Last month, when we met here, I began a contemplation of a song and the song is called the Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi or the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi. And we started out the beginning, which goes like this in English, the teaching of suchness has been intimately entrusted by Buddhas and ancestors. Now you have it. preserve it well.

[01:11]

This is originally in Chinese and the first part, the teaching of suchness, sometimes people say the dharma of suchness or the truth of suchness. Those are all reasonable English translations. Dharma, truth, teaching of suchness. And the next part has been translated in different ways. This morning I said that this teaching is intimately entrusted But the translation we're doing at Zen Center now is intimately communicated, but another translation is intimately transmitted. I think each of those words is relevant.

[02:23]

Entrusting, transmitting, communicating. And the other word just before that is intimately. And that word intimately also, the character used in this case, also means mysterious or mysteriously or mystery. It also means thick or dense or like fine, like a densely woven fabric, which also has that sense of intimacy of the fabric threads, but also a kind of denseness to it, or thickness, a thick intimacy in a way. So the Buddhas and ancestors are involved in this mysterious, this intimate

[03:30]

entrustment of this teaching. That's how the song starts. This teaching of suchness, the function of it is to relieve all suffering, to cure all ills, It's a teaching that's offered in a world where there is suffering, in a world where there is ills, in a world where there is misery, unkindness, violence, oppression. It's a teaching for a world like that. And the work of Buddhas is to transmit this teaching which cures all ills.

[04:39]

And the way that they offer it, the way they entrust it, the way they communicate it, is intimate. The way is intimate. Intimacy is the way. So the way of transmitting it and the teaching itself are intimate too. So in a way, the teaching of suchness is intimacy. Intimacy of the Buddhas, the Buddha's intimacy, the way Buddhas are intimate with beings is the teaching and the entrustment of the teaching. So they offer the teaching, but they don't just offer it to mid-air, they offer it as an intimate entrustment.

[05:44]

And then it says two more things at the beginning. It says, now you have it. this intimate and mysterious entrustment which the Buddhas are working at, you have it now. You have it now. And then it says, take care of it, protect it. The characters, the first meaning of the characters, I think, is more like protect or guard, but the translation we're using is preserve, another translation is keep it. I don't know exactly what the... I was involved in the discussion of this translation, but I don't remember why we didn't use protect. But protect is more kind of the main meaning of those characters, to guard.

[06:50]

But today I kind of feel like I'd like to say part of the reason why we have to protect it is because we live in the world of suffering. And although we've been told now that this teaching of suchness has been intimately transmitted to us because of where we live, it's kind of, it needs protection because There's so much difficulty going on. It's hard to remember this teaching in the face of all the things that we see. All the injustices to half the people on the planet. even well-off women, even women who are living without poverty in themselves and have nice families, they still can be subject to injustice.

[08:00]

So much of the people on this planet are being subject to injustice, and the men are also subject to injustice too. but in different ways. There's a tremendous amount of injustice and cruelty going on in the world. And the language, now you have it, is being offered to somebody who lives in self-consciousness. And we, part of our life is self-consciousness. Not all of our life, but the part where we suffer is the part where there's a self. And the message to the self is, now you have it, so take care of it. Many people come and tell me that they notice that there's clinging going on.

[09:09]

And they feel stress because of the clinging. And so many people say they want to learn to not cling. They want to learn the mind of no abode. But somebody told me just recently that no abode is disorienting. But I thought, well, no abode isn't disorienting. The words no abode are disorienting. because we have a consciousness in which there's words, and some of the words are like no abode. In the realm where the word no abode appears, the word no abode can be disorienting or dizzying or, yeah, disorienting, confusing. The message is you have this teaching of suchness which will cure you of all the ills of consciousness and you can transmit this to other peoples so they also can become free of the ills.

