Thank you. You're welcome. It was cold this morning when I got out of the car, so I grabbed a down vest and put it on under here, which I still have. I know this window's cold. And during the sitting, I remembered that I had it, and I was glad I had it. Sounds like clinging to me. And I wonder what would have been an attitude or a way of relating to this clothing that kept me warm that wouldn't have been clinging. Well, one of the stories that attracted me to Zen was a story of a Zen guy who was sitting in his little house with clothes on and it was a full moon night and he heard some noise outside of his his little house sounded like kind of a human moving through the the land approaching his his house he felt like it was somebody who was coming to steal his stuff

[01:25]

So he threw all his possessions out the window, including his clothes, and said, here, please. And I'm sorry, I can't give you the full moon, too. So he was wearing clothes. Like I said before, in the Buddha way, we wear some clothes and we eat some food. And sometimes when it's cold, you put another layer on. And then somebody comes to you and says... Can I have some of your clothes? And you might say, yeah, here. Or you might say, I'll give you part of my clothes and keep part. But the thing is that you really look to see, are you keeping the clothes because you're attached or because you think it's a good way to go? And then you can learn that maybe if the situation is such that you actually do give away your clothes and you find out that you're fine with that, then maybe you weren't attached.

[02:36]

But wearing clothes is an opportunity to test your non-attachment. If you don't wear clothes, you might be attached and not notice that. So wearing them is an opportunity. And also not wearing them is an opportunity because then people come up to you and say, would you please wear clothes? And you say, sure. So you can do what is appropriate because you're not attached to any fixed position. But sometimes you can feel that you're attached. You can feel that you really feel bad about holding on to something. Or you really feel bad when something goes away from you, rather than, that's a gift, I gave it. So when our health goes, now we may feel fairly healthy, but when this health goes away and we get another one, which seems to be called sickness, we can notice if we can be joyful and at peace with whatever state we're in.

[03:47]

because we're training for that way of being peaceful with whatever state we're in, rather than try to control our state. So we take care of our state in a reasonable way and try to do that without a controlling, grasping attitude. We eat, we try to eat in a reasonable way to support enlightenment, which means to eat free of greed. We're trying to find that way. And it's very subtle. So we can be patient with ourselves if we have trouble finding that subtle balance between receiving and giving and not holding a position in the process. It sounds like part of the key is to not try to control the outer state by the use of any of this.

[04:59]

The key is to give up trying to control inner or outer states. So like clean your house without trying to control your house. Clean your body without giving up trying to control your body. eat food without trying to control your blood sugar level so do these things which seem reasonable and kind which seem to be called for but do them without trying to control without giving up trying to control and then whatever happens see that as an opportunity to learn about reality because people can learn about reality when they're healthy or sick When they're being born or dying, they can learn about reality which is peace. You're welcome.

[06:05]

Yes, please come. I would like to know how you ride that horse in that harmonious way that you described without squeezing the life out of it. Because I think there's a few horses in my life that I have loved and had tremendous enthusiasm for, and it hasn't worked out well for either me or the horse. Well, again, using the hand gestures... you come together and be with the horse for quite a long time before you try the advanced thing of intertwining the fingers. So if you can just be there close for a long time, then you can do the more advanced practice of intertwining the fingers. And if you're together like this and you start intertwining the fingers and you run into trouble, then maybe just be quiet for a while and recover your balance before you go deeper into this entwinement.

[07:20]

If the entwinement is harmonious, then you can do amazing things like put two fingers up together as though one, you know. But there's a lot of time like this together. And I forgot to say that the chief said that I did say, these children, these Native American children, they grow up with the horses. So you may have to be with somebody without getting very involved for a long time before you can get involved without attachment. Because when you get involved in certain ways, attachment that was sort of, what do you call it, unconscious, is released. rather rapidly, ahead of your schedule to cope with it. But that's not the end of the story. You can then just say, wait a minute, I'm going more deeply than I'm ready to be flexible and generous with myself.

