One day, a young man named Lu was walking through the marketplace, perhaps in Canton, China. He walked by a booth of a fortune teller, and the fortune teller was chanting the Diamond Sutra. And as one of the translators, one of the first translators of the Diamond Sutra in English said, when this fortune teller got to Section 10C, according to his translation, when Workman Liu heard Section 10C, Workman Liu was awakened there in the Marketplace.

[01:22]

Section 10C is bodhisattva. Actually, I have the book right here, translated by this guy. So I'll look to see if it's Section 10C. Section 10c. Therefore, Subhuti, the bodhisattva, the great being, should produce an unsupported thought. That is, a thought which is nowhere supported. A thought unsupported by sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables, or mind objects. It is said, the translator says, that Hui Nung, the sixth patriarch of the Southern School of Zen, won enlightenment through meditating on this very passage.

[02:42]

It is well known that the Zen school uses the word enlightenment in a manner particular to itself, which differs from that of all other Buddhists. The Diamond Sutra is included An unsupported thought does not mean you're all alone, separate from other beings. By the very fact that all beings kindly support us, by the very fact that we are dancing, above the world on a subtle net of relationships with all beings, that we are the dancing of all these relationships.

[04:16]

That is why thought does not need to be supported The very fact that we are buoyed up, that we are supported by everything, is why this unsupported thought is our natural way. and why you don't need to know anything in order to do your work. Each of us is, in a sense, inundated

[05:35]

and overwhelmed by all the kindness that's coming to us at this moment. We're a mass of confusion at the point where all the kindness creates life. We are ignorant about And we always will probably be ignorant about how much kindness comes to us in each moment. And each of us carries uniquely and ignorance, which is our most precious gift.

[06:42]

And this ignorance thinks about mystery. It's difficult to remain in this unsupported thought in this ignorance. It so easily congeals into knowing something. It's difficult to trust the coming together of all things. It's difficult to trust that this is a confirmation of our life. And when we don't trust it, we make it into something we know, and then we become a bigot, and we head down the path of cruelty.

[07:59]

Like a wind bell. A mouth hanging in vast space. Not asking whether the wind comes from the north, the south, the east, or the west. for all alike, just singing pure wisdom. Again, I don't know exactly where each of you is in terms of patiently accepting your experience moment by moment.

[09:56]

Trusting that what is happening right now is the gift that we need to work with. Trusting that with this gift that we are receiving right now, we may be awakened if we could, first of all, completely accept it, completely trust it. Not trust that it's something other than what it appears, but trust that settling with it

[11:09]

is the first order of business. Someone quoted a movie to me today. It's actually a statement that's more common than in a movie, which is, you get what you settle for. And when he said it, I heard it on some different levels. And then he told me that when he first heard it, he heard it on the level of if you settle for something low, you get something low. If you settle for something high, you may get something high. Like when you make a deal, you get what you settle for getting out of the deal. But another meaning of it is that when you settle you get something. And another meaning is that your purpose in life you get when you settle.

[12:22]

So it is important to say what you want, say what you really want, And then for that purpose, settle. It is possible to be settled, to be patient, and still not be joyful if there's any laziness.

[13:39]

And a lack of patience will aid laziness. And since we don't know probably for sure that we're patient enough, it's okay to start practicing enthusiasm right away. Because if you're not patient enough, you can use enthusiasm to continue to practice patience. If you are patient, the energy, the tremendous amount of energy that we spend resisting our experience, that energy will be made available to us, or simply we will be able to experience the energy which usually goes to resisting what's happening, to resisting what we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, and think.

[15:07]

So not resisting what's happening is a way to talk about an unsupported thought. So patience is part of an unsupported thought, is one of the practices of thinking without an abode. this leaky, tumble-down grass hut, left opening for the moon.

[16:25]

This leaky, tumble-down grass hut Left opening for the moon Now I gaze at it All the while It is reflected in the teardrops fallen on my sleeves. Is there any laziness here though? Is there any indolence?

