Some of you were here last week when Gene Reeves spoke about the Lotus Sutra and the great Japanese 20th century poet Kenji Miyazawa. And he talked about, well, a lot of things about Kenji Miyazawa and his use of imagination to express the Bodhisattva Way. He talked about a story, The Night on the Milky Way Railroad. Fascinating fantasy, I would say. What I want to talk about tonight is the importance of imagination in bodhisattva practice. So in our zazen meditation, one aspect is focus, concentration, settling, finding some inner calm. That's an important part of our practice, and we have various concentration objects to focus on, breath, and we could use sound and mantra and many, many things.

[01:03]

But there's another side or another aspect, and it's not only separate, but another aspect of zazen and meditation practice. and also of our Bodhisattva work on and off the cushion, is what might be called panoramic awareness. So in this practice of just sitting we do here, from Dogen and the Soto tradition, we say to just sit, whatever comes up, just to be with that. Practically speaking, many of us, at least early on, regularly throughout our practice need to kind of slow down and stop and focus and settle. But there's also, as Suzuki Roshi talked about, giving the cow a wide pasture. There's also the range of image and imagination. That's very much part of the Lotus Sutra that Gene talked about.

[02:04]

I want to talk about it generally in terms of Our practice and of bodhisattva, which is to say Mahayana Buddhist literature, the North Asian tradition of Mahayana, our universal vehicle, the ideal is the bodhisattva, the awakening beings. And this is the practice we do here and we chant at the end the four inconceivable bodhisattva vows. This is kind of the, what underlies our meditation practice. Part of this sense of vision or imagination is to help us have some sense of positive vision amid the challenges of ourself, our own lives, and all the complexities of that, and of the world, and the challenges of the world.

[03:05]

how do we have some wholesome, positive view of our life and of the world, even when we may know very well our own patterns of grasping, or anger, or frustration, or fear, or confusion. And we may very well know, or we may know somewhat, it's pretty obvious, the corruption, and cruelty, and violence, and wars in the world, and so forth. And yet, the Bodhisattva teachings give us a kind of stable base from which to respond to all of that. So Dogen talks about studying the self. He says to study the way is to study the self, to get to know our own habits and patterns of grasping and attachment and frustration and so forth. But in the middle of that, studying the self is also to see our own sense of possibility, so to have positive visions.

[04:13]

is to be flexible and open to new possibilities, to responding in new ways, to not being so stuck in our patterns. So this kind of vision is shifting. We have the Bodhisattva scriptures like the Lotus Sutra, I'm going to refer tonight more to the Flower Ornament Sutra, but these give us these visions of bodhisattva awareness and activity, which may seem very lofty and sometimes very distant from us. And yet, I think for each of us, in our own way, there is this possibility of vision. We can borrow and be inspired by the old Zen stories and by the Bodhisattva scriptures and stories, but also vision is not about something we try and work to figure out or create.

[05:23]

We don't know so much about the historical context of how the Lotus Sutra or the Avatamsaka Flower Ornament Sutra were created. We can speculate about some aspects of it, but it seems that this view of the potential of bodhisattva life that we are connected with, that these visions and these sutras came out of people just sitting, just focusing just in samadhi and So I would suggest that for us too, in sitting, it's again not about trying to figure out or create some vision, but to allow vision, allow imagination, allow our sense of possibilities, our connectedness, and our sense of wholeness to arise. And I don't know if

[06:29]

Any of you have had experience of that, and that's okay if you have or haven't. Very practically speaking, one way to see it is that this is based just on the fact of what we call emptiness. The world is absent of inherent existence. Anything in the world, any one of us is we just chanted the Heart Sutra, is empty, which is to say we have form. But we are empty of some inherent, substantial, fixed existence. We live amid change. Because of that, our openness to imagination, our openness to visions, whether they arise in our own heart-mind as we give the cow a wide pasture, as Suzuki Roshi said, or whether we borrow them from these great scriptures, they allow us to find some sense of possibility and wholeness in our lives, on our cushions, and in the world.

