As you may remember, there's a chapter in the Lotus Sutra called Comfortable Conduct or Serene and Joyful Practice or Happy Life. It's about the happy life of the serene and joyful practice of teaching the Lotus Sutra and instructions about how to be able to teach the Lotus Sutra. And the Buddha is asked by Namanjushri how these Bodhisattvas can teach the Lotus Sutra and the Buddha explains that there's four methods. The serene and

[01:14]

joyful practice of body, serene and joyful practice of speech, serene and joyful practice of thinking, and serene and joyful practice of bowing. And then the first one is the first practice to be steadfast in is, has two parts. One is called the place of action and the place of intimacy or the types of actions that are appropriate to Bodhisattvas and the type of intimacies that are appropriate or the kind of intimacies for Bodhisattvas. And the place or

[02:19]

the sphere of action is what? Do you remember what it was? The sphere of action, what that's like? Having no way of acting, right. And then there's a little bit more to it. Having no way to act, having no way to act and that's part of it too. It's being patient and gentle, not overbearing or nasty, being agreeable, being that way. And then with regard to any phenomena, living or non-living, they have no laws by which to act. You say no way to act and they don't discriminate. They're not

[03:35]

with regard to phenomena, they have no way of acting. They don't take action with regard to phenomena, but they do observe the phenomena's true characteristics. Their action is that they are gentle and so on and then when phenomena appear to them, they don't take action, they observe. That's the place of their action. So they develop this body which is gentle and patient and agreeable and so on. And then this body is present and not taking action, but this body is an observing body. It

[04:36]

observes all things in the way they really are. That's the place of the Bodhisattva action. That is an action that does make possible the teaching of the Sutra and also all the actions of the Bodhisattva come from and are enacted in that place. So any posture they take is a posture in that place. It's in the place of this way of being. Dogen says in Genjo Koan, when you find your place right where you are, the practice occurs, realizing the universe or realizing the ultimate truth. You find your place right where you are, observing

[05:42]

the way things are, realizing them. So in our translation, all the translations say they observe the way things are and they also don't discriminate in that place either. That's the Bodhisattva's place of action. And the Bodhisattva's bodies are active. The Bodhisattva's bodies are changing all the time, like everybody else's. So every moment the Bodhisattva's body manifests like everybody else's body manifests and that body in this place is a body that teaches the Sutra. It teaches the Sutra. It is a body in the place of the Sutra, showing the Sutra.

[06:42]

And the next part of the practice of the body is the sphere or the place of intimacy. So there again, the Bodhisattva is not intimate with beings just to be intimate with them. And again, it says that they do not associate with beings. For example, it says, and this is a tricky one, it says, Bodhisattva Mahasattvas do not preach the Dharma to women. What? Then it says, do not preach the Dharma to women, displaying an appearance capable of arousing passionate thoughts.

[07:46]

Now, is it that they don't preach Dharma to women themselves, displaying appearances that arouse passionate thoughts? You're saying no? You don't think so? You think they do display appearances that arouse passionate thoughts? Huh? You don't think that? I got lost, sorry. It says that Bodhisattvas, when they preach the Dharma, they do not preach to women, displaying appearances that would arouse passionate thoughts. Now, some people might think that they wouldn't be with women who are displaying appearances that would arouse passionate thoughts in them. I thought it was the one doing the teaching. You thought it was the one teaching, and Lori thought it wasn't the one teaching. I think it's both. It's both, I think.

[08:54]

The Bodhisattvas do not put on an appearance which would arouse passionate thoughts. In other words, they do not put on an appearance which will arouse thoughts, which will make it difficult for the person to hear them, actually show them. This is body, right? They want to show the person their body. But they want to show it in such a way that the person doesn't get distracted by their appearance, but opens to their appearance so that they can see the Dharmagate, the Dharmagate here. They themselves do not also go and try to find people who are displaying appearances which will arouse passionate thoughts in them. They don't go looking for that either. And then it says a lot of other stuff they don't, a lot of other places they don't teach. Also, there's a traditional teaching for monks in the Buddhist tradition. Monks, when they go places, generally speaking, are recommended to go with another monk, and not to enter a house alone.