[10:29]

But the transmission occurs in the place of trouble, in the place of words, in the place of turbulent consciousness. Therefore we have to take care of this thing, otherwise we'll lose it. And so the song goes on to tell us how to take care of it. This teaching has been intimately entrusted by Buddhas and ancestors, it has now been intimately transmitted to you. But if there's a slightest discrepancy, it may seem like the transmission has not occurred. The way is basically perfect. The way of freedom from suffering is basically perfect and it's all-pervading.

[11:36]

the transmission of the medicine which cures all ills is all-pervading. But if there's a slight discrepancy, it's like the cure is far away. There's no cure around here. Even if there's a little bit of difference, that's enough to, in a sense, prevent the cure from working. So we've been given this teaching, and we've been given the teaching that we have received the teaching, but we're also being told, if you don't take care of this mind which has heard about this transmission, it's going to be like the transmission didn't occur. So great, it's been transmitted, but we have to take care of it. Because karmic consciousness is spinning around all the time with words.

[12:49]

So now we've got to put some more words in there to teach us how to be in karmic consciousness without getting disoriented. So now I'll read a few more lines. We're now being told this amazing thing that we have, this teaching of suchness, that it has been intimately and mysteriously entrusted to us, and now we're being told that it has been entrusted to us, and we're being told that we need to take care of it.

[14:12]

Without taking care of it, It's almost like it hasn't been entrusted. And then, now we get some more information about how to take care of it. Words, which will help us take care of it. The next words are, filling a silver bowl with snow, hiding a heron in the moonlight. Taken as similar, they're not the same. When you mix them, you know where they are. The meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse. Move, and you're trapped. Hesitate, and you fall into doubt and vacillation. Turning away and touching are both wrong, for it is like a massive fire.

[15:16]

I'd like to go backwards through these verses and start with turning and touching are both wrong, for it's like a massive fire. What's a massive fire? Well, I would say intimacy is a massive fire, is a great ball of fire. I would also say that karmic consciousness is a mass of fire. Karmic consciousness wherein the world of suffering appears, wherein all the cruelties and injustices of the world are appearing in karmic consciousness. It's like a mass of fire.

[16:33]

And turning away from it or touching it are not the way to take care of the intimate entrustment. The mass of fire is also another way to talk about the intimacy is it's the relationship between enlightened beings and unenlightened beings. That relationship is like a massive fire. To touch it is not right, to turn away from it is not right. Another possible massive fire is the relationship between the world of peace and the world of suffering. The world of suffering is a massive fire, but also the relationship between the world of suffering and the world of peace is another massive fire.

[17:41]

For me, the instruction, turning away and touching are both wrong, applies to suffering, applies to the mind of confusion and turbulence, turning away from it, or touching it, are both not intimate. Intimacy does not turn away, and it does not touch. Touching is, in a sense, a refutation of intimacy. Of course, turning away is, too. We think we can turn away, that it won't come with us. Intimacy comes with us wherever we go. We think we can touch it, but you can't touch it. When you touch it, you move away from it. You can move, you can dance, you can sing, and the intimacy is always present.

[18:51]

But if you think you have to sing for your breakfast, that's wrong. You can sing while you're having breakfast, but singing doesn't give you breakfast. You can sing in intimacy, but the singing doesn't make the intimacy. There's just intimacy whenever you're singing. But if you think you have to sing to get the intimacy, that's wrong. If you think stopping your singing will allow the intimacy, that's wrong. The way of treating the world of suffering is the same as the way of treating this intimacy. Turning away and touching are both wrong. Maybe it's clear that turning away from the cries of the world is not the way to take care of the teaching which cures the cries of the world.

