But in a moment of awareness, a moment of cognition, you do have an intention. And most people, most of the time, are not aware of their intentions. Every moment of awareness, every moment of life, all sentient beings have cognitions. Most are not aware of their intention. Most are not aware of their story. Most are not aware of their thinking. Most are not aware of their wish or their vow. But it's there. Does that answer your question? So a big part of the practice is to become aware of your intention, your story.

[01:09]

And again, every moment of cognition I'll just draw a circle here of a moment of cognition. Every moment of cognition has within it the cognition itself is just the basic awareness of the existence of something. So, for example, you could be aware of the existence of a color. You could be aware of the existence of a sound. You could be aware of the existence of a fly. There are flies, isn't there? You see them now. Huh? It's mucus flies? You don't call those flies? You don't call them ants? I call them mucus flies. You have mucus flies, right? You also have ants, don't you? Plus maths, right? We have maths and Lucas-wise. So, cognition is the basic awareness of existence of something.

[02:14]

And the cognition has within it what comes with it is many other mental factors, and one of them is feeling. Every cognition also has a feeling. And by feeling, we mean sense of feeling pain, feeling pleasure, or a neutral sensation. Neutral means you can't tell which is positive or which is negative. And there's other mental factors that are present, like conception. The mental factor of conception is also present. Even in non-conceptual cognitions, there's conceptions. The one I want to also emphasize is that every moment of cognition has this, check the map, this intention. And this intention is like the overall pattern of the cognition itself. It's like the storyline of the cognition.

[03:18]

It's a pattern of relationships in the cognition. What do you mean by cognition? Cognition? is the basic awareness of the existence of something. You know, a code, a person, a plot, a map. An obsessive thought or a stream. It's an awareness of an obsessive thought. Is the thought a cognition? Cognition is not an obsessive story. However, all obsessive stories only occur in cognition. But not all cognitions occur with obsessive stories. All cognitions occur with stories. Yes? Is that true about non-conceptual cognition? Is it always accompanied by intention? Non-conceptual cognition? Non-conceptual cognition also has intention.

[04:20]

Is that a rising risk for non-conceptual cognition? Yes. Or you can say within, but it's with. Like you can say, I can say, I arise with the mountains, the rivers, all sentient beings, and the great earth. I arise with them. Or you can also say, I arise within them. In a sense, it looks like the mountains and the rivers are bigger than me, so it looks like I arise in the mountains. But the mountains and the mountains... arise with me. You don't need to say the mountains arise in me. But when these mountains are born, I'm born. And when each of you is born, the mountains are born. So, also the thing you're aware of is born at the same time you're aware of it. I didn't mention that. So when you're aware of a color, the color is born at the same time that you're aware of it. It doesn't exist there.

[05:20]

As you may know, there's considerable research suggesting that there are no colors out in nature. Colors only exist in human combinations. And some people think that there exists in the combinations of some other living beings. But there aren't actually colors out there. You know, in the hillside. Okay, so I'm suggesting that karma is a pattern of relationships. Why would karma be limited to sentient beings? Sentient beings are, well, also Buddhas also have intention. The Buddhas also have cognitive life. So karma is not limited to sentient beings. It's also present in Buddhas. So karma is not sentient beings? No, Buddhas are not sentient beings.

[06:22]

Now, sentient beings in Buddhism means living beings who are not enlightened. That's sentient beings. So when you say sentient beings in Buddhism, that exhausts the living beings. The sentient beings are the ones who have not yet realized Buddhism. They're both alive. That's right. Buddhists are alive, but we don't call them sentient beings. We call them Buddhists. Pardon? Just because that's the way we speak. It's just kind of technical. But Buddhists also have intention. However, their intentions, their karma, which arises with their mind, their cognitions, their intentions arise in what is called an enlightened cognition. Sentient beings with unenlightened cognition have different intentions. So, for example, a Buddha understands that everyone is closely related to him.

[07:32]

A Buddha understands that everybody is a close friend. That's the kind of cognition they have. Sentient beings do not understand that. They think just some people are their close friends. Have you noticed some people like that? who thinks some people are the close friends, but not everyone. That's an unenlightened cognition. So the kind of intentions that occur, the kind of patterns of relationship that occur in a cognition which is not enlightened will have a different shape than the ones that occur in enlightened cognition. Does that make sense? Does this make sense? Anybody have any questions about that? Beyond these categories of sentient and non-sentient.

