In the latter part of September, I was exercising in a community center. And in this community center, they have TVs up on the wall. And I looked up at the TV and it said, Crisis and Confidence. And I thought, oh, it isn't saying crisis in confidence, it's saying crisis and confidence. And then I left this area and went traveling around the country, went to Texas and Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and Montana and now I'm here. I've been starting my discussions with people with this issue of crisis and confidence or in crisis, what kind of confidence is there or what do you have confidence in at a time of crisis?

[01:23]

And when I went to Texas, I went to an area of Texas that was still not recovered from a hurricane. So that area was in crisis around the hurricane aftermath, plus also the general ecological crisis. economic crisis and political crisis. The economic crisis has intensified since that first, since that time, as most of you know. So I feel I have a positive regard for the word crisis. I think that that the Buddhas, enlightened beings, I see them as always in crisis, always at a decisive point, always at a turning point.

[02:29]

And it's possible, I feel, to train ourselves to cultivate the ability to be present with confidence in crisis. And now lots of people are aware of crisis, I feel, much more than two months ago. I feel the awareness of crisis has risen in the world. And probably quite a few people are wondering what kind of confidence do we have now as things are turning all the time. Some people, what they have confidence in is awakening or enlightenment. They feel that enlightenment would be particularly helpful when we're at a turning point, when we're living in a crisis.

[03:45]

I often mention the word crisis in Chinese is made of two characters. One character is danger and the other is opportunity. The definition of the word crisis means a dangerous, difficult turning point. Etymologically, it means turning point or deciding point, point of decision. But it has the denotation of a turning point, but also a dangerous, difficult turning point. I think living beings have trouble with change and have trouble going with the turnings that are going on. So we have the opportunity to train ourselves so that we can learn to relax and go with the turns. And awakening is a relaxed state of openness

[04:52]

an understanding that is in accord with change, that can work with change in a beneficial way. So I mentioned last time I talked here that for so-called disciples of the Buddha, the bodhisattvas, the people who wish to realize awakening, The meaning of awakening is helping others. So in a time of crisis, some people have confidence in helping others. That's what they have confidence in, is helping others. Which is the same as having confidence in enlightenment for them. And helping others means, ultimately it means that you understand that others are yourself.

[05:59]

So we're going through change and everybody in the universe is who we are. And when we see that, that helps others. When we understand that, that helps others. Or that is helping others. Helping others is understanding that they are our self. So I think that speaking for myself, that's my confidence. That's what I'm concerned with, is learning to see others as myself, is helping others, is enlightenment.

[07:17]

And then also that I have confidence in making a vow about this, in committing to this, in promising to learn to see others as myself, in promising to be devoted to helping others. have competence in the vow and what is vowed. So this vow involves opening to others, It involves entering into and sharing others' lives, sharing the risk of others' lives, sharing the securities of others' lives, engaging in the lives of all others.

[08:50]

engaging with others who seem to be similar to us, others who have similar views or opinions, engaging with them, and engaging with those who have different opinions, different views. I was encouraged to see someone told me about the two presidential candidates going to a kind of a party together in New York. And they have been fighting with each other, it looks like, in some ways. But they got together in the same room, sort of at the same table, And they really seemed to be genuinely friendly to each other.

[10:14]

Yeah. That they somehow could change. could turn into a different relationship. That they both had the flexibility to kind of be friends in that situation. I find that in the spirit of seeing others as ourself. I find that in the spirit of them working to help others. I find that like enlightenment, the way they were with each other. And I hope that however the political process goes, that they can continue to be friends. Because if one side wins and the other side feels that the side who won is not their friend, it makes it hard for those who don't feel friendship to be devoted to helping the people who they don't think are their friends.

[11:23]

I have confidence in the view that everybody is our friend, even those who find us disgusting and stupid, that they're actually our close friends, even though they don't think so. And not only that, but things can change. And they can change their mind, and we can change ours. And I could stop thinking that everybody's our close friend. It's possible I'll start to think, only some people are my close friends. I don't say best friend, I say close friend. I was surprised when I saw them playing with each other. And I really, I have confidence in them playing together.

[12:36]

I have confidence in the next president playing with the world, playing with leaders of other countries, playing with the other leaders of America. playing and being surprised. And if people do not know how to play, I pray that the president is able to teach other beings how to play with him. I say him because there's two male candidates. I have been reading a book about Abraham Lincoln and the book's about how he worked, particularly how he worked with his cabinet.

