Stories of Enlightenment
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In our class this fall we will contemplate and converse about several stories of Zen practice and enlightenment. Our contemplation and conversations will naturally bring up questions and concerns about our daily life and how to meet the great and small challenges of our wonderful and troubled world in beneficial and liberating ways.
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in the midst of the last
meeting we had hear a story came up
which is the first story and the book of serenity
it's a simple story and
it's and being the first story in the book i think is
could be taken as this this story is a central story in the school
of the person who set the foundation for the book the person is hunger jump your way
chinese
zen teacher chinese buddha dharma teacher and he put that story first and that story is called the world on one a sends the seat
last week it seemed quite apropos to bring it up so there it came and then i asked you to write i and i told you the poem which celebrates the case
and i asked you to write poems
and some of you did
thank you very much
when any people like to recite the poem that came
up for them
i'd like to recite a poem about anything
i never talked about
k what's what's the story this poem is about
the story of lindsay is great enlightenment where he got slapped three times okay this is just poem about lindsay is great enlightenment slack hope
the metaphor for wrapping one's way are reason down
maybe okay just here
this or ancient masters are worthy of veneration
once again not all desert called enough not all stories or ancient masters are worthy of veneration
thank you
so this basics this story is the world everyone gets up on the seat and doesn't say so but sat on the seat the dharma seek the teaching seat
and and we don't know how long that sitting was going on but
his grade student the bodhisattva of wisdom manjushri
struck the gavel and said clearly observe
the dharma
of the teacher of dharma
the dharma of the teacher of dharma is thus
and then the world on one
got down from the seat
i think it was this morning somebody said to me i was talking about clearly observing
this person was
talking about various things and raising various questions
and
i kept asking him if he was clearly observing his questions
it seemed like he was actually he he hit he had been trying to practice clearly observing
and then he started asking questions but one historias and questions i felt like he like kind of fell into the questions and kind of got concerned with answering their questions and gave up the practice of clearly observing while he was asking questions
anyway one of his questions was ordered the world on or what do after he got down or why did he get down from the seat
and
i said well he got down from the seat i would say for the same reason they got up on the seat
got up and a seat to
i'm open people
two
buddha's wisdom and i got up and the seat to demonstrate perfect buddha's wisdom
and he got up in the seat to awaken people to buddha's wisdom and to help them enter it and then it got down and you got up there for that reason and they sat there for that reason and he got down for the same reason
i think i when when i became abbot of the zen center in san francisco and i went to the founders hall i recited little poem i think the poem was
our founder came
choose then center or came to san francisco
to practice with us
and he stayed in san francisco to practice with us and he left san francisco to practice with us
so much she's
the buddhas and the buddhist sitting there in mature she goes clearly observed on doesn't just not clear if you've pointed at the buddha
clearly observe the dharma of the teacher of dharma
the dharma teacher of dom is thus
and i think thus is different from this
he didn't say the teaching of dharmas this like this person sitting there or this person not sitting there he said it's thus thus is a little bit more dynamic and all inclusive than this and that thus applies to this and that or this or not this
the way this is is this is also not this that's thus so the buddha's teaching is thus
and oftentimes when we say clearly observe we might say clearly observe what's happening
but they didn't say clearly observe what's happening they said clearly observe period but then also after the period
or maybe a comma
the dharma of the teacher of dharma clearly observed the dharma of the teacher of donna
the dharma is not what's happening or not happening
the dharma is the vastness of happenings and not happenings clearly observe the teaching not the happenings but that doesn't mean you ignore the happenings
you but if you see it happening while you can clearly observe that too but understand your clear observing something that seems to be happening and you can also observe something you think is not happen or the not happening of something
sometimes we see the not happening of something like we see the not happening of happiness
or the happiness happening we seem to think
so if not saying observe happiness or observe unhappiness it sang observe
the teaching
the highest teaching
and then the palm goes the unique breeze of reality so if something's happening there was a the breeze of reality is there with what's happening
if something's not happening or of nothing's happening the yuneec breeze of realities there to it flows through happenings in not happenings
observe the yuneec breeze of reality
and then it says creation is constantly working her loom and shuttle
incorporating the patterns of spring into the ancient brocade
and so as the lumen shuttle work together
bringing up new patterns
it's hard for us sometimes to clearly observe have we because the new the new pattern it's being worked into the
