Now a great assembly has gathered at a place of no abode. And also, each of us is at our place. Each of us has a unique position in this universe, a unique responsibility, a unique place to express awakening and to offer it to all beings and to receive it from all beings. And from our individual places, we have now also somehow gathered.

[01:04]

We've come to assemble together in this great sangha, this great community. Some of you are in a place called the United States of America. Others are in Europe and South America and Asia. And there is a question in my heart, which is, what is necessary, what is required to make the people of the United States of America feel, have a real sense and understanding that we are all in this together.

[02:28]

And of course, we also want to encourage people from other parts of the world too, to understand that we're all in this together. To understand that and want to take care of that and be responsible for that. What? That we're all in this together. At various points in history, in the stories of history, people have said that such and such a time was a time of revolution.

[03:35]

Are we now? in a time of revolution? I don't know, but I want us to be in a time of revolution. As you know, when we speak of practicing and studying the teachings of awakening, we often speak of revolution, of turning the wheel of the teaching and being turned by the wheel of the teaching. Revolution is an ongoing vow of the Buddha way. to turn the world, to turn the teaching, to turn all beings and to be turned by all beings.

[04:58]

This is the normal situation and also one that calls to us to maintain this turning, this ongoing revolution. And the revolution is done by the great assembly. And the revolution is done for the sake of peace and harmony among all beings. In India there arose a teaching which is variously called Four Methods for Gathering a Sangha or Four Methods to Guide Beings

[06:32]

or four methods to embrace and sustain beings. These four methods are sometimes called in English, giving, kind speech, beneficial action. And the one I want to emphasize today is identity action. These four methods are a way for us to make a revolution, which is a revolution of harmony, a harmonious revolution, a non violent revolution.

[07:38]

In the midst of all the illnesses and violence of this world, we have the unique opportunity, each of us has a unique opportunity to turn the wheel of harmony, to non-violently interact with all beings, with each state of mind and body that we are, and with each mind and body we meet in the form of others, self and others, embracing and sustaining self, embracing and sustaining others. Originally, this teaching appeared in Sanskrit scriptures in India. And when it was translated into Chinese, the word they used for, the word they used, which is sometimes translated as guidance,

[09:00]

or gathering, that Chinese character, which means to guide or embrace or sustain or to nurture, that character can be read actively or passively, actively or receptively. So the practice of harmoniously and non-violently interacting with others can be read as giving or receiving gifts. It can be embraced and embracing. Embracing I wish to embrace and sustain all of you.

[10:04]

And I wish to be embraced and sustained by all of you. This teaching is suggesting that right now, you are all embracing and sustaining me. And I am embracing and sustaining you. So again, briefly, practicing giving is an opportunity for me to give to you and receive from you. Kind speech is for me to speak kindly to you and to receive your kind speech. Beneficial action is for me to do things that are beneficial to you and to receive your beneficence towards me.

[11:06]

And finally, identity action, which is also sometimes translated into English as cooperation, operating together, realizing that we are in the same boat. Last night I found a painting. Can you see it? You see everybody in the boat? Up at the top it says, it says, in the same boat.

[12:12]

This is a picture of reality, of the reality of the Buddhas. The Buddhas are in the same boat with everybody, and they see everybody in the boat with them, And they also see that some of the people in the boat don't think that everybody's in the boat. And some of them don't even want everybody in the boat. The Buddha wishes everybody to be in the boat and in harmony. How can we, yeah, how can we have different views. Each of us has our unique position. Nobody else has it. Maybe in this assembly there seems to be a lot of commonality. Maybe we have a lot of shared perspectives.

[13:21]

But still, we are different. This practice of identity action is somehow to find a way to identify with others so that they can identify with us. Or to identify with ourselves so we can help others identify with us. Or to identify with ourselves so that we can identify with others. This is this way of living, this identity action, this mind of sameness, this mind which finds a way to see that others are the same as us. They are different and they are the same. And to be mindful of this and realize it is an ongoing revolution of reality.

[14:30]

It's an ongoing refreshment of our life and ongoing harmony. And the thought came to my mind to say, of course, again, this work of harmony, this work of acting in solidarity with all beings, are different from us is difficult. And my wonderful unconscious gave me a memory when I said that just now, which was one time about 15 years ago, I was at a lake in Minnesota in the summer.

[15:37]

And in the summer, the ice melts and you can actually go into the lakes. And I was going, I was walking into the lake with my youngest grandson. And he As he entered, as he walked, as he waded into the water, he stopped. And his mother said, what's the matter, Gabe? And he said, I'm having trouble with the plant life. The seaweed, we call it, you know, The weeds that grow in the plant, they sometimes make it difficult to walk, and they feel, sometimes you might say, creepy. You can't see them, but they're tangling your ankles and your calf.

[16:45]

And he was having trouble with them. All sentient beings challenge us. They tangle us up. And it's difficult. And a lot of times they tangle us in the dark, underwater. It's creepy. But that creepiness we can use to become in harmony. When I see someone and I think they're different from me, I think their concerns are not mine, I think they're, yeah, they're concerned about something that I'm not as concerned about, or I'm concerned about something and they seem to be less concerned, here's a great opportunity.

[18:42]

to see if I can see myself in the person who sees things differently, and see if I can see that person who sees things differently in myself. This is the opportunity to turn the wheel of the Dharma, or to let the wheel turn, and to let the wheel turn me. From my delusion, that that person is not included in me. I am not included in that person. I am included in all others. All others are included in me. This is an offering to you, and it's an offering to me. Is there anything further you wish to offer me?

[19:51]

Anything further you request of me at this moment of revolution? Steve. Hi, Rob. Hello, Steve. I just thought I'd, apropos of the encroaching plant life, I had a dream this today that I was standing in a circle with like a couple of, A very well camped, like Chewbacca.

