Dogen says, when Buddhas are truly Buddhas, one need not be aware of being Buddha. However, one is the realized Buddha and further advances in realizing Buddha. Seeing forms with the whole body in mind, hearing sounds with the whole body in mind, one understands them intimately. Yet it is not like a mirror with reflections, nor like water under the moon. When one side is realized, the other side is dark. When buddhas are truly buddhas, one need not be aware of being buddha. However, one is the realized buddha and further advances in realizing buddha. When we begin to study, we have some idea about what is Buddha or what is Dharma or Buddhism and go through various

[01:37]

stages of realization. But a final stage is where there's no self-consciousness of being Buddha, or what kind of role you have, or what your nature is. Avalokiteshvara, you know, it is a very good example of perfected state of Buddha. No special form, no special identity. As long as we still have some identity, we may, we're still Buddha.

[02:41]

but not yet perfected Buddha. You know, they say that the arhat, in the old days, there was always a question, you know, whether or not an arhat could be an arhat and still have traces of certain mundane qualities that we associate with unwholesomeness. And because Arhat is a person who was refining their life, perfecting their life to the extent that they had no unwholesome qualities left. So the Arhat ideal, you know, was to practice and refine your life to the extent that there was no longer any unwholesome qualities or rough qualities or unrefined qualities and therefore nothing worldly to hold to keep you returning

[04:11]

into karmic attachment, life of karmic attachment. And so they called Buddha the Great Arhat. And one who is worthy of offerings. Arhat means something like one who is worthy of offerings. And, but Arhat still had some, they decided that an Arhat could still have some imperfections. And one of them, the last thing that an Arhat would hold on to was arrogance. Arhat could be perfect in all of the ways. It's not that an arhat could still have arrogance, but it was the one thing that held that when a person got to that stage of arhatship, the last barrier was arrogance.

[05:27]

And, of course, we see it all over. It's interesting. So when the barrier of arrogance is passed through, it means no longer needing to have a worldly identity, a fixed worldly identity, or feel that you special thing to do. But because the person is in Buddha, whatever they do is naturally in tune with life itself.

[06:31]

And many teachers have said, well, that means that Because I am the teacher, anything I do, you know, will be in accord with life itself, so I can do anything I want. Which, of course, is the perversion of... Really has a high penalty when that barrier is crossed. when someone acts that out, it always exacts a really high penalty because you're dealing with something that's of a very high value and cannot be, you can't make any mistakes.

[07:38]

You can make mistakes on certain levels, but the higher the level is, more significant mistakes are. So, like I said, you know, we always have to be like water, finding the lowest spot. Then you know where you are. But when you try to go farther than where you are, when you, not try to go farther, but when you act as if you're farther than you are, then that's arrogance, or ignorance, or, you know, various names. So, if we hear that, you know, a Buddha, whatever a Buddha does is right action, because a perfected Buddha can't really do something wrong, because perfected Buddha is completely

[08:45]

in touch with life itself and has no ego, no self-motivation, no self-consciousness as Buddha, and without trying to do something, just naturally moves with life in the correct way. If you feel that you're at that stage, and feel, because I am a great teacher, and you feel that way, someone may feel that way, and then they just do whatever they want. Life is very strict. The Dharma is very strict. And, well, the consequence of that will be very strong and very harsh eventually, at some point.

[09:49]

But Avalokiteshvara is a very good example of Buddha because Avalokiteshvara has no particular need to do anything. No particular need for self-gratification or no need to own anything or to get anything or to progress or go someplace but just respond to circumstances. So Whatever situation Avalokiteshvara finds himself or herself in, Avalokiteshvara, by the way, is both male and female.

[10:56]

No special sex, actually, but becomes male when there's some need to be a male, and becomes female when there's some need to be female. Just responding to circumstances. without any particular effort. And when there's a beggar, Avalokiteshvara takes the form of a beggar in order to empathize or in order to understand the heart of the beggar. or if Avalokiteshvara meets a thief Avalokiteshvara becomes like a thief in order to understand the heart of the thief or like a prostitute or like a banker or like an industrialist or whoever always responding and

[12:15]

understanding the heart of whoever he or she meets. In order to help that person, help is a little bit too much, actually, because help implies some desire, you know, but without trying to help too much, just helps. Just because of where Haule Kijijivara is, without trying to do anything, just going about his business, her business, people are helped and saved. So there are three levels of how people are helped. One is to save all sentient beings, you know, and to, by doing something, doing something for them.

[13:31]

Another level is to recognize dharmas and to take care of our physical reality, to take care of the objects around us as ourself. Take care of the environment, take care of your place, take care of, you know, recognize the value of whatever is around you. And third is, without doing anything, just by being yourself, help everybody. That's the highest form of help. Then there are no judgments made. There's no like and dislike. No good or bad. No desire in it. Just because you are yourself completely, whatever you do helps people.

[14:40]

Without any thought about it. That's beyond our ability, I think. Certainly beyond mine. But sometimes, you know, we have all three qualities, you know, that are sometimes present The other way of expressing is Buddhas don't necessarily know that they're Buddhas. When Buddha are truly Buddhas, one need not be aware of being Buddha. In that sense, however, one is the realized Buddha and further advances in realizing Buddha. Another way of thinking about that is that Even though we're all Buddhas, every one of us is Buddha, it's too inconceivable to understand everything that is a Buddha.

