Yoga Room Class - August 10th, 2021
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live
several people are kindly let me know
that they would would not be able to be her tonight and i miss them
but i'm grateful that they told us the reasons
i appreciate
and thank you all for coming and i just wanna say that
as i
as the thought comes to my consciousness of meetings with you i feel joy
and am
i must admit i i am
i have no trouble being compassionate towards the pain of not being able to get the link it was in out
a little bit painful it was painful and i i i didn't fully embrace the pain of perhaps you know not being able to connect with you but
here i am and you you are
this medium is something that i and what rather awkward with ah
ha and and also awkward with how to relate different types of teachings and with with this kind of setup
and i appreciate you being patient with the awkwardness of it if you feel it
so we already talked a little bit about one of the vs
our verse forty six but i wanted to again come back to verse forty six a little bit
and one hundred i think the translation your head says something like in the non-existence of suffering
whatever suffering comes to the bodhisattva is due to compare due to compassion
terrifies them at first
but when deeply penetrated it causes them delight
so another translation of that first line which is in existence of suffering
it might be that when they have no personal suffering
when the bodhisattvas don't have personal suffering
whatever suffering comes to them is due to their compassion
and this and this suffering that comes to them which is due to their compassion had first terrifies them but when it is deeply penetrated
it causes them or yeah it causes them extreme delight
so i wanted to bring up two points in this again we have i think we talked to basel but i want to stress two points
of this verse one is that and many people have told me about this and i think some of you have to
if for a moment or of whatever you are free a personal suffering
then because of your cup and you're free of personal suffering because of your compassion
you're free of personal suffering when you're a fully compassionate be
and this fully compassionate being due to the compassion
a suffering comes to them are a huge suffering which some people i've seen them open to this
this compassion for the world and they often are terrified or say they feel or you know they're afraid they're going to be overwhelmed by it
and half times i feel like he i i can understand that it's terrifying but it's a good sign it shows you're opening a so your compassion is maturing that you're opening and you can serve to see a little bit more or are a lot more of the scale of suffering
that your practice the compassion towards so at first when this huge suffering comes
it's terrifying
so and away be warned
that ah if you're practicing compassion your reward may be a huge suffering come into your dirty or compassion
and it may terrify you
and the terror and in the terror is because we have not yet deeply penetrated into the suffering
so the deep penetration into the suffering movie
keep in bracing it we come to a realization
of the what is it
the equality
of self and other
at the
deep penetration of suffering
due to compassion
at the beginning there's still a sense of inequality between self and other
and then the suffering
can you seem overwhelming and terrify us
but if we keep practicing with it
there's the potential to penetrate it and realize the a wisdom of equality
where use see the equality of you and all suffering gangs and then this suffering is
extreme happiness
if we stand the surface of the suffering which comes
by or through compassion it's terrifying
and i we start with the surface as we penetrate deeply
we fire and the wisdom of equality
and then the suffering without the same suffering
is
great joy
and i read like just pause here for a second
and let that all that sinking
are some of it
the last week we talked about the next verse so i realized shoot cast over that one and go to verse forty eight
and now we start this said
considerable discussion of the relationship between compassion and generosity
the beginning to discuss the benefits
have mercy driven
compassion
no mercy driven generosity or or compassion driven generosity the benefits of it the amazing benefits and i guess i also want to sort of not exactly warned you but yeah are kind of sickness
say that some again outrageous statements are coming and you might be
you might be suspicious that they're just that the news is just too good to deal with
and i'm not suggesting you right away believe what we're going to be reading but i just wanted to let you know that when i first read this material i thought this is just
i are these body surface trying to sell as a bill of goods is it's just too good to be true
so verse forty eight is
generosity accompanied by compassion
generates
the joy
of generosity
in the body surfer
generosity generates
a joy
but is the it's the generosity accompanied by compassion
the generates the joy of generosity in the bodhisattva
generosity accompanied by compassion provides the from hearted bodhisattvas with a happiness of generosity
and then there's the commented that the happiness that arises from the enjoyments belonging to the three realms does not equal a minute or poem or minute portion of this happiness
so i would suggest a simple way to understand that would be that the happiness of the three realms is for example
the happiness of generosity not accompanied by compassion
if we practice
generosity
without compassion it still may be joyful
however it might not be
if we practice compassion without a shepherd practice generosity without compassion it is possible that we will not feel joy in practicing the generosity
let me say it again if we practice generosity without compassion it may happen that all the were practicing generosity because just not accompanied by compassion it might not be joyful
and even if it it is joyful the that joy a practicing giving
not accompanied bike compassion is the joy of the three realms
it's it's i know
what is it it does not equal even a small portion of the joy that comes from practicing generosity accompanied by compassion
practicing generosity not being accompanied by compassion is
what we call mundane generosity
and you can be again it can be joyful but also it can be
miserable and annoying and frightening and even cause was to abandoned buildings because we practice generosity not with compassion
so once again this is talking about generosity accompanied by a compassion
generosity may or may not be accompanied by compassion compassion is always i say compassion is always accompanied by generosity