[20:57]

And I was like, uh, in a couple of like maybe otters or something. We were all standing around. It was very civilized, but I was freaking out and I had a, I had a shovel and I was pounding the ground with a shovel. Like just watch it. Cause I can hit you with the shovel. And that was, and I didn't hit anybody with a shovel, which I was glad about, because they were way more civilized than I am most of the time. And then that dream ended. Of course, that dream is apropos. Thanks for telling us. And, and can that's, can the, banging the shovel on the earth be intended as a gift, as kind words, as beneficial action, and as identity action.

[22:09]

It's possible. And it calls for mindfulness to remember the practice when you have a shovel in your hand. Oscar. Hello, Greg. Hello, Oscar. Thank you very much for your story about creepy plant life. I actually am experiencing some feelings of creepiness associated with other life forms. And so I wonder if you could say more about how that creepiness can be used to understand the relationship the congruence of self and other? Well, the first thing that comes up, which I think might be appropriate, is that when I feel that creepy entanglement of the plant life underground, under the water, to look and see if I feel that that plant life is included in me.

[23:31]

And if I look at my history, usually when I'm in the water and I feel some slimy, sticky entanglement under the water, I usually do not remember that that sliminess is included in me. I think I'm walking along unslimy and suddenly sliminess is touching me. It's like a wake up to my own sliminess. And when I accept my own sliminess, then I'm not afraid of that plant anymore. I still have the job of interacting with it, but now I'm interacting with a friend, with a companion. And also I'm in that creepy, slimy entanglement. I'm in that too. I'm in it, it's in me.

[24:35]

Meditating on that, I can find a peaceful, harmonious relationship with what's entangling me. And with the entanglement, I use the entanglement to become free of the entanglement. Rather than what a lot of people think is cut, get rid of the entanglement to get through the entanglement, rather than use the entanglement to pass through the entanglement. I see. With plants, with animals, and with humans. With water and earth and air and fire. So meditating on the on the

[25:38]

creepiness, identification with the creepiness? Yeah, try to find the cooperative action. Try to find cooperation with the creepiness. Try to find sameness with the creepiness, and then we will have harmony realized in that friendly relationship. Thank you very much. Jodi. Hi, Reb. Hi, Jodi. It's green. Thank you for your talk. I think I'm hearing you say identity action and something about self-identity, identifying with self or something leading to an understanding of cooperation.

[26:49]

And I guess I'm having a hard time following that. So I guess what I'll say it again, it's more like find a way for others to identify with you and you to identify with others. Maybe I misspoke. We don't have to identify with ourselves. That's already going on all the time. What we need to do now is learn how to identify with others and see them identifying with us. And the way to do that is to remember that we are included in others according to this practice. And others are included in us. This mutual inclusion is a practice we can join by remembering it and wishing to join it. And in that way, we're wishing to join the revolution of the teaching.

[27:53]

Because this is the teaching. Identity action is the teaching. Cooperation is the teaching. It is the method for gathering the Sangha into peace and harmony. Thank you. You're welcome. Angela. Hello. Hello, Angela. Hello. Thank you for sharing this morning and sharing about your memory with Your youngest grandson, Gabe. I always feel the entanglement of the weeds as I stand in the mud, through my toes, around my ankles and my calves.

[29:03]

And I'm confessing that I don't, most often, I guess, I don't feel that I'm joined. I can intellectualize that, I can tell myself in my mind, but on a feeling level, yeah, I don't feel that. I see myself in the boat with all beings and making great effort to identify with all the beings in the boat. the universe, yet I do confess that I do feel isolated. Well, that's an opportunity for what I said earlier, for confession and repentance.

[30:08]

So, I confess that all I've heard the teaching, for example, that Angela is included in me, I don't feel like Angela is included in me. Or I don't feel like I'm included in Angela when she tells me about not feeling included in others. But if I now confess that I don't feel that I'm included in you, and by confessing, that I don't feel like I'm included in you. And in a way, being embarrassed that I don't actually feel like the teaching is, I don't feel the teaching. I don't feel the teaching. I admit I don't feel the teaching. And that melts away the root of being stuck in not feeling the teaching. Actually, I don't have to confess that because I do feel like I'm included in you.

[31:20]

And I do feel like you're included in me. So that's not my confession today. But I can confess that in the past and probably in the future, I will sometimes not feel like I include certain people, certain plants, certain animals, that I do not feel that they're included in me and I'm included in them. And then I can notice what that feels like and it does not feel harmonious. And so I'm sorry, but I confess. I heard the teaching, but I don't feel it in this case. And if I notice it and confess it, then there's freedom from that. from that not feeling, without getting rid of not feeling. Just not being in harmony with it, by noticing it and confessing it.

[32:26]

Thank you for this meeting. Thank you for this meeting. Royce. Hi, Red. Hello. I would like to ask you about a boat problem that I have. It's, you know, like the whole sangha is here on the boat, and a number of people come to me and say that this person over here is a monster and we need to throw him off the boat and I don't want to help them throw him off the boat and

[33:31]

basically what it comes down to is them saying that I cannot be compassionate with him while being compassionate with them. He has harmed them. And so if I'm not helping them throw him off the boat, I am not helping them. So I just really don't know what to say to those people. I do. This person who is a candidate for being ejected from the boat, can you feel that person in yourself? I mean, can you understand you include that person? Yes, absolutely.

[34:39]

And you feel that you're included in that person? Yes. Okay, you got that. My bigger challenge is actually... I'm moving on to the people who want you to throw them out of the boat. People who want you to support violence towards this critter. Then the job is to do the same with them. Can you see that these ejectors, that the ejection crew, is included in you? And can you see that you are included in them? That's your job. The second one seems significantly harder. I can't quite tell why. They're really different. Some people can say, I can see that person in me, but I can't see me in them.

