Here we have another opportunity to consider the deep intimacy of the mind. And the scripture on revealing the intimacy, the deep intimacy, teaches a way of meditation

[01:11]

on teachings such that one can enter this intimacy. And the meditation is described as having two aspects. One is an aspect of tranquility and the other is an aspect or gesture of contemplation or observation. And the question is how to become skilled at tranquility, how to become skilled at tranquil concentration, and how to become skillful at observation. And the response to that question is, that the Buddha gives teachings, and so you start by receiving some teachings, studying some teachings, understanding them, and then with some understanding you practice contemplating the mind.

[02:41]

In solitude you start studying and paying attention to the mind. Once tranquility is attained, once there's this pliancy of body and mind, then one can reconsider the teachings that one has learned prior to practicing tranquility. But now the consideration of teaching is in the context of concentration, of tranquil, flexible, bright concentration. In this particular scripture After this instruction is given, there is further instruction in the form of a conversation between Maitreya Bodhisattva and the Buddha.

[03:55]

This conversation is now a teaching which we can listen to and repeat and understand. And then this teaching again can be something which is observed in a state of tranquility. And again, once you could learn this teaching, and then enter into tranquility, and then again contemplate it. When you first learn the teaching, you might not be concentrated, but you can still learn it. And then, once concentrated, you can bring up what you've learned and contemplate these teachings in that context of tranquil concentration. And these teachings are teachings about the mind. So the mind is paying attention to images about teachings about the mind.

[05:02]

And part of the teaching about mind is given by Maitreya asking, are the path of tranquility and the path of observation and insight, are they the same or different? And the Buddhist says, well, they're not the same. No, they're not different because they're both contemplating mind. They're both contemplating mind. Already there's a teaching there in addition to telling you that they're both contemplating mind. There's a further teaching which you can see in a moment. Then the Buddha says, but they're not the same, they're not different because they're both contemplating mind, but they're not the same because

[06:18]

Tranquility, tranquil concentration does not focus on images. It focuses on mind, but not the images of the mind. What focuses on the images of the mind? Observation, insight. images, ideas, concepts, are not the object of the practice of concentration, according to this teaching. But there is something, there is a kind of meditation which does have images as its object. Vipassana, observation, does look at images.

[07:26]

But we just said that insight and concentration are not different because they're both looking at mind. So already the implication is these images which we're looking at are mind. But there's a difference between looking at mind in the image department and looking at mind in the non-image department. There's a non-conceptual part of the mind, aspect of the mind, and that's what tranquility focuses on. And there's an imaginary or conceptual aspect of the mind, and that's what observation looks at. I imagine many questions are arising in your mind now.

[08:33]

They can all be responded to. So what I just said is a teaching which one, if one was concentrated, one could contemplate However, if one was developing concentration, one would not be looking at the images with which these teachings are presented. So the teaching that the object, the focus of concentration is not an image, that teaching is not the focus of concentration. It's an instruction to concentration, but you're not focusing on that instruction. to focus on that destruction is observation. And the the conversation goes on about on this very topic a little further which again this is this is teaching for you to learn and memorize really hopefully so that

[09:54]

When you're concentrated, this teaching about the mind and the teaching about the two aspects of this meditation will be available to come up and be observed. And then Maitreya asked the Buddha, should the image or the images on which one concentrates in practicing observation, should these images be said to be the same or different from mind?

[10:57]

I've just said they are, but that's the question. Are these images the same or different from mind? They're the same as mind. They're mind appearing as images. They're not different because these images, all images that you see, are only consciousness. The Buddha says that objects of consciousness are only manifestations of consciousness. When you're looking at somebody, who is being helpful, who you think is helpful, that is consciousness manifesting as the image of a helpful person. The Buddha says, I have taught that the objects of consciousness are nothing

[12:01]

but the manifestation of conscious construction only. How can mind reflect back and look upon itself? And the Buddhist says, nothing ever looks at anything. Rather, the mind occurs as such and such Rather, when the mind occurs as such and such, then such and such images make their appearance."

[13:03]

There's nothing looking at anything else. It's the mind appearing as such and such, and such and such image arising. Nothing's looking at something else. When you're concentrated and you reflect on this teaching, a time may come when the reflection on the teaching in concentration is realized. Excuse me, the teaching that's being reflected is realized by the consciousness in concentration. And this is always actually, even if you're not meditating on a teaching about consciousness only, this is the realization of consciousness only.

[14:15]

This is entrance into suchness, which is the intimacy of mind. And this is what we call being calm and free of the sign of the appearance of the image of something external. If anybody looks external to you and you enter into this tranquility with that external sign, you can become free of the sign of external, external, external. In this way you can say you're free of it, you're at peace with it. Another way to say it is you abandon it, you give it away. You give away the appearance of externality in what's appearing in mind.

[15:28]

You're not really looking at anything. It's that mind is arising as externality. And then you give that away. You're free of it. And the founder of the Yogacara school says that when we give away this sign of externality to what's arising in mind, unwholesome minds are pacified and one enters the middle way. We live in consciousness and consciousness arises and looks like it's something other than itself.

[16:33]

Receiving that teaching and contemplating it in tranquility is a possibility of realizing that that's so by being in complete accord with that. And then one abandons external objects or abandons the appearance that things are external. all incorrect minds are pacified and one enters the middle way. So that's a teaching of this sutra. And there's many other teachings which one can contemplate in the same way. And every time one contemplates a teaching in this way, there's many other teachings, but every time you contemplate it and realize that the image of this teaching is just a conscious construction of that teaching. Then you realize the teaching of consciousness only.

