Hello, young people. Welcome to the beginning of this talk. I have a story for you today. Some of you might know this story. How important here is a who. How many people know this story? Oh, wow. So this is a story you can hear again and again and again. And it's for all ages. I haven't heard it in a long, long time, never mind. Recently read it. I thought, this is one of the greatest stories I've ever heard. And I'll try to show you the pictures, too, but you might have seen them before. Because I heard that today you're going to talk about loving kindness, the practice of loving kindness, and taking care of each other with kindness. So that's what this story's about. Gordon is an elephant who practices loving kindness, which has kind to everyone. even the smallest little tiny beings possible.

[01:02]

That's Horton. Horton the elephant. The story starts. On the 15th of May, in the jungle of Newell, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool, He was splashing, enjoying the jungle's great joys, when Horton the elephant heard a small noise. So Horton stopped splashing. He looked toward the siren. That's funny, thought Horton. There is no one around. Then he heard it again, just a very faint yelp, as if some tiny person were calling for help. I'll help you, said Horton. But who are you? Where? He looked and he looked. He could see nothing there. but a small speck of dust blowing past through the air. Strange. He doesn't care who he is. He just wants the help.

[02:09]

He's a very kind elephant. Oh, by the way also, this is a pickle fish. And he's here today listening to the story and kind of telling the story too. And I heard a This Picklefish was born yesterday. So I think that she was born pretty big. Or else grows very fast. So Picklefish is here listening and telling this story. I say, remember before you, I never heard tell of a small speck of dust that is able to yell. So you know what I think? Why I think that there must be someone on top of that small speck of dust. Some sort of creature of a very small size. Too small to be seen by an elephant's eyes.

[03:13]

Elephants have big eyes. Like owls. Some poor little person who's shaken with fear that he'll blow in the pool. He has no way to steer. I'll just have to save him because after all, a person's a person no matter how small. So gently and using the greatest of care, the elephant stretched his great trunk through the air and he lifted the dust speck and carried it over and placed it down safe on a very soft clover. And he drops this strange speck that seems to have light on it onto a flower to keep it safe. Soft flower. Hump, hump their voice towards a sour kangaroo. And the young kangaroo in her pouch said, hump too. Why, that speck is as small as the hair of a pin. A person on that? Why, there never has been.

[04:16]

Kangaroos don't believe of Horton. Can you believe that? They don't have big ears. Ah, kangaroos don't have big ears. They can't hear what Horton can. That's right. Elephants can hear a lot. Believe me, said Horton, I tell you sincerely. My ears are quite keen and I heard him quite clearly. I know there's a person down there and what's more, quite likely there's two, even three, even four. Quite likely a family for all that we know. A family with children just starting to grow. So please, Horton said, as a favor to me, try not to disturb them. Just please let them be. I think you're a fool, laughed the sour kangaroo. And the young kangaroo in her pouch said, me too. You're the biggest blame fool of the jungle mule. And the kangaroo is plunged in the cool of the pool. What terrible splashing, the elephant drowned. I can't let my very small persons get drowned.

[05:23]

I've got to protect them. I'm bigger than they. So he plucked up the clover and hustled away. Through the high jungle tree tops, the niggas quickly spread. He talks to a dust speck. He's out of his head. Just look at him walk at that speck on that flower. And Horde walked, worrying, almost an hour. Should I put this speck down? Gordon thought with a nod. If I do, these small persons may come to great harm. I can't put it down, and I won't. After all, a person's a person, no matter how small. And they're really small. No smaller than you. Then Gordon stopped walking. His speck voice was talking. The voice was so faint, he could just rarely hear it. Speak up, please, said Gordon. He put his ear near it. in the voice. You're a very fine friend. You've helped us all.

[06:24]

Folks, on this suspect, no end. You've saved all our houses, our ceilings, and floors. You've saved all our churches and grocery stores. You mean, word and grasp, you have buildings there, too? Oh, yes, typed the voice. We most certainly do. I know, called the voice. I'm too small to be seen, but I'm mayor of a town that is friendly and clean. Our buildings to you would seem terribly small, but to us who aren't big, they're wonderfully tall. My town is called Whoville, for I am a Who, and we Whos are all thankful and grateful to you. And Gordon called back to the mayor of the town, You're safe now, don't worry, I won't let you down. He has no reason to protect him except he just wants to take care of everyone. But just as he spoke to the mare of his speck, three big jungle monkeys piled up towards his neck.