[07:39]

And because the world is subject to change, then we can also change the world. We can envision possibilities. Great Bodhisattva who was alive when I was growing up, said, give peace a chance. All we are singing is give peace a chance. Imagine a world that is where everyone wants peace. Anyway, this is the realm of Bodhisattva vision, so I want to just share some other perspectives on that. I hope we have some time for discussion. I'll start by quoting from a young Buddhist scholar I like named David McMahon. He says, the ability of the visual system to apprehend vast areas, long distances, and many things simultaneously is often highlighted in Buddhist literature and associated with a sense of spaciousness.

[08:50]

This sense of sight as capable of encompassing wide spaces and penetrating to the farthest depths of the cosmos is important to the development of the imagery of Mahayana Sutras. So, there's actually a lot in that. The sense of spaciousness in space is one of the great resources in our meditation. We have this space, this room, sort of open in the center, with Buddha in the center of that. But also as we sit, we can open to some wider sense of space. And there are, well, there's one of the primary koans in Zen is about this sense of space. that Zhaozhou, great Zhaozhou, as a student asked his teacher Nanchuan, what is the way and how do I know it? And Nanchuan, so I'm thinking a little bit longer story, a little bit shorter, Nanchuan said, it's not a matter of knowing or not knowing when you reach the true way beyond Tao.

[10:01]

It's vast and open as space. this openness, this possibility of openness in our life, even with all the difficulties, not ignoring or trying to run away from the difficulties of our lives and of our world. But this sense of space is important. McMahon talks a lot about vision and seeing and how we know things. To see something is to also understand or know something. So vision, and so I'm talking about vision and imagination, to have images like the images of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas to inspire us, such images, or the image of the snow within that caused Tanahashi left for us on the wall. These images are part of a sense of vision, a sense of seeing, a sense of understanding in a deeper way than some discursive, linear outline of something, but seeing that we have, when we see the ache in our shoulder or our knee as we're sitting, when we see the wall in front of us, when we see the sounds around us.

[11:23]

Anyway, this sense of vision is very deep. Dogen and a lot of the koans use what we might even call fantasy. There are very imaginative leaps that happen in some of these koans. Weird things happen. It's sort of like a dream narrative sometimes. Not always, but there is this part of how Mahayana and Zen literature works. Buddhist scholar George Tanabe says, visions are central to the East Asian Buddhist experience, but little has been done by way of research of them. Mahayana Buddhism is among the many things it can be, a tradition of the mind's faculty for producing images, in both waking life and sleep, a tradition that is of fantasy, producing visions and dreams, which were interpreted by the dreamers for their own meanings and which can be

[12:32]

to add a modern aspect read by us for their feelings, we can gain a better understanding of Mahayana Buddhism as a vehicle not only of ideas and institutions, and it is that, but also of human emotions as well, when we start to study the fantastic end of the spectrum, and when that becomes more available. And so these are, McMahon and Tanabe are talking about this from a scholarly perspective, and that's useful to us, but also from a practice perspective. Can we be open to images? I feel like I was first inspired to practice to a great extent by seeing Japanese Buddhist sculptures when I was 20, amazing statues. images of Buddha, just to look at the Buddha and see the kind of calmness there, and to look at the various Bodhisattva images and see. It's all right.

[13:33]

It's all right. If you need to step out the back, It's all right. When I came in, I don't know what happened. Well, something wanted to enter into our space here, so... Images also happen in sound, you know, we can... So it's all right. No problem. Part of what I'm talking about is being open to accident, or open to what arises. Can we hear new possibilities? Can we be inspired by positive visions and use that in our practice? Again, it's important to say this isn't about ignoring the suffering of the world. It's not about turning away from the difficulties in our life or the world, but how do we use that?

[14:36]

So a little bit more, Gene Reeves, who was here last week talking about Kenji Miyazawa in the Lotus Sutra. His interpretation of the meaning of this, one of the central images of the Lotus Sutra is of Shakyamuni Buddha having this enduring, long lifespan. That's the central story in the sutra. where the Buddha reveals that he, we chant something about this in one of our chants, that actually it seems like he is born and leaves the palace. and wanders around and does practices and gets awake and sits under the Bodhi tree and becomes the Buddha and so forth. But actually, the time that he's been alive is very, very, very long. These astronomical metaphors, and he will be around twice that long in the future. So Gene says, what does it mean to say that the Buddha is universal, this long-lived Buddha?