[17:45]

You attain the state of consciousness only and you understand the suchness of the teaching. not the appearance of the teaching by which you got it, by which you grasp it, not the sign of the teaching. Actually, you receive the teaching through images. Now you're free of the externality of the teaching and you enter into the suchness of innumerable teachings. So this teaching is proposed as the key for understanding all other teachings so that all other teachings stop being external to you. and you enter them through the suchness through the way they really are not external to you. And then there were some things about this that I would like to talk about but I would like to postpone some of these implications and just take a little bit more look at this I think kind of surprising teaching

[18:56]

in concentration you're not focused on an image. Because a lot of people think, actually, concentration is to focus on an image. That's what people usually do, is they focus on images. They try, they try to. They can't actually, but they try. This is saying, if you want to develop tranquility, focus on the mind. So someone may ask, you know, could you say a little bit more about how to develop tranquility? Like, what if I'm distracted? So if the phenomena of a distraction has arisen, you have an image of that, or an idea of distraction. It's not to say there's no distraction, it's just to say that Our access to distraction is an image or an idea of distraction.

[20:00]

We think this is distraction. Now you've got an image. Now how do you work with this image in such a way as to be concentrated? Well, you don't look at the image if you want to become concentrated. Looking at the image is the job of observation, of insight. The job of tranquility is to look at the mind. If you look at the image of distraction and realize you're looking at the mind, and really realize you're looking at the mind, then you'll start to calm down. Here's distraction. Distraction is coming. Oh, hi, mind! If you relate to all distractions understanding that it's mind that's being presented to you, not distraction, Mind is not distraction. Mind can be distracted, you might feel, or have distraction, but mind is not distraction.

[21:01]

Mind is mind. And when distraction comes, if you understand that it's distraction, you are calm at that moment. You are, like, very calm. Or you might say very cool. Like when it gets Steve McQueen. whatever comes is mind. If concentration comes, it's mind. If distraction comes, it's mind. If Jose comes, it's mind. Whatever comes is mind. But that's one way to concentrate, is to understand everything that's coming is mind. Another way is, which is the same thing, when something like distraction or agitation comes, or perhaps drowsiness, boredom. We could go on, shall we? Discouragement, hatred, lust, confusion, pride, depression.

[22:12]

When things come, how do you get concentrated with them? Well, if you look at the Bodhisattva precepts, The fifth precept of the six is concentration. There's four before it. So, really if you want to develop concentration, it would be good to be practicing the four previous practices because they are the foundation of concentration. You could turn them into objects of concentration if you want to. You could focus on the images of them, but use them instead as ways to meditate on mind. So if you have a distraction, for example, and you'd like to be concentrated, but what you've got is an image of distraction coming to you, then I would suggest practicing the first practice of bodhisattvas, the first practice of those who are living for the welfare of all beings.

[23:25]

What's the first practice? Giving. Practice giving with distraction. I've heard that some people think it's not good to be generous towards distraction. Some people think distraction should be crushed. I've actually felt that way myself a few times. I bet they told people, crush your distraction. Anyway, now today I'm saying, today I'm saying, be compassionate towards distraction. Bodhisattvas practice compassion towards what comes to them. They practice compassion in the form of being generous towards what comes. If distraction comes, they practice generosity towards distraction.

[24:28]

If you're distracted you can be distracted without actually having an image of distraction coming to you. It's not that there's no such thing as distraction, it's just that when you know about it, it's just a conscious construction of the distraction. So when you know about distraction, you have a chance to practice this teaching. And practice, if this is actually mind coming to you, now practice being generous towards it. Being generous with distraction is not focusing on distraction, and it's not even focusing on giving. It's practicing giving towards the distraction. If you're distracted and you practice giving with distraction, I say you are calm, more calm.

[25:35]

The more you're generous with distraction, the more calm you become. Welcoming distraction does not mean you want more distraction or less distraction. It means you let the distraction be the distraction. If you're carrying, you know, like the example of carrying a plate which has a slight curvature at the edge of hot oil, and you notice, and you're supposed to carry this plate of hot oil across the kitchen, and it becomes available to you, that an image arises that you're distracted, then it would be very good to be gracious and not push away the distraction so that you can carry this And when you are aware of the distraction and you are gracious towards it, you calm down in this dangerous situation.

[26:45]

Also the next precept, which is we often call the precepts, ethical discipline. Basically, they're about being very careful and vigilant. They're about like It's kind of like we're always got something to take care of here. And if we're distracted, we should be careful. If we're driving a car and we notice we're distracted, we should be really careful with this distracted mind. And vigilant, watch what it's doing. We're not focusing on the mind, we're focusing on being careful. We're not even focusing on careful, we're being careful. We're focusing on the mind not the images. And we calm down when we're careful with agitated distraction binds. Next, we're patient with distraction. We're patient with boredom.

[27:48]

We're patient with agitation. When we're patient with agitation, we become more present and settled And we're diligent about these practices, and we understand that being diligent about these first three practices is being diligent in getting ready for concentration. And the more diligent we, the more energy we have in diligence for the first three, the more energy we have for the fifth, for the next one. The more we want to practice concentration, if we practice the previous ones. In all these practices, we're not focusing on images. We're focusing on mind. What mind? Generous mind, careful mind, vigilant mind, patient mind, diligent, enthusiastic mind.