[17:52]

Is there any despondency in this leaky, tumble-down grass hut? Is there any despondency in these tears? Is there any self-deprecation in the moon reflected in our tears? Can you see the moon through the opening which your deteriorating body creates? I'd like my body to be a nice little package again.

[18:57]

all tidy and hung together with all the bones in the right places and everything working properly. And I keep working for that all the time, actually. While I'm sitting, I keep trying to actually lately spread my hip joints farther apart. to make room for my pelvis to move forward and my spine to form a natural curve in the lower part. Because as it is, it's all deformed down there. But basically it's kind of a mess down in that area of my body. Can I see the moon through this deteriorating body?

[20:08]

And can I see the moon in my sadness, in my slowness to catch up with the aging process? Is there any laziness of engaging in unwholesomeness? One monk used to meditate during the day and his practice was to take inventory of his wholesome and unwholesome thoughts. He used to sit all day and observe his thinking. And when he had an unwholesome thought, he put a black stone in front of himself.

[21:10]

And when he had a wholesome thought, he put a white stone in front of himself. And he did that all day. At the end of the day, he counted up the two piles, and if the white stones were the majority, he would rejoice and praise his virtuous practice. And if the black stones were predominant, he would sincerely chastise himself for being so lazy. Do you know what an unwholesome thought is like and what a wholesome thought is like? For yourself.

[22:11]

Basically, wholesome thoughts are happy thoughts that also are thinking about things which will not only make you happy now when you think about them, but are happy for other people too, if they knew you were thinking about them. And unwholesome thoughts are thoughts which make you unhappy now and would make other people unhappy if they knew you were thinking them. And that also, although you might be happy thinking about them, you'd be ashamed if anybody knew you were thinking about them. You might be getting a little thrill out of it because maybe it's a distraction from your pain. And maybe the way you practice patience is you cover the gap between your acceptance of your situation with some entertaining unwholesome thoughts, which you hope no one will ever find out. Or maybe you don't even hope that.

[23:17]

That would be another unwholesome thought if you hoped that no one would find out. It would be a wholesome thought, maybe, to wish that someone would find out But maybe that wouldn't be a wholesome thought. Maybe better if they don't know. I don't know if that was a perfect definition of wholesome and unwholesome. But, you know, it could be something you could use. If you wanted to do that practice, you could use that one. So sometimes it may be exciting and interesting to think of hurting people. For example, if you're sleepy, you might be able to wake yourself up with the thought of hurting somebody. might be kind of exciting, especially hurting somebody you really like. But it might be kind of an unwholesome thought to do that. It would be good in the sense of waking yourself up, but it might be bad to think that way. I can't be sure.

[24:18]

Now, if the other person, if some people found out that you were thinking that and they knew the reason why you were thinking that was to wake yourself up, to think of hurting someone that you really don't want to hurt, just to cause yourself excitement. Maybe it would be all right just to arouse yourself a little. The point is, of course, what's the intention of the thought? Is the intention of the thought really to benefit, to make people happy and free? Or is the point of the thought, you know, laziness and Thinking in a way that makes you miserable. That's a practice which a certain monk did. Again, as Peggy pointed out, maybe when you're patient naturally, a lot of positive, joyous energy comes up.

[25:33]

And again, that may be true if your patience is perfect. But still, let's check out the situation to see if there's any laziness. A sutra says that the Buddha's body radiates great light. And this light has physical forms which are infinite, and it fills all lands like vast clouds. When the light shines, all beings experience great joy and their sufferings are removed and they are inspired to love and respect and goodwill towards each other.

[26:46]

But another way to put it, instead of saying that when the light shines, all beings feel great joy, another way to put it is, when beings feel joy, the light shines. You can rejoice at the light Or when the light's there, you rejoice. And so you can rejoice over the light, or you can make the light come by rejoicing. If you say, I can't see the light, so how can I rejoice? Or if you say, Well, I have nothing to rejoice about since I don't see the light. And I don't want to just force myself to rejoice. Those are two different sides of the same kind of laziness.