[13:45]

And his cabinet that he chose was comprised of people who were actually his rivals for the presidency, for the nomination and for the presidency. He invited people who didn't respect him. into his cabinet. And they were... part of the reason why they didn't respected him it was because they're very gifted, highly educated, sophisticated, powerful men. And Abraham Lincoln was from sort of the frontier areas and not considered to be very well educated or very well experienced in government. But he invited these experienced, intelligent people into his cabinet. And basically I would say he played with them for more than four years. He continuously offered them kindness and [...] also lots of playful, humorous stories.

[14:58]

And he was honest, and he was magnanimous, and he was generous. And I think he won over all their hearts and taught them all how to play. Well, maybe not all of them learned how to play, but and some of them learned very quickly. They had experience in play. And I think in 1863, I think he made this proclamation called the Emancipation Proclamation, proclaiming to free the slaves in the United States. And then towards the end of 19, no, no, and then maybe it was 64, but anyway, 63 or 64, he made this Emancipation Proclamation, and it got passed And then he thought that after the war was over, people might revoke or not go according to this thing.

[16:09]

So he actually worked for a constitutional amendment, the 13th Amendment. Because before that, the Constitution allowed slavery. And he got this amendment passed in early 1865, not too many days before he was assassinated. And then after, I think after he got the 13th Amendment, he together with the Congress got the 13th Amendment passed, he was inaugurated for his second term. Just a month or so before he got assassinated, he was inaugurated for his second term. And in his second inaugural address, it's something which Some of you maybe know this part of the address. He said, with malice towards none, with malice towards none, with charity for all.

[17:15]

So here is this person who constantly is demonstrating kindness and magnanimity in crisis. His whole time in office was crisis, crisis, crisis. And he dealt with this crisis with kindness, with relaxation, with openness, with generosity, with humor, with playfulness, with sympathy. This is how he survived day after day of incredibly profound crisis. I see in him a deep confidence in compassion as the way in crisis. I see in him a steady resolution to help

[18:24]

others and taking care of himself by telling funny stories and reading funny stories and hearing funny stories. Humor was one of the main ways he was able to stay in the center of this crisis time in our history. and now just a few days before he's assassinated, he's saying, with malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see it, let us strive to finish the work we are in. to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves

[19:51]

and with all nations, a confidence in malice towards none, charity towards all, wishing to give to all, wishing to benefit our enemies, This is what he had confidence in and this is how he was living the last few days of his life and how he had been living in the midst of crisis for the previous four years. We just started a practice period here at this temple.

[20:54]

This room is one of the main places that the practice period practices. We give ourselves to this room. We bring ourselves to this room and sit in this room, and we walk in this room. In this practice period, I'm wishing to emphasize, well, first of all, that the point of Zen life is enlightenment. That the point of Zen life is... helping others. And also I wish to emphasize that Zen life is life as ceremony. I wish to say that.

[22:03]

I really wish to emphasize that the life of helping others is the life of ceremony. actions for the sake of helping others, I would call those actions ceremonial action. I don't know if my actions will be helpful, but when I ceremonially dedicate my actions to seeing others as myself or in the context of thinking of others as myself, that's what I mean by ceremony. So my understanding is that Zen life is ceremonial life and Zen ceremonial life, Zen ceremonies, are for the purpose of helping others.

[23:09]

Zen ceremonial life is for the purpose of seeing others as ourself. We're in this room. I see this room as a ceremonial space. We have entered it and I see what we're doing as a ceremony if, for example, we're in this room right now, each of us, or I should say for each of us who are in this room sitting here now in order to help other beings, if that's our reason, if that's our point in being here today, if you are here in this room right now to help others, then I would say you're doing Zen life. If you came to get helped, that's okay too, but that's not quite the point.

[24:15]

The point is to come here to help others. And to come here to realize that others are yourself. To come here to realize that others are yourself. Then your being here, I would say, is a Zen ceremony. Zen ceremonies are psychophysical therapies, psychophysical exercises, together with the understanding that these therapies are these psychophysical therapies which we can do on ourselves, you know, attention to our own body and mind, for the sake of helping others. paying attention to your posture, your breathing, paying attention to your walking and your sitting. Therapy means, the root of the word therapy is to attend to or be attendant.

