I want to express my gratitude for the, particularly for the 200,000, perhaps, people that expressed their desire for peace and wisdom in exercising ourselves at this time in this world in a helpful way yesterday in San Francisco. How many people here today weren't here last week? Could you raise your hands? Well, today I was thinking of continuing to talk about

[01:01]

wisdom teachings which were introduced last week, and so I will kind of review some of the things brought up last week for the new people, for the people who weren't here and who are born with a lack of wisdom, or

[02:56]

were born with wisdom but we haven't realized it. It seems as though we're born with a body and mind that produce appearances which are not really the way things are. We're born to perceive phenomena in a way that they really aren't existing. And this way that we're

[04:00]

born to see things or this way that things appear to us is as though they're existing on their own, as though their existence comes through their own character. So things appear to be separate from us or the things we know seem to be separate from our knowing. The subject and the object which it knows seem to be separate. We're born with a tendency to perceive things that way and then to think about things that way. And then we have a tendency to believe that

[05:05]

appearance as true. So things look that way to us and we believe them, and then when we believe them we feel various emotions, various painful emotions, like hatred and confusion and greed, and then in the midst of these uncomfortable emotions which are based on a sense that we are separate from the world that we know, we think that we can do something about it, and then we try to do something about the world in which we feel greed and hatred and confusion. We try to do something which is what we sometimes call this contaminated action.

[06:09]

Action based on the misconception that I can do the action myself. So because I think I'm by myself, separate from you, and believe it, I feel uncomfortable and feel greed and hate and confusion, and then I think I can do something about it. And what I do based on this misconception and these afflictive emotions is called karma, and these actions based on this misconception reinforce the misconception and drive this process round and round. So wisdom teachings are addressed to people caught in such a scenario with the

[07:20]

hope that if they hear these teachings, that if they're able to hear these teachings, if they are given the opportunity to hear these teachings, that they will be transformed in such a way as to finally become free of this basic ignorance and be liberated from this process of ignorance, misery, and action based on ignorance and misery, which drives more ignorance and misery. Is that clear? At least as somebody's story? I also mentioned last week that we have in some sense two branches of meditation here.

[08:39]

One branch is a branch sometimes called calming practices, the other branch is the wisdom practices, the wisdom meditations, and I think I said last week that the calming, the tranquility types of meditations, the calming type of meditations are the fruit of giving up discursive thought, and the wisdom practices are the fruit of using discursive thought in order to understand discursive thought and become free of discursive thought, and to use discursive

[09:42]

thought in order to become free of the misconceptions at the root of our suffering and unskillful behavior. In order to learn how calming practices, usually we have to listen to a discursive presentation, we need to use our discursive thought in order to understand how to give up discursive thought, but it is possible by receiving instructions delivered discursively, interacting with our discursive minds, somehow the combination of these teachings with our discursive thought, this wonderful thing happens called giving up discursive thought, and we become calm and buoyant and flexible and bright and clear and joyful. Part of the reason why we feel that way is because by giving up discursive

[10:49]

thought, we attenuate the activation of the belief in our misconceptions. So, we attenuate the painful feelings that arise from our misconceptions by giving up, elaborating on our misconceptions. So it's very calming to let go of the discursive thought which cranks up upon a misconception. But the misconception is not overthrown by that type of meditation alone, but I just mentioned that that's part of the meditation practice and we recommend that too, to actually go alongside the wisdom practices, because sometimes the wisdom practices, as you get into studying the teachings of how to look at the process

[11:50]

of delusion, sometimes you become too agitated to continue the wisdom work, and at that time it's good to just sort of give up the whole project for a while. Just let go of using discursive thought to study itself and switch over to giving it up and relaxing, or relaxing and giving it up, calming down. And when you feel more calm and relaxed and buoyant and joyful, then come back to the wisdom work. And you can do that today if things get too rough this morning. Just let go of discursive thought, relax and take a rest. And when you feel better, start listening again. I'm going to say again, going back to the root of our misery and unskillful behavior, the root is a misconception about the way phenomena are,

