What about physical pain? Physical pain is usually caused by an event, an accident, or an illness. Well, not all physical pain would I call suffering. For example, yeah, I think if you sprain your ankle, the pain from that... Before you sprain your ankle, I would suggest that your body... is caused by storytelling. Can you say that again? Your body is caused by storytelling? Can you explain? Yes. And then, but before I do that, I just want to mention that once you have a body, which also is the result of not just your storytelling, but Yeah, well, the way the body arises, it arises in dependence on storytelling.

[01:04]

Once you have a body, if you have the story that you sprained your ankle, or if you don't have a story that you sprained your ankle, if you have the story that you're experiencing pain, not exactly suffering. That pain is more like a piece of information that might be helpful to you to let you know that you probably should sit down for a while and maybe not try to walk. That information itself is not suffering. And is not suffering. The suffering comes from so our body comes from storytelling But the suffering with the body comes from storytelling and storytelling usually goes with being done habitually and believing the stories as something other than stories.

[02:07]

So if I have a story about you that you're a good person, that story by itself is not suffering. But if I cling to you as the story of you that creates a stress in my relationship to you. So how does that relate to the sprained ankle? If I have pain from my ankle and I don't cling to the story of my sprained ankle I can still sit down with that story. However, because I don't cling to the story, I'm free of suffering with the pain in the ankle. Okay, so it sounds like you're saying that pain and suffering are not the same thing. It's not the same as suffering. But for most people, pain is suffering, pleasure is suffering, and neutral sensation is suffering for most people.

[03:11]

Because most people cling to the pain of negative sensation, cling to the sensation of positive sensation, and cling to neutral sensation. sensation they experience as disorienting and confusing and stressing. Pleasant sensation, they're afraid they're going to lose the pleasant sensation, or when they do, they feel stressed about the loss because they're holding on to it. And painful sensation, they're concerned, you know, will it last? And to that, they're already stressed by clinging to it. So in the early teachings of the Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths, have you heard of them? when he teaches the first truth of suffering, a lot of people say that the Buddha's truth of suffering is life is suffering. He did not say life is suffering. What's suffering? And then he just mentions almost everything that happens in life. But he did not say life is suffering. Well, actually, he said birth is suffering, death is suffering, old age is suffering, pain is suffering, pleasure is suffering.

[04:16]

Almost everything that we experience is suffering. And then he said, in short, All these things, when you attach to them, are suffering. So when you attach to any experience, it's suffering. I guess I'm wondering how it's possible to experience pain without suffering. Maybe it's what you were talking about earlier, the unknowable. I can't even imagine that. We have stories of the Buddha, the historical Buddha, and many of his disciples over the centuries. When they experienced pain, they were still demonstrating freedom and happiness. But they did have pain. Like when the Buddha, in his final illness, had this, whatever happened to him when he ate this stuff, he apparently had diarrhea, became dehydrated, very uncomfortable, but still like this radiant, compassionate, happy person.

[05:19]

And Yeah, but not getting angry at who fed him or getting angry at his dear disciple who wouldn't bring him water because he thought it was dirty. He's still the Buddha, still the serene, infinitely compassionate and joyful being because he's still helping everybody and still happy to take care of his community. That was unhindered by this pain, but his body was manifesting pain. pain and he had other pains too that he talked about after enlightenment but they didn't hinder his wonderful compassion at all but for most of us even pleasure because we cling to it we feel stressed but if we don't It isn't that we have to eliminate pain and pleasure.

[06:25]

We don't have to eliminate sensation. We eliminate trying to get sensation, being our addiction to pleasure. Or some people are addicted to pain. So our addictions to sensation is what we're being taught to become free of by being kind to our addiction. If we're kind to our addiction, we'll understand what's going on in the process. And the understanding will liberate us from our addiction to sensation. May I ask a second question? May I drink some tea? Oh, please. You don't have to wait until I finish. Is there anything good about having an ego? No. The beings who wish to benefit living beings, they wish to benefit egos too.

