Here we have another opportunity to consider the deep intimacy of the mind. the scripture on revealing the intimacy the deep intimacy teaches a way of meditation on teachings such that

[01:33]

one can enter this intimacy. And the meditation is described as having two aspects. One is an aspect of tranquility, and the other is an aspect or gesture of contemplation or observation. The question is how to become skilled at tranquility, how to become skilled at tranquil concentration, and how to become skillful at observation. And the response to that question is, but the Buddha gives teachings and so you start by receiving some teachings, studying some teachings understanding them and then with some understanding you practice contemplating the mind in solitude you start studying and paying attention to the mind

[03:03]

Once tranquility is attained, once there's this pliancy of body and mind, then one can reconsider the teachings that one has learned prior to practicing tranquility. But now the consideration of teaching is in the context of of tranquil, flexible, bright concentration. In this particular scripture, after this instruction is given, there is further instruction in the form of a conversation between Maitreya Bodhisattva and the Buddha, this conversation is now a teaching which we can listen to and repeat and understand.

[04:19]

And then this teaching, again, can be something which is observed in a state of tranquility. And again, once you could learn this teaching and then enter into... tranquility, and then again contemplate it. When you first learn the teaching, you might not be concentrated, but you can still learn it. And then, once concentrated, you can bring up what you've learned and contemplate these teachings in that context of tranquil concentration. And these teachings are teachings about the mind. So the mind is paying attention to images about teachings about the mind. And part of the teaching about mind is given...

[05:35]

by Maitreya asking, are the path of tranquility and the path of observation and insight, are they the same or different? And the Buddhist says, well, they're not the same. No, they're not different because they're both contemplating mind. They're both contemplating mind. Already there's a teaching there in addition to telling you that they're both contemplating mind. There's a further teaching which you can see in a moment. Then the Buddha says, but they're not the same. They're not different because they're both contemplating mind. But they're not the same because... Tranquility, tranquil concentration, does not focus on images.

[06:45]

It focuses on mind, but not the images of the mind. What focuses on the images of the mind? Observation, insight. Images, ideas, concepts are not the object of the practice of concentration, according to this teaching. But there is something, there is a kind of meditation which does have images as its object. Vipassana. Observation does look at images. But we just said... that insight and concentration are not different because they're both looking at mind.

[07:50]

So already the implication is these images which you're looking at are mind. But there's a difference between looking at mind in the image department and looking at mind in the non-image department. There's a non-conceptual part of the mind, aspect of the mind, and that's what tranquility focuses on. And there's an imaginary or conceptual aspect of the mind, and that's what observation looks at. I imagine many questions are arising in your mind now. They can all be responded to.

[08:56]

So what I just said is a teaching which if one was concentrated, one could contemplate. However, if one was developing concentration, one would not be looking at the images with which these teachings are presented. So the teaching that the object, the focus of concentration is not an image, that teaching is not the focus of concentration. It's an instruction to concentration, but you're not focusing on that instruction. To focus on that instruction is observation. And the conversation goes on about on this very topic a little further, which, again, this is teaching for you to learn and memorize, really, hopefully, so that when you're concentrated, this teaching about the mind and the teaching about the two aspects of this meditation will be available to come up and be observed.

[10:19]

And then Maitreya asked the Buddha, should the image or the images on which one concentrates in practicing observation, should these images be said to be the same or different from mind? I just said they are, but that's the question. Are these images the same or different from mind? Well, they're the same as mind. their mind appearing as images. They're not different because these images, all images that you see, are only consciousness. The Buddha says that objects of consciousness are only manifestations of consciousness. When you're looking at somebody who is being helpful,

[11:51]

who you think is helpful, that is consciousness manifesting as the image of a helpful person. The Buddha says, I have taught that the objects of consciousness are nothing but the manifestation of conscious construction only. can mind reflect back and look upon itself and the Buddha says nothing ever looks at anything rather the mind occurs as such and such rather when the mind occurs as such and such

[13:14]

then such and such images make their appearance. There's nothing looking at anything else. It's the mind appearing as such and such and such image arising. Nothing's looking at something else. when you're concentrated and you reflect on this teaching a time may come when the reflection on the teaching and concentration is realized excuse me, the teaching that's being reflected is realized by the consciousness in concentration and this

[14:20]

is always actually, even if you're not meditating on a teaching about consciousness only, this is the realization of consciousness only. This is entrance into suchness, which is the intimacy of mind. And this is what we call being calm and free of the sign of the appearance of the image of something external. If anybody looks external to you and you enter into this tranquility with that external sign you can become free of the sign of external, external, external. In this way you can say you're free of it.