[20:08]

Maybe that's clear. Is that clear? That denying suffering and not listening to it isn't appropriate? But trying to get a hold of it and manipulate it is also not appropriate. That's not so clear to people. They want to reach out and fix it. If you want to relieve the suffering, don't touch it. Listen to it, look at it, be with it, but don't touch it. And do not turn away. This is the ungraspable intimacy. The intimacy which doesn't grasp and embraces everything without clinging. When you hear about the great inequality of resources

[21:21]

the great inequality of wealth. When you hear that, right then when you hear it, before you turn away, before you try to do anything, that's where the intimacy is. The inequality of wealth in this country with all the pain that comes with it, the inequality of educational opportunities and employment opportunities and all the suffering that comes with it, is a great mass of fire. If we can be intimate with it, we're on the path of curing the ills. Intimate means you're with it. It's more like walking around it, never out of touch with it, circumambulating it, like circumambulating a great teacher.

[22:35]

But don't touch the teacher, and don't turn away from the teacher. Don't touch the fire. Don't turn away from the fire. In that circumstance, when you're talking about the goals of the world, when you're... In the circumstance of the what of the world? When you're talking about the various... Cries of the world? Cries of suffering? Suffering. Yes. In terms of not touching it and becoming intimate with it, would you say that that allows you, when the opportunity is right, to respond appropriately to help the situation? Yes? By the way, it's not becoming intimate. The intimacy is such.

[23:41]

Suchness is intimacy. We already are intimate with all this suffering. And if you try to touch it, you make a slight discrepancy. We can distract ourselves from intimacy by trying to get it. We can distract ourselves from intimacy by trying to become intimate. So we have to learn a way, if we want to realize intimacy, we have to learn the way of intimacy, which doesn't allow for any discrepancy. which takes me back now. I said I was going to go backwards, now I'm going to go back to the first line I skipped over, which is filling a silver bowl with snow, hiding a heron in the moonlight.

[24:43]

The silver bowl holding the snow, they're intimate. The heron in the bright moon, Intimate. It's a white heron, I think. The white snow and the white silver bull, the white bright moon and the white heron. These are images of this intimacy. And this is intimacy between each of us. It's intimacy between peace and violence. It's the intimacy between freedom and bondage. All these things are intimate. Freedom is intimate with not freedom. Peace is intimate with war. When you say they're similar, you can see that they are, they're similar.

[25:58]

But snow and silver bowl are also not the same, even though they're similar. I just showed you they're similar, they're not the same. And even if you mix them, you still know where they are. So we know peace and war. If you realize their intimacy, you still know you can discriminate between them. And realizing the intimacy is where the appropriate response comes, and what's the appropriate response? The appropriate response is intimacy. What does it look like? It doesn't look like intimacy. It looks like snow, or it looks like a heron.

[27:06]

It doesn't look like intimacy. But the snow is intimate with the silver bull. So the appropriate response comes out of intimacy, and it is again intimacy. And the intimacy cures all ills, and the response of the intimacy to the cries of the world is more intimacy which cures more ills. And if there's the slightest bit of discrepancy, it's like a big distance between the snow and the silver bull, between peace and violence. It also says, there's also instruction here about the words.

[28:07]

It says the meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse. So the words of this song are telling you that the meaning of the words of this song are not in the words. this song is coming out of intimacy. And the song is saying, the meaning of this song is not in the words that you're hearing, but the meaning will come forth in response to the inquiring impulse. But the inquiring impulse is one translation, another translation is that the meaning will respond to the arrival of energy.

[29:10]

And that word energy also means opportunity or function. We've got the words. What are the words? the teaching of suchness. Those words, the meaning of those words, the teaching of suchness, is not in the words, but the meaning is in the relationship of our life opportunity in those words. In that relationship, the meaning comes forth. The inquiry impulse, again, is not trying to get the meaning. That's not inquiring, that's touching. And the inquiring is also, the inquiring impulse is also not to pay attention to the, it's not disregarding the words and saying, hey, the meaning's not in the words, I'm not gonna pay attention to the words. It's not turning away from the words.