compassion is always accompanied by generosity but generosity is not always accompanied by compassion for example is a yes charlie
may i ask a question yeah
oh so i usually when i hear us discuss our generosity is in the context of when i usually but i guess a lot of the time it's in the context of the pharmacists and i've heard that it's the first permitted states and if you're gonna start some
where you can start with that one
but now i'm hearing a caveat will you can start with that one but if you do that one without generosity that now you might miss a lot is so i'm one and and in an n and compassion is not one of the farm meters on i mean i suppose about permeates all out when our images but the
strictly speaking i would say the first four or five par mages are compassion
generosity is compassion
when you do it
properly but you may start practicing generosity without compassion
and similarly
the next par major of ethical discipline you can practice set with or without compassion
hopefully we are practicing generosity with compassion
we are practicing ethical discipline with compassion we are practicing pages with compassion
so when you say the first for parameters our compassion
a i don't await mean by on wet when we play a lot with up is inadequate but i will say when they're done
product let me turn it around the other way compassion is them
compassion is generosity ethics patience enthusiasm etc
and and concentration however it is possible to practice them with out compassion not accompanied by compassion and then they're sort of not the power meters
it's possible the practice them not accompanied by compassion but compassion is all force if you're practicing off it's possible breaks off for them and compassion might still not be there
yes but compassion always as with those those compassion always includes those
but they don't necessarily include compassion for example you could give some gift to someone
and not be interested in listening to their suffering
nick they call out to you and you hand him a gift but you know worker
i think we have this experience rate people are begging on the streets you give him money but you don't look in their face
you don't like or are you know if you don't like really embrace their suffering which is coming up a it to for now
you give them a gift but you're not really like your they're not your not cherishing their life even though you're doing a good thing and you might feel joy when you give him the gift they're also you might you might be angry at them if they don't say thank you
if they ask for more or even if they say you didn't give me enough
it's possible to given that way and regret that you gave it but if you if if you give a gift accompanied by compassion you will not regret it it would be joyful and if the person doesn't thank you or even asked for more or tells us you're stingy is still
and you practice compassion towards their lack of appreciation and you practice generosity towards their lack of appreciation and you might give them more who knows
and the same with the precepts you can practice them without compassion and then giphy if you don't follow them you can get angry at yourself and be mean to yourself
or somebody else that your practice in the precepts with it doesn't follow them you could like feel like i don't care about them whatever but anyway now refocusing on generosity and it is possible to give a gift and again if you if i give a gift without compassion i mean
might feel joy but with compassion i definitely will and it will surpass the joy the right
i receive when i give a gift without compassion
and again if i give a gift without confessions sometimes there will not be joyful i will even maybe get
can ill will towards the person i gave it to
for another possibility is i give a gift to someone without compassion and and i noticed somebody else is not giving them a gift and i may feel ill will towards that person because i didn't give my gift out of compassion
and the same with the other
oh the all
all of the precepts really are i mean all the perfections are really compassion including wisdom the wisdom of the six perfections his compassion it's a compassion wisdom is not just insight it's compassionate and
right
however it's possible to have insight with our compassion is not deep inside
but you could have insight without compassion and you can have generosity we can have all those perfections that without compassion but they're not really perfection sin
so how do we make sure it could i make sure i have compassion
i think compassionate gives up trying to make sure that that that you have mike me practicing compassion includes giving away being sure one of the things you'd give away as being sure i used to be sure and i donated that to try and give and then he gave it away
compassion of beings are not attached to being sure that their compassionate however there okay because they're full of joy of the practice they don't need to be sure of anything
however they'd have deep faith in the practice and they can give your way to practice
so this fists and cargo forty eight is and i i wrote my comment on this i decide to you my comment on cat forty eight his compassion is always accompanies
i mean kept compassion is always accompanied by generosity
there's no compassion circulating in the universe without generosity
there is a kind of mundane generosity that as not accompanied by compassion it still good it's better than stealing
but and it but again it's not always join before
but the generosity company by compassion is not only joyful always it is
i totally uplifting and inspiring and joyful
happiness
and again there are other kinds of happiness and you know
we i don't want to put them down a just just put him in context that they're wonderful but they do not they're not on up in the same realm as the great joy of compassionate given
okay so i was kind of
when i my plan was tonight was too
talk about a few verses and then just pause a low debt
and and then do and i'd like to do a couple more just present them and say a little bit and pause present of the a little bit and pause and then open up okay
so the next one
is
about accepting suffering
and
many of you are familiar with the three pure precepts
and the thirty three first of the three pure bodhisattva precepts and the third pure body software precept is to embrace and sustain
living beings and it means you know working up to embracing and sustaining all living beings
so that third but he saw a pure precept is kind of related to this verse which says i think what you have is through mercy
through mercy through mercy for the sake of living beings they
most bodhisattvas do not even forsake the life cycle
