I just wanted to say again the sort of the title of this series of classes and actually, yeah, well, the title of the series of classes is Transition and Delusion. And from a certain perspective, that's sort of what this whole text is about, is transforming the mind of delusion. And the transformed mind is miraculously proposed to be the mind of the totally culminated enlightenment. The word for delusion that, you know, the word for delusion could also be, the original Sanskrit word for these kinds of minds could also, is klesha, which means to stain.

[01:19]

It means to defile or be defiled. And it also means affliction. And of course, delusion is an affliction, or it is affliction. It is an affliction and it's afflictive. So we're talking about deluded minds, but also deluded minds which are afflicted and afflictive. and that kind of defile or stain life. And the background text, the first chapter, is talking about the support for the knowable. And this consciousness, this storehouse consciousness, which is the support of the knowable, it supports all the defiled states of consciousness.

[02:32]

But in a sense it's also the support of enlightenment because it is what gets to become enlightenment. So it supports all the different forms of bondage and suffering. And it offers itself to be transformed into an enlightenment which then and relates to all the defiled states to educate them so that they also can be transformed. So it's sort of the center or the basis of all the problems, and it's what's worked on and transformed to make more medicine for the problems. And the ultimate medicine is supreme perfect awakening. In the meantime, we're working with affliction.

[03:37]

We're working with suffering. We're working with delusion. So part of what the message here is, if you wish to help beings who are afflicted, then studying the afflicted mind is the path to help afflicted beings. So it's kind of difficult work, but it's something you might want to devote your life to. But it doesn't mean we get to devote our life to working with afflictive consciousness from a distance. We have to actually be in the midst of it and actually experience it, you know, so we can learn how to work with it in a way that transforms it in the direction of enlightenment. And we need to work with the same problems that basically similar to our problem has.

[04:41]

Once again, part of afflictive consciousness is that we wish we weren't in afflictive consciousness. But the bodhisattvas whose this teaching is for, they actually want to be in these afflicted states and receive teachings about how to work with these afflictive states and practice with these afflictive states because they want to help. They feel compassion for all afflicted beings, so they want to work with this stuff. they're happy to suffer. And they are happy to suffer as long as they can be of service to other suffering beings who need their friendship, who need their encouragement to practice the teachings. As a case in point, last week we were studying this text, and the handout I gave you is approximately one hundredth of the whole text.

[05:59]

It's six paragraphs, basically, or six sections, and there's sixty sections in this first chapter, and there's ten chapters, so it's about a hundredth of the text, and it's about a tenth of the first chapter. And we were working on the fifth section, I think. No, yeah, it's the fifth section. And while we were working on the fifth section, some people were experiencing affliction, it looked like. They told me they were afflicted. But everybody stayed, even though people were actually experiencing afflicted states. I saw this paragraph coming, but I didn't feel like skipping it.

[07:06]

I know that when such things as rebirth, as birth and rebirth are discussed, it somehow brings up suffering, or you could say reminds me. And to consider what the problem is of that paragraph, which basically talks about birth and death, you know we'll be as long as we're studying this text we'll be So I'm not exactly saying we're done with that paragraph. It's just that the next one is very closely related to it. So I think actually going to the next one, we'll find some teachings which will help us deal with the teaching. In the sixth paragraph, we'll get teachings about how to deal with the teachings of the fifth paragraph. The sixth will help the fifth, maybe.

[08:11]

So I suggest we read the sixth, or I read it to you. Okay. It is also called mind. Now it, in this particular case, I would suggest to you, means the storehouse consciousness. So the storehouse consciousness is called mind. storehouse consciousness, or alaya-vijnana in Sanskrit. But it's also called citta, which just means mind. As the world-honored Buddha has spoken of mind, thought, and perception. So the Buddhist Shakyamuni talked about mind, thought, and perception, or mind, thinking, and perception, which is citta, manas, and vijnana.

