Today I offer more teachings to the point of this scripture, to the point of this scripture which is called Unraveling and Understanding the Deep Intimacy. of the thought of the Buddha. And in the chapter where Maitreya Bodhisattva is the questioner of the Buddha, the definitive teachings on yoga are presented.

[01:03]

And this yoga is the yoga of shamatha and vipassana. Or you might say, for shamatha, stillness, tranquility, quietude, rest. And vipassana could be translated as observation, vision, higher vision, insight. And the yoga is practicing these two types of meditation, practicing them, and then also yoking them together, finally, uniting them. and applying them in the united way to the Dharma.

[02:13]

The beginning of the chapter on yoga, the Bodhisattva, the great Bodhisattva Maitreya, asks the Bhagavan, the Blessed One, the Buddha, Blessed one, abiding in and depending on what? Abiding in and depending on what do bodhisattvas cultivate stillness and observation? And the Bhagavan replied, the Blessed One replied, Maitreya, abiding in and depending upon an unwavering resolution to expound the teachings for the welfare of all beings and to become unsurpassably and perfectly enlightened, Bodhisattvas cultivate

[03:41]

tranquility and vision. Now the bodhisattvas abide in and depend upon their deep vow to teach the Dharma for the welfare of all beings and to attain enlightenment in order to be able to teach the Dharma for the welfare of all beings. And this is where they live while they're practicing tranquility and insight. Maitreya says, Maitreya already has heard the Buddha give these teachings before, so Maitreya says, the Blessed One has taught that four things are objects of observation for tranquility and insight.

[05:05]

One, conceptual images. Two, non-conceptual images. Three, the totality of phenomena. And four, the accomplishment of purpose. Blessed one, how many of these objects, how many of these are objects of observation for tranquility? And the Buddhist says, one. The non-conceptual images. How many are objects of observation for insight? The Buddhist says, one. images, conceptual images, are the object of insight.

[06:24]

Blessed one, how many are objects of observation of both tranquility and insight? And the Blessed One says, there are two. The totality of phenomena and the accomplishment of purpose. Accomplishment of purpose means accomplishment of supreme enlightenment. So again, Tranquility observes non-conceptual images. Now images are concepts. So we have a concept, but the concept or the image is observed without any other images.

[07:31]

The other one is observed with images. So then Maitreya asks the Buddha, blessed one, abiding in and depending upon these four objects of observation of tranquility and insight. How do bodhisattvas seek and become skilled in... How do bodhisattvas seek shamatha and become skilled in vipassana? How do bodhisattvas seek tranquility and become skilled in insight? with these four types of objects of observation.

[08:42]

So the Buddha says to Maitreya, I have set forth various kinds of teachings for bodhisattvas. And then he lists the various teachings, various types of teachings. And after listing them all, he says, Bodhisattvas hear well, apprehend well, repeat well, and analyze well with their minds. And through insight, they realize these teachings. So again, Maitreya is asking the Buddha, how do Bodhisattvas become skilled in tranquility and insight? And the Buddha begins by saying, I've given teachings. And Bodhisattvas hear these teachings. And they repeat them. It doesn't say memorize, but it says they repeat them. They apprehend them and they analyze them.

[09:58]

and they fully realize these teachings. In a way, yeah, well, eventually they will fully realize these teachings. But this is how they start. They start the process by receiving the teachings well. And understanding them somewhat says quite well, as a matter of fact. Then, remaining in seclusion, like, for example, being in a sashin, having genuinely settled their minds inwardly, like we have a chance to do here, to genuinely settle our minds inwardly, They attend to those doctrines just as they have contemplated them, and I would say in the past.

[11:12]

Now with continuous inner attention, they mentally attend to that mind which is contemplated by any mind. So sitting here, what does it mean to contemplate that mind which is mentally contemplated by any mind? So right now you can look, you might be able to look and contemplate a mind. And now, in a sense, the mind you contemplated a moment ago is not available and you can contemplate another mind which is available.

[12:36]

And now here's another mind, perhaps, for you to contemplate. And here's another one and so on. These are various minds which you can contemplate. What does it mean to contemplate that mind which is contemplated by any mind? So in all these different flow of minds, what is the mind that's contemplated by any mind? What is the mind that's always available for contemplation? Someone told me once that he used to sit in this zendo and he used to listen to the creek and there was a sound in the creek that was different from the sound in the creek.

[13:49]

There was a sound in the creek, there was a sound in the creek that was changing all the time, but there was another sound that he could always hear. that was always going on in the creek. And he used to listen to that sound. There's a mind of stillness that can be contemplated by any mind. In some sense, the contents of mind are changing all the time. But in another sense, mind is not There's always this basic knowing each moment. And the qualities and factors are constantly changing. So not getting involved in the mental factors, not getting involved in the discourse, the course, the flow of the mind,

[14:55]

But more like, for example, you could say paying attention to the mind that flows rather than the flow of the mind. The mind that flows is a mind that is contemplated by any mind. No matter what your mind is, there is a mind which flows. Now the way the mind is flowing right now, you cannot ever contemplate again. And now there's another mind which is flowing, and you can contemplate that flow too. To contemplate the quality of the flow is more the job of insight and observation. To contemplate the mind that can be contemplated by any mind, the uninterrupted mind, is the non-conceptual object. which is the focus of attention for tranquility. The concepts are constantly changing.

[16:04]

The images are constantly changing. But there is also a stillness and unchanging, in a sense, mind, uninterrupted mind. It's also changing but there's always a non-conceptual mind there to look at. There's just the knowing side to be observed. Focusing on this means giving up the discourse and becoming intimate with the mind that can be contemplated by any mind. giving up the discourse, letting go of discursive thought comes to fruit as tranquility. With continuous inner attention, so you're looking inward to see that stillness in the mind

[17:22]

that mind which is mentally attended or mentally contemplated by any mind. The physical and mental pliancy that arises through engaging in such a practice in this way and continuing this practice is tranquility. This is how bodhisattvas seek tranquility and it's also how non-bodhisattvas seek tranquility often. So bodhisattvas seek tranquility here in the same way as other yogis. And having attained this physical and mental pliancy, and pliancy means that you're relaxed, not rigid, and you're like ready to do any good activities. Any good activities that come up, you're like unhindered and relaxed, ready to do them. So this, having attained this mental and physical pliancy, they abide only in, they just abide in this pliancy.

