So, hello again. So nice to be back in this space. Really, I was excited today. I thought, oh, it's going to be five o'clock soon. Having been in England for about a month, I'm actually still truly on Greenwich Mean Time, which is about eight hours ahead. So I'm still occasionally... waking up at one o'clock in the morning ready for breakfast, you know, feeling like something's really wrong, really wrong here at Gringo. Anyway, it's quite amazing to travel around the globe to change perspective in so many ways, so many things that were just like, wow, wow. Certainly having not spent so much time in England, but having, you know, been in many classes about American history, which was preceded by the British Empire and the history of the British Empire. And so much of that is there in London and in the buildings that we saw and names of things and, you know, language itself.

[03:32]

So it was really very moving, touching, challenging, thoughtful to spend time there and also extremely beautiful, the places where we had the privilege of visiting. because of some of Karina's friends. Karina grew up in London, my partner, and her friends are in the theater. So we had some very lovely visits with extroverts who are also quite delightful personalities. And we saw beautiful places. We went down to Cornwall and stayed in an old stone cottage. And that was lovely. Christmas for Christmas in Cornwall. It's kind of romantic, beautiful. And then We ended up in the Cotswolds in an old dye factory with huge stone buildings that had been converted into housing, lovely housing, on a creek, on a river, a little pond where swans were floating by as we had breakfast. Anyway, it was something very different that I haven't traveled for so long.

[04:39]

I've been at Zen Center. close to 45 years now. And we don't do much traveling other than up here, which I've lost. But I have not really traveled on planes and into other countries very much since I came to Zen Center. So I've got the bug. I think I'm going to want to do more traveling since retirement's up close. I am going to be stepping down as the Abiding Abbas at Green Gulch next month. On the 10th, Friday the 10th, and Ed Sadezan and I, who both did our mountain seat ceremonies at the same time in 2014, which is a very fast nine years ago, are going to step down together on a Friday evening. And we're both ready to do that and also very grateful for the next generation who are coming in. So after the Friday stepping down on Saturday,

[05:40]

at the city center, Jiru Ischmanweiler, who's been the Tonto here, and some of you may know, he gave the lecture this morning at Green Culture Aid, a very nice lecture. He's nervous, and he's ready, and he'll be a wonderful abbot. So he'll be installed as abbot on the 11th, and then Mako Volkola, who has been at Austin Zen Center for a long time, a lovely human being. She was a professor, for many years and a wonderful Zen practitioner, she will be stepping up as the Abiding Abbot in the City Center. So we have this next generation moving into position, and then David Zimmerman, who's been the Abbot at City Center, is going to shift over and take on Central Abbot, which is what Ed Sadezon's been doing. So we have this three-part Abbot. You know, we used to have one Abbot. I don't know if any of you... had been around since then or that long, when we had, well, one abbot, Suzuki Roshi, and then Richard Baker, and then Rev Anderson.

[06:45]

And then at some point, we as a community decided that the singularity was probably not a very strong thing. It wasn't a very kind thing to do to someone, actually, to give them that much weight and authority. And so we shifted to three over time. First we went to two, and then we went to three. And we've kind of stayed with the three. which seems to be working pretty well. So there's one city center, there's an abbot at Green College, and then there's a central abbot who kind of glues the whole thing together. So we're going to be kind of refreshing those positions with the younger folks coming up. And then those of us who've been in these roles will be moving on. I'll be moving to Enso Village, which I've mentioned before. up in Healdsburg, which is in very close to completion, I understand. I haven't seen it in quite a while, having been gone almost five months. I'm looking forward to going up and looking at the progress, but some of the folks here are going to be moving up there this year in October, and I'll be going next year in the summer.

[07:52]

So a lot of change, and hopefully, and I think good change. I've said recently in a meeting that I'm I'm pretty optimistic by nature. And so even though some of the news isn't all that good, given COVID and the loss of revenue and given our effort to bring in fresh students and be relevant to this generation that's passing through, very digitally oriented, very... hard to tell, you know, what they want, what they care about. And we're hoping they will care about Zen and will come and replace us over time and fill the farm and all the other temples with their presence. So these are all things that we're working on now. And we've just received... Our school accreditation has come back, which is a huge, wonderful bit of news. We lost our accreditation a couple of years back when the former administration of the United States of America was getting very tight about immigrants and people coming into this country.

[09:03]

So we lost our accreditation and couldn't have foreign students. So now we've got it back. And so that's a wonderful thing, and already we have lots of applicants coming from different parts of the world. So there's good things that are coming, and I feel quite hopeful in a more realistic way that we do have to work on who we are and how we teach dharma, also using the magic of these digital opportunities to make sure that we keep connected. with the people who want to be part of our sangha and who are the sangha. So that's kind of what I've been doing. And I got back here about a week ago, I think, 26th of January. And I went back to work on the 1st of February. So today's the 5th. And I'm sort of adjusting to this time change, for one thing.

[10:06]

But also, I went into the Zendo, and I sat down in my seat, and I looked around the room, and I thought, I don't know any of these people. There's been a whole influx of new folks who've come in in the last five months. And I'm meeting them one by one, little by little, and they seem quite lovely. And some of them will stay around, hopefully, for a while. So that's just part of what Zen Center is like, is we have this kind of flow. of people who come into residence and once in a while they stay, you know, like me, they stay and make a life out of this community. So, yeah, that's kind of the news. And I wanted to turn to the book we've been studying, which I so enjoyed, The Transmission of Light, and to kind of recap a little bit where we left off. You know, the last time I talked to you, those of you who were able to join, was on December 4th of 2022.