[27:55]

I'm not going to rejoice because I don't see the light. And I'm not going to rejoice in order to make the light appear. Turn it the other way and realize that you can make this light appear, which is the whole point of Buddhism, is to make this light manifest. And you can make it manifest by rejoicing in wholesomeness, by delighting in the kindness which makes your life possible right now. The light in this light.

[29:09]

But again, from the bottom of your heart, what do you really want? From the bottom of your heart, to what are you totally devoted? Do you really believe or disbelieve that laziness must be completely abandoned? Now that you're patient, if you're patient, do you believe that you must go beyond that

[30:51]

and abandon all laziness too. That you must allow yourself to completely delight in your circumstances. Is there any doubt in you down some place If you're not yet patient, it's hard to identify, maybe, the answer to the question of whether you are ready to completely abandon laziness. Because you might want to abandon laziness, but then you get tripped up by the fact that you're not here yet.

[31:56]

you're not willing to be here. So I'm suggesting that you work with these two practices of patience and enthusiasm, back and forth, to in one sense see if you're willing to be here, if you trust this experience. And if you're able to get to the center of it where nothing reaches you, where nothing can hurt you, and then also are you willing to drop all laziness there? Are you willing not only to be at peace and unhurt by all this pain, are you going to allow yourself to be at peace and ease And in addition, to drop all laziness, to drop all laziness, to give up indolence, to give up all unwholesomeness, to give up every thought that's unwholesome, every thought that is not bearing on what you really want.

[33:18]

Not to kill anything, not to deny anything, but to actually stay close to what you really want. A body of truth, a body of bliss, a body of unique ignorance. Stay close to the three bodies of Buddha, without touching or turning away. Do you want that? Do you want complete, perfect liberation for the benefit of all beings? Do you want to be able to bestow blessings on every being you meet, no matter what's happening to you, no matter how much pain you're in? What do you want?

[34:22]

And whatever it is, isn't laziness going to undermine it? Isn't impatience going to make you dislocated in your work? Again, it looks to me like you're getting pretty close to being patient. and you're verging on dropping your laziness. Completely dropping it can happen. It actually already has if you dare to open your eyes to it. To open your eyes to the light which has already dropped all laziness and impatience.

[35:26]

The circle of light of radiant bliss at the center of your being every moment. Do you want to jump in there? Moment after moment. Are you willing to drop a hair's breadth difference between this

[37:09]

Trust everything to inhalation and exhalation and jump into this womb of light. If any laziness seems to appear, inspire yourself. Remind yourself of what you want most dearly in this life. Think of wholesomeness and delight in it.

[39:12]

Think of how lovely kindness is. If any laziness crops up, be carefully steadfast in staying close to your intention. If any laziness in the form of being afraid that you cannot do such a practice should come up, meet it

[40:22]

with the joy in the light. Meet it with the confidence that your confusion itself is great radiance, Be steadfast. Circulate the light throughout your body and fill your body with joy. unless you really don't want your whole body to be filled with joy.

[41:34]

And in that case, do what you want. If you don't know what you want, then again you must practice patience in order to see it. If at least you want to find out what you want, practice patience. If you can just sit still, what you want will be revealed to you.

[42:44]

It will show you and it will be very clear. And here's a sentence or two that are difficult to digest from my friend Gordy Sherman. But to solve or to arrive at the answer to the question of what you really want in the midst of constantly evolving contingencies, in the midst of a changing world, to find what you really want, you cannot find it by thinking discursively. It will appear to you simply by settling into the center of the pain of not knowing what you really want.

[43:59]

It will occur to you, it will come to you, not by your thinking though. Rather your thinking itself will show you what it is if you just accept it. This young man who woke up in the marketplace by hearing that a bodhisattva should produce an unsupported thought, usually that's translated as wisdom is the function or work of samadhi, and samadhi is the substance of wisdom.

[45:13]

That's probably also true. The body of wisdom is this kind of awareness, this steadfastness, this joy. And the flexibility to stay with it no matter what is the body, the substance of wisdom. But it's also the body and substance of kindness. The body of an unsupported thought is steadfast, joyful, always aspiring in the same direction towards welfare, welfare, benefit, kindness. What could be helpful now?

