It often seems like it's good to look within, look within and consider what is our motivation in our life today. Some people who practice Buddha Dharma say that their basic concern is to become free of all unwholesome

[02:37]

things, all unwholesome ways of being, and to realize all that is good. Sometimes people say, uproot all that is negative and harmful and realize all that is good and beneficial. And that word uproot makes me think, well, it isn't exactly that we have to uproot harmful things.

[03:41]

but that we need to realize that they're rootless. But good things are also rootless. So we don't really have to uproot in a way, the unwholesome, and we don't have to uproot the beneficial. We realize that both good and bad have no root. When we realize that harmful ways of being have no root, they lose their function. they're no longer harmful when we realize they're rootless.

[04:51]

And when we realize that good things are rootless, we realize goodness When you realize that harmful ways of being, harmful ways of thinking and acting and speaking have no basis, and how they have no basis, you don't grasp them anymore. And when you don't grasp evil ways of being, they have no function. When you realize that good ways of being are the same, they don't lose their function. They actually realize their full function. What is beneficial blooms in the realization of non-attachment and what is harmful in non-attachment.

[06:03]

And non-attachment is based on understanding the nature of good and the nature of evil. So if we do wish to free all beings from harmful ways of being and help them realize We need to understand the nature of good and unwholesome. So if you wish to, if you're interested in that, that way of living that realizes freedom from evil and the full function of good, then

[07:10]

then studying the Buddha's teaching about the nature of things would be appropriate to that interest. Another way to say it is that when we don't understand the nature of things, we naturally tend to grasp things, grasp good things and grasp unwholesome things. When we don't understand the nature of good things, we don't understand the nature of harmful things. When we don't understand, we tend to grasp and when we grasp them, then good withers and unwholesomeness thrives. When we do understand the nature of things, we don't grasp either good or bad, and then good thrives and good withers.

[08:21]

So we need to understand the nature of things in order to live in a way that promotes wholesomeness and liberates beings from unwholesomeness. The seeing the nature of things is, and being in accord with the nature of things is, we call this wisdom. And this wisdom is practiced together with compassion. So we need to practice both wisdom and compassion Realize wisdom. I propose to you the idea, the teaching, that when we understand the nature of things, we realize freedom.

[10:58]

And again, the realization of freedom means to be free of good and evil. And freedom from good and evil means free from what is harmless and free from what is harmful, free from what is beneficial, freedom from everything. And in this environment of freedom, the greatest benefit is manifest. This kind of freedom is proposed as possible in various traditions. But this freedom which comes with understanding the nature of things has to be practiced together with compassion.

[12:12]

This complete freedom that I'm talking about needs to be practiced together with complete commitment, for example, to morality. And in the so-called tradition of the Mahayana, morality is a major dimension of compassion. We also need to practice giving, patience, diligence, and tranquility. These are five dimensions of compassion. Giving, patience, diligence and tranquility practice.

[13:27]

Just seeing the nature of things is not possible without concomitant practice of compassion. And the full realization of the seeing the nature of things is not realized unless it's practiced in the context of compassion. So sometimes we speak of freedom or nirvana as beyond good and evil. But that way of putting it may be misleading, because actually freedom involves a commitment to good, a commitment to practicing good.

[14:47]

And freedom is realized as a way of being in the realm of good and evil, which is untouched by either. So freedom from good and evil, nirvana, is realized in the realm of good and evil, not some other place. If there is some place beyond good and evil, it'd be fine to have nirvana there too but the important thing for nirvana is to bring it into the realm of good and evil and nirvana together with the realization of the nature of things but has to be brought into the realm of compassion into the conventional world and the conventional world as you know has good and evil

[15:55]

It has the word good and evil. And so there's good and evil. Zen meditation, as it is usually taught... Actually, Zen meditation, I don't know how it's usually taught. I don't have actually, as far as I know, any kind of like way of knowing how it's usually taught. But it seems to be taught in many different ways. I've seen it taught in many different ways. I've heard it taught in many different ways. And I've talked to people who have taught it in many different ways and are practicing it in many different ways.

