Maybe tomorrow, good afternoon, and maybe tomorrow we can set up for the Tay Show differently. This is using only half the room. It's okay. And as you've probably noticed, those of you who've been in the new sender, the altar is clearly not developed or finished. But Jürgen Pittasch, who was the master cabinetmaker, who was head of this shop at one time,

[01:12]

He's done a lot of things for us, the door to the old Zendo and things like that. So, Atmar and I were in here with him the other day, looking at what we might do for the altar. He's looking for a piece of pear wood, which is the kind of wood he used in the door to the lower area of Hudson House. Anyway, so we discussed how it might be designed or how the wood might look. And he walked over to where Roland is sitting now in Atmar. And he said, when this was a shop, this was my work area.

[02:33]

Yes, it's nice. He said, buildings learn and change, don't they? Okay. Yeah, we've been speaking in the Dharma Wheel about conceptual and imaginal conditions for practice. And another such conceptual and imaginal condition Is that consciousness is a construct.

[03:39]

Now by the way, the Dharma wheel could be all of you too. But at some point this gets too big to have a conversation. Maybe the Dharma Sangha Yana, Yana means vehicle, the Dharma Sangha Yana, Needs four wheels. So we could have four wheels, but then I could... There's not four of me, but there could be two of me, maybe.

[04:43]

Anyway, I enjoy the... I definitely enjoy the conversation that we have and wish that more of you could join us and also some other people who are not here now. Now why I use the term conception and this imaginal as well. Because practice has a lot to do with thinking in in images, thinking in analogies, thinking in metaphors, thinking in experiences we already have and can bring to noticing.

[05:53]

So just knowing, as most of you know already, that consciousness is a construct. But just knowing that doesn't mean too much. Because it doesn't open up practice or experiential understanding. Weil es die Praxis nicht öffnet oder das Verstehen aus der Erfahrung heraus. So when you hear that consciousness is a construction. Wenn du hörst, dass das Bewusstsein etwas Konstruiertes ist. Yeah, and you have to imagine for yourself in German, of course, I'm sorry.

[06:55]

I mean, I'm glad, but I can only do it in English. Ihr müsst euch das natürlich auf Deutsch vorstellen. Tut mir leid oder weiß ich nicht, vielleicht freue ich mich auch drüber. Ich kann es jedenfalls nur auf Englisch machen. It must be exciting actually. You can do it in English and German. Eigentlich muss es doch aufregend sein. Ihr könnt es auf Englisch und auf Deutsch machen. What does it mean to say it's a construction? You have to imagine a construction? What's that? How does the construction happen? Who's the architect? Who's the contractor? You have to fiddle around with these things until they fiddle or cello, no, fiddle in you. Yeah.

[07:57]

Okay, so consciousness is a construction. It's always under construction. It's already under construction. And it can be agentively, agentively, that means to agency, like an agent. Yes. It can be agentively or intentionally constructive. Yes. And it can be, fifth, reconstructed. No, I mention these, to separate these into five, so that you can look at, you do have to look at these things in detail if you're going to experience them.

[09:16]

Now, G.E. Moore, George Moore, who was a British philosopher, who was a contemporary of Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, And was born in 1873 and died in 1958. What was the birth year? Born in 1873. 58. And 1958 was my college class. So this was well into my lifetime. And one of the things he's famous for is pointing out that consciousness is invisible.

[10:18]

And meaning, very simply, I see each of you, I see your chair, I see you, you, etc. But I don't see the consciousness which is allowing me to see you. So in my lifetime, a leading Western philosopher felt that consciousness is invisible. Also im Zuge meiner Lebensspanne gab es einen führenden Philosophen, der benannt hat, der darauf hingewiesen hat, dass das Bewusstsein unsichtbar ist. Aber es gibt keine fortgeschrittene oder gereifte Praxis, wenn du das Bewusstsein nicht siehst.

[11:38]

We're not like neurologists or neuroscientists studying consciousness by brain waves and so forth. Wir sind ja keine Neurowissenschaftler, die das Bewusstsein mit Gehirnwellen oder so messen oder studieren. The essence of Buddhism is studying consciousness from the inside. Die Essenz, das Wesentliche im Buddhismus ist, das Bewusstsein aus dem Innern heraus zu studieren. How are you going to study consciousness from the inside unless you see it? Und wie willst du denn das Bewusstsein studieren, wenn du es gar nicht erst siehst? Now you can study and notice that you have, say, compulsive thoughts that keep reappearing. So you can see that consciousness is, something is plaguing you, perhaps, with compulsive thoughts. then perhaps you can see that the consciousness, with, let's say, compulsive, overturning thoughts, is clear.

[12:47]

And perhaps we can imagine these compulsive thoughts as small boats that are constantly bouncing against their own harbor wall. Or we can think of them as insects or something that keeps buzzing us. But we don't see the air in which the insects are flying. Or we don't see the water in which the boats are bumping against our dock. But if you experience the water, the medium, or the air, the medium for the insect, you're in a different boat or in a different place. So the question, of course, the challenge is, how are you going to see what for most of your life so far has been invisible?

