I forgot to talk to Reverend Steve Hagen about something. And that was in the last newsletter that I got from Adama Fields, there was an article by you about meditation. Is that right? And he was talking about what meditation was. And I was going to make some comment on that. But I thought I should ask him before I made a comment, just to make sure he would be okay with me doing that. But I forgot to ask you. And as I read the article, he said, meditation is... I don't remember exactly what he said, but he said, meditation is something.

[01:03]

And I thought, oh, the type of meditation you're talking about is what I would call the meditation of the Buddhas. So some people do other kinds of meditation from that. But I think the type of meditation that you were talking about in the article is a type of meditation which I think the Buddhas and what we call Buddha ancestors, that's a practice that they're involved in. And I'd like to talk about Buddha's meditation also tonight. It may turn out to be kind of similar to that article. And so I would make the proposal to you that enlightenment is the silent bond among all beings.

[02:11]

And what I mean by all beings is I mean like all living beings, all enlightened living beings, and all unenlightened living beings, but also among non-living beings like rocks, wood, walls, tiles, mountains, the bond between all these beings is enlightenment. And it's a silent bond. I'm talking about it now, but my words do not reach this bond. However, my words are in the bond. All beings are bonded to my words. My words are in a bonded relationship with the mountains and the stars.

[03:37]

And that way, that relationship, that silent relationship is enlightenment. All of us live in this bond that we have with all beings, of course. We all are living in this enlightenment. And of course all Buddhas live in that relationship that they have with each other and with us. Buddhas are those who have realized

[04:46]

who understand this relationship. And unenlightened people are those who, although living in it, their consciousness has not been illuminated by it even though this enlightenment is light. Our relationship with each other is light. Our relationship with each other is enlightenment. However, some of our consciousnesses have not been illuminated by the light in which we live. And some consciousnesses have been illuminated. And no consciousness reaches this relationship.

[05:49]

But this relationship can illuminate all consciousness, all consciousnesses. And this relationship actually is a consciousness. And each of our consciousnesses are also a relationship. But our individual consciousnesses are not the bond among all of our consciousnesses. Our individual consciousnesses are the relationship between our body, the sensitive, the sensuous body, and the sensible universe. The dance between our body, our sensitive body, and the sensible universe in conjunction with a previous cognition is the relationship which is our cognition.

[06:57]

And our cognition, which is a relationship, not a thing in itself but a relationship, is in a relationship with all other consciousnesses and all other beings which are not conscious. And all the beings, living and non-living, are emanating this relationship and expressing this relationship to everything else that they're related to. Each thing is expressing the universe manifested as itself. And the way it expresses it is it emits a light to all other things which it's related to, which are supported by it and which support it. This enlightenment, this relationship, is the meditation of the Buddhas. You could say tentatively that Buddhas meditate on this relationship.

[08:05]

But actually it isn't that they meditate on it. Their meditation is that relationship. Their meditation is enlightenment. their meditation, their practice is this enlightenment. And enlightenment is their practice. But not everybody has a practice which is this relationship. Those are the unenlightened. But the enlightened are meditating on how the unenlightened are related to them and I said meditated on, but their meditation is the relationship between themselves and unenlightened and the [...] enlightened and the living and the non-living. That is the practice of Buddha. That is the Buddha's meditation. And you could also say, in some contexts, You know, like in a club that had Buddhas in it, you could say, well, let's practice meditation, and that's the kind of meditation they would do.

[09:15]

Matter of fact, that's what they are, is they are that meditation. Buddhas are that meditation. And so in a way the practice, I think, you know, the tradition of practice that comes through the person we call Ehe Dogen, Zenji, that person, my understanding is this is what practice was for him too. He called it the self-fulfilling samadhi, the self-fulfilling awareness. And that is the practice of enlightenment, the awareness of self-fulfillment or the self-fulfilling awareness, awareness of how we are created, the bond of support by which we're created, and by which we also support all other beings.