[35:42]

And some other people say the reverse. I can see myself in them, but not them in me. And to not be able to do either side is greed and hate. And to be able to do one side, not the other, you get greed. And to be able to do the other side, but not this side, you get hatred. So Yeah, so some people are more prone to hatred, which means, yeah, I don't see them in me, then I hate them. And the other way around, I don't see me in them, then I have greed. And some people are more one side or the other, some people have got greed and hate, But most people do both of those sometimes. But some people specialize in not seeing themselves in the evil ones.

[36:46]

And some people specialize in not seeing the evil ones in themselves. And so that leads to insatiable desire, or in one case, unsatisfied desire, unrequited love, and then the other case, ongoing hatred. So this is the challenge for you to identify with the people who want to throw people out of the boat and identify in both ways that they're in you and you're in them. And it's really, it's hard to be on top of that ball. There's so many cases where people do something and we just don't, we miss it. We miss it. We miss it. We miss it. And this case, the advantage of this case is you see, there seems to be repetition. And so you get more chances to look into, to examine this situation on this case of ejecting. So, you know, in America, a lot of people want to, they want a different president and they want the president to be removed from office.

[37:57]

And maybe that's going to happen. and they're happy about that. But still, for harmony, it is necessary for me to see myself in that person, and to see that person in me. And I do sometimes think, ladies and gentlemen, and people who aren't ladies or gentlemen, I say to the great sangha, I say to the Great Assembly, I sometimes think, I see Donald Trump in me. I see me being like, you know, kind of like a petulant child, not wanting, you know, wanting to get my way. I see that. And I say, oh, I've got to just like Donald Trump. I mean, just like him.

[39:00]

Can you believe that I would think that about myself? Well, I do. And I feel kind of good not being that way. I don't feel good about being that way. But I feel good about seeing that in me, rather than it's all over there and those people. I don't feel good about that. He's the bad guy, not me. I don't feel good about that. he's the bad guy and that's in me, that's where the harmony is living. That's where I can not look down on him. That's where I can be friendly and work on harmony. And yeah, but occasionally I might miss that I include somebody. I might miss it.

[40:04]

It's a missed opportunity. And then, oh, I missed the opportunity. I'm sorry. I may barely have time to acknowledge that I missed the opportunity before I missed the next one. But when I acknowledge it, that I missed it, I did not miss an opportunity then. So that's your job. That's your responsibility to turn the wheel of the Dharma. And it's easy to miss it. When you don't, you're doing your job. You're turning, you're doing the revolution in the harmony of all beings. Harmony is a revolutionary process. And no time, no time to get stuck. Like that song I sometimes say, The time to hesitate is through.

[41:07]

No time to wallow in the mire. Good to see you, Brooks. Good to see you, too. Thank you. Hello, German sangha. So I guess that's us. Okay. Well, my first question is identity action. I've never heard that. And I wanted to know if that's just another word for interdependent co-arising or if there's something else. Well, identity action is a dependent co-arising.

[42:20]

It is a dependent co-arising, but it is also a practice inspired by the teaching of dependent co-arising. And if you are not mindfully practicing identity action, that's also dependent co-arising too. You can't get away from dependent co-arising, but you can overlook, you can forget to practice cooperation. But you can't escape cooperating with all beings. Dependent co-arising is your cooperation with all beings. That is unavoidable. but you can forget to practice it. And that's part of learning how to practice it. It involves, and I want to practice it, but I forgot and I'm sorry. That's a practice. But if you don't remember and you're not sorry, that's not a practice, that's forgetting the practice.

[43:26]

But that's in Pinnacle Rising too. So is the practice remembering dependent co-arising? Well, you could remember dependent co-arising, yeah, and also remember that because of the principle of the teaching of dependent co-arising, that means that you're in cooperation with everybody. An implication of dependent co-arising is that everybody makes you. and you make everybody. That's an implication of dependent co-arising. And if that's the case, then there's an opportunity to practice in accord with that implication. But even if you don't see the implication, it's still true. You still do depend on everybody, and everybody does depend on you. That's dependent co-arising. But you cannot practice that.

[44:29]

can even resist that practice and that's dependent co-arising too, but that's a dependent co-arising of disharmony and violence. Violence is a dependent co-arising and harmony is a dependent co-arising. Harmony arises through kind speech, through generosity, through beneficial action, and through cooperative effort. And cooperative effort is you don't do it by yourself. It isn't you're doing all the cooperation. Others are cooperating with you. Those practices realize the dependent co-arising of harmony, not doing those practices, forgetting them, not wanting to join them. That is the dependent co-arising of disharmony. So both harmony and disharmony are dependent co-arisings.

[45:30]

They're both examples of dependent co-arising, but they're different. And this is an assembly for the sake of harmony. So we have these practices to remember. And if you try to remember them, you'll notice, you will notice probably, unless you're different from me, which you're not, I mean, which you are, but you're not. You will have trouble remembering these all the time. But again, when you forget or miss the chance, there's a practice for that called confession and repentance of forgetting the practice of these four methods of embracing and sustaining and being embraced and sustained. So you could say there are four methods for realizing, dependent co-arising, understanding dependent co-arising. And understanding dependent co-arising means understanding the Dharma.

[46:31]

And understanding the Dharma means understanding Buddha. So there are four methods to realize Buddha. And the methods could dependently co-arise. And forgetting them also dependently co-arises. I'm still not sure if I know what the practice, what the identity action or identity practice is really. It's like, well, like I said to you, right now you're talking to me. And so part of the practice might be right now. Do you, are you remembering that you're included in this person who's talking to you? and that this person who's talking to you is included in you. Do you remember that teaching? And if you remember the teaching, then you might say, okay, I remember the teaching, but I don't accept it.

