About three and a half months ago, the femur in my right leg was broken and there was an operation performed and after the operation I asked the doctor if I would be able to walk again. He said, yes, you probably will. And I asked if I would be able to sit cross-legged and he said, I don't know if you'll be able to. So I'm going to call him on the telephone. He lives in Texas, and tell him that he did a good job. So, someone came and told me recently that he was reading a book, and in the book there

[01:18]

was a scene described of the Buddha Shakyamuni, who lived in India, we say, about 2,500 years ago, and he was together with his disciples, and what impressed this person about the scene was that all the disciples seemed to be 100% devoted to the practice of the Buddhist teachings, and they seemed to be really, really awake.

[02:22]

And I thought and I said that sometimes it may be the case that when we're face-to-face with Buddha, we ourselves feel very awake, when we are face-to-face with an awakened one or the awakened ones, we feel awake and we feel devoted to the practice that is being demonstrated, the practice of awakened presence, of being awake, moment by moment, being awake with each thing. I remember when the founder of Zen Center was alive, that if I saw him by himself, to

[04:30]

me anyway, he looked like a small Japanese man with a shaved head and priest robes on, when he had priest robes on. And of course, as I knew him more, not of course, but anyway, as I knew him more, for me anyway, he became more and more lovely, but no, when I first saw him I didn't particularly think he was that neat, particularly. But the ... well, I did actually, because the first thing I met about him was his feet. I saw his feet, I was sitting looking at the floor in the meditation hall and I saw his feet go by, and I thought, you know, those feet can teach me something.

[05:36]

And then when I met him face-to-face, I didn't think so much about exactly anything about him, but more about the nature of the interaction. And looking back on it, it was a very lively, awake interaction. And I was somehow drawn to pay lots of attention to what was going on, and paying so much attention that I really was not grasping and did not know what happened. And afterwards, although I felt a little awkward not knowing what happened, not being able to categorize the meeting in terms of, well, that was a good meeting or not, or I did okay, or he did okay, or we both did okay, or I didn't do okay, I didn't really know what happened. And then I thought, well, good.

[06:43]

It's nice to be able to meet someone and not sort of like put it in a basket of a good or bad meeting, and just face that you met somebody and you don't know what happened, or who he was, or who you were, or how you did, or how he did. But anyway, I didn't think, oh, this is a great Zen master, exactly, I just thought he had good feet. But somehow, as I watched him and saw him with his students, it encouraged me because around him there was this awakeness. When we were around him, when we were closely around him, we were often awake, and somehow I could see, not so much what a good teacher he was, but somehow the Dharma of awakeness

[07:51]

was enacted around him. So seeing Buddha, we sometimes are able to, if we can actually look at Buddha, it's actually kind of, if we actually see Buddha, we feel awake, maybe. But if we can't see Buddha, maybe we get, I don't know what happens to us when we can't see Buddha. What happens to us when we can't see Buddha? We suffer, I think, and then we want to get away from it.

[08:53]

So, if we can't see Buddha, if we think Buddha is gone, it is sometimes taught that if we are upright, and gentle, and harmonious, and flexible, and honest, if we are that way, then we'll see Buddha, right now. And then, of course, as we see Buddha, then we feel upright, flexible, harmonious, and it's a reinforcing cycle of meeting. So Buddha doesn't mind appearing in the world, so we can meet Buddha face-to-face, but Buddha also wants all beings to be able to see Buddha inwardly, too, so that you don't need some

[10:10]

special person out externally to remind you to be awake, so that you can always see the Buddha. So even while the Buddha was alive and everybody was, not everybody, but most of the disciples were pretty happy being with the Buddha, the Buddha gave teachings so that each person could inwardly realize the way things really are. And so, if we can be awake, moment by moment, there is the proposal that we have a chance in that wakefulness to understand what we're looking at, what we're tasting, what we're

[11:23]

hearing, what we're touching, what we're thinking, what we're feeling. So, in the hopes of promoting understanding, we are in a training period now, here at Green Gulch, and the topic of study is called Samadhi. And this study is offered in the hopes of promoting realization of this awakeness in

[12:33]

every situation. The study of Samadhi is in hopes of promoting that finally we would be able to live in such a way that everything we said, everything we thought, every physical gesture that we make would realize the practices of the Buddha. Every word we spoke would realize generosity, and a careful attention, and patience, and

[13:36]

enthusiasm, joy, Samadhi, and wisdom. Through developing Samadhi, we have a chance to see and understand, in other words, have wisdom, and then with that wisdom we understand in each situation how to behave in a beneficial way. Samadhi is the way to bring the wisdom of the Buddha into our every behavior. Samadhi is a Sanskrit word, and it could be translated into English as joining or union,

