animals are bad trading and perfect dharma is rarely met with even a hundred thousand million cowbells having to see and listen to to remember and accept I vow to taste the truth of the Takata words. An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect dharma is rarely met with even a hundred thousand million alphas. Having to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I love to taste the truth of the doctor's words.

[17:09]

And I'm sure that's them treating me. It is where we might live. Even in a hundred thousand, really help us. Having to see and listen to, to remember and accept. I vow to taste the truth of the Tatarata's word. We have a friend flying around. I hope it finds its way out. Good morning.

[18:13]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming to Green Gulch. No. How's that? Well, we'll see how this mic functions with me. Good morning again and welcome those of you who are streaming the Dharma Talk and those of you who've come to Green Gulch on this beautiful spring day. A Green Gulch spring day, foggy, cold, chilly. This morning, I wanted to talk about with you a teaching that's put forward in a number of places, but in one place is the Avatamsaka Sutra, the flower ornament scripture or flower garland.

[19:42]

And this scripture I'm studying with a group of people led by Tenshin Roshi. And he's beginning to offer this more widely, I think, in different venues. The scripture itself is... very long, very large scripture and it basically expresses the mind of Buddha and the mind of Buddha helping sentient beings, manifesting and helping sentient beings. However, it does so in ways that are very challenging, I'm finding. So I'm just going to take one small teaching from this huge scripture that was also taken as a koan in our koan collection, the Book of Serenity, Case 67, takes this teaching, just a paragraph, and

[21:11]

puts that forth for us as a koan, as something to, out of compassion, for us to turn and look at and learn by heart. So before I enter that, I just wanted to say a few words about the last six months or so. was invited to leave the Tazahara practice periods and mountain center and have been gone from Green Gulch. I was gone for a full three months plus some vacation time. So I haven't given a talk here since November, December of last year. In the Tazahara practice period, the theme of the practice period through studying a particular chapter of a work.

[22:18]

The chapter of Dogen's was called Bowing to the Marrow. And so the practice period, we looked at the practice of bowing itself and practice bowing. There was the offering of the possibility of doing 108 boughs every morning before zazen, which lots of people took up as a practice, either coming to the zendo before the wake-up bell or doing it in their cabins or if not early in the morning, later in the day. So we practice 108 boughs. And there were many teaching stories about bowing and the practice of bowing and the importance of bowing. Which I wanted to say a few words about as well.

[23:24]

And just briefly coming back from Taozahara in April, I took some time visiting family. And during that time. While I was away, I got a phone call from my son about my husband, Steve Weintraub, who had been in a serious bicycle accident in West Marin near Olima. And I was in Vermont. I was on the East Coast, not coast, but far away. And the first thing my son said was, Dad's not going to die. Just hearing those words, it was like, okay, I'm ready. Tell me. And as Steve describes it, it was like a hair's breadth deviation while he was riding the bicycle.

[24:27]

He was on a route he's done many times, Green Gulch to Point Reyes and back. Coming down near Olima, this wonderful hill, From his, how he tells it is, he was going too fast, but just a little too fast. And when the curve came, he wasn't able to make the turn and went off the road. And then through the kindness of strangers, people who were driving and saw it, people stopped. The paramedics came, the fire department, police department, and he was... taken to Olima and helicoptered to the trauma center in Walnut Creek in the East Bay, about an hour and a half from Green Gulch, with punctured lung and broken ribs, broken clavicle, fractured vertebrae, and just...

[25:35]

And no head injury and nothing that he couldn't recover from. So that experience of hearing the news, being far away and traveling back, not that I could do anything besides be present, was practicing with that. which for all of us, you all probably have your own story of getting a phone call or a doctor's diagnosis or coming upon an accident. This is our life together. This is our shared life. Yes, I know. I know you want to go out. I wonder if we Should we open more doors? I don't know what will be helpful. Come, come, come.

