I feel awkward to speak to you today because we've been sitting here in this valley and I haven't been with you until yesterday, so exactly what the spirit of practice is, I may not be in harmony with. So, I feel uncertain about speaking, coming from another realm. When I walked out of here on March 22nd, as I was skiing over the snow, I began to prepare

[01:33]

for this talk, and I began to try to practice mere concept. The way I did it was in terms of my feet, particularly my feet in the skis. It seemed that the way to ski was to not lean too much on the inside of my feet, but to

[02:35]

keep the weight of my feet fairly equally distributed between the inside and the outside, so the ski would stay basically horizontal. And also, not to let the skis get too far apart, to keep them about as close together as they could be without bumping into each other. The angle of my posture and the way of using the poles was of some importance also, but mostly I was concentrating on just the way the feet were. And at a certain place I felt a way where I didn't need to calculate how far apart the

[03:56]

feet were, or balancing the feet, but there was a certain thing, a certain concept that I was tuning into. And I just tried to stay with that concept, which included the feet being a certain distance apart, and then not leaning inside or outside. And I just stayed with that. I stayed with that because the skiing went more smoothly that way. But also, I stayed that way as an example or as an exercise in practicing absorption in this situation of mere concept.

[04:59]

I noticed how much I had to renounce, how much I had to abandon, in order to just concentrate on that. I forgot about how long it was going to take. I forgot about almost everything else in my life, except sensory impact. Like how much light there was, snow all around, my body temperature.

[06:11]

These things kept coming to me. And then also the ideas like how long it would take, how am I doing, am I going to make it? These ideas would come up too. But I didn't entertain them. I just let them come and go and stayed on this physical concept. I noticed another concept that came up again and again was how boring it is to stay with that simple physical awareness. How awesomely boring it was.

[07:20]

I was actually at that time, partly because I needed to, I was actually giving something up. I was giving up a world of interesting experience. Now I had a practical advantage in that it actually did go more smoothly to live in that boring world. When things got more interesting, the skiing quality deteriorated. But I was leaving behind a world. And another thought that occurred to me now and then is could I stay in this world forever?

[08:30]

Why would one stay in such a boring world forever? Well, it says that that world is the supreme body of release. I also thought while I was skiing of the 27th verse of the Vijnapti Mantra.

[09:43]

Vijnapti Mantra sitting. The 26th verse says that as long as consciousness does not terminate in their mere concept, so long will the inclinations, will the vulnerabilities to the twofold grasping not cease.

[10:44]

So long as we are not concentrated, as long as we are not absorbed into the state of mere concept, we will be vulnerable to the twofold tendency to grasp onto a substantial self, a substantial personality, or the substantiality of elements, colors, pain, pleasure, snow. However, if I then try to make my whole being terminate and be totally absorbed in mere concept,

[11:58]

if I do that in such a way as to put mere concept out there and then try to go towards it, then the mind will not situate itself in mere concept, as the 27th says. So, first of all, my mind noticed a way of skiing. I had a concept for skiing, which I applied myself to, and somewhere around that concept was just that concept being a concept, and to be absorbed in that without making that into an object is the correct way. So, if I still have the concept which I'm trying to absorb in out there,

[13:04]

this is not yet being situated in mere concept. Somehow there has to be just the mere concept without somebody trying to get over to it. So, at a certain point it may be possible while skiing, for example, not to have a person who is now trying to absorb herself into the concept of the feet being on the skis in a certain way, but just to have the feet in the skis in a certain way, or rather just that there's a concept of the feet in the skis in a certain way. And that is even another step more profoundly boring, another step deeper into something which is not interesting, wherein there is nothing for you or me.

