness and peace. So there's a lot of praising going on at the center, but does that make this a religion? Well, let me tell you, I don't know. That's a line from Fiddler on the Roof. Let me tell you, I don't know. a lot of us who are attracted to Zen because of stories of humor.

[20:09]

In our humorous way, we do a lot of worshiping. Suzuki Roshi's teacher, Gyokojun So on Daiwa's show, I heard had a callous on his forehead from worshiping enlightenment, from worshiping perfect wisdom from worshipping Zazen. You can also get callouses on other places from worshipping Zazen. Someone gave me a piece of calligraphy which is the mantra of Avalokiteshvara. I believe this is Tibetan. Tibetan. It's a Tibetan way of writing the Sanskrit, Om Mani Padme Hum, of Loke Tashvara's mantra.

[21:15]

If you like one of these little pieces of paper with the mantra, you can come and get it after this meeting. I don't want to pass it out and have them maybe get dropped on the floor And if you see anybody ripping these up in an iconoclastic fervor, please be kind to them. Zen is also, some people say, Zen is iconoclastic. Because that Zen master, you know, when he was cold, he burned some Buddhist statues to warm his booty. Did you see that picture? This is one of our ancestors. When Zen people get cold, they sometimes do stuff like that. I mean, I heard that they did.

[22:21]

I've never seen it myself. So please be patient with me when I use synonyms. I'm basically saying the same thing over and over in different ways. Zazen, Hin Hin, perfect wisdom, unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, Avalokiteshvara's practice, the precious mirror samadhi, and so on. And I asked during sitting here recently, are you awake?

[23:23]

Do you wish this sitting posture to express perfect wisdom? I didn't ask you, is it? I could have. But I didn't exactly want your opinion. I want to know more about what's your wish. Do you wish, do you want your posture, or the posture, not even yours, the posture, and not even one posture, but the posture of sitting, do you want this to express perfect wisdom? Do you want this to express the Buddha mind seal? Our ancestor Dogen Zenji says, when you express the Buddha seal, the Buddha mind seal, in your three actions, by sitting,

[24:44]

when your sitting posture and your sitting posture action is expressing the Buddha mind seal. When your voice, even when your voice or your silence expresses the Buddha mind seal, when your thoughts are expressing the Buddha mind seal, then the whole phenomenal world becomes the Buddha mind seal. This is a proposal from an ancestor who also speaks of zazen as the perfection of wisdom, the practice of the perfection of wisdom, the practice enlightenment of perfection of wisdom. That person, Dogen Zenji, says, when you express the Buddha mind seal by your posture, when you use your posture

[25:55]

to express perfect wisdom. The whole phenomenal world becomes perfect wisdom and the entire sky turns into enlightenment. So with your permission, I may ask you when you're sitting someday, do you wish this sitting And this sitting includes three actions. Sitting includes the posture, the voice, and the thoughts. They're all going on when you're sitting. Usually you're quiet, except in your dreams. Do you wish to express the Buddha mind seal in your three actions when you're sitting? I may ask you that.

[27:00]

Oh, another thing that I want to mention, which maybe I should have mentioned first, because it is kind of first, is that Avalokiteshvara is a being who is born of a vow. In a sense, before there's a vow, there's not an Avalokiteshvara practicing the perfection of wisdom. Avalokiteshvara emerges from the vow. And so, you know, I would guess and imagine that our four great vows are probably Avalokiteshvara is devoted to our four great vows. But also, sometimes we say Avalokiteshvara's vow is to lead all living beings to Nirvana before herself.

[28:19]

That Avalokiteshvara is born of that vow and based on that vow Avalokiteshvara developed a consistent practice of perfect wisdom. The practice of perfect wisdom is a bodhisattva practice. The practice of perfect wisdom is a bodhisattva practice where you don't even obtain being a bodhisattva. And it comes from this vow. You need this vow in order to have that kind of practice where you don't even obtain, where you don't obtain anything. We need this vow. And in order for this vow to be realized, we need this practice. But the practice comes from the vow. So that's why I say, do you wish to, when you're sitting, do you wish this sitting to express the vow to lead all beings to peace and freedom before yourself?

