Another picture that arises in consciousness is that there's this Buddha mind, the source of which is these Bodhisattva precepts. and there's this bodhisattva mind, and the source of the bodhisattva mind is the bodhisattva precepts. And then there's the seed of bodhisattvas, and the bodhisattva precepts is the seed of bodhisattvas. And this Buddha mind somehow has given rise to the early teachings of the tradition, which were for people in the early times who were usually addicted to a belief in self.

[01:21]

And this belief in self, they used sort of to try to deal with all life's problems. And many of life's problems were associated with addictive use of the idea of an independent self of a person. and also they had an addiction to believing in an independent existence of elements that compose persons. So Buddha, one story is that Buddha offered the teaching of not-self. Sometimes I say no-self, but not-self's good because it's not that there's no-self, but rather there's not that self, the self you're addicted to, there's no such thing as that one.

[02:26]

So he taught them not that, not that self, not self. And then after a while, some people who had gotten over their addiction to the belief in independent existence, he then could teach them about self, and the self he taught them was this, the Buddha nature of all beings. And then there were these Bodhisattva precepts in the background of the teaching of the Buddha nature, and then after the teaching of the Buddha nature, there was the teaching of the Bodhisattva precepts again. And these Mahayana scriptures were wonderful and on a much bigger scale and just in terms of most of the early scriptures are like a few pages or maybe some of them were like 50 pages or something.

[03:47]

These Mahayana sutras are sometimes hundreds or thousands of pages. And they created a, what do you call it, a magnificent realm, a magnificent realm which opened onto the inconceivable Buddha mind, and this teaching was at risk, and sometimes people slipped, succumbed to the risk, of irrationalism. So receiving this inconceivable teaching which cannot be grasped by human consciousness, some people slipped into a kind of irrationalism which was not correct understanding of this inconceivable teaching. And another thing that they were at risk of and slipped into sometimes was

[04:51]

antinomianism, in other words, being against normative teachings, or thinking that the precepts were not relevant. What precepts? Whatever precepts they had received earlier from Buddha, and maybe even later precepts. And so there arose at various places in the world of where people venerated and studied the Mahayana sutras, there arose some scholarly study, some rational study of these Mahayana teachings to protect beings from irrationalism and antinomianism. And then, after we have the rational, intellectual, scholarly response to the irrationalism that some people slipped into, and the antinomianism, then again there is a return to the Mahayana mind of Buddha that is inconceivable.

[06:13]

And then there is a return to the scholarly. So the rational and non-rational, I say, need to be turning on each other. Or rational and not rational. But not rational is not irrational. It's just a background of rational. So the alternation between the mystical and the rational, I feel, is a characteristic of the Buddha way. The mysterious and the rational. The mysterious and the reasoning. So these Bodhisattva precepts are transcending early and later teaching,

[07:19]

They're transcending good and evil, but they're expressed in terms of rationally dealing with good and evil. But their source is transcendent of good and evil, and the way to demonstrate transcendence of good and evil is to talk about good and evil. the Bodhisattva precepts transcend existence and non-existence. And by practicing the Bodhisattva precepts, we can demonstrate the transcendence of existence and non-existence by discussing existence and non-existence. You can also discuss existence and non-existence if you have not transcended them, and then that will demonstrate that you haven't transcended them. If you haven't transcended duality and you discuss it, it will show that you haven't transcended it, the discussion.

[08:28]

But you can also verify, it's possible for us to verify that we've transcended dualities by discussion dualities. And so, although there may be mysticism or inconceivable dimensions of the Buddhist teaching, we need to prove it as the Buddhist teaching. by bringing it into discussion in language, by bringing it into conversation. So I'm bringing you this teaching that the source of Buddhas and the source of bodhisattvas are these precepts, and that these precepts are in accord with the teaching that our original nature is pure, and from this pure original nature come these precepts, and we need to be able to discuss these precepts in realms that are not pure in order to demonstrate realization of the mind which is originally pure.

[09:46]

This is the scientific, in a sense, the scientific aspect of the process. is that we don't just transcend logic. We enter the logic in conversation with all beings to demonstrate the validity of the logic. The word logic means word, right? But it also means meaning. And the word dialogic means the flow of meaning or the flow of the words. So by dialoguing about these teachings, by dialoguing and conversing with these words, we can verify that which is prior to meaning and prior to words.

