I always say yes. I know there's not a movie theater within 50 miles. And so then I say, it's sweet of you to ask, but you know, let's do something else. Let's go for a walk. So I can always say no, but I start with yes. So this is the idea of an initial mind. How you start each encounter. And this is also again a practice of noticing the world as appearance. Yes, Ellen? Exactly at that moment, when I accept these phenomena, I have the impression that I do not have the strength to accept them.

[01:09]

I have a question. Just in this particular moment when I accept the appearance but then notice that I actually don't have the force or the power that I need to supply in order to accept that appearance. Yeah, good. Because one thing a practice like this does is display the alternative. So it makes you notice you don't have the energy for it. This is great. If you don't know that, you're in trouble. Bigger trouble than just not having the energy. Okay, so the first attitude is acceptance or yes or something like that. The second is to question it. Und die zweite ist, das zu hinterfragen.

[02:19]

What is it? Was ist das? So, whatever thing appears and you say, okay, accept it. What is it after all? Und was auch immer auftaucht, das akzeptierst du erstmal. Und dann fragst du aber, was ist das eigentlich? Again, if I say this is a bell. Nochmal, wenn ich sage, dass das eine Glocke ist. I accept it. Perceptually, it's cold in my hands. And I might have the thought, it's a bell. But I negate that with, what is it? So I'm open to, yeah, it makes me notice its grayness, lots of little colors in there. Okay, so the second attitude or second fold of this attitude What is it?

[03:32]

So, again, since Angela is sitting in front of me, if I see Angela, and my mind goes to, it's Angela. Of course that's, you know, natural enough. I've known you a lot of years. And if I, you know, notice that, you know, it's unavoidable, you're a woman, you're not this big guy. Mm-hmm. But if I say, if I negate or interrupt your Angela or your woman, you appear to me in a fuller way without categories.

[04:42]

Because you also have a male component. You must. There's somebody who lives upstairs who's a boy. And you couldn't make a boy unless you were part boy. So I noticed you're a woman, but you're also somehow also a male. Also bemerke ich schon, du bist eine Frau, aber irgendwie bist du auch männlich. You're not just a woman. You're only a woman, just a woman. Du bist nicht nur eine Frau. See, she's already testing her muscles. Okay, so you start with this, the first second attitude, second fold is, what is it?

[05:45]

The third fold is no harm. So you try to develop as an initial mind and trying to develop as an initial mind you are developing an initial mind. By trying to develop an initial mind, you develop an initial mind. Because you can't practice this without a sense of a starting point, an initial mind where you say, oh, what is it? weil du das nicht ohne einen Anfangspunkt praktizieren kannst, ohne einen anfänglichen Punkt, in dem du zum Beispiel fragst, was ist das?

[06:51]

So again, this practice, just like Mu, is making, to practice it, you have to notice appearance. Und genau in dieser Praxis auch, wie auch mit der Praxis Mu, um das zu üben, musst du erst mal die Erscheinung bemerken. Now, when you say Mu, you're taking away you're releasing conceptual mentation and comparative mentation. Okay. And you're interrupting the... But in both practices, you're interrupting the mind train. But in this case, you're interrupting and letting it flow into these shapes. These shapes accept question, no harm. So basically you're using these concepts these words to let attention flow through them.

[08:08]

um die Aufmerksamkeit durch sie hindurch fließen zu lassen. Dabei geht es nicht darum, die Worte unbedingt aufgrund ihrer Bedeutung zu benutzen, sondern aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit, die Aufmerksamkeit zu formen. Also, du begegnest jemanden, And your first feeling is you just accept them. Whatever is there. And you also interrupt, you know, conceptions about a person and just say, what is it? So this develops an acceptance and openness And then, so your energy has flowed into acceptance and openness.

[09:25]

And then is given the character of no harm. So in each encounter you try to be present so that you don't cause harm. Now one of the things this does By trying to do it, having an intention to do it, you notice when you can't do it. So it displays your psychological patterns.

[10:26]

You immediately feel, I can't accept this jerk. You have to say, every jerk's a Buddha. Then you have to sort of say, okay, I'll see if I can accept even this person. And after a while you really get to just every person appears in a kind of beauty, kind of complex beauty. Yeah. But... And you notice when you can't say yes, et cetera, to a situation.

[11:39]

It's just too scary. But I think if you're a martial artist and a martial arts practitioner and something very scary happened on the streets, it's much better to accept what's going on and move into the situation in a way than to kind of like just panic. So you accept some, acceptance means you accept some things as horrible. And that also is, you know, that's a hard thing to do. There's so many horrible things that we just block out.

[12:44]

But here, you look, what's going on is so horrible, but you accept that it's horrible. And what is it? opens you to the layers of causation that are part of any interdependent event. And what is it may become, what can I do about it? And whatever I do, I try not to cause harm.

