I see why you have your hands on the traditional meditation in your throats. Is the place where your thumbtips coming together right under your navel? I... I haven't been... I didn't do dobsang yesterday, and I saw one person today But my intention is basically not to do it for a while because I want us to get settled, all of us, first. Sometimes when we have sashims in San Francisco or Greenville, people come to the sashims and I don't know what they're intending to do during session, and also a lot of them don't necessarily know what to work on.

[01:11]

So sometimes people need to have doksan right away. But that's why I saw one person, I saw Shinsen, Because she was coming down from San Francisco, from Green Gulch. I wanted to know what she was going to work on with Sashim. That's why I asked you before Sashim to think about what you were going to work on and tell me. So I'd know beforehand. So when Sashim started, I wouldn't have to interrupt your sitting. And you would also know right at the beginning what you were going to do. Please trust me, because it maybe takes several days for us to get settled.

[02:20]

And I think you all know what to do. I think you all know how to settle. And I think you basically know what to do after you get settled. And my talks are mostly about what to do after getting settled. I'm not putting so much emphasis on doing anything to get settled. to get concentrated. I leave that to you. I think you know lots of techniques how to do that. But basically, you just do it. You know? You just settle down. That's it. Really, there's no technique necessary. Just do it. and there's no need to wait any longer.

[03:26]

Bodhidharma recommends that you pacify your mind, calm your mind, stabilize yourself, the body of the mind, without any contrivance, without any device or technique. Just simply do it. Once you've settled into a steady and mobile sitting position, then we go to work on insight. Again, most of what I'm bringing up for your consideration is about insight, is about wisdom.

[04:34]

And these practices occur in a state of stabilized body and mind. these things I'm bringing up, these teachings I'm bringing up. In some sense, just let them sink in. Just remember them until the time comes when you can use them. There are some of them, just the idea of like a surgical technique, a very a very subtle and tender surgical technique, which you may not be able to apply until your hand becomes very steady. You may not even understand what it means to do it until your hand becomes very steady, and when your hand becomes steady you can just do it. The basic subtle surgical technique is, of course, to drop cell clinging.

[05:51]

To identify the place and just put your finger on it and poof! Put the finger of your awareness on it and that's it. It drops of its cell. Muga asked about some examples of leaping. And seamless meditation, a seamless meditation, is a non-leaping type of meditation. If you have a theme, and most Buddhist meditations that have themes, of course, are wholesome themes, still, If there's a feed or if there's a seed in your concentration practice, there can be leaking across that seed. So if you use any technique to get yourself concentrated, if you're doing anything to yourself to make yourself into a concentrated person, there's a seed in there.

[07:05]

And such meditation practices have outflows. In Buddhism, there are a vast array of meditation practices, of concentration practices, which have outflows, which leak. Or you might say that suck. Because there's still some idea of improving or doing something to make yourself a certain way. These are recommended to people, but they do have outflows. Then after you have insight, after you see that there's no seeing between things, that there's just one thing, then when you do meditation practice it doesn't have an outflow. That's why Bodhidharma said and his disciples say that if you just don't have an object before you, your mind is spontaneously at peace.

[08:10]

If there's just not a scene in the awareness between subject and object, the mind is immediately at peace. And as soon as there is a scene, the mind is agitated. As I have said a number of times, Bodhidharma recommendation is outside. Stop.

[09:18]

All involvements. Inside. No coughing or sighing in the mind. With your mind like a wall, thus you enter the way. This is his instruction to his disciple, Poyka. One day, Boyka came to Bodhijarma and said, I already have no involvements.

[10:26]

I've already ended all involvements." And the Ancestry said, straighten your neck. No, he didn't say that, I was saying that. The Ancestry said, doesn't that fall into nihilism? And Huayca said, no. Bodhi Dharma said, how can you prove it? Huayca said, I'm always clearly observing. No words can reach it. Therefore, no words can reach it.

[11:34]

What the diamond said, This is the essence of mind, which all Buddhists have realized. Doubt no more. I have already ended all involvements. Now, when you say that, Bodhidharma may say to you, isn't this nihilism? So, do you know what nihilism is? Now, first of all, I was a little surprised to hear Bodhidharma say this, because I didn't know he was such a philosopher. But I guess he had to use it in these circumstances to test, to see how His disciple understood this. And I'd like to point out that I'm talking to you now.