[18:37]

They just abide in this soft, bright, ready tranquility. They abide there. And then having abandoned certain aspects of mind, they analyze and inwardly consider those teachings which they had previously learned. And these teachings are now the focus of this tranquility. When we first received the teachings, we were not necessarily in a state of tranquility. Now we are in a state of samadhi, a state of tranquility. And we go back and look at the teachings look at phenomena again. But now they're in the context of samadhi and they appear quite differently. And it says, having attained this tranquility, they abandon certain aspects of mind.

[19:43]

And the aspects of mind that they abandon is they abandon working in such a way as to develop tranquility. They abandon focusing on the non-conceptual images and then they turn now to look at conceptual images. But in a context of having realized this pliancy of body and mind. Then they, now we're looking at the conceptual images, now we're developing the insight. So this is how they develop and become skilled in insight. And then Maitreya asked the Buddha, blessed one, prior to attaining physical and mental pliancy, when a bodhisattva inwardly attends to the mind,

[20:51]

to the mind observing the mind. What is that mental activity called? And the Buddha says, Maitreya, this is not tranquility. It resembles tranquility, or it resembles intensified interest concordant with tranquility. if you're observing, if you've got the mind now observing the mind but you haven't yet realized this pliancy, you're applying the mind to developing tranquility but it has not yet been realized. It resembles tranquility. It is application to tranquility. So the standard for tranquility is this pliancy.

[21:58]

And then Maitreya asks, Bhagavan, Blessed One, prior to attaining physical and mental pliancy, when bodhisattvas inwardly attend to teachings, just as they have been contemplated as images that are the focus of samadhi, what is this mental activity called? And the Buddhist says, Maitreya, this is not insight practice. it resembles insight. So in this sutra, the Buddha is saying, if you contemplate teachings, I should say it this way, Buddha is saying, if you want to develop insight, then we start by contemplating teachings. However, if we have not yet attained shamatha, not yet attained tranquility, the contemplation isn't yet vipassana. So in order to develop insight, in order to develop higher vision, we need to start by studying teachings.

[23:00]

But in order to actually be practicing insight, we need to study these teachings in a state of tranquility. So non-insight study of the scriptures, of the teachings, is a requirement for the actual higher vision of the teaching. That higher vision requires studying from tranquility. Bhagavan, blessed one, are the paths of tranquility, are the paths of stillness and the path of insight different or not different?

[24:03]

The blessed one replies, Maitreya, although they are not different, they are also not the same. How so? How are they not different? They're not different because tranquility observes the mind, which is also the object of observation of insight. Both are observing mind. One is observing the mind that's non-conceptual images. The other is observing the mind, which is conceptual images. So in that sense, tranquility and insight are not different. And how are they not the same? Because one's observing non-conceptual images and the other's observing conceptual images. That's how they're not the same. And now here comes the sort of the unique, the original unique gift of this whole scripture.

[25:13]

Blessed one, what is the image, the focus of samadhi, this focus of tranquility? What is the image, the focus of samadhi, which perceives an image? Is it different from mind or is it not different? Should the images on which one concentrates in observing, in observation, be said to be different from mind or not different? And here's the teaching. Maitreya It is not different.

[26:20]

Why is it not different? Because the image is simply cognition only. Maitreya, I have explained that consciousness is fully distinguished by the fact that its object of observation is cognition only. The objects of consciousness are only manifestations of consciousness. So here's the teaching of mind only, cognition only.

[27:23]

Here's the teaching of the intimacy where we live. We live in the intimacy of mind and objects. Even though we live here, Many of us don't notice it, as will be pointed out in a moment. Blessed One, if that image, the focus of samadhi, is not different from the mind, how does the mind itself investigate the mind itself? Maitreya, although no phenomena apprehends any other phenomena, nevertheless the mind is generated in that way.

[28:32]

Nevertheless, the mind that is generated in that way appears that way. although no phenomena apprehends any other phenomena, the mind that is generated appears as though a phenomena is apprehending a phenomena. That's the kind of mind we've got. We've got a mind that appears the way things aren't. Got a mind that appears as though it's apprehending something other than itself. How does the mind see the mind? Here, there is nothing at all seeing anything at all.

[29:41]

The mind that is generated for sentient beings in that way, and the focus of samadhi, known as the image, also appear as separate faculties. Maitreya asks, Blessed One, are the appearances of the forms of sentient beings and so forth, which abide in the nature of images of the mind, not different from mind? And the Blessed One replies, Maitreya, They are not different. However, childish beings with distorted understanding do not recognize these images as cognition only. Just as they are in reality, they misconstrue them.

[31:03]

So some of us are, some of the time, childish beings. we see things and we do not remember the teaching or we've never heard the teaching and we don't come upon it by ourselves, that what we're looking at is our cognitive version of what we're looking at. You are not my cognitive version of you. Lucky for you. If I stop cognizing you, you don't evaporate. You are not my cognition of you. But all I know about you is my mind. My mind arises in dependence upon you.

[32:16]

But what I see is just cognition. And being a childish being, it's possible I'll forget this teaching and think that the image I have of you is separate from my mind. We live in the intimacy of our mind We live in a mind that is generated in such a way that it appears to know something other than itself. However, we also, in that situation, we are actually in a situation where we are actually given the gift of a mind that's knowing itself.

[33:23]

a mind that's knowing itself, a mind that's perceiving itself. If we can understand this, we understand suchness. We understand the way we really are. Blessed one, at what point do those bodhisattvas solely contemplate insight? And the blessed one replied, when they attend to mental signs with continuous mental attention. That's when they are solely cultivating observation, insight. What are they observing?

[34:24]

They're observing appearances. So part of the process is you're watching the appearances. Watching the appearances. And if you're in a state of concentration and you're watching these appearances, it is insight work, insight practice. We're watching appearances. We're watching the way the mind is generated such that it makes appearances out of phenomena. You sentient beings, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, they are not appearances. A tree is not an appearance. A person is not an appearance. But sentient beings' minds are generated in such a way that they make phenomena into appearances.

