For the last year, I've been talking quite a bit about and meditating quite a bit on the Bodhisattva vow. I did some calligraphy recently of the four great vows of the Bodhisattva, and I made some copies of the calligraphy. So if you like this calligraphy, you may have one. And I think there's enough for everybody, but maybe not. If not, I'll make some more. So this is Chinese, and it says, in English, well actually in the Sino-Japanese way of saying it is, shu-jo-mu-hen-sei-gan-do, bon-no-mu-jin-sei-gan-dan, ho-mon-mu-ri-yo-sei-gan-gaku, bu-tsu-do-mu-jo-sei-gan-jo.

[02:05]

That's the Chinese way of saying these characters, and in English it's, living beings are numberless. I vow to carry them across, or liberate them. Afflictions are inexhaustible. I vow to cut through them. Dharma gates are immeasurable. I vow to learn them all. And the Buddha way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. And the Bodhisattvas, they live by vows, by these great vows, like these vows.

[03:12]

And other great endless vows, they live by this. They carry forth their practice by these vows, to benefit all beings in the highest and most complete possible way. And their practice, their meditation practice you could say, but basically their practice, is while all the time thinking about how to help all beings attain freedom and happiness, their practice is to remember that although they are devoted to innumerable beings and want to save innumerable beings, and even though innumerable beings are liberated, not a single living being is liberated.

[04:17]

So Bodhisattvas, and the reason for this is that Bodhisattvas, while they are trying to help each and every living being, they don't hold on to an idea of a living being, or a self, or a person. They live in the world of ideas of living beings, and selves, and living beings. They live in that world and they are devoted to all beings, but they don't grasp anything. So their practice is to not grasp the beings which they vow to help. Their practice is not to grasp the afflictions which they vow to cut through. Their practice is not to apprehend the Dharmagates which they vow to learn. And their practice is not to grasp the Buddha way which they vow to realize. So they have these vows which they really think about all the time,

[05:21]

or at least they vow to think about the vows all the time, just like a Buddha. And they practice not apprehending anything. And then coming along with this, working on cultivating the Bodhisattva vows with all of you, emerges the Lotus Sutras coming into our lives now, the scripture of the Dharma flower of the supreme wondrous Dharma. And then also, for some reason or other, I find myself studying a Chinese text

[06:37]

which is called the Great Wisdom Da, Great, Jure, Wisdom, Du, what's Du? The Great Wisdom Paramita treatise, supposedly written by Nagarjuna. So I studied this text a long time ago, and I seem to be coming back to it, and so now you get to come to it maybe for the first time. And just the other day at a priest meeting in Green Gulch,

[07:39]

we started to study this text, Da, Jure, Du, Lun in Chinese. In Sanskrit it would be Mahaprajnaparamita Shastra. In English it would be the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom. Now part of the reason why I wanted to bring it up to you today was because of what you'll see right now. The place I started talking to people about was the part of the text where the author, Nagarjuna, he starts commenting on the perfection of giving.

[08:43]

And part of the reason why I started there was because that's part of what has been translated into English. So we have this big 2,000 page, more than 2,000 pages of French translation, and also I have the Chinese in the other room there, which I could show you. Maybe I will show you later. A woodblock print version of it, which Professor Lancaster gave to me about 35 years ago. Professor Lancaster over at Berkeley. And I was translating part of it from French years ago, but didn't get very far. And now I guess about 17 to 25 has been translated. I think it's about 100 chapters, but 17 to 25 has been translated.

[09:46]

So we started with Chapter 17, and that's the chapter which is talking about the perfection of giving. The transcendent Bodhisattva practice of giving. But as it starts out to teach about the practice of giving, it quotes the beginning of the 25,000 line Prajnaparamita. So there's a text of 25 lines, 25 verse lines, 25,000 verse lines, which has been translated into English by Edward Kansa. So this commentary is actually a commentary on that sutra. The Heart Sutra which we translate, which we chant and study, is about, I think it's about 254 Chinese characters, which is about 25 lines.

