I've heard that today is a full moon day, and also that today is the day that usually in the Zen tradition the birth of the Buddha is celebrated. April 8th is a day to celebrate the birth of the Buddha Shakyamuni. About 2,544 years ago. So, you can't hear me very well? How's this, is that easier to hear?

[01:15]

Better but still not good? A little louder? Well, if you can't hear me, can you hear me now, is that all right? What about if I talk like this, can you hear this? No? Can't hear that? How about that? Did you hear the part about the Buddha's birthday? So, the stories that I've heard are that in the Buddhist tradition we don't say that the Buddha was born by immaculate conception. The Buddha was born, I think we say usually like, of a womb, through sexual reproduction.

[02:21]

And the Buddha himself or herself is a sexual being, born of sexual beings, having normal full sexual function. Can you feel the sexual function of Buddha? The Buddha's teaching is for sexual beings.

[03:42]

And if there's any non-sexual being, it's for them too. But it's a teaching to help people realize ultimate sexual satisfaction. Which is the same as saying it's a teaching and a practice to help people realize selflessness or selfless sexual function, selfless sexual function. Which is the same as saying beneficent or enlightened sexual function. Can you hear that in the back? One of the dynamics around this teaching is that in order that the realization of the

[04:57]

enlightened sexual activity or enlightened functioning of sexual energy, the enlightened functioning of sexual activity is realized in the context of renunciation. And some people would understand that renunciation means that there's no sexual activity. Some of Buddha's disciples formally practice celibacy. But celibacy is a type of sexual functioning. Just like what the normal understanding of sexual intercourse is normal, it is an expression or it is a type of sexual functioning. I hope you don't feel oppressed by me saying that all day long the way you're behaving

[06:02]

is the way you're behaving sexually. It's also the way you're behaving circulatorily or digestively or all your bodily functions, the way that you are at a given moment, that's the way that they're functioning. So right now the way you're behaving is the way you're behaving. This is your current sexual function. How is it? Is this good sex? So the Buddhist teachings about, you could say, appropriate sexuality. And appropriate sexuality, I would say, first of all, is appropriate to something.

[07:13]

You know, apropos means to the point. So appropriate means to the point of what? Of something, right? So the Buddhist practice in the realm of sexuality is to the point of Buddhism, is to the point of beings finding ultimate satisfaction. So what is it that you ultimately wish to satisfy? And is your current sexual functioning to the point of your ultimate concern? If it isn't, then for you it's not appropriate. The disciples of Zen, what is appropriate for them is what is appropriate to the welfare of all beings,

[08:24]

the supreme welfare. So sexuality for a disciple of the Zen tradition would be sexuality that is apropos, to the point of beings realizing Buddhahood. So sexuality that is conducive and promotes sexuality which produces and promotes enlightenment, which promotes wisdom and compassion. What kind of sexuality is that? What kind of sexuality is apropos to the enlightenment of all beings? What kind of sexual function is appropriate to the realization of selflessness?

[09:28]

For a disciple or a student of Zen, the other, or the other person, is a phase that we are now in the process of getting over with, or getting beyond. So another way to talk about it is that appropriate sexuality is getting over otherness. It is part of the practice of cutting through the sense that there's somebody other, there's somebody out there on their own, independent of the self. How can sexuality help understanding that there's not an other out there,

[10:48]

that the world is not other? How can sexuality be part of understanding that the entire world is not other from our self? This is proper sexuality. Sexuality, first of all, often presents itself, often arises for us in such a form of energy, experienced as such an energy that it somehow intensifies the sense of there really is somebody over there, an other. But sexuality doesn't create the other, it just amplifies our misunderstanding of the other. Sometimes people, when they're walking in the forest, the trees don't make them be aware that they think the trees are other.

[11:54]

But when a human being, who is quite similar to them, shows up, suddenly they feel very strongly, maybe, other. Those beings that are most similar to us actually help us understand how intensely we believe that others are separate from us and that others are not who we are. The deep grasping on the idea that others are separate from us is the source of our suffering. If others are really other, we don't trust them. I mean, if we think other people are actually other, then we don't trust them.

[13:02]

The phenomena of sexual function is a great opportunity to overcome our distrust of the world. The question might arise, well, what is appropriate sexual function? We have a precept that we practice here in this temple.

