sitting upright, upright sitting, in this assembly, in front of Buddha, in the presence of Buddha, assisted by Buddha,

[01:02]

receiving Buddha's spiritual power, we enter samadhi together. In the presence of Buddha, in the presence of Buddha,

[04:32]

in the presence of Buddha, [...] in the presence of Buddha.

[06:08]

Welcome to this great congregation. Welcome Karin. Welcome Rosie. Welcome Basia. Welcome Jeremy. Welcome Warren. Welcome Martin. Welcome Fran. Welcome Amanda. Welcome Rosa. Can you hear well Rosa? Welcome Rebecca. Welcome Barbara Joan.

[07:12]

Welcome Jeff. Welcome Ranigan. Welcome Sandra. Welcome Gay. Welcome Brent. Welcome Kim. Welcome Michael. Welcome Catherine Burke. Welcome May Chu. Welcome Catherine Guta. Welcome Donna. Welcome Jim.

[08:17]

Welcome Margie. Welcome Amarana. Welcome Cynthia. Welcome Barbara. Welcome Gail. Welcome Scott. Welcome Mumford. Welcome Lynn. Welcome King. Welcome Gail. Welcome Marjorie.

[09:22]

Welcome Ted. Welcome Sarah. Welcome Christiane. Welcome Deborah. Welcome Michelle. Welcome Linda. Welcome Timothy. Welcome Susan. Welcome Karen. Welcome Genmio. Welcome Sonia. Welcome Angela.

[10:30]

Welcome Sarah. Welcome Jim. Welcome Stephen. Welcome June. Welcome Jack. Welcome Breck. Welcome Gayatri. Welcome Laurie. And in the background, John. Welcome Jackie. Welcome Jeff. Welcome Green.

[11:31]

Welcome Xia Ying. Welcome Angela. Welcome Sonia. Welcome Linda Hess. Welcome Karen Yuki. Welcome Vivian. Welcome Reb. Welcome Tracy. Welcome Barbara. Welcome Linda. Also, welcome to Tracy, who does not have her camera on. And there may be some other people who don't have your camera on,

[12:34]

but I don't know who you are. But you're all welcome. As I mentioned over and over, we have gathered, we have assembled here together, and we have been and are now respectfully naming and acknowledging each other. Our assembly here seems finite, about 60 people or so. And we have been contemplating the bodhimanda,

[13:39]

the site of enlightenment assembly. We've been contemplating it. We've been acknowledging some of its members by reading the sutra. The sutra, just like here, names and acknowledges the leaders of this infinite assembly. We have been contemplating, we finite assembly have been contemplating an apparently infinite assembly at the site of Buddha's awakening. And this infinite assembly includes this assembly. Because that assembly includes all the assemblies

[14:41]

throughout the universe, including this lovely little group. And this lovely little group, according to the sutra, this small infinite, I mean this small finite group includes the infinite group. As a matter of fact, each one of us includes the infinite assembly. According to my presentation of the teaching of the sutra. And the infinite congregation, it says at the beginning of the sutra,

[15:45]

at one time. That's the first thing it says in this sutra and it says that in many other sutras. At one time. And this sutra, unlike some of the earlier sutras, helps us to understand that the other sutras are all happening at this time. Buddha time is one time. The sutra starts with at one time. And all the proceedings of this infinite assembly in the sutra, all the following narrative events in the teachings coming after the at one time, all of them are introduced as at that time. Over and over it says at that time,

[16:53]

at that time, what time? I suggest all the at that times are at one time. All the at that times in the rest of the sutra and beyond are referring to the one time of the Buddha's sight of awakening. I don't know if you've had that experience before. You're reading on the sutra, it says at that time. You might think, well, what time is that? What do they mean by that? At that time? Why don't they just say and then? They could just say and then, the next thing that happens, and then, but they don't. They say again and again, at that time. What time? The one time. So I'm kind of like

[17:53]

exhorting the assembly to remember at one time. Be mindful of at one time, where we're always together. Now, we're here at this time. We're at this time, right? We're into this time. Now, we here at this time have, according to me, the wonderful opportunity to consider to look at how this time is included at that one time. We got our this time, right? But this time is also a that time. It's also that one time.

[18:56]

I suggest you consider that this time is that one time. That we are at that one time. We are at the Buddha's sight of awakening. We are included in that. And also consider how at one time and all the at that times are included in this time. How the one time is included in this time and how this time is there in the presence of that one time. This is, I would say, an expression of confidence. This is a confidence statement and it's a statement of confidence that we are at that one time.