[15:59]

You know, our practice is designed for Buddhas who don't realize they're Buddha. Because, you know, if you study Buddhism Buddhism intellectually, you study what is Buddha? Who is Buddha? And what is Buddhism? But in practice, you're allowed to be Buddha without having to know all about Buddha. In other words, you step into Buddha. You step into being Buddha. And you practice being Buddha without knowing much without knowing anything. That's why Soto Zen practice is very difficult if you want to know too much. It's pretty easy if you just step into it without needing to know anything.

[17:09]

So it's very hard for someone who always needs to know. What's the next step? Well, it's like later on in Genjo Koan, Dogen says, the bird doesn't have to know the extent of the sky before they can fly. The fish doesn't have to know the extent of the water before it enters and swims. The man steps into the boat, or the woman steps into the boat, this is not a yin and yang, and takes hold of the tiller, raises the sail, and away they go. Our life is like that. Before we know everything about what we're doing, we do it. And then we understand what we're doing. Later we understand what we're doing.

[18:16]

And this is the basic way of Soto Zen, or our particular practice. I don't know much about Soto Zen, but our particular practice is like that. So we all practice as Buddha, you know, without knowing we're Buddha. You don't think, I'm Buddha. You just practice. And that's the advantage. We have to practice without having to worry about who we are. Because if you had to know who you were before you started practicing, you'd never know. You'd never be able to do anything. And that's why I'm practicing. But frankly, we don't know why we're practicing.

[19:18]

No matter how much you know, you think, you know, you're just practicing, but you don't really know why. You know, if your mother says to you, why are you doing that? What will you say? You may try to say, tell her a lot of things, but the bottom line is, I don't know. I can't tell you. So you feel a little sheepish. And you wonder, well, everybody else knows what they're doing. She knows what she's doing. You know, he knows what he's doing. My boss knows what he's doing. Why don't I know what I'm doing? I'm not saying, you know, Well, I guess I am. I'm saying that not knowing is a very high form of knowledge.

[20:23]

But people don't recognize it, you know, because we all have to define what we're doing and know what we're doing and so forth. And even though we know what we're doing, we don't know. So, you know, we know and we don't know. If you think, I know what I'm doing, then you really don't know. But if you say, I don't know what I'm doing, then maybe you really do know. So What do you think? You look worried. Well, I was wondering about the times when people point out to me that I'm not Buddha. When am I then? Oh, not Buddha is the highest.

[21:29]

Where is Avalokiteshvara when he or she encounters the Buddha who has sort of lost his or her way and is striving out there, beyond there? How does, probably teaches where to save fallen Buddhas? In other words, yeah, yeah. That's a good point. That's right. You know, it's a very good point. Buddha nature is very compassionate. Karmic retribution is very compassionate.

[23:05]

Because there's really no, as Meili was saying the other day, quoting from the sign on the Green Gulch bulletin board, what was it again? Suffering without bitterness is compassion. So karmic retribution is without bitterness. It's just the word result. The result comes back. And that's compassionate. No good, no bad. Just as it is. So fallen Buddha did something to fall and result of the action came back and leveled that person and allowed that person to find their place. But a person may not want to go to that place, but it helps you to find your place.

[24:16]

It's very compassionate. So compassion may not be What we think it is. Compassion may be something, some terrible blow. What we think is a terrible blow. But it's just neutral. This is it. This is the result of things. Please accept how things are. That's compassion, actually. To allow us to find our true place. So, retribution or result, you know. How do you help a person? How do you help a fallen Buddha? How does Avalokiteshvara help? Well, patience. The first thing that came up was, can a Buddha be fallen?

[25:17]

As you're talking about Buddha, is this what you are? Well, a fallen Buddha is, or a Buddha fallen is fallen Buddha. Just like, you know, when we are If you make a mistake, you are a mistaken Buddha. And if you have pain in your legs, you're a painful Buddha. So yes, Buddha can do everything. Absolutely fallen Buddha. But the fact that fallen Buddha is Buddha means that

[26:22]

but it can also rise. Yeah. And in my wanting to make things right, I engage and typically lose myself in their chaos. And my bitterness is very quick to come up. I can accept all of that, but what I have a hard time with is presenting myself, going solid with it, taking a position.

[27:33]

Locking horns. That's why it's hard to help anybody. In a true sense, it's really hard to help anybody. We can help people, you know, but in a really true sense, it's difficult because of our own karma, you know, and where we are. And because of where we are, we have certain intentions, you know. In a lot of ways, we're kind of helpless also because

[28:37]

We can't get beyond who we are so easily. So that's why, you know, in our practice, we all work on ourselves. And when we work on ourselves, that helps other people. That's the best help we can give to people. I don't say that we can't help people in other ways also, but the best help is to work on ourself. And sometimes, you know, I'll give advice to people. And then I think, well, wow, you know, I'm giving them advice, but I should take my advice and advice from everybody else, you know. And it actually helps me, because then I start, you know, when I do that, I think, well, in order to be sincere about this, I really, I know that, I know what helps them, even though I don't, can't do it myself, or haven't been doing it. It helps me to get on the track of doing it myself.

[29:41]

So in that sense, they're helping me as much as I'm helping them. And it's not just this one-way street, as if I'm the authority. Even though I can see how it would make them work, or people work together, or something work, I know that

[30:04]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