Teachings and Meditations On Our True Nature
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Our true nature is that we fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the buddhas. But because of misconceptions and attachments we do not realize our buddha nature. Therefore, teachings are given to listen to, accept, and understand so that such misconceptions and attachments drop away and thus our true buddha nature may be realized. Each class will begin with quiet sitting and walking meditation followed by teachings and group discussions.
Auto-Generated Transcript
as is often said all living beings
have buddha nature
buddha nature
also the that's it
chinese way of saying it as buddha-nature the sanskrit is buddha element
buddha doctor buddha element
and
there's an another yeah so there's another teaching which is that
we are
what is called the to target to garba
the target is the the buddha and garba could be translated as womb
or matrix or heart
we are the buddha heart
buddhahood is realizing
our buddha heart or are to target to garba it is realizing our buddha nature
and
buddhahood
inherently includes amendments said i'll put it this way you might not be surprised if i said buddha hood inherently includes all goodness
that my demo sound like buddhist propaganda
but still maybe not so surprising going you are buddha or goodness all compassion and all skillful ways to help people become buddha
all kinds of wisdom he might not be surprised to hear that this teaching is saying that buddha inherently includes all the various kinds of evil
evil
maybe we could tentatively have the definition of evil be
whatever
causes suffering
put a includes all the causes of suffering and would also includes all the suffering
but accepts all the suffering
and by completely accepting all kinds of suffering
we have what's called the end of suffering
simultaneous with the end of suffering due to the acceptance of all of it there is the presence of suffering so there's an end of it and as almost present
the suffering is not eliminated in buddhahood and buddhahood does not need to eliminate it
and can't anyway but buddhahood is and is and can accept at all and included all
and by including at all
ended
without getting rid of it
when you could say come to the end of it
by fully accepting
so again you've heard me say stuff like this before but i just said plus i'm not and i don't just say our joy includes our sorrow our sorrow includes our joy
evil includes good are good includes evil
delusion includes enlightenment enlightenment and clothes to version
welcome jeff
sit there for you
and again ives again not just remind you just to sort of warm up the meditation app
buddha nature is
the you know
is our true nature is the way we really are
which is related to the word to togheter the way we really are
the thus nests are such most of the way we are and the way everybody else is
that way that we are really which is pure
is in association with
you can say pollution defilement stains are buddha nature includes
he fought it's an association with evil
the buddha nature is the way we really are which is pure
it's the way we really are it's the way everything really is and it is in association with
hum attachments and misconceptions
so again this sutra says the buddha says now i see all living beings fully possess the buddha nature
but because of attachments
and misconceptions they don't realize it
but it's kind of funny that way because all beings have the buddha nature which has attachments
andrea and and misconceptions
hey and saw him when you set with if i say and so that and so they don't realize it it's they don't realize this
buddha nature which has
these attachments and misconceptions
the realization of this such miss the way things are in association with these attachments and misconceptions the realization of that is buddha him buddhahood is not just the realization of
the way things are
buddhahood is the way things are without defilement
which comes by realizing the way things are with defilement
so that we and we all have this nature which is pure and the way things really are and has these defilements and if we realize that that's bordeaux it
and and that realization of that does not try to get away from that the realization of buddha nature does not try to get away from buddha nature
which means it doesn't try to get away from the defilements and misconceptions
it practices
put buddhahood practices compassion towards
the defilements towards the misconceptions and the attachments
in this practice of compassion it comes to completely accept the
the stains and the suffering that comes with them
and again the accepting
is the fruit of the practice or practicing compassion with our buddha nature
but as you know her compassion is mostly in some sense towards the defilements because we can't relate it we actually to a cat but it's it's hard to imagine can be mindful of practicing compassion towards the way things are
because we can't see the way they are
so a part of our nature is misconceptions but another way to put it is part of our nature is we are misconceive years we have
mental apparatus which make everything into a misconception of as a crystal ball a conception of it
we make everything into a consent we make ourselves into conceptions we make other people in india conceptions and then we we misunderstand that their conceptions rather than
what they actually are which we can't get hold of
and we've got equipment
to can on kind of like
and then i got avoid the way people are