[14:08]

This is the renunciation which I've referred to off and on through this practice period. This is renunciation of the world. This is total renunciation. Not just giving up happy daydreams and horrible daydreams, and concentrating on what we're doing, but even giving up the idea that what you're concentrating on is an object,

[15:20]

and even giving up your idea of what renunciation of the object is, giving up everything, and of course giving up renunciation. Totally renounce. Complete and utter simplicity, requiring nothing less than everything. And until our consciousness does not situate itself in this concept only,

[16:27]

we will continue to be affected by these tendencies to apprehend inherent existence. I heard on the radio on the way down, life is what is happening to us while we're making other plans. Life is what's happening to us while we're making other plans. So part of my awkwardness is,

[17:34]

it may be that you people have already been practicing renunciation for these first three days, and don't need me to say this to you. Maybe you've already died. But I've arrived to start my dying process, my renunciation practice. This total renunciation is what we call just sitting. Also while I was skiing,

[18:36]

I asked myself, is this all there is to the Buddha way? And I would say no. This is not all there is. As I've been, renunciation is not the whole story. Renunciation is the part that takes you to nirvana. But that isn't the whole story. The rest of the story is that from nirvana you come back. So part of the story is by renouncing everything,

[19:39]

you go up and attain nirvana. But then you come down and transform. Another time, a few years ago, I was in Austria and I was climbing a mountain. I was on another ridge, a much smaller ridge, so that it went just right from me down both sides. I was on a thin point with a ridge going up. And when you're a beginner you can watch yourself learn. So I had not had experience climbing on snowy, icy mountains. And as I got higher and higher, I got more instructions from the person behind me. And one of the instructions I got was, don't look around, you'll get dizzy.

[20:43]

But how boring not to look around. Looking around is the whole world. Without looking around it's just white snow in front of your face. Under those circumstances, literally, if I would look around, I would immediately become dizzy. And getting dizzy at that particular place was not something I wanted to do. So I didn't look around and I didn't get dizzy. The next thing I learned was, I had a pick and of course my body. And this next instruction I got was, pick, step. Pick, step. Not step, pick.

[21:53]

Or not step and pick at the same time. First you put the pick in, then you take a step. You want to have the pick in when you're moving. So you stick the pick in, take a step, put the pick in, take a step, like that. Pick, step, pick, step. With no exceptions. And up you go. And at that time too I wondered, is there anything more to life than this? Pick, step, pick, step. And I thought, oh yes there is. At that very time, down below, behind me, in the valley, someone was washing my clothes and buying train tickets. There isn't just this, there's another realm too. There's a realm of when you come back down from that place.

[23:09]

Thanks. So can you train yourself at this just sitting, at this mere concept, without even having an idea of mere concept, to help you do it? Harka 28 says,

[24:28]

when consciousness with object is not obtained, and there is, being no object, one is established in the state of mere concept, for there is no grasping for it. When objectless consciousness is obtained, then there being no object, one is established in the state of mere concept, for there is no grasping for it. Right now, in your experience,

[25:34]

can you obtain objectless consciousness? Thanks. Can you renounce seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, touching, tasting and thinking? Can you renounce it? Can you renounce seeing this world as an object? Can you renounce approaching things? Can you renounce all approach? And can you renounce being approached? Can you know without touching? Or rather, can you just give up

[26:43]

the kind of knowing which needs to touch, which needs to approach, leaving you with nothing at all, simply a consciousness which does not have objects? So there is just the sound of the stream, nothing more than that. That is your consciousness. That is your consciousness. The first step in the Buddha way is renunciation,

[27:57]

a cool renunciation which is simply the sound of that stream and nothing more than that. Can we stand the awesome boredom, the absolute loneliness, the absolute aloneness of the sound of the stream, the absolute aloneness of the sight of a tree, the absolute aloneness of a stone, the utter and complete boredom of the world as it is,

[29:20]

can we die all the way down to mere concept, to just sitting? Thank you. Outwardly, have no involvements.

