I see you have that striker in your hand. I do. I appreciate that. I'm ready. Are you ready to not strike? I am. Okay. So, without striking a bell, may I say something? Yes. What should I say? What came to my mind just now was that somebody said to me one time that I don't know how much I'm helping people. I don't know how I'm helping people. They told me. And when they told me that, I thought, yes, I don't. I don't know how I'm helping people. I do not know how. But he thought he knew how I was helping people.

[01:05]

And then he told me an example of where he knew how I was helping people that I didn't know about. And then he told me the story. And after he told me the story, I still didn't know how I was helping people. But it was a good story. He told a story about how I was helping people. And it was a good story. But after the story was done, I still didn't know how I was helping people. And I still don't. And that was decades ago that he told me. And I still don't know how I'm helping people. Now, I could tell you the story or not. Do you care? How many of you heard the story? Quite a few have heard the story. You don't know what story I'm talking about? It's the story about how I helped people that I didn't know I was helping people. It was that story.

[02:06]

How did it start? So anyway, these people, this is a long time, this is like a long time ago, maybe 30 years ago. They asked me to perform a wedding for them, these two people. a man and a woman. And I said, OK. Welcome, Amanda. Thank you for getting Catherine a chair. And then, and actually the wedding ceremony did happen. But sometime after that, the groom came and told me a story, which was they went to a jeweler to buy wedding rings.

[03:08]

And the jeweler was not very kind and respectful to them. They felt. And yeah, they just felt that he was not being kind to them. And I think the esposa, the female fiancé, saw that in his jewelry shelf there were Buddhist statues. And they said, oh, our wedding is going to be a Buddhist wedding. Are you a Buddhist? And he said, yeah. And to say, do you study with a teacher? And he said, yeah. And he said, what's your teacher's name?

[04:10]

And they said, some name. like Reb Anderson or something. And then he said, oh, he's my teacher. And then he started to be very kind to them and give them a really good deal. There was a change. And they thought, that's an example of how I helped him and them, and I didn't know about it until he told me that story. But what I'm bringing it up for, for me the punchline is, he doesn't know either. I don't know. I agree, I don't know. I don't know how I help you people and I don't know how you help me. But that's what I'm here for. I'm here for you to help me. I come here so you can help me. And you do, but I don't know how. I don't know how you're helping me. But my practice is,

[05:12]

To think that you are helping me. And to think that that thought is the thought of the teaching. That's what the Dharma is saying. The Dharma is saying, these people are helping you. And also, I don't think I'm helping you. I think I want to help you. But I don't know how to help you. But I want to. I really do. And actually, I want you to help me, but not so much for me. I want you to help me for you. It's good for you to help me. That's the best thing for you. And not just help me, but help everybody. I want you to help everybody because I think that's reality. I want you to celebrate that you're devoted to all beings. I want that. But I don't know how you're devoted to all beings. I don't know how. but I want you to anyway."

[06:16]

So that comes up in response to the teaching from this morning of Shakyamuni Buddha when he was a bodhisattva. He looked at people and he thought, these people are walking the path of the bodhisattva which is helping people. But that doesn't mean he knew how they were helping people. So if I look at you and I think, you are walking the bodhisattva path, that doesn't mean I think I know how you're doing it. I just think you are. I just say you are in my own mind. And now I'm saying it out loud. You are walking this bodhisattva way. And I said it this morning. I'm celebrating something that's ungraspable and inconceivable and infinite. The way you're helping people is infinite, ungraspable, and inconceivable. And I'm wishing for you to continue that practice.

[07:23]

And I wish you would celebrate it. And one way to celebrate it is to say that about everybody else. But some people come and talk to me and say, well, how do you know that they're on the bodhisattva path? I do not know. And never despising bodhisattva didn't know how either. He didn't know how, but he became somebody who did know how. The Buddha can actually, the Buddha knows that we're doing the bodhisattva way. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha knows that we're walking the bodhisattva way, and the Buddha tells us that. and the Buddha knows that we're going to become Buddha, and the Buddha tells us, you're going to become Buddha. And then in another sutra, the Flower of Adornment scripture, the Buddha says, everybody already possesses the wisdom and virtues of the Buddha. You already possess the wisdom and virtues of the Buddha.

[08:26]

The Buddha can see that, and then the Buddha tells us, But the Buddha also says, however, however, because of karmic cause and effect, we have attachments and misconceptions. So we can't see it. But even though we can't see it, we can remember that teaching, and we can remember that that's actually what's going on. We're in the process of awakening to the reality that we're on this path and awakening to the reality that we will be Buddhas and also awakening to the reality we are Buddhas now in the form of deluded sentient beings. We're Buddhas in that form and remembering that sentient beings realize that they're sentient beings in the form of Buddha. So we are Buddhas in the form of sentient beings who don't get it, and Buddhas are sentient beings in the form that they do get it.

