Well I wish we had another four or five days which we could very gently and slowly incorporate these things into ourselves. But we're all likely to have lots of four or five days, so please... Make use of these things as you will, can. And it was suggested to me that as much as we will miss the three or four or so people who have to leave, It's better to miss you than to stop. And you won't miss anything.

[01:01]

Because I will try not to say anything after you're gone. Anyway, it'll be a little sad that some of you have to go, but we'll continue too around one o'clock. Now, how can we put this stuff into context that allow us to aphoristic encapsulations.

[02:06]

That allow us to kind of like, yeah, that makes sense. And the statement has a physical resonance for it. And my attempt at such an encapsulation We are born from parents. And Buddhas are born from the present. Okay. Good. Good old Otto Oskar Kaiser.

[03:15]

If we see that the present is something that gathers itself and that we gather and that we participate in that gathering. When we recognize that there's a simple presence, appearance, a simple appearance, a simple presence that appears primarily through karmic formations. Then our engagement with the And then we have our active participation in this present that appears.

[04:34]

Through perception. Through cognition. And through, let's call them wisdom reminders. In other words, the surface of the present is a liquid in which the present and the past are equally dissolved. Maybe there's a cup of coffee from the past and you pour it into the water of the present.

[05:40]

and it's so dilute you can barely see that it's slightly brown. But, you know, if you're in a bad mood and depressed, it's suddenly not just brown, it's dirty water. Big chunks of karma are floating in it from previous cups of coffee. And now if we have such an image Then we can participate in the present.

[06:45]

And what I'm trying to do here is, you know, again, it sounds a little like sociological talk, but which is fine, you know, really fine. Actually the best. It's the best. We're trying to create working models. Working models of the present and working models of the self. And if we have, you know, recognize that the self is something we participate, the present is something we participate in. And the present as consciousness is something we work toward. and the present as awareness is something we can work with, then we can see, I think, that the possibility of we can work with the present in such a way

[08:02]

That we are close to or become enlightened or realized or become a Buddha. dann können wir auch eine Vorstellung haben, dass wir teilhaben können und auch arbeiten können, dass wir erleuchtet sind, dass wir ein Buddha sind. But at this point you have to somehow adjust yourself to the idea of a Buddha. Aber an diesem Punkt müsst ihr euch selbst vertraut machen und anpassen an diese Idee von Buddhaschaft. and not sort of put it in the God category somewhere in your thinking. If you put it in the God category, you can't have a relationship with it. And what we're doing only makes sense if Buddha is in a human category. And somehow, whatever we mean by a Buddha that

[09:26]

experience of what we mean by a Buddha already overlaps with our own experience. And we can notice the overlap. Okay, that's enough, I think, to say that much. Now, a couple of ideas I think we should note. One. that I think is very important, is to recognize the pervasiveness of the experience of self. The pervasiveness and persuasiveness.

[10:56]

is our experience of continuity. That's one. Two is our experience of unity in the present. And third is our experience of identifying observing mind with observing self. So if you're going to practice with this, make a working model for yourself. you need to work with the experience of continuity. Notice, is it really a continuity? Or, when you do zazen, are there so many hyperlinks in that continuity that go in parallel?

[12:17]

The branching streams flow in darkness. It's like string theory where we're always separating into other worlds with every choice. in many ways our continuity is a stream that's kept being put back into the main riverbed. But what we say in America is a large percentage of a mountain stream actually flows under the stream bed. And you can see where it disappears sometimes, and then where it hits bedrock, it reappears very deep.

[13:37]

and then goes back to a normal stream, etc. So what I've been suggesting is much of the stream of self flows around and under the stream bed of self. and flows in branching streams, not unconsciously, in the sense related dynamically to consciousness, but flows non-consciously. And sometimes flows as parallel lives, other lives we could have done or on some level do outside of our awareness.