[30:56]

Inwardly, no coughing or sighing in the mind. With your mind like a wall, like a stone, like the sound of the stream, thus you enter the way. So cold, so inhuman, so useless. This is already going on. It's just that we've been making other plans. Can you give up all your other plans

[32:05]

and just sit? And doesn't mean you don't have any plans. It means whatever plans arise, they're not objects. There's nobody having those plans. The plans are just like the sound of the stream and there's nobody there to enjoy these plans. There's nobody who needs to make them. They're just completely boring plans. I have some material here that I could use

[33:23]

to make this more interesting. Do you have any questions about how to practice just sitting? Do you have any questions about how to have your mind terminate or be situated in mere concept? If you were to do that... Could you speak up? If you were to be sitting without consciousness, without mere consciousness, would you be aware of it at the time? Might you not terminate it? If you realize mere concept, would you be aware of it? Yes, at the time. Would you not terminate it?

[34:24]

You would not be aware of it as an object. Would you be aware of it later? You might. Yes. He says that what I've been saying sounds like bare awareness, like in Mindfulness Citrus. It depends on how I look at it.

[35:36]

There is no difference, but I can see that there's a difference. There really is no difference. This answer points you back to the practice. Okay? Okay. I can get into how it's different, and that will point you away from what I'm talking about. I'm curious about the recurring thing of boredom that you were talking about previously. You're curious about boredom? Yeah. Did you get beyond boredom? There seems to be a place where boredom dissolves. There seems to be a place where boredom dissolves.

[36:40]

Would there not be? That's right. Boredom dissolves. It goes away. Yeah. And it also can come back. Is it a separation problem? Boredom is just like the sound of the stream. It's something that comes up. The thing is, don't let boredom frighten you away from this practice. That's all. It will dissolve, and it will come back. Is it that we would prefer something else that is what creates the idea of boredom? Many things create the idea of boredom. One of the things that creates the idea of boredom is that there's no toys anymore. There's no toys in the whole universe because nothing's out there to play with. So that makes things pretty boring. There's no toys to attain it. You can't attain anything or lose anything anymore.

[37:42]

This does not make a very, what do you call it, exciting story. So that can be called boredom. And if you think on the verge of entering into a realm like that, you might say, how boring. You back away. But actually that quality, that there's nothing to be gained in that realm, is kind of a hint that maybe you're heading in the right direction. And boredom may actually manifest itself at the gate. It will go away though. But it may come back again because you have to re-enter again and again this place until you're established in this practice and you don't have to make an effort anymore. Does that make sense? I had tried to explain to my sister what I was doing

[38:48]

and she said, how boring. And I had never thought of it like that. Well, your sister's, the way your sister was thinking, that way of thinking happens in my head when I enter into that realm. It happens quite often at the entry into just sitting, just walking, just listening. I hear that quite often. But then it goes away and I'm into it. I think a lot of people would use that word for that. Also, how lonesome, how lonely, how useless, how pointless, how frightening, and so on. Lots of bad names at the doorway to just sitting. But they probably mean it's the right door.

[40:00]

Yes? Is the state of your concept a state of compassion? Is it a state of compassion? Because of your vows of compassion, you wind up at that door. Bodhisattvas need to enter this realm of practice in order to actually be effective in their vow. But the actual entry into it may not, there's no other people there, even. There's no beings there. Those are just concepts. So do you have to come out of that state? You naturally come out of that state. Your vow naturally propels you back out of that state, back into more interesting material, which you then need to renounce again. So you need to go round and round to abandon everything, to abandon all objects,

[41:03]

to have no objects of thought, to make your mind like a wall. Walls have no friends. But bodhisattvas must be like a wall in order to actually enter the way, rather than dreaming about entering the way. Once you actually enter the way, you naturally come from being a wall. The wall sprouts flowers and embraces all beings from mere concept, not from acting out of being captured by these tendencies to make things into solid things, which then doesn't help people. At best, acting from that place can be harmless. The actual benefit is unobstructed when we no longer are afflicted by these residuals of grasping.