[07:33]

The living beings who wish to benefit beings who have egos and some of the living beings who have egos are suffering in conjunction with the ego. They don't understand their ego. They're caught by it. They believe in it. They think it as a indication of separation from other beings. People who are suffering with egos, enlightening beings, wish to benefit them, wish to care for them. So, from their perspective, the good thing about ego is it offers an opportunity to focus compassion, to develop compassion, and to help those who have egos to understand them and become free of them. So one rendition of our practice is to study the ego. And to study the ego, you need to be free of the ego. So it's a good opportunity or a primary opportunity for practicing the Buddha way, the way of realizing that the ego isn't even to get a hold of.

[09:01]

It doesn't really separate. It just is the illusion or the story of separation. and independence. So it's a great opportunity to develop compassion, and it is what compassion wishes to, usually is addressed to. That last part of what you just said, compassion is usually addressed to the ego. Yeah. Can you explain that a little bit? Well, if the ego is, if the ego is, whatever the ego is involved with, we practice, we welcome that. So we don't exactly say it's good that the person is caught up in their ego, but it's a good opportunity. The ego being clinging to things, that's a good opportunity for compassion. And that is what compassion wishes to want to liberate. So it both stimulates and offers an opportunity to do something good for the ego, namely to liberate it.

[10:06]

by developing practices of awareness of it, of noticing, you know, like, that this ego, to notice that kind of stuff, and be kind to it, not be cruel to the ego clinging. So it sounds as though the whole point of the ego is to learn how to overcome it. No, I think the point of the ego is not... I don't exactly know what the point of the ego is. I'm just saying there's a story about how it arises. And it seems like part of the way it arises is that it performs, it's in conjunction with services which living beings are interested in, like knowing things. So ego seems to go with knowing things. Living beings have trouble with not knowing what a tree is or what a person is in its totality.

[11:13]

So they make a little small version of it. And so also people make a small version of themselves, you know, which doesn't include everybody else. And so it seems like living beings sort of have to do that. If you don't do that, you're like not a normal human being. So... then everybody tries to help you learn how to do it. So then finally you say, I'll go along with the program and have a self-like so I can relate to you all. But then once it's developed, then it needs compassion because it's useful to relate to other beings who make you breakfast and keep you warm sometimes. and who love you from whatever level of enlightenment they have. They practice compassion towards you. And if you don't have an ego, they kind of get worried about you. So they kind of get you to speak... If you learn languages and stuff, the language has ego built into it, like, me, I want that.

[12:19]

Sort of like, if you learn languages, you kind of go along with the ego building, ego-constructing thing. So... it's not as, yeah, it's like the use of it is to engage in normal human community and to be able to get the things you need so you can grow up. Well, I get the sense that ego starts to develop in childhood as a way of developing our own identity. So as you say, we can relate to the rest of the world. Without that, it's kind of hard for us to know how to relate to other people who have already gone through that process or other people who are like me who are going through that process. We sort of have to buy into that, the language of karma, the language activity of our people. We have to buy into the stories, the common dreams. We have to do that to some extent in order to develop and get through high school.

[13:19]

And then we started looking at the process with the aid of co-practitioners and the tradition. We start to look at the process of how this develops and what the problem is and what the medicine for the problem is. So one of the goals of this practice is to find the space in between having a fully developed identity, which I guess is how the ego develops, and then learning how to practice compassion so that you're not so attached to your own ego that it causes all kinds of problems. Would you agree with that? Yeah, but usually when we start practicing, we've already become quite attached to it, and that attachment is already causing problems. So we're going to practice compassion towards the story of the ego and also towards the... discomforts that surround it because it comes with you know it comes with holding on to itself and all that stuff and the confusion of having the ego so we practice compassion towards that complex and all the discomforts that come with it and that leads to understanding it and when we understand it we become free of it and then all the kindnesses towards it