[13:48]

Is that for me? I'll take it, whoever it is. And no harm. Often you notice that actually you don't care whether you harm or not. You actually intend to harm. I'd like to hurt that person. Yeah, I'd like to show that person that she's not as smart as she thinks she is. Well, it might be good to do that sometimes, but you do it in the context of not harming, you do it differently.

[15:17]

So this practice has a lot in similar with Mu. But in this case, you're using concepts to shape attention. And display your habit patterns. So I think that's enough. It's clear? but wouldn't it be nice if we could convince everyone on the planet to at each encounter feel acceptance what is it and no harm that simple thing if we could get it done We'd be in a different world, and we might even save the planet before we develop a civilization that's civilized.

[16:37]

But at a societal level, and some of our societal levels, views are the same. Germany is very good at trying to develop a green economy and so forth. That's certainly motivated by not harming In Buddhist practice, though, it's to bring that into each appearance. Okay, so I've gone through that in a similar way, a somewhat similar way, a number of times in the last months.

[17:39]

But this time I'm presenting it because I think it's nice to know this is the basic view of initial mind for Buddhists. But today I'm presenting it within the context of mind training. Training the mind. Shaping the mind through shaping attention. Okay. Someone wants to say something. Yes. Yes. I think it's very interesting that... Angelica.

[18:55]

Yes. That you say that the Buddhist approach is to say, or the Buddhist approach is to say that everything is welcome, to accept and not to do any harm. And now in the Western world, the communal... actually only through comparison, that you compare another group or another person with yourself, and then feel appropriate, um i found that very interesting how you speak about the buddhist attitude of acceptance and not doing harm and now in a western society it seems that community happens through um comparing and then deciding whether that belongs or doesn't belong.

[20:00]

And through that, you either exclude or you include. That's what I wanted to say. Exactly. These social connections are becoming smaller and smaller, and these communities are becoming smaller and smaller. And you are not even in contact with everyone. And from my point of view, that is very unhealthy. And that it is good to welcome everything again and that to be empty again, to be empty, should not be restricted. And it seems to me that within this community then that breaks up into smaller communities, ever smaller communities. And that one doesn't really come in touch anymore with something like a whole picture or something. And that seems rather unhealthy and that it's a good approach to then welcome everything again.

[21:07]

Well, I think so, too. Thank you. . And I also found the technique to be, it seems, helpful to say mu and das to interrupt this thought train or the usual train, and from there to be able to look at it fresh again, anew again or something. Yeah, you understand very well.

[22:12]

I would just like to make a short comment on not doing harm. And I like that this is so close to the case or something that it's not something abstract, like that you won't call it ethical demeanor or something. Because it is directly now not to do any harm and not the philosophy about not to do any harm. And then we are at the point where we now socially think about, for example, what is ethical behavior, how did it lead to the bank collapse and so on. The question is what

[23:13]

Because it is about how to not doing harm right now and not about the philosophy of not doing harm, which very quickly then leads to an ethical discussion about how did this whole financial crisis come about and all these things, but actually coming back to how can I not do harm now. What I'm concerned with is when my therapeutic work supports the spiritual path of a person and when it may even block it. So for both examples or a feeling process, sometimes it is good to remove the blockage so that the path or the view is free, for example with other

[24:21]

But sometimes it is also something like, you nominate something, but actually it would be better to really sharpen the crisis and wait for something that is somehow not true. And I have a sense for both in a particular process. There can be a sense for both that sometimes it may be good to take some kind of block away so that the person has room to be concerned with different things, maybe self-fulfillment or something. And sometimes it may actually be good to even increase a crisis or to make the crisis worse. Yes, that's true. And it is difficult to have that, to be very clear about that, to have a clear feeling about when to do what.

[25:25]

I agree. I mean it's... You know, it's like sailing a ship or something. You kind of have to know when the wind's too strong and when it's not, and you can't really figure it out. You just learn to sail in storms. The general rule in Buddhist practice you never do anything or say anything to a person or give them a teaching or whatever except in a general sense things everyone knows sort of until the person has really given you permission

[26:28]

And that giving permission has to be tested until you're really sure they're giving you permission and they know what they're doing. And then you want to feel yourself that you're very clear that this is worth trying and they've given you sufficient permission. And I don't know if... With a client in psychotherapy, you see, you know, say once a week or something like that, you can really have this permission.

[27:48]

How do you get this permission? And how does the relationship develop until this permission is clear, etc. ? In a way, I'm kind of giving it more structure than it has. But the people in this room who are wearing raksus, which is a small version of Buddha's robe, have all given me moderate permission to practice with them in a way that we share a mutual vision of what we're doing. a mutual vision of what we're doing together or what practice is or something.