[09:26]

Now, in this translation, I'm very appreciative of our dear friend, John Keenan, who translated this book. but this particular paragraph is a little confusing, the way he translated it, because he says, as the world-honored one has spoken of mind, thought, and perception, and then he says, thinking here is of two kinds. See that? If he said, mind, thinking, and perception, or mind, thinking, and consciousness. Because when he says thinking here, he means thought in the previous sentence. So you might either remember or write over the word thought, thinking. And then also remember that thinking is referring to the mind, the aspect of mind called manas.

[10:30]

which means thinking, reflecting, a rare word, but is a word, mentation, and thought. Thought in English means both thinking and what is thought of. Okay, and so he says, thinking here, he being asanga, the great bodhisattva says, thinking here is of two kinds. Now what's coming is kind of a difficult, an unusual concept. It's also a marvelous initiation into the workings of the mind. Now we're being told that thinking is of two types.

[11:33]

One type, number one, is the immediately disappearing consciousness or again, thinking, the immediate disappearing consciousness is manas, because it is the condition for subsequent thought which arises in synergy with it. For we consider the support for the generation to be thinking." Okay, so when an active conscious state arises, for example, an I consciousness, an I consciousness means a consciousness which is a or when an ear consciousness arises, or when a mind consciousness arises, which is aware of mental objects, or when all six of them arise together, the six material sense consciousnesses can arise together, according to this teaching, and mind consciousness arises with them.

[12:41]

When these active consciousnesses arise, this text is saying, the support for that is this thinking. But we also know, from what we studied before, that alaya-vijnana is also the support. So when consciousness arises, it has alaya for its support, and it also has thinking for its support. And what is thinking? It's this strange thing. It is the immediate antecedent state of consciousness. Thinking is the active consciousness which has just disappeared. Isn't that strange? We're not done with that.

[13:47]

We'll just move on to the second type of thinking, the second type of manas. And number two, defiled thinking always is yoked with four passions. The belief, or self-view, self-pride, self-love, and primal ignorance. This thinking is the support for all defiled states of consciousness. This text is more specific about this than, as far as I know, any previous text in the tradition of Buddhadharma. The Bodhisattva Sangha feels that the Buddha did teach this quite specific and explicit about the function of this mind which carries primal ignorance.

[14:52]

This state, this mind actually carries and is your primal ignorance. So, there's two kinds of manas. One kind is The engendering of the six active consciousnesses and the other kind defiles them. The two are called manas, or thinking, or thought. They objectify things and are able to, here it says, imagine or think sequentially. So that's a lot of information right there.

[15:54]

And I probably should say something, just talk about it a little bit more with you before you start asking questions. So again, So the Buddha spoke of mind using three words. One is citta, which now we're saying in this teaching, we're understanding that what the Buddha meant by citta is unconscious storehouse awareness. The second kind is this reflective awareness, which has two parts. One is the immediate antecedent state of consciousness which supports the arising of active consciousnesses. And the other is a kind of reflection which carries ignorance.

[16:58]

It also carries self-love and self-pride. But primal ignorance is actually is the concept of something existing in the universe all by itself. It's the basic misconception that something exists apart from Europe. And most of us are familiar with this concept. I often mention that when I have a blackboard, I draw. And I say, this circle is the universe, and most of us think there's a universe plus something. And I make a little bump on top of the circle. Most of us think there's the universe plus something. A little bump on top in addition to the universe.

[17:59]

It exists in addition to the universe. And most people just happen to think that that thing is themselves. They don't think it's other people. That concept is carried by this, in this teaching, that concept is carried by this defiled and defiled, this afflicted and afflicting, afflicting thinking, or afflictive thinking. And again, the same word is used for the simple... process which supports the arising of active states of consciousness. So there's two basic levels of consciousness. One is this storehouse consciousness which is unconscious, or two basic kinds of cognition. consciousness, the basis consciousness, and the active consciousnesses, which are what we usually consider to be conscious, and then a reflecting consciousness or a thinking consciousness, which carries the idea of an individual existence.

