Thank you. Penetrating and perfect dharma Is rarely met with Even in a hundred thousand million kaphas Having it to see and listen to They remember and accept

[09:00]

I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. An unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with, even in a hundred thousand million Kalpas, having it to see and listen to to remember and accept I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words and unsurpass penetrating and perfect Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million Kalpas having it to see and listen to To remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tartagata's words.

[10:10]

this great assembly is deeply welcomed appreciated and respected into the heart of Zen into the heart of Buddha's wisdom and compassion into the heart of Buddha Dharma. We just chanted an unsurpassed, penetrating and perfect Dharma. Dharma is a Sanskrit word which is almost an English word. I don't know if it's made it into the English dictionary yet.

[11:38]

The Sanskrit word has many meanings, and I'd like to bring up three this morning. An unsurpassed, penetrating, and perfect truth. Dharma can mean truth. An unsurpassed, penetrating, and perfect teaching. unsurpassed, penetrating, and perfect phenomena. A truth, a teaching, and a phenomena. And the last line is... Yeah, and then the last line is...

[12:45]

I, we vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. So Tathagata is one of the epithets for the awakened one, for an awakened one, Buddha. Buddha means awakened one. And one of the Buddha's epithets is Tathagata, which can mean which could mean Tata means thus. And following Tata is either Gata, which means gone to thus, or it could be Agata, Tata Agata, Tata Agata. Gone to thus means or come from thus. And what is thus?

[13:47]

Thus is the teaching. Thus is the Dharma. Thus is the truth of the Buddhas. And now that we've heard the word thus, and we've heard the statement that the teaching of the Buddhas is thus, Now that we've heard that, a question might arise. What's thus? Yeah. And one of the famous Zen stories, a student comes to see a teacher and the teacher says, what is it that thus comes? The teacher asks the student, about this, what is this? What is this that thus comes?

[14:50]

And the student, the amazing student says, to say it's this misses the point or doesn't hit the target. Teaching, the Dharma, of the Buddha is thus. And again, if you question it, I would say, good. What is it? But also, as I mentioned to the group of people who are here for a three-week intensive, I saw the first page of a Harvard Medical School newsletter, and it said, question everything. And I thought, yeah, right. And then it said, question everything you've been told. But it didn't say including that.

[15:55]

Question everything including question everything. Question everything you've been told is the spirit and question that. As I often say, everything I say is questionable. I want it to be questioned. Because in making the offerings, to offering ourselves, and being questioned, we become free of our narrow, naturally self-centered consciousness. So I've been saying over and over that many of us are living in the middle of many afflictions.

[17:07]

We're struggling with many afflictions. The affliction of our own mind, thinking about ourselves and thinking about others. mind thinking about how others are towards us and how we are towards them we have we have afflicted ways of thinking and feeling about ourselves and others and we also are afflicted by what we think others are doing to others we're afflicted by we're in pain or yeah we're feeling horrible about the way some humans are treating other humans and the way some humans are treating plants and animals. We're in the ocean of affliction. Many of us. All of us? Someone just recently said to me, describing...

[18:23]

a situation that she's in, she said, I'm feeling, I have feelings of being disrespected, of being taken for granted. And taken for granted is very similar to disrespected. Taken for granted means people take you as you come up in their mind. Respect means to look again. So people have these impressions of us and they think and when they and if they take those impressions for granted like you're an employee take that for granted means not respecting the employee. I feel abused. I feel exploited. Good people say that to me. And then some of them, after they say that, they say, what should I do?

[19:28]

How should I relate to this abuse, this disrespect, this exploitation, this being taken for granted? And I might say, or I did say recently, well, under those circumstances, would you like to make a donation to awakening? Under those circumstances, would you like to give a gift, an offering, to Buddha? While you're being abused, would you like to make an offering to awakening, which has a great potential of liberating everybody in this abusive situation? Would you like to make a gift? Would you like to offer some blessings in the middle of being mistreated? Would you like to offer some blessings in the midst of seeing others mistreating each other?