[29:27]

And that would include perhaps, do you wish to not be troubled by the paradox of that statement, or the inconsistency, because although you wish to lead all beings to nirvana before yourself, you have to know how to get there before you can lead them. But the last minute, since you're such an expert on going to nirvana, the last minute you just step back and let them go first. Like with the catcher in the rye, in reverse, So you lead all beings to nirvana, and you don't obtain you, and you don't obtain any beings, you can't find any beings, and all these beings you can't find, you're going to lead them all to nirvana. and let them go in before you just to make sure everybody enters. And as you may know, there's many beings who appear to be not yet in peace and happiness, so we're not ready to go in there yet.

[30:42]

So that's the vow of the Lakshmi Tishpa. So do you have that wish for that and you wish you're sitting to express that when you're sitting and all day long do you wish what you're doing to express that vow to be to protect that vow to develop that vow and develop that practice maybe someplace that says, Avalokiteshvara said, I am a bodhisattva. But it's more common to hear bodhisattvas say, I wish to be a bodhisattva.

[31:55]

I vow to be a bodhisattva. Again, it's not really a prohibition for them to say, well, I am. But I wish to become one. I hesitate even to say I am a disciple of Buddha, but I feel okay about saying I want to be. If somebody tells me, you are a disciple of Buddha, I say, thank you. But then I don't necessarily slip into, well, they told me I was, so I am. Also, if somebody tells me I'm not, I won't slip into, well, I'm not. I'll slip into, they told me I'm not. but I still want to be, even though they say I'm not. . Also, as you may have noticed, I requested the morning service chant to be changed somewhat, to chant the precious mirror, the jewel mirror, Samadhi, more often.

[33:24]

Again, that chant, for me, is praising Zazen. praising the Zazen, which is Avalokiteshvara's perfect wisdom practice. And then in addition, there's a text there called Zazen Shin, which could be translated the needle, or the acupuncture needle, or it's a bamboo needle in Chinese, the character, the needle or the lancet of Zazen. And that title could be understood as Zazen is a lancet. Zazen is a needle.

[34:26]

which, you know, which medically treats living beings, which penetrates their obstructions and their delusions. But also, this Zazen Shin is an acupuncture needle for your Zazen to stimulate and touch your Zazen to help your Zazen not get stuck So zazen is supposed to liberate beings, and this text is about that liberation, but also this text is to check out your zazen and see if your zazen accords with this text. And also, in the Jewel Mirror Samadhi, see if that's the kind of zazen you want to have. See if that is working in your zazen. And then the other thing about that text is that the precious mirror samadhi, Avalokiteshvara's practice of wisdom, is to see everything that appears as an opportunity to listen.

[35:49]

No matter what happens to you, no matter what comes to you, no matter what people say to you, no matter what they say to each other, all those things are opportunities to listen, to observe. To be concentrated on that is to be paying attention to that everything in the phenomenal world is a precious mirror for you to observe and observe wholeheartedly and see the Dharma. without changing the picture. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most beautiful of them all? Not you. This is an opportunity for learning. You. This is an opportunity for learning.

[36:54]

No one is the most beautiful. This is an opportunity for learning. No matter what the mirror shows, the teaching is that the mirror is showing us who we are. And who we are is that she is not me, now she is not me, and in truth I am her. That's who we are. The whole universe is who we are, and therefore there's nothing to attain. So these different texts, Zazen Shin, Heart Sutra, Precious Mere Samadhi. And then at noon service, the Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi.

[37:55]

That also is describing the Zazen of enlightenment. And then also the Genjo Koan is describing not the Zazen of trying to gain something, but the Zazen of Buddhas. So all these texts are trying to show us and help us understand Avalokiteshvara and all the bodhisattvas' practice, their meditation practice, which is their practice, to help us understand their enlightenment, which is their practice. And then a couple more, some more acronyms. I think at one point, and I think in the middle-length sayings, the Buddha says something like, there's one thing

[39:04]

which when developed and cultivated brings great fruit and great happiness. What is that one thing? Mindfulness of breathing. Does anybody know which scripture that is? No, it's not that one. It's a different one. So at one point the Buddha says, there's one thing which when cultivated and developed brings great fruit and great happiness. What is that one thing? Mindfulness and breathing. If I hear the Buddha say this, I don't think he means that's the only thing that brings great fruit.

[40:11]

It's just that one thing will bring great fruit. But there's other one things that will bring great fruit too. But he recommended this as a wonderful practice to bring the great fruit. And what is the great fruit? It's Avalokiteshvara's perfect wisdom practice, which is Buddha's perfect wisdom practice. Someone asked me a while ago, what's the relationship between mindfulness of breathing and shikantaza, or just sitting? And I said, Shikantaza equals mindfulness of breathing plus mona.

