As you noticed yesterday, I suddenly stopped at sort of where I was going in the tissue and had to find out how to bring what I wanted to say back into the texture of the a shared texture of the tissue. As you noticed, there was a point in the show yesterday where I stopped or stopped and first had to find out how I could bring back what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to say, into the common fabric, into our common fabric of the show.

[01:02]

And it was interesting because it was so clear experientially for me that it was a texture. And I use the word texture because it also is a text that I can feel, kind of read. And in English I use the word texture because it is also a text that I can read, that I can feel and read. So suddenly it was an empty room and there was no texture. And, you know, my commitment is to try to find ways to speak about practice so you, we, can do it, individually and together. And I could suddenly feel that... I'm talking about this because we're doing this together, so maybe we should talk about the craft of what we're doing together.

[02:15]

So I'm trying to speak about this. I was trying to speak about what I was calling the three domains of realisational practice. And in the middle of it, I realized a different kind of meaning of realized. That it was too complex. And more specifically, I hadn't how complex it was. Until I was in the middle of talking about it.

[03:34]

And I realized, too, that there were bumps in the road ahead that I hadn't discovered how to talk about. And at least two of the bumps in the road ahead were the concept of the Pratyekabuddha and the word enlightenment itself. So when I suddenly realized what I'm presenting you're not going to be able to practice, I stopped. And when it became clear to me that what I'm presenting here, that you can't practice it like that, I just stopped.

[04:42]

So let's start again. You know, they say in physics now time can go forward or backwards, so let's roll back. Here we are, yesterday. Yesterday. Okay. And often in situations like this, It's the basics which are the problem. Just as a little aside, I've been thinking about governance quite a bit, how society governs itself and how that relates to Buddhist practice. I don't know if I... mention it directly or indirectly, but it's at the very level of how we determine what's other and what's other and non-other, on that distinction, governments and different societies have built up.

[06:15]

It's great that you can say all these things. I'm so glad. So this topic requires us to look at practice, our life, very basically. Without any idea of Buddhism, for us humanoids to understand or mutual beings, or beings.

[07:17]

We're born. And what does Heidegger say? We're sort of thrown into the world. Thrown is kind of a strong word, but maybe it makes sense in German. We're spanked into the world. I mean, some of us. My daughter, as you know probably, Elizabeth, I probably mentioned, is going to have a baby. And in a lineage of girls, females, we're going to have a boy. Or she's going to have a boy. And the predicted date is December 25th. And we don't think it's going to be a second coming.

[08:38]

Everyone gets that, I don't. You should be more Christian. Yeah, but... And we decided not to name it Jesus. And we decided not to name the child Jesus. Ah, now I understand. I have other things to do to my defense. So we don't call the child Jesus. But I mean, the fact is that any one of us has been born. And the other fact is we'll die.

[09:42]

Yeah, so my daughter told me, I said, oh, you're going to manufacture another human being who's going to have to die. And she said, oh, thanks for being so cheerful. That we can manufacture such extraordinary things. animals as us is unimaginable. And in between birth and death we have to decide what to do. In America, we say, I don't know what you say in German, but between birth and death, the only thing you have to do is pay taxes.

[10:53]

Can you say that in German, too? No, I don't think so. But you could. Isn't that an expression in English? No idea. What? I've been there for a long time. You haven't? Well, there's certain advantages to being elderly. Okay. Basics. So you're born. This has nothing to do with Buddhism. You're born. All right. Now, the word practice... has no meaning unless it means that being alive is a choice. Das Wort Praxis hat keine Bedeutung, wenn es nicht bedeutet oder außer dass es bedeutet, lebendig zu sein als eine getroffene Wahl.

[12:06]

So the concept of, I mean, practice is a concept which has no meaning unless it's a decisional choice unless it's recognized that being alive is decisional. So this is at the edge of where Buddhism maybe starts. Because we are not... Buddhism is about exploring how we're alive. So maybe the first teaching, or we could call it teaching, or common sense maybe, is to explore whether we have made a decision to be alive.

[13:12]

And I think when we explore that decision, whether we've made that decision, And we often see that we've made a compromised decision. Yes, I'm going to stay alive if people love me. It helps anyway, too. Or if I'm successful.

[14:19]

Or if I make a difference. And it's so hard to get in the good colleges in the United States now. Many young high school kids commit suicide because they're not going to get into the right college. So that's yes, they're making a decision, but only if. You've got to kick that if out of your decision. A Buddha or Bodhisattva is one who decides, I didn't decide to be alive, but now I am alive and I better decide, no matter what, to be alive. A Buddha or a Bodhisattva is someone who says, I have not made the decision to be born, to be alive, but now that I am alive, I do everything to stay alive.