[19:20]

And also it carries the tendency to believe it. It isn't just a floating misconception. It's a floating misconception yoked with the belief in it. And then also goes with that self-love and self-pride of this great attainment of something in addition to the universe. That's quite a feat. The human mind can imagine something in addition to the universe and we're proud of it and we love it. And we love Eliad. We love the storehouse consciousness because that supports these active states. And that's what's reflected upon as independently existing things. The next paragraph will, which you don't have yet, the next paragraph will discuss a proof, a discussion of the proof of the existence of this

[20:48]

antecedent consciousness which is supporting the arising of present active consciousness. So this defiled, particularly this defiled state of thinking. And in that section it will bring up the idea that it is possible for us to actually abandon this defiling type of thinking. And also, after that great attainment of abandoning defiling, afflictiveness, afflictive states will still arise because past afflictive states have the consequence of impressing themselves on the unconscious, and the unconscious becomes the seed for the arising of further defiled states.

[22:06]

But there's no new defiling activity once this defiling consciousness has been abandoned. So there's two kinds of situations. One is the active defiling of states of consciousness, which then have the result, which is carried forth in the unconscious. And we also have defiled states arising depending on past defiled states. So there's two sources of supporting defiled states. One is the results of past defiled states and currently defiling thinking. And once again, when the currently defiling thinking is finally abandoned, that isn't that belief in self. but the results of past defilement will continue to generate defiled states of consciousness. However, it's possible now, since the defiling consciousness has been abandoned, to study the defiled states without seeing them as a self.

[23:26]

And seeing them that way plants new impressions in the unconscious which support an evolution which finally ends all defiled states. prior to the ending of all defiled states, this defiling consciousness is abandoned. And details of that are discussed in the next paragraph. Now, If you want, if you're ready, I will go back and talk a little bit about the previous paragraph. And I remember last week something about Charlie Wilson was talking about sensing. Do you remember that? What did you say about sensing? Do you remember?

[24:42]

He, his story tonight is that you're not something in addition to sensing, which I agree. We're not something in addition to sensing. And there is a kind of practice which the and which has been taught since that time, of just focusing on the present sensing process. So that in the sensing, there's just the sensing. That's a basic practice. In the sensing, there's just the sensing. And then when in the sensing there's just the sensing, then there's no you in addition to the sensing. then there's no locating yourself in the sensing or outside the sensing. Like here, there, in between with the sensing.

[25:44]

There's just a sensing. So that is a basic type of practice which, from the time of the historical Buddhists, some practitioners were successful at practicing. They actually were able to enter... The Buddha said, train your mind thus, in the seen, there will be just the seen. In other words, train yourself thus, in the sensing there will be just the sensing. And then when in the sensing there is just the sensing, then that will be the end of suffering. So that is a practice, and there is nothing in addition to sensing. However, Like it or not, the story, the plot is thicker than that. This sensing consciousness, which if you work with it in this concentrated way, this simple concentrated way, will be the end of suffering.

[26:50]

It will be the end of the suffering right then. In that moment, there will be the end of suffering. not later, because later would be another additional thing in addition to the sensing. And as I said to Charlie last week, but even though there's nothing in addition to sensing, there's a sense consciousness there, and the sense consciousness is supported by an unconscious. And now our sense consciousness is being defiled by an afflictive thinking. So right while we're able to focus in this way and find the end of suffering, at the same time, defilement's continuing to go on. I'm laying out something on the table now. So I'm proposing to you that the Buddha teaches a way of working with the afflictive consciousness right now and sense consciousness, although

[27:59]

So, if you work with it in this way, offers an opportunity to realize freedom from suffering right now with that. The thing you realized freedom from suffering with is a defiled state of sense consciousness. So, right with that consciousness is also the idea of a separate self. But you can do the same practice with that. in the idea of the separate self, there's just the idea of a separate self. In the idea that there's something in addition to, there will be just the idea of something in addition to sensing. And when it's that way for you, that will be the end of suffering. However, the situation in which this end of suffering occurred was a defiled state. And there's another state simultaneous with it of this unconscious.