[10:24]

Meditation on that is the fundamental practice of his life. However, because of attachment, because of holding to our stories, because of being caught by the discriminations that we experience, we are blinded to this light. We are blinded to this relationship in which we live. We are blinded to how we support all beings and how all beings support us.

[11:25]

Being blinded to how all beings support us and how we support all beings, we tend to desire pleasure, thinking that pleasure will will free us from desire and attachment and suffering. Yeah. We desire pleasure thinking that pleasure will free us from desire. Being ignorant of this relationship, we feel afflicted. Being ignorant of how we support everyone, being blind to that, we feel uncomfortable.

[12:40]

In our discomfort, we desire pleasure, thinking that it will not just be pleasurable, Not just pleasurable, but super pleasurable. So pleasurable, actually, that it will eliminate suffering, at least for a moment. And then if we can get pleasure again, pleasure could again eliminate suffering. We are built to think that pleasure will be more pleasurable than it is. And we believe this because we ignore the truth of our relationship with all beings. So there's a difference between desiring pleasure and desiring happiness. I would distinguish pleasure from happiness.

[13:42]

because many people in the state of pleasure are unhappy and frightened and can even be violent in their fear while they feel pleasure yearning for happiness there is a yearning for happiness which is actually a yearning not for pleasure and not for pain but a yearning to see the truth It is a yearning for happiness because seeing the truth is happiness. Because we will feel happy when we see how we are supporting all beings, when we see how we are supporting all Buddhas, giving them work to do, giving them students, When we see how we're supporting all Buddhas and how we're supporting all living beings and supporting all non-living beings, when we see this, and we see how they're all supporting us, we see the truth.

[14:57]

This is the truth. This is the Dharma. And it is not the truth like other things are false, it's the truth, it's the type of truth which when seen clearly is happiness. And it's a happiness that doesn't go away when you're in pain and doesn't get stronger when you're in pleasure. It accepts, it gracefully and graciously accepts pain and pleasure and is not the least bit disturbed by pain and pleasure and does not seek pain and pleasure. It is seeing the truth. It is seeing enlightenment. It is realizing enlightenment. However, because of our past holding to stories of what's going on, we tend now to hold to stories of what's going on.

[16:04]

And holding to stories of what's going on, we tend to hold to stories in the future, future stories about what's going on. And holding even just a little bit to our story of what's going on is sufficient to blind us, to enlightenment. And enlightenment is not, it doesn't last, but it's always the way we are. The way we're supporting each other now doesn't last, but we always are supporting each other. It's always that way, but the way it is doesn't last. It's always a new way. And this relationship, this enlightenment, by the way, you know, the English word enlightenment and the English word enlightened and the English word enlighten and the English word enlightening, they're actually kind of good words.

[17:30]

They actually, the way those words are constructed, it actually, the way it says in the dictionary actually will help you understand what enlightenment is. So it's nice that when people started, I don't know what, transmitting the teaching of the Buddha to English, it's nice that they chose the word enlightenment, enlighten, enlighten. It's nice that they chose those words. because those words actually are good guides to realizing enlightenment, being enlightened, and the activity of enlightening. Enlightenment in most dictionaries means a transcendent leaping beyond desire and suffering. it's a state it's the enlightened state and it's the cause enlightenment is the cause of enlightening someone and enlightenment is enlightening someone so it is the state

[19:00]

of our relationship with everyone and that state of our relationship is the cause of us being enlightened. Enlightened means that you have been freed from ignorance and prejudice and suffering. Enlightened means you are well informed It means you've achieved a great realization and understanding. And enlighten means to free somebody from ignorance and prejudice. So enlightenment is this relationship among us and it is the cause of us being enlightened. of being illuminated about this and being free of the suffering that comes from not being illuminated by this relationship.

[20:09]

One kind of consciousness, one kind of consciousness blinds us to another kind of consciousness. Ordinary consciousness, generally speaking, blinds us to enlightenment. Because ordinary consciousness, generally speaking, is attached to its own activity and to its own discriminations. If we study that which the type of cognition, the type of consciousness which blinds us, if we study it and learn about it and understand it, we will leap beyond it, or there will be a leaping beyond it.