[14:52]

and also could be translated as concentration. And this type of concentration has the definition, its basic definition is the one-pointedness of awareness, or the one-pointedness of thought. So part of the teaching about Samadhi is that in every moment of awareness, there is one-pointedness of in-awareness, or you can even say that every moment of awareness has a quality of non-duality. So it's proposed as a fact that in all experiences, when there is awareness of something, that

[16:05]

awareness and that something are really one-pointed, even though almost all the time human beings think that what they're aware of is separate from their awareness. I see someone looking at the ceiling trying to understand about that, but maybe you stop there if that's difficult, and I'll say it again, that most humans, most of the time, have awareness, some awareness, and their awareness is of some object. Awarenesses, consciousnesses, minds, are subjects which have objects.

[17:17]

However, there is a teaching that all those minds also have the quality of Samadhi, or concentration, namely, that the awareness and what we're aware of are actually united, not two. They're not the same, because, for example, a rock is not a subject, it itself is not aware of things, but human beings can be aware of things, or can have awareness, and the rock, in our awareness of a rock, there is no separation between the knowing and what

[18:22]

is known, they're non-dual. The non-duality of each one of our experiences is indestructible, always available, and it's a hint, or it's our in-house version of ultimate reality, because in ultimate reality, everything is non-dual. But even in conventional life, when we see all these different things, and we think they're separate, each one we look at, as we look at it, there's a quality of non-duality in that awareness. But usually, funny thing is, it's not so funny, it's actually painful, usually people feel

[19:28]

that there's a sense, there's an idea, there's a concept along with this awareness. So our awareness has the quality of non-duality, but it is often accompanied by the concept of duality. The idea that the object of awareness is separate from the awareness, this is quite common, and that was the part where some eyes started rolling. But do you see that? Have you ever seen that there was a sense, or that there is a sense now, that the awareness of, for example, the sound of my voice is separate from the sound of my voice? And that separation is what people are mostly, actually sense and believe in.

[20:28]

Can you sense that? Can you sense the separation between your awareness of the people in this room and the people in this room? Does it feel like your awareness of the people in the room is not the same as the people in the room, is not, I shouldn't say not the same, but is not completely united with the people in this room? Samadhi is the fact that your awareness of the people in the room, or what you see as the people in the room, your awareness of what you see as the people in the room and what you see as people in the room, that is non-dual, that is united, that is concentrated.

[21:46]

So how can we realize this concentration? And there's many ways. I just mentioned five ways earlier to realize this concentration, this one-pointedness of every one of your experiences, and that is by practicing giving, by practicing ethical

[23:08]

mindfulness, by practicing enthusiasm for the practices, by practicing patience with whatever is happening, and by practicing concentration. These five practices, which I just mentioned, are practices of compassion. They are practices to develop compassion and they are expressions of compassion, and also they are expressions of non-duality, when they're fully realized. If you practice these practices, it helps you realize non-duality.

[24:13]

When you understand non-duality, you practice these practices. When you realize non-duality, you naturally practice giving in every action. And also, when you realize non-duality and you practice giving in every action, it's no longer seen as your personal behavior, because the giving you do, you actually see everyone else is assisting you in the giving that is your activity. And the patience you practice, you no longer see as your own personal power. And you can be patient when you understand the non-duality of self and other,

[25:26]

when you understand the non-duality of the feet, the awareness, and the pain. . [...] One way to develop compassion is to try to practice these practices. And to try to practice them in every possible situation.

[26:28]

And that may seem rather complicated. When speaking, or when thinking, to think a thought, and then to think a thought as a gift, to think a thought as practicing the precepts of non-harming and benefiting beings. To practice patience with every experience, which basically means to not try to get away from it, to not try to eliminate it or improve it, and to practice enthusiasm with every word, with every thought.

[27:39]

And to practice non-duality with every word and every thought. That may seem rather complicated. How could I do that moment by moment? Does this seem complicated? . Do I, would I like every word I say to be compassion? . If so, let it be so.

[28:47]

And if it doesn't seem to be so, then I would say, that's not what I want. That didn't seem to be compassion. But noticing that, I feel compassion for that behavior which doesn't seem compassionate. I want to be compassionate towards beings who appear to be not compassionate, including myself when I appear to be not compassionate. This way of treating non-compassion develops samadhi. This compassionate way of dealing with non-compassion develops non-duality. Or, it can develop non-duality.

[29:58]

It can allow non-duality to be realized. . . . I remember an observation made by a Buddhist scholar.