[14:41]

are now liberated from the problems of attachment to it. So those kindnesses just keep going on and the ego doesn't get destroyed. It just is no longer attached to. It's not a hindrance anymore. It's just a way that the compassion can talk to people now. You have an ego to talk. Otherwise you wouldn't know where to put the I want oatmeal. Or would you please give me a handshake? So we have to sort of like, and the enlightening beings are willing to, and they actually want to teach other people how to play at having an ego, which means that we do it, but without attachment. So we can teach other people how to do, they've got the ego, but they don't know how to play with it. In a way, they do know how to hold on to it, though, and if they don't, they sort of have to learn. Because otherwise, they can't learn the religion and do other things with people who have learned it.

[15:45]

So they do learn it, and then they become aware of how painful it is, and all the unpleasant and negative emotions that come up with attaching to it and then hopefully they get into all this suffering and then be educated about how it works and understand it and become free and then again then the compassion just goes on but now it goes on with wisdom so we start practicing usually without ...to develop wisdom because wisdom usually grows out of a lot of compassion with our delusions. So most of us have plenty of delusion, so now we practice compassion towards it and receive teachings about how to practice compassion towards it. Plus we also receive teachings about the way the mind... creates these illusions which help us study and verify that, yeah, this is going on.

[16:46]

And the more we understand it, the more we get close to the place of actually not being fooled by it anymore, even while it's still going on. So that's what the . Okay, well, thank you. My original question was, is there anything good about the ego? And it sounds as though without an ego, I wouldn't even be able to sit here and talk to you. So that's good, right? You could say so. That's a story. to welcome that story, but not attach to it. I don't want to attach to the story, ego is good, and I don't want to attach to the story, ego is bad. You say, well, if you had to attach to one or the other, which would you attach to? I guess I would attach to ego is good. Because I think ego has a pretty bad name, and a lot of people don't. They say you're egoistic, or egotistical is not usually considered a compliment. right yeah rather than oh you're you're egotistical great you finally got there but actually some parents if their kid was having trouble if they got to be egotistical very happy oh finally now he can go to be like the other kids otherwise the other kids will kind of like exclude you as a weirdo what do you think you're a little guru at the sandbox

[18:10]

So, you know, and some kids, if they are little gurus, they can tolerate the exclusion and just sit around and emanate compassion towards the other kids until the other kids grow up and say, wow, he was patient with us all those years that we excluded him for being nice to us. He wouldn't join our practices of cruelty towards those other kids. And he didn't even hate us. Like too weird for words. But now we see. So it's possible that some little kids are little bodhisattvas. You know? It's possible. But still, even those kids have to have an ego, it's just that they don't attach to it. Because there's a constant in their practice. Right after they get an ego, they just immediately say, well, that's nice, I'll use this to talk to people, but I'm not going to use it to sponsor cruelty. such a kid would probably be excluded from a lot of games.

[19:14]

You're very welcome. Like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Yes. Or Jesus, yeah. Welcome to the seat. Thank you. Thank you for your welcoming talk, Roshi. You're welcome. So when you were giving your talk, can I share with you a story? Yes. Thank you. And you mentioned people were walking out when you were talking about dependent co-arising. Yeah.

[20:22]

When my mind explores dependent co-arising, lately I've been wanting to walk out. And I feel like sometimes I have this thought. that delusion of the story, that delusion might be more comfortable than this unachievable vow or this possibly unachievable bodhisattva vow of saving all beings. You're open to that possibility. No, the delusion might be more comfortable than realizing the bodhisattva vow. Yes. So I'm open to that possibility too. that delusion might be more comfortable than accomplishing the bodhisattva vow. I'm open to that possibility. Here's another possibility. Could I mention it? Delusion will be endless... What's the word you used?