not really avoid to try to avoid the way people really are which we can't get ahold of and make them into something we can't get older
and when know we can see those things
and then if we practice compassion towards these things which have arisen because of our relationship to them i shouldn't say we practice with these conceptions his perceptions of things which have arisen because of our relation to them so i have a relationship
with you that gives rise to an perception of you you're not a perception
but in my relationship with you you appear as a perception and that is a misconception of the way you really are
what is the way you really are and what is the way i really am well
i am
an experience
and you are an experience more by moment each moment here an experience
and him in being an experience sometimes you can say here an experiencer and inexperienced
yes
experience yeah i am an experience
m and i'm an experience which has i told you many times before i am an experience which is a conversation
where the whole universe comes and has a conversation with the whole universe and gives rise to me
and i have
ah
misconceptions
they arise
i'm this is the way they really do arise
and i never am out of touch with the way i really do arise
i'm never out of touch with my true nature with my you know such this
which is pure
and i'm also never out of touch with my misconceptions
and my attachments
and this practice practice that flush was teaching is not to try to get away from misconceptions
which means don't try to get away from the way things appear
but also hear the teaching that the way they appear is
a delusion
so we're meditating on delusion
with a teaching which is saying
this is the delusion but right simultaneous with the delusion is the way things really are
and it's not again so much that we're going to get away from the delusion and connect with the way things really hard because we're already connected with the way things were it's more like we're going to let go of the delusions
and when we let go of them without getting rid of them
because you can't get rid of a delusion
but you can let go of it
and there's something left which is the way we really are
which includes the delusion which includes the evil
but although i include the evil i can also like golfing
and the way i go of it
is well by confessing and saying i'm sorry
and then
if i let go of it obviously if it's released what's left
boom
which is the such this wish i had all along but now the defilement which was with my such as all along has just been dropped off with and again if i try to get rid of it that's not dropping it off
try to get away from it that's not dropping at all if i try to hold onto it of course that's not dropping her off
and
one one thing more as just remind you that the
so the way i really am as i'm a conversation of the whole universe with the whole universe giving rise to the whole universe as me in this way
each each one of my experiences is the whole universe meeting the whole universe giving rise to the whole universe has an ex has it my life experience
so my actual life experiences
all of you
meet all of you and give rise to me and all of us meet all of us and give rise to you to your to you as your experience which you cannot see
or get hold of you can't get ahold of how the whole universe
in conversation with the whole universe is in the form of you
and
the whole universe in conversation with whole universe giving rise to you give rise to a being who can imagine a small diluted version of herself
as part of the deal and again don't try to get rid of it becomes a whole universe got together with whole universe to make your delusions
so you're not going him
your delusions
your delusions are actually part of your experience
can all of it they're kind of like the visible part
there are the part you can attach to and suffer with
are you suffer with and suffered because you attached to it
but again we can practice with for delusions and the suffering and let go of it but again not try to get rid of it concert buddhahood does not eliminated
buddhahood accepts it as being present
and then once again we have this is different this seven points of this tip this teaching is presented by with seven points
first point is the buddha
next point is the dharma next point is the sanga first is the perfect enlightenment next is the teaching in next as a community that practices it
these three
arise from the buddha nature
my buddha nature and year buddha nature
and the realization of buddha nature also called buddha so our buddha-nature my buddha-nature year buddha nature and buddha the realization of that buddha nature and the qualities of buddha
and the activities of buddha all that gives rise to the three treasures buddha dharma and sangha
and from the border comes the dharma comes a teaching from the teaching comes a sanga
and from the saga comes
the womb of the buddha
yes
experience
some of the mother suffering and the circle
the her suffering to the trailers for the same substance her dresser
the paper
is it possible to transform suffering into something else that's my painful
in a way
so if your compassionate to such if your compassionate was suffering then the suffering has already been transformed because rather than just being trouble and painful it has now become an opportunity for practice
so this in a way the suffering because your attitude towards had changed and you see suffering now as opportunities to express
the buddhahood and and to elicit buddhahood somehow this suffering has changed it's changed into a skillful means a skillful opportunity an opportunity for skillfulness way it did it does change when you are i