[35:31]

They put mental patterns upon phenomena. They put signs on phenomena. And they put these signs on phenomena so that the mind can grasp them. They convert the phenomena into mental things so they can grasp the phenomena in the mind. They can't grasp the phenomena outside the mind, but they can grasp the phenomena in the mind if they convert the phenomena into a mind-graspable version of the phenomena. wrap the phenomena in a sign, then it can be grasped. So we use signs both to grasp the world, grasp all of our friends, and also to distract ourselves from the world.

[36:39]

Because the world is not what we made it into. So we both get access to the world and distract ourselves from the world by generating images of the world. And vipassana is to watch these appearances, be aware of the packaging, be aware of the signs that the mind puts on everything, which is what we're looking at. We're looking at the sign of things. So to give attention, continuous mental attention, that's what it's like to solely develop insight. At what point do they solely cultivate tranquility? When they attend to the uninterrupted mind. When they attend to the non-conceptual image

[37:41]

The non-conceptual image is uninterrupted mind, is uninterrupted stillness. In the midst of all change, there's an uninterrupted mind, there's an uninterrupted stillness. That is the object of observation of developing tranquility. And when they attend just to that with continuous attention, they're solely developing tranquility. So you might want to actually try both kinds just to see the difference between paying attention to the non-conceptual stillness, the uninterrupted stillness of mind, which is a mind you can which is a mind that can be contemplated by any mind.

[38:45]

And then the other way is the attention to minds which can only be contemplated right now. This particular image right now. And then this one, and then this one, and then this one, and this one. This continual flow of signs, this continual flow of packaging. That's the Vipassana side. paying close attention to the discourse, to the flow of the words and images. And then Maitreya asks, at what point having combined the two, tranquility and insight, do they unite the two? And the Bhagavan replied, when they mentally attend to the one-pointed mind. Okay?

[39:51]

So they're combined when you now, instead of paying attention to the mind that's contemplated by any mind, or the mind which is mental signs or mental appearance, instead of doing one or the other of those, now you attend to the one-pointed mind. Now one might wonder, what's that? You'll find out soon. Then Maitreya says, blessed one, what are mental signs? What are mental appearances? Maitreya, they are the conceptual images that are the focus of samadhi, the objects of observation, of insight. What are these mental signs, these mental appearances?

[40:56]

Maitreya, they are the conceptual images that are the focus of samadhi, the objects of observation of insight. Because insight pays attention to conceptual images. Conceptual images are the signs. Signs are things the mind can grasp. That's what mental signs are. What is the uninterrupted mind? Maitreya, it is the mind that observes the image the object of observation of Samatha. And again, it's a non-conceptual image. And then, what is the one-pointed mind? What is the one-pointed mind? It is the realization that the image which is the focus of samadhi is cognition only.

[42:01]

What is one point in mind? It is the realization that this image, which is the focus of samadhi, is cognition only. Just stand still for one second, kitchen, please. Just one more sentence. Having realized that is mental attention to suchness. Thank you. So that's kind of the punchline of the sutra. What is the one-pointed mind? What is the one-pointed mind? It is a realization It's a samadhi which is a realization.

[43:07]

Now you've heard the teaching of mind only just before. You've heard the teaching that mind is generated in such a way consciousness is generated in such a way that everything it knows is just consciousness. You've heard that teaching When the mind becomes one-pointed, when tranquility and insight are united, there's a realization of that teaching. There's a realization that the object that you're looking at in tranquility, there's a realization that it is just consciousness. And that realization is attending to suchness. And attending to suchness is what removes or frees us from the packaging that the mind gives to the world.

[44:15]

In earlier chapters it points to the main problem The main source of affliction is that the mind packages things and we hold to the packaging as being the thing. That's the source of affliction. Just packaging is not a problem. It's the holding to it. But once it's packaged, it's hard for us not to hold. The packaging has Velcro on it. And it goes... It sticks... It's hard to pull it off. The only way to pull it off is, well, the only way, a way to pull it off is to receive this teaching, realize this teaching, meditate on this teaching, and then the signs are, you could say, removed or our experience becomes free of the signs, free of the mental patterns that are packaging everything. free of the mind which appears to itself as though it were separate from itself."

[45:26]

Realizing that the appearance of separation is another sign which is not, which we can grasp. So this is like, again, this sort of like the main teaching has been given, and now the way to bring concentration and insight together on this teaching and unite them to realize the teaching. And realizing the teaching becomes mental attention to suchness. So, skipping ahead about 50 pages, and this is a long chapter, I'm giving you an overview. We come to the question, Maitreya asked the Buddha, Blessed One, after bodhisattvas have achieved tranquility and insight, how do they completely and perfectly realize unsurpassed enlightenment?

[46:41]

And the way they basically do it is that they mentally attend to suchness. They mentally attend to suchness, they mentally attend to suchness, and they mentally attend to suchness. They mentally attend to this teaching of mind only in the widest possible variety. Earlier it said what of the four types of objects of observation, one is for shamatha, the non-conceptual images, one is for vittasana, the conceptual images, and one and two are for both. And what are the two that are for both? One is the totality of phenomena. So when they're united, when they become mentally one-pointed, that means there's a realization that the totality of phenomena are mind only. And so in that way we encounter the totality of phenomena as opportunities for observing and attending to suchness of the phenomena.

[48:08]

So when we see something and we remember and even realize that what we're looking at is just cognition, then we're attending to the suchness of what we're looking at. And by applying this over and over, there's lots of little assisting comments about how to do this, but basically you're applying this teaching so that whatever you're looking at, you're actually studying suchness. And by doing this, applying and attending to suchness The mind, it says here, the mind soon enters an equipoise and freedom with regard to any arising of even the most subtle signs. So there's a lot of material between where we were before and here.

[49:21]

And it all supports this basic practice of remembering this central teaching of the scripture, focusing on it, and understanding that in realizing that things are cognition only, you're attending to suchness. And then attending to this suchness with regard to all things that come with signs on them until we are in a state of equipoise with regard to all these signs. All the signs by which we apprehend all phenomena. equipoise and freedom with regard to the signs. The signs of separation and the signs of individuality.

[50:33]

The sign that each thing is separate from us, that sign. And the sign that this person is different from that person and that person is different from that person. And this person is this way and this person is that way. And this feeling is this way. The totality of phenomena. That is observed by these two being united. All the teachings are the same. All the traditional teachings, they also have signs on them. Our vows have signs on them. So the totality of phenomena are the object of observation of these two practices united. The totality of phenomena are the object of observation of mentally attending to suchness and applying mentally attending to suchness to the totality of phenomena.

