Donald Moyer asked me to give him some kind of description of the kind of course that I would be offering this summer. And I wanted to ask you if you had any suggestions. part of me just wants to keep studying the Lotus Sutra, keep practicing the Lotus Sutra. But I didn't have a chance to see if he wanted to do that. So I gave a description to him. Doesn't say anything about the Lotus Sutra, but would be quite compatible with the Lotus Sutra. Something about, I think, what I said about the The description of the class was something like entering and realizing the truth, or something like that.

[01:10]

Three E's. Something, enacting. Entering, embodying and enacting. Entering, embodying and acting the truth. And I think also I went on to say that the source of truth is obstructedness and stillness. Do you have something like that? Do you think that sounds familiar? No? Yes. Yeah. And so I said the course would offer ways of entering this unconstructed stillness, emerging from it, and embodying it in the world. That's actually kind of a way that certain Zen teachers, who remain unnamed at this time, teach Zen meditation.

[02:13]

But it's really also, without saying Lotus Sutra, it's the way Lotus Sutra works. So I think I'd like to hear from you how it's going either now or if you want to send me emails or something to say how you feel about studying this and practicing this. Sutra, this Lotus Sutra. Is there anything you want to say now? Yes. Yes, I mean, that sounds good to me. I'd like a little more connection with, I mean, meditation is central to all Buddhism. Buddha was meditating. And I mean, I've never had instruction in standing meditation, for example. So when we stand at the end of our sitting meditation, I'm just doing whatever I'm, you know, I'm looking around and trying to think of where do I put my hands.

[03:19]

And I sometimes think, just one other quick thing, I hear things that you say about the Lotus Sutra and about the Wu's, you know, kind of like, Last week we were talking about selflessness, and I was asking about not playing. And I was wondering if meditation was a way of practicing that. And so the connection to practice of meditation, which seems to be simple, but one should practice for one is... Do you see what I'm saying? I do. So I'm asking for a little bit of that. Well... The meditation is the Lotus Sutra. That's the meditation. But we're also sitting. Are we sitting on the Lotus Sutra? Are we thinking that? Are we supposed to be? Not supposed to be. I'm not saying... I'm just saying that this class, the meditation of this class is the Lotus Sutra.

[04:24]

So the Lotus Sutra is a discourse. It's a written discourse, but it's also can be a verbal discourse. So this discourse is what is contemplated. So the meditation in this class is basically to contemplate the Lotus Sutra. I made a mistake by not saying sitting. When you're sitting in this class, When you're sitting or standing. When I'm sitting here with you in silence, I'm contemplating the Lotus Sutra. That's what I'm doing when I'm sitting with you. And I think you, some of you, are learning how to contemplate the Lotus Sutra. And some of you haven't learned how yet. That's what the class is for. It is also a meditation to contemplate or to pay attention to your breathing when you're sitting or to contemplate your posture when you're sitting.

[05:39]

Those are also meditation. In that case, the meditation is the body or the breath. That's the discourse in a sense. The discourse of the body or the discourse of the breath can be something you contemplate. But the first meaning of meditation in the English dictionary is the object of contemplation, which is given by an author so that the contemplators will understand the intention of the author, will understand the mind of the author. So this Lotus Sutra is a physical object in my hand right now. and I can open it and read it and I actually will pass you pieces of paper which will have words on it later and you will be able to read it out loud and so the Lotus Sutra will become a physical thing in your hand and it will become a physical thing in the air which will be bouncing into your ears.

[06:39]

This Lotus Sutra is a physical thing which, and in this physical thing, there are words which tell you that this physical thing is the embodiment of the truth. The highest truth is embodied in this text. When you meditate on this text, therefore, you are meditating on the highest truth. you are contemplating the highest truth. You are contemplating this meditation object, and this meditation object is telling you that it is the embodiment of the supreme truth. In other words, it's the embodiment of Buddha. So this class is actually called the Embodying Lotus Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra is the embodiment of the Lotus Sutra. Lotus Sutra is the embodiment of Buddha.

[07:43]

It's Buddha in the form of a book. If you contemplate what's in the book, even if without opening the book, this book is telling you that you're contemplating Buddha. There are many kinds of meditation in the world. And one type of meditation is the meditation of what we call bodhisattvas. These are beings who are on the path to becoming Buddhas. They meditate on Buddha. They meditate on the highest truth. And the Lotus Sutra has appeared in the world to help bodhisattvas meditate on the truth. It is a teaching of the truth, and the teaching that's in here about the truth is that it doesn't tell you what the truth is, but it tells you that this is the embodiment of it. But there are other meditations, like, for example, you could say, when you're standing, that you'd be aware of your standing posture.

