Okay, that was high, so why don't we go from left to right? Right to left. You mentioned today you started to go off on what you said wasn't the direction you wanted to, which you talked about the first jhana. I was curious how many there were and if there could be a short synopsis or summary of them. There's eight, usually taught as eight, there's eight jhanas, classical jhanas in Buddhism. And the first four are, well, you know, in Buddhism they're like, we talk about three worlds. What did you say? Pardon? Three worlds. Three worlds. Oh. I thought it said three. And so they're called, they're called Rupa, Rupa, Kama, Rupa, and Rupa.

[01:21]

Yeah. That's it. Those are the three worlds, and basically all mundane experience will fall into those three categories, those three worlds. Kama-datu means sex, and datu means realm or world. And sex, that means sex like genital sex. between human bodies and animal bodies and so on and so forth. It's the realm where there's chairs and tables and they sometimes eat food by the mouthful in the Kamadhatu. And so what most people in this room are familiar with is the Kamadhatu.

[02:27]

And the rupa datu, rupa means form, but what's meant here is fine material experiences. So, like, in the realm of the rupa datu, you don't have, like, spoons and forks and Cadillacs and men and women and so on. You have, like, blue... green, red, white, and so on, in terms of colors. You don't have them put together into, like, sweaters and t-shirts and stuff. And in sounds you don't have, like, you know, English and Chinese and so on. You have a pleasant and unpleasant sound. There's no words, there's no language in the Rupa Dhatu, you know, because, as I mentioned, the intellectual functions are diverted into getting into the trance.

[03:30]

And so there's the basic elements of material experience in the Rupadhatu. And Rupadhatu, as an actual realm of experience, is also considered to be heavenly experience. because there's no negative sensation in that realm, only neutral or positive sensation. And arupadattu is, there's not even colors and so on, they're just mental phenomena, just inner experience. You don't have any. There's no sensitivity to the five sense stimuli of colors, sounds, smells, and so on. And those states are even loftier and more blissful than the four rupa, four levels of rupa datu.

[04:41]

and actually there's more than four levels of Rupa Dattu, but there's four main levels. And you get in, you get into the Rupa Dattu by, basically by yogic exercises. You can be reborn, you can project yourself into those states by yogic exercises. And in those concentration exercises you actually, like, eschew and reject ordinary sensual experience, particularly any kind of sensual experience that would distract your concentration. So you kind of like, in some sense, you compulsively, you obsessively project yourself into a state which is originally characterized by whatever meditation object you're in, you're using, like if you use the color blue, and everything else you would reject, but that color, and you probably would be reborn and sort of through everything turning into blue.

[06:12]

That would be the one thing you'd be thinking about is blueness. But there'd be no language there, and you wouldn't have your arms and legs kind of body in that realm. So I mean, that's a short comment on that. It's a really complicated topic, but that's a short. Is that something? I'm a little confused. Those were the three worlds, and you mentioned eight jhanas? There's four jhanas that apply, that put you in the rupadhatu, and there's four that put you in, there's four formless jhanas and four form jhanas, or fine material jhanas. So there's four in kamadhatu? No, you practice one in the kamadhatu. and that projects you into the lower level of the rupadhatu.

[07:13]

Then once you attain the first trance, then you use the first trance as the springboard to the second trance, and the second trance to the springboard. I don't think you go from the kamadhatu into the second rupadhatu, second level of trance. You're going to the first one. So you climb up. So this is sometimes called, going through these trances is sometimes called stepladder zen. or stepladder jhana, where you could climb these stages of concentration. And so there's some pretty ancient Zen stories where the monks are saying, how can you avoid this stepladder jhana practice? Zen people have been rejecting jhana practice for a long time. as either rejecting or downplaying its importance.

[08:19]

But in fact, you know, I don't want to go too much into this because I'd like to discuss it with the whole group, but there's lots of virtues to jhana practice. I mean, the greatest worldly pleasure comes from being really concentrated you might say. Maybe some people might say, no, no, I think, you know, seeing your first baby is the greatest worldly pleasure, someone might say. Some people might say that, but they haven't usually had this other one to compare with, so that may be the greatest worldly pleasure they've had so far, but some other people say, you know, No, heroin is the greatest worldly pleasure, the highest worldly pleasure. But these states are more calm, more relaxed than heroin, apparently. Although I haven't, I'm not one expert, but they're supposed to be the highest worldly states.