[15:33]

I will be alive, come what may. There are certain life conditions or illnesses and... mentalities which, you know, sometimes it's a noble decision to decide not to be alive. But it's the decision to be alive, the chemistry, the catalytic chemistry of the decision to be alive which is necessary for practice. But it is the chemistry of this decision to stay alive, the catalytic, the processes in progress of the chemistry of this decision, that is, what did you say, at the core? Of the... Of Buddhism, maybe? Of making practice work. Okay. To really face... practice with where not knowing is the dynamic in other words the koan which says not knowing is nearest or not knowing is most intimate because fundamental practice means you don't have a story to guide you

[16:57]

And many of us start to practice because we have some hint of realization or we lose our story or we have some kind of experience which puts the stories in doubt. And many of us start with the practice, maybe because we have such an idea of realization, or maybe because we lose our history, or because something happens that questions our history. I like Yuval Harari's decision, who practices Buddhism, decision to... decision to accept his aliveness, which meant his stories went away. His decision to choose aliveness over stories. And he realized when he was a teenager he was gay.

[18:32]

I've told you this before. And he said, this is my aliveness. The stories have to be wrong. He had the confidence or courage to say, My aliveness is my reference point, not the stories, Judaism. He teaches at the Hebrew University in Tel Aviv. I don't know how they put up with him. Okay, so when your story goes, how do you find out what to do? What we used to call, I don't know nowadays, but what we used to call in the United States a nervous breakdown was very often a person who just lost his story.

[19:45]

Why should I go to work? What does it mean to have a family? And then they don't know what to do. Maybe something, they somehow decide to continue. So you're born. And then maybe intuition or maybe luck or something, you realize... or you're helped by your family, you realize, I'm going to be alive. And this rooted decision has everything to do with how you function from then on. And this decision right now, at any age, can transform you.

[20:54]

Okay. Stay alive. All right. Now, then the question comes, how to stay alive. Does my family's story help? Does my nation's story help? Does my culture's story help? Well, yeah, we have to negotiate these things. But Buddhism starts, really fundamental, core Buddhism starts with no story. How do you live Find out how to live with no story.

[22:06]

And that's what I would call evidential Buddhism. And that's why this phrase, not knowing is nearest or most intimate, is so powerful because the guide is not knowing because you don't know. You have no stories. And not knowing has no power unless you've decided to stay alive fully. Und nicht wissen hat keine Kraft, es sei denn, du hast auch beschlossen, vollständig vollkommen am Leben zu bleiben. So the word practice means you've made a decision to stay alive.

[23:10]

Das Wort Praxis bedeutet, du hast eine Entscheidung getroffen, am Leben zu bleiben. Now I need a craft for living. realizing that decision, developing, evolving that decision. And that craft is Zen Buddhism. And Tibetan Buddhism is a related craft. And various teachings of early Buddhism are a craft. And Christianity and Judaism and Mohammedanism, we used to call it Muslim, what do you say now? Islamic. Islam is a craft. And this is your second choice. first to stay alive, and then what craft will you use to stay alive, to explore being alive?

[24:23]

And you courageous individuals, among all the crafts on which you could apply to being alive, have chosen the one even among all of Buddhism, which gives you the least directions. So that, I mean, yes, it's scary, but it also says you are going to make the practice, the craft work yourself. So in what domains, where are the territories where you develop this craft?

[25:26]

Well, in, let's say, in in dharmic conditions. Now, what do I mean by dharmic conditions? Okay, I mentioned the first one, is that you see the world as a series of appearances. The craft of the teaching of Zen cannot be applied to your life unless you have developed a sense of appearances.

[26:29]

lässt sich nicht auf dein Leben anwenden, bis du nicht herausgefunden hast oder bis du nicht die Fähigkeit entwickelt hast, die Welt als eine Abfolge von Erscheinungen zu sehen. At the rate I'm going, starting with the basics, we'll be here for the second coming. So a simple phrase, which is basic Zen kind of mondo and wado. It's a mondo because it's also a question and not just a phrase.

[27:39]

There's questions implied in it. Mondo, weil es auch eine Frage ist, oder weil da Fragen drinstecken und nicht nur ein Satz. Is what many of you have practiced with, is just this. Ist etwas, womit viele von euch praktiziert haben, nämlich einfach dies. Just this. Einfach dies. If you apply that, eventually your body and mind gather into an appearance, an appearance, an appearance. Wenn du das praktizierst, dann sammeln sich dein Körper und Geist immer wieder neu an in diesem Gefühl von, hey, Erscheinung, eine Erscheinung, eine Erscheinung. And to make it more subtle and more processive is if this, if this. So each this is a choice. And to make this even more subtle, or to turn this even more into a process, is when you say, if this, if this, so that every this becomes a choice.