[07:28]

The Wickersham brothers came shouting, What rot? This elephant's talking to hoos who are not. They're not a hoos and they don't have a mare. And we're going to stop all this nonsense. So there. Getting scary. They snapped Swarton's clover, but carried it off to a black-bottomed eagle named Vlad Vladikoff, a mighty strong eagle of a very smooth wing. And they said, will you kindly get rid of this thing? And before the poor elephant even could speak, that eagle flew off at the flower of his beak. All that late afternoon and far into the night, that black-bottomed bird thought his wings in fast flight. while Horton chased after with groans over stones that tattered his toenails and battered his bones, and begged, please don't harm all my little folks who have as much right to live as us bigger folks do. But far, far beyond him, that eagle kept flapping, and over his shoulder called back, quit your yapping, I'll fly the night through, I'm a bird, I don't bite it, and I'll hide this tomorrow, where you will never find it.

[08:41]

And at 6.56 the next morning, he did it. It sure was a terrible place that he hid it. He let that small clover drop somewhere inside of a great patch of clovers a hundred miles wide. Find that, sneered the bird, but I think you will fill up. And he left with a flip of his black tail. Can you imagine trying to find this flower in this field? I'll find it, said Horton. I'll find it or bust. I shall find my friends and my small speck of dust. And clover by clover by clover with terror, he picked up and searched them and called, are you there? But clover by clover by clover he found that the one he saw for was just not around. And by new and poor old Horton, more dead than alive, had picked, searched, and piled up 9,005. Then on through the afternoon, hour after hour, till we found it at last on a three millionth flower.

[09:50]

My friends, cried the elephant, tell me, do tell, are you safe? Are you sound? Are you whole? Are you well? From down in the speck in the voice of the mayor, we rarely had trouble, much more than our share. When that black bobbing burby let go and we dropped, We landed so hard that our clocks have all stopped. Our teapots are broken, our rocking chairs smashed, and our bicycle tires all blew up when we crashed. So Horton, please, pleaded that voice of the mares, will you stick by us, whose, while we're making repairs? Of course, Horton answered, of course I will stick. I'll stick by you small folks, do think and do think. the voice for almost two days. You've run wild and insisted on chatting with persons who've never existed. Such caring was odd in a peaceable jungle.

[10:54]

You've had quite enough of your belly and bumble. And I'm the United States, said the big kangaroo. But your silly, nonsensical game was all through. And the young kangaroo in your pouch said, me too. With the help of the Wickersham brothers and dozens of Wickersham uncles and Wickersham cousins and Wickersham in-laws who's helped by the gage, you're going to be roped and you're going to be caged. And as for your dust speck, ha, that we shall boil in a hot steaming kettle and beisled up oil. Boil it, gasped Horton? Oh, that you can't do. It's all full of persons. They'll prove it to you. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor, Morgan called. Mr. Mayor, you've got the food now, and you really are there. So call a big meeting. Get everyone out. Make every who holler. Make every who shout. Make every who scream. If you don't, every who is going to end up in a measlenut stew. Help me protect them.

[11:57]

And now I've just spent a scared little mayor. Quick call the big meeting in Whoville, Town Square. And these people cried loudly. They cried out in fear. We're here! [...] The elephant smiled. That was clear as a bell. You kangaroo surely heard that very well. All I heard, snapped the big kangaroo, was the breeze and the faint sound of the wind to the farms and trees. I heard no small voices. And you didn't either. And the young kangaroo in her mouth said, Me neither. they shouted, and caged the big goat. Lasso his stomach with ten miles of rope. Tie the knot's tights, it will never fade loose. Then dump that dumb speck in a betel nut juice. Gordon fought back with great vigor and vim, but the wicker's arangana was too many for him. They beat him, they mauled him, they started to halt.