see it not as a as an obstacle but as an opportunity and so these these sufferings which go with the misconceptions and the attachments the misconceptions the attachments in the sufferings we can change our attitude towards of another all opportunity
is to realize budo it
yes
they say
yeah
that was the
thinking there
hey hey
well you just continue to think about whatever you want i'm not wanted to do you want whatever you're thinking about you continue to think as usual you always think about what you're thinking about
and you're always thinking
see also thinking you're always thinking about something so that will continue now you just watch that with the understanding that what you're watching his delusion
so it just like you frame it all delusion
oh a misconception of what's going on a something that's relative to my equipment not the thing itself
but also but i have a teaching which reminds me to look at everything that way
and also remembered that i don't have to change at all to realize buddhahood
because buddhahood is the realization of the way i am aware i am is
visibly
i am somebody who has vision and my vision delivers delusions all the time
so that's that's the way i'm and i'm also the whole universe
ah coming together with the whole universe and i'm also including everybody in the universe that's i'm that way i can see that but i heard a teaching about it and i'm included in everybody which also i can't see i've heard a trick
the and i can realize that but also not just going to realize the way i am purely
i'm also going to realize the way my purity is can association with my delusion and suffer
but i start
so we have another classic green gulch and in that gladys i'm talking about you know i've been talking about our ceremonies were would receive the the bodhisattva precepts
and we received sixteen bodies up a precepts
and the first three are buddha dharma and sangha
but before we received these buddha dharma and sangha
in the ceremony would practice confession and repentance
all my ancient twisted karma born of beginning this delusion and greed and hatred
born through body speech and mind so i had these actions which are born through my speech my gestures and my thoughts
which are all mixed up with greed hate and delusion
so i had these actions mixed up with greed hate and delusion and my body i confess them and
and i confess them like
i meditate on i first by just say that and i meditate on it and then i'm and then i'm ready after that too
go back home to buddha
which is the realization of how
read this great hate and delusion thing
along with
the way things really are
so now i'm looking at somebody and i
and while i'm looking at her i'm simultaneously imagining who she is and but i don't believe them
yes
i believe what
hi
fortunately where do you think i am
yeah you're not been mean to
he come to the end of suffering doesn't mean eliminate several we say
separate same company and there
for meaning in it yeah or you could say he come to the end of suffering and then we have what's called
peace right credit the end of suffering
you come to the so here's a suffering here coming to the end of it you're you're going through it all the way to the end of it there's no more suffering you've got you've got all of it now
and and then there's joy ride derek the joy was always there
but because you didn't go to the end of the suffering you didn't you are shrinking back from the edge of the suffering or the limits of the suffering which is where the or the happiness starts or the pleasure starts
so you go to the end of it and you're free of it and you didn't get rid of it
so i i've been having try did i i've been having trouble with this this vow which is the delusions are inexhaustible but it really the the character isn't isn't delusion it's it's affliction
an affliction in is short for delusion hatred and greed etc
so these afflictions are inexhaustible and we say i bought the end i'm so i'm it's more like i vowed to come to the end of them or i vowed to exhaust their inexhaustible i vowed to exhausted
an exhausting them is where you wake up to the plate to the joy that always was included but if i don't fully accept the suffering
the door on the joy which is already there is closed by my
half heartedness in mice in my own affliction
and buddha is not half hearted about
affliction
her own and everybody else's
but it is to keep accepting the omnipresence of suffering and therefore good and is accepting omnipresence of freedom from suffering simultaneously
yes
oh
by
i'm being whole heartedly compassionate with them
i just got this
image in my mind of something i saw the airport some airport i think it would maybe either on no way to or in japan
so i'm in i'm in the waiting area are about to get on some plane and i see this woman who i think she was japanese but i don't know anyway she looked like she's from japan or china
one of those countries where
people look a certain way often
and she had a little boy that she was taken care of
and he was running all over them the waiting area and she was running after him
but she wasn't trying to she she did she didn't have my leash he wasn't trying to control him she was just
he's devoted attendant
and she went everywhere with him
ah
you know i don't know she got that fighter who actually got to the end of the
what's the word
a delusions that she had about that little boy i don't know actually got to the end of the suffering of protecting him from harm