[41:13]

And mona is the mind of no abode. So if you're breathing and you're mindful of your breathing and you're not abiding in anything, including your breathing, including your body. That's what we mean by Shikantaza, just sitting. Or, what's the relationship between enlightenment and mindfulness and breathing? When mindfulness and breathing is united with the mind of no abode, we have the practice of enlightenment. If we're mindful of our breathing and we're abiding in things, we're clinging to things, then the practice of perfect wisdom is hindered by that abiding, by that dwelling.

[42:20]

the, what do you call it, the loci classicus, or the classicus loci, the classical locus for the teaching of the mind of Narbaud is the Diamond Sutra. So that text has, in section 10c, it says the bodhisattva should give life to a mind that does not abide in anything, a mind of no abode, that does not dwell in breathing, or thinking, or colors, or sounds, or smells, or friends, or enemies. It doesn't dwell in anything. That's the mind for a bodhisattva who practices perfect wisdom. That's the mind for one who wishes to take all beings to nirvana before himself.

[43:31]

And do all that without abiding. And be mindful of what's going on. Be mindful of your breathing and your posture. And join that with that. And if we can stand one more acronym, Many of you probably know there's a state in the United States called Utah. Did you know that, Al? Yes. Have you ever been to Utah? Yes. Have you ever been to southwest Utah? Southeast Utah? Well, in southeast Utah, there's a town, and it's called Moab. You been there? If you go to Moab, you'll see a lot of German people. They love to see the great monuments of the United States, right?

[44:36]

They're so beautiful. And they travel. I also have the Grand Canyon. There's lots of German people. This is a town called Moab. And in that town, There's, as you might guess, there's some restaurants that make kind of Mexican-style food. And in one of the restaurants run by a person who actually lives in Marin County, they sell, one of their dishes is called the mother of all burritos. One of their burritos is called a Moab. But Moab also means mother of all Buddhas. Maab plus Mona equals Moab.

[45:39]

Maab, mindfulness of breathing, conjoined with A mind of no abode, that is the mother of all Buddhas. You could also do mop plus mona. Mindfulness of posture with a mind of no abode is the mother of all Buddhas. The bodhisattvas are taking care of their vows all day long trying to take care of their vows all day long, being mindful of their posture and their breathing and their speech and their thoughts. Mott, mindfulness of thought. They're practicing that. And I think some of you are practicing mindfulness of thought, mindfulness of thinking.

[46:49]

mindfulness of posture, mindfulness of breathing. Bodhisattvas practice mindfulness and they're also mindful of their vows. What's my vow again? Oh yeah, right. I wish to lead all beings to perfect peace and freedom. I wish to work and play for harmony in this world of suffering. That would be, that's called maav, mindfulness of vow. Mindfulness of vow plus a mind of no abode is moab. So those are some basic proposals to start you off with this intensive meditation. if you wish, you can join the bodhisattvas who are doing these practices, who are doing these practices. And also, Avalokiteshvara is very highly developed and like maybe never forgets.

[47:58]

But other people who have been practicing these vows for quite a long time, and let me say again, when this vow arises in a living being, in a sentient being, When it first arises, they're not necessarily a bodhisattva. One arising doesn't necessarily get you patted on the head as a bodhisattva. But if you take care of these vows and take care of them and take care of them, you will become a bodhisattva. That is the Mahayana teaching. You will become if you take care of these vows over and over. And when you become a bodhisattva, and then if you keep practicing when you become a bodhisattva, you can become really consistent. But prior to long, deep practice, most of us forget or get distracted from the vow and also from the mind of no abode and from mindfulness of the vow, mindfulness of posture, mindfulness of breathing, most of us get distracted somewhat.

[49:15]

And tomorrow I'll give a class on what it's like when you get distracted. Well, maybe you don't have to come then. But since you're distracted, you probably won't remember that. And you'll probably come anyway because everybody else is going. So we have an opportunity for still almost three weeks to concentrate, to be mindful of this practice, of this precious mirror samadhi, of this Buddha's zazen, of Avalokiteshvara's zazen, of Avalokiteshvara's zazen.

