So I just wrote this down, and I'll read the line later. It says, Tatsahara is a good opportunity for practice. And then the rest is commentary. We don't come here to get enlightenment, or to acquire something. We come here just in order to practice. We leave a complex life of many supports and outlines, and enter a rather narrow and restrictive discipline. When we enter into innumerable situations, with an emphasis on mindful awareness, wholehearted participation, metta, karuna, mudita, and pitheca.

[01:24]

We learn to be aware of body, feelings, mental formations, and states of consciousness, with the mind directed to liberation, or non-attachment, and the dropping of self-centered views and discriminations. So our activity, as well as being focused on accomplishing the task at hand, is to practice the way of letting go of self-centeredness, moment by moment, in each activity. Enlightenment and thorough practice are one. And so, you didn't come here to get enlightenment, but to acquire something.

[02:32]

You came here just in order to practice. So, when we come, when we decide that we'd like to come to Kamsa Hara, people have various reasons for coming. We all have various reasons for coming. And when you do something, there should be some results. That's only normal and natural. They should not be involved in some goal or reason for coming. And, of course, we've previously talked about enlightenment. I mean, we don't deny enlightenment. But if you try to, if you come for some amazing, then it's easy to miss practice. After a while, then people start to think, I'm going to get tired of this practice.

[03:41]

Day after day, you get up early in the morning, you don't get very much sleep, you get tired, and this was the summer camp, we worked all day long. It's funny. And this can go all the time, this is about halfway through the summer period. And midway through the practice period, or the summer period, is when people start having a doubt in their bones. It starts off with a bang, you know, in the 8th century. And so we have to wonder, why are we doing this? Even though on the surface things are going well, underneath, people have problems.

[04:43]

Something, some hypocrisy is going on with many people. This is the ongoing effort. And then we start to Think about why we're here. What are we doing? It's hard to do that. That's the way it's practiced. We're not getting at this. But it's important to realize that we're here just to practice. Just to do this. Just to do... to do the scheduling. to do the, you know, whatever I would decide to use, to study, and so forth. And whatever comes out of that, will come out of us. Enlightenment is a byproduct of practice. So, the main thing is practice.

[05:53]

If you get enlightenment, that's good. If you don't get an argument, that's great. No problem. Practice. Practice itself means realization. But if you say, practice is realization, well, thank goodness, the realization is there. But we're not thinking about enlightenment. It's just practice. We're not worrying about enlightenment. It's just practice. Because any idea you have about getting enlightenment will not help you. That's why the practice itself is... We can enter the practice through our delusion.

[07:00]

And one wonderful thing about practice is that you don't really have to know anything in order to do it. But the reason why we do it is because of realization. It's enlightenment that leads us to practice. You may think, well, after I can enlighten, then I'm up to this at home. I can go out in the world and learn. Maybe I might. I don't have no words for something like that. Actually, to be able to do the practice comes from my human nature. Yes? When do you start practicing? Practicing? They're doing it, they're doing it.

[08:09]

The difference is that everything that we do is in practice, and it's based on non-self. It's not that there are not people in the world whose lives are selfless. They are. They're practicing what they're practicing. We're practicing what we're practicing. Everybody's practicing what they're practicing. Some people are practicing fairly well, but they're not practicing really well. Everybody's doing something that not everybody is practicing really well. So, because we want to This is something other beings practice by killing each other, and hurting each other, and starving the world, and hurting ourselves and others.

[09:51]

They start to practice by killing each other. So, in a good sense, because almost everyone is practicing violence. Some day they will actually do it. Specifically, no. I don't think so. So we live in a complex life of many supports, many outlets of support. You have a job. You have friends.

[10:51]

You have a support system in your life. Some people think that you can't have that. And you will. And you have various outlets for emotions and feelings and curiosity. You can read books. You can fall in love. Many things. And then, there are a lot of things that, you know, are very positive activities. So when we came here, I figured we could bring the scenario down to very negative kinds of activities. So we did have activities, and for all the members who have been through many conflicts in the United States.

[11:56]

Conflicts in one time, in each great season. And they now have to confront them in a new way. They don't need to go to the media. Everyone struggles a bit with what to do with our emotions and feelings, and in fact, we all struggle a bit. But for a new person, a whole new way of thinking is needed. So in the summertime, we have the elderly members who we rely on to set an example for practice. And that example should extend to more people, so more people know what it means to be green.

