And then… Talking almost the whole session, so… Last. Next to last, huh.
with almost everybody.
Huh.
Hold on it.
So this is that time.
of the gathering, where… We're… Already, you know, starting to lift out of… Deep meditation.
Appropriate.
And…
Been through many of these sessions.
And I… I want to encourage you, much like getting up.
from the seat to do Kin Hin, how that would… that description of… maintaining your… focus and…
Continue in your meditation, for lack of a better word.
you're… Presence, your awareness, And… As you… Move into the world.
to… As long as you can hold… Yes.
concentrated… state.
And… when it… runs out.
Bring it up again.
Repeatedly.
There's also,
words I was using for a while to describe this
state… uncontrived state, which is… they're all capitalized, as I've been doing.
But it's pure… Pristine, and panoramic.
those… Describe, to some degree, this meditated… ongoing state.
And the… The thing is,
Whether you realize it or not.
this… Mind is all there is.
This big mind.
Nothing exists outside of it.
So, as… as you move… You could imagine… Moving… in space.
luminous space.
And all appearances are… Arising out of that, and dissipating back into it.
We've talked about this some, but I… it's just a reminder.
To not just quickly throw this off as you get back into your world and start…
Texting and emailing and making phone calls and
Organizing the next phases of your life.
Which I know I have to do when I get home.
But you can still be in this place and do all of that.
And I want to say also that, As far as teaching goes, you know, There's just one teaching.
We have the 84,000… Teachings, as they say, historically, and…
Yet it all boils down to one.
You can… you have to uncover what that is.
But it's one teaching that… Permeates all space and time.
And,
In that same sense, if… if you can… Continue to let your mind… Expand or open…
Allow permeability in the construct of… Are you… The ego keeps… forming… And…
what I find is that the…
Discovery of this… panoramic State.
Big mind, so to speak.
the capital A awareness I was talking about the past few days.
All of that… activity… Doesn't need to be… Push down… Suppressed.
You can let it… Just continue, and the… Through the awareness… Staying with that.
Those things are impacted and start to change to be in accord with.
the way.
And the other thing,
is to… observe… your… impulses.
Which is the beginning of… creation, so…
Take a breath before you speak, or something like that.
you… Again, this… Awareness is really important.
It's really key.
This practice, and… It's not cognition, just to be clear.
It's something else that has no identity.
No… no self. It's… mind… it's mind… Big mind.
observing.
All creation is, subject to…
our impulses.
Cool.
That's why I was asking yesterday, you know, what's our agreement?
What are we creating?
And the, you can read up on the parameters and… Various things like that.
Is the operator?
And the force… of the Four Noble Truths, which is the Eightfold Path.
You can read all those, but you have to realize also that those came out of
Somebody breaking through and becoming…
Breaking through this barrier of concept of self.
And… aligning Melting into this light.
And… Those things are a way of trying to describe it.
Everything comes out of that light, like hitting a prism and…
Falling out as different colors, and you can…
Say, this one's blue and this one's… but it's all aspects.
Of original nature.
And… You can also watch those impulses.
Rise… and pull.
dissipate.
Without taking action.
Anyway, that's… What we have to practice is… Uncovering, recognizing our… already existing.
Enlightened mind.
And then… Live in accordance with it.
I also want to say that I…
this gathering…
Nice.
Feel to it.
some of what we were talking about Coven's Way, Open's… Mindstream.
I feel like it was manifest.
It was, A softness.
do it.
We had some dialogue about I had dialogue with some people about,
Sometimes that softness, people need direction within it.
But that's another topic. We… Generally, it's nice for this to have calmed down and…
You can see this in all…
A gathering like this can occur with like-minded people.
And… Without… Any rules really being necessary, just the inherent rules.
that we've… Bry with us.
Colors of light.
I congratulate you all.
For a nice gathering.
Anybody has any… Need to add there.
A what?
Yeah.
Basic.
Because if I say, well, you need to be aware.
It goes right away to the ego.
Being aware.
Oh yeah, I see that, you know.
But this awareness is different.
Completely, that's why I call it Capital Awareness.
Difficult to articulate this, though the ancient texts do it extremely well, and that's why They're still here.
Still appearing.
And it… in English.
And I think part of it is, I heard this phrase.
no self, and… No, not self. Something like that.
That's what it feels like That…
There's a… in one of the colon… I don't… I… it was a long time ago, I read it.
I mentioned this the other day, but it's…
I think it was the response.
I am you, but you are not me.