[47:38]

I don't think he is included in me. Especially when he's being, I don't know, stupid. All these stupid people, they're not, I heard the teaching that they're included in me. But I don't agree with it. And I'm closed to that possibility that these stupid people are included in me. Even people who I don't even call stupid, they tell me they're stupid. And then I hear the teaching that they're included in me, but I don't agree with it. I push it away. Okay, so now I'm pushing that away. And they're included in my pushing it away, and my pushing it away is included in them. If you think about this teaching a lot, you'll see a lot of examples of where you don't get it. And you'll start to see a few examples of where you actually can say, actually, I do feel like so-and-so is included in me.

[48:41]

I kind of do, yeah. And I also see how somebody else isn't. I kind of don't. And you can study the two and see which ones are in accord with fearlessness and harmony and which ones are included in greed, hate, delusion and fear and disharmony and violence. You can see it all right there by doing this practice. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for your gift. Thank you for your kind speech. Thank you for cooperating with me. Homa. Good morning, Rev. Good morning, Homa. I hear the word included and inclusive and being inclusive and including all in ourselves, in me.

[49:47]

And I keep running to the challenge because I think as long as there's a me and there's an object that I'm including that me in me, so there's a subject and object, I cannot be one with what is and therefore my whole dilemma is I want to be one with what is and I can't because of that in and out perception. Yeah, well I'm proposing that what you're saying, that you can't see, I'm saying it is possible without getting rid of the self, it is possible to become free not of self and other, but of the separation. By this practice, you can realize that self and other are completely mutually inclusive.

[50:54]

And you haven't seen that yet, but I'm saying this is a teaching for people like you who don't see this. It's a teaching to free you from your view, that you have to get rid of yourself. The self is the thing you use to check to see if it includes others. The self you use is to see if you realize that that self is in others. By meditating on this, you will become free of the separation of self and other. Becoming free of the separation of self and other is harmony. But to get rid of self is like what Brooks was talking about, throwing somebody out of the boat. you don't have to throw the self out of the boat to realize that everybody's in the boat with you and you're in the boat with everybody in harmony. So, I see myself in you when you tell me you have to get rid of the self.

[52:02]

I see myself in you and I say to you, you don't have to get rid of the self in order for there to be harmony between self and others. You don't have to. Yes. Therefore, I would like to confess, now that you reflected and I said it, I realized I'd like to confess I am not doing the practices. Yeah. And then if you keep telling me that, maybe at some point you'll feel kind of sorry that you're not doing the practice. I do feel sad and I do feel the pain and sorrow and all that. That sorrow will free you from not doing this practice. That sorrow will melt away your resistance to this practice, this revolutionary practice of harmonizing self and other, not getting rid of self or getting rid of other,

[53:06]

but harmonizing them through meditation on reciprocal inclusion. And if you don't do the practice, feeling sorry about it will remove the obstacles to the practice. But it may take more than one sorrow. Thank you. John. Hello, Rob, and hello, everyone. Hello, John. And a special hello to Donald Trump and Jim Morrison. Donald and who? Donald Trump and Jim Morrison, since you saw me about that memory point. This is just, I would just want to play briefly with the metaphor that you gave based on your story. My very brief story, it involves a boat, it involves murky water, it involves weeds or kelp.

[54:14]

Like about 45 years ago, I was taking a scuba class off the coast of Santa Barbara in a huge kelp forest. And realizing that many people were afraid of the kelp and saw themselves being entangled and suffering a horrible death, the instructor kind of basically said, look, We're all going to get into the middle of this kelp and we're all going to tangle ourselves in this kelp. And then I'm going to tell you what to do. You just float and relax and the kelp falls away from you. And so I thought that was that that's what came to mind. And then I also just as I was waiting, I thought if I had been in the water by myself, I don't think I would have been taking myself in the kelp. and relax and let it float away. But because everyone was there with me, and we had this good teaching, I did that.

[55:15]

And I think we all had a good time after that. Yeah. Thank you. That's a perfect example. Thank you. You're welcome. Ham. Are you talking about Pam Walton? Yep. She's muted. Hi, thank you. I didn't hear my name being called. My internet must have cut out right at that second. Yeah, well, here you are. Here I am. This reminds me of a really beautiful practice that I think I first heard from Joseph Goldstein called Just Like Me. I don't know if you're familiar with that. but you visualize somebody that you're having difficulty with. And then you say to yourself things like, just like me, this is a living, breathing human being.

[56:20]

Just like me, this person wants to be loved and respected. Just like me, this person wants to be seen and heard or whatever it is that is that source of conflict. Yeah. And it is kind of this, it's like an identity action meditation. It is. Now that I hear you talking about it, the action. It is. Yeah. Except that it doesn't say the other side. Where you see that that other person, that you. Yeah. Well, you see, just like me, this person is. So just like. I'm just like him. He's just like me. And I'm just like him. Like me. Yeah. I'm just like him. I'm just like him. Yeah, I was thinking on that side of it, if I think somebody's being stupid, or arrogant, or even beautiful and amazing, that I could ask myself, how am I being stupid, or how am I being arrogant, or is there any way that I'm being those things in this situation?

[57:26]

So, yeah, I think his instructions are half the story. of identity action. And then turn it. Turn the wheel and do it the other way. And then when you do it the other way, then turn it back. Keep the wheel of revolution of the dharma going. You have to have both directions in the practice that I'm talking about here. But you're right. He articulated one side of it very well. And now let's turn the wheel and do it the other way. Thank you. You're welcome. Scott. Scott, you have to unmute. There we go.