the shuttle moving through into the loon
sometimes we can get disturbed shocked by the new movement of the shuttle and the new question the wish to get an answer these are all threads
they've come up freshly each moment and then it the difficulty is a challenges to stay upright and remember to clearly observed this new pat this new spring time pattern
and then watch how the springtime pattern is then integrated with
the ancient brocade
and then the last line of the poem is but nothing can be done about my is leaking
about manager she's telling us to look
and that's kind of the secondary which we started with
the
the awakening is this clearly observing this process of the lonely shuttle are working
a clearly observe in the process of creation
but there's also the creation of people pointing
at the process and telling us to look at it and us asking where is it or how can i get a hold of it that's also part of the thread and another part of the imagery here is that the loom is a vertical it's a vertical boom it's an upright loan it's an unmoving lou than loomis and wobbling
the loom as upright
receiving the shuttle's activity and the shuttle is moving
it has the function of bringing the new the new threat of the fresh throne of creation into relationship with this approach unmoving stillness and silence
whereas were being
encouraged to clearly observe and to clearly observed the process of creation
where the principal the upright principle is being integrated or interviews with the bias of this turn in that turn of of the shuttle of this thread and that threat of this color and that throne of spring these are particulars that are integrated with the
universal
were asked to clearly observe
and then am a chance to see this process
and also
constant important people telling us what to do
you know and very skillful are interesting ways
so did some people wrote poems anybody want to recite their bone yes
okay to palms from two different barry's
perfect raindrops back to it by the sun rising on the lake a felon for yesterday as miss this morning
he he thank you
we're ready for another one okay
an egg for breakfast bacon to homemade bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon
thank you
yes yes please
he had a babbling brook first that why the reason
flowing
gases
heretic age well money
next
what well mother
thank you
yes
that
he did listener and disciple care will show conversation ancient okay appears
outside children lack the wind howls nothing happens on its own
hmm
an echoing with your poem is
the shuttle converses with the loon
and the loom converses with the shuttle
the evening shuttle
caress this balloon tenderly
the trembling known caress the shuttle damned name
yes
yes
come
she probably is out there was news is somebody else for
the machine was said
say isn't that beautiful
or he said it prime i've been making him famous for saying it
he repeated again
ah say is a for
yeah
and when he said that i was rather shocked and i thought that's very strict
the the beauty of a thing like a flower really is the way the flour is and are not being what we think the flowers and is terrifying us when the for
flower like stands up and says i'm not a flower and don't call me that
and when we feel the shock of that there's the beauty
but for the flour is to be sitting there if you know an obstacle go take the word beauty and the
in a car sticker on it a guy he i think that's what he meant by the sin to confine the flower to our idea of beauty rather than to let the flower overwhelm us and feel the beauty and then maybe in defense say oh you're so beautiful
but again that's a kind of sin
and if somebody told me which i've never been able to verify and i haven't given up but anyway that the word sin comes from as a route in some language meaning to sunder
the to split
so when we see a flower i think he said a flower actually and call it beautiful
we sunder
the flower
a flower relationship by that word
pardon doesn't mean that
well we know we can enjoy the beauty and then we can also another i thought of odors one time i saw somebody pardon
we don't have to label it however when we do we i think we
we kind of defile it
unless we do it as a joke
you know like
that
there is and again saying that is beautiful singer is beautiful may were caught on
i didn't say i'm just saying that you somehow there is joy and we can defile it we can defile joy by projecting
aren't on it even though that whole process is again shockingly beautiful yes
yes
where do i was getting in
him
kidding
hey it could be he thought she by me and all it is now i need a you and and and that word coming out coming out if we say that that word is that thing
that's you don't have to go that far
you can just go you can just go like you know
yeah to to say that that this thing you're overwhelmed and then so i like to walk back on it by saying is beautiful
that's going too far you can just be not done so beautiful but you're not saying that's beautiful this is beautiful
you're just it's like it's like yeah what comes to my mind is
the various things describing the the appropriate response to beauty
the proper response is like
so there's i think three three examples
one is the example of what's called it's kind of a japanese scarecrow which is called a scare dear i think they call scared year in already is
it's like in japanese gardens sometimes they have water flowing and then they have like a bamboo tube and the bamboo tubes honor a pivot and the water flows into the tube and when the tumors full it tips over and poor's the water out
and then to pour the water of the to goes back to its original opposite position when it was empty when it goes back to the end of the tube hits a rock and golf
and scares the deer the activity of that device is like when booty but when beauty strikes you and you go