It's that kind of feeling for Sambo Gakaya, Sangha.
So we have our independence, but… We're also… Of the same source.
And it's a little bit hard…
to, because I was talking about this at Hokoji, and this is when… Was acting up.
More than he is at this moment, but,
Kind of like, oh, it was the ice stuff, is what it was.
Ordered it, too.
Also arising off of… The primordial light.
And it's… It's… Diluted behavior, you could say.
But… Even the more refined… seemingly… In accordance with the way…
There's also… can be diluted behavior.
Because anything that's a construct is… is not… quite the…
No, I mean…
what I was saying at the beginning of this, that
Whatever you find in here, in this environment.
You take with you.
So… Being in accordance with the way, to me, would be…
the experiential
Blown by.
It would be the experience of… Awakening to your true nature.
wherein… as Dogan says, body and mind drop off, or you just simply… the whole construct.
of… who I am, what I'm doing, who you are.
And why we're all here just completely disappears.
And there's no… That's where there's no birth or death.
No self or other.
That's the realization.
That's still not it.
Oh, yeah.
Because if you've constructed, like, what the way is, And you're following that.
It's a construct and not… In accordance with the way. The way is… something… Intangible to our,
Ordinary mind.
That's why we… Sit to uncover it.
It's here now, in this space. This space is… primordial light.
And all of us arise from it.
But until you… And see that without… Passing it through your…
brain, and going, oh, yeah, I think I understand what he's saying.
it's not in accordance with the way. When you actually… Experienced that.
And… or moving… Then you're moving in accordance with the way.
A little hard to describe, but… the…
It's like… The entirety of the universe disappears into blazing light.
That's… Our… that's our true nature.
That's what it is. Like… Mortial light.
everything else.
Is an appearance of that light.
And we have… How do you live in accordance with that?
That's really the question that comes up.
I find fairly frequently, like, how do we… What do we do?
Whether you have an awakening experience or not, how do you…
You know, like the guy with the dog, worried about the dog.
how to,
What do I do about the dog? You know, enough of these emptiness teachings, what do I do about the dog? It's running around down there, it's gonna get hit by a car.
So how do you… how do you stay in accordance with… Emptiness teachings.
And deal with the dog.
But you can also… he could also… then the question came up about karma, like…
Am I creating karma with my concern about dealing with this dog?
Or is it karma that brought the dog in front of me that… to deal with?
All these kind of questions are rolling around.
And… You can certainly discuss that, but you have to back out of it at some point, and just…
be in that.
Down this field of light is Andy and I.
I think Zach, too.
talk about. And… It's… well… And…
you have… this is kind of what I'm getting at. You have to decide, as you move out of this
How do you, what… what… is…
what is in accordance with that? How are you going to…
I mean, you're gonna start lobbing hand grenades out in the middle of the road? You know, is that in accordance with the way?
Maybe, you know, depending why you're doing it.
Trying to think of some silly… Extreme example, but
All the behaviors that we aspire to and read about how Bodhisattvas…
Come naturally out of… Waking up.
this mind.
And like I was saying, I think it was at T,
All of you have already woken up to it.
Or you wouldn't be here.
So… Part of it goes to faith in that.
The faith?
Well, it isn't faith in the way that,
Like, there's a point where… The faith ends.
And… because the realization is… overcomes it. Your own.
But in the meantime, you can… Trust that… other people… I've gone down this path.
And had… Success.
Like, for me, you know, when I first started sitting, I… Showed up at Haiku Zendo.
The first time, I turned around… well, sitting down, facing the wall, and I… I…
I just went, oh, this is where I'm supposed to be. It was like the instant relief.
And after the sitting, I turned around and… sort of expecting Colin
But it was Jerry Halpern giving him thought.
Gave her the right call.
The next time I came, And it was, woven.
And I looked at him, and I went, he's the representative of this.
That's a kind of… Both connection and faith.
I could see… the result.
is… practice his time on the cushion, and his… Awakened mind.
Clear.
Then I went on to live with him later in New Mexico, and I could also see the dysfunction.
With his mind, too.
But even with all of that, there was this… Peace that is… Accord with the way.
more of a Taoist term, but it's,
Alright.
No water.
I went up the hill.
It also goes to…
Recognizing those… Corrected light and those elements.
And being able to… Relate to those… elements.
Like you're saying, take action.
Without hesitation.
And also…
all the capital R rights.
Action, right, livelihood, so on and so forth.