[12:39]

I'm using words. And that they were using words with each other. In some of the stories I read yesterday, throughout the history, it says again and again, at these words, he woke up. At these words he had a great enlightenment. The great miracle of the Buddha is his speech. Speech is how the teaching comes, basically. And it's how we also test to see what's going on with our friends. So he's checking to see if this is nihilism he's talking about when he says, I have no involvements.

[13:41]

Nihilism is a number of things. One of the things it is, is it's actually a doctrine that nothing exists. So when you say, I have no involvements, one thing you might mean is that I don't have any involvements, like nothing's happening. There isn't anything. Another meaning of nihilism is that all the moral systems, all the ethical systems which have previously been established are refuted. And therefore, violent overthrow of the establishment is okay and so on. Any kind of self-indulgence would be okay then.

[14:42]

This is the kind of Neolism you find in the Brothers Karamazov. It was a fad in 19th century Russia. to, because nothing exists, you can do whatever you want. Karmic results don't really exist, actions don't really exist, so go ahead. It's like, in some sense, the photographic negative of materialism. So Bodhidharma says, is that possible that you've stood in a nihilist? And Bodhika says, no. Well, prove it. I am always clearly aware.

[15:46]

So he has no involvements. But he is always clearly aware. There's no involvements, but there is a radiant awareness. And there is no involvements with radiant awareness. Therefore, he says, words cannot reach it. When the mind terminates in mere concept, and there is just clear awareness, there is a word there.

[17:00]

But no word can reach that word. For example, the word outside. Outside, stop all involvements. This is outside. Stop all involvements means no words can reach the outside. There's just the outside. There's just the object. No words can reach it. There's just what's happening. Clear, radiant awareness of what's happening. And nothing can touch it. Nothing can come from it or go to it. Nothing can approach it. It can't approach anything. There's just that. So something is happening. There is awareness. But nothing can reach it. Nothing can touch it. There's no involvements.

[18:06]

There's no activities aligned around it. In the herd, there will be just the herd. That's stopping involvements and that is clear awareness and no word can reach that herd. Yes? In the rain? Right. I'm saying, Vasi Bhandu is saying, that when you hear the rain, you hear a concept of the rain. When you hear the rain, you don't know, when you just hear the rain as a perception, you don't know you hear it.

[19:11]

When you know you hear the rain, you're dealing with a concept. And there's a word. At the level of knowledge, you're dealing with a word. The word may not be rain, Even for this, it may not be rain, but there's some words you're aware of when you hear this stuff we call rain. When you know you hear it, there's a word there. There is a word. There is experience at a level below words, but you don't know about that experience. And that experience below the level of words fuels the experience at the level of words, which is a level we know about. So when we're sitting here, the rain is so wonderful because not only are we sort of gurgling around in the actual experience of listening to the rain, the direct, immediate, juicy experience of this rain falling and coming into our ears, we have that experience, that's part of our life, but we don't know about it.

[20:13]

Then we also have the wonderful level of experience of concepts of what this rain is, that level we know about. That comes in word by word. Each word is just that. And if you're clearly aware, and that's it. There's no involvements with that word, there's just the word. Then there's no self-clinging. There's just radiant awareness, clear awareness, and no involvements. This is the essence of mind, which all the Buddhists have realized. Yes. You mean, why do I say it's juicy? It's intuition. I don't know that. Yeah. I don't really know that. I just said it. I mean, it rings a bell, but... Yeah, it rings a bell, but not in the realm of knowing.

[21:15]

You can't know this. What? I remember everyone saying, at the start of the moment, Bishop walked in a sunset, and he insisted that no matter how much you're into a sunset or into a flower or whatever, you're still going... The experience is still going through words, you know. There's still words, you need to get those words. And I tried to say that... We can have a juicy sunset, you know, without words. That's right. And what does Vasubhanda say about that? Well, what did he just say? He said what? What did he say? About the juicy one where there's no words. What did he say about that? Yeah. Well, either that's just perception or... It is just perception, and what does he say about that? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The serene body of release happens at the level of conception.