[09:32]

So concentration is really blissful. But it only lasts for a certain amount of time and then you're thrown back down to the world of gross sex. Which, you know, may be quite a shock when you get back. What I never understand is, is there a relationship between rupa dhatu and meditating on the skandhas? No. So the realm of form is not necessarily seeing or meditating on rupa skandha. Right, you can meditate on rupa skandha, which is, you know, your current experience of colors, smells, tastes, touch, tangibles, without trying to, like, pick one particular form from the rupascanda, like, for example, a blue disk and focusing on a blue disk.

[10:43]

Studying materiality is different than concentrating on a blue disk. So usually the five skandhas are studied in mindfulness practice. as part of developing wisdom, rather than picking some element of the five skandhas and then focusing on it. Does that make sense? Okay. Is that enough on that for now? We can talk about it more in the whole big group. So I think Brian, let's go Brian, and then Tay, Allison, Neil, that whole row? Fred? Did you have your hand raised, Fred, before? Did you have your hand raised before? No. No? How about you, Melissa? No? Barrett? Well, if you two had raised your hand, you'd have a whole row of questions. You had your hand raised, didn't you, Neil? I did. Yes, okay. Well, four in a row is good.

[11:45]

Yes? Ready? Yeah. My question relates to a passage in the first Phukan Zazenbi. Yes. And Dogen is talking about protecting and maintaining the power of samadhi. Yes. And he says that in studying and investigating it, you transcend its higher workings without a basis to rely on. The question I have is in the next sentence. In verifying and letting go of it, you are obstructed by the self, wherein you are never impeded. This is the full realization of the way. This sentence, in verifying and letting go of it, you are obstructed by the self, wherein you are never impeded. That is a question. Uh-huh. Well, this would be also something good to study with the whole group, but I think what he's saying, at this point in his teaching, this is the first version of Fukan Zazengi where he's still talking about samadhi power and jhana.

[12:49]

You look at the next section, a lot of that jhana stuff's dropped away. He hasn't quite rejected jhana practice, but he's downplaying it. his studies, you know, widened as he grew older and he found out that a lot of Zen, of his Zen ancestors even rejected jhana practice. So in the next version of Phukan Zazengi, in the first Phukan Zazengi, he, he's still sort of kind of almost recommending, in the first Phukan Zazengi, he's really, he's recommending jhana practice highly. In the in the text which he sort of copied by Tsongkhapa, the one before that, jhana practice is called, you know, the supreme practice. It's called the single gate. It's called, it's called, attaining enlightenment is contingent upon the practice of jhana.

[13:51]

And Dogen's coming off that, and still, in the first version of Phukansa Zen, he kind of recommends jhana practice. Okay. Is that clear? Is anybody not clear about that? That he's recommending it? So then there's this line that Brian had a question about. So what's the line? In verifying and letting go of it, you are obstructed by the self, or you are never impeded. Okay. So my interpretation of this is, Linda Taggart has a little bit of a problem with this, so cover your ears. Dogen uses a term, uses a character, obstructed, sometimes when he means totally immersed. So therein you're obstructed by the self. Is that what it says?

[14:53]

He means when you're in this samadhi, when you're in jhana, Then when the self comes up, it's like it obstructs you. Everywhere you go, you've got self in your face, self in your face, self in your face, self in your face. Or you could say you're immersed in the study of the self. And when you're immersed in the study of the self, you're not hindered. You're never impeded when you're immersed in yourself. In the obstruction or study of the self. When you're immersed in the study of self, you're never impeded. Everything that happens, you know, somebody comes up and spits in your face, you go, oh, I get it. I had a hunch this had something to do with what you talked about earlier. Yeah. Somebody comes up and gives you a dollar, you say, hmm, I know what you mean. Somebody says, today you have to go do that or do this.

[15:56]

You say, mm-hmm. Everything becomes the way. Like it says in the, what do you call it, the Juhamira Samadhi. Juhamira Samadhi, okay? If you don't understand the path as it meets your eyes, how can you know the way as you walk? Everything that... meets you as as as the path comes up and meets your eyes if you don't understand that that's the path well then how are you going to find your way so what so he's saying he's kind of see he's kind of recommending he says when you're in jhana then then when you study the self it really impedes you and when the self really impedes you or you're really immersed in it then everywhere you go you're swimming in yourself You're doing a square dance where everybody you shake hands with is yourself. And you pull yourself through the world by yourself. So everything you meet is more of the study of yourself. And everything takes you another step along the path. So he's saying, you know, jhana really helps you study the self.