[10:54]

So this is again an exhortation, an exhortation to study our original nature. which is pure, and to study the precepts which are for those who have such a nature, and to dialogue about these precepts in duality to verify, to prove transcendence of duality. And it's possible that this dialogue has now started and will continue, and you're invited to participate in it. all the while, all the while listening to the cries of the world, being grounded in listening to the cries of the world while we have this conversation, all the while observing all living beings with eyes of compassion,

[12:12]

That's our ongoing grounding practice. All the while observing dualistic thinking, dualistic life, which is suffering. Me, separate from you, is suffering. Eyes of compassion observe me separate from you, you separate from him or her. sentient beings are into separation, into duality, into existence and non-existence, into good and evil, into birth and death, they're into it. And we observe them with eyes of compassion, so we're grounded in the mud of human, of sentient life. And now we have a teaching which says, Let's have dialogues among ourselves about our original nature, but don't forget this superficial, dualistic nature.

[13:21]

So, maybe we'll continue to have these nice meetings at Noah Abode, and we'll still have work period and everything, so you can, you know, be grounded in that, and we'll have lunchtime. But the teachings will be, you know, dealing with this awesome topic. What's the awesome topic? These Buddha-nature precepts. which are said to be for all of us. And it will be to deal with the teaching that our original nature is pure. And other teachings which flow from that, which suggest things like, we're all gonna realize this. We're all, no matter what we're doing, on the path of realizing this.

[14:39]

together in conversation with words, with language, which is... it's suffering, and we need to use suffering to free beings from suffering. We need to use language to free beings from language. Could you hear me okay? Yes. It's kind of for me, as you're speaking about precepts, it's my first experience reading the endowment, and how I was very struck and touched that you began with homage and dedication to the endowment. Upon working on this conversation regarding precepts, I feel myself, I feel this is a way studying and citing the Buddhists.

[15:48]

And also earlier today we were talking about learning how to draw or create a photographer. And in our conversation and dialogue through the morning, it sort of came up to me that that's what we're doing, that we're too That's what we're creating by sort of soft strokes and shapes, and then in the teachings that you spoke about fabric, the teachings of color and vibrancy of sort of bringing forth, not layers upon, sort of bringing forth the mind. Yeah. Thank you. And that reminds me, that in the earlier times, and also up till now, the Buddha way has sometimes been presented as a path, a five-part path.

[17:00]

The first part is called the path of equipment, or in Sanskrit it's called ekipahe, right? Ekipahe, ekikare? How do you say street in Spanish? But how do you say street? Ekipahekahe in Sanskrit, right? And in Spanish it's called sambaramarga. which means getting your equipment together. It's the path of getting your equipment together. So we're getting the equipment together now. We're getting packed up and loaded up with the requisites in order to embark on the next four paths.

[18:11]

The next path is a path of concerted effort, in Spanish, Prayoga Marga. Huh? Is that Spanish? Maybe that's Sanskrit. Prayogamarga. Yoga means yoga. You know yoga. And then prayoga is like, get into it. Yoga. The path of concerted yogic effort. But first of all, we have to get packed up. We have to get our equipment. And I'm working with you to develop the equipment to go on this path of considered effort. And then there's the path of seeing, where we will see our original nature. And then the next path is the path of sometimes called cultivation or meditation, where we will integrate the vision of our original nature into our daily life. And then we'll be on the path beyond training, the Bodhisattva path after you've trained.

[19:19]

It's going to take a while. It's going to take quite a while to get the equipment together, but today and last time were the equipping phase. No abode, REI. What's the E in REI? What's the I? Incorporated. Yeah, that's perfect. Recreational Equipment Incorporated. This is about incorporating this equipment into your body so that we can, you know, with putting aside our sutras, we can like make the effort of what, of applying this equipment to our moment-by-moment experience.

[20:24]

So, that's another example of the, this is a Tonka painting of the path of equipment. Okay? Yes? So, just looking for some guidance in applying this to what's happening right now in the world. And especially we have these teachings about going beyond existence and non-existence. And I'm trying to find my bearings in this time of climate change when a lot of species, forms of life are threatened or disappearing and a lot more are probably going to disappear soon. And there is usually a cycle of time in which extinction happens that is being accelerated.