[14:20]

Actually, we have 16 main precepts that we practice in this temple. The first one is to, we say, take refuge or go for refuge in Buddha. That's the first precept. And take refuge again means to rely on, to be protected by, but also means to go back home to Buddha. First precept is Buddha. First precept is making Buddha the main point of orientation. Enlightenment as the main point, that's the first precept. And then, in practicing that precept, we devote our energies to,

[15:30]

moment by moment, trying to remember the main point, Buddha, which again is to live in the world in order to help beings become Buddha. But one thing I might say about a Buddha is a Buddha is, again, when a Buddha appears in the world, in order to appear in the world as a human anyway, they have to come as a sexual being through sexual process. So a Buddha is a sexual being devoted to the welfare of sexual beings and all beings who desires, who has desire. A Buddha has desire.

[16:35]

Sometimes they say the Buddha realizes desirelessness. But the Buddha is a being who has desire, who has become free of desire. In other words, the desire of a Buddha has no fixed pattern. Desire itself is not a problem. The problem of desires is the patterns that it gets stuck in. The Buddha desires all beings to realize Buddha's wisdom and Buddha's compassion. But the Buddha's desire for this has no pattern. No fixed pattern. The Buddha desires this with no seeking, with no grasping.

[17:41]

This is desiring or wanting with no greed, with no grasping, with no seeking. This is not no desire, with no grasping and no seeking. This is not desire with grasping and seeking. This is desire without grasping and seeking. This is desire in the context of renunciation. This is Buddha. This is the first precept. You've got desire, you can be a Buddha. All you've got to do is wrap that desire with no grasping and no seeking. You want the welfare of all beings, every single one, you can be a Buddha.

[18:47]

But even that wonderful desire must be protected from grasping and seeking. The Buddha is born of this desire, of this compassion, but there's no seeking in her practice. That's the first precept, is to be like that. And your desire can be unboundedly vast. It is, because you desire the welfare for all beings in ten directions. There's no limit on it. This desire is endless. It's not even, I would say, infinite. It's not even limited by being infinite. Because it can be tiny. What does it say? How do you say? So low you can't get under it, so high you can't get over it. In its finest, it fits into spacelessness.

[19:50]

In its bigness, it's utterly beyond location. That's this desire for the welfare of all beings. This is Buddha's compassion. But there's no seeking in it. This is the first precept of the Bodhisattva in this tradition. And it's actually the precept of all Buddhists. It's the first precept, take refuge in Buddha. Go for refuge in Buddha. Your own true nature. Go to your own true nature. Your true nature to wish for the welfare of the entire universe with no seeking. With no grasping. You wish for it, but instead of gripping it, you bow to it. Instead of seeking it, you walk around it.

[20:52]

You're always close to it. You don't run away from it. And you don't pry into it. You're very respectful, very devoted. This is the first precept. Now then there's another set of precepts of ten major precepts. And the third one is to embrace and sustain appropriate sexuality. Or it's put negatively, to embrace and sustain no misuse of sexuality. So again, it is to use or care for sexuality in the appropriate way.

[21:54]

So, the misuses of sexuality are, I would suggest, generally speaking, the following. Suppressing it. This is a good time of year to find out what happens if you try to suppress sexuality. Actually, don't try to find out. Don't do it. Oppressing sexuality is extremely cruel. It is a condition for many teenagers committing suicide. Do not try to suppress the sexuality of teenagers. It is harmful to them, harmful to you. Sexuality is not to be suppressed. Suppressing sexuality is a misuse, is an abuse of life. It is killing life.

[23:04]

This point amplifies the first major precept of not killing life. It shows a special way of killing, to suppress sexuality in all its manifestations, any of its manifestations. Another misuse of sexuality is to deny it, pretend like it's not there. I was just kidding. I'm not really talking about sexuality today. I take it all back. That was just a joke. Now I'll give the real talk about something relevant to the welfare of the world. Denying that there's sexuality or denying that sexuality is an appropriate, a relevant topic for a sincere and devoted yogi. That is a misuse, a defaming, a degradation, a defilement of a precious thing.