[15:42]

says, though some would take it to be so, this is not, I think, a metaphysical claim about some ultimate reality. The purpose of the Dharma, of the teaching of reality itself, is to lead people to act like Buddhas, that is, to be doers of the Bodhisattva way. And in this sense, the wider purpose is to enable each of us to be the Buddha in the world for anyone to see. how do we express Buddha, each of us in our own way, from where we're sitting right now. And this is central to the kind of practice we talk about in Dogon's tradition where we're not meditating as a technique to become Buddha sometime in the future. We're expressing our uprightness right now. as a way of celebrating and expressing the Buddha that's here. So again, Jin says, the purpose of the Dharma is to lead people to act like Buddhas, that is, to be doers of the Bodhisattva way.

[16:51]

So the wider purpose is to enable each of us to be the Buddha in the world for anyone to see, and this is one way to understand what that long-lived Buddha is about. Another, just a phrase from another scholar, Heejin Kim, who wrote a wonderful introduction to Dogen. He talks about how Dogen was a religious thinker, not merely or even primarily a philosopher. His most philosophical moments were permeated by practical religious concern. against the background of which his philosophic activities stand out most clearly in their truest significance. And there's this phrase here, what Dogen presents to us is not a well-defined, well-knit philosophical system, but rather a loose nexus of exquisite mythopoetic imaginings and profound philosophic visions. So I know some of you are reading Dogen. So just look for this loose nexus of exquisite mythopoetic imaginings.

[17:55]

And there's a lot of that in the Lotus Sutra itself. There's the story in the Lotus Sutra about imagination and fantasy and how to use that. One of the many parables in the Lotus Sutra is about a caravan leader. as a kind of metaphor for the Buddha, guiding a bunch of pilgrims through a desert. There were many such in Asia. A long desert, and at some point they get very tired, and feel discouraged, and feel overwhelmed and hopeless, and there's just no way they can continue. And suddenly there's this beautiful oasis city there. And the sutra tells us that this caravan guide has conjured up this magical city. It's like a fantastic city. But the pilgrims stop there and they are refreshed.

[19:03]

And they feel like they have accomplished what they, you know, the goal and so forth. And at some point when they're ready, when they're totally refreshed, the caravan guide or the Buddha says, well, actually, this is, we still have, you know, this is only halfway there. There's still a long way to go, but now let's proceed. So again, that's one way to see these images as a kind of There are many parables in the Lotus Sutra about this. So what I want to do is now just read a little bit from, in closing, from the Flower Ornament Sutra, the Vatamsaka scripture. Its full translation is about 1,600 pages. I recommend you read it, even a page of it, or all 1600. It's a very, it's the ultimate visionary text.

[20:07]

It's full of flowers and ornaments, as the name would indicate, and it's very psychedelic. So I'm just going to read the last text, the last chapter is considered a sutra in and of itself, the Gandavya Sutra. Tom Ferry translated it as the entry into the realm of reality. So I'm just going to read a little, just some little sections from that, but basically the story of this is considered an independent scripture, but this last part of Flower Ornament is about a pilgrim named Sudhana, and he's a very sincere follower of the Bodhisattva way, and the basic story is he asks for guidance along the way, There are 53 different great Bodhisattva teachers who he encounters. Each one reveals this wonderful, fantastic teaching of reality and then says, but actually, I don't know so much. You should go see so-and-so who's further on south and goes south throughout this.