[29:05]

And this unconscious does not get totally transformed by a moment of freedom from suffering. In the next moment, another defiled state will arise, probably, unless we're on the verge, on the precipice, on the threshold of Buddhahood. Another defiled state will arise. if it's worked with in the same way, we'll have another moment of freedom from suffering, which seems fine. But it's possible to slip, to remember in this state there's nothing in addition to sensing. And if you really are listening to that teaching and practicing that teaching thoroughly, there's no suffering at that moment. There's no here or there. There's no here and the sound.

[30:07]

There's no here and your friend over there. And there's no in between. And there's no suffering there. When things are like that, there's no suffering. simultaneous where there's not so much suffering, but there's a support for virtually endless defiled states of consciousness. So the next moment, this moment of freedom from suffering, this moment of realizing that in the sensing there's just the sensing, that moment is not a permanent moment, just like ...moments are not permanent moments either. That goes away and the next moment we have another defiled state arising which could be worked with in basically the same way. And if we don't work with it that way, then in that moment we do not realize the end of suffering. We realize if we don't work with it according to various meditation instructions. And the effect of those moments where we're not acting in accord with the belief in self, which would be to say, there is something in addition to, and I'm not going to give that up and just have there be sensing, that kind of state will influence the next moment in a different way than the simple training of the mind into, in the sensing, there's just the sensing.

[31:35]

So the paragraph we had problems with is a paragraph that's talking about that things, that there is, what do you call it, there is a karmic effect going on and there could be coming and rebirth could be coming. And so we're being warned about death and birth, death and rebirth, and death and rebirth. We're being warned about this so that we're not shocked and surprised that we are offered new opportunities to practice meditation with. And we even have a teaching which says, yeah, this is how it works. This is not something to get discouraged.

[32:40]

This is something, again, to practice with and understand how this is, the direction this is going. Also in the working with the previous paragraph and this one, when we treat sensation with the confidence and the teaching that in sensation in a way, in that moment, that way of being with sensation is kind of selfless. Because we're not acting like we think there's something in addition to sensation. So we're actually selflessness. When we hear the teaching of selflessness, or the teaching that there isn't a self in addition to the world, or in addition to... When we hear that teaching, we might feel, someone told me just this morning, that they feel, when they think about the teaching of no self, they feel relief.

[34:10]

They find it fascinating and relieving. And yeah, it can be relieving. And right in the relieving, it's possible that the relieving slips into an escaping or a dissociating. And when the mind goes into using, watch this, when the mind goes into using in the scene or just the scene as a way to get away from In the affliction, there's just the affliction, and when you use that teaching or the teaching that that is a practice of selflessness, if you use it to get away from that, then it's not just the scene and the scene again. But it seems like it because you're dissociating yourself for a little while, and that So the actual relief and the end of suffering and what is now kind of a term now, the relief or the end of suffering that comes from actually concentrating on what's happening

[35:28]

fully in such a way that there's no allegiance to something in addition to that, that selfless practice is to spiritual bypass, to a dissociation from the process. And then again when we get into the idea of the struggle the actually kind of like the discomfort of balancing karmic cause and effect with no self, balancing the teaching that actions have consequence with there's nothing that's independently existing in this process of actions and consequence. To balance those two is

[36:31]

It's the art of meditation. It's the artistic work of liberation. To balance the concern with the process of cause and effect with the selflessness of things, to balance the two, is the art. Because in one sense, if you go over to the selflessness, you kind of say, well, forget the cause and effect. Forget rebirth. I don't have to deal with death and rebirth and how to work with that mess where there seems to be self all over the place. I want to get away from when there's self. Yeah, yeah. And that's another thing. That's another... That's a mind-sense consciousness that wants to get away from the mess of karma and rebirth. But when you hear about karma and rebirth and you feel afflicted, then in feeling afflicted, there will be just feeling afflicted.