[08:51]

You'd be aware of your actual posture. And that's there too. And part of what we will get into, perhaps, is that your body, since the Lotus Sutra, since the truth can be embodied in this sutra, according to this sutra, The sutra says that the truth is and can be made flesh by this sutra. And this sutra also tells you that it can be re-embodied in other ways because the truth is the truth of emptiness. This sutra is empty. And because it's empty, it can embody the teaching of emptiness.

[09:54]

This sutra doesn't have a self. It's selfless. See the sutra? It's selfless. Being selfless, it is it tells you, it tells you, I am selfless and I embody the truth. And it implies or even says, you are selfless and you therefore can also be the embodiment of the truth. The truth can be embodied in the Lotus Sutra and re-embodied in you. And can be re-embodied in our culture, in our society, in our relationship with each other. how to keep, I'm here with the intention of helping you keep your mind on the ultimate truth. You can embody it, and also to help you put your mind on the Lotus Sutra, which is not just the ultimate truth, it is the embodiment of it.

[11:12]

So in that sense, this is the most advanced possible kind of class, but it's also kind of simple, too. All you got to do is think about this book. All you got to do is think about this book. Be devoted to this book. And by being devoted to it, it's implied that you think it's worthwhile. It's a worthwhile book. A book which, if you take care of, you will have a happy life and you will manifest the truth in this happy life. Or you have the happy life of manifesting the truth and also you will in that way, your life in that way will transform this world into a happy world. This is the proposal of the sutra which tells you the power of the truth.

[12:25]

The ultimate truth has the power to transform the world and all the individuals in it. So I asked how it was going. I got a question from Gary. And I gave a response. Any other things you'd like to say about how this study is going? Farouk? Could you come closer, please? Sit there. It's just always a comfortable spot. We'll then speak up if you don't want to leave your comfortable spot. I really like the description of the five that you gave. Anyone? Yeah. Unconstructing? Yeah. How to enter the source of the truth.

[13:31]

Once you enter it, you do embody it. if you bring your body with you as you enter. Was there another hand? Yes, Rick. Stephen? At this point I have no intention of reading Lotus Sutra or even owning it, actually, but I'm very happy to hear you talk about it. Is that okay? Is it sufficient? Is it sufficient? What you just said is something which I consider to be a gift from you to me. Now, do you want to know if you've given me enough gifts?

[14:33]

Is that what you want to know? Actually, I'm not into liking or disliking the gifts you give me. I'm into loving the gifts that you give me, which is not to like and dislike them, fortunately. So you just keep giving me gifts and I will keep appreciating them, not liking them. If I like them, that's my problem. I welcome your gifts. I do not like or dislike them. That's my vow. I vow to welcome Stephen's gifts and give up liking and disliking them. I vow to welcome Stephen's gifts. And if I can welcome Stephen's gifts, there's a possibility I will welcome the Supreme Truth also. If I get into liking and disliking Stephen's gifts, the door closes on the Supreme Truth. I'm distracted by liking and disliking Stephen and his gifts.

[15:38]

And me, I'm not into that. I'm into welcoming Stephen however he appears. And when Stephen says, is that sufficient? I would say, thank you very much. Do not stop. Do not think, oh, that's enough. No, I don't have to practice anymore. No more gifts from me. No. Keep giving. Okay? And I have a lotus that's right here for you to change. You mentioned e-mail. I don't know the e-mail address, but that'll come, which you might. And you said we could... Web assistant. Web assistant at sfzc.org. Is that right? That's right. Okay, so at the beginning of the sutra, I told you, you know, there's this amazing scene Buddha does not teach the Lotus Sutra.

[16:43]

By not teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha teaches us how to relate to the Lotus Sutra. He doesn't teach the Lotus Sutra, which means he doesn't teach the Lotus Sutra. He doesn't teach the Lotus Flower of the Supreme Truth. He doesn't teach the wondrous truth. He's teaching the Lotus Sutra because he is the Lotus Sutra. What he's doing is the Lotus Sutra. So he's showing you the Lotus Sutra and in the Lotus Sutra he tells you he's going to teach you the truth and he doesn't teach you the truth directly. But that's how he teaches you the truth. That's the beginning of the Sutra. He teaches you that the truth is empty and that the truth is emptiness and that what he's doing is manifesting the teaching which he's not teaching you. He's showing you what he's not teaching you. Wonderful things go on from there, and then we come up to, for example, chapter 13 and 14, which I'd like to discuss with you during this class series, where they give wonderful instructions about how to teach the Lotus Sutra, 13, 14, and 20.

