Today, I mentioned that this fall, not uncommonly, for the practice period, the focus will be on the Bodhisattva way or, you know, practice for the welfare. Okay? And I wanted to mention that when I was in Sweden this summer, a very sincere young man came and told me that when I talk about the bodhisattva path, the path of living by acts of compassion to all beings, when he hears about that he kind of feels like He just feels like overwhelmed and in this kind of, the idea that he's supposed to do that kind of life.

[01:06]

And he just feels like just, he just gets really tense and upset because he doesn't feel ready to make that kind of commitment and make his life that way. Even though he actually does devote his life to helping many people. And he's happy to do it. But when I bring up to do this with everybody, he just says, it's just too much. I can't stand that yet. Fine. So I just wanted to say that to you. That I'm talking about this bodhisattva vow of living by acts of kindness to all beings. But I don't want to give you the feeling like you have to do this. I think if Thich Nhat Hanh says stuff like, in the morning do one good thing for somebody, in the afternoon do one good thing.

[02:13]

I agree. But then there's also Sattva is doing it for everybody. Do you want to be somebody who just helps some people sometimes? That's great. But then I'm talking about this other path. But I don't want to, like, frighten people with this, the prospect of this, like, kind of grandiose of the kind of vows that make Buddhas. And yet I keep bringing this up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if it seems too much and makes you feel frightened or overwhelmed.

[03:35]

I also mentioned in the past that when I first I came because I wanted to learn how to practice meditation on a daily basis. And I felt that if I practiced with a community of people ...community where there was daily meditation and people were doing that, that that community activity would support me to become a regular practitioner. And I did come, and it did support me to do that, and I did become a person who does it. on a regular basis for 50 years. When I first went to Zen Center, I did not think, I think I'll go to San Francisco to Zen Center, practice meditation.

[05:03]

That thought did not arise in my mind. I was going to the Zen Center because I thought the people there who were practicing would help me practice regularly. And they did help me. Also, I went to San Francisco Zen Center because I thought I heard there was a teacher of Zen practice. And I thought, well, that would be good too. And I have a community that supports the practice and a teacher who could guide me in the practice and give me feedback on the practice. Who is there to help me with the practice I've been doing for 50 years. And I did go, and he was there, and he was happy to help me, and he did help me. It was all very nice, but I did not think, I'm going to go to San Francisco and help that Zen teacher, be a Zen teacher. I didn't think that way. I did not think that way.

[06:05]

But little by little, I started to think that way. And even before Suzuki Rishi died, I felt like I was going to the Zen Do for him. I felt like I was at Zen Center to help him. And I became a person who was there so he could help me, but I also became a person who was there to help him. And more and more, I felt like he was like really kind of saying, Tenshin-san, thank you for helping me. Still the teacher, but I was helping him. The student can help the teacher. That's the program. The teacher helps the student, the student helps the teacher. The teacher serves the student, the student serves the teacher. It often says in Zen stories, so-and-so went and served so-and-so for 30 years.

[07:07]

Of course so-and-so served the student. Of course the Buddha serves all living beings. But all living beings serve the Buddha. But when they first start practicing, they maybe don't help out Buddha. But that is the practice. We help Buddha, Buddha helps us. When you first came to no abode, you maybe thought, let's go to no abode. Maybe that would be helpful to me. And maybe it was. And the more you go to no abode, the more you think, I'm going to go to no abode and help those poor suckers that go there. Those people need help. I'm going to go help them. And by the way, I'm also going to help them because they helped me. And so every time, everybody helps us and supports us, and we do a day like this, and we support the other people. And the more we practice, the more I realize it is mutual.

[08:13]

And I love it. I love that everybody's helping me help them. And that people letting me help them helps me. I love that. That's the practice of the bodhisattva. If you're not ready for that, understandable. When I first came to Zen Center, I was not ready for that. It didn't make any sense to me that I would be helping the people at Zen Center. Because they started to come to me and say, thank you. My friend said, you know, it really helps me that you get up every morning and come here. It really helps me that you're sitting there next to me. It really helps me that even when you're sick, you still make an effort. Really? Okay. Several things came up today and I really want to talk to you about them.