[26:40]

Anyway. So there's a poem just I wanted to recite. Kind of about the practice of meeting whatever comes. And Steve was very present. He didn't get involved in why me and this, you know, everything had to stop, all our vacation plans and his work and my work and none, no like regrets or just what's next. How do we meet this? So this is a poem by Dogen, which seemed very apt for me. And also for this season, for this season, the bright green color of the peach and plum trees, so shining and lustrous, manifesting in these very branches, the same spring of hundreds of generations.

[27:53]

It is foolish to despise what is close by. or to value something that is far away. Right now, remove all doubts by seeing what you see and hearing what you hear. I'm going to read it again. I used to be able to recite a bit. bright green color of the peach and plum trees so shining and lustrous manifesting in these very branches the same spring of hundreds of generations it is foolish to despise what is close by or to value something far away right now remove all doubts by seeing what you see

[28:59]

And hearing what you hear. So I find that a kind of wonderful admonition or. Practice. Practice. Teaching. For not just. Everyday life. But our Zazen practice, of course. And all of our encounters, all of our activities, this despising what's close by and grass is always greener and I wish it wasn't and why me? And, you know, I'm, I have the worst luck or all of that can be just right now, just see what you see and hear what you hear and meet and accord with the conditions of your life, whatever, whatever is being manifesting and being offered.

[30:04]

So I really felt Steve practiced in that way, just meeting the situation and no wasting time with poor me or denigrating I'm so stupid or things that people sometimes do. And just to let you know, he's doing great. He's recovering slowly. Slowly, it's going to take months probably, but he can do daily activities. He started driving and taking down the compost and, you know, daily life. But for a while there, he needed a lot of support. So just now we chanted three times a verse or a gatha. In Sanskrit, verse is gatha, g-a-t-h-a, gatha.

[31:10]

And in the gatha, there's probably, for some of you, some of you know, but some words you may not know what they are. One word is tathagatha, and another word is kalpa. So this verse is, and we're doing it three times now, which is a new practice, helps us to focus on the Dharma words that are coming through whoever the speaker is that day. Or the Dharma words that are coming through you and occurring for you and rising up for you. Because each one of you is having your own unique experience. experience your own unique meeting with these words and also your own bodies and this room and this bird.

[32:13]

So in the gatha we say an unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect dharma. And I don't think that's That each person who speaks here has, you know, some ultra perfect understanding or way of teaching or anything. It's the Dharma itself is unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect. And it's rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million Kalpas. And this reminds me of. Different sutras that. measure things in ways that are beyond our human, beyond our ken, outside of our ability. And a kalpa, just to tell you, if you don't know, is the time it takes for a hundred mile high iron mountain, hundred, you know, John, it's maybe some measurement, but a hundred miles, let's say, high iron mountain that once

[33:26]

Every hundred years, a little bird, maybe this bird, flies by with a piece of silk in its mouth and runs it across the top of the mountain. How long it takes for that mountain to be worn down to the ground is one kelpa. So, you know, our mind begins to kind of reel. You know, it's like we can't imagine it. But we also can't imagine, really, how far away the galaxies are in the sun even, right? We can imagine it, but it's kind of beyond our ability to grasp and hold it conceptually. So it's rarely, the Dharma's rarely met within a hundred thousand million kalpas. Wow. And then having it to see and listen to. So having... This chance to hear the teaching.

[34:27]

And not just hear. But to remember. So it comes in through the ears or if we're reading through the eyes. And then we remember, we reflect and turn it around. These are different kinds of wisdom. Hearing, reflecting on, remembering. Having it to see and listen to remember. and accept. And then there's a vow at the end, which all of you who chanted said, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. And the Tathagata, that word, Sanskrit, means the thus come one. It's an epithet. It's one of the titles or one of the names of respect and praise for the Buddha is Tathagata.

[35:31]

And it comes from the Sanskrit Tathata, which is thus come, thus come and thus go. So this is another name for the Buddha or Buddha nature, you could say, even. Or suchness or thusness. The thus come one. The Tathagatan. So that brings me to this koan 67 in the book of Serenity. And the koan is. Takes this. paragraph, as I said before, from the Avatamsaka Sutra and puts forth this teaching.