[42:05]

Making our mind like a wall cuts that and makes us free of those powerful tendencies at grasping. When the bodhisattvas are around, we make the wall sprout flowers, whereas in our mind, we become just like a wall. You said it would be so simple to call it walking, but... No, I said, Suzuki Roshi said, calling a flower is a sin. It's a little bit different. Excuse me. Saying the flower is beautiful is a sin. Thank you. You should tell your son that he's beautiful,

[43:14]

not in the way of saying... In your heart, you don't look at your son and think, that's beautiful. If you look at your son and say, that's beautiful, that's a sin. But if you just say to your son, you're beautiful, that isn't necessarily a sin. You're beautiful can be simply a flower sprouting behind the back of the wall with no idea that this beautiful is a thing out there. You could look at someone and not see them as an object and say, you're beautiful. But the reason why you say they're beautiful is not because they correspond to your idea of beauty. And you're saying that they are that beautiful. Are you following this?

[44:27]

What? I can't hear you. Does what work? I can't hear you. Do you need to say that to flowers? Flowers? And flowers need it? Who needs it? What do you need it for? What? What's just an idea? I can't hear you. Well, you tell me, where does that come from? You have to say where it's coming from.

[45:34]

Do you understand what the problem is? Do you understand what the problem is? What's the problem? You don't make things into objects, you can do whatever you want and it will be beneficial. And I feel that many of us will not do the work we need to do. We will not renounce seeing things as objects unless we realize that we must. That in order to actually be effective bodhisattvas we must do this. It's very difficult to do this but if we finally see that we have to we have a chance. Any questions about this

[46:38]

very difficult practice? Yes? Using the analogy of up and down how the problem is upwards and downwards how is it when you say that when we are penitent we are renounced up and down is down? I guess I didn't understand your question because it sounds to me like the answer is of course. Yes. And don't forget you also have to renounce renouncing. You have to renounce everything. Nothing is left off the list. So by chance it is important that we do perhaps

[47:45]

not be blissful. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't be there. It may be even blissful. It's awesome. But it's not boring or awesome or interesting or blissful. Okay? But if you experience bliss you don't have to worry. Just don't make it into an object. That's all. Just renounce the bliss. Thank you.

[49:10]

But it is now, according to my watch about one minute to ten. So the schedule said that it was about 25 minutes. So I don't know how this works for the kitchen maybe we have to change the schedule or something. I don't know if we are going to be able to get out of here in 25 minutes. So here we are sitting in you know, in this room and we are I propose that we are susceptible to powerful tendencies of our imagination to attribute

[50:11]

substantial existence to everything we are aware of and also to our sense of self. The teachings that we have been studying this practice period of the Madhyamaka school and of the Yogacara school teachings of emptiness teachings of the identity of emptiness and dependent co-arising of the Madhyamaka school and the teaching of mere concept of the Yogacara school are intended to protect us from this ever-present powerful habit of self-clinging and self- imputing that we are doing all the time.

[51:15]

The practice of just sitting is a practical application of these teachings the practice of just sitting is the realization of freedom from these tendencies. Today the water is warm. Hmm. I'm not surprised that some people after yesterday felt that felt some maybe some

[52:23]

despair at ever being able to realize the state of mere concept seemed seemed so difficult to attain. Someone also asked is this something you do a little bit once in a while or for session or for a period of zazen or something you can actually aspire to do all the time and same with realization of emptiness is it something that happens once in a while or is it something that you're actually trying to realize over a long term. When you train at this at these practices you first of all train not even being able to realize them at all.

[53:30]

First part of the training is actually to admit that you are vulnerable to this thing making capacity of the mind that it's always assailing you it's always overwhelming you it's always pushing you around. So that that is part of the training too to admit the power of this of this illusory mind even before you are able to drop these tendencies and protect yourself from these tendencies just to admit them is the first part of the practice. Actually even to argue with the presentation of the teaching is the first part of the training even to resist it and think it's crazy or impossible is part of the training too. But once you actually do drop everything even for a second

[54:34]

and you do attain realization of emptiness or you do realize mere concept and you do it for a moment you're still training. Vijnapti Matrata Siddhi is the state when you actually can consistently be situated in the circumstance of mere concept. When you can consistently be protected from this tendency of mind moment after moment. Nothing is permanent but you can get to a place where you can do it over and over that you can continually free yourself. And I said this before I want to always say it again in case we forget and that is what we're talking about here