[25:25]

To attend to your body and mind while sitting and walking in this room in order to help others. then it's psychophysical therapy together with ceremony, or psychophysical ceremony. If I am practicing psychotherapy for myself, and thinking I'm separate from you, that could be called psychotherapy. And if I'm practicing that way, I do need psychotherapy. I need my head examined and my body examined. And if I examine, I will find that I'm miserable if I'm practicing for me and think that I'm separate from you.

[26:33]

But the Zen practice is to pay attention to my own body and mind to help others and to help realize that others are myself. And not just for me to realize that others are myself, but others to realize that others are myself. For the person to realize the totality of the person Many of you probably, I suppose, will be leaving this valley later today. Not all of you are going to be staying overnight. Some of you will. Some of you won't. And those of you who stay, you will probably, if I keep living, you will probably continue to have the great opportunity of dealing with me

[27:43]

reminding you that Zen life is ceremonial life. Zen life is the life where everything you do is a ceremony. Where everything you do, Zen life is where everything you do is to help others. Zen life is where everything you do is in the context of understanding that others are yourself. And part of Zen life is to hear that teaching before you understand it and struggle with that. Those of you who leave, how can you make your daily life ritual? How can you make driving out of here a ritual? How can you make grocery shopping this afternoon a ritual?

[28:48]

Well, I would suggest if you want it to be a Zen ritual, other religions may have different kinds of rituals, but if you'd like to extend Zen ritual outside of this valley, Well, go right ahead and do it. What is Zen ritual in this valley? What is Zen ritual in this room? According to me, it is that right now, your presence here, you're here to help others. If you're here to help others, then your sitting is a Zen ritual sitting. If you leave this room and you get in your car and you ride out of here, and you're riding out of here in order to help others, in order to help all others, then your riding is Zen ritual, then your riding is Zen life, and your Zen life is going with you over the mountain and into the other valleys. If you remember, if you're mindful of walking the path of being devoted to helping others, and if you remember also to be mindful to learn that others are yourself,

[30:03]

then you go into the grocery store in order to help others. You may also actually want to buy some groceries, that's fine. But you're buying the groceries to help others and you're buying groceries as a ritual to realize that the groceries and the employees and customers in the grocery store are yourself. If you go in for that purpose and if you realize, finally, that everything in the grocery store is yourself, then Zen ritual is realized and then beings are, well, saved. The vegetables are saved, the customers who have different views are saved. I try to practice this way.

[31:14]

I try to be mindful that when I get in a car and ride in the road, I'm doing that to benefit others, the other drivers and all beings. I try to remember that. But I sometimes forget. And when I forget, then what I'm doing is not really what I mean by Zen life, by Zen ceremony. It's what I would mean by forgetting, at least for a little while, Zen life. And probably flexing back into being concerned about getting myself someplace and doing something for me and thinking that the other people around me are not me, I can slip into that way of life which is not Zen life.

[32:18]

I can. And I've heard other people can too. But I've seen that other people can turn can be at the turning point and turn from, am I going to be supported? Am I going to keep my job? Am I going to keep my money? Am I going to get my lunch? They can switch from that to, others are me. Others are myself. I want to help them. They can turn and [...] rediscover Zen life, which is available a crisis away, a turning away. We're always at that place where we can remember that the people we're talking to are ourselves, that our true self is all people.

[33:25]

We can just turn to that anytime, and we can forget it anytime. I think Abraham Lincoln could remember this. I've heard that the Buddha and the Buddha's disciples and the Bodhisattvas, the Buddha's disciples, they remember this. They're mindful of this. They're very happy to be devoted to the beings which are themselves. They're very happy to help others because they understand who others are. they remember that teaching. Barack Obama is yourself. Sarah Palin is yourself. John McCain is yourself.

[34:29]

Dick Cheney is yourself. George Bush is yourself. Sarah Palin is myself. Steve Weintraub is myself. What? Ju Ryu is myself. Rasmus is myself. Catherine is myself. Deborah is myself. Annie is myself. Abraham Lincoln knew this. I pray that everybody knows this and then everybody votes.

[35:33]

And this is where my confidence, this is my confidence, is in this. And I pray that the next president practices this way and follows in the footsteps of the Buddha and Abraham Lincoln and practices malice towards none on this planet, that we have a president who dares to not hate other countries, who dares to love the whole planet, I'd pray that we have a Bodhisattva president. And I don't pray that you don't think I'm stupid for my prayer. I understand that people may think I'm really stupid to have such a prayer. A politician can't be a Bodhisattva. Again, I kind of feel like Abraham Lincoln was a Bodhisattva.

