So I have a simple picture of the practice of the way of awakening, the practice of the way of the Buddhas. Simple picture. Which I talked about recently at a talk that was given from Green Gulch. And the simple practice is, to sit or stand or walk at the center of all living beings, which is also the center of all hardship and suffering. The basic practice of being present and upright at the center of all beings, settling into our seat where we are right now, sitting at the center of all beings, which is sitting.

[01:21]

And all Buddhas have sat, and all Buddhas will sit. We too can sit in that same center. Each of us is already there, and we can practice that. That's the first part of the practice. Accept, receive, your seat in the middle of the universe and practice being there. The next part of the practice is once seated, once situated, settled where we are, now, then,

[02:25]

Enter the practice of generosity. The practice of generosity at the seat that each of us has right now. Practice giving and receiving and being a gift. So in short, the practice I'm proposing as the Buddha way is to sit where we are, to be where we are, at the center of all beings, to accept that that's where we are, to open to all that, and then practice generosity together with all that. Practice generosity with all beings. In the chant that I just recited, and some of you may have joined me, it says that when we meet karma, we will renounce worldly affairs.

[03:46]

So when we sit, when we are here at the center of all beings, and we are practicing with all beings, practicing generosity with all beings, we will give up worldly affairs. And what are worldly affairs? Worldly affairs are being distracted from the practice. Worldly affairs is forgetting where we are. and forgetting the beings at which we sit in the center of. Forgetting that, being distracted from our seat at the center, is a worldly affair. And then also forgetting to practice generosity with everyone we meet,

[04:56]

forgetting to give ourselves and receive ourselves, to give ourselves to others and receive others, and be a gift to others, and see others as a gift. Worldly affair is to forget generosity. But if we confess and see others as a gift, this is returning to our seat and re-entering the reality of giving. Now each of us has some suffering, some hardship, which comes and goes in many ways. We also have not exactly hardships, but sufferings from what people do to us, suffering for what we do to others, and suffering for what we see others doing to each other.

[06:05]

The insults and unkindnesses are even more difficult than hardships. And also to see other people's hardships, people in famine, who are living in war, people who are living in places where people are shooting up people they don't even know. All this suffering is around us, and the Buddha way is to sit in the middle of it, generosity with it. And the generosity, again, that we're talking about, that I'm talking about, is a generosity which has, we say, three wheels. One wheel is giving. The other wheel is receiving. And the other wheel is the gift.

[07:07]

So in practicing with all beings... We are a donor. We are a generous giver. And we are also a receiver. And we are also a gift. And the practice of generosity, at its maturity, we say the three worlds are pure. Or the three wheels are pure. Or the three wheels are empty. Empty means empty of any independent existence of each other. There's no giving without receiving. There's no receiving without giving. And there's no giving or receiving without gift. And so on. A gift without receiving and giving. These three things, there's no fixed position. I'm not just a giver of these words.

[08:10]

I'm also a receiver of these words. These words are given to me. You are given to me. I am given to you. And I give, and I'm a gift. And you're a gift to me and each other. Getting distracted from this generosity, this multifaceted generosity with no fixed position, an ungraspable process of giving, which is an ungraspable, inconceivable process of liberation and peace. Forgetting it is a worldly affair, which many abandon. occasionally do forget. Now we have the opportunity to remember, to train at remembering this giving.

[09:11]

This giving is the essence of the Buddha way, which is practiced at the center of all. And also we use the expression direct transmission, face-to-face. So that's another way to sit at the center of beings and enter directly, face-to-face transmission. One of the terms that the ancestor Ehe uses for this generosity of our tradition, this generosity of face-to-face transmission, the actual term he uses is face-giving, menju, face-giving.

[10:19]

Menju is short for giving face, giving your face, and receiving a face, and being a face. Again, to forget this is a worldly affair. When we meet someone, we have the opportunity to remember that we are giving our face to them, and they are giving their face to us, and we are receiving their face. This is the reality of awakening, the face-to-face giving. And again, the process is ungraspable, and we're not in one part of it. We are the whole thing. We are this generosity. That is who we really are.

[11:22]

It seems to me when I look at the stories of the ancestors, All the stories seem to be stories of giving, of so-called teachers, teachers meeting students, students meeting students. These meetings where they give their face to each other. They may or may not refer to Buddhist teachers, I remember one story of a monk meeting Wei Cho, who met the great teacher Fa Yan in China.

[12:29]

And Wei Cho said to Fa Yan, what is Buddha? He gave his face to Fa Yan. Fa Yan gave his face to Hui Zhou. And Hui Zhou gave his words. What is Buddha? And Fa Yan said, You are Hui Zhou. Just as a face meeting that happened 1,200 years ago that I'm remembering. One time, a great teacher named ... was about to die. He was very sick. And I think the director of his monastery came to see him and said, Teacher, how is your venerable health?

[13:34]

gave himself, gave his face to the teacher. And the teacher gave his face to the director. And the director asked a question, gave the teacher a question. How is your venerable health? And the teacher said, Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Every time we meet someone, really, we're meeting a sun-faced Buddha and a moon-faced Buddha. The moon-faced Buddha lives a very short time. When we meet, when we give each other our face, we give each other a face, a Buddha face, which lives a very And we also give each other a Buddha face that lives a long time, a sun-faced Buddha.