[22:17]

Yeah, but that's not what you're talking about. You talked about where there's no language. That's perception, okay? That does happen. When does it happen? He told you when it happens. It happens before. Before? Well, it happens before. It's when there's a sense field and the sense sorting of the triad in there. Yes, and? And rising, that consciousness in the mind is... No, that's the point. It's before that. He says, the fifth, not the fifth, the third transformation of consciousness always happens except in a state of stupor or epilepsy or in these special states, right? Remember that? It's in those states when the so-called sixth consciousness, the mind consciousness, isn't functioning, which happens sometimes.

[23:21]

Like if you're watching a sunset and you're having an epileptic fit at that time, okay, you actually can feel the sunset, you're experiencing the sunset, you don't know the sunset in an ordinary way, but it's happening to you, or in certain trances. Oh, they're plenty juicy. You ever see anybody have an epileptic fit? Yeah, but that's not what I see. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. I'm time-intuiting myself. When I see you do it, I can see obviously it is. You know? If you watch... Obviously what? If you watch a being operating below language, you can see they're very juicy, still. It's a very juicy level of experience. Yes, I agree, but... Right. We don't know that level of experience. It's not a level which you know about. Anyway, I'm just trying to refer you back to the text.

[24:25]

The text says that this level of reflection and then awareness of objects, that happens all the time to a human being, except in special states. So I would say you might be right. that there are experiences like sunset or something that you could have and you wouldn't have language, okay? There could be such experiences, but those would only happen to you if you were in some kind of a coma, stupor, epileptic fit, something like that. That's when it would happen to you. Otherwise, the other part of your mind, which converts things into concepts, is always operating. That's what he says. Most moments, your conceptual activity is going on. Therefore, most moments, you have knowledge of something. It seems like there's inspiration for words and there's words. Right. Inspiration for words is what we call the level of just perception, sense perception.

[25:26]

Those are the inspirations for words. Those are the percepts that you use to make concepts. I can understand if I just feel that. Yeah, it seems like I can feel a free verbal experience. Right, and you think you feel that way, and the level at which you would know that and feel that is the level that you say is not the only one that's always happening, or is not the only one you can know about. So at the level that you can know things, in the realm that you can know things, you can have a concept. that there is another state which is different, which isn't like this, where you do know things. So you can make up a language story about a place where you can know things where there isn't language. Okay? Which is what you're doing. Can you follow that? I follow it, but I... But you're also saying that there is such a thing. Yes, I... And what I'm saying to you is that... I think it's still a theory, though.

[26:29]

It's a theory. Yeah, it's a theory. That theory that I'm making up a conceptual, a dribbled conception world, a world where I've been perceiving the upwards... Right. ...that that itself is... That's right. ...matches things to manage this experience in a way that... or not. Okay. There is a realm, okay? I shall tell you what the Buddhist theory is, okay? Buddhist theory is, the theory of Shakyamuni Buddha, Vasubandhu, and so on, is there is a level. There is an order of life called the level of perception. Okay? That realm is part of our life, very important part of our life. Without that, we wouldn't have a life. That wouldn't be what life is. And if you forget about that level, you won't understand reality. Okay? There is such an order. Alright? That's the Buddhist theory.

[27:31]

And also, there's another order called the conceptual level. If you don't have that level, you also won't understand what's happening. Those are two levels. They get to penetrate each other. Okay? And the other part of the theory is the top level, the level of conception, that's the level of words. All those concepts are words. And that's the level where knowledge is The level below, there's not really knowledge. There's consciousness, there's awareness, but it's not real clear. Yeah, that's what we said. There's organ, field, and consciousness at that level. There is consciousness, but the consciousness in this case is not clear, does not produce knowledge. At the next level, The percepts that were dealt with in the previous level, at the lower level, at the more basic and immediate level, which I call juicy. From up here, I look down and I say, it's juicy.

[28:32]

You can see it's juicy if you watch organisms at that level. It's very juicy. The other level is juicy too. It's an important level. But down there, they don't know what's going on. It's dark. That's what we call psyche when she was in love before she turned the lights on. Okay? There's even bliss down there. Is there even memory of the pre-verbal consciousness? Is there memory of it? Yes. Well, the pre-verbal consciousness is part of what is, again, the fuel for the verbal consciousness. So the stuff that happens there, those seeds there, there's seeds down there, all the seeds of past action which can What you use to put together a concept, they're all there. But they're in the dark. It's dark down there. That's all. There's plenty happening, you know. There's a lot of touchy-feely stuff happening down there. But it's in the dark. Nobody knows what's happening.