[10:03]

So here it says too that they do not enter a house alone, somebody else's house alone, but if they do enter alone, they just think about Buddha. In other words, if they enter the house alone, they practice the way we just talked about. They practice the Bodhisattva's place of action with their body when they enter the house without another monk. And then also, they don't take pleasure in keeping pupils, monks, and children, nor pleasure in being with them as a teacher. They don't do that. They're not intimate in that way. That's the way they're intimate, is that they don't do that. They're intimate with people by not taking pleasure in them being regarded as the teacher.

[11:13]

That's the way they are intimate. Even though the people may regard them as a teacher, they don't take pleasure in that. That's the way they're intimate. It would not be a proper intimacy if they did take pleasure. And then that's the first kind of intimacy. That's the first aspect of the way they are intimate. Any questions about that? Does it assume they're celibate? No. It just means that if you were looking at them and they were looking like they were involved in sexual union,

[12:21]

the Bodhisattva would not be making displays in order to arouse passionate thoughts. In this chapter, they would not do that. Does that allow them to do that? Forget about the next chapter. I'm just saying that we have a picture here now of human beings or some kind of beings who are in... You brought up sexual thing by talking about celibacy, right? When you say celibacy, I think you mean no sexual interaction, right? So Bodhisattvas... I just want to say that one Zen teacher says, if sex was bad, there would be no Buddhas. We need sex to have Buddhas among human beings.

[13:25]

But when Bodhisattvas are sexually involved, they are not displaying appearances to arouse passionate thoughts. They are displaying appearances to help people be patient, gentle, not disturbed in their hearts, not nasty or overbearing. Displaying a bodily appearance to encourage people to not take action with regard to phenomena, but first of all, observe them as they truly are. That's what they're displaying. Whether they're in bed with somebody or taking a walk with somebody or talking to somebody or having lunch with somebody, whatever they're doing, that's the way their body is. And from that place is where their action comes.

[14:25]

And the action could be sexual involvement leading to reproduction or not. And it can be male or female. And there's no thing in here anyway about homosexuality or not either. The point is very clear, I think. They aren't taking action with regard to the phenomena of the person they're involved with or with the phenomena of sexual activity. They are not taking action. They are primarily observing the true nature of sexuality. And they're displaying a body which helps other people do that. Their teaching, their body is teaching the Sutra. And the Sutra is teaching people to open to the true Dharma. So this would be sex where if there were two bodhisattvas involved, it would be sex where neither one of them were giving rise to distracting thoughts.

[15:32]

Thoughts of trying to get something. Thoughts of taking pleasure in possessing something or being regarded as beautiful or powerful or skillful. There wouldn't be that in this pleasant practice of the body. Sometimes you might think, well gee, that seems amazing. But sometimes you might think, well no, not necessarily. I could imagine being sexually involved with someone without trying to display something to make them get all worked up about me. I could imagine just being of service to someone, just being devoted to someone in a physically intimate way. Just like you'd be maybe devoted to changing somebody's diapers when they're a baby or when they're an old person. You're changing their diapers but you're not trying to arouse

[16:34]

passionate thoughts in them. But you're physically intimate. Your hands are down around their anus and stuff, cleaning up. It's kind of right around the sexual area. But you're not trying to arouse anything, to get something or to get some pleasure. You're just trying to see what's going on so that the Dharma can be received and understood. For example, the Dharma of I love this baby, I want to take care of this baby, to give the baby that message, yes. But also, not just that, but that coming from a place of what is the true nature of the baby. What is this baby? How is this baby? What is the true characteristics of a baby, which has something to do with the true characteristics of an adult, and of all things. That the Bodhisattva is concentrating always on the middle way,

[17:39]

no matter what she's doing. And she could do anything from that place of concentrating, but it would all be skillful, and from that place it would be encouraging the realization of this wonderful Dharma. You look like... Last couple of weeks you looked like you just kind of were mystified, but tonight you seem to understand better. Is that right? Yes? Yes, Sarah? If you take it out of the sexual realm, and back into the teacher-student realm that you were talking about, that seems to me like an immense challenge. And a wonderful one. But because there is... If you have the gift of being able to teach, and be able to manifest something, there is something seductive. It's an act of love to teach well.