[17:58]

And chapter 15 is a wonderful chapter. And chapter 16 is the fundamental chapter of the Lord's Sutra. It doesn't tell you what the ultimate truth is. It doesn't tell you what the wondrous Dharma is. But it tells you the basis upon which this sutra is built. It tells you the basis upon which we can manifest And the Lotus Sutra can manifest the supreme truth which the Buddha does not teach us. So this chapter 16 is the center of the sutra. And it's the fulcrum of the sutra where the sutra shifts from one way of teaching to another way of teaching. But it's in some ways the central and most important chapter in a way, especially from Dogen's point of view. So I brought this with me And I thought we'd read this text tonight.

[19:04]

And I'll pass this, I think I'll pass this out again next week and again next week. I think this may be the main recitation piece of the... Now this is not the whole of chapter 16, this is the verse section. There's a prose section before the verse section which is about twice as long as the verse section. So this is about one-third of chapter 16. And there's a section in this chapter 16 which I often recite to you and which is written on the back of my robe. So the part I often tell you about is that those who practice are gentle, flexible, harmonious, honest and upright, will see the Buddha teaching the Lotus Sutra right now.

[20:11]

Remember me telling you about that? That's what it says here on my scripture. That's in this section you'll be reciting tonight. Chapter 16? It's chapter 16, which is called The Lifespan of the Buddha, right? The Lifespan of the Tathagata. All right? That's the name of this chapter. This is the foundation upon which the truth of this sutra is built. Are you ready? Shall we begin? The world-honored one, desiring to reiterate the teachings' meaning, spoke thus in verse. Would you chant with me? Since I have realized... I'm the world-honored one wishing to restate this meaning, spoke verses saying, From the time of King Buddha, the eons that have passed are the hundreds of thousands of years, the cost of man's...

[21:39]

I always seek the Dharma to teach and transform the spiritual living beings so that they may attain the good faith and then come out peacefully. In order to save living beings, I expediently manifest nirvana. I do not pass into quiescence. I remain here always speaking the Dharma. I always stay right here and using the power of spiritual penetrations I cause inverted living beings, though near me, not to see me. See me as passing into quiescence. They extensively make offerings to my sharira. All cherish ardent longing for me, that their hearts hook up to me in thirst. Living beings then faithful and subdued, straightforward. ...minds single-mindedly wish to see the Buddha, caring not for their very lives.

[22:48]

This time I and the Sangha assembly all appear together in Majic Vulture Mountain, where I say to living beings that I am all and never cease to be, but using the power of independent devices, Speeding into voice, I manifest ceasing and not ceasing to be living beings in other lands, reverent, faithful, and aspiring. I speak the answer fast, Dharma. For you who do not think I have passed into quiescence, I see living beings sunk in misery. yet I refrain from manifesting for them in order to cause them to look up in thirst. Then, when their minds are filled with longing, I emerge and speak the Dharma. There are such powerful spiritual penetrations throughout as some chaos of eons. I remain always Magic Vulture Mountain, and I will also dwell in other places when beings see the eon ending.

[23:56]

ravaged by the great fire peaceful and secure gardens and groves halls and pavilions and various precious adornments there are jeweled trees many flowers and fruits where living beings roam in delight ...steel drums, always making various kinds of music, and Mandarva flowers, all scattered on the Buddha and the Great Assembly. My pure land is not destroyed, but the multitudes see it being burned entirely. Worried, terrified, and... Such ones are everywhere, all these beings with offices. atomic causes and conditions pass through as Sankhya beings without hearing the name of the Triple Jewel. All who have cultivated merit and virtue

[24:59]

A compliant, agreeable and honest will see me here speaking the Dharma. Sometimes for this assembly, I speak of the Buddha's lifespan as limitless. To those who will see the Buddha only after long intervals, I speak of the Buddha as being The power of my wisdom, the unlimited illumination of my wisdom, is such that my lifespan is one of countless eons attained through long cultivation and work. Those of you with wisdom should not have doubts about this. Cut them off today and forever. But Buddha's words are real, not false. They are the clever expedience of a physician who to cure his insane children is actually a lie. It says he is dead. A nun can say that he speaks falsely. like a father to the world, saving all from suffering and woe.

[26:05]

But though as guilty as they are, I speak of cessation, although I actually remain. Otherwise, they could often see me. They would grow arrogant and lax. to the five desires, they would tumble into the evil paths. I am aware of beings who practice the way and those who do not. I speak various dharmas for their sakes to save them in an appropriate manner. I am always thinking how can I cause living beings to either search the way to be perfect the body of a Buddha. Would you pass those back to me now? So I can bring them next week. Ah, yes.