[08:23]

It's not about the other person. I'm having trouble, you know, at this time, so I have to go back to, like, just being close in a simpler way for a while. But it's very difficult to do that. Very challenging. And then every moment's a new version, you know, over and over. Thank you. You're welcome. Please come. Thank you. So you're talking about food and I heard you talking about offering it generously, I think, or maybe I filled in the blank with what I was hearing.

[09:26]

I support that practice. Okay. And this morning we were talking about the bodhisattva path and generosity and compassion and wisdom. And I guess I struggle with when it is wise or compassionate to give generously and when it's maybe generous to not give. Like if someone comes up to the monastery, you know, is it enabling? When is it enabling, I guess, to use a non-Zen term, and when is it... Do you hear what I'm saying? Yes, I do. So when is it enabling? You mean like, can you give me an example? Want to give an example? Sure, I could give you an example. So... It's less likely to happen here, but let's say at City Center, you know, maybe there's transient people coming up or people that are in their own forms of dukkha and they're hungry. It may be impractical or it might be harmful to them to continue to offer them food in certain structures.

[10:33]

And maybe it's appropriate and with good boundaries to give them food. Well, again, one of my main experiences is that people think that being generous doesn't involve boundaries. So boundaries are part of generosity because a sense of needing a boundary arises in people. They sometimes feel that someone's getting too close. Like children. I remember when I was a kid, I went to the state fair and they actually brought me into the stable with the horses, you know. And I needed some distance from those horses. They were so big, I was actually... I needed a boundary between me and the horses. If somebody pushed me real close to the horse, I would have been traumatized just by being near it. Because I could feel that energy. So I wasn't forced. I felt that boundary and I expressed it, and the adults with me accepted that.

[11:36]

So now that I'm older and I feel a boundary, I can offer the boundary as a gift. You know, not trying to control the situation, but you learn how to offer boundaries as gifts by first offering boundaries, perhaps trying to control. And then you see how that works. And then you get some instruction. Well, now try to offer it as a gift. In other words, say, please give me this distance and do that without expecting that you're going to get it. And then learn the difference. And then find a way that you can give a boundary and the person doesn't respect it. And then you give another one that they don't respect and another one they don't respect. But you're in the process of giving. So you're joyful and fearless, even though the person's not actually, in a sense, they don't seem to be respecting the boundaries which you're giving them again and again. But this is a learning process how to give boundaries, how to offer boundaries as gifts without trying to control. And then you don't enable people.

[12:38]

Because even if they don't go along with the boundaries which you offer them, you know, they don't agree with it, you're still demonstrating them the path of generosity. And if you're demonstrating that, you're not really enabling them. It's just that they're not availing themselves of your demonstration yet. But they will eventually. Generosity does get through eventually. But sometimes you have to give again and again and again. Like in that story, I told a story in Being Upright about this Jewish family. that moved to Omaha because they thought it would be a less anti-Semitic environment. But it just turns out that the headquarters of the KKK was in Omaha. No, Lincoln. They moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. And when they moved in there, the leader of the KKK sent them hate mail. And their first reaction was they didn't have a generous reaction to it.

[13:39]

But then they noticed that they didn't have a generous reaction. Now, they put up a boundary in their hearts, but then they noticed that that really wasn't what they wanted to practice. They said, well, let's practice our religion, which is, you know, basically love your enemy, which means be generous to your enemy. So the next time they had contact with this person, who they understood was a wheelchair, I think, in a wheelchair, they said to him, we understand you're in a wheelchair and we'd like to help you go shopping. And the guy said, no. didn't receive their gift. But then he said, thank you. Maybe later. And they just kept offering him gifts and offering him gifts. And little by little he accepted their gifts. And finally... he formally apologized to them and the Native Americans and the African Americans and the Catholic Americans, all the groups that his clan was harassing.