And there's… parameters and the prohibitory precepts and things. They're all good reminders.
Of staying slogans in other traditions.
Bring your mind back to… equanimity.
And… not being… You know, for the benefit of all beings.
And the… It's interesting all that comes out, because in the… place of…
Memorial Light, that's the only name I have, really, the best name for it.
There are no sentient beings to save.
And there's… Nothing arising and nothing dissipating, so there's no need to really do anything in that.
place. There's nothing to do.
Yes.
B.
When we come into this manifest realm, we have various elements at play, like.
Impulses, consciousness, all the things that…
In the heart sutra, it says, disappear.
Or start to appear.
All the senses, and… cravings, and… wishes…
That's what has to be watched.
That's where it can be… Easy to fall into.
Diluted behavior.
I think laughter and love go a long way to… on the right path.
Yeah.
Yeah, it doesn't… it isn't always peace, love, and light at all.
David Chadwick.
What's bad.
Worms.
forms.
Worms.
I've heard of you.
Fired.
Harmony.
I was thinking, oh, yeah, that…
Big Coban, and then there was one phrase, and it sounded like…
I don't know for sure, but I know,
You know, gate, gate, paragate is usually… Crossing over… Awesome.
crossed over. He translated it as falling apart, falling apart, completely falling apart.
Ties in some up.
Where did you see it?
Awesome.
Yeah, I mean, it's very much… From the state of… The absolute.
recognition of… No… As I said a minute ago, I know…
There are no sentient beings to say.
In the absolute.
What do y'all like?
And the same with Dharmas coming to an end. I mean, it's just not… That's Little D, Dharma.
Per phenomenon.
And the whole idea of saving ancient beings comes out of Having them wake up.
And… point is, I think, in both of these, that The awakening is already there.
It's just… There's obscurations for most of us, but we don't see it.
Everybody… present company excluded, I mean…
Who was I talking to last night?
Whoa.
A couple of us were talking outside, and it… Just before this, that… Like, handling of money was…
He was terrible with money.
I wish I could… give me the money, you know? How much do you need for today, you know? Because he would take… somebody would give him
A wealthy donor would give him money, And then… It would be gone.
You know, he'd give it to somebody who needed some, he'd go buy a new car, he'd…
It was just, you know, it was supposed to last 6 months, and it would last a month.
Part of it, I think, was his upbringing, if I may say.
He… he was raised in a fairly wealthy Family.
upper middle class, you know, and they were… Well taken care of.
Even now, I guess the Otogawa…
family, and Soto Shu is well-respected. His nephew is… Number 2…
in charge in northern Japan, and so do she. Very busy.
Wonderful guy.
His relationships were messy.
I don't know what happened with him and Harriet, but…
You know, he… Yes.
By my standards, it was messy.
having…
I don't know, you know, I was there, but I still couldn't believe it, like, he was living with Stephanie for years, some 5 or 6 years.
And… They would travel different places, but…
Basically, the base was in Taos.
And in the house we were living in, so I… So it all, and…
And he went away… he… he… It was obvious he wanted… To break it off.
But he couldn't get rid of her, you know, she wouldn't leave or get the message or something.
And so we came back from Europe one time with Katrine and moved her into the house, so the both of them in the house.
It's like…
Barbara and I are going, whoa…
Stephanie's asking me, do you think?
Is he, you know, yeah, I think so.
You know, like… This is terrible.
Not so… not clean.
Anyway… like that.
Yeah.
We were together for a while.
But, you know, in the context of the Zendo and the temple, He… he was brilliant.
For all the reasons we've said.
Think of it?
Hold on.
Hold on.
I don't know.
Well, that's one of the traps that can happen, is… what you just… We're postulating that But it…
Big Mind says it doesn't matter.
But… Then people can act inappropriately.
Only extremely… Skilled practitioners can manipulate that.
Where's that?
I'll find you.
Where are you?
Hold on.
Well, I don't experience that.
sense of fear, so I don't…
That's not like.
I'm not quite…
It should make people do things wrong.
What is print.
door.
Boring.
Russell, I'm not following you.
I mean, we're off on a… it feels like a tangent… a thread that…
Yeah, it's a bypass, yeah.
So I was trying to come around to what… Fully abiding in the way.
Not conceptualizing what it is.
Huh?
No, I… I'm saying it's… I've talked a lot for the…
past several days, and I'm talked out, it's late, and I'm…
I think it's a good place to stop.
Word.
I'm exhausted right now, so…
Thank you all.