[28:49]

There is a focus, but the focus is mind, not the images. And the teachings of how to practice giving, ethical discipline, patience, and enthusiastic diligence, those teachings, when you look at those teachings, you're looking at the teachings, you're looking at the images, you're not looking at mind. So now you're doing something you need to do, but you need to get to a point where you're not looking at the teachings and you're actually practicing giving without looking at an image of giving. You're practicing being careful without looking at an image of being careful. You're practicing being vigilant in all your actions without looking at the image of being vigilant with all your actions. You're practicing patience without looking at the image of patience. Once concentrated, then you can observe, if you want to, any of these teachings.

[30:12]

Are we ringing a bell when the kitchen leaves? Is that what we're doing? And I imagine that, again, that this teaching is somewhat surprising that many people think of concentration as focusing on an image or an idea.

[31:27]

And you can try to focus on images and ideas, but trying to focus on them is not going to, the sutra will say, is not going to come to fruit as concentration. It's focusing on mind that calms and tranquilizes. And then again, once concentrated, then you can start looking at the images of the teachings, the teachings which are arising in mind as cognitive constructions of the teachings. The teachings are not cognitive constructions. The teachings appear to us as cognitive constructions. And again, if we're concentrated and we have this teaching, it helps us look at the conscious construction of the teaching by which we have apprehended it and become free of the conscious construction, the signs, and enter into suchness of the teaching.

[32:48]

I'd like to go back to something that was brought up yesterday by Reverend Cohnine, something like if you have a person who, let's say you have a person who has realized this state of consciousness only or cognition only? How can there be verification for this person? And that relates also to what Timo was bringing up, is that if we are living in a situation that's cognition only, if that's the situation we're living in, is that saying there's nothing in addition to that?

[34:04]

So these two questions are related, I feel. Realizing the state of cognition only is, it seems to me, similar to accepting that that's our state. Accepting that that's our state, we abandon the appearance of externality of these concepts. And there is a state that's not cognition, that's not cognitively constructed, called the middle way, which we open to.

[35:18]

And then again, how would we achieve verification that we've realized the way if we live in conscious construction only. The realization is not another image, though. It's not going to be another image, which we would say that image of realization is not the realization itself. The image which we can recognize is not realization itself. So how can there be verification of the realization? And again, the possibility would be that the verification would be between a person who realizes the state of consciousness only.

[36:23]

understands that. Everybody's in the state of consciousness only, but not everyone's realized it, because not everyone accepts it. We have to be concentrated, actually, to really accept it. But let's say it has been accepted. How is this person going to have verification? Well, I think they need to meet another person who's also realized it. where they're going to meet. They can't meet within conscious construction because they have different conscious constructions. They're both living in their own cognitively constructed worlds. But these two people have accepted that they're both living in a cognitively constructed world. They don't any longer think that the walls of their world are external. How do we know if we really realize that? Well, you might get some positive indications like, for example, you don't hate anybody anymore who looks like they're worthy of hate because you don't see them as external.

[37:38]

So even someone who's being cruel to you, what you're seeing is your image of them being cruel to you. You understand that. So you are calm with this image of someone being cruel to you. You're free of the image of the sign of someone being cruel to you. You pacify all unwholesome minds like the mind of revenge, the mind of whatever, any unwholesome response to this image of somebody who, of an enemy. you're in the state where you realize you're looking at the mind manifesting as this phenomena. So unwholesome states are pacified and you're in the middle way with this image of an enemy or a friend.

[38:41]

So you notice that you're feeling at ease. So that's maybe... I do see that this is my mind, not somebody else. And I feel relaxed even when people are disapproving of me or not appreciating me. Maybe there is realization of mind only here. I need to find somebody else, though. But we're not going to meet within our own realization. We've got to find another place to meet. And when that Rumi poem comes to mind, something like, out beyond the realm of ideas of good and evil, out beyond the ideas of friends and enemies, there's a field.

[39:46]

I'll meet you there. So we need, in order to have verification, that we accept that we're circumscribed by mind and that we're at ease with the circum... What is it? What's the word? Circum... Circumscription. Got to be careful here. And we're free of the circumscription. And we have entered into the intimacy that's not just intimacy with the mind only, but intimacy with all other minds. There's something that's not outside that

[40:49]

or inside that. There's something which isn't elaborated as outside or inside. There's something that's not elaborated as existing or non-existing. There's something that has no manifest activity. We need to meet somebody else and verify this intimacy there. So how do we do it? We do it by practicing the forms of the tradition, or some forms. And then in practicing the forms together, we continue in our consciousness-only, cognition-only understanding state, We deal with this thing that's unconstructed while we're doing these ceremonies together.

[41:55]

We perform these ceremonies to realize this field which is beyond without being separate from the realm of construction and manifest activity and coming and going. And these practices are, at this point, to verify what's going on in the realm of ideas. And we have accepted that that's all there is in terms of existence and non-existence. And there's nothing external in this field of existence and non-existence. It's all a cognitive construction of existence and non-existence, and we're cool with that. And our response to that is practice, and the verification is also the practice.

[43:05]

And you can ask, you know, you can have a conversation with somebody. Part of the verification can be, by the way, have you realized cognition only? Have you realized that state? And the person can talk to you about it and you say, hmm, that's great. Have you ever read the Samadhi Nirmacana Sutra? And they say, no. You've realized this without reading the sutra. Amazing. I had to read the sutra quite a few times. But it's possible that they do. And then they might say, would you like to read it? And they start reading it. And then maybe you find out that their realization goes poof. And you've lost your playmate. At least you have a cognition-only version of that you've lost your playmate. And you're cool with that. So now you need to find another playmate because that playmate ran away, isn't going to do the ritual with you anymore.