which is made up of suffering
in the lifecycle is call also called some sorrow
by means of mercy for the sake of living beings they do not forsake some sarah
the which is of the nature which is by its nature
it's suffer
and the next part what suffering we will the compassionate body sought for not embrace in order to accompany in order to accomplish the benefit of others
another way out of compassion for the sake of living beings they do not forsake
thus suffering
by which trends migration or life is constituted
what suffering for the benefit of others will the compassionate ones not embrace
so my comment on this is
the i propose
that
until we fully embrace
some sarah
we will not be able to realize that some sarah
and nirvana
i'm not different
and also i suggest that
such compassionate full embrace
facilitates entering into nirvana and not clinging to it
so this kind of compassionate embrace of all suffering opens the door to a life of peace
which we don't claim to and when we enter it and don't claim to it we have the opportunity to realize that it is the same as the what life of suffering
and vice versa if we do not open to all suffering
we stone some beings may open to some soft drink and be able to enter into a certain kind of nirvana
but the is nirvana is entered by
complete
opening to all suffering as the smoking of here what suffering will they not embrace while there's no suffering they won't embrace and so they can enter nirvana but they don't stay there
and also they realize through this practice the identity of the world of suffering in the world at peace and bliss
and if we can handle one more
this is about the growth of compassion
and it's fruits
ready
compassion and generosity
cheers me compassion
number one generosity number two and fortune number three increase for the merciful bodhisattva and and from and they're from comes a happiness
born of love
born of
both happiness born of love or happiness born of helpfulness and our happiness born of the powerful ability to assist beings
compassion
generosity and wealth always increase for the compassionate one
from this from what from this compassion generosity and wealth come the happiness of three continents
happiness born of love happiness born of assistance and helping and happiness produced by the capacity to help
so again the for four people practicing compassion the compassion grows by repeated repeated practice of compassion
generosity grows by the force of compassion
and wealth grows by the forests of generosity
once again the compassion grows by repeatedly practicing compassion generosity grows
by the power of compassion and are the force of compassion and fortune or wealth grow through or from generosity
and then those three
lead to three three kinds of happiness
and so i want to pause now after that
why one more additional thing i would like to add said wealth or fortune can mean money it can be a like like in japan in enough medieval era
the the wealth of people had was a rice so wealth can be rice
wealth also can be salt wealth can be health wealth can be energy wealth can be having a house wealth can be having a fire wealth wealth and fortune are things that come to the body surfer because who practices compassion
all this kind of wealth health
material and spiritual wealth comes to them which they then use
to benefit beings
and also i just mentioned the previous paragraph verse on how the suffering comes to them to and again if they embraced the suffering then ah
wealth comes
so i think me to this
enough for tonight and so now i would open up for discussion of 'em
whatever you want to discuss
man i'm trying to make sense of this and right now what i'm thinking or feeling is that
self compassion for me i think is a call to to being able to do this at all because i find that i disowned parts of myself my limit itself my habit energy for like ah sort of negative
judge self j or just bad just bad moments like a fighter i think that that if i that's the doorway to being able to stay in a state of loving helpfulness i didn't several as correct afforded it has car and forty nine
escargot for not what suffering with the compassionate body sought for not embrace in order to accomplish the benefit of others so they will not they will know they were they were they will embrace your suffering david they will embrace mine i will embrace mine i will
embrace your you will embrace doors you the compassionate one embraces her own suffering and she doesn't do that for no reason she does it in order to accomplish the benefit of others she does it in order to accomplish the benefit of others she takes care of herself not just for herself
but for others
so yes you do really as a body sought for you you embrace your own suffering as no suffering you did not embrace and you embrace it off
for the welfare of others
you and your inclusive so yes yes yes and like i just mentioned to i had some suffering around his computer networking and so
it was hard to be right there and embrace that suffering but i i i actually kind of recovered and i didn't brace it and here i am a did not because of you i do not run away from the computer and give up
i kept i kept working with the suffering of the computer now not connecting me
and they thought and nine that eye contact a gay with the i've with the with the cell phone and then i got to another computer i did all that i'm poorest that earlier suffering and later sufferings
to benefit you
and it also benefited me not to run away so please him bet
embrace your suffering for us so i have to love the part of me that isn't a bodhisattva pretty s yes okay for pain in a way you could say paid is pain isn't a bodhisattva
pain is something the bodhisattva of compassion towards
and also the the cargo says the ones who don't have any personal pain because of their compassion they have all this pain comes to them
the reason why the on a personal pain is because they practice compassion towards their personal pay
and if getting really good care
ah of your personal pain than you'll get a huge ocean of other people's pain
three ward you
you're welcome
ram yes i'd like to am unpack the idea and when the suffering is penetrated deeply that it at least to delight and that did particularly penetrating the suffering deeply leads
to the realization of the equality of self and other so when i think of what it means to deeply penetrate the suffering i'm guessing that you're becoming intimate with the nature of the suffering the causes and conditions of the suffering
is that part right
so you get the special kind of suffering okay it's a special kind it's a very auspicious kind of suffering it's a suffering that comes to you because you feel compassion for being fixed rates are here cuz this special suffering