[21:27]

So I find myself probably going to either extreme. What are the extremes? What? What are the extremes? Oh, the extreme of feeling overwhelmed, shut down, angry, helpless about the loss of life, or the other extreme of going, thinking, well, you know, life passes, you know, everything is born and dies. A lot of species are going to die, but that's the flow of life. That feels a little funny. And so does... Yeah, so that's why we start We continue to practice observing sentient beings. That's our basic practice. Listen to these cries, and listening to these cries when it's done wholeheartedly will protect us from writing off the cries or becoming depressed. Now, even if there is depression still we can observe that and not write that off or get depressed about that.

[22:36]

I'm depressed but I'm joyful because I observe my depression with eyes of compassion. I'm like, you know, I'm really depressed and I'm really joyful. We can be really depressed and really joyful. just like we can be with people who are really depressed and be really joyful. Not that they're depressed, but that we're with them, and no matter how depressed they get, we're going to hang in there with them. We can have courage, the courage to stay present with all the depression, including the courage to stay with when we can't stay with all the depression. we can learn to have the courage to be with all these cries that you're telling us about and to be there joyfully and not, yeah, not extinguish ourselves and not extinguish ourselves in two ways.

[23:40]

One is give up, the other is write off. That's a basic practice. And in that basic practice of being grounded in crisis after crisis after crisis, which is normal, that we have crisis after crisis, then we also consider the possibility of getting some equipment to deal with the crisis which we are not turning away from or wallowing in. And some of the cries are, I'm not doing enough. Am I doing enough? You're not doing enough. Those are other cries to listen to. Some people are actually hearing the voice which is, you're not doing enough. The voice that they're hearing is, you're not doing enough. And what that voice is referring to is they're not doing enough to frustrate people like you who are concerned about species extinction.

[24:45]

They're not doing enough to shut you up. Some people say, am I doing enough to shut Roberta up? They're wondering about that, because they want you to shut up, because you're bugging them. They think you're a troublemaker. They want you to shut up. And you're such a troublemaker that they're getting depressed about you. So they're thinking of actually writing you off, or either getting depressed or writing you off. So they also need to be compassionate towards you Because you're like really on a different page from them. And you need to be compassionate with them so you aren't on a different page from them. And these teachings are for them and for you. Because they're for all of us. And all of us have the same nature. And how can we use this realization, and realization of nature will, what's the word?

[25:50]

It will enable us to realize this nature, and realizing this nature will save all beings. That's the proposal. And how about proving it? about proving that this realization of our true nature is what saves beings. Living beings are numberless. I vow to save them. This I is my original I. And so I want to save me and all the species, and I want to save the people who are not interested in saving species. There's a species that's not interested in that. I want to save them too. That I is my original nature and your original nature. I need to realize that.

[26:51]

And then if I realize it, then, or I can say, somebody's, well, I'll just say, if I realize it, then can I prove, can I prove that it's realized by being able to have a dialogue with the people who have different agendas? That will be one of the main proofs. In the meantime, do the best you can at dialogue, while we aspire to be able to do better at dialoguing with other people who disagree with us, who have different sufferings than we do. So I'm proposing that, but I'm also saying, call me to account to prove it. And if I can't prove it, call me into account again and again. Please do that to support me to realize what will save all sentient beings. And when you push me, you will join that process.

[27:52]

That's a piece of equipment for you to try out, but like at REI, you get to try this stuff out, and if you don't like it, you can return it. Right? You can return the equipment after you try it, it doesn't work. You try it out, try this equipment out, and maybe you're not using it right, or maybe this is a broken one. Anyway, here's the equipment. Equipment number one, listen to the cries of the world. Observe all living beings with eyes of compassion. That's basic equipment. And then we have other equipment. Okay, let's try it out. And if you don't think you've got it, that's part of learning how to use it. And if you're convinced you don't want to try it, return it and we'll give you some other equipment. So this is like we're getting equipped, we're getting ready for a great adventure, a great Bodhisattva adventure.

[29:02]

Yes, we're sitting on a climate volcano. Yeah, to climb the volcano, and we're sitting on a climate volcano. Right? And we're gonna climb this volcano, and the volcano's also energizing us, the climate. So fortunately, this teaching is energizing us. It's not because we have energy, this teaching is giving us energy to study it. And the point of studying it is that it will lead to realization which will save all sentient beings. Well, I can see I have an impulse to make people think like I'm thinking. Well, actually, it could be a good way to start by you telling them, guess what? I've got this impulse to convince you to think the way I do.