[44:18]

They're not going to sit zazen with you anymore. So you've got to find somebody else. And it might take a while because if you ask some other people, they maybe say, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to play that game with you. I don't want to be your verification buddy. So, yeah, so there is, there's nothing beyond mind. Yes. But are there two minds? Well, in a sense, yes. The Buddhas who practiced the Bodhisattva way a long time and had the understanding of cognition only, they realize a Dharma body which is beyond cognition, construction.

[45:23]

And they realize it because they understand this teaching and practice with it. Also, I just want to mention that someone said to me something like, I see, you know, that my story about people is not the people but my story about them. This is pretty much another way to say I see that my understanding of people is my own, is just cognition only. But that doesn't mean there's no people. It just means that what I know about people is my story about them, and that's all I know. That's all I know.

[46:33]

And again, if I accept that, I will become free of all I know. That's all I know, and I know it by way of putting signs on things. That's all I can grasp and I know all that I can grasp by putting signs on everything. But it doesn't mean that there's nothing. It just means there's nothing looking at something. There's just mind arising in such a way that it has appearances. So this person said, and my story about people has absolutely nothing to do with them. I said to the person, that's going too far. Your story about people does have something to do with them. It's not them. It's your story about them.

[47:36]

And your story about them is not them. But it is totally your story, completely, and just that. However, to say that it has nothing to do with them is going too far. That's another one of your conscious constructions. So there's the person, and your story is not them. And then there's the idea, this has nothing to do with them. But that's not the reality of the situation either. That's your story about the reality. That's another story. Your story about them has something to do with them, and your story that your story has nothing to do with them has something to do with something. Certainly in both cases it has to do with your own karmic consciousness, your own history. Somebody else might say, I have a story about some people and that's not the people, that's my story about them, but my story has a little bit to do with them.

[48:43]

That's not a story. So there are people, and we have stories about them, and our stories are not the people. There are oceans, and we have stories about them, like that there are circles of water, but the circle of water is not the ocean. But we wouldn't have the circle of water's story of the ocean if there weren't an ocean. And I wouldn't have stories about you if there weren't you. It's just that you're not my story of you. But I have to remember that. That's my job, is to remember that. You are not my story of you. Even though my story of you is maybe really nice, and I don't mean it as an insult, even though it's nice, still, it's my story of you, and that's all I've got about you, moment by moment.

[49:51]

And if I really am calm with that teaching, I should say calm with the image of that teaching, I will become free of that image of that teaching, and I will realize that teaching. So like another teaching I just referred to, the teaching of the Ganja Koan, When it appears in your mind, it's not the Genjo koan. It's your story about the Genjo koan. And it's just the cognitive construction. It's not an external thing over in the book or that somebody outside you called Dogen wrote. No. It's just conscious construction. When you take that teaching about the circle of water and the ocean, and you realize that you're dealing with your mind here and that there's a sign and that you... Are you grasping the sign or not?

[51:10]

Are you cool with the sign? Can you give away the sign? The sign by which you get the teaching, can you give away the way you get the teaching? If you can't, then you can enter into the realization of the way the teaching actually is. So this part of the sutra I feel is the center of the sutra. It's the way to understand all the other parts of the sutra. And it's what this sutra is saying is the way to understand all sutras. And there's some great sutras which were written before this sutra, and this sutra is offered as a way to help us understand all the great sutras before correctly. Some of the sutras before, in some sense, are, you could say, almost like even better than this sutra. This sutra is like a, I don't know what, anyway, it helps us understand all the other Buddhist teachings plus the rest of the Buddhist teachings in this sutra.

[52:23]

like the teachings of chapter 10 that we've talked about before, the teachings of the Dharmakaya. This central thing tells you how to study the mind, how to meditate on it and calm down, and then how to look at the images in it and attain freedom from the images. And I had this image that the kitchen during Sashin has to leave after only about 30 minutes. And I'm... I know, but the talk didn't really start until after 10.30. So they only can be here for about half an hour. So I have this image... of how long the kitchen's in here, like only about thirty minutes.

[53:30]

So I'm working with that. This is cognition only here. And I'm trying to like be concentrated with that, not with that, but in the face of that. And then Abandon the sign by which I came up with this 30 minutes. So that's what I thought I'd present to you today. That's what I thought I presented you today. That's what I think I presented you today. But I know that's not what I presented you today. but I don't know what I presented you today. I just know what I think I presented you, and I think it was pretty nifty. And I wasn't sure if that was funny or not, but I appreciate the response.

[54:43]

Zabotan... for optional bows. I have an image about tranquility meditation I want to submit for review.

[55:59]

Okay. So I thought of what if I'm constantly drinking a flow of liquid and there's different flavors and I can I can name the flavors, say like, this is green tea now, this is hot chocolate. I can attend to those words. And I used to think that concentration was attending to the flavors, the sensations of green tea or hot chocolate. It sounds like you're saying concentration would be more like attending to wetness. No. Not that either. Those things can be objects of observation, of insight.

[57:05]

Insight is observing all those images. and it's only insight in the context of concentration. So concentration is more like just being still with all those things you mentioned. And the way to be still with them is when those things come up, you're always thinking of the same thing. You're not thinking of the different flavors. You're always thinking of the same thing. What? Mind. You're thinking of the mind. You're always thinking of the same mind. No matter what's going on, you're thinking of the same mind. That's the object of concentration. And then if you think of these other things that you mentioned before you're concentrated, strictly speaking, it's not insight, even though those things could be topics of insight.