but she kind of would she was kind of letting him go
she looked like she pretty much let him go
i came he wanted to go lot of places
he was not trying to fly which you know boys
that's good
made as easier to look little boys go when they're not trying to fly
but he was being a kind of reasonable little boy just running around on the verge of smashing his head into chairs and falling down stairs but she was there
and maybe in such a case she would be challenged to like let him go and also simultaneously protect him
but she was doing a very good job of basically letting him go
and it was in of i don't know where she was having a good time as i was but the little boy was having a really nice because he wanted her to
part of the fun way she was going with them all the analyses adventures i think he appreciated that she was there and letting him do it he wanted to and i was pretty shit and that she was doing that i don't know where she was
but she's i think she was close to get into the place of realizing that
put on
that's how to on
practice with this in order to let go is to wholeheartedly engage with it and give up trying to control it wholeheartedly engage with suffering and with division without trying to control it
and that comes to the end of it and that's freedom with it with that's freedom in it
and we're not just doing that for ourselves
we're doing it to transmit to sentient being so vague and it isn't that we save them but the practice which we
can actually become mature in that practice will save them when they see it and they start practicing it
and our true nature is what makes this
the saving possible eric
as this
no i think that greeted delusion are born from believing appearances
if we understood that what we are right now is the whole universe coming together
meeting the whole universe giving rise to the whole universe where we are we would understand that does nothing to get a hold of and therefore there be no greed and there's nothing to avoid or get rid of therefore there will be no hatred and also they would be no confusion because we wouldn't be trying to make this
wonderful life into this little pipsqueak have a perception which we think is what's really going on so there will be no delusion either if we realize the with we actually are
and also
we realized in the way we actually are we also realized you want to get rid of any of these delusions
or get any we don't have any more delusions and we then we've got we've got 'em all
we include all delusions and all goodness
yes
family boundaries yeah
and flat and sits at her yeah
well that's not a boundary that's a slap
another hassle
or at what point am a mother has to would protect her
you can you do not have to protect your buddha nature here buddha nature it doesn't need any protection because you put a nature is the way you are you don't need to protect your delusions
but you don't need to be kind to your delusions your delusions when or if to go to delusion that doesn't need any protection it's like
it's it's like big bad boss delusion
he is calling for compassion
holy what
ali
yeah leaving
then
it can get here
oh i've actually talking about them i got you talking about the mother who got slapped yes but you want fish to them the person is slapping her
we can do that we can do either side of the something
well that's that's kind of would bullies your above to trying to control people
either way
what
i mean she's to rule
only
i don't just like we won't be sick
yeah
less
again again
you're saying limits your same boundaries you said set for me i don't i actually myself try not to set boundaries i try to feel them
i tried to feel them and also listen to what if other people are telling me about their boundaries
and be compassionate to my feelings of boundaries and being compassionate of what i'm hearing is other people's boundaries
and boundaries are like the limit of that there's a delusion as a boundary
a feeling there's a feeling a boundary these are things to meditate on and be compassionate towards
and if i'm if i'm compassionate towards my the boundaries i feel i might be able this than this is an opportunity maybe to tell somebody else about them
okay so i feel them
yet
me
you but in the case wait a second
if you if you
you say you feel that your boundary whether or not
southern india was over
the non-aggression their fields yeah me too slow down here are a little bit okay so when mike if my granddaughter slaps me which i've told you about
i don't slap her back
i say oh that was really hard and i say i say actually i'm i'm a grown man and it didn't hurt me that much but
if you did that with another kid it wouldn't really be a problems but i'm not a yeah so i've i i felt a boundary
myself
now and then i was kind to my boundary and so i can be kind to her
same time i didn't think it does it that but then you said it doesn't matter whether it's my boundary or not but if it's not my boundaries and i can also somebody else can tell me about theirs
and i can be compassionate to their boundary
are you just working for you get to be compassionate was worse
since the desert
generalized most people
i guess i'm not talk you can generalize that's fine and then and then there can be boundaries on generalizations to that's fine you can do that but
some people are are interacting with each other and they're perfectly comfortable with each other and you are have you think there's a bounder there and they don't think so
i mission say they don't think there's a boundary they feel comfortable with the way the boundaries are being related to