[46:17]

What could be helpful now? What would be kind? What would be joyful? How can I manifest the light through my joy? Yes? . No, and also not a permanent joy. Nothing's permanent. That's why we can't be lazy. You have to keep working from scratch every blankety-blank moment. If joy was permanent, we'd all be joyful because we've had moments already.

[47:24]

It's not permanent. What do you think? If it's contrived, it won't be joy. You can't contrive joy. If it's contrived, you'll say, I don't like it. If this is joy, I don't like it. But if you don't feel joy, ladies and gentlemen, it's because you're lazy. That's the only reason you don't feel joy, is because you're lazy. You're indolent. you're involved in unwholesomeness and you're self-disparaging. That's the only reason why you're not lazy. But if you lazily then say, okay, you want me to be joyful?

[48:32]

Okay, I'll be joyful. There, see, I did it. I don't like it. That's unwholesome, that's indolent, and that's self-disparaging. If you remove laziness, you will feel joy. If you feel joy, the laziness starts to rot. Laziness does not live in the realm of light. It lives in the darkness of laziness, unwholesomeness and self-disparaging, saying and thinking that this is not joy. But to reverse it, lazily and say this is joy won't work. You have to reverse from this isn't joy to this is joy with such energy, with such enthusiasm that it's true. The Buddha is enthusiastic. Now, the Buddha also sees the light, so it's easy to be enthusiastic.

[49:37]

So the ones who see the light are enthusiastic. But if you're enthusiastic, you see the light. So if you can see the light, no problem. You will be enthusiastic. And if you're not enthusiastic, that's not the light. But if you don't see the light, practice enthusiasm and the light will be there. It will be there. It will be there so much you can throw enthusiasm out the window too. If I think about it, I feel like all these different practices are interrelated and really it doesn't make much sense to think, well, that one's that much far ahead or behind the others. But still, I look at one at a time in myself and in others. And right now, For some reason, we're talking about number four and number five, or number three and number four, patience and energy.

[50:47]

And it seems to me that that's the agenda for this group. It seems to me that you people are pretty good on patience now, but not quite good enough, and that you're not good enough. You're not making enough effort at effort. You're not joyful enough. It seems like that's the agenda. For this group to just drop laziness, we've got to do it. It's the thing that seems to be up. If anybody has already dropped all laziness, great, keep it up. If anybody hasn't, you're holding the rest of us back. Yes? Okay. Will you teach us?

[51:49]

Now, this is a Jewish lady, too, so, you know. So there's no kind of, you know, let's not have any resistance here. Please, you have to instruct us. Some of us don't know, right? What are the words? Tell us the words. Joy to the world, the Buddha Dharma has come. Okay. That wasn't the duty to use a microphone. Joy to the world, the Buddha Dharma has come. The blessing? Is it the blessing? Is it the blessing? Let earth receive the blessing. Does that work? No? What? The truth. Let earth receive the truth.

[52:53]

Okay. You give it up? Okay, then we switch to light. Joy to the world. The light has come. Let heaven and earth rejoice. Okay. Joy to the world, the light has come. Let earth receive the truth. Let every heart be saved in truth. Heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world has come. And ever they see the truth.

[54:06]

And every thought is written. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. That's good, that's good. Okay, let's do better. Okay. To the world the Lord has come. Let earth receive the fruit.

[55:10]

Let every heart be joined you. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. Can we do better than that? We can do better than that. Okay, let's do better than that. Come on. Somebody with a good voice, start it. Can we do better than that? lunch perhaps.

[56:32]

What? What? A different one? Fine. We've always got something up our sleeve, don't worry. Deck the halls with boughs of folly. That's good. Dear, if I was a little friend, I'd stay with you as a good friend. That's my girl. If I knew someone stood at sea, what would he say? My head up to his dream is wide. Should I always have somebody by my side?

[57:39]

They'd say, joy to the world. All the boys and girls. Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me. Tell you what I do. Things we love to do. Joy to the world. Joy to the fish in the deep blue sea. Joy to give and be. I've got to work on this stuff. Bodhisattvas work. They work it out.

[58:37]

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