much

this fall
hi ben
bringing up to the word compassion in a lot
have you noticed
as we had a class on monday night over the mountain in the green dragon temple
i think it's called something about great compassion in zam or
the compassion of the zen masters
and also the theme for the practice period
at green dragon temple i think it's also great compassion in san

and we often remember
the
great being the the enlightening being of a low-key tesh far
who is sometimes called the bodhisattva of great compassion the enlightening being a great compassion

in in in one of the rooms upstairs we have in some sense we've called that room it's the realm of of lucky test far
where we have many statues of ability touch bar on a beautiful altar
which was given to us
the central figure there i i found in china and brought it back

ah hell
and then there's another statue of of lucky test for on this altar
this one looks quite different from the one at the on the center of the older upstairs
this one has like one ought to arms and two legs
the one upstairs has many arms
there's there's and there's more than one up there that has many arms

somebody recently said to me something like this
ah
they said to me i think i heard you say something like if you just keep listening and listening and listening something good will happen

and this person i think was thinking about listening to the teachings
and listening to the teachings and listening in the teachings and one of the good things that might happen if you keep listening the teachings as you kind of my you may go oh
ah i understand

zen makes not do that if you listen to the teaching and listen to the teachings that someday you might go all i understand
like
in zen training temples they chant the heart sutra and over and over day after day year after year
century after century and the people with chantix as are chanting after after some of them are years ago all

and by the way the heart search the person who is teaching the heart sutra is have a look at touch far
the bodhisattva of great compassion as teaching the perfect wisdom of that that of that
great
mahayana
perfect wisdom sutra
the bodhisattva of great compassion teaches us perfect wisdom
and practices
have a lucky test for a bodyside for practicing deeply
the prisoner power meter

so again this person said i heard you talk about listening and listening and and maybe she said is that right did you see that said well yeah i did say something like that i what i said yeah by listening listening listening to the cries of the world
that's novel lucky test for his name listening to the cries of the world it's not listening listening listening listening listening as the cries that were just one listening that's
best his name listening to the cries of the world or observing
the cries of the world that's
that's guan yin or crunches i
one geez i listening to the crux of the world no one g guan yin kwon jae kwan guan julian
listening to guan yin listening to the cries
canon listening to the cries
or observing all sentient beings observing all sentient beings listening to all sentient beings
an ocean of blessing arises beyond measure and one of the blessings that could come
would be that you would understand
sentient beings that you would understand their cries that you would understand the teaching that would be one of the blessings that would come to you if you listen to suffering beings if you listen to your own suffering
now now now now if you listen to other people suffering now now now one of the blessings is you on his you understand the teaching but also another blessing is that beings will be
liberated from suffering another blessing is that
great piece will be realized
in this world of suffering great piece will be realized by listening to the cries of the world
and many other blessings to although the that sort of top of the line
and then the person said to me but i mean like listening listening and understanding their teaching
well i would yeah and understanding into teaching
is that's how pieces realized
but also the teachings when they when you hear teachings like maybe you're hearing some teachings now i don't know are you perhaps there might be some teachings that you're listening to right now if you listen to these teachings one of the blessings of listening to these teachings is understanding them but these teachings are the cries of the
world these teachings are the cries of the world i'm not saying ouch ouch ouch i'm saying compassion compassion compassion compassion is my cry are you listening to it
compassion is the teaching the teaching is compassion to that makes sense that teaching is compassion that make sense
does it
does it
does it does it
your crime or before we get to my cry compassion is the teaching does that make sense compassion is teachings that makes sense the buddhas are teaching compassion are the buddha's compassionate or yeah right
buddha's are compassionate what are they teach
yeah compassion is the teaching of the wise ones
the compassionate ones teach compassion
so if you listen to the buddha's teaching you're listening to compassion and year
it may be are not learning it yet or yes but you don't understand it yet but you're learning you're learning compassion even before you understand it
and at the when the border talks that's the buddhist cry
and it's the cry of compassion and everybody when who sang ouch and help their also crying they're also compassion criers everybody's called and compassion and everybody's teaching compassion
and if you listen to the cries and listen to the cries and listened to the cries and listened to the cries you will hear the dharma
it's in the cries because the cries are the teaching of compassion
so listening to suffering beings you're also listen to the teaching
and listen to the teaching you're listening to suffering beings and the buddha isn't exactly a suffering being the is like totally cool and happy and
but the buddha understands that all the separate beings are the same as buddha
and the supreme beings don't understand that yet

