to spend a day that's not my birthday

was it last month when we did a while being ceremony for your own
and then
a couple days later he had a sonogram or as soon a stone or something
some kind of a some kind of ultrasound event which cleared up the problem and here he is
with us again
and was it yesterday at green gulch we had a baby born
hooray day before that a boy born name's dustin
fine too
sarah kashgar and
mark r be do you are be
i'm
so we have ah
we have a situation where there seems to be
our great suffering in our world
lots of hostility
and even
horrible violence
and i i've heard a number of people's thinking that maybe
there's more now than usual
can feel it does more violence and hostility now than usual
it's hard to measure but anyway there certainly is a lot
and i just saw a piece of paper
which i had my handwriting on it instead
the buddhist said that even in the time as a buddhas
there's great hostility and jealousy
so it's hard to measure most things go in kind of have some cycle and so they're usually as ups and downs in whatever
some may we have an hour big huge wave
more violence than usual but it's ongoing process
ah in which
the world seems to be burning up

and
so we wonder often what can what can we do that might be helpful in a world that appears to be in flames
this kind of situation of the world being in flames is a situation wish
ah
the buddha's the awakened people are very concerned about
it's kind of their their big concern is about the world as burning up with hostility and violence
the is where they said they sit in the middle of the flames of suffering that's where they said

at the same time that they sit there they're also sitting in a pure land at the same time
and they're pure land is not in flames the carolinas peaceful
and
and serene and all beings in the pure land are in harmony they're all good friends they're all practicing good friendship with each other in the midst of these fears flames
they live in a peaceful place in the middle
and the buddhism are thinking how i thinking how can how can i help beings enter the great way
so they can enter peace how how can it do to help them enter the the peace that is realized in the middle of of all this
last time i talked a green gulch
was this time like it is now there was war and violence going on that month to and one before every month i talk
usually this stuff
that's happening as really challenging us and asking us what how can we be of help
so last time i talked i offered him
i offered a summary of the path
of those who wish to help beings who are living in the world of suffering
and so i summarized it by saying
listen to the cries
on this world of suffering
train
here
and liberate
listen train here and liberate or
observe
train
c and liberate
one story at one one was emphasizing listening the other one observing which could be listening or seeing are looking like a look
look
contemplate
the
contemplate all living beings
listen to all living beings and then train the contemplation
train the listening
train the contemplation so that it is
the whole hearted
and then from that completely wholehearted contemplation of all living beings comes seeing
and from the seeing comes liberation
lotus sutra
absolutely touch for a bodhisattva the one who listens to the cries of the world
contemplating all living beings
the
her contemplation of all living beings
is so total
that the contemplation gives rise to an ocean or blessing and happiness
the contemplation leads to vision
truth and the assembling of happiness lotus sutra heart sutra are the lucky test fire a bodhisattva
listening to the cries of the world contemplating all living beings
completely thoroughly contemplating them wholeheartedly
sees that all phenomena are empty and thus relieves all suffering and distress this is the proposal from these my on teachings
but this is the way to say beings in the world
of suffering
by listening to them by looking at them
but when we first started looking at them most of us see them suffering but we don't simultaneously see the true dharma
we see them crying we see them wincing we see them snarling we see them screaming we see them enraged we see them full of hate
but are looking is nadia trained well enough to be able to see the time there
so we have to train
if to listen we have to look and train the listening and looking until we can
see the way all beings really are and in that vision the beings are liberated
in the face of suffering you might feel while listening is so isn't enough well in a way that's right
but isn't it isn't enough but it's necessary
i'm lucky touch far i sees reality but doesn't stop listening
or are unlucky test far as reality but doesn't stop looking
she hears the true dharma and that hearing liberates all beings but she doesn't stop listening so listening isn't sufficient
listen to the crisis and sufficient but as necessary we have to listen to the cries we have to look at the faces we have to watch the cruelty we have to witness at all
that's not enough
we have to learn to do that so fully
that we hear the true dharma and see the true dharma and in that hearing in that seeing
peace and happiness and freedom arise
the buddhas are sitting in the middle of all the suffering
hearing the dharma and emanating the dharma
they're surrounded by beings who do not see the piece that's right there
and i just keep sitting with them and keep
singing to them
and touching them
until all beings here and see the true dharma
but before were completely trained
at various stages of training we had trouble whole heartedly observing every being we see
every being we feel every being we think every being we imagine

