One has to learn and practice the open way of non-attachment, confused, in order to be open to receive the viewpoints of others. Truth is to be found only in life and not in conceptual knowledge. One should be ready to learn during one's whole life, and to observe life in oneself and the world at all times. Well, we accept that as valid. It seems that what we've worked out is a kind of middle stage between being single and being married, which seems to work. Basically, our worry is that we are going to try and get married, which people decide after trying it out that they're going to be married,

[01:24]

so marriage has a different meaning. For us, it does, you know, in traditional society. When you're married, it's supposed to precede. That seems to be the overall trend of our society. Statistics show that people who live together who are not married can probably be growing a very large percentage elsewhere. It's probably, I think, one of the most striking changes between the 1970s and the 1980s. So I think we're just nearing a society far too large. Anyway, Buddhism does not really have any rules. I mean, everything is situational. If there is a situation where it actually seems to work between two people who have something very weak and casual, then maybe it's all right. If it's completely clear between two people, there's no hidden agenda or unexpressed agenda, then maybe it's all right.

[02:30]

But you have to observe the actual outcome, how people actually felt about it. And part of this deception process is, are you deceiving yourself? Someone may be deceiving themselves into thinking it's great, but really, actually, they think it's terrible. They don't like it at all, but they do it because somehow they've convinced themselves it's what they're supposed to do, or their friends are doing it, or whatever. Or it's regalia against them. They haven't even thought about it. So, it's so easy to deceive yourself in these emotionally charged areas of our lives. It's very difficult to be completely honest. I've just never been able to see why or how it is that human beings have become so separated from other beings. And, um, which, I have, people have a great biological outlook in seeing a discontinuity between humans and the other animals

[03:41]

but there's definitely something to do there. It seems to be able to conceptualize itself. It doesn't compare to us. We separate ourselves out from things. It's in this consciousness that separates us apart from the rest of us. And it just, um, I've always wondered how it can be that we are so, um, in the levels of life, how is it that we make human beings worse for trouble, because we're separated animals, and we think we all have the same needs, or... Yeah. It does, doesn't it? You know, I think it's because we're so smart. We have the unique ability to be aware of our own consciousness. And... We aren't given the biological equipment in advance to deal with it. We're basically beings that need to work at being complete, rather than, we don't come out complete.

[04:48]

The kind of reflexive, self-aware consciousness that we have, which is our greatest gift, and which allows us to be Buddha, or to be awakened, also is the cause of our separation. So, separation and oneness actually emanate from the same being. That's part of what it means, you know, to... We may be delusional, have it, they would. It means that our problem as human beings, and our potential, are based in the same consciousness. You know, you might say, we're creatures that are born with a great deal.

[05:35]

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