[30:13]

It's being intimate with the words. The meaning of the words comes forth in the intimacy of the listener and the words. The meaning of the cries of suffering, which will free the beings from suffering, comes forth in listening to the suffering intimately, not trying to get not trying to get the meaning of the suffering, not trying to get the meaning of the words. In that way of listening to the words, the meaning of the words comes forth. I'm listening to the words as a service to the words. Somebody said also today something about attention. And then he said, a tension.

[31:20]

There is a tension in this teaching. And the teaching has a tension in it, and the teaching is telling us how to pay attention to the tension. The tension is between you and me. There's a tension between us. and we're being encouraged to give attention to this tension. There is a tension between justice and injustice. There is a tension between peace and war. There's a tension between Buddhas and living beings. And we are being asked to give attention to that tension. there is a tension between the snow and the silver bowl. And what kind of attention do we give to this tension?

[32:28]

We don't try to eliminate the tension. We don't try to control the tension. We're totally devoted to the tension and the elements of the tension. We're devoted to Buddhas and living beings. We are devoted to war and peace. We're devoted to war in order to free beings from war. We're devoted to peace in order to realize peace. Some people are devoted to AIDS. That's their main thing they're working on in life. They're working on it. to promote freedom from suffering. I think Louis Pasteur was devoted to various kinds of bovine bacteria, wasn't he?

[33:37]

I just read that Jane Austen probably died from bovine tuberculosis from drinking unpasteurized milk. Some people studied bovine tuberculosis. They were devoted to bovine tuberculosis. That's what they studied all day long because they wanted to free beings from the suffering of bovine tuberculosis. They're devoted to it. We're devoted to the tension between health and illness. And how are we devoted? We understand that they're different and that they're intimate. We understand not to turn away or touch. We understand that the meaning of this tension will come forth, that the meaning of this intimate tension will come forth from the proper way, the proper energy we bring to the tension.

[34:47]

And it also says, in between it says, and you're trapped. Or move and you fall into a pit. Hesitate and you fall into doubt and vacillation. Again, the teaching of suchness appears, move and you fall into a pit. The teaching of suchness appears, hesitate, and you're lost in regret and doubt. How can we not move and not hesitate? Another way to say it is, react hysterically and you fall into a pit. React obsessively and compulsively and you're thrown into doubt and vacillation.

[35:54]

which then might lead you to try obsessive-compulsive again. These are instructions in intimacy. Another way to say it is, the teaching of justice has been intimately communicated, intimately entrusted, now you have it, take care of it. How do you take care of it? open to a conversation, open to criticism, open to everything, and open to be in conversation with it And let the conversation be guided by not turning away or touching, not hesitating, and not being impulsive.

[37:01]

Not try to get the meaning from the conversation. Let the conversation find the meaning, not you. and not the other person. I wrote down here, where did I write it? Oh yeah, I wrote, I had this piece of paper I found recently, which was, what is a Zen master? And I wrote, it's relational. Or I would say, it's a relationship. A Zen master is a relationship. A lot of people think a Zen master is some

[38:09]

some person over there that people call Master or something. But today I'm saying a Zen Master is a relationship. The Zen Master is an intimate entrustment A Buddha is an intimate entrustment. Buddhas intimately entrust, but it isn't like the Buddhas over here intimately entrusting over there. The intimate entrustment is the Buddha, and the intimate entrustment is the teaching, and the intimate entrustment is the relationship, is the conversation. And I also, in this old note, I wrote Yamada Mumon. There was a person named Yamada Mumon who lived most of his life in Japan.

[39:18]

And I think people said that he was a Zen master. And I'm saying I'm not saying he wasn't a Zen master, I'm not saying he was not, I'm just saying people said he was. And I went to visit, I met him a number of times, but the last couple times I met him he had become very old, people said he'd become very old. So I went to see him and his attendants put robes on him and put him in a lacquered chair. They got him seated up in the chair, and I went to see him, and he was looking out, his eyes were looking out, he didn't seem to be recognizing anybody, and he was drooling.

