Have we discussed Darshan quite a bit? So he is a disciple of Lung Pan, right? Which means dragon pond. And I offered the story of these two as an example of good friendship. Also before he met Luangtan, he met another friend, a lady who was a woman who was selling tea cakes. Remember that story? And So the reason why, I mean, not the reason, but a reason why I started with the story of Deschamps was because he was the next story from the book of the Blue Cliff records.

[01:23]

And we had done the first three, so he was the fourth. But also I thought it was a great story to start with because Darshan didn't seem like he was going to look for a friend. Does that make sense? He thought he was going to go track down enemies, and he met friend after friend. Met the woman, signed the cakes, and she started to help him realize that he was meeting friends, and then When he met Luangtan, he was deeply moved by the meeting and said he would never again doubt the old teachers. Some people think he means the Buddha, but I guess I feel like he's saying, I never doubt you, Luangtan.

[02:27]

And Lung Than said, the next morning he gave a talk and he said, there's one among you, there's one among you who has a tongue like what? I don't know what his tongue was like. What kind of tongue he had. Yeah, his tongue was like a forest of swords. and his mouth was like a bowl of blood, he will go to the top of a solitary peak. And he will, what's the word, he will No? He will... He will... He will... No?

[03:33]

I may have said that, but that's not what he said. He said, he will demonstrate what I said about him here. He will go to the top of the solitary peak and he will demonstrate this tongue like a forest of swords and the mouth like a bowl of blood. He will... He will show what I said. He will demonstrate what I said. And then he burned all his books and he went to see Guishan. And after Guishan met him, after he left Guishan, Guishan said, he will someday go to the top of a solitary peak and revile the Buddhas and abuse the ancestors. And that was his style. Could I invite Justin and Francis to come sit over here?

[04:44]

Would that be all right? So that was his style, the sword-tongue style. the bowl of blood style, the reviling of the Buddhas. Right this way. There's some seats right here for you. And then I just went on to the next story, just to sort of go through this book of stories in the Blue Cliff Record. I'm not really picking who to talk about next. But things are playing right into my hand. The next person is, the next case in the Blue Cliff record is about Seppo or Shre Fung.

[05:53]

Seppo means snowy peak. or snowy summit. That's the mountain that he lived on when he went to the top of a solitary peak. And people say that he was very vigorous and very intense in his practice. Some people on the side say it took him quite a while to understand the Dharma, but from early on he was very intense. They say about him that he wore out seven zafus, nine zafus. He wore out nine zafus. Have any of you worn out a zafu yet? And I think in those days, wearing on a zafu doesn't mean like he sat on until there was one hole.

[07:06]

Because I think, you know, even we would probably patch a zafu with one hole. I think he probably wore, used it until it was like irreparably used and just falling apart. And then he got another one. So anyway, I picture him as sitting a lot doing a lot of meditation, and he visited many teachers. In particular, he visited a teacher named Tosu four times, and he missed and he visited the founder of the Soto Zen tradition. Come on. So Lungtan is a disciple of Tenno Doggo, who's a disciple of Sekito Gisen.

[08:13]

And he's one of the main disciples. And then Tenno Doggo, Lungtan, Deshan, and then Sepo. And Deshan's other great disciple was Ganto, or Yanto. These are the two main disciples of Darshan. But the case we're studying today is about, well actually the case we're studying today is about both of them. On the other side from Sekito comes Yaku-san. And then from Yaku-san comes Ungan. And from Ungan comes well, Dungsan or Tozan. So, see Tozan is kind of like same generation as Deshan.

[09:27]

So Seppo visited many teachers, and he visited Dungsan nine times. They say Dungsan is the name of this teacher's, Dungsan Liangjie. Liangjie lived on Dungsan, another mountain, which actually is not a mountain. I went there. It's not a mountain, but it's very moving. It's a very wonderful place. And I got some brown rice there from their fields. They were harvesting it. It was laying out, drying on the ground. And I brought some back to America. But it's not actually a mountain. It's a monastery. And when I went there, I bowed to his stupa 108 times. Tozan. So, huh?