[20:29]

And I don't remember if the person said, yes, I do want to make a gift to Buddha in the midst of my being disrespected. These feelings and perceptions of being disrespected. I do. And when I see others being disrespected, which really pains me when I see that. Yes, I'm in pain. It's painful for me to see people not respecting each other. Yes. Yes. And it's a joy to see people expecting each other, to be kind to each other. That's a joy, yes. But when they're not, when they're abusing each other and exploiting each other, do I want to make a gift to awakening? I didn't ask the person, but I do. I want to make a gift if I'm being disrespectful.

[21:35]

A gift of kindness, of patience, of generosity, a gift of compassion. That's what drew me to Zen, is to see people who are abused, who are disrespected, who... when they were abused and disrespected and falsely accused of evil, they gave gifts. They gave kindness. And then what really got me was when some of those people were then received apologies for the abuse and praise for their great patience and kindness, they came back with the same thing. The response is always to give a gift to Buddha. So I think actually now that I remember, after this recently this person told me about this abuse, I said, do you want to make a gift to Buddha? And they did say yes.

[22:39]

And I said, well, if you wish to make a gift to great awakening in this world of affliction, if you want to contribute to awakening and compassion and wisdom, then enter samadhi. Then enter into a state of mind which is undistracted, that is completely present and open to everything in the universe and flexible and soft and not holding on to itself or pushing anything away. Enter into that state. which we call samadhi, which is translated sometimes as concentration. But I don't know of an English word that embraces all that wonder of this state of mind, which in the Buddhist tradition in India and China and Japan, and now here, is called samadhi.

[23:52]

which can be translated as being collected and present. But it's not a tight collection. It's not a tight undistractedness. It's an undistractedness which is completely willing to open to being distracted. It welcomes all distractions. And what welcomes all distractions is undistractable. It welcomes all movement. It is immovable. It welcomes all cries. It is silent. It's open to listen to the cries of the world and it questions them. What are you? Who is it that's calling? Why are your ears so big, Grandma?

[24:59]

Why are your teeth so big, Grandma? How do we settle into this state called Samadhi? Another way to say it is, how do we find our place right where we are? If you want to make a gift to awakening, if you want to make a donation to promote awakening in this world, then enter samadhi. Then find your place right where you are in the middle of an ocean of more or less horrible affliction. Find... Not my place. Find your place in the middle of an inexhaustible ocean of misery.

[26:03]

So we've got the ocean of misery. How about finding our place right here where we are? And finding our way in the middle of... many kinds of discomfort and pain. We are already here, but when we're surrounded by pain, we have a habit as animals to try to get out of here. If you want to make a gift, don't make it from out of here. Make it from here. If you want to make a gift to more misery, then make it from someplace else. If you want to make a gift to awakening, make it from where you already are. I'm endeavoring to make gifts here now, and before I started, I settled into where I am right here.

[27:12]

I entered samadhi before I gave my gift to you. This gift doesn't come from me, really. It comes from Me being where I am. That's the kind of gift I want to give. Me being here, right where I am. The practice of generosity comes forth. The practice of patience and gentleness and respect and appreciation comes forth from finding our place right where we are. And it's... It's hard to settle in completely in the middle of all of our discomforts. It's hard. And during this retreat, people are working at it. They are uncomfortable. The people in this retreat are uncomfortable. Not all the time. But they're so uncomfortable that some of them actually say, I'm sick.

[28:16]

And they leave the room because they feel so uncomfortable. They can't sit up anymore. So they go rest. And after they rest and feel not so tormented by their body and mind, they come back and join the rest of us who are also basically the same situation, but we're able to sit here and support each other to be where we are in this room and no place else because that's the truth. And also, by the way, When we are where we are and nowhere else, we also are everywhere else. This presence pervades the entire universe. So when I'm feeling disrespected, if I wish to settle into samadhi so I can make a gift, I need to observe the disrespect, which is observe my feeling that I'm being disrespected.