[55:35]

is just to be ourselves. And how simple that is is almost impossible for us to admit. These radical and awesome concepts practices are to help us not make too big a deal out of being ourself. To let us realize this complete simplicity. And to protect us from the mind function which makes things a little bit more complicated than they really have to be. Namely which attributes inherent existence which imagines substance in something that has no substance. Our mind is wonderful

[56:35]

it can know things that don't actually inherently exist. We don't need big substantial stuff to know about them. We can know something which is ungraspable. We can run into ungraspable events and know them. Matter of fact all knowledge according to Buddhist teaching is based on insubstantial transitory fleeting dependently arisen appearances. That's the stuff we know. Someone said to me that she is able to enter into for example listening to my voice or listening to the stream

[57:38]

just enter into the direct sensory experience. It's kind of a she said it's kind of like a what do you call it? Party trick. But entering into the realm of direct flux of experience there's no meaning. You can't remember you don't remember the beginning of the sentence. It's unidentified in terms of object in terms of concepts of object and location.

[58:40]

And in that realm of direct experience which you're all welcome to plunge into and stay with as long as you like there's no problem. However as soon as you emerge from that realm into a realm where you remember the beginning of the sentence and things start having some meaning because now you've come into the conceptual realm as soon as that happens you're vulnerable to these substance making habits. How can you protect yourself? What can you do? And and such that you will be protected from this tendency of mind which arises as soon as you enter the realm where there's some meaning

[59:44]

where there's some identity where there's some some knowledge. What can you do to protect yourself? We all want to do something once we hear about this and there is nothing you can do. Abandoning everything isn't doing something. Any way you think about abandoning as doing something you abandon that too. In addition to abandoning all techniques and abandoning all human emotion and all human sentiments you abandon striving too and

[60:50]

again abandoning striving does not mean you don't strive. If you try to stop striving as a way to abandon striving that's another kind of striving. So somebody said to me the other day that he was I don't know something like just sitting there not even trying anymore. That might be it. They said Wong Bo was walked around like he was too sick to care. So

[61:55]

if you can't put the practice out in front of you as something to do and you can't even strive to get rid of striving what can you do? Well try just doing nothing. And abandon all your ideas about what that would be like. In other words just sit still and silent and you can't even do that. It's actually the way you already are. So just be yourself and watch carefully how you will be inundated with all kinds of interesting ways to just be yourself. No matter how simple you make it words will arrive

[62:57]

to explain to you how to do it and how it should be. So without trying to do anything you train yourself thus. It's like snow in a silver bowl. It's like putting snow in a silver bowl. It's not doing anything but also it's not not doing anything. It looks like somebody following a schedule and sitting up straight or sometimes leaning over. It is an intense effort called renunciation.

[63:59]

Buddha said to one of his disciples Monk you should train yourself thus. In the seen there will be just the seen. In the heard there will be just the heard. In the imagined there will be just the imagined. In the cognized there will be just the cognized. There will be just the cognized. When for you monks in the seen there is just the seen and in the heard there is just the heard. In the imagined

[65:12]

just the imagined and in the cognized just the cognized these are different varieties of mere concept. When they are all just that way then you will not identify yourself in them. If you do not identify yourself in them you will not locate yourself in them. If you do not locate yourself in them there will be no hear nor beyond nor in between and this will be the end of suffering. This practice that Buddha recommends also should be done without making that practice into an object. He didn't say you make the seen into the seen. He didn't say

[66:15]

you make it so that in the heard there is just the heard. He said when it's that way and he also said when it's that way for you in other words there is no you in addition to the seen being in the seen and there is no elimination of you in that either. This is actually who we really are. In the sound of the creek there will be just the sound of the creek. That's who we really are. But in order to let ourselves