[21:49]

And studying it means to notice how we are hung up or caught up to discriminations and to our rendition, our mental ideas about our relationship with the world. by studying this blinding consciousness there is a leaping and the leaping is caused again by enlightenment which can now work on us because we are aware of how we're resisting its work on us. But if we don't notice, which we can, how we're holding If we don't notice that, then the holding functions fully.

[23:07]

The holding continues to be effective holding and blinding. But as we notice the holding and also notice the blinding in the sense that we can see that we do not see how everyone is supporting us. And even if you think you can see how everyone is supporting you, you're right, everyone's supporting you. But what you see, how you see or the story you see of how everyone's supporting you is not how everyone's supporting you. How everyone's supporting you is inconceivable is inconceivably wonderful. Once again, it's not that you can't conceive of how everyone's helping you. It's not that you can't conceive of how you're helping everyone.

[24:10]

You can, I can. It's just that my conception of how you're helping me is not how you're helping me. Now of course if I can see that you're not helping me, that's wrong. It's just wrong because you are helping me. But if I can see how you are not helping me, that's also not how you're helping me. Did you get that? That was a little tricky. Your ideas of how people are not helping you is also not how they are helping you. How they're helping you is not caught by your ideas that they're not. If you think I'm not helping you, that does not stop the way I'm helping you at all. It just stops you from realizing it if you believe it. Now, if you think I'm not helping you and you're not attached to that at all, but you think I'm not helping you, you will become free from your ideas that I'm not helping you.

[25:17]

and you will open to realizing how not just I'm helping you, but everybody's helping you. However, if you hold your ideas of how people are helping you, you will not see how they're helping you. And of course, it's nice to think people are helping you, and it's nice to think you're helping people, and especially nice to think you're helping people and be happy that you're helping people. It's very nice. But it's not the truth. What you see and what you think is not the truth. The way you're helping people is much more wonderful than anybody can think of, including Buddha. Buddhas can think of how they're helping people. They can do that. Or rather, you can do that if you're a Buddha. It's not a problem. But the Buddhists do not believe that what they think of how they're helping people is how they're helping people. They know it's just a little game they're playing to hang out with people.

[26:26]

So you have an idea of how you're helping people? Yeah. I got one. I got six, actually. And I'll have a different set in a second. But I don't believe any of them are the way I'm helping or being helped. You can see, I can see, you can see your ideas of how you're helping people. You can see your ideas of how people are helping you. You can see your ideas of how you don't want to help people. You can see your ideas of how you don't want to support people, and how you do want to support people, and how they don't support... You can see all that, actually, if you pay attention. And you can see that you're caught by some of that. And you can notice... that because you're caught by it, you can notice, you can realize that you do not realize enlightenment. You can tell that you're miserable when you believe anything you think. Through enlightenment, through the support of all beings, you and I can have a mind which is affected by greed, hatred, and delusion.

[28:04]

When I have a mind that has greed in it, or hatred in it, or delusion, that mind, that mind, is in a relationship with all other minds. All other minds support me to have a mind which is poisoned by greed. I'm not unsupported when my mind is one of greed. I am supported. And my mind of greed supports all other minds, all of the greedy minds, all of the confused minds, all other hateful minds, all enlightened minds. All enlightened people support me to be deluded. I support all enlightened people to be enlightened. That's always the case. And if I have a mind of greed, hate and delusion, I can act in basically two ways with a mind of greed, hate and delusion.

[29:06]

I can act skillfully, And skillful by definition is a way of acting that brings favorable results, happy results, or pleasurable results. Actually, yeah, advantageous results. And the mind of greed, hate, and delusion can also be involved in activities which are unskillful, which bring states of woe. This mind... This relationship can support minds that are poisoned and that do skillful and unskillful things. And then when skillful things are happened, we can tense up around them and stiffen up around them and get attached to good results. And when unskillful minds manifest, we can stiffen up around them and get pushed around and tortured by unfortunate results.