[10:49]

So this text is 25,000 lines, so it's quite a bit bigger. And towards the beginning of this text, in Chapter 2, it starts out by, I believe, Shariputra asking the Buddha how a Bodhisattva, a Mahasattva, who wants to know fully all Dharmas, in all their modes, as they really are, how should they endeavor in the Prajnaparamita? That's the question. So this is the question at the beginning of Chapter 2, and the Buddha answers to Shariputra. It is by resort to the Dharma of non-abiding that the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva,

[11:54]

abides in the Prajnaparamita. How should the Bodhisattva who wants to have the supreme enlightenment of the Buddhas, how should they endeavor in Prajnaparamita? The Buddha has previously said, those who wish to have the knowledge of the Buddha should endeavor in Prajnaparamita, in the perfection of wisdom. So then Shariputra says, how should the Bodhisattvas who wish to become Buddhas endeavor in Prajnaparamita? And the Buddha says, they should resort to the Dharma of non-abiding. By resorting to the Dharma of non-abiding, they abide in the perfection of wisdom. Okay? By resorting to the Dharma or the method or the way of non-abiding,

[13:02]

Bodhisattvas abide, live in, live in the middle of Prajnaparamita. So I wrote up the Chinese characters here for that part. So it says, by way of not dwelling, by the way of not dwelling, they dwell. By the way of not living and taking up abode in anything, that's how Bodhisattvas live in, dwell in the perfection of wisdom, which they practiced in order to become Buddhas. So I can't help but bring that up here because the name of this place is no abode. No abode is a slightly different expression from the Dharma of non-abiding. So the Dharma of non-abiding, instead of saying no abode,

[14:05]

it says not abiding or non-abiding. So it's the way of non-abiding, which is the same as having a mind which has no abode. So again and again we are struck by the auspiciousness of the name of this place, that this is a place that's named for the mind which the Bodhisattvas endeavor to live with, the mind of no abode, or the mind which is devoted to a practice or a way of non-abiding. So this is a place which has a name which is referring to the way Bodhisattvas practice perfection of wisdom, that is, by having no abode.

[15:09]

Now, then this chapter is again on the perfection of giving, so then following this it says, it is by means of the Dharma of having nothing whatsoever, which is relinquished, that she perfects the perfection of giving. This is because giver, recipient and material object cannot be found. So this is the way they practice the perfection of giving. They practice the perfection of giving by means of having nothing whatsoever, which is relinquished, by means of having nothing whatsoever, which is given. The word here for relinquishing also means to give, means to relinquish or renounce, but also means to give.

[16:13]

By means of the way or the Dharma of having nothing whatsoever, which is given, she perfects the perfection of giving. This is because giver, recipient and object are not found, cannot be found, cannot be found. Another translation by Edward Kansa is, how then should the Bodhisattva Mahasattva make endeavors in the Prajnaparamita, in the perfection of wisdom? Here Shariputra, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva having stood in the perfection of wisdom by way of not having taken a stand on it. Bodhisattvas stand in Prajnaparamita by way of not taking a stand. That's how they stand in it. And by taking a stand in the Prajnaparamita by way of not taking a stand,

[17:23]

we perfect the perfection of giving by way of seeing that no renunciation has taken place since gift, giver and recipient cannot be apprehended. And then the Buddha immediately goes on to talk about how to practice the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigor, the perfection of concentration and finally the perfection of wisdom. All there at the beginning of chapter 2 of the 25,000 lines Prajnaparamita. And this paragraph is only about 5 or 10 lines of those 25,000. And in the text that I'm beginning to study with you, that paragraph gives rise to 9 chapters of commentary.

[18:31]

I've just told you a few lines of the commentary on the beginning of that paragraph. Eight and nine-tenths more chapters are commenting on this one paragraph. So Nagarjuna in this text does not comment on every line of the text, 25,000 lines. The commentary then goes on to say what various people think the mark of the Prajnaparamita is. Actually, I think the Buddha says that the mark of Prajnaparamita is that it has no outflows. And outflows is like when the mind is concerned for gain and loss, for example. The Prajnaparamita has no concern for gain and loss.

