Good morning. Well, I believe this is the first opportunity we've had to think about together, express what we might be thinking about the events in Orlando. I don't think we should bypass that. Orlando, I looked up the meaning of the name, it means wonderful or auspicious land, famous land or well-known or wonderful, something like that, kind of ironic. But also, I would like to talk a little bit about what Buddhist approaches are to the burning world. Actually, Orlando is just a blip As much as it hits home to us, it's just a blip in what's happening in the world every single moment.

[01:09]

Every moment, not just every day, but right now. 2,500 years ago, Buddha's third sermon, third talk, whatever, according to our legend, is called the Fire Sermon. where Shakyamuni talks about the whole world is on fire. Same thing. Right now, our world, there's so much going on that, where do you start? Where do you actually focus? Because it's totally unfocused. Just the other day, England pulled out of the European Union. That's interesting. So that kind of triggers something, some way of thinking about how we approach this kind of situation.

[02:22]

The world is burning, the ship is turning upside down and sinking, exploding. people are being killed indiscriminately all over the world, everywhere, for various reasons that don't make any sense at all. It's an insane world and there's no leadership. And both the Buddhists and the Jews have this feeling or idea about a messiah, someone that's going to save the world. Good idea. Here's to it. Well, you know what they say about physicians, save yourself, cure yourself, doctor. Really hard.

[03:23]

So, Buddha's fire sermon is very strict because he says desire is what burns us up. We live in this realm of desire where we're always being where continually whatever we see, hear, smell, taste or touch gives fuel to the fire of desire. So, one way to deal with the fire of desire is to leave it. That's one. technique, you might say. There are various Buddhist, there's not just one way, various Buddhist ways of escaping from suffering, and that's one of them. That's called the Hinayana way.

[04:28]

If the world is burning up, get out. Leave it. Cut off desire. just stop all that, so that you don't have to create suffering for yourself or others, which is very real. On the other hand, there are other realities, which is, we can't do that. We're human beings with desire and sense doors, which, as it said, we're constantly eating with our eyes, with our ears, with our nose, with our feelings. And the whole world is fuel for feeding our desires and creating suffering because we're creatures of addiction.

[05:29]

We're addicted to everything. We're so easily addicted, and we don't even know it. We walk around directed by feelings, and we don't even realize that we're robots. We have a kind of robotic nature, and we create robots in our own image. We are the God that creates robots in our own image. One of the addictions that drives our world is the addiction to weapons. We love guns. Men love guns. Men love weapons. You can't, what are you gonna do about that? So we create situations in order to be able to use them.

[06:35]

If you have an enormous military, which you spend all your money on, which sucks in all the wealth, most of the wealth in the country, and creates weapons of destruction, what are you gonna do with them? Defend yourself? No. They have to be used in order to be renewed. Obsolete bullets don't kill people. Really? Obsolete weapons. We have to keep creating bigger, better weapons, like an atomic bomb. So, I don't know where we're going. Insane, we live in an insane world that's burning up. So, Buddha says in the Lotus Sutra, there's another fire sermon where, which we all know about, the burning house.

[07:49]

The father sees the house is on fire and he's trying to tell his children, get out of the house, it's on fire. but they're just having a lot of fun in the house. So he says, well, I'll have to create something that lures them out of the house, out of the burning house. So he makes them carts. You know, like when you're a kid, you like to have your little tricycle and stuff. Well, he makes these wonderful carts. He says the deer cart, the goat cart, and the bull cart. And these three cards, he says, come on, kids, come on out. I have something wonderful for you. But there are three expedients. The deer card is like, or maybe the goat card is like the Hinayana, the one who wants to escape.

[08:52]

And the deer card is like the Prachekabuddha, the one who has enlightenment, but doesn't share it. And then there's the bodhisattva vehicle, which is the bull cart, which the bodhisattva does not try to escape. So I think England is like the goat cart. You know, this is a really hard time for the union. And to pull out at that time is really chicken, really chicken. So the influence of that is just going to be enormous, even though, you know, they say, oh, you know, we want our independence. So you can see that there's reason for that, you know, but we have to give up something in order to share.