[51:36]

And in that way, there's freedom from the signs of the totality of phenomena. And then in that way, we come to also be observing, when these two are united, the accomplishment of the purpose of the whole program. So as I mentioned before, I skipped quite a bit of material, which now, if you have this overview, we can go back and get lots of tech support for this. But in some sense, I feel that this is a... I have a little sign on this, what I've just done. The sign is... It's a summary. Okay. It's an overview of the process of tuning into the central teaching of mind only, thereby turning into suchness. Turning into suchness is what removes or sets us free from the way we package the world.

[52:48]

And when we get set free from the way we package it, we get set free from believing the way we package it. Like some people look across the room and say, those are my friends. And other people look across the room and say, those are my enemies. And both of them maybe think that they're packaging, that the signs they put on those people are actually the people, rather than the signs they put on them, friends and enemies, are just cognition only. Without realizing that, it's hard for them to not be disturbed by hassled and afflicted by the signed phenomena. Signed phenomena, phenomena which have been made graspable until we practice suchness in regard to them, afflict us and agitate us. But signed phenomena, we can't right now stop our mind from signing phenomena.

[53:57]

But signed, packaged phenomena, with the aid of this teaching of mind only, become undisturbing. In other words, we can become calm with them and free of them, even while they're coming to us, even while the mind continues to package we can become more and more free of these signed packages. There may be other teachings, there are many other ways of saying it, but we need some relief from believing that the signs of these phenomena are the phenomena. And here is a relief program. There was a show on TV when I was a kid, sometime before some of you were born.

[55:36]

It was called, You Are There. And the show had various historical events, various events which are supposed to have occurred in the past, various events about which we have a story. And the story was reenacted. And after they would reenact the story like the death of Socrates or the presentation of the Samdhi Nirmacana Sutra. Like today. Today there was a presentation of the Sambhinumrachana Sutra, which actually, this sutra was presented to the world sometime later than Socrates' death. Socrates' death, I think, predates the presentation of the sutra, but this sutra was presented probably 1700 years ago into the world, and today it was presented again

[56:45]

just like it was 1,700 years ago, according to the TV show. This is, you know, Reb Anderson's production of the presentation of the Sandhya Nirmacana Sutra. And now I say to you, this is just like the sutra was presented 1,700 years ago and 1,500 years ago and 1,400 years ago and seven years ago. except you are there. All the times it was presented before, not all of you were there. This time you are there. In the assembly of the scripture, unraveling and understanding the deep mystery of Buddha's thought, the deep mystery of the mind which is free of the signs of phenomena.

[57:55]

Even if you have lots of sign phenomena flowing around, there's a mind which can observe them and be free of them, which can observe them and say, This is cognition only. And actually in that way understand the phenomena beyond their packaging, free of their packaging. Understanding phenomena, understanding the phenomena which are free of the packaging that's going on right now, is great equipoise and freedom. A lot of people feel free of other people's packaging of phenomena. Or your past, long time ago, packaging of phenomena. But not too many people are actually free of the present packaging, your own present story of what's going on.

[59:00]

We can use this teaching if we can practice tranquility and apply insight to this teaching together. we can receive this teaching to become free of the roots of affliction. It, again, applies to the totality of experience. Sounds of saws, temperature, Dharma teachings, people's faces, people's activity, all these things are objects of observation of the two, united. Do you have a cushion? Would you put it on, please? Thank you.

[60:04]

You can just open it up and flip it over so I can see the sign. Carolyn, could you move it back a little bit, please? Thank you. Just in case anybody wants to use it. Welcome, Kyunghee. May I say something?

[61:15]

I just want to make clear to everybody that it's really okay with me if you don't practice prostrations. I prostrate to you, you're not prostrating. And you're prostrating. Yes. How does the teaching that you just brought up from the sutra, how does emptiness relate to this? Is it the shamatha or the vipassana that's seeing emptiness? It's the union of shamatha and vipassana that realizes emptiness. And emptiness in this case, thank you for asking, is the emptiness of separation between mind and object. It's the emptiness of a substantial, it's the insubstantiality of the appearance of separation between ourselves and other beings.

[62:18]

So there is this appearance that something's separate from us. Or there is the appearance that our feelings are separate from our consciousness, or our memories are separate from our consciousness. There is this appearance. But that appearance is completely insubstantial. It's just a mental fabrication. So this is one type of emptiness which the Scripture teaches. The emptiness of separation, the insubstantiality of separation of self and others, mind and object. So, again, you could also say that realizing that this object you're observing, when shamatha and vipassana, when insight and tranquility are united, realizing that this is cognition only, is also mental attention to emptiness.

[63:20]

So it's basically the same. It's mind only, it's one expression, and emptiness is the other expression. No, mind only is when you actually understand mind only, you're actually attending to emptiness and suchness. But suchness emphasizes the way things are, and emptiness emphasizes the way they aren't. So the way they are is that their phenomena are just cognition only. That's the way they are. And the way they aren't is that they aren't substantially existing the way they appear. So emptiness is more like refuting and suchness is more, in some sense, more like pointing, affirming the way things really are. But they're both ultimate. Suchness and emptiness are both ultimate truth, but a slightly different quality of expression about it.

[64:27]

And this teaching of this teaching of mind only is a focus which when realized opens onto this ultimate truth which has various names like dharmakaya, suchness, emptiness. Dharmakaya is another word for this which is why when you apply suchness to all phenomena you also can move to contemplating the purpose of this, which is the dharmakaya, the true body of the Buddha. The true body of Buddha is suchness. The true body of Buddha is emptiness. As a matter of fact, the Chinese word, the Chinese character that was chosen to translate shunyata, emptiness, is a character that looks like a body. It means space. but it also looks like a body.

[65:30]

It's got a head, shoulders, ribs, hips, and legs and feet. So there's a tendency to take emptiness in a nihilistic way. Suchness is a little less likely to be taken nihilistically. And I think the Chinese wisely tried to choose that character to combat the nihilistic understanding of emptiness by saying, emptiness is like a body. It's got a heart. Which helps us be calm and free in the face of packaging. I often wondered... So the Buddha is teaching there has to be shamatha before you can actually practice vipassana. Yeah.