[10:33]

Dongshan, yeah. Dongshan, Tozan. So, Seppo visited many teachers, and he visited this teacher. He went to his temple nine times. And they say that as he traveled, he carried his cushion, and he carried a rice bucket and a ladle. And he served as a rice steward at whatever monastery he went to. He said, I'm here to help you cook the rice. So he would go and serve as rice steward and do lots of meditation. And he went to Dungsan nine times. On his ninth visit, he was working in the kitchen. Who was working in the kitchen? Sepo, right. He was working in Dung Shan's kitchen.

[11:38]

Or Shui Feng was working in Dung Shan's kitchen. Seppo was working in Tozan's kitchen. And Tozan came in and said to Seppo, what are you doing? And he said, I'm separating the rice and the sand. And Dengshan said to Shreya Phong, are you washing the rice to get rid of the sand or washing the sand to get rid of the rice? And Shreya Phong said, I'm doing both simultaneously. And Dung Shan said, well, what are the people going to eat?

[12:45]

And Frey Pong tipped over the rice, the rice pot. And Dung Shan said, this is not the right place for you. Go see. to the shun. This is an ancient story which I think you know there's been quite a few generations since that happened and I think many generations say, this is a story of the teacher and the student trying to realize wisdom together. But I also would like to suggest to you that this is the kind of friendship, this is the kind of good friendship of this particular lineage. And this is a great lineage.

[13:56]

Two of the five schools of Zen come from Setpo. One of his disciples is the great teacher, Yan Man. And then a couple of generations later, through another lineage, one of his students is Fa Yan. So they're the founders of two of the five schools of Zen. So he's a very wonderful bodhisattva. And this relationship between them is one of the most important in the history of the Zen bodhisattva story. So Seppo left. Seppo went to Dungsan. And then he left Dungsan and went to Dushan. Yes?

[15:03]

Because he said, this is not the right... You know, your affinity, the causes and conditions of your karma are such that your affinity is not with me. I'm not the proper teacher for you. Well, the last thing he did was he tipped over the rice pot, which is usually not considered to be that good an idea to throw food on the ground. But that doesn't mean that some other teacher wouldn't have thought that was really cool. So he said, I'm not your teacher. I think Darshan would be your teacher. Now, you could say disrespected. That's fine. I'm not going to say that that wasn't respectful.

[16:15]

I think a lot of people would say that. So I can see why you would think, like, you know, to throw food on the ground, we teach kids not to do that. You know, a little bit's okay, but to tip over a whole pot of the monk's rice on the ground might be considered disrespectful of the rice anyway. I think if the tenzo at Green Gulch did that, I think if the abbot came into the kitchen and the tenzo turned up, the abbot might say, you know, your affinity's not here. I think you should go someplace else. They might say that. But it wasn't so much that he was saying what he did, but just, I don't think our karma is such that I'm your teacher. And he visited him many times. And he sent him to Deshan. And basically when he got, he met Deshan.

[17:16]

When they met, he said to Deshan, does this student have any share in what has been transmitted by the ancestors? And Deschamps did a usual Deschamps thing. He hit him and said something like, what? And Shui Fung had insight. And I don't think Dachshund ever sent him away. However, he did go traveling quite a bit.

[18:22]

He was a traveling monk. And one time he and Yanto, or Ganto, were traveling. And they were traveling on Elephant Bone Mountain. near Tortoise Peak. And they ran into a big snowstorm. So they stopped at an inn. And while they were in the inn for several days, because their passage over the ridge was blocked by snow, Shui Fung wore out zafus, meditating all the time. And his Dharma brother, Yanto, slept all the time and got up occasionally to eat.

[19:32]

And after a while, Shri Phong yelled at his brother and said, actually, elder brother, elder brother, wake up. What we're doing is really important. Don't waste your time sleeping all the time. And Yantou said, relax. Don't be so uptight. Just rest and have something to eat. We've all been waiting to hear that. You know, Setpo says, I'm really sincere, you know, I want to attain the way.

[20:43]

I'm actually I still have anxiety, even though I had some insight with previous teachers, and recently I had some insight with Deshan. I still have anxiety. I'm not free yet. And Elder Brother Yonto said, okay. In other words, I'll postpone my next nap for a while. Maybe I can help you. Tell me about your insights. Tell me about your understanding. And, you know, if it's right, I'll say so. And if it's off, I'll correct it. So Shui Fung says, when I was with such and such a teacher, I had entry when we had such and such a discussion.