[24:11]

Another misuse is, well, I just said it, being dishonest about it. Like me, sexual? No, I'm beyond that. I used to be, but no more. Or at least I gave it up for Lent. There's no sexuality in this room. That's being dishonest. Another misuse of sexuality is not caring for it. Oh yeah, there's sexuality, but I'm not going to spend my time taking care of sexuality. I have better things to do. Somebody else can take care of sexuality. It's a misuse. It requires attention. It needs care. Not caring for it is a misuse. Not respecting it is a misuse.

[25:22]

Not being gentle with it is a misuse. Starving it is a misuse. Of course, being cruel to it is a misuse. And indulging it is a misuse. Pretending that you're not vulnerable to it is a lie and a misuse. And that pretending you're not vulnerable to sexuality leads to the pretense that you're not vulnerable to other things. We are vulnerable creatures. That's a fact. Admitting our vulnerability does not make us more vulnerable. It just lets us be as vulnerable as we are. So appropriate sexuality or enlightened sexuality or beneficent sexuality is just all those things I just mentioned put positively.

[26:37]

It is to not suppress it and not promote it. It is to admit it honestly. It is to respect it. It is to care for it. It is to be vulnerable to it all day long. It is to not starve it. It is to not seek for it. It is to not grasp it. It is to not reject it. It is to meet whatever way it manifests with no grasping or seeking. It is to meet it in however it manifests with a childlike mind of welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome.

[27:40]

Welcome. This is, this is, this, welcome? Yeah, welcome. Welcome? Yeah, welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Try to find the balanced welcome. Not, I mean really welcome, like, not too much, not too little, not like, you know, welcome. Not, you know, welcome, welcome, welcome even. No, you haven't been waiting for it. You haven't been waiting for it. You haven't been seeking it. You haven't been like, when's it coming, when's it coming? No, because you were welcoming other things that were coming. You weren't waiting for sex. You're welcoming everything. So when it comes, you welcome it, but it's just welcome. It's like, see if you can say, like, welcome, welcome. Where is the welcome? What does it mean to just welcome something with not, you haven't been waiting for it, craving it,

[28:44]

conniving for it, arranging for it, manipulating for it, bartering for it, negotiating for it, parlaying for it. No, you're just like present and then it comes and welcome. It's not like, welcome, welcome. Where is the real welcome? Just plain welcome. Just like, okay, you're here, you're here. Another way to put it is, whatever sexual manifestation, whatever sexual experience arises, you meet it in a state of renunciation. You meet it without grasping and seeking. You meet it and as you meet it, you are not distracted in this meeting from silence and stillness. And then if it arises, another version of it arises, you don't get distracted from silence.

[29:46]

Hey, big boy, come here. Can you hear the silence right while you hear, hey, cutie pie? Got a feeling coming on you there? You don't, right while this is going on, you do not get distracted from stillness. There is stillness all the time and there is silence all the time. It's always there, right under your nose, even when you're sneezing. There's silence and stillness completely surrounding and interpenetrating all this sexual energy of springtime. It's always flowing through the room.

[30:55]

Do you see it? And as the sexual energy becomes intense, can you keep your, whatever organ of wisdom and compassion that feels the stillness and the silence, can you stay intimate with it while all these things are arising and arising? Another way to put it is, whatever way sexuality manifests, you meet it with complete relaxation. Relinquishing any controlling impulses. The same way of meeting sexuality is the way to meet everything.

[32:19]

No matter what happens, don't be distracted. No matter what happens, don't be distracted from silence and stillness. And one more thing, don't be distracted from oneness. Don't be distracted from the fact that what you're looking at, the entire universe, is who you really are. Thank you.

[33:58]

Sometimes meditators are doing pretty well. In other words, sometimes meditators are not distracted from silence and stillness and oneness. And right when that happens, the funny thing is that they sometimes then turn their attention towards the sexual function, specifically to distract them from silence and stillness. They sit in rooms like this and they get challenged by simply sitting and witnessing silence, stillness, and the oneness of all beings. They get overtaken by the demon of boredom with oneness with all beings.

[35:40]

And then they use otherness to distract themselves. This person sitting next to me is other than me and they're pretty cute too. Let's see how many people in this room are cute others. And thinking about these others, one is able to use the imagination coupled with sexual energy to get nicely distracted from silence and stillness and oneness. Right here in this hall, people have sometimes spent time doing this. Some people have spent... Some people tell me they spend most of their time doing this. And the rest of the time they spend sleeping. Some people. Not all the meditators.