[28:51]

Most basic for most of us, just this is... At least it sounds like something real is happening. But more truthful, perhaps, is if this, because you don't know, even in just this, you don't know what this is. If this, okay, now I'll take the next if this. If this, okay, now I'll take the next if this. I practiced strangely enough many years with what if I'm in an airplane crash that I know is going to crash.

[29:53]

For some reason I can see the engines are burning. If this, okay, if this. And for strange reasons I practiced for years with the idea of what it would be like to sit in a crashing plane. And I know that it will crash, for example, because I see how the engine is burning or something. And then I practiced this feeling over and over again. If this, okay, if this. On these recent two long flights I had, people ask me, how was your flight? I say, well, I got on the plane, I got off. That's the basics. When people ask me in these two long flights that I just had, I was asked again and again, how was your trip? How was your flight? I say, okay, I got on the plane and I got out again. That's the basis. Okay, so the first condition, dharmic condition, is knowing the world as appearances.

[30:59]

That allows the teachings, the practices of the craft of Buddhism to be applied. Das erlaubt dann, dass die Lehren, die Kunst der buddhistischen Lehren, angewandt werden kann. Okay, now, when are you most open to the if-ness of this-ness? Und dann ist die Frage, wann bist du am offensten für die Falshaftigkeit der Isthaftigkeit? When you're open, of course, that's one thing. Natürlich erst mal, wenn du offen bist. And when you feel still. Und wenn du dich still fühlst. Now, stillness is not a given.

[32:03]

Stille ist nicht selbstverständlich. And I often say, train yourself to notice stillness. Und ich sage häufig, bringe dir bei, trainiere dich, Stille zu bemerken. Notice how in a glass of water by your bed or teacup or the ocean, the water's always trying to return to stillness. The wave is trying to return to stillness. So the practice is, yeah, notice the waves. also notice the stillness in the wave itself. So one of the Dharmic conditions is to always notice the stillness in activity. That's what Newton saw and didn't know what he saw. But you can't notice the stillness in others, particularly, unless you can feel it, not know it, but feel it in yourself.

[33:34]

So another basic condition of practice, in addition to seeing the world as appearances, as in all the time, not just sometimes, all the time you see the world, feel the world as an appearance. Not even a succession appearance, an appearance. Well, will there be another one? Yeah, usually. In this condition, this dharmic condition, the world is always seen as an appearance. Not necessarily as a sequence of appearances, but an appearance. And then comes the next one? You don't know exactly, usually already. Yes. So again, you can practice, as I say, noticing the stillness in water, noticing the stillness in a tree, even when the wind is blowing the leaves apart.

[34:45]

That's possible because of the stillness of the tree. So that we could define a Bodhisattva as one who feels always feels his or her own stillness and relates primarily to the stillness of others, not the activity of others. And we can define a bodhisattva as someone who always feels his or her own stillness and is in relationship with the stillness of the other person, not so much with the activity, but with the stillness. Suzuki Roshi used to say, when I see you all in the Zendo sitting the same way, I can see your differences.

[35:53]

So our individuality is most individual when we see it in relationship to stillness. Okay, now, the two obstacles. One is the Pratyeka Buddha. And I think we all think in terms of realization, enlightenment, etc., in a pratyeka sense. Now, a pratyeka Buddha is a term for, a very positive, tactful term, for an enlightened experience which is personal or happened by accident. The young man I told you about at the Esalen meeting, he had a Pratyeka experience.

[37:09]

not really a Buddhist realization experience. Now we chant Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi Buddha. Samyak Sambodhi Buddha. Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi or Samyak Buddha. Okay. Yeah. You don't have to translate it. I don't have to translate it. I did it for you. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Finally, I translated myself. So Pratyayekabodhi or Pratyayekabuddha, Samyaksambuddha. And the Samyaksambuddha is a Buddha who's enlightened through phenomenality and with a teacher and with others. As a... Your birth has nothing to do with Buddhism.

[38:31]

Your enlightenment experience may have nothing to do with Buddhism. Deine Erleuchtungserfahrung hat vielleicht überhaupt nichts mit Buddhismus zu tun. It's a Buddhist enlightenment experience when it happens within the lineage with a teacher and with a Sangha. Es ist eine buddhistische Erleuchtungserfahrung, wenn sie innerhalb der Lehrlinie mit einem Lehrer und mit der Sangha geschieht. Okay, because the four conditions, four catalysts, which I've mentioned, need to be met for it to be boost. That you're sure that practice is transformative, can be transformative.