[50:19]

And do you wish to join Avalokiteshvara in the practice of perfect wisdom? You can work on that, work on that, and enjoy remembering that. And if you say no, you're welcome to stay, even if you say, I don't want to do Avalokiteshvara's perfect wisdom practice. Okay. Okay. So again, I imagine that this talk, although maybe some of the things I said, when I think about them, I feel like astounded by some of these statements. But even though I'm astounded, it's kind of simple, what I'm saying, in a way. What time is the kitchen going to leave?

[51:36]

10.30. 10.30? I think that's all the different things I wanted to say, all the different acronyms I wanted to give you. PP, PPPP, ZZ. What about ASSB? Yeah, ASSB. Anyatarasamyaksambodhi. So, strictly speaking, Prajnaparamita is not exactly the same as Anyatarasamyaksambodhi, but it's definitely necessary. If you want to realize Anyatarasamyaksambodhi, then you should practice perfect wisdom.

[52:42]

All the Buddhas who have realized that, and that's also in the Heart Sutra, the Buddhas live in perfect wisdom and realize A-S-S-B. Yes, Sonya? You started this morning talking about listening, about the kiteshda as listening. Yes. And I'm wondering if ma, ma, ona, all of those are just other forms of listening. Yes, they're all listening and they're all something to listen to. When you listen to and look at that, listen to these words, listen to these acronyms, listen to them and listen to them more and more wholeheartedly and you'll hear the Dharma in these acronyms. And there are also practices of Prajnaparamita.

[53:45]

but you have to listen to the teachings in order to hear what they are actually, the dharma of them. So they are listening practices and they are also developing listening practices and they are also hearing practices and liberating practices. So we should treat all these things like we treat suffering beings. We should listen to these and we should listen to suffering beings like we listen to these precious teaching. We should give our whole hearted listening to every suffering being and every teaching. We should realize every suffering being and every teaching can be a teaching for us. Oh, and I was also going to just mention that bodhisattvas are trying to listen to all sentient beings but they sometimes get distracted and then we have the practice

[54:46]

of confession and repentance when we forget our vows and forget our practices. But by doing the practice of confession and repentance, the root of this distraction is melted away by the power of that practice. So all the great bodhisattvas who are consistent used to be inconsistent like us. They were just like us when they were just like us. So we can be joyful that we're doing the same practice that inconsistent great bodhisattvas did before they became consistent. Again, I'll talk more about how difficult it is to do these practices tomorrow. how difficult it is to listen sometimes.

[55:51]

It's not always difficult to listen. Sometimes we really do listen. And then it's not difficult. We just listen. I feel a little bit like I'm in a game show. Which of these terms is not like the others? Of the ones you just went through? You know, the... Which of these terms is not like the other terms? or maybe it's an SAT test. Oh, I see. Four things are almost the same, but one's a little bit not the same. And so if I just start with Zen and Zazen, is Zazen a practice of Zen? What's the relationship between Zen and Zazen? Zazen is a practice of Zen, yeah. All right, okay. And again, but there's different varieties of Zazen. Some people are practicing Zen, but they don't have bodhisattva vow.

[56:54]

So then they're not doing bodhisattva Zen. And people, when they hear about the bodhisattva vows at Zen centers, they sometimes go to the teacher and say, I'd like to confess that I do not have bodhisattva vow, but I'd like to continue practicing here. May I? And usually at this Zen center, because of the ethics policy, we say, yes, you can stay. But at some ancient Zen temples, when the student confessed that they didn't have bodhisattva vow, the teacher says, get out. So the vow is the zazen part? No, the vow, the bodhisattva vow needs to be connected to the zazen practice for it to be what I would call bodhisattva zazen. But other people could be practicing za, sitting zen, and they are practicing at a zen center, and then they notice when they hear about these bodhisattva vows, they think, well, I don't have this vow, I don't want it.

[57:59]

There's some people in this temple I do not want to help, because they're so mean to me, or whatever. Some people are holding back in their devotion to some beings. And they notice it, and they're saying, and I really, that's the way I am, and I don't really want to get over it right now. Can I stay at the Zen Center? And we say, usually we say yes. But there's a limit, actually. If they say it over and over, and they say also, I don't want to go to the Zendo, and I don't want to do any work. After a while we say, well maybe, maybe you could actually leave. That might be a good idea, because I think you're wasting your time hanging out here where we have all these facilities which you don't want to use. The work practice facilities are But if they basically want to do the program here but don't really want to do it in order to lead all beings to nirvana, if that's the way they feel, they're allowed to stay here.