[27:07]

Ah-sam-ke-ah. [...] That means, say, That means incalculable, inconceivably great. More than a billion, more than a trillion. Even more than the national debt. Many large, large number of eons. So in the earlier part of the chapter, the Buddha tells the story of this parent who is a physician and ill because they eat poison and he gives them medicine and some of them receive the medicine and use it and become well.

[28:15]

Others, because they become so loony from eating don't take the medicine. So then he says, so then he says, I got to leave town, guys. And he sends a word back that he's dead. And then the ones who were so intoxicated that they wouldn't take the medicine, they grieve the loss of their dear parent. And in their grieving, they sober up. And in their soberness, they remember the medicine that he gave them. And they take the medicine into their bodies and they become well. And when they become well, their parent comes home. Some people will not take the medicine unless I go away.

[29:26]

So I go away. And after I go away, they sober up in their sorrow of losing the Buddha. Now some people do not even care that the Buddha went away. Some people are so intoxicated they don't even mind that the Buddha went away. They're so intoxicated they don't know the Buddha's here. And also when they hear that the Buddha's left, they don't even care. So either you realize the Buddha's here, which is what the sutra is saying, or if you don't get it, you would like the Buddha to be here, and you really would, and you really would like the Buddha to be here. You would like to meet the Buddha. And you're longing for the Buddha. And through your longing, you will sober up and when your longings appear to you. The Buddha is already here with us, is what this is saying.

[30:32]

And one of the ways the Buddha is with us is this sutra. There's other ways the Buddha is with us too. The Buddha is with us all the time in every way, but this is one way to help us concentrate Now, another way... So this is... Because the Buddha is always with us and didn't go bye-bye, we can realize Buddha because Buddha is here with us. And one of the ways to realize it is to touch the Lotus Sutra. Another way to realize it is to open it up and read it. You know, use your body to make sounds. Read it with your eyes.

[31:35]

But realize that when you read it with your eyes, your whole body is reading it. That will make the embodiment more full. Or sing the Lotus Sutra. Say the words out loud. that also is a way for you to realize that your reading is not just in your head. And as you know, we often hear, when we read with our eyes, we hear the words in our head, in our mind. So reading actually is what they call it, it's one of these cross-circuit, cross, what do they call that, when two senses cross? It's a synesthetic that you're reading with your eyes and hearing with your ears. It's a neurological event, the sutra reading. Another thing you can do is copy the Lotus Sutra. You can just copy the title, copy the Lotus Sutra, and then when you copy the Lotus Sutra, you can have a Lotus Sutra copying area in your house.

[32:48]

Now one of the nice things about America not being such an overpopulated country is a number of you probably have a desk in your house someplace that you could close and make a scripture copying, a scriptorium, right? Make a scripture copying area in your house, a place where you copy the Lotus Sutra, a place where you embody the Lotus Sutra. by having a place and also that goes to the place and has some kind of writing instruments and paper and you prepare the space and your house starts to change into a truth embodying center, a truth manifesting place in your house. To have a meditation cushion in your house where you sit is also manifesting meditation practice. your house is transformed into a meditation place when you make a meditation place in your house.

[33:57]

And in addition, truth, one way to do it in addition to sitting and thinking about the Lotus Sutra, or thinking about the teaching of emptiness, thinking about how everything's empty, thinking about everything selfless, thinking about how everything selfless is embodying the Lotus Sutra teaches that people who want to teach the Lotus Sutra spend time thinking about emptiness. So when you think about the emptiness, you're not only doing bodhisattva meditation on selflessness, you're manifesting the Lotus Sutra, you're manifesting the teaching of emptiness meditation, the teaching of emptiness. So you can consider now whether you would like to make a place in your house where you copy the Lotus Sutra. And you might think about if you want to do that, do you want to copy one chapter, two chapters, all chapters?

[35:06]

Do you want to start with the first chapter? Or maybe you could start with the sixteenth chapter, since we're doing that in class. This is something for you to consider. I'm not pressuring you to do that because I'm coming to you from Chapter 14 rather than Chapter 13. Chapter 13, if I come to you from Chapter 13, I would put tremendous pressure on you. And I'll explain to you the high-pressure and low-pressure methods of teaching and how they work. But tonight, I'm being kind of low pressure. I'm being gentle about this, and I sincerely welcome you not copying the Lotus Sutra. Lotus Sutra, I will welcome that. If you don't memorize it, if you don't read it, if you don't recite it, I will welcome that.