[14:48]

And so we need to explore ourselves this sense of continuity. And I think when you You're in a different seizure of memory. In a different seizure different stored experience flows into zazen. And the continuity of your life experience flows into zazen in a different way than it flows into your ordinary consciousness. Sorry. flow of continuity, the flow of stored experience, flows into the theater of Zazen differently than it

[16:09]

flows into the theater of usual consciousness. I mean, one of the things you're doing in sasen is very clearly you're dropping consciousness. You enter into a mind that is primarily associated with consciousness. And then you enter into a mind which is free of associative consciousness. And that mind we can call, I call, awareness. Now consciousness draws different kinds of draws stored experience into the present, in a different way than

[17:20]

stored experiences brought into, drawn into awareness. So doing zazen is one of the most powerful ways to explore the flow of continuity, the flow of stored experience. Now, in technical Buddhist terms, This flow of karmic continuity, the flow into consciousness, is called vikalpa. And that isn't simply understood as a flow of stored experience, but it's a flow of a particular nature, a particular worldview, a particular way of being.

[18:35]

And in the dynamic of the alaya-vijnana as understood from the point of view of Zen, it's when percepts are stored as experience, they're stored already categorized, in a sense, by your worldviews. And the storing process itself... is a process of integration. In other words, after the experience is stored within the dynamic of the laya vijjana, there's processes which integrate these. stored experience. And then consciousness draws from that stored experience which is already configured.

[19:51]

The configuration of our present personality, self, etc. And here's where you have false memories and things like that, because it's remembered very clearly, but in terms of the present self. Or it's obviously that some things are not remembered. Okay. Now the alaya vijnana is bigger than that. So when you're doing zazen, And your stored experience is flowing into awareness. Ideally, awareness has no narrative configuration. Ideally, it's category-free.

[21:25]

I mean, there's no such thing as pure category-free mind, but it's more in that direction. So a wider stream of experience after your somewhat skillful meditation, a wider stream of stored experience flows into awareness. So sometimes in that sense the Alaya-Vijjana is considered the basis for realizing Buddhahood. So meditation does something very dramatic.

[22:34]

It relates you to your past in a significantly different way. It creates a new basis for understanding yourself and non-self. So this experience of continuity, when you add the idea of vikalpa to it, then this stored experience is not neutral. Gelagerte Erfahrung liegt eine neutrale, sondern es ist bereits eine Natur. Nun wird es aber eine davorgelegene Natur genannt. Now to add the word previous is profoundly optimistic.

[23:45]

Because it's usually not previous at all. It's just the way we are. It's very... Insightful to say, hey, this might be my previous nature. It doesn't have to be my present nature. I'm going to phone up that constellation Banda and find out what my previous nature was and what it can become. Do you mind being called the Constellation Banda? I don't know what Banda means in German, really.

[24:46]

Gang. Gang. Gang. We feel very honored. I started with the Vienna Band. Okay. Now, how do we work with the experience of unity? And the experience of unity, which we can... most experience when we limit or cut off associative thinking. So now we have the synchronic self and the diachronic self.

[25:46]

And I think those terms may be good. Of course, the synchronic self, maybe we need this. Too many puns. We need a non-chronically based, no, I won't do it. It's a chronic habit of mine too. When you do something like, again, now I want to speak about the sense of pools of awareness in the midst of consciousness.

[26:54]

Okay. It's one thing to experience awareness. non-dual or uncontrived awareness in zazen. Or category-free mind. But what's important here in terms of advanced practice. Is to transform consciousness itself. And the image perhaps we can have of that is on the surface of this coffee stained water. There's pools of awareness that flow into the present.

[27:59]

And one way these pools of awareness flow into consciousness, is by using memory. Now remember, memory in Buddhism is everything that makes this shape a watch. So if I let Sophia play with this, and since it's a stopwatch, she likes this push, you know? If I remind her it's a watch, so please don't drop it.

[29:03]

That reminder is using memory. And it's very interesting to me that Buddhism calls this a memory practice, which we would probably not do. But it's making a distinction between what part of this liquid arises solely from the present and what part of this liquid arises from the past. comes from the past.