[13:00]

He named it his cage, but he managed to call to the mayor, don't give up, I believe in you all. A person's a person, no matter how small. And you very small persons will not have to die if you make yourselves hurt. So come on now and try. The mayor grabbed a tom-tom, and he started to smack it. And all over Whoville, they whooped up a racket. They rattled tin kettles. They beat on brass cans, on the garbage pail tops, and old cranberry cans. They blew on bazookas and blasted grape juice, on clarinets, oompahs, and oompahs, and flutes. Great gusts of loud rocket ran high into the air. They rattled and shook the whole sky. And in there, called up to the howling mad hullabaloo. Hey, Horton, how is this? Is there sound coming through? And Horton called back. I can hear you just fine. But the kangaroo's ears aren't as strong quite as mine.

[14:01]

They don't hear a thing. Are you sure all your boys are doing their best? Are they all making noise? Are you sure any who down in Whoville is working? Quick, look to your town. Is there anyone shirking? So, I'll skip a few pages here. But he's going to try to get all the who's in Whoville to make more sound because they can't quite hear. And then he finds this one little who. And... who was just playing and was a big sound. So he found a hoo. And he climbed up with the lad of the Eiffelburg Tower. This, cried the mayor, is your town's darkest hour. The time for all hoo's, for all blood that's red, to come to the end of their country, he said. The aid of their country. But we've got to make noises in greater amounts. So open your mouth, lad, for every voice counts.

[15:02]

Thus he spoke as he climbed. When they got to the top, The lad cleared his throat, and he shouted out, Yop! And that yop, that one small extra yop, put it over. Finally, at last, from that speck on that clover, their voices were heard. They ran out clean and clean, and the elephant smiled. Do you see what I mean? They proved they were persons, no matter how small, and their whole world were saved by the smallest of all. How true, yes, how true, said the big kangaroo. And from now on, you know what I'm planning to do? From now on, I'm going to protect them with you. And the young kangaroo in her pouch said, Me too. Me too. From sun in the summer or raining when it's fallish, I'm going to protect them, no matter how smallish. So finally, when they believe they actually wanted to practice kindness too. But it took him a while to believe that there was really anybody there.

[16:06]

Which you can imagine, right? Because they're so small and who built? So, Horton was a very kind elephant. Just like Hiko Fitch, he's very quiet. He gave us into the story. And now you can go out into the farm and continue... For the rest of your life, you can protect everyone. Yeah, you have a question? I have something to show. Yeah, please. It's in a box, in a very small box. It's a Buddha. I got it from the big Buddha. I run inside it and there's a shop where I could get something.

[17:14]

Wow, can I see? It's made out of crystal inside. That's really neat. That's almost as small as the who's in Whoville. Now you can protect it even though it's very small. Okay. So there's a very small Buddha, yes? Yeah. Is the pickle fish going to come with the children? Yeah, I hope the pickle fish will. And it's really special. Does anybody want to take pickle fish with you? You can go back to, it's Olivia's pickle fish, I think, right? Yes, Jack. Jack. Okay. Enjoy your morning out in the farm. Be kind to all the vegetables out there. So we're going to go down now.

[18:15]

If there's any children who haven't been in the program before, please have one parent accompany them. That's how the Christians kiss the happy whole world's there. today a little bit about the teachings of Nagarjuna and a little about kind of a Zen response to Nagarjuna.

[19:43]

This is something that I've been really immersed in studying recently and I think that Abbot Yogan is teaching Nagarjuna soon or in the recent past also maybe and so let me give you some thoughts about This great Indian Zen ancestor named Nagarjuna. He was sometimes called the second Buddha. He was that important as a teacher. And Nagarjuna can get very complicated, so I'll try not to go too far with this. So it starts from the proposal that actually the way we're experiencing the world all the time is as if it substantially, inherently, independently exists.

[20:59]

The world and everything in it Things exist from their own side, in and of themselves. And we might have heard all these teachings about interdependence before. Probably everybody's heard some of that. Within Buddha Dharma, we say everything's interdependent, so nothing can exist independently. And yet, we seem to still experience the world as independently and substantially existing. even when we've heard again and again that things don't exist that way. So that's the basic premise of looking into Nagarjuna in the first place, is that no matter how much we hear about things that are empty of inherent existence and interdependent, still we experience the world not that way.