[58:29]

I think like a lot of people, We've been watching the situation in America and even abroad with this sort of increasing schism, you know, writing to, you know, even threats of violence of people on the left against the right and the right against the left. And it's become a kind of like a mass disease. So many people are stridently angry about the other side. And it's somewhat discouraging to see that kind of thing growing and becoming such a powerful presence in our world and culture. And I just saw the show the other night. It sort of gave me some strange hope. And it was the show about animals and inter-species bonding between animals. It showed different cases, for example, of this deer that bonded with a dog, and they were friends.

[59:38]

And the deer and the dog would play together, and they were dear friends, and they spent time with each other all day, and no one could explain that particularly. And then there was a case of a horse that had been blinded And this goat became his friend and would lead the horse around where they lived and take care of the horse and did this his whole life until the horse passed away. And it just gave me this sort of sense, well, you know, it's possible for beings to reach across a great divide and somehow become friends, even though in that case, they couldn't have been more different. I mean, the case of a tortoise and a monkey, I think that somehow bonded and became friends.

[60:43]

And this is across a great divide, and yet they found a way to become friends and to take care of each other. And I just wonder whether we humans have this capacity now for us to. I think we do. This teaching is offered along with another teaching, which is, this teaching is possible. And you're giving examples in other species where it is possible. And also, a lot of people are able to do it with dogs, right? Of course, yes, of course, humans and dogs. The dog-human thing, the human-horse thing, less people can do it, but a lot of people can do the human horse thing, and also the human cat thing, and also the human newt thing, and the human snake thing. So it is possible.

[61:44]

And it's happening. We need more of it, though. And we need more the human to human, when the humans seem like another species. But it is possible. That's what you're saying. It is possible. And when it also between humans and other species of plants, between humans and trees, between humans and kelp, it is possible, but it's also possible that humans hate kelp and hate trees because they're different. So, this practice should be done... This practice is possible to do with all animals, with all plants and with all the elements of the universe, it is possible. But it's difficult. And sometimes it's rare, like it's rare for a goat to be a seeing-eyed goat for a horse.

[62:46]

But it happened. It happened, yeah. It happened. And we can turn into seeing-eye... Republicans can turn into seeing-eye people for Democrats. and Democrats can be seeing-eye people for Republicans. It's possible. How do we, you know, how do we as practitioners of this great way, you know, help to promote that in some way that actually makes a difference? I mean, what's happening now is really quite terrible and kind of frightening to me. Looking at somebody who has a different view than you do, and try to learn about their view. Ask them questions, inquire about their view, show them respect, be generous towards them, speak kindly to them, be beneficial towards them, and learn to see that you are included in people who have different views from you.

[63:53]

But part of the way to be able to do that is by being kind to them, that will warm you up to seeing yourself in them. I said in this venue, I said that I would like to hear about how Republicans see things. And then someone rewarded me by telling me how Republicans see things. And I was really it opened my eyes to see how they saw things. And then when I saw how they saw things, then I had the opportunity to do this practice, which of I'm included in this amazingly different way of seeing things, and this amazingly different way of seeing things is included in me. There's the challenge. And to warm up to that final, that fourth practice,

[64:56]

You warm up to it by being generous to those of different species, being generous towards those of different political species, speaking kindly to those of different political views, doing beneficial things for people who are different political views. Even though you may not be able to vote for somebody who people want you to vote for, you still might be able to give them some water or speak kindly to them. And then you might be able to see that you're included in the people that they want you to vote for. You still may not vote for them, but you can be in harmony with people you don't vote for. Or you can be in disharmony with people you don't vote for. Disharmony I don't have to tell you folks that disharmony is possible.

[66:00]

We got plenty of it. What I'm saying is harmony is possible. And that's our difficult work, the work of harmony. And I'm suggesting some ways to work on it, which I am saying to you. And as I say it to you, I'm inspired to practice it. And if you say it to me, I will be inspired to practice it. So say it to me, and I'll say it to you. And together, we will realize harmony. I often think of the Third Ancestor's great poem, Trust in Mind. And when he said, you know, that when love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised. And, you know, I think of I think more people were aware of such a wonderful teaching that they might be interested in being less divisive. Thank you, Rev.

[67:03]

Thank you so much. You're welcome. Some more, more. Welcome. Maureen. Doreen. Did you say Doreen? Yes. Oh, well, thank you. Well, first, I would like to share a memory that I have of you and one of your Dharma talks many years ago at Green Gulch. And you talked about sitting on a blanket out on the lawn somewhere, having a picnic. And then you noticed a trail of ants crawling across the little picnic basket, blanket on their way to the basket. And your thought was, oh, there are beans with another agenda. And I have remembered all these years and I just have loved that and shared it with others.

[68:06]

But you know, you just expanded on the question or the comment that I had with Scott And for me, it was about finding a way to identify with the other that I might not agree with and to do that in the way of then having them identify with me. And yes, as you spoke about having a dialogue, what's one common thing we can agree on? Maybe it's, we love our children, right? I mean, they're the most important things to us. There's a common ground and you can kind of build from that. So that was kind of where I was going to go with real life examples of how we can start sharing our identities as human beings. Thank you, Rev. Appreciate you. That reminds me of a story of this, to illustrate your point, it's a story about this, this healer.

[69:10]

And he was a healer who was also, afflicted with various kinds of paralysis. So in the later part of his life, he healed people from a wheelchair or even from a gurney. And so he was called in to consult on a person in, this person's name is, the healer's name is Milton Erickson. And he was called in to help with a person who was in a state mental institution, who thought he was Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. And he wouldn't talk to anybody or relate to anybody who didn't recognize that he was the savior. So he wouldn't talk to any of the doctors or nurses or orderlies, because they would not agree with him that he was Jesus Christ.