[21:57]

And Yanto said, from now on, do not mention that to anybody. And then he told another example. And he again said, you're really off." And then he told the story of when he met Deshan and he said, at that time it was like the bottom of a black lacquer bucket fell out. And then Yanto said, don't you know that the family treasures do not come in the front gate. Just let it come out of your breast and spread over the entire world. And then , really open.

[23:05]

to the Dharma, really open to freedom. And Shui Fung said, your teaching and mine will cover the whole earth. And their teachings did. And then Shui Fung went to top of the mountain, and many, many students came and studied with her. And one day, the fifth case of Blue Cliff happened. went into the dharma hall and said to the monks, the entire universe, pick it up with your fingers, and it's the size of a grain of rice.

[24:27]

The infinite universe pick it up with your fingers, and it's very small. If I put it in front of you, it's like a black lacquer bucket. A black lacquer bucket is a metaphor in Zen. for the reality that's right in front of you that you can't see. If I put it in front of you, it's like a black lacquer bucket. Some people translate that as, if I put it right in front of you, you don't see it. But the actual image is, if I put it in front of you, it's a black lacquer bucket. If you don't see it, I will hit the drum and call everyone to help us look for it.

[25:42]

That's the story. That's the wisdom story of the night. That's the friendship story of the way Seppo taught the monks who came to practice with him. It's a short story. The whole universe, if you pick it up with your fingers, it's like a grain of rice. If I put it in front of you, it's like a black, like a bucket.

[26:47]

If you don't see it, we can beat the drum and we'll all look for it. The whole universe is like No, the whole universe. When I pick it up with these two fingers, it's like a grain of rice, see? If I put it in front of you, it's like a bucket. If you don't see it, I don't have a drum available, but I can go get one if necessary. But let's just assume it's available if anybody needs it. If anybody doesn't see it, we can look for it. So here we are. It's like that. Just like back in the Tang Dynasty, if we pick the universe up with these two fingers, it's this size.

[27:50]

If we put it out in front, here it is. It's just like that. I didn't make that story up, but it seems to me that the situation is the same tonight. The whole universe is right in front of us. Do you see it? If you don't, well, I'll just... I can just use the more kugyo if anybody needs it. Did you see it? Did you see the whole universe? Having trouble seeing it? Oh, you're having trouble?

[28:52]

Okay. Somebody's having trouble. Come on, everybody. Help him find it. Justin can't find the whole universe. Help him find it. Let's look for it. Where is it? By the way, I don't know where it is. Don't ask me. I'm just telling you a story about an ancient Zen family member who said, if I put it in front of you and you don't see it, I'll help you find it. I don't know where it is, but I would like to help you find it too. The search is on.

[29:59]

You are deputized by the sheriff to find it. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep We have all the time in the universe. There's no hurry. Is there any questions?

[31:01]

Any responses? Any gifts you wish to give to the community? Yes. bull guy and now Yeah, I just came back from a retreat and there was an astrophysicist in the retreat. He got his PhD from UC Berkeley and he worked for 31 years at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. And he said, that when he sat, he felt some discomfort.

[32:08]

And it made it hard for him to study reality. But he really appreciated the opportunity to try. Do you have any discomfort? You do? What's your discomfort? Your legs? You're going to sleep? Is it uncomfortable? Would you please stand up carefully? No, just carefully. I want you to stand up right now carefully. Standing up counts getting ready to stand up too. So don't stand up before your leg wakes up, okay? Are you feeling more comfortable now? That's enough, I think, for now. Just feel more comfortable. And when you're ready to feel uncomfortable again, go back.

[33:13]

Any other gifts? Thank you for those gifts. Any other gifts that you'd like to offer to the research project that Seppo offered to his monks? to find the whole universe? Yes, Angel. What did he mean by hitting the drum? Well, just like we have... Do we hit the drum here for work meeting? Do we? Well, we used to hit the drum. Usually at Zen monasteries they hit the drum for work. So now we hit the Han.