[17:03]

And I don't know exactly which of the different ways are most popular. But I thought I might talk to you about Zen meditation And then you might be able to meditate on and think about what Zen meditation is and see if you can be clear about it. Or, anyway, be clear about what you think it is. I think that Zen meditation, as it is sometimes taught, bears on this issue of the nature of things and realizing freedom for all beings.

[18:08]

And in a way, for me, Zen meditation is both wisdom and compassion. So for me, Zen is giving and is the precepts and is patience and is diligence and is tranquility and is wisdom. So during this retreat, I might consider how are we here together practicing giving? How are we practicing giving? How are we practicing ethics or moral discipline?

[19:17]

How are we practicing patience? How are we practicing diligence? How are we practicing tranquility? And how are we practicing wisdom? Starting with the last two, tranquility and wisdom, These two aspects of practice, again, as I just said, tranquility I would myself look at in terms of compassion. Tranquility may also be seen as concentration or mental stabilization. This form of compassion This type of compassion practice is what many use as meditation.

[20:23]

It's what many Zen students think of as a meditation and what, for example, I think a lot of other people outside within Buddhism think of meditation. What they mean by meditation is actually to be a way that calms the mind, that induces a state of tranquility and ease and flexibility and clarity and buoyancy. and undistractedness. And then, and I would also, I would say yes, that's meditation. And then the other aspect of meditation is wisdom meditation. And that type of meditation, a lot of Zen students do not think of as meditation. I guess one of the basic reasons why they don't think of it as meditation is because wisdom meditation, especially at the beginning, involves using thinking.

[21:45]

Whereas tranquility meditation involves thinking to the extent of learning how to give up thinking. Here, meditation as stop thinking or give up thinking, let go of thinking, and actually that form of life, that form of, that way of being, which with words as giving up your thinking, letting go of your thinking, That form of practice is a meditation practice, and it is a compassionate way of being. It's a kindness to yourself and others, actually, to let go of thinking. And the fruit of that way of being

[22:55]

is tranquility and and so on. It is a definitely wonderful way of being. However, as I just said, it's a compassion, it's a form of compassion. It's not actually, strictly speaking, a wisdom practice. However, in the deepest form of wisdom, the deepest form of wisdom will arise from a tranquil mind. But wisdom needs to be developed by using your thinking. And once it's developed, then this wisdom is then surrounded by tranquility, and then in this environment of tranquility, in the environment of giving up thinking, the wisdom which has been developed then blossoms into the greatest wisdom.

[24:13]

So in the end of the practice of wisdom, we have to be united. And at the end of wisdom, wisdom does not take its final blossoming out of thinking, but it comes out of meditation in the sense of tranquility. I've just introduced quite a bit of material to you. I don't know if you noticed, but that was quite a bit. And now I'm sort of thinking of how you might put this into practice.

[25:26]

And so far by what I've said, I haven't really told you how to think in such a way as to develop wisdom. Did you notice? So now I'll tell you actually a little bit, and that is the way of thinking that develops wisdom or insight is to think about things which tell you, give you guidance about how to see the nature of what's happening. There are teachings which have been given by the Buddhas and the disciples to help us see the nature of phenomena. and thereby become free in the midst of phenomena.

[26:31]

So once again, by using your thinking to apply these teachings to what's happening to you moment by moment, then tranquility will come by, in a sense, only applying your thinking enough to remind yourself to give up your thinking. you now have some instruction about how to practice tranquility, but I still haven't given you instructions about how to practice wisdom, but I have told you the type of application that wisdom practice is. Do you have any questions so far? Yes? When you were speaking about... Is your name Branigan?

[27:39]

Branigan? With an R. Oh, Ranigan. Ranigan. I don't remember. Yeah, but I don't remember your question. No, I didn't finish it. Well, I don't even remember the beginning. When you were speaking about... Yes? And that they're both realists. Yes? Is it, does that fall in the same category of, and I may not say this exactly the way it's said to me, or where it, that you don't, the part of you that, or the part of anyone that you find repugnant, or the part that you will judge as bad, you don't throw that out, that's still part of the whole... Is that an extension of that same kind of... I mean, that's sort of... It's still dealing with the good and evil, but that... You're saying when you see someone... Or yourself.