[18:43]

And I think it's very easy then to get pleasure out of that. Or to cross the line into having it be about yourself as the teacher being good, rather than the student receiving. Yes, so it is a joy to teach. Especially to teach the truth, it's a joy. But if you're teaching the truth, you're not concerned about getting joy for yourself by teaching the truth. You're teaching the truth by looking at the truth. And it's a joy to look at the truth. Now, if the people then look at you and say, oh, you're a wonderful teacher, and you find pleasure in that, well, it's kind of a little bit like, you're a little bit off the track there probably, because unless the pleasure is that they're happy. But the main pleasure here is not so much just that they're happy,

[19:48]

but that you're looking, even when they're happy, you look at them like you do when they're not happy. And that's why they're happy, is because when they're happy you look at them the same way you do when they're unhappy. In other words, they feel that the way you look at them doesn't obstruct your compassion. You don't discriminate between the happy student and unhappy student. The student understands and the student doesn't. The student who's practicing and the student isn't. You look at them all the same, because you're not taking action with regard to them, you're observing their true nature. When they see that, they feel joy, which doesn't bother you that they feel joy, you want them to feel joy, but the reason why they feel joy is because you're meditating on them in this way. The practice of the Bodhisattva is to meditate on the middle way, no matter who they're talking to,

[20:49]

and then they become a vehicle for the teaching, which is a great joy to everybody. But not just because it's a joy to them, because they're in the position of being a teacher, the teacher in this case. Now, these people who are looking at them, although they're starting to feel this teaching, they still may think that that's the teacher, and that they don't look at the teacher like they do at the other students, maybe. They haven't quite learned this yet, maybe. But when they learn it, they still see the teacher is in that position, but they don't discriminate between the teacher's position and their position, because they've learned this. And again, the teacher doesn't discriminate between the teacher position and the student position when they get to this place of the Bodhisattva's action. Actually, this is the intimacy, this is the place of intimacy, that they don't get caught by that. But the reason they don't get caught by it is because they have this practice. So in that intimacy,

[21:51]

because the teacher is practicing, or she's practicing, they're themselves open to receiving a teacher. Yeah. They're open to receiving, they're open to change places with the student. You know, and change roles. And then changing roles is not discriminating again. Yes, right. So then, then the next phase, the next part of the Bodhisattva's place of intimacy is is Yeah. The next part of the Bodhisattva's intimacy is furthermore, Bodhisattva Mahasattvas contemplate all

[22:53]

phenomena as empty, or as emptiness. This is the next phase of the Bodhisattva's intimacy. It's not unrelated to the previous part, but it's going to go into it a little bit more now. So the Bodhisattvas approach this place, this place of what? Of contemplating constantly, constantly, no, it doesn't say constantly. The Bodhisattva contemplate all phenomena as empty. And then there's three, I'll give you a different translation of the next part. They translate all phenomena as empty, and then and all phenomena as empty, that being their true entity.

[23:58]

All phenomena as empty in accord with their true marks. All phenomena empty appearances as they really are. All the phenomena empty duly established as they are in reality. Okay? That's Bodhisattvas contemplate that way in the practice of intimacy, of the place of intimacy. Okay? So all these phenomena are being contemplated as empty, as neither upside down, nor moving, nor receding, nor turning, just like space, like space devoid. That's Ebonics. Like empty space without innate nature,

[25:01]

beyond the reach of all worlds, beyond the reach of all words, cut off from all courses of all words and expressions, inaccessible of approach by any words. Unborn, not coming forth, not arising, nameless, formless, really without existence, unimpeded, infinite, boundless, bottomless, unrestrained, only existing by causation and produced through perversion or come to be turned upside down or born, to be born by inverted notions. That was three translations of the last point.

[26:04]

So they're contemplating all phenomena as produced through perversion or contemplating all phenomena as that they come to be they come to be turned upside down to be born. They come to be turned upside down to be born. Or they're born through inverted notions. This is and then that's one instruction. I actually wrote here that it's like the Lotus Heart Sutra. It's like the Heart Sutra but kind of the Lotus Sutra's version of it. So the Bodhisattva in his first practices they're contemplating like the Heart Sutra on everything they meet. They apply the Heart Sutra, a perfect wisdom,

[27:05]

to all phenomena. This is how they make their body a teaching vehicle. Any questions? That last part was a kicker, wasn't it? No, no, it's not all phenomena are perversion. All phenomena are produced through perversion. Yeah, yeah. That's three translations. Three translations. Phenomena come to be turned upside down to be born. Or phenomena are born through inverted views. You have to turn phenomena upside down to get them to be born. You have to pervert them in order to get them to be born. What's the alternative to them being born?