[14:49]

This is how it was when the great teacher Matsu was dying, and this is how it is today. We are meeting. I am giving my face to you, and you are giving your face to me. Where practice, or I should say, we are sitting at the center of the world of all suffering beings, and we are giving each other, we are mutually giving each other our faces. Also this term, face-giving, that word, that Chinese character for face, which the Japanese pronunciation is men, it not only means mask, so we are also mask-giving.

[16:06]

We are giving each other our mask. our persona. At the same time that we give our mask, we also give our face. That's not our mask. We give both a mask and a face. And we have to fully give the mask and fully receive the mask in order to awaken to the face. which is there before our parents were born, the face which is always there, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. And again, we sometimes forget this face. We need to give the mask the superficial face and receive the superficial face.

[17:10]

in order to realize the true face and the Buddha way at the same time. So many Zen stories are arising in my mind which demonstrate this wonderful giving that the ancestors practiced from their seat at the center of all beings.

[18:16]

You know, I could go on and tell many more stories of this meeting that has gone on and that is still going on. This endless generosity, this endless practice of giving, receiving, and being a gift. But I also might have told enough stories, and if you need any more, let me know. I have, you know, not I have, I don't have these stories. ...here and talk to you, and they enter my consciousness. From the great ocean of suffering, they come and enter my consciousness. So I now welcome you to be a gift, and receive gifts. to offer your expression. And also, I particularly would like to invite those who have not given us your questions in the past or who are slow to do so.

[19:44]

I especially invite you to come forth and show us your face today. Please. Kate and Paul page. Good morning. Good morning. I'm waiting to see your face. I can hear your voice. But I'm seeing your face. Let me start speaking. Now I see it. Hello. I just wanted to say what a pleasure it's been to be able to participate at KnowAbode via Zoom. And this is the final Zoom meeting.

[20:45]

And it's been a great gift. in this household to be able to be part of it for the last months. It's one of the joys that has come out of the pandemic. So thank you. I'm glad to hear that. And I think there will be further meetings from Noah Bode on Zoom. Great. In addition to the possibility of starting in-person one-day sittings. So we might have two events a month or more. And so for the time being, the Zoom meetings will continue. Great. Thank you very much. You're welcome. We look forward to them. Thanks for your expression. Vivian. Good morning. Good morning. And I'm just feeling called to see you.

[21:53]

Oh, no, for you to see me. Because I think I see you all the time with closed. So I also, I have been seeing this film about Dogen that is on YouTube. And this is my third time watching this movie. And your words about the gift, it really struck me in terms of technology, how in technology, so very few things are free. And usually if we receive something, something is going to be taken from us that we don't even know. But this movie that's on YouTube, it has no commercials. It has no weird things, you know, that happen in the middle of a free offering.

[22:59]

That came to me. Thank you. I just got the idea from you of having commercials during my videos on YouTube. Secret. Like promotions. Yeah. Thank you, Vivian. I think that's neat. Hello, Christian. Hello, Rev. Eileen, could I have a split screen with Christian? Yes, we're trying. It's happening.

[24:01]

Okay. Can I have Christian back? Let me know when I arrive. There you are. Oh, good. Now we got it. Thank you. Nice. Thank you, Rev. You're welcome, Christian. So I would just like to offer my face. I've been following teachings mostly through your website, and I'm here at San Francisco Center today, and I just wanted to offer my face. Thank you for giving me your face. Peter. Hello? Can you see me? I can hear you and I can see again, Mio. Yeah, that's... I wonder... There I am.

[25:04]

Now I see Peter. Thank you. Thank you very much, Rob. I've been listening to you and seeing your face for many years now and realized that I haven't given you my face, so I just wanted to... Way back at Tassajara, when you and I think Stephen Harper were doing mountains and rivers, and that was one of my first introductions to you. And then many times at Green Gulch, I've been lucky to hear you speak. And you're a precious treasure for us. It really helps these reminders to locate ourselves in the middle of all beings, in the middle of all the suffering. and to still hold the joy in the midst of all the suffering. So I just wanted to thank you for all of this and share my face as well. I wish your face was a little better illuminated, but I'll take a dark... Oh, yeah, that's... Yeah, now I see you.

[26:08]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Arshad. Hello, Red. Hello, Vajra. I also wanted to show my face and receive my face and your face. And I also wanted to thank you for the reminder that the practice is sitting upright from hardship and suffering, not to distance oneself from hardship and suffering. And for me, that's, despite all my experience, that's still something I catch myself And I wonder if you could say something about how this practice allows us to be present in the midst of suffering without being overwhelmed by it or crushed by it or overly distressed by it or something like that, perhaps. Playful with it, but still respectful of it.

[27:13]

so I'm proposing that we are sitting at the center whether we admit it or remember it or not. And if I'm sitting at the center and I don't remember that, I am more uncomfortable than if I remember it. So I'm sitting at the center and I'm, you could say overwhelmed, but one way today, the way overwhelmed comes to me, I'm experiencing the suffering in a way that I turn away from it. I'm not really overwhelmed. I'm just like, I just don't want to deal with it. So being overwhelmed is kind of like, it's overwhelming me. I don't want it. You're, you know, I'm in danger if I open to this. And if I do, not so much the overwhelm, but if I do turn away from it, I'm going to feel more uncomfortable than if I remember where I am.