[70:13]

they had no common ground with him. So there was no communication. So he was institutionalized and isolated. And Milton Erickson came to see him and heard about his situation. And Milton Erickson said to him, I understand you're a carpenter. They found common ground. And of course, the man said, yes, I am a carpenter. And Milton Erickson says, well, would you build me some Would you build me some bookshelves? And the man built the bookshelves, and he started to communicate with people, and he was released. He probably still thought he was Jesus Christ, but now he could relate to people through being a carpenter, which is the way a lot of people relate to people. I'm a carpenter, I'm a cook, I'm a mother, and also I'm Jesus Christ or whatever, but I do have some way to relate to people. I'm a human. I'm a carpenter, I'm a cook.

[71:22]

So he found that place and then they could start, they could live together. Harmony, they developed harmony, not just through the recognition, but through the making the bookshelves. Yeah, so that's a key ingredient in this identity action is to find some place to agree. And one easy place to find it is, oh, I'm just like her. Oh, there I am. I agree. I'm like that too. Or, oh, you're just like me. There it is, the common ground. Thank you, Doreen. Oh, by the way, before I forget, related to this talk and also to John, to John and about John and the kelp and Scott and the animals is there's a movie called My Octopus Teacher about this interspecies relationship between two quite different animals, a human and an octopus.

[72:38]

And that took a lot of work for that relationship to develop. Anyway, it's another great example of cooperation, the beauty of identity action. Kel, on your iPhone. Um, well, first I want to wish, um, gratitude for the teaching and, um, a wish for, um, a safe and harmonious new year, um, to you, Rob and to the Sangha. Thank you. Yeah, it was good to be reminded of the possibility that even though, you know, we arise within human form, that the brain is just naturally hardwired to reach out and connect with others of all the different sorts of, you know, species and categories.

[73:45]

And what had arisen for me is a reminder of the opposite syndrome, which is also hardwired into people. So there's a syndrome called alien hand syndrome, where when the connection between the left and right side of the brain gets weakened. People often don't recognize like their own hand as part of themselves. But then, you know, it raises the question of, you know, what is this thing that's hardwired within us that's already making the distinction of what is us or other? So, you know, with regards to identity action, just perhaps a confession and awareness of arising within human form, and to be compassionate to that and work with it, to try to connect better with others for the coming year, is something that arose in me as something to express. Yeah, that's a wonderful meditation.

[74:47]

I hope we can remember it. Karen. Good morning, Ram. Good morning, Karen. I wanted to ask you if we could explore the idea of not leaning into this identity process so far that we're disrespectful of difference, or that we're disrespectful of the ways in which we're really quite mysterious. to each other. I wondered if you could talk about that, if we could have a conversation about that. Yeah, I think this practice is, it's already going on when we don't feel any separation.

[75:47]

This is to practice when we do think others are different. And yeah, so I don't quite know what you mean by not respecting difference. Well, for example, in the example of a human with a dog, I think that both the dog and the human get into trouble if the human forgets that there are some differences. You know, I can I think that when we talk about inclusion, it's not exactly the same as saying, this living creature is exactly the same as I am. Right, it's for the other that you think is not you. And what I'm trying to get at is incorporating

[76:53]

incorporating the idea I have that there are some real different, there are some differences. And, and there are differences between people or their differences in, in the experience, the lived experience that each person has, that that makes them a little bit different. And sometimes I think we, when we when we do this kind of you know, well, this person is just like me. It's a little bit disrespectful of their own process. For instance, if I if I say this person from a different back, exactly. I'm not saying I didn't say this person just like me. I said, I'm included in that person. I who I for example, right now, I'm not I don't feel like I'm like you. Exactly. I'm not saying I'm just like you. I'm saying I'm included in you.

[77:58]

And you're included in me. You who are not me, you who are other than me, are included in me. And if you think I'm being disrespectful, then you thinking I'm being disrespectful, I'm included in that, and that's included in me. Do you feel like I'm being disrespectful? I don't because I think that you do make, you do incorporate the notion of difference into inclusion. And I guess that's what I wanted to bring up. And I think also the idea of mystery, that we are in some ways a mystery to each other. And that's also part of the inclusion. Yes. I'm included in the mystery of you, and the mystery of you is included in me. I guess I'm thinking, you know, Donald Trump, there are some ways in which I can relate to him as, in the way that you were talking about, you know, we share some

[79:22]

some human responses that come up in different ways, but he's also very mysterious to me. And I sometimes find it helpful to think of him more as a mystery than trying to find the ways in which we're the same. Yeah. It's called mind of sameness, but it's applied to difference. Okay. Anne. Can you hear me? Yes. Hello. I find this teaching goes right to the heart of the revolution I'm experiencing internally.

[80:35]

And when my father was dying, I was holding his hand and there was a transmission of energy that was horrific. I didn't want it. It was a feeling of a great deal of suffering, a rage, a demonic kind of energy that was sort of, I take it conceptually to be some kind of internalized oppression, hatred. And it was coursing through my body. I was like, I don't want this in me. And ever since then, I've really started to realize how much, how many devils I have in me, how much demons I have in me. And when I perceive it elsewhere, I realize it's because it's triggering what's in me. And that if I didn't have such a big, um, if I didn't have such a big identification with like massive negative mind states like anxiety as a demonic state, or if I didn't have so much angry aggression in me when I met this energy, I wouldn't be so taken over by it.

[81:50]

So ever since this started happening, I've started to really own a lot more capacity for a lot greater range and to be intimate with with wilder things and become more civilized and soft. But I guess it seems as though the container for all this is the harmony, that somehow it's actually the harmony that's giving rise to the harmony. Because if I didn't have a certain amount of harmony in the process, I don't think I could do it. Or safety. The harmony is the container and we need a container for all the disharmony. The harmony is a container for all the disharmony. And the disharmony wants to throw things out of the container.