and when we see beings
often we are talking or we are thinking in words are they are talking to us in words

and when the words come
it's a challenge to stay present an upright
even a highly cultivated person gets turned about in the stream of words
hearing that someone might think i'm gonna go someplace where there's not a stream of words so i don't get turned about
but the highly cultivated person doesn't run away from the words even though she gets disoriented by them sometimes
but we can learn to be turned about without getting disoriented
but it's hard it's a difficult training to be able to listen to the words and gets spun around by them
and not be disoriented
but we can be turned and stay upright but we have to train
so that when we receive praise and blame we just turn we just pivot
back and fourth round and round and we just keep listening and we keep
listening
with the vow to listen
wholeheartedly
and then the wow
wow
to hear the true dharma
and about to take care of it and by taking care of it everybody
home
great earth and all living beings together attain the buddha away
the inconceivable
peaceful good away

huh
one name for our loki touch bar is you know
contemplating
the sounds are the cries of the world
but another name for our loki touch borrow and another name probably like a test far in chinese is just contemplating sounds
and the and the character for word is not mention it's but it's the sound of the beings who are living in consciousness in the world the world is consciousness that we live in consciousness gives the appearance of a world
i've looked at for i listened to the cries from the world but in heart sutra
the boy sought by has a different name in chinese which is kanji is i can means to contemplate and gsi means
self existence
so one way to translate that is a it's the self-existent one who contemplates but another way to translate it
would be to contemplate the way the self exists
so that translation have a look at for is not just
contemplating the cries
content have like dish was contemplating the way the the self of the beings is
so one well that you can save the name of the bodhisattva is at the bodhisattva is contemplating the character for contemplation his character also for insight
the looks at bags of lucky test for has been trained and listening so that when she listens she also here's the dharma the same time
when she looks she sees the dharma in the face of every being

or you can also say she sees herself in the face of every everything
but most people have to be trained to be able to see themself in the face of every being
some people say oh i see my self in that face but not in that one
i've like test sees that others are herself
and this vision this enlightenment in that in in that vision beings are saved
and some of the beings who are saved do not agree that are saved
because
they have the habit
of believing that they're not the people in there looking at and i have been trouble giving up that habit but in vain in which they're actually living
they're actually in harmony with everyone
everyone really is who they are
so that's what i talked about
how about a month ago
not quite a month ago a green gulch
on sunday morning
and i'm trying to practice to listen
to everybody
listen to
everybody inwardly and outwardly and i'm trying to train the listening
to make it
wholehearted
i run to train the vision of dharma that comes in that training
i don't have to train the non-duality of the training and the vision
the vision is not do with the listening that vision is non with the looking the hearing the dharma is not a duo with listening to the cries of the world
the liberating of beings is not door with the beings who do not feel liberated
so since as nando i try to train not leaning into liberation
we're leaning away from liberation
i trials not to lean into bondage or lean away from bondage
natalee an end to being stuck
not lean away from big stuck not lean into being the released
not lean away from being released be upright with release and stuck
i'm training at that
if i lean why do i do
what do i what do i aspire to do if i lean justin
know what
i confess as soon as i confess i'm coming up right i confess i leaned i'm sorry
i leaned
towards liberation or i leaned away from liberation some people lean away from her because they feel better think got elaboration they would be abandoning all the suffering things i don't want to abandon suffering bags
so i'm trying to train at
being intimate with liberation
being intimate with letting go of all affliction
but which had been intimate with ms i don't mean into
being free of all affliction
i just am not separate from it
but in being intimate with being free of affliction i don't abandon affliction i don't want to abandon affliction
that's why we don't lean into peace
where upright with it
some miss it don't you prefer
peace
if i do i confess and repent that i prefer it
i want to realize it not prefer it
don't you not prefer
don't you just prefer
bondage if i do
that's bondage
the advantage of leaning into bondage though as you don't have to worry about being accused of abandoning bondage
i know i never left you guys in the world of suffering i stayed in there with you
yes she did but we'd like some people to stay with us soy are bright why some people to stay with us who are upright we got plenty of people who are staying with us who are leaning into it
please show us how to sit upright