[29:43]

Observe and listen to my thought that I'm being disrespected. Listen to my perception that people are... abusing me, and being unjust to me. And be kind to that thought. And if I can be kind to that thought, then I can also be kind to the person who I think is being disrespectful. But first of all, I have this painful feeling of being disrespected. I have the painful feeling of being treated unjustly. So I want to practice respect to disrespect. I want to practice being just to feelings and perceptions of injustice. Then that practice is entering samadhi and then I can give a gift to what appears to be disrespect

[30:55]

and what appears to be injustice and unkindness. And also, in the work, if I'm having trouble being respectful or being patient and gentle with these difficult feelings and perceptions, or even if I'm not having difficulty, I need help from others to really, truly settle into where I am right now. I'm talking to you right now about settling into where I am right now, and you're helping me do that practice. You're questioning me, so I'm questioning myself. Am I really settled into being right where I am? So we cannot do this practice all by ourselves.

[32:02]

And nobody else is going to do it for us. The practice of settling into right where we are, we do together with all beings. We don't do it by ourself. Another thing I saw just last night was a quote of a person who is accredited with being the founder of Saturday Night Live. I don't know if he is, but some people say he's the founder. And now there's celebration of Saturday Night Live. It's 50 years now. 75 to 25. 50 years of Saturday Night Live. And so the young man who was there at the beginning is still there. I didn't read the whole article. I just find these gifts.

[33:07]

And the gift I found was, he said, if I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm in the wrong room. And again, I thought, yeah. But then I thought, well, it's not actually that you're the smartest person in the room. But if I think I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm in the wrong room. In other words, if I think I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm not really where I should be. I'm in a dreamland where I'm smarter than somebody. Or some people are, I guess, in another dreamland where they're not as smart as some people. Now I know that half the people in the country are below average. But nobody is better than anybody. Buddha is not better than deluded, confused, frightened, impatient, miserable people.

[34:12]

Buddha is not better. Buddha is nothing but practicing with all the suffering people. What is a Buddha? A Buddha is what a Buddha does. A Buddha is the practice of a Buddha. And the practice of the Buddha is to practice with all beings. And the Buddha does not think, okay, now I'm going to descend to be with these poor creatures. These poor creatures, these are poor creatures. They are suffering. Yes, they are crying. And I'm listening to them. And I'm questioning them. And I'm not smarter than them. I'm just love of them. I'm just compassion with them. I'm just samadhi with them.

[35:17]

I'm just right where I am right now with them. And that's what I am. I'm nothing in addition to that. I like that statement. If I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm in the wrong place. I'm not where I should be. But I can have the thought, I'm the smartest person in the room. I can say that and then I can laugh. What a silly thing that is. I can be totally right here thinking that I'm the smartest person in the room. I don't, by the way, but I did say that. I'm the smartest person in the room. And I can say that without believing it at all. I don't. Do you? Can you find a room where you're the smartest one?

[36:20]

Maybe not this room, because there's a lot of people here. But maybe you can find some other room where there's maybe just a couple people. like you and your spouse, or you and your mother, and then you have a chance of being the smartest person in the room. Once again, the flower adornment scripture says, if you wish to make Offerings to the great awakening. Enter samadhi. Completely be present right where you are. That's where you make the offerings to this world from. And this is a tough place to sit. It's really hard sometimes. And sometimes it's not so hard.

[37:21]

Or it's less hard. But that's what's required according to the teaching. That's what everybody wants us to do is find our place right where we are and make abundant offerings to the liberation of all beings by waking up. Okay. That was not so long, but that's enough. And now it's time. To be called into question, if anybody wants to call anybody into a question, you're invited to do so. And I need you to come up close to me. I need to be called into question up close. So that will reduce the number of people who will be courageous enough to come close and call the teaching into question. Up here. They come up here.

[38:22]

Would you stand there, please? Yes. And give it to whoever wants to come up, which might be nobody. I saw a hand. Please come. You can come up. Only come up. If you don't want to come up, don't come. I'm not going to talk to people far away. I need to talk to people up close. So does anybody want to come up close in question? Yes? Yeah, please come. You can come straight ahead. And you don't have to wait in line or ask permission. You can just come, like this person. Here she comes. Good morning. Good morning. When I'm in the presence of people being abused or subjected to violence, and as you say, sitting in samadhi is tough, so I might be practicing... Could you tilt it?