[20:01]

Let's see, quite a while ago, more than 70 years ago, a radio and TV program started. The name of the radio and TV program was, some of you may have heard of it, heard about it, You Are There. I watched that show when I was a kid. It started when I was about four and it went on forever. I watched it when I was like eight or nine or ten or so on and I really enjoyed the show. The show is described as a reenactment of notable historical events, often sad ones like assassinations and suicides.

[21:15]

Like I remember the suicide of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. That was one of the places and the assassination of Lincoln. And the discovery of, you know, various fossils and so on. Wonderful historical events. And the narrator of the show, as some of you know, was the great Bodhisattva Walter Conkite. So somebody doesn't think he's a Bodhisattva, you're not kidding me. Anyway, Walter Conkite was the narrator and he started out, I think, maybe every show and maybe ended them that way too. Maybe he didn't start and end. But I remember him saying, describing the show, everything is or will be or was

[22:16]

exactly as it was then except you are there. You might not have been there when Cleopatra committed suicide the first time, but this time you're there. So we're hearing about the awakening of the Buddha, which happened sometime in the past, but is also happening now. And we are there. I would say the nature of this awakening is that we are there. This awakening of the Buddha includes our capacity to be there and our capacity to be there

[23:20]

is very much like our capacity to have confidence that we are there. And that confidence is not so much a confidence in Buddha, it's more the confidence of Buddha. Buddha has confidence that we are there and that Buddha has confidence that we have the capacity to be there and be with Buddha and enter Buddhist Samadhi and realize Buddhahood. So again, this isn't so much faith in our ability, but more like the confidence of our ability to be there.

[24:21]

The confidence of Buddha that we are never separate from Buddha and we will continue on the path of realizing Buddhahood. That is enlightenment in the form of our confidence. The realization of awakening requires, entails this confidence of the Buddhas. This confidence of our ability to realize awakening is awakening in that form. That is a form of awakening is for us to experience confidence in our close,

[25:23]

inseparable relationship with awakening. . If I may now segue back to the narrative of the sutra. And also, again, the narrative of the sutra is this assembly at one time and the narrative of the sutra is at that time assembly. So there is a one time, at one time assembly and then there is various at that time assemblies. And we, in our reading, reached page 160 of Thomas Cleary's translation.

[26:28]

. And in 160, we just read about all these bodhisattvas coming from all over the universe and performing all kinds of enlightening deeds. And then the sutra goes on to say that at that time, at that time, the bodhisattvas, the enlightening beings, simultaneously raised their voices within the lights that came from the Buddha. No, no, no.

[27:32]

From the lights that came from their pores, excuse me. So these bodhisattvas had lights coming out of their pores and these lights were illuminating beings and then from within these lights came these verses celebrating the lights. And then the next big event is the Buddha wishing to enable all the bodhisattvas to realize the spiritual powers of the boundless realm of all awakened ones emitted another light. So we got a light coming from the teeth earlier, now we have a light coming from the middle of the forehead. What's this coming for? This light's coming to help these, all this assembly of these bodhisattvas who you might think, well, they don't need any help. They're exuding light from every pore and illuminating, enlightening beings all over the place. Why do they need Buddha

[28:33]

to enable anything? Anyway, the Buddha thinks they have more work to do so the Buddha wants to help them to enable them to realize the full spiritual powers of the boundless realm of the Buddhas emitted a light from between the brows and then some of you following in the text? And then, after the light was emitted, somebody want to read what happened with this light? Somebody want to read what happened with this light that came from Buddha's forehead? What's this Buddha's forehead light coming from? The Buddha's headlamp? It is coming to enable these bodhisattvas to what? Let's hear about it. Let's hear about it. Anybody? Unmute yourself and read. Thank you. Try to make my flashlight really strong.

[29:38]

Put it here. Good idea. Or just, just insert it into your skull. Very cool. Okay. That light was between his brows. That light was called, can you hear me? Okay. That light was called treasury of the light of knowledge of all enlightening beings illuminating the ten directions. Its form was like a cloud of lamps with jewel-like light. It shone throughout all Buddha fields in the ten directions, revealing all the lands and beings therein. It also caused all networks of worlds to tremble in every single atom. It revealed innumerable Buddhas showering the teachings of all the Buddhas of all times in accord with the differences in character

[30:41]

and inclination of the various sentient beings. It clearly showed the Buddha's ocean of transcendent ways and also rained infinite clouds of various emancipations, causing the sentient beings to forever cross over birth and death. It also showered clouds of the great vows of the Buddhas and clearly showed in all worlds in the ten directions the universally good enlightening beings congregations at the sites of enlightenment. Having done all this, the light swirled around the Buddha circling to the right then went in under his feet. Thank you. The light comes off the Buddha's forehead and performs all these miracles.