[29:32]

So, Psyche wants to turn the lights on. So she turns the lights on, and zappos, she gets words. And then she knows things. Okay? But then you have to reunite after you get to reunite. So we at the conceptual level want to reunite with the perceptual level. But when you reunite, you don't go down there and not see this stuff. It's just that the separation between the level of conception and the level of perception is removed. They're united into one life. But you still don't get to see in the dark because as soon as you turn the lights on in the dark, it isn't the dark anymore. Okay? So sitting here anyway, enjoying the rain, it's wonderful that it's raining, isn't it? Aren't you happy? For various reasons, probably many people here are happy. It's good for the farmers. It's good for the summer. It cleans the stream. And it's lovely to listen to at the level of concepts. But also we like it. It also makes us happy because at another level of our body that we don't know about, we're going, ooh, this is fun.

[30:38]

We can listen to them rain. course, it's not that talk, but there is an enjoyment at another level. So we get this double enjoyment. That's where they got the idea of doublement gum. Okay. Double your pleasure. The only problem is when these two levels of pleasure are separated. That's why you want to reunite them, and they are reunited when you at the level of words. The work is done at the level of words. You can't do any work down there below. Down in the sewer, everything's happening on its own. It's taken care of. Don't worry about it. As long as you don't have brain damage, it's happening. The work happens at the level of words because it's at the level of words that we start clinging and interfering with the process and separating things and believing in the existence of things. So that's why we say, outside, No involvements. Clearly aware.

[31:40]

No words can reach the word. Just word after word after word after word. Concept after concept after concept. Just that. Outside, outside, outside, outside. Outside with no involvements. Object with no activities around it. There's just the object. There's not the object and activities around it. There's the object and then there's activities. which are now another object. And not activities around that object, another object. They're just object after object after object. And we're very fast and we can handle them one after another. It's only the idea of cleaning that groups them together into these little mobs and makes it look like there's activity around things. Everything that you're ever aware of shines trustee and completely brilliantly clear right before you. There's always only one thing. And nothing can touch it. And that's no leaking.

[32:42]

Seamless, seamless meditation. And if you attribute, if you say when something like that's happening, and you say I have no involvement, if you say nothing's happening, that's something happening with an additional word reaching over to it saying nothing's happening. OK? So. When a person gets close to this state of just being able to leave things alone and have no involvement, this is very closely associated with what we call the realization of emptiness. It is the realization of emptiness. At that point, being a little very delicate and very sensitive and tender and subtle. You have to be very still at that point. Because when you get to the point where you can just stop all involvements and let things happen, there is a reflex that can happen to that stop all involvements in the next moment.

[33:55]

A kind of reflex which says something about that. Like, hey, wait a minute, who took everything away? Or the rug's being pulled out. Or I have nowhere to get a hole. This is more language. It's not language about the actual situation where you have no involvements. It's just language that happened right after that. It's language which then says, well, I know how to respond to this. I'll think up something. Maybe I'll think up there isn't anything. In other words, I'll fall into nihilism. That'll fix it. You think I can't get a hold of something? Well, I'd certainly get a hold of nihilism. Even if you show me something like no involvement, I can make that into something. But that's not non-involvements, that's involvements in a certain philosophical game called nihilism.

[35:00]

If you say, I can't get a hold of anything, it's true that you can't get a hold of anything, but when you say that, you have gotten a hold of something. So that's not true that you can't get a hold of anything. You think you can get a hold of anything, that's why you're saying that. So there's a contradiction there. And... And again, Simone Weil says something about this again. She says, when you can confront the void, when you confront the void finally, you're either going to get fed a wonderful nutrition or you're going to fall. So if you can just meet your life without any involvements, At that point, this is the greatest food. You'll get really well fed. Unless you then get involved again, and then you will fall.

