Last Sunday I brought a fan and this Sunday I brought a different fan in this fan case. And last time I brought the fan, I brought it to enact a story about a Zen teacher who was fanning himself. And a monk came up to him and said, teacher, the nature of wind is permanent and there's no place it does not reach. why do you fan yourself? And the teacher said, you understand that the nature of wind is permanent, but you don't yet understand how it reaches everywhere.

[01:09]

The monk said, what is the meaning of it reaching everywhere? And the teacher continued fanning himself. and the mokpa. So the nature of truth, the truth is always the truth. Everything is in a dynamic interdependence, and yet Everything's always in a dynamic interdependence. The truth of interdependence is permanent. And there's no place interdependence doesn't reach. So why?

[02:16]

Why? Think about that. Why make every action of body, speech, and mind the performance of the truth? The truth reaches everywhere. It's always here. Why do we have to perform it? because unless we perform the truth, we will not understand that it reaches here, now. And not only

[03:22]

do we need to perform the truth here, now? But we must perform it wholeheartedly. Otherwise, we won't realize it. That's kind of a negative way to put it. A positive way to put it is, if you wholeheartedly perform the truth as it's appearing right now, That realizes the Buddha way. That realizes the life of benefiting others. That realizes Buddhahood right here, right now.

[04:28]

simple but difficult to be wholehearted because of habits of half-heartedness. Not difficult in a sense. It's pretty easy to be half-hearted because that's our habit. It's painful to be half-hearted When we're half-hearted, we're frightened. When we're half-hearted, we're frightened and at risk of being violent in our fear. But it's easy to slide into it because that's our habit, to hold something back, to not give ourselves 100% to this moment is a habit which we're familiar with.

[05:35]

Or I hope you're familiar with it. But there's a possibility to hear the teaching that if we would be wholehearted in our speech, in our thinking, in our posture, that that would realize Buddhahood in our thinking, our speaking, and our posture. The wholehearted performance of all your actions is the same as being fearless and nonviolent. Nonviolence is wholeheartedness and fearlessness.

[06:40]

Half-heartedness is, in a sense, not... Half-heartedness is always frightened, is always being somewhat frightened. And it's always a little bit violent, actually, because violence is being done to our wholeheartedness. our heart is being constricted by habits. What I'm saying to you, what I've said so far, I would say is a story, an idea. An idea that the path of the Buddha And Buddhahood itself is wholehearted performance of your daily life. That's an idea I propose to you. And this idea which I have offered and which I share with you is something upon which one could act.

[07:56]

an idea upon which my life action could be based. In other words, it's my faith. It can be my faith. And also, for me, in this world of change, I'm not completely sure of this idea I have shared with you. But I'm I'm willing to bet on it. I'm willing to stake my life on it. Stake at least one life. How about this one? How about this moment to bet on wholeheartedly performing the sitting, the thinking, the action you're involved in right now. Bet on that. being the Buddha way, if you could be wholehearted about it.

[09:05]

Someone might say, well, what about if you're going to tell a lie? if you're wholeheartedly told to lie, would that be the Buddha way? Would that be realizing Buddhahood? And I would say, lying? If you did it wholeheartedly, you would tell people you're lying. You'd say, I have a lie for you. I want to give you a lie. In other words, it wouldn't be lying. In other words, lying cannot be wholehearted. Telling the truth can be wholehearted, but lying cannot be. How about killing? If I kill wholeheartedly, is that the Buddha way?

[10:24]

No, the Buddha way is not killing. I'm saying that if you're involved in killing, you're not being wholehearted. If you're giving life, if you're giving life, you're wholehearted. If you take anything, and especially life, you're not being wholehearted. Taking anything is not wholehearted. Taking anything is not wholehearted. Wholeheartedness is the bodhisattva precepts of not killing, not taking anything that's not given. Giving your life, giving my life, that's wholehearted.

[11:29]

taking anything, especially life, is half-hearted. Human females have this potential to give birth, to like really feel with their whole body what it's like to give life. And in that sense, when they perform this act of delivering a baby out of their body, or even having a baby in their body, or moving a baby from inside their body, outside the body, they have the opportunity, the wonderful opportunity of being, for a certain period of time, biologically supported, to be wholehearted. It's painful for most but is wholehearted.

[12:33]

And when the woman, when the female, is at that wholehearted place, I say, she finds the Buddha way. That's what I mean by the Buddha way, is that wholeheartedness she feels in the process. And the baby, if the baby could be wholehearted, the baby also is realizing Buddha. And when the baby comes out, people often think, oh my God, it's a Buddha. It's a Buddha. When my daughter was born, it looked like a little Buddha. Actually, it looked like a big Buddha. Wholehearted beings. If you imagine a Buddha in human form, like, you know, the Buddha that lived in India 25 centuries ago, and then the disciples of Buddha down through the 25th century, some of whom have been called living Buddhas,

[14:42]

If you imagine this Buddha walking on the earth and it's lunchtime. Actually this Buddha, supposedly according to stories I've heard, this Buddha who lived in India after morning meditation used to walk. And I think maybe walk barefoot. Or anyway, maybe with sandals, but his feet would get dirty because there's quite a few stories about washing his feet after he took his walk in the morning. He would take a walk into inhabited areas to ask for food, to beg. Now, if you imagine this Buddha going into town, walking to town, This is the Buddha walking to town, right? See the Buddha walking to town in your mind?