[31:44]

I particularly like the light showering liberations and showering vows down on the assembly. And then the light swirls around the Buddha to the right and goes under the Buddha's feet. So it goes from the Buddha's head to the Buddha's feet. It swirls around to the right like we get off the cushion swirling to the right. And how we walk around the Buddha to the right. And also how the precepts come in from above us into our head, into our... into our head, into our body and then come out of our body through our feet and go back to the Buddha. This is the circulation of the light. Okay. And then the next big thing that happens is what?

[32:45]

Is an immense lotus flower suddenly appears in front of the Buddha. So the Buddha sends out this light which performs many miracles and goes back into Buddha's feet and then a great lotus appears. Okay. Have you got that now? Got this lotus with the Buddha and the enormous assembly and then the next thing that happens is again from that same location of the Buddha's headlamp except now from a little circle of white curl on the Buddha's forehead out comes a bodhisattva named Supreme Sound of All Dharmas. Here comes the bodhisattva Supreme Dharma of All Dharmas out of the curl here. And with that bodhisattva comes a lot of other bodhisattvas.

[33:49]

And then that bodhisattva goes and sits in the middle of the great lotus flower and the innumerable other bodhisattvas in her entourage sit around the pistils of the lotus. And then this great Supreme Sound of All Dharmas who has all these wonderful qualities then intones verses about the Buddha and also about Samantabhadra about universal goodness and the bodhisattva universally good. And then the rest of the chapter is other bodhisattvas in this wonderful entourage that are sitting with the Buddha in front of the Buddha on this lotus then bodhisattva after bodhisattva come forth and teach us about the Buddha

[34:54]

and they teach us about the bodhisattva universally good. And yeah, so for now I just I'll go to tell you that that there's ten of these ten of this enormous assembly of bodhisattvas sitting in front of the Buddha on the immense lotus flower. Ten of them come forth and offer ten verses extolling and explaining to us the nature of the Buddha body. The nature of the body of the Buddha. For example, the body of the Buddha is ungraspable unborn uncreated it appears in accord with beings equanimous as empty space

[35:57]

all Buddhas in ten directions enter into a single pore each showing mystic powers that the eye of wisdom can see. The power of Vairocana Buddha's vows pervades the entire Dharma realm in all lands always expounding the unexcelled teaching. The miracles you could say the merits shown in a single hair of anybody's body even if told by all the Buddhas for innumerable eons could not completely define it. And maybe you hear the echo in Dogen's teaching that even if all the Buddhas in ten directions with their wisdom power tried to measure

[37:00]

the merit of one person's sitting one person's sitting meditation they would not be able to fully comprehend it. And then the chapter concludes by saying as in this world it says, Clary's translation says in this world but the Chinese really says in more detail as in this four-continent world so the sutra is written at a time when they still have this Buddhist cosmology of a huge mountain at the center of this world with four continents and the Buddha teaches in the southern continent. So early Buddhism had this this cosmology

[38:01]

now that cosmology is still here in this sutra however in this sutra that's just at the center of oceans of infinite oceans of worlds infinite oceans of Dharma realms. So just as in this assembly at this site of an awakening by virtue of the Buddha's spiritual power there were in the ten directions as many bodhisattvas, awakening beings as atoms in a billion oceans of worlds who came and gathered so that so you should know that in each world in all oceans of worlds the same thing took place at the enlightenment site. And before we

[39:08]

I was going to say invite you to speak as you wish I also want to mention remind you actually I've said it over and over that this chapter this particular chapter and all the chapters but this one very literally we're told before this chapter starts we're told about these bodhisattvas and these leaders of all these different categories of beings this ocean of beings from this ocean of beings at the Buddha's site of awakening there wells up inconceivable clouds of offerings which rise up and then rain down on the assembly that situation never stops the rising up of inconceivable offerings is kind of like a pedal point it's a through point