[09:56]

If we just, you know, in America back in the 50s, 40s, 50s, there was the America First movement in which we, there was a movement where, very right-wing movement of isolationism. Thank you so much, leave that here. So, and the John Birch Society came out of that and so forth. So we have our own isolationism. So I'm just, this is my state of the union, my state of the disunion, disunion message. I do this once in a while. Back to Orlando, it's a great tragedy, but it's, you know, the numbers keep getting bigger.

[11:08]

The numbers keep getting, the paradigm is the same, but the numbers keep getting bigger. And the world is one place. It's no longer a little place, it's isolated. How do you bring that all together is just, nobody knows. So this is what Buddha would call the Saha world, the world of delusion, driven by greed, ill will, and delusion. Those three are the bases. So how do we, it's back in the 11th century, 13th century in Japan, Shinran, was one of the leading teachers of the time, he said, it's impossible. This is back in the 13th century. It's impossible to actually practice Buddhism in a way that is authentic.

[12:14]

So he said, all you can do is chant the name of Buddha, and they created this system where by chanting the name of Buddha, you didn't have to do anything else. You'd be born in the pure land. So everybody's looking for the pure land, you know. So the sixth ancestor says, the pure land is not over there in the West. It's in your own mind. And Dogen, of course, understood that as well. He said, yes, you can still practice, and this is how you do it. Now here we are in America, and we're following what we feel is one way of practicing the Buddha's way, the Buddha way. So this is a great challenge for how do we actually practice the Buddha way that's authentic

[13:18]

that addresses the situation today, which is not different from Buddha's situation 2,500 years ago. So the way of escaping is one avenue. That's what we call it. That's what the Mahayana called the Hinayana way. Just separate yourself from the world. And that's still a part of Buddha. That permeates all the Buddhist practice, actually. But it's practiced in different ways. So my, in a way, is more non-dualistic, middle way. to not escape and to not get caught at the same time.

[14:31]

It's a big conundrum or a go on. How do you not escape and address the situation at the same time without being caught by it, without being victimized by the world situation? because we are a part of, we're not separate from the world of delusion. We're really not separate. So, this may sound like fantasy, but each one of us has a part to play, and we may think that it's insignificant, But our world is very significant. Each one of us is very significant. One of the problems today is that human life doesn't mean much anymore. It's just easy to wipe it out.

[15:35]

So easy to wipe it out. So everyone counts. So each one of us As a disciple of Buddha, if you were a disciple of Buddha, what are you supposed to do? You allow or create a Buddha field around you. I remember Suzuki Hiroshi talking about, light up your corner of the world. How do we light up our corner of the world? Even though we don't know how to practice, or we're always making mistakes, or we feel that we're not enlightened, we have to do it anyway. How do I create a Buddha field which is

[16:43]

how do I light my surroundings, light up my surroundings, so that Buddha nature is revealed through our activity without being attached to a goal. You just do it. I like to think of it as the old tramp steamers were fueled by coal, and when you got it When you were an ordinary seaman, you signed on to a ship and they put you down to hold, and you shoveled coal all day. You had to shovel the coal all day or all night. But you didn't see where the ship was going. You were just doing the work. So that's kind of like our practice, just doing the work, whether or not you think is going to be successful or not doesn't make any difference.

[17:47]

We get discouraged when we think that there's a goal and we're not going to make it. The world is always the same. It's always the same. It's not going to change. Events change. Events are always changing, but the paradigm is always the same. We're always working with the same stuff. So how do we free ourselves and free others? That's the bodhisattva vow. How do I free myself and free others? Within the situation that we find ourselves, we can make some effort to change the situation But you put out this fire, then this fire is there. Then you put out this fire, and this fire comes up. And then there are all these fires surrounding us.