doesn't think oh that's that's beauty or that's the dear
but if we slip into thinking that what we just said is it rather than this this thing just pokes us and we see beautiful in all ago if somebody said why did you say that you say i don't know i don't know why said beautiful you could also go ugly you know you're you're just like your this is words
being squeezed out of you by the by the relationship another example is
keep and again i wasn't there at the time but one time to secure as you came into the into the meditation hall before i wouldn't ruin when zen center was over in japantown he went into dot meditation hall and usually when you go into the meditation hall you stop step inside and stop join your palms and
wow
so he did that somebody else was tailgating him
so when you stop that person ran into him
and as he ran into him as it was bowing with his hands like this and his one of his elbows went back and hit the person in the chest
and i don't know if that person thought but i i guess i thought it was just a mechanical reaction of the elbow going into him you know which also by the way taught him that he was tailgating but it wasn't like sucrose that's thinking i guess my understanding it wasn't like him thinking or i'm gonna teach him
not a tail gave me it was more like just the relationship that intimate relationship
brought elbow into chest
and let that person to tell the story so i could tell you this is the transmission of dharma but it's not like suzuki roshi was teaching him that
and yet the relationship between zucker issues body and his practice and this person running into him produce that teaching that scary scary teaching of yeah so if the it's beautiful just pops out and you don't
ray-ban know what it's about and if someone says oh that was about the the flower news and ego maybe so maybe it was about the flower i'd i just i was just possessed with i was possessed with the word with the word beautiful and just popped out of me
that could happen in that relationship but to think oh this is what that is that's why i would say going it's going overboard yes
was talking about
here
yeah in a way he was kind of you could say he was saying this the area there's the teacher
there's the
this is a great teacher in did you noticed by the way did you notice the grade teacher
is
so leaking are leaking is is a technical term for also for could say for sin
it's for dual it's making something dualistic which isn't really so as to wonder hands so dale and kim and katie and tyler and yes
news
yes they are mean
i am
i'm just me
who
yeah and that dance can produce a comment
however to say that the comment is the dance
as in believe it president had that comment also be part of the dance and and you understand it's nothing more than that it's another then if then you're not caught by it
then you don't fall into the secondary so there's the dance and then there's a were dancing
one time i was practicing tango was dancers someone is that i think we're doing tango
but again you don't fall into that the tango can produce or maybe we're actually dancing finally
and then not fall into it's it's going if you're clearly observe is beautiful but to say it's beautiful and put that on it
let's see next
as in
the cause five
a us server
whatever the especially
it could be it could be and also the weaving together the community might produce the impulse
hmm yeah in fact the impulses had also arrived from a weaving together as a community the impulses arise from the
the a shuttle working with the glue
and if you clearly observe you realize that this impulse isn't happening by itself it's happening by been interviews because a shot moving in mid air isn't really a shuttle
it's the shuttle more moving with the loom that's the shuttle it's the dance that produces the expressions of the dance so in fact those expressions do enhance the weaving of the community
that's but but if we don't observe it it's like we can slip into thinking this impulse happened by itself and this impulse to the weaving rather than an impulse the a move in shuttle happened without the loom
if you watch carefully you realize there with there's no movement of the shuttle without the loo
there's no there's no arrow really working without the bow
in fact that already the case so question everything is already doing this all things are integrating with all the other things all the time
but we can we can get distracted from that can lean into the secondary
katie
this story about i
he said
guess
oh
is that a misunderstanding
right
by media is that atmosphere today and maybe i found out
seems
it seems
that if we're like wholeheartedly the finally our joy
and laughing
okay too serious about being interested
now they call her
right and would you just said could also be misunderstood because what you just said it was kind of like a zen thing and that can be
and that can be misunderstood
then can be misunderstood
and then has unfunny people
and fun people
and those statements can be misunderstood so zen is vulnerable to misunderstanding
tyler
is just on our
yeah it's basically the same
over for me to say ah
that is tyler
to say your name is tyler even as is but it's not quite this to say your name is tyler isn't quite going as far as to saying that is tyler or tyler is that
when this is tyler to say tyler is thus is more
in it again is more undefiled but again we're not like trying to avoid defilement because that would be another defilement but in fact
just to say it's thus doesn't really tell us anything but to say it's this to set your this
a defiling you you're not just this but just say your thus i think opens that what you're like this but not like this