[21:08]

Anyway, after seeing 52 of them, he gets to Maitreya, the next future Buddha. I'm supposed to read a little bit about what happens there, and then we can talk about all of this. He says, it says, Sudhana, his mind pursuing thoughts of respect, reverence, honor, submission, regard, empowerment, and determination, with the eye of knowledge intent upon the ground of the realm of such infinite knowledge, prosperited himself in front of the door of the great tower chamber of the adornments of Viruchana, the illuminator. So Viruchana is the main Buddha of this sutra. He's the Buddha who is the whole, the reality body Buddha, the Buddha who is the whole universe in its awakened sense. And so at the end of, after seeing 50 some other teachers, he gets, Sudhana arrives at the this palace of Maitreya that has these adornments of the Buddha Vairochana and you know there's there's just pages of all these rich descriptions just so few samples it describes this this huge tower this is the abode of those who dwell in the state where one aeon enters all aeons and all aeons enter one aeon

[22:35]

those who dwell in a state of the totality of one land and all lands as one land, those who dwell in a state where one thing and all things, all things and one thing, harmonize without conflict, those who dwell in the state of the unity of one being and all beings as one being, those who dwell in the state of non-duality of one Buddha and all Buddhas, all Buddhas and one Buddha. It goes on. for pages and pages with these rich descriptions of bodhisattva activities. So I'm just going to give you a few little excerpts before we get to the culmination of this. At some point, Sugana, and by the way, all the different teachers he's visited, they're of all different kinds. Some of them are priests, some of them are nuns, but there's also lay people, there's goddesses and courtesans, there's merchants, incense sellers, there's sailors, and there's just all of these different amazing bodhisattvas in all these different forms.

[23:40]

Anyway, he gets to Maitreya. Then he saw Maitreya outside the tower coming from somewhere else, followed by a great number of beings, respectfully flanked by the gods, Indra, Brahma, and the world guardians. Toward the great tower of the chamber of the adornments of Vairakshana, Seeing Maitreya Sudhana was uplifted in mind, very happy and joyful, and prostrated himself before Maitreya from afar. And then there's a lot of description of the wonderful activities of Bodhisattvas, or just at random. Having purified his mind and relinquished his body, this wise one will see the abode of all Buddhas and henceforth develop the sprit. He will develop the embryo of virtue and clarify the path of knowledge. He is recognized as an embryo of knowledge developed in accord with the womb of vows. Well, there's these very flowery descriptions of all of this.

[24:44]

Even unthinkable millions of enlightening beings, or bodhisattvas, who have carried out this practice for millions of eons have not attained such accomplishment as you have realized in one lifetime, he says to Sudhana. Okay, here. Thus my traitor, seeing Sudhana arrive imbued with virtues in the realm of non-obstruction, revealed him to the assembly, speaking of his treasury of qualities. Sudhana, hearing such supreme direction, An instruction was sputtered with joy and burst into tears. His hair stood on end and he sighed with delight. He rose and paid his respects to Maitreya. Then by the mental power of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, who is sitting in front of the Buddha on her altar, there appeared in his hands beautiful flower garlands and jewels produced by the vows of enlightened beings. Blissfully Sudhana showered these on Maitreya.

[25:49]

Then Maitreya patted him on the head. and said, ìIt is good that you are so indefatigable, so steady, Sudama. You will be a vessel of virtues like Manjushri and me.î So a little more of this. At some point, all of this is happening outside this wonderful tower of the virtues of Vairocana. So this suggests 1,600 pages of this stuff, but it's here at some point. I think it says, Maitreya says to Sudhani, you would ask how an enlightening being is to learn and carry out the practice of the enlightening beings. Go into this great tower containing the adornments of Vairocana and look. Then you will know how to learn the practice of bodhisattvas and what kind of virtues are perfected in those who learn this.

[26:52]

Then Sudhana respectfully circumambulated the enlightening being Maitreya and said, please open the door of the tower and I will enter. Then Maitreya went up to the door of the tower containing the adornments of Vairagyana and with his right hand snapped his fingers. The door of the tower opened and Maitreya bade Sudhana enter Then Sudana, in greatest wonder, went into the tower. As soon as he had entered, the door shut. He saw the tower immensely vast and wide, hundreds of thousands of leagues wide, measureless as the sky, vast as all of space, adorned with countless attributes, countless canopies, banners, pennants, jewels, garlands of pearls and gems, and it goes on like that for So then also inside the Great Tower he saw hundreds of thousands of other towers similarly arrayed. He saw those towers as infinitely vast as space, evenly arrayed in all directions, yet these towers were not mixed up with one another, being each mutually distinct, while appearing reflected in each and every object of all the other towers.