[19:37]

So then it goes through for quite a few pages discussing various people's views on the Prajnaparamita. And then after it's all over, it sort of says, what's the main point? And then it comes back to the main point is that it is by resort to the Dharma of non-abiding that one abides in the Prajnaparamita. And is able to completely fulfill the six perfections, the six Paramitas. And then it says, what is meant by the Dharma of non-abiding? By which one is able to completely fulfill the six perfections? And the response is, it is in this manner that the Bodhisattva contemplates all Dharmas. So this is a way of contemplating to develop this path of non-abiding. So Bodhisattvas are contemplating phenomena, experience, as being neither eternal nor non-eternal,

[20:54]

as characterized neither by suffering nor by bliss. They contemplate all phenomena as being neither empty nor substantial. They contemplate all phenomena as being neither possessed of selfhood nor devoid of selfhood. They contemplate all experience as being neither produced nor unproduced, and neither destroyed nor undestroyed. In this manner, one abides in the extremely profound perfection of wisdom, and yet still does not seize upon the mark of perfection of wisdom. Remember what the mark of the perfection of wisdom is? The mark of the perfection of wisdom is no outflows. Outflows are like being concerned with stuff like eternal, non-eternal, selfhood, not selfhood, empty, substantial, these kinds of things.

[21:58]

The Prajnaparamita isn't concerned with any of that. All those things can be refuted. Even emptiness can be refuted. It's a really great thing, but... All dharmas are empty, and the Bodhisattva contemplates all dharmas as not empty, and also not substantial. In this way, working with emptiness and form, they develop this mind of no abode. And they don't seize upon this Prajnaparamita, which has the mark of not getting involved in any of this stuff. They don't seize upon that mark either. So they don't seize upon the Prajnaparamita, which doesn't seize upon anything.

[23:00]

This is how they develop the dharma, the path, the way of non-abiding. And we get to be in a place called non-abiding. We get to be in that place all the time, wherever we are. So, it may be irrelevant, but are you happy, Henry? Anyway, I'm very happy that we get to be in a place of no abode. That we get to live in the middle of the perfection of wisdom.

[24:05]

And living in the perfection of wisdom means live in there by having no abode. This is the great perfection of wisdom of the Bodhisattvas, which allows them to develop the perfection of giving, the perfection of ethics, the precepts, the perfection of patience, the perfection of diligence, the perfection of concentration, the perfection of wisdom, of course. This is how they perfect and realize Buddhahood. So I think one time, there's a story, that one time, Sherto came upon one of his students named Yaoshan. And Yaoshan was sitting in meditation. And he said to Yaoshan,

[25:10]

What are you doing? And Yaoshan said, I'm not doing anything at all. And Sherto said, then are you idly sitting? And Yaoshan said, if I were idly sitting, I would be doing something. And Sherto said to Yaoshan, You say that you're not doing anything at all. What is this not doing anything at all? What is that? You know what that is, right? What is it? No abode, non-abiding, that's what he's doing.

[26:15]

Which isn't doing anything at all. Of course you're doing many things, like climbing the stairs to heaven, or descending the escalator to hell, or helping somebody put a band-aid on, or smiling, of course you're doing things. But also, no matter what you're doing, you have the opportunity to not do anything at all. To practice the way of non-abiding. So, the great student, Sherto asked the great student, What is this not doing anything at all? And Yaoshan said, Even the ten thousand sages don't know. Nobody knows what this non-abiding is,

[27:17]

that we all have the opportunity to practice. Even the Buddhas who recommend it very highly, even the Buddha's disciples, who are recommending it very highly, and are so happy about this opportunity, don't know. And they sing that they don't know. So, Sherto sang a song of not knowing what it is. Traveling along together, you and me, just according with circumstances as they come. Although we're always like this, together, even the ten thousand sages don't know what we're doing. And they also don't know what we're not doing. We can practice like that here too.