okay
that's my basic and actually kind of new teaching is she has a new teaching
the cries of the world are the teaching of compassion
listening to the cries of the world
you're listening to the teaching of compassion listening to cries of world you will understand you will understand the teaching of compassion if i don't listen to the cries of the world i'm not going to say if you don't because i know you will but if i don't listen to as it tries to the world
teaching of compassion that makes sense
if i don't listen to the cries of the world and i'm not listening to the teaching of compassion because the teaching of compassion comes through the cries of the world are there are plenty of cries of the world
so there's plenty of teaching of compassion even somebody who who's being cruel is crying for compassion and teaching compassion the cruelty isn't compassion
the cry
is calling
for compassion and listening to the crime you'll hear that teaching
i could go over this
repeatedly and i just have i could continue repeating myself
and i will
but you can also take up the baton
one time somebody came to ask me talk to me and minnesota was doing a retreat there and she said what's that kind of what's up bhutan you're carrying
i said i hadn't heard to call a baton before
but i guess it is kind of bhutan
a baton something to to the two men meetings of bhutan or one is
something i can like a a conductor of an orchestra uses to sort of it is this is kind of a
a baton for the orcas dharma orchestra
but not the meeting a bhutan is a
a stick that's passed from one person in a relay race but that's also or doing here this stick will be passed on this is a boutique were in a buddhist route really race from generation to generation we use these things to pass on the teaching of compassion it is a baton

now you can pick up the baton of what of listening to the crisis a world and you can repeat it and you can pick up the baton of listening to the teachings of compassion
and if you listen to the teaching of compassion you have received the baton
of the buddha's
and if you practice it you can transmit the baton
the baton of the practice of listening to the crisis a world the baton
of listening to the dharma of the teaching of compassion

and if i don't
receive this baton
and pass it on if they don't receive this baton of listening to the crashes a world then i innocence miss an opportunity
to listen to the cries of the world
but in the next moment i can recover and listen

i'm leaning over here
for emphasis
nine i'm leaning over here for emphasis what am i emphasizing i'm emphasizing something i think that i just said everything i've said so far i'm emphasizing
i think what i said is really really where it's at
where's it at listen to the cries of the world and that will be very beneficial
listen to your own suffering be right therefore it that will help this world you got suffering be there with it that will help this world that will bring blessings other people gotta listen to him that creates great oceans of blessing and
that's also teaching and receiving the teaching of compassion this is where it's at this morning at no bone

now another thing that came up recently if somebody's talking about can you
practice or express compassion without using
words

and i don't know what i said but i could might have said yes

the buddha
sitting in this world can you imagine a buddha sitting in this world can you imagine a buddhist sitting in other worlds can you
hmm what what what what
some of you can and some of you said so anyway i can imagine a buddhist sitting silently can you we have a buddha here this quite quiet very it
he sitting there he um he never said he don't say nothing
he just gave certain
he keeps just sit in along at that buddha quiet mooney means quiet one silent one we are these banners
homage to shockey or mooney
our buddha is called the silent one
when the boot is sitting in silence is the buddha's teaching compassion
i think so
what else is a border teaching wisdom
the buddhist sitting in silence teachings compassion and wisdom without saying a word
just nice little body more compassionately with i saying so
but the boot also talks this one doesn't by shakyamuni buddha to talk quite a bit some people even said he was rather talkative
he did talk a lot but i think although i don't know for sure that he was silent more than he was talking
when he was silent was the teaching compassion
when he was talking was a teaching compassion when it was sitting was a teaching compassion when he was walking was a teaching compassion
i agree with your people
okay so when you're sitting in silence do you want to teach compassion
when you're talking to you want to teach compassion when you're listening to you want to teach compassion