[59:09]

But some teachers in history have said, you cannot come in here unless you have the big vow. And another one of our Avalokiteshvara manifestations is Bodhidharma. We have a statue of Bodhidharma on our altar which we're trying not to be possessive of. And Avalokiteshvara is manifested as Bodhidharma in our tradition. And Bodhidharma, when his wonderful disciple came to him, and said, I want to study with you. The Bodhidharma said, you know, it's a waste of time for you to be here. You're not sincere enough. You don't have the great vow. Go away. So Avalokiteshvara sometimes is really strict and won't let people who want to practice Zazen just for themselves or for a limited number of beings.

[60:19]

Sometimes Avalokiteshvara would say, go away. But you can come back when you have that vow. But sometimes Avalokiteshvara says, you can stay, it's all right. Matter of fact, I'll serve you in any way I can to help you until you do have that vow. But if you don't now, it's totally, that's okay, you can be here with me. It's all different. But sometimes Avalokiteshvara feels like it's time to, it's time to raise the bar. And then when somebody practices zazen with that vow, then it's bodhisattva zazen. But there can be another kind of zazen which is still wholesome. Mob without bodhisattva vow is still a wholesome practice. Following your breathing brings benefit. to beings, it's a good thing for human beings to do, and actually good things for whales to do too.

[61:23]

I notice that they are mindful of their breathing. It's a good thing for most mammals anyway. But for bodhisattvas to join their vow with the mindfulness and with the practice of perfect wisdom, then it brings the greatest fruit. Any other questions on the...? Well, I got distracted from my original lot of questions. I'm just so moved to be here at this practice. And I was going to tell you this in private, but I'm also just here to hear you talk about it. It's the greatest thing. It's the greatest thing, yeah. Yes, Mohammed? I was wondering if the sutra really is talking about no being to save, nobody suffers to save, etc.

[62:36]

Does that mean Buddhism perceives the world as a cosmic play-acting, and we're just playing a game of suffering? I would say that the practice of Avalokiteshvara is to listen to what you just said and to listen to it so deeply that we hear the Dharma which will free beings from all suffering and also free them from any problems they have about whether the suffering is illusion or real. Free them from that too. Once you understand the Dharma, you can show other people how to be free of basically what they think is going on.

[63:45]

people suffering because of what they think is going on. And we think terrible things are going on. Buddhism is not another one of the stories among all the stories. It is the practice of studying the stories and becoming free of them. So I'm not making another story which says the story you said is true or false. I'm not going to make two more stories or one more story about that. I'm making a story about how to practice with that story, about how to pull the pain out of that story. So the practice of Zazen is to look at the question that I just put to you. Yes. to meditate on the deeper meaning of what's going on.

[64:49]

Is that accurate? Well, not necessarily meditate on the deeper meaning, but to listen wholeheartedly to whatever level of meaning we now have. And if you listen, even if it's a superficial meaning that's available. If you listen wholeheartedly to the superficial meaning, the profound meaning, the superficial meaning will take its mask off and show you the deep meaning. And the world will roll at your feet in ecstasy. And beings will be liberated. But we're not trying to get the deeper meaning. We're trying to more like try to be wholehearted with superficial meaning. Someone said, because the Greeks were so profound, all they taught was the superficial. I guess Nietzsche said that. And their superficial was pretty neat. All that architecture and art, totally superficial.

[65:52]

Nothing about the profound, just total, wholehearted, superficial. And we do have superficial. We've got plenty of superficial and a lot of the superficial hurts because we attach to it and we attach to it because we don't wholeheartedly listen to it and realize that there's nothing to obtain. But we can aspire to realize there's nothing to obtain and then experience that freedom from fear and so on. But in that process we don't push away anybody's story, our own or other people's. But we try to encourage ourselves and others to meditate on all these stories, but not without trying to, like we say, in the light there is darkness, and in the darkness there is light, but don't try to see the light in the dark, or don't try to see the darkness in the light.

[66:56]

Just when it's light, wholeheartedly observe the light. When it's dark, wholeheartedly observe the dark, and then you'll see the dharma. But wholehearted is something we have to train at. And it's hard to be wholehearted when we're scared and uncomfortable. Right? Yes? When you say, to hear the true Dharma, is there no criteria for the true Dharma? There's no criteria for the true Dharma? Yeah, I would say, you could say this criteria, the true Dharma liberates beings from suffering. It has that function. If it doesn't liberate beings from suffering, it's not the true Dharma. You could say that. And if people are suffering, we just have not yet heard it deeply enough yet.