[13:56]

First of all, you need the conception that it's possible. And that's what Sukhirashi used to say, we need our thinking mind to open, to locate the door of practice, but we don't use thinking to go through the door. So we need the conception that consciousness is Also brauchen wir erstmal das Verständnis, die Vorstellung, dass das Bewusstsein gesehen werden kann.

[15:19]

Und wir müssen uns auch vorstellen, imaginieren, dass das möglich ist. Then we can start developing the attentional skills because we know it's possible. And what is the main and first way we develop this muscle of attention? And what is the first and most important way to develop this muscle of attention? It is, of course, to bring attention to the breath. The most universal practice. But you're not, when you bring attention to the breath, you're not just entraining breath and body. Entraining, do you understand? Yeah, synchronizing. Yeah. But when you bring attention to the breath, you don't just... But entraining, what did you say?

[16:29]

You're not just entraining breath and body. Breath, mind and body. You're also training attention. You're developing the skills to notice it. Du entwickelst dabei die Fähigkeiten, sie zu bemerken. And to develop it. Und sie zu entwickeln. And maybe the best word is to articulate it. Vielleicht ist das beste Wort dafür, sie zu artikulieren. Because to study it, we need to notice it. We can notice it if it's articulated and we can do something with attention if it's articulated. Weil... Shall I start over? If we notice it, we can do something about it. And if we articulate it, so we can really experience it specifically in its topography,

[17:30]

And when we articulate them, and that means when we really experience them so that we can notice them in detail in their topography, then we have the most powerful yogic tool available to us. Okay, so the first step is simply in training breath and body, intentional mind and body. This is a huge thing. I mean, you're always breathing and your body is part of your breathing and so forth. Du atmest ja immer und dein Körper ist Teil des Atmens. But when you begin to notice attention enough to have an experienced attention, it begins to transform the body and the mind.

[18:50]

Aber wenn du die Aufmerksamkeit so tief oder ausreichend bemerkst, dass sie beginnt... that it begins to, what? If you notice a tension sufficient enough that it begins to do what? Transform body and mind. Okay. My helper here. Our helper. Thanks. Danke. Okay. Okay, the first, the second step is to bring attention to attention. So you're, that's already, can you, I can, you know, I'll bring attention to attention. But, you know, just take a rose. And you look at it very carefully.

[20:04]

This is the practice of direct perception. I used to do this every breakfast years ago in the 60s at the breakfast table. And I would notice that the flowers, even during the meal, the petals would change slightly. And I used to do this regularly at every breakfast in the 60s. And at that time I always noticed how even in the course of a single meal the petals of the flowers changed. So if you, you know, I love flowers so much, that's why I love Otmar so much. You know, he gives us such a wonderful penelope of flowers. And when I'm away and I come back, I even find them in my room and things like that. But when you really look at a flower or, you know, whatever, a nostril, if you'd like, You can begin to feel attention as a medium itself in the midst of the flower.

[21:28]

And you find the physical feel of that And thus you're developing the experienceable skill of bringing attention to attention. Now the third step of this practice, I would say, is to bring to notice, first know that obviously on every appearance mind is also part of it. Now these are in categories which I'm using English words to notice.

[22:32]

So, you know, we need to use words in this kind of context to direct attention, not to describe, but to direct attention. So now I'm bringing, I'm aware, consciously aware, that whenever I see anything or feel anything, mind has to be part of it. But the role of mind In appearance, it's invisible, it's not obvious.

[23:47]

So first you have to conceptually know, that's a wisdom teaching, that mind appears on every appearance. Mind is part of each appearance. Erstmal müsst ihr konzeptuell wissen, und auch das ist eine Weisheitslehre, dass Geist mit jeder Erscheinung auftaucht. In Zen ist das eine absolut notwendige yogische Fähigkeit. First to know it and then to notice it. Okay. So, again, here's Neil sitting to my left. And he appears in my consciousness if I open my eyes.

[24:58]

I can feel him without opening my eyes, but, you know, it helps to open one eye anyway. There he is. And I know intellectually that mind has appeared here as well as Neal. Und ich weiß vom Verstand her, dass Geist hier aufgetaucht ist und Mind und Neil. But I only see Neil. I don't see Mind. Aber ich sehe nur Neil. Ich sehe nicht den Geist oder den Mind. And this sensitivity needs to be explored and developed. Und diese Sensibilität, die muss erforscht und entwickelt werden. And then right in front of me is Dieter. Und dann sitzt direkt vor mir Dieter. So I can see Dieter too, you know, with my other eye.

[25:58]

Und dann kann ich Dieter auch mit meinem anderen Auge sehen, oder vielleicht auch mit beiden. Okay. Now, Dieter is quite different looking than Neil. Let's see here. Maybe younger. Cuter? No, no, not cuter. You're cuter. So there are definite differences. But there's also something the same. So my sensitivity can begin to feel what's the same when I look at both of them and the differences. And after a while I get to know that same feeling, when I look at both of them, is mind. The feel of mind. And in Zen yogic practice,

[27:15]

This is simply called sameness. Oh, goody, you're here. You've heard this lecture before, so it's all right. Actually, I don't think I've ever given this lecture before, not quite. So in Yogacara Buddhism, this is called sameness. So whenever I perceive anything, I also perceive the sameness of mind that appears along with the object. Okay, so this alone has dramatic, compassionate, extensions.