so if somebody asked me can can compassion be expressed without words or without talking the answer is
can compassion be expressed with words
can the compassion be expressed in many many ways
me i agree with you people
thank you for playing with me this morning at the at the compassion playground
and then i said to this person who asked this question about
can compassion big expressed without words are speaking
i also said is kind of like a woman a woman whose breastfeeding if she hears somebody else's baby crying you know maybe fifty feet away sometimes her blouse becomes moistened because the melt your squirts out she doesn't she doesn't necessarily is she probably doesn't say skirt
most breastfeeding mothers don't say don't say squirt they just
a just let the baby onto the tits and the milk comes
maybe if it doesn't come this come on come on come on
anyway that the milk of compassion can just squirt out as soon as it here's a cry without saying anything
ah okay and then
and then i'd thought of another story
which is case eighty nine of the book of the blue cliff
eighty nine and the name of the case is the hands and eyes of the bodhisattva of great compassion
so like again this bodies out with great compassion has two hands and to eyes
oh and upstairs the boy saw for hers
i don't know quite a few hands and i think has several faces i'm not sure and and then two eyes in each face soldiers
a number of hands and i number of hands so many hands and many eyes that's again could be seen as a sculptural teaching that there's many ways that compassion is expressed its expressed with this kind of
have that kind of hand this kind of have this kind of this kind of breast that kind of breast this kind of voice this kind of these kinds of a it can be expressed in many ways
two hands forehands eight hands are thousand hands
so that's the name of the story it's about this bodhisattva whose name as listened to the cries of the world who has lots of ways to do it
blaster ways to listen
and lots of ways to teach
so we have
two of our zen ancestors
one of those names union which means cloudy cliff
our cliff of the clouds
or cliff in the clouds
and he's a teacher of the founder of our school in china donjon he's dumb challenge teacher
and he had a dharma brother they both studied with medicine mountain
ja schon and as done the brother who was i guess older than him was named ah wo dao dao will which means path awakening

and
so the younger brother asked the older brother
what does the bodhisattva of great compassion use so many hands and eyes for
that's one translation for it maybe i could could try also how how does of lucky test for i use all those hands and eyes
grandma your eyes are so big what do you use them for i used them to see you
what does have a lucky check for how are does does the bodhisattva use all that equipment all that compassion equipment
oh and that's what the ah
that's what the younger brother union asked older brother davo and i've we said it's like
someone reaching
reaching back groping for a pillow
in the middle of the night

so
here's a handwrite one of other lucky test for his hand
what does she use that hand for while she uses for reaching for pillows in the night in the middle of the night

whoops sorry
sorry no boat i broke one of those

how does the bodhisattva of great compassion use these hands and eyes is like groping for a pillow reaching back not just in the dark but bucci behind you for a pillow in the night
that's how that's that's how the bodhisattva of compassion

you get it you get it is like
the milk squirts
it's like
pillow
it's like that
the guy fish story
okay so then the younger brother
hearing that on says when it hears about the arm reaching back
in the middle of the night for the pillow that's all lucky test fiery that's how of lucky test for uses the arms
what is
what is your and say after he hears this interesting teaching what does he say
yeah i understand he says
how about you do understand
and well if you don't then you're a little bit different from union
but maybe not so different and where unions that i understand and then those as well how so
and he said
hands and eyes all over the body
that's true
and then that who says you said quite a bit there
but it's only eighty percent of it
and then union says well how about you elder brother
and i always says throughout the body
hands and eyes

i would say you know you know so when we hear this teaching
it starts to cover a body
and hearing it more and more we get more and more coated with this teaching of compassion
but as we go off further and further
and when and would be encoded with it we use it
to respond
as we listened to have more it sinks into us
and when i finally sinks all the way through our body then it response but as no longer me responding from my surface of me it's like my whole being
including my surface but not just my surface my digestion
my heartbeat
everything about me is teaching compassion
and how does it get to be like that
by listening and listening one of the blessings of listening as your whole body be this these hands and eyes pervade your whole body and everything you do teaches compassion