[09:37]

So thank you so much for tolerating this outburst of amazing, inconceivable teachings. And again, you don't have to know how wonderful people are. You can just hear the teaching is that they are, and that they're wonderful in a way beyond our ideas of them. So therefore we should respect them for being wonderful. we should deeply respect everybody, no matter what they're doing. And the same about ourselves. We should respect everything about ourselves and not disparage ourselves. And remember that the teaching is, we are on the Bodhisattva path and we will become Buddha, and we don't know what that is. We aspire to a path sincerely and we don't know what it is. Just like a little girl might aspire to be a good mother, but she does not know what it is.

[10:55]

But little girls, being rather immature, they think they know what a mother is, but they don't. A more mature person still might want to be a mother, just like a little girl might want, But they know, because they're more mature, that they don't know anything about what it is. They don't know for sure what it is. They know a little bit, but not much compared to what a mother is. And it's the same for a father. And it's the same for an uncle. I want to be a good uncle, but I don't know what it is, the adult says. I want to be a bodhisattva. I really do. I think it's the coolest thing, and I don't know what this coolest thing is. And thank you so much for taking care of this temple where I can come and share these teachings with you. These amazing teachings that nobody can reach the end of.

[11:59]

Or actually the beginning of either. Or the middle. You can't get anything. There's no abode. These teachings have no abode. You can't find them. You can't get away from them. But you can realize them. Very simply. Just deeply respect somebody. And you're practicing it. And you're realizing it. Because if you understand this dharma, then you respect everybody. Deeply. And you do not disparage anybody, even superficially. So we have a practice for something that we can't get a hold of, but which we really want to realize through the practice. Now, sometimes when I talk to people, they look like they just really uninterested in what I just said and just think it's really ridiculous.

[13:11]

But today you look like you're just loving what I'm saying. I don't know if you are, but you look like that. Who knows what you actually think? But anyway, today I feel like you really have appreciated this amazing teaching. from the ocean of Buddhadharma about this amazing person called Never-Disparaging Bodhisattva, Baby Shakyamuni Buddha. Another name for the chapter could be Baby Shakyamuni Buddha. Once upon a time when Shakyamuni Buddha was just a little baby. Bodhisattvas are baby Buddhas, right? And some people say that we sometimes speak about, one of the epithets for a Bodhisattva is child of Buddha or offspring of Buddha.

[14:15]

And some people think that's infantilizing. But we are children of, Buddha is telling us we are children of Buddha. We are Buddha's offspring. And also, Buddhas are our children. Like I heard that in Bali, The deities are like, the people in Bali think of the deities as little kids. They're divine, but they're just little kids. And they take care of the gods like they're taking care of their kids, which seems like a good attitude, rather than gods are big adults, people who don't need us anymore. Buddha's need our help, we need Buddha's help. Okay, there's two seconds to go.

[15:18]

Anybody want to say anything before we express some wishes? Yes? I'd like to express my wish for the rest of my life, and I don't know how long I'm going to... All I care is to remember every second. Wonderful. We share your prayer. May homeless prayer extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Buddha's sons are inexhaustible. We vow to... Dharma gates are boundless.

[16:18]

We vow to enter them. Buddha way is unsurpassable. We vow to become that. Can we start the day over again now? Okay, so the first thing I'd like to talk to you about today is I'd like to practice chanting Ehe Koso Hosogamon. Okay? And so what I'd like to do is ask you to chant it, but do not take a breath at the periods. Are there any commas? Yes. Please don't breathe at periods or commas. Find some other place to breathe. We can do this now. Pardon? You want us to do this now? Yeah. So I'll demonstrate. We vow from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma that upon hearing it no doubt will arise in us nor will we

[17:21]

lack in faith that upon, and so on. See how I did? I did not wait to the end of the sentence. I took a breath before I got there because I was running out of air. I wanted some more air. So I gave up and did not finish the sentence. So I'd like, this way the chanting is, doesn't keep, it's continuous. So you want to try that? Please? Hei Hei Koso Hotsugamon We vow with all beings from this life throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma that upon hearing it will arise in us. There will be lack in faith that upon meeting it we shall renounce worldly affairs and maintain the Buddha Dharma, and that in doing so, the great earth and all beings together will attain the Buddha way. If evil karma has greatly accumulated, he being the cause and condition of obstacles in practicing the way, may all sisters who have attained the Buddha way be compassionate and free us from karmic effects.

[18:37]

to practice the way without hindrance may they share with us their compassion with the virtue of their enlightenment and teachings Buddhas and ancestors of old whereas we shall be Buddhas and ancestors revering Buddhas and ancestors we are one Buddha and one ancestor awakening Bodhi mind we are one Bodhi mind because Freely and without limit we are able to attain Buddhahood and let go of the attainment. Therefore, those who in past lives were not enlightened will now be enlightened in this life. body which is the fruit of many lives. Buddhas were enlightened, they were the same as we enlightened people of today, exactly as those of old. Quietly explore the farthest reaches, conditions as this practice is the exact transmission of a verified Buddha, confessing and repenting in this way.

[19:51]

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

[19:58]

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