[08:34]

Beyond categories of sentient and non-sentient? No, they're not beyond those categories, but they are under cognition. What is it? It's a cognition of that is the understanding that all sentient and non-sentient beings are non-dual. That's the kind of cognitions they have. So they're actually, they're not really beyond sentient, they're nothing but. They're nothing but all the sentient beings, but the way they're actually working together, that's what their cognition is. That's actually their cognition. They're the way all sentient and non-sentient beings are. are dependently co-arising. That's due to cognition. So they're not exactly beyond it. They are the realization of the actual relationship among all things.

[09:39]

So, let's see. So this pattern of relationship, which occurs in every state of consciousness, if you become aware of it, as you become aware of it, you start to notice that the pattern of relationship is evolving. And as you become aware of how the pattern of relationship is evolving, you start to notice what is contributing to its evolution. And then as you notice what's contributing to its evolution, you notice that everything's contributing to its evolution.

[10:42]

So then you notice that everybody's karma, everybody's patterns of relationships is contributing to your pattern of relationship. And this is another example, another way to talk about enlightened cognition. So if you have an unenlightened cognition, and you study the pattern of relationship of your mind, which is your intention, and you study that intention, you'll learn that that intention is evolving. As you learn how that intention is evolving, you'll notice that all other intentions are contributing to your intention. As you notice that, you'll notice that everybody else's intention is your intention. And this is another story, another way that you speak of of being enlightened, is when everybody else, when everybody else's story is your story. So we also say, you know, to study the Buddha way is to study the self.

[11:49]

To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things. You hear that wonderful? You could also change it To study the Buddha way is to study intention or karma. To study karma means you forget karma. To forget karma means to be awakened by everybody. Or another way to say it is to study Buddhism, to study the Buddha way is to study your story. Moment by moment. And to study your story means to forget your story. To forget your story means that you're enlightened by everybody else. So when you hear somebody else's, when an enlightened being hears somebody's story, you go, oh, that's my story. When somebody says, you know, I just graduated from high school, you go, oh, that's my story.

[12:51]

In other words, that's my story. In other words, they don't have a story. When the Buddha meets somebody, they may say, I'm pregnant. The Buddha doesn't think, I'm not, but I understand that you are. They don't remember that they're not pregnant. That's another technique. Buddhas are never pregnant. Just kidding. So when the Buddha meets somebody and the Buddha, the Buddha, not the Buddha, but when a Buddha meets somebody and the person presents their story, that's the first story the Buddha ever heard in that moment. because they have studied their own story and forgot it, and they come into the present having forgotten their stories and their meditations. So the first story they hear is their life. Yes, so if this person's story is the Buddha's story, how does the Buddha, or how does a Buddha, hear a story without taking it on?

[14:16]

Without what? Taking it on. Taking it on? Yeah. Well, as soon as they hear that story, they would look at that story with that vision and intelligence and concentration that they applied to the last story they were looking at. Okay? They were studying the story. They've been studying stories for a while. And as you study anything, like your intention or something, as you study it more and more thoroughly, when you study something thoroughly, you can't find it anymore. And when you can't find it, you can't take it on. And when you can't take it on, you don't have it. And when you don't have it, And the next thing that comes wakes you up. And then you continue to practice with that. Now some, if you're fully developed, you practice with the next thing that comes and wakes you up.

[15:22]

So you study your awakening. Which in this case, you're awakened by this person. So you study this awakening experience and you can't find that. So you forget that awakening experience. So the next thing that happens wakes you up again. So you have no way to get stuck. in the story that woke you up. Well, not the story that woke you up, but how you woke up when you heard a story. It's continually reading the story, seeing the story, and by the way you see the story, the stories drop. It's not so much that exactly I drop the story, but the way I see stories, stories are dropped. But the thing is, ladies and gentlemen, you're always dropping your stories all day long. Actually, that's what you're doing. Your stories are constantly evolving. Your intentions are constantly evolving. Your patterns of relationships are constantly evolving.