[28:39]

For me, oftentimes when I'm feeling uncomfortable, I remember where I am. And that helps me be at the center. It helps me allow that I'm there. And when I allow that I'm there, I'm still in the middle of suffering, but I'm more comfortable because I'm more truly where I am. And then if I feel overwhelmed, then the question is, okay, do I want to get away from this? And that question, again, I think could help me remember that I'm at the center. And again, I think I feel better questioning whether I want to get away than just acting on that impulse. So I think when to say to sit at the center without being overwhelmed, I think at the center, the fear of being overwhelmed is around us.

[29:53]

That's part of what's surrounding us, is the fear that what's surrounding us will overwhelm our fears. That's one of our difficulties. And the most peaceful, most comfortable place to be is at the center. And trying to be in the suburbs more uncomfortable adds to all the, it's trying to be there is another difficulty, which I want to accept, but not actually like go there, just realize, oh, that's part of what's surrounding me is the wish to get out of here. And since we actually are there, it's therefore easier to be there than to try to not be there, right? But we think we have this option. Thinking that we have option is one of the forms of suffering that surrounds us. Right. And we also see it in other people.

[30:58]

And so how to remember that those options are actually things to give our faces to, and they're giving their face to us. But first of all, we have to be there with them to wake up to that. That all these impulses to run away are really sentient beings to meet and have Dharma transmission with. Thank you, that's helpful. Thank you, Vaja. Thank you very much. Auf Wiedersehen. Rich. Rich. You're muted. Good to see you again, Rep. Good to see you.

[31:59]

Rich? Yes. Okay. When I watch the news and all the suffering, it's very difficult to stay at the center of the suffering, and I feel overwhelmed. And recently, They've discovered cancer in my colon, and I'm trying to stay at the center of my own suffering. And on Thursday, I'll be operated on. And the term staying at the center of suffering and showing my face today is very helpful to me. Thank you. I pray that you are able to sit at the center of all this suffering. We all are praying for that.

[33:02]

Thank you. And then you will be able to practice giving at the center. Dodie. Good morning, Rob. Good morning, Green. Thanks for remembering my name and my face. I mentioned to you a few times, and I'm going to bring it up again today, that I'm I'm really interested in this practice of confession and repentance. And I feel like when you mentioned this morning, if we confess that we were distracted, we enter the reality of giving and sitting at our seat.

[34:04]

And I was wondering if you would consider illustrating that with a story of some kind. Okay. First of all, a slight. If we notice we're distracted and confess it. And also repent means feel some sorrow about being distracted from being present. It's not that then we can return. And repenting is the practice. So when I confess that I was distracted, I am doing the practice. When I say I'm sorry, that is the practice that I was distracted from. So if I say, oh, I was trying to get away from the center. And I'm sorry that I tried to get away from the center because I really know that that's silly.

[35:08]

I can't get away from my place. But I'm still sorry that I'm a silly boy. It's not that then I can practice. That is the practice. That is the practice, confession and repentance. And then that being the practice, I am now demonstrating my... What do you call it? My... my sitting at my seat, and I'm demonstrating giving. And then repentance, and receive my seat, which I forgot. And one story that comes to my mind, one of the two stories I told earlier. The monk meets the teacher, and the monk says, that's his confession, that he thinks Buddha is something other than him. I mean to say that he has been distracted and he thinks Buddha is something other than him, being him sitting at the center of all beings.

[36:23]

Buddha is sitting at the center of all beings. He is sitting at the center of all beings, but he's gotten distracted from that. So he asked the teacher, what is Buddha? And the teacher doesn't say, you are Buddha. He doesn't say, you are Buddha. He says, you are Huichol. Buddha is you being you. And that monk forgot. Huichol forgot. He got distracted from being himself. And that's my story. Actually, Hue Cho wasn't distracted. He was just putting on this, he was just giving us this story. He knew that Buddha was Hue Cho being Hue Cho. It's not that Buddha is green. Buddha is you are green. Buddha is green being green. And if you forget that Buddha is green being green, then

[37:25]

you can confess and say, I'm sorry, I forgot that Buddha is me sitting here being green. And I'm sorry about that. And I understand. Now I'm back here being me. I didn't remember that. So thank you for putting that into words. Okay. You didn't. Great. So that's a story. Thanks. Lei, are you there?

[38:28]

Is it me? Yeah. Oh, OK. I'm not sure it's my turn yet. Sorry about that. Earlier than their turn. I don't know how to start. See, I am distracted. I didn't anticipate. Okay. So let me come back. I now, now, now let's sit here with this compassion about holding myself in me with your prayer of And there's also something constantly came to me that why I'm so overwhelmed or want to walk away from the center.

[39:43]

And then I just, during my practice, I just started to discover that is it just mental or is it actually a body? Because this body, every cell has so much memory. You know, I don't even know. And you just don't know. Someday you just bump into some people and something has been triggered. You know, I think today this environment is sort of like a trauma trigger. everybody's trauma and we don't even know it's deeply buried in our subconscious right a liar and then uh so i i'm curious that rap um in your practice this such this long time besides mental by the way i think this guy is really powerful i think this guy is both and then and also the the the how to say, um, the trouble, but there's other important, um, dimension, which is actually, it's about this body.