[30:08]

This stiffening up around good and stiffening up around evil is what binds us to the light which is going on in both cases. Good and evil both come from enlightenment supporting beings to give rise to greed, hate, and delusion. if we tense up around our delusion, our greed, hate, and delusion, and the actions which come there, we continue to be blind. So we are not encouraged to try to eliminate greed, hate, and delusion in this Buddhist meditation. Buddha is not trying to eliminate these minds.

[31:11]

Buddha is not trying to... if there's anybody here who has a deluded mind, Buddha is not trying to eliminate you or your mind. And Buddha is not encouraging you to eliminate it. Buddha is encouraging you to study it, learn about it. Buddhas are those who have studied and understand the mind of greed, hate, and delusion. Since there are such minds available, there's the opportunity to do the same practice of a Buddha, is to study them, to be generous towards them, to be generous towards them, to let them be what they are as an act of giving. as an act of giving which is so joyful there's no fear of the most horrible mind there is generosity towards the worst mind and therefore there is freedom from the worst mind

[32:23]

we have this kind of poem which we say at the end of meals and so on, like a cloud in an endless sky, like a lotus in muddy water, we live in the pure mind of Buddha. Thus we bow to the Tathagata. We bow to the Tathagata by living in the Tathagata's mind. in the Tathagata's mind, the lotus blooms in muddy water. Now there are other types of flowers that do not grow in muddy water, I suppose. Some kind of flowers grow in sand. But this lotus grows in muddy water. And it does not hate the muddy water while it's growing. And after it blossoms, you can cut it. You could cut a lotus and take it and put it in a vase, I suppose.

[33:54]

But it wouldn't reproduce. I bet. After it blooms, it keeps blooming in the muddy water. Buddha blooms in unenlightened minds and it blooms in things that aren't even minds, but things which support minds like minerals that make mud. enlightenment, Buddha, and the realization of it bloom in the midst of all minds. So we do not wish to get rid of these minds, just like the Buddha does not wish to get rid of these minds. When we're doing Buddha's meditation, we do not wish to get rid of these minds. We wish to practice generosity and compassion towards these minds

[35:02]

And when we do, we will not be caught by them anymore. And when we're not caught by them, we will open to the light of how they're related to each other. And there's no attachment in this relationship. But we can attach to it. And then it's just the same as attaching to our own ideas. And as soon as we attach to it, we're blind to it. Like a cloud in endless sky, and yet practice like that in muddy water. And one more thing I thought I might mention is that which I mentioned just last night. No, it wasn't last night. It was night before last I mentioned that a lot of Zen stories, not all, but many Zen stories are stories about people who became free of their stories.

[36:14]

Like there's a lot of Zen stories where one of the, like maybe two people in the story or three people in the story, but let's say one of the people in the story is free of her stories. The other person in the story is not free of his story. And they meet. And the person who's free of the stories interacts with the one who's not free. And sometimes the one who's not free still won't let go of their story. There's stories like that where the one who's free is trying to find some way to help this person let go of their story so they can open to the light. which is right there the whole time, but because... I know if there's light, just a second. I've got to hold on to my story here. Okay, now what light can you show me? Could you please give me your story? Hand your story over. That's all you've got to do, just give me your story for a little while. Okay, here it is.

[37:20]

No, you didn't give the whole thing. Give me the rest. So there are stories... There are many stories where the one who's not holding to her stories is interacting with the one who is holding on to her story. And then sometimes the person holds on and doesn't let go right away. And they struggle and they struggle and they struggle. And then finally, they both let go. there's other stories where they don't and there's some stories where both are holding on there's almost no stories where they're both holding on and there's some stories where they're both not holding on and they're just coming together to test to see if the other one who's supposed to have let go of her story is letting go of her story and sometimes sometimes they verify that they both let go of their story and that's that's the ultimate full realization of enlightenment is when two people let go of their stories together and two people together realize this relationship. So I told two stories last night demonstrating this, or the night before last demonstrating this.