[36:46]

I pray that our next president can be a bodhisattva, can be devoted to the welfare of others, and can remember that others are himself. The Chinese character for for ceremony has two parts. This one part here, this is the Chinese character for ceremony. The part on the left, this part, the red part, is a character for person. The character on the right part, the right part of the character is also a character, and it means righteousness, it means justice, it means meaning, it means honesty.

[37:51]

So the Chinese have a character which means ceremony, which is the way that the person and justice, the person and righteousness are united. The way our human, our small particular human acts bring together our acts of shopping or driving are brought together with justice, are brought together with this act is for the welfare of others, this act is to realize others are myself. That's a ritual, that's a ceremony. And I was asked to do a ceremony today and the people wanted to have the ceremony at one o'clock And I said, OK. And then I forgot that I said OK. And then someone invited me to a birthday party today, and I said OK.

[38:55]

And then it was brought to my attention that I was scheduled to give a talk this morning here, which I said OK to a long time ago. So I've gotten out of the habit of saying, I have to check my, okay, but I have to check my schedule. I didn't check my schedule. So I have this funeral ceremony to do pretty soon in another city, San Francisco. So I have to go pretty soon to do this ceremony, this ceremony, this activity, for the welfare of someone who has just died, for the welfare of her family, and for your welfare. I wish to go to that ceremony. So I've been advised to not have question and answer later, but to do it now. And then you can have tea and muffins later.

[39:56]

Okay? And then now I also think that there's something good about this because we can have a ceremony now, a question and answer ceremony right now. You're invited to come to a question and answer ceremony right now, right here. And the traditional way in Zen of of having question and answer is to come up and have a dialogue, you know, not to talk from the back of the room, but to come up close and get personal. So if any of you would like to come up and have a conversation about anything, we can do that now. Please come, Hugh. I think the microphone works.

[41:00]

Great. Thank you. Please, Hugh, come on. Could I also remind the practice trade students who are on work schedule that it is now time to go to work? Please come, Hugh. Please come closer. An actual question, rather than a comment, which I'm known for. Your Dharma talk reminds me of the book entitled, which I have not read, called Full Catastrophic Living, by the guy called Zen, I think. Maybe some comments, if you're familiar with his point of view. I'm not, are you? No, half somebody in the room is, though. But it's a wonderful title, the very title that is intriguing me to read. Any other? Can you want to bring up? Yes, please come. I wanted to thank you for reminding me.

[42:06]

Yeah. what my true nature is. Because I often need reminders. Yeah, we do, don't we? Absolutely. So, thank you. Thank you. We will all get through this. Please come. My question is, is there ever a time when living as the trying to help others can be sort of distorted in an unhealthy way? Have you ever heard of codependence, and what do you think of that concept? Can you think that you're helping others, but really you're not? We have several questions there. One is, can you think you're helping others and not be helping others?

[43:07]

Right? That's the first one. So yes, I would say basically yes, on some level you can think that you're helping others but not be helping others. That would be a case where you want to help others, you think you help others, but you think they're separate from you. If you think that the person you're talking to is separate from you, I would say you're helping them is somewhat obstructed, even though you want to. So the situation of codependence, whatever that means, I would say is one where one or both of the people do not understand that the other person is themselves. If you understand that, I think this pattern called codependence is disarmed. So wishing to help others is important, but thinking that I'm helping others isn't necessary. I don't have to think I'm helping others. I just want to, and I understand that in order for that to be realized, I have to see the other as myself.

[44:10]

I have to understand that this person is not separate from me. And that tends to sort of disarm wanting to control. It disarms wanting to control. Yes. And also in order to realize that you are myself, if I stop trying to control you in our relationship, that opening to that giving up trying to control, I open up to the fact that you're me. And if I also, the other way around, if I see that you're me, I stop trying to control you. I can't anyway, but I stop trying. Thank you. You're welcome. When you were speaking about the Zen life and how it's for the benefit of others, I was wondering what occurred to me.

[45:26]

The question that occurred to me is, could you approximate on a percentage basis how often you fall out of the Zen life of working for the benefit or living for the benefit of others. That's in relationship to my sense for myself that mostly I don't think of the benefit of others, mostly on a percentage basis. I'd say between 70 and 95% of the time. Maybe 98% of the time. I'm thinking of what I want and how to get it and how to be comfortable and enjoy myself.