[28:17]

You can practice not doing anything at all. I have two more stories in our lineage. I'll tell one now and another one later. So, Yaoshan was sitting again. He was sitting again and again and again. He was sitting again. After his teacher caught him sitting and he said that even the ten thousand sages didn't know what he was doing and his teacher was really happy, he kept sitting and people kept coming up to him and asking what he was doing. So, this monk comes up to him and finds him sitting there and he says, when you're sitting immovably like this, what are you thinking? And Yaoshan said,

[29:19]

thinking of not thinking or thinking of what doesn't think. And the monk says, well, how do you think of not thinking? And he says, non-thinking or beyond thinking. Same thing. He's sitting there and he's thinking of not thinking. And what's not thinking? What's thinking of not thinking? It's to take a stand in the perfection of wisdom by not taking a stand in anything. So, whatever kind of thinking you've got going on whatever it is,

[30:24]

you don't take a stand in it. You don't take a stand in it doesn't mean you reject it or walk away from it. It doesn't mean you walk towards it. It doesn't mean you make it eternal or non-eternal. It doesn't mean you make it produced. It means you just let it be what it is as an act of giving. And when you let it be as an act of giving, you don't think you're the giver. You don't think you're the receiver or rather you don't apprehend being the giver, the receiver or the gift. You give a gift without having anything to give. That's the way you sit or stand and are beyond thinking.

[31:27]

Whatever kind of thinking happens in your life, in other words, whatever kind of karma is going on in your mind, you're right there with it, completely present, not doing anything at all. You're right there with your thinking, completely present with it, not abiding in it. Just present with it. Just intimate with it, not in it. And in this way you find your place in the perfection of wisdom right then. You also practice the perfection of giving at the same moment in the same way. Your graciousness towards everything that happens is not an action. There's no actor, there's no action and there's no acted upon.

[32:28]

Bodhisattvas vow to care for each being. Bodhisattvas vow to care for each being. What are they doing? Letting them be. Do they know anything about letting them be? They don't know what letting it be is. Nobody does. People think various things about letting it be and they let people think. Whatever they think about what letting it be is. And it's not an action. It's a path called the perfection of wisdom which they live in by not taking a stand in anything. They live with everything without taking a stand in anything. And because they don't take a stand in anything they can live with everything.

[34:08]

Those of us who take a stand in things can only live in some things. This is a way that you can actually stand to live with all things by not taking a stand in anything. This is what makes Bodhisattvas is totemo fearless. Totemo is a Japanese word by the way which means pretty much total. It usually is translated as very but it's totemo like totemo-i means very good. But today it means totally good.

[35:09]

Totally good. Totemo good. Totemo fearless. How can they be totemo fearless? Because they don't grasp any of those outflows. They don't grasp any abode. And they also don't grasp not grasping. So they can go right ahead and grasp without taking a stand in grasping. And they can meet people who are grasping away without abiding in being them or not being them. They are not doing anything at all and that's how they take care of their fearless total devotion to every critter. What's the difference between taking a stand and a vow?

[36:18]

The difference between taking a stand and a vow is a vow is a well you know a vow is like a an intention which has been promoted to a promise. Isn't it a way of taking a stand? You could use it as a way of taking a stand if you'd like to. No you mustn't. I didn't say, I didn't say, I didn't say. Oh because bodhisattvas are nourished by vows. That's basically their main diet is vows. They must make vows. Why isn't that a stand? I don't understand the difference between a vow and a stand. If you have pain it's not a stand. If you have pleasure, it's not a stand. But you can stand in pleasure and you can stand in pain. If you have a vow, it's not a stand.