[12:59]

or the way they actually happen. So the wisdom teachings, in a sense, are to address the misconception and give us some instruction about the way phenomena really are. So for those who don't understand the nature of phenomena, there's teachings now to help us understand the nature of phenomena. And last week I mentioned that in this practice period we're in right now here at Green Gulch, we're studying a text which teaches that phenomena have three characteristics, or three characters, or even you could say there's three different kinds of phenomena. And the three characters of phenomena are, the first one is called the Imputational, the second one can be called the Other Dependent, and the third one is

[14:08]

called the Thoroughly Established. The Imputational character, I see, the Other Dependent character, ODC, and the Thoroughly Established character, TEC. Tech, I guess. They're presented in that order, but I'd like to speak about them in a different order, and that is start with the Other Dependent character of phenomena. The Other Dependent character

[15:13]

of phenomena, and by phenomena I mean, to start with, phenomena like what you experience in your life. The phenomena like people, trees, coughs, colors, smells, tastes, feelings, all these phenomena, they have an Other Dependent character. In other words, they have the character that they depend on something other than themselves. So you and I are examples of Other Dependent phenomena. You and I, as something that happens, are Other Dependent phenomena. The Imputational character, which is sometimes also translated as conceptual grasping, or mere concept, that is things that are imagined. Some things that are imagined do exist. Some

[16:28]

things that are imagined don't. For example, space is imagined, but it's proposed that it exists. Uncompounded space is imagined, but it exists. But, it's proposed that it exists. The fantasy that you and I are separate, really, that fantasy is a fantasy of something that doesn't actually exist. My independent existence is something that I can fantasize and you can fantasize, but that doesn't exist. This belief that you and I are subservient substantially separated, that there's a separation or a difference between us in actual

[17:35]

being, that we have separate beings, that fantasy is not true. It doesn't exist at all. The fantasy exists, but what it's referring to doesn't exist at all. And yet, all phenomena for us have this imputational side, imputational character. The third character is what's called the Thoroughly Established character. And the Thoroughly Established character is that the way things are, the way you actually are, for example, the way you actually are, the way anything actually is, actually means the way it actually happens, is that all kinds of fantasies about it don't reach it. The way you actually are,

[18:49]

who you actually are, what you actually are, is free of all your ideas about yourself and all everybody else's ideas about you. The basic root of our suffering is that when we have an experience, we confuse, we strongly adhere to what's happening as our ideas or our idea of what's happening. Right now, there may be in our minds, for most of us there probably is, some confusion between what's actually arising and our ideas about it, that we actually think, we actually believe, I should say, that what we think is happening

[19:56]

is what's happening. And that confusion, that adherence to what's happening as our ideas about it, that is a source of our severe pain and the karma which tries to do something about it based on that misconception. So we have the basic situation that we have a tendency to confuse the other dependent character phenomena with the imaginary character phenomena. If we can learn somehow to see the thoroughly established character, we will see the way

[21:00]

things are such that our minds become purified of this confusion and purified of affliction and liberated. That was kind of a review of last week, I think. Does that sound familiar to the people here last week? Also, last week I gave a big introduction about our dread and resistance to these kinds of teachings, which the new people didn't get that warm-up, so you're probably really resisting this stuff. Maybe I should have warmed you up first, I'm sorry if you didn't get warm enough and if

[22:06]

this is too jarring to the new people. Maybe I should always do a warm-up session. Now, here's the next step. This is another big step in these teachings, and that is, then after this, the Buddha offers another set of teachings. This might be really hard, sorry. The next set of teachings is three types of what might be called essencelessness or three types of lack of own being, three varieties of lack

[23:11]

of independent existence. So again, we have a strong tendency to imagine and project and impute self-existence to phenomena which they don't have. So, now here's another teaching which comes and says, there's three ways or three types or three kinds of lack of own being. The first kind is called a lack of own being in terms of character, or for the sake of an acronym, lack of own being in terms of the character lack of own being, which is either you could say, clob or slob, but C

[24:19]

before L usually isn't a soft C, right? C-L-O-B, character lack of own being. Another kind of lack of own being is production lack of own being, or lack of own being in terms of production. And the next kind of lack of own being is ultimate lack of own being. So the production lack of own being is plob, and the ultimate lack of own being is ulab. So clob is that, and so then the Buddha says, what is clob? Clob is the imputational character of phenomena. So clob is the way that the imputations you make