[40:58]

It's not just this brain, this mind is, you know, in my hands and my, um, my feet, you know, I don't know. I don't know how, um, I can be ensured that, um, Maybe, you know, you're triggered again. And then, of course, always remember that stillness, always come back, come back. But still, sometimes it's just still overwhelmed, be overwhelmed. So I actually talk about body. So if you can offer some insight about this body, I believe this body and mind, they're together. But, you know, when Dogen talk about helping, you know, I agree, our practice is about dropping layer by layer, dropping our body, dropping our body. But I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I mean, there's just a very long process. Thank you. So I hear that you have this thought, which is supported by your body.

[42:07]

And the thought is, I'm not sure. I don't know. No, I'm saying that to you. Okay. You told me that you said, I'm not sure. You said that. I don't have my language. You said that one of the last things you said was, I'm not sure. Okay. Did you hear yourself say that? No. You said, I'm not sure, I'm not sure. Okay. And I'm saying that's a thought. The thought is, I'm not sure. And that thought is something that you said to me, to us. And that thought was in your consciousness. And you just said, okay. And that's another thought that you expressed in words that was in your consciousness. And okay comes into your consciousness and it comes from your body and your unconscious. So I often quote the writer D.H.

[43:12]

Lawrence who said, this is what I know about my conscious self. It's in the middle of a dark forest and sometimes deities come in from the forest into the clearing and then they go back. So you have and I have a conscious self, and it's surrounded by the dark body and dark unconscious, which includes other beings. And from this unconscious comes our conscious thought, come from the body, from the unconscious process into our consciousness. And in our consciousness, we have also teachings which are also coming into the consciousness from the surrounding dark forest of our body.

[44:17]

And some of the things that come into our mind, the teachings of be kind to the things that appear in consciousness. And they come from all of our past relationships and karma. All of them come from the consequences of that into our consciousness. Then there's a response to them in consciousness. And that transforms the surrounding body and mind. And what I'm saying is, in consciousness, be willing to take your seat in the middle of this dark forest of all beings. And there, practice generosity. And in the generosity with what comes into consciousness, there will be dropping away. The body and mind will drop away. In other words, the consciousness and the mind will together be released.

[45:24]

May I? I believe there's a step. It's called discernment there. You know, and then because you're still unconsciously grabbing those and whatever, and then be able to release, there is a critical discernment, but not judgment, though, right? It could be a judgment. It could be a discernment. The thing is, with the judgment, to be with the discernment, while you're practicing generosity. Being generous with discernments, then discernments are then turning points. Judgments are turning points. So we do have judgments and discernments coming up. Pivot into wisdom when we practice generosity with them. But that was the, I just feel like eventually something is going to melting away.

[46:33]

Melting, right? It evaporates. Originally it stayed, but eventually I'm just evaporated into vapor or something. What evaporates, in a sense, in the practice of giving, what evaporates is stinginess. what evaporates because attachment isn't we really can't attach to anything and when we practice giving we see that we can't attach to the position of being giver or receiver separately so by practicing giving with whatever is coming into our consciousness there is a kind of melting or evaporating of resistance to this process And if we notice we're resisting the process of the generosity, then we say, I feel like there's some stinginess here, and I'm sorry.

[47:37]

And that, again, is giving, which frees us from being stuck in resisting the process of giving. And not even grasping the melting. Not even grasping the evaporation. It's like illusion does seem to evaporate in the midst of the practice of giving. I feel like I can't pick up any word. I stopped doing that. Okay. You're welcome. Carol. May addressed my question. So when she found her seat, she spoke for me.

[48:38]

Great. So I want to explore generosity. And now I know that what I do is confess generosity. that I don't know generosity in many ways, that my generosity is always tainted with some either stinginess or a grasping or a desire within my gifts or generosity. And do you have any further ways of working with the non-pure practice of generosity? But there is a way. And generosity is working generously with stinginess. But that doesn't mean when I say that, that I know what generosity is. I just said that. And I kind of, I trust that.

[49:43]

I trust that if I notice some generosity sort of in my consciousness, about myself or I see it in others. Generosity works with that appearance of stinginess. So is the generosity separate from this working with the stinginess? No. The generosity is living with stinginess. It's a way of relating to stinginess. It's not something all by itself. And so to apply generosity to stinginess, The generosity is not separate from the stinginess. The stinginess is a gift to the generosity. Every stinginess is a gift which I give. Go ahead. So does the stinginess actually call generosity into being?

[50:50]

Do they co-arise? They co-arise, yeah. There's no stinginess without generosity. There would be no way to be stingy without generosity. Stinginess is not generosity, right? There's no you without not you. But that doesn't mean I know what you are because... You are also not you, and not you is a pretty big thing. Same with generosity. Stinginess is a pretty big thing because stinginess, there's lots of kinds of stinginess, and generosity works with all of them. Yeah. And each individual type of stinginess, there's a generosity for that particular stinginess. And this is how the three wheels of giving work with everything, including generosity, including stinginess. Generosity that doesn't have any stinginess around is, you know, a child's version of giving.