[39:24]

Yeah. I might be practicing and making an effort, but I don't feel I have achieved that awakening. I'm sitting there... You don't have to have the awakening. All you need is a samadhi. Say that again, please. You don't need to attain full awakening. What you need in order to make an offering to awakening, so if you're in this difficult situation... then what's required is you to completely settle into that. And then you can make a donation to the awakening of the people who are being cruel. You can make an offering which will help them wake up. And if I don't feel settled, but I feel a wish to protect. Prevent, yes. Protect. Yes. A person who is subject to violence. Did you hear that? She doesn't feel settled, but she feels an urge to protect. What is your recommendation?

[40:26]

Should I sit there until I'm settled while this is going on, or should I step forth and try to do something? Before we get into what your recommendations were, my recommendation is when I feel an impulse to prevent or protect, which I sometimes do, I can easily imagine wanting to protect you from harm. So if I want to give a gift to Buddha, then I need to settle into my impulse, my wish to protect you. If I don't settle into my impulse to protect you, I will not be as effective in protecting you. And also, I will miss the opportunity of making an offering to awakening. And then if you further ask, do I have to wait until I settle? You don't have to wait. You can just settle. You don't have to get waiting in there. The job is to settle, not ask about, should I wait?

[41:29]

But if you are asking, should I wait? Then you should settle into, should I wait? Whatever you are, if you want to make an offering to awakening to this terrible situation, it is required that you settle into whatever you are, which could be a person who has many kinds of impulses. That's where you're at. Impulse, impulse, impulse. Be completely, find yourself in that impulse. Then you make your best offering. Then you make an offering to Buddha. If you do not settle into where you are, you undermine your offering. Just like if you try to lift me up when I need support and you don't get your feet on the ground, you'll just collapse with me. You've got to get your feet on the ground to help me. Really. Difficult. Difficult. Yeah. Difficult. Thank you. You're welcome. We don't say that this practice is easy.

[42:32]

It's hard. But not always. I had a hard time finding my place where I was for a long time. And then there was a day or two when I thought, oh, it's not hard. Wow. Am I going crazy? So I went to see Zizuka Rishi and I said... It's not hard anymore. Is that okay? And he says, sometimes for you, practicing being where you are will not be hard. And then the next day it was hard again. Please come. [...] Come closer, please. Yeah, thank you. Hi. And tilt the... Tilt it towards me. Very good. New to the concept... My name is John. John. Yes. Mike, new to the concept of Samadhi. Samadhi. Samadhi, yeah. Can you spell it real quick?

[43:32]

Huh? Spell? Yeah. S-A-M-A-D-H-I. Ah, Samadhi. Samadhi. Okay. I have a question about achieving Samadhi. What do you do with your heart rate? Because this is something that I find... What do you do with your heart rate? Yeah, when I sit in meditation, try to find a center quiet point. I often get distracted by or find another focus on my heart rate. So I'm just curious if you had any notions of what to do with that. Would you say it one more time? What I'm being asked to... Any thoughts on how to use or... Think about it. There it is. Don't use. Don't use. Just don't use. Don't use this. Don't use that. That's where you are. This and that are where you're at. So find your place in that heart rate. Find your place in where you are right now.

[44:34]

Don't use where you are to get concentrated. Right. Just be where you are. Okay. Which is where you are. But it's hard. Yeah. Well, it's also, I mean, I'm trying not to think. So that's where you are. Here I am trying not to think. Somebody else is here trying to think. Be quiet, I'm trying to think. Or shut up, I'm trying not to think. That's more like it here in this room. Be quiet, I'm trying not to think. Some people in this room, maybe right now, but certainly during meditation, I'm not in control of myself or anybody else in this room. Some of the people in this room are trying not to think. Now, if they tell me about that, I say, I have a question about that. Zen is not trying not to think. Zen is thinking when you're thinking and not thinking when you're not thinking. But that's hard.

[45:36]

Usually when we're thinking, we want to not think or think something else. And usually when we're not thinking, we want to start thinking again. Yeah. I agree. John agrees. Thank you, John. Thank you. You're welcome. So. Horizontal, I think. I was reading either the Majima Nikaya or the Samyuta Nikaya. I don't remember. Would you say it more slowly? I was reading either the Majima Nikaya or the Samyuta Nikaya. Okay, she was reading a Buddhist scripture. And she doesn't remember which one it was. But she thinks it's one of these two. Oh, my God, there's a lot of people in here. It might help to look at them.