[36:11]

And if you do read, recite, copy, and start teaching it, I will welcome that too. However, in the latter case, I would say you would be actively manifesting, you would be embodying the Lotus Sutra in your life. And the Lotus Sutra is saying, Hello, please embody me. Hello, I am the truth. Please embody the truth. Please bring this truth into form, into flesh in this world and transform yourself, transform the truth into yourself and transform the world by manifesting. And this way of truth is saying that this way of manifesting is not fixed. It can be any way, but it's necessary that you think that this way is manifesting.

[37:17]

Otherwise, you miss it. What do you think about that? How do you feel about that? Yes? This is my notebook about the Lotus Sutra. Yes? Is this the embodiment of the Lotus Sutra? Is it a embodiment of the Lotus Sutra? Do you wish it was the Lotus Sutra? I think that it is. Do you think it is and want it to be? I know that it is. Do you also want it to be? Yes. Okay. So the Lotus Sutra says, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra says that Laurie formed the teaching of the Lotus Sutra into her notes on the Lotus Sutra. And since the Lotus Sutra is empty and selfless, You can fill the Lotus Sutra with your notes on the Lotus Sutra. You can fill and fulfill the Lotus Sutra by you having notes on the Lotus Sutra.

[38:23]

And your notes, or your interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, your interpretation and your note-taking of your interpretations of what I'm saying, those are intimately intertwined with the Lotus Sutra. ...reject your interpretations of it because the Lotus Sutra is open and empty. It needs you to fill it with your life. It wants you to fill it with your life. But her notes are not empty. Her notes are also empty, but her notes may not say that they're empty. Her notes may say something which sounds like she's saying what the truth is in her notes. I don't know. We have to read her notes. Her notes are empty. Everything's empty. But not everybody says everything's empty. And some people who teach the highest truth of emptiness will tell you what emptiness is. The Lotus Sutra is teaching you the highest truth, which in the Lotus Sutra says the highest truth is emptiness and emptiness, but it doesn't tell you what emptiness is.

[39:32]

In that way, it's so cool. I mean, that's so appropriate. So her notes are empty, but I don't know if her notes say that her notes are empty. Maybe she'll let you read, show you the place where it says, these notes on emptiness are empty. She's going to write that now. Was there somebody else? Gary, this is your number three, so I want to let some other people go first, okay? Anybody else have any questions before Gary does number three? If we were to copy the Lotus of Death, I would like to copy what we just read, that particular translation. Yeah. Which book or translation, which author is that from? Please.

[40:35]

I believe from... Do you have all three? Do you have all three copies? Do you have several translations? No. Gary, I'm going to give you this. If you want to copy this, you can take it home with you. Please bring it back next week, okay? So if you're going to use it for that purpose, if you... Was that chapter 13 a little touch of that? That was a whiff of 13. So I would guess that 13 is not a real good chapter for Stephen to start with. Yes? What translation do you have? Do I have? Yeah, the one that you were holding up. This one is called the Threefold Lotus.

[41:42]

This is a translation by... This has three sutras in it. It has the main body of the Lotus Sutra, and then it has the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, which the Lotus Sutra starts off by saying that the Buddha went into the samadhi of innumerable meanings, and there's a sutra about that. That's in here first. And then there's a sutra at the end, the sutra of Samantabhadra, or universal goodness, Bodhisattva, who's a Bodhisattva who's like going to make sure that the Lotus Sutra teaching goes on while Buddha's hiding out. So Buddha goes away until we are ready to let Buddha reappear. But in the meantime, When we can't see Buddha, we have some antipater who is making sure that copies of Lotus Sutra are available. So that's the Threefold Lotus. And this is translation by Kato Suddhil and somebody else. This translation. Kato Suddhil. And then there's... Yeah, I don't know what to do.

[42:50]

I could bring pieces of paper, but you can also just... I can email my assistant and get the names of them. There's quite a few English translations that are good, about six. Gloria? I suppose this is okay, but I had started doing it, and I just went online and found two translations. And I just set a pointer to both of them, and I go and do it. That's totally all right, yeah. Totally. As a matter of fact, it's wonderful. That's Burton Watson. Another one. And there's an English translation from Sanskrit by Kern. And then that's by Hurwitz. So Michael's got Hurwitz.