would you go in the on room and thank to the right of my seat i think there's a
a photograph framed again as a gold think it as a kind of a gold frame on it could you bring in place
i'm bringing a photograph that i thought of when i was talking to just now
so
yes
this today
i'm not the case while because otherwise
pops me that this person individual factors
it seems literally inconceivable
well the liberation the liberation we're talking about here is inconceivable
and she's also saying that seems inconceivable that one person could liberate all beings but i would say that actually another way say it is it's just wrong that one person
it's wrong that one person can liberate one person liberating you could conceive of
the liberation is inconceivable because it's not one person liberating all people deliberation is everybody liberating everybody that's the hard part is when ah bulky test far as sees that everything's empty in the heart sutra it says and thus relieves all suffering
when people first hear that they think what that means i'll have a look at tesh far as suffering was relieved but it means everybody's all suffering not all it isn't all another lucky test far as suffering
or the two of them would go in
sorry here's one with girlfriend and here's another one girlfriend
the look alike

so this is the one i'm thinking of
this is the one that he was thinking
to see it
it's probably it's a picture i think of a buddhist monk on fire

yeah
reverend conduct
i don't know if i saw this picture by think i did i saw his picture one time in a move and movie motion picture of this and i saw this person sitting on fire and i thought
how can he sit up right there in the fire
how can it be celebrating the fire and then the body fell over and i thought well yeah that makes sense
but then it sat up again
and i don't remember exactly what i thought but it was something in the neighborhood of i would like to learn how to do that
not to set myself on fire i already know hundred that i just don't want to yes
this fee and don't try this at home department both
ah
anthony marjorie suggesting that this setting yourself on fire not been
don't try this in your home to depart department don't try to send enter at home don't set yourself on fire
hmm
or maybe anywhere you don't set your self on fire anywhere she's suggesting don't try this anywhere that's marjorie suggestion a my suggestion is
not to set yourself on fire
my suggestion is if you're on fire sit upright
if you by any chance or and fire
which might happen in various ways like he might be full of
it might happen you be full of anger burning with anger i recommend if you are burning with anger try to sit upright
and be relaxed so you can turn
in the words are know the words i'm better than you you're wrong
my religion's better than yours
when those words come try to stay upright those words are
those were easily into flames if you
hold them or lean into them
i feel it's important for people who haven't seen that photograph before to know that he didn't do that by himself he did that
he was an old monk
and another month for the guessing on
it was done as a protest it wasn't done at the protests with them to absorb suffering
katie's and were kathy saying that she's not something did just on his own he did it with a community he did it with a community in which takes us back to what barbara said
that deliberation
of all beings is a community operation
i've lucky bar did not liberate all beings by himself
he did not attain this wisdom by himself
in the larger and larger rendition of the heart sutra it makes his point clear the buddha's sitting there
in meditation are the low-key touch bar is sitting there with the buddha they're sitting together in friendship practicing together
and then all the loki touch bar comes out of the meditation
and seas
the truth
but i'm lucky test bar comes out by the buddhist power is with the buddha's with many buddhas with many living beings with all beings of lucky test for sees we cannot see we cannot see the true dharma by ourselves
we vow
from this life on throughout countless lives we've our with
we've our with all beings from this life on throughout countless lives we're going to do this vow with everybody
and when we hear the true dharma we will hear the true dharma with everybody
and when we hear the true dharma we will know we're hearing it with everybody and we will also listen to people who say i do not here is a true dharma
we will listen to them when they say i don't hear it
but we will listen to them and will know and we'll hear that when they say i do not hear the to dharma when we hear them say that we will hear the to dark
and so their refute their their their refusal are there
they're witnessing not hearing will be an opportunity for us to hear and therefore we will keep will be happy to keep listening to them sing the diamond to us in the form of
i don't hear it
and our ancestors when they were a mature some of them were mature enough to say i do not hear this dharma
the ancestor duncan's here in the dharma of the heart sutra he said
the heart sutra says this but i have that why does the heart sutra say i don't have that
and his teacher listen to him and his teacher sent him to another teacher who will listen to him and many teachers listened to him and and showed him how to listen until he heard
when he couldn't hear before
he heard the her teacher
and this is our this and this lineage was transmitted to the transmitter lineage of listening to the cries of all beings and hearing the dharma but part of the practice is to also admit right now i don't hear the dharma when you're talking to me like
that it's not a joyful thing to meet for me to hear because i don't hear the dharmic in your
cry but i i vow to
yes charlie
will you stand up please