[66:33]

Before vipassana has been attained. Yeah. But again, I mentioned that some disciples of Buddha say, no, you don't have to practice tranquility. That's the dry school. They think you can go directly to insight work. But again, I would say probably that only works for people that are already calm. And in that kind of context, what are we doing? In that context, what are we doing? Well, we're sitting still, and in sitting still, we are practicing tranquility. What about the inside? In the stillness, check out the stillness inside, too. So, like, again, in the flow of the inside and the flow of the outside, intimately, gently attend to the stillness, to the stillness, and to the stillness inwardly and outwardly.

[67:35]

Attend to that stillness. Appreciate and become intimate with the stillness of mind. That's the mind which is observed by the mind that's developing Some people think, you've got to get rid of all that movement and all that talk. Get that out of here. And get those people like that out of here too. But another way is just find the stillness in the world of apparent flux. We don't deny the world of apparent flux. we're trying to find the stillness there, like a surfer. Find the stillness in the tumultuous seas, the inner seas and the outer seas.

[68:36]

Find the balanced stillness. This practice in this room is an opportunity to find that stillness, to find that tranquility in the middle of the turbulent seas, to find that quiet. And then see if you can now, while you're balanced on your surfboard, see if you can pick up the sutra and start studying the scriptures. These turbulent, these scriptures which bring up, again, a new kind of turbulence a new test to see if you can again stay with or refine the stillness while you study the scriptures. And if you can join them, then you can realize this teaching that mind is characterized by being just cognition only.

[69:39]

Mind does not have the ability to know anything but itself. Realizing that, we become free of the way the mind is entrapped by itself. We become free of the problem of being a sentient being, a conscious being. Thank you. As I've been listening to you talking about mind, it keeps talking as though it's some sort of object or thing.

[71:10]

Yeah, so observe that object, thing-like thing that you've got there. See that? That's a sign. What you're telling me about is you've noticed a mental pattern. that has been placed upon mind. I was wondering if it might be... it might be easier to understand, to be a little bit clearer, if it was... Because with mind, the activities of the mind and the grasping, it sort of creates our sense of self, that idea that there's someone here. That's right. There is no actual... The ego is just a fabrication. It seems like the mind is really... It seems like it's more... Excuse me.

[72:16]

You just said something like, Did you say the ego is just a fabrication? Yes. Yeah. So when you said that, probably quite a few people in this room made a fabrication of what you just said. I guess, yeah, fabrication is another sign for it. I guess, yeah, I had the intention of a sign, too. Yeah. So in other words, even though what you said is, in a sense, true, that ego is a fabrication, Still, as soon as you said it, in order to say it, there was a fabrication. So I'm just saying that vipassana, or insight, is to notice that fabricating is going on. Even if you talk about not fabricating, or even if you make a citation of fabrication, still that's another fabrication. So we just have this, we have a mind that's flowing fabrication.

[73:19]

Because it's flowing fabrication, just flowing. Maybe describing mind instead of as a thing, as a noun, a verb. It's just activity rather than something that it's doing. That might be good, but don't forget that you just did the same thing again. As long as you keep that in mind. As long as you attend to that calmly, you're fine. You can try out all kinds of different talk, different language, different descriptions. They're all fine. Just remember that those are more signs, more mental patterns that we're generating about the world. Don't think, okay, now this isn't a mental pattern. This is another one. And this is not something out there, separate. This is just another example of mind. What I was thinking of was that it might be a little easier to not get caught in that pattern of thinking of mind as a thing if it was described as

[74:42]

No, just an activity instead, you know, because it seems like it would reinforce what happened. I'm fantasizing this activity. Well, if that does have that effect, then that would be good because we are trying to not get caught by that. That's the point, is to not get caught by this fabrication process. So if you can find another way to, if you can find any way to address it that seems to set you, calm you down while you're looking at it, that would be good. Thank you for being in the circle with me. You're welcome.

[75:47]

As we penetrate the packaging, what's there? Equipoise and freedom. not being grasped. The practice of all the bodhisattva virtues unhindered by the packaging which has been, as you say, penetrated. As long as we grasp the packaging, we're somewhat hindered in our bodhisattva work.

[77:31]

I guess packaging implies there's something inside the packaging. And I'm just wondering... No. In this case it doesn't apply. It's more like there's something that's the basis for the packaging. Like, if I package you, you're not actually inside my packaging. But I can't package you without you being here. But my packaging doesn't actually reach you. You're completely free of my packaging. Although, you know, my packaging, the way I act when I package you might be a problem for you. You know, you might be irritated or pleased by the way I act But my packaging will never reach you, will never reach anybody. So you're not inside my packaging. Nothing's inside my packaging. My packaging is like just something I attribute to you. I superimpose upon you so that I can get a hold of you.

[78:41]

Because I don't know how to relate to you unless I package you. And how do you relate without the packaging? well if you have no packaging you know if people don't have any packaging for something they usually don't even notice it so they don't really relate to it in any way that they know about because they don't even know it's there without packaging you know like the supposedly like the Native Americans who couldn't see the Spanish ships coming over the you know into Mexico they couldn't even see them because they had no way to package them So it's not so much not packaging them. It's to be calm and free in the face of the packaging. And understanding that the packaging is not real. And understanding the packaging is not really what you're packaging or what you're trying to relate to.

[79:45]

So then, if you understand that, then you can relate to the person because you can still see the packaging and you have some clue that there's somebody there. since I'm making this package, there might be a person there who has something to do with the packaging I'm making. Now that I realize the packaging is not you, now I can actually open to you, maybe, even though I can't get a hold of you. So I'm kind of in awe and wondering who you are when I don't believe who I think you are. And so I relate to you more in that way, like, you know, who are you? I can't even say, who are you, mister? Maybe you're not really a mister. I don't know. I wonder. And I want to be a bodhisattva, so I wonder how I can help you, who is something. You know, you're not the circle of water that I have.

[80:50]

You're an ocean. and I see a circle of water, I wonder what the ocean of you is. Thank you. You're welcome. Could you be the microphone facilitator? I hesitate to say guy. I don't know who he is. From time to time in Buddhist literature, I'll come across a statement that's characterized something like the mind-only school, etc., etc.