[37:22]

Even if you say I stand here, that's not a stand. You can abide in that statement that you stand here or not. So bodhisattva vows are if you take care of them properly and the way to take care of them is not to take a not to abide in them. Just like the way to take care of a child is not to abide in the child. The way to take care of a plant is not to abide. The way to take care of a community the way to take care of practice is not to abide in it. If you want the practice of good to become totemo good then you do not take a stand in it and that's how it will flourish. So the vows are what we're trying to grow and realize. So you make the vow or you have what do you call it? You have the basic vow to attain Buddhahood so that you can help all beings. That's the bodhicitta. And then you have the bodhicitta

[38:22]

and then you promise to follow through on that bodhicitta. You have the spirit of wishing to become enlightened to help all beings and then you promise to become enlightened to help all beings. Then you have not only the wish which is the seed but then you promise to follow through on the wish. But then that wish and that vow Dogen says it's very perishable this wish. You can lose it easily. The way you protect it is by practicing the way you protect it is by practicing the perfection of wisdom. If you practice the perfection of wisdom your vow will not be lost. If you don't you can easily lose it. For example, I was talking to someone recently who actually feels this bodhisattva vow and like wants to help people and like wants to listen to people's stories

[39:23]

and help people listen to their stories but notices sometimes that when he's listening to some people's stories including his own story he wants to get something out of the conversation. At that point he forgets the perfection of wisdom. And not completely destroy everything you've accomplished up to that point but hurt it hurt that desire to become Buddha hurt that vow to help all beings by trying to get something out of this project. We must not try to get anything out of it because that's an outflow. I want to save all beings and then try to get saving beings out of this. That's an outflow. The Prajnaparamita protects our desire to help all beings from trying to get something from helping all beings. The bodhisattvas are trying to help all beings without trying to get anything. And they're trying to actually give to that project

[40:24]

without getting caught in being the giver or the receiver. I think I'd like to be the receiver today so I can get something. I'd like to be the giver so I can give something and then maybe later receive something as a really good giver and so on. The perfection of wisdom protects the bodhisattva vow from being lost damaged rotting. The vow is not a stand. It is the lifeblood of the bodhisattva. It's not a stand. But if you take a stand in it you heard it. Or just you can lose it. And I often use the example Dogen says this too, I think. Maybe, I don't know if he does it. But anyway, this wish to benefit all beings at the beginning is like a firefly or it's like a candle. A gentle breeze can blow it out

[41:27]

or blow it away. But if you take care of this this little flame it can grow into a great forest fire. And then strong winds only make it stronger. But we must protect this wish, these vows. We must protect them by the perfection of wisdom. And also the perfection of giving under the auspices of the perfection of giving. So give away your vows. Don't hold on to them. Give away your vows. Don't try to get this piece of paper. And after you give it, give it away. So in actuality we do not take a stand anywhere. We are created

[42:28]

by the universe and we create the universe. It's not a stand. It's a position which we are being taught to not take an abode in, to not camp out in. And when we learn to do that we are actually now standing in this place called Prajnaparamita. Okay? Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for your question. Yes. I'm going to amplify what you say. If I can hear you, I'm going to amplify it. If I notice, if something notices, how about if there's noticing? See, there can be that.

[43:32]

If there's noticing rather than something noticing or if I notice, there can just be noticing. Yes? If there's noticing? If there's an awareness or noticing of a strong attachment. Yes? Yes? Yes? Then what? Have compassion. Yeah. Have compassion. Right. And what kind of compassion should we start with? How about being generous towards this strong sense of grasping, of attachment? Don't try to understand it. No. Just be, first of all, generous towards it. Be gracious with it. Alright? And then, when you're ready, don't try to understand it. Don't try to get anything, like understanding. But just,

[44:33]

since you're there, right in the neighborhood of this strong attachment, practice the Prajnaparamita. Practice taking no stand in this strong feeling of attachment. Taking no stand in it, having no, taking no abode, the path of no abode with this strong attachment is very similar to practicing giving with it. To being gracious with it. Just letting it be. You know, when you let somebody be, you don't move into them. You're just with them and letting them be and you're not abiding in them. When you're that way with them, you're being generous and you're also practicing the way of non-abiding. You're practicing the Prajnaparamita with this feeling of strong attachment. Pardon?