[21:28]

More difficult, did you say? Was the word difficult? Comfortable. Yeah, comfortable. So delusion will be somewhat comfortable forever, but it also will be quite uncomfortable if you don't study it. The discomfort of delusion will be, you said more comfortable, but you mean the discomfort of delusion will be more comfortable than the discomfort of studying the Pentecostal rising. And, yes, or... Realizing the vow. Realizing the vow is not comfortable. It's very difficult to realize the vow. It's just that when you realize the vow, you will be beyond comfort and discomfort. you'll be beyond, you'll be free. And not only that, but you'll be very happy. You'll be free then to help people, which is a great joy. So there's an end of suffering on the path of realizing the Bible.

[22:29]

There's an end of it and a freedom from it. The other way, although there's some comforts in delusion, because it's familiar, and you get to know stuff, and you get to grasp stuff and play with stuff, There's no end to it unless you bring that vow to it. So you can be deluded with the vow or deluded without the vow. If you don't have the vow and you're deluded, there may be comforts on that path, but it's endless suffering. There'll be no freedom. But when you bring the vow together with the delusion, it's also difficult, but it's not endless suffering. It's suffering that kind of ends. and turns into the joy of helping everybody else yet realize freedom. So both ways are difficult. And it might seem sometimes like the path of not practicing might be more comfortable than the path of practicing.

[23:31]

And sometimes it does seem like that. I think, yeah. Like if you're not practicing, people might not... about your lack of generosity because they say well he's being stingy but no need to mention it to him because he never said he wanted to be generous so you're stingy and you're feeling kind of bad about it but at least nobody's criticizing you because you never said you wanted to whereas if you say that you want to be generous and then you're not you feel bad and also people criticize you but you asked them to you ask them to give you feedback on your practice you're trying to do so in a way it might seem more difficult not only do you feel bad when you're not doing the practice but everybody else feels bad about it too but they're trying to help you because you said you wanted to do it so the vow could make your shortcomings more intense could make you feel your shortcomings more intensely and that does seem to be the case that people who are on the bodhisattva path

[24:38]

feel their shortcomings even small ones which might not bother some people at all in themselves they might feel uncomfortable about so it is a difficult path but it's being proposed that this is a path that will benefit many people in short term but it might be more comfortable sometimes to be deluded and attached to the delusions and so on. It might be. I'm open to that possibility. And I'm even open to the possibility that everything I'm saying is just a story. But I'm telling these stories. You're welcome. Welcome.

[26:15]

Thank you. So you talked about other people exist, but they're entirely unknowable. Can we really know that they exist? Can we really know that there is anything at all? The only way that beings exist for us is by our stories of them. The way beings are actually is free of existence and non-existence. It's not like you exist in some way other than my story. You only exist by my stories of you. But it's not like you don't exist. it's the way you really are, the way you are interdependent with everything, that does not exist.

[27:20]

What exists is, actually what exists, really, is that you're free of existence and non-existence. That's what actually exists. But the way things exist for us, sentient beings, is as our mental construction of them. That's the way they exist. So our mind does make everybody into existent beings. But beings actually are free of existence and non-existence. Free from existence doesn't mean that they're non-existent. It just means the way we make them exist doesn't exist. But if we made them not exist, that also doesn't exist. What exists is an unknowable life which we are together. But we're uncomfortable with that, so... And then beings exist. And that's the only way they exist, is as cognitive constructions.

[28:27]

And that's the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth is the only way things exist is as cognitive constructions. But... the ultimate truth, the only way that exists also is as cognitive construction. But the truth and even falseness actually is free of existence and non-existence. And what I just said, most people have quite a bit of difficulty understanding that. And so if you thought it was difficult to understand, that's something to welcome. That's an opportunity to welcome how difficult that was to hear. The Buddha found a middle way about everything. And the middle way, one rendition of it is,

[29:30]

a middle way which avoids the extreme of existence about things and avoids the extreme of non-existence. Things exist in a middle way, and the middle way is the way we actually are living right now. We are living in a middle way, but we don't get to know it, but we can realize it. But our habit is to know it, but when you know the middle way, you make it into existence. Most people make it into existence by imagining it to be something that exists. But if you don't imagine it as something that really exists, that category Thank you. You're welcome. Please come.