[46:32]

And do zazen, but without too much pain. That kind of thing. It's usually, I'm mostly occupied with that kind of thing. So I was wondering, and I was thinking, well, gee, I think I'm probably, I think most people are like that. They mostly think of themselves. And I was hoping that there was a way that even for those people, perhaps including myself, who 98 or 99% of the time just think of themselves, that there's a way that they are included in the Zen life, rather than we have to make some big change, because I'd rather not. Frankly speaking, I like it this way.

[47:41]

I like it, you know, thinking of myself and trying to get as much as I can and recognizing that... This is like Abraham Lincoln. Recognizing that unfortunately I will soon die and probably get sick before that and various terrible things will happen. But they haven't happened yet, or some of them have. Okay, I'll stop now. Okay. So, first of all, thank you very much for this ceremony.

[48:41]

The Zen life... I would say, let's say for the situation of this 98% of the time when somebody's concerned for themselves, if that is accompanied by an awareness of this, you know, a confession and repentance of this situation, of this condition, Then that percentage of time when we're playing the role of the selfish person, then that situation becomes the basis for the Zen life, for that 1% that's willing to confess this. So your confession of this is the Zen life. And even if the percentage was different, like 50% or 35%, rather than 98%, the confession of our humanness, not to get famous or have fun, but just the recognition of our humanness is a Zen ritual, which I think, I felt you did that for the welfare of the whole group.

[50:03]

I felt you did that for all of us. That's what I felt. I felt you did it for me, for yourself, for everybody. So that confession of the 98% is the 2%. And that 2%, that's what I'm talking about. I don't care if it's even 1% or 0.5%, that's the Zen life. And that Zen life part can be brought over and put into the personal selfish life, the life of concern for me. That life of concern for me is the place I put this seed, for example, of, you know, I'm actually concerned for myself. I'm honestly admitting I'm concerned for myself. And I'm saying that for the sake of growing something good out of being a normal human being. And so also I just want to say that if you're asking me for the percentages, it's difficult for me to answer because partly I'd like to like say I'm a little bit, you know, like if you said you were like 50% aware of the welfare of others, then I thought, well, maybe I should say I'm 49%.

[51:24]

But then I thought, well, you know, is that one-upsmanship? Like I'm a little bit more human than you? But I don't really know if it's 50% or... But, for example, today I was really working hard for you guys. I came and gave this talk. I prepared for this talk. And I'm doing this ceremony. I really feel like I'm doing it trying to help those people. And my grandson wanted to watch The Simpsons before the talk. And I kind of thought, no, I want to watch The Simpsons before I give this talk. But I gave up this talk. You know? And I felt like, okay, I'll do this for the kid. I'm not attached to preparing for this lecture and making it a good lecture. So I watched The Simpsons, and we turn it on. It's section 16 of The Simpsons. And so this old lady with large bosom says to Homer, she says, you must have an epiphany. He said, oh, well, what's an epiphany? She said, sudden realization of the truth.

[52:29]

LAUGHTER Thank you, Steve. So I'm trying to remember, you know, when I see you, that you're me. You know, I do that occasionally. I'll try. Yeah, you will. So if we both do it 1% of the time, and we both confess that we're, you know, 98% not doing it, I think that's the same life. And let's see. Lady, lady... Lady, lady. Is that a Beatles song? Oh, no, it's a talking head song. It's baby, baby, and baby, baby. Good morning. I was thinking about the same thing that he was thinking, and I realized that I do the same thing. Basically, the Zen life that I've been doing, and most of the people that I've known doing the Zen life and meditation and yoga and all that stuff,

[53:33]

I think they do it for themselves, but ultimately they do it to have better relationships, to be involved in the world a little bit more positively. And I think also by doing the Zen life and meditation, you are trying to... do metamorphosis change within your practice to become more loving, more open, much more relaxed where you can be able to have better relationships and be more giving. In other words, this practice has helped me and I think to do, yes, think about myself, about becoming a better person, but at the same time, in correlation with that, will you help others? And if you could explain it better in English, then maybe it will be much clearer for the people. So it's the same thing. In other words, we do it for ourselves, and at the same time, just like the Lotus Sutra, which just grows in the mud, we help others.

[54:42]

Thank you. Thank you. And I just want to mention also that sometimes we chant a verse before we give Dharma talks. We didn't do it this morning. And the chant emphasizes our great aspirations to live for the welfare of others, but then it also mentions that we have long habit of being concerned for ourself so that we sometimes... forget that we want to live for others and we do remember that we want to live for our own welfare but by revealing that we're wanting to live for our own welfare in the presence of those who are living for the welfare of others that confession process melts away the root of our tendency to put ourselves first and opens us to putting others first And that's called the pure and simple color of true practice.