[46:39]

Oh, yeah, no. But all those people love you. Thanks, guys. Yes, you were reading. I was reading, and one of the things I came across was that the Buddha said there was 11 qualities of a monk that a monk should have. And he likened those 11 qualities to how a shepherd should be in order to take care of themselves and others. And... One of the qualities was that the monk does not endure unwholesome states of mind. And then, like one of those examples was anger. It said... A monk does not endure. So again, guess what I do with that? Huh? What do I do with that? I question that, Buddha.

[47:40]

Dear Lord Buddha... I question you saying a monk does not endure unwholesome states. Unwholesome states, we do endure. I would say, and you can question me too, I am patient with unwholesome states. I want to be compassionate to unwholesome states. But still, that teaching, that Buddha game, maybe that's good for some people. Do not endure unwholesomeness. Maybe that's good for somebody, but I question that. Usually, I find that it's good to be patient with unwholesomeness, because there's so much unwholesomeness. So I question that one. I think we should be patient, and kindness is patience with evil. Be patient with it in order to liberate it. Well, I don't know whether to believe the Buddha or you.

[48:41]

Say it again. Take the microphone down and say it. I don't know whether to believe the Buddha or you. She doesn't know whether to believe the Buddha or me. I don't believe me or Buddha. I am devoted to Buddha. I am aspiring to be Buddha's child. I want to be in Buddha's family and I've heard I am. That's what I want, but as part of being a good child of Buddha, I question my dear teacher. So I question the Buddha. I don't believe the Buddha, but I listen to the Buddha wholeheartedly with great respect and appreciation, and then with that respect and appreciation, I question. Just like people come and ask me questions. Great. It's good to do it respectfully if they want to benefit by their questioning.

[49:44]

So I don't really believe Buddha. I am devoted to Buddha. I give my life to Buddha. And I want to give my life to all sentient beings and question them all. As a gift from samadhi. So the Buddha gave some teachings. at a certain time, and then through the rest of history, people questioned the teachings. The kitchen workers are being collected. Respectfully, that was very respectful, the way you collected her. Hi, thank you. Hi. Pamela online asked for concrete examples from your life about dealing for them specifically with fear and grief.

[50:48]

Fear and? Grief. Grief? Uh-huh. Examples from my life? Okay. So, well, basically, fear comes quite frequently. To me, let's see, when was the last time it came? Oh! So I was in this intensive here this last few weeks, and then I did some exercises which I thought would help me sit. I was having a little trouble sitting upright. And I thought, on my break, I sat cross-legged, and then I leaned forward. And I leaned forward some more, and I leaned forward some more, and I leaned forward some more. And then I came up, and I was able to sit up more upright. So then I leaned forward, and I leaned forward some more, and I leaned forward some more, and it was quite helpful.

[51:49]

Yeah. But then I got this big pain in my hip. It wasn't, no, it wasn't it. No, I got some pain in my hip. But it was enough... That I became somewhat afraid. What was I afraid of? I was afraid I wouldn't be able to participate in the intensive. And I'm supposed to participate. And I'm really happy when I can participate because it's encouraging when an old man keeps participating. So I do. But I was afraid I wasn't going to There was a fear. But I welcomed that fear. I took good care of that fear. I was kind to that fear. I didn't try to get rid of that fear. And grief, with grief, I feel sometimes grief at, for example, losing my mind.

[52:58]

Losing my memory. Losing my energy. I could go on. Is that enough for an online person? I feel grief about that. But the grief, [...] I welcome the grief. I say thank you grief because you're coming here to help me not resist getting old. When I resist getting old, when I resist losing my mind, Then grief comes to help me let go of holding on to the mind I used to have, which I don't have anymore. To hold on to the young body, which I don't have anymore. My life does not want me to hold on to things that are not around anymore. So grief comes and says, feel this, and you'll let go and come up to date. So when grief comes, I just say, thank you. Oh, thank you, thank you for coming to help me.