[34:20]

And then everybody comes, you know, a lot of people come anyway, and they gather together and they start looking for the universe, right? It's like that. We get together and have this meeting at this temple, and we then go to work to try to find the whole universe. It's like that. But at Tassajara and city center, they use a drum. And we used to use a drum here, didn't we? We did for a while. But you usually use a drum at the monastery to call the people to work. But maybe because our drum is indoors and Green Gulch is a big place, people thought maybe we should use the hall instead. The city center, they use the drum, but people are indoors there. So it echoes through the hallways and people can hear it and touch hard the drums outside. So it's just a normal thing in the monastery to use the drum to call the people to work.

[35:31]

And in Asia, as you may know, they use the drum in the castles to call people to the battle. I'm deeply moved by this teacher saying that when we When we play the work drum, we're inviting the community to come and find the universe, the whole universe, in a day's work, or even in a morning's work, to come and find the whole universe. That's what we're here for. Let's find it together. unless you've already found it. And if you found it, then teach other people how to find it, please. I just thought Angel might say, if you can't find the whole universe, come and make kimchi with me.

[36:49]

The whole universe, when I make kimchi, it's like a gallon. Oh, you're sitting cross-legged again. How are you feeling? So far so good. So far so good? Okay. I'll be coming back to you later. Any other gifts? It's gift time. Yes. Thibault. Well, I didn't actually agree with him that the discomfort was. He said that, but I didn't say, yes, the discomfort is making it hard for you to meditate. I didn't agree with him, and I didn't disagree with him.

[37:58]

I just taught him how to be friendly with the discomfort in order to discover the truth of astrophysics. I didn't know at the time that he was an astrophysicist, so I didn't say that. But after he told me, he invited me to a talk he's giving on consciousness in Marin County. But what I said to him, I gave him instruction about how to bring the bodhisattva practices to the discomfort in order to be able to hear the dharma in the discomfort. So when we feel uncomfortable and we feel like the discomfort is interfering with our being able to hear the truth of the whole universe, then we bring various dimensions of compassion to the discomfort.

[39:05]

Not to get rid of the discomfort, but to hear the Dharma in the discomfort. So the thing that you feel is blocking you from the teaching is, in Zen we call it a barrier. but it's not actually a barrier. It's a dharma gate. So we bring our practices of generosity and so on to the barriers in order to realize that there's no obstruction in the barrier. The barrier is, like I was talking about this weekend, it's like a boundary that you know your discomfort is like a boundary that you know. And if you practice with the boundary of the discomfort, you can realize the... I should say, if you practice with the boundary that you know, you'll realize the unknowability of the boundary, and you'll realize the Dharma.

[40:22]

But the discomfort, which seems to be a known boundary, if you realize the unknowability of that known boundary, that boundary turns into the Dharma gate. So I responded to him by giving instructions how to work with the boundary that he knows to realize the unknowability of it. And he was very receptive. So when you feel discomfort, you know, and if I say to you that discomfort which seems to be a boundary to something or a barrier to something, to peace perhaps, the discomfort which seems to be a barrier to peace and tranquility, if you practice with it in the appropriate way, it can open And that could include that you uncross your legs as a gift.

[41:33]

Not to avoid the pain, but as a kindness to the pain. And then you might cross your legs again as a kindness to the pain. And the pain might or might not come back. How are you feeling now? Pretty good. It's okay to feel pretty good. And feeling pretty good, guess what? There's another person in the retreat that says, I'm feeling pretty good, and it's an obstacle to my meditation. So we do the same practice with feeling pretty good. Be generous towards feeling pretty good, if that ever happens to you. It might happen. It happened one time to Suzuki Roshi. He was sitting in meditation, and he he was sitting there and he says, sometimes when I'm sitting, I feel pretty good. Can you imagine? Suzuki Roshi was sitting in meditation and he was feeling pretty good, like Justin.