for example i feel comfortable with the way the woman was related to her son somebody else marathon you shouldn't be learning that boy go around like that because he might get hurt but i felt really good that she gave him that space or someone else could have had in them they could have had a boundary
arising that they think the child should be tied up they might have thought that because the own tie the get up he might hurt himself
but that would be their boundaries that they would feel about this relationship where i didn't feel i felt comfortable with the way the mother was negotiating
her sense of what was safe for the boy
and if somebody else is watching and they think that this challenge should be tied up so he won't hurt himself
then i can respect what they're saying
and if they say it in a way that i feel uncomfortable with the nine feeling my boundary about the way they're talking about
relating to this this other person so boundaries do come up
and mighty this teaching the i'm offering is saying when boundaries come up i don't try to control them
i tried to
come to the end of them and then i can i go of them but not by ignoring them and not by and not by what
now by ignoring them now by trying to control them or other situations
if i try to control your boundaries you might feel a boundary arise in you and in relationship to my attempt to control you
lot of people do
i been i want you to tell me more know
translate to social rush
that's true there's one thing is example go
look here
parents
now
johnson says order to hurt someone yeah sushi
i don't know we shall
charles
said
said
right but i'm what i'm saying is that if you if you feel that what your child is doing is not appropriate for me that your boundary and you're feeling someone else going on feel that that is then different them that mine that mm
might be within their boundaries but what your child is doing might be within their boundaries
she'd each other showmanship that's their boundaries of sir generally accepted norms or founders
and the dc case from your coverage
chatter
if you if you want to play it out into more and more extreme examples i can unhappy to do that but i'm just saying that
the meditation that i was talking about is that i am aware that i'm dealing with my delusion that i have a delusion about what's going on and i'm feeling like some i'm having some boundary problems i'm starting to feel like i need to i need to say wait a minute
i feel like i need to say something of a person like they're getting too close to me are talking too loudly are there are pushing me too hard you know i'm i'm just naturally feel a boundary in this situation they're being they're getting too aggressive for me
this is my
perception this is not a reality that they're getting too aggressive it just i think so
and i have the responsibility to take care of that i think they're turned they're getting too aggressive
are three hundred pounds or thirty five i think they're getting too aggressive so how do i relate to a small medium or large person when i feel they're getting too aggressive it's not appropriate to be this aggressive i can feel that way so how do i relate to them
well first of all i start with myself this is my version of what's going on
and my version is not reality but i had to respect my version my version is this is too much
i'm uncomfortable with this
and i feel i should say something about it
but if i'm aware that it's a delusion that i'm working with and i got some of the a person or buzzer who is not my idea of there are actually a living person than i can go to them and i can tell you about my boundary in a way that is informed by my meditation that i'm i'm
sharing with them my misconceptions and my attachments and i can talk and now i can be seen
this an opportunity to practice buddhism with this person
and it doesn't mean that this approach will be i don't say this is going to be more likely to disarm the situation than the other way which is i see this situation and this is reality
and then to follow from that i'm not saying that that approach will be less likely to
disarm the situation
but i'm saying that way will not lead to peace will not and this way will they're both difficult
but this this this way here respects my feelings my boundaries within my delusions
and therefore when i approached the person i approach humbling
not arrogantly like i
you know i'm a good guy
i'm not aggressive and you are and this is uncomfortable for me and you're going and i'm going to try to control your
now don't have a warning if i feel that way i feel like
i'm temporarily disqualified from the practice i have to get i have i have to come back and deal with my with my self righteousness and then say oh yeah i'm i'm kind of i'm kind of been shamed i prefer of three celebrate just there and i was on the verge maybe up being aggressive toward
this aggressive person now i've recovered big i saw that signal i took care of myself and i still have the boundary i still feel this but no i'm sharing
my delusion with the person or my fantasy so i often say to people i have this fantasy about what's going on here could i tell you about it
yes and then katie
did you ever hemorrhage
rely on the language of my arms and
when i understood it that
language of violence
i have a memory
and so when i'm i'm saying a little bit different you're saying the language of violence has come to me i'm so
language and the the verb the words and gestures of a violent or coming towards you know what i'm saying is that this that these languages violence there that that phenomena is relative to me