[30:39]

Tell me how long. Good morning, Tenshin Roshi. Good morning. I'm starting to allow myself a little bit of... Ella, could you put that? Speak up a little bit. I'm starting to allow myself a little bit of welcoming, but I'm having trouble with the kindness to and the patience with and the careful of. The first aspect of kindness towards delusions... The first aspect of it is welcoming. Kindness is not different from welcoming, but totally exhausts kindness.

[31:42]

It's just that the bodhisattva path emphasizes starting to be kind and generous towards delusions and the pains around them. After you're kind to a delusion, you move in to be careful of it. Because you could be generous with something, something difficult, but then not be careful of it. It's possible. Some people are generous with something and then they don't pay attention to it after they welcome it. Keep their eye on it. But some things are, some things, if you don't pay attention to them, most things, if you don't pay attention to them, if you're not careful of them, you'll trip up on even good things. So the first practice, the first precept of bodhisattva is generosity. The next precept is what's sometimes called ethical, but really generosity is part of ethics.

[32:48]

But then sometimes we say ethics in the sense of conscientiousness, carefulness, vigilance, gentleness, with what you have just been generous towards, welcoming of. Like, for example, if I thought I had some story about you, then I would welcome that story, but then I'd be careful of that story. Because if I'm not careful of it, then you're likely to believe it. And let's say I do believe it, then I should be very careful. If I believe my story of you, I should really know that. I know it means I should really be careful of it. I really don't know it yet. If you're careful with your story about people and you're careful with that you believe your stories, you can become free of believing the story. Practice of kindness is to be patient with stresses around stories and delusions that we believe. So those three practices of generosity

[33:52]

ethics or conscientiousness and vigilance and patience, those bring benefit to the delusion, even while the delusion is still sitting there and attached to. Then you're ready to go back and look at your vow and your aspiration in this life and to generate energy to practice the previous three practices of kindness and also move on to practice consciousness. and what you aspire to on your vow. And then, with that concentration, you're ready to practice wisdom towards all delusions and all attachments to them. So, really, kindness has these many dimensions summarized by generosity, ethical training, patience. And then you also have to, in order to practice compassion and kindness, you have to have a regular practice of refreshing your enthusiasm and also refreshing your enthusiasm about practicing tranquility.

[35:06]

Because in tranquility, tranquility depends on compassion practices and energy for them and for concentration. And then with concentration you can wisdom teachings which are about delusions, which tell you how things are deluded and tell you how to relate to delusion, which you've already been doing. May I ask you one more question? When I cry out in pain, are you responding? Me? Well, I might if I hear you. But if I don't hear you, I don't... If you cry in my presence, be aware that I'm responding to you. And you might think I am too. Would your response in me look like the awakening of the vow?

[36:10]

Say again? Would your response in me look like the awakening of the vow? Yeah. If you saw somebody, if you felt like you were crying out and you saw someone respond to you compassionately, you might think, I would like to learn that. And so there's four types, if you'll excuse me, four types of calling out in response. The most fundamental one is the one that's beyond our storytelling, which occurs but not in the realm of perception. It's imperceptible. So that realm of communion is going on. but it's imperceptible. We don't realize that we're walking step by step that we're saying please come Buddha and meet me and help me practice the way.

[37:15]

We don't see that we're doing that. And the Buddha is saying I'm here practicing with you. But in an imperceptible way So some of you are in the practice period here and on noon service do you chant the self-receiving and employing samadhi? Do you? In that text it talks about how the Buddhas and the sentient beings are communicating and how the Buddha's compassion goes out to the trees and the mountains and how that resonates back from the trees to the mountains to the both enlightened and unenlightened beings. how everything's doing Buddha's work, how everything's helping everybody and receiving help from everybody. Are you familiar with that yet? And then it says, after saying how this practice is all-pervading and unstoppable and inconceivable, it says this process of mutual assistance, we also assist the Buddhas in doing their work.