[36:09]

And it's kind of like worse than usual then. It's one of the little hazards around in spiritual practice. Just like I said at the end of the talk yesterday, you don't need anything other than your body and mind. You can drop, you can put aside all your addictions. You don't need any of them. The basic addiction is this involvement around objects. You can drop it. It's scary, in a way, to think about it, because you think you're going to fall into this cliff, if you think about it. But if you don't do that and you just drop them, this thing, whatever it is, will be very good food. And wasn't the rice good this morning? What's next? Do you think so? That was really good. Really good rice. Even without gamashio. Now, you can put gamashio in if you want to, it's okay, but it was good without it.

[37:17]

Just got to watch out for the addiction to gamashio. Gomasio is OK by itself. And it's OK with rice, too. But it's not too good when it gets stuck onto the rice. And the rice can't be separated from a gomasio. And you think if you take the gomasio away, you're going to be a goner. Really, it was good without it. Akwaika said, if false thoughts are not born and you sit in purity, you sit in silent purity, the great sun of nirvana is spontaneously bright and clear.

[38:38]

If you, if false thoughts are not born and you sit in silent purity, the great sun of nirvana is spontaneously bright and clear. So sitting in silent purity, it doesn't mean you don't hear the rain. It means hearing, in hearing, there is just a hurry. In the hurry, in the hurry, there is just a hurry. That's what silent purity means. False thoughts are the involvements around the hearing. False thoughts are something more than the herd in the herd. When there's something more than the herd in the herd, that's a false thought. When those aren't born, and you sit there,

[39:43]

with the herd being just the herd. Sit silently in the purity of the herd being just the herd. Nirvana appears there. And one definition of nirvana which I like is unshakable faith in efficacy of beauty. Unshakable faith in the efficacy of the herd to be just the herd. Knowing that you don't have to do one thing more than that. Unshakable faith in white rice being white rice. That taste being just that taste and nothing more. If your faith in that cannot be shaken, We really, really don't worry about anything more than that.

[40:47]

That's nirvana's. Epty yet radiantly bright. Conditioned thought ended. Acutely discerning, aware, always open and clear. Nobody knows how to do that. It's just something that you just simply do it before you know how. Right under our nose right now, this way. If you wish to speak.

[42:00]

Please speak. He said it sounds like always being close to Buddhist three bodies. I said it wouldn't be distressing. Sounds like Buddhist three bodies. Sounds like what I've been discussing has to do with Buddhist free bodies and always being close. Yeah, well, that's right. This is... He's in that lineage, that guy. Dung San's in this lineage, right? We're talking about number 28 and 29, okay? And he's 38. So when we get to 38, I'll bring him up, okay? That's my client. I'm going down the list. Bodhidharma, Huayka, Seng San, Daoxian, Peng Ren, Huyneng, Qing Se, Yao Shang, Yun Yuan, Dong Shang.

[43:16]

So, when I get to Dong Shang I'll bring up the three bodies. Now I thought I was going to go a little further today than I did, I got a feeling any minute it's going to be kind of like, shoot way ahead there. But yes, it definitely, all these people are teaching the same thing. It's the same thing. That case is exactly this. There's only one thing that they teach. They say that over and over. There is only one thing. And all the Buddhas practice that one thing. That's it. There's only one. It's called mere consciousness. It's called the herd in the herd. It's called no involvement around the optic. It's called no coughing or sighing in the mind. It's called making your mind like a wall. It's called being close to that among the three bodies of Buddha which doesn't fall into any category.

[44:22]

All the same exact teaching. It's called thinking of that which doesn't think. What? That's right. That's there too, isn't it? Right. You can't approach this teaching. Right? As soon as you go towards it, you're removed from its environs. When you first approach the way, okay, you're removed from its environs. Right? That's a race for beginners. You can't do that anymore. You got to do that when your first game is in. Okay, you got to approach it. And then because you tried to approach it, you got set back several steps. Like what's that game Simon Says? Right? Come forward. And if you come forward, go back. You have to say, may I? And if you say, may I, the answer is, no, you may not.

[45:25]

You have to stay right where you are. You cannot approach it. You can't approach this teaching. You cannot approach your feelings. You cannot approach colors. You cannot approach the herd. You cannot approach the scene. You cannot approach it. If you approach the scene, that's not the scene being just the scene. That's approaching it. Okay? It may be wholesome to approach the scene, but it's leaking. If you approach, it's a leak. It's misery. It may be wholesome misery. object of thought. If it is an object of thought, then you'll approach it, or it'll approach you. OK? OK? What? . Yeah. Is that happening? That will stop.