somebody lists you can lift your elbow and teach compassion somebody else can lift your compact your elbow and who teach compassion other people are teaching your compassion because it's throughout your body
but at the beginning
it's all over your body
yeah here's these teachings to get all over your body has pretty good eighty percent
but it can sink in more deeply
and we are we are in the process of these teachings
of compassion sinking into our body
or we're also in the process of these teachings coding our body
covering the surface of our body and then sinking into our body covering the surface and sinking in both of those things are going on now and
most of us have not been thoroughly and completely pervaded
you know and transformed by this teaching it but we keep remembering this teaching and listening to this teaching and remembering to listen does the process
okay
and then there's a poem
celebrating this
conversation between two
ancient teachers
dhamma brothers
because they had the same teacher

i haven't i ever done my brother who was ordained the same day as me i have some other diamond brothers who are then on different days from me but one time or brother was jordan the same day as me and he's a very skilled carpenter and i helped him make a
coffin for me and now the is downstairs in the garage
you can go smell it if you want to smells very nice
so i just finished making this coffin with my dime my brother
and we we had some conversations while we made the coffins
you know kind of like you can send that now he would say
you can put some glue in there now
you can drill a hole
so we just heard a conversation and occurred more than a thousand years ago supposedly
our conversation this conversation this is like
the classical zen image of practice
it's the classical as an image of practicing what
compassion it's a classical image of zen what
what
then teaching it's a classical and an image of compassion it's a classic goals and image of wisdom it's a classic goals an image of the buddha away what is it
what is it's a conversation the classical zen image of compassion is a conversation
they're calling to each other and listening to each other calling to each other this is this is the way the classical or maybe that conversation ever occurred but that's the classical image of how the zen people practice compassion how did he do it talking to each other
when they also quiet with each other yes but the silence however
as part of the conversation the classical zandi image is not somebody sitting silently it's somebody sitting with somebody else in silence and talking silence talking silence talking that's the classic zen image
that's how the zen stories are they they're used to teach compassion and wisdom so that's the story we heard and now here's a verse celebrating it
all over the body is right
throughout the body is right
bree up is still a one hundred thousand miles away
bringing you know him
and bringing up could be me telling you this story
spreading its wings
the rock is to iraq to kind of bird
spreading its wings the rock soars over the clouds of the six compounds
it propels the wind to beat against the waters of the for oceans

what speck of dust suddenly arises
what wisp of hair hasn't stopped
do you see
the net of jewels hanging down in patterns
reflections upon reflections
when do the hands and eyes on the staff were to the sent hands and eyes on the staff come from
ha

i didn't want to give the talk that i just gave today but now that it's over i accept
i have something else so i thought was really interesting by
i'm not in control here
and neither are you
but you made me do it
if it weren't for you i wouldn't have said that stuff
that might have been okay to but it wasn't what happened

