what happens here this morning may be monitored. That just came out. I think it's related to the thought that arose somewhere in an ongoing effort to of all beings. A commitment has arisen this year to study the teachings of Buddha's wisdom. So in that ongoing effort, this morning we continue.

[01:01]

the discussion of the teachings of Buddhist wisdom or Buddhist wisdom about, Buddhist teaching about wisdom, how to realize wisdom, wisdom which will remove all obstructions to compassion. on this very auspicious day, which is the day after we celebrate and remember the of the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni, into pari-nirvana, which means complete freedom, complete freedom and peace. Nirvana means freedom. So is what we define as peace in the Buddha way.

[02:06]

Nirvana is peace. The Buddha passed into complete peace about 2486 years ago. We celebrated that. And the day before we celebrated, what's it called, Valentine's Day. And yesterday also, on the day of Buddha's Parinirvana, I understand millions of people around the world demonstrating their rage at the idea of war against Iraq at this time and their hopes for postponing war indefinitely. Maybe the reason why there's not very many people here this morning is that a lot of people went to, are marching right now in the fine weather in San Francisco, in about an hour, I guess.

[03:22]

And I'm going to go to the rally myself today. I mean, that's my plan. So how can we apply, or how can the teachings of the Buddha, how can the Buddha Dharma be applied to the prospect of inner and outer peace? How are Buddha's teachings applied to personal peace, and world peace. I would say that the teachings, first of all that the teachings of the Buddha are that inner and outer peace depend on

[04:33]

the correct understanding of the nature of phenomena. Peace does not depend on an incorrect understanding of the nature of phenomena. most of us, most of the time, have not yet realized a correct understanding of the nature of phenomena. And because of not realizing the true nature, the true nature of phenomena, war, inner disharmony. And then when we interact with others, because of that incomplete, not really thoroughly of the nature of phenomena, we have outer disharmony.

[05:44]

The solution which the Buddha offered is somehow let's work together to find correct understanding of the nature of phenomena. Then there will be inner and outer peace. And again, so I'm saying that understanding the true nature of oil, the true nature of a house, the true nature of your body, the true nature of your mind, the true nature of other people, the true nature of spiders, the true nature of dogs, the true nature of mountains, understanding the true nature of these things is the foundation and ultimate source of peace, of peace, of peace and freedom.

[06:50]

So from the last month, Here we've been emphasizing Buddha's teaching on the characteristics, three characteristics of phenomena. Buddha taught us about phenomena to help us understand phenomena so that there could be peace. Again, these three characteristics which are taught by the Buddha are that all phenomena have a a nature that they depend on things other than themselves for their existence.

[07:51]

They have an other-dependent character or an other-powered nature. You and me and rocks and trees have this other-dependent nature. Also, phenomena we experience have a fantasy character, a character of complete imagination or an imaginary or imputed nature. That's part of our life too. We need that part too in order to talk about And the third aspect of all phenomena is their ultimate aspect, the aspect which, when seen, saves us from suffering.

[08:56]

Phenomena have a thoroughly established character, and when one is able to see this ultimate character of phenomena, one is at peace, one is joyful, one is free. But in terms of approaching these, studying these three, and finally seeing the way things are, such that you are liberated from that vision, we start with the other dependent character. So, inner and outer peace first depend on and then repeatedly depend on contemplating the character of all phenomena.

[10:03]

After we are grounded, and then grounded in the contemplation of how everything we experience has its other-powered nature, we have that grounded in that meditation, we continue, we repeatedly meditate on that, and then on that basis we go on to study the other two characters. Realizing all three, we realize the way things truly are, and there is peace. probably going to be a few months before on Sunday lecture I feel ready to go much deeper into the second two. The second two characters pertain to the imputational character, the fantasy character, and the ultimate character phenomena. They both pertain to the basic other-dependent character. So the other-dependent character is the central meditation in the Buddha way. it's kind of ironic or something like that, that the Dalai Lama speaking English said that the Buddhist teaching on the other dependent character phenomena is the slogan of the Buddhist teaching.