[36:35]

It's, you know, those of you who have studied koans or read them, often there's a dialogue. There can be a dialogue with a teacher. There can be, you know, an anecdote, a story, or a teaching from scripture, or Sutras. So koans as the case, the case for a koan can be a lot of different things. It doesn't have to always be these dialogues, either short or long. It can be a pithy saying. In this case, it's from the Avatamsaka Sutra. And I'll read the case. The flower Ornament scripture says, and this is the Buddha speaking. This is a chance to hear the utmost right and perfect teaching really rarely heard as an encouragement to your whole life.

[37:41]

Are you ready? I now see all sentient beings everywhere. fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones. But because of false conceptions and error and attachments, they do not realize it. That's the case. And that's the teaching. So this is the Buddha. And the Buddha says this in a couple different places. In the Maha Pari Nirvana Sutra, it's said that he said something like this, not in English, of course, upon awakening under the Bodhi tree. Marvelous, marvelous, wonderful, wonderful.

[38:42]

All beings and the great earth are completely and thoroughly enlightened. That was his enlightenment that included all of us and the great earth. Except for their delusions and illusions, they don't realize it. So that's this koan, this teaching for us. And I'm going to read it again. I now see all sentient beings everywhere. This is, you might say, oh, no, no, you can't mean so-and-so because, or, you know, we might begin to discriminate and pick and choose and gauge who's. No, this teaching. It's all beings. I now see all sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom. And virtues.

[39:44]

Of the enlightened ones. But because of false conception. and attachments, they do not realize it. So this is the Book of Serenity pulling this paragraph out of the Avatama Saka Sutra. So in the Avatama Saka Sutra, I found the place where they drew that from. It's in chapter 37 called manifestation of Buddha. And. Before I read that, because I don't want to just do lots of reading, I wanted to say something more about what we studied in Tassajara, which was. The importance of bowing.

[40:50]

And what that practice, how that practice supports our practice of sitting, our practice of wisdom and compassion. There's a quote from Suzuki Roshi Zen Center's founder who says, someone asked, and there often is resistance to bowing when you're first introduced to it. If you come for Zazen instruction and you're showing, you know, we bow to the cushion and away. We bow all in a practice place. There's many, many opportunities for bowing. There's altars that allow us to stop and show respect for the practices of everyday life in front of the bathhouse, bathrooms. at the kitchen altar, then, of course, in the meditation hall.

[41:52]

And also, when you go to speak with someone, there is bowing, which expresses one's respect, one's gratitude. And Suzuki Roshi, when asked about bowing, said, I think the person said, why do we bow to the Buddha? And he said, because there is no Buddha, we bow to the Buddha. which I think baffled the person, probably, I'm not sure. What was Suzuki Roshi pointing to or expressing? So this teaching from the Ava Tam Saka Sutra that I now see that all beings, Everywhere, sentient beings everywhere are completely endowed with the wisdom of the enlightened ones.

[42:55]

Meaning there's no sentient beings and Buddhas are not two. Except for these attachments and conceptions, they don't realize it. But it's not that it's not true. So when we bow to Buddha. And I want to say something about that bowing. There's a verse that expresses this that was given probably to Dogen. Dogen is the founder of this school in Japan whose teacher was in China. And that teacher gave him a verse, which is translated different ways. During this practice period at Tazahara, when I was doing the 108 bows every morning, I would also do this bowing data, this verse. And this is the verse, the one who is bowing.