[28:35]

The more I relate to and get used to relating to the sameness of each appearance, Then I notice the differences of Neil and the differences of Dieter. And I can relate simultaneously to the fundamental sameness of the appearance and the differences. And then I can also know that the two of them are appearing in their own field of mind and I'm appearing in their field of mind.

[29:49]

And in fact, these fields of mind are sort of overlapping. And in reality, all these spiritual fields overlap each other. Somewhat related to like when you do zazen, sometimes you drop your body image, falls away and you just feel like a presence. And so I now am feeling the presence, which isn't simply the differentiated bodies of Neil and Dieter, And I know they're appearing in my field of awareness, my field of mind.

[30:54]

And just as my ear can only hear what my ear is capable of hearing, We know that birds hear bird songs differently than we do. But it seems like the compassion and joy of birds is to sing for us as well as other birds. So I hear the birds within the realm of my ear. So the birds exist in a mystery that my senses can't reach.

[32:05]

And although Neil and Dieter are not they still exist in a mystery of themselves which my mind field doesn't reach. I can only know them to the extent to which my senses allow me. But we have a kind of commonplace view that the senses, and many phenomenologists take the view, that the senses provide us with information the same for everybody.

[33:10]

But this is simply not the case. The senses are like a keyboard. Maybe like The keyboards of an accordion, of an organ. The several keyboards of an organ. So as you develop your attentional skills, You've developed the... This may be too far out for this lecture. I didn't plan to put this in, but I didn't plan to put anything in, so here we go.

[34:13]

As you develop yogic skills, You develop ways in which the phenomena plays on the keyboard of the senses. If you have an assumed entitied world, a world of entities... Phenomena and people and circumstances will play on one keyboard, the entity keyboard. But if you've begun to embody the fact that everything's an activity and there's no entities, and you really are embodying that,

[35:22]

This produces a different keyboard in which everything as an activity plays on the keyboard. All this arises through beginning to bring attention to attention and then bringing attention to mind on each appearance. And all this develops to bring attention to attention and then to bring attention to the spirit that comes with every appearance. It deepens your mysterious engagement with the world, your engagement with the mystery of the world.

[36:29]

That anything exists at all is always playing on its own keyboard. Okay, so now next consciousness. Where we've brought attention to and become aware of mind arising on every appearance. Wir sind uns gewahr geworden, dass Geist mit jeder Erscheinung auftaucht. But mind arises on each appearance kind of like a partner. Aber der Geist erscheint mit jeder Erscheinung so ungefähr wie ein Partner der Erscheinung. But consciousness appears more like a contractor or architect. Yeah, I mean, if mind appears as a partner, you just know it's there. But if I'm looking at you now and sensing you now and so forth, And I can feel the consciousness making the scene.

[37:55]

Now, one of the dynamics of the five skandhas is to slow down the construction of consciousness through the five skandhas. But the practice I'm saying is to notice the sensorium being constructed just now But the practice I'm talking about now is to notice the construction, to notice the construction in the fields of the senses right now.

[38:58]

It's not just a slowed down appearance. It's a more thoroughly articulated experience. So all of this attention to attention and so forth and so on, and training the muscle of attention, develops an experienceable articulation of consciousness. So like when I walk in this room, I can notice how my consciousness puts this room together.

[40:06]

In other words, consciousness is always under construction. And it's already happening, and I can notice it's happening. And I can feel how it's put together. Being put together. And I can know it, know that it's being put together. And this changes the dynamic of ego and identity completely. Because you don't identify with it in the same way as real and you. weil du dann aufhörst, dich damit auf dieselbe Art und Weise als etwas reales und als du zu identifizieren.

[41:11]

You can feel it being constructed as immediacy. Du kannst spüren, wie es als unmittelbarkeit konstruiert. And then that begins to call forth the, as I said earlier, the fingerprint of, the Alaya Vishnana fingerprint of phenomena. Now, that may be a little much at the end to absorb all at once. But each part is quite simple. And some of it depends on a little bit familiarity with the terminology. But as Jeffrey Hopkins points out, every sutra first establishes the terminology.

[42:11]

You have to establish the conceptual tools to begin to penetrate into your experience. Du musst anfangen, erst mal die konzeptuellen Werkzeuge zu etablieren, um dann mit diesen Werkzeugen in die Erfahrung hineinzudringen. Anyway, I have thrown out or placed here a number of things which you can muse about as you wish. I suppose the main point here is that consciousness is a construct. And the practice of noticing mind on every appearance and noticing the construction of consciousness on every appearance circumstantial on every appearance, are effectively and affectively two different practices.

[43:33]

To notice mind and to notice consciousness. And the only way you can find that out is by doing it. Okay. Thank you very much. Vielen Dank. May God make our lives equal in every season and every place.

[44:23]

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