[09:53]

Another thing that came up was somebody came to me and told me that they were wondering if there is some training program for lay people. So, I think this person... Oh, this person actually was somebody years ago was considering entering priest training with me. So this person had the idea. Oh yeah, you have a training program for priests. And I do. He said, do you have a training program for lay people? And I said... I do. That's what I'm doing here. This is my training program for lay people. The only priest in the room is me. I'm here to train lay people. And again, I'm here to train any kind of lay people.

[11:01]

Particularly, I'm here to train lay bodhisattvas. I'm here to train people who want to be bodhisattvas. But I'm not rushing you to want to be a bodhisattva, but I'm happy to do my best to train you to be a below average bodhisattva, average bodhisattva, or above average bodhisattva, or supreme celestial bodhisattva. I'm here to help you, to train you to have a bodhisattva mind. of no abode. I want to do that. And the way I'm doing it is like this. And the way I do it in the future will be like how I do it in the future. And the way I do it next month will be a little bit different from this month. It'll look just the same.

[12:01]

There's two kinds of bodhisattvas in a way. You could say there's the priests, the monastics, and the lay. And the lay bodhisattvas are both teachers. Bodhisattvas are teachers. Bodhisattva priests can teach bodhisattva priests. They can teach them, they can train them. Priests can lay bodhisattvas. I think that. I think I'm a priest. I can train priest bodhisattvas and I can train lay bodhisattvas. We can do that. Also, lay bodhisattvas can train lay bodhisattvas and lay bodhisattvas can train priest bodhisattvas. there's a lot of bodhisattvas who are lay teachers lay bodhisattva teachers and they can teach priests and lay people so both we can teach and we're actually teaching people to be teachers to teach the Dharma by showing how to practice it are you leaving?

[13:39]

Well, thanks for coming, and thanks for the crackers and the, what do you call them, olives. I want you to be Bodhisattva teachers, but also I don't want to back you into a corner where you feel like you have to be. I want to help you find out what kind of person you want to be. And if you want to be a bodhisattva, I'd be happy to support you, help you learn how to do that kind of life. And as I said, from a certain point of view, from a certain point of view, through certain eyes, I say, you all are bodhisattvas. You can't get away from it. But I say it in a scary way.

[14:41]

You know, from a certain point of view, you all will become Buddhas whether you like it or not. That's a certain point of view. Another point of view is you are already practicing the bodhisattva way. If you think you're not, that's the way you are. If you think you are, that's the way you are. That's a certain point of view. But again, I don't want to frighten you by talking like that. So forget I said it if it's frightening. I want you to be teachers of compassion and wisdom in this world. I want you to learn to be that kind of person if you want to be.

[15:45]

And you do. And I'm not forcing you and nobody else is forcing you It's a matter of your own nature. Another thing that came up today is somebody said, well, what happened if everybody, like, realized the bodhisattva mind? What would happen to all the pain in the world? would it like disappear? And the answer is no. Buddha understands pain, but does not destroy it.

[16:51]

Buddha understands evil, but does not destroy it. Buddhists are not into destroying, they're into liberation of all beings. Yes? Although the pain would not go away, would the suffering go away? When you understand suffering, which Buddhists do, you understand that suffering does not come or go. Therefore, it will not go, and also it will not come. That's the understanding of suffering. Don't tamper with it. Deliberate beings in relationship to it. I thought that pain was, was, that suffering was, arose from wishing things were different.

[18:09]

Suffering arises from wishing things are different? Right. Well, not so much just, not just wishing things are different, but being kind of stuck on that. Like you could say, this person's sick, I wish they were healthy. You could wish that. and understand that wish and not abide in it. And not abiding in it, there's liberation with that situation which your wish is alleviated. So it's the clinging to the wish. It's the clinging to the wish, yeah. Yeah? When you're talking about our sensual nature, you're not talking about just us in this room and us in the room. Could you say that louder, please? When you're talking about our essential nature, which you just did a few moments ago, you're not talking about us, just in terms of everything.

[19:14]

That's right. Thank you. We're not such. Well, we're special in the sense that you're Kriya and she's Maite. You're only one of you. So in that sense, you're special. But everybody in the universe is like you in that way. You are the center, and so is everybody else. Everywhere, there's nothing but centers. Every place includes all places. Every time includes all time. All the places are like that. All the times are like that. All the people are like that. All the grizzlies are like that. But we had this big...

[20:15]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_85.78