[14:42]

He apologized formally to them. He resigned from the clan and converted to Judaism and finally moved in with that Jewish family and they took care of him until he died. And he said, you know, I never experienced love like that before, and I couldn't resist it. So if you keep practicing generosity without expecting that it will be received, and just keep offering it, keep offering it, and feel joyful to offer it, regardless of whether they say thank you, it will get through, and they will join you in that practice eventually. But again, you don't expect the first, second, third, fourth time they will they will accept your gift and see it as a gift. They maybe think you're trying to control them. And your gift could be, no, I don't feel comfortable with this. You could just keep saying, no, I don't feel comfortable with that. And as a gift, I'm telling them who you are.

[15:43]

And finally they realize, he won't ever do anything with me, but he's been giving me gifts the whole time. So you weren't enabling them. But you also weren't trying to control. But that's hard, right? It's hard to keep giving and people rejecting your gift. And to see, I give, they reject, and their rejection is a gift. I give, they reject it, and their rejection is a gift. To tune into that joyful realm of reality. It's hard. But that's the Bodhisattva way. You're welcome. Any other? Yes, please come. That was really good, that green thing. Thank you, whoever made it. So I was thinking about the food.

[16:51]

And sometimes when, occasionally, when I'm cooking a meal to share with others, I feel it's an offering. And there's a giving and receiving, usually. But more often I cook for myself, and there's no offering, and there's no giving, and there's no receiving. It's just, I mean, I don't bring the same mind to it. You don't bring the same mind to it? Yeah. Okay. Well, what's your intention now? Well, I would like to change that. I think it's kind of dull and dead. So any suggestions to yourself? Are you going home today? Yeah. Would you be home by dinner? Probably not. Maybe, maybe not. But you might not make yourself dinner tonight. Right. So you might make a date with yourself. Okay. The next meal you're going to make might be breakfast tomorrow morning. Okay. Okay. So then how will you make breakfast as an offering? You could just do the chant I said this morning.

[17:55]

Yeah. Before you eat, you could say, we reflect on the effort that brought us this food and whether we're worthy of receiving this offering. You could just say that and stop, be quiet for a little while. And you can shorten it and just say, you know, blah, blah, blah, or you can say, I eat this food for the sake of the enlightenment of all beings. Just say that, that you're making an offering of eating this food for enlightenment. And you could also say before you start making your food, you say, I'm preparing this food for the sake of the enlightenment of all beings. What do you think you might have for breakfast tomorrow? Coffee. Coffee is a worthy resource. I prepare this coffee for the enlightenment of all beings. Even those who do not want caffeine. I will drink it for them. And after I drink the coffee, I will live the rest of the day for the enlightenment of all beings.

[18:59]

I eat this food for the sake of enlightenment. I prepare this food to actually say it out loud before you do it. You could intend to do that tomorrow morning. And you can call me and leave me a message about whether you do. That will help a lot. That would help? That would help. Yeah, we'll do it. Yeah, okay. Get my number and call me and leave me a message. I did it. Before I made the coffee, I said I'd make this coffee for the enlightenment of all beings, and I'll never do it again. Just kidding. Okay. Because the way I've been doing it, it's just sort of a dead habit. And it doesn't feel like, it's not alive, it's just sort of shoveling food in and then, you know. We don't want dead habits, but if we have dead habits, we should be generous to them. Say, hello, dead habit. You can just sit right over there.

[20:00]

Now I'm going to do something different, okay? The dead half might say, all right. Okay. Thank you. People appreciated your question. Yes, please come. No hurry, no hurry, no hurry. Don't rush, don't rush. Take it. Dance, girl, dance. There you go. The sleepy foot dance. I have something small and something large. The small thing, they're connected. The small thing is that during this talking, when I hear, may we be worthy or is my practice worthy of it or am I worthy of it?

[21:12]

And I've chanted that many times here. I realize that it's painful. To ask the question? Yes. To consider it? Yes, it is and it isn't. In the present time, it isn't particularly painful, but it triggers pain. something old which has to do with being sent to bed without dinner and treated as if I wasn't worthy of a meal because I'd done something wrong. That sadness can be triggered by those words. I hear you. And I thought of massage, you know. Sometimes if you have a tense spot and you touch it, it hurts. And then if you just, if you don't push it too hard, you just keep touching it and massaging it gently, it hurts a little bit, but as you massage it more and more, it relaxes.