[38:35]

One was a story that happened about twelve hundred years ago in China. The other story was a story that occurred 36 years ago in an airplane flying from San Francisco to Portland. So it's getting late. I could tell you, try to tell both stories, or I could just tell one. What do you think? Both? Do you have time? Okay, one story, the old one. Want to hear the old one first? The old one is about this monk, and we call him Linji, or Rinzai. And he was a Buddhist monk, and he went to a Buddhist temple.

[39:37]

where the head teacher was named Wang Bo. The temple was called Wang, the mountain was called Wang Bo, and the teacher is also called Wang Bo. So he went to see Wang Bo, and he practiced at that temple for three years, and after three years, the head monk, who had been noticing him, and appreciating, the head monk was appreciating Wang Bo, how he was supporting all beings and all beings were supporting him. But the head monk was wondering if he ever went to see the teacher. And so he asked him, have you ever gone to see the teacher? And he said, no. I don't need to. I'm fine. He said, well, you should go see him. So he said, okay, well... And he said, you should go ask him something. He said, what should I ask him? He said, ask him what the... true, essential meaning of the Buddhist teaching is.

[40:41]

So he went and asked Wang Bo that question. And before he finished, Wang Bo immediately hit him. And then the head monk saw him later and said, how did it go? how did your interview go? And he said, well, he hit me. He said, oh, well, you should go back and ask him again. So he did, asked the same question, and again, he was immediately hit. And again, the head monk said, how did it go? And he said, he hit me. He said, you should ask him another time. And he did, and he got hit. And the head monk said, how did it go? And he said, he hit me again, and I'm leaving this monastery. And the head monk said, well, you should go and take your leave of him.

[41:49]

Go say goodbye. And he said, OK. And then before Linji could get to Wangbo, the head monk went and saw Wang Bo and said, you know, he's coming to say goodbye, so, you know, come on, take it easy, take care of him, you know. And Wang Bo said, fine. So he came and said, I'm leaving now. Wang Bo said, you shouldn't go too far. Just actually go, there's another monastery quite nearby, you should go see this other teacher. His name's Da Yu. Da Yu. So Linji actually went and saw the other teacher. And when he got to the other teacher, the other teacher said, where do you come from? And he said, I've come from Wangbo. He said, well, what did Wangbo say? And then he told the story. Three times I asked him, three times he hit me. And I'm wondering, did I do something wrong or not? And you said,

[42:50]

Linji was so kind in expressing such grandmotherly love for you. He wore himself out trying to help you. And you come here and ask if you were right or if you were some fault or not? And Linji woke up from the dream that not everyone in the universe was helping him. And also from the dream that this great Zen master was not helping him. He realized not only that Wang Bo was so kind to him and that he didn't see it, but now you can see everybody's been kind to him forever and he's been kind to everyone it's not just that everyone's kind to you which is great it's not just that everyone's supporting you but you're supporting everybody else too including that they don't think you are and that they do think you are regardless of it and including whatever they think this is the way it is he woke up he was very happy to wake up he was not happy because now he saw the truth

[44:15]

that makes us happy. And I don't know what he did. Maybe he cried and started bowing to Dayu. And Dayu said, well, what happened? He said, now I see there's not much to Wangbo's Zen. And Dayu said, you bedwetting little brat. A few minutes ago, you were whining about not knowing if you're right or wrong, and now you're saying there's not much to Wang Bo's Zen. And he grabbed him. Dayu grabbed Linji and held him and said, speak, speak. And Linji punched him in the ribs three times. And Dayu let him go and said, okay, but Wang Bo is your teacher. So then the enlightened person, the enlightened person who now has realized enlightenment, has realized what?