[58:09]

They're only topics of insight when the mind is already calm. Then you can study them and have insight about them. I was thinking this metaphor, there's always liquid, and so it's kind of like the sound of the creek that's always there, it's always mined, and it tended to like the quality of mind is always there, or the quality of liquidness is always there, is concentration practice. That's right? Oh, I see. I see. Your example was all these are liquids that have different tastes, and you're concentrating on the wetness. Yeah. The wetness which is a characteristic of all the tastes. Yeah. Maybe that is, excuse me, I didn't get your analogy very well. Yeah, so that would be more like concentration. That no matter what flavor it is, you're not really, you're aware to some extent of the flavors, I mean the flavors are appearing, these images of flavors are appearing to you, but you're always concentrating on the wetness.

[59:19]

Yeah, it would be like that. Right, sorry. Okay, cool. Are there dangers that you see to this metaphor? It's not so much dangers I see in the metaphor, it's the danger of thinking that this... the danger is to think this metaphor is something external. That's dangerous. Because that causes agitation. if you believe the sign that this metaphor is an external object. That can cause harm. Thank you. You're welcome. So you talked a great deal about applying this teaching to inherent external things or external phenomena such as other people.

[60:42]

I wonder... Excuse me, can I say something? Sure. It's not that you apply this teaching to external phenomena like other people. You apply this teaching to people and notice that you think they're external if you do. Right. There really aren't external people. I understand. So when you see a person, you apply this teaching to the sense that they're external, other than you. And this teaching says, no, no, don't go for that. But I wonder about sensations or phenomena that arise within this body. Same. I live in chronic pain. I wonder, so when I try to consider this as just a construction of mind that doesn't ring, it doesn't have a ring of truth for me.

[61:50]

Because it feels like a construction of the body. Bodily pain, I'm not saying bodily pain is a mental construction. I'm saying that we see bodily pain as a mental construction. What's the difference? Well, just like I'm not a mental construction, but you see me, you see a mental construction of me. And what you're saying is that my only access to you is my mental instruction again. It's not really your access to me. It's the way you know me. It's actually the way you separate yourself from me. The way we separate ourselves. I was going to mention what came to mind when Reverend Konian asked her question was a statement by Freud is that human beings are powerful isolated, fantasizing machines.

[62:54]

And I would say, that's very good, Freud, but I would change it to powerful, isolating fantasy machines. So we isolate ourselves from others by our fantasies about us, and we isolate ourselves from our own pain. So we do have pain, We're not intimate with it usually because we separate ourselves from our pain by our imagination. We fantasize our pain and separate ourselves from it. That's what I'm saying. I'm talking about a way to get more intimate with the pain. By realizing that I've got pain, yes, I understand we have pain. Chronic pain, yes, I have chronic pain. I'm talking about realizing that I have a conscious construction of my pain that I'm looking at. And by accepting that, I will become more intimate with my pain.

[64:00]

In becoming more intimate with my pain, not more intimate, I will become intimate with my pain, I will become free of my pain. without the pain changing at all. The only difference is that the separation has been dropped or seen through. And the separation is created by mind. There's actually no separation between you and your pain or between you and me. But our mind isolates the pain away from us, isolates people away from us, or isolates us away from our pain. But not to say there isn't pain or isn't people. It's just that your pain and your friends are not what you imagined them to be, and they're not separate from you. When you say you're free from your pain, what does that mean? It means you're at peace. It means you're cool. You're cool in pain.

[65:02]

That's what it means. Thank you. You're welcome. And again, we don't try to make Zen painful. We don't try to make sessions painful. But people do somehow have some discomfort during these events. And then we have a chance to look and see, do you feel any separation from your pain? Or would you like a little separation from your pain? Would you like a little bit more? More? Most people who are Zen students would say, yeah, more. More separation, please. But it doesn't work. The thing that works is intimacy with pain. The Buddha is talking about intimacy with pain. Could I say something?

[66:46]

I'd like to remind you to remind me, no, no, I ask you to remind me about practicing generosity in relationship with pain as a way to become intimate with it and also how to practice generosity in the form of setting boundaries with pain or offering boundaries with pain as a way of becoming intimate with it. Yes. Before I seek verification, or maybe this is part of it, I want to reflect on something you said yesterday about givingness. I knew of a young man who, when he first arrived here, was very excited and he literally became disoriented so that people had to go out and find him in the wilderness. I know he was very thankful. But now I know of a young man who is more tranquil.

[67:47]

But that doesn't mean he doesn't spend like a period of zazen with his robes on inside out. He's more tranquil, but not completely. Well, I was thinking it's probably not possible to be oriented while you're putting your robes on if you're putting them on inside out, unless you're doing it on purpose. So there's still a little bit of giddiness? Yeah. Well then as I was changing my robes, outside, out, I heard people outside my cabin talking excitedly and loudly. During the session? Yes, this is the last... What were their names? Just kidding. I'm actually not sure if it was two people or one person and a cat.

[68:53]

Or two people and a cat. I didn't verify where these people were. I just knew they were in close proximity and rather loud. So I confessed that I opened my window and I shouted, shush. And then I started feeling a little giddy. But I didn't want them to become disoriented. So my question is... I like how you mentioned that someone wouldn't necessarily have to read this sutra. to have some realization about cognition only, because it sounded to me like what you were saying about the teaching, when people were meeting with this realization, knowing that they were cognition-only beings, but finding some place to meet beyond, is that

[70:02]

This is a tender, vulnerable place where the barriers of our hearts melt and are broken down. And it seems to me that you can be four years old or 90 years old and never have any of these symptoms. Yes, right. Thanks for putting that in there. Because I'm sure they would have asked about it if you hadn't mentioned it. I have a couple of clarifying questions.