[54:03]

Get with the program. What program? The program of transience, of change, of everything going away. However, if you get with the program after everything goes away, you get a whole new universe. It's not the one you used to have, but it's just as fresh as any one you ever got. And here it is, and this is your job. Open to this universe. And grief is for people who are a little bit not here for the universe that's been given to them. They kind of want one from ancient times. Or yesterday. Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. So grief, I welcome grief. I'm almost seldom do I miss thanking it for coming. Fear, I sometimes miss a few beats. But basically, I practice compassion. And those are some... I hope that's enough for the online question.

[55:06]

Yes. Hi. Hi. What's your name? Raina. Welcome. Thank you. I was... You said that the Buddha feels not morally superior to anyone, correct? Right. Buddha feels not morally superior to anyone. And also, by the way, in present-day history, we had this... teacher who founded this place. His name was Suzuki Shinryu. And he really, I really felt like he did not think he was morally superior to almost anybody, including me. So he was just like Buddha. He was really not thinking he was morally superior. That was my question. So I feel like if you're Buddhist... you must feel better about yourself, right? Because you feel more at peace. So I was wondering, how do you keep yourself from feeling better than everyone else if you're Buddhist? Okay, so now ask your question without a microphone from me. If you're Buddhist, do you feel better about yourself, right?

[56:09]

I would imagine. No, I don't. Don't you feel more at peace? I feel much more at peace, but I don't feel better about it. Why? Well, because I'm at peace. Peace is being free of feeling better. If you're into feeling better, it inhibits your peace. Peace is not about getting better. It's about being right where you are and saying thank you. So I'm not saying I am a Buddhist, but I am sometimes at peace, but I am not ever better. Okay, so you're saying that if you're truly a Buddhist, then... You will never feel morally superior to anyone. Including yourself yesterday when you were being mean. I was mean yesterday and I was mean yesterday and I'm sorry. I really am. To yourself or to others? Well, to me definitely and to Buddha definitely. I don't know if I should say it to others because they might not be able to handle it.

[57:11]

But others who are like professional listeners to confessions, yes. like teachers, are professional listeners to confessions of people telling them their shortcomings. I might tell a teacher, but I don't necessarily tell a child to frighten them if they knew how stupid I was. I don't tell children how stupid I am. But I do tell myself, and I laugh, because I'm relieved to be right where I am, a stupid person. And then I'm at peace. But I'm not superior... anything. And then today, when I'm not so stupid, I'm not superior to yesterday when I was really stupid. Yeah. Thank you. Interesting, yeah. We have a lineup. Hello? Yeah, we have time. It's 11-11. Oh, good. I'll make a wish. So hold it like this for everybody.

[58:16]

I've been angry. She's been angry. At a good person's actions. At a good person's actions. And I gave them a lovely gift, a thoughtful gift. Yes. And I hoped that my anger would go away. There you go. She hoped that it would... That I would give this gift. That's not a gift. That's a manipulation. And... And you also said you were angry, but you wanted to give a gift. Well, what I'm talking about, when you're angry, if you want to give a gift to Buddha, then settle into being right there, being angry. Then give the gift. And then you're not trying to get them to be different. You're trying to help them wake up. But you don't have to stop being angry.

[59:16]

You don't have to stop being angry when you're angry. And you don't have to start getting angry when you're not. But it is required, if you're angry, to be totally finding your place in the anger. Then you can give a gift. And when you give the gift, you're not going to try to get anything from it. The gift's going to be for Buddha. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for that great example of not giving. Tilt for the people and then... Hello. My name is Natalie. Natalie. Natalie Thorpe. I've been struggling a lot with cycles. With cycles? Yeah. Yeah. Cycles. Cycles. Yeah. Birth and death is a cycle over and over. Gain and loss cycles. They're painful. Yeah. And sometimes I fear that I imagine cycles happening or...

[60:20]

Yeah, cycles are not separate from our imagination. There may be cycles, but also we have an imaginary version of them all. And to believe that our imaginary version of cycles is reality is affliction. So we're required then, if you want to make a gift to awakening, it's you're required to be right where you are When you're imagining that what you're imagining is really what's happening, then you can make a gift from that place of suffering. But it's hard to settle there. Like accepting the cycle as it's happening, whether you imagine it or not? That's fine, but a little bit more than accepting. It's like finding your place right there. Like, okay, I accept it, but also I'm completely present with it.