[40:09]

always, there's always offerings, offerings, offerings inconceivable offerings making everything we do an offering and letting that offering rise up and rain down on all beings that's the context in which this sutra lives and it's also particularly the context of the beginning of this chapter wherein the bodhisattvas in this gentle beautiful rainfall of Dharma offerings they have questions for the Buddha and they offer those questions in their minds as part of their inconceivable offerings and they also have requests of Buddha so they have questions and requests and they also reiterate that what Buddhas have taught all the oceans of things that Buddhas have taught

[41:11]

and they again ask the Buddhas to teach this is the context of the sutra but in particular this particular chapter is in this context of generosity and I would say also in the context of faith and the faith again of this chapter is at this time is at that time is at one time I temporarily rest my case and welcome the great assembly to make offerings make offerings to the great assembly great assembly you're invited to make offerings to the great assembly and once again when you make offerings to this great assembly all the other assemblies are included

[42:13]

so your donations are well used yes so Rab the relationship between the you know I've never had a I've never been to a retreat I didn't think was worthwhile so you're in the depths of session you're in the depths of a quiet zendo and the relationship of that and this dialogue and conversation that we're having which you know is quiet but yet there's speech I have some thoughts on that but I I'm sure you have some thoughts as well I'd be curious to know what your thoughts might be

[43:17]

well the first thing that comes to my mind is that we are now ready we're on the precipice ready to dive into chapter three and chapter three starts with Samantabhadra sitting doesn't say so but I would say sitting quietly in the presence of the Buddha the great Bodhisattva Samantabhadra sits in front of Buddha in silence and doesn't say anything and receives inherits the Buddha's spiritual power and enters the samadhi so we can understand that when we sit in a quiet zendo we are sitting quietly silently in stillness with the Buddha and receiving the Buddha's gift

[44:18]

of great power so we can actually sit in the Buddha samadhi and not and not by our own power and actually not by Buddha's power either it's by us receiving Buddha's power because Buddha's power doesn't make us enter the samadhi but Buddha offers the power and when we receive it we enter the samadhi yeah right and that is a great samadhi and how does that integrate or is how is that integrated with non-silent dialogic samadhi or again a little bit anticipating

[45:23]

the next chapter but in the next chapter Samantabhadra silently without moving plunges into the samadhi and in this samadhi all these magnificent things happen and after all they're all done after the drama of the samadhi is finished for the time being Samantabhadra arises from the samadhi and then a lot of talking happens lots of lots of wonderful gestures and speeches occur so strictly speaking the samadhi is like the realm of transmission and it's silent and still but then we don't stay in that samadhi we arise from it and when we arise from it everybody arises with us and all these blessings occur so that's what we'll look at next great all right thanks you're welcome thank you

[46:24]

uh okay so in the introduction speaking of time and past and present and so forth there's a passage that i highlighted and it says that the past moment becomes present to consciousness through a process that is in its future which which what you said earlier about at that time caused me to think of that passage

[47:36]

because when i was a an undergraduate student i remember seeing a diagram in a physics class of the past as a comb downward and the future as a comb upward and the present as the apex where those two combs meet so there's all possible pasts all possible futures the only way between the two is through the present and yet this i can't remember if this is a statement by Cleary or if this is who was the teacher uh we talked about it a long time ago a chinese sage who wrote a commentary on avatamsaka sutra that is quoted in the introduction

[48:37]

but it seems to tie together the fact of perceptions and interpretations of the past depend on the conditions of the perceivers in the present and the legacy of the past as it bears on the present and future depends on conditions in the present yeah and that also strikes me as the infinite past comes into the finite present and it's included and from the finite present comes the infinite future yes and we're working with the finite present right here and this finite present is our infinite future in this limited form which is an example i think of what you said

[49:44]

about the statement at that time mhm but that doesn't nail it down to a particular date on a calendar or time on a watch no and our buddhahood is out there so we are we are not just we are future buddhas but we are our future buddhahood in this in this finite form our future buddhahood is kind of a big deal yes and we are that future buddhahood in this finite form in this little form this little form this tiny form that's the seed thank you thank you mhm

[50:53]

good evening good evening i have a comment and then i have a question the comment is about the way that the sutra begins and and maybe maybe linda and gayatri would have something to add to this but i was taught that most of the vedic scriptures start with the same sanskrit word and that word is which means now but it's an eternal now and i always found that really i don't know kind of a nice way to start things that's kind of the comment i don't know if you have any response to that mhm i think the buddhist is you know what's the word you say ta ta a ta a ta