ah well i think if he would sit if he will say that those look that word is the teaching but we did it maybe very we don't have to go that far with him i think that the the leaking was kind of he seemed to be like pointing sort of to it seems like he's pointing at the buddhist sitting there that
pointing
so again that resonates with other basic very basic teachings of where for example the one where
which i told you and the first class i think i was resonating what does not falling into the secondary
and i said about the when window
when the six ancestor had two big disciples or maybe it was the night i've talked about his other main disciple
two main disciples are ching iran and non-eu so when nine your re met the sixth ancestor the six ancestor said to what is it the does comes
can say what is it that comes he said what is it the dust comes which again is a pun on the epithet for buddha so he's asking what is buddha and what is in watery and who are you what is it that this comes and the monk says to say it's this misses the point
to say that buddhist this misses the point and to say that i'm this misses the point
yeah magician kind of said it's this sort of but then after he said it's this okay now i got your attention by saying is this you can get people's attention so sometimes you do that
and if you don't do that than people might understand miss miss misunderstand
it's so so since they might misunderstand you say well this is it right there since the buddha sits up there and doesn't say anything people might not understand that this is the buddha's teaching so i tell them look look at this but he also said and i just look out of clearly observe it
but then he he started recovers by saying that the dharmas thus but in the story of the six ancestor talking to non-eu way after nine i said to say it's this misses the point that has extensive says well as then then is there no practice or enlightenment
so the first class to soar story we looked at it is is there enlightenment or do we need enlightenment or not it's not that we say there's no enlightenment
it just don't fall into the secondary so in this other story
the teacher says we then there's there are no enlightenment if we if we don't say this is it is there no enlightenment or practice and the monk says i don't say there's no enlightenment or practice i say just don't defile it
and then the teacher says this undefiled way is what all the buddhist are transmitting including the undefiled way can be misunderstood the defile way can be too
of course but pvp will think the undefiled way then nobody would be able to misunderstand it so zen is the undefiled way and it can be misunderstood and the defiled wave but he knows that can be misunderstood because misunderstanding
but also misunderstand is can be understood correctly
and the undefiled way can be understood correctly so somebody is damaged many people are demonstrated in the defiled way this is this is that this is that this is it and some people are teaching it is thus and we don't know what that is and it's overwhelming and were overwhelmed we can we can say myriad of all
but we don't know where we're talking about because we were overwhelmed
k
so
sir
she had to say that are
so i was good
got the expansion
chris
in
you
yeah it's essential
mckenna says but nothing can be done about monsters is leaking
we gotta there's gonna be leaking
even when i went to sierra one time in september
and a pie the snow had just melted
he just don't like a week before they cleared the roads and was smaller the place
it was springtime up there in september because the snore just come away and these flowers room it was like it was like a gar actually like it you know backyard or new york cultivated garden it was so thick with flowers up at the peaks of these mountains and these excuses for saying so the
these women or walk into these flowers and like basically passing out
they were just like overwhelmed by these flowers just like i don't know if they actually fell down and rolled in them but that's what it felt like they were very a they were overwhelmed and but they weren't exactly pointing to the flowers and yet they're there
the their overwhelming response did sort of it was noticeable
and when it was wonderful
i want to preach about appreciate about this conversation is a i i definitely notice a tendency myself to minimize things by or it's try to you know was so i psyche keep moving and my habitual pace
and know that if i was to really slow down to really appreciate that kind of lives
not me office draft i think i have to be thank you thank you for saying no i think i think many of us do that like cambridge uk beautiful move on
just even even even been complimentary to our environment is a way to in a not stop and be like
at the mercy of the beauty
i'm too busy to say anything more than that's beautiful see later so it's good if we noticed that and then
and then maybe stop
and then maybe notice that were afraid of stopping
and maybe we actually stopped a moment before
and felt the fear and felt the beauty and then resident feel that the longer we just set is beautiful new dawn got away from them
the the terror it's yeah that's it's good to be aware of that
charlie and the own
and then chef solar output
sciences how are you doing
are you
yeah young
yeah and you you might not feel permission to say
i don't know
as one of the advantages of being as an priests you can say i don't know
a and people say okay you can say that and yeah lately i has some of you know my one of my grandsons was accidentally died
thirty days ago and my grandsons died ever have taken some poison
and so people asked me how how are you people who know about that asked me how you are you and i say
i'm full of life and death
ty am i'm just full of it
not just death and not just life
and they are and i can say that because