[16:23]

And if they weren't, none of us would be alive and changing like we are. We are. This is already going on. So, by studying this process, of constant evolution, when you see that, it wakes you up, and you realize you have no way to grasp it. But as I said earlier, most people don't even notice their intentions. So it's hard for you to notice your intentions are evolving if you don't even look at them. Most people are not watching their actions as intentions. But if you do watch them carefully, study them in detail, you will eventually forget them because you won't be able to find them. You won't be forgetting them. It's forgetting them like you can't remember what they are, but it's also, first of all, not being able to find them. Not being able to find your chetanel, which is right there, because you studied it so thoroughly.

[17:27]

And the next one that comes wakes you up. And in that awakening process, your own personal intentions, well, in a sense, will be everybody else's intention that you need, but everybody else's intention in the sense that you realize that their intention is yours. So if you could meet a person with a bad intention, unskillful intention, and you realize that that is yours, even though it was a negative or unskillful intention, you realize that's yours. But Buddhists always have good intentions. So how could it be that when they see somebody who has a bad intention, it could be theirs? It's because they see that the way they see the bad intention is liberating. And their intention is just liberation. That's always the same intention.

[18:30]

But you have to prove that you're right. Intention is liberation by being willing to not separate yourself from the worst person in the room. The most unskillful person you meet. Buddha is able to not have the least bit of separation from the worst person. And have no identification with the best person. No identification with no separation. No disidentification with no separation. I think you said that changes in the body are not chronic. No, bodily... No, I didn't say changes in the body aren't... I don't think I said that. For example, but I would show you this example that I often do. This one where you cross your legs, you know, like this. At the doctor's office or something, and then tap your knees.

[19:34]

I often do this. So I'm going to tap my knee now. And this is, I have the intention to tap my knee. I have this karmic, this pattern of relationship of my hand to my knee. In this example, I'm going to tap my knee to see if I can get this knee reflex. See, I'm tapping and I haven't got it yet. Still haven't got it. Still haven't got it. Maybe I won't get it. Try the other way. The reflex wasn't karmic. It was a bodily reaction, but not karmic. It wasn't intentional. Salivation is usually not intentional. But it's a bodily activity. Karma is an activity that's imbued with intention.

[20:37]

It's an activity that has Definitely, yeah, definitely your intention has physical effects. Again, not again, but your intention arises with your cognition, and your cognition arises When your sensual body, which means basically your sense organs, when your body as a sense organ interacts with the world, with other bodies that have sense organs, with walls and bamboo and mountains, when we interact with the world, the so-called sensual world and the non-sensual world, interaction gives rise to cognition. Our sensual body interacting with

[21:40]

all other kinds of things in the world gives rise to cognitions, and then cognitions arise with intention. So our intention, my intention, my feeling willing to have a class with you, that arose from my body interacting with your bodies here in this valley. And the temperature and the blue jays and all that interaction gave rise to a cognition that had a had a pattern of relationship in it called, okay, all right, have a class. And Kosho actually said, can I have a class Friday or Saturday? And he said, whoops, I forgot. Saturday was a sewing class, so Friday would be okay. So this stuff's happening to me, right? People are coming up to me and saying, are you going to give a talk? Would you give a talk?

[22:41]

You could do it this time, you could do it that time. This stuff's happening to me. And then as my body's interacting with the world, this cognition arises, many cognitions arise, but one arises with the sense of, okay, F plus. Now that intention leads to me... The physical world is the result of karma. The mountains, the rivers, the rocks, the sky, the galaxies, They are all the result of karma. As far as I know, they don't have intention because as far as I know, they don't have cognition.

[23:55]

Pardon? Not everything is karma. Just the physical world is the result of the karma of all beings. I'm not saying that rocks have cognition and intention. But that they arise from the effect, the total effect of the intentions of all living beings. Living beings have intentions and non-living beings don't. But the non-living beings, like rocks, arise with living beings. I would call rocks intersubjective, but not subjects. In other words, they don't have objects. So they're animated in the sense that they arise with us, and we arise with them. So I can, when my body interacts with electromagnetic radiation bouncing off rocks, my cognition arises with the rocks, and the rocks arise with me, but they don't have a cognition.