what comes before the first
what come before the first step
he's as he what comes before listening to the cries
i would say what comes before is a friendship
with somebody
from which the wish to listen arises like example someone listens to you
you don't want to listen he does wanna talk
right now anyway you don't want to listen to this person
but you have something to say and they listened to you and they're friendly listening makes you feel like
that was cool i'd like to try that sometime
i would like to listen and you might even tell them and they might say yeah that would be great i've been enjoying listening to you i'm glad that you'd like to start listening to people to hi i'm happy to hear that you know what to listen to
like i can imagine somebody sing granddaddy you been listening to me for a long time i'd like to listen you sometimes you want to say something
but i haven't heard that yeah
but she took some days that she sometimes does say to her mom
what're you doing mommy she's very shastra my questions and then her mom says and she listens but she doesn't have a basic practice of listening to everybody but she has people in her life would listen to her who are for showing her that they're listening to her such and she feels that from
ships or he might say i let my mommy listens to me i'd like to learn to listen like my mommy listens to me i liked the way my mom listens to me she's really a good listener
will you teach me how to listen like you listen mommy
and mommy might say i'd be happy to
so from the front we we do not i do not make myself into somebody who who has devoted to learn to listening
i've been helped by in many people to think that they'll would be a good idea and some of the people are people who are like
i don't know even know where they are but they appear in buddhist texts
have some of the people are like you know like you guys you helped me you encourage me to listen
your friendship encourages me to listen is buy friendship that i get encouraged if yeah a people are mean to me i i don't feel encouraged to listen i mean if i imagine that if i imagine that are being mean to me that doesn't encourage me breathing they're being friendly to me but i'm not ready
yeah
yeah

now
she said doesn't allow him in there before after some relief so one story is
one story is the basic situation
the basic situation of the buddhist teach the basic situation his good friendship
but how that good friendship works
is a you know it's inconceivable but as some point the friendship gives rise that that that relationship between all of us and all beings who are perfectly awakened that relationship that communion gives rise to a
example
give rise to the wish ah to listen
to the christ the world
and that but that's that's that's that's the beginning and then there's a commitment to that
i vow now to listen
and then they can also arise a wish i not only wish to listen
i wish to hear
what they're actually saying
i hear to i vowed to listen to the words and here
the truth of those words
and i vow to liberate or beings by this process
i wish to develop compassion
by listening and i wish to develop wisdom and i vowed to practice at compassion and practice that listening
and part of compassion is
confession and repentance when you slip up at the compassion that you aspire to
no i wish a vow i would say is if a few ski expression and with sure i'm a mature i'm a fruit of wishing like some people wish like you know i wish to be your friend but i'm not promising to be your for
and
and i'm also not and i also haven't promised to be your friend with witnesses
so part of what
makes i wish into a vow is to make the wish in the presence of a respected witness
and also to make
the vow and accept the consequences
our to make the wish and accept the consequences of not following through on it but the and sense that there would be some consequence
and then so then you have vow rather than just a wish yeah so you say i in publicly in publicly to the other people to all the beings who helped you wanna do it
you say you you address them all like you address the people the humans who are around
and maybe a human teacher and but you also address the innumerable beings who are not a or you can't see so when we do the vows we invoke the presence of innumerable enlightening beings to come and witness our commitment to practice compassion
and again we also as part of that we also vowed to practice confession when we get distracted or disoriented so
i vowed to be respectful of all beings and then somebody says something to me
which turns me
and as i get turned if i'm not balanced i get disoriented and then i forget that i want to be respectful to this person columbus i'm disoriented so i'm still i'm sorry
i wanted to be respectful to you but what you said when i was an upright with it and i got disoriented and i spoke disrespectfully and i'm sorry and i want to try again
and the person may say you know it's too late and you're never gonna be able to do it and then he turned with that but uprightly and you say thank you
friend
and they me with it
just you again and again and get turning you with their words to see if you can stay upright and keep coming back on disoriented
but it's hard so we got probably quite a few confessions and of us
but that's part of compassion part of ethics is to confess that we get disoriented from essex way
part of ethics is to wish to practice
another part of ethics has devoured a practice that another part of ethics is to vowed to practice confession when we slip up in number
and and say we're sorry
and then go back to our bow our aspiration
yes the practice to
continuously listen and i found myself being tired sometimes distracted or just don't have the energy just pay attention when someone to me i do feel a natural confession horizon