[16:58]

And if you... So he's kind of like, it's a little bit like he's saying, well, this jhana, this concentration... if you're studying the self, will almost be like, will throw you into this self-fulfilling samadhi. So that everything that happens to you will fulfill yourself. Rather than like poor little me and all those other people, like the poor little unfulfilled self, which is just this one little person and then the rest of the universe. The self-fulfilling samadhi is when you're absorbed and everything fulfills yourself. Everything illuminates and fulfills you. It's rather than everything subtracts from you and isolates you. So at that point he's thinking, boy, jhana's really good. Because the way he's talking about jhana there, it sounds like jhana's almost like the self-fulfilling samadhi. But later, he changes. He drops that part.

[18:02]

He drops that part, but what he says is accomplished in that part, he will say is accomplished by what he renames the process by which you are fulfilled, the self-fulfilling samadhi. The self-fulfilling samadhi is no longer considered to be a jhana practice. You're absorbed in this study of yourself, but not by focusing on some meditation object to get in a concentrated state and then study. That's kind of a subtle difference. It's a subtle difference. And that's why in the next phase, in the next version of Fukunzai Zen, he doesn't really reject jhana practice the way some Zen people do. He just downplays it quite a bit. And he does say in the next version, he says, The satsang I'm talking about is not jnana practice, is not learning meditation. Okay?

[19:08]

Okay. My question is that if I look at my thoughts, the way you're talking this morning, and who's thinking them? Okay, so, just a second. You said, if I look at my thoughts. Now, you don't have to do it like I look at my thoughts. There can just be observation of the thought. You don't have to add yourself into that unless you really want to. Because if you add yourself in, then you're going to run into the trouble you started to bring up there. What my question is really about is that at the end of the process, Is there an end to the process? End to what process? Of observing or questioning. Is there an end? Where there's something... I mean, you're talking about the... the something that's always there.

[20:11]

I'm talking about the something that's always there? I thought today you mentioned something about the someone who is watching or who's up. This something, that's what I don't... I don't want to say the something's always there, But rather that when there's thinking, there's always non-thinking. I'll say that. But there's not always thinking. Thinking comes and goes. So non-thinking comes and goes too with the thinking. I can't follow that. Okay. So what do you want to know? I don't know. I don't understand what you're saying. That's okay. Did you remember what I said? You said when there's thinking, there's non-thinking.

[21:14]

Yeah. So just memorize that and you'll eventually understand. Maybe you'll have some other questions about it later. But I'm not saying I'm taking back or I'm not saying there's something that's always there. I'm not saying that. But I will say something like that, which is when there's thinking, there will always be non-thinking. I will say that. And non-thinking is good stuff. Because that's how you get access to thinking of the unthinkableness, which is what it's like in a Buddhist... for a Buddha. Buddha is thinking, Buddha like Yaoshan, you know, is thinking of unthinkableness. So how do you think of unthinkableness? Non-thinking. So non-thinking, which gives you access to the bodhi mind, it's always available.

[22:16]

Does that make sense? I mean, do you understand the words? Do you mean you remember the words? I guess I'm with the words. But if I'm not consciously thinking... If you're not consciously thinking? Yeah, like the breaks between thinking. The breaks between thinking? I'm not questioning myself. I'm just kind of sitting there. Yeah, maybe that's jhana practice what you're talking about there. Breaks between thinking. Well, I'm not saying I'm thinking about the movies that I shouldn't be doing. You're not saying you're thinking about the movies. You're not thinking about the movies, okay. Fine. So what are you saying? Is not thinking about the movies non-thinking?

[23:17]

Well, not even... I'm not catching myself. Just tell me what's going on and I'll tell you what it is. If what's going on is that you're not thinking of the movies, then you're thinking of not thinking of the movies. So it's not that. Just tell me what's going on and I'll tell you what it is. It's before I catch myself thinking about something else. But what is going on? What's happening? I'm not aware of thinking. Again, you're not aware of thinking, but what are you aware of? Right now, maybe the sound of the hum.

[24:29]

The sound of the hum, uh-huh. So, that is thinking. But sometimes it's not the sound of the hum. Well, just tell me what it is. Just tell me what's happening and I'll tell you what's happening. But I can't tell you what's happening before you tell me what's happening. And if you can't tell me what's happening, then there's nothing to talk about. So, if you ever want to know what's going on, just tell me what's going on and I'll help you with it. Okay? You guess? Yeah. Go ahead, guess. What do you guess? I can't see how that's the end of the thinking practice. Who brought up end of the thinking practice? That's what I was trying to understand.