[45:20]

That Wang Bo was nothing but trying to help him get over his dreams. He now saw it and now he goes back to Wang Bo. Wang Bo sees him coming and he says, coming, going, coming, going, when will it ever stop? Here he comes again. Okay. Okay. But this time, Linji doesn't ask the same question. No, he says, it's all because of your great kindness and compassion. And Wong Bo said, that old fellow is too talkative. The next time I see him, I'm going to give him a good slap. And Linji said, why wait? We could have slapping right now.

[46:22]

And he slapped Wang Bo. And Wang Bo said, oh, now you think you can pull on the tiger's whiskers, huh? And he screamed at him. And then one boy said, attendant, take this madman to the meditation hall. He had some idea about what Zen was, you know. He was like, I don't know what it was, but he was happy with it. He was doing fine, you know. And But still he had some idea, like, I don't have to go see Wang Bo or whatever. Okay, I'll go see Wang Bo. This is not good what he's doing to me. This is not helpful. Okay, I'll go again. This is not helpful. Okay, I'll go again. I'm done. This is no good. I'm out of here. And I believe my story. But he woke up.

[47:23]

He let go. And the teacher helped him see how he was holding to his idea. Both teachers helped him. He had his ideas of what Buddhism was, what Zen is. A lot of Zen students have some ideas about what Zen is. And then when things happen that don't look like their ideas, they usually keep holding on to their ideas. And it's not that their ideas are right or wrong. It's just that their ideas are not what it is, and holding to them blinds them to what it is. So the other story I told was a story of, I was going, I was the attendant to Suzuki Roshi, the founder of San Francisco Zen Center, he asked me to be his attendant on a trip from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon, where he's going to do a session for a weekend.

[48:34]

And when we got in the plane, he said to me, I'm going to teach you how to count people in Japanese. So they have a special counter for people in Japanese. So he says, I'm going to teach you that. He was Japanese. He knew how to count people in Japanese. So he's sitting next to me, and he says, Stori. He didn't do the finger thing. I'm doing the finger thing for you. Stori. Futari. Sannin. Yonin. gonin, shichinin, hachinin, no, rokinin, no, I forgot rokinin. Gonin, rokinin, shichinin, hachinin, kunin, to. So he taught me that. And he says, now you do it.

[49:37]

And then I did it a few times until I got it right. And he says, now you keep doing it. So now I'm sitting there next to him, and I'm going, and so on. And then he falls asleep. And after he falls asleep, I stop counting. And when I stop counting, he wakes up. Maybe this was a kind of lullaby that he had me do for him. Anyway, he woke up and he said, what do you think he said? Close. He said, . So I said, shtori, futari, san nin, yo nin, go nin, ro ko nin, shi chi nin, ha chi nin, ku nin, toh.

[50:42]

Shtori, futari. Not that loud because the other people are on the plane, right? Just in his ear. Shtori, futari. So he fell asleep again. And when he fell asleep, I stopped counting. And he woke up. And guess what he said? No, . So then I said . And then he fell asleep again. But that time I didn't stop. And I kept doing it all the way to Portland. And before he started teaching me, and while he was teaching me to some extent, but particularly when he finally went to sleep and I just kept doing it, the thought did arise in my mind how interesting it is that a Zen master would spend his time teaching somebody to count people in Japanese.

[51:50]

Why isn't he teaching me the story of Linji or something? Why isn't he hitting me here? So Linji thought getting hit was not Zen, but now that he got hit, I think it is Zen, right? So people had their ideas about what is Buddhism, what's compassion, what's the way a Buddha should act? You know, we have these ideas. And so I kind of thought, well, does a Buddha spend his time teaching somebody to count people in Japanese? Or is it maybe just that I'm not really worth being a Zen student? And maybe he has me be his attendant because I'm the worst Zen student at Zen Center. And all he can teach me is to count people in Japanese. And maybe some of you think too, you know, Zen teachers, their main teaching is not how to count people in Japanese. They have some other teaching that they do. So each of us has some ideas about what is Buddhism, what is kindness.