[37:44]

And then the selflessness will be engaging what seems to be self. Because this karmic cause and effect is what kind of takes care of, unfortunately or fortunately, it takes care of the sense of self. And it supports this mind which has the idea of a self, and believes in the self, and transmits that to all It's hard to be up for such a messy situation, but this text is saying, let's try. And also understand that there's an art there, because it's the art of understanding how the result of our actions, how they produce our present actions and our future actions.

[38:49]

And again, to study this process in a selfless way without spacing out from it, selflessness. And also to work with this process in a way that we are being selfless with it. So how do you be selfless with the process of transmitting self at the same time away from the transmission of self. So these two paragraphs are actually like setting the stage for this, for the great struggle, the great artistic struggle. And as I said, Laia also carries the sense of the world. So alaya supports the sense of the world and alaya also supports the appropriation of individual sense consciousnesses for the arising of individual active consciousnesses.

[40:10]

So the unconscious apprehends the sense organs to support the conscious sense consciousnesses. ...is the background sense of a world uncolored in by active consciousness. So this unconscious sense of a world and unconscious apprehension of sense organs which supports the arising of active consciousnesses. And this is what supports this process of birth and death. rebirth and death. Could be just birth and death, but it also can be rebirth and death. Rebirth and death, then rebirth, then death, then rebirth. This unconscious conveys the sense of self, conveys the sense of self beyond this life.

[41:19]

It's conveyed beyond our death. Like Shakespeare says, what is it? Whether it is nobler to bear, what? Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing them, end them. To die? To sleep, to dream, there's the rub. The dream's the rub. You die, you sleep, but then there's a dream. What's the dream? It's the dream of the self. So you've got these afflictive states, so should you fight them or should you die?

[42:27]

Should you fight them and end them or should you die? But if you die, then you sleep, but then you dream. There's a transmission of the dream. Before you die, you can fight the afflictive states. And Hamlet does fight them. In the end, after fighting them in all these magnificent ways, before it's time to die and sleep and dream, the next play, he says something like, readiness is all. And readiness is all, again, is sense consciousness is just sense consciousness. we do want to practice that way with our sense consciousnesses. But also, we've got to be careful because you can turn that practice into a dissociation, an unwillingness to deal with the pain of sense consciousness.

[43:40]

Sense consciousness can be sensing pain. When you look in a color, there can be a pain. Also, there can be a pleasure. But when there's a pleasure, there can be a pain about the pleasure. And when you think of ideas, there can be a pain, or there can be a pleasure, or there can be neither. And you can suffer when there's neither, too. Neutral, you can suffer. If it's positive, you can suffer. And if it's negative, no matter what you feel, these states are afflictive. But these states can be transformed. And the way of transforming is, in the sensing, there's just this way of transforming them to say, welcome more information and welcome Dharma to help me, welcome encouragement, Buddhism, Bodhisattvas, to help me work this way. Because working this way is only for this moment. In the next moment, I might not do it. So I vowed to keep studying

[44:45]

even while I'm trying to be present and simple each moment, I also vow to learn all the teachings which help me when I get distracted from being present and simple. And when we get old and losing our hair and our teeth and our memory, are we going to be able to remember in the sensing to just the sensing? Maybe not. Oops, I can't, I remember in the sensing there's sensing, but now I'm not doing that anymore. But in me not doing it anymore, that afflictive state is just that afflictive state, so now I'm doing it again. We need to learn these teachings so that no matter what state we get into, we can practice. But we need, I think, to think about the teaching so that no matter what comes, we can do this simple practice.