[52:02]

We can start with that and be generous with that immature version. And then practicing generosity with an immature version of generosity, which excludes stinginess. But great generosity, all the kinds of stinginess that there are in the universe. Thank you. You're welcome. Aloha. Oh, there, there. Now I'm unmuted. Oh, good morning, Rep. Good morning. You're muted again. It said unmuted. Okay, there I go.

[53:02]

Now. you can hear me i am i i'm i'm always happy to see your face that's oh no he's saying hi um i have i was thinking as you were talking about um that saying came to me of um giving and receiving are one in truth, that it's the same in some way, to give and receive, that when you're giving to us, we're receiving from you. And to be a gift. And to be a gift. Yeah. What I notice for myself sometimes is that the feeling of generosity is, is there. And then sometimes I'm feeling like I'm, I'm holding back and, um, um, um, holding back from, uh,

[54:04]

like fear of being judged or something. Like if I was going to do something and tape it or lead something, a practice, and then I find myself kind of holding back from wanting to just fully be out there and sharing. And so I wonder if you could say something about that. Yeah, well, I think you're just talking about stinginess, right? I guess I just never thought of that word. Holding back is another word for. Yeah. So being generous with holding back. Now you're practicing generosity again. Here I am. I'm a person who is holding back. That's who I am. I'm like here. I'm like totally holding back. Here I am. I'm giving you this holding back person. Please take him and take him for a walk. This is my gift. I'm a holding back person. I'm a stingy person. And to really, you know, really be generous towards my own holding back.

[55:11]

And if other people are holding back, be generous and let them be a person who's holding back. And also, you might notice, maybe they're afraid. Be generous with their fear, too. Yeah, but whatever you see, welcome it. Every... receive it as a gift and be a receiver of it as a gift and also give yourself to the one holding back, receive generosity from the universe who receives you as a gift, receives a holding back. So I can see that as a gift. And even before you see it as a gift, you can remember the teaching that it is. And then you wonder, how is it a gift? Yeah, would you say more about that, please?

[56:12]

How can I shift my awareness? And to see that if I'm holding, see, I have a judgment that if I'm holding back, say I'm holding back a gift or something that I wanted to share, that then I would judge myself as not being generous enough because I'm not. by sharing something like the Dharma or something like that, that if I'm holding it back, then I'm not being generous. So how do I be generous? So you're saying I need to have love and compassion for myself for when I'm holding back. But then you're saying that holding back is... Explain the last part again. There's no not holding back. There's no not holding back. Without holding back. When you're holding back, there's also not holding back.

[57:19]

Stinginess without generosity. So when you're holding back, the not holding back, the generosity is there already. And you can remember that. Remembering it promotes you remembering it. When I'm holding back, that's a gift to me to remember not holding back. But not pushing holding back away, just remembering. Because everything is in this process of generosity. Holding backs in the process, not holding backs in the process. And we're talking now to train our body and mind to remember generosity. Remember it no matter what is going on.

[58:23]

Thank you. You're welcome. And I'm so grateful for you. I'm grateful for you too. Lando. Lando. Good morning, Brad. Welcome, Lando. Thank you. I'm answering a call to share my face. Thank you. Trepidation, I might add. So you're sharing your face and you're also sharing your trepidation. Yes. Yes. Thank you for giving me your trepidation. You're welcome. Thank you for inviting. The word interesting because I noticed that once you put stinginess out there next to generosity, I can clearly see that there are still a lot of investments in stinginess.

[59:36]

Stinginess is... So, when you make an investment and hold on to it, it's stinginess. Yeah. But when you make an investment... But you can also make an investment as a gift. They turn on each other. Investment and giving. Stinginess and investment. Investment, non-investment. Investment, giveaway investment. What advice would you give to people To me, when I say that I recognize the importance of generosity and I see the. I can see the benefit of generosity and I would like to be generous, I aspire to be a generous person.

[60:47]

Yet at a deep emotional level, there is. There are so much has been invested in holding back. So much. And not being generous, but in being. sort of uh protective of the self right for whatever reason um i really feel that i have to break through several layers of conditioning get to the generosity that i aspire to even in answering the call to share my face today it it took some doing actually So there is sort of on a conceptual level, superficial level, there is this aspiration, but it hasn't really cut to the quick yet. It hasn't really met the fire that I feel for practice in general.

[61:54]

I feel that I'm really putting myself around When it comes to sharing my face, that's where the fear comes in. And that's where I, there's a lot of hesitation there. Does that make sense? Do you say fear and hesitation? Yeah. So if you want to learn practicing generosity,

[63:05]

those are two particular opportunities to practice it, fear and hesitation. Fear? Welcome it. Hesitation? Those are specifics. And those are both opportunities to remember Those are both calling you, actually, to remember generosity. The hesitation and the fear want to be met with generosity. So when they arise, they are particular opportunities for generosity, to welcome them, and to realize that you received those gifts, and you also can give a gift to them by welcoming them.

[64:10]

So they were given to you, and now you give welcoming to them. You let them be. Oh, they were, the hesitation was the habitation to give. You unhesitatingly, maybe, practice giving towards the hesitation to give. You say, oh, yeah, right. I just hesitated to give. And now I'm like really being generous with my hesitation to give. And the unhesitating giving is never separate from the hesitating giving. Because giving is the operative word? Because giving is reality. And you can use to operate the reality machine. The machine of generosity, the machine of reality, is giving, receiving, and gift, and not getting stuck in any... And here comes a gift called hesitation.