now if anybody who has been patiently waiting to raise their hand and eyes they may do so
whoa
brac sonia hama and patty
it's kind of a tie but maybe maybe boys first
ah you refer okay okay will you defer also
kay who will you defer defer
no there's one more
they will you defer also okay so everybody deferred anything else
ha ha ha
i hope please excuse me for his favorite foods excuse me for soiling your clothes with milk i'm sorry especially if you're non-dairy
pardon you changed
sonia says sonya what i really wanted to talk about is that gonna talk where she says i changed my mind that's what i really want to talk about did you hear that she said i changed my mind another way to say it is my mind changed
i do too but also thanks for it gives you an example but i changed my mind i changed my mind your who area e-reader expression i i'm i'm changing my mind but you know my mind is changing as you may have noticed
sonia the the sonia them the mind the mind changer also sonia the one whose mind has been changed lives here from that one
here at mine have the imagination is the compassion is already
here is that that's right
who is listening
and that's right at all or not which they it's not like there isn't any it's not like there isn't any know it's not like there isn't any it's like there is any compassion is already here we're talking about waking up to it and the way you wake up to it is by list
me and the compassion is already listening to if you join the listening you enjoy the compassion which is already here
are the for great oceans but way for granted
the atlantic the pacific
the indian
and the mexican
the southern as how about that for i can make up another for if you want but as to southern atlantic pacific and indian
indians good right that's where buddha used to live here to live in it but little bit north of the indian ocean
a north and surrounded by that an indian ocean okay the a pacific ocean that's a good one and the atlantic and the southern so this this birdie which the birdied the rock this birdie
miss compassion bird
it's got wings
and when and when they beat they beat the ocean up
and that bird is here all the time never goes any place because it's already every place and we're trying to wake up to this bird of compassion
so we can be it's servant and we can ride on his back and the room for all of us on this bird
function better soon
heightened
some firms are
it gets overwhelming
yeah feels overwhelmed yeah sometimes you feel overwhelmed whispered to her cries young
distant ones zero nero's sometimes listening the cries seems overwhelming
hey i gotta say where's my little kit where my kit go hello kit
where you go anyway nora went i found it
i got a little kit here which will help me hear you better make my ears bigger
see this is my little device somebody gave me these
i won't tell you i know
i know you do if so you shouldn't say either
okay so some anything else you wanna say break besides listening the cries of the world can seem overwhelming
nothing want to say to me to say something
so when you're listening to the cries of the world
and it seems overwhelming
what's the teaching
bill be compassionate to the feeling of overwhelmed listen to overwhelmed overwhelmed
how are you overwhelmed all your overwhelmed yes i'm overwhelmed
listen to the i'm overwhelmed listen to that ah and it made me that won't be so maybe you can listen to i'm overwhelmed take care of i'm overwhelmed if you don't if i don't take care of if i'm listening to you and then i feel overwhelmed and i don't listen to i feel overwhelmed and i will pay will
listen to you very well
if i'm listening to you and i get a the call of nature comes and i don't listen to it and pretty soon do something for you know relieve myself of that call then be harder for me to listen to so i listened to that slightly listen to you
so when you're listening in your here
listen to overwhelm
more
we take care of ourself
when we feel overwhelmed so we can take care of others
we listen to our own cry overwhelmed or overwhelming or i can't go on we listen to that and then we can listen
to the to the things which we will listen to him before but we had a response
and we should listen to our response
which is this is overwhelming or this is discouraging i'm trying to help people and they don't seem to be helped and i feel discouraged listened to i feel discouraged
or i'm listening to people and they seem to be
they seem to be helped
i'm encouraged listen to i'm encouraged i'm encouraged is calling for compassion i'm discouraged is calling for compassion i'm no good at this is calling for compassion i'm above average of this is calling for compassion everything is calling for compassion
that's why of lowkey touch bar as calls listen to everything
that the name of the body sought for his listened to everything including this is too much for me i need a break
but it's not that you don't listen to i need a break
you've listened to i need a break to and then when you listen to i need a break you didn't take a break but you listened to i need one
and then you lie down and take a nap and then you listen to lie down and take a nap
and then you and then you wake up from your nap and you feel any feel like oh i can go back to work now and you listened to that
and then you go back to work and you listen to that everything if you're doing all day long every motion you make every thought you take
i'll be watching you that
okay
yes
hey
yeah home on the differ the deferment

i like first two
express my dream
my dream is i hear a cry
cry is
is not
bringing compassion
doing just a crime
is
and
my dream is
t to be
how will say that i would say v com crash
i'm not into his mind
oh do we he just run off track you are fined up to that point and then you veered off
they are top gear vr it off because this thing which is which you said and not the mind that's compassion to
yeah
the mind is compassion everything is compassion
when you hear it when you listen to it when you realize is teaching you
don't exclude the mind yes yes yes yes okay yeah it's all
it's all included nothing excluded from this compassion
and then if we
yeah and we're in the process were in the process of become a bigger yes where it where you were in this process
edward and we're bringing and we want to bring everybody along and this process and we are
we're all doing
and then things happen which we think are exceptions to the process and that's when i always look for than a while
to me
yeah yeah right
yeah we need to keep including the fidgeted the fidgeting is calling for austin
the fidget in the fidgeting is asking us to come back and be with the fidgeting
patty patty