[11:44]

It's the slogan. The way things dependently co-arise is Buddhism's slogan. And I say it's kind of ironic because the word slogan is a Scottish word which means battle cry. A slogan is a phrase which is used repeatedly. So we use this phrase, other dependent character, other dependent character, other powered character. In the Buddhist practice we use it. Keep repeating. Everything you meet is a dependent co-arising. Keep listening to that teaching. Keep repeating that teaching. Keep listening to that teaching. Everything you meet has this nature. Stay tuned to this station. Again, ironically, the battle cry of Buddhism is the peace cry of Buddhism.

[12:52]

dependent core rising is the peace cry of Buddhism. If you tune in to the peace cry of Buddhism, if you contemplate it, peace will arise in your heart and will pervade your relationships with everyone. You and I do not make ourselves be peaceful with others. But when this teaching lives in our heart, the teaching will make us into love robots, skillful When you and I are able to contemplate, to stay tuned to the teaching of how everything we see, other-powered, when we tune into that, we realize also that everything we see is impermanent, unstable, and not worthy of competence. Seeing this,

[13:55]

there will arise in us a transformation of our behavior from wrongdoing to virtue. Wrongdoing is the way we act when we look at impermanent things like people and cars and health. When we look at these things and think they're permanent stable and worthy of confidence. When we look at them that way, wrongdoing arises in us. When we see things as unstable, impermanent, and other-dependent, virtue arises in us. When we see things as permanent, we become excessively involved with them

[14:58]

when we see things as impermanent, we become intimately involved with them. We become appropriately involved with them, appropriately in the context of freedom. When we see that things are other-powered, we respond to things in a way that is apropos to peace. Apropos means to the point. When I see you as impermanent and other-powered, when this body and mind understands that you are impermanent and other-powered, then this body and mind will respond to you to the point of peace and freedom. if I see you, if I imagine that you're permanent, that you're stable, that you're worthy of confidence, then I will not be intimate with you and my response to you will not be to the point of freedom and peace.

[16:16]

If I see my own body, reliable, worthy of confidence, then I will relate to it in an excessively involved way. And my response to my body will not be to the point of peace and freedom. If I relate to my body and mind as permanent and self-powered, then I will be afraid that my permanent body will break, or that somebody will scratch my . And if somebody's going to scratch the body which I see as permanent, if I see them approaching my body to scratch it, I become afraid that they're going to scratch this thing which has no scratches and is unscratchable, but they're going to scratch it, and I become afraid. And I can even get really, really

[17:21]

I can have hatred towards somebody who's going to scratch this impermanent body and have a little war. On the other hand, if I'm tuned to station impermanence on this body, if I remember the nature of this body, when they come to break it, when the conditions come to break the body, there will not be fear and there will be not hatred. But there will be a response, and it will be appropriate. The peace. This body and mind will respond marvelously because of the understanding that it's impermanent, that it cannot be protected from change. It is not reliable. now, but you can't rely on it being that way tomorrow. He's a reliable guy is a kind of anti-Buddhist statement.

[18:27]

And although it sounds nice to say he's a reliable guy, when you think somebody's reliable, it's his duty. When you see how impermanent beings are, When you see how impermanent you are, when you open your eyes to your impermanence, you see your beauty. So I've been using again and again the example of my grandson, who to me is beautiful. And he is impermanent. He is unstable. And he is unreliable. He's not worthy of confidence. But so lovable in all his vulnerability, impermanence, unreliability, and untrustworthiness. You can love more fully when you have this teaching in mind. And naturally, you don't have to try.

[19:35]

It is spontaneous from this vision. This is the basic meditation. This all by itself will not produce, however, peace and freedom. It is the ground meditation. In order to actually fully accomplish peace and freedom beyond this vision and meditation of the impermanent, other-dependent nature of phenomena. Again, tuned in, tuned in steadily, step by step, step by step. Every step you take, you put your foot down, and the foot you put down is an impermanent foot on an impermanent earth. So, of course, you step very carefully. This is the basic meditation. But in order to fully realize peace and freedom, we need to move on to the course of study to see the ultimate truth of your foot and the earth.