[27:58]

So he saw this and he was flooded with joy and bliss. His mind was cleared of all conceptions and freed from all obstructions. And then he describes the different towers and what he sees in them and goes on. Just a little bit more. Some of my trade assistants. Sudhana, by the power of the enlightened being, by the knowledge of the collection of dreams that constitutes the world, the notion of smallness gone from his mind, abiding in the immensely vast, unobstructed perception of enlightening beings with the mental scope of enlightening beings, his intellect having entered into the inconceivable wisdom of enlightened beings, Sudhana saw the whole supernal manifestation, was perfectly aware of it, understood it, contemplated it, used it as a means, beheld it, and saw himself there. And then at some point, the enlightening being Maitreya, entering the tower and relaxing his magical force, again snapped his fingers and said to Sudhana, arise.

[29:07]

This, everything he's seen, and I've skipped over 20 pages, this is the nature of things, characterized by non-fixity. All things are stabilized by the knowledge of enlightened beings, thus they are inherently unreal and are like illusions, dreams, reflections. Then at a finger snap again, Sudhana emerged from the trance and Maitreya said to him, did you see the miraculous display of the magical power of enlightened beings and so forth? And Sudhana said, I saw, number one, by the empowerment and spiritual force of the benefactor. And what is this liberation called? And Maitreya said, this liberation is called the sanctum of supernal manifestations of unconfused recollection, entering into knowledge of all objects of past, present, and future. An enlightened being assured of enlightenment in one lifetime attains untold liberations like this." And Siddhanta said, where has this magnificent display gone?

[30:08]

Maitreya said, where it came from. Where did it come from? Maitreya said, it came from the effectuation of the magical power of knowledge of enlightened beings, and resides in that very magical power. So, okay, this is a little bit of what goes on in this world of imagination in the Bodhisattva literature, and maybe that's all too much for you, and that's fine, so you don't need to read the Flower Ornament Sutra, but it's out there. But just in our own way, and it doesn't have to be Buddhist, but what inspires your imagination? What inspires you to see positive possibility and vision? There are many sources for that in the world, not just And part of the point of all the different kinds of teachers in that last Gandaviva Sutra is to see that the range of beings in the world who are actually doing bodhisattva work, not necessarily Buddhist.

[31:17]

That's not the point. So again, none of these images obstruct the details of the challenge. the various challenges of each of our lives and of the suffering of the world. This, I'm sorry, I'm talking about tonight and really what Jean talked about last week, this use of imagination in the Bodhisattva way is not about escaping to some place outside the world. Jean talked about that in terms of the Milky Way Railroad and bringing it and coming back to the world in some way. Maybe that's enough for me to say, and I've gone longer than I wanted to, but we'll take a little more time for discussion. Just, again, to allow, the point I want to make is to allow yourself to be inspired, and to use the images that inspire you to have positive vision.

[32:29]

and that this is actually not just some fantasy in a negative sense, but the point of this is to be a resource so that you can respond to your life and to the world more fully and wholesome. So, comments, questions, responses? Rangesh? So, I think a couple of things. One is, who is Manjushree? Okay. Isn't it true that, I mean, there's nothing, I don't know, is it not that in Buddhism we are just supposed to see things as it is? imagination is something that you are not seeing things as it is? Great question. So first of all, Manjushri is one of the many Bodhisattva figures. Sometimes he carries a sword to cut through delusion.

[33:33]

He's the Bodhisattva of wisdom. On the image we have and on many traditional images he sits on a lion. to express his spiritualness. He's often very youthful. He's the Bodhisattva of Prajna, of insight, of wisdom. And the best book I know about this is called Faces of Compassion. I wrote it myself, but it's still the best introduction to Mahayana Buddhism that I know. And it gives all these different discussions of all the various different Bodhisattva figures, including who we chanted about in the Heart Sutra has images on the side wall, so you can look at that book to find out a lot more about Manjushri. But your question about suchness and imagination is very important. Our practice is about, in early Buddhism it's called bare attention. We face the wall just to see what is, what is this body and mind as it is. And yet, what I'm saying in what these sutras are saying is that part of suchness is how we see the richness of suchness is through allowing the images of our heart-mind, allowing the images of this tradition to be part of that suchness.

