An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with, even a hundred thousand million kalpas, having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Let great joy and gratefulness enter your hearts, and know that you will all become In the Lotus Sutra, Chapter 16, the eternal Shakyamuni Buddha says,

[02:42]

When beings see the aeon ending and ravaged by great fire, my land is peaceful and secure, always filled with divine and human beings, gardens and groves, halls and pavilions, and various precious adornments. There are jeweled trees with many flowers and fruits, where living beings roam in delight. The gods and goddesses play celestial drums, always making various kinds of music, and mandala flowers are scattered on the Buddha and the Great Assembly. My pure land is not destroyed, but the multitudes see it being burned entirely, worried, terrified and miserable, such ones are everywhere. All these beings with offenses

[03:49]

because of their evil karma, causes and conditions, pass through asamkhyayas of eons, without hearing the name of the triple treasure. However, all those who cultivate and cultivate virtues are compliant, agreeable, honest, upright, gentle, they all see me here speaking the Dharma. So we live in a time when we're given lots of opportunities to see the world burning up in misery. If you can see that, fine. And

[04:55]

that vision according to this comes from willingly imagined unskillful stories for a long time. But if we practice in a certain way, we will see Buddha teaching right now. And then seeing Buddha teaching right now, we will be able to practice with the Buddha. We'll be able to look at the Buddha and contemplate how the Buddha really is. And we'll be able to look at all phenomena and contemplate how they really are. And the Buddha will be present with us, reminding us and encouraging us to contemplate reality. But we won't be able to see the Buddha unless we face this world in a gentle, harmonious, patient, upright,

[05:57]

calm, flexible manner. Then again, seeing the Buddha, we will be able to contemplate reality. So this chapter is telling us that the Buddha-land is right here, right now, and if we practice a certain way, we will see it. And we do not try to see it just for ourselves. We see it so that we can meet the Buddha, practice and save all beings. And I think to myself, people probably have a hard time with such talk. I welcome your feedback for a while, before you go from this place. Can you come forward

[07:14]

and speak into the room? I'm wondering if we can see the Buddha teaching through each other? You will see the Buddha teaching through everything. So without discriminating? Without discriminating, that's correct. Another way to say it is, when you see the Buddha, then you can contemplate things without discriminating. That's the nice thing about having a Buddha there, you feel like, well, I guess I can give up discrimination. As a matter of fact, I probably should. Or maybe the other way around as well? Yeah, but most people have trouble not discriminating until they do see the Buddha. But if you don't discriminate, then yes, you have received the Buddha's instruction, you're practicing it and you will see Buddha.

[08:16]

So contemplating the way things are is similar to not discriminating. But again, as I often say, not discriminating doesn't mean you're not discriminating. It means there's no discrimination. It means you act out non-discrimination. It isn't that you're not discriminating. It's just that your discriminations don't hook you. Because a lot of people might say, well, I'm not discriminating. Yeah, right. But as soon as your discrimination starts again, you will be discriminating and you'll be caught by it, I might say, or someone might say. But to be discriminating and not caught by it, that's non-discrimination. In other words, to say, this is Owl and this is Tracy, and to treat them both the same way, that's non-discrimination. So discrimination is there, but it doesn't have any function.

[09:24]

So in that sense, since it doesn't have a function, there's no discrimination. I'm just contemplating the way he is and the way she is. And the way she is and the way he is and the way she is and the way she is and the way he is, that's non-discrimination. That's the secret. Siddhartha Guruji says, does not mean you don't discriminate, it means you study everything. So it isn't just that you don't do it, it's that you study everything. You put non-discrimination into action by studying, contemplating everything. Now, if you can do that without seeing the Buddha, I would say, no you can't, because the Buddha taught you that. You got that teaching from the Buddha. And then if you practice non-discrimination, then you'll see the Buddha. But you already got it from the Buddha. So it's kind of a

[10:29]

circle. Any other feedback? Yes? So by being calm, harmonious, non-discriminatory, and so forth, we can see how things are, we can study how things are. Well, actually the sutra says, you'll see the Buddha teaching right now, and then when you see the Buddha, you'll be able to practice Buddha's wisdom. Buddhas appear so we can practice Buddha's wisdom. We need Buddha. So you can try to practice Buddha's wisdom, but you're not going to be able to do it fully until you meet the Buddha. So while you're trying to practice Buddha's wisdom, be gentle, patient, not nasty or overbearing, deeply calm, flexible, agreeable, all that. Then you'll see the Buddha, and then you'll really

[11:32]

be able to practice Buddha's wisdom. If you don't see Buddha yet, you can't really practice Buddha's wisdom fully. You need some help. Or another way to put it, if you don't see Buddha and you think you're practicing Buddha's wisdom by yourself, you're not practicing Buddha's wisdom by yourself. But if you practice Buddha's wisdom, sort of, and then you see Buddha, then you can really practice it. Because now you realize that Buddha's here teaching us. You're not alone. But it doesn't mean that when Buddha's here, then automatically you start practicing. Maybe you do automatically, but you have to practice, too. You have to do your part. I really like to do my part into this.