[31:01]

He said that Vajrayana, that's a form of Buddhism, Vajrayana monks sit in meditation and chant Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. And that is a mantra or a mantra of the enlightening being of infinite compassion. And part of the motivation for sitting or walking or standing or reclining and reciting this mantra over and over, part of what it's about is that

[32:07]

the infinite compassion of enlightening beings will come here, will come to this place where this practice is happening. Or, it is already here, but by this recitation it will be more and more fully realized so that this body and this voice and these thoughts that happen in this life space, that they will become infinite compassion. This phrase Om Mani Padme Hum or Om Mani Padme Hum is used to kind of, in a sense, condense those five practices of compassion into that phrase, inviting these practices of compassion,

[33:11]

of giving, of careful, joyful, ethical conduct, of great patience with all difficulty, of tremendous enthusiasm for doing good, of great imperturbable concentration and non-duality, that all these compassion practices would come and be realized here, that this body, mind and speech would become great compassion, infinite compassion, compassion which has no limit and is greatly skillful. The meditator hopes that this will happen, that this body and mind will be used for the purposes of great compassion. This body and mind will be useful,

[34:19]

will help all beings. Om Mani Padme Hum, sitting, hoping for this. This is what the scholar thought the Vajrayana yogis were doing. Maybe he was right. Sounds fine to me. And then he said, in Soto Zen, the kind of Zen that's associated with this temple, he said, they're the yogis or the monks, they sit also, but they don't say anything. They sit in silence and they have the same hope. They sit hoping that infinite compassion will come to this place

[35:21]

of this sitting, of this practice and completely blossom, completely take over all the functions of this life, of this form of life, of this form of life which is hoping that this form of life will be nothing but compassion. Om Mani Padme Hum It's a hope that this person would be completely donated to the compassion project, that this person would become completely useful to benefiting all beings. Knowing, by the way,

[36:26]

that this person, that part of what would happen at this place, part of the compassion that would take over this person's life would be extreme joy. Extreme joy in doing the practice of being nothing but compassion for all beings. That's part of the practice of compassion, is that those great compassionate beings are very happy about being compassionate. They love it. They're very joyful about it. They like hanging out with suffering people and being totally devoted to them and having their life be nothing but for their benefit. They love it. They're happy. But their happiness is not happiness that they're happy. Their happiness is the happiness of benefiting all beings.

[37:27]

Of course, they're a little bit happy that they're happy, but their great happiness is that their happiness is not just for their own happiness, but for their usefulness and their availability to all beings. All this compassion, which is allowed in to take over, also makes possible wisdom, which then understands thoroughly the non-duality of all beings and all things. We must have this kind of compassion in order to meet each thing in such a way that we can dare to see how things really are. And once we see how they really are,

[38:29]

then this compassion is even more fully released and enabled. So, not to say that sitting in silence is better than chanting the mantra, not to say that, but just to say that this sitting in silence, this silence is kind of a hint about the way to be compassionate. The silence is a hint about the way to talk. Such that it's compassion. And that way,

[39:34]

that hint is that when speaking, when thinking, when talking, we are with that thinking, we are with those thoughts, we are with those feelings, we are with those postures, we're there with them. We're sitting there with them in silence. What are we doing? We are not doing anything. We are just there with each thing in non-duality. We're actually, the silence is a hint that we're practicing non-duality with everything that happens. And great compassion allows us

[40:36]

to be with each thing in non-duality. We dare to do this, I don't know, do this, we dare to allow this way of being with each person, where we let go of all distinctions between us. It isn't that the distinctions are gone, it's that we don't grasp them. We still see the distinction of the other person, but we don't grasp it. It doesn't interfere anymore. The compassion enables the realization of non-duality, and the realization of non-duality purifies the compassion. But we must have quite a bit of compassion before we can actually enter the samadhi, fully realize the samadhi of non-duality. The practices of compassion

[41:39]

actually are perfectly in accord with non-duality because they're all about helping others. So the implication there is that we really care about others almost more than ourselves, because others are really more who we are than who we usually think we are. All the people in this room are really closer to who you are than who you think you are. Who you think you are is not what you are, or who you are, or where you are, or why you are. Everybody is who you are. Now, some of the Buddhas and some of the Buddhas' disciples

[42:40]

say that. They say the whole universe is your true body. To realize that, to realize that teaching, to understand that teaching, I have to give myself away hand myself over to great compassion, and then with great compassion there is a realization of this truth, of this teaching, that each one of you and the whole universe is who I really am. And again, realizing that, I can live the life of the Buddha, live the practice of the Buddha. Moment by moment,