[43:51]

Norbert's got Watson. And here's Kato Sudhill. And then there's an institute called the Numata Institute, and they did a translation. And there's a few more. They're all, I haven't seen any. The Lotus Citrus, anyway, because there's so many, I think nobody's going to get that far off now, because they all look at the other ones. You know, still they feel that there's some nuance that they want to do some new translation. Yes? I have a confession. I'm still busy not copying the D'Angelo Pollan from the class.

[44:53]

You're still busy not doing that? What do you mean not doing it? Thinking I should, wishing I did, thinking about it. So now I don't know whether I'll have to put this in the lineup of things that I'm not copying. Would you like a suggestion? Ask me for a suggestion. What do you suggest I copy? Would you like to copy the ginger coin? I would suggest you do that first, because that won't take you very long to copy. Yes, it does. It does count. But I would recommend you do it by hand. I recommend you do it by hand, but typing is fine.

[45:57]

Why is by hand preferred? Why? I think it's a little bit more body into it. you have to sort of like guide the pen a little bit rather than just press. The pressing is pretty much the same over and over, whereas you have to do all these different things with your body to write it. And also the copy that you make will be different from the copy that I make if you write it. So it will be more, your body will be more in your handwritten copy than ...in mind than if you and I both type it. So it's a little bit more physical. And I think if you made somebody a handwritten copy and gave it to them, I think they'd probably feel more from you than if you typed it. They'd feel more Tracy there, you know. But typing is good too.

[47:02]

Thinking about it. Just think about it. That counts. And when you think about it, you can think in a typing way or a handwritten way. You can think about it with writing with your feet. You can think about your head in ink and doing it with your head. The more ways, the more you're transforming the world. This sutra is about bringing the truth into the world. It's about a truth that occurs in the world. The lotus is one type of a flower, but the lotus is a flower in the mud. It's a particularly beautiful flower, but it grows in the mud.

[48:05]

But it grows in mud and water actually. And so it puts down roots in the mud. The seed goes into the mud and the seed germinates and puts out sprouts and puts the roots out into the mud. And from those roots in the mud, the stalk comes up above the water. come up above the water and then this flower stalk comes up in the middle into a form of a bud and all the while the roots are in the mud and then the flower opens and when the flower opens the fruit is exposed and then the flower are revealed. And then the flower petals drop off and the fruit is completely exposed.

[49:14]

And then the stalk becomes soft and limp and the fruit is then lowered back into the water. and then the seed pods in this fruit swell up. Have you seen a lotus fruit? It's sort of like a disk and it has holes in it. Inside the holes are these seed pods. They're like little balls. That's actually not a seed, that's a seed pod. And then they swell up inside this enclosure and when the pressure gets strong enough the seed pods burst and in their bursting they propel the seed pod holder up out of the water

[50:25]

the broken thing comes up out of the water and the seed pod goes flying all over the water. So the lotus is particularly demonstrative of the process of transformation and spreading of the truth. That by its own process it explodes and the explosion is part of the reproduction. It's part of the spreading and then the seed pods in the water again break apart and the seeds come out and then they go into the mud again. So this is how this truth can spread and how it can root and grow and flower and fruit and go beyond the fruit into more roots and more flowers and more fruit. So it's a flower which is demonstrating very much reproduction and spreading and continuing of the teaching, the teaching of the truth.

[51:42]

And the embodiment of the truth, the embodiment of the teaching. The Buddha is the sutra and the sutra is the Buddha. The truth is the Buddha and the Buddha is the sutra and the sutra is the truth and the truth is the Buddha. And this truth and this Buddha and this sutra are always here. And then part of what the sutra is doing is speaking about the issue of who is going to take care of the lotus?

[53:04]

Who wants to take care of the lotus? Do you want to take care of the lotus? Do you want to take care of the sutra? Do you want to take care of the truth? And do you want to take care of it so that it can be transformed and manifested in this world? and also deal with the dynamic between this is the manifestation of the truth and the truth is not limited to this manifestation. That because the truth can be this book, the truth can be manifested in other ways. But if this is the truth, then how do you take care of this book? to take care of it, but somehow the issue of reverence and veneration are part of what's going on here.

[54:12]

So I brought the sutras over in this... I could try to promote this container They say the Guru is a very lovely container. So lovely. It has all these names. Zen students on it. Practicing in Zen Center. Crossed out. It's interdepartmental male. Interdepartmental female. So... Yeah, so I'll try to find another way to take care of these copies of the Lotus Sutra and recycle this back to the interdepartmental mailbox.

