Practicing the Four Frames of Mindfulness as Gates to Totality 

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world, I'm turned on. That's why I say you can practice this loving all frames, you can
love all limits, inwardly and outwardly. So you see somebody, exuberant, don't stop there,
love that delusion you have about them. Yes, exactly, yes, yes, yes. That's the practice
of being present with your delusions and also know that you're present with delusions rather
than be present with your realities and your truths and your correct understandings. Now
you could have the delusion of I understand correctly, but we need to remember that that's
a frame called I understand correctly, or I'm practicing really well, or I'm practicing somewhat
below average today, or today my practice is way above average. These are frames on
our life, these are about myself, or today they're practicing somewhat below average,
or today their practice is way above average. This is a frame I'm putting on the practitioners.
Hey, I'm not saying to stop that, I'm saying that's what we do. Now what I am saying, if
you'd like to see through these frames into the true nature of all things and thereby help
all beings, then love these frames, which doesn't mean you believe them or disbelieve
them, it means you love them. So you're present and relaxed and generous with them. And if
you see that you cannot love them, that's another frame, that's another story. My story
is I don't love this person, that's another frame, that's an interpsychic frame. Another
frame is this person is not lovable, that's an interpersonal frame. This one is lovable,
this one is not lovable, those are frames on these two beings. The thing is to see your
own, see your own, see your own, see your own, frames that you put inwardly and outwardly.
Now, then you can help others see their own.
How setting up frames relates to ceremony?
How setting up frames relates to ceremony? Well, in the case of this example, the Buddha
said, the direct path is by mindfulness of these frames. The frames are already there.
You already have a frame on your body. That's already given. He's saying now be mindful
of the frame you put on your body. So the ceremony is the mindfulness of what you're
already up to. So like we do the ceremony of walking in and out of a room, or the ceremony
of sitting, but that's supposed to be the ceremony of mindfully walking in the room.
It's not just to walk in the room, but to walk in the room mindful of the walking into
the room. And then sitting, it's not just to sit, it's to be mindful and present with
the walking and the sitting. So then those are ritual enactments of what we're already
doing, so that we can realize what we're already doing. And they're also ritual enactments
of the true nature of the universe, and intimacy with all beings. But that part comes after
we settle into being mindful of what we're already aware of, somewhat. But it's to heighten
our awareness of what we're already involved in, which is somewhat limiting, or just plain
limiting. And through that means, open the door onto what we're involved in on a much
more all-inclusive, selfless level. The ceremony of seeing our limitations, or
the ceremony of being aware of the limitations. We have a ceremony of being aware that we're
on the left side of this endo. And we really do have that view of the situation. We think
we're on the left side, we don't think we're on the right side. We think the right side's
over there, separate from us. This is what our mind is doing, and by being aware of that,
we are aware of what our mind is doing. And then we can become free of it, and help other
people.
Would it be accurate to say the frames are the same as conventional truths?
Are frames conventional truths? Frames are conventional truths, yes. So another way to
say it is, if you love conventional truths, that loving of conventional truths is the
door to ultimate truth. And beings are helped by ultimate truth. Conventional truth is more
or less helpful, but doesn't really help people much. Basically leaves them stuck in
frames, which they have trouble with, which they suffer with. Because frames are birth
and death, gain and loss, self and other, and therefore fear. Fear of death, fear of
life, fear of coming, fear of going. So conventional world is basically suffering.
But that doesn't mean we try to trash it. As a matter of fact, we're trying to learn
to be really compassionate with it, and then open to see what it is. Namely, that it's
ultimate truth. Conventional truth is really ultimate truth. The way the conventional truth
really is, is that it's ultimate truth. We have to love, as I said last time here, we
can save it. We have to love conventional truth before we open to ultimate truth. Opening
to conventional truth also opens to ultimate truth. They're locked together, but if you're
close to conventional truth, which is easy to be close to because it often times is a
real insult, if we're close to it, then we're close to the ultimate. If we're open to it,
we're open to the ultimate. And opening, loving, mindfulness, presence, generosity
and so on, are the way to go. Towards helping people. Helping others.