[68:01]

And the stories are, the tradition is, if you learn to live wholeheartedly, moment by moment, you can hear it and you will be able to realize the freedom not just of yourself, but of all beings. And the tradition is also saying, in order to be able to really listen and hear the Dharma, you can't do it, you won't be able to hear the deepest Dharma without the Bodhisattva vow. The Buddhas had these great vows that led them to be able to hear the completely authentic Dharma in everything and thereby realize complete freedom. And there's other criteria of the true Dharma, like, for example, you cannot refute it. And it makes itself available for people to try.

[69:05]

Like I was mentioning the other day, Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther movies. So we have a sangha where we have lots of people who are our assistants who, without warning, attack us to test our mindfulness. to see if our realization is really deep. Yes? [...] I have a question about the mystery of communication, sometimes listening to stories. and I had quite some conflicts and to me it seems mainly due to not being able to communicate and somehow at one point I felt that communication isn't really happening, I mean in general.

[70:18]

You thought that. So my thought communication is not happening or my thought communication is happening. That's my thought. That's not communication. That's just my idea. And also my thought could be communication is mysterious, but that's not communication. But I agree communication is mysterious. It's so mysterious that it cannot be grasped. But there's a teaching that, although it can't be grasped, it actually is going on all the time. But my ideas about it are not it at all. Is that teaching happening in words? Is the teaching happening in words? No. But those of us, that's tomorrow's talk, those of us who live in the realm of words, translate the teaching, which is beyond words, into words, and those words can guide us to a practice which will open us to the wordless communication.

[71:35]

But we have to learn how to deal with our words so that we're not abiding in them, so we can open to the non-abiding communication that's going on. which is completely mysterious, cannot be grasped by Buddhas. Like we say at the end of the Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi, even if all the Buddhas try to measure the merit of one person's zazen, one person's perfect wisdom, one person's communication with all beings, Even if all the Buddhists try to measure the way you are practicing together with everybody and everybody's practicing together with you, if all the Buddhists try to measure the way you're communicating with everybody and everybody's communicating with you and how you are just actually nothing more than your communication with everybody and everybody's communication with you, they would not be able, they can try, but they won't be able to you and me and all of us are inconceivable, ungraspable, boundless mystery.

[72:44]

We're all mysteries. But that teaching that's telling us that has been converted into words and we're talking about that now. But we also have practices for how to like not attach to these words so we can realize this teaching. But the teaching is beyond words and those who have realized this this authentic Dharma beyond words, they communicate in such a way that we can convert their communication into words. They let themselves be wordified. Do you know that English word? So, would you tell me your name again? Anne. Anne. What does it mean when we say to create all things ourselves? What does it mean? I don't know. But I could want to do it even if I don't know what it means.

[73:46]

So, what does it mean to love all beings? You might want to do it even though you don't know what it means. Like that story of the Buddha meeting somebody who's got a bunch of arrows in him. or not the Buddha, the Buddha tells the story of the doctor meeting somebody who's got a bunch of arrows and the doctor says, would you like me to take the arrows out? And the man says, well, what school did you graduate from? And what is your, are you an arrow extractor or are you an obstetrician? And the Buddha says, well, do you want the arrows out or do you want to discuss my education? So, do you want it? Do you want everybody to be at peace and living in harmony and free of suffering and free of, even though I don't know what any of that means? Do you want to love all beings even though I don't know what all beings are or what love is?

[74:50]

I'm still willing to talk about it for the sake of realizing something that I don't know what it is but I want it anyway. I want the zazen of one person, even though all the Buddhas don't even know what it is. I still want it. I have a feeling it's extremely, unsurpassably beautiful, and I want it. But I don't know what beauty is either. Jim? How do we know that our practice here is cultivating 400? Well, like I shouted during the last session, we want our practice to help all beings. We want it to. But we actually, we don't know if it does. And even those who have shouted, even those Buddhas who have made that lion's roar, that this practice does save all beings,

[75:57]

that this perfect wisdom does liberate all beings, and I have seen actually that all beings are liberated, even they don't know. It's not a matter of knowing, it's a matter of realizing. I think you have to have faith that you're going to try a certain practice that you think might bring you to being a helpful creature, that might bring you to be an inconceivable living being, bodhisattva. You wish to do that, and you think this practice might help you. So, for example, you might think, well, I guess I do, I'm going to... I'm going to go for listening to people and observing them. I think that listening to people when they're crying and observing to them when they're writhing in pain, I think that that would make sense that I would do that in my work of helping them become free.