[55:45]

To just confess, I'm a human being. I'm concerned for myself. And I don't think others are me. And that's where I'm at right now. And I've been that way for a long time. But I vow, I promise to continue to admit that when I'm selfish, I continue to confess that I've been selfish in the past, that I've been concerned for my welfare in the past, that I have thought people are not me in the past, I've done in the past, and I confess it in the present when I do it now, too. I promise to confess when I see others as not me. And I promise to continue that practice of confessing when I put myself before others, when I see others are not myself. Thank you.

[56:54]

What I see is I don't see a self. I see expansion and contraction And I see when I am expanded, it includes everyone. And when I contract, I see small segments. So that's what I see. And my wish is First, maybe I have an idea that bodhisattvas are Buddha's children, and why can't we have Buddha for the president? Why bodhisattva? Well, the feeling of contraction is one way to get in touch with the sense of self.

[57:56]

Personal self is kind of a contraction in our life. And again, to be honest about that contraction and admit that contraction in a kind way, that's part of the practice. And Buddha, the president, well, I'm not opposed to it, but I don't think Buddha would accept the position. But I think Buddha would be okay with Buddha for one of his or her children, one of the bodhisattvas, to be president. I think that would be okay. But I don't think the Buddha would want to be in that position. I think unless there was just like one, there was, you know, the country was one, all beings together in harmony, the Buddha would be the president of that company, that country.

[58:59]

But to be the president of one country as opposed to another country, I don't think the Buddha would do that. Oh, the whole. Yeah, we don't have a country like that yet, though. But Buddha does have, Buddha says, Buddha sends us a message, I do live in a country, I do live in a land where I am the president. But there, all political parties are in complete harmony. All political parties respect each other and understand each other are themselves. You know, they're living in complete harmony. That's where Buddha lives. And Buddha has bodhisattvas who are helping people wake up to that Buddha land. And bodhisattvas are willing to take sides to be Republicans and Democrats. The Buddha teaches that only the Buddha knows who the bodhisattvas are and it's possible that a bodhisattva would be a Republican or a Democrat or Or even Ralph Nader might be a bodhisattva. We don't know.

[60:01]

We don't know who the bodhisattvas are. So we should, the Buddha tells us, we should treat everyone as though they might be a bodhisattva. In other words, we should respect everyone. And in Buddha's land, where Buddha's president, everybody respects everybody. That's where Buddha lives. And he would like everybody to wake up to that. So he manifests in the world where people are in disharmony in ways to help people learn how to be devoted to each other and to be honest about their own limitations. So I really appreciate Steve's pointing out that we have to be aware of our own limitations. That's absolutely necessary. And not just be aware of them, but confess them as he did. and then find the humor and relaxation in that confession. And then we can open up to the vast truth. We can have an epiphany like Homer Simpson.

[61:07]

Are there some other people? Yes? Please come. You can come. You can come in groups. You're welcome. I lived most of my life selfishly. But it wasn't until I reached such a point of suffering that I awakened. But it took me great suffering to to awaken that everyone is me. And to stop, to stop this need to, need to

[62:17]

make myself feel whole in the wrong way by controlling. So the suffering helps you give up trying to control. You know, suffering has helped me to arrive at this point. And so I have compassion. I have compassion for my this suffering, this ignorance, to bring me to this place. The more I have compassion for myself, I have compassion for others, and I get out of suffering. So in a sense, loving others and opening up to others is getting out of suffering. Yes, right, in a sense.

[63:21]

Yes, I mean it's, you know, being selfish is suffering. Yes, that's right, that's the definition of it. And wow, you know, it's quite a revelation. Yes, it is. Ignorance is an object of compassion. Have you seen any ignorance in the area, like in yourself or others? Yes. Compassion is what is recommended for ignorance. And, of course, the suffering that comes with ignorance, we practice compassion towards that. But some people think, well, I have compassion for suffering, but not for ignorance. No, ignorance deserves... All the different varieties of ignorance deserve compassion. The Buddha does not teach that Buddhas are object of compassion. Enlightenment's not an object of compassion, but ignorance is in all its varieties.