[25:24]

lack own being. And what is plob? What is the production lack of own being? It is the other dependent character phenomena. So the other dependent character phenomena, the fact that everything that happens depends on things other than itself, that is a lack of own being in terms of production. In other words, nothing is produced by itself. Everything has a self-production lack of own being. Nothing is produced by itself. You are not produced by yourself. Your practice is not produced by yourself or itself. Your body is not produced by yourself

[26:24]

or itself. You other dependent characters, we other dependent characters, we other dependent phenomena, we dependently co-arising phenomena, we are a lack of own being in terms of self-production. We are plobs. And the ultimate lack of own being, the ulab, is a thoroughly established character of phenomena. Ulab is the way things ultimately and truly are. And the way things ultimately and truly are, and ultimately and truly means the way they are such that when you look at that way that they are, you become liberated. It's the way that things are such that when you look at the way they are like that, your mind and body become purified of confusion and affliction. So they are not

[27:32]

that way necessarily like a truth out in mid-air. It's a truth particularly related to spiritual liberation. That kind of the way they are. The way they are which sets you free is ulab. When we see the ultimate lack of own being of phenomena, we are liberated. And, not only liberated, but then by continually meditating on this ulab, our liberation becomes more and more integrated in our body and being and behavior, and we evolve towards Buddhahood by this process of meditating on what liberates us in relationship to our daily life, this moment, this moment, this moment, integrated with meditation on ultimate lack of own being.

[28:34]

That was probably pretty hard. That's the basic setup. Now, I feel this meditation program coming up now about how to enter into studying these teachings. So, after the Buddha introduces the three characters of all phenomena, and then introduces the three types of lack of own being which correspond to the three characters, then the Buddha says something like, at the people who, well basically, I don't mean to insult anybody here, but for people kind of like most of us, Buddha first of all teaches among these three types of lack of own being, Buddha first teaches the lack of own being in terms of production. Buddha first teaches

[29:48]

dependent co-arising. Buddha first teaches about dependently co-arisen phenomena. And the kind of people he teaches is people like us, namely people who have not yet planted good roots, people who have not pure heart, people who have not pure mind, people who have not purified obstructions, who have not ripened their continuum, who do not have much conviction, who have not completed the accumulation of wisdom and merit. I hope that wasn't insulting. Maybe some of you aren't like that, but I am. So this teaching is good for me. Now, what are these teachings? Again, these teachings are that all compounded phenomena

[31:01]

have this characteristic of depending on the power of other conditions than themselves. They lack own being in terms of self-production. And then Buddha says, when beings hear these teachings, they understand that dependently co-arisen phenomena, dependently co-arisen compositional phenomena are impermanent, are unstable, are unworthy of confidence. And when they understand that, they develop a feeling of dread or discouragement towards

[32:06]

these impermanent phenomena. For example, you would say, you develop a sense of dread or discouragement with regard to your body or with regard to your wife or husband. And that sounds kind of scary, right? But the way I understand that to mean is you develop a dread or discouragement about excessive involvement and attachment to compositional phenomena. You no longer look to impermanent things as the way to live. You no longer look to impermanent things as the way to be happy. Looking to impermanent things as the way to

[33:11]

be happy is based on not listening to the teaching that impermanent things are other dependent. When we look to impermanent things, which is almost everything we ever see, as a way to achieve happiness and freedom and peace, that means we're not listening to the teaching that these things are other dependent. Because when you see that they're other dependent, you realize that they're not worthy of expecting happiness from them. As long as I think that things, impermanent things will give me happiness, I'm not hearing this teaching yet, the teaching of dependent co-arising. I'm not really hearing it. I'm still thinking that the thing out

[34:15]

there exists on its own, and me too. But when I start to open to that things do not exist on their own and are impermanent and unpredictable, that means I'm not hearing things, I'm starting to shift from the point of view of my self-power, of me being a self-powered thing to me being other-powered. I switch from excessive involvement in impermanent things. I switch from me, self-powered me, involved with impermanent things. I switch to a way of being with impermanent things that accords with their other-powered nature,