[43:41]

do I remember, am I mindful of inviting great compassion to visit me, so that moment by moment I allow what's already true to manifest, namely, the non-duality of mind, the non-duality of all things, and the freedom and peace and perfect compassion that can be realized through this samadhi of non-duality. The samadhi which brings our non-duality into manifestation in this world of apparent duality, so that we really can love each other

[44:42]

in a fearless and pure way, love each other free of any gain or loss, beginning or end. So, great compassion

[45:46]

to take over my life as soon as possible. I invite great compassion to take over my life and aid aid in my life being taken over by it. I invite great compassion to use me for great compassion for great compassion. I invite great compassion to awaken in me, wake up in me, so that I dare to contemplate non-duality of myself and others all the time,

[46:47]

and let that meditation on non-duality blossom. I also invite great compassion to visit and enter each of you without asking your permission. Now, I ask your permission. May I invite great compassion to visit you, to enter you, to use you to realize great perfect love. May I invite that? Do you invite it? That's great. Now, I think great compassion

[47:49]

feels nicely invited. But I think we have to keep doing it moment by moment, because we can always withdraw the invitation. And great compassion, being very polite, might say, well, I don't want to bother you, but I'm here. If you want, give me a call. I'll drop in. And one of the ways of giving a call, the Zen style of giving a call, is just stop, be still, shut up. And that's a signal to great compassion. This person wants a visit. They stopped everything, they put aside all their busyness, and they just sit in there waiting for us to come. Let's come. So all the infinite forms of great compassion gently, what is it called?

[48:52]

We have this great close encounter happens. The great thing settles at the small spot in the universe. Yes, yes and yes. And behind you first. I could maybe ask this one question.

[50:18]

Do you think that if we were, if it's you somehow, are we ever forced to slow down so that we can I don't know what the device would be, I mean like how does it happen, so that everything could become way spaced out and that then we would be able to appreciate the beauty of everything? Yes. I recently have been forced to slow down. Did you notice? Did you notice? Huh? When I walk, do you notice I move more slowly? Also, I sit down more slowly and get up more slowly. And as I move more slowly,

[51:21]

the world does look different. I still have to pay, while I'm moving slowly, I'm still paying quite a bit of attention to not falling down and to put quite a bit of attention into my walking and that in a sense slows me down. My walking speed is slower even though I'm actually in some sense putting a lot of attention and very quickly, moment by moment into the little changes in my body. So the silence is actually, the slowness in this case is part, is sort of connected with being very attentive to my body and noticing lots of things. You translated, you started talking about silence and then you changed it to slowing down. So silence and stillness

[52:26]

have some relationship. So when things happen, being quiet with them and being still with them often helps in being able to see what it is. So there is a practice called, which can be translated as stopping and seeing. And stopping means stop moving but also stop talking. Even while you're talking, be silent. Now I am talking but also there is someone who is silent who is with each word. There is a presence

[53:27]

that is being appreciated with the talk. And when we first start to appreciate the presence with or of the talk we may seem to slow down. However, one can then speed up and still stay present. Also you can be still when sitting still. You can be still with the stillness or you can be wiggling and commenting on the stillness. But also you can be still with movement. So as you may know, we have seen when people learn certain martial arts, Tai Chi for example, you see them moving slowly. And in a sense

[54:29]

it feels sometimes like there is stillness with each movement. And in yoga postures, in Hatha Yoga, there can be a stillness in each posture even a stillness as you move from one posture to the next so that there can be stillness or stopping when you are walking. And in fact there is presence, there is a presence with each phase of each step you take. But to appreciate that presence it may seem like you slow down at first. So part of the training to discover the presence which is already there, the Buddha Mind which is already present and never goes away and never comes, but is simply the actual

[55:30]

presence of the moment, to tune into that, sometimes it helps to stop moving and to hear the silence which is always there. Sometimes it helps to stop talking. It's hard for some people to hear the silence when they are talking. And then when they stop talking they hear the chatter that happens when they stop talking. Right? When you hear, when that chatters, when you hear the silence that's there with the chatter then you can start chattering and still hear the silence or feel the silence. So these are somehow we need these, usually need these remedial or training wheels to tune into the actuality of some activity which has this presence,

[56:30]

this unmoving presence and great silence. So practicing silence and stillness sometimes helps us discover the silence and stillness of the Buddha. The Shakyamuni was called Shakyamuni, which means the Muni, which means the silent one of the Shakya clan. But Shakyamuni was very talkative in the conventional world. But he was always silent, sort of in his heart. Ultimately he was intimate with the realm of ultimate reality which is inexpressible. It's quiet, it's serene, it's non-dual, and all activity

[57:33]

is included in it without disturbing it, without disturbing its tranquility. And you had a... Did you have something to say? Yes? On the subject of non-duality and my awareness not being separate from the thing that I'm aware of, I wanted to ask if one internalizes that, what does that mean internally? How does that change how one lives one's life? Well, it depends on what your life was like before, but let's say before you realized non-duality, in other words, when you hadn't realized non-duality, you believed only in duality, you probably are afraid or anxious all the time.