[65:23]

Here comes a gift called fear. Welcome the fear. Welcome the hesitation. I recognize the getting stuck part because there's another gift getting stuck. Yes. And, and that's, that's a one relatively well, I would say, because when I feel stuck, then I know that there's only one thing left to do and that's to surrender or to answer the call in this case, to share my face. And it's easier to do that for me when I recognize that I'm stuck because I'm with my back against the wall and there's nowhere to go. um in meeting fear or in meeting hesitation i still feel i'm still thinking there's still there's still an opportunity for me to think to think my way out of it and to negotiate with the fear to negotiate with the hesitation so if there's any fear if there's any negotiation going on that's another gift Every negotiation in your mind is a gift.

[66:32]

And it's also a gift that's calling for a gift. It's a gift to you calling for you to be generous towards the negotiation. Then I'm out of excuses. Then I'm out of excuses. I don't know what Then I am out of excuses. You're out of excuses, did you say? Yeah, to be stingy with welcoming. You're temporarily out of excuses for being kind. Temporarily out of excuses. Yeah, let's put a disclaimer on it. Thank you. You're welcome. Oscar. Oscar. Hello, Reb. Thank you very much for this teaching. And when you introduced the subject of generosity again, my heart expanded because it took me back to my early sittings with you and how that teaching of the

[67:59]

and of Donna in particular, have been so influential in my life. By influential, I mean I'm reminded often about how I'm not generous. So I would like to thank you for this teaching over the years. And I'd like to provide another version of the question that I've been hearing. I guess I'm asking for another gift, yet another gift from you. How does one be generous? How can I be generous when I am actually trying to get something? I want to see something happen. Um, I want to cause some change that some people are not, are not, um, are not, uh, think differently about, don't want to see change.

[69:14]

Um, so there's some, you know, you could say there's a conflict difference. Um, yes. Given. is the way we become free of a life of trying to get things. But the way that giving freezes from a life of trying to get is by being venerous to boys who can't possibly get. Can't possibly get, part of our natural, all of our animal existence. It's natural. However, we sometimes get trapped in this inquisitive mode. Generosity is to free us from our natural greediness and inquisitiveness.

[70:18]

It frees us by being plied to the getting. The getting, say, is an impurity in the giving. However, it's also the opportunity. The impurity of the practice is the opportunity for the practice. The inquisitive or the getting attention is an opportunity for generosity. Well, if I reach over to get this glass of water, I might notice that I'm doing this to get the cup. Then I practiced generosity to get the cup. But then I noticed, oh, I could just as well reach for the cup as a gift, as a gift to the cup, as a gift to myself, even though the cup is empty now. It's an opportunity for giving.

[71:22]

And if I was really thirsty, I might really try to get the cup even before I remember it. Then it's the opportunity for me to remember, oh, I was really greedy there. And I really let myself be that greedy guy. So in that way, without getting rid of our natural habit of trying to get, we can practice giving before it goes away. So we say, The horse arrives before the donkey leaves. The generosity of giving arrives before the donkey disappears. Giving comes and meets the getting, frees the getting. Because we tend to get stuck in getting. We don't tend to get stuck in generosity. You might get stuck in getting an idea of generosity.

[72:27]

You might get stuck in the idea of generosity. And then again, after you're stuck, you apply generosity. So if I still have an idea of generosity, I'm not stuck in it. Is stuck a result of clinging to an idea? It's synonymous. Getting stuck is synonymous with clinging to an idea. Getting stuck is synonymous with clinging. But clinging is an opportunity for generosity. Right. And bringing generosity to clinging, we realize that the clinging is never separate from generosity, and we're free of it. And we're free of generosity, too, because generosity is... Empty. And the generosity melts the clinging, and the clinging melts the generosity.

[73:31]

Generosity is willing to be melted. We may have some resistance to being melted. You can help the clinging melt. Thank you very much, Sam. Thank you for having me. Hello. I'm surprised that it's my turn. And I remember somebody gave in a speech while you were giving your Dhamma talk before. And I wanted to share that little story maybe or thing that came into my mind.

[74:38]

And thank you for the 90 or more faces that meet here tonight. and the 90 or more invisible beings that need I'm happy to maybe know that they are the faces or think or imagine that they are the faces and the invisible beings behind the faces. Thank you for acknowledging The face behind the mask. The invisible face behind the mask. Well, we have Genmyo.

[75:54]

Why don't I just go ahead? So I'm in the boat with my friend Landau, the trepidation, fear and trepidation boat every time I have to do something like this. So, but here I am. Now that I know I have a friend in the boat, I feel better. So first off, I just wanted to say how grateful I am to you for doing these talks every month, you know, in this past year. And I'll hear that you're going to continue doing those because it's just it's very helpful. So I just want to start with that. Thank you very much. And then the other thing that's coming up is I intellectually believe that me, my person, and every other being is sitting at the center of everything.

[77:17]

Each includes everything. And I hope someday to actually truly realize that. That's my aspiration. And it's helpful to talk about generosity. Just to remember whatever you're doing, wherever you are, the generosity needs to be a part of that. Well, it needs to be, it is a part of it. And you need to be aware of it in order to realize it. You need to remember it in order to realize it. You need to practice it. Right. It's already reality. So if you want to realize it, which you said you do, then it's necessary to practice it.