[38:23]

And they assist us in doing Buddha work. That relationship is not mixed with perception. It's inconceivable. So there's an inconceivable way that you're calling out and being responded to. You can't perceive it. Then there's three other types. One is you call out and you don't see somebody respond. You say, I called, I know I called, I said help, but I don't see any response. The other person you call, what are you coming for? Somebody comes and says, did you call me? You say, no. Somebody says, hey, I got a teaching for you. You say, I didn't ask for that. So in the realm of perception, you sometimes think you call or you think you got a response, but I didn't ask for it.

[39:25]

And then the other one is, you think, you feel, you perceive, I asked for help and somebody gave it to me, a person, for example. You know, like, I asked the teacher to teach me something and the teacher said, what do you think? The teacher gave it. That counts. That's one way. It's in the perceptible realm. But even if you don't feel like you're asking a teacher for help, if you're asking the Buddha for help, you don't feel like the Buddha's answering, even if you don't, And even if you do, actually, we are asking all of us for help all day long, and they're practicing with us all day long, and the Buddhas are practicing together with each of us. Lots of Buddhas are practicing together with each one of us all day long. They never stop. It's a challenge to understand that. So Dogen Zenji, who teaches this and says, and old Buddhas have taught this, that all Buddhas are practicing together with you every moment.

[40:30]

If you don't understand that, he said, how should you understand that? Well, he said, one way is, think about what's the practice of a Buddha. The practice of the Buddha is to practice in the same way that you're practicing. Not just you, but the practice of a Buddha is to practice in the same way as everybody's practicing. The Buddhas don't like to have I got a Buddha practice, you got a sentient being practice. They don't say that. They say, I got a Buddha practice and my Buddha practice is to practice the same way you are. Sentient beings, their practice is usually that they're not practicing the same way as all other sentient beings. They don't have the same practice as a Buddha. They don't have the same practice as them. So that's how a Buddha practices. And that's why Buddhas are practicing together with you.

[41:32]

And then he goes on further. And how should you understand this? Because what I just said you might not understand. He says, basically, turn over to yourself until you understand it. Also in the Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi, at the end it says, each moment of Zazen is equally wholeness of practice, equally wholeness of enlightenment. Each moment where you're actually imperceptibly or perceptibly, either way, asking for help and being responded to, each one of those moments is equally wholeness of practice and is equal wholeness of enlightenment. But another translation, each moment of this practice your practice and the practice of everybody else is equally the same practice and the same enlightenment. But this is not, it's not easy to perceive how your practice is everybody else's practice.

[42:39]

It's imperceptible. But that's, that's the practice. But sometimes it's perceptible. Sometimes you can say, oh, wow, his practice is my practice. You have that perception, which is great. Because the day before you thought his practice wasn't your practice. She's got her practice, they're separate. Now I see her practice is my practice. Now I see everybody's practice is my practice. This reminds me of what I heard of Buddhist practices. But still, the thinking about it, which is a wonderful thing to think about, is not the actuality. The actuality is far beyond any story that you could make of it. So we do, ritually, we practice with teachers and we say to the teacher, I have a question about Dharma. And the teacher says, okay. And then you ask the question and the teacher responds. You say, oh, this is a ritual enactment with enlightenment. And sometimes we ask the teacher and we say, he didn't answer my question.

[43:45]

And sometimes the teacher said, yes, I did. The way I answered it was the way I answered it. He didn't like it, thought it was a lousy answer, but I did respond. He just didn't... Or the teacher might say, oh, you're right, I didn't answer it. And so on. So we work both in the perceptible realm and we practice compassion in the perceptible realm and we're simultaneously practicing in the imperceptible realm. In the perceptible realm, we also are trying to practice compassion towards this interaction in the perceptible realm. And we notice, oh, I feel shortcomings in my compassion in this realm. And then now I wish, but I still wish to practice compassion towards my shortcomings and I wish to practice compassion with my shortcomings and compassion. And I wish to ask for help in doing this from basically everybody because I'm practicing together with everybody.