[28:51]

You see some phenomenon... And you find it repugnant? Right. Or you find something evil? That somehow you're still embracing that very much so. If you see a phenomena which seems to be evil, like cruelty or some harm happening in the world, you see the appearance of harmfulness, then again, if we're practicing wisdom, we wish to apply our meditation, our wisdom meditation, to this phenomena. in order to see its nature. And by seeing its nature, we will be free of it. And by being free of it, goodness will thrive in the face of evil. So a great wise person could meet a harmful situation and manifest goodness in the face of this harmful situation.

[29:54]

And we have That's an example of manifesting nirvana, manifesting freedom in the realm of good and evil. This is what, in a sense, the Buddhist tradition is about. But also, I think, don't we have examples of that in other traditions too? of a person such that they can move into a harmful situation, or when harmful things arise, they make a good response to something harmful. Right? That's a great application. But the reason why they can make a good response to something harmful may be because they understand the nature of the harmful thing. They see the way it really is, and because they see the way it really is, they see a way that it doesn't have to actually manifest in a harmful way.

[30:56]

And also because they see the response, it can manifest in its true good way. Because they don't cling to the good or evil, they can manifest good in the face of evil and they can manifest good in the face of good. So now we turn away from anything and we don't grasp anything when we understand the nature of things. then harmful phenomena can be met in a skillful and beneficial way. That is, yes, the same thing I've been talking about. Yes, Don? I want to follow up on that. Understanding the nature, so to speak. Yes. When you say, I understand the ruthlessness of Yes.

[32:01]

Well, rootlessness actually is the nature of phenomena. Yes. Yes, of things is the window. You could say it's the window, but it's also actually, it is the nature of things is that they're rootless. And by rootless we mean that things, you know, don't have like a core, there's not like a self in them. A root is like a self, you know, it's like there's something really there. So actually what I was intending to do was to, in the next talk maybe, talk to you more about this rootlessness and the nature of phenomena. I thought that maybe this morning might be a good time for you to practice In particular, practice compassion for the next few periods of meditation, even if you go to the kitchen, although it's hard in the kitchen.

[33:12]

Practice meditation. Practice compassion in the Meditation, which is to give up your thinking. In other words, practice tranquility at the beginning here together. Just practice letting go of your thinking. And then get a feeling for that type of meditation practice, which is, again, the type of meditation practice which most people think is meditation practice, and they're right, but it's not the only type of meditation practice. I'd like you to get a feeling for that type of meditation practice, which I think you may already be doing, to give up, to let go of it. So thinking is going on, but you don't get involved in it. Just let it go. You might think, oh, this person's really nice, let it go. This person's not so nice, let it go.

[34:15]

I'm not so nice, let it go. I'm great, let it go. I'm this, I'm that, let it go. And again, if you start planning the rest of the day, your mind starts thinking about planning later parts of the day today, just let it go. Sometimes people say stop. But I don't know, there's something about the industrialized world that when you say stop, it gets to be too heavy. I think letting go is a better word than stop. The Chinese character that they use for this type of meditation means stop. They have stop signs. And it's a character that they've been using for more than a thousand years to speak of this type of meditation where you basically give up your thinking or you kind of stop your thinking.

[35:18]

I mean, it can get to the point where it does stop, but mostly you're just letting it go. So you might try that type of meditation for the next few periods, and then later I'll tell you about this other type of meditation which initiates you into wisdom meditation. Both meditations, I want to stress that wisdom meditation, wisdom practice is meditation. It is the, you know, it's the type of meditation which will actually liberate you from delusion and suffering. Meditation of giving up your thinking does give you a break from suffering actually. When you're calm and tranquil and buoyant and relaxed, of course you're somewhat at ease. So you do get, it's a kind of, it's a temporary relief of affliction.