[40:19]

And his attendants said, Roshi, look who's here visiting you from San Francisco. He didn't seem to hear anything or didn't seem to, his eyes didn't move at all. He just sat there drooling. And I thought, what is a Zen Master? Is that a Zen Master? I'm not saying the answer is no. I'm just saying, I said, is that a Zen Master? So what I am saying is that the Zen Master on that occasion, the Zen Master on that occasion was the relationship between this relatively young priest and this relatively old priest and his attendant saying to him, Roshi, look who's here.

[41:23]

That relationship of me wondering what is a Zen Master Did it used to be here and it went away? Like when he could do his beautiful calligraphy? I can tell you some other stories about him where he wasn't drooling, but I'm going to tell those later. Now I'm going to say that the Zen master is the relationship between me and him on that occasion. the actual relationship between the young priest wondering where the Zen Master is, or what the Zen Master is, and the old Zen Master, the old priest, who I don't know what he was thinking. I would be very, very surprised if he was thinking, what is a Zen Master? Or who is this, even who is this person in front of me? I don't think he saw a person in front of him.

[42:26]

didn't look like he saw a person. I don't think he even thought, oh, my attendant's telling me something. I don't know what he was thinking. But I wasn't so much wondering what he was thinking. I was wondering, what is a Zen Master? I didn't think, I wasn't asking, is he a Zen Master? I did think, what I used to think was a Zen Master is not here anymore. I did think that. person I met before who I thought was a Zen Master, he was gone and never coming back. But I didn't say he's not a Zen Master, I didn't say that. I said, what is a Zen Master? Where is the Zen Master? And now it's been 30 years later, and now I'm telling you, now what I think is that the Zen Master was there in that meeting between the old Zen priest and the younger Zen priest.

[43:35]

The Zen Master was there. The Zen Master is intimately entrusted by Buddhas and ancestors. The Zen Master is the teaching of Sushnus. It's pervading everywhere. It's in every meeting. But it's not him. He's not the Zen Master. I'm not the Zen Master. You're not the Zen Master. She's not the Zen Master. But your relationship, the suchness of your relationship, the suchness of your relationship, which is all-pervading, that is the Zen Master. And that Zen Master is all-pervading. Nobody owns it. Nobody can get away from it. But if you try to get away from it, that's wrong. And if you try to get a hold of the Zen Master, that's wrong. But if you find the place where you're not trying to get the Zen Master, or get away from the Zen Master, where you're not getting excited about the Zen Master, and you're not being obsessive about the Zen Master, or compulsive about the Zen Master, you're guiding yourself into that intimacy which is the Zen Master.

[45:00]

into the intimacy where the teaching of suchness is intimately entrusted and where the medicine which cures all ills is being intimately trusted. And this is a big challenge for us to be that way in each relationship. But the suchness of each relationship is this teaching. of suchness. And this song is saying, now you have it. Now you have it. And I can put an and in there. And now you have it. And now you have it. Or take the and away and just say, now you have it. Now you have it. But if you get distracted It's maybe like you don't have it, and then you think, oh, she's the Zen Master, or he's the Buddha.

[46:08]

No, he's not the Buddha. I'm saying he's not the Buddha. Your relationship with everybody is Buddha, and your relationship with somebody who's called Master Buddha, your relationship with them, that's the Buddha. The Buddha's not the person over there. Buddha is your relationship with that person over there. There is a person over there. Hi. But they're not the Buddha. And you're not the Buddha. The Buddha is your relationship. So how to be with that, that's very challenging. Because we've got karmic consciousness which says, oh, there is a Zen master, or there is not a Zen master. There's an evil one, there's a good one. And we, it really does look like that is a Zen Master. Or maybe I really am a Zen Master, wow. Hey, Zen Master, yes. And if it looks like a Zen Master, ooh, it's scary or obnoxious.