[42:38]

Can you imagine that? You can. And so, when he's feeling pretty good, sitting there, he says, I feel like I could sit here forever. Can you imagine that? Yeah, I can too. And he actually said it, I heard him. Ha, ha. But then he said, if the bell rings, I give it up. He just gives it up and gives up and does walking meditation, which might also be pretty good or not. But he's not into whether it's going to be good or not. He's into giving up his feeling pretty good. Now, if you're not feeling pretty good and the bell rings, you might be willing to give that up too. which is fine. Give up not feeling good? Give up feeling good. That's the first step in turning not feeling good into a dharmagate. If you're feeling good, giving up feeling good is the first step in turning feeling good into a dharmagate.

[43:47]

James. It's the path that... Well, it's not the same thing as non-abiding. It is necessary for non-abiding. But it's possible to be compassionate to the pain in your legs, knees, heart. It's possible to be compassionate to it and still be abiding. Now you haven't yet reached the great compassion of the Buddhas who are not abiding in anything. But you can have pretty darn good compassion and still be abiding. You can be very generous towards your pain, but still kind of be abiding. But if you're generous with your pain and really careful of it, very ethical with it, and you're very patient with it, and you're very diligent with it, and you're very calm with it, then you're probably ready to not abide in it.

[45:16]

But it's possible to be quite compassionate but not fill out all the different dimensions of compassion. But I think that partial compassion, I think, counts as compassion, I would say. But the full compassion gets you ready to open to not abiding. When you're not abiding with the pain, the pain is a Dharmagate. We all have occasionally, probably sometimes, some pain. And so we all can practice compassion with that. Yes? Excuse me, are you cold? Are you warm enough in your coldness? You are?

[46:19]

Really? We don't want you to be too cold. Okay. And you don't know if you apologize? I don't know if you do either. Did I say that? The Dharma filling somebody up from the front rather than the back? Did I say that? Huh? Oh!

[47:24]

Yeah. The dharma, the family treasures do not come in through the front door. I didn't say they came in through the back door. What? Yeah. The family treasures don't come in through the front door and also they don't come in through the back door. They don't come through either door. We don't keep, we keep the family treasures in the house. They're already in the house. They're in the house So you've got to let them out. Let them out and let them cover the whole universe. That was an interesting way of hearing. I never heard that one before. Any other gifts tonight? Yes. Elijah. Elijah. You're welcome to do so.

[48:36]

You may get kicked out, but go ahead. I may send you to Dishon. And it's pretty far away. Even when fog obscures my sight of the mountains, the moon catches and reflects the light of the sun. Is that your understanding? Thank you for that gift. Please give me some more someday. Did you say OK? Thank you. Neil, you? I just have a comment. I finally And I can hear what you're saying, but I can't really make out what the actual word is.

[49:46]

But I haven't heard any of the question. I appreciate you letting us know, and I would suggest that you come up here and sit next to me. And I would suggest you come sit next to me. And I'll tell you what the questions are if you can't hear them. And anybody else that can't hear the questions, I'll say them for you, too. How about turning up the volume? Well, the volume is not going to help you hear the questions. You could hear me? Yeah.

[50:47]

You can hear me okay? Yeah. Would you come closer, please? So he can hear me, but he can't hear... He has some difficulty hearing me. I could hear the sound. I couldn't make out what the words were. My words? Yeah. Okay. Not all of them. Some of them, certainly. So now, if you have any questions, let me know. Okay. But he couldn't hear any of the questions. Sorry, you missed those. But from now on, you're going to have a better chance. Thank you. Anybody else having trouble hearing? You can come over here too. She can sit on the other side. Yeah, she can sit here. This is a... No, no, she can sit right here. Okay. You can sit right here. Yeah, right next to me over here. Right here. You can sit right there.

[51:50]

Don't anybody else admit that you can't hear? All right. Oh, this is lovely. Yeah. Excuse me. Can you hear okay? Oh, yes. Mm-hmm. If they hadn't asked, if they hadn't let me know, I wouldn't be able to offer this. If you hadn't let me know... How are you doing, by the way? Good, that was helpful. Yeah, you're welcome. So if you let me know, I might be able to respond. If you need some help, let me know. If I need some help, let me know. Yes? What would you describe Suzuki Roshi's style as?