[30:09]

Isn't that far out? Can you believe it that I'm not cuckoo? Yeah. And the person might say, you are really sick. That's true. To think that you can get me to think the way you do, that only would be possible if you already thought the way I did. So that's, such a person as you who wants to get certain people to think like you, you, this teaching is for you. And it will help you give that up and realize your nature. And with the aid of your nature, everybody will think the way you do. In other words, everybody will realize their nature. That is what we're going to realize. We're gonna realize our nature together with everybody. That's our nature, is that we do it with everybody. We don't just do it with some people. We include the people who only want to do it with some people.

[31:10]

Yes? Well, I'm curious if we're going to have a conversation about what constitutes proof. Yeah, we're going to have a conversation about what constitutes proof, and also the proof will be realized in conversation. Both. So, we would need to have a dialogue about that, is that right? That's right. That's right. Maybe another time, yeah. Maybe this is just an equipping session. We may have several equipping sessions and one of them may be focusing on having a conversation about what kind of conversation is verification. Well, it's wonderful that you are. May your good health continue. So that you can continue your curious investigation of what kind of conversation constitutes verification. Yes?

[32:13]

Could you please help me to actually feel what is mysterious? Because that's the word that you mentioned. I have no sense of how mysterious is that word. You got it. That's what it is. You have no sense of it. Yeah, you are now demonstrating the mysterious. Why do we use that word? I don't know why I used it, but I did use it, and it worked on you. The state you're demonstrating is the purpose of that word. And you can like get bored with this and switch from that state to one where you do know what's going on and you do have a sense of it. It's to help you face the unknown.

[33:23]

And once you face it, it's to help you tell people about why you can't tell them. What? I didn't say mysterious about it, you just told me what mysterious was, you just demonstrated, you have no sense of it. So for example, some people, it's strange you know, but they actually aspire to complete perfect enlightenment and they have no idea of it. It's a total mystery to them, and they go right ahead and aspire to it. They want to be a great bodhisattva. They don't know what it is, and they aspire to it. They aspire to something which is mysterious to them. I don't know about you, but some people aspire to things that they do not know what it is. Like they aspire to the salvation of all sentient beings.

[34:28]

They aspire to it. And the salvation of all sentient beings has a mysterious dimension. What would that be? It's like inconceivable. But we can also have a conversation about it and use logos, use words in such a way that there's a flow of meaning Because again, Logos means meaning and words. Use words in a meaningful or meaning-encouraging way. So you're talking to me and so far we're getting no meaning, but we will. You just hang in there. Yes? Did you say, are we always doing that?

[35:33]

Yeah, pretty much. Sometimes little girls aspire to be a mother. They don't understand what that is. They have some idea. We have some idea of what Buddha is like. But really, we don't really know. So we do aspire to be a... a forest fire extinguisher, we aspire to be a doctor, a psychiatrist, a mother, and we know we're not there yet. But also, when you're immature, you think, I want to be a mommy, and I'm not a mommy yet, but I do want to be one, and an immature person thinks they know what a mommy is. they don't. As the girl grows up, she realizes she still wants to be a mommy, but she realizes she doesn't really know what it is. And then when she actually is a mommy, she still wants to be a mommy, and she knows even better that she doesn't know what it is, but she still wants to be it.

[36:43]

And same with daddies and bodhisattvas. We do want to be something. for various reasons, various reasons contributed to our having aspirations, and we sometimes know we're not there yet, but we, in an immature state, we think we know where we're going. In a mature state, we realize whatever we're aspiring to, we don't really know what it is, and we go right ahead and aspire to it. So it applies to everything we aspire to, yes. In that way, this mature aspiration has more humility in it. But the humility doesn't undermine us. It energizes us. Because we're opening to the mysteriousness of the process and all kinds of resources from the unknown and the other are coming to the self. Which is, yeah, it's like marvelous and actually kind of funny.

[37:47]

Earlier I was saying, all the while, you know, all the while. When you're doing this stuff all the while, you're listening to the cries of the world. And that's echoing from a poem, which is, this leaky tumble-down grass hut left opening for the moon. Now I see it. all the while it was reflected in the teardrops falling on my sleeve. So, just keep listening and watching the teardrops and you will see the moon. Thank you very much. Please forgive me for going over the usual time.

[38:51]

I hope it's all right.

[38:53]

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