expect myself to be president
when i heard to say lasting are you say is i don't know if i can expect myself to be present continuously
this is not about expectation this is about aspiration so i aspire why i aspire to be present and
open the people at least once before i go
not to mention how nice would be to be continuously from now on i aspire to that i don't expect myself to be that way and like i don't think probably i will probably i won't i don't get into the pinata would got oddsmaker
that's not my job i haven't accepted job of being a oddsmaker on my practice or yours
i'm an aspiration mac maker and you're helping me make aspirations i aspire to be present and open ears and eyes to all beings continuously
but as you just said one gets disoriented or one gets tired
so
aspiration for example that aspiration to listen to each other to listen to sentient beings and to listen to buddhas
the aspiration is the source of the energy
to listen i aspire to listen to you and if i i can kind of like mind that aspiration until they feel like we're not only do i wish to listen to him but actually system energy to listen to him so now he's talking to me and somehow being supported to listen to him and at a certain point i might listen and i'm
right ear
somebody around here is getting tired of listening somebody's listened for quite awhile and you've done enough listening and he wants to rest
and then there is that then i made me say to you john
how i want to rest would you let me rest and you might say no i want to tell you more somewhere collins
i say please join if you let me rest i'll be able to listen to your collins better how can you say no no i can tell you one more i say john please just five minutes using okay
and then i rest and i come back to okay i'm ready play it on let's hear another send story
and then you see yeah that was a good rest and brought a let you have it
so resting part of enthusiasm for listening
to the cries of the world

part of it is resting
is i've been listening long enough it's time to take a rest
have a look at test for tax breaks
but not
not because
not because she doesn't want to practice but because she wants to rest and come back with more energy
she she rest rest is part of the energy generating
function in the practice and the energy comes from aspiration but also part of the care of the energy just realized when you've been working long enough had a particular activity
so
nice i can you want to listen continuously and an art to listen continuously in the rest
at the listening in order for to be continuous
people are not rest sometimes take really really long vacations
cause they burn out
so
they want to boot as ever get tired
maybe not
such as i think
there are a long par that they do get tired they knew dinner rest
in their effort
huh
when scan the deliberation which comes from hearing the dharma
his the liberation of all beings in the body sought for vehicle
that liberation is the same practice and the same liberation of all of us
but and that liberation is going on right now
but in order to realize our liberation we have to
do the practice
and just like deliberation is the same liberation for all of us deliberation is the same practice for all of us so we also
need to listen to the teaching that the practice we're doing we're doing together that i'm not doing this practice by my own power you're not doing this practice by wrong power i'm doing it because of your support and you are doing it because of our support
the practice we do together deliberation we do together
you can do a practice by yourself you can't live by yourself you can only imagine that you live by yourself
but i just did that just a dream
but again
listen to that dream don't be mean to their dream that i'm doing good by my own power listen to that cry
like it's quite enjoyable with my granddaughter to say to her you did it i did it was one of the first sentence as she said i didn't you did it it's so wonderful to go along with that