[43:58]

The one who is bowed to. Their nature, no nature. My body, others bodies, not to. Plunging into the inexhaustible vow. With a V. Living in harmony with all. So this is a bowing verse. Where right there while you're bowing to. Another person. Or a practice figure. We have the. Wonderful. Bodhisattva of compassion. Jizo Bodhisattva. The tall one behind me. And right behind me, I'm sorry, my back is to these practice figures, is Tara Buddha, who is also a compassion figure, a green Tara, who is fast-acting. You can call for help. When you bow to, let's say, a practice figure or your neighbor or bowing to your cushion or into the room when you come in,

[45:08]

The one who is bowing, the one who is bowed to their nature, no nature, meaning no separate objectifiable phenomena here. Their nature, there's no separate self. There's just a Buddha nature, interconnectedness, thusness, tathagata, the thus come one, whatever form that's taking. So the one who was bowing, the one who was bowed to their nature, no nature. That no is kind of wisdom speak. You know, it's the kind of when you put no, often it means no separateness. Or the teaching of interconnectedness or emptiness.

[46:12]

Know something out there. So the one who was bowing, the one who was bowed to their nature, no nature, my body, others' bodies, not two. It's a very strict and difficult teaching and kind of amazing teaching. Who I'm bowing to is not separate from me. Whether it's a being or a practice figure or a sentient being of all kinds, like this bird. Did it just go out? No. I heard it calling. My body, others' bodies, not to... So this, to me, this practice of bowing also works with our conceptions, these false conceptions and attachments like to I, me, and mine and possessions and stuff and fame and gain and all the attachments.

[47:35]

In this koan, it's saying all sentient beings, without exception, have the wisdom of the Buddhists, except they don't realize it. How come? Because there's attachments and false conceptions. The basic false conception is separateness. I'm separate rather than I am. completely interdependent with all beings, past, present, and future. These are very basic Buddhist teachings that we've maybe heard many, many times. And somehow noting that in our bowing, my body, others' bodies, not two. And then the last line is, Plunging into the inexhaustible vow. And for many years, I have trouble hearing the difference between B's and V's.

[48:41]

So I thought it was plunging into the inexhaustible vow since it was a bowing verse. But no, it's the inexhaustible vow living in harmony with all. And that inexhaustible vow is the vow, is the bodhisattva vow to live for the benefit of beings. which are not separate from us. So we're included even. And living in harmony with all beings. That doesn't mean complacency, living in harmony. It means according with condition. And being a person of suchness. Or a person of thus-ness. I wanted to say a little bit more about this word thus-ness or such-ness.

[49:46]

It's the Tathagata. So in the Avatamsaka Sutra in commentary on it, the word Buddha itself. In the sutra. Is. Commonly used for. Thusness. Or suchness. Or the reality. Rather than a specific. Shakyamuni Buddha who taught. And it's more. The reality body of the Buddha. Or thusness. Suchness. And. this reality body of the Buddha, this suchness manifests in a way for each sentient being in a way that's according to their unique breeze of reality.

[50:52]

They're unique. Each of us are on the path and are unique. We share many, many things, and we also have a unique past, present, future, karmic consciousness. And so this reality body of the Buddha and the teachings take the forms that we can receive according to where we are right this minute, what's going on with us. And, you know, coming out of a Dharma talk, sometimes people say, oh, Not all the time, but sometimes it's wonderful. People say, oh, that was such a wonderful talk. And I always want to know, what was it that you found wonderful or that was useful? And they'll pick out something that I can't even remember saying. It was like not the focus. It wasn't part of what I was thinking was the main kind of topic.

[51:53]

But there's something there that met them uniquely. This just occurred to me. I was leading a sesheen and I gave this talk. It was about the Lotus Sutra. And I had had a kind of insight, actually, to something. And I was bringing it forth with like a fifth day of sesheen, the seven-day retreat, with a lot of, like, warmth and kind of... I guess, invested maybe, come to think of it. But anyway, like really wanting to convey something. And then it was time for Q&A. And this person raised their hand after I'd given this, what I felt was really an important teaching, you know. They raised their hand and they said, are we allowed to have pink oryoki cloths? Oryoki is the ceremonial eating

[52:57]

with nested bowls and these cloths. We asked people to have white cloths. Is it okay if we have pink or Yoki cloths? And I remember feeling like, whoa, are we in the same Dharma talk kind of because I had just like thought that something, you know, had gotten passed on there. But anyway, so Each person receives the teaching through the ears and eyes and body language and uniquely what you need. And in the Lotus Sutra, the chapter on Dharma Rain, where the rain comes down and covers the earth, the Dharma Rain, and the shrubs and the trees and the grasses and the flowers, each takes what they need according to their own karmic life. This another name for this is skill in means where the Tathagata.