[25:03]

The cognition is more the thing that arises in a way. What I'm talking now seems like how come I get to be the one that supposedly has the cognition that arises between me and my body, the rock, and the light? How come I get to have the cognition? Well, in fact, the answer is I don't get to have the cognition I don't get to have cognition. The cognition doesn't belong to me. The cognition is actually the living being. That is the cognition. The cognition is not my body, and it's not the rock star. The cognition is the living being. And it isn't somebody who has the cognition. Which of the cognition is that that comes up with the concept of rocks and mountains?

[26:09]

Not the concept of rocks and mountains. The actual rocks and mountains. Those physical things interacting with this sensuous body and the way that they interact. Like I can touch a rock, right? That's one way that a cognition can arise. I can touch this wood and a cognition can arise. or electromagnetic radiation can bounce off your head into my eye, and you being a reflective surface of this energy and touching my eye, the way that that interacts is cognition. And that cognition has intention. And the cognition doesn't belong to my body or your body. The cognition is the living being. And that living being has intention. That living being comes with intention. and that living being is connected to this body, and is also connected to your body, and the life. You can say the relationship is the cognition.

[27:10]

The relationship is the cognition. The relationship is the cognition. The actual way that your body is interacting with the world is perception. Sometimes we think that the body interacts with the world and then perception arises, which is correct, but the perception is actually the way The way these two things are interacting. So like a baseball game is the way the players are playing. But it's not the players. It's not the field. They're playing on the field with people watching. The way that's all interacting is the baseball game. So the cognition is not this body and is not the other body it's interacting with. It's the way they're interacting. So you can't separate the way they're interacting from you. And that way that they're interacting comes with a pattern of relationships, which are carried sometimes by the bodies. When certain bodies interact and form a cognition, the background of those bodies contributes to a certain pattern of relationship arising with that cognition.

[28:24]

Do you call that consciousness? No. Consciousness is the cognition. Cognition, awareness, and consciousness syndromes. Every consciousness, every cognition, every awareness comes with a pattern of relationship. And the pattern of relationship of a moment of cognition will vary according to what body your body is interacting with. So you don't make your body and your past cognitions that have arisen with your body Do not make your intentions by yourselves. The pattern of relationship is determined by your background. For example, my background brings me to Tassajara. The past intentions I've had bring me to Tassajara. But if Kosho doesn't ask me to give a talk, then

[29:28]

the pattern of my relationships in my mind will be different than if he does ask me. And if somebody else asks me, besides him, because there's a different person, that will give rise, that will interact with my mind in another way, to give rise to another cognition with a different pattern of relationships and a different intention. And these intentions, the consequence of these intentions is all abides. living bodies and non-living bodies. The physical world is the result of these intentions. The world arises from these intentions, and as the world arises with living and non-living beings, all the bodies, all the living bodies in the world, interact with the world, and then give rise to all these cognitions, which have more intentions than to arise from another world, in which living beings arise with the world, This is how the world is perpetuated.

[30:30]

This is how the world is formed. The world is formed by karma. And the world is transformed by karma. If karma transforms, if intentions transform, the world transforms. If If you study, and if you study your intentions, you will notice that your intentions are transforming. They are already transforming. However, if people do not, if human beings and other living beings do not study their intentions and do not notice the transformation of their intentions, their intentions will continue to transform, but they will transform towards more and more darkness and delusion. the more unattended intention, the more horrible the world becomes. So, karma is going on all the time, in all the consciousnesses of all living beings, and the less attention to it, the more the living being will be... Then they won't notice the evolution, and not noticing the evolution, the evolution goes right forward,

[31:51]

in a downward spiral. The more living beings pay attention to their intention, the more they'll notice it's evolving, and the more they notice it's evolving, they'll notice that when you notice how your intention's evolving, you'll notice that it's evolving positively. I'm not sure about that. Check it out. Check it out and become sure. And when you're sure, come and prove it to me. So you're saying, you're saying, well, I don't know what you're saying. You're saying, you said, you drew a conclusion to what I was saying. And so tell me your conclusion and see if I'm saying what that says. Well, what I hear you were saying is that we are aware of good intention, if we would energetically involve other good intentions so we could move forward with good intention.