[28:07]

Alternative? Unborn. That's what he says. You should contemplate them as unborn. Contemplate them as unborn and then you could say and then contemplate them as born through perversion. They don't get born by their own nature. They get born by perverted notions. It's through turning things upside down that they get born. Things are basically unborn. They're empty. Things are empty. And if you turn them upside down or look at them through perversion they seem to be born. And then of course they die. Because they're born. What's phenomena? Pardon? Sun rising? Well, the sun the sun is a phenomena. Yeah. So, the birth of the sun the birth is not the actual nature of the sun.

[29:09]

The way the sun really is is the sun is empty of sun. You know, it's empty. It's beyond, for example, the sun is beyond the reach of all words. For example, sun. Or Helios. Or Sule. It's beyond any words. Or Gary. It's beyond Gary too. That's one of the ways it is. It's unborn. It's unmoving. It's unrestrained. It's infinite. That's the way the sun is. And the moon is like that too. And you're like that and I'm like that. We're empty. We're bottomless. We're ungraspable. We're beyond the reach of any words. Bodhisattvas are encouraged in the Lotus Sutra and in the Prajnaparamita Sutra they're encouraged to meditate on these teachings. To contemplate these meditations. No increase, no decrease.

[30:11]

No birth, no death. No birth, no death is kind of equivalent to unborn and undying. However, there is the birth of things but how are they born? They're born through upside down views. The mind takes something and twists it around and then it seems to be born. Rather than leaving it alone and looking at its unborn, well, we have a way to flip it. We flip it from unborn to born. But you have to flip around with it to get born that way. It's through a perversion or an inversion that birth appears. Yes? Are you suggesting that things that are unborn are still part of the vessel? Am I suggesting that things that are unborn are part of the vessel? They're a part of the emptiness? They're not a part of emptiness,

[31:15]

they are emptiness. Like a person is not born and their unbornness goes with their emptiness. The emptiness of Ron is the true nature of Ron. The true characteristic of Ron is that he's empty, he's infinite, etc. He doesn't move, he doesn't increase or decrease. There is change, but it isn't exactly that Ron changes, just that there's a Ron and then Ron changes and we don't have that Ron anymore, we have another Ron. But all those Rons are empty and impermanent and unborn. And they're all marked by emptiness. All Rons are marked by emptiness and all Saras and Frans are marked by emptiness. Bodhisattvas are watching the emptiness all the time

[32:22]

so that they can teach the Dharma. They're intimate with the emptiness of things, the middle way of things. They contemplate that birth depends on inverted views. You're still what? Yeah. Not inherently empty. What? What's the significance of being born? Depends on the birth. Bodhisattvas are born by vows. Among all the different non-Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas are considered the supreme sentient being because they're born out of compassion. They're born out of good roots.

[33:28]

They're born, you know, of their great vows. That's how they're born. And they're happy to be here in this suffering to play with these other sentient beings teaching the Lotus Sutra. So, for them, the meaning of birth is Bodhisattva life. The life of teaching the Lotus Sutra for the welfare of sentient beings. In order also to help out the Buddhas who sometimes have to go away, you know, because people need them to go away. And then if they go away, they need Bodhisattvas to carry on the work. So, the historical Shakyamuni Buddha has gone away and that's what the Sutra is about. Each one of these sections starts after the Buddha's extinction, when the Dharma is about to perish, how will the Bodhisattvas teach? Like this. Like we're talking about here. How's that, Ron?

[34:29]

Better? Working on it? I think, will you next read, sort of? I was, again, maybe trying to help Ron out a little bit. Yeah, help him out. Emptiness is about no birth, no death. I don't know if it's about no birth, but in emptiness, there's no birth. Yeah. In that context, in the context of the way things really are, in the context of ultimate truth, there's no birth or death. But... There's no colors, no sounds, no smells, no touches, no tastes either. In the context of not being able to find anything, you can't find anything. In the context of things being unborn, you can't find them, and you can't find birth either. And when it talks about inverting or perverting, that's the only way to see birth and death. That's the only way to see birth and death. Riding sun, etc. Yeah. Right. But you don't have to have perverted views to see emptiness.