[12:33]

You want to do your part? My part. I don't know what my part will be, but I like to practice my part. What I'm seeing is, like last time when we were at Green Alch, it was Buddha's birthday, and when the monk was talking about this, the unborn state, state that is not even born, and then the born, the birth and death, and the unborn. So that is what I am sensing that how that unborn, the vision of the unborn being seen in the reality, in the born. How to stay in the unborn vision with seeing this reality? Well, did you say how to stay in the vision of the unborn and see the reality of the

[13:39]

birth? You can't see them at the same time. Not at this point. You have to switch back and forth. Buddhas can see both simultaneously, but ordinary bodhisattvas, regular bodhisattvas who aren't Buddhas, they see the unborn. When they see the unborn, you don't see birth. You can't see them at the same time. Seeing the unborn is the realm of emptiness, where you can't find birth and death. But when you see birth and death, at that time you don't see the emptiness of birth and death. Can you see that? In the depth of birth and death, the emptiness of birth and death? Well you see it, but when you see the emptiness of birth and death, you don't see birth and death any more. So you are looking at birth and death, when you see the emptiness of birth and death, in that context you don't see birth and death. You just see, you verify that birth and death cannot be found, and so you don't

[14:43]

see birth and death at that time. At that moment, in emptiness, you don't see birth and death. But then you understand that this emptiness of birth and death where you don't find any is birth and death. So then you can see birth and death again. So there's a kind of going back and forth between the two. You can't see both simultaneously until you're fully realized Buddha. How many times do you have to see it? How many? How many times do you have to see this? Seventeen. Or maybe I should say pi. You have to see it pi times. Is there anybody who hasn't spoken who would like to say something? No? Yes?

[15:50]

Well, in the excerpt we read today, you said before the causes and conditions for Buddha's appearing are their desire to teach the supreme way, the ultimate way of sentient beings. In the excerpt, it talks about Buddha not sharing with their teaching until there's a longing for sentient beings. That seems a little different than accessing the teachings through contemplation, which is what I understand you're saying. Buddhas are already here, we're accessing them through contemplation. But where does the longing part come in? There's some longing in your contemplation. Yeah, and you long for the Buddha to come and help you perfect your contemplation. You long for the Buddhas to come and make your contemplation something that you're

[16:53]

doing together with them. You don't want to, at a certain point, you do not wish to be doing this by yourself anymore, if you ever thought you were. At a certain point, you'd rather do it not alone, plus do it with Buddhas. This is part of the contemplation which brings Buddhas, and then Buddhas feeling that our longing to receive the Dharma face-to-face, they appear in the world and meet us face-to-face, and then our practices can be completed. So is that longing the cause and condition for the vow arising as well? Yes. Without the longing there would be no vow. That's right. The Buddhas are like vast space, fundamentally they're like vast space, full of concern for beings, but they manifest according to how the beings want them.

[17:54]

So one way they manifest is the beings don't want them, and the way they manifest is they're in the world, but hidden. So they're on guard, on duty, and as soon as our meditation becomes of a certain condition, they appear to us, we're ready for them. That's the amazing thing the sutra is saying. And the sutra does not want us to see the Buddha and then say, no thank you. That would set us back quite a bit. So we don't want to reject this great offering. When it comes we should say, thank you very much, I'm so grateful that you came. Well, now I look at you and I say, what is it? I wonder what you are. How I wonder what

[19:10]

you are. I wonder how you are. I see my stories of you, but I don't go for them. I contemplate those too. Now I look at you and I realize I'm looking at my story of you, and I wonder what you really are. Free of my story of you. And I wonder what my stories are free of you. I hear the teaching that you're unborn, even though you seem to be born. I've heard you're not in reality. I hear you're unobstructed and infinite, but maybe I kind of feel like you're obstructed and finite. So I listen to the teaching while I see how you appear. I notice there's some dynamic there, some relationship. But I actually also want to look at how you really are, more than how you can do what I want you to or what you

[20:14]

think of me. How are you really? I wonder. I wonder and I wonder and I wonder. And I also understand that my wondering how you really are and contemplating how you really are is something that I do together with the support of all beings, and in particular those who know how to live this way. So I invite them to assist me in remembering to meditate on how you really are. Yeah, this is basically a body practice, what I'm talking about. This way of practicing is fundamentally your body. So your body is with somebody, your body arises with the awareness of another body, and you don't take action with regard to that body, you just contemplate them. That's the way your body is, that's the kind of body you've got. And it's a pretty nice body. It's basically not trying to use people or avoid

[21:19]

people or get anything from people, but just giving itself in meditation, giving itself in meditation, giving itself in meditation in relationship to whatever is coming. You're not saying anything, you're not thinking anything, you're just giving yourself to whatever you're saying and thinking, or whatever anybody else is saying and thinking. So it's really basically that's the kind of body. So the bodhisattva's body practice is also called the bodhisattva's sphere of action. So this is the kind of body that potentially can teach the Dharma to people. It's a body that, when it meets other bodies, or it can be a human body that when it meets other human bodies, it's a body where there's like, okay, give up any way of relating to this person and just be with them, without any idea of how to be with them, and just