[22:14]

So considering whether we're worthy or not may bring up painful points in our body and mind. And then just, it isn't like you consider it and then say, you are unworthy. It's just you consider it and you feel a little pain and then just gently massage that pain. Like, I'm here for this pain, you know, and I'm, I'm going to just be kind to that pain so that pain can relax. I feel some regret over some of my stories and there's some tension around the stories and I'm just attending to them with eyes of compassion, with ears of compassion, with fingers of compassion. I attend to these painful stories. And this attending to them doesn't necessarily eliminate the stories, but it creates an ocean of blessing. At the same time that we're massaging the stories, this ocean of blessing starts to develop, an ocean of happiness, right while we're massaging the tension or the pain.

[23:28]

And sometimes the tension may go away, but even if it stays, this ocean's building at the same time. So just take care of that. That phrase might help you find the point, you know, to find the point to be present with and just to touch, just to touch it kindly or listen to it kindly. That was the small one, right? Yes. Now the big one. I appreciate the response of the small one. I can touch that. I had the experience when you asked me to give you if I was willing to give you some thoughts in the recent past, and I just casually said yes, and they have never come back. And I want to acknowledge that, but I think connected to this smaller one, the larger opening that's occurring

[24:43]

as I noticed this unworthy pain thing, is that the loneliness that's been there for so long that caused a lot of other things to happen is really... built around that idea of unworthiness. But the larger part of it is that I would like to just give you my past. Would you be willing to just... And while you're at it, would you just take anything else that's not really mine? If it's given to me, I'm not going to take anything. I'll receive it. Yes, I'm happy to give it to you. Yeah. Everything is not really mine, including my past.

[25:46]

And now that you've given it to me, it's not mine either. I just received it. That's right. And now I use it. But it is a gift to me that you receive it. I'm happy to give that gift of receiving that. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for giving it to me. Any other gifts? Please come. You are wearing clothes again today. I am indeed. You may have them if you would like them. Would you take care of my new clothes for me for a while?

[26:55]

Absolutely. Thank you. happy to they look better on you than on me um as i was outside drinking my green juice and enjoying a crusty loaf of bread and sipping some tea had some very nice milk and sugar in it with some friends We were all contemplating the food, contemplating the food and discussing how tasty it was and how much we were enjoying it. And then the question arose in us of how do we be with the food and enjoying the food without clinging to that experience? And how, how do we not abide in the food and in the enjoyment of the food, but rather how should we have, what mental attitude or how do we go about approaching that experience so that we don't cling to it?

[27:56]

Well, the first thing that came to mind was the same hand gesture, right? Here's the taster and the tasted coming together. And the taster may say, mmm, yum. So, so far, right now, there might not be any clinging. as you start to maybe try to become more intimate, you might feel that some fingers are kind of stuck and don't know which way to move or want to move this way and the other ones don't. This finger wants to move that way and this finger wants to go with it so it won't let it. As you start to become moving towards more intimacy, you may find sticking points. For example, if you're eating, sometimes it's good to chew and Not take another bite until you chewed up what you have. That might be a more intimate way to be with the chewing. I take care of this little girl now.

[28:58]

On Friday night I took care of her. And I was feeding her. She's nine months old. I was feeding her. cooked rice and sweet potato and I would put the spoon towards her and her arms would start flying around and then I would just wait until the arms calmed down and then move the spoon in close to her face and when it got close sometimes she would open her mouth and when she opened her mouth I'd put the spoon in and then lift the handle upward and it would just come right out into her mouth and then she would chew And she chewed and she chewed and she chewed. And nobody told her to. She just chewed and chewed and chewed. And then she seemed to finish what she was chewing. And then she was ready for another bite. And if I moved the spoon, if I happened to move the spoon towards her before she was done chewing, she wouldn't open her mouth. She was actually... quite enlightened by the way she was eating.