[33:07]

Not quite. It's not totally off, but what I'm saying is that if you notice, this also works for noticing negative intentions. If you note, a negative intention unnoticed tends to reproduce and get stronger. A negative intention noticed tends to get weaker. Positive intentions noticed get stronger, get more positive. Positive intentions unnoticed do not tend to continue. We have this practice called Practice good, avoid evil. Have you heard of that? Practice all good, avoid evil. Have you heard of that? Is it really teaching? Practice all evil, avoid evil, and purify your mind. It sounds like three different practices, but really it's practice all good, avoid evil, and your mind will become purified.

[34:10]

To do good requires attention. But you can do unskillful things. You can drive a car, for example, very badly with a blindfold. Right? Can't you? Yeah? But you can't drive a car very well usually blindfolded. Most people can't. You have to pay attention to do good. You don't have to pay attention to do evil. To avoid evil, you do have to pay attention. That's it. My point was that negative intention has the power to have also its potency. It will get more if it's scattered. Let's leave it at that. Negative intention does have potency. That's what I said. Whatever your intention is. Negative intention is, generally speaking, an intention that also goes with not noticing the evolution of intentions.

[35:14]

Most unskillful intentions are connected with an unconsciousness that's not noticing how intention works. Okay, the point where I seem not to get is, why is it getting weaker when it's noticed? I can't see the point. Why does it get weaker when it's noticed? Because, well, one of the reasons, one of the main reasons is that when you notice, when you pay attention to negative intention, you notice that it That leads to pain. That's one of the main things. Some people go for that. Yeah. Some people do. That's one of the ways. Another way that it goes is that, for example, if you have a negative intention, that means, what we mean by that is that you have a pattern of relationship in your mind that, for example, that you think that this person's not your friend, so it's okay to hurt them. That's a negative intention. Yep. If you look at that carefully, you will notice that it changes.

[36:20]

It does change, actually, the relationship. Are you saying, with that, that people have generally a good heart, or they have, you know, it changed through goodness? No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that people are generally related to other people. That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying they have a good heart. I'm saying that they are related to everyone. And if you notice that, you would be a person that people would say has a good heart. Because you care about all these other people that you feel related to. Heart, in some sense, somebody might say, is sensing that you're closely related to someone. So they come to you and they say, would you please give your life for me? And you go, Okay. You know? And then say, oh, she's got so much heart, you know? Look, everybody just can push her around because she's so soft and flexible.

[37:24]

But really, just because you see it, this is like this person you like. In other words, you're somewhat enlightened. Now, you could say everybody has a good heart because the heart is actually connected to everybody. So in that sense, you could say it, right? I think the main thing is that whatever you say about anything is a pattern of relationship. And whatever pattern of relationship is evolving. You're not a fixed pattern of relationship. Whatever it is, whatever you say, whatever picture you have in your cognition of your relationship with the world, it's evolving. And how does it evolve? If you look at it, if it's a negative one, and you look at it carefully, you'll notice that the negative thing, even if it's getting worse, and it could get worse. You could watch a negative pattern and say, oh my God, it's getting more negative. Oh, it's getting more negative.

[38:26]

But as you see how it's getting more negative, your eyes are opening up. You're getting more fluent with and noticing more about some negative tendencies. In other words, your vision's improving. As your vision improves, you'll notice what's involved in the negative tendency getting worse. And you'll notice other people are involved with it. And as you notice that, your vision improves more. And as you notice that, the negative tendency stops being negative. It evolves into some other form. Because, in fact, it's changing in relationship to everything else. And when you see that, your mind becomes purified. And then you don't have to practice avoiding evil anymore and practicing good. Yes? Can I still kind of keep going on that? Everybody else is asleep, so go ahead. Because you're struggling with me, you're somewhat awake.

[39:29]

So, there is one person having a negative intention. sharing is, you know, just having a person Can I say something? You said there's one person having a negative intention. Then you said sharing. Then you said sharing. Stop. My basic suggestion is if you are a person and you notice a negative intention inside yourself, if you look at that and see that and see some way to share that, If you see how you're sharing that, if you could see that everyone in the universe is sharing a negative intention, you would not be negative anymore. For example, let's say I have a negative intention. I have the intention to be somewhat rude to David. I have the intention to be rude to him.