[51:57]

yeah a ta now i think the buddhist sutras start out with eva mayam shruta shrutam and the evam is not the usual you know like ta ta ta is also thusness the evam is also thus mayam i think at that time at one time shrutam i heard it yeah it's an it's an interesting it's an interesting way to start all of those things yes it is very interesting yes so but my my question was

[52:59]

you said something about and i i want you to repeat yourself you said something about the faith and confidence that faith and confidence that the buddhists are always present with us in in this time something like that something like that yeah i wondered i i liked that and i wondered if you'd say more about it well um one thing i would say is i also said i didn't say faith in the buddhas or faith that they're always present rather the faith of buddhas and the faith of their omnipresence but it is a confidence a confidence of buddha's omnipresence so the lord of sutra as you know it says in chapter 16 buddha says i'm always here

[54:00]

um but you know people don't see me but some people who still don't see buddha might be confident in the presence of buddha and being confident in the presence of buddha with that confidence that buddha's here with us we might feel like okay i'm going to practice i'm not buddha's not going to do it for me and i'm not going to do it by myself i'm putting my faith into doing the practice with buddhas who are with me i have confidence in that then if we do the lord of sutra says if you do practice like being upright being honest being flexible and harmonious in the present with confidence of the presence of the buddha you will see the buddha right now so seeing the buddha right now

[55:03]

is confidence in the buddha's presence right now and practicing in accord with that confidence so since buddha is here i want to practice wholeheartedly with what's going on in this moment thank you thank you for expanding and unpacking that you're welcome good evening rep good evening everybody rep this is a really huge assembly and it kind of seems to last for a very long time maybe forever

[56:05]

and there are all kinds of beings named and listed and i was asking myself is there anything excluded from this assembly and if so what would be excluded well as far as i know all beings are included and this the description of this assembly is a hundred pages long but you know that's just a sample of the assembly and now we have we weren't you know we weren't giving the buddha you know examples of the diversity that we have now back then the diversity we have now is making the current assembly more articulated as unlimited

[57:06]

everyone's included in this sutra and i think in the lotus sutra too and there are certain realms of the of buddhist followers who do think somebody's excluded but i'm not bringing those people up right now i'm bringing this sutra up which i think includes everyone thank you thank you this is also what i have felt about this assembly thank you thank you good morning good morning repent great assembly i wanted to share something

[58:08]

i'm always touched when i read through these first chapters how the sutra wants to describe the indescribable like if you it's like a grandmother wanted to explain to to the grandchild the vastness of a huge number like a million by counting down one, two, three, four so it's really touching this attitude the text is trying to tell us what is not being able to to be told and one thought came up when i heard you mentioning again and again that this assembly is includes our assembly though it seems to be a historic assembly and also our assembly includes the assembly in the sutra and i heard you also saying

[59:14]

that time is the one time and it brought me back to this word all in or this saying all in one and one in all and it brought me back to the word all alone which is consists out of all in one and it's the same in german a line it's a mixture of all in one and it's language is such a strange thing it seems to be a word we use often so in a negative way but actually it's a beautiful thing this word all alone and it gets some kind of title for me for this first chapter or first two chapters where everything is described in such a detail but it's actually it's one thing and it includes us and

[60:14]

we include this so I just wanted to share this reflection on the word alone which hit me in a way in a good way yeah and in some sense it would be good for us to accept being alone and that accepting being alone will open the doors of all one but if we refuse to be alone to really settle with that and to not push it away because it's scary you know as social animals being alone is scary but accepting being alone we discover at one all one and also I think the word English word atone atone

[61:16]

is also isn't it at one so it's all one alone and at one atone so being at one with our unskillful karma being at one with it is to atone for it and also you know language is our problem and our liberation so Buddha uses our problem to free us by talking to us to free us from words by talking to us and throughout the sutra we have the inconceivable you know acknowledged this is inconceivable that's inconceivable that's inconceivable and now I'm going to explain in detail

[62:16]

now I'm going to tell you all about what can't when no one can explain like a grandmother like a grandmother and like us trying to explain non-dualism always with dualistic words for example yeah thank you thank you thank you am I up? I hope so oh wait did I have my hand up? I thought I had my hand up well you're welcome anyway whether you have a hand or not you're welcome okay well Montford's question

[63:18]

made me want to show her huh? Gay can you can you give us her face Linda's face I'm sorry I should have I thought my hand was up I'll make it I'll show it there now my hand is there Gay please go ahead Linda okay I yeah um this is just when I heard Montford's question about is anyone excluded or anything excluded I wanted to ask this um there are all these pages describing so many so many so many beings but I didn't read any being who was called and there was the great murderer and there was the great drug addict and there was the great you know I could go on