[64:22]

Every single one of those kinds of ignorance is an object of compassion. Hi. Hi. Thank you for your talk. You're welcome. And I know for myself there are those moments of epiphany and there are those moments when I recognize that I'm acting out of selfishness and it's making things not go so well. Right. But there's a whole lot of other moments when I feel like there's some mix of that. And when I look at other people, I often think that they're acting out of compassion and seeing others as themselves and helping others, having that intention to help others a lot of the time. And they kind of indicate that I'm doing that a fair amount of the time, but that's not the way I experience myself, and that's not the way they experience themselves.

[65:30]

So I'm wondering if you could talk about those times when... Did you hear what she said? Well, can I summarize it? Yes. She says, I heard her say that she sometimes sees others, she sees virtues in others, she sees them acting unselfishly. She sees that. And she sees in herself that she sometimes, occasionally acts unselfishly, but she often sees she's acting selfishly. Generally speaking, the ability to see in ourselves that we're acting selfishly, the awareness of our own shortcomings in terms of selflessness, opens our eyes to the virtues of others. So bodhisattvas vow to practice disclosing, to notice and disclose their own shortcomings, their own selfishness. And then the next practice they vow to do is to appreciate the merits of others. So those people who are aware of their own shortcomings

[66:31]

tend to be people who will be able to notice the virtues of others. So those who notice their own shortcomings are noticing the virtues of others. And when you see them, you say, wow, they're noticing the virtues of others. And you might also notice they're confessing their own shortcomings and appreciating others. And I would say that your ability to appreciate others comes from your noticing your shortcomings. So people look at you and they say, oh, she's noticing people's virtues. She's noticing how people are acting unselfishly and she's admitting her own shortcomings. So then they think you're virtuous. But they do that if they're aware of their own shortcomings. People who aren't aware of their own shortcomings would look at you when you're appreciating somebody else's virtues and they won't be able to see that you're being virtuous at that time. because they're blinded because they're closing their eyes to themselves, to their own shortcomings, so then it's hard for them to see other people's virtues. When we see other people's virtues, our eyes are open.

[67:33]

We're, you know, we're some visions, some wisdoms there when we see other people's virtues. Everybody can see other people's shortcomings. That's easy for most people. But to see other people's virtues, that's the dawning of wisdom. And that comes with seeing your own shortcomings. The more I see my shortcomings, the more I appreciate others. So I feel that your appreciation of others' virtues, and not just to dream of their virtues, but actually seeing their virtues, you will find that the people you are having an easy time seeing virtues in are people who are aware of their own shortcomings. Like Suzuki Roshi was quite aware of his own shortcomings, but people had an easy time seeing virtues in him. And he wasn't going around seeing everybody's shortcomings all the time, although he could see them. People felt that he could see their virtues. But I say, you demonstrate, and Steve demonstrates, that seeing your own shortcomings is what opens you to see other people's virtues.

[68:37]

That doesn't mean they don't have shortcomings. As a matter of fact, they probably will be seeing their shortcomings too, which allows their virtues to flourish. So one of the things I'm hearing you say is that seeing your own shortcomings is not a problem. Seeing your own shortcomings is perhaps the most important bodhisattva practice. Because if you see your own shortcomings, if you open to your own shortcomings, You open to the goodness of the universe at the same time. If you open to your own shortcomings, you're open to people's beauties. It's just a wonderful practice. It's not the whole story, but it's a great bodhisattva practice is to notice my own shortcomings. Noticing my own shortcomings, not my shortcomings. My shortcomings don't really help people too much except giving them an opportunity for compassion. But my shortcomings are not so helpful, but noticing my shortcomings are really helpful to other people.

[69:40]

Other people are protected by noticing our own shortcomings. And I want to take it one step farther. How do you hold your own shortcomings in a way that doesn't make you sad? You don't hold them. You don't hold them. You don't hold them. You acknowledge them and you bring your acknowledgement to the Buddhas. And the Buddhas help you let go of them and move on to the next shortcoming. Hi. Did you say hi? Yes, hi. Hi. I had a question that's been lingering for a couple of days. It's about... Well, I've already had a bit of a hard time.

[70:41]

I just started practice period. Is it kind of hard? Yeah. Oh, good. I didn't want you to be unchallenged. Thank you. And continuously, of course, when I'm having a hard time, it bugs me that we already live in a world that is always already enlightened, that is always already enlightenment, but still there's so much practice to do. And I was reading a text by Dogen, And there was saying, there's an expression that I would like you to clarify what it means. It says it's the Buddha seal. And it says that even though Shakyamuni Buddha had already the Buddha seal, he sat and meditated for many years. And so also did Bodhidharma and probably all the other great enlightened teachers.