[40:33]

But then I looked at that intention. to be rude to David. And then I see, Yudu, and Mako, and Trevor, and Lauren, and Simon, and Carol, and Leslie, and Sarah, and Antoine, they're all, you know, I see everybody is working with me on this The intention to be rude to him. At that point, it's like, you know, I go, you know, like this. And I say, everybody in the universe wants me to be rude to you. And he feels great and I feel great, you know. It's not negative anymore. It's only blown out of the water. Because even in negative intention, everybody in the universe contributes to it. And when you see that, You've awakened from your dream of your cognitive enclosure, which we have to live in.

[41:43]

And that's basically what I'm saying. Do you have some questions? I'm slowly getting it. It's still the point. Do I have to be a bodhisattva to realize the non-separation at that point? Do the people need to know that this Can I stop you a second? You asked one question at a time, okay? Do I need to be a bodhisattva to realize the non-separation of... Do you see something up here? I'm repeating you. I'm trying to repeat your question. Do I need to be a bodhisattva to realize the non-separation of... All beings? Yeah. The answer is, turn it around. Realizing the non-separation of all beings is a bodhisattva. That's what a bodhisattva is. If you're heading in the direction of realizing the non-separation of all beings, you're on the bodhisattva path. If you haven't yet realized that, you're not quite a bodhisattva yet.

[42:48]

You're training to be a bodhisattva. If you would like to learn how to see that there's no separation between you and other beings, if you'd like to learn that, you're heading towards being a bodhisattva. There is in you a pattern of relationships. You would like to. You have the wish. You have the vow to realize the non-separation. Or did she come? Yeah. You have that. You have that wish. When you realize the non-separation, when you have that kind of pattern of relationship in your mind, that's what I said earlier. When you look in your mind and you see, oh, my intention is Judas' intention. It's Jamie's intention. When you see that with every person you meet, then you realize non-separation. But you don't just leave there. You do it by studying your intention until you, through studying your intention, realize that your intention really is other people's. And you have to pay attention to your intention to realize that. It's already the case.

[43:49]

It's not that Bodhisattvas make it this way. They wake up to it being that way. So in order to wake up to it, you have to stop dreaming about of anything other than what you're up to. So then you have to pay attention to what you're doing all the time. Paying attention to what you're doing means paying attention to your karma. It means paying attention to your intentions. If you don't pay attention, it just goes on and we miss the show. If you miss the show, the show tends to degenerate. So all the people that aren't paying attention to their intention are contributing to the world getting to be more and more separation you know like I saw this picture you see these pictures all the time you know there was a demonstration a while ago on one side of the uh at the courthouse in front of the San Francisco courthouse is a row of Israelis Jewish people on your side is Islamic you know Palestinians on two sides of the road you know there's police between them holding them apart why can't why can't they just go across and meet each other

[45:00]

It's so hard. How can we get over this sense that we're separate from as some people are not our close friends? How can we realize that all humans are our close friends? The way you do it is by looking in your mind where you find that you feel separated. Look at the mind that feels separated over and over and over and over until you realize, yeah, there it is, that mind that feels separated. There it is again. There it is again. Yeah. and get it out and confess it with other people, and look at it until finally, wait a minute, somebody's messing with my intention. Somebody's getting in there and modifying my intention. Who is that? And you start to notice that everybody's actually getting in there and making your intention, together with you. You're responsible, too. Then you start waking up. And then you can do things like, Somehow call out to the person over there. Get them to let you become open.

[46:03]

Yes, did you? Can you hear me? Yeah. To segue right into the question I was going to ask you, it was about thinking of it on a... a larger global scale of patterns of relationships. Yes. Or create more of a situation of peace between people. Okay. Yeah. So here's my proposal. This is my proposal. This is my understanding of a proposal that's been made for quite a long time in the Mahayana tradition. It isn't just that I have a pattern of relationship with you. every moment that I meet you. Like, now I think you're my good friend. Now I think you're my better friend. Now I think you're my better friend. Now I think you're my worst friend. Anyway, it isn't just that I have a different relationship with you. And I study that. And as I study it, I start to see how my relationship with you, how the pattern of the relationship I feel with you is changing.