[25:32]

You're trying to understand the end of the thinking practice? What are you talking about this morning? I'm not talking about the end of anything. So it's not like there's a time when you stop questioning? There's not like a time when you stop questioning? Yes. What you're thinking, what's distracting you, who's thinking... When you say there's not a time when you stop... Pardon? When it's finished? The only way it would be finished is if you said it was finished and then that would be what you're thinking. That would be like thinking I'm a frog or I'm Kay Roberts or something like that. That's where I'm done. Those are similar types of thoughts. Thank you. Alicia? I mean, Alison? I've been thinking about choice and trying to understand... You've been thinking about choice?

[26:41]

Yeah. And trying to understand whether we choose to do anything. And so I wondered if you could say a bit more about whether we do choose to do anything or not. I think choice is an illusion. But vis-à-vis what Gary is saying, he tries to use the illusion of choice to help people. So people who think that there's choice, he wants to use their belief in choice to help them be aware of the choices they've made, I suppose. Something like that. But there's not really choice. I mean, it's not like I sit here and choose something because everything dependently co-arises. But also because everything dependently co-arises, there's not determined, things aren't really determined either.

[27:51]

So I guess you don't really know, well, I don't know how it all happens at the moment. Right. But it's good to study the choices that you're making. I mean, it's good to study the illusion of choice-making. And the way of studying it, the fruitful way of studying choice-making is to study choice-making with non-thinking. That will illuminate how choice-making happens. I choose, like we were talking about, we go to do zazen or go to bed. Right. So you could say, I think I'm choosing to go to the zendo now. You could think that, right. But you can also go to the zendo without thinking that you're choosing to go to the zendo. That's the way I usually go. Yeah. But for me, then I might think I'm choosing to go to the zendo

[29:04]

Yeah, you might get up and you might say, I'm choosing to go to the zendo. You might say that to yourself. And then you might get back in bed. And then you think, gee, that's funny. Here I am in bed and I chose to go to the zendo. That's interesting. This is fun. I think I'll choose to stay in bed. And now I'm going to the Zendo. Wow. This is great. You might do that. Or you might be more boring like me and just like get up and walk like a robot to the Zendo. A little Zen robot. Look, there he goes.

[30:13]

Neil, I'm just sort of doing this row here. Can you tell me the meaning of the words shruta? Shruta means hearing. And Cinta means reflection or thinking. Bhavana means to bring into being. Sometimes bhavana is called cultivation, to translate as cultivation or meditation. But literally it means to bring into being. Bhava means being and bhavana means to bring into being, to make it manifest. And this is the aspect of wisdom that has... These are three aspects of wisdom. Right. And this bhavana, mayi, prajna, has gone sort of beyond a sense of doing or a sense of self. Right. It's existential attainment. It's like, you know, I often think of dancing. You go to the dance class and the dance instructor gives you instructions and you understand the instructions.

[31:19]

And then you move in accordance with the instructions, and the dance teacher says, that's right. And you feel good. And then you do it again. The dance teacher's not saying anything to you anymore. You do it again. And you do it again. And then you start noticing that even though you're doing the same instruction over and over, you try different ways, sort of, of the same thing. And pretty soon, you try... all, not pretty soon, but eventually you try all the different ways of doing what you learned, and when you can't, like, try any more ways, you are the dancer. You've done all the ways, and then it's no longer like thinking about it. In this case, it's like the bhavana kind of wisdom is where it's just really become incorporated into your body. Right. It's in your, like you said, it's in your bones. It's given down into your marrow. What does that word mean again, bhava?

[32:20]

It means to bring into being or to bring into existence. Bhava means existence or being. So you bring it into existence. Your being, the way you are, is this teaching then, is this wisdom. So then, naturally, then what you think comes out of that wisdom and what you say... You know, what people hear you say is coming from the way you are rather than, you're no longer like thinking of the teaching and bringing the teaching in one ear and bringing the teaching out your mouth. It's now the teachings coming out of your body. Your body just talks through your mouth. Because the way, not even your body, but just your bodily existence talks the Dharma then. That's the deepest level. One more thing. What is the word, this little word, mayi? Well, it actually means, I think, abandonment or something, so it kind of doesn't make sense anyway, but I think it means abandon or something, or renounce.