[46:27]

Is that happening before? Not just the object. No, but it's happening after. Simultaneous. And the spot, I'll tell you the spot right away, I'll tell you. The spot where the self thing happens is right at the object. And at that very moment, simultaneous, that's what happens. Object, involvement, yeah, we got involvement. That's self. It's right there with that involvement. I'm not going to let things just happen. I'm going to own them. I'm not just going to listen to the pop. I'm going to be there and cash in on this. And it's going to be, I'm going to judge it. And it's going to be, you know, good or bad. And I'm going to want it or not want it. I'm going to hate it or love it. It's right there. The spot where self-planning happens is right on that object. Right there with that blue jay. There was a self-clinging right there. That's where it will be. It'll be right with each drop of rain you hear. That's where the self-clinging will be. Okay? That's the place you should be. Okay? Alright?

[47:27]

That's where you should be. And when you're there, then just let that sound, just let the sound, the heard be the heard. If you can work on that and train yourself at that, The better you get at that, the worse you'll get at self-cleaning. Now you're training. You're training at hearing the herd in the herd. You're training for the scene, in the scene, for there just to be the scene. You're training at that now. Right? You're training at that. You're relatively good or not good at that exercise, at that training. When you're really good at it, there will be no self-cleaning. The self-clinging is that there's more than the herd in the herd. What? Well, there's self. And there's a lot of other stuff then, too. Then when there's self, there's greed, hate, and delusion, and that long list of stuff, right? So that's where it happens.

[48:34]

And that's where it's cut out. The place it happens is the place it drops. Not everything happens at this place. There's more things happening than this. For example, there's this perceptual order. But that's not a problem. We're talking of just words concentrating on what the problem is. The problem is this clean, is this, you know, jumping around mental activity around these objects. That's the problem. Once that's taken care of, this whole other realm of life, which is totally working just fine, will just be, uh, flood right back in there, and you'll be united with it, and you'll feel, uh, well, who cares? Yeah, juicy, among other things, right? Juicy. And you can go on, how wonderful it is.

[49:35]

Radiant, wonderful, nirvana shining away there. That's what you'll feel, right? You'll feel totally steadfast. You'll see beauty everywhere, and you not only will see beauty, but you will know that that's enough. It's enough that everything is beautiful. That's good enough. Still, it's also nice then to work for the benefit of all beings, which you'll be much better suited to do after you stop leaking and realize that the beauty you see everywhere and all the beautiful people you see who are in terrible pain That's enough just to hang out with them and see the beauty. And you'll be solid just like a Buddha. And you'll be looking at exactly the same thing. You'll be working with exactly the same one thing that all the Buddhas worked with. Satchmas. You'll be riding on the same surfboard as all the Buddhas. Helping sentient beings.

[50:36]

and be real close to that which doesn't fall into any category. You've got your three-part Buddha body, and you're not falling into any category. You're real close to that. You don't even have it. You don't even fall into having it. You're just close to it. Real close. Now, this poem by George Herbert that Simone Weil memorized, You know, the word love could be replaced by breath, could be replaced by suchness. Suchness bade me welcome. Breath bade me welcome. Truth bade me welcome. But my soul

[51:42]

drew back, guilty of dust and sin. But quick-eyed love, observing me grow slack from my first entrance in, drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning if I lacked anything. I guessed, I said, worthy to be here. Love said, You shall be she. I, the unkind, the ungrateful? Ah, my dear, I cannot look on thee. Love took my hand, and smiling did reply, Who gave these eyes but I?

[52:50]

Truth, Lord, but I have marred them. Let my shame go where it doth deserve. And know you not, says Lo, who bore the blame? Ah. My dear, then I will serve. You must sit down, says Lowe, and taste my meat. So I did sit and eat. Enshrine this tenderness.

[53:59]

Let it guide you in learning the way of having no objects of thought. Let it guide you in the miraculous art of letting there be just the herd in that herd. So, Thank you.

[55:05]

What? [...] I don't know what I want to do with that, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, [...]

[55:52]

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