[34:53]

They are, in fact, part of that suchness. The suchness is not You know, one of my favorite Western poets, William Blake, talks about when you look at the sun, do you see a little golden coin or do you see this radiance with angels chanting hosannas, you know? How do we see the world as really alive? And the suchness of the world includes, I would say, the possibility of these Visions. And yet, don't go trying to add visions to what's in front of you on the wall. But as they arise, or as they may inspire you when you look at them in the traditional literature, let that be part of your suchness. That's a quick answer, and it's an important and deep question, actually. So I don't mean to be glib about it.

[35:56]

So I have one more question. Oh, well, I want to make sure other people have a chance, too. OK, give me one more quickly, Rangesh. So a lot of religions do not emphasize on a particular form especially, of course, Hinduism has everything is part of, in Hinduism everything is God, so everything, even a dog, a cat, a monkey, an elephant, everything becomes God in Hinduism. A serpent, everything, because there's nothing that's not God in Hinduism in some ways. And then there's also the counterpart, which is also similar, where many religions talk about not giving form to nature or God, whatever they call it. And then in Buddhism, I thought it's also similar that in the pure sense, there's no form, right?

[36:57]

No, no, no. There's no form, which means we have forms. Forms are... So we just chanted the Heart Sutra that form is emptiness. Forms are empty of inherent substantial existence. And, but emptiness doesn't exist outside forms. Emptiness is not yet one more form somewhere out there. Emptiness is the way form is, forms is. So yeah, we don't, in Buddhism we don't get attached to non-attachment or to emptiness. But actually to take care of the things of the world is very important. Because they are the way emptiness expresses itself. Again, a short answer to an important question that we could discuss, that I guess we all need to discuss for the rest of our lives. Other comments, questions, Jim? On the matter, the second question, on the matter of imagining

[38:04]

That is, instead of what's real, apprehending these things that essentially you yourself have made up. The fantastic as opposed to the real. And I was thinking perhaps... I didn't know that I would say as opposed to the real, but anyway, what... Okay, go ahead, sorry. And I was thinking that if you have a notion of the real, as opposed to nothing at all, then you give it some kind of form. That's the way we think. Yes. And so, in a sense, if you cut away imagination, you cut away any apprehension. None of it is real exactly.

[39:11]

It's all a bank shot. It's all pointing at things rather than conveying any kind of direct version of them. It would be that seeing, getting any form, a mental form to also deal with is, in fact, imagining. Yes. Good. Well said. Thank you. Other comments? Questions?

[40:11]

Responses? Jeremy? I almost feel like excluding the possibility for the wooden Buddha to get up and start dancing is to not accept Buddha as it is. Yes. There's a wonderful Pure Land temple in Kyoto. Aikando, it's near, right near, just north of Nansenji, a wonderful Rinzai temple. And the main image in the, you have to climb up a hill and go through various buildings to get there, but the main image in the central hall is the standing Amida Buddha, and his head is turned. like this. And the story is that the abbot, a very devout Pure Land abbot at one time, was doing walking meditation. I forget there was more to the story than this, but he looked over and saw that the Buddha was looking at him. Yes.

[41:14]

And one of our Zen chants says, when the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance. So yes, we don't know when the Buddha's going to start to sing or dance, or both. Nathan. Earlier this year, I was reading a book, Buddha's Rain, which is a devil. neurosciences and in relation to what he's teaching is that one of the things that, like the facts that was quoted in that book was that there are supposedly more possible connections between neurons in the brain than there are atoms in the universe. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's an interesting perspective on the question. The fact that there are more possible combinations of neurons than there are atoms of the same kind.