[52:52]

What would I describe his style as? Yeah. Strict with himself, lenient with us. But lenient could be kind of strict for certain mature students. And I would say that that was the way I described his style during the years I knew him. But he let us know that earlier in his life he was maybe too strict with other people.

[53:57]

But he was more careful in his later years not to be too strict. Yes, Jackie. I what? I what? I wasn't sitting. I was sitting cross-legged. Yes. Oh, yeah, I went from doksan. There's two stories. One story is I went for Doksha and I was sitting in full lotus.

[54:59]

And before I went to see him, I was sitting in full lotus also. But I was having a really hard time And so I went to see him, and he said a little, we talked for a little while, and he left the room, and I stayed there. I think he said, he might have said, excuse me, he might have said, excuse me, I'll be back, or something like that. I don't think he just walked out. I think he said, excuse me, and I got the feeling he was going to come back someday. But he didn't say, uncross your legs and, you know, go, you know, lie down. He didn't give me any instructions. He just said, he didn't like to say, stay like that. He just said, excuse me, and he walked out. And I could hear him walk up the stairs. The doksan room was on the first floor of the Sokoji Temple, which is where Zen Center was before 300 Page Street.

[56:01]

And I heard him going up the stairs. And then I heard him walking down the hall upstairs. And then I heard chanting, which I thought meant it was like noon service. And then I heard some noise indicating that they're having lunch. And I heard the sounds of the lunch signals, and I heard the chanting, and I heard the servers walking. How were your legs feeling during that time? At some point in this process while I was listening to what was going on upstairs, it did occur to me that I didn't have any pain at all. And I thought, after a while I thought, and it went on for service and lunch, and then afterwards.

[57:02]

And at a certain point I thought, hmm, this is interesting. I was having a lot of pain before I came into the room. And now he's left, and I'm not really in pain. I'm just having a sense. I mean, I can tell my legs are there, and they weren't asleep. But I was really kind of comfortable. And I thought, is it some kind of trick he did to show me something? And then after lunch I heard all the people going out of the meditation hall and down the stairs, down their break. And then I heard one more person coming down the stairs after most people had left. I heard and I thought, well, maybe he's coming back now. And he came into the room and he went, oh. I thought maybe he was going to walk in the room and say, do you understand now?

[58:08]

Do you see how the pain can be a gate to freedom from pain? But he didn't. He went, oh. That's another aspect of his style, that he didn't seem to be doing that on purpose. This little experience I had, he didn't seem like he was doing it on purpose. He seemed like he actually forgot me. It seemed like he kind of got over me. And I didn't tell him I was in pain on that occasion because when I first went in the room, when I sat down at first, it wasn't that painful because I had just sat down and we just talked for a little while. But after all that time, I thought, well, where did the pain go? Why isn't it coming back? Did I figure it out? No. I did not figure it out.

[59:10]

But I did. Then we had a conversation, and I continued to be quite comfortable. And I don't remember what the rest of the conversation was about, but, you know. I was pretty happy to be there with him and he seemed to be okay that I was there. And then we concluded the meeting and I had a little break. And then we all went back to the Zendo and I sat there and I sat for a while and the pain came back. I don't know why it came back either. I don't know why the pain comes and I don't know why the pain goes. All I know is I love you. I mean, all I know is the pain is there to be loved, is to be listened to with compassion. That's all I know. But I don't know why it comes and goes.

[60:14]

And I don't know how much compassionate listening to the pain is necessary for there to be awakening and freedom. We don't do this practice so that people will be in pain. It's not a setup to make you in pain. It's a setup to encourage you to be compassionate to pain if it should happen to come, and be compassionate to pleasure if it should happen to come. Both pain and pleasure can be doors to the Dharma if you treat them with compassion. Is that the story you were referring to, Jackie? There's another story about the pain, which is, well, actually there's eight million stories about the pain, but there's another one about him and me talking about the pain of sitting.

[61:16]

And I said to him, if I sit in full lotus, it's like the pain is so strong that I can't follow my breathing. But if I sit in half lotus, it's not that intense and I can follow my breathing. And he said, oh, okay. Well, maybe for you, full lotus is good. He didn't tell me to sit in full lotus. He said, well, maybe full lotus is good. Maybe it's good until you have the pain. I said, the pain is like screaming. He said, maybe full lotus is good for you. But he didn't tell me, like, don't uncross your legs when you're in pain. He just said, oh, maybe Philotis is good for you. And that comment was, I thought, really interesting.