[30:02]

She was not like chewing and then like, I'll get another bite before I'm done chewing this. She was like... She really was taking care of the food. It was... I was really impressed. Whereas adults, sometimes they're chewing and they start putting another bite into their mouth before they've chewed the present one and then they have problems. But the little nine-month-old girl... Nobody taught her that. She's actually quite, like, eats like a Buddha at this point. But then she may, greed may come, and then she may, at some point, she may say, oh, that food, I remember that food from before. That's really delicious. And if I don't get another bite soon, I might not get it. So even though I haven't finished chewing this one, I'm going to get another. So that's one way you can check to see you're chewing, you're chewing, you're just doing your job, you know. You open your mouth, you put the food in, you close it, and you're chewing.

[31:03]

This is a reasonable, healthy, wholesome thing to do. You've got it in your mouth, chew it. And then you finish. And she wasn't like, give me another one. And this one came, and she said, okay, open up. So we can learn to eat like that little girl. And we can notice... When we're so hungry that we think about putting another spoon in there with another bunch of food before we're done chewing this one, there's the greed right there. And that greed, we can become free of it by saying, hello, greed, just calm down. It's not time yet. Keep chewing. Oh, greed, greed, no, no, just get one before we're done. Just be kind to that greed. That's getting intimate. And sometimes you actually, maybe it doesn't come, you just go chew, chew, chew, finish.

[32:05]

Maybe another bite would be good. Okay, let's go get it. Hello, here you come. Now I'm going to take this bite for the enlightenment of all being. Here it comes. Maybe I'll just stop here for a second just to check things out. Okay, now I'm going to open my mouth, put it in. I'm going to chew for a while. For the enlightenment of all beings. It's just taking a long time eating this way. But I feel like, you know, this really feels right. This is like a good way to eat. It's not as bad when the greed comes because you can handle that too. But right now there's no greed, there's just eating. Like I said before, before enlightenment there's eating. And there's this kind of eating before enlightenment. If you learn this kind of eating, it makes space for enlightenment.

[33:10]

If you can open to this way of eating, you can open to enlightenment. And then after you're enlightened, you'll keep eating that way. Before you may forget occasionally. After enlightenment, you won't forget. You'll... you'll eat like an intelligent nine-month-old girl, who has not yet, but however, when it comes to nursing, I think she has some greed. She's developed some greed around nursing. She's developed some habits around nursing. Because nursing not only gives milk, but gives a lot of other comforts. So in this experimental field, she's actually more kind of unattached So she may become attached and start at some point eating the next bite before she's done. So then hopefully somebody could teach her to return to her earlier practices. And that person maybe can also practice what they're preaching. So that's an example.

[34:13]

And we have this wonderful lunch ahead of us where we can practice it. And we can also forget to practice it. Let's notice, see if we can eat lunch now and remember these practices. Thank you. You're welcome. Good to see you again. quarter after. Any other? Yes, please come. Would you mind elaborating a little bit on the Zen monks dancing? Would I elaborate on it? Yes, and what that denotes, the dancing part. It's very unlike Zen for Zen priests to dance.

[35:18]

Yeah, it's an unusual story, isn't it? Not just a Zen priest, but a Zen master. Dear Bodhisattvas, eat. Dear Bodhisattvas, eat. How's that for elaboration? I hesitated coming here and asking you. I knew that's the kind of story you would give me back. You mean I did just what you knew I'd do? Yeah, I kind of knew you wouldn't give me the answer. You say the nicest things. Thank you. I'm sort of attached to knowing why they were dancing. How... Bodhisattva of you to say so. To admit. To admit that. That's very good. So does that denote freedom of some sort?

[36:21]

As a matter of fact, admitting our attachment is an act of freedom. Yes. No, I mean the dancing. Admitting our attachment is the dance of the Buddhas. I'm attached, I admit it, I'm attached. That's one of the ways Buddhas dance, or bodhisattvas. Buddhas, unfortunately, are beyond attachment. They don't get to be attached anymore. So they got the bodhisattvas to do it for them, and then the bodhisattvas admit it with their dance. So you just did a dance by admitting it. Okay. Any other offerings? Yes, please come.