[47:15]

That's a person, you're a person, but you're a relationship. That ungraspable intimacy. That's the teaching of suchness, which Zen Masters intimately entrust, and the way they intimately entrust it is that they don't have it and give it over to somebody else. We have it together. That would be appropriate to have a conversation, yes? Yeah, actually the translation here is the teaching of thusness. We can say this, but this is a little bit like this might be misunderstood as not that. So such is more like this and that in relationship.

[48:20]

So the way this is, this as such, silvija as such, not silvija as silvija not silvija, but the way silvija and silvija as silvija not silvija are intimate and not the same. The snow in the silver bowl. is suchness. It isn't the silver bowl. It's the relationship between two things which are similar but not, the way you and everybody else are the same and not. That's the way you are. Form and emptiness. Emptiness isn't really suchness. It's emptiness which is form and form which is emptiness. That is suchness, the way things actually always are. the way impermanent things always are impermanent, the way impermanent things are always interdependent, that's suchness.

[49:27]

And that teaching is what Buddhas realize in relationship. Yes? Who or what is a Zen Master? Well, yes, and I realize that it's not this person over there with enlightenment or a certain state or a certain robe that it is in the meeting. Well, there is a person over there with enlightenment and a robe, but that's not a Zen Master. Zen Master is a relationship with the enlightened person in the robe, in the title, the relationship between that wonderful enlightened person and this other person who might also be a wonderful enlightened person. that relationship which neither one of them own and neither one of them can get away from, that's the Zen Master. My question is, someone who does practice for a long time, who has dedicated their life to practice or is a teacher or whatever, will that person more likely bring to another person a meaning or relationship such that entrustment

[50:43]

that energy of entrustment occurs. Wouldn't that be nice? I don't know. I think it would be good. I think it would be good if somebody brought this, promoted this opportunity. That's your job. Now you have it, so take care of it. Wouldn't that be nice? Please take care of it. This teaching has been given to you. you've got it, now please take care of it. And wouldn't it be good if you did? And maybe if you kept trying over and over, maybe the likelihood would increase, but who knows? Because that story that the likelihood would increase, that's the story. And that's not suchness. Suchness is the relationship between that story and the more you practice, the worse you get. the relationship between those two stories, the actual relationship between those. And we can tell some other ones and put them in a relationship too.

[51:47]

So these stories, if we grasp these stories, that's called touching. So if somebody does blah blah blah, whatever it is, if you grasp that story, this is not the way to practice. But you tell me another story, I'll tell you how not to grasp that too. Practice matters. Okay, yeah. So don't touch that or turn away. That's a nice story. Practice matters. How about practice doesn't matter? Yeah, practice doesn't matter. Perfectly good story. Practice doesn't matter and I could tell you more about it, but for now let's just say practice does not matter. Okay? Let's just get that straight. That's the story. Practice does not matter. Now, the instruction here is do not touch that or turn away from that. That's the way to take care of the teaching of suchness. Yes. I just wanted to make a comment, because this reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a friend in my town.

[52:48]

We were talking about the homeless people in San Francisco. And I mentioned how hard it is for me when I go into the city to see that. And he, I appreciate the honesty, he said, I wish I didn't care. I wish I, I don't want to, I don't want to see that. I don't want to feel what they're feeling. Yeah, he wished he could turn away, but he can't. So that's pretty good. So he wishes he could turn away, but he can't. And also, it doesn't sound like he was turning away from wishing that he could turn away. It sounded like he kind of accepted that he wished that he could turn away, so he could tell you. And you could say, thank you for not turning away. And thank you for whatever made you not able to turn away. And then you can also ask him, but also ask him, is he touching it? Because he might be touching it. Yeah, I don't know either. Ask him. Ask him.