[13:03]

In the summers past, we haven't, from time to time, haven't kept such a close contact with people. using a lot of activity, which hardly brings the whole thing. This particular practice group, this particular seminar has been very, very good. It feels like everyone is really here to practice. Even the newer people, all students will be here just to practice. Not for the social life, not for curiosity, So, you know, we can say many things about what is practice, but the example that you set, that's most important, because people watch our actions, our attitudes,

[14:18]

The way he keeps his own. And then you also talk about it. But talking about it is not easy. There are a lot of weird, many things you can say. So we entered into a new world of relationships. New people forming relationships with other people, with each other. And we just came into this space. A lot of people had infected images. And you can see it every day, when you have infected images a lot.

[15:28]

I remember when I first started sitting, sitting once or twice a week. I would sit one time and I'd kind of carry me through the whole week. I remember that. I remember that one sitting carrying me through the whole week. And then I would, year by year, start sitting some more. And I'd see that when new people come in, they hadn't sat very much, they'd still walk. Even though for the rest of the day they couldn't really walk. sitting in a morning lance or an evening lance, because it's not enough to fill. New people have to walk. For the older people, that's enough. But... It's really important for the older members to set a good example

[16:28]

You don't have to sit. You don't have to get up. You don't have to get tired. You don't have to go to bed early. You don't have to do that anyway. It's too late. So, that kind of practice Rationalizing what to do. I'm tired, I work late, I'm blind, I don't know what to do, I can't sleep. And sometimes you shouldn't, as I just said. Connect some techniques with that. That kind of spirit is what sustains our heart. So we enter into this new practice with people out of new situations and we put the emphasis on mindful awareness, wholehearted participation.

[17:58]

This mindful awareness and wholehearted participation are really necessary. aware of everything that we're doing, and to completely throw ourself into whatever is occurring. If we withhold ourself, we're going to get reset up and set the issue. We must practice is practice. Stay with the practice. And if you are completely one with that rhythm, if you're completely focused on keeping that rhythm, then practice is very nice.

[19:02]

If you start to withdraw from it, you're going to get stretched. And the way to avoid that It's like a dance. Like a 24-hour dance. And to be able to flow with that cycle and to participate in the dance. You may feel good again or you may not. But when you feel when you do it, you feel complete. No, good. I don't have much problems following the schedule. I don't want to be too attached to the schedule. I don't want to make any decisions on when it's over there.

[20:08]

I don't know, it's probably just me, it's just me. It's just me. I don't know, it's just me. I don't know, I just, I guess, [...] it's just me. I think we don't have a big problem following the schedule. It doesn't look like we can catch the schedule. It just means that we don't have a particular one. I guess I can see why we can't catch the schedule. We're always looking, but we're not necessarily You're giving it in the practice for your choice.

[21:28]

It's not like somebody's making you do anything. No, you're giving it. You're giving it because you choose to give it. And you make a choice, moment by moment. And at that age, you choose to give it up. It's up to you. But you choose to give it up instead of choosing to give it up. Well, if you feel... I mean, I don't agree with that. I don't even worry about that. There are many other things to worry about that I would want to deal with. Some people can't live without the stigma. It's the classic case, you know, with all that tension. If you can't live, it's going to be distributed right away, and you don't have to deal with it. So the question is, you know, in our practice, some people are very aggressive, and some people are very hard to help.

[22:43]

These are the two sides of the debate up there, where you have a lot of people who are aggressive, and some people really don't, you know, strongly want to do anything to help. So a few of the folks who started kind of to ease off a little bit, you know, come back towards the center. Most people are going, if they aren't, if they don't have enough effort, you can push them a little bit to the center. So, if you are on one side or the other, then you're probably kind of wobbling. So you want to go to the center of your practice, so you're not wobbling, you're just going So, when you're completely involved in something, wholeheartedly, you are there.

[23:47]

That's the point. You are completely there. So, it seems to me, we should all want to be completely present. We can put our whole self into the present and just jump right in. And we can jump in the area of self-centeredness. Self-centeredness is the monster Yes, I do. I give this much, but I'm going to withhold this much from myself.