[82:01]

And so it makes me wonder, what is in opposition to the mind-only school? Opposition? Well, most sentient beings are in opposition to it. Is there a school of Buddhist thought that is other than mind only? Yeah, there's basically four schools of Buddhist thought or four schools of Buddhist philosophy. The Vaibhashika or the Sarvastivada, sometimes called the realist. The Satrantika, sometimes called the critical realist. The Yogacara or the mind only. And the Majjamaka, And historically the Majjamaka came before the Yogacara. So the Prajnaparamita Sutras came before this sutra. One of the main points of this sutra is to protect the great Prajnaparamita Sutras from being interpreted nihilistically.

[83:12]

So this sutra you know, honors the Prajnaparamita but wants to protect people from nihilistic interpretations which a lot of people make towards these great perfect wisdom sutras. This is trying to make the teaching of emptiness not nihilistic. So the Yogacara and Madhyamaka are very close and complementary schools of what we call Mahayana philosophy. If I'm in a dialogue with someone, and I see that I have put a sign on it such as conflict or argument or fight, if I see that, is that attending to suchness and can take the substance out of that conflict, argument, fight?

[84:34]

it's a beginning. It doesn't just say that practicing insight, which means in the context of having this relaxed, flexible, calm mind, and now you're observing this phenomenon which is signed fight, you're observing it, and you're also observing the teaching of mind only. When you actually unite those two practices and you realize that teaching, that's mental attention to suchness. But it's possible to be remembering the teaching and acknowledging the sign, but they're still not completely intimate. because I'm not wrong. Or you haven't been commonly cultivating this practice of bringing the teaching of mind only together with all the signs.

[85:50]

You haven't been doing it long enough for them to really be intimate. So then it's like you're remembering the teaching You're practicing vipassana or the insight, but the insight hasn't really been fully united. So again, it's like the insights, the real insight practice is based on tranquility practice, but it takes a while of practicing insight with tranquility before they're actually like united. And when they're united, then there's this realization of the teaching which you had been previously contemplating. So you're calm and you're contemplating various teachings like, for example, mind is generated in such a way that it appears to be objects of itself, separate from itself. You're contemplating these kinds of teachings in a calm situation. but you haven't just completely become one with the teaching, or the mind has not become completely one-pointed.

[86:57]

It's possible. But at a certain point they become one-pointed, and at that point, if this is the teaching that's realized, then you're also realizing mental attention to suchness. And that attention removes the signs which you previously have been contemplating with a little bit of agitation, maybe, or a little bit of lack of freedom. not completely released from this signing process, from this packaging process, still a little bit constricted by it, even though you're calm. Not only calm, but calm enough to continue to do this insight work without losing your calm. But some people are calm and they start doing the insight work and they lose their calm. So then you have to put the insight work away for a while and calm down and then start again. But if you practice the two together, practicing them together is different from being united.

[88:00]

It says, once you're combining the two, having combined the two, when are they united? And they're united when you actually have this realization where you're no longer thinking about the teaching, where you suddenly realize, oh, that's the way it really is. You shift from hearing the teaching sort of as a signed object Even the teachings like a signed object, something you can grasp. That's the way it is for us now. It shifts from being a signed object to being, that's the way it is. Then we become free of the signs, or the signs are removed, sometimes they say. I like being calm and free of them rather than getting, one translation says, get rid of them. I think that's rather patriarchal. And maybe holding onto them would be matriarchal.

[89:04]

But the Buddha article is just to live with them in peace and freedom and start a political party, I mean, by that name. First question, cognition only and mind only as a sanctity.

[90:39]

Yeah. And so it's also called this in Sanskrit, it's called citta-matra, which means consciousness only. And another way of saying it is vijñapti-matra, which means like concept only. And then another name for it is Yogacara, which means the path of yoga. So there are different names for this family of practice and scholarship and philosophy. So my understanding of this teaching is that there are no phenomena outside of mind. Mm-hmm. Okay, so what I am getting confused and when you talk about this usually is that you say that our cognition, our mind does not reach you or does not reach the phenomena of mountain while I ask the phenomena of mountain is mind itself.

[91:57]

So there is a phenomena which puts a packaging on it. So I'm here and somebody can know me in a valid way. So I'm a phenomena in that way. But most people know me only as their own mind. So I'm a phenomena to somebody who doesn't treat me by making me into a package, who knows me without grasping me. And that's the way I really am as a phenomena. But most people can't see me that way because they see me only as cognition only.

[93:02]

But if there is cognition only, then there is cognition only. There is not a phenomena which is analyzed by cognition. Well, what you're bringing up implies, now you don't mean to imply this, but it brings up that cognition only means that's the way it is for everybody who's not a Buddha. For us, the way things are is that what we see, everything we see, is empty. Everything we see is cognition only. But that doesn't mean there's nothing there. It just means that for us, What's there is obscured by our cognitions. So are you just saying deluded minds have cognition only, and Buddhas do not have cognition only?

[94:16]

Well, they have different cognition systems. They have a cognition system which doesn't have... it's totally pure. It doesn't have, like, any elaboration. And it doesn't have any fabrication, like sign making. So I'm sitting here and Buddha's looking at you and taking care of you without elaborating you into existence or non-existence. Buddha's like totally intimate with you without making signs about you so that she can grasp you. And Buddha is attesting to your existence and telling me to take care of you even though I'm messing with you by putting signs on you. And Buddha's also telling me, please be aware you're putting signs on him.

[95:20]

And I say, yes sir. Yeah, so cognition only is a teaching for sentient beings. And bodhisattvas are sentient beings. Top of the line sentient beings, but sentient beings. And this is a teaching for bodhisattvas, for people who want to be Buddhas. Buddhas send this teaching to help people be Buddhas. But Buddhas don't have cognition only. They have cognition only. They have different cognition. They have Buddha cognition, which is unfabricated, no signing, no enclosure, no grasping. no distraction from the world by making it into something that they can use and they verify the existence of all beings and they're devoted to all beings and they live with all beings and they teach all beings and this is one of their teachings the teaching is for you guys it's cognition only that's the kind of mind you've got and I'm telling you about that so thank you for your question

[96:42]

I'm not done. That's cognition only. Yeah, I think we all know you're not done. Good. Even though you're not done, that was a very helpful question. So great bodhisattvas are still working with cognition only.