my grandson died but you can say how to even if your guns hundred and just die you can say could you are you're full of life and death
it also say i don't know and people say to also say to me how have you been an ice and they let me see and i answer i don't remember
but i'm here now and i'm glad to see you they can they are you know they can big deal with that with me anyway so it's one of the privileges of being an old priest yes you can say i don't know or i don't remember and i'm not going to try to remember i don't say that part
i really don't remember and even if i told you what i remember that it wasn't how i have been there's just a memory i'm not my memories
i mean the where was is not my members the way i am is my memories
and i think it's good to
two dare to tell people how you actually are feeling and not give that answer and i think people can handle it we can find a way
to not just close down shop
but it's it's but again
it's risky
and again it's dangerous
but danger lives right next to opportunity
and the chinese character for crisis is the two characters danger and opportunity together
that's where things turn
and danger is not a danger is the possibility of being injured or hurt it's not been injured
when you actually break your leg that's not a danger
but when you're in danger of breaking your leg you might break your leg and then there's also opportunity there
opportunity to be careful
but the careful big opportunity the the possibility of being careful lives right next door to the possibility of been hurt if you're not careful
and that's for beauty is living to isn't that the danger and that opportunity
and if you feel if you don't feel permission to address that crisis in each moment
then ask if you could if you if you ask for support so could i tell you i'm actually feeling when they ask you
can actually address the crisis i'm in
like somebody just yesterday day before yesterday somebody's told me he just had a grandson and i congratulated him
and he didn't ask me how my grandson was and i didn't tell him
if you'd asked me
yeah but he didn't ask me so i just
i just shared the joy of him having a five year five month old boy and i enjoyed not enjoyed i felt my life
it's not just mine
grandson
and his death but it's also his mother and his father they're also part of my life and there
yeah there there with me all the time now
so in a way they're more with maison
they're more with me than ever because of his death and because of his life
who's next
there was next
why i say
david
right
it's not necessarily beautiful new
beauty is fundamentally
i could start easy way to say beauty is fundamentally free of any idea of beauty
or beauty is basically not beautiful
the nelson the way the beauty is is awesome and terrible
terrifies us the way things are awesome terrifies us and the way or the and that way that they are
beyond our idea that's that's beauty the way things are like
in a gobbling up the whole universe and there were whole universe is gobbling everything up
that's beauty and that's terrible
and terrified and makes us tremble and it's mysterious all that's beauty
one of the poems written for this case was i think person says something like
something like his thoughts transform the thoughts of others
i don't know if he said that thoughts of others transform my thoughts
but
you know if you make an apple pie
you have just transform the thoughts of others
when you just something in the physical world
you just change the thoughts of other beings
and also other beings have just can't transform your thoughts into you making that pie that in that the shuttle working with the loom incorporate into patterns of spring that overwhelms any idea we have of the process and that's
that's beauty and that's
overwhelming and mysterious and
you know
and we can train to be present with them
the that crisis yes
there were be said
yeah i wouldn't say it's better i'm just say that beauty is awesome
and beauty is
as rocha said beauty is
the beginning of a terror that you can just barely stand
we were talking about avatar know we're talking about avatars and at
no aboard avatars are messengers angels are messengers
so some people say angels are messengers of god but all some angels are messengers of reality of such things
and when messenger comes it's tremendous it makes us tremble it's mysterious were awestruck
and if we take a for a tender with our body and mind our body and mind becomes tenderized and like your friend probably has a tenderized that for your friend robbie nose kings friend probably know zada be tender and when your tender your more easily struck by beauty but were struck by
by beauty means you're struck by
this intimate relationship
which you know which changes you and also is to enter into the intimate relationship where you change others
beauty is how others are changing us and we're changing others
and we end that and we're doing that
but also the way we're changing others and the way others have changing us the way others physical activity is changing our physical and mental life and vice versa that relationship is reality but when it comes to us when we see it we
it looks like beauty a minute if we call it beauty
so beauty and reality
are pivoting on each other and they pay are in danger and opportunity or
there's some awesomeness in a pivoting
and if we don't have awesomeness i would say it's because
we're too busy to have awesomeness
if we're not are awesome is because we we've toughened ourselves with we haven't we're no tender enough
with beings
and therefore not being tender
we closed the door on the awesomeness
but every moment as an opportunity to open up again
to the to the terror
to the fear
it's there it's not part of our life it's not like is it's not like us it's not really sometimes there is always there were always with fear with frightened beings