[35:26]

which accords with their lack of own being in terms of self-production, which means I move towards, we move towards practicing virtue. When we develop these feelings, we turn away from unskillful deeds. Unskillful deeds are deeds which arise from the belief that the things we're working with exist on their own. Even someone you feel you love dearly, if you see them as independent, your relationships with them are off. If you believe that you're independent of them, even though you try to do good, you don't, or at least your good is undermined by your not listening to the teaching that what you're relating to is

[36:32]

other-dependent phenomena. When you hear the teaching, you turn away from relating to things that way and start to relate to them as other-dependent, and you as other-dependent relating to them as other-dependent, and also your relationships as other-dependent. Now, I'm going to continue, I think, on this line of meditating on dependent co-arising, meditating on other-dependent phenomena, because that's what the Buddha teaches first, and that meditation on other-dependent phenomena, the meditation on dependent co-arising, I'm saying the same thing over, the meditation on the lack of self-production of phenomena, that meditation is the central meditation of wisdom meditations. The next kinds of meditations

[37:37]

do not, I should say, are based on this type of meditation, and this type of meditation continues all along, because this meditation is the base for the other two types of meditation, which I'm not going to bring up today, but I'm going to mention them today. I'll bring them up later, and I'm going to mention them today because even though we make great progress as we start to meditate on the dependent co-arising, we do not thoroughly understand dependent co-arising until we look at the other two types of lack of own-being, because we must see the ultimate lack of own-being in order to be liberated, but in order to see the ultimate lack of own-being, we have to be well-established in the meditation on the production lack of own-being, so we have to understand the production lack of own-being as the basis for the ultimate

[38:40]

meditation on the ultimate lack of own-being. So we will continue always meditating on dependent co-arising, the basic teaching, and then we'll go to the teachings on the lack of own-being in terms of character, which is the way the imputational has no lack of own-being, and the lack of own-being in terms of the ultimate, which is that the imputational doesn't really apply to anything. But those two types of meditations come later after we get more familiar with how to practice meditation on the other dependent character phenomena, after we become more grounded in how to meditate on the lack of own-being in terms of production, the production lack of own-being. Now I would like to go back again and look at how to practice meditation on dependent co-arising. So one way that comes to mind is to meditate on the lack of own-being

[40:08]

...well, there's a little conflict here, but anyway, there's two ways. One way is like if you're doing sitting meditation, oftentimes people think that they're doing the sitting meditation. Oftentimes we think, I'm doing the sitting upright, right? Ever feel that way, like you're sitting upright, like you're doing the sitting right now? That's meditation in a sense on the imputational character phenomena. The phenomena of you sitting, the imputational character of it is that it's an independent thing and you, an independent person, make that independent thing happen. Nonsense, but anyway, that's the imputational character. I make myself sit. I do meditation. I make the meditation. So one way to meditate on the other dependent characters is when sitting, see if you can open to how that sitting is

[41:17]

being given to, is being given, how that sitting that's happening, how that sitting that's appearing is being given. Receive the sitting. See the sitting that's happening right now as a gift to the body and how the body is a gift. You could say to you, tentatively, that you are being given this moment of body. A body is being given to you because this body that's appearing here is being produced by everything other than the body. It's an impermanent body. The body can't keep itself being the same because it's not under its own control. It's other-powered. So the body you have, the body that's appearing where you are, that is other-dependent body. It lacks own being in terms of producing itself.

[42:18]

It's other-powered. It's a gift to you. If the body is an upright posture, that upright posture is a gift to the body, a gift to you. So part of one way to get at this meditation, one way to receive the meditation on other dependent phenomena or the other dependent character phenomena, one way to receive this meditation is to receive what is given. So when something happens, receive it. Understand that what's happening is given to you. So meditate again on how what is appearing to you. Meditate on or reflect on what is appearing what is happening, how what is happening is being given to you. And then look at whether

[43:22]

you are receiving what's given or whether you actually think you make what's happening happen. So we have a precept, a Bodhisattva precept, it's number two of the ten great precepts. It's called, do not take what is not given. So for example, if you take what you have a body or a thought and you don't think it's given, don't take it. If you've got a body and you don't think it's given, don't take it. Don't get in the mood of taking or making your body. So if an action's happening, can you see it as being given to you, as it's being given to you rather than you're making the action. The usual way is I'm making my actions. So you know that way. Now we're trying to learn a new way which I'm receiving my