[22:00]

And the problem with experiencing everything as inherently existing is that it's basically impossible not to grasp things and be pushed around other things in the world when we see them this way. And this is a very, very deep tendency that we all have. So for example, I feel as if this body really exists. I feel as if it's here. And even though I know that it's dependent on all these conditions, like my parents and yesterday's body and so on, still, I can hear that, but it doesn't really touch the depth to which I feel as if it's existing from its own side substantially, inherently. Even though we know the body is impermanent and it's arising and ceasing all the time,

[23:03]

Still, we can feel like there's an impermanent and changing body, but each moment of this body is actually really real, even though it's changing. This view of independent existence is even deeper than the view of permanence. You can feel things are impermanent, but still they seem to exist substantially. And if you haven't really thought about this a lot, it might not seem like it's so bad that we see things as independently existing. But this is the kind of premise for this kind of study is that this belief in independent existence is like the basic problem that all problems arise from. Whereas if we were able to see what we call emptiness, the emptiness of the body, for example, who wouldn't be able to grasp it in the same way and make it into the same problem.

[24:10]

For example, I have this cough now, so it's very easy to get frustrated with this body and feeling like it's really this body and this really is this cough and it's got to end. And if I were able to see it as this empty of the way that I think that it is, and merely an appearance dependent on various other factors, then I can relate to it differently. So there's also Nidharjana brings up these two different sides of reality called the two truths is an important teaching for Nidharjana. So there's the ultimate truth is that actually there is no body, for example. That there's no things. No independently existing things. You might say, well, what about other kinds of things?

[25:11]

But actually, any time we use the word thing, we're in some way attributing something to it. We're attributing some things to it. So we might say, well, what about interdependent things? But actually, I think that's kind of a mixed view if we If we really look deeply, it will even be interdependent things. It's kind of like, well, they're interdependent, but they still exist from their own side. There's still some substance or essence or things to them. So again, very, very deep-seated view. So the ultimate truth is that there are no things that everything is empty of thingness or substance or essence. And actually nothing arises and ceases at all. And the Guardian proposes that we have to actually, to really be freed from all our grasping tendencies, we have to see this ultimate truth where nothing's arising and ceasing.

[26:22]

And then there's a conventional truth. which is also called a truth, like a truth or a reality, a conventional or relative truth. And that is that actually things appear. So it's not really that there are things in the conventional world, but there's appearance. Depending on conditions coming together, various things appear, appear to arise in this world. But they're mere appearance. that might be a little different than we've heard before, that the conventional truth is actually mere appearance. So the way we're experiencing our world right now, according to Nagarjuna, is not the conventional truth. We're actually experiencing everything in a completely deluded way. We're actually attributing essence or substantiality to everything. So...

[27:26]

The emphasis is on seeing the ultimate truth. And then along with this view of the ultimate truth, we don't deny the appearance of things. So we don't deny conventional truth. And this world of appearance is where compassion comes in and love and kindness and care. If we said, actually, there's nothing arising and ceasing, nothing at all, then Buddha says, so what? Then why practice kindness and so on? Because the world appears, because everything does actually appear, we don't deny that in that general truth. Therefore, we take care of the appearances, wholeheartedly take care of appearances. And they fit together nicely, right?

[28:26]

Because near-appearance doesn't go against substantial existence of things. So the two truths of emptiness or nothing arises at all and the conventional truth of the dependently arising world of near-appearance. Dependently arising near-appearances. And if you haven't heard this kind of thing before, it might sound really far-fetched. You're like, well, here's the world that's not really here. But one thing that's really beautiful about Nagarjuna is he uses logical analysis to prove that things cannot substantially exist. So he's using our faculty of reasoning and intellect to actually undermine our habitual false view that doesn't actually stand up to reason.

[29:29]

So I think this is kind of interesting because sometimes we say in Zen especially, well actually don't trust your thinking. Your thinking is just untrustworthy. Trust your kind of intuition about things. But this Nagarjuna approach is kind of saying actually our intuition is not reliable either. And our usual thinking is also not reliable. But logic is actually reliable. Logical analysis of the way things are is actually, you know, there's something very true about it. For example, like, when we see that a logical analysis of, like, if you have two apples and two apples and put it together, it's four apples. So 2 plus 2 is 4. And so that's kind of logic, a mathematical equation.