[15:23]

You're at peace with it. Another way to say it is you abandon it. You give it away. You give away the appearance of externality in what's appearing in mind. You're not really looking at anything. It's that mind is arising as externality. And then you give that away. You're free of it. And the founder of the Yogacara school says that when we give away this sign of externality to what's arising in mind, unwholesome minds are pacified. And one enters the middle way. We live in consciousness and consciousness arises and looks like it's something other than itself.

[16:47]

Receiving that teaching and contemplating it in tranquility is a possibility of realizing that that's so by being in complete accord with that and then one abandons external objects or abandons the appearance that things are external. All incorrect minds are pacified and one enters the middle way. So that's a teaching of this sutra. And there's many other teachings which one can contemplate in the same way. And every time one contemplates a teaching in this way, There's many other teachings, but every time you contemplate it and realize that the image of this teaching is just a conscious construction of that teaching, then you realize the teaching of consciousness only.

[17:59]

You attain the state of consciousness only, and you understand the suchness of the teaching. Not the appearance of the teaching by which you got it, by which you grasped it. Not the sign of the teaching. Actually, you receive the teaching through images. Now you're free of the externality of the teaching and you enter into the suchness of innumerable teachings. So this teaching is proposed as the key for understanding all other teachings so that all other teachings stop being external to you. And you enter them through the suchness, through the way they really are not external to you. And then there were some things about this that I would like to talk about, but I would like to postpone some of these implications and just take a little bit more look at this I think kind of surprising teaching that

[19:11]

In concentration, you're not focused on an image. Because a lot of people think, actually, concentration is to focus on an image. That's what people usually do, is they focus on images. They try to. They can't, actually, but they try. This is saying, if you want to develop tranquility, focus on the mind. So someone may ask, you know, could you say a little bit more about how to develop tranquility? Like, what if I'm distracted? So if the phenomena of a distraction has arisen, you have an image of that or an idea of distraction. It's not to say there's no distraction. It's just to say that... Our access to distraction is an image or an idea of distraction.

[20:15]

We think this is distraction. Now you've got an image. Now how do you work with this image in such a way as to be concentrated? Well, you don't look at the image if you want to become concentrated. Looking at the image is the job of observation, of insight. The job of tranquility is to look at the mind. If you look at the image of distraction and realize you're looking at the mind, and really realize you're looking at the mind, then you start to calm down. Here's distraction. Distraction is coming. Oh, hi, mind. If you relate to all distractions, understanding that it's mind that's being presented to you, not distraction, Mind is not distraction. Mind can be distracted, you might feel, or have distraction. But mind is not distraction.

[21:15]

Mind is mind. And when distraction comes, if you understand that it's distraction, you are calm at that moment. You are, like, very calm. Or you might say very cool. Like what we call Steve McQueen. whatever comes, it's mind. If concentration comes, it's mind. If distraction comes, it's mind. If Jose comes, it's mind. Whatever comes, it's mind. But that's one way to concentrate, is to understand everything that's coming is mind. Another way is, which is the same thing, when something like distraction or agitation comes, or perhaps drowsiness, boredom, we could go on, shall we? Discouragement, hatred, lust, confusion, pride, depression.

[22:26]

When things come, how do you get concentrated with them? Well, if you look at the Bodhisattva precepts, The fifth precept of the six is concentration. There's four before it. So... Really, if you want to develop concentration, it would be good to be practicing the four previous practices because they are the foundation of concentration. They are not... You could turn them into... objects of concentration if you want to. You could focus on the images of them, but use them instead as ways to meditate on mind. So if you have a distraction, for example, and you'd like to be concentrated, but what you've got is an image of distraction coming to you, then I would suggest practicing the first practice of bodhisattvas.