[33:23]

I don't quite know how that works. I'll check it out. Ah, good. Yeah. Just two. Where there's thinking, there's not thinking. I say so. But would it be better to say whether thinking there's potential not thinking? I don't think so. I think it's better to say it the other way. When there's non-thinking, there's potential thinking. Because non-thinking doesn't even need thinking to happen. But thinking means you're projecting your thought into some particular shape. with some particular intention. And that's how we create the world with the projection of the shape of our mind. That's karma. That's the definition of karma. That's how we make the world come into little packages and stuff. So I think the non-thinking is, in some sense, more basic, closer to the drop-and-below thinking

[34:35]

But as an act on my part, isn't it, act may not be the right word? Act is the right word, karma, act. As an act on your part. Well, not every... act of thinking is accompanied by non-thinking. No, I say it is. But I thought you were going to say, as an act on my part, that's always thinking. That's true. But that, you know, in a sense, I'm suggesting to you that there is... maybe a latent non-thinking present with your thinking all the time.

[35:44]

Most people are not aware of their non-thinking. But something about you in the midst of your various thinkings, in the midst of your various mental acts, there's something about you which doesn't get pushed around by your thinking. That's the non-thinking. But I may not be aware of it. Right. And you may not appreciate it. And you may not even dig it. but I'm kind of suggesting it's there, but maybe I should forget saying that kind of stuff. It has to do with choice. If there is no choice... I don't say there's no choice like there's no illusion, okay? There is illusion, but it's illusion. There is illusion. Illusion does happen. It dependently co-arises. And choice happens too. But it's an illusion, that's all. I'm not saying it doesn't happen.

[36:44]

I'm not saying we don't have any delusion or illusions. I'm just saying choice is an illusion. That's all. But it may be, since we do have the illusion of choice, it might be good to use the choice in the service of Dharma. So choose to practice non-thinking. Choose to study yourself. Well, I was going to say... You are exhorting me to be upright. Yes. To be present moment after moment. Yes. Do I have a choice? Well, I exhorted you to be upright and to be present moment after moment. And somehow that has affected you. You somehow heard me say that. Yes, but whether or not I will be upright seems to be a matter of choice.

[37:45]

Well, but what if I hadn't told you that? Did you have a choice about that? Somebody else may have told me. Yeah, but what if no one did? But anyway, you do think you have choice. You do see the illusion of choice. So it's fine with me if you have the illusion that you choose to practice non-thinking. That's fine with me if you do that. But again, to me it seems to be an illusion because you might say, okay, I choose to practice non-thinking. And then the next moment you don't do it. So I say, what kind of choice was that? And you say, well, it was that kind. Or I might say to you, Fred, non-thinking. And suddenly, that's what's happening for you.

[38:48]

And you don't know whether you chose it. But in fact, someone would say, well, you did because it's happening. Fine. But you didn't really choose it because without me saying it, it wouldn't have happened. So you can't, I can't actually do anything independent of everybody else. So how do I get to choose things? But if it helps you to go through the process of choosing something, if that helps you to choose to do good instead of to do bad, then I would say, do good. And then you might say, okay, I'm going to. And then you might feel like I did, and you might feel good. I feel great as a Merkak. It's terrific to choose to do good. I see it's a trap. Get away. What's a trap? The inner reaction that might follow the act itself. The inner reaction that might... What is a reaction?

[39:53]

I did it. Yeah. I did it is a trap, right? That's the fundamental trap of karma, is I did it. But if you're in that trap, then... How about doing the I did good trap? If you're in the trap of I do this and I do that, then we recommend do the I do good version of the trap. If you do the I do good version of the trap, then you're going to have a better chance of hearing, guess what, you're in a trap. If you do the I do bad way of being in the trap, then when people tell you to look at what you're doing, you're going to say... what are you talking about? You know, give me another drink. Get out of my face. But if in the trap you do good, if you entertain the illusion of doing good, and you really have a good time doing good, then that makes you more susceptible to hearing about, for example, studying what you're doing, which is even better.

[41:01]

And then you study what you're doing. And then somebody suggests that you study how the self is doing it. And you say, okay. And you look and you can see it. And you can study it. And then you feel even better. And you get even clearer. And then somebody says, why don't you practice non-thinking? And you say, I already am. This is terrific. And so on. So we can pull ourselves, by recognizing the nature of our prison, we can pull ourselves up out of our prison. We can practice a way that realizes Bodhi right in prison if we're good prisoners. But the main prison we're in is the prison of I can do things myself. I'm an independent operator and I can do things by myself. That's our main prison. So let's be good prisoners. And then we can realize this is all an illusion of me being in prison doing stuff on my own. Fantastic, you know? Then suddenly the prison walls fall away And you're in the land where there aren't any walls separating you from the gracious landscapes of Dharma.