[45:34]

A flicker happened, yeah. I saw it. For one second. And you let it go. Yeah, that's what they do. That's what flickers are. Flickers are similar to zephyrs. Zephyrs are little fleeting breezes. These go and Prajnas like that too. It goes and Do you have Prajna zephyrs? Prajna zephyrs, we have them. The kind of the kind of zephyrs we have here are Prajna zephyrs. Non-abiding zephyrs. And non-abiding everything. Because this is the place of non-abiding that we practice in. Any other feedback at this time?

[46:44]

Can you hear her? She says, Could you please help us which is I feel this this rush feel of energy and there should be no stand and no stand. Yeah, no stand and no stand. Let's just start by being gracious towards what you just described. This rush of did you say rush of energy? Yes. Okay, so there's a rush of energy. So, just say no stand. Take no stand means be gracious with it. Just say, welcome. Welcome rush of energy. Not liking it, not disliking it, just welcome. And I'm talking to you now but you don't look like you're saying welcome to what I'm saying.

[47:52]

It looks like you're trying it looks you feel sadness but are you welcoming the sadness as you feel it? I'm I'm just watching it. I'm not welcoming. I'm just kind of Well, let's let's up it from watching to watch and welcome. What is www.homa or www worldwide welcoming watching. Watch for welcoming worldwide. Okay. All right. Take care of it, please. All right. Linda. Our thinking comes from our pain comes from thinking we can abide in something. Yes, that's right. That's where our pain comes from.

[48:55]

For example, I think I can abide in being me rather than be me. And that's because then I'm apprehending me which I can't. I can't apprehend me. I can't apprehend you, etc. Nobody knows what we're actually not doing. What if you can't be gracious with something? Be gracious with that. I don't want it bad enough. Pardon? I don't want it bad enough. Be gracious with that. Be gracious with nodding with shaking your head. What do I do? Don't abide there. I'm stuck there.

[50:07]

What if you're stuck? Don't abide in being stuck. Can I do this? Pardon? Can I do this? You can't do it. No, you can't do it. You're not doing it. You're not doing anything at all is what I'm teaching you how to not do anything at all. How do I not do it? You can't do anything at all. Like that? That's how you do it. Like what? Like this. That's how. But I can't let it be this. Saying that you can't be, let it be this. Okay? Alright? Be gracious with that. Brings us back to that you said you couldn't be gracious. How about now? What is graciousness? It's compassion.

[51:13]

What is compassion? Show me. No. Did you see it? Yes. Oh, you've gotten to the place of the 10,000 sages. Finally. Welcome to the club. What's your poem? Let's hear it. Please, give us a poem about this. What you sages know. I mean, what you don't know. Tell us what you don't know, sage. Later, maybe? Is it coming? I can't see it.

[52:16]

Oh, but can you say it without seeing it? Just let it out. Can you let it out now? The poem? No. Okay. No. Patty. Is it the same? Yeah, it's the same. Yep. Jimmy? What's the difference between detaching and non-abiding? What's the difference between detaching and non-abiding? Non-abiding would apply to the detaching. In other words,

[53:17]

you wouldn't abide in detaching. And if you try to get the difference between those two, that would be attaching and abiding. Can you see that? Yeah, there it is. That's what you can give up. And then you realize both. So, what about non-detaching? What if you throw non-attachment into that? Non-attachment? You mean, non-attachment is... It says detachment. It's another thing. Non-attachment, detachment, non-attachment. Okay? Don't abide in non-attachment. Isn't detachment leaning away? Actually, nothing leans away. Actually, everything is upright.

[54:17]

And you realize that when you're gracious with everything. Attachment is actually upright. Detachment is upright. Non-attachment is upright. Everything is upright. But if you don't practice uprightness with things, you don't realize it. Everything has a non-abiding way that it is. That's what Bodhisattvas meditate on, the way things actually live. They don't make it up. They don't make things that way. They meditate on the way things actually are. But if you don't meditate on the way they actually are,

[55:20]

you will miss the way they actually are. If you don't meditate on the non-abiding way, the non-abiding dharma, you'll miss the non-abiding dharma of all things. They meditate on the non-abiding dharma of all dharmas. They take no stand in all dharmas, including the Prajnaparamita, as a way of standing and living in the prajnaparamita. Did you want to say something, Catherine? I had the thought that taking a stand in something is kind of like planting a self in it. When you were answering Tracy, kind of like maybe the difference between a vow and non-inviting, I mean, and taking a stand would be like if you plant yourself in your vow, it's not exactly a vow anymore, but you're standing. It's still a vow, but you've damaged it, you're constricting it. Just like, again, with a friend, if you plant yourself in your friend, it constricts your friend.