[23:34]

The first practice of those who are living for the welfare of all beings. What's the first practice? Giving. Practice giving with distraction. I've heard that some people think it's not good to be generous towards distraction. Some people think distraction should be crushed. I actually felt that way myself a few times. But I told people, crush your distraction. Anyway, now today I'm saying, today I'm saying, be compassionate towards distraction. Bodhisattvas practice compassion towards what comes to them. they practice compassion in the form of being generous towards what comes.

[24:37]

If distraction comes, they practice generosity towards distraction. If you're distracted, you can be distracted without actually having an image of distraction coming to you. It's not that there's no such thing as distraction. It's just that when you know about it, it's just a conscious construction of the distraction. So when you know about distraction, you have a chance to practice this teaching. And practice, if this is actually mind coming to you, now practice being generous towards it. Being generous with distraction is not focusing on distraction, and it's not even focusing on giving.

[25:38]

It's practicing giving towards the distraction. If you're distracted and you practice giving with distraction, I say you are calm, more calm. The more you're generous with distraction, the more calm you become. Welcoming distraction does not mean you want more distraction or less distraction. It means you let the distraction be the distraction. If you're carrying, like the example of carrying a plate which has a slight curvature at the edge of hot oil, and you notice, and you're supposed to carry this plate of hot oil across the kitchen, and it becomes available to you, that an image arises that you're distracted, then it would be very good to be gracious and not push away the distraction so that you can carry this.

[26:48]

And when you are aware of the distraction and you are gracious towards it, you calm down in this dangerous situation. Also, the next precept, which is we often call the precepts, ethical discipline. Basically, they're about being very careful and vigilant. They're about like, it's kind of like we're always got something to take care of here. And if we're distracted, we should be careful. If we're driving a car and we notice we're distracted, we should be really careful. with this distracted mind. And vigilant. Watch what it's doing. We're not focusing on the mind. We're focusing on being careful. We're not even focusing on careful. We're being careful. We're focusing on the mind, not the images. And we calm down when we're careful with agitated distraction minds.

[27:56]

Next, we're patient with distraction. We're patient with boredom. We're patient with agitation. When we're patient with agitation, we become more present and settled. And we're diligent about these practices, and we understand that being diligent about these first three practices is being diligent in getting ready for concentration. And the more diligent we are, The more energy we have in diligence for the first three, the more energy we have for the fifth, for the next one. The more we want to practice concentration if we practice the previous ones. In all these practices, we're not focusing on images. We're focusing on mind. What mind? Generous mind. Careful mind. Vigilant mind.

[28:58]

patient mind, diligent, enthusiastic mind. There is a focus, but the focus is mind, not the images. And the teachings of how to practice giving, ethical discipline, patience, and enthusiastic diligence, those teachings, when you look at those teachings, you're looking at the teachings, you're looking at the images, you're not looking at mind. So now you're doing something you need to do, but you need to get to a point where you're not looking at the teachings and you're actually practicing giving without looking at an image of giving. You're practicing being careful without looking at an image of being careful.

[29:59]

You're practicing being vigilant in all your actions without looking at the image of being vigilant with all your actions. You're practicing patience without looking at the image of patience. Once concentrated, then you can observe. if you want to, any of these teachings. Are we ringing a bell when the kitchen leaves? Is that what we're doing? I imagine that, again, that this teaching is somewhat surprising that many people think of concentration as focusing on an image or an idea.

[31:12]

And you can try to focus on images and ideas, but trying to focus on them is not going to, the sutra will say, is not going to come to fruit as concentration. It's focusing on mind that calms and tranquilizes. And then again, once concentrated, then you can start looking at the images of the teachings, the teachings which are arising in mind as cognitive constructions of the teachings. The teachings are not cognitive constructions. The teachings appear to us as cognitive constructions. And again, if we're concentrated...

[32:17]

and we have this teaching, it helps us look at the conscious construction of the teaching by which we have apprehended it and become free of the conscious construction, the signs, and enter into suchness of the teaching. I'd like to go back to something that was brought up yesterday. by Reverend Konin, something like, if you have a person who, let's say you have a person who has realized this state of consciousness only or cognition only, How can there be verification for this person?

[33:22]

And that relates also to what Timo was bringing up, is that if we are living in a situation that's cognition only, if that's a situation we're living in, it's just saying there's nothing in addition to that. So these two questions are related, I feel. Realizing the state of cognition only seems to me similar to accepting that that's our state. Accepting that that's our state, we abandon the appearance of externality of these concepts.