[18:52]

So we can't put out all the fires. Sorry. But how do we find our freedom? How do we not be a victim? How do we actually help others? without being caught by ourself, or being caught by ourself. So anyway, I just want to open it up a little bit and see what your feelings are. There's a bunch of hands. There's one hand that's up, but I don't see a head. Oh, it's Lori. Basically, fear is good for business. If we talk about greed, hatred, and delusion, maybe fear is like delusion.

[19:59]

I think of that story that Thich Nhat Hanh tells about how if there was one person in the boat who was not freaking out, that could make the difference. with our own fear. Yes. And that's, I feel like our practice points to that somehow. I don't always know how, you know, it works, but maybe you could say a little bit more. Yes. Well, you were talking about the Vietnamese boat people at the time. And one person, because, you know, you're that far from the ocean. People are rocking the boat, but if there's one person who has composure, composure is the key word, who has true composure and sits in the middle of the boat, then the boat calms down. So it's incumbent on us to find our, that's what our practice is about, is composure.

[21:05]

That's what sasana is. It means nothing can turn you over. Yes, it doesn't mean you don't get scared, but you know where to go to when you get scared. You know where to go to find your center, and it's called samadhi. Composure is basically samadhi, which means you can't be overturned. The stable position, stable place. So, we're always talking about stability. When you're serving people in the middle of the tan here during our meals, you should go down on your knee, at least one knee, not squatting, because when you're squatting, somebody will push you over. You go, boom. So, you're always looking for the most stable position, all the time. When you sit down, when you're walking, when you're driving, whatever you're doing, you're looking for the most stable position.

[22:10]

Educating yourself, I use that word educate, but it means you're doing that practice all the time of stability and then when something comes up, you're ready for it, even though you don't know what it is. Peter? So my question is, and I think we're addressing this to Laurie, is what do I say to others or myself everything that's being suggested is fear or something.

[23:19]

Yes, there are two worlds, diagrams, two world diagrams. One is the six worlds, the heavenly world, the hell world, the fighting demons, the human world, the animal world, and the hungry ghost world. That's the world that is being driven by greed and delusion as the axis. The other is the world of big mind, which is the axis for equality and understanding and appreciating the differences between everything. And the axis which is the Buddha world, big mind, and all the qualities. of love and understanding and generosity.

[24:27]

So generosity, love, and understanding are the antidotes to greed, hate, and delusion. So you're always in the mode of generosity, love, and understanding. If that's your mode, then that's how you meet the world. That's how you meet the world of greed, hate, and delusion. So those are two different worlds. But they're just two aspects of one world. And those are two mandalas. Actually, the mandala of the six worlds is delusion. The mandala of the swastika is enlightenment, but the Nazis purloined it and polluted it. But actually, that's the great symbol of

[25:30]

of enlightened activity in the world. According to, in Asia, it was stolen by the Nazis. But to me, that's the symbol, is the antidote in its pure sense to greed, hate, and delusion. That's why I put these two mandalas side by side as a way to understand and redeem that symbol. I think the symbol needs to be redeemed, but there's a lot of opposition to that, so I don't say much about it. Tamara had her hand up. I wanted to share a story about something that's happened in Richmond, which is, you know, they had a terrible problem with gang violence and gun violence. Yeah. So they started a program where men who were actually or a gang members reach out to the young men who they knew were most involved in the gangs and encourage them, you know, to make a positive life plan and help them through it.

[26:43]

And really help them by being in relationship with them. You know, helping them through each step. And they've actually produced, gone from something, I don't know the exact numbers, but it's quite striking, like from 40 murders a year to two. So, you know, there really are things that make and sometimes we don't hear about them, but it seems that, to me, what that tells me is we can't lose sight of anyone's basic humanity, and we have to continue to believe that we can touch that. Well, that's why redemption is more important than punishment. Right. Yes. Which reminds me, there was an African-American man who went to jail for various, probably didn't murder, I don't know what he did, but he ended up really helping these young people in that way that you're talking about, and he was well known for that.