[97:49]

They're still kind of in the trenches working with signs. But they're free of them and relaxed with them. Buddhas live in a world where there's not even any signs. And they emanate beings to help us deal with signs and enter the Buddha. Welcome. Please make yourself comfortable while people are practicing this traditional form. Even now, right here in this situation, it's difficult not to get distracted, even when I use the words patriarchy or matriarchy or describe Buddha's cognition.

[99:38]

Yesterday, when I came out of the bathroom, I turned around to my shoes, and at that moment, it was this huge event. There were like thousands of guys lining up the beams of the wall of the house that were faced this way. And... You saw them putting up the wall? Yes. It was like I looked there and this wall was coming up. And it was very rich. Very rich. Very rich. I think it was, I felt enormous joy. And then I lost the dance. In the middle of this happening, I started to rap very strongly.

[100:51]

And I say only the first tiny bit of the story was, this is going to be a huge retreat at that time. And I returned to the center and I wondered what it is to not lose the balance. how to train this flexibility, how to, like, work as strengthening of the shambhala. Can you get, I mean, all these wordings are problematic, but I think that's kind of, Because you said the way that we access all the time, like the uninterrupted open mind.

[102:02]

I just put other names in there. But for me, what is uninterrupted is this enormous habitual it has to become into a phrase, it has to become into language, it has to be... there is like an enormous... it's so in place. So... Well, so you can see that one. And that seems to be a continuous habit. habit flow, right? So you can see that. So there's another mind that doesn't vary according to the concepts, like huge retreat center, little tiny retreat center. It's not doing that. It's not really packaging except in the sense of some simple word like stillness.

[103:06]

or breath. But not like breath, leg, retreat center, apple tree. It's more like breath, [...] or stillness, stillness, or posture. You're focusing on a mind that's always there, that's not going anyplace. and to focus on the mind that doesn't go any place or come from any place but just is there no matter what this huge habit mind is doing. The habit mind is uninterrupted in a sense but it's changing all the time. And it's bothering us. And focusing on that doesn't calm us down. We get agitated when we look at that only. So we're looking at the mind which is there all the time, knowing all those minds, the mind that's always available at every moment, but doesn't really vary, just basic knowing.

[104:14]

So there's an uninterrupted mind and then there's a sort of uninterrupted karmic... There's uninterrupted mind and there's uninterrupted karmic consciousness. So maybe that's helpful to say, that we just have karmic consciousness, but karmic consciousness also has an uninterrupted knowing along with it that doesn't really tell a story, but knows the story, knows the story, knows the story, knows the story. We're paying attention to that non-discursive element of the karmic consciousness discourse. So we just have karmic consciousness, but there's an aspect of karmic consciousness that's always available. It's a non-discursive, non-conceptual aspect of Karmic Consciousness. If we pay attention to that and kind of give up the story, like Tassajara, Retreat Center, Zen Center official, give up those stories, just let them go, that helps us look at a mind that's there with all the stories, which embraces all the stories, which is just basic consciousness.

[105:29]

And that's not separate from karmic consciousness, but it's the calming dimension of karmic consciousness. It's the calming layer, like the example of there's a sound in the stream which is kind of always the same, even though the stream's sounding different all the time and churning around, there's also just kind of like a That's not a perfect example. This mind is more stable than that sound in the stream. But there's like a sound there, or a quality that's always present whenever there's consciousness, which is consciousness itself. So it's the mind that contemplates mind. But also, there's nothing contemplating anything at all, too. It's just an instruction which, if you tune into it, the mind becomes tranquil. And when the mind's tranquil, then we can turn back to the karmic consciousness and study it. Oh, big retreat center, what's going to happen? Karmic consciousness is, what do you call it? I like the, Dogen says, karmic consciousness is giddy.

[106:33]

And you know the word giddy? I looked it up recently. Giddy means to get excited to the point of disorientation. So karmic consciousness is not only active, it disorients us. We can't tell what direction we're going anymore. It challenges us that much. That's why we need tranquility in order to be able to observe karmic consciousness, to observe these stories in some kind of penetrating way, and then finally to unite them. So we do need to practice tranquility. I think some people I think, have been practicing tranquility so long that they don't seem to need to practice it that much. But we all need it, and some of us need to practice it a lot. It also seems easy to lose.

[107:35]

Easy to lose. A lot of good things are easy to lose. Tranquility is easy to lose. Bloody mind's easy to lose. Good will's easy to lose. You mentioned something about the deal mood. About the what? Giddy. Oh, giddy, yeah.

[108:36]

Because the shift that you are proposing from being a mind that works the way that our deity mind normally works, the mind that understands that everything is cognition only, it feels to me like a science fiction movie where the world is about to fall apart. And before coming, I saw the previous film movie. I think it was 2012. And in the scenes, there's a storm and the whole world is flooding, and there's only one high point that is not flooding. It's the Himalayas, and there's a Buddhist monastery on top of it. And then I don't know what happens. How sweet of them to put a Buddhist monastery as the last bastion

[109:48]

Well, they're probably practicing mind only and the Madhyamaka school. That's probably what they're doing up there on the top of the mountain. What are we doing? I think we're doing the same. The world's falling apart here, too. And I guess this is the highest point in the valley here. This is the place to be when there's a flood or some other disaster, the zendo. Interesting, huh? So I guess the instruction is tranquility? What? The instruction is tranquility? Yes, tranquility is encouraged. but also observation.

[111:02]

I heard it, but I have some question about that. Because I guess what's being proposed is a big job, and we have to roll up our sleeves for that. And then I heard the instruction that you sit without any thoughts of getting. So how do we get all excited and roll up your sleeves? And then you state what you have to do. Well, the instruction to practice wholeheartedly without gaining idea is to help us do this very big job. Because trying to gain something by it undermines it. There has to be some big enthusiasm.

[112:15]

Yeah, but trying to gain something undermines the big enthusiasm. So as Reverend Fien sometimes says, you have to have faith. Well, I think we all have faith. For me, faith is what you're betting your life on. I think we are all betting our life on something. Is it some inner knowledge? Is it some inner instinctual knowledge? Would you hold your phone a little bit farther away? Is it some... Instinctual knowledge? Instinctual? I don't know about the word instinctual, but I think deep in our heart you do know what you're betting on.