[45:48]

So, yeah, so that's the first one-tenth of this chapter. I also feel that if I really think it's delightful when you start asking questions almost immediately. I really like that. However, I think it might be too painful to practice that way. Because it's very hard to focus on what's going on before you even know what's going on. So tonight I said quite a bit, and I think I should do, maybe not this much, but I think I should lay something out before you start asking questions, so that we have some sense of what mind we're focusing on here. So now I'm surprised actually that there has only been one hand raised, but now I welcome your hands.

[46:54]

I'm wondering about this dissociation. Yes, yes. And to me, the word dissociation kind of has a negative valence to it. I mean it has a negative valence, yeah. It's currently the word dissociation is used for a kind of, I think, psychosis. And in spirit, pardon? Yeah, so some people go to a Zen center so that they can dissociate impunity, like dissociate with a good reputation. So, I guess what I'm wondering is, like, as I'm feeling this and using this, is it also, you know, maybe it's a different language, but even just as a stabilization, in a sense, you stop, and then the way you get... or skills that you can go back and see what's happening. Yeah.

[48:10]

So I've been thinking of dissociative laws or a way of stopping without that negative term on it. If you want to use dissociation for a pause, you like the word pause? I actually like stopping. Oh, you want stopping? Okay. If you want to use dissociation as stopping, then what does the stopping mean to you now? What it means to me. Yeah, what do you mean by stopping? Okay, it means stopping means you're not running with the thinking.

[49:13]

So it sounds like, I get the feeling like when you say stopping with the thinking, you mean being on the surfboard with the thinking. Being on the wave of the thinking. Not getting ahead of it or behind it. stop what don't go where don't go ahead or behind yeah so be there that's what you mean by be there Yeah. And when you're being there, watch to see if you're being there to try to get away from being there.

[50:17]

Because you can try to be there to get away from being there, and you can tell the difference between actually being willing to just be there and being there to get ahead or behind. What? Yeah, so you can tell that there's a difference between the two. And to be there is not dissociation. It's not, and it's selfless. And when you start to feel the possibility or even the, yeah, you start to feel some relief because you're willing to be there, And relief, you prefer that over to the way it was before you felt the relief. Then you're not willing to be there again. And then the relief you get from willing to be there turns into dissociation, which is very similar to wanting to get away from there before you even arrived.

[51:25]

or wanting to get ahead or behind it when it comes. So it's quite subtle. But if you don't, if you actually aren't ahead of it or aren't behind it and you're just right there with it, you could say there's a pause. There's a pause in what? There's a pause in affliction. Then when you feel a pause in affliction, if you attach to that, This is a different thing to attach to than you've known before. Now you can attach to a pause. And the pause is coming because of spiritual practice. And then you can use the pause as an escape or as a dissociation. That's why it's called spiritual bypass, because people who practice meditation can use meditation, the bliss of being present, as a way to avoid doing what they just did, which was being willing to be there.

[52:29]

to be willing to stop. And then when relief comes, rather than saying thank you and giving it away, if we hold on to it, then we're dissociating from still being basically in the same place we were before. But this pleasant sensation we're kind of wanting to go with, rather than say thank you and this relief becomes intoxicating if we hold on to it, or worse than intoxicating. But intoxicating is probably good enough, because that can get into the worst. Yes? Could you speak up, please? Could you speak up, please? And it means that the sermon is interpreting reality all the time, making out of everything.

[53:45]

And it seems that I... And when you said that, I thought of something we talked about earlier. What do you think I thought of? Something in me that wants to make something out of everything. What did I talk about earlier that's like that? I'll just tell you. What I thought of is this defiling manas, this defiling thinking that brings a sense of an everything. So you seem to actually have a sense of this defiling mind. And that is really good, if you can actually sense this defiling, this afflictive consciousness that wants to convey self to everything, and then also believes that it has been accomplished.