[35:39]

So, I don't know, let's see. There's quite a few hands. Michelle and Linda and John, was there other people? Start with those. Yes, Michelle? So, anything that is born, is added to the herd, or the scene. Up to there, it's just contemplated. Then it's born. If it's something added to... It's not something that's added... to the herd. Yeah, the birth is something that's added to the herd. So you're hearing something, and then to have birth of that thing, you add something to that thing. The thing actually doesn't have birth. Ultimately, it doesn't have birth. So you have to add something to the thing, that it doesn't really have. It actually comes... Pardon? And then you limit it. What? Then you limit it. Then you limit it, right. So, the actual way the thing is, is unlimited, you have to add limits to it.

[36:44]

And one of the limits you can add is that it's born. You know? Yes, Linda? Well, then you interjected a different thing when you said, Bodhisattvas are born out of compassion. Or to me, is it? Yeah. That sort of makes me go, hmm? Well, very sharp of you, Linda. They are born. And how were they born? In other people's minds? No, they're... Well, in other people's minds, they're born, yes. Their mom and dad think they're born, because their mom and dad have perverted views. But the Bodhisattva also goes along with that, and they adopt perverted views, in order to be born. So even before the Mahayana arose, the Buddha said that you have to have a perverted... Birth consciousness is a perverted consciousness. You can't come into birth without getting kind of dirty.

[37:48]

The Bodhisattva... Yeah. Right. The world where you can find things, you know, the world where things are limited, that's the world of perverted view. I mean, you don't necessarily have to have perverted views, but that world, the birth of that world, depends on a perverted view. Once you're born into a world, you can get over your perverted views, and go back to being the world as you... you know, but without having birth there again. So there's an expression, you know, one of the... In the Book of Serenity, there's a story about Jajo talking to the monk, and... So the famous story is, the monk asked Jajo, does the dog have Buddha nature? And Jajo says, Moo.

[38:54]

And the monk hears that as, No. Moo means, there isn't any, or no. So, the monk thinks that Jajo is saying, No, the dog doesn't have Buddha nature. Okay? So then, so then he says, all living, then he quotes the Sutra, it says, all living beings have Buddha nature, why doesn't the dog, and Jajo says, because of karmic consciousness. And then, either in another occasion, or the same monk, or different monk, says to Jajo, does the dog have Buddha nature? And Jajo says, Yo. Which means, it does have Buddha nature. It does have it. And then the monk says, Well, if it has Buddha nature, why does it, enter into this stinking skin bag of a dog? Actually he just says, why does it enter the skin bag? And Jajo says, because it knowingly and willingly transgresses. So Bodhisattvas knowingly and willingly transgress.

[40:00]

Now you say, are there lower level Bodhisattvas that don't do it knowingly? At the moment of birth, if you're actually a Bodhisattva, you knowingly and willingly do it. You pay the price of admission to the land of birth and death, out of compassion, you transgress. Because you want to help, you want to teach the Lotus Sutra, or something like that. So they do transgress, they do adopt a perverted view in order to be born in this world. And some of you may have done that, and you maybe forgot. But you can just start remembering that that's why you're here. That's what you came here for. So part of what you can understand is that, as I was saying last weekend, to the extent that you're surprised by what happens,

[41:03]

the future triumphs over the past. To the extent that you're surprised by what happens, the future triumphs over the past. So your life like that, okay, changes what you're here for. You didn't get forced into here, you didn't stumble into this situation. You actually came here on purpose. Why did we do that to begin with? Do what? It's probably not an answerable question, but you think, why do we all agree to be inverted and come into this? Well, like I said, some people do it out of their vow. Other people do it out of the habit of trying to get something.

