Thank you very much for inviting me to join you again this year. It's nice to see all of those of you who I know from before. Maybe we need some air in the room. Thank you, Ralph. That'll probably be enough for a while. Oh, not for me yet. I think of this as... a seminar for Buddhist psychologists and psychotherapists, and also as a seminar to explore the relationship between Buddhism and psychology and psychotherapy.

[01:16]

So, you know, the fruitfulness of our discussion is as much your responsibility as mine, or it'll be certainly mine. most fruitful if we're really having a discussion. And even when I speak, I feel I'm discussing in my mind with you. Yes. And, you know, I have something in mind that I would like to speak about, partly because I imagine it's relevant to you, and partly because it's part of my own process of trying to figure things out.

[02:44]

But if there's anything any one of you is trying to figure out through your own interests and work, you can let me know and we can sort of look at it together. And it does seem to me, though I don't, you know, most of my ideas, initial ideas, were formed about psychotherapy and psychology quite a long time ago. Initially in the 50s. I mean, that's not 1850, that's 1950. Yeah. And... Of course, to some extent I keep up with developments over these years, decades.

[04:07]

And my impression is that psychotherapy and psychology have moved and Buddhism have moved more toward each other conceptually and therapeutically than they were back 50 years ago. My impression is that psychology and psychotherapy and Buddhism have moved closer to each other, both conceptually and therapeutically, than was the case a few years ago. Yeah, and I recently, a few weeks ago, taught the second week of the Focusing Eugene Gendlin Summer School with Nicole's help.

[05:11]

She translated. And there... And they asked me, actually, they asked me first ten years ago, when I taught two years in a row their summer school, a week of their summer school. And Johannes, what is his last name? Villachko. And Johannes Willitschko came to a lecture of mine in Berlin many years ago and said, that sounds exactly like the work of Eugene Gendlin. And one of the aspects that seems similar is his idea and their idea of therapy is this relationship to felt sense.

[06:25]

I could use the term myself, but I'm hesitant to use it because terms become specific to the context in which they're developed. In other words, if I use felt sense and Gendlin's whole way of looking at things comes along with it, then that's not quite the same as Buddhism. Even though there's considerable overlap from a technical term, lots of things Turn, T-U-R-N, from a technical term, T-E-R-M. A technical term.

[07:38]

Lots of things turn on, spelled T-U-R-N. Okay, I see. Am I not speaking loudly enough, Ralph? No. Okay. Yeah, well, you can close one of the doors. Okay. But for instance in Buddhism sometimes some English, some scholars in English use the felt texture of mind. And that's... And that sounds the same and it's not quite the same.

[08:55]

And one of your teachers at Oldenburg uses felt experience. Well, it really only works in German that way. Okay. Consciousness, feeling consciousness. Okay. A felt consciousness. Feeling consciousness. And probably all of these things are really overlap, but are probably different in significant ways. And one of your professors in Oldenburg uses the term sensual consciousness. And probably all of these terms are different, but at the same time they are different terms. I'm mentioning that partly because that's something in that area we might speak about. And I also have considered speaking about more, as I often have, the functioning of the Alaya Vijnana. Which is, you know, to say in shorthand would be how do you bring subliminal knowing in conjunction with supraliminal knowing?

[10:08]

Didn't I speak about that, the Sashin, a little bit? Yeah. So maybe you can tell whether we should continue with that. We just started. I was curious how you would go on with it. Yeah. That's why you're here. One of the reasons. So that's a couple of suggestions from me. And again, I'm open to suggestions from you. But first let me say something about what I would call the meta-program of Buddhism. But first, let me say something about what I would call the metaprogram of Buddhism. Because if Buddhism and psychotherapy and psychology have moved closer together over the last decades, then maybe if we look at the metaprogram of Buddhism, it...

[11:32]

It may allow us to look more, I hope, it's a way of looking perhaps with more precision about the relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy and psychology. And I'm speaking about this not as a finality of some sort, but as a way to get myself and us thinking about it together. Finality. Not as some kind of final knowledge or something like that. Because for me these things are always a process of exploration. Okay, so metaprogramming. Well, let's take the statement of the historical Buddha.

[13:05]

He asked his disciples to go forth for the welfare of all. I think probably your own lives are motivated by something similar to that. Go forth for the welfare of all. Now, that's not, in Buddhism that's not understood, nor would I assume that the Buddha, historical Buddha, meant it in, like, this is a good, responsible thing to do. But rather, I would say that it's more like if the wealth, if

[14:06]

your welfare is going to be most fully realized. You can't separate your welfare from the welfare of others. So your own welfare and the welfare of all are the same. So how do you become capable of considering the welfare of all? Now, I'm not trying to I'm trying to present Buddhism to you.

[15:28]

What I meant is not that you are Buddhists or not. But I'm trying just to present the position of Buddhism to see how it makes sense in relationship to the practice and living of psychotherapy. Or I suppose understanding ourselves as a psychological process. Yeah. Okay.