[30:32]

It's kind of logic. 2 plus 2 is 4. And you can hear that and memorize it or something. And it makes some sense. But at some point, you actually see that 2 plus 2 is 4. And when you see how that works, it's irrefutable. So then if someone were to come and say, actually, 2 plus 2 is 5, You say, no, I actually don't believe you, because my logic has proven that 2 plus 2 is 4. I can't be convinced, otherwise the mind can't be convinced. So there's something about logic, like in that example, that actually is deeper than our intuitive sense of, like, maybe before we learn math, well, 2 plus 2 is some number around 5 or something. So one example that Makarjuna uses, the first verse of his first chapter of his main work, which some people say is like the summary of all of his teachings.

[31:34]

This verse says, neither from itself, nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatsoever, anywhere arise. It's saying that if anything were to arise, it would have to arise in one of these four ways. And this is part of the four going into the verse you kind of look at. If something were to arise in some real way, like substantially rise, it would have to arise from itself, from something else, another. from both itself and another will arise without a cause at all. And without spending too much time going into these things, because it might take a while to do that, one would actually think of any possible other way that something could arise.

[32:36]

And one would find that there's no other way that things could arise other than these four ways. So it's investigating how things are according to how they arise, kind of cause and effect, this particular verse. And then one would start going through the reasoning about things arising from themselves. We kind of know, actually, that things, it doesn't really make sense that things would arise from themselves. And there are logical proofs for that if we're not convinced. But it's pretty easy to see that. But things arising from others is actually, it seems to be the way we usually see things, that things do arise from others. Things arise from other things other than themselves. And we feel like those other things are actually substantially other. The very word other means like, other means completely separate. There's no kind of like, kind of other.

[33:41]

Part of the way this logic is used is like, there's no kind of murkiness possible here. It's like, when we're looking, it's like, Things are either the same or other. They're not like kind of the same, kind of other. There's no such thing. So if things arise from something else, from something other, and that thing really is other, then it's always gonna be other. It's relationship. The cause and the effect relationship will always be other. Which would mean that the cause would never be able to disappear. Because if the cause disappeared, it wouldn't be other anymore. So for example, this body, this body arising from other, say, one thing that the body seems to arise from is the body from five years ago. That's the cause of this body. So if the body from five years ago were truly other, it would have to remain other, which would mean that the body

[34:47]

five years ago would have to continue to exist at the same time as this body right now. That might be kind of hard to follow, but that's a logical analysis, that if five years ago this body would truly other than today's body, in order to remain other, substantially other, it would have to continue to exist. Because if that body disappeared, it wouldn't be other anymore. So it's like the otherness has to remain in this fixed view. So if you can't follow this, it's OK. But this is just a little bit of an example of how Nagarjuna works. And going through again and again, it takes time, but looking at it from all different angles, the logical line can get to the point of being convinced that things can't actually arise. in a substantial way, because they can't arise in these four ways.

[35:50]

These four ways are all disproven, and there's no other fifth way. So things can't arise. And yet, our experience is that things are arising and exist. So the way that these are usually used is that we just over and over again familiarize the mind with this new view that is not in accord with our experience. because the proposal is that our experience is flawed. It's actually, we're seeing through a veil, not clearly. And then eventually, there's more and more sense that actually we get more and more used to the view that things cannot exist in this independent way. And then we're combining that with meditation and deeply settling in to this view, this new view that goes against our usual view.

[36:58]

So Nagarjuna uses these reasonings to kind of convince us. A little bit like we can't just, if somebody says everything's empty, we hear these things, right? But we don't really believe it. It might sound good. Or even everything's completely interdependent and only appears to arise depending on conditions. It might sound good, but we're not really completely convinced. Just like in the story of Horvam. These people are like, come on, they're right here. I can see them. But no, you have to prove it to us. You have to hear those who's who in. So I think our agenda is very good at convincing us how things actually don't arise. So already, if you haven't heard this kind of thing, it sounds very complicated.

[38:08]

And I can't spend the time to go through this stuff and be convinced in this way. I need a more direct approach. And that's where Zen comes in. And Nagarjuna is a Zen ancestor. And I think a lot of Zen teachers try out these Nagarjuna types of teachings. Still, sometimes we need a really direct approach right now. So there is a Zen story about Matsu and some of his teachers, students. Matsu was one of the really great original Chan teachers in China, one of the greatest ever. And one day a monk came to Matsu. I picture maybe this monk had actually spent a lot of time studying Nagarjuna and wanted something more direct.