[78:19]

Right. Which you also want to do. Yes. Yes. Oh, yes, it's remembering is the thing. Yeah, and that's the basic meaning of mindfulness, is to remember. Remember generosity. Be mindful of generosity. And if I may mention, one other thing you said was that intellectually, it makes sense to you that you include everything. However, sometimes, even though you have heard that teaching, sometimes you might or I might feel, well, I include everything. I've heard that teaching. I think it's true, but I don't feel like I include that person right now. Yeah. I don't feel like I include that, I don't know what, that dual person that I see there.

[79:26]

And then if I feel like I don't include them, I can see how, you know, as people say, I can see how that works for me. And, you know, it doesn't work very well for me when I don't include some monster. I do try to practice, you know, when I realize, you know, I see something, somebody that's, you know, you watch the news and there's people shooting other people and killing them. And it's so sad. It's terrible and continue to be sad. And I include them. Yeah. I do include them. And I'm included in them. Yes. And if I can't do one or both of those, then I can see what happens to me. If I don't include. Yeah. See, that's not the way I want to be. Right. Here I am. surrounded by all this cruelty, and I'm not in it and it's not in me, then it just gets more solid.

[80:30]

Yeah. Yeah. That's not practicing generosity. Generosity is I'm included in all the world and all the evil in the world is included in me. That's generosity. That's how to free people from evil. And you can see, I can see, If there's some evil there and I don't include it, it has a bad effect on me. Right. It's a negative. It's a negative. It's a life-denying attitude. It's not generous. That monster outside me is not me. That other is not me. All the others are me. All the others are me. All of them are included in me and I'm included in all of them. That's the meditation. And when we realize that, we're Buddha. And we're struggling to realize that.

[81:33]

And we have so many opportunities to struggle. I look forward to seeing you in person someday soon. I look forward to meeting your mask in person. Thank you, Rep. You're welcome. Thank you. Wendy. Hello. Hello. Hello. It's like waiting outside the temple, waiting for your name to be called. I wanted to say I'm really glad that your last talk, which was very poignant, was not your last talk. I'm glad to see you here today, but it was really important and poignant teaching which you're following today.

[82:41]

For those who have not heard the talk, she's referring to me saying that this is my will and testament. And today I'm also giving you my will and testament. Thank you. My will and testament. Received. So much kind of... I have such an impulse to run away. I just... Such an opportunity for generosity. Yes. Body and mind. Yes. I've just, as May said, this thing about at the cellular level, I really, really resonated with that. All my little cells were going like this. I was going to lower my hand, just running away.

[83:46]

And we always said, you know, how close are my running shoes to the door? That was always kind of an indicator. Yep. It's part of our nervous system. Keep moving. Yeah. It's a very important thing for us to live. Starting from when we were little kids, got to get those kids moving to get their muscles to grow and learn those skills. Got to think that it's really good to go and get something. It'll be so much fun to get us moving. It's part of our health. It's a great opportunity for practice. It really is. And it's probably not going to go away. Even when we can't run away anymore, we're still going to think about running away. Yeah. Even when we're bedridden. Yeah, so I'll still have a pair of running shoes underneath the bed.

[84:47]

um and thank you for the remind the reminder about confession too um i do um confession and repentance in the mornings but um just to be here and to confess um in front of the great assembly and your face is um uh well it's invaluable and um reminder so i confess basically how much i forget and i vow to when you and when you can you confess that you forget and you also want to tell us how you feel when you notice that Repent. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I vow to remember. And I really want, now I even more want to, now that I've done my confession.

[85:53]

The confession of repentance is to refresh our vow to do what we want. And that's to remember. Feeling the simple color of true practice. The true mind of faith. The true body of faith. Thank you for the gift I've received, and I hope that I also would like to give up the mask. And also you'd like to give this gift that you've received, right? Yes. Yes. The way to give up the mask is by giving the mask. And you're giving it right now. Thank you. It is. Thank you, dear teacher. Welcome, Norbert.

[86:58]

Norbert. Thank you, Reb. I'm just dealing with a little technology. Can you hear me? Well, thank you for the teaching and also thank you for the Noah boat. It's a wonderful place. So I just wanted to talk about this. So there's a push in a way. are pulling towards. And these are one. And they're both opportunities. So everything's an opportunity. The opportunity, you know, in this life, opportunity is a challenge. or yeah.

[88:10]

And then, uh, there's different kinds of challenges like pushing away and pulling towards, or did I get that pushing away and pulling towards? Yeah. So, so kind of a challenge can be remembering to breathe, right. In the remembering, but it's, uh, it's like, um, it's, it's a good tool. It's a good tool to use. And, uh, Remembering is a good tool. Remembering. It's a very good... Remembering. In this case, breathing. Like if I talk about remembering to breathe, which usually means that there's kind of like something that I find to be, that I'm pushing away or find to be challenged, like a challenge. But challenge as an opportunity, like that's really interesting because when I first started see challenges, or if I go in the, even now, or when I go in the past and I see challenges, certainly then they don't see or maybe they do.