[55:16]

The envelope contained the Heart of the Lotus. The envelope contains the Heart of the Lotus Sutra. It did before. So it was a, what do you call it, a noble servant of the Lotus Sutra. But it contains it now, when it's there. It contains it, it contains, yeah, it contains the heart of it, yeah. So we don't exclude the virtues of this envelope. So this is how we practice compassion. Yeah. So I could continue to use this, too, with the sense of that this is really a good container for Lotus Sutras because it's empty and it's impermanent. So I have to think about whether this is really

[56:26]

the most appropriate container for the scriptures. You'll maybe keep your eye on me next week and see what I bring it in. Do you like or dislike? Are you accusing me of something? Are you accusing me of something? Are you just teasing? Where is not the Lotus Sutras? Where is not the Lotus Sutra? I don't know. But if you ask me where is the Lotus Sutra, I can tell you here. The Lotus Sutra which is actually beyond time and space and the truth of the Lotus Sutra which is really cannot be located in time and space is now located in time and space as this book.

[57:39]

But I'm not saying that you can't say the Lotus Sutra isn't somewhere because it's not located in, you know, not some place, but it can be located here. But by its very teaching we know that the Lotus Sutra can be concretely manifested in any way. But it requires, it requires us The Buddha's appearance in the world requires us to practice. If we don't practice, if we don't want to see the Buddha, the Buddha hides from us. We can't see it. The embodiment is what makes us see it.

[58:48]

The Buddha is embodied. But the Buddha said in what you just read that I make it so people can't see me. I don't want them to see me if they don't want to see me. I'm here at their service. My body's here. But I won't show it. I'll actually make it so they can't see it unless they really want to see it. And that would be partly the reason When they take the medicine and become well, then they will see me. But the Buddha's body is actually with us all the time. And part of its power is to not show itself until you see it. But this set chapter is saying, but it's here always. And this is Shakyamuni Buddha saying,

[59:49]

who historically went away, but he's saying the same is true for infinite Buddhas. They're all here with us. The Buddhas are present in this world and at the same time they're telling us you have to practice in order to realize this. Yes? How can I venerate the Lotus Sutra and take care of my God? The biggest question I have is what to do about the snails. Whenever you meet a snail, whenever a snail comes to you, always think of Buddha. dash, think of the ultimate truth whenever a snail comes to you.

[60:58]

Don't see a snail. Don't go after any snails. Just practice the Lotus Sutra and see if the snails come to you. And when they come, The snails, the lotus sutra. Okay? Otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily tell you to have any relationship with the lotus sutra, with the snails. Yes? This is a gentle approach, by the way. Are you not also asking that even though we embody or we touch emptiness or somehow we see the emptiness of the conventional world, we still go on tending our garden?

[62:14]

Is she asking that? Yeah, I'm asking... What does that seem like, what you were asking? I know that the impasse doesn't feel right. One, I've either poisoned them with Slug Oats, or two, I've done a contraction release program of sending them off to Australia, which is the other side of the street for me. I don't think they have good food there. And I thought of bringing ducks to eat them. So my toast would then either basically collect them and transport them, or kill them sluggo, or let them have the garden. or give up on the plan to go to zero if the snails are allowed to proliferate. So what I heard from Red was just, I don't know the answer yet, but if I just let the answer come to me, I just know it doesn't feel right to put sluggo down anymore. It feels convenient, but not right.

[63:18]

and it's really kinder to put them on the other side of the road, because I don't know if they can eat on that side of the road. But it just bothered me. Well, again, if you want to... Again, this is a gentle approach. If you want to be teaching the Lotus Sutra, then... you basically just think about the Lotus Sutra and then see who comes to visit you. And when they come to visit you, Lotus Sutra. And while you're teaching the Lotus Sutra with them, you may take a walk with them or you may have lunch with them. You have to see what's appropriate while you're teaching the Lotus Sutra, whether you would, you know, whether you would move them or not. I don't know what you do with them. They aren't eating the plants.

[64:24]

I don't know if I need to protect the plants. I feel somehow plants are more allowed to be eaten than snails to be killed. you know, the source of this teaching, this truth, is a place where the precept of no killing lives. That's where the reality of no killing has its source, is in this teaching. And meditating on silence and stillness, meditating on This emptiness, which is the unconstructedness, the emptiness which is silent and still, entering that place is entering the world of where there's no killing. What relationship do you have in your garden with snails when there's no killing?

[65:27]

Then what is that? And also no taking what's not given. and know placing myself above someone and what kind of, that's the kind of world. And then there's still activity there. You're still functioning. I don't know what it would be. You have to look and see what works in that place. And if you're not in that place yet, then you're trying, you don't really see Killing. You don't actually see the no killing. You're trying not to kill, which is fine. Try not to kill when you still think it's possible, when it looks like there is killing. Try not to. Try to avoid that falseness. You're actually practicing the Lotus Sutra. You're actually seeing not killing. And then that's thin now. Then how can your relationship with the snails manifest it?