[30:09]

Or arises from memory. So if I have a teaching or a working model of the present those are all called a way of engaging memory into the surface of the present. This is called a way of actively participating in Okay. And there's a kind of dynamic there with mem signs. Because the mem sign I attach to this shape, which makes it a watch, that very process, is turned into wisdom. I can turn, I can attach to this watch the mem sign, this doesn't belong to me.

[31:30]

I always remember Sukhirishi, he was very forgetful and he'd take his glasses off and didn't know where he put them, finally he tied them around his neck. I remember one time he took his glasses off and said, these are not my glasses. These are your glasses. And out of your sweetness and compassion, you let me use them. It's absolutely true. Culture made the glasses, optometrists, they were invented in Italy in the 14th century, etc. So in the widest sense our glasses, this all belongs to all of us.

[32:34]

You're just letting me use it. And Suzuki Roshi is letting me use this. So the way in which the present and the Memory is the dynamic of the past. Or the dynamic of a stored experience. So now your stored experience, your working model is perhaps I'm always close to this. Or I'm practicing with this is not mine, this is not what I am, this is not me.

[33:39]

That's using... memory on the washboard of the present. Or on the table at which Baby Buddhas are born. Now, when you then bring the mind or reminded, reminded to, remembered to bring the mind to the field, to the field of intra-independence, then you create a pool of awareness in the middle of consciousness and the more you bring pools of awareness into consciousness it not only transforms consciousness

[35:01]

But it gives you a basis for practicing the so-called two truths. That you know you can go along with the conventional world. At the same time you feel detached but not separate from the conventional world. So there are many examples that I've given you for how we generate pools of awareness within consciousness. but I don't know if I should mention them all again but let me just say Siegfried mentioned to me that there's a philosopher who's living today, who has a similar idea of perceiving all-at-onceness.

[36:36]

And what is the term with the philosopher? Synesthetic perception. And who's the philosopher? Gernot Böhme. Okay, thanks. So, if he's translated into English, I'm sorry, I'm so limited, but anyway, if he's translated into English, I'd be interested to know what he draws from this experience, how he uses this experience. But I always feel wonderfully confirmed when someone else notices something.

[37:38]

Usually what is different is Buddhism makes use of this kind of experience in a very particular way that probably If you're not a Buddhist, you wouldn't use it that way. Okay, that was enough talking for a while. He says that architects, therapists, and PR people doing advertising, they are using this kind of synesthetic awareness But they don't have a teaching of it.

[38:57]

It's only conveyed by practicing. Okay, thanks. Now, does somebody want to say something after, you know, All of this stuff floating in the field of the present. I was reminded several times during what you said about these Italian researchers who discovered mirror neurons.

[40:12]

I know about it, yes. I read quite a bit about it. Yes. And the idea of it is that when we perceive these neurons, when we perceive certain things, that they are somehow adding memories which allow us to somehow prospectively see what might happen. And research is that far that researchers say, actually this is a precondition for social behavior, for the social.

[41:19]

And I ask myself, I put myself the question, how does this, how does it fit to what you said about MemScience? Well, to me it doesn't change at all the usefulness of the idea of MemScience. But one of the things I read about it is if somebody watches a football game, The same neurons fire in the watcher as fire in the player. So I'm firing all the Sambhogakaya neurons I possibly can. Or at least I'm pretending and imagining. Okay, thanks.

[42:36]

Thank you very much. Of course this also is about how you actualizing the present is also to actualize a not yet imagined future. Was das ein Ding oder mehr gesagt? Was ich mir natürlich immer vorgestellt habe, I'm sorry, what I imagined, oh yes, is what is a thing without memsign? Die Frage ist ja, ob wir gegen diese Neuronen, müssen eigentlich gegen diese Funktion dieser Neuronen, die ankämpfen, und gegen diesen Gedanken folgen.

[43:43]

And actually what we have to do is actually to fight against these neurons to get free from these memories. Well, I don't know if fight is the word I'd use. If you notice... That refines simply, the more you notice it, and you get the habit of noticing, it refines how you enter, how you experience things. And how you actualize, activate, actuate your experience. I don't want to forget this as a watch until I'm about 93 or 99. I mean, MemScience, memory, order our experience with ourselves and each other in the world.