[77:01]

So I'm going to bet on that. So in that sense, I have faith, I have confidence to give that a try. And I've been trying that for a while, and when I remember to listen, so far I've never regretted, even though I don't know for sure that it helped, I felt right about it. When I pay attention to people and listen to them, and when I do it wholeheartedly, I feel, I feel this is, I wanted to do it before I did it, and after I did it, I felt I want to do it again. I think the faith is that you give it a try and then maybe your faith gets deeper and your confidence gets stronger. That doing these compassion practices are actually what you want to do and what you more want to do than you did before by doing them. And they include people telling you that you're wasting your time and asking you, how do you know that it's helpful?

[78:04]

And then you say, well let me tell you, I don't know. I don't know that this helps. I don't know that I'm a bodhisattva. But I think I want to keep trying to be this thing I don't know. And I want to keep helping people who I don't know what they are. And I want to keep helping them, even though I don't know what helping is. I want that. And the teaching is also saying that if you apprehend what people are and what helping is, that interferes with helping because that's where people's suffering comes from. It's apprehending people and suffering and happiness. Apprehending any dharma is the source of suffering. That's the basic teaching. So I'm trying to listen to all these things and watch to see if there's apprehending and then be compassionate in apprehending and the suffering. I'm trying to do that, and that can be quite encouraging. I might feel like, this is really what I want to be... this is how I want to be living.

[79:05]

And knowing could be... trying to get knowing along the way could be a hindrance. I think... Brandon? Yes. I think Brandon and then Joe. Was there anybody else I missed? Brandon? When I was here seven and a half years ago, the abbot at the time, during his asana, he said, are you awake? Are you observing the breath? And then he said, whose breath is it? I don't know, but I can imagine why you would say that. It sounds like he might be talking about that. I think the question, whose breath is it, could be like, are you abiding in it being your breath?

[80:29]

Are you abiding in breath? But that could be a verbal pointing towards, where is the mind that doesn't abide in the mindfulness of breathing? Mm-hmm. Joe? Yes, Zazen. Is there in the teachings a practice or word that is something more like movement meditation, other than the walking meditation, but something that doesn't require a zendo or a sitting practice but is just as good? The kitchen? No. Do you work there sometimes? Yes. Yeah, the kitchen. It's one of the great things about Zen. Also, odyogi, the formal meal practice, the serving of the meal.

[81:31]

Have you noticed that the people who are serving are moving? It's a formal, traditional movement practice to... You know, it is literally our form of Inspector Clouseau and Kato. It's the way, it's the approved way of attacking each other. The server's attacking the other servers. The server's attacking the diners. The diner's attacking the servers. Testing. Testing, you know. Will you let me pour this cereal all over you? Will you let me make my bowl vulnerable to you pouring cereal on me? Can I pull it away now?

[82:34]

Can I put it out now? You know, all these things. And now we also, another practice we have is like being jisha, being attendant. So now Bunkai's training. He's trying to hand me the incense, you know. Yeah. We don't know if he's kato or I'm kato. Some people may think, I know who Mr. Spector Clouseau is. So all these practices are practices for zazen and there's movement. These are our traditional tango practices. But there's all... And tea ceremony. These are traditional ones, but then we have new ones too, like work circle. You know, how long is this announcement going to be? And so on.

[83:43]

We have things that are not so traditional. It's more of an American thing that we've developed and has now become a new opportunity to practice compassion. We don't have calisthenics, anesthetics, or something like that? The ones I just gave you are the traditional Zen things. But we can make up new ones, too. But those are the traditional ones that I think... This is Soto Zen. In Rinzai Zen, they don't do the ritual quite the same way. And in Vipassana, they don't have formal eating procedures, I don't think, in the West. So this is our traditional ones, but that doesn't mean we don't have new ones that aren't, you know, which you might not call Zen, it's just that they happen at a Zen center, but that doesn't mean they're Zen. And they might happen for a while and then disappear, but the orgy will go on forever.

[84:47]

May our attention equally extend to every beginning and place.

[84:59]

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