[37:30]

Um, that's weird. I have something coming up. I don't really have an exact question, but I was wondering maybe if something struck me when you're talking about not abiding. And I think that comes up for me with like, um, just sort of in general, general experience, like, like how to not abide, um, in anything, if that's abiding in something? Well, thanks for the question. And by the way, I have a question for you after I finish my response about the grandson of mine. Oh, sure. So, non-abiding in our in sights and sounds and all kinds of perceptions.

[38:39]

Non-abiding is based on being compassionate with the things that we're not abiding in. So just to non-abide flat out, you know, doesn't make sense. The non-abiding wisdom is based on being generous with things. and being careful with them and being patient with them and being diligent with them and being calm with them. So the way to set the stage for non-abiding is to be this way with everything that happens, everything that is given to you. So you work on the farm, you're relating to lots of physical phenomena, you're also relating to your own thoughts about what's going on. So to be generous towards all these phenomena, to really like be there for them, welcome them, you know, let them be what they are.

[39:41]

Not just like, kind of, oh you can be that way, but... more positive like, I actually am here to support you to be what you are, plant and earth and body and co-workers. I'm here to support you. And then be careful, you know, be careful of these physical things. And be patient with any difficulties, social or physical difficulties you're having in the work. And then be diligent about all the things we just mentioned and see if you really feel enthusiasm about what I just talked about. And if you don't feel enthusiasm, then what you do is you generate enthusiasm by going back to your aspiration. And if you don't have aspiration, then you think about what you've learned about cause and effect.

[40:42]

and maybe what you've learned about how things go when you're not generous and when you're not careful. And if you think about that, then you think, well, actually, I do aspire to be generous and careful and patient. I do, yeah. And you think about that, actually, I do. I really want to. And then you feel the energy to do those practices. But it's hard even to generate the energy if you don't do the practices. If you do the practices, you feel the energy, then you're going to refuel to do the practices more. And then you're ready to calm down with all this situation. Now, on this basis, you're ready to not abide in things. But you see, you're getting really intimate with them through compassion. It's not that we don't abide in things by dissociating from them. It's not that we don't abide in pain or pleasure by dissociating and distancing, except in the case where distancing is an act of generosity. When distancing is an act of generosity, it makes us more intimate.

[41:46]

When we say, I want space from you in a generous way, that makes us closer than just walking away without making that a gift. So it's by practicing, diligently practicing intimacy with things that we don't abide in them. Intimacy with pain and pleasure, we don't abide in it. And then again, the pain and pleasure may still be there, but we're free of it. And the freedom, based on the wisdom of not abiding, is based on being compassionate with the pain and pleasure. So we don't try to get rid of pain. We don't try to get rid of pleasure. We use pain and pleasure as opportunities for compassion. And then when we're fully compassionate, we're ready to be wise and unattached. Unattached and unwise. But that's difficult. It's quite difficult to be generous with some things, to like really say welcome when somebody says, you know, you're really a big disappointment.

[42:54]

Say welcome to that. It's not that I like hearing that, but I would really like to welcome people insulting me. I don't want people to insult me. But I really would like to welcome it. That's what I came to Zen to learn, is to welcome people insulting me. And people have given me opportunities to work on that. And the question I wanted to ask you was, how did Maceo do working on the farm with you? He did well. Do you have any suggestions for areas he could work on? Oh, I guess, I don't know, he did well, like, I worked with him personally a lot. Yeah, right, that's why I asked you, I heard you did. And we... This is a person that calls me granddaddy. And, yeah, I guess, I don't know what I would say for improvement, maybe... like being with the work a little more or something.

[43:59]

Okay. But he did respond to me. He made some suggestions? Yeah, in kind of a joking way. I find that with people, working with people. Yeah, he likes that. Yeah, just kind of in previous work experience, I find it's first kind of nice just to joke around and kind of... As a gift? Yeah, yeah. It's just like, so it's not like you need to, you know... roll up the remake faster or something, but it's like, you know, just make it kind of white and he seemed to respond to that, so I appreciated that. Thank you for taking care of him. Yeah. Would you welcome him back again? Yeah. Anytime, yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Yes, please come. I wanted to ask you if you have the authority to bring the muffins back.