[20:45]

The ultimate truth of the foot and the earth is that the foot and the earth are selfless phenomena. So first we have to see the other dependent character of all phenomena, of our body and mind. The dependent character of all our actions, Then we can move on to see the selfless character of all our actions of our body and mind. Then full realization of peace and freedom manifests in the world. I'm repeatedly bringing up the teaching of the other dependent character of phenomena, and I'm also repeatedly laying out the course of meditation so that you and I will remember what the topic is and what the course is, and understand this isn't the end of the course. This is the ongoing basis of the course. another little kind of like, it's almost like a sound bite, and that is that when I don't hear or remember the teaching that my body, my behaviors, and everybody I meet are other dependent phenomena, when I don't remember and yours are other powered phenomena,

[22:24]

when I don't remember that teaching, when I forget that teaching, or when I don't let that teaching in, then I naturally have a different view. I have the view that phenomena are self-powered, that behaviors are self-powered, that I am self-powered. So again, I'm now describing what it's like when you're not tuned in to the Buddhist slogan channel, but you turn to your innate, ignorant channel, which is the station of the self-power perspective. When I'm in the view of self-power, when I'm looking at the world through self-power perspective, then I am trying to control what's happening. I am in the view of trying to control my behavior and also use my behavior to control other people and things.

[23:32]

We are not actually in control. Nothing is actually in control of itself. We are not in control of other people But the self-power perspective, the perspective of delusion says, get control of your life. And anyone who wants to make money says, I can take control of your life and everyone will come. Because most people are looking at the world through the self-power perspective. Most people are trying to control what's happening or what will happen. When we are trying to control, we become afraid. And when we become afraid, we're vulnerable.

[24:39]

So, trying to control, being afraid, hating, trying to control, be afraid, being afraid, hating. This cycle goes round and round under the sponsorship of the self-power perspective. The traditional presentation of fear in Buddhism is sometimes put forward as suggesting five types of fear. These five types of fear are basically all about different varieties of losing control. Five varieties of fear of losing control. Fear of death, losing control of your life. Fear of loss of livelihood, fear of losing control of your livelihood, fear of loss of reputation, fear of loss of your mind, losing your mind, fear of losing control of your mind, and fear of speaking before large groups of people.

[25:55]

Because we sense we cannot control large groups of people. And if you ever got a large group of people under control, then you'd be afraid of a larger group. But I add to this pie actually a sixth, and that is fear of love. Because when you're in love, you're not trying to control. So being in love means out of control, giving up control, loss of control. So really, that's really what we're afraid of. On the other hand, when you listen to this teaching and let it go into you, you more and more are convinced that you're not in control, you never were in control, nobody else is in control, and you don't hate.

[27:03]

You see other people as not under their own power, as not doing what they by themselves are making happen, and as impermanent. Even in their unskillfulness, they're unreliable. And when you see them that way, you will respond to them more and more appropriately. And again, when you see people that way, you will respond to them intimately. You will not be excessively involved with them. Intimate means not excessively. It means not smothering them and not abandoning them. It means not turning away and not grasping, not not trying to get control.

[28:14]

So now we have the situation of the administration of our government speaking very bellicose rhetoric Seems like that's what I hear talking about going to war against Iraq, which, as you may know, is a country in which more than half of our children, more than half of Iraq, are under 15. More than half of the human population of Iraq is under 15. And we're thinking of going to war with a country which is primarily children. That's what I hear. And when I hear that, I think, the Buddha taught nonviolence.

[29:30]

The Buddha did not teach pacifism. The Buddha does not teach when someone's about to hurt someone you should just sit there and watch. Also the Buddha doesn't say that when someone's about to hurt someone you should do something stupid like punch yourself in the nose or run so fast that you slip and fall on your face. The Buddha says silence when you see the prospect of harm to any being Protect being. Once again, the Buddha said, please, protect being. Don't harm. Buddha said that. Buddha taught, don't hate anything. Any being. I shouldn't say don't hate anything. It may be okay to hate cruelty. We have a Bodhisattva precept.