[44:53]

Thank you. He says hi. Well, say hi to your dad for me, please. Please come. Is it time to stop? We have a couple minutes. One more person. I've never asked a question here before. Well, great. Welcome to the questioning. I'm at that stage of life where I've had to... Sort of at that stage of life where I've had to adjust to continual, quote-unquote, technological advancements. And I find myself in a situation where if you don't respond to people's e-mails and texts, and this is in my work, every five seconds, if you are 20 minutes late, then you're not playing by the rules. And I notice I'm completely exhausted by this conversation.

[46:00]

in the workplace to respond to people. And I originally picked my work because I was a field person. It gave me long periods of time to drive around and not be in contact with people. The younger people here, I mean, unless they're very young and they just think that everybody always was texting and had smartphones their whole lives. How do I keep my peace when... Okay, right there. First thing is, don't try to keep your peace. Give your peace away. If you've got peace, say welcome. But if your peace wants to go, let it go. That's the first thing. try to practice welcoming them.

[47:03]

And if people then send you an email, say, you're welcoming too slowly, try to welcome their criticism. And then after you welcome their criticism, then you might say, how do you feel about their criticism? And you might say, I don't know what you might say, if you've welcomed their criticism or you're too slow. I... I'm at a stage of life also where if people sent me an email, I probably wouldn't be able to respond as fast as you tell me you to. I probably wouldn't be able to do that. And then people could tell me how they feel about that, but then when they tell me, they know that I'd like them to tell me in a kind way. So they might say, you know, they might say it kindly so that might make it easier for me to welcome their I'm stressed out by how slowly you respond to me.

[48:06]

And I vow to... I don't vow to respond as fast as people would like me to. I vow to welcome them being upset with me if I don't. Or happy with me if I don't. I welcome that. But I don't vow to speed up faster and faster. just because people are asking me to. I welcome people's request that I be faster. But I am sometimes slow. Sometimes people ask me a question and then I... I'm quiet sometimes for quite a long time. And they basically say, Speak! Say something! And maybe I say, Sorry, I'm so slow. And that doesn't mean that the person will accept that apology. But I probably won't get fired for being too slow. But you might.

[49:08]

I also find that when I fully answer the question, I've actually gotten admonishment for taking too much, because that's kind of... Me too. And I'm recommending... That when I feel like I'm being thorough and somebody says that's too much, I admire that I'm being so thorough, I want to welcome that. I want to welcome that feedback. So that should welcome that feedback too? Yeah. Not should, I'm just saying if you wish to benefit all beings, the first step is to welcome all feedback. No exceptions. Sometimes welcoming can take infinite forms, but it's the beginning of caring for the aspiration to benefit beings.

[50:11]

It's the beginning of compassion. And basically, yeah, to welcome everything doesn't mean like or dislike. It means welcome. It's difficult when people are giving us really negative feedback. But some people, as you know, they have trouble welcoming positive feedback. They just can't stand the positive energy. I can't welcome it, I should say. They can't just say, okay. That was really a good meal. Okay. It practically knocks me out when you say that. But of course, negative also can almost knock you out. So it can be scary. But that's what have realized and bodhisattvas aspire to be able to take tremendous energy, to receive tremendous energy from other beings. Because there is tremendous energy to learn to open up and welcome it.

[51:15]

But it's hard to open up and welcome it all. But we're of work towards that because Buddhas are welcoming everybody's energy. And then that welcoming is what they give back. And then they're careful with everybody's energy and so on. And when they see suffering beings, they're patient with them. In other words, they're willing to be right there with people's really enthusiastic about that and they're calm and their understanding and their their understanding of the way everybody is is going back to everybody their understanding is they meet us understand us and their understanding comes right back to us and if we do their practice we'll receive that wisdom join it yeah great I hear you thank you very much It's not easy.

[52:20]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_89.31