it's very was caught auspicious suffering auspicious is conducive to awakening this suffer the suffering that comes to us from personal oaks concern and selfishness we should be compassionate to do that but it's not so a spacious as the suffering that comes to us because we cherish
and want to protect others so here comes this becomes a special suffering
the suffering that comes to compassionate bx and at first because it's so huge
it terrifies them but if they continue to practice with it
they go deeper into it
and if they go deeper into it they notice they're not they're not going in deeper into to try to get something there is more fully embracing this new suffering
and as they get into their they start to notice hey you know what i think i think i'm different from her
i think actually i don't seek the pans equal to me
or should i make will the her
oh that's not what's causing the suffering from me but that's what's terrifying
though it's thinking that were separate that's terrifying you
oh yeah is also its thinking that were separate which is similar to not seeing that we're not
so again this is a special situation right your this is for people who are are practicing compassion then they get a special gift of this suffering which is huge
and again i see people when they meet this that they often wonder how many get overwhelmed they don't wanna deal with this is terrifying so they need lot of encouragement because this is a good this suffering is coming because you care about people
it's not the overwhelmed that that used to come to you when you are self concerned and your you know and then various kinds of sovereign country because of the this is coming to you because you really care about pigs okay here it is however i'm terrified of it and i just this books this texas
i'll tell you what the problem is it's telling you that although it's com which is good you haven't deeply penetrated you haven't deeply entered it as pewdiepie deeply enter it and get more familiar with it you notice you will maybe you notice that you do not have the wisdom of equality and that that was frightened the effort
terrifying
so
this this gift of all this suffering it is something which were terrified of we want to like relax acts with it and enjoy it
we we to now really embraced it comes as a gift and in order to embrace it we need to have joy and the joy comes when we realize that all of his other beings are equal to us
and that comes to us as we try to embrace this terrifying
suffering of all beings
we were in that process of repeatedly and the next the next carcass about the compassion grows if you repeatedly practice it so you pract i just compassion and you get this gift of this huge suffering then if you didn't get the gift of terror which is
actually telling you you're not deep enough
and then you practiced with the terror and this suffering again and again and you got deeper and deeper
and then your generosity grows and song
and you go deeper and then when you actually realize that these beings that this ocean of suffering that you thought was gonna wipe you out that all each one of those beings all have different sufferings are are are no different from you then you're not terrified anymore
as you wonder why that why would that make you not terrified why would why would that bring you joy
it is you say what why we got not make you terrified don't know why why would that we leave the terror to see that were not separate
yeah well yeah i think you have to go there and find out
the up haven't gotten there but i got to get terrifies that news it's likely is telling him that i tell you if by any chance you practice compassion and you're not so self concerned about yourself anymore
a good carry yourself and you're not actually suffering very much or not at all maybe and then because of your compassion you get this really big gift like i often say to people if you see somebody curled up in the button a ball and corner you don't bring him more problems but if you see somebody just walking around
they seem to be relaxed and not troubled you think i'll maybe i'll bring my problems to that person and if that person really is free of compassion free of suffering and practicing compassion a lot of people will bring it to them but even before they bring it the person may notice oh my god
there's an ocean of suffering and that and we at first you will be terrified
and then in the terror if you don't turn away from that in practice compassion with the terror now you've got the terror placebo plus all the suffering you're practicing compassion with that you will go deeper and you will notice the reasons is that you're afraid is still some the
but a separation between you and the different the different elements in this enormous suffering which you have opened to
and also there's a little media anyway there's some sense that you're not equal to these beings and as you embrace all this suffering you wake up to that your equal to at all
and then the suffering is a delight
an equal same suffering is now a delight it doesn't change
it just it is a delight of that same suffering because you realize the reality that your the same as everybody okay
that's the way to realize that is is wonderful job
i'm embracing the suffering that comes to you because your compassionate
not of course you should practice compassion towards the suffering that comes to you because you're selfish
if that it wouldn't ever there that that we should practice compassion with that too but if you gave up all that up for a moment
the reward would be this huge and i've seen it did this huge suffered comes to people and they just wanna they just are terrified and i said this is a good sign
now let's work with this and again the more you again the compassion grows how does it grow by repeated practice and the end the generosity grows by the power of the compassion and generosity accompanied by compassion is joyful so the generosity
in the wealth and the compassion art go rowing so they can deal with this enormous suffering and penetrate to its core and and in it's in the core of it in the extremity to say it in the molten core of it
we realize there really isn't a separate team between us and any suffering biggs
thank you
welcome
jiang
read hello
i was going to ask may be exactly the same question is pen just it and so you are dialogue lady was very helpful to me and i'd wanted you still
ask or as to share my understanding from what you just said it i want it makes me think of cause my original question was can you unpack the word equality i i want i wonder what that means and i was wondering if that means
unity or something like oneness and does