if you feel it
you're open to beauty and truth to
and that's again we're always going on
creation working her lumen shuttle that's always going on the tender relationship between the loom and the shuttle
how are you feeling up there it is here it is
and we're a little bit afraid of telling somebody how we really are they might be insulted they might think we're
i don't know what they might think i don't know what they might think but if i say fine they maybe they'll look get me let me get by maybe i could get get through this conversation if i say fine
i said i also sometimes used to say pupils are already feeling i say i've never been better and then that you can easily get through that one
but then i say and also i've never been worse
and in fact i have never been better and i have never been worse almost always applies
but if you say i've never been better they let you pass
even even at even you know at and security checks if they say how are you say never been better they let it through but if you say never been worse they might stop you and take you to
or if you say i don't remember that might take you to room you know
so as dick but they might not
they might go wow what what's going on here
but also there
some of them are not don't dare to be tender but not all of them some of them some of them maybe a you know when they they've been trained you know to how to and to search you tenderly
some of them are quite tender
i get searched every time because of my clothes and i am a prosthetic and here so they i get searched every time and some of them are quite tender with me
so i think you can do that job and be tender
or not
but
we need to give the tenderness a chance
which movies you need this are like be willing to be here if we're rushing through the tenderness doesn't have much of a chance
and zucker as she said zazen is the great tender not tenderizer just sitting and being quiet is a really good tenderizer
and again it doesn't get the tenderer the tender alization doesn't happen according to my schedule
it could happen really quickly or it could take a long time and if i'm in a rush for to get tender that tends to postpone the tenderness
but some people don't even know that the tenderness will come if they sit still and they sit down and just comes really fast and they're really surprised how quickly they become tender when they just put aside running around in circles
and then once they know that can happen in there maybe more you know how little bit more of a problem of like either trying to make it happen or postpone it
because once you feel tender than tears might come and stuff like that which you may not be used to
but the meditation hall you're welcome to cry and in this meditation hall you're welcome to feel tender here it's okay we support you to feel tender to be tender
we can analyze here and so you you can do and you let us be tender will let you be tender and then we can open to beauty and an opening it to it it may
you know find a find a good home before we even have a chance to call it beautiful and then we might say good or not
but instead of st beautiful you might say i feel scared
before we got too much for that i just wanted to give you an assignment
and the assignment is to
write a story
of awakening a story of enlightenment k right one make one up discover one in your own body and mind in and it can be about any time of your life but i'm particularly would like you among if you'd find at any time in your life that's fine but
also like you to see and find one that's happened in this class and the last six weeks
a story of enlightenment about things that have gone on here
if you can't if you can find one please tell us if you and if you find one here and also outside of here those are also welcome and if you find both
so please bring new spring time stories in the fall
of enlightenment
the stories are you that your mind is made about what's going on here that you can that you kind of feel like you would like to hold that story up
as a story of awakening
and if we we don't have time maybe to tell them all next week but i'd like to read and down and send him to me and then we can talk about him for the rest of her life
but this most of the stories we have been telling our stories that occur in situations like this are people who are getting together to study the dharma
and then having conversations
so i think there probably are some stories of enlightenment in this during the last six weeks in this room i think there are
so if you could discover any please write them down or anyway remember them and tell us about him please and who had to handwrite your palm
now
in increase your overall like to try
hmm
i think maintaining tenderness
might be are e phase you go through in developing tenderness i think it's more tender did not trying to maintain tenderness
so it's more tender to like if your tender dont dont don't give up to tenderness that's more tender i would say that tenderness is essential
in zen but the tenderness isn't the goal it's more like an essential in an essential way of being to realize the goal which is to realize the truth so we need to tender or we we are body and mind as as we grow up when we're when we're first boy
born or really quite tender
infants are really quite tender
have you ever see an infant but they have a reputation for being very tender
you know they don't have they can't make any wisecracks they don't ah to defend themselves they're very and they're very sensitive and tender and then we we tend to lose that tenderness as we grow up and then zen practices to help us recover the tenderness of of an infant which we may
never get to that but try almost try to get back