[44:24]

action or the activity here, the speaking for example, is being given to me, is being given to us. You, among other things, all of you are giving this speech. We are giving this speech. Imagining and believing in the illusion of self-power, we think that things are made or taken by us. Believing in self-power, believing in the imputational character called

[45:33]

self-power, believing in that illusion, then we take things. Then we take things and we get things by taking them rather than get things by having them given to us. As we move, as we meditate on the other dependent character of our moment-by-moment life, we move from a feeling of pride and shame, pride or shame, to a feeling of gratitude. We move from I did this, or I did this and I'm ashamed of it, to I received this. This is a particular

[46:34]

self-production non-nature here, which was given by all things to this moment. And I am grateful for this life which is given. I am receiving the life that is given. I am not taking life. So the first two precepts, the first great Bodhisattva precept is don't take life. The second precept is don't take what is not given. These are the first two. It's a meditation on dependent co-arising. Can you live moment-to-moment not taking life, not taking your life, not taking your life, not taking a life that's not given? Can you give up the life which you take which is not given and receive the life which is given? When we receive the life which is given, we feel gratitude, even if it's painful. And

[47:49]

we're doing a meditation when we receive life that's given and when we receive life that's given as given and when we feel that we're receiving it, even if it's painful, we understand that we're doing a meditation which will liberate us from that pain and all pain. Someone said, who's doing this meditation says, when I meditate in this way, where's my responsibility? If I don't make my own action, if I'm not producing my own active body, then where's responsibility? Part of this meditation is to be responsible for what you don't make. Usually we say, hey, I didn't do that, I'm not responsible. In other words,

[48:53]

I did this, I'm responsible for what I did, I'm not responsible for what you did. I'm not responsible for what I didn't do. This meditation is to be responsible for what you don't do. So I thought of the example of the rain. A few years ago there was a song, Blame It On The Rain. I don't remember the rest of the song, but I like that, Blame It On The Rain. When it rains, most people, except, you know, certain shamans, most people do not think they make the rain. A lot of people can say, hey, it's raining, I'm just receiving the rain. This meditation is, yes, you're receiving the rain, the rain is being given to you, and you're responsible for and in the rain. When an action arises, like when

[50:02]

you find yourself speaking, or you find your arm raising in the air, receive that movement and be responsible for it. Be responsible for what you didn't do, which means when somebody else raises their arm, you are responsible for that too. This revolution in perspective is meditation on the other dependent. It's not the way we usually think. We usually think, you did that by yourself, you're responsible, not me. That's believing in independent existence. That's believing the fantasy of real separation between subject and object. If the object over there, if you objects do something, if there's some activity of your body and mind,

[51:06]

that you did it, not me, I'm not responsible. I didn't do it, but also you didn't do it by yourself. I didn't make you that way, you didn't make yourself that way. If I'm willing, as I become willing to feel responsibility for things I don't make, like your activity, I'm entering into this meditation. I'm meditating on unpredictable, impermanent things. You, of course, for me, are unpredictable, impermanent things. I am devoted to you. I am meditating on you in your impermanence and unpredictability, and I am responsible for your activity in this meditation. And I am responsible for my activity, which I equally do not produce

[52:14]

myself. I move from pride to gratitude, or shame to gratitude. I move from pride to gratitude to shame. In the other dependent meditation, I'm not proud of what happens. Like yesterday, I could have been proud of those 200,000 people, which is like, hey, I made it happen. They're my friends, I got them to go there, blah, blah. Or they're my friends, blah, blah. I did this, I did that. Then I'm proud of the thing. They're my friends. I make me, I make my friends, and they had a nice peace rally. So I'm proud of them. Or I'm ashamed of them,

[53:15]

because I think, I believe in dependent existence. In the fundamental meditation, it's more about gratitude for the accomplishments of this world. Gratitude for other-powered accomplishment. Gratitude that anything can happen. And then I often mention this other message is, rather than receive your life, it's take control of your life. So this meditation on the other dependent is turning away from taking control of your life. In other words, turn away from taking control of impermanent things.