[36:25]

However, wisdom is a permanent change in the way you see things, so it creates a permanent, I shouldn't, you know, nothing's permanent, but I shouldn't say nothing's permanent, but nothing's permanent. but it's a continuous or ongoing liberation that's given rise to by wisdom. So again, I would suggest that you practice compassion in particular, that you practice just letting go of your thinking for the next few periods until our afternoon session. And then also I suggest that you open yourself, not think about so much these other forms of compassion, but just open to me telling you that

[37:29]

There's a way to also practice giving and patience and diligence and the precepts while you're sitting and walking, giving up your thinking. These other forms of compassion can also be going on at the same time without you thinking about it. but actually your body and mind are practicing them, or can be practicing them. Want to know how that is? When you give up your thinking, that can be an act of generosity, an act of giving.

[38:34]

you give it away. Your doing is actually, I would suggest, is good, it's wholesome, it's beneficial. It's beneficial to give up your thinking. Also sometimes it's good, beneficial to use your thinking when you're practicing wisdom. Often it's very harmful Not to use your thinking. Often it is harmful to use your thinking. Often it is harmful to use your thinking. I don't know about usually, I'm not in charge of the statistics of this, but often it is harmful to use your thinking. Mostly when you do harmful things you're using your thinking. Almost always when you're doing harmful things, you're using your thinking. Sometimes when you're doing beneficial things, you're using your thinking. The time when you're using your thinking that's beneficial is when you use your thinking to practice wisdom.

[39:45]

But if you don't have wisdom and you use your thinking, generally speaking, it's relatively bad. However, giving up your thinking is not good. And almost never, when you've done anything harmful or unkind, was it on an occasion where you gave up your thinking. Almost never did you say something mean to somebody when you were giving up your thinking. Usually you were holding on to your thinking in comment, and then you said it. Very seldom, I think. Almost never do you give up your thinking and then do something cruel. Usually when you give up your thinking, you're cruel. You're kind of like, yeah, maybe you're right. Yes, Lynn? something you said right at the beginning of the lecture about in this world that we experience, we have a word, good, word, evil.

[40:50]

Yes. Therefore, there is good and evil. Right. And I think it ties in also with giving up our thinking because from as good or evil, I have such a narrow perspective, this evil has such a narrow perspective. There's, I think, I wonder, do you think there's danger there when we say, this is definitely good, this is definitely evil? Can we tell, or is that reason we have the evil thinking? We're making these definitions based on these words that brought these things into existence. I think to say this is definitely good or this is definitely evil, the this is definitely good and this is definitely, that way of talking about things tends to go with thinking that they have a root and grasping them.

[41:51]

So then when we're grasping, then usually that's, then we, when we're grasping, when we're jumping the grasp, that means our behavior is based on ignorance about the nature of the good and the nature of the evil. Someone who's wise would be more likely to think, I call this good and I call this evil. This appears to be good and this appears to be evil. They're not so, what's the word, they're not so self-righteous. What were you going to say? Dogmatic. They're not so dogmatic and self-righteous about good and evil because they understand the nature of both. It's not to say there is no good and evil, it's just that their appearance in the world of suffering, their appearance in the world depends on words. And the words actually are based on something.

[42:56]

There's something there. There actually is good and evil there. And evil, the way they actually exist, is without a root. And when you project a root onto them and then use a word, then they manifest in the world. So we have the appearance of good and the appearance of evil. And we don't deny that appearance. We honor it. We are fearful of it. And then, if we could understand the nature of this appearance, we then could have a good response to it. So, for example, this appears to be evil, this appears to be cruel, this appears to be harmful. Is there something we could do here in the face of this cruelty that would be beneficial? You can respond. You're not paralyzed by your own grasping. In that case, you could come up with a good response to what appears to be evil.

[43:58]

But to say it's definitely this way, you're already getting kind of, it's kind of harmful already. Particularly if you're saying this to a person, you are definitely evil. You are definitely unwholesome. You are definitely bad and harmful. No kidding. To say that to ourselves or to others or to anything, animal or plant, it appears to be harmful. So when something that appears to be harmful is given to us, how can we respond in a beneficial way? We got plenty of harm, right? lots of harmful things, lots of dangerous, or lots of danger of harm in the world. We've got plenty of that appearing. How can we respond in a kind, beneficial, harmless way?