[72:11]

So the first one is... Can you hear her well? The first one is around elaboration, what you call elaboration. I'm wondering if elaboration refers to our ideation around externality or around reality or truth. It refers to... if it refers to something outside of what you're calling consciousness or cognition? Describing some kind of truth beyond, are cognitions open? Well, even within cognition there can be elaboration. I mean, usually there is elaboration within cognition. And if we're calm and pay attention to the elaborations, there's this proposal that we will sometime realize the fruit of a way of being where there isn't any elaboration.

[73:21]

But at that time, it would be elaboration on the realm of cognition, but it would also be elaboration on something that wasn't cognition, too. But the thing is that there's just no fabrication going on, is the idea. Would you say that there's no elaboration in observation? No elaboration in the observation? When you practice observation from a tranquil place. There's no elaboration, right, except you might be looking at an elaboration. For example, you're looking at something arising. That image is an elaboration of the way things are. That's why if you look at the image by which you're grasping what's going on as arising,

[74:26]

or the fabrication of the way things are as arising, and you're calm with that and realize that this is consciousness only, then you're calm with that. And then, in a sense, this elaboration is pacified. So it's not that there's no elaboration, it's that you don't As a result of this practice, you enter a realm where there is no elaboration, where you don't even see images anymore of things arising and ceasing. You don't even see images of existence and non-existence. You don't see fabrications of existence and non-existence. That's the proposal. This is the realm where you have unlimited healthful power. Because you're not committed to existence so you can relate to non-existence. You're not committed to non-existence so you can relate to existence.

[75:31]

You're not committed to this manifestation. You're not helping people at Tafsahar so you can help people in Afghanistan. You're not into these fabrications. I should say, you know, one isn't into fabrications so that there's no hindering of the emanation. But once there's an emanation, you're stuck in that loop for a little while, in that sort of local assignment, that local fabrication. You come into the realm of fabrication for people who live there. So there's an image of Dharmakaya Vairojana Buddha sitting on a lotus, thousand-petaled lotus throne. And on each petal sits a Shakyamuni Buddha. So all these different manifestation Buddhas are appearing in realms where people are into fabrication, so they can relate to them in terms of fabrication, to teach them how to become free of fabrication. Well, they're still seeing fabrication.

[76:34]

But the source of this freedom from fabrication comes from a realm where there really isn't any, where there isn't any construction. In the middle of this is what we call unconstructedness and stillness. That's the source of this stillness surrounding this unfabricated situation, which is the fruit of relating to fabrication correctly for a long time. What's the correct way to relate to fabrication? This is just fabrication. This is just cognitive fabrication. This is just cognitive fabrication. And to relate to that teaching in a calm state, then we become free of the current fabrication. And then the current fabrication. And then we get a little, what do you call it, a little bite of suchness, which then again sets us up to remove the sign of the next thing, remove the fabrication of the next event.

[77:35]

But it leads to this totally unhindered state of helpfulness called the Dharma body, where there's no fabrication, totally unconstructed, and all the great activities and all the great constructions are swirling around it, Can I ask another question? This has to do with, well, so I'm understanding this teaching as you say that this is not a kind of metaphysical idealism. It's not that there are not objects. Yeah, it's a good term. It's kind of metaphysical idealism. Right. But there's a limit that we cannot know. Our minds are... That we can't get outside of our mind.

[78:38]

We can't get outside of our mind. However, if we accept that, we can realize what's free of our mind. So, again, the image for Dogen is we live in this circle of water and the ocean. So what I'm emphasizing here is if we accept that we live in a circle of water in a circle of cognitive construction only. If we accept that, opening to that completely, we open to the ocean and we realize the ocean. Or the ocean is realized as us accepting that what we're seeing is not the ocean. And the ocean says, that's right. And along the way, in this trajectory, we actually talk about things as if they were external. I'm thinking of the beginning of Yogacara teachings. It seems like there's this story about how, say, something like eye consciousness comes into being with an eye object, an eye organ.

[79:44]

So that seems like it's a description of something external. An eye object. Sounds like it's external. But that's okay. I pouted for that. Well, we don't have to deny externality. We just have to be free of it. Give it away, not deny it. So to say get rid of it, that's a bit much for me. But to calm down with it and be free of it and make it a gift, that seems more in accord with the bodhisattva path. Is that what you're calling the middle? I think you enter the mental way, but when you practice that way, with things like signs of externality. So there's signs of externality. That's a big bad one. There's signs of separation. But there's also signs of bodhisattva vow and signs of cognition only.

[80:48]

All that stuff we give up the signs of them and we enter the middle way. The middle way, yeah. And also we give up the sign of middle way. One last question. Where does Suzuki Roshi's things as it is fit? Where does it fit? I asked where does Suzuki Roshi's things as it is fit into this Did you? Maybe so. Before the next person comes, I wanted to have a little discussion with you about form.

[82:27]

Form seems to be developing here. And it reminds me of Shosan, what we call Shosan, where people come up to express themselves. But before they come up, they do a prostration. Right? They do three prostrations. So the way we're doing it, we're doing it that way too, just that when they come up, they do it here. And then while they're doing it, we have this pause. So we continue to do it this way, where the people who wish to do prostrations come up and do it. with the pause, or we could have it that the people who are coming up, if they want to do three prostrations, they do it while somebody else is talking, and we wouldn't have the pause. That way we'd have more opportunity, more people could ask their questions during the brief two-hour event. So if you want to, we could try that other way of, for those who wish to do prostrations beforehand, they could do them back there.