[58:35]

So you would become free of anxiety. That would be one difference. And being free of anxiety, you wouldn't be afraid to go into situations if it was beneficial to people. You wouldn't be afraid of what would happen to you. You know that perhaps there is some danger, but if it was beneficial to go there, you could heroically enter. Or even if it was just somewhat distasteful and wouldn't promote your fame or profit, you still... non-duality would make it possible for you to fulfill any vows you have to benefit beings. But if you want to help people, let's say your life before realizing non-duality was a life where you did want to help people, you would be somewhat hindered by the lack of realization of non-duality. So people can do good things

[59:39]

before realizing non-duality, but after realizing it, some of the good things which used to be available to them but which they passed up on, they would now be able to embrace because they wouldn't be afraid anymore. Some of the people they felt had some allergy to, they could embrace and mature. Non-duality would sustain them in their work to benefit all beings. The compassion... if a person was working on compassion, their compassion would be... And in fact, people who realize non-duality have been working on compassion, so we can... we can, in a sense, understand that when someone realizes non-duality, this is a person who is bringing compassion to the moment

[60:41]

for a long time. But their compassion has not been fully realized because they have not yet realized the ultimate. Realizing the ultimate, their compassion is finally completely purified of any clinging to a duality. Okay? Yes? Is samadhi the awareness of awareness of every moment? Is samadhi the awareness of the awareness of every moment? I think a lot of people would say no, no. Samadhi is not really awareness of awareness. Samadhi is

[61:42]

an awareness. Samadhi is first... Samadhi is actually the non-duality of awareness. That's where I get confused because isn't that also one-pointed concentration? Yes. One-pointed concentration is one of the definitions of samadhi. So where does non-duality come into the definition of samadhi? Well, one-pointedness of awareness is that the subject and object or the awareness and the object are not dual. That's one-pointedness. And in fact, in fact, in reality, in ultimate reality, our mind is non-dual. And like everything, like all things, our mind is non-dual. All phenomena are non-dual,

[62:43]

including our mind. Even though our mind, this non-dual thing called our mind, has ideas, has concepts or imaginations or fantasies, it has those too. This non-dual mind has fantasies of duality. But other non-dual things, like a word, doesn't have a fantasy. A rock doesn't have a fantasy. A blade of grass doesn't have a fantasy of duality. But human beings, and some other beings too, who are also non-dual, just like rocks and grasses are non-dual phenomena, they have this ability to imagine something which is not really the ultimate perspective of non-duality. In other words, they imagine duality. Even though, in fact,

[63:44]

they are non-dual phenomena, they are a non-dual phenomena which can imagine itself to be separate from other non-dual phenomena. How does non-duality relate? Samadhi is not the same as non-duality. Samadhi is the non-duality of the mind. And through realizing the non-duality of mind, we are able to realize the non-duality of all things. But a rock, again, doesn't exactly have samadhi because it doesn't have a mind. Samadhi is a quality of minds. It's the one-pointedness of mind and object. So that's why samadhi is important because samadhi, like I said, is our in-house version of ultimate reality. There's something about our mind which is demonstrating ultimate reality, and that's samadhi.

[64:45]

But there's other things about our mind which are anti-ultimate reality. We have illusions or ideas or conceptions of existing separate from other beings. That's also an aspect of our mind which we have no problem relating to. We think of it all the time. We're concerned with that all the time. That drives the world of greed, hatred, and delusion, that sense of me separate from you. So people seem to be... That seems to be working quite nicely. However, it would be good... Part of realizing samadhi is to admit and become aware of how much we're involved in that delusion. So confessing the delusion of our sense of separateness is part of what helps us. That confession and repentance of the illusion of separateness is part of what helps us enter into a realization of our non-separation or our non-duality. And our mind has that quality already. And that's what samadhi is? Samadhi is that quality.

[65:47]

First of all, it's that quality. Second of all, it is to realize that quality. In other words, to develop it so that you not only hear about it, but you really feel that way and you act that way. In other words, you actually are calmed and your mind is stabilized by being mindful of and more and more accepting this teaching of samadhi. Which you already have, the quality, but some people don't appreciate it. They don't understand how they're calm and concentrated. They just don't get it. And oftentimes people think of concentration dualistically. Namely, they think concentration is them, separate from the object of concentration, getting themselves to pay attention to the object of concentration. That kind of concentration is based on the idea of separation of the meditator and the object of meditation. So it's...