[54:52]

So if you actually see that, that's very good. That's good to get away from, but actually it's good not to try to get away from it because not being willing to be with it is what will abandon it. Because it is afflictive, and the affliction does kind of partly encourage us to try to go someplace else. But that just feeds this afflictive process. But being willing to be there with it, like being aware enough to see it, and then be willing to be there with this thing you see, this is the path of abandoning that mind, that manas, that afflictive, that kliṣṭa manas. it makes you feel defeated it doesn't make you feel so young it doesn't make you feel as though spring has sprung it makes you feel defeated it makes you feel defeated that's the thing that gets blamed for making you feel defeated so now

[56:07]

that you've noticed this thing that makes you feel defeated. Can you be good friends with that thing that makes you feel defeated? And that's the thing, the thing, the thing is unbeatable. You can't beat it. If you beat it, you feed it. If you pound on it, it flares up. It grows on unfriendliness. It causes pain. So if we can be friendly and gracious to this thing, once we notice it, so again, the good news is you've spotted this troublemaker, this insurmountable, unbeatable, defiling mind, and if you can be really kind to it, it can be abandoned. So it is simple, but it's hard to be kind to something that's causing so much trouble. It's hard to be kind to it. But as far as I know, that's the recommendation of the bodhisattva path, is to be kind to the defiling mind.

[57:17]

And to be kind to the defiled minds. So again, manas is the defiler, and the ordinary states of consciousness are the defiled. So we need to be kind to the defiler and the defiled. We need to be kind to the afflictor and the afflicted. Boston Blackie was a friend to those who had no friends, but he wasn't friendly to the people who caused trouble to the people who had no friends. So the Bodhisattva is friends to those who have no friends, the afflicted, the miserable, the downtrodden, and he's also friendly to the oppressed, defilers, the insurmountable, unbeatable, powers of ignorance. And both have to be cared for, apparently. And that transforms the support of the great unconscious which carries the results of past defilement and past unkindness to defilement and past defiling and past unkindness to defiling are all there waiting to be transformed.

[58:36]

by being kind to what we're... How wonderful that this huge ocean of karmic effect can be transformed completely by being kind to our moment-by-moment conscious mind. But there's more than just being kind to the unconscious mind. We have to understand that this conscious mind, I say, in order to understand the actual creative process, we have to understand not just the conscious mind, but we have to understand that this conscious mind comes from the past, is supported by the past. That we have to work with the past in order to realize of the creative process. It isn't just by being kind to the present. It's also received in the teaching that the past is here influencing this thing we're being kind to. And that kindness then gets transmitted to the past in the present.

[59:38]

Kindness to the present consciousness transforms the past in the future, and also transforms the past right now. Yes? I'd like to go back to the point of being present and slipping into spiritual bypassing. Yeah. I just wondered from what you said, the difference to me, like, when you be present and then you hold on being present and you miss that you're holding on to it, That is what you call spiritual bypassing. But you are not present really anymore because if you would be present trying to hold on to this state, you would not be spiritual bypassing. Is that right? Because that's just where you are trying to hold on.

[60:43]

Could you hold what you said and say it again after I say something? Yes. So you get this nice thing of relief from affliction when you're willing to be settled with what's happening right now. When you get this relief, you have to look and see, am I willing to settle with unrelief? Right now I'm relieved. But is there any tendency to not want to go back to my little grass shack where I was suffering? If you notice a taint or a tendency to like, oh, now I'm getting rewarded for being settled, and I don't want to go back to that kind of thing, then that's it. Now I'll ask you a question. Because you got what I just said, right? Yeah, I got what you said, but I would answer like being present is being present is, oh, this question just comes up, which you just mentioned.

[61:45]

Yeah, right. Okay. Yeah. And I'll see if I got what you said. If I am willing to be here without adding myself to even being here, if I'm willing for there, if I'm willing, if there's a willingness to just be here without adding myself to being here, then I get a reward called the end of suffering for right now. Now, in that state of end of suffering, if I hold to that a little bit, that would look like kind of not wanting to go back to where I used to be willing to be, where I got rewarded. Now, I think what you're saying is, if when I notice that I have this tendency and I'm just present with that, then I agree. So when you notice spiritual bypass, that's as good a thing to be present with as just simply having pain in your butt or having fear.