[53:49]

And ask yourself, are you touching it? When you see the homeless person, are you touching them? Because touching them is not good, because you're just going to get burned. But I don't want you to run away from them, because then you'll freeze. A lot of us, anyway, when we see a situation, we're tempted to run away, but some of us, what do you call it, are counterphobic, and then we try to touch it. We're saying, don't be counterphobic, and don't be animated by counterphobias, and don't be animated by phobias. Find that middle place where phobias come, you say, welcome phobia. You don't have to get rid of the phobias either. Because they also are offering an opportunity for intimate entrustment. And also counter phobias. We've got a lot of nice counter phobia people in our community who just like go running at what they're scared of.

[54:57]

We don't turn away from them either. And we also don't touch them. We don't hesitate. and we don't get excited about their phobias and counter-phobias. This is how we listen to them. I mean, this is how we aspire to listen to them. It's difficult to learn this. Yes? Thank you. So, I'm asking if I'm adhering to what I've seen with the circumambulation of the world in circumambulating it, I'm their witness, there's some witnessing, there's that liminal space between that witnessing, where I can reflect on my own darkness in the world and how I can... Witness your own darkness? Not necessarily.

[56:18]

If you're really asking, you're just saying, how could this person have done that? And you're at your own cry. And you can listen to that and see, are you touching that cry? Like you say, that that thought is true? Rather than, I hear this thought. heinous crime, how could they do that? Those are things to be intimate with. If you're intimate with them, then you're intimate with the teaching which will bring healing to that situation, which is what you want. But also don't turn away from heinous courts, heinous crime. Don't turn away from it. So you're witnessing it, and then you ask a question about it. You can do that without missing a beat of being intimate with that.

[57:19]

Be intimate with your opinions about what other people are doing. And this is a way to be intimate with other people and find the relationship with them, which is the Zen master. who maybe will do something healing from that relationship. That relationship will do something healing in a mysterious, intimate way. So nobody's going away and saying, I did the healing, or you did the healing. Well, you may say you did the healing, but it's kind of a joke. It's like our relationship in its suchness is what heals. But you know, some people say, oh yeah, well that lady does all the healing. And maybe to make it simple for people, she says, okay, I did it. But maybe she should mention that it wasn't her that did it.

[58:20]

Some people call that God, right? Like I heard one doctor say, God does the healing and we write out the bill. because I need to be there for God to do the healing. They have to have a relationship. So I remember Gregory Bateson, a friend of Zen Center and interesting, kind person, he had this theory about, double-bind theory of schizophrenic origination. And one of his expressions was, it takes two to make one. It takes two to make a schizophrenic. to make one. Now it takes two to make two. It usually takes a doctor and a person to make a schizophrenic. And it takes two to make one Zen master or make one Buddha. Because Buddhas are none other than the people that Buddhas are intimately transmitting with.

[59:26]

So every moment is an opportunity for the practice of suchness. That's what suchness means. It's the teaching of the suchness of all situations. And we have it transmitted to us, and now our job is now to work together to take care of it by being open to conversation, which is sometimes so difficult. Because the conversation is a conversation with someone who seems to be doing something really unkind, or really irritating, or really scary, etc. Very hard for us to like really be open to conversing with that person. And that person could be us. I could think, I really did something really stupid. I don't want to talk with myself anymore today. That's turning away, that's not being open to conversation.

[60:33]

Inwardly and outwardly, keep checking, are you open to conversation? And part of being honest, part of being open to conversation is to admit when you don't feel open to conversation. So you can have a conversation with not being open to conversation. Are you open to conversation? No. You want to talk about it? No. Well, when don't you want to talk about it? Never. Well, thank you for the conversation. In fact, we are having a conversation all day long with all beings, so let's practice that. In fact, there isn't any discrepancy. Let's practice that. And if we think there is, let's practice being intimate with a discrepancy. and the difference between the beginning of your talk, you talked about not trying to fix suffering.

[61:43]

But then later you talked about, for example, people being devoted to AIDS and suffering from AIDS. Well, that example was being devoted to health. So Louis Pasteur, I think, was devoted to health. But he spent most of his time, you know, I shouldn't say most of his time, he spent a lot of his time being devoted to disease. He spent it all, he really thought about people's health, but he was actually devoting his energy to witnessing disease. He was devoted to whatever the disease was and he didn't even know what it was at first. He was devoted to exploring, to thoroughly exploring the world of suffering. You know, the suffering in humans and what it is that they're suffering.