[113:16]

Like I think you're betting, at least partially, on yoga. Can you say that again? I think you're betting on yoga. I think you're betting your life on yoga. I think you think it's a beneficial thing. So I think you're betting on that. Now you may not think it's a bet, but for me it's a bet. It's a gamble. It's where you put yourself. That's what I would consider my faith. Buddha gave the other two instructions. A little farther away. Yeah. Buddha what? Buddha gave the instructions that you do it with the purpose of saving all beings and realizing complete enlightenment.

[114:22]

Yes. Buddha bet on that. And he proposed that we all bet on that. I don't know if he proposed it or he just explained that if you make that bet you will attain Buddhahood. I didn't exactly tell people that they're supposed to be Buddhas. He just wants to help them to be Buddhas. And he found out that telling people to be Buddhas just makes them kind of stubborn. So he doesn't exactly tell them to be Buddhas. He just says, if you by any chance would like to be, here's the way. But he didn't actually force us to be Buddhas. because I don't think that helps. He doesn't want to push on our resistance. So he just says, if by any chance you're interested, here's the way. If you want peace and harmony for all beings, here's the way.

[115:26]

There's other kinds of religious figures who say, you've got to be Buddha, or you've got to be whatever. But Buddha's kind of more like a, well, if you want to be, here's the way. There is a way, and this is it. I think I can trust that. Hmm? I think I can trust that. You can bet your life on that? Close. There was also, when I was a kid, a TV show called You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, I believe. That's fine. I think the Spirit's what's important, that you're trying to be respectful of the Buddha. In the world of cognition only, how is verification possible?

[118:08]

Well, one of the ways it's possible is by doing a ceremony of verification with somebody else, where they say, you know, I verify you. Just like Shakyamuni Buddha verified Mahakasyapa. And that ceremony is offered as an act of verification. You know, you deal with somebody else who did it with somebody else and so on. That's one way. Maybe the case of Shakyamuni is a bit different, but subsequently those beings who did the verifying can't know the mind of the person that they're verifying.

[119:16]

Right? Not unless they were quite well developed. but they can know that they've been practicing closely with the person for a long time and that they've been doing little verification ceremonies with them for a long time. You know, that they've been offering them incense or receiving incense from them, that they've been eating together, that they've been offering water to each other, that they've been bowing to each other. They've been doing these ceremonies which are little verifications little verifications of mind only. If people don't believe mind only, the way they bow is different than if they believe mind only. Like they manifest, they seem to manifest to an observer, and they also will admit it, that they're caught by the signs of the meeting.

[120:23]

that they're not relaxed and at ease with the signs like disapproval, approval. They get agitated when they package things as approval and disapproval. And their partner offers them opportunities for these things and gives them feedback and receives feedback on whether there's ease and freedom in the signing process within the two cognition-only beings. So in this way they enact the intimacy of cognition only in their relationship. So, interestingly, this seems to go back to a conversation that we had about the ability to be intimate even in the context of not knowing. Because even having you say that one person sees how another person bows, that's their sign.

[121:32]

Yeah, and if they are seeing the other person bow and they're signing that bow in a certain way, if they don't remember the teaching of cognition only, they won't be at ease with the signing process. they'll be upset in their little cognition-only world. They'll be disturbed because they're not doing the practice. And in that world they can say, you know, I'm not at ease with the signing that's going on here. And the reason why I'm not is because I don't realize that this sign is cognition-only. I admit, I confess, I'm caught by this sign, they say, whether it's the teacher or the student. And by each of us becoming intimate with our cognition-only enclosures, we can meet in a way that is not just cognition-only. But if we're not doing our homework,

[122:38]

of dealing with our signs and using the teachings so that we aren't disturbed by our signs, by our opinions, by our packaging of the world, if we're not doing our homework, then I think then even the ceremony may not really be as full as it can be. So did I understand you to just say that if we can see the insubstantiality of our views about the world and about each other, to the extent that we're able to experience, let's say, the insubstantiality of our views about the world and each other, to that extent we'll be able to be more intimate with each other. To the extent that we can be intimate with our own mind, and we can be intimate with, or we can realize the intimacy of our mind and what it is aware of, to the extent that one person can do that, then this person is, to that extent, ready to meet another person and find out if the other person is doing the same kind of work.

[123:46]

And if they are, then we both do that work together And then we decide on some ceremony or some dance to do together. But we're both working on realizing the intimacy of this mind and objects here. And then we can realize intimacy with somebody else. And also they can give us feedback on whether they feel like we're intimate. And we can give them feedback on whether they're intimate about our intimacy. And is there something particular about the ceremony that fosters that? Is there something other than the investment of it? well tradition just tradition in the sense that the ego doesn't have to make up the ceremony you know you don't have to do something you can just do what the previous people worked on and what you did with previous people or what somebody else did with previous people so that we we have a form that's been established and we work with that form so we don't have to put a lot of energy into making up a new religion we can just try to get good at this one

[125:02]

And that's pretty hard, you know. So we have incense offering but we also have like serving tea and making cakes and washing faces. We have all these forms which are literal formal transmissions or historical stories of transmissions so that we use everything for that purpose. And then we have some ceremonies which aren't appropriate to do with the person when they first come to Zen Center. So like when somebody first comes, they could actually bring the teacher some cakes, like the story of Dragon Pond. He was bringing the teacher, he was doing it before he was even a monk, before he even started to be a student. He was already doing it. And then he continued basically the same thing, probably into some ceremonies that were rather traditional, that would say, all these ceremonies are good, but there's some ceremonies which people do after many years.

[126:08]

And those ceremonies are done by people who do it many years. So after many years, you sort of start wondering about those ceremonies. There really no... We're going off schedule. Okay. So, yeah, so we try to balance the traditional... special ceremonies for advanced students with this, see if the advanced students can do the ceremonies that a beginner can do. Thank you for that. I just want to close by saying that your teaching has really fostered deep inquiry for me, and I appreciate that. I'm very happy to hear that. It's also fostered some deep inquiry over here. And as usual, when I have nothing to say, there's a good response.

[127:12]

So I really appreciate the people who have been waiting and didn't get a chance because of the schedule. But there's some merit in following the schedule. So shall we kind of try to go along with it a little bit here? Or should we just keep meeting all afternoon? Without lunch. Should we end now? So thank you. And thank you for those who came up and didn't get a chance to present your gift. May our intention and mission be the best hope you can ever have in your life. Amen.

[128:02]

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