[27:44]

But in the end, they executed him. I remember that was not very long ago, a few years ago, and there was a big... Yeah, yes, yeah. So what is justice? Nobody knows. responsibilities. Yes, so how does one, that's a good question, put out the fires and balance responsibility? Balancing is the act, because we have desires, we have all these, since we have senses, we have desires, and the senses we get caught.

[28:49]

We are so easily addicted that we don't even know it. And when we think about the Buddhist, you know, the rarefied atmosphere in which a Hinayana Buddhist practices, it seems almost impossible because there's no, the desires are cut off. So when you contrast this with the life of a householder, so to speak, we're just bombarded with fuel for our desires. So without cutting off desire, you can't do that and really live a happy life. For most people, 99% of people cannot do that. So we have to work with the fire. And so we adjust the fire. Tezuki Yoshi talked about this a lot. We adjust the fire.

[29:50]

Fire will burn everything up. That's what's happening in the world. It's burning up because people's emotions are on fire. Nirvana is called the cool state. So it's not cold, it's cool. And it's not hot, it's warm. So to balance hot and cold so that it's cool and warm. And he talked about the kerosene lamp. If the lamp is adjusted, well, look at your oatmeal. If you turn up the fire too high, it all boils over, right? So you get it hot, and then you turn it down so that it's just cooking. So you want to be cooking. You don't want to be boiling over. So to find the balance and the symmetry and the flexibility is how we actually do practice.

[30:59]

Not by eliminating. I mean, don't get caught by things. But at the same time, the fuel is constantly passing through us. So what do we do with the fuel? We have to articulate it. We have to make it work for us instead of against us. So that's the stuff of life, right? We work, we don't hoard stuff. We don't create monopolies. We share, right? And sharing is what keeps the world cool and warm. But because it's overbalanced on one side, the poor and the rich and the, you know, you know the story. It's not balanced. So to create a balance is the task, I think.

[32:01]

That's really our task, is how we create a balance in the world. Because it's always falling out of balance and finding its balance. And everything is moving. It's like the funhouse. The floor is always moving. How are you going to stand up? So we live in the unfun house. So our task is to make it a fun house. Okay, John. My question was answered actually with Peter's, but I wanted you to repeat, please, the antidote, the three words to antidote to greed, hate and delusion. Yes, generosity, goodwill or love, goodwill, and Understanding. Okay, the last one. You were saying that the world is on fire, and it's always been on fire, and the world is not going to change, and that fact is not going to change.

[33:12]

Is that correct? That fact, well, I didn't say it won't change, but it will be perennial. Yeah, all right, I will put it in that word. I want to suggest that, I don't know if it's helpful to put it that way, if we practice individually with a kind of faith in Buddha nature, we can act in the world with the same faith instead of saying it's always going to be this way. It's just as ridiculous to think that I'm going to get enlightened as it is to think that I'm going to change the suffering in the world, and that's why I have faith in both. Is that too complicated? Yes. You know, if you state one side, the other side is also there. you have to see the problem in order to do something about it, right?

[34:21]

So seeing the problem means the world's on fire. It's always, fire is fire. That's one of the four elements. And water's water. So fire and water, actually there's fire and water and there's water and fire. Where's the balance? Water is like, what means doing something. Fire, in this case, water is calming, fire is flaring. So yes, fire is the problem, water is the cure. But water is always water, fire is always fire. In other words, don't say, I don't like it when you say, well, maybe we shouldn't say that it's on fire.

[35:25]

Why not? Yes. Yes. Anyway, bring your complaint to Buddha. He was the one that said it. Okay. then I will answer your question. That's a good act. We should go on the stage. That was the last one. We really have to stop.

[35:58]

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