[24:53]

This way you can never be free of self. Who said that self is a danger? I didn't say that self is a danger. Because I'm not clear on this self. is that the South is basically a religion. But it doesn't mean that there is no, it's just that there's nobody here. There is somebody here. But this one itself is a religion. Because it's not what we think it is. Even though there's something here, it's not what we think it is. Even though we know that this cell is always changing, not changing, we think of it as not changing, changing.

[26:00]

We act as if it's not changing, changing. As if it has a cell, as if... that it has internal systems, that this stuff is dependent on everything else that's existent. So we have an independent existence even though we feel independent. Even though we feel that, obviously, independence is really separate But really, you can have any ideas you want. But it's also true, in a sense, that you're in this world with a mind of your own. But actually, it depends on the joy of your existence.

[27:03]

It's a really good point. And here's an example of just a If you want to approve of it, just stop reading it. Read it now. Read it. And I think what it's doing is, you know, it's like it's sucking the breath out of my mother. And that's the way it is. Independent nature, at the same time. That's why it's invisible. Because the independent thing is only part of the aspect of our nature.

[28:07]

The rest is like a kind of thing. Like, say, if you had a penny, then it would expand in itself. But we have to give. There was, and that's called self-centeredness. So, the world is not centered on itself. So, where is it? Where do I get centered? You should be centered here, on yourself. When you center yourself here, you center yourself on the whole universe, not just by the system. So then I said, we enter into a new world of relationships to build people and work situations on the emphasis of mindful awareness, wholehearted participation, metta, karuna, dhruva, and dhruveta.

[29:53]

Those are all dreams. Metta means love. but not rather in the sense of possessiveness, or wanting something, of giving up, of indiscriminately loving kindness, or kindness to the world, actually. Not something that you necessarily do sometimes, but it's a state of being. And it has no possessiveness in it, and it has no desire in it. There is desire in it, but it's desire for well-being with everyone. So this is love in Buddhism. And when you enter into the monastery,

[30:57]

Metta is, you can have a part of the mind of metta, which is real concern for everyone's well-being, which is more than just yourself. We're also included in that. In order to explore metta, you have to first find yourself. And then, that which is found in the heart, we can extend to others. So, you know, there's a mental medication in which first you extend the mental health to yourself. And then, you extend it for someone in your life. And then, you can extend it to someone you don't know in different relationships. And then, you can extend it to someone you don't like. So you take the melody, the rest of it is difficult, you know.

[32:04]

But it's really important. Like, the grounding is here, at home. But it's perfect. You should have that going, perpendicular to the rhythm. Yeah, we talked about practicing it in a certain way, in a certain aspect. I don't know, it seems to me that sometimes when you're in an unstable environment you get caught up in that. your experience at the moment, so I should actually be helping you to expand that.

[33:22]

Absolutely. The job itself should be working in the monastery or outside the monastery. The person is really seasoned in the practice. They should be able to kind of go and be a servant and act on their own terms. But don't ever make too much fun of me with any of these things. It's very difficult to have mental... how would you call it? Mental health. And so it's something that all of us need. It's not like one day you have it. You know, you may one day just have it. It seems that you really struggle with it all the time. But if you have that mind, then you know what you're doing. You know when you're expressing what you're doing or not.

[34:24]

I do believe it's not just a practice that you're doing, that's other practices. It's a state of mind, it's a state of being. What is the difference between love and compassion? Well, compassion is the next one. That's karina. Karina is compassion, which basically means suffering with others. Compassion means suffering, but it means it can mean sexual love in the body. There are all forms of love. Even the most show-savvy guy has some love in him, even though it may be very small.

[35:30]

But love is actually basically caring for the well-being of others. Our own desire gets mixed up in that. It's natural. We have to be like a hand-designer. And that's what attracts us to something else. And that's the future world, really. It's the earth world, really. But within that world, it should still be the desire for the well-being of the other person. I was so scared, you know, I'd get jealous, I'd get possessive, I'd get more manipulative. I didn't need to get manipulative. I used to love the partners. So, um, the passion was to see how, um, the partner suffered.