[28:53]

And I'm practicing with a person a few years before I do that. A few years, not just sessions. And then ideally, the person asks me three times and I refuse twice. And then still, I would say only a moderate permission. And when a person is ordained formally, what we call monk's ordination, even if you're a lay person. That's a much more complete giving of permission. No, I don't say this because I think in any way psychotherapy has to imitate this.

[30:18]

But it is probably interesting to see that how you get permission is not so easy. If you're going to precipitate or aggravate a crisis in a person, it's good to have their permission. Even if they don't know what they're getting from me, too. This is within the craft of the profession. That's how I would, I don't know. Yeah.

[31:40]

May I ask a small question? Couldn't you ask a big question? No, fine, go ahead. Okay. I mean, the mind cannot not do harm. I keep looking for positive, or the mind can't think not doing harm. I'm looking for a positive way of putting it. What would you suggest? It could be caring, helping to grow or protect.

[32:44]

Okay. Well, all the precepts, the root of all the precepts we take, do not kill, do not take what is not given, do not lie, etc., are all rooted and do no harm. One precept is do good and another precept is don't harm. I think I think that I understand what you're saying, I think. But I think we also can have a feeling for not harming. Which is different from helping.

[33:46]

And not harming is the beginning, and then if you can help, fine. I think the Dalai Lama says, if you can't help, at least do no harm. You can't always help, but at least you can try to do no harm. Now, we do have a similar, you know, the six paramitas start with generosity, receiving their discipline and patience. And that's similar. You bring those into each encounter. And here the sense is, you have a feeling, I will give this person anything they need. This is, again, not about putting a hat on their head or something like that because it's raining.

[35:04]

It's about a feeling and then what actions proceed from that feeling. And the second of the six parameters is discipline, but really means the discipline that's necessary to learn and receive. And that's how we can practice with it at least. So in this practice you have the attitude first you're willing to give the person whatever they need if you can. And the second fold, or second, is you're willing to receive from them.

[36:07]

Whatever they want to give you, you're open to that. And third is you have the patience to be in that space. And I suppose you could start a therapeutic session that way. I'm willing to give you whatever you need. That's your feeling in every pore of your body. Ich bin bereit, dir zu geben, was auch immer du brauchst. Und das ist das Gefühl, das du in jeder Pore deines Körpers trägst. And at the same time, you're open to receiving from them. Und gleichzeitig bist du offen dafür, von ihnen zu empfangen.

[37:08]

And then, it's very useful, if you visualize yourself as being in a slightly stronger position, where you've got to know a little more than the client. And then it's very helpful when you visualize that you're in a very, very light... In a slightly stronger position. You're supposed to know more or something. You negate that. And if that doesn't work, you make yourself feel smaller than the other person. And you're willing to know just what you know and I'm a little tiny guy. And then you have the patience to be in that situation. Okay, so that's a similar version of this initial mind you bring to each situation. Someone else?

[38:18]

Yes. Ellen? I would like to come back to this accepting even the terrible things. I can also find this horrible, what's horrible within myself. And to accept that and to then look at it and ask what is it that really hurts. But then this not doing harm, if I let this horrible feeling be, then somehow I do harm myself because it really hurts so badly.

[39:21]

But maybe you harm yourself more by not accepting it. But this is again a decision you have to make, a craft of being alive. My own feeling is you always turn toward, just as a life rule, Mein Gefühl ist, dass du dich immer zuwendest als eine Art Lebensregel. Du wendest dich immer dem, was dich verärgert oder was dich beunruhigt, zu. Und du wendest dich niemals ab. Aber du wendest dich nicht so weit zu, dass es dich überwältigt. So there are certain things that are hard to face and you face them a little bit more. And for me, my experience is in those situations I have to do zazen.

[40:47]

Yeah. Yes, David. Hi. Sometimes the way I look at it is like my thoughts are a vast library. Your thoughts or your thoughts? What did you say? Thoughts. Thoughts are impulses, various things. So we have a wholesome, a traditional way to look at it is maybe wholesome, unwholesome and neutral. So when unwholesome impulsive thought or whatever arises, there's no need to feel bad about it, that's an unwholesome thought.

[42:17]

When such a thought arises that may want to cause harm or such an impulse, then there is actually no reason to feel bad about it. That itself is a harmful thought. One might look at it and say, well, I won't check that book out of the library. But that book is part of what makes me whole. So it's like fertilizer. But this book is part of what makes me whole. And then it's more like a fertilizer or something. And like if I have a thought of extinction, as Bodhidharma called it, like if I have a thought that I would like to eliminate someone... Bodhidharma had this idea?

[43:24]

He said, do not kill us, do not bear any thoughts of extinction. Oh, okay, yeah. Okay, yeah. That goes in the Michael Corleone section. That's the godfather. The second godfather who killed everybody through gun as well. That's in that part of the library, yes. Yeah. Yeah. And one other thing is, sometimes one thing I do if I see someone and a thought or a reaction occurs to me that I would call unwholesome, I'll say, bless you.