[54:03]

The person of suchness meets people where they are. And this is this is really how the teaching is conveyed. It's not a one size fits all, actually, which sometimes looks like, well, that's contradicting or I read this, but this looks so we can ask who. who the Buddha was talking to that this was the teaching that he gave. Thank you, kitchen. The kitchen is leaving. So I'll be closing in just a moment and opening for questions and answers, but I just wanted to add something to this. In the Ava Tam Saka Sutra, the Buddha says again, how one translation is wonderful, another is how strange, how strange, how it is that these sentient beings have the knowledge of the Buddha.

[55:26]

but in their folly and confusion do not know it or perceive it. And then the Buddha says, I should teach them the way of the sages and cause them to forever shed deluded notions and attachments so they can see in their own bodies the vast knowledge of Buddhas, no different from the Buddhas. So the Buddha having this, I now see that everyone, all sentient beings are filled with the wisdom of the Buddhas, but don't realize that out of that comes this vow to the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings. to bring beings into, to enter the Buddha's way, to help beings to enter the Buddha's way.

[56:35]

This vow comes out of, rather than, oh, well, everybody, so they don't get it, but they really are, so I don't have to worry about it. Because all beings already have the wisdom of the Buddha, so it's all done. But the Buddha sees that they're suffering. There's suffering because of not understanding these teachings and not realizing it and feeling separate and the anxiety and the suffering of loss and the suffering of all the afflictions, jealousy and anger and greed and why me? Pity, you know, pitying oneself. So the Buddha sees that and says, I will teach and help. You know, this is the Buddha mind. And I think this is the mind of the Bodhisattva as well. This is the mind of a person of suchness.

[57:36]

So I'm going to end with this. One of our ancestors, the disciple of Dungshan Tozan, the founder of this school, once said, you're trying to attain thusness, yet you already are a person of thusness. As you already are a person of thusness, why worry about thusness? You could say suchness or thusness. And Jogen, who comments on many teachings in his chapter called Thusness, Imo in Japanese, he says it means that one who aspires to suchness, and I would say everybody here, well, how come you're here?

[58:49]

We aspire to live in accord with the way. One who aspires to experience thusness is immediately a person of thusness. And then. Because of thusness, you arouse this boundless aspiration for enlightenment, which includes other beings and wanting to help other beings. And then Dogen says, how do I know that you're a person of thusness? You know it because you want to attain thusness. As you already have the face and the eye of a person of thusness, do not worry about thusness now.

[59:51]

Even if you worry, it is thusness. Not to be worried about. So. This. I now see all beings. All beings are persons of business. And how do we know? Because we want to practice. And that is not our own separate self. That wish that aspiring to practice comes out of the whole. interconnected web of thusness. So maybe the last thing was too much, sorry. So right now, if you'd like to stretch a little bit, stand up for a second, uncross your legs, whatever works for you, we will have

[60:53]

A Q&A time. And that will last until 1130. So just about 25 minutes or so. And your Valerian, our meditation hall head, will bring the mic to different people. Yes. Thank you. 11.20? Oh, okay, sorry. So we have just about 15 minutes for Q&A. Feel free to remove your mask if you're asking a question. Thank you for your talk.

[61:55]

Thank you. So going on to your last statement, of course, this ignores the interdependence of all of us, but it seems that there are many sentient beings who do not aspire to thusness. So if you could speak to that. Yes. I think that's... For me, it's part of, except because of false conceptions, attachments, and all sorts of things, they don't realize their true nature. So, of course, they don't aspire and are very involved in other kinds of endeavors. And partly, you know, some of the main ones are fame and gain. Right. And.