the while you were just elaborating on makes me think of that process have that the eagle dying in the practice self compassion and taking on that suffering or practicing compassion in the midst of suffering an and
realizing the clunker or equality like we are the same as all other beings
it like a process of the eagle or the separate cells dying and am my understanding this way
oh you're not understanding me right
i'm not saying that when we do this practice the ego dies
ah i think we read it through to do the previous paragraph the previous verse says
they they forsake they do not forsake
the world of samsara they do not forsake egocentric v x
they don't forsake me
and also they don't forsake their own egocentric big
and because they don't forsake their own egocentric selfish
being
because of that they become free
and because end up and their and their compassion is not just for themselves which have just freedom from the egocentric mind without forsaking it without killing it with and putting it away it's no bear he
but and if they're not clinging to it anymore and and the reward is
suffering comes to them
and
and then they can show people how you can have an ego
and still welcome an ocean of suffering
and how you can have an ego and not forsake any he was centered being or try to get rid of the egocentric beings
this compassion is not trying to get rid of egos it's not tried to get rid of self-centeredness it is embracing the suffering
that accompanies that
and it's not so much oneness as non separation because the difference is maintained uniqueness of each being is is what they are their own particular virtues and troubles
and that suffering being includes all of their suffering paints and all buddhas and all body surface
every moment of either the centric consciousness includes all other beings
and this practice is to wake up to that teaching
that's very important
i think shakyamuni buddha having some people think had a big ego and i think he had the chalky money buddha had a biggie though all away way to the end and he totally was not caught up in it and just used his ego as a gift
do
and he didn't and he didn't get rid of anybody else's ego either
he he taught beings who have egos hotter practice compassion he he taught beings who eagles hundred borders
he
that's what i'm sir
i'm very glad i asked the question i found a dress to when it i make you thank you welcome
good evening good evening
so during the last week or two i found myself in a situation where the tendency of my mind to worry got really activated
around the situations that people that i know or m and i just was worrying you know
and on did nothing i can do both situations my worry was not doing me or them really any good it's not really helpful but it was there
and so this morning i thought well i'll bring this up in class and then why i was soothing i had this thought about
maybe you could just give your worried to the buddhas and they can take care of it
and oh
so you know i sort of tried to make my sitting into an offering of my worry to the buddha's
and it it was for and yet they think well that's not such a great gift i mean they can handle it when it's not a great gift pages or to give that to
get another opinion to give that opinions should the buddha's to
okay
i mean please give it to him and you said something like
i think he said something like i had the thought of giving my word to the buddhism letting them take care of it
and when you said that i thought well they already are yeah we already are taken care of your worry but will you give it to them than you realize reality
hey here booty take care of myself for my suffering take care of my worry because you already are right and the buddhist say yeah and you said it's not a very good given this a well that's all i work with i've got nothing other than people's worries and fears and you know it's not like as a good gift it just it's month
it's my bit this is my businesses to take care and your worry and if you're not worry i'll take care of that too
whatever you are give it to buddhists so so they can take care of it so you could realize that they're already doing that but now you're joining them
now you're giving them with the already taken care of so now you now you're tuning in to the boot activity
yeah please get don't get rid of be true worried because that's a gift for the buddha's that if you if you get rid of your worry you're taking your worry away from the buddhists are given emporium you can have that worry i'm not a ticket and put it someplace else no know that the join them
they have their hands their general hands around your word put your gentle hands around the worried hand it back and forth with the buddha's
well that brings up for me the question of prayer and ritual because they can heard of that was
you know sank to the buddhist please help me please out my friends i don't know what to do
a buddhas are praying all the time
good is are praying all the time you know that you will join the unsurpassed way and attain buddhahood soon that's it they're praying all the to see you compare a jew or then you're like buddha
you can say you're praying to boot and but you're also doing boot you're praying like a buddha buddha as are printing they're wishing there wishing wishing wishing that all beings would become buddha and they have confidence that they will and they accept that they're not there yet
and their job is to accept each of us as we are and teach us how to do the same if i can accept i am moment after moment i'm doing the same thing good does with me
and again if i accept if i accept this overwhelming suffering
i'm doing what exactly would boot does with the off the one suffering
and if i can't than buddha's right with me not being able to yep are being terrified
and and do you think that that incidentally helps those friends who are in difficult situations at the same line you could say incidentally or you could say
it's exactly the same as them being helped
the way your the way it helps you
to give your ah worries and sufferings to buddha the way that helps you and helped you realize that you're working with buddha that's exactly the same way that you're helping them
there are helped and exactly such equal gets equal and as you enter this practice you penetrate to realizing the equality of taking care of yourself and taking care of others are the equality of you and others in the process of kick of company
oceana care
and this is good at the a a difficult to understand because you can't see it
many people say to me i can see how this practice is helping me but i don't see how to help people i can't see and that's a tough one but the somebody's telling us that it it is helping people you can't see