[52:52]

But that's what he taught me on the airplane that day. And that's what I taught you tonight. I taught you how to count people in Japanese. But you may not think that I was teaching you Buddhadharma. Counting people in Japanese isn't Buddhadharma. But it may be a skill and means for you to open to it by realizing that if you have some idea that counting people in Japanese is not Buddha Dharma, good. Now just let go of that. And if you let go of that, and you're letting go of that, especially if you're really sure that's a waste of time and that's not the greatest teaching in the world, And also getting slapped is not the greatest. If you have something that you're holding on to, if you can let go of that, really, you're holding on, you really let go, in that not being caught by your idea, this is helpful and this is not, in that letting go, that's where the Buddha Dharma is functioning.

[53:57]

And you can see where you're holding on, so you can see where the place of letting go should be. It should be right where you're holding on. And the teacher is generously offering you opportunities to let go. Sometimes hitting you, sometimes saying hachi nin, ku nin, sometimes going to sleep, sometimes kissing your feet. All kinds of techniques to help you and me let go of our stories. Let go of our stories. of our clinging and open to the enlightenment in which we're living right now. Do you have any feedback for me?

[55:08]

If you do, there's a seat for you to sit on. All the better to kiss you. That's the way Linji taught. He said, if anybody wants to come up, there's a place here for you to come. And then things happened when they came up. So I invite you, if you wish to give me any feedback, to do so. And I would suggest if you want to do it, that you do it soon.

[56:14]

Thank you. Suzuki Roshi gave his life to me and to you, teaching me how to count people in Japanese.

[57:47]

He gave his life to you and me sitting on a black cushion. He gave his life to you and to me eating breakfast. everything he did, he gave his life to help him and us become free of our ideas of good and bad. And the success of his life is not yet fully realized. Every day that goes by is another opportunity for his teaching to come to fruit through our freedom.

[58:55]

No feedback for me? Do you have some feedback for me? Okay. Can I sit here like this? Yeah, please. How nice for you to bring me some feedback. I have some. Well, what is it? The story I thought was so interesting about letting go of your story and how we have had this almost 50 year relationship and friendship all in this neighborhood. and our good family and friends are here.

[60:16]

And so we've hung on to that story and made the story keep getting better and better. And right now it's so close. It's very nice. All the better to let go of. Yes. Thank you for coming up. Do you have any news for me? I have a lot of news. Okay, good. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. You're not afraid of me, are you? Going once.

[61:27]

Going twice. Going three times. Would you tell me your name, please? Rebecca. Rebecca. I just wanted to share with you just a deep appreciation for how I feel your display of intimacy is growing. And I feel like this is a beautiful expression of that, and I've never seen you offer it to us this way before.

[62:33]

So I just wanted to thank you for that. Could you hear her? Yes. You could? She said she wanted to thank me for this display and opportunity of intimacy, this opportunity to realize our intimacy. Thank you very much, Rebecca. So I've talked to you about that before, right? We're both Rebs? Oh, yeah. Thank you, Reb. I thought it was all done. That's what I thought we were supposed to do. You're right. This is my job. And Rebecca's appreciating it becoming, she's seeing more of it.

[63:36]

And she appreciates it. And I do too. I'm not here to tell you what the Dharma is. I'm not interested in that. I'm here to realize it with you. because the Dharma is how we're realizing it together. That's what it is. So I'm here to exercise that reality with you in however you want to. But if nobody else wants to offer me feedback, I happily accept that. Or if the feedback you offer is that you don't wish to come up here, it's fine, really. I don't feel disappointed. Yes? You have to come up here if you want to talk. Yeah. I just wanted to say that. I think accessibility is really, really nice. It's very, very intimate, kind.

[64:39]

Thank you. It's a model. It's a model, yeah, right. Okay, well, thank you very much. I was very happy to come here tonight, and I'm happy I came, and I'm happy that we're all yearning to see the truth with no obstruction together.

[65:15]

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