[56:23]

But if you just let your friend be your friend, you aid your friend in realizing themselves and you aid your relationship in realizing itself, and you aid the prajnaparamita in realizing itself. At this point I'd like to bring up something which I was sort of asked to bring up, and that is, are you okay, you guys, with these other people being here with you? Is it okay with you that it's kind of crowded in here sometimes? Or would you like it to be less crowded? And how many people would you like us to get rid of? So, we're welcoming your feedback on whether this is a little too crowded. And we're also welcoming your assistance.

[57:25]

Is there anything that people can do to make this, to help with the work of this? Is that part of what you're asking? What kind of things could people help with? You need help in making these events work? So, could people come to you and ask you how they could help? Or would that be more work? So, what would you suggest, Erin and Eileen? And when you get worried, do you practice graciousness towards your worry?

[58:27]

Well, if you have any trouble, just ask Rachel, she'll explain to you how to do it. Right? Will you help her? Did you see that? Good. I don't think she believes it. You didn't look like you believed you could help Eileen, that was my story. So, we welcome your feedback about this. And one thing I thought of was perhaps we could have more than one day sitting a month or something. Maybe that would make it not as crowded. Probably it would. Seems like that might happen. So, any feedback you have on this situation, please let me know or Eileen and Erin know. And thank you Erin and Eileen for all your great efforts in making these events happen. How's the carpooling going? Is it happening a little bit more?

[59:33]

Yes. The carpooling really does help, I think. We're very fortunate that the people who live in this neighborhood let us park on the streets on Saturdays. A lot of groups, sitting groups, aggravate the neighborhood they live in because their car is coming. So, that really does help. Yes? I thought of something that would be helpful relative to cars. Each month it seems there are some people who, not Green Gulch residents, but people who come and stay at Green Gulch either the night before the retreat or the night after, I mean the No-Bow Day or the night after. And if people who are doing that with cars or without cars would communicate with the assistant about that, like several days before the event, it would help in the organizing and minimizing of the number of cars that go to and from Green Gulch. Okay. Charlie?

[60:37]

I see a lot of repairs that need to be done in the building. And I really enjoyed the workday that we had not too long ago. And I'd be happy to do another workday. You'd be happy to do another workday? Okay. Yeah, I think we could have another workday this fall. And it's wonderful to see some people I haven't seen for a while appearing here. It's great. And I see some new people. Like, is it Jesse? Josh. Josh. Is your mother here? No, my friend's not here. Oh, you came with homeless son? Yeah. Where's homeless son? Over here. Hi. So you brought your friend Josh? Yep. Okay. Thanks for coming. How's it going? I'm enjoying it. Good. Yes. It's Baron's 50th birthday today.

[61:40]

And it's Anna's 5th year anniversary as a priest. Should we sing happy birthday now or later? Huh? Later. They have a plan. Should we sing happy birthday? Maybe we could say happy anniversary. How's that? Get both at the same time. You understand anniversary means... ...gibberish dog? How about gibberish dog? Gibberish dog. Okay. Happy gibberish dog to you. Happy gibberish dog to you. Happy gibberish dog dear Baron and Anna. Happy gibberish dog to you. You're not 50 yet though, are you? Well, you don't have to answer that.

[62:44]

Okay, thank you. Congratulations Baron. How's your health? I feel good today. You feel good today? Well, we could have a little luncheon now if you like. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them.

[63:47]

Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. I'm going to put these calligraphies on the altar, but I recommend that you pick them up later so that they aren't all over the place for the rest of the day.

[64:14]

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