[16:40]

So, the metaprogram of Buddhism would then, continuing with this idea of a metaprogram, would be that, first of all, you should consider what your relationship is to... all sentient beings. The sense of it is something like we arise in a human space And we live in a human space. And what is our relationship to this human space? By human space, I mean books are human space. This physical room is designed for human beings. I mean, I think so. But this posture is not necessarily designed for human beings.

[17:53]

And if you want to sit in chairs, please do. It's my job to sit this way, but it's getting harder and harder to sit this way. It's my job to do it, but it's getting harder and harder. I like it, I have to confess. But as I may have said in the past, I always thought the more I did it, the easier it would get. But somehow I forgot about getting old. My feet are getting farther and farther away and so forth. So this metaprogram is, Buddhism says, we really need to think about what is this human space?

[18:57]

And not just human space as humans, but the sentient space that supports us. Nowadays, with an environmental awareness, this is more clear than it might have been 50 years ago. The second thing that this metaprogram asks of us What is our relationship to our desires? Our intentions. What we do. So the assumption is admonition is that we should study, analyze, examine our desires, intentions, and so forth.

[20:22]

And the third is, in this metaprogram, is that we should study the inner subjective world. We should recognize that the world is inner subjective. We should study the phenomenal world. Now in English we could say the physical world is maybe what physicists study. In physics we could say the physical world is what physicists study. But there are still humans studying the physical world. But in English, phenomenal world is used commonly to mean the physical world.

[21:40]

Actually, phenomenal world means the world phenomena known through the senses. So this is a phenomena in that it's known through the senses, not that it's a physical object. So the third admonition is you should study the phenomenal world. Also, die dritte... Die dritte... Nicht Annahme, sondern Behauptung. Bitte? Mahnung. Mahnung. Okay. Die dritte Mahnung ist, dass... Ja, ich bin ganz zufrieden damit.

[22:42]

Die dritte Behauptung ist, du solltest die physische Welt... The phenomenal world. Okay. The phenomenal world. Du solltest die phänomenale Welt untersuchen. Ja, how... how we know the world through our senses and mind. And the fourth of this metaprogram is, okay, what are the consequences of having studied these first three? And of course these are the four Bodhisattva vows. The first is sentient beings are innumerable. I vow to enlighten them. Now all the teachings of Buddhism are about enlightenment. Making enlightenment more likely.

[23:49]

And lessening suffering. Or freeing us from suffering. Okay. Now, not everything in the world is about cooking a good dinner. And I've eaten some meals occasionally which are enlightening perhaps. I'm always seeking another meal like that. Sometimes it ruins its expense. So that's a kind of limitation on Buddhist teachings, practices.

[24:57]

But in any case, there's no Buddhist teaching which isn't either meant or simultaneously meant to increase the likelihood of enlightenment. aber gleichzeitig gibt es keine buddhistische Lehre, die nicht auch dazu gemacht ist, die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Erleuchtung zu erhöhen, oder und das Leid zu vermindern, oder dich vom Leid zu befreien, und dabei geht es um geistiges Leid oder mentales Leid. Okay, so that's all summed up in this you know, repeatable phrase, sound bite, I vow to enlighten them. Sentient beings are innumerable. I vow to enlighten them. Yeah. Desires, desires includes all intentions, everything.

[26:11]

Desires are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Now that's a formula. It's not exactly a philosophical statement. It's a formula which you see what happens to you when you say it. Das ist eine Formel, bei der man sieht, was mit einem geschieht, wenn man das sagt. What is a desire? What is ending them? If I'm hungry, I still want to have dinner. Was ist eine Begierde? Und was bedeutet es, das aufzugeben oder zu beenden? Wenn ich hungrig bin, dann möchte ich trotzdem Abend essen. So, what is a desire? What would it mean, in a formulaic sense, to say to end them? And the third is, Dharma gates are innumerable. I vow to enter them.

[27:14]

Okay. Now Dharma gates, the idea of gates and the idea of particularly dharmas, in Buddhism is, if you don't understand phenomenal worlds in terms of dharmas, you are somewhat deluded. ist, dass wenn du die Welt der Erscheinung nicht als dharmas verstehst, dann bist du irgendwie verblendet. Also es ist keine leichte Angelegenheit, die Welt als dharmas zu verstehen. Dass jeder Moment, und wir leben tatsächlich von Moment zu Moment zu Moment, And each moment is unique.

[28:27]

Now we can think that or we can know that intellectually. But it's not easy to experience each moment as unique. How are we present so that we know the world as Dharma instance? So I can bring up the idea, you know, I've been speaking recently about establishing a mental continuum. Or a mind continuum. Or a continuum of aliveness. I mean, if I look over at you and then I close my eyes, Yeah, a few moments later I look back and you're still there.

[29:36]

And I fully expected you to be still there. Maybe a little different than you were a moment ago. So the presumption that you will still be there even after I've looked away and that the room will still be here, etc., is because I assume a physical continuity. And so I see a physical continuity because that's what I expect to see. And I'm much more likely to notice, if I notice continuity, I'm much more likely to notice sameness than difference. I'm programmed, culturally, etc., and consciousness itself is programmed to notice continuity.