[66:49]

Did you follow that? Well, I keep feeling like you're introducing new things into the pot. You just added concentration there. Yes, I did. That's another... I was beginning to understand... I was beginning to think that perhaps samadhi was a part of you that you needed to tap into. Yes, that's right. So... Are you suggesting by concentrating you tap into that ultimate reality? Is that, through meditation, is that the only way samadhi is reached? Let's take a step backward where you said, I had the feeling... I think you said something like, I had the feeling that samadhi was tapping into... Part of you. Part of you. You had that feeling? And I would say that's right. Samadhi is

[67:51]

tapping into part of you, and the part of you you're tapping into when you tap in... when you use samadhi to tap into samadhi. So we call samadhi both what you tap into and the process of tapping into it. So samadhi, you already have this thing within you called samadhi. Your mind already has this quality of samadhi. So meditation is to tap into that or to fall into that. You got that right. Okay? But, part of the complication of the way that the word samadhi is used is samadhi is also used for the practices which promote the tapping into samadhi. So again, everybody's got this quality, but those who practice samadhi realize samadhi. So some... Are you talking about the five practices you mentioned earlier? Yeah, through these practices of compassion, one of which is concentration,

[68:52]

you learn how to tap into or settle into your natural concentration. So concentration is a quality of your mind all the time. It's only one of the qualities, right. But it's one that we particularly want to develop. There's other ones that we want to develop too, like another quality that's always present is mindfulness. We also want to develop mindfulness. And another quality that's always present is intelligence or discrimination. We want to develop that too. That can be developed into wisdom. So we have within us all the time the raw materials for one-pointed... for realization of one-pointed awareness. We have one-pointed awareness, so since we have one-pointed awareness we can develop it more and more. We already have discernment, we can develop discernment. We already have mindfulness, we can develop mindfulness. All these things that we always have,

[69:53]

we can develop them all. And of course we always have constant awareness and the awareness develops as these mental factors develop. So we have all this raw material which in fact is an example of what's going on in the world that we can develop. We can also develop rocks but Buddhism is not so much into that. Usually we become Buddha and then we help the rocks. The first part you got, Samadhi is a quality of your mind already and meditation which is sometimes called Samadhi, is to appreciate and celebrate that quality more and more. And sometimes the practice of celebrating Samadhi is also called Samadhi. But also the practice of celebrating Samadhi is sometimes called Dhyana. But the character

[70:53]

of Dhyana is Samadhi. So Samadhi is used in these different ways. And then it's used in other ways, meaning the absorption in the great mind of Buddha, the transcendent, inconceivable Samadhis are also part of what we're going to get into. But the first two meanings, first meaning is the nature of mind is Samadhi, part of the nature of mind is Samadhi, and then the practice of celebrating and deepening that sense of Samadhi, becoming absorbed in that sense of Samadhi is also called Samadhi. So Samadhi is used in different ways. The same word is used for many things. Pardon? That's what I noticed. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Thank you. You're welcome. I think Catherine was next and then Brian. I'm thinking that we have a sense of separation, or we have a feeling of separation as a way of protecting ourselves

[71:54]

and perhaps feeling like we want to protect ourselves. She said we have a sense of separation as a way of protecting ourselves. That may be true, but it's also, I think, I would guess that originally this adaptation of having a sense or an idea of separation was not so much to protect ourselves but more to promote ourselves. I think in the early, in our history, that the sense of self was more like an advantage rather than to protect ourselves. But it could be also to protect yourself. It certainly is to protect your interests and to promote your interests as an animal. So, when you were speaking in a lecture and saying, you know, that you are interconnected with what you perceive, what the person perceives. You are interconnected with what you perceive but also your awareness and what is perceived, or the perception

[72:54]

and what is perceived are not just interdependent, you know, but also non-dual. They're one-pointed. They're one-point. You never have the perception floating by itself without the perceived or the perceived without a perception. There's no such, you know, independent perceptions or independent perceived phenomena. I don't feel it right now, but in the lecture when you were saying it, I just felt the sense of increased anxiety around that. Yeah, that's the birthplace of anxiety. That's where anxiety is born, is in that sense of separation. That's the source of anxiety. But I also felt it more in terms of seeing that, maybe I don't quite understand the non-duality. I'm not sure exactly what that means.