[54:20]

Taking control of impermanent things, sound funny? Taking control of unstable things? Getting excessively involved with unstable things? Again, this meditation is to be devoted to unstable things. Take care of them without getting excessively involved, without attachment. Take care of them as gifts to you. Take care of them in gratitude for their appearance and disappearance. In some Zen teachings, and certainly Zen scholars talk about how in Zen, there's an emphasis

[55:29]

on self-power. And so now recently I'm thinking, what about that emphasis that I've heard that there is in Zen practice on self-power? Because that sounds like emphasis on acting on a delusion. But I thought, well maybe what the Zen way of practice is, you have people come into the training center, and then you offer various activities, and then the practitioner goes to do these activities, and they do them on the basis of self-power, like most people do. In other words, they believe that they do the meditation practices, they do the Zen meditation. So they come in there and do that, and then the teacher catches them at doing the practice. The teacher catches them doing meditation. The teacher says, are you doing meditation? And the monk says, yep.

[56:33]

Are you doing wholehearted meditation? The monk says, yes. Being proud that she's doing meditation. And then the teacher responds to that in various ways. Some of them very famous, the way the teacher responds. Like one of Blanche Hartman's favorite stories is about an interaction she had with the founder of Zen Center, Suzuki Roshi. I think she told him somehow something like, maybe he said to her, how's the practice going? And she said, I'm doing Zazen. And he said to her something like, don't you ever say that again. Or don't you say that you do Zazen.

[57:37]

Or something kind of severe, like don't you say, don't you say, don't you think you, don't ever think you can do Zazen. But actually, don't ever think you can do anything. You can't do anything. In other words, please meditate on how whatever activity of your body and mind that is appearing, please meditate on how that is a gift. How you're being given a meditation practice. How you're being given a body, how you're being given a sitting body, how you're being given a talking body, how you're being given a talking head. How you're being given a standing, walking or reclining body. Do not ever think that you can do Buddhist meditation. Now you can do demon meditation.

[58:41]

You can do monster meditation. You can do jerk meditation. You can do, and you can even do slob meditation. No, you can't do slob meditation actually. First you have to like do the meditation of receiving meditation. First you have to meditate in such a way that you receive the meditation. And when you understand that you're receiving your body and receiving your state of mind and receiving the ability, the wonderful capacity to pay attention to how things are happening, once you receive that, then you can look at slob meditation, which is, then you can look at the character lack of own being successfully and realize that it doesn't apply to anything and realize the ultimate ULAB. But first of all, you really must, and I really must, understand that I cannot do Buddhist

[59:46]

meditation. And nobody, no person has ever done Buddhist meditation. But Buddhist meditation has happened to people. And it happens to people because various causes and conditions come together and it happens. And those people are responsible when it happens. In other words, when it's happening, you're able to respond out of that meditation. And if it doesn't happen, and you can't see the meditation, that's also a gift, and you're responsible then too. Then you respond in various ways when the meditation isn't happening. And if the meditation isn't happening, it could happen in the form of thinking that you are doing the meditation. So when you notice that you're doing Buddhist meditation, when you catch yourself perhaps, or when someone else catches you at thinking that you're doing Buddhist

[60:47]

meditation, I guess when you catch yourself, then confess it. And the more you confess that you think you can do Buddhist practice, or Buddhist meditation, or anything, the more you catch yourself at thinking you can walk across the street, or you can raise your arm, or you can lift your foot, or you can cough. The more you notice that you think that way and confess it, the more you melt away the root of that deep misconception that you can do something by yourself. And the more you catch yourself at that, the closer you get to turning away from action based on that delusion of self-power. And you gradually make the transition to meditation on the other-powered, the other-dependent character phenomena, which is the basic practice which you don't do, but which does appear in this world, and when

[61:49]

it does, when the practice which you don't do appears in the world, you're responsible in that practice. And when it doesn't happen, you're responsible and it's not happening. I did psychotherapy with a Jungian analyst years ago, and he told me, I think that Jung or somebody said, when power comes in the door, love goes out the window. And that's true. Today I would understand that as saying, when self-power comes in the door, love goes out the window. When self-power comes in the door, meditation on the other-powered nature goes out the window. But, if you confess that the meditation on the other-powered went