[36:43]

But it's easy to slip into being distracted from silence, stillness, and oneness. Because we have lots of habits to use what's coming as an opportunity to turn away from it. And we have, most of us, a fairly... What's the word? Excuse the expression, but kind of a weak practice of not being distracted from what's happening. And in whatever is happening, not being distracted from whatever is happening is not to be distracted from silence and stillness. But this is the side of ourselves that needs a lot of support to develop. So that's why we have special programs where people get a lot of encouragement to not be distracted.

[37:55]

And even during those programs, people find it's still difficult not to be distracted. As a matter of fact, the first thing you notice when you start practicing not being distracted, you start to notice even more how distracted you are at first. At first you might not notice, even. In other words, you're distracted from noticing your distractions. So you think you're pretty present. But if you sit in a situation where everybody's sitting still and you're joining them, it surfaces even more on your awareness, hopefully. But again, to meet that with complete relaxation, to care for the distraction, not care for it like to promote it, but just to admit it, to be honest, to try to see it as a distraction. To suppress the distraction also is kind of cruel. And some meditation instructions seem to be saying,

[39:01]

suppress, reject, destroy distraction. And that language might not actually promote the effective dropping and releasing of the distraction. So it's a delicate balance to how to meet something like distraction in a way that it can drop off. Right now, can you witness the silence and stillness and oneness? Do you trust such witnessing?

[40:02]

When you hear my voice, can you listen without being distracted from silence? When you hear me laugh, can you hear me laugh without being distracted from silence? And I laugh because I think perhaps part of our social conditioning is that if someone's talking to you, you might think it's rude to notice silence while they're talking. You may think, no, I should be listening to what they're saying, not noticing that there's nothing being said. Not noticing that these words do not disturb silence, that really it's silent. And I would say that when I'm talking, I give you permission to remember silence even when I'm ranting. I think that's fine for you to remember silence while you are listening.

[41:41]

But I also would say, I don't think it's too good to try not to listen to me in order to be able to hear the silence. So don't protect the silence by fighting the sound. And don't grasp the sound and lose the silence. Just receive the sound in a relaxed way and hear the silence at the same time. So I, you know, there seems to be sounds coming out of the mouth here, and the central ear hears the sounds, but there's a spiritual ear that hears the silence. Don't let the central ear distract you from the spiritual ear. Please excuse me.

[42:47]

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. Therefore ye soft pipes, play on. Not to the central ear, but more endeared. Pipe to the spirit, ditties of no tone. Who's piping this ditty of no tone now? Shall we blame it on Buddha? Sexy little baby? The little newborn? Piping ditties of no tone to your spirit?

[43:52]

Buddha doesn't grasp or own this song. Buddha's disciple doesn't grasp or seek or own this song. And yet, do you hear it? In the midst of all that there is in being a sexual being, can you hear it? Can you hear it? It's telling you that the whole universe and every little thing that you meet

[45:03]

is your true body. And if we don't believe this, if we can't understand this, how this person and this person and this person and this face and this face and this face and this face, how each of these faces and all these faces are my true face, even if I don't understand that, the recommendation is, well, then think about it some more. Keep listening to that teaching over and over until it takes hold of your whole being and you become undistracted from the reality that everybody is the true story of you.

[46:10]

This way of relating to our sexual energy is appropriate to realizing enlightenment for the other which is who you really are. I have a little book here that I wrote about enlightened sexuality, I've been talking long enough now, so I'm not going to read the rest of the book. Not now. But I would like to sing a little song. Is Vernon here? Oh, good. Vernon finds it very painful when I sing,

[47:20]

so I don't like to subject him to this phenomenon, but my singing is part of my sexual practice. It's a way I open to all beings in sexual union. It's a way I make myself aware of my vulnerability. Okay, here goes. This is going to be really bad. Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. That's no good. Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love.

[48:23]

Try it again. Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love. In Spain the best uppers set do it. Lithuanians in laps do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love. Oh, it's really bad. The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it. Not to mention the Finns. Folks in Siam do it. Think of Siamese twins. Some Argentines without means do it.

[49:24]

People say in Boston even beans do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love. Oh, that was bad. Sometimes it's really bad. But the important thing is relax. Don't seek that it would be good. You know?

[49:45]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