[73:58]

Like you said, rocks and a person is the same thing. They're non-dual. Is that what you're saying? Well, rocks are non-dual. All phenomena are non-dual. Even opposites are non-dual. All things are non-dual. And what's the definition of non-dual? Non-dual, a definition of non-dual? Well, one definition of non-dual is they're not two different things. They appear to be two different things, but they really have no existence separate from each other. Can I introduce another word? Sure. Integration. Yeah? There are separate things, but actually they're integrated always. Yeah, I think you could say all phenomena are integrated. I think it's maybe just that

[75:09]

when your belief systems are really shaken up, it's kind of anxiety-producing. When your belief systems are shaken up, it's anxiety-producing? Yeah, often, usually. Part of realizing non-duality is to give up your belief systems, let go of them. And letting go of them is somewhat less disturbing than having them taken away from you. To voluntarily relax with your belief systems, to let go of them, is a little less disturbing than having them taken from you or shaken out of your hands. But sometimes people are in a place where they really could handle letting go of their belief systems, but they're not letting go. So sometimes bodhisattvas push them a little bit and knock their belief systems out of their hands

[76:09]

because they don't have confidence that they would be able to get along without their belief systems. So sometimes people, before they let go of them, are afraid of what would happen if they did let go of them. Like, would I be able to survive if I didn't have a belief system? Would I be able to eat lunch without a belief system? Would I be able to use the toilet? Would I be able to sleep? Would I be able to shake hands without a belief system? Maybe not. Maybe I shouldn't let go of my belief system, especially my belief system about me, what I am, and what you are. But still, if you practice samadhi, someone might come up to you and knock your belief system out of your hands for just a second, and then you're standing there, your belief system has dropped away, and you say, Hey, this isn't bad. I'm okay. Wow. I can still talk. Hi, folks. And it's lunchtime. Fantastic.

[77:12]

What's for lunch? This is amazing. I can talk after I've let go of my belief system. Amazing. I can speak English. But when people haven't let go and they imagine letting go, they get scared sometimes. And also, if they've got one and they're not calm, and it gets knocked out of them, sometimes they have some big realization because they let go. And when you let go of your belief system, you can see things beyond your belief system. And reality, the reality which the Buddhas are looking at is beyond all of our belief systems and beyond theirs, too. So some people, when they get them knocked out of their hands, stay calm and see reality, and wonderful, wonderful encouragement comes. Other people, when it gets knocked out of their possession, they get shocked and they really withdraw. So teachers have to be careful

[78:15]

not to knock people's views out of their hands unless they're ready. But sometimes it helps to jiggle it a little bit. But sometimes people don't even need any help. It just happens without any particular push. But usually you want to push people that are already in samadhi because then they won't fall off the edge of the world and they can stand the shock of living without holding on to their views of self and other. But if you think about it beforehand, a lot of people do get scared. So if you tell people, whatever you meet, meet it with great compassion. Whatever you meet, don't be rude. Don't grasp it. Don't seek something other than it. Say welcome to whatever comes. In other words, be silent with it and still. And they hear that and they get scared.

[79:16]

Say, what would happen to me if I wasn't constantly judging things? If I wasn't commenting and manipulating and controlling and they think they wouldn't survive. So they need to calm down more before they can let that teaching come in. However, letting that teaching come in is also calming. So sometimes a little bit of that teaching calms you and then as you become calm you can do more of the teaching and more of the teaching, you're calm. Pretty soon you can actually meet things that way. And then you start to appreciate the Samadhi. And then there's a letting go or dropping away of your views of body and mind. And then you have vision of reality. And you have to be very compassionate with yourself. That's why you need to practice compassion to be able to meet things in that way that they reveal themselves and also that compassion helps you tolerate the revelation. So again, compassion invites revelation and helps us survive it.

[80:16]

Because we know how to deal with ourselves. We have great patience to help us deal with a whole new world. Does that make sense? Compassion is the way to revelation and it's the way to care for ourselves after it. Compassion is the way to wisdom and supports it after wisdom dawns on us. Yes? When I'm reflecting, when I'm paying attention to different states of mind, they tend to have some kind of bodily correlate. So like anxiety, I can feel anxiety in my body. And then occasionally I'll have a... I'll seem... I'll feel very calm. Maybe this is a non-dual or non-choosing state. And it will also be a

[81:18]

correlating sensation in my brain. So I'm wondering if that is something... if that is... could be used as a guide. Feeling. Try to tune into that feeling or encourage that feeling within the body. And then focus again on the mind. So you're saying that maybe if you have a feeling that you think maybe is a physical feeling that you think might be associated with non-duality? Is that what you're saying? You have a feeling that might be associated with a non-dual function of mind? Okay. Like what kind of feeling? Do you mean... It's a sensation of the brain. The brain physiologically feels a certain way. Okay. And you're wondering about using that