Paralysis is another frame. So now I would suggest that you love the paralysis. Love the
paralysis. That's a really nice frame. Basically all frames are paralyzing. So let's love
the paralysis. The paralysis is a nice chunk of being for you to love. Are you loving it?
Are you being gracious with this paralysis? Are you being loving that you're not being
so great loving with it? Huh? Yeah, a little bit. That's enough to get started. A little
bit. That's how you start. A little bit of love towards our inability to love paralysis.
And we all understand that paralysis is not easy to love. It's not. Being choked is not
easy to love. And then if you try and say, well, I can't, then say, well, can you be
somewhat loving to that inability to do this real hard thing? Well, yeah. Well, that's
a start. That's a start. Like Suzuki Roshi's son, Hoitsu, maybe you were there when he
said it, he had an asthma attack and he passed out. And while he was passed out, he heard
his mother's voice saying, I think she actually called out his childhood name. Like,
his name is Hoitsu, I think she made it Ho-chan. Ganbatte kudasai, Ho-chan. Ganbatte kudasai.
It means keep trying. He heard his mother's voice, you know, that compassion. Be kind
to being choked. And a little opening in the throat, a little breath comes through. So
if you can feel the block, and then you can feel you can't even love the block, but you
can like love this guy who can't even love the block. A little compassion is coming
through. Real compassion. Because you feel the block. So you can test it on the block.
And when you say that you feel paralyzed, it's like the impact, I feel some impact of
the presentation of what we're doing. You're being impacted, you're feeling what I'm saying
is so. That there's something about our mind which strangles us, which freezes us. And
I'm saying we cannot avoid that. But once you feel it, now we've got something which
is the object of compassion. Paralysis. Like I said, I've got the frame on the body, this
body is becoming more and more paralyzed as time goes on. It's becoming more and more
rigid and old, dying. Compassion towards this body and this body. That's where the
Yeah. I mean, do you have something you'd like to say to me?
Before you asked me the question, you thought you had the idea that you could use Zen for
something? To get out of the paralysis. Well, thank you for telling us that. Maybe some
other people had that idea. So we do not use Zen to get out of paralysis. Zen is not used
for anything. Zen is loving the paralysis. That's what Zen is. Zen is wanting to help
the paralysis by realizing that the paralysis is me. Not trying to get out of it. Trying
to help it. Trying to save it. By loving it. First love it. Not first get rid of it and
then love it. First love it. Love the paralysis. Please. And I will try to love it too.
Yes?
I think I just started maybe hearing love in a new way.
You started what?
Hearing the word love. Or usually when I hear the word love, there are a lot of ways.
Is it really something that's positive?
Can I say something? Part of the confusion here is that one of the ways we use love is
for extreme liking. Like when liking gets extreme, we call that love. I like you. I
love you. But what I'm calling love, I'm sorry, is not extreme like. It's extreme
freedom from like and dislike. So that's part of the confusion. But I'm kind of like, well
let's deal with the confusion by using the same word. Compassion is nice, but it might
avoid this problem. And love does not want to avoid any problems. So let's use a confusing
word like that. That's really excessive delusion is what people often use love for. Excessive
distraction from love is what people call love often. So let's use that word.
I actually like it very much for that reason. And what I've heard, and I sort of felt, but
I couldn't grasp and you helped me grasp it, is that it's really, really, really permission
to be present. To love the paralysis, to love the brain. It's permission really to relax
and be present.
And it's permission for the thing that you're relaxed with to be itself. It's permission
to the paralysis. It's like, hey paralysis, I'm supporting you completely and you're supporting.
You're not supporting me, but I'm supporting you.
Okay. Anybody that hasn't asked a question that wants to ask a question? You haven't
asked a question. Go ahead.