[83:39]

So they get their prostrations in, which as you know, Dogen says, traditionally, if you come to ask about the Dharma, you do prostrations. So if they wish to do that practice, they could do it, but there wouldn't be applause. Would you want to try that for a while? Okay. So let's assume you've done your bows. Come. And the next person, the next person or all the next people could do your bows. One at a time or all together and then you can just come up. So we'll try that for a while, for the rest of the day anyway. So I want you to say that it can be a good indication when we begin to not hate people who look like they're worthy of hate.

[84:50]

It's a good indication. Yeah, it's a good indication. When people say, I hate you, I hate you, Curtis, you're below average in many ways. I wish you would leave the monastery and never come back. And I wish you all bad things. And when people talk to you like that, you know you don't hate them. It's a good indication. Because, as I heard you say, we see them as not... we're not interacting with something separate from us. Well, because you don't think that they're external, that makes, that teaching is working when you stop hating people when they hurt you. And in the story I told, let's say it hurt when they said that, hurt a little bit. Maybe they were like spitting at you while they were talking. So you felt uncomfortable that they were so upset. And it hurt you.

[85:51]

It wasn't like you didn't think it was like cute. and silly. You thought it was really painful, but you didn't want to take revenge on them. That would be a sign that if you were meditating on this teaching, that would be a sign that this teaching was becoming effective. And then you might want verification, and we talked about how to work on that. Or another way to put it is somebody's saying, I do not appreciate you at all, you know, you're really causing trouble here, etc., etc., and I wish you badly, and you just feel, you know, like I'm totally here to support this person, and I completely accept what they're saying, and I really, I feel happy that I can accept it, and I feel really calm. and ready to serve this person and everybody else.

[86:54]

I feel undiscouraged, undistracted. I'm really happy to be available to serve this person who really is having trouble with me, who really hates me apparently. I mean, that's what they look like, and if I ask them, they say, yes, that's the way it is. But this is just my story, which I'm not buying into, but I'm not rejecting it either. And when that leads me to be calm and loving to people, I think it's starting to work. Calm, loving, and devoted to the welfare of the person who is appearing this way to me, which in the past I would say, well, I'm not going to be devoted to you any more than if you're going to talk to me like this. Or again, that's often the example is someone you've been devoted to comes and talks to you like I just said. They're really pushing you to understand this teaching. So you say, thank you. I do now, thanks to you. You pushed me right into full realization.

[87:55]

And they say, oh yeah, we'll take that. It's gone deeper. Wow. Wow. And if you'd like to hear me again, we'll see if that pushes me deeper. Reminds me of a story which I'll tell you later if you want to hear it. I find that when I... Often what will prompt some feeling of irritation is that I recognize some quality that I disapprove of in myself and that really I am projecting this inner disapproval onto whatever it is that is prompting it. I find that it's a lot easier to be generous with somebody else And when I think, oh, this is somebody else, then when, that's just an excuse to be angry at myself.

[89:07]

That was complicated. Couldn't quite follow it. You find it's easier to be kind to someone when you... I find it's easier to be kinder to others than it is to be to me. Oh, okay. When I appear to be irritated at someone, More often than not, perhaps technically always, I'm really irritated in the quality of that person that is something I disapprove of in myself, that I'm recognizing and directing my own self-hatred at. Yeah, but I thought you just said it was easier for you to be kind to people who are irritating you. Who are other than me. Yeah. So you kind of lost me there. I'm still kind of lost. I understand the simple statement that you're saying that you said it's easier for you to be kind to others than yourself. I got that. But then what you said after that kind of didn't go with that. I'm saying it's in cognition only.

[90:15]

Have some image. that is my mind. Yes, right. And I find this irritating. But it's not the other person, it's my story. Right, it's not the other person, it's your irritating story. You find your stories of people sometimes irritating. But what I didn't understand was why it's easier to be nice to these irritating stories of others than to be nice to the irritating stories of yourself. I didn't quite understand that. Well, I don't understand it either. But I understand that you're saying, if that's what you're saying, I get it, that when I have a story of somebody else and it's irritating, I can be kind to that. But when it's a story of myself that's irritating, I'm not kind to that. So I understand that you're saying that. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Cool. So... Well, it's half cool.

[91:17]

The being kind to others who you have a story that you find irritating, that's cool. And the fact that you know you're not being kind to yourself, that's not so cool. But you need to just do the same thing to the story of yourself that's irritating that you're doing to the story of others being irritating. Just do the same. And that would be good. It's nice that you notice that I have this story about myself, it's irritating, and I'm not kind to it. So yeah, so now I would say, so now we know where to put more kindness, more giving, more carefulness, and more patience towards the irritating stories of yourself. Just like I guess you're doing towards the irritating stories of others. So keep that up and extend that kindness to yourself, please. Please. What do you think?

[92:20]

What do you feel? You want to do it? I want to. That's an obstruction. It's something to practice with. I think that there's- What's the obstruction? I can't name it. Well, but you sort of can see an obstruction to being kind to yourself when you're, when you're being kind to an irritating story about yourself. You can see something obstructing the kindness? I think it's a, I think I see it as a threat. I think I see this It's a threatening.

[93:29]

It's an irritating story that's a threat. And so it's hard for you to be kind to something that's irritating and threatening. Yes. What about when other people are irritating and threatening? Can you be kind to them when they're irritating and threatening? It's more difficult when I perceive something as a threat. Ah, okay. I perceive it as a threat, and then instead of labeling it as enemy or friend, whereas there's either, you know, some kind of, there's, oh, this is a threat, some kind of response. Yeah, okay. to deal with this person? So you're saying it's harder, you feel more obstruction in being kind when something comes that you feel threatened by? Yes. Would you like to be kind to something that's threatening?