[62:56]

Possessive getting possessions for oneself and one's family. And so that will cloud. And, you know, people end up finding out this doesn't it doesn't bring harmony. It doesn't bring happiness. There are other things that support those. So I think that's where it falls in. For me. Thank you. Would you pick the questioner, Linda? Oh, I choose? Yes, speaker's choice. Okay, this person. Thank you. I'm really curious about the delineation. We sometimes say all beings and then sometimes we add senship. And I'm just curious about what's the difference. It seems there's something really important there.

[64:00]

Thank you. I think, you know, sometimes for translating, sometimes there's the word living. It's translated as living beings, sentient beings, and sometimes just all being without. So I think. Like in the full moon ceremony that we did. Just yesterday, was it yesterday? We say before all being, entering the merciful ocean, before all being. We don't say before all sentient beings. So that, to me, is more universal in some way. However, you see it interchangeable. And then there's also the whole thing of in-sentient beings preaching the Dharma, which is a whole other thing. Teaching, you know. Thank you. Let's see. How about this person? Here comes the mic.

[65:02]

Down here. I was wondering if you could speak to something that seems to be a trap for humans a lot of the times. I guess the ego trap of I'm going to help someone else. And then therefore I have, I, you know, you're putting yourself sort of higher, even though there's the idea of, um, you're helping them to find something that's already in them. They're just the idea of, I already, I have, I'm cued into something that you don't have. Um, how, how do you avoid that trap? Thank you. That it is a trap. You're right. I think, first of all, being aware of that. I'm the helper.

[66:06]

I'm the one who's. I remember somebody saying to me. I'm the healer, you know. And then along with that came pride and. Being above and looking down. Which is not a healing relationship. I'm the helper. I'm the healer. It's like, please, could you go somewhere else? So real help is my body, others' bodies, not to. And responding to what's needed. According with conditions. Whatever it is. That's real help. But you can't even call it help. It's just... There's another go on where appropriate response, just the appropriate response. That's your effort rather than because people get very attached to being the helper. And I was recently at a retreat or a day long teaching for around old age.

[67:14]

It was for therapists, but I went to it. And they were talking about at the end of one's life, if you've been in the helping professions, a therapist or in medical, and what comes with that and the kind of ego that gets in the way and how good it feels to take care of others. And then you're not able to do that anymore. You're not. And then feeling useless or depressed, you know, because you're not the one anymore. So it that also reveals how you were holding it all those years. So the trap, you know, that verse, my body, others' bodies not to, and the compassion of, like this is compassion, not I'm the one who's holding, but I meet you completely. Thank you. Thank you.

[68:14]

Thank you. Let me look at this. Okay, we're still good. Yes, Chakori. Hi, Linda. Hi, Chakori. Thanks for your talk. It's good to see you up here. I have a question about this thing you quoted from Dogen about... seeing what's here and... The poem? Yeah. Yeah. Hearing what's here and how that's an admonition when we're maybe having these stories come up about poor me. Yeah. And I think I...

[69:15]

I'm kind of in this habit of, yeah, maybe coming back to the raw experience when I have stories like that. And... Did you say coming back to the raw experience? Yeah. Yeah. And I have one now, like today and yesterday, that it just keeps... coming back and it's almost like by by going to this like being fully in the present moment it's almost like skipping over it or something skipping over skipping over this story that keeps coming up and so I feel some kind of conflict there, and I don't know how to practice with that.

[70:18]

Well, this poem about not despising what is near and longing for what is somewhere else, just open to what is going on right now. It's a habit of mind, I think, to Like grass is always greener. It's an old saying because human beings think in that way, habitually. Like a better apartment, a better partner, a better weather, a better something. And the... And then especially if it's an illness or accident or we are in the habit of not opening to exactly what it is, but to be looking somewhere else.

[71:25]

And I think our zazen actually is a great way to practice with just this breath, just this sound, just this whatever is coming up and let it go. Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in. Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out. Those are, that meets this habitual, familiar way of often it can be like I'm victim, always. I'm always victim, which is a whole story that we pull out of our karma consciousness and slap on whatever's going on. You know, we can do it. I mean, we're able to do that. So the raw experience may be painful. You know, and I think it's it's not it's not painful.