[45:06]

Well, one way is by practicing compassion. So again, be generous when you meet harmful Be generous when you meet good things. Again, when something appears to be harmful or appears to be good, meet it with a magnanimous mind. Meet it with the precepts. Don't kill it. Don't steal from it, don't slander it, and so on. Don't praise yourself at its expense. Don't think you're better than this. If something evil appears, there's a precept which says, don't think you're better than it. You can think that you're good, but don't think you're better than the evil, and so on. Be patient with it. Be diligent with it and give up your thinking about it. This is the compassionate ways of meeting evil.

[46:12]

Same with good. Don't take the good. Oh good, give me that good. Don't intoxicate yourself with it and so on. Be generous with the good means don't take the good unless it's given to you. And so on. Practice compassion with the good, but also practice wisdom with the good. Practice wisdom with the evil. In other words, learn how to think about the good and the evil in such a way that you can become free of both. But again, I'm suggesting start with compassion. It's easier. And so when you're giving up thought, when you're giving up your thinking about your moment-by-moment experience, and your moment-by-moment experience means how you experience your own body and mind, which means how you experience other bodies and all these experiences in the midst of them,

[47:23]

giving up your thinking, giving up your ideas of things, is tranquility practice. It's not actually tranquility itself, it comes to fruit as tranquility. And it's also being generous, it's also being patient with things, and it's also being diligent about these things. You don't have to think about all that, I'm just telling you that, And if you have questions about it, you can ask me, of course, but basically all you've got to do is give up your thinking and you'll be practicing all these different things with compassion at the same time, without even thinking about it. And if you're working in the kitchen, I guess Amy will be giving you a little piece of paper explaining what to do, or she'll tell you what to do, and you've And then give up your thinking and see what happens. See if you can still do your work in the kitchen when you give up your thinking about doing your work in the kitchen.

[48:29]

Try it. Think it's possible? Can you try it? When you say it, it almost sounds impossible. Like, how will I know how to cut melons into one-inch cubes if I don't think? But you don't think, do you? Well, your question, how will I cut the melons, that's what you're thinking. Now, give up that thought, how will I cut the melons? And now, are there melons? Okay, now, and then you say, cut the melons? The person... the person picks up the knife and starts cutting the melons. If you have some comments, you can say, how will you know how to say something when they cut the melons in a strange way? You'll see. So it is a little bit more difficult when you're doing things than when you're sitting, not moving, but it should be possible in the kitchen too.

[49:32]

Good luck. No watch. What time is it? 2.45. Okay. Any other questions about this? Yes. John? Yes. My question is tied to this question about good and evil with my perception. Yes. It's... It's basically my perception whether something is what it is. I'm looking at it through my eyes. For you? For me, it may not be either of those things. I guess it may be that's what I'm hearing you say. Like, I'm not sure, but I was wondering about, like, perception. Perception, like my perception or perception.

[50:36]

You're wondering about perception? Anything in particular about perception that you're wondering? Basing that on like the nature of good or evil is of those things or it's based on my perception. It's really my perception about those things. It's not necessarily good or evil. It's my perception on that. I don't know if that's clear, if that's making sense. It seems like everything that happens to me plays some kind of standard of judgment on that. Yes. It's based on my perception. if somehow I can let go of that perceptual kind of thinking, I guess, that maybe that's what you're saying. ... which I'm suggesting you start with, is to let go of your thinking.

[51:46]

So, for example, if you think the room's too hot or too cold, you just let go of your thinking. That type of meditation will come to fruit as tranquility. If it does come to fruit as tranquility, you might think, this is nice. And then the meditation practice would be give up the thought, this is nice. And giving up the thought, this is nice, will come to fruit tranquility, which you might again say, this is really nice, because this kind of tranquility among phenomena is actually the most pleasant in terms of pleasantness. It comes to fruit that way. And then you can say, now I'm thinking this is really pleasant, this is really nice to be tranquil.