[64:18]

with other examples gambler who destroyed his family or you know so I just wondered like oh only these really great shining bejeweled beings are there so what about the murderers and the drug addicts well um I thought it described there's there's a certain category of beings who are like can be seen as demons they're included they're mentioned oh yeah doesn't call them murderers but demons sometimes murder people so they're in there but but they might actually be demons who are temporarily not being demonic you know who might be kind of peaceful at a given moment but even if they are being demons and they are included demons are included even so and there be there really are bad demons still every atom of their body

[65:19]

includes infinite buddhas and they're and the bad demons they're causing lots of trouble they're gobbling people up and stuff like that vampires and so on they're included but it doesn't say that they're doing bad things it just tells you the type it's a number of those types are sometimes not always just like murders are not always murdering people but these beings do sometimes murder people and they're included I forgot about the demons I forgot it included demons no and once again these demons are not always demons yakshas are not always eating people but they sometimes hungry hungry ghosts are they sometimes not hungry ghosts? yeah I think so and animals are sometimes

[66:24]

not afraid but a lot of times they are and hell dwellers are sometimes you know one of the surprising things about Buddhism is that the beings in hell the actual experience of agony that they're going through that agony itself is undefiled and karmically neutral it's just pain so these beings in hell are sometimes just they're just in pain and that pain is not defiled and it's not doing any karma and they're included okay and they have Bodhisattva friends there okay thank you you're welcome thank you for your question

[67:25]

oh thank you Linda I really appreciated that question myself because I've been noticing at the bottom of page 159 that wonderful passage that says in this way throughout all universes adapting to the mentalities of sentient beings which I love it's inclinations all inclinations and all mentalities that keeps us recurring in the verses too I love that those parts they cause them in all to awaken and every instant they each caused as many sentient beings as atoms in a polar mountain who had fallen into miserable states to be forever relieved of their sufferings so all of these are included many sentient beings stuck in the wrong concentrations we read some of that last time I think too or maybe you did and spoke to that rub so my question is

[68:38]

I guess each caused the many sentient beings to be born in celestial spheres according to their inclinations and so forth so these are not the Bodhisattvas admitting all this light and everything they're admitting all this light and the Buddha is to help these these sentient beings so they're sentient beings all over the place in this sutra too we're all in other words we all are included who are here all these various inclination beings of diverse yeah sentient I would say the Bodhisattvas are sentient beings too yeah yeah so they're all like this they're all mutually including each other and not obstructing each other

[69:39]

that's what we're here to realize just one moment we might be thinking we're this miserable one yeah or somebody else is worse than us yeah okay sorry I will I will say thank you very much and now I'll speak good evening Rev and good evening to everybody in the assembly so the the I just wanted to address Karen's question about that word that she was asking about in that particular word and there may be other texts that

[70:41]

it appears but it shows up in the yoga sutra as the first sutra and it says that means now the instruction of yoga so that's the way the text starts it says now the instruction of yoga is like saying it's about to begin right so but there is a literary device or method that they use in Indian scriptures where the first word of the text tells you what the rest of the text is about so different texts start with different words so not all of them start with Atha so for example the Bhagavad Gita starts with Dharma so you know that this text is going to talk about Dharma right or like for example one of the Upanishads that's about Om the Mandukya Upanishad the first word is Om so the

[71:42]

text starts with the word Om so you know that that's what that's the whole thing is about so when you were saying like for example that a lot of these Buddhist texts start with thus I have heard right like I think that's how it translates you know thus I have heard um and so so you can see that maybe it's talking about thusness you know the thusness or the suchness of something you know of so that's uh so it's very interesting in many many of these texts the first word is a clue of like what the rest of it is about so that was one thought I had and the other one that I wanted to to mention the word that came up for me when when I forgot her name but she was talking about alone and all one you know there's in in yoga the final state like which is equivalent to

[72:43]

Nirvana or Moksha is is called Kaivalya and the word Kaivalya Kaivalya in Sanskrit means I think it if you translate it it means aloneness it it means aloneness which means like everything is gone all bondage they're all clinging all attachments all all forms of stickiness everything is gone and that then you say Kaivalya that is aloneness and it's the same as Nirvana in that in that in that sense so it's very interesting to me that the word alone in Sanskrit is also the same as Nirvana aloneness you know you say when you say aloneness so I don't know I just wanted to to share that but but just listening to this listening to