it's not actually out there sitting by itself
the a ball of language of violence is not out there by itself but it looks like it is
in
marinate it with
this action
we're action
it's still rather it
you say when you have been when you have a certain history and i'm say because i have a certain history this is what i see
somebody else has a different history they see something different in both people are so what they're seeing is relative to their own system with their own equipment is what they're seeing is not hoped there but it looks like it out there
like this sees his person sees the language of violence this person see something i don't know what
but doesn't mean we we
it doesn't mean we had all we in it
i'll put a positively we should respect this delusion
then we can research and then we can respond to an appropriately
but if we see it as that's the language of illusion of of aggression or violence rather than i guess which is what i see i see cruelty
now and so now we like i just read in the new yorker
that the theater of cruelty is unfolding on our southern border
this is what that person who wrote that articles saying and then he talks about trump
hey and
i listened to that and i moved by it but also somebody else that article and has quite a different response to it
so what do i do when i see cruelty
what i'm seeing is my story that and cruelty
if i'm respectful to it then it turns into an opportunity to practice
i still it still looks like cruelty that's not how my equipment put it together as cruelty but now i see this is an opportunity like this is a job for superman
this is a job for buddha
this is this is this a stimulating me to come forth with practice but not at all pushing away my my delusion that this is cruelty
but this delusion is calling for compassion
it's not the cruelty is not crawling from more cruelty
i and also kindness is not calling for cruelty i'm saying everything's calling for compassion
and so have i see cruelty
when i'm seeing is my story about this and i can practice compassion towards my story and the people involved in my story and i can have limits like you're talking to large getting too close you waving your arms too much you're being disrespectful or to say it this way hi i'm feeling
uncomfortable or what you're doing right now i feel i need you to speak more quietly like we say i need you to use your indoor voice i need you to use your words i need you to sit down i need you to be more spectral please be more respectful
but i have to say them away that respectful of this bully in other words what i see as a bully
and i gonna tell this story so many times here's a curious again my friends on a trolley in japan
and the trolley stocks and a big man gets on the train on the trolley and he looks like a bully he's walking up the aisle glaring at everybody and he's big and he's threatening
it you're looking at people very threatening way that's what that's what my friend saw and probably some of the other people saw that too
this big thing but each person had their own picture of him and my friend who was i dog master said when it gets to re i'll take care
a
but the trolley stopped and a man got on the a little small old man got around and saw the man and he saw oh here's an opportunity for compassion and he said what's the matter sweetheart
broke down into tears
he and his wife had just died
so how can we see that the bully is calling for compassion i can recognize this is my delusion here's a bully i can be compassion to my story this is a bully and then i can realize his bully is calling for compassion in this way called being called
storming around
and this man
he not only disarmed the person but he helped him
he gave him when he was actually asking for which nobody else and maybe some other people did but maybe nobody owns on the trolley could see that this man was calling for compassion they're all just like here's a bully and i
they didn't not deal with their own sense here's a bully in such a way as to be able to say what do you want
what do you want
person who looks like a bully to me
you you know you might not say that right at the beginning it just might say can i help you what do you want when you need
i mean and really mean it because you see this as an opportunity and does that disarm the situation sometimes
always even the buddha couldn't stop
everybody that tried to hurt him
but he did on a number of occasions meet people who were
well i'm in one case the person who has good who was actually had murdered many people and he was going to murder the buddha and the boys so here's an opportunity to protect people
and so i went up to the guy and told him i'm your friend and the guy didn't buy it
but he's he's basically there to try to help this super bully
and he felt a limit he felt like this this is this guy is to he's appearing too aggressive to me i want to i want to save people from him and him from this behavior
so cute he you give me your given me a facial expression which means
to me
i'm i'm not sure what you're trying to say to me right now
i am
okay
and who is an expert in katie
seems like one might say
hey
it might be possible to gain great insight from what
the realization of buddhahood is based on realising the relationship between delusion and reality that's what makes buddhists
so yeah if you think abou it is a beneficial thing
because boot has come with all these skills and ways of helping people the buddha's come from the sewers
but not as a service because the sewers are almost inseparable
from reality so yes
yes yes yes