[94:35]

I would like to be kind, period. Kind period, so that would include being kind to threats? Threatening images that are arising in your mind? Threatening stories about yourself that are arising in your mind, would you like to be kind to them? I would like to, and I stop myself from doing it because I perceive it would open me to danger. So you think that if you are not kind to a threatening story, you're less open to danger than if you are kind? That seems to be my operating principle. Okay. So I would say to you that I don't think that's true. I think actually the lesson of martial arts is that if a threat comes and you're not kind to it, it's more dangerous than if you are kind to it.

[95:42]

And kind to it, you know, if you don't receive the threat, it's less in line with martial arts than receiving and welcoming the threat, welcoming the opponent, not liking them. But welcoming them, being generous towards them is what martial artists would do with a threat. Also, they're very careful with threats. They're very vigilant of threats. Very vigilant. And they're patient with threats. That's how they practice. The really good ones practice like bodhisattvas. The really good martial artists have like a bodhisattva heart, that they're really generous and careful and patient with threat. And that's how they protect beings from danger, from the danger of harm. So to not be kind to threat is more dangerous, I would say, than being kind to it. So that's why I would encourage you to do this difficult thing of learning how to be kind to threats and danger.

[96:55]

Thank you. You're welcome. Wow. So many things happen between the time a person gets the question, decides to get off the question, goes down. All these other teachings happen and identifications. as well. I don't know where identifications fit in to the teaching, but they feel like shared stories.

[98:03]

Probably ought to stick to business here. Yeah, let's stick to business. You told the story about holding a plate of hot wood in the crossing kitchen. Yeah. And I've been working, practicing forgiveness. Oh, this is a good practice, this forgiveness. Yeah, it's a dimension of kindness. Yes. So this morning, And then Brandon was quite personal in his discretion. So I thought I might as well get that deep, too. I have this familial tremor for which I've been prescribed primodone, which really helps with it.

[99:14]

Apparently, last night I forgot to take my primodone when it was time for Orioki. I was really trembly. And we had this beautiful apple juice, this hot couple juice. And there was a little, the serving kind of, there was a little, tiny little drama in the serving, so I ended up with a really full bowl of apple juice. Second bowl, up to the brim. And I said, oh, no. Well, I got it safely down to the meal board to wait. But then when it was time to drink it, it was the plate of hot oil situation. And I found myself, I was doing a good job. I found myself drinking. going for the refuges.

[100:19]

I always just started to chant refuges, because when things are difficult, I usually pray in some way. And I did this without thinking. Then I observed, oh, I'm chanting the refuges, and this is going quite well. And then it jerked and I had a great big laugh full of aptitudes. And it was like the mind observing and interrupting the whole process. So now that situation has become one of the many memories towards which I find myself wanting to practice forgiveness. But my question was if forgiveness presupposes anything, or if it should just be giving, straight giving?

[101:20]

I don't think there needs to be any presumption. Just give it. One of the gifts is forgiveness. But also when you practice giving that way, you also start to realize the more you practice giving in this situation, the more you realize that it was a gift. You also told about some gifts that happened there. The refugees came. Yeah, they did. Yeah. And then they were lost for a little while. Relating to Curtis's question, I wanted to share a time before I ever tried martial arts, before I ever came anywhere close to an Aikido mat, I was working in a place where I was held up at gunpoint.

[102:29]

And I was really scared. And these guys seemed to be very serious, so I presumed, I just felt that I should be ready to die. That was my approach to the situation. Got to get ready to die here. And that brought, that again was a prayer situation. And just lining myself up with you know, whatever shape or form of God might be, lining myself up with that because very shortly I might be meeting this. And so I did that, and I observed that the young man who had the gun on me, his whole attitude changed.

[103:32]

He kind of lowered his head a little and lowered his eyes a little and lowered the gun. And it was like, oh my God. And it wasn't that I wanted to be kind, but I did not want to be anything, I didn't want anything between me and that core. So anyway, that's my experience of an unkind person and turning out to be a sheepish person. So that's all I got. Thank you. Thank you for teaching. You're welcome. I've heard you say that the sutra was in response to the misinterpretation of Heart Sutra.

[105:14]

Well, of the whole class of sutras that the Heart Sutra is one example of. The Prajnaparamita Sutras. And that one of the tendencies that... people had, or could still have, interpreting those teachings as nihilism, and that because it looks like there's nothing, emptiness is nothing, and this is saying there's something, but you don't know what it is. It's unconstructed. Emptiness is unconstructed too. So then from this sutra, if you were to translate the Heart Sutra, it would be something like no stories of I, or no packages of I, or no constructions of attainment.

[106:16]

No. Yeah, that's good. That's the idea that they're there, but you can't get beyond our dedication. Yeah, that's good. Mm-hmm. You could write a new sutra. But the heart sutra would still be sitting there, so we have to protect people from misunderstanding it. And maybe your sutra would help. And there's this thing called things that is. You said, maybe so. I said, maybe so. Maybe so. Or I could, you know, there's other possible responses, but that was, somebody wanted me to fit it in, so I didn't, I quoted him. Maybe there's something beyond our constructions, or maybe there's something that is plain, like there's the ocean, but we're not sure, we can't know.

[107:24]

We only know what we can see. Maybe so.

[107:27]

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