[42:06]

Because in the past, they had that perverted view, so now they continue to have a perverted view, but it's unconscious. They feel impelled by unconscious habit into birth. They just feel this force coming, of past karma, of their past stories of birth. Whereas bodhisattvas train themselves so that they don't have this compulsive birth thing. They do it as a vow, as part of their vow. So it isn't compulsive. It's voluntary, they want to do it. They know it's going to be hard, but they're up for it. John? I don't have anything. Is it kind of like play? Play, yeah. It's definitely like play. What? Without preference for results. Without preference for result,

[43:11]

but they do want a result. They want to teach other people to play. They want to teach those who do not know how to play, to play. Because if we can start playing with this, then we can open to emptiness. So like you're here in this class, you're actually playing with this, you're starting to play with this kind of unusual way of thinking about your body as a practice body. That it could actually be helpful for you not to take action on things, but just observe the way they are. Just thinking about that is kind of playful of you, actually. A child would probably be willing to do it, but a lot of adults would not. They would just say, you know. And they'd have a lot of habit patterns that would make it difficult for them even to consider not taking action, or not having a way to take action

[44:12]

in regard, or not having a rule by how to act with people. Children are willing to do that. They're willing to play without a rule on how to play. And they're also willing to change the rules, you know, willy-nilly, for their advantage. Yes? I just heard to me, is devotion adopting a rule like maybe to free yourself up from other rules? You could do it that way. You could say it that way. Yes? I've always been confused by the teaching take the backwards step. Yes. So, it seems like there's I just don't have a feeling for it. And I've danced with it a little bit. The one here, is it could be that in being born,

[45:12]

it takes a coverted view, so the backwards step would be to flip, now, you flipped it one way, now you flip it back. Is that what the backwards step would be? Yes, it sure could. Flip it the other way. Or, you know, like, usually we think that things are out there on their own, separate from us. So, you could look back at yourself. When you look at something, you could actually see that you're looking at yourself, when you look at it. Rather than you think you're looking at something that's not you, out there, on its own, that actually you're looking at yourself. That's another way to do the backwards step. You're reversing your way of thinking. So, like, I'm looking at you, but I'm actually looking at the middle way. That's a backwards step. I'm looking at you, but really I'm looking at the true marks of you,

[46:15]

in order to teach the Dharma with you. Or, in order to teach the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra on the occasion of you. That's a backwards step. And that teaches me who I am. And what I am. And helps me understand how my life can be at the service of the Dharma. How I could teach the... How my life could teach the Lotus Sutra. By that reversal. That flipping, that reversal, that backwards step, that turning around. ... It's not...

[47:17]

You can call it a course if you want to. I don't mind. It's a version of it, anyway. With or without a course. So, you look at somebody, you've got a problem with them. Okay? So, one thing is that there's something in me that I have a problem with, but I see it as them being the problem. In other words, another way to say it is, they're not me. They're not me. Now, how about, they are me. So, there's something about them... I don't like something about them, there's something about me I don't like, but how about just flat out, they're me. They are me. Is that something to do with the way they really are? Is that their me? Is that something to do with their emptiness? Is that their me? And the way they're me is beyond any words.

[48:18]

And it's unborn, and so on. And then, at the end of this section, this first section, the Buddha says, There... Or... There are... What does that say? There I say... Thus I say? Oh, no. Therefore, I think. Therefore I say, constantly to delight in contemplating things, such as these, is termed the Bodhisattva sphere of intimacy. Therefore I say, that one should constantly delight in viewing the form of phenomena like this. This is what I call the second thing that Bodhisattva, Mahasattvas, should associate with.

[49:26]

That is why she preaches ever wishing to see such Dharma marks as these. This is the second place of the Bodhisattva, Mahasattvas, the second place that Bodhisattva, Mahasattvas, approach with intimacy. The third translation is a little different. It says, after this description of this meditation we just went through, it says, that is why she preaches. The reason she preaches is ever wishing to see such true Dharma. That is why she preaches. Ever wishing to see such Dharma marks as these. Seeing these Dharma marks is how you can preach and you preach in order to see the true marks of things. And then,

[50:28]

when Bodhisattvas enter a quiet room and uprightly contemplate phenomena in their true meaning, then arising from such meditation towards all sentient beings, I'll say, they reveal and expound and preach this sutra, the mind shall be at ease and free from timidity and weakness. But it really takes a lot of training to always be mindful, to meditate on the middle way with regard to everything that comes. And then, of course, the basic also stance, which is easier in some ways to memorize or remember, of being gentle and patient