[67:23]

be that person who is nothing in addition to the sound of my voice means that we utterly abandon all everything again without doing a thing. We simply abandon everything by simply sitting still. We emphasize the life that is happening all the time. We continue to

[68:45]

sounds of sounds of the So, on one side,

[69:45]

I want to inspire and exhort people to develop strong motivation and then one, two, three, run over there and make your mind into a wall. On the other hand, I want to say, hey, wait a minute, don't do anything to make your mind a wall. It's strange to energize and inspire people to get one, two, three, get ready, get set. Now, don't do anything. So, there is actually a full and courageous body of effort and that body of effort is

[71:00]

what makes it possible to enter into a practice where you can't do anything. With a less enthusiastic body and mind, you would be willing, perhaps, to do a practice where you could do something. You need this really bright and luminous body of intention in order to be willing to dedicate yourself to a practice that you can't do. You need a lot of warmth and love and light inside yourself to be able to dedicate yourself to something that's already happening. But I'm proposing that that kind of practice is the only kind of practice that actually works. All these kinds of practices which a half-hearted person could do because they're pretty interesting,

[72:05]

they don't work. They're just simply human exercise programs. And to be yourself, you must abandon all the things you think, you feel, and that you can do. You must revise your opinions and attitudes step-by-step in accord with the Buddha way. What? Work? Enlighten. Perfect. Perfectly enlightened. Perfectly liberated. As Kodo Sawaki said, only if you're able to dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to something that's useless will you be able to use your life at will.

[73:13]

Will you be able to enter the dharma gate of repose and bliss. But we human beings have a hard time giving up our human attitudes. So this is a ... I'm just going to read this story about this guy, this Zen teacher, as a kind of one, two, three, get set to do nothing kind of thing, okay? There was a man who later became known as the Chan master, Jurjiao. He aroused his will and abandoned his home in this way.

[74:16]

Originally, the master was a civil official in China. Endowed with intelligence and ability, he was an honest and upright person. When he was a provincial governor, he took money from the government funds and gave it away. Others reported this to the emperor. Upon hearing this, the emperor was greatly astonished, and all the ministers thought this strange. The crime was not a minor one, and it was decided that capital punishment should be administered. At this point, the emperor discussed the matter, saying, this minister is a man of talent, a wise and good person. Now he has purposely committed this crime. Could it be that he has some deep motive?

[75:19]

When you are about to behead him, if he shows any sign of grief or distress, behead him immediately. If he shows no signs of distress or grief, then he must certainly have some deep intent, and you should not behead him. When the imperial emissary brought him out to be beheaded, the master in fact showed no signs of distress. Rather, his appearance was one of joy. He himself said, I give my life to all living beings. The emissary, surprised and struck with wonder, reported this to the emperor. The emperor said, it is so. He certainly has some profound intent.

[76:25]

I knew it to be so. Therefore, he asked what his intention was. The master said, my intention is to leave public office, give up my life, practice charity, form a bond with all creatures, be born in a Buddhist family, and single-mindedly practice the Buddha way. The emperor was moved by this and allowed him to leave home. Therefore, he bestowed upon him the name yon-sho, which means to extend life, because he had stayed a certain execution. Dogen says, you pastoral monks of today should also arouse such a mind with a profound heart which thinks little of your own life and has compassion for all living beings.

[77:28]

Arouse the mind which aspires to entrust your body, your whole life, to the Buddhist precepts. If you already have such a mind, even for a moment, you should preserve it so it is not lost. Without arousing such a mind, there can be no awakening of the Buddha way. When about to die, we are full of joy. As we are about to abandon all of our own opinions and emotions and sentiments, we are full of joy. And as we abandon them, we are full of joy. This dying only works if it is accompanied by joy.