and then with enough of that we can say we did it she if i say we did not have known or granddaddy i did it
so but eventually said we did it we did it
yes

question
yeah
yeah it's lovely
it's like it's like hair growing on her head

yes we do
we do need help in learning that subtle art
yes i also feel like i'm blinking the case of the grandchild for a child
i feel i in the finest they're they're they're homeless there comes a it is this whole so if they're not identifying
the expression of doing to me as the person so they're totally totally completely it whereas i think i see myself as an adult sometimes when i i'm not totally it i'm not totally be here
this kind of and buts
and then my eye becomes diluted and i make something out of the i rather than dying
two good points one is that maybe when a child there could be a moment my childhood i did it that their eyes so total that includes everybody
and but when you do it as an adult it's there too but if if you don't practice with it maybe it don't appreciate it
so yeah really
the whole world supporting our sparse statements of what's gotten
self righteousness
but are we are we open to that
everybody and everybody including the people who disagree with me are supporting me in my self righteousness
in everybody who i disagree with is supporting me to think that i know better than them
one that makes me not so much think i know better than them because they're my supporters can my friends
but i think a human being can think some people are not supporting me
quite if you are but some are not supporting me
and and human milk and then believe that thought and believing that thought that in their mind is self-righteousness but everyone supports me to think that not everyone supports me
and if i should happen to think that everybody supports me everybody supports me to think that too
i sit i sit i say that and everybody supports me to say what i just said

everybody support you to listen to me talk
and i have no idea
how it can be that this could be happening
i don't know hi this is happening

you would i do we are what i was constantly while i'm here and i'm and i'm your friend and i don't want to know
so i'm a good friend year
what she wants to know what i don't and we're supporting each other i'm supporting her to wanna know this is she wants to know i don't have to learn on where she does that
ninety one time when of my friends was giving suzuki roshi arrived at tassajara and zeker she was the passenger and he was the driver is zucker she was saying i know some say something like according to my friend who has seen something like
this cartoon is driving the car is near on really kind of dualistic a high drive the car i do know
he was didn't says because you was saying that to my friend my friend said to me so i let me do the dualistic
haha thank you for wanting to know how this all happens so i can not want to know
the our tanks are the things you're doing it for me
so i can like you know just completely like not know anything
the because of of your help i can come here and you've got something in the room doesn't know anything
and because i don't know anything i can say thank you for you wish to know everything and if anybody here by the way not only wish to know everything but doesn't or everything that would be nice to have him to
anybody here like that
no
we're just be nice to have something to saga who knew everything because then we could all like not know i think conceptually and would be taking the rap for all of us
they're funny yeah right
yeah right
so since they're fighting
we accept that were responsible for it
and we have to look at our aspirations
of how we want to meet the fighting and and then we will do it and try to
notice how hard that is and how i think i where was i have seen someplace somebody was talking about oh yeah i know he wasn't a study group somewhere every readings and we're talking about the situation and someone was talking about
and are powerless they feel and i said excuse me i said
you are powerless we are powerless at avoiding being powerful
no human being is not powerful
if you try not to be powerful that's one thing you can never succeed at
you can not avoid being powerful i cannot avoid it the things you do have consequence the things i do have consequence we can't avoid that we have a power to create worlds and we're not gonna stop
creating worlds until we're completely
enlightened
and then we will create worlds anymore
we won't have any power anymore
although be as the power of wisdom but until that time we are powerful beings
and i think of the good first to accept responsibility
for the world's were contributing to an easy was makes a huge human contribution we are amazing
contributors to world creation
and the one thing or powerless that is to not be the way we are
but we can learn to be responsible and accepted
we can learn that we can train at that
her wonderful that we had the opportunity
to receive
support from each other
and ah practice the buddha away
me our intention equally stand the very place where true
the way the
in a number of us
to save them
i'm exhausted to go
hi to and them
cyber less
to enter them
as well as unsurpassable
how to become

so now we can fight to speeding lunch
if you have
i am one for you