[82:51]

Like the original question from Brooks, We got this nice boat and we want to throw all the disharmony out of the boat. That's the disharmony, is to get rid of the disharmony. The harmony contains all the disharmony. The harmony contains all the pain and suffering. Not trying to get rid of any of the difference. Laura. So when I have a preference regarding how I proceed with Harmony, if I have a preference for a container that is, what did you say, friendly, cooperative, and so on,

[84:02]

I might think, well, that doesn't include criticism or that doesn't include this or that. And then because I have the preference and the sort of criteria for what's going to work, then when I come across those things, it sort of increases the. The the separation. So I'm wondering if there's a way to. to create a safe or create a way to perceive that doesn't dualize the container like that. I'm not, could you try to condense your question please? Is there a way to to hold the container of perception of self and other, so that there's, you know, what's the common ground?

[85:09]

Like if you're going in, you're looking at the guy who thinks he's Jesus Christ, like how do you find that one place? If it's, you know, for some people it might be, okay, we can relate as long as I'm nice to you, or we can relate as long as you're cool, or we can relate as long as you think I'm Jesus. You know, like, it's not the same for everybody. So as long as there's preference, it seems like it ups my... Well, in that example, you said, I can relate to you if you think I'm Jesus. But let's see, I can't actually say that I think you're Jesus. But maybe I can find something that I share with Jesus. Or maybe I can find something about you that's shared by Jesus that I also can share, that I can see, that, you know, if you're Jesus, then you're a carpenter, right?

[86:10]

And I could see it. You could be a carpenter. I could ask you to build some shelves. And even if you didn't do very well, that's fine with me, because I just want to find some way to relate to you. So it might be that all you can do is to say to somebody, please have a seat. So maybe we can share that there's a chair in the room. And I'm willing to share the chair with you. That's a start. Or would you like some water? Or find something, some common ground. But before I even say anything to the other person, I can find the common ground in my own meditation. Namely, I see someone, they look different, and am I willing to say, in the way they look, in the way they're behaving, am I willing to say to myself, I'm included in them?

[87:18]

If I look at that, I've just found common ground, that I feel that I'm in that person, or what they're doing, Can I see that that's included in me? Well, that response found me, so thank you. You're welcome. Maura. Hi, Reb. Hi, Maura. Thank you for the teaching. I'm still struggling with the identity action, two parts of the identity action. And how I took my notes is I don't see them in me. And that's the hate. That's where hate lives. And the other is I don't see me in them. And you used the words unrequited love

[88:22]

as a manifestation of a form of greed. Some of my reflections, I'm not going to be really clear perhaps, but there's a lot of power in being seen and a lot of power in when you feel that you're seen. Yes. There's a lot of power in when you are willing to see others. Yes. kind of an overarching feeling that I have about this. But I feel like I can approach the I don't see them in me and I can approach that and I can kind of work with that because I can see that when I don't do that. But I have a harder time with I don't see me in them. And it's kind of a number of people I've talked about, you know, it's two parts. There's two parts to this. And it's that I don't see me in them. or am I included in them?

[89:26]

That's slippery for me. I go to it and it's elusive. I was wondering if you would speak more to that. Well, I saw myself in what you said when you gave the example of someone being seen by someone. So you see someone and you feel that they see you. which is maybe pretty important to you, pretty nice, pretty great. And if someone sees me and I appreciate it, but I don't see myself in this person who sees me, I can become quite greedy or attached to that person who does this great thing for me. But if I see myself in them, I can still appreciate their wonderful gift of seeing me, but I'm not greedy for them.

[90:31]

I don't feel like I need to possess them, because I see myself in their wonderful offering to me. And again, if I notice that I have agreed to be with them, then I have the opportunity to check to see, except that I'm included in this wonderful being? And I might find out, no, I really don't. That's why I'm so yearning to be with them and attached to them. That's why I bleed towards them, because the gifts that they offer me, I think I'm not included in their gift giving. I receive it, but I'm not included in the giver. which again, the first practice leading up to this is giver, to be a giver in such a way that you understand that your giving is also receiving, that you're not stuck on the receiving side of this being heard or being seen.

[91:37]

And that being on the receiving side, it sounds like there's perhaps an element of trust that it truly is a gift or you know, suspending any doubt of that gift. Suspending doubt? Well, if it's not being perceived as the gift that it is, there's sort of like an insatiable component of like, is that real? Is that true? And so I kind of experiencing, if I feel that I'm feeling kind of doubt and mistrust on that portion of it, which leads to kind of a preoccupation with it or greediness, kind of always looking for it. Okay, so now we have this thing called greediness, which is not exactly a person, but the practice could also be done with the greediness.

[92:52]

To harmonize with the greediness. I'm in the greediness, I'm included in this greediness, and this greediness is included in me. And I and I'm having trouble, I'm having difficulty with the plant life. I'm having trouble accepting that this greediness, really welcoming the greediness in me, and feel like I include the greediness, and I'm included in the greediness, and then there can be harmony with the greediness. And then you can move on to the person, and do the same with them. the same practice with the person. But even when the person isn't around, you can do this practice because you have something in you that's telling you about a lack of cooperation in your own being.

[94:01]

Thank you. You're welcome. Samir. Hello, teacher. Good morning, Samir. Good morning, Daniela. I mean, good evening. Yeah. Good evening. Yes, Reb. I have this practice. I have to confess, I have difficulties with kind of practice where I, sitting on the pillow, I visualize a person. This person is maybe very sick. or like my cousin now in France, she's becoming blind.