[22:20]

contemplate how they are before any action. Now this is where the practice is alive. And it's physical. We're not saying anything or thinking anything. And then the sutra goes on to explain when you talk how you talk, and when you think how you think. But this is at the level of just your body. This is the kind of body a bodhisattva has. It's a contemplating body. So it's a body that's aware of the existence of things, it's conscious of the awareness of things, it's a body which knows that there's other physical phenomena, and also it's a body which knows mental phenomena, and it meditates on all of them. That's the kind of body it is. And in that realm the bodhisattva acts, and in that realm the bodhisattva teaches, without saying a word, without moving. And then the words and speech that come from

[23:26]

there are in accord with that. How does one cultivate seeing, recognizing your story earlier and earlier than you did before? By recognizing your story right at the time you recognize it now. The more you recognize the story, the earlier you recognize that it's a story. Like right at the beginning of the story, you know it's a story, rather than halfway through, or towards the end, or when somebody tells you that it's a story after it's all over. Or after they tell you that it's a story and you tell them that, no, it's not, it's reality, then sometime after that you realize it's a story. It starts to work its way back to the beginning, so

[24:28]

you know from the beginning, oh, here's my mind creating, here's my mind creating, here's the mind constructing a reality. It doesn't mean you have to stop it, but here it goes, here we go, oh, there it is, wow, and it's gone. And here comes another one, oh, cool. So stories get faster, and you get on to their story-like nature more quickly, and this is like happiness. You get more skillful the more you watch, and your stories get more cooperative the more you watch them. They start telling you, here we come, this is a story, man. When you were doing this with the stories, I got the image of a lava lamp. A lava lamp. We're of a certain age. Many of us.

[25:28]

Did you see that story? I had a story like that. Is the source of longing karma? Is the source of longing karma? Karma is one of the conditions for the longing, because without karma there would be no longing. What other condition would there be in addition to karma for longing? Oh, it depends on what you're longing for, but in this case, the Buddhas would be a condition for your longing for the Buddhas. But why do some people yearn for the Buddha and some don't? Different kinds of karma. Good karma would lead you to long for Buddhas, would lead you to long for compassionate, wise teachers to come and show their face to you, to teach you how to meditate on reality, to help all beings. That's the result of good karma, and

[26:31]

good karma comes from paying attention to bad karma and good karma. Isn't paying attention to any of it all karma? No, paying attention is not karma. I'm just wondering how come we're in this room and other people aren't? You're wondering? Yeah, and probably some other people are wondering too. And guess what? The Buddhas know how come you're here. They can actually see. But understanding how it all works is a considerable step beyond understanding the way things are. For example, the way they ultimately are isn't separate from how they work, but basically the way they ultimately are is that nobody's story, including Buddha's, reaches the way they are. They're empty. Buddhas realize this, Bodhisattvas realize this, but Buddhas go on further to actually understand how it all works and tell us about it. But you have to practice far beyond realizing

[27:35]

emptiness to see how it all works, who gets to be where, when, how, and for how long. But we can go tremendously far along the path before we attain that complete omniscience. Great, wonderful things can happen before we become a fully enlightened Buddha. And the Buddhas, by the way, have told us, you will become Buddha. And then you'll know about this stuff. In the meantime, it's okay to ask when you're going to know. Actually, you can get a prediction about the date you're going to know. And even the people who aren't yearning will become Buddhists? That's right. Because when you're yearning, you actually start to feel a little better because you're kind of on the right track when you're yearning. And Buddha's going to show up quite soon if you start yearning. Those who aren't yearning are under heavier pressure to start yearning than those who are already yearning.

[28:36]

Those who are already yearning have kind of like a little bit surrendered. Okay, all right, I need help. Please come help. I invite help. I invite the teachers. They can come and teach and I will listen. This already is lightening things up quite a bit. Rather than... I can do what I want. I'm in complete control. That's what I tell myself. I got a mind of my own. I'll be all right alone. Don't need anybody else. Those people will also become Buddha. Gave myself a good talking to. No more being a fool for you. But then I see you and I remember how you make me want to surrender to Buddha way.

[29:39]

You're taking my resisting away. Buddha way. That's the message. This amazing message of the Lotus Sutra is you all will become Buddha. All! Not all sutras agree with that. Not all Buddhists have agreed with that. Some think only some will become Buddhists. The Lotus Sutra is pandering to the masses. The infinite masses of suffering beings are saying you're all going to become Buddha without any exception. So that's a popular sutra. And I'm feeling quite popular about it myself. So homage to the Lotus Sutra of the wonderful law. So our Zen ancestor Dogen Zenji is totally on the You Will All Become Buddhas page.

[30:46]

That's his practice too. That's his teaching. You will all become Buddhas. And I know some of you, Buddhists, Dogen says, I know some of you are not longing to become Buddhas and not longing to meet Buddhas and you also are going to become Buddhas. Those who totally disagree with this program are welcome too. Bystanders, resistors, oppositions, enemies, they're all welcome to come forward and meet the Buddha. May our great vows equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them.

[31:40]

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