but also you can practice with people you can see like i just i can see you and i just encourage you to practice with your with your worry him you know and i supported you and your thought of giving you
wonderful gift
a worry to the buddha's
i can see that
but me helping you were also helps i'll be that's the hard part
and it seems like you're saying that had happened simultaneously it's with to say simultaneously and he also could say a simon places italy isn't happening the same time and the same place
and then if you change people than you do it with them
thank you you're welcome this the lotus sutra
and the lotus sutra his obsession around or two point nine i i've done
have this is the most difficult thing to admit one thousand i don't want yes working on the terms of me i'm just a crazy and i'm hearing some other nimbly new tracy yes and i would like to underscore and agree with it this is a hard teaching or com
plex is like oh my goodness and i'm loving it and my mind's been blown but i i did get hot stuff i either hooked about half an hour ago when you said something like a samsara and nirvana or not different and i have i just like what are you talking what what could you
constantly be and i would love it if you could elaborate on that with it
it's just like at my mind can even consider that hostility
oh
if use if you a rock if you can suit from i've not considering the possibility that your way of considering a possibility a fine that's so that's a tiny mini mini inch of the way but what a what do you mean what do you mean what what does that mean
the peaceful and passionate borders
who have realized nirvana
are are always is out with the bigger ears to was called eek the compassion is equal and constant
so they in their new in their peace and nirvana
look ninety nine even in their their nirvana is
caring for biggs the content of their pneumonic awakening is caring for biggs
the buddhist peace and joy is caring for beings so the beings the suffering beings and the caring for them
aren't equal an inseparable
well i can't believe will
the body snatchers i think you have you ever take you have a taste of not abandoning samsara there's some elements of samsara you have not abandoned
at a taste of not abandoning some samsara now if you were to
not abandoned any any part of some sour
then you would enter nirvana
and as you enter nirvana which is peace and ease with some sorry you would then next step would be you realize that they're the same that you cannot have the the compassionate
regard of the buddha's can have have the compassion and buddha without all suffering you can't have the compassion of buddha were just a little bit of suffering
which just a few suffering bags not dimension skipping all over yourself
but including yourself
good it compassion is embracing all suffering
that's that's nirvana
is to be at peace with this world is suffering
i wouldn't i believe the part of the it a bar without ever speaking yes as that's
superb explanation thank you thank you and it's a little bit difficult to him all suffering that's are huge job so let's get wizard and again see if we can do it equally
equally like a buddha widow and and then work out to constantly
and we may notice ah how you know like i told you i got a little i forgot for a little while when i wasn't able to connect with the group earlier tonight i missed a beat or two of being there with the pain of not being able to get the link lawyers
and you know if i was just one of the members of the class it wouldn't events and to off off but i think you know if i don't show up so it's kind of going to be painful for a lot of people the most painful for me so there was the pain
but then i then i recovered and i i embraced it and you know did all this stuff picked up the cell phone talk to her engine
first or second
thank you very much you're welcome
i read greenland on a great time
i have a little story ahead an opportunity to practice compassion and there were and are some bumps in the road say i would like to show the story of hi matt may i share my story
so yesterday i was down downstairs working on might work and writing and the doorbell rang and jeff was not here so i came upstairs and there was no-one out the window of the door to open the door and i looked out and there was a young man
standing up the path and he was very slim and he said i'm not here to do anything bad in your neighborhood or to hurt you and he had a role that thing of papers and his champ denise said i have tivo what a what the weather even here for her and he
he said i don't think i said exactly that but it said something like lines of how can i help you and he said well i aged out of foster care and now selling these books for children it's a it's a feel i've heard before with other young people coming years ago and i am
knew i wasn't getting by the subscription to the books he was selling and so we i listened to his story and it was a really sad story and a really hard storing he said i usually wear suit but i didn't know it's gonna be so hot here and i was in arizona
i'm from north carolina
and he had a slight accent from north carolina and he said that if you just buy the books than you can donate them and i said well i'm not gonna buy the books but is there anything else i can do for you because he was articulate and i wanted to have the
the exchange and then i noticed that he had holes in his socks and i said would you like a pair of stocks and he said yes and i said is there anything else that i can get for you and he said do you have i think he'd sent you have any grow and pasted excuse
he said i said oh are you hungry and he said yes and i said you like beings because i had just brought some leftovers home and he said yes and i said would you like phil coulter do you want me to heat them up so he said he wanted the warm and i said
there anything else and he said can i have some water and i said how about this cause i didn't want him just standing outside the door while i went in their house i felt a little protect him but myself and so i sort out this you keep going around doing your job and you come
back and i'll leave you a package and i'll put it in something you can carry and oh what's your name help put your name on it and he said qualm which i think it's kind of cloak is it sort of corn but oh i said great or oh i'll leave it free on the steps so we might
not see gender so i scurried off and when made two big bags filled with so close that giveaway that we had not give away things and then i made it with chips and cheese then warmed up beans in a fork and spoon and i had in inner