[62:49]

He was devoted to find out what that suffering was. So he didn't turn away from the disease towards and try to touch the health. So this example was, I would feel like, if you are, what's the word, if you are not intimate with the disease, you will not find the cure. And to try to get the cure before it's given to you is not what a successful scientist does. But didn't he still wish to fix it? Well, you can say fix it, but it's more like he wished to understand it. He didn't fix the disease, he found out how it worked. And from there, the medicine came, from that understanding. He wanted people to be free of the disease, but he wasn't trying to destroy the disease process, he was trying to understand the disease process.

[63:59]

Okay, you want some validation for wanting to fix something? Do you? Okay. Do you by any chance want to fix something right now? Well, let me know when you want to fix something. Come and show me the person who wants to fix something, and I will be happy to do a ceremony of validation of that person, which will be very similar to what I said to you before. Now you have it. When you want to fix something, I will say to you that the Buddhas are intimately transmitting the teaching which will cure all ills and now you have it, right while you want to fix something. You don't have to stop trying to fix something in order to receive this transmission. The transmission is what's going to fix everything. But the wish to fix needs a transmission. You need, when you wish to fix, if you're not intimate with the wish to fix, then it's like,

[65:20]

Fixing and not fixing are far apart. When you're intimate with the wish to fix, then they're inseparable. The wish to fix and the fixing are intimate. The wish to fix is not the fixing. It's not. The fixing is like all this research that the person does. And in the research, the wish to fix and the disease become intimate, and in intimacy is where suffering is cured. So if there's a wish, fine, that's another ill. Not always, maybe, but often we wish for a fix when we're suffering. or we wish for a fix when we witness suffering, whether we feel it or not.

[66:23]

We feel it somewhat, probably. And there's the wish and the suffering. And I'm saying to get into the fixing rather than get into the intimacy is not what Louis Pasteur did. He got intimate with the disease, and that intimacy led to relief of that suffering. And some people's disease is the disease they have is they walk around wishing to fix. That's the disease they have. you know, maybe not 24 hours a day, but 18 hours a day they're walking around wishing that they were fixed, or wishing that she was fixed. Some people wish that she was fixed, right? If she was fixed, I would be happy. She is like the worst blah-de-blah, or he is like, if he was fixed, everything would be fine around here. Some people think that, and I think that's the problem, is he isn't fixed.

[67:23]

He is a terrible person. He's a heinous husband. and she's a wicked wife. They think that, right? Or some people think, I'm a wicked wife. If I was fixed. And they're miserable all day long wishing that they were fixed. But I'm not saying you should stop wishing that you were fixed. I'm saying if you become intimate with wishing that you were fixed, you'll be liberated from wishing that you were fixed. and you'll be liberated from everything else too. And you'll be able to show all other people who wish that they were fixed how to be free of the wish to be fixed. Not to mention how to be free of the wish that those people would get sick, that those people would be killed. If we become intimate with the thought, may those people be unhappy, we'll be free from that thought.

[68:25]

You understand now, right? Pretty much? Everything cleared up, didn't it? Yeah, so now please take care of it. Now that you have it, please take care of it. Is that enough conversation this morning? No? Please. Hey, we can keep going if you want to, but then there's also lunch. You want to check to see if you understood something? Would you stand up carefully and speak your question? She's going to see if she understood something. Watch this. Without touching. So I think I understood there were four things not to do. At least. The inquiry and response, that is one way to describe intimacy.

[69:32]

Inquiry and response is one of the ways we talk about intimacy, right? Yeah. And inquiry and response happens at various levels, which I can talk about, we can review this afternoon. Okay? Thank you very much.

[69:53]

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