[30:38]

which is, don't be angry. But what that means is, don't be angry at what you shouldn't be angry at, and be angry at what you should be angry at. You shouldn't be angry when someone's being kind to somebody else. Don't be angry at that. But you know, as you know, sometimes people get angry at somebody who's being kind to somebody else. Have you ever seen that happen? Like when your boyfriend's being kind to some other person, or your girlfriend's being kind to somebody else, sometimes you think, this is really sick. I hate being kind to that person. Sometimes, I heard this joke on the radio, this guy's on the deathbed, right? And his family's around, he called to his wife. Come close, she says. Yes, dear.

[31:43]

I have to confess something. It's all right, dear. You don't have to confess. It's okay. No, I really have to confess. Listen. It's okay, dear. I know already. That's why I poisoned you. And what is she poisoning him for? because he was nice to somebody else, giving her diamonds and fur coats, taking her on expensive vacations, kissing her feet, you know. He was being nice to her. But the lady of the house didn't like it, so she killed him. People Sometimes get angry at people who are being nice to other people. Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever been angry at somebody who is nice to somebody else instead of you? Has it ever happened?

[32:45]

Have you ever been angry at somebody or jealous of somebody for getting dressed up to go have lunch with somebody else? Even a husband might get jealous of his wife for having lunch with her girlfriends instead of and doting on him Such things can happen, and this is what the Buddha said, don't be angry like that. But if somebody is thinking of going in and dropping bombs on a population of people that are more than half children, what? What? And you might feel some anger about that. And okay, but the anger that comes up when you hear that picture, you don't know for sure that's happening. You should check it out. Are we really going to drop bombs on a population that's more than half children? And then even some of the word of mouth are really, really, really nice people. I haven't been to Iraq yet, but I have been to the Middle East, Islamic countries, and the many, many, many, many, many, many of those people are really, really kind.

[33:59]

Some of them are trying to sell me rugs, but a lot of other ones are not trying to sell me anything, you know. Matter of fact, I went into one store in Turkey to buy some water, and the owner of the store came and gave me presents worth more than the water I bought. I was a stranger. Unbelievable sweetness and kindness to a stranger. She didn't make anything off me. Why does she do that? Because she's a Muslim. And they teach to do that, to be kind to strangers. I saw many, many, many, many, many nice people who were very helpful to me at various points, who didn't make anything of it. I didn't see any, like, terrorists or people who hated Americans. They are there, of course. But most of the people, Maybe better than the average American, I don't know.

[35:04]

Who knows? I feel like we shouldn't be being political at Zen Center. I'm not really talking about politics, I'm talking about protecting beings. And then maybe you have to get into politics to protect beings. I don't know how you're going to do it, but anyway. I have to remember the teaching of the other dependent character. Otherwise, I might get excessively involved in my horror at the prospect of such a war and the first phase of it. the prospects of the attack of the United States upon Iraq. That's horrible.

[36:08]

I have to listen to that and look at that possibility and meet that possibility and stay balanced and not get excessively involved in it, but be intimate with it. Then the consequences, the backlash, the response of the world to such an act, that too I have to face, I have to contemplate and remember the teachings so that I can respond appropriately. I keep trying to practice the meditation with these things. And this has led me to speak like this and to plan to go to the rally today and it leaves me to read something to you. I wanted to read this whole thing because to me this was good news. I got some good news. And I thank people for sending me any kind of news. It's all stuff, it's all phenomena to meditate on, but this is like, this seemed like good news. This is impermanent. this news, it's impermanent, it's not stable, and it's not worthy of confidence.

[37:15]

And remembering that, I perhaps can have appropriate response. I hope it's appropriate to read you a little bit of this good news.

[37:23]

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