[39:11]

And he said, apart from the four propositions, which is actually referring to Nagarjuna, The four propositions being things cannot arise from themselves, from another, from both, or from neither. Sometimes it's called a tetralemma. A dianemma is like a two-part problem. A tetralemma is like a four-prime problem. So apart from the tetralemma of Nagarjuna, apart from the four propositions, and a hundred negations, and different, you know, take some 100 negations, might be some combination of the four propositions multiplied out in different ways. But you could also say, like, in the Heart Sutra, it says, you know, no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no voice, no tongue, and so on. It's maybe not exactly 100, but it's a whole bunch of negations, which is very similar to what Nagarjuna is doing.

[40:15]

He's saying, there is actually an alternate truth. There's no form, feeling, perception, formation, and so on. It's just that Nagarjuna explains the reasoning why there are Arjuna. What this book says, apart from the four propositions and 100 negations of all these logical reasonings of Nagarjuna and others, please, Matsu teacher, point out the direct meaning of Bodhiyama's coming from the West. Bodhidharma is the founder of Zen in China. And so this was a kind of stock phrase. What's the meaning of bodhidharma coming from the West? What's the meaning of this new school that's actually something more direct than all these logical analyses? Just as deep, just as complete in pointing directly to emptiness and freedom from all grasping, but in kind of a fresh way

[41:17]

That's what Zen was known for. And so Bodhidharma is the founder of Zen. The question, what's the meaning of Bodhidharmas coming from the West is, what's the basic point of Zen, this new approach of Zen? So one translation of this question is, apart from the four propositions and the hundred negations, please point out directly the living meaning of Buddhadharma. Literally it says, the meaning of the ancestors comes from the West. But that means the living meaning of Buddha Dharma. I'm just tired of doing all these reasonings. I'll go back to them later because I'm devoted to Nicaragata and all these ancestors and every possible approach of Dharma which might help people. But for now, please point out the direct living meaning. And Matsu says, Actually, you're really tired today and can't explain.

[42:22]

Can you go ask my disciple Jertzah? So in a way, the story could end there because it was a reply to the question with the direct meaning of Buddhism. It's a little bit like more could be brought out than just I'm tired today. Go ask him. So the story's going to continue. And it's going to have to do with these two truths of Nagarjuna, but in this kind of Zen way. Because the story is actually called Matsus White and Black, is the name of the story. And in Zen, these words white and black, we could say refer to the conventional and ultimate truth. Zen is kind of a fresh thing. Instead of talking about these philosophies, in terms of conventional truth and ultimate truth, they're going to use colors to actually symbolically portray.

[43:28]

And the idea is that white is like the world of light, where you can see all these appearances. Things appear in the light. Right now, all of you appear and seem to be arising. It says that the world of conventional truth is these Depending on what your eyes and occurrences is the world of light. And a word of black is like, you can't see anything. There's nothing. Total darkness. That's like the ultimate truth. Nothing's happening. No arising, no ceasing. Nothing arising. No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no darkness. So, you'll see why it's called Hatsu's white and black as the story goes on. teacher, please, apart from these four propositions and 100 negations, please point out directly the meaning of living rules. And Moxie says, I'm tired today and can't explain.

[44:30]

Go ask my student, Jir Tsang. And so, even this one, maybe he did get it at that point, but he still wants to enact this thing, play it all out. So, okay. Goes to Jir Tsang. and ask the same question. Please point out the direct meaning, apart from all these four analyses, like Arjuna. And Yurta, similarly, well, first he says, why don't you ask the teacher? And the monk says, I didn't. And he said, come ask you. So then similarly to the teacher, he responds, Actually, I have a headache today, and I can't explain. Go ask Waihai. Baijong, Waihai is a really great disciple of Matsu. And so, okay, I'll go ask him.