[47:12]

And then I start to see how everybody's contributing to it changing. So I really have a much different attitude toward my attitude towards you. It isn't just that. It isn't just that. It's also that when I see a whole new relationship with you, you have a whole new relationship with me. Because you have contributed all along to the evolution of my relationship with you. Which I didn't see. When I see that, then of course I feel like, wow, I see a whole different attitude towards you. And you've been contributing to it. That's my understanding. But you get dragged into it because you have been contributing all along. So it isn't just that you change your attitude towards the world when you realize how the world's made you. The world changes its attitude towards you. And if I would develop a better understanding of my karma and become released from my own narrow, egotistical, dualistic understanding of my patterns of relationship. In other words, my patterns of relationship are no longer really those of a dualistic consciousness.

[48:15]

It isn't just that I achieve something. If everybody else isn't included in that, I haven't achieved it yet, this particular achievement. But everybody is involved in it from the beginning. Our consciousness arises together with everybody. Our intentions arise from... And the physical world arises with everybody. As you understand it, everybody else gets drawn into it. And you could say, well, okay, but not too many people seem to be drawn in yet. Well, yes, that's right. But that's the project, is to draw everybody into how we're all drawn into life together. Until everybody feels close to everybody. And every time I look at my, I'll use my grandson as an example, you know, he's this little guy, he really doesn't think he's, you know, he really does feel close to some people and not close to others. He really does see it that way.

[49:19]

And he's worthy of our compassion and love, but he's got a lot to learn. Because he really is deluded. So how do I not feel separate from his delusion? How do I not feel like I'm his highly evolved grandfather who's going to teach him how deluded he is? How can I see that he and I are working so closely together? So he's drawn into the understanding of how I'm not better than him. His understanding is he's better than me. That's what he's always talking about. But I don't want to switch it around and prove to him that I'm better than him. I want to somehow wake up to that we're not better than each other, but how we're born together. And I kind of have that feeling sometimes. But I don't have it clear enough and strong enough that he's drawn into it. So, what are you doing?

[50:25]

You keep going. Pardon? What are you doing? You just keep going on. I do. I'm really enjoying it. I'm having a great time watching my intention and hearing about other people's intention and watching this process. In this process, I see an enlightenment happening in this process of study. But I also realize on the global level that a lot of people are not yet interested to look at their intention. They're not interested enough. How can I be so interested in it, like right now? I'm interested in this. Am I interested enough in this to get everybody in this room to start looking at their intentions all day long, day after day? I don't know. And do I find it so fascinating that when people see how fascinated I am with this thing, could that be interesting to look at? He seems to be really interested in looking at his intention.

[51:27]

Maybe I've got the mind now. My grandson at the table was lunching. He wanted me to take him to the pool, and I was in the middle of my lunch. And he said, take me to the pool, Granddad. And I pointed at my lunch. He said, you're not done eating? I said, no. He walks over to me, puts his hand on my ear, and goes, I don't care. Laughter His mother doesn't exactly know what he said to me, but she said, I wish you'd learn that you're not the only person in the world that matters. So, you know, to get him to look at his intentions is a long ways off. But occasionally, he does what he intended. A little bit. He's a little peak at it. And that's a transformation. Yes. And when you've made this connection, when you're always aware of everyone, that's called saving all beings.

[52:33]

When you're aware of everyone, that's called... No, no, I think everybody is aware of everyone. But the way they're aware of everyone is that they see other people as separate from them. Right, no, but when you've made, when you realize it, you're telling the story together. When you realize you're telling the story together, that's saving all sorts of things, yes. if they also enjoy it. But that is a saving process, but they're not saved until they also join them and realize together that they are drawn into it. They are attracted to it. Because, in fact, they are involved in it already, so it's a question of waking them up to what's already going on. And if I wake up to what's already going on, and you wake up to what's already going on, and you realize it's already all that's going on, but nobody else in the neighborhood's coming along with it, then that attainment doesn't count much. But it's still... It costs some, because you say, well, I just have to do it more deeply.

[53:37]

And find ways to demonstrate to people how good it is to do that. Like performing miracles, you know. Like being kind to people. Or... Or somehow saying something to somebody so they turn around and look at their intention and realize how useful it is to do that to themselves and others. As soon as you see your intention? As soon as you see it thoroughly, you can't find it. To see something thoroughly means to realize that you can't find it. It's not that it's not there. You wouldn't be able to... You couldn't realize it wasn't there if it wasn't there. It's not that it's not there, it's that you realize that it can't be found.