[34:39]

there is a state that's not cognition that's not cognitively constructed called the middle way which we open to and then again how would we achieve verification that we realize the way if we live in conscious construction only. The realization is not another image, though. It's not going to be another image, which we would say that image of realization is not the realization itself. The image which we can recognize is not realization itself. So how can there be verification of the realization?

[35:47]

And again, the possibility would be that the verification would be between a person who realizes the state of consciousness only, who understands that. Everybody's in the state of consciousness only. but not everyone's realized it, because not everyone accepts it. We have to be concentrated, actually, to really accept it. But let's say it has been accepted. How is this person going to have verification? Well, I think they need to meet another person who's also realized it. Where are they going to meet? They can't meet within conscious construction because they have different conscious constructions. They are both living in their own cognitively constructed worlds. But these two people have accepted that they're both living in a cognitively constructed world.

[37:00]

They don't any longer think that the walls of their world are external. How do we know if we really realize that? Well, you might get some positive indications, like, for example, you don't hate anybody anymore who looks like they're worthy of hate. Because you don't see them as external. So even someone who's being cruel to you, what you're seeing is your image of them being cruel to you. You understand that? So, You are calm with this image of someone being cruel to you. You're free of the image of the sign of someone being cruel to you. You pacify all unwholesome minds like the mind of revenge, the mind of whatever. Any unwholesome response to this image of somebody who, of an enemy.

[38:02]

You're in the state where you realize you're looking at the mind manifesting as this phenomena. So unwholesome states are pacified, and you're in the middle way with this image of an enemy or a friend. So you notice that you're feeling at ease. I do see that this is my mind, not somebody else. And I feel relaxed even when people are disapproving of me or not appreciating me. Maybe there is realization of mind only here. I need to find somebody else, though. But we're not going to meet within... within our own realization.

[39:08]

We've got to find another place to meet. That Rumi poem comes to mind, something like, out beyond the realm of ideas of good and evil, out beyond the ideas of friends and enemies, there's a field. I'll meet you there. So we need, in order to have verification, that we accept that we're circumscribed by mind and that we're at ease with the circum... What is it? It's a word. Circum... Circumscription. Got to be careful here. And we're free of the circumscription.

[40:11]

And we have entered into the intimacy that's not just intimacy with the mind only, but intimacy with all other minds. There's something that's not outside that or inside that. There's something which isn't elaborated as outside or inside. There's something that's not elaborated as existing or non-existing. There's something that has no manifest activity. We need to meet somebody else and verify this intimacy there. So how do we do it? We do it by practicing the forms of the tradition, or some forms. And then in practicing the forms together, we continue in our consciousness-only, cognition-only understanding state, we deal with this thing

[41:35]

that's unconstructed while we're doing these ceremonies together. We perform these ceremonies to realize this field which is beyond without being separate from the realm of construction and manifest activity and coming and going. And these practices are at this point to verify what's going on in the realm of ideas and we and and we have accepted that that's all there is in terms of existence and non-existence and there's nothing external in this field of existence and non-existence it's all a cognitive construction of existence and non-existence.

[42:37]

And we're cool with that. And our response to that is practice. And the verification is also the practice. And you can ask, you know, you can have a conversation with somebody, you know. Part of the verification can be, and by the way, have you realized cognition only? Have you realized that state? And the person can talk to you about it, and you say, hmm, that's great. Have you ever read the Sandhya Nirmarjana Sutra? And they say, no. You've realized this without reading the sutra. Amazing. I had to read the sutra quite a few times. But it's possible that they do. And then they might say, would you like to read it? And they start reading it. And then maybe you find out that their realization goes poof.

[43:38]

And you've lost your playmate. At least you have a cognition-only version of that you've lost your playmate. And you're cool with that. So now you need to find another playmate. Because that planet ran away. It isn't going to do the ritual with you anymore. They're not going to sit zazen with you anymore. So you've got to find somebody else. And it might take a while, because if you ask some other people, they maybe say, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to play that game with you. I don't want to be your verification buddy. So, yeah, so there is, there's nothing beyond mind, yes, but are there two minds?