[45:36]

The mom goes and asks Waihai, same question, at this point I have to do it. And Waihai says, When I get here, or I arrive at the living meeting, I don't understand anything. That's his reply. And so then the one goes back to Matsu, the teacher, and explains this whole thing. Well, first I went here. He said this. And then he said it there. And he said that. And the teacher of Monsi said, his response was, Jiritsang's head is white, and Waihan's head is black. That's the end of the story. So that was also another response. You can see all these responses are pointing out the direct meaning of the Buddha Dalai.

[46:39]

this black and white thing as just, you know, some things are this way and some things are that way. But we can also look at it as talking about the two truths in kind of a Zen way, that the response of, I have a headache today and can't explain, is kind of the manifesting, appearing, conventional truth. It's what's happening. It's actually what appears to be happening. There's an appearance of a headache, depending on conditions. And something seems to be arising. It's not that it really is a headache, either. But there is the appearance of a headache. And we're not going to cause what I say over and over again. Would you please pass me the appearing toast? Because I'm apparently hungry. We just abbreviate by saying, please pass the toast because I'm hungry. But from one who's understood as conventional truth, it means, actually, there's an appearance in toast, an appearance in hunger, and we're going to live in this world of appearance and take care of it really, really well.

[48:00]

Appears take care of it well. And so I'm headed today and can't explain. Complete manifestation of conventional truth. And when I get here, I don't understand at all. I don't understand anything. It is still using words, but it seems to me that those words are pointing more to the ultimate truth. We're not even going to talk about anything manifesting. It's like, well, really, arrive here at this place of living meaning, you don't know anything at all. Because as soon as we know something, it's other, and it's some thing. ultimate truth where nothing's arising and ceasing is kind of like, don't know, just don't know. Like when Bodhidharma, the Zen founder, came to the emperor and the emperor asked, who are you?

[49:04]

Bodhidharma just don't know. It's kind of an ultimate truth response. He could have said, the appearance of five aggregates of body and mind arising in this moment And that would have been a kind of conventional truth answer. But I don't know at all. Can't say any words, though. That is the ultimate answer. And then Matsu just gives his little teaching at the end. He says, oh, his hand is right. That answer was like a relative truth answer. And his head was black. That response was like an unknown darkness where nothing arises and ceases. So I see this Zen story that's pointing out the direct meaning beyond all these teachings of Hidart. It's kind of using those same teachings, but in this very fresh Zen way where it's like, instead of talking about the conventional truth, it's just expressing the conventional truth.

[50:16]

And a lot of Zen stories are about expressing the conventional truth, which is free from this reified way, the way we're usually relating to the world. Which, again, is not the conventional truth. It's the kind of conventional truth, ultimate truth, and then not truth at all. And people that make argument would say, usually we're relating to the world as if that everything actually really is here and existing from its own side, solidly and substantially. Both the physical world and maybe more importantly, our internal world, we really reify it. And that's where so much of our suffering comes from. We really think that we're a certain kind of person and we really are that way and we can't accept it. And we think somebody else really is a certain kind of person, so we can't accept them. Actually, they're empty of everything we think about them in truth.

[51:20]

And yet they appear in this miraculous way. They appear. It might be really frustrating to us sometimes, but it's amazing. They can appear kind of like a rainbow. It's like certain conditions come together. Light and rain and animals wind up. And a rainbow appears due to conditions. But it's not like a rainbow is really some substantial thing. When we go up to it, it actually disappears. And we can't get a hold of it. We can't grab a rainbow. And that's kind of like the conventional world. It's depending on conditions, something appears to our eyes, but it's just a new appearance. Ultimately, if there are rainbows, there's not even an appearance. There's nothing. We can't say anything about it. There's really nothing rises at all, ultimately.

[52:24]

And these two truths are not separate. And we might also ask, well, how does all this apply? I think it really does apply to our life every moment, because This is, if we're seeing things that are essentially existing and grasping them, we're going to suffer. And if we get open more and more to the possibility of things not arising, and then to explain, well, what's all this then? Well, this is mere appearance, depending on conditions. We take care of it. All our appearances with great compassion. Thank you for coming and coming to this.

[53:25]

Talk about Nidharvina, very difficult. And maybe the Zen story is also difficult. But the living meaning of Buddhadharma is always right here. Always this mere appearance, free from everything that we think about it. It's never apart from us. to dedicate any merit arising from this speciality to the realization of emptiness for all living beings.

[54:03]

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