[61:22]

It's not like, okay, you can be here, cycles. It's more like, cycles, I'm practicing with you. I'm here for you, cycles. Not because I like you or dislike you, and I'm not trying to get rid of you or the pain that I feel with you. I am devoted to being present with you, which is where I am. That's entering samadhi with this challenging phenomenon. Thank you. You're welcome, Natalie. This is great. There's a big line of people, but I have to stop pretty soon, so let's go fast. Hi, I'm Kasha. Kasha? Kasha. Kasha? Yeah. I have a question about the difference between equanimity and apathy. Between apathy and what? Equanimity. Okay, so equanimity is like, oh, I'm just full of energy and I'm joyfully present with not preferring this over that.

[62:32]

It's like a great, warm, balanced state. where you're ready to be knocked off balance and you're so happy. So equanimity is a great happiness that doesn't prefer happiness over unhappiness. Whereas the other thing is, it just sounds the same, but it's not. Say what the other thing was. Apathy. Yeah, apathy. You don't care. Equanimity allows you to care completely when you're in pain and care completely when you're in joy. Equanimity is the result of sympathetic joy for other people's virtues. It follows from compassion and loving kindness. It is caring deeply. It's not like I don't care. It's like I care so deeply that I don't prefer anything because that's good. Thank you.

[63:35]

Thank you, Kasha. Yes. What a smile. Come closer. So my name is Maria Teresa, which is a big mouthful, so they call me MT. Maria Teresa? So MT. MT, OK. OK. Welcome, MT. Thank you. Stand up straight, please. I would like to understand a little bit better the word settle. English is not my first language. Okay, so settle. Settle, yeah, because I've heard this before with regards to meditation and all of that, and I sit there and I go like, what does this mean? Okay, let's do it right now, shall we? Okay, let me just take this off your hands. Okay, now, yeah, right, so hold your head up. Maybe put your feet a little farther apart.

[64:37]

Okay. Let's settle here. Let's just really be here. We're settling. This is what it's like. And now you have a question? Let's settle with the question. So, I tend to have very strong feelings. It's not even so. Just take away the soul. I'm having a strong feeling. Right. So when I'm having a strong feeling, what does it mean to settle with the strong feeling? What kind of feeling are you having now? Well, I'm nervous.

[65:38]

You're nervous, okay. All right, so can we now settle with this nervousness? Can we be here with this nervousness? I can let it be here. You can let what? I can let it be here. She said you can let it be here, okay? That's good. Now that you're letting it be here, can you let yourself be here with it? You're letting it be now. So the way you're doing that with the nervousness would be the same with the strong feeling, but the strong feeling might be harder. Not necessarily, but it's the same thing you did there. You let it be, and then you let yourself be with it. That's settling. That's settling into samadhi, where you can make your best gift to this world. And it's not easy. So if I'm really angry, just be really angry. Not just being really angry, but also be with the anger the way Buddha would be with you.

[66:44]

Let it be. Trying to stop anger just inflames it. But embracing it with compassion liberates it. If you're angry, Buddha is not coming down or over to get you to stop being angry. Buddha is like being with you completely, helping you be angry. where you are so you can make a donation to Buddha. It's not just be angry. It's like completely be present with it. Be compassionate with it. Be generous with it. Yeah, you got it. That's it. She's settled. Okay, so I'm supposed to stop, right? It's 1121. I'm sorry. I'm... I'm required to stop at 1120, but I really appreciate that you people are waiting to talk to me, and I will talk to you outside afterwards if you want to.

[67:48]

And if anybody else wants to come out and hear them, we can go out there. But I want to follow the protocols of this wonderful training and stop. Thank you very much for practicing samadhi and giving donations to awakening. May our intention equally extend to every being and place. He is the son of a holy curse. I am the son of a holy curse. I am the son of a holy curse. I am the son of a holy curse.

[68:50]

I am the son of a holy curse. [...] When I was born, I was born. I was born. [...] . . .

[69:58]

Thank you.

[70:20]

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