[89:22]

Anyway, I don't think of them as challenges. I think of them as problems, not opportunities. So I don't see them as opportunities. Yeah, so see problems as opportunities also. Problems and challenges Try to be mindful that there are opportunities. Right. And in trying to do that, I, you know, as I live my life, I do some gardening, as you might know. And gardening doesn't feel like a problem, right, when I do it. there's plenty of problems in gardening right this problem that problem you have to make all they do so it doesn't the whole thing just doesn't seem like a problem at all although there's plenty of problems there so yeah that's called that's called zen garden so that's like opportunity after opportunity exactly i was about to say that uh

[90:25]

You know, in gardening, what you could call a challenge, because pushing away and pulling towards that one thing, what you could call a challenge. And when I'm gardening, it feels just like, oh, this is a great, you know, like maybe I should say wonderful opportunity. Even if this plant is kind of having a hard time or dying or whatever, you're ripping it out. So, like, I have this thing here, which I just want to show. I don't know when you can see it. I guess you can see it now. Like, oh, excuse me. I forgot to do this. Is that, that's better there. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. I can't turn this thing around right now. So, the computer. So, anyway, here's a little seedling that I found as a tiny, tiny thing. And now it's growing. But just so. Are you going to take that with you to the East Coast? Well, I debated on that.

[91:26]

And yeah, I'm going to take this and another one just like it. I found these two in a trash pile and they were this big, right? That big. So what is it? I thought it was a sycamore tree because it was right under a bunch of sycamores. But it's not. I began to doubt that. And it's a Japanese maple. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's what I thought it was. Yeah. I thought, no, he's not showing me a Japanese. He knows I'm totally inundated with Japanese maples. But the reason I show this is because, like, you know, when I'm doing this, it's like an opportunity. It doesn't feel like a challenge if you understand. Then when you look at somebody, a person, even an animal, but especially a human being, it's the same thing, but it can be more challenging.

[92:37]

It can feel more like a challenging opportunity. In working with what I'm saying is, and these are like tools, and to try to use these tools to, I don't want to say connect, but actually I should, to try to use these tools. Like one feels like opportunity, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The other one, it's like, I can't remember to breathe. I forgot to breathe. It's a challenging situation, which is what you want to push away. And just trying to use these things to see that they're one, and so therefore it could help on the side that I have difficulty. And anyway, also in doing all this right now, I wanted to present my face to you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. My little eight-year-old granddaughter happens to be here with me this very moment.

[93:54]

So... I'm reading this book, listening to books on tape. It's a book by Isabel Wilkerson called The Warmth of Other Suns. And do you know that book? Yeah, somebody gave it to me, and I've been reading it. Me too. The suffering in it, I feel overwhelmed at times, and I... feel i i have to stop and go away and and i i guess i'm trying to just a couple minutes ago raise my hand because you said you have to see how the evil and the good are together in you and that i don't quite understand that although i would like to

[94:59]

And even as my little granddaughter is sitting here with us. Yeah, I would like you to see it too. And that way you're free of evil. To be clinging to good is evil. To cling to life, you know, evil is live backwards. To cling to live is evil. Oh, okay. We want to be free of life and death by practicing generosity towards both. We want to be free of evil and good because being stuck in good is evil. Or being possessive of good and Like I got the good and they're the evil. That's evil.

[96:03]

But that evil is not separate from good. To see that, it's from good and evil. It's beyond good and evil, but it's by fully engaging with evil. With evil. Being careful and respectful of evil. Not putting it outside. Not exiling it. The more we excite evil, the more we exile it, the more powerful it becomes. It thrives on exile. Yeah. I think I've been doing that. It really wants compassion. Evil wants generosity so it can relax and enter into non-duality with good. Yes. But this is challenging, and the challenge is an opportunity. Yes. Thank you, you're welcome. The last question will be from.

[97:09]

How? Like winning the lotto. Come running. You said something earlier about Oh, okay, now I'm unmuted. You were talking earlier about offering your true face, about sometimes we offer the mask. And then you said more about that, something like, I can't remember what it was, like through the mask you find in the true faces. Can you say more about what you had? Can you repeat that? I have some questions. Well, I could say a lot about it, but let me just start by saying a little, which is right now I'm offering you my visible face, and I'm also offering you my invisible face, who I really am.

[98:29]

And you can see my mask, my person. But my face, who I really am, is more than just how I appear as a person. And I offer you both. And practicing generosity with the face that you're offering me, the mask, and being generous with my mask, we will realize and discover a face mask. But the nice thing about this term, menju, is that the word men means both face and mask. So our mask, our person is inseparable from our true face. With our apparent face, with our fears of presenting it, with our, I don't know what, what's the word, negotiations to make it look a certain way, like getting facelifts and stuff.

[99:34]

That's okay to get facelifts, but are you doing it as an act of generosity? Are you doing it in an ungenerous way? Do you wash your face in an ungenerous way or do you wash it as a gift? If you wash it as a gift, then it'll be easier to give it as a gift. And giving it as a gift, give your original face, which is what we really want to give. But we can't give it separate from our superficial face, our apparent face. That's form and emptiness. Yeah. Thank you. our form face and our emptiness space. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for another wonderful meeting. I pray for your health and your practice.

[100:41]

Numberless, I vow to save them.

[100:45]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_88.4