[42:28]

Yeah, modern neuroscience, thank you, and also modern physics. kind of support and reinforce this, not that Buddhism needs science or vice versa to validate it on either side, but this kind of visionary quality of these Bodhisattva scriptures are echoed in neuroscience, and also in modern physics, which, not that I understand string theory, but it seems like they're talking about multiple dimensions, and just like there are these multiple buildings, huge towers inside, like Trevis Tower, and there are various parallel dimensions in the universe. This is according to the mathematics of current physics, say, from what I understand. Yes, Laura. I was actually going to say something very similar. I mean, science is about figuring out what is, sort of, a different way of searching.

[43:39]

It takes a huge amount of imagination to make any important discoveries in science. I mean, when Weston and Crick figured out the DNA molecule, that was an enormous imagination accomplishment. They couldn't see it. double helix and just an extraordinary creative effort. But it is about finding out what is in a very substantial sense. Yes, science is about vision. Scientific work is about vision. And yeah, that's what we're doing in our meditation too. Looking to see what is. What is true for us? How is it that we be in the world in a way that feels upright and helpful and wholesome, and how does the world give us feedback about that? Paul, any reflections on any of this?

[44:44]

I was... So is this a contemplative and flowers, dirt, and worms, and earth, and sky, and everything else. But seeing that, is that a sort of a process of imagining in a way? Or is this a sort of a, just as a practical matter, I guess, contemplative practice of imagination that we're talking about? Yes. You know, when we say contemplative practice, and talking about this in terms of zazen, not in terms of some theoretical philosophical construct, practically speaking for us, yeah, I would say that zazen is just sitting,

[45:56]

You know, what I understand and experience of what Dogen was talking about is very open. So yes, there's all different kinds of ways to take on contemplative work, including, you know, seeing how any one thing, a flower is the soil and the sky and the rain and so forth. And I think they're a part of what the Flower Ornament Sutra I think reveals is that there's just almost infinite, or maybe infinite, varieties of ways of vision arising. And all of that can be used constructively. And part of our job is to see, okay, we have the precepts as a guideline for how is this arising in terms of our practice in a way that's conducive to helpfulness in the world. But yeah, to have a very wide field of how contemplative practice can work.

[47:02]

And it's very individual, I think. I really think it's hard to give one practice that everybody should do. That can work to some extent, but really to honor the individuality and diversity of how contemplative practice can unfold. So, any... Again, I spoke longer than I wanted to, but any last reflections, please? Jim, did you have something else? that what I'm thinking of right now comes down to something brief and light.

[48:04]

The Lord talks about discoveries, and there's certainly development in that there's It is the scientist that looks at experiments and results come in, not with inherent patterns of enrichment. I think what a scientist does, once these results have come in, is to find a way to make sense of them, to clothe them in a way that our minds can wrap themselves around the results, what the world sends in, what reality sends in. And the best you get with the use of imagination is a way

[49:13]

data, the use of imagination into a way that gives a handle onto them and will relate hope to further results. Yeah, it's alive. It's unfolding. We don't... It's not about getting some final formula. It's a living... Reality is alive. And our practice is alive. And part of the context of the Bodhisattva way is there's all these different Bodhisattvas and all these different scriptures because each of us has our own way of directing ourselves toward this kind of work and exploration. and unfolding in our own lives, so it's not what, so, you know, the flower ornaments, which is maybe the wildest and most imaginative kind of version of all of this that I'm aware of having been, you know, it's been recorded, but there are various ways of talking about this, and it's not that

[50:45]

The point is, how do we find our own relationship to reality and its expression? And as a living. So yes, thank you. Last word. A piece of imagination is suspending belief in some area to be able to see one of those alternatives, those many alternatives, and work through it long enough to understand it. Yeah, and belief in one area is an obstruction unless it's open to all areas. So faith in Buddhism isn't a matter of having certain tenets of belief. It's a matter of seeing, observing what's helpful, and being open then to shifting how we see. But maybe you have to suspend some beliefs, core beliefs, that you rely on to be able to operate in that one of those Yeah, it's important to not believe everything you think.

[51:50]

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