[36:37]

You know, I had a problem, you know, and maybe, you know, how you're part of the problem, you know? When you see a partner change, or see some problem in that partner, you think there may be something wrong with them, and often it's something we're doing and not aware of. And the partner's helping to balance the situation, even subconsciously, by changing. And so when we see our partner changing, it's a kind of miracle for us to realize What am I doing that's causing this? You may or may not be causing it, but you should know. So, this compassion is a way of... You know, people probably just, you know, don't have anything to answer your question. But, you know, in a working situation, a day-to-day situation, to have compassion is to try and understand

[37:39]

Why is somebody angry at me? Not so much why you're angry at me, but why are you always angry at me? What is it in your background that created the situation, rather than myself reacting to it and maybe trying to get angry? Do you understand what I'm saying? And in the end, somebody's not going to want to react. Somebody insults us, so we react. And instead of reacting, we'll back up and say, why do you have to talk to me about something? Why do you have to do this to me? And we'll come along to the other side, and we'll do something to get it off. This is called identification. to actually identify with the other person in order to understand what's going on in that person rather than reacting or creating a bigger problem.

[38:52]

But that takes superstition, and it takes humility, and some, just a little. You know, you don't get thrown off balance just because somebody try to upset us. One thing about how we should be aware of in our practice, always, mostly, is equanimity. Be centered and balanced, so that when something happens, even when we sit this way and think that way, we always come back to the same. And find our equanimity. There seems to be a little bit of imbalance in this. In Japan, when you have your Go-Mu, Bodhi-Dharmakaya, and you get around that, that kind of weight on the bottom, and you pull the barrel over, and the Bodhi-Dharmakaya, you pull the top ring, the barrel over, and you get back up again.

[40:06]

It doesn't rebound. to have that kind of ability to be flexible, not let yourself be motivated, or if you are, put your mind on it. And the way to do that is to not harbor the error. The error comes in when we touch on it. This is the medical department. I've been working with people for a long time, and it's not a joke. Our personalities stand out. I'm just wondering how you get from one job to the other.

[41:12]

And when you get to know each other very well, you say, I know what you are like. You are cool. And I know what they expect from you. And then you form this opinion about somebody, and then you act with them according to that opinion. And then, they feel like you got the way they want you. And so they act what they think. It's very hard to do these things, to not presume anything. To be surprised when it comes to what happens. I know it's difficult. But try it. Try to be in a selfless place. To be surprised when it comes to what happens. Try it. Maybe you won't try it. So, the meaning of that means, think of it as a joke. to be happy that someone else is successful.

[42:23]

I can't really feel it. It's a little weird, but at this stage, I've got a job, and I'm good. I don't feel kind of bad about that, but you can also feel That's just a natural self. That self, I can say, happens. I can act like that. I already know how to act like that. That's natural and normal. You have to go against your natural and normal intelligence. That's why some people in practice, they don't practice in their mind. And a lot of people in the world, they're not really practicing where they're going to start. And it's not easy. It's not an easy practice. The liberation is to say that practice is difficult, but not because of the pain of the world surrounding you.

[43:28]

That's difficult. The hard part is to keep that practice pure. Keeping that practice pure means keeping it purely non-delusional. And you can cut that, and you can weld on it. And this is the main thing about practice. No matter what. So, when you get into it, no matter what happens. One test, when I look at Jason, and I look at you, and I see whether or not there's an immunity, there certainly isn't, and to me that's a test of the practice.

[44:39]

How they handle it, how they handle it, how they handle it. Acceptance. So I think it's very much who we're born to, isn't it? And I love somebody who, you know, like, goes and owns a car or whatever. So I could think, well, I've got a lot of good practice, but it's not something that's, you know, like, isn't a cheap little thing, you know, or something. of the rhythm, you know. So, you know, when you say that, it's, you know, the physical emotions. Yeah, something goes wrong with my thinking in my head. So, I mean, for somebody who still gets upset all the time, like, you know, a lot of people, you know, they're basically, you know, like, people.

[45:51]

But, you know, people who are born, What do you see as the relationship between femininity and something that might be considered I mean, the question goes to Something about, I mean, about how to do restoring feelings in something other than, you know, masculine.

[46:55]

Well, um, we've been living in feelings from natural emotional response. The most natural. It seems to me that the only practice and the only path that I went is, you know, I think that all of it is awareness for students. And I feel like it's really difficult in this community and in the teaching sometimes to be awareness for students because it's not going to be the reaction, the response. Because if I am met with a response from somebody else that feels, that sounds compassionate...

[47:54]

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