a give away much bag and then i gave a i had it like a coffin a that you can carry the romans giving waste who filled it with ice and water and i left it on the stairs with her card and the card that i tuck i just took whatever card was in
the place i keep the cup and it happened to be a thank you card and i thought yeah this is giving me the opportunity to offer her something to someone who really needs would i have been done need so i wrote him a thank you note i just said i hope
these fit and if they don't you can give them pass them onto people who may well and
in good luck on your journey and i left them on the front steps and about twenty minutes after i left them i looked and they were still there and i felt really bummed out like oh you didn't come back and i thought well how do i deal with that because this whole time
am i was thinking about my own compassion and like what do i am i'm needing something back for is that just am i is a sentimental and might just being nice and wanting like oh good i did something and and i thought well if that's the case so deal with it but i'll leave it till late
later cause i don't need to take it in right now and about an hour or more at a time went by and i worked in it is gone and so several things have come up from the since then i'm one really tried to kill
and of grapple with that sentiment and p is like my eat the that are wanting to have been helpful wanting to know that was helpful which is a nice thing it doesn't feel mean but it's self-aggrandizing or something but then when you are
well i certainly felt like he had a beautiful interesting story i didn't know that was a true his story or story a seventh pitch story but he was clearly hungry he looked hungry he was skinny and young and his socks at home
what's in them and i knew that i had given him something useful and including food but that feeling with equal i still feel sad like i want to feed him more and i want to take away the pain and i want it and i don't i don't mean this
suffering because his story is one of suffering so that i know enough in my experience that that doesn't go away but
and i feel grateful and if that's because it was an opportunity t to exchange something meaningful in the middle of my day in a surprising in a surprising way but
but i'm not sure about the equal not equal and i feel like that's
like gets another step out i would like to hear your your thoughts on
the realization
of the quality of you and that person
is who you know very profound
and
car fifty is saying if you keep practicing compassion it will grow and grow and grow
and a reward for this growing is that you'll be able to help more people and be gym generous with more people and then generosity will lead to more wealth in terms of more ways to help people
and that all will make
you ready to receive more and more suffering
and go deeper and deeper into it
so i don't know if any of us in this class are going to realize actually the equality of self and others but i think you are in the process you're in the context a practicing compassion of noticing i think
these sentimentality ease and disappointments
showing the you still haven't understood
equality i self and other which is also a quality of you're picking it up or not picking her up the equality of you know somebody else coming and taking it that you didn't pronounce your for all that is
if we if were disturbed by that and shows us we haven't really penetrated to the deepest part of the suffering but you're in you're in a game you're you're doing it you're working on a you're looking at it you're questioning
and this is this is proposing that a certain level of insight
is on his on the horizon for us and you're in the urine the environment with the inside is found it fell to a little bit there were some pardon me that felt like he was doing monk like from you know you want to know monkey with the asking with his bowl for effort exerted and
and the difference between him in a month of is a monk aren't supposed to tell you sales pitches know they're not even but even if among did we still should give to him to him a the this was a monk with his sales painted you know he didn't need to give a sales talk however when he did it
you realize what this is a this is all this is a human yeah he's an intelligent be in you know even if he's not telling the truth he's he's he's relating to me and and also he looks like he needs something and i would be i don't want to buy the book but i'm i'm happy to share my food and clothes
with him so i'm i'm actually feel joy by giving that to him and yet added protection welfare make that generosity grow and again even though growing as you practice your notice his little glitches
and then and then practice compassion with those and in this way the compassion grows the generosity grows the joy grows and we open up more and more and go deeper and deeper
so maybe we haven't quite reached that point
a of full realization yeah well we're on this path
that is just tell him this is telling us a little about or where we're going
okay thank you
i read it evening
other question and it going back to the conversation that you are having a and that the
the am
you're talking about realizing that you don't understand equality and feeling that terror is that terror oxford the realization of all of that
the harm that you have done by not realizing quality and all the opportunities you've messed and and is the joy ah the recognition that you have or ever to atone for that and to i would say a slightly different
what you mentioned i wouldn't call that the terror but that's part of was complaining to you this terrifying
if we could see all them if if all the missed opportunities of our life came to us you know the out of camp because we're compassionate although saved coming would be a great gift
you know body such as get to get to see all of all their missed opportunities come to them like in like in interesting programs people look at all the missed opportunities they then the the outcome to the minutes is terrifying
so the thing you're talking about her or more not those things are turf those things onto terrifying the things written those things on the things were terrified of
but now
if you take care of that terror now you're not missing an opportunity
but if you look at up at the all the times you miss the opportunity as this like oh my god i miss so many and i i missed on so many times on my while okay all right hey may be on practicing compassion to look what's coming
my my karma's like showing itself to me and it's like amazingly huge and and i'm scared but i also read
this text is bodhisattva tax was said this is part of the deal is when you see your past flaring up the front of you it's can be terrified
okay and now i'm and a practice compassion with that terror