[95:13]

So I visualize her, I take her blindness in my heart and then I send to her my sight or maybe somebody who has cancer, I take the cancer in my heart, I breathe with that and send back to this person a healthy attitude. And I feel, sometimes I feel very red and not generous because I feel scared. So when I practice metta, loving kindness, it works very well, but the other practice comes from the Tibetan.

[96:16]

to visualize something completely dark like a monster and attracting this monster in my heart and breathing with that and then transforming that from my heart and sending light to the other person. Sometimes I just say to myself, oh, I'm just a human being. I'm not a Buddha, I'm not a Bodhisattva, I'm not Superman. I'm just, but there is something in my heart. I'm longing to help this person or those people. And I really, I'm in contact with the sincerity in me. But I feel also in some cases afraid. to attract something and maybe to become blind.

[97:21]

And at that moment, I asked myself, but you weren't generous, because if you are really generous, you can give your sight to your cousin and become blind. The Buddha gave his body to the lion. And I'm not the Buddha. I'm only Samir, a simple practitioner. So can you maybe give me some support or something from what I'm trying to share with you and with the Sangha? Thank you. Well, it seems to me that when you're aware of your fear, that you have a great opportunity to be generous towards your fear. You don't have to... At that moment, your responsibility is to your fear.

[98:23]

And I feel you're very fortunate when you're aware of your fear. Sometimes people are afraid, but they don't even know. So when you know that you're afraid, you're aware of a great opportunity for compassion to the fear. You don't have to go get some other problem. You've got a nice opportunity here to be generous towards the fear and to actually, again, speak kindly and sweetly to your fear. Ask your fear if there's anything you can do to help it, anything that it needs. And offer beneficial things to your fear. And then you're ready to see that you're in your fear and your fear is in you. But you can start just by practicing giving kind speech and beneficial action towards your fear.

[99:34]

This practice will open you to other practices. And then you can do the same thing with those other opportunities. Not to other practices, Same practice, other opportunities. So some opportunities may not really be appropriate for you right now. But if you feel afraid, your fear is actually saying, it's time for you to take care of me, Samir. I'm here. Please be my friend, your fear says to you. what happens many times when I'm in contact with this fear, even in the city, even in other situations, in one way, I feel you, I hear you, I remember something that you've said, and so you're very present.

[100:40]

And this presence of you, Rep, makes me able to, yes, to see with kindness and to confront in a humble and gentle way, yeah. I'm very happy to hear. I'm very happy to hear this. Please, please use me in this way. Kim and Barry. Thanks, Rob. I am inspired to practice identity action in both directions. Wonderful. Justin.

[101:50]

Hi, Reb. Hello, Justin. It seems to me that when thinking about seeing another myself and seeing myself in another that one seems you know, almost easier because it's theoretical and one seems, or I see it as theoretical and one seems almost more reality-based. And I thought, for example, and I'm talking about like a negative situation. So I think about someone like Trump or Mitch McConnell, and I can think about how based on their circumstances and their conditioning in their life, how they might, you know, without being exposed to the teaching, I could behave in the ways that they do or believe in the way and things that they do. And I could see how that could happen.

[102:51]

I could see that in me. But it seems like it's harder to, and I'm asking if I'm looking at this in the correct way when I think that it's harder. To see myself in them is basically to acknowledge that their actions are also an effect of my actions. that I have some responsibility there when I see when, for what I want to, and in that situation, I recognize, hey, I wanna say, I could see how I could do that, but I wouldn't. But I'm not, that's what I'm telling myself. And I'm pushing them out away, feeling aversion, but to really acknowledge that I'm in them is to say that they are also results of my actions. Is that true? Everybody depends on you. You're responsible for everybody.

[103:52]

But even so, even though, for example, even though I'm responsible for everybody, and I'm responsible for somebody who can pole vault 20 feet, I'm responsible for that person, I might not see myself in the person. And I'm not going to be able to pole vault 20 feet, but I'm included in the great athlete. Or somebody who's unskillful, who can't pole vault even two inches. Now, I can pole vault two inches. But anyway, I'm responsible for everybody. Yes, and not only that, but can I see myself included in everybody? that I'm responsible for. So this mutual inclusion, this reciprocal inclusion is not just reciprocal support and reciprocal dependence, it's reciprocal inclusion.

[104:59]

So I'm responsible for people who appear unskillful and I'm included in them. And I'm responsible for them and they're included in me. And they're also responsible for me I'm responsible for you, you're responsible for me, I'm included in you, you're included in me. So it's, these are complementary teachings. Mutual responsibility and mutual inclusion. Thank you. You're welcome. Hello, Rev. Thank you very much. Hello, Breck. I wanted to say that I am both missing being present in the temple physically, but also very grateful to be, to feel like I'm present in you and the temple and the sangha, wherever I am.

[106:15]

And I know I said this a few months ago in one of these lectures, but I've been away from California so much over the years, the last few years, that it's an extraordinary gift coming out of this terrible suffering of the pandemic that we've opened up more venues, more ways to all be included in each other and to be present in each other. no matter, almost no matter where we are in the world. And I'm deeply grateful. So thank you. So no matter where we are, we're always at no abode. Yeah, wherever you go, there you are. Wherever we are, we don't have an abode. Yes.

[107:18]

So, the name of this temple turns out to be very auspicious during these times. Yes. Who thought of this great name centuries ago? Well, thank you all for coming to Noa Bode. and for letting know about come to you. Thank you for all your support. And I wish you well in the rest of this year. And maybe I'll see you at the New Year's greeting. 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. Afflictions are inexhaustible, I vow to pass through.

[108:28]

Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them. Buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it. Bye bye.

[108:48]

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