[78:33]

As we die away from our cherished sense of reality, there may be some distress and some grief and sadness. There may be tears. But there should also be an abundant joy coming from the faith that we are doing what all the Buddhas and ancestors have done. They have all gone through this dying process for the sake of all living beings. Because until we let go of all this stuff, until we abandon this mind which attributes inherent existence to things, we are no use or we are severely handicapped in our work to benefit beings. Therefore, we arouse a mind which wants to leave public office, give up our life, practice

[79:56]

charity, form a bond with all creatures and enter the Buddha way. One day, I was sitting in front of Suzuki Roshi, actually to the side of him, to his left side. And he turned and looked straight at me and said, things teach best when they are dying. I could hardly believe what I thought he was saying. Not only was he saying that things teach best when they are dying, he was also saying that I'm dying, pay attention to me. Each of us will teach best when we are dying. But this dying should be full of joy. The joy that we are dying just as all Buddhas have died as they taught.

[80:57]

As they taught, they were renouncing, they were abandoning all their human emotions too. They have them just like we do, just like us. Full of joy, they let go of it all. And as they die, joyfully, they teach. When Master Ma was unwell, when Master Ma was dying, the superintendent of the monastery came to see him and said, how is your venerable state, sir? Master Ma said, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. This is the way people who are dying talk.

[82:11]

People who are wholeheartedly dying. People like Matsu who actually were near his death, they still take the opportunity of illness and dying as a chance to help people. Everyday affairs of the Buddhas joyfully saying, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Celebrating these words, these words which come from a mind which has no objects. These words which come from a mind that has situated itself in just concept.

[83:15]

Coming from a mind which is protected by the teachings of the Buddhas and ancestors from the habit of imputing inherent existence. Such songs come forth. Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Buddhas disciples celebrating Master Ma, Sui Du says, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. What kind of people are the ancient emperors? For twenty years, I have suffered bitterly. How many times have I gone down into the dragon's cave for you? This distress is worth recounting.

[84:26]

Clear-eyed, pastoral monks should not take this lightly. How many times must I give my life up for all sentient beings? Joyfully, going down into the dragon's cave for you. Joyfully, joining hands with all sentient beings. All Buddhas and ancestors and going down into the dragon cave for the benefit of all beings. It must be a joyful descent even though it's also bitter.

[85:35]

To give up what you cherish most, even giving up the Buddha way. So that we may be re-educated about what the Buddha way really is. Tien Tung praises Master Ma. Sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Stars fall, thunder crashes. The mirror faces forms without subjectivity. A pearl rolls in a bowl of itself. Don't you see?

[86:40]

Before the hammer, gold refined a hundred times. Under the scissors, silk from one loom. Pearl rolls in a bowl by itself. Just sitting. Who we are rolls in a bowl by itself. You don't have to push the pearl around. If you just sit still, it rolls in a bowl by itself. And the mirror has no subjectivity and therefore has no objects.

[87:43]

This is the gold which has been refined a hundred times. This is the silk of one loom. You've climbed to the top of a hundred foot pole. Now, together, we must all take one step more. Without making it an object.

[89:03]

Taking a step, and another step, and another step. Like a pearl rolling in a bowl by itself. That's what's down there in the dragon cave. Just a little pearl rolling in a bowl by itself. I don't know that song. What is that song, you know? Part of it's...

[90:12]

Another word, save care. Another word, save love you do. Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars. Let me know the temperature on Jupiter and Mars. Another word, save care. Another word, save love you do. Now, what about this song, he kills me softly with his song. Huh? Huh? How does it go? Yeah, killing me softly with your words. How does it go? Killing me softly with his song. Killing me softly with his song. Killing me softly with his song. Well, it's a good thing. Yeah. Killing me softly.

[91:25]

Right. Killing me softly with his song. Killing me softly with his song. Buddha's trying to kill us softly with his song. So we can really be alive and go to work. But that other song we almost know, right? How does it go? Ah. It's very clear. Our love is here to stay. Not for a year, but ever and a day. The radio and the telephone and the movies that we see. May be passing fancies and in time may glow.

[92:31]

But oh my dear, our love is here to stay. Together we're going a long, long way. In time the Rockies may crumble. Gibraltar may tumble. They're only made of clay. But our love is here to stay.

[93:08]

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