[66:30]

So chapter 13 is kind of like, well, if you can't do this, who can? Chapter 14 is like more gentle. See if you can be gentle with the gentle and patient. That's part of chapter 14, the gentle and patient and not nasty with snails. Don't really be concerned with like having a relationship with the snails. Try to focus yourself on the truth and then see if the snails come to you or dogs or people or whatever. And then when they come, and people will come. That's the one part that I'm not so clear on is teach them. Teach them, show them how you're meditating on the Lotus Sutra. Show them how you're meditating on embodying the truth in your reality.

[67:40]

Show them that. Help them, help open their eyes to how you're practicing with them. Good question. It looks like you understand. Yes? How did you eventually solve the doper problem? Solve it? I didn't actually solve it. They keep coming. They keep coming, yeah. They keep coming. And coming. And coming. You had fantasies of shooting them. Shooting? I think you said something once. Not shooting. Not shooting, I think. I wouldn't say fantasy. It wasn't exactly a fantasy. It was a thought of going to the hardware store and getting some very high calorie gopher food.

[68:51]

so that they'd become so obese that they couldn't get out their holes anymore. I think... Anyway, I did sort of think about gopher poison. And then there's also gopher fishing. You can fish for gophers too. By putting, you know, something delicious on the end of a hook and putting it down the hole. Somebody tell me that. I also thought of... And I thought of those things. But I so far have not gone to the hardware store. I did research gopher snakes on the internet, though. But the gophers are still coming. And they still make mounds. And then I rake the mounds away and throw them away.

[70:01]

I do sometimes think the gophers are making my garden rock-free because they kind of regurgitate rocks up into these mounds. And I throw the rocks away. So the garden is becoming less and less hazardous. is surrounded by mountains of rocks. The garden itself, I think, of course, you can say, well, they keep going deeper and deeper. They'll find rocks way, way down there. That's just sort of among my discriminations. You don't have to accuse me on that one. of the benefits of gophers. They also kind of aerate the soil. But I, ladies and gentlemen, have still not killed a gopher. And they don't come that close to me for me to get a chance to teach the Lotus Sutra.

[71:06]

You know, up close. They don't get that close. I do sometimes see them sticking their head up, and when I go over and look, they pop away very quickly. But these days I'm really not that troubled. I don't feel that harassed by the gophers. I think they're giving me kind of an easy time lately. But it could get difficult again. I hope I never have to come here and confess that I killed a gopher. I have done that with euthanasia. I come from Minnesota, and the mascot of the University of Minnesota is the Golden Gophers.

[72:12]

So my wife refers to me as the King Gopher. They're actually the King Gopher. They tend to get more active when I'm out of town. If you wanted to just be amused, I'd recommend, in case you haven't seen it already, that the wonderful Wallace and Gavanna replaced dokers with rabbits. But they definitely had a rabbit problem, and they sure had some interesting solutions. And I don't think they killed a single rabbit. Just the lighter side of it. Yeah. I saw that movie. It won an Academy Award, didn't it? So is Wilson the man? Is Wilson the man or Gromit the man? Wallace is the man.

[73:16]

Gromit is the dog. So I think Wallace turned into this giant rabbit, right? Yeah. he became this huge monster rabbit because of his problem with rabbits, right? Is that right? So I don't want to become the huge goat that you are. Well, I thought you were a machine. You bit the machine, you know, and it sucked the... Also, people are giving me these gopher sounders, these buzzers that you put down in the ground, so sort of to like have a sound that annoys them. Beep, beep, you're going to move to another neighborhood. Beep, beep. My gophers didn't mind it.

[74:18]

They actually made a lot of mounds around the place. where the sound thing was. It's kind of like, I don't know, maybe they're singing along, they're singing louder so they can't hear it. But they didn't work. But you see, a lot of people gave them to me because they were afraid that I might kill the ghosts. It cost $49 a piece. I would loan you the loan material. They look like, you know, they look very ballistic and... But I don't use those. I'm feeling pretty happy about my relationship with gophers recently, and I think it has a lot to do with the Lotus Sutra. So I'm just very happy to be studying the Lotus Sutra with you. I'm trying to relax and not get too excited about it, but I am pretty darn happy about studying this wonderful sutra.

[75:24]

I feel like, you know, the seeds are germinating. And next week I will appear to leave Berkeley now.

[75:47]

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