[30:40]

Buddhism, this is considered to be the practical truth. But it's not the fundamental truth. The fundamental truth is actually each thing is moment by moment different, unique. Okay, so what do we draw from that? That we have a that the usual way is that we have a continuity of continuity. But in Buddhism we have a continuity of alterity.

[31:46]

Now, alterity is a technical word in some Western philosophies, and it also can be used in a somewhat different sense. It's a technical word in Buddhism. And all alterity means is it's actually a continuity of otherness. Or a continuity of alternative. So each moment is actually an alternative. And whether you know it or not, you're making a choice each moment. The degree to which we're making choices, unless you're in a fast-moving car in almost an accident, is we don't notice. The... You know, we talked yesterday about wild animals.

[32:56]

And I'm particularly aware of this because in Krestov we live... Yeah... There's large numbers of deer out in front of the Zendo in most mornings. Yeah, and sometimes I really look at them and I wonder, how the heck do they get through the winter without a house? Without, you know, social security. Yeah, and they're so alert. And, you know, as you know, in Kreston we have mountain lions and bears and so forth.

[33:59]

And we don't see the bears too often, except just before winter schlaffing. Just after winter schlaffing. Hibernation means the same. Hiber is winter, so hibernation is winter schlaffing. So just before hibernation or winter schloffing, we see them because they're hungry and they come down and they tore the back off our trash shed this spring, I guess. And Ray Louise, my wife, heard that the bear was eating apples down in front of the house. A bear, yeah.

[35:20]

So she decided she wanted to see the bear. So she went down with Sophia, our seven-year-old, and slept in sleeping bags in the office door. And the apple tree is about where you're sitting in the chair. Or maybe not quite that far. So in the middle of the night, three o'clock or so, she hears somebody walking in wooden Japanese shoes on the path. And she thinks, who the hell is walking? Wake up bell's not till 3.30. And then she realizes it's the crunch, crunch of apples being eaten.

[36:22]

This has nothing to do with Buddhism. This is just an anecdote. Anyway, so she wakes up and there's this apple, big young male bear, shitting him almost as fast as he's eating him. It's a real fast process. And so she wakes up, and then she sees this young, strong, male bear, who is the apple, and who almost as fast shits out as he ate her. And that's a very fast process for him. And so she wakes up Sophia, and they sit there watching the bear. And then Craig wakes up because his room is right there.

[37:40]

And Craig comes out, bang, bang, bang, and the bear goes over to the fence. Because we have this deer fence around the place and we try to patch all the holes and everything so bears and deers can't get in. So the bear goes over the gate, which is the side pole of the gate, somewhere between the top of the Buddha's head and that tulip. He puts his paw up and with no sound almost just floats over the thing like an Olympic athlete. Yeah, so much for patching the holes.

[38:44]

So Marie-Louise calls me and tells me that she did this. I said, are you sure bears prefer apples to people? And you were just, I mean, what the hell are you doing? I knew you'd react this way, that's why I didn't tell you yesterday. Well, anyway, when you've had a few experiences like that, When you walk in the woods there, it's not like walking in a park. You're rather alert. So how... Now back to a little bit of Buddhism. How can we be alert enough, almost like a wild animal,

[39:45]

To feel the uniqueness of each moment, which could be danger, could be anything, could be an alternative. So the continuity of continuity tends to... suppress alternatives. But to see each moment as a Dharmagate we could say is the continuity of alterity which doesn't so much suppress alternatives. So Dharmagate's The alterity of Dharma gates are innumerable.

[41:00]

I vow to enter them. Now, this kind of way of looking at the world is a real challenge. We're not going to get there, but it's the direction we intend. Diese Art und Weise, die Welt zu betrachten, ist eine echte Herausforderung. Und wir werden da nie hingelangen, aber es ist eine Absicht. So that's the third Bodhisattva vow. Das ist das dritte Gelöbnis des Bodhisattvas. And the fourth? The fourth? The Buddha's way is endless. I vow to follow it. Der Weg des Buddhas ist endlos. Ich gelobe ihm zu folgen. In other words, this last is, if I attempt to establish my relationship to all of sentience, and I study and analyze and define my desires and desires, vows or intentions and if I become capable of the continuity of alterity this then is called Buddha's way that makes enlightenment more likely and lessens or frees us from suffering

[42:15]

And there's no end to this way. But I intend, I vow to follow it. Okay, now I presented this not to convince any of you you should be Buddhists. But just to say all of Buddhism, which is in some relationship to Western culture and some particular relationships to psychology and psychotherapy, All of Buddhism is framed in this metaprogram I just mentioned. So probably we should have a break. And maybe after the break you can give me some suggestions of what you'd like us to speak about too.

[43:56]

What I mentioned or something else or something in addition. Okay, thank you very much.

[44:02]

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