[82:20]

kind of like biofeedback or something? As an indicator. As an indicator. That maybe my brain is calm or my brain is functioning openly. Just like if I'm anxious, maybe my heart's beating really fast and I know, well, maybe I'm anxious. Yes. Well, that's another example, right? So, well, maybe that's easier to deal with. Is that when we're anxious there's often, or usually there's some physical side of it. Okay. So that's how we might know that we're anxious. Is that we're, whatever, having trouble breathing. Anxiety means to be choked. So oftentimes people have trouble breathing when they're feeling anxious. Because sometimes when people have panic attacks they feel that maybe they aren't going to be able to breathe anymore. So,

[83:21]

you know, even when we cough we sometimes feel anxious. Or we feel anxious when we cough, when we feel anxious, that often happens. So that's an indicator of anxiety. So then you note, you note, oh, seems to be anxiety. So that helps you notice that. But non-duality is non-duality itself is not a thing. But perhaps when the mind becomes fused with that way of, that particular samadhi you said in which… When the mind becomes fused with non-duality? Well, yes, I understand that we might think the mind is going to become fused with non-duality, okay? But non-duality is that the mind is already fused with non-duality. That non-duality is that the mind is already fused with non-duality. Duality is that the mind will become fused with non-duality. Okay? Alright?

[84:26]

So what does it mean to understand non-duality better if if the mind is already fused with non-duality? Because that must be what non-duality is. Non-duality cannot be something other than the way the mind already is. So non-duality, part of non-duality is that enlightenment is not dual with the way we are right now. Now, when we realize that more deeply, you hear that right now, right? That part of the teaching of non-duality is that in the worst, most miserable, seething, confused, overcome, frightened state you've ever been in, that state is non-dual with Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. Okay? You heard that now. So now you're saying, well, what if I sort of understand that? And there might be some physical correlate to understanding it. Well, that would be every possible physical correlate then.

[85:28]

Because it would include all mind states? It would be every possible physical correlate, right? So non-duality does not have a sign. It cannot be grasped. But it can be realized. And it can be realized because it's already so. So when it's realized, does the person change? Yes, they do. How do they change? Well, they become fearless and so on. But their fearlessness is really deep fearlessness because their fearlessness does not depend on any mind state. So they can be totally afraid. You could like tune in total fear in the person and there would be no clinging to it. There would be no confusion that this fear was dual with fearlessness. Because the fear would occur in a field of understanding the non-duality of fearlessness

[86:31]

and fear. You could tie them up in every form of bondage and they would look at that bondage as non-dual with freedom. So that would be what they would be able to do. They would be able to look at that and in their bondage, tied up in a ball in every possible way, they would be able to send out the message of freedom to all beings. Even though I'm saying, look at me, I can tell you about freedom. I'm totally, totally, totally, totally bound up. Whereas if you're free, I'm free and you say everything is free. People say you're free, but I'm not. But the Bodhisattva can be less free than anybody and teach freedom. Tie me up a little bit more, see if I get scared. And then you say, okay, tie me up more. I did get scared. But I'm still telling you, I will never, ever, ever stop loving you no matter how cruel you are to me

[87:33]

because of the non-duality of your cruelty and your love. And so, what state I'm in, I'm free of. And part of the way I practice is to be in whatever state to demonstrate that. So usually people think, not usually, but some people think the way to Buddhahood is to get rid of all these bad states. But really, being able to see non-duality of all the bad states is really one of the ways to demonstrate non-duality. Not to be in a really nice state and say everything is non-dual. So, the body is totally transformed in a person who fully realizes non-duality, but it's transformed in such a way, not that it's in some state, but so that it responds in a beneficial way to whatever state arises. So you go up and you spit on a non-dual realizer and the spit comes back as compassion.

[88:34]

You put jewels on them and the jewels come back with compassion. Rather than you spit on them and they hit you, you put jewels on them and they hold them. No matter what you do to this non-dual realizer, you get back Buddha's Dharma in the most skillful and helpful way. That's the point of it. But there's no state that this being depends on. So you can do whatever to them. And they also know that anything can be done to them. So the Zen master says, the warrior says, Hey Zen teacher, don't you know I'm a person who can chop your head off with the slightest hesitation? And the Zen master says, Don't you know you're talking to somebody who can have his head cut off without the slightest hesitation? I can also not have my head cut off without the slightest hesitation. In other words, don't you know you're talking to somebody who loves you? And the guy says, drops his sword and says, I understand. Thank you. I want to study Zen.

[89:35]

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