[62:19]

But he didn't say that to everybody. Some people he would say, some people who had trouble sitting, he'd say, sit in a chair. In my case, that's what he said. Did it take you a while to realize generosity with the pain? Yeah, it did. I didn't even have the concept at first of being generous with the pain. I just thought, well, you're sitting and the pain comes and the instruction is just to sit and not to uncross your legs. But I did sometimes uncross my legs. But I didn't think, oh, this is an act of generosity. Now I see that it was, but I didn't have the concept that I was being kind to my pain or kind to Reb.

[63:26]

I didn't have that concept. Now I do. Now I'm like really into being kind to Reb. I'm really enjoying being kind to Reb. I'm really enjoying being compassionate to Reb. But part of compassion is also being honest, is practicing precepts. So I'm also part of my kindness to Reb is to be honest about Reb when Reb's not paying attention. Like, just a few minutes ago I was up at the house and I was going to wear hearing aids to class tonight. So I was, I was, put the hearing aids on and the batteries went dead so I, I was changing the batteries when Barbara came to pick me up. And I was noticing that I wasn't being really careful and attentive in working with them.

[64:28]

And I thought, I really want to do this in a really beautiful, careful way. So I wasn't mean to myself when I discovered I wasn't really being careful. I just noticed it and reiterated my basic intention to practice the art. Practice the art of coughing. And practice the art of putting new batteries into the hearing aid. And practice the art of calligraphy. And practice the art of being generous with pain. Pain in the legs when you're sitting. And I would say, Suzuki Roshi might say, if you can be compassionate to the pain in your legs when you're sitting, you can realize when you have pain, painful Buddha.

[65:32]

It's also okay to uncross your legs and have the pain fly away. That's fine. But while you have the pain, be kind to the pain and realize painful Buddha. Are you hearing okay? Yeah. How are you doing? Thank you. Very well. It was a good seat, huh? Yeah. That's why I sit here, too. It's really a good seat. Anybody else wants to come up here? So anyway, Dung Shan, I think he was the guy. Either he said it or one of his monks said it. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Shui Fung that said it. Maybe somebody knows who said it. Somebody said to him, when it's really hot, what should we do? He said, hot Buddha. In China, you know, in the Tang Dynasty, they did not have air conditioning.

[66:42]

When it's cold, what should we do? He said, be cold Buddha. Suzuki Rishi says, when distracted, be distraction Buddha. When painful legs, be painful legs Buddha. So you hear that teaching from Dung Shan. Pass down, [...] down to Suzuki Roshi. Now it's passed to you. When you have pain, when you're cold, when you're hot, hot Buddha, cold Buddha, pain Buddha, distraction Buddha. But you have to be kind to yourself to accept that gift, that gift from Suzuki Roshi and Dongshan.

[67:47]

If you push yourself too hard, you might not be able to receive that gift. But that gift is for us. To be ourselves, you know, as an act of generosity. Not be yourself in a stingy way. Be yourself in a generous way. Spend the day with the sangha while you're working. seeing the whole universe. If you can't see for it, well, ask us and we'll help you find it. But you don't have to look for it. You can just see it right in front of you. It is right in front of you. But if we're stingy with it, we may not be able to receive it. Is that enough for tonight?

[68:51]

What time is it? Twenty to nine. Is that enough for tonight? Had enough of these old stories about friendship? And I think I told you at the first class, I did not have the concept that Suzuki Roshi was my friend. I thought, oh, he's our teacher. I still think that. But now I also realize that the teacher is a friend, even though some of these people might not look like our ideal friend, these are the good friends who help us find Buddha, which means help us find the liberation of all beings. Well, I asked if that was enough and you didn't tell me it was.

[70:00]

Is it enough? You can keep going if you like, but it's enough. It's enough. How are you feeling? I'm pretty good. Pretty good. You're welcome. I hope you take good care of yourself until I see you again. Thank you. Thank you all for your good friendship. May our intention equally...

[70:26]

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