[73:44]

this this text and and how how it's being described um it's like a um uh like I'm trying to get a feeling of what what is being expressed and it feels like a um a kind of a dance of the one and the many you know like in that in that way like in the way in the way it's been uh you know it's being juxtaposed I don't know what the word is but this it's this constant like a dance or the movement uh like you talk about all the many many many many many sentient beings and then and then you say the Buddha or you'll say uh all the this uh all the moments in time and the one moment you know so it's like this is sort of a constant play between

[74:45]

those two um anyway I just it was just something that occurred to me when when we were talking or when you were expressing so just wanted so not this morning but yesterday morning at Green Gulch we chanted one of our ancestors poems and the way we translate it into English is the harmony of oneness and difference or you could say the harmony of one and many and that's one of our ancestors poems but it's also this sutra the sutra is about the harmony of one and many for one time and all times and all times right and you're right the first word of the Buddhist sutra evam thus the teaching of this of this sutra

[75:45]

is the teaching of thus and the first one is thus but also the first word of the other sutras is thus but this sutra mentions that the teaching of the Buddha is thus that's that verse is on page 129 of Clary's translation clearly observe the dharma of the king of dharma the dharma of the king of dharma is thus evam evam but in Chinese it's nyose which means like this thank you thank you thank you and now we've heard from India we'll hear from China can you hear me now?

[76:56]

good evening right I can hear you I can't see you but I can hear you um I just want to follow Catria how I pronounce her name correct yeah in Chinese the translation at that time is ah shi the second character the second character is time and the first character are to have meaning of suchness thus well I just look up in the name for this the meaning of this character and it also mean you have this multiple meaning in it and also a particular ah you know the particular point so I just just um the particular one is the thus this character also I mean thus and this so I just want to share with you and the

[77:57]

assembly and also as well as the the meaning of all the you know the lonely the lonely the loneliness alone yeah in Chinese also had uni had tan and also du all had uni this meaning in this as well too so just is really amazing with the language so in Chinese it means it means both to be alone and all one yeah you know the like like alone du li tan du tan du both tan is single du is uni that uni called uni like un unine had a uni the du the those meaning

[78:57]

in it so I I just think when talk about this it's just amazing with the different language yeah yeah Chinese Hindi is it Hindi Sanskrit Chinese Sanskrit Sanskrit yeah Chinese German and English wonder about French does anybody know what is there something like that is that going on in Spanish the play thank you so much nature uh

[80:10]

prep and indah uh indah what do you what do you said um You muted yourself, Mantri. Oh, sorry. No, I hope you can hear me. What Linda said still resonates in my thinking. And Rabbi, I wanted to ask about this assembly. We have all these beings there. And if we assume that at the end, there are no entities, but they're basically activities that exist. I could imagine that there are activities that are included in these assemblies activities, giving, receiving, and many more activities.

[81:10]

But I could also imagine that there are some activities that are not included. Activities that, Linda, you may have had in your mind, doing bad things, doing murders, doing murdering. But I'm not sure if that's the case or if also all activities would be included. Maybe you can say something about that. Well, in a sense, beings are nothing other than their activities. However, it doesn't say activities. It says beings. It's the beings who have these activities who are active in this way. So somehow it doesn't say that the killing is included. It just says beings of various types, including beings who might do something cruel. They're included.

[82:11]

We want to save that being. We don't particularly want to save murder, but we want to liberate beings in the world of murder. So we could have a situation where there's lots of murder. We want to liberate the beings, even though they're inseparable from the murderous activity. Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. I have a few things and a sort of a question. In reading this appearance of the Buddhas, I ran, like Stephen was saying in the beginning

[83:12]

about how everybody's sort of in Sashin in this particular chapter. And I noticed this several phrases. And one of them was after they, these great beings shower all of these offerings, they all get up on their seat and fold their legs, they're on. And this is repeated over and over and over. So whenever something gets repeated over and over and over, it's sort of like, I'd like to make a note of that. I think Stephen brought that up. But the other one was, which you brought up in the very beginning, was filling space without dispersing, which is this is just going to continue. And even now is continuing these offerings in this assembly and in that assembly. And then another part that I had questions on