[54:44]

So your intention, it's not that you don't have an intention, you just can't find it, because it's actually constantly evolving. So again, we don't... In teaching karma, we're not saying how things really are. We're talking about how they come to be. So it isn't that you say, originally you say, oh, this is how, this is what my intention is. At the beginning you say, this is what my intention is. At that time you can find your intention. Doesn't that make sense? But when you say what something is, it's already dead. too substantial, and gone. It's over. When you find out what it is. But at first, when you first look for your intention, you find out what it is. It's like when you meet a person, you find out what they are. That's what it's like when you first start doing practice. At that moment, you're getting off track at that point.

[55:46]

But that's how you have to start. As you study more and more, you don't see what it is, you see how it comes to be. And when you see how it comes to be, you can't find it anymore. You just find how it comes to be. And when you see how it comes to be, you see it comes to be with everybody and everything. And then you have this wonderful awakening that other people's story is really more your story than the story you have forgotten. Because other people's stories, they're not so likely to attach to as your story. Obviously, it's just sort of your story, in the sense that it gives you life. So since you can't find it, then the next thing that appears, you study it the same way, and you can't find that. So you continue to not be able to grasp your intention, because your intention actually isn't graspable. Because you see not what it is, that how it's coming to be, and you cannot grasp how something comes to be, because you're part of how it comes to be.

[56:53]

So, by seeing how things come to be, you're released from grasping them, and you're released from attachment, and you're released from believing in separation. Because you can't find that either. So, is that enough? Is that enough? Yeah, it's great. If there's not enough of you, you can get to the first one. I have one more question. I think you have to say before that the non-living world is the result of karma, or action, or intention. And the living. Yeah. I don't understand what you're on about. I'm not part of it. I'm involved in karma. You don't understand it? No. I'm not in the middle of it. This is not a statement of metaphysical idealism.

[58:24]

This is a statement of epistemological idealization. The only mountains that I know about are the mountains that I know about. And those mountains arise with my knowing about them. They don't exist. Those mountains which I know about only arise with my knowing. The colors I know about give rise to me and my awareness, but also my awareness specifies the color. There are no colors out there. They arise and the mountains have colors and shapes. There are no colors and shapes out there. If you go out and look at the mountains and take the microscope out and look at the mountains, you cannot find any colors out there. And if you look at molecules, those too are arising with the observer. There is no But I'm not saying there isn't a world aside from our cognition.

[59:29]

I'm just saying the world which we experience arises with our cognitions, and our cognitions arise with the interaction of our body with that world. And then that world arises, it's circular. Is that enough? Do you have a question? You don't? Go ahead. So to say that it can't be found is to say that it's empty? To say it can't be found is to say it's empty? Very similar statement, yes. Empty means things are empty of something you can actually find if you look carefully. So to say when you look through your intention and you can't find it is to say that it's not intentional? Pardon? When you look through your intention and you can't find it is to say that it's not intentional? No, it's to say that it's not intentional. Exactly. No intention, not the same as empty intention. It's not that there's no Shogun. It's just that you can't find him if you look carefully. If you look superficially, you can find him.

[60:31]

But if you look deeply, you can't find him. We're not saying there's no Shogun. [...] Now gone. G-E-N. G-E-N. G-E-N. Shogun. Shogun, not Shogun. So, it's not that we say there's no person. We just say that if you look carefully, what you'll find is how the person comes to be. When you find out something comes to be, you can't find the thing. You just find the conditions that lead to it. Nobody is anything in addition to the conditions that they depend on. When you just find a bunch of conditions, you don't find anything. you don't find anything, but some total of conditions is an event. A dependent co-arising is all things that exist are dependent co-arising.

[61:34]

So you can find how they're dependent co-arising, but how they're dependent co-arising, you can't find the thing, you just find how they're happening. So they're happening, and it's very beautiful how they're happening, but you can't get a hold of it. And your intentions to Even a bad intention, if you see how it happens, it's beautiful how it happens. When you see how beautiful it happens, you're liberated from any negative intention. And also then you get to see how everybody in the universe contributes to this negative intention. And again, it's beautiful. It's beautiful to see how a selfish, grounded son is made. And if he would see it, Then it wouldn't be a selfish concept anymore. Which would be sad, but we can do it.

[62:28]

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