[63:01]

out the window, if you confess it, you re-enter it. Recently I was eating a vegan cookie, locally made vegan cookie, and someone who was sitting at a distance from me said, what are you eating? And I said, I told him it was vegan because I thought that that would make them not interested. But then he said, does it have chocolate in it? And I said, I was given, I received the words, yes. I was grateful to be in a state of receiving the word, yes. And then I heard, I received the words from the other person, which she

[64:09]

received from me, and you. Can I have a bite? And I said, I said, in other words, I received the activity of saying, yes. And then I received the activity of saying, come over and get it. You know, rather than receiving the activity of, well, let me walk across the room and give it to you. I received the activity, come and get it. And she came and got it, and she said, does that make you feel powerful? And I said, no, [...] no. Does that make you feel self-powerful? Rather, she didn't say, does that make you

[65:13]

feel other powerful? And I said, well, actually I feel the power, but it's not mine. It's just coursing through me. And she said, is that because I touched you? And I said, yes. There is power, but it's not the self's. It's due to everything other than the self. The self is an other-powered phenomenon. The illusion of self-power is an other-powered phenomenon. The actual thing isn't an other, but the imagination, I should say.

[66:25]

The dreaming of self is an other-powered phenomenon, which we can't help doing. We're born with it. So it's going to be a difficult transition for us to move into this meditation on dependent co-arising, to walk around and sit around in this world, meditating on how what's happening is a gift, how we're not taking life, how we're not taking what's not given, how we're not making what's not given. We're not making life. We're not taking life. We're not making what's given. We're not taking what's not given. We're receiving what's given. We're receiving a life that's given. Can we meditate on a life, the life that's given, the life that's given and taken away, given and taken away, every moment? Got a life? Here, thank you. Give it back. Let go. Receive it and give it away. Receive it, use it for a while, give it away.

[67:27]

This is meditation, the basic meditation. And this meditation on the other-dependent character of phenomena is a meditation which is also called a meditation on the way phenomena are beyond your thought. It's also a meditation on a mystery, because the way things are other-dependent, we can't see. We can't see all the things that come together to give you your life. So meditating on how your life is a gift to you is meditating on the total mystery of how your life is given to you. Opening to that mystery, becoming closer and more intimate with that mystery. As we become more intimate with it, we develop a sense of dread, of going back to the old self-power approach in which love goes out the window.

[68:30]

It's familiar, it's powerful, you got the power, you got control of your life. It's familiar, it's popular, but love goes out the window when you're in charge, when you're in control, when I'm in control. Well, when I'm in control of me, love goes out the window. When I'm thinking I'm in control of you, love goes out the window. But actually, for me to be in control of you is good for you. And I am in control of you, together with everybody else. Well, I hope that wasn't too horrible for you. Now I have a song. And as I mentioned before, I have received some negative feedback on my singing, and also that my songs are kind of old.

[69:32]

But this is kind of a more modern song. So, here goes. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I can do what I want, I'm in complete control. That's what I tell myself. I got a mind of my own, I'll be all right alone. Don't need anybody else. Gave myself a good talking to. No more being a fool for you. But then I see you, and I remember how you make me want to surrender to other power. You're taking myself away, other power.

[70:44]

You're making me want to stay with other power. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I can do what I want, I'm in complete control. That's what I tell myself. I got a mind of my own, I'll be all right alone. Don't need anybody else. Gave myself a good talking to. No more being a fool for you. But then I see you, and I remember how you make me want to surrender to other power. You're taking myself away, other power.

[71:48]

You make me want to stay with other power. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I can do what I want, I'm in complete control. That's what I tell myself. I got a mind of my own, I'll be all right alone. Don't need anybody else. Gave myself a good talking to. No more being a fool for you. But then I see you, and I remember how you make me want to surrender to other power. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You're taking myself away to other power.

[72:57]

You're making me want to stay with other power. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I can't make you sing. She's a voice teacher. I can't make you sing. I can do what I want, I'm in complete control.

[74:07]

That's what I tell myself. I got a mind of my own, I'll be all right alone. Don't need anybody else. Gave myself a good talking to. No more being a fool for you. But then I see you, and I remember how you make me want to surrender other power. You're taking myself away to other power. You're making me want to stay with other power. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I can't make you sing. May our intention be the same

[75:17]

May every hand raise with truth at all.

[75:28]

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