[84:16]

was on page 159. And in every instant, in every instant, in every instant, these are like, these particular things that are happening. But the difference to me, and I wanna ask you this, is they ask, by means of mastery of dream power, demonstrated teachings enlightening as many sentient beings as there are atoms and oceans of worlds. What does this mean, this dream power? I mean, what is that? It's not, I didn't see it in anything else in any of this. Do you know what to say about that? Actually, in the other translation, there is a footnote on what some people's interpretation of that. But before I go to the footnote, I wanted to mention that the interpretation of this sutra

[85:21]

and the sutra itself, the interpretation of the sutra by this wonderful lay bodhisattva named Lee Tsongshren, who wrote the huge commentary on the sutra. And clearly, he translates his commentary on the difference between this sutra and other sutras. That's from this person, Lee Tsongshren. And then he also wrote a commentary on the last chapter of this sutra, going through all the different teachers that are dealt with in the last chapter. And he had a big influence on a Japanese priest named Mioe. And this Japanese priest was, you know, a student of this sutra, but also a student of Lee. One of the things that this Buddhist priest did is he really devoted himself to studying dreams.

[86:27]

And so somehow, one meaning of dream power might be that this sutra helps us discover the great power of dreams. The other meaning of dream power, I think, is something like you can help people who are in dreams. You can help beings who are in dreams. But I'll check that and tell you again next time if you try to remember to tell your next meeting. I'll remind you. But for me, when I saw the dream power, I thought, oh yeah, this sutra can be an encouragement for us in discovering the great resources of dreams. Okay. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. Did you say that the thing about dream power

[87:39]

was on page 159? Yes, 159. I'll look it up for you. Thank you. Yes, Susan. Susan, is that Bodhidharma behind you? On that red cloth? Or is that a pirate? You're muted. You are muted. Ladybug. Might be Bodhidharma. It might be? No, teasing. This is- Is it a gangster? What is it? Everyone is- Yeah. Who is that? Oh, it's a ladybug. Lovely. Even the insects are included. The lower dots look like a mustache and then around the edge, it looks like a beard.

[88:41]

So Bodhidharma, the ladybug. Wonderful. Now we're talking. This is the L.B. Tomps, like I said. Now we're talking. Everybody's here. Nobody's not here. Okay, what do you have to offer? I've gone back to the title and the title of this essay is called The Great Flower Assembly, Zen Meditation on the Great Flower Adornment Scripture is what you gave us, I believe. And then ornament or adornment. And I didn't even think twice about it. I figured wherever we are, I'm willing to go up into this street with you and this assembly. But then I started thinking about,

[89:43]

I have this idea that maybe there's a me and then there's some nice adornments that I could have like some circular wreaths or garlands to put on me. I think it's the question that comes up again and again. Is there some separation? Some separation between what and what? The adornment and the adorned. Is there a separation between the adornment? No. So our practice can be seen as an adornment of Buddha. So you got Buddhas, which is great, but if you have all of us practicing, we kind of adorn the Buddha. We are showing, we are one of the ways

[90:49]

that we show the splendor of the Buddha. Or another way to put it is, Dogen says, when we practice sitting, we renew the Buddha's magnificence in the way. Our practice, we kind of renews and refreshes. We refresh the offerings that are surrounding the Buddha. So in that sense, our practice is kind of like, shows the magnificence of the Buddhas. Or our practice is an adornment of the Buddhas. But our practice is not separate from the Buddhas, no. We just enhance the Buddhas. You're a Buddha enhancement. Or a Buddha implementation. Or a Buddha unfoldment. Or a Buddha unfurling, et cetera. You're a Buddha banner.

[91:51]

You're a Buddha banner. You just wanted to offer some words about some beings in the world who are incarcerated for various reasons. That their activities led to certain outcomes that had the consequence of their being incarcerated. And I just wanted to speak on one assembly in particular at San Quentin State Prison, where there is a very large group of men who are practicing the Buddha way, and who aspire to realize their Buddha nature,

[92:54]

and who are very devoted. And a copy of this sutra is alive inside those walls. And so I just thought I would, in light of various things that have been said this evening, I just wanted to bring that to people's consciousness. Although people may already be aware of that. Thank you so much. Thank you. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. We vow to save them. Afflictions are inexhaustible. We vow to cut through. Dharma gates are boundless.

[93:55]

We vow to enter them. Buddha way is unsurpassable. We vow to become. And by the way, we'll probably, maybe we'll start the next book on Samantabhadra's Samadhi next time. And this Sunday at Green Gulch, I'll also be talking about the Samadhi. The Samadhi of the Bodhisattva. Thank you so much.

[94:30]

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