[45:04]

Pardon? Did you say, do I have the authority to bring the muffins back? Yeah. Did you hear the question? Did you hear the question, Jim? That reminds me of a story of my grandson. He said to me, do you have the authority to kick people out of Green Gulch? And I said, no. I said, no, I don't have the authority to kick people out of Green Gulch. He wanted me to kick somebody out. I think probably somebody that insulted him. Anyway, I don't have the authority to bring the muffins back, but I do have the authority to ask for the muffins to come back soon. And for you. Thank you. I don't have any attachments, but still. I know for sure. And I don't have any attachments to showing you how much authority I have.

[46:05]

I love green drinks. No, anyway. But I will ask about the muffins. Do you think there will be muffins next week? Oh, for the food awareness months, they're experimenting. But after that, there'll be muffins again. So for this month, they're going to do unusual things. Okay. So may I go a little bit more into it? Would you allow me? I welcome you to come more into it. Okay. The question is... Thanks for asking. What are they trying to achieve by taking the muffins away? LAUGHTER There's a whole bunch of people who are working on this Food Awareness Month, so I think if you ask them, you'd get different stories. But I imagine that one of the reasons they did this was to get you to ask that question. Another reason is I think they want to offer more things from Green Gulch.

[47:09]

And the muffins are made from things that don't come from Green Gulch. So I think they're trying to offer things that come from this place. That's part of what they're trying to do. But more important is they're trying to help you be enlightened. Enlightened. Do they have the right to that? Because that's a question I ask myself every day when I eat a muffin or ice, or whatever. I have this. I know my attachments. But is that, can they put two tables? One with green drink and one with muffins? So I can understand it a little bit. Do I have the right to interfere with other people's attachments? How do I do it? I don't think, myself, I don't think we have the right to interfere with people. I don't think we have that right. I think we have the right to support people and help people. And one of the ways to help people would be to ask for a muffin table. But as a gift, you know. We're going to have one day here at Green Gulch during this month where we eat nothing but Green Gulch produce the whole day.

[48:16]

all the food that's going to be served is going to be from Green Gulch. So that means probably, you know, no rice, no eggs, no cheese, no, well, there can be fruit, but like apples and pears, everything, all the fruits and vegetables will be coming. And the only kind of like, and no, we don't grow grains here. So the starch will be potatoes. So there can be potatoes for breakfast, there can be mashed potatoes for breakfast, and roasted potatoes for dinner. So the whole day is one day, the whole day, just Green Gulch produce. However, even that day, if you come as a guest, they have a special table for guests where you can have eggs and cheese and muffins. So for the guests who come who don't know about this day, they're going to have a different table. And even the Green Gulch people, if they can't stand it, they can go over there. But the main offering is going to be just green gulch produce for one day. But even one day is kind of a big deal. To do a whole month might be hard for most people.

[49:23]

To have a whole month with... There's a tiny bit of protein in vegetables and there's a tiny bit of protein in potatoes, but not much. But you can survive on only potatoes for quite a while and be a good Irishman. There's a lot of nutrition in it, but not much protein. But if you eat enough potatoes, you can survive quite nicely for a while. But most people don't want to do that for more than a day around here. So there is an alternative. We're trying to do this meditation on food in an enlightening way, not being too harsh about it. So I hope you survive this month of no muffins. But I'll ask anyway. Or maybe Holman and I will make muffins for you. But I'll make you some muffins, but you have to come to Utah to get them. I'm going to Utah.

[50:23]

But I'll buy you some muffins if you come. Is that a retreat? What are you doing in Utah? I'm going to be going into the geological formations of the Southwest. I'm going to be moving into the arches and the crevices of the earth and looking at the rocks, the way they do their thing, and the way the rivers run through. I'm going to be doing that. And I'll be having muffins in your honor. Anything else? Any other gifts? Any other offerings? Well, thank you very much for your wholehearted attention.

[51:19]

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