[71:48]

But then I was thinking, you know, I hope I at least, perhaps I've got that Buddha seal. What is it? What does it mean? I was thinking, what does it mean? Well, one way to talk about the Buddha seal is that it is It's the way that others are you. That's the Buddhist seal. You already have that. That's the way you really are, is that others are who you are. That's your Buddhist seal. And even though you have that Buddhist seal, however, you must practice sitting and walking and so on to express that Buddhist seal. Hmm. You must live a life of making a ceremony where your actions are in the context of that Buddha seal. Until you like walk and sit and talk with people in accord with that, that way you really are, in accord with that everybody is you.

[72:57]

So the Buddhas had to do that. They had to, like, even though they have this nature, they had to practice in order to demonstrate and realize that in their time, in their world. So we need to do that too. So if they had to do it, it says, then it says, if they had to do it, then we have to do it. And you have this already. Your nature is already the way you are. But now you need to enact it. You need your body, speech, and mind to be devoted to enacting this Buddha seal. If you want to follow the path that the Buddhists followed. Because they did that. So now we're supposed to do the same thing. If we want to be like them, practice like them. Thank you. You're welcome. There is also a thing about the word trying. If you try to do something, often you stumble over yourself. Or I feel that I do that.

[73:59]

Well, then you have a shortcoming to confess. Yeah, that's right. You do that circle. Yeah, I try to keep the circle going. Yeah, and then that will help you see the virtues of others even when they're stumbling. Thank you. You're welcome. I think Anne maybe was next. I have a hard time finding compassion for and confidence in beings who are in positions of leadership that... You have a hard time having compassion for leaders? Yes, who are making decisions that have other people's lives at risk. You mean when they make decisions which don't help people, is that what you mean?

[75:05]

Which don't seem to be wise decisions? Right. So you have trouble with ignorant people in leadership positions? Yes. Because their ignorance seems to have much more bigger effect. So it's harder for you to be compassionate towards that. I think most of us have a harder time. If my ignorance only bothers two or three people, it's a little easier for you to be compassionate to me. Particularly if my ignorance only hurts me, maybe that would make it easier for you to be compassionate towards me. But if my ignorance hurts a lot of other people, it's more of a challenge to your bodhisattva heart. I think most of us share that with you. But again, the Zen path is to aspire to seeing others as ourself. And so that means opening up to all these ignorant leaders, too. But that's like our aspiration.

[76:07]

It doesn't mean it's going to be easy. In fact, it's very hard. to do that. But the Buddha has demonstrated, the historical Buddha and the disciples of Buddha have demonstrated opening to and being compassionate towards powerful beings, leaders and other powerful beings that are causing problems to lots of people. They've demonstrated how to be compassionate to them and how to wake them up. There are stories like that. And there are also stories where the enlightened people were not able to wake up the leader. But sometimes they were able to wake up the leader and get the leader to really understand that other people were herself. I just don't feel as though I would have access to these leaders. So what can I do? Well, you do have access to them in the sense that you hear about them. And if you hear about them and you can't open to them, then you can work on that. I can say, well, just hearing the stories about these people, I notice my heart doesn't open to them.

[77:09]

Now, if my heart opens to them when I hear about them, then I will be a candidate for a personal interview. If I really could open to some of these leaders, people would bring me to meet them. Because they want to meet people who have an open heart to them. But they don't want to meet somebody who doesn't respect them and doesn't appreciate them. They don't want to meet people like that. So they're protected from those people. But if somebody could really open their heart to them, even though they see that they're causing, they're part of a painful, unhealthy situation, such a person would have a chance to have direct access. But I'm not even going to get an interview if I can't open to them by hearsay, from a distance. It's easier at a distance. Easier at a distance and even a distance is hard. So I think a lot of us share with us that it's hard to open at a distance to certain ignorant leaders who are causing, who are part of an unhealthy process.

[78:18]

But that's our challenge. So you do have access. You can feel the difficulty. In your heart you have access. And your heart's sort of saying, I don't know if I want to open to this person. So if you work on that and confess that limitation and learn to see this person as yourself, you'll get more and more access to them. Thank you. You're welcome. Good luck. Thanks. I feel like for the sake of not rushing the ceremony and so on, and anybody who might feel trapped here, we should probably conclude now. And I thank you very much and I hope we all keep track of our own shortcomings and start appreciating the virtues of our enemies.

[79:10]

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