earlier
i
my town
that i realized
fine time suffering miles here
when i love
comparison to tens
right was suffering i was hearing
right
i wasn't something
yeah you weren't suffering anymore but the suffering were still there
it just a new became listening to the suffering you became not hiding the suffering suffering mr stilts the suffering is present but when you listen to it for listening is not suffering
so they're suffering and without getting rid this suffering there's the joy
so we got suffering now we have compassion compassion doesn't get rid of suffering it just creates this beautiful
peaceful mind right in the middle because again buddha sits in the middle of suffering
so i may the i'm here suffering and now there's compassion but maybe now that gotten the eyes moved over into the compassion part
so it's almost like i'm not suffering but i didn't get rid of any suffering
compassion doesn't get rid of suffering
it lives in the middle of it and shows people that there can be peace in the middle of suffering
in the map and and in the middle of the cause of suffering to ignorance and television and attachment
yes sir top was like meatless present more of suffering that we never endless reservoir suffering yeah never escape any inches there we know we never escape it and buddhists accept that
an accepting that we dont dont accepting never escape suffering all this compassion comes to help all the suffering beings so we have buddhas and suffering inseparable
and buddhism and and we we need to hear that is inescapable in order to settle down and become a buddha
which are similar to we need to stop trying to escape
cause compassion isn't trying to escape from the ocean of suffering
compassion is opening to it and listening to it like a buddha
not trend to get rid of it and we have various skills
generosity as x patience diligence and tranquility to help us open to it
and realize
bird so other people can do it can do the same practice

trying to get away from suffering is hopeless
but it's not hopeless
to become buddha in the middle of it
and the a blessing to all suffering that's not hopeless
yes
two weeks ago i heard you say great compassion resigns or lives in stillness and silence him as various yeah so the buddha's sitting in the middle of while suffering and the buddhist sitting in silence and stillness
an emanating compassion
and sometimes
by winking
that's the gun the first supposedly the first and story as buddha winked at my gosh a book
would a sitting in silence and stillness
and from the stillness
the hand comes up with a flower in it
from the stillness the compassionate teaching of raising a hand with a flower and twirling the flower
classical zen story conversation of buddha's hand with a flower and twirling
and then the buddha weeks
and it's hard to say with a chinese character their means blinked her weight i like wiped him
so from silence and stillness comes great compassion and the form of it is raise up the flower toilet and wink
and then and response from silence and stillness comes great compassion
in the form of the students smile
the teacher sitting the great buddha sitting in silence and stillness from the silence and stillness comes this conversation in the form raising a hand with the flower twirling it and winking the student also in silence and stillness smiles
they're having a conversation in silence and stillness they're mutually transmitting compassion to reach other and wisdom
all this is current in silence and stillness
and then the buddha says i have a treasury of true dharma eyes which i now give to the student
i have them the inconceivably wonderful mine of nirvana which i now give it a student
from silence and stillness i give it to silence and stillness

oh yes
what you are to say now i did
say that carl and i this past week
carl's her son it
we had a conversation in a tender tension tender tension we found ourselves great combination yeah
t t t t
hands
am i i just wanna to say that and great for practice
and it's not how it what the outcome was instead the conversation years
well it is not what the outcome was get tender tension yes that's already there it is and then the outcome of that is we don't know but maybe more practice be nice and it was to smoke it could have not been yet tender tension piece peacefulness
as tender tension
it isn't just peaceful it isn't just peaceful with light
no tension it's paid if there's no tension it's peaceful with no tension that faithful no tension also i mean to me there's tender no attention to also don't be mean to no intention of ever occurs
so tender tension is peaceful
peaceful is being tender with tension
peaceful is being
tender with relaxation
and i don't kick people for being relaxed
how dare you be relaxed
and but people sometimes do trip
treat relax people on tenderly it happens
and also people teach tense people tea tree tense people with on tenderly
but the body surface are tender towards a tense people
and towards their own intention
i should say the bodhisattvas aspire to being tender to their own tension and other people's attention the bodhisattvas aspire to be tender with people's frowns and grimaces and smiles they aspire to that and by me
many years of training they get
more and more consistent in this world of change somehow the tenderness keeps coming up more and more frequently
through training and more and more blessings through training

the evening breeze caressed the trees ten the early
the trembling to he is caress the breeze ten day
thank you very much tender ones i'm actually be tenderfoot
may or intention equally extend jewellery mean and plays well a true married the buddha as way these are numberless
yes
wow to save them
aliens are inexhaustible
wow to end them
gates are boundless
hi to enter them buddha as way is unsurpassable i he become
now we have haven't opportunity to eat some lunch if you have some lunch and if you don't have some lunch you can beg it from other people who do
everybody wants to share their lunch with you
especially ten
what what was promotion