[44:51]

And order our experience intergenerational. And again, in Buddhism, lineage practice is really being very aware of how you order intergenerational practices. And Nicole, can I, oh, you want to say something? No, go ahead. Actually, I didn't want to interrupt. Oh, you weren't interrupting. We just put Nicole on warning. I was deeply touched by, I was very touched by the example you gave about Suzuki Roshi's eye glasses.

[45:53]

I'm very touched by what all is implicated just by glasses. And it's also a kind of an answer to my questions about these tubes and the heart. Thank you. It is funny, it's a little example like that, can convey so much. Yeah, Nikola, I was just going to ask, since you've been at the practice period and seminars and etc., Can you bring something into this from your experience in Crestone? Being here, something else happens than at Crestone.

[47:19]

It's not that Crestone is always better. This may be better. Yes, I just wanted to ask Nicole, because she was so much in Creston and also took part in seminars, if she can bring in something from what she has experienced there, what she thinks would fit here. And it is not so that Creston would be better in this sense, but yes. Yeah. I think the first thing that's interesting is that we now really have a connection to the subject, which was already discussed in this webinar, when it also has a lot to do with the process, in which I and I think the rest of the process has been very well understood, how it is organized and how it works, so to speak.

[48:49]

My tele-sense of what practice period was about for me, and my sense of what the center was about, putting both these tele-senses here and next to each other. One thing I noticed is that the first thing is that it really goes hand in hand with each other. On the one hand, the area you touched by talking about how to embody and learn about immediacy with all the aspects that you pointed out, that relates very well to the process that I progressed through in practice. And then, of course, I can't explain the aspect to which they understand. Exactly this process, from the perspective of the world, but also from the perspective of psychotherapy, is to be understood as a process that is illuminated from a completely different level and, of course, is brought into a different level.

[50:00]

I'll use this as an example. To see figures here, how closely they are connected, And what I really thought when I came out was to see that in a state of indifference, inside there is a spirit that has to do with the fact that all the lenses can move freely. and have a strong, but loose relationship. It's a little bit of freedom. It's a little bit of freedom on which the other can move. That's what I wanted to say. I think that's one of the reasons why you got the information. Maybe it was also put on the stage in a completely different way. Yes, the process is totally the same. And one thing that sat with me here through the Constellation work lately, as she was looking at this kind of practice process from a therapeutic and a Constellation perspective, is that it's like looking at that process with very different tools that should work very different.

[51:13]

perspective somehow to make it very concrete. One thing that I've just never thought of is very physical and external constellation of how the elements of my mind relate to each other, and what really caused, what triggered a sense of eternal freedom, so now we're seeing that these elements can relate freely with each other, or when they relate freely with each other, they can all kind of dance with each other, but we're only severely attached to the other in a, well, a strict sense. Yeah. practice process as a practice period is to explore practice in the way we did it, and then to not put it onto a psychotherapeutic or a psychological stage.

[52:44]

practice where it integrates for me my psychological processes with practice that I ask very few, very, very few people are very responsible for. Well, good. Thanks. I mean, this interests me, of course, because I'm just going to say one thing, by the way, and then we're going to sit, so you can leave when we sit if you want. Because what I do... So if you wait one minute or so. Because... I think you'll feel better. Because what I do is so context-dependent. I could say I really don't know what I'm doing. I say that, but I actually mean it. I mean, I know what my intention is.

[53:48]

And I know what my experience is. But what happens in each context is... fairly unpredictable to me. I had no idea we'd get to where we got before the seminar started. It's interesting to me to have Nicole's experience of one context and this experience of this context and for me they're equally fruitful. And so it is very interesting for me to find out how Nicole sees her experiences in one and in another context. And for me, both contexts are equally fruitful.

[54:50]

But of course there would be a difference if all of us were together here at Rastenberg for three months. Something else would happen. That would be great. And I've talked to Giorgio about it. Okay, let's sit for a moment. Goodbye, my friends. Oh, Wiedersehen. Northern Germany is leaving. I mean, North Central.

[55:19]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_77.14