Something that I associate with the word love is a feeling of physical warmth and openness.
Yeah.
In my chest.
Yeah.
Is that love the way you were talking about love or is that an extreme liking?
That's a frame. That's a frame. A frame to love. Love that warmth and do you say a feeling
of openness? Love that feeling of openness.
So then when I think, okay, am I loving or not, my way of judging that is...
That's another thing to love. That ratiocination, am I really loving or not, that's another
thing to love. That's another thing to be generous towards. That's another thing to
give yourself to. That's another thing to be a good host to. That's another thing to welcome.
And if that drops away, that particular questioning process drops away, and you get more and more
warmth and openness keeps coming, just say, welcome. You say, well, no problem. But welcome
means welcome. It doesn't mean welcome and stay. It means welcome. And then when it starts
to go, you say, you can go. It's been great seeing you. I may never have another moment
with all this warmth again, but I'm so grateful that I had a little bit. See you later.
And more comes, wow. But some doesn't come for a while. But that's fine for you because
you've got this practice. So yeah, these are frames that you're talking about. And literally
those are frames that the Buddha talks about being mindful of. Those frames would go under
the third frame of mindfulness, or the fourth, those examples. Both the warmth, the openness,
and also the cogitation. Those would all go into ways that the mind frames this vast,
unobstructed totality of the universe. And if you love all these things, not like, but
love them, they are perfectly good doors to reality. But if you attach to them and
think, no, these are better doors to reality than most, sorry. Attachment is not compassion.
But again, if you're attached, you can be compassionate towards that, and then that
loving of that attachment will be a Dharma door. It's not just the thing, it's the loving
of it that makes it a Dharma door.
Being present is not a frame.
Being present is not a frame, no. You can have a frame called being present, but being
present is not a frame. Consciousness itself comes with frame jobs. Every moment consciousness
arises, it comes with a frame job. But the consciousness itself is clear, and bright,
and transparent. It's not a frame job, but it knows frame jobs. And since it comes with
frame jobs, so it sees the world through frame jobs. But there are frame jobs which are called
the teaching frame jobs, the words from the Buddha to say, be aware of this frame job.
And then you turn your awareness not just to the frame, but be mindful of it, and then
the framing reflects the nature of the universe back on the mind. And it's the nature of the
mind and the frame, they're all the same. They all have the same nature, unobstructed
totality. In other words, everything is you.
Yes?
Catherine is experiencing a lot of grief over the eucalyptus trees.
Yeah. So, there's going to be clear-cutting probably of all these great trees. All these
great beings are actually going to be cut down, probably. These are great beings.
These are great invasive beings.
And they're invasive. And these beings, they're great, they can be fueled for enormous flames.
And Catherine is expressing grief over their being cut down.
Pardon?
I think the idea is replanting other trees, right?
Yeah. Anyway, in the National Park Service's brochures about the thing, they show pictures
of what it looks like after they go away. And it's kind of a nice picture. But the
process of getting there means cutting down these great beings. These great beings which
are here by the grace and whatever of human beings. And they provide, and they're great
blessings, these trees. And a lot of people feel like they're also great hazards. So,
it looks like they're going to be cut down. And part of what we're going to do today,
maybe, is to clean up the debris underneath them out here so that we don't have a forest
fire in the backyard. Because I guess they're not going to come into our yard and cut down
these trees. So, our eucalyptuses, I think, are staying. I mean, our eucalyptus means
no abode. Eucalyptuses, I think, are staying. As far as I know, the Park Service is not
going to come onto this ground and cut the trees down. So, we will be a eucalyptus stronghold.
So-called private property?
So-called private property, yeah. They would be willing, I think, to come and take these
out. But I did not invite them. I hope it's okay that they're not coming here.
Are you going to get the koala bears?
Huh?
Are we going to get the koala bears?
I have the koala bears are coming, yes.
May our intention equally extend to...