[15:50]

And when the Buddha's walking to town, is this Buddha performing the Buddha way? Do you imagine that the Buddha's performing the Buddha way when they're going to walk into town? Well, I do. I don't imagine the Buddha saying, okay, here I am, the Buddha. with my disciples, and I'm going to go to town now, but I'm going to take a break from being Buddha as I walk to town. My walk to town is not going to be my practice of the Buddha way. That's not my Buddha. My Buddha is like walking Buddha to town. Buddha walking to town, this is the Buddha way. And the Buddha blessing the earth every step of the way, blessing all beings every step of the way, giving himself, giving herself to all beings every step of the way. Maybe never getting to town, but however far the Buddha walks,

[16:56]

Every step the Buddha is giving herself 100% to the welfare of all beings. Completely, unreservedly giving herself to the welfare of all beings. Completely loving all beings with no expectation of this 100% gift. That's how I imagine the Buddha standing and walking on the earth. How about you? Could you possibly imagine any other kind of Buddha than 100% living? Buddha is 100% living. Buddha is wholehearted living. Mustn't that be so? Or you could say, well, what about if people said, you know, it would really help us, Buddha, if you would live just like 95% occasionally? The Buddha might say, well... I'd be happy to do that for you, but I think better if I just keep staying 100% and I'll have one of my disciples who knows how to live 100%, they'll do a 95 for you.

[18:05]

Or perhaps I'll pass the baton to one of my disciples and they'll do the 100% and I'll do 95 for you if you really need me to. In other words, I'll be a little afraid for you if you need me to. But the Buddha may actually say, but actually I can say, you do not need me to be 95%. You're mistaken. You're trying to trick me. Thank you. That was a good one. So the Buddha walks 100%. The daily life of Buddha walking from the monastery into town to beg food, the daily life is 100%. the Buddha way for him. Then he gets to town and he begs, and he begs 100%. He begs wholeheartedly. And this is the performance of the Buddha way. And the people give him some food, and he receives the food, and he receives it wholeheartedly.

[19:13]

And this is the Buddha performing the Buddha way. Does that make sense? Maybe. Simple. His disciples are standing next to him and they're also begging. And they're trying, they're watching the teacher and they're trying to beg 100% too. If they are able also to beg with their whole heart. to completely be wholehearted in their request for food, and to do that for the welfare of all beings along with their teacher, then they are realizing the Buddha way next to their Buddha, which of course is realizing the Buddha way. Then maybe they take the food that they were given and walk the Buddha way back to their eating area, their lunch area. They sit down, wash their feet, washed their hands, and they eat lunch.

[20:17]

And they eat lunch wholeheartedly. Or maybe they don't eat lunch wholeheartedly, but the Buddha certainly eats lunch wholeheartedly. Completely, wholeheartedly, reaching for the food, making it into nice little bite-sized pieces because the Buddha ate with his hands, and bringing the food into the mouth wholeheartedly. This is the way the Buddha, I would think, eats. In question and answer, if you want to debate that, please do. But it seems to me a reasonable thing to believe is that the Buddha would eat wholeheartedly. If the disciple of the Buddha, sitting there with him, her, also eats that way, the disciple is doing the same practice as the Buddha.

[21:24]

The disciple realizes Buddhahood with the teacher. when she eats wholeheartedly, when she eats for the welfare of all beings, completely present, not holding anything back, giving herself completely, giving her life to the activity of eating. Then, I don't know, finish eating and now wash the bowl. Wholeheartedly wash the bowl. not holding anything back, giving yourself completely to the activity of washing the bowl, realizes Buddhahood. And I've also said sometimes here that the Buddha way is basically leaping.

[22:29]

leaping beyond all distinctions between self and other, between Buddhas and non-Buddhas, between enlightenment and delusion, leaping. But also I would say today the Buddha way is leaping beyond wholeheartedness and half-heartedness. And that's wholeheartedness. Wholeheartedness is not to hold on to wholeheartedness. It's to leap beyond the distinction between wholeheartedness and half-heartedness. It's having no idea of what wholeheartedness is. I've given you some ideas of what it is, but in wholeheartedness there's no idea of wholeheartedness. And in the wholeheartedness there's not killing, not taking what's not given. not lying, not misusing sexuality, not intoxicating, not slandering others, not praising yourself at the expense of others, not being possessive of anything, not having ill will, and not disparaging the Buddha, the truth, and the community.