without getting rid of our adult nature to get back to that tenderness because in that tenderness the baby is quite open to the baby is very easily overwhelmed
like they get a little bit hungry and they get a lump and they get way overwhelmed by being a little hungry a little bit warm a little bit cold a little bit irritated they get they are tender and sensitive to the universe and they can barely get by moment after moment they need a lot of soothing and then it they need for
food and stuff and then need is hard for them to close your eyes and go to sleep because they're so awestruck
by life and their whole struck because they're so tender
so we want to get back through training
to be awestruck again but we have to do we have to like be able to take care of ourselves so we know okay
ah i'm ready i i have confidence that sitting in this posture i can be awestruck and it's and it's gonna be fine
and then i heard in that hair it comes and now okay we can live we can be generous and careful and tender and patient with this all with this trembling mystery so we have to yeah so the tenderness his paw
into to the truth
if we're not tender just like also when you when you were called take em take your pulse if you don't press hard enough you can feel it if you press too hard you can feel it
right now i can feel it and if i prepped you got real hard i will feel it and if they don't press hard enough i don't feel it so as a tender way of taking your pulse he's really nice
it's grounding is and a one could even be overwhelmed by this by this pulse if your tender so i think tenderness is part of a deal we need to be tender in order to open to this shuttle going through the
the going through the loom
in order to be open to creativity or creation we have to be tender with the elements of creation and the interactions of things
but just tenderness so
isn't the whole story
the whole story is the whole story which is transcends stories
it's a it's lushness
okay
okay
yes
pardon
tonight
you're welcome to read it if you like
price
yes
thank you
ah
i'm thinking about the yes
baby
this is broke hey it's not all it's not somebody scape me if like most elegant sophisticated complex piece of fabric think they could probably make it the time
a ancient red rich history of
the buddhist tradition
the buddhist tradition are human culture
but you causes also say the ongoing masterpiece of creation
so this so there's just ongoing masterpiece going on
and we are contributing to it
constantly
we and together are constantly working this this masterpiece
which includes everything and everybody question is how to be with it in such a way to wake up to him
and clearly observing is recommended as appropriate
so do your history each of your individual histories all of our histories and the history of human culture and history of buddhism it's all part of this brocade
where all artists
we're all making masterpieces all the time that's already going on it's a question of waking up to it and there are suggestions of how to wake up to me
and one of the suggestions is to pay attention to declare they observe another suggestion is don't be uptight about clearly observing
it's like you're talking about be generous be careful
be patient
intelligent but also relax
relax with this really important work
of observing creation
an not relaxed than we it's harder for us to see creation it's still going on
but if we're not generous and careful
and tender and patient and diligent
then relaxation doesn't really work
but if we do all that and we relaxed and we can be playful with this in order to join this process creation we have to be able to play with it and then we can join the creativity and then we can access the reality of the process and be free of the process without stopping the process
because again if you try to stop the process that's just another threat in the process
and if you don't try to stop it it's another through whatever we do it gets included and woven in question of how to hack wake up to that
at gringotts the
does approx period going on and some of you know ted brown he's the head monk
and he accorded nina simone and she said something like thought something like is i wish i could say all the things i could say when i'm relaxed
you know that you know airport
can you do know more about it
what's the name of the sun
yeah i'll try to find out more about a but dirt she's she's she realizes what can happen or relax but again you can't relax bit without some discipline it's not a real that so relaxation without discipline can be negligence
so the the relaxation which opens onto playfulness and creativity which wake awakens us to the creativity of the door to going on is is a relaxation that it is still have diligence
supporting it and diligence following and your diligence with our patients isn't really diligent and diligence without being tender isn't really diligence
you can be from and tender in your diligence yes
you got to i'm okay
i wish it i knew how would feel to be free
show here
i wish i knew how
i was a great on the shameful i wish i could sell them as i should say zero have the same here
brown wrote here
she is sheryl lowe is in my heart remove all of ours he was i wish
you know me and see and agree
everyone should be free
or did you get the part about you adhere the relaxation
on i wish i could live i'm going over there
the things that i can do
no i were you
i'll be staring at it
well i wish i could be like a bird in the sky a would be right back y o clear the sun down and see things i know i know appeals
well our the way she saw it he added in relaxation and i think in order to be like virgin atp after to relax a little bit
i have from hurt
keeping
i'll also have a phrase which i haven't been saying very often lately it's a phrase from ancients and asia which said his teaching was meet whatever comes complete relaxation