[39:50]

You're sure it can free us from emotional and mental suffering. Du bist sicher, dass die Praxis uns von geistigem und emotionalem Leiden befreien kann. Du bist sicher, dass sie zum Wohle allen Seins und aller Wesen ist. And it's in accord with evidential experience, how things actually exist. No. Buddhist enlightenment meets these four conditions. But the word enlightenment is already a problem. Because it's in an entity world, an event world.

[40:52]

And so maybe realization is a better word. I haven't Realization is a better word because it's a process. If you've had an enlightenment experience that has nothing to do with Buddhism, when it's a process, a path process, then we can say it's Buddhism. When is incumbent upon? required of, incumbent upon, that it's incumbent upon the adept practitioner to create the conditions that can precipitate transformation in a way that's beneficial for all and is in accord with evidential experience.

[42:10]

It's crazy you think I can forget that. Well, I'll do it step by step. Would it be nice? Okay. I'm a Buddhist. I should be nice, right? That's right. Okay. So it's incumbent upon an adept practitioner to create the conditions where transformative practice can free you and others from emotional and mental suffering and is for the benefit of others and allness and is in accord with evidential experience. So the reason for having a teacher is to create the conditions with another person which allows you to have an enlightenment mutually related to the other person.

[43:34]

Now, I don't usually say that because that gives me an impossible job description. So I simplify it and say my job description is to have a known address. That's all. It's up to you to decide how you make use of me if I have a known address. Okay. I'm supposed to be strong enough to withstand it. So, how do you create the conditions with others that could precipitate mutual realizations? Wie schaffst du also die Umstände, die Bedingungen mit anderen zusammen, in denen sich Verwirklichungen anbahnen können?

[44:59]

So the three domains of dharmic realisational practice are zazen, your intersubjective relationship with others, Deine intersubjektive Beziehung mit anderen. And your experience of intra-phenomenality or non-duality. Und deine Erfahrung von Okay, das geht auf Deutsch nicht gut. Intra-phenomenalität, die vielleicht Inwendigkeit der Phänomene. Or immediacy. Und nicht-dualität und unmittelbarkeit. So immediacy is when time contracts and space opens. So Einstein would agree with that. So there's a very, I mean, immediacy is a very real way in which you practice in letting allness flow through you.

[46:02]

Vermittelbarkeit ist eine ganz reale Art und Weise, wie du praktizierst, indem du Allheit durch dich hindurch fließen lässt. And the four Brahma-Viharas, the four Unlimiteds, are the way you create... Dharmic conditions for realization with others. You refine yourself, refine yourself, refine yourself through noticing when you can be friendly, simply friendly and open to another person. Du verfeinerst dich und verfeinerst dich und verfeinerst dich, einfach indem du bemerkst, wann und wie du freundlich, nichts weiter als das, nur freundlich mit einem anderen Menschen sein kannst.

[47:13]

Or like you or don't like you. And when you can have this antennal equilibrium in everything you do. And when you can have this And when you can feel each other from their own shoes or compassionately. So that's the domain of practice for the Bodhisattva, which in a way is even more fundamental than Zazen. If you could make a comparison.

[48:20]

You discover the antenna of stillness in Zazen. It's a resource you now know. And it becomes part of all your relationships with others. And is tested by your relationship with others. So this is Samyak Sambodhi practice, not Pratyeka practice. And as you may know, the word enlightenment was not used in Buddhism at all except until the late 19th century, 1870s and 1880s. And Max Müller, a famous German Buddhist scholar, he's the one who established enlightenment as a word.

[49:37]

But it has this Christian and Calvinistic origins as a word. It's an event and not a path. And Max Müller, a well-known scholar who translated the Buddhist texts at that time, he shaped this word, enlightenment. And this is a word that comes from an event-based worldview with Christian side meanings and Calvinistic meanings. And that has nothing to do with the Buddhist origin. So babies are born. In Buddhism it is a way. and persons, people, beings, have enlightenment experiences. Babies are born and people have enlightenment experiences. But that has nothing to do with Buddhism. The craft of Buddhism can make use of an enlightenment experience. But the condition of a realization experience in Buddhism is that you can practice beneficially with others.

[50:43]

And so it's best you have your realization is with and through others, and that's what the lineage means. Okay, that's more than enough, right? And more than enough is just enough. Thank you very much. Thank you for translating. Our intentions are the same as yours.

[51:27]

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