[23:55]

which is another big topic, the community. The Buddha realizes the Buddha way together with Buddha. Buddha. So the realization of the truth comes with wholeheartedly performing the truth right now with what you've got at hand. But the additional comment is that this performance is not something you do by yourself. So the wholeheartedness is not your wholeheartedness or my wholeheartedness. This is additional information about wholeheartedness. The practice of wholeheartedness, the wholehearted performance of an action like speech

[25:22]

is done not me speaking wholeheartedly by myself, but my speaking wholeheartedly with you speaking wholeheartedly. In other words, a Buddha and a Buddha together are necessary for wholeheartedness. That the wholeheartedness is a social event So again, it's not me sitting here or you sitting there being wholehearted. It's you giving yourself as much as you can to the moment, to the meeting. Me giving myself as much as I can. Both of us being wholehearted as much as we can. And together is actually where the wholeheartedness is realized. Wholeheartedness means living for the welfare of others.

[26:26]

But they have to be included. They have to participate with us. So here I am talking with you, and here you are listening to me. And maybe soon you'll be talking to me. So we can practice now and later being wholehearted with each other, understanding that actually the wholeheartedness is not something that either of us can do by ourself. And also, of course, not something that Buddha is going to do for you. I'm not going to do your wholeheartedness for you. You're not going to do my wholeheartedness for me. And neither one of us can be wholehearted alone. My wholeheartedness needs you. Your wholeheartedness needs us. And that's how the wholeheartedness is the same, is benefiting each other, living for the welfare of others.

[27:37]

And Buddhas need other Buddhas in order to realize the Buddha way. Wholehearted beings need other wholehearted beings in order to realize the real wholeheartedness. Fortunately, we have other beings. Now all we need to do is be wholehearted, to leap into wholeheartedness. with no fixed idea of what leaping is like or what wholeheartedness is or what beings are or what self is or what benefit is but hearing the words that this is all about helping others and that the cause of helping others is wholeheartedness and that wholeheartedness needs others to be realized.

[28:45]

In order to help others, we need others. And in the wholeheartedness of us being together, beings are not only liberated, which is part of the deal, they are liberated and we want them to be liberated I want things to be liberated, but I don't just want things to be liberated. I want them to be liberated so that they can go into wholeheartedness. I want them to be liberated from half-heartedness, yes. I want them to be liberated from fear and holding back and contraction and tension and violence, yes. But not just that. I want them to be liberated from it and then enter into heroic beneficence and joyful life. Wholeheartedness. So just like the truth reaches everywhere, and it's always so, wholeheartedness really does reach everywhere.

[30:42]

But we need to practice it in order to realize it. Generosity is ever-present. Giving reaches everywhere, and everywhere is participating in giving. But if we don't practice giving, we won't realize it. But if we do practice giving, we will realize that giving is all-pervasive, and there's no stealing. We'll realize that. we'll see people who are giving to each other who think they're stealing from each other. We still see that, that some people do not see that giving is going on, even though we see that they're giving to each other and supporting each other. But we see that they don't see it that way. And we see because they don't see it that way, they feel bad.

[31:49]

They're suffering. They're not enjoying the giving which they're actually involved in. So we must practice giving and have great joy in it to teach them to practice giving so that they'll realize after they start practicing that when they were stealing from each other they actually were giving. Stealing is an illusion. Giving is reality. Not killing is reality. But we have to practice not killing and practice not stealing. We have to practice giving life and giving everything in order to realize giving. And we must practice giving wholeheartedly. And we must do it together. if we wish to realize Buddhahood, if we wish to make the world filled with nonviolence and kindness and peace.

[33:01]

And what I'm saying to you is something which I'm willing to act on, which I'm saying to you is something I'm willing to bet on. I'm going to bet on being wholehearted. Right now, I am betting on being wholehearted. How about you? If you have any reservations about being wholehearted, it would be wholehearted to admit that you have reservations. If you're afraid of being wholehearted, that's a sign that you're still half-hearted.

[34:06]

But if you can wholeheartedly have your reservation, you'll become a free, a fear person. So maybe in question and answer you can bring up any doubts or reservations you have about living life without reservation. Maybe you can bring up doubts you have about living life wholeheartedly together with other beings who wish to or don't wish to live wholeheartedly. We also need the beings we've got. And some beings are not They just don't think they're ready to live wholeheartedly. They're too afraid, because they're living half-heartedly, to even think of living wholeheartedly. These are some of the beings we need to play with if we wish to be wholehearted. So I'm kind of on the verge of leaping to the end of this talk.

[35:40]

And I kind of want to say goodbye to you and tell you that in case I die today, I really hope you live your life wholeheartedly. I really hope that. I hope that you live your life wholeheartedly with all beings. If you do, you will make my life worthwhile. Thank you very much.

[36:21]

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