[44:42]

And one thing I sometimes do is that when I see someone or something appears and then a thought arises that is harmful or wants to harm, then what I say internally is something like, be blessed or all the best for you or something like that. And that sort of takes care of that. So anyway. There's no need to feel bad about our impulses and thoughts. That's not... Bless you, David. Yeah, I remember reading years ago in college when I first read Dostoevsky. It was something like the thought of killing the father is the same as killing the father.

[45:49]

And that's definitely not Buddhism or psychotherapy. Oh, there's another thought of killing my father. You know, and then you bless you, Dad. Oh, there's another thought of killing my father. And then you bless you, Dad. So we should stop in a few minutes, I think. So maybe I can give an ending to the story of no place to go and nothing to do. Vielleicht sollte ich einfach noch dieser Geschichte keinen Ort, an den ich gehen muss, und nichts weiter zu tun, noch ein Ende zufügen. I hit on or discovered this practice as a result of my busy life, I guess. Ich stieß auf diese Praxis oder entdeckte sie wahrscheinlich als ein Ergebnis meines geschäftigen Lebens.

[47:02]

I needed it. It seemed to work. Ich brauchte sie und es schien zu funktionieren. So I, as much as possible, I had the feeling of trying to develop a continuous mind stream. So I tried to have an intention to have present always no place to go and nothing to do. And that's also, I mean, we just did a ceremony, eight or nine of us received lay ordination on a Saturday a couple weeks ago, and two people, two persons received monk's ordination. And Valentine received their admission.

[48:06]

After some years of debating it all and trying out to being a monk in another kind of Buddhism, right? And I was very grateful to do this with you. And one of the things I said in the ceremony, that the essence of the precepts Which are really nothing to do, almost not Buddhist at all. They're just human common sense. But what makes them Buddhist is how you practice with them.

[49:08]

I mean, you do try on a kind of course level, let's say, on a course level you try to follow them. I remember I saw a kid in our garden after I'd taken the precepts or nearby yards catching snails and crushing them. Of course people like uh don't like to have snails in their garden so they probably liked what the kid was doing but i said to this little kid you know i said you shouldn't break anything you can't put back together So it was my way of trying to say no harm or don't kill or something.

[50:18]

Okay, so I was trying to follow the precepts, sort of. But the real way you practice the precepts is you just develop the skill to hold them present in your mind. And then, as in Dogen's terms, all things advance, come forward, and inform the precepts. What did they do with the priesthood?

[51:20]

Inform the priesthood. So this is a particular worldview in which of interpenetration. And at all moments, a very large number of things are happening. And in every moment, many things happen. field of attention shapes what happens. And makes you notice what's happening. So if your field of attention is informed by the precepts, you begin to see the world more and more richly and subtly through the precepts. So this holding an intention or holding a feeling or an attitude in the mind, in the mind and the body, is the basis of all Buddhist practice.

[52:24]

And so I try to hold in mind no place to go and nothing to do. And in more and more subtle ways I saw how I was wanting to do this, driven by that, etc. So holding those two attitudes in my mind and activity and body, revealed layers and layers of my wanting to do this, wanting to do that for this reason or that reason or something, or feeling I hadn't done that and I'm a failure and, you know,

[53:58]

Again, displaying at the same time my habits and attitudes and views. Yeah, so I did it for about three-fourths of a year. Yeah, and you just sort of hummed, hummed underneath my thinking and acting and so forth. And then I forgot about it. And for three or four months I just forgot about it. And suddenly I remembered. I just forgot to do it. Or to let it happen.

[55:00]

And then... You know, around three or four months after I forgot it, it reappeared. I started doing it again. I remember when I started again, I kind of congratulated myself. I congratulated myself, not because I'd started again, but because I didn't think I'd failed because I'd forgotten. I mean, I wasn't quantifying time. I just started again. And after another some months, about a year and a quarter, I think, You were suddenly just present all the time.

[56:21]

And at that point was when I got the first stage, I would say, of an underlying mind that's always present. But it took over a year of a continuous effort to stay with one or two phrases before it kind of actually changed my mind so that underlying mind was perfect. Okay, so you can see this as a dynamic of Zen practice. I don't think you can do this with maybe... Let's see, how could you do this with a client?

[57:33]

You might be able to find a particular phrase and ask them to remind themselves of it every time they see a tree. Or remind themselves of it on exhales. Or remind themselves of it every time they go upstairs. Give some doable, easy reminder and in homeopathic doses these things work. And the repetition, which isn't really repetition, This mantra-like practice really is powerful.

[58:41]

So let's sit for a couple of moments and then we will disband. Whatever she said, she's right. Accept, question, no harm.

[60:03]

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