[52:52]

And again, the meditation, which is the condition for that pleasantness, is to give up and give it up again and give it up again. Plus give up thoughts, this is unpleasant, or this is neutral. You're just giving them up, okay? So again, I want to make clear that that's a type of meditation of giving up your thinking. giving up your thinking, which is tied together with your perception, which is correct. The wisdom teachings are the ones where we start to actually analyze the perceptions and the thinking. We use the thinking to study the thinking, to understand the thinking and become free of the thinking. By understanding it, than letting it go. So one way to become free of your thinking is temporary, which is basically let go of it. So you get freedom from it, plus you get this tranquility which gives you even more freedom from it temporarily.

[53:55]

The other type of freedom from meditation, freedom from your thinking, by listening to teachings about it and applying the teachings to it and actually becoming ongoingly a different person who's not fooled by his thinking anymore. So while you're still fooled by your thinking, give it up. That's tranquility practice. Wisdom practice is to learn how to apply teachings about the nature of phenomena and in particular the nature of thinking process and how the thinking process is implicated in the way we experience things. That will give us an ongoing transformation of our actual understanding. So what you're bringing up is more starting to address the wisdom side of things, if we're going to go into that. But I'd just soon wait a little while on that.

[54:57]

Yes, Barbara? Could you relate this giving up, letting go of these perceptions, to the practice of focus on the brain? Well, some people, what they do is they focus on their breathing as a way of giving up their thinking. So you use your thinking to tell yourself, apply your attention to the breathing. And then you say to yourself, focus on the breathing, and then by focusing on the breathing that means that all other kinds of thinking, besides the thinking inhaling, exhaling, all the other thinking you're going to let go of, right? Focusing on the breathing is a way some people like to sort of get a feeling for what it's like to give up their thinking.

[56:13]

The problem is that when you say, you're still thinking a little bit. But, you know, it's kind of like training wheels for giving up thinking is to focus on the breath or posture. So that's fine. You can be aware of your posture and breathing and then let go of your thinking while you're being aware of these things. And, of course, when we're sitting like this, our posture quite frequently comes to mind, right? That's part of the reason why we sit this way, is that it seems to... the conditions for... seems to like lead to us being aware of our body quite a bit. Although some people manage to sit here and almost never notice their posture. Most people do. And also the breathing is quite easy to notice when you're sitting like this. Although some people also have trouble noticing their breathing.

[57:18]

But if you can be aware of your breathing, for example, if I just give you an example, like I'm inhaling, no, I'm exhaling, [...] inhaling, inhaling, inhaling, exhaling, exhaling, exhaling, While I was saying exhaling, I really wasn't involved in much other thinking. I was actually thinking about things like the sound of the fan. The fan is making a little sound above my head. I was aware of that and I was aware of the floor, but I really wasn't thinking about the fan or the floor. Just kind of letting go of them. So that way of being with my... was kind of in accord with or congruent with not getting too involved in whatever I was thinking.

[58:29]

Does that make sense? Speak louder, please. The tricky part is the letting go easily... Yeah, that's right. So another way I say this is, another way to train this way is, meet whatever comes with complete relaxation. But the instruction isn't just completely relax, the instruction is meet whatever comes with complete relaxation. So you're actually meeting what's happening. You're aware of the color of the rug, the temperature of the room, your posture, your breathing, or other thoughts.

[59:29]

But you're focused on actually relaxing with whatever comes. Relaxing, you know, not grasping it. Let it go, and it will. And even if you don't let it go, it'll go. So letting things go is sort of with their nature, actually, because they do come and go. Phenomena do appear and disappear. And you just accept that, basically, in a relaxed way.

[60:32]

And the phenomena of your thinking and judging also does that. And if you accept that and accord with that, you become tranquil. And that's a compassionate way to be with things too. That's a compassionate way to be with your thinking, with your feeling, with whatever's happening. Anything else coming up that you'd like to bring up at this time? May our intention equally penetrate every being with the true merit of Buddha's way.

[62:05]

Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Caramel gates are boundless. I vow to add to them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to attain it.

[62:33]

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