[62:54]

It's a perfectly good afflicted state to be present with. I'm warning you about afflictive states that you may not have seen yet. I'm warning you about states that only successful meditators get into. If you're unwilling to be present, you're not going to get relief and so you're not going to have the problem of attaching to the relief. But if you're successful, then you're in danger of attaching to it and not being willing to go back to your less developed place. But it's possible to be present and get relief and then not have a preference for relief. And then you get relief again. and then not have a present for that. And then sometimes your relief comes in the form of another afflictive state of consciousness. You're relieved from the relief by getting an offering of another afflictive state to relate to in a way that will .

[64:00]

Having relief isn't what transforms our past. What transforms our past is the way we dealt with what's happening, the way we dealt with afflictive states. That's what transforms our past. And along with that comes a temporary encouragement and relief. If we then attach to that, that will again transform our past into making it harder to not attach to future states or avoid future states. Did you follow that? But there's no state that isn't an opportunity to be present, including the state of, I don't want to go back there anymore. I was willing to be back there for a moment, and that was good, and I got rewarded for it, but I don't want to go back. But now I'm willing to be a guy who doesn't want to go back. So now I'm here, because I'm not back there.

[65:03]

I'm with this, this avoiding of my past. I wish to avoid my past. That's my present. And I'm not avoiding my past when I admit that. And because of my past, I want to avoid my past. And occasionally because of my past, And occasionally supported by my past. And what's my past? My past is the storehouse consciousness is my past. Based on my past, an afflicted state arises and I have to be with it. And that's the bodhisattva's main practice. And that transforms the whole thing. And the bodhisattva is in no hurry. The bodhisattva wants to transform as soon as possible. But without hurrying, because hurrying, again, is a little bit of a, you know, not willing to be here.

[66:12]

But we can notice when we're hurrying and be kind to the hurrying. And then we're here, being a wiggle wart. Do you know the word wiggle wart? A wiggle wart is somebody who wiggles. We have a lot of them at Zen Center. But the reason we have wiggle warts at Zen Center is because we sit still. People who are running around are not wiggle warts. I mean, they are, but they don't notice it. But if you sit still, you notice there's a wiggle wart here. I am willing to be a wiggle wart. And when you're willing completely to be a wiggle word, there's no wiggle word. And then the next moment comes when you might again be a wiggle word and catch yourself again, and then there's no suffering. Or you might not be a wiggle word, and the moment might come and you say, hey, I'm, yeah, I'm willing to be this suffering person.

[67:18]

Or I'm willing to be this person. So this book is, these teachings are lots of encouragements about, you know, lots of reasons why it's not a good idea to try to be somebody other than who you are. You know, sophisticated refutations of trying to think fancy, like not being yourself. And although it's fancy to not be yourself, it's a lot easier to do the fancy things than do the simple thing of being a suffering person that you are. So again, as Elena said, it sounds simple. It is really hard. It's easy to do fancy stuff, like be somebody else, like be a great yogi who has escaped being an ordinary person. This is a teaching for ordinary people. Bodhisattvas are ordinary people Who are willing to be ordinary people and who are vowing to be ordinary people.

[68:25]

And part of the reason they vow is because they've heard that that's the vow. And they've heard that teachings which say that's really where it's at. And anything else is not going to work. And if you try anything else, this book explains it. and also explains how if you don't try anything other than being friends to your afflictive consciousness, how that works. And that's called the Buddha way. And it's long and infinitely challenging. But the other way is long and infinitely challenging too. It's just that that way goes on forever and the Buddha way ends at Buddhahood and it's all over. So both ways are hard. And one way is all beings, and the other way is just endless suffering. So we're not going to get out of difficulty, right? It's going to be difficult no matter which way you go.

[69:29]

And this week was different from last week. And this week. So I hope you come again. Thank you very much. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way.

[70:03]

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