[51:31]

and not overbearing and so on. Fran? I'm still thinking about the Bodhisattva being born and I'm wondering if the Bodhisattva has to take the perverted view in order to be born because of a vow of compassion. How can they know that they won't get lost in the perverted view that they're taking in order to teach and be compassionate? How do they not get lost in it? By practice. But I'm not saying that all the Bodhisattvas do not get lost once they adopt the perverted view in order to be born so that they can play with sentient beings

[52:33]

and teach them how to play. I'm not saying they don't get lost in that process. It's a risk. Yeah, there's a risk that you will get lost. My general impression is that if you are born through perversion out of the Bodhisattva vow, although you may slip, you'll come out of it because your vow is pretty strong. You'll recover eventually. And I think, if I remember correctly, the Buddha talks about either three or four types of birth. One type of birth you're... at conception, you're not conscious. At the embryological development phase, you're not conscious.

[53:36]

At the delivery phase, you're not conscious. I mean, you're a conscious being, but you're not like aware. Oh, here we go, conception. The next kind of person, maybe there's just two, is at birth, at conception. It's kind of like, okay, here we go. We're going to do this now. We're going to do this thing in order to be born and play with sentient beings and teach them how to play and enter the Buddha way. Okay? And the next one is... but then they forget after that. During the embryological phase, they forget. And then they forget during... they continue to be forgetful during the delivery. The next one is, they remember... they're aware at the conception,

[54:38]

they're aware during the embryological and they lose it in the delivery. And the last one is, at conception, embryological development and delivery, they stay conscious. And the Buddha says, the first one is most people. Most people are unconscious during all. So there's four, unconscious during all. The second one is a saint. They're conscious for one and lose it in the next two. The third one is a bodhisattva. And the fourth one is a Buddha. Yeah, it's a fundamental tenet. I don't know if it's necessary to believe it or not, but it is. The Buddha's basic teaching of right view

[55:39]

is that action has consequence, there is rebirth, there are accomplished beings, you know, your parents do deserve respect, and so on. So one of the key ingredients he's saying, you have to open your mind to... like you say, do you have to... is it a basic tenet that action has consequence in our Buddhist teaching? Yes. Do you have to believe it? No. But if you don't even listen to it, you're not going to be able to practice much at all. When you first listen to it, you go, okay, and then you listen to it some more, you go, okay, listen to it some more, okay, listen to it some more, okay. The more you listen to it, the more you listen to it, the more you listen to it, the more you open to it, the more awake you get. And the same with the teaching of rebirth, you know, you just keep listening, you hear about it. But this isn't rebirth,

[56:42]

this is just birth, okay. But however, there's something that says, okay, I'm going to get born. And the force of past vows leads to this conscious birth, conscious conception. I do not know any text that says when the conception happens, however. This is part of the pro-life, pro-choice thing. I don't know at what point the conception occurs. And it doesn't say exactly in any scriptures I know of at what point in the process that occurs. But at that point, you've got a conscious being, whether they know it or not. And a saint would be somebody who like knows that they've made that choice and then they could have made it for various reasons. So just talking about the birth process that everybody goes through

[57:44]

in these different phases and takes a lot of training to stay conscious. Can you imagine staying conscious as you get flipped around from, you know, through the growth process and go through all these changes and keep remembering, oh yeah, I'm here. Yep, we're just watching the way things are here. Good, yeah. We're talking about totally cool here. We're talking about being able to stay conscious of your intentions and your vows as you go through these big changes. You know, now we're born, but now we have various kinds of illnesses and, you know, Alzheimer's and dementia, you know, or whatever. All these big changes that are happening to us. Memory is going all over the place. But you've got to learn to tune in the beam of

[58:45]

loss of memory, what's the nature of that? Memory, what's the nature of that? Always be in the beam, this is the beam to be on, so you can teach the Lotus Sutra no matter what you're becoming, no matter what you're changing into. As a bodhisattva, this is like, you know, we're talking about during a time when things get really tough, how we're going to teach. Do you think an embryo or even a newborn baby can actually have intentions and vows?

[59:24]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