[42:10]

I think you should ask a question, Melissa. Yeah. What? And the people, other people in the room, I'm sorry, you're not in the right row. Just move up, just move up and get in this row. You'll be, you'll be next. I have a question about clan behavior. Yes, yeah. And like the phrase, like the mother cow protecting her baby cow. Killing a saint. Killing a saint. She wasn't really protecting her baby cow, by the way. She thought she was, but he wasn't going to hurt her baby. That was a clan instinct, you know, a clan reaction. Or like in the No Man's Sudo, talking about the mother watching over her only child with a boundless mind. Yeah, so if you're watching over your only child with a boundless mind, be careful not to kill anybody in the process. Is it a prison?

[43:25]

The clan attitude is what it goes with you being independent. You and your clan are over on this side and the other clan is over on the other side. So the way of this is me and my clan is the same attitude where I do stuff myself. I'm going to protect my clan. That's the world of karma. We all live in that world. That's the world you practice Buddhism is in that clanny prison. That's where you practice non-thinking. In the world where I think this and I think that and these are my people and those are not my people or everybody's my people and it's my people and everything isn't people or whatever. But basically the idea, fundamental thing is that the self is the pivot of the experience. It's independent and it can act by itself and that creates a world. And that's the world we practice in.

[44:29]

We don't try to destroy that world. We then try to practice the Buddha way in the mundane world of self and other. I do this, I do that. And this is my clan and I'm going to protect my clan. Now, if that clan doesn't do what I want, then they're not my clan anymore, so then, you know, I'll change clans. Used to be my clan, but, you know, this is not, this is not, the clan's stretching, they're not aligning up with clan-like behavior well enough, so I'm going to fix the clan up. Some people actually do that, they change the shape of their clan, because the clan's not cooperating with their self, which is a You know. It's terrible. Okay, now second row. Get up in the second row. Okay? I know you're... I'm trying to think of the answer. Give me some time here. Well, one of the times when it might be a good time to say a beautiful cup is you're drinking the tea, right?

[45:42]

She says... What do you think of the cup? And then you say, well, you said one time, Roshi, that if you call a flower beautiful, that's a sin. So I'm not going to call this teacup beautiful. Then you might say, oh, come on, call it beautiful. Then you call it beautiful. Then he might say, I'm so happy to meet you. No. What? You don't do anything with it. That's when you get to talk like that. You get to say cups are beautiful when you're not doing things with things.

[46:44]

If you're doing things with things, you should just drink the tea. Do you understand? No. Not yet? If you're still in the realm of doing things, that's where you're at. Here I am, Allison. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. If that's the level of your practice, then probably you shouldn't be into talking about how beautiful things are. You should just be like... taking credit for the fact that you're doing this karma. Just be very careful of everything you do. So, like, if you're drinking tea, don't be talking about the teacup. Just drink the tea. And drink it carefully. That's it. You've got enough to handle. You're trying to do this thing called karma. Okay? So do it thoroughly. In other words, do good karma. You're in the I'm doing things prison. So be a good prisoner, I would say. That's what he's saying to Philip.

[47:44]

Be a good prisoner. You're drinking tea. You think you're drinking tea, don't you, Philip? Drink the tea. Drink the tea, Philip. Just drink the tea. Let's not get distracted here. Take credit for the fact that you're drinking tea. That's enough. Now, once you're a good prisoner, and when you drink tea, you just drink tea. When you wash your face, you just wash your face. And when you do your exercises in the courtyard, you just do your exercises in the courtyard. Once you're really concentrating on what you're doing, then the teacher comes up to you and says, while you're drinking the tea, practice non-thinking. And then, after you practice that for a while, you can say something like, This is a beautiful teacup. I understand what beauty is now. It's got nothing to do with my idea of beauty.

[48:45]

But otherwise, if you're just putting labels on stuff, that's just distracting you from your hard work of watching your karmic activity. And the teacher tells you to stop that. You're just distracting yourself from your work. You're just concentrating on what you're doing, you know. cut those vegetables, plant those potatoes, put those feet in the ground and stuff like that. And don't get into stuff, complex philosophical statements like, this is beautiful. Because that's like, you know, either you're categorizing when you actually should be meditating and talking about that, or you've just made a very profound statement about dependent co-arising. And you better have your feet on the ground if you're going to talk like that. Does that make sense to you at all? So now, those of you who are in karma prison, go to the zendo. And the rest of you, and the rest of you, do non-action.

[49:57]

And see where that leads you.

[50:00]

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