[44:42]

Well, in a sense, yes. The Buddhas who practiced the Bodhisattva way a long time and had the understanding of cognition only, they realize a Dharma body, which is beyond cognition, construction. And they realize it because they understand this teaching and practice with it. Also, I just want to mention that someone said to me something like, I see that my story about people is not the people, but my story about them.

[45:47]

This is pretty much another way to say, I see that my understanding of people is my own, is just cognition only. But that doesn't mean there's no people. It just means that what I know about people is my story about them. And that's all I know. That's all I know. And again, if I accept that, I will become free of all I know. That's all I know, and I know it by way of putting signs on things. That's all I can grasp and I know all that I can grasp by putting signs on everything. But it doesn't mean that there's nothing. It just means there's nothing looking at something.

[46:51]

There's just mind arising in such a way that it has appearances. So this person said, and my story about people has absolutely nothing to do with them. I said to the person, that's going too far. Your story about people does have something to do with them. It's not them. It's your story about them. And your story about them is not them. But it is totally your story, completely, and just that. However, to say that it has nothing to do with them is going too far. that's another one of your conscious constructions so there's the person and your story is not them and then there's the idea this has nothing to do with them but that's not the reality of the situation either that's your story about the reality that's another story your story about them has something to do with them and your story that your story has nothing to do with them has something to do with something

[48:07]

And certainly in both cases, it has to do with your own karmic consciousness, your own history. Somebody else might say, I have a story about some people, and that's not the people, that's my story about them, but my story has a little bit to do with them. That's not our story. So there are people, and we have stories about them, and our stories are not the people. There are oceans, and we have stories about them, like that they're circles of water, but the circle of water is not the ocean. But we wouldn't have the circle of water story of the ocean if there weren't an ocean. And I wouldn't have stories about you if there weren't you. It's just that you're not my story of you. But I have to remember that.

[49:13]

That's my job, is to remember that. You are not my story of you. Even though my story of you is maybe really nice, and I don't mean it as an insult, even though it's nice. Still, it's my story of you, and that's all I've got about you, moment by moment. And if I really... calm with that teaching, I should say calm with the image of that teaching, I will become free of the image of that teaching. And I will realize that teaching. So like another teaching I just referred to, the teaching of the Ganjo Kuran, When it appears in your mind, it's not the Genjo Koan.

[50:15]

It's your story about the Genjo Koan. And it's just the cognitive construction. It's not an external thing over in the book that somebody outside you called Dogen wrote. No. It's just conscious construction. When you take that teaching about the circle of water and the ocean, and you realize that you're dealing with your mind here, and that there's a sign, and that you... Are you grasping the sign or not? Are you cool with the sign? Can you give away the sign? The sign by which you get the teaching, can you give away the way you get the teaching? If you can, then you can enter into... the realization of the way the teaching actually is. So this part of the sutra, I feel, is the center of the sutra.

[51:27]

It's the way to understand all the other parts of the sutra. And it's what this sutra is saying is the way to understand all sutras. And there's some great sutras. which were written before this sutra, and this sutra is offered as a way to help us understand all the great sutras before correctly. Some of the sutras before, in some sense, are, you could say, almost like even better than this sutra. This sutra is like a... I don't know what... Anyway, it helps us understand all the other Buddhist teachings plus the rest of the Buddhist teachings in this sutra. like the teachings of Chapter 10 that we've talked about before, the teachings of the Dharmakaya. This central thing tells you how to study the mind, how to meditate on it and calm down, and then how to look at the images in it and attain freedom from the images.

[52:36]

And I have this image that the kitchen during session has to leave after only about 30 minutes. And I'm... I know, but the talk didn't really start till after 10.30. So they only can be here for about half an hour. So I have this image. of how long the kitchen is in here, like only about 30 minutes. So I'm working with that. This is cognition only here. And I'm trying to, like, be concentrated with that, not with that, but in the face of that, and then... abandon the sign by which I came up with this 30 minutes.

[53:46]

So that's what I thought I'd present to you today. That's what I thought I presented you today. That's what I think I presented you today. But I know that's not what I presented you today. But I don't know what I presented you today. I just know what I think I presented you. And I think it was pretty nifty. And I wasn't sure if that was funny or not. But I appreciate the response. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma Talks are offered free of charge and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving.

[54:50]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_95.51