the the stuff is com
got the tear practice compassion with the tear and all this stuff practice compassion with all the missed opportunities
and practicing compassion with missed opportunities is a great artwork
you know you know if you heard myself proust
i'm from you you saw his great masterpiece is
remembrance of things of last time gets a remembers remembers of missed opportunities remembrance of all the times i wasn't compassion and books foolish him remembering all of his pettiness all the petty peak in some people get angry at him because it would he tells them how petty
he was
he's remembering all the times he missed the opportunity of being kind
and this is the great masterpiece of the twentieth century is contemplating all the missed opportunities
we can we can do there too
we can little by little contemplate all the missed opportunities and make this great masterpiece of contemplation out of it
we had to be compassion to the stuff and it's it's tough stuff
thank you you're welcome
oh by the way
i i forgot to mention
marquee hasn't asked a question as i think she should be next
i wanted to invite some of the people who have not come forth i without pressuring you i invite you i think the assembly would love to hear from some of you who have not yet come forth so pleased in our remaining time together not
tonight but next week please consider coming out and dialoguing with me the greatest them they can see your contribution to besides we appreciate your just here but
and thank you marty for coming for tonight leslie
i read and might be a quick question a and in a variation of many people's questions because i'm thinking about times i've been compassionate and i think it's much more easy for me to be compassionate to somebody i might look down on and now i'm feeling horrible
about being arrogant that i'm separate at better and i can be compassionate because i think there
suffering more than i am and i'm somehow superior
and i don't know what to do with that be compassionate to it
you know the compassion to it
thank you you're welcome
mardi
are you here market for their york
can you let your light yourself up a little yeah i will thank you
thank you
thank you wrapped
i am
what's going on my mind a lot in regards to compassion
i appreciated rp john's story
i had a similar one
but i i think of
ah the neighbors on my street i've lived in this neighborhood for a long time and
an
just offering compassion to the many different
situations that people are in
i think it's just trying to find that equity of and that were all
suffering
and just sitting with that idea of the shared suffering
that's i don't know that i have a question i mean i just feel that i'm in i'm
a receiving and giving
situation
and i need to be patient with it
i don't know if you have a comment dream
well
patience is part of compassion compassion is includes patients
so your
yeah sort your are you are you practicing generosity with these people
i think so but i think i also need to examine that more
an examining it is kind of like so we have generosity that we have ethics and patience was as the first three bodhisattva training methods so be generous but then the next the ethical discipline is to no question what you're doing
for example as i'm lesley would just say are you putting yourself above them at all
i don't feel like i am i feel i'm on it
oh you're asking myself i'm asking to ask yourself am i putting myself above them
ethics is to be carried say you're giving them a gift when you're been careful
your been careful as you give it for example you checked before you give it to use it a may i give you a gift you don't just
you don't just think i can give you a gift without talking to you but
i have a gift
would you may i give you a gift
it is is now good time
oh
so i've been careful and gentle with your generosity which may be doing that to maybe you're being gentle and tender and you give the gift but also part of ethical training is questioning myself some giving gifts but if i don't question myself that i'm not being ethical
it's now a good time to give them a gift i feel like it is
but i wonder am i after in my up to anything else here am i trying to become the most famous person in my neighborhood
as the you know the most compassionate person in the neighborhood
you might say no but i don't care about with you say no or yes or maybe i'm just saying it's good for me to question when i give a gift if an old question where i give a gift giving is not as compassionate as giving and questioning my giving and all
so questioning
yakushima giving me it's also questioning the appropriateness of the gift and the timing of it
and then also being patient with the pain of the situation
and if a and also checking him i am i practicing generosity to to reduce the pain to get less pain
hmm
so
self criticism herself questioning self
accounting is part of compassion
and it would apply that to i
do you get generosity
and to year and i'll also apply questioning into your general practice of compassion
is it possible that my compassion has some shortcomings
and to that you might have an answer but even if you send yes doesn't mean you know that's the last time you asked that question
and also although i might say just my compassion have any shortcomings and i might say yes this is these are the shortcomings if i asked other people did my compassion have some shortcomings they might have something to say that i never thought of so as not just me questioning my compassion
but meal ah being able to be called into a out
but and questioned by others so so now i'm suggesting you as you practice compassion question yourself but also let others know that you'd like them to give them to question you to about what you're up to
or let them know that you welcome they're questioning of your compassionate work in the neighborhood
if you're ready to do that that's a big stone
and you might say well and i'm only really do that with a couple of people in the neighborhood not everybody there's some people that i'm not ready to hear them call me into question yet
but this person and i'm this preston i would like them to call me into question and they'll be helpful
and you said at the beginning i think i did you say you didn't really have a question exactly i was a question presented himself to me
now there's the question at the importance of conversation am
no got that out now
the conversation brought up the need for being able to be questioned
as part of compassion
so here's a class and compassion and people are asking lots of questions
with that really appropriate
well it's little bit past our usual ending time so i guess we should end
may our intention equally extend to every being and