[72:30]

Yeah. And that's why I feel like kind of when I just attend to what's here, I'm not engaging with. the emotional content of it, and there's some feeling like, oh, am I detached or skipping over? Like a spiritual bypass kind of thing? It's endless, isn't it? All the opportunities to practice hearing and seeing and awareness, just bear awareness of what's arising without Grasping, without grasping. And maybe, you know, one-on-one, we could talk more about what you're bringing up, too. Thank you. Thank you. Let's see. It is 11.17, so maybe we have room for one more.

[73:32]

How many hands are there? I see one, two. Is there three over there? Ah. Okay. Yes. Thank you so much for your talk. You're welcome. That was very lovely. And I'm really happy that your husband is healing so well. I was thinking about... Could you hold the mic? Yeah. Hello. Sorry. Sorry. I was thinking about what you were saying at the beginning when you were talking, telling the story about your husband and that phone call and how we all have these moments or will have these moments like that. Because I've been thinking a lot about relationship and possession or attachment when it comes to loved ones, which can be partners or family members.

[74:35]

And feeling this kind of intense feeling of ownership or possession over these people. And I know that that is very important for us to have these relationships and also learn lessons through these relationships. But I was wondering if you could speak of kind of how to... Yeah, just kind of having trouble feeling what's the different line between the healthiness of these attachments and non-healthy attachments in this way. Thank you. Thank you for the question. I think the word attachment in psychological terms is very, very important. Secure attachments and the child having what their attachment... style is and so forth it's very very important and then you come to booze them and it's talking about you know get rid of all attachments or not get rid let go of so it's kind of hard to um have those uh come together in some way sometimes so relational having a relational field that's healthy and strong and be it friends

[76:03]

family, chosen family, sangha members, animals, you know, the relational field for our well-being and the well-being of the world needs to be strong and well. However, grasping and clutching and cleaving and holding too tightly or tightly doesn't take care of those relationships. or the world, and is not in accord with the teachings of all beings without exception, are of the nature to be sick, to grow old, to die, and to change. You know, these are the four, there's five actually, remembrances. I am of the nature to be ill. I can't escape from being ill. And the fourth one is everyone I know and all who I love are of the nature to change, meaning they will either die before or after me, but I can't hold to anybody.

[77:18]

And then the last one is my actions are my only belongings. They are the ground on which I stand. So out of that, how do we Care for one another knowing we share this. You know, in this workshop about old age, he talked about memento mori, which is to remember we die. And in literature, Shakespeare, you know, alas, poor York. I knew him well. The skull in Hamlet, you know, there's skull. Memento mori. To remember that we will die. And everyone will. And Dogen, actually, in this person of thusness, he says, the rosy cheeks is one translation.

[78:23]

The other is the youthful look. Where is it now? Can you grasp it? And the same with all our loved ones. So this is a practice bearing that, the Buddha says, carrying that on your left shoulder. Death, death, death will come. The life force will be cut off is a practice. And it counterintuitively makes everything so precious. All those loved ones. Because why? You're not taking them for granted for a second. you know this might be the last time you see them because of a hair's breadth deviation going over the yellow line or off the road. We never know. So to actually be living with that is not depressing. It's more enlivening. Thank you.

[79:25]

Thank you all very much for your questions. I'm sorry. We didn't get to everyone, but I've been admonished to end now. Okay. So we do a chant at the end, which dedicates our time together. And that's not just dedicating the words I spoke, but your efforts in listening and reflecting and turning the teachings and revealing things in your own life that are responding to the teachings. So all of that is very positive energy. And our practice is not to hold on, but to give it to everybody in the ten directions. Okay? May our intentions end equally. beings are numberless I vow to save them illusions are inexhaustible I vow to amend Dharma gates are boundless

[80:58]

Delusions are inexhaustible I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to be coming. Be

[82:03]

to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Midasway is unsurpassable. I vow to become it.

[82:46]

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