[11:10]

And I was at Tassajara then. And I can even remember, I was thinking about, when I was thinking about talking with you this evening, I thought, I remember that day, you know, when I was sitting in my room at Tassajara where I had a desk and I was on the creek and, you know, all the sounds of the temple, which I've described to you. And I was getting ready, preparing for the Sashin that was ending the practice period with the Rahatsu Sashin. And I looked up at my calendar and I saw, oh, online 5 o'clock for December 4th. And I made a big post-it up there. I said, don't forget because it's not the usual schedule. Sunday doesn't mean anything in Tassajara. We're not on a by the week. We're kind of on by the number, the day. It's a very funny thing. But anyway, so I had a big post-it up there to remind me. And so that's the last time I visited here on this platform, I guess it's called. And I talked about the chapter on Ru Jing and chapter 51 in the transmission of light.

[12:18]

So, you know, it was... And I want to recap a little bit of that. But before I do that, I wanted to kind of set the context for, you know, kind of glue together that time at Tassajara with the time I am in now. Because that's what's happening for me. I don't know if any of you have seen. It's making me sound like this movie I saw called Everything Everywhere All at Once. Have you seen that yet? I mean, it's going to be probably getting all the Oscars. It's this extraordinary film, which we saw last week. And it's just like, if you've seen it, you know that it's mind-blowing. A little bit like The Matrix was when it came out. I was like, what? What is happening here? Anyway, the lovely thing about that film is that it reminded me very much of my mind and how it tends to jump from one... plane of existence to another, one time zone to another, or the past to the future, or back to the present moment, which is very elusive.

[13:28]

That's the hardest one to connect to. But anyway, when I was speaking to you in December, as I said, I was preparing for the seshin at the very end, and after that seshin, so there was kind of a a very intense period of time following our last visit. I gave seven talks for the end of the session, and then because we didn't have a Shusou, we didn't have a head student for the practice period. In fact, it was fairly small, and it's this one right now that Linda Ruth is leading is also fairly small, about 30 people. And at the same time, very intimate, very nice to have that few people, actually. I was really grateful to be able to get to know everybody. really well. And so our 90 days together at the end of that, instead of having a shusō ceremony, which many of you have attended, I did what's called a shosan ceremony. So the shosan ceremony, the teacher is sitting in a rather ornate chair.

[14:32]

It's kind of a little bit like a throne. It's very ritual, heavy ritual. And it's in front of the altar, and then each of the students comes forward and asks a question. So this is very much like the dialogue that goes on in the transmission of light, you know, where you have a public forum and the rest of the students are sitting there and they're able to hear what happens between the teacher and the student, that inquiry that's called Dharma inquiry. In some cases, it's called Dharma combat, but we weren't in combat. We weren't combating at all. We were really meeting. I felt very met and I felt like... because we had so much time together, spending time eating together and talking and meeting. I'd seen all of them quite a few times. The feeling of it was so special, you know. I'm steeply grateful for that. And so, you know, at the end of that ceremony, which, as with all things, the questions and answers went by very quickly, the ceremony completed, the practice period ended, and everyone left, including me.

[15:40]

So we all drove out on the same day in these cars up the muddy road back to Jamesburg and then back into our cars and back to our separate lives. And some of the people ended up at city center, which is great. And we have one person here. And then we have quite a few people stayed at Tassajara. So that's really good. That's the kind of thing that makes that center work. And so I've been... I've been thinking about them a lot, and I feel very connected, and I feel sad because of that connection. I know, and like with all things, the impermanence of our intimate, our love, really a kind of deep love that comes. For me, it's very much a part of what it means to live in a community, to have this kind of time with people, living together, all of the ways that we contact each other. knowing that that's not going to last.

[16:41]

First noble truth, there is suffering, suffering of impermanence. So I've been feeling a bit of that, the impermanence of those intimacies. And yet, you know, of course, that's the way that is life. And I wish all of them the very best in their lives. And some of them are back out in their jobs and in their families or off to college and so on. So there it is, you know. And on we go. So, again, back to the transmission of light. This is all, for me, had a very much of a familiarity. Like being in the role that these stories are conveying to us. That there's an intimacy and there's a conversation that's going on between seekers. People trying to understand our life, you know, somehow. Understand it in a way that is a healing that can actually be of value to others. and of course to ourselves. So I think that's what this text is all about.

[17:43]

It's about the kind of change that can happen within a human life, a change that can lead to more flexibility, more generosity, more kindness, more kind intention toward oneself and towards others. And I know for myself there's been a big change in my life in these years of practice. I remember me back then. my 30s and 40s and, you know, the kind of stuck places that we all can fall into and have a hard time crawling out of and, you know, long periods of time of just kind of dark feelings of, you know, whatever. But anyway, we all have that history of one form of another. And I think the practice really does soften a lot of that and gives us a different way of meeting what's coming. and a different way of waiting, you know, to react. Like, that first reaction, isn't always so trustworthy.

[18:44]

Kind of better to wait a little bit, see what comes next. Some more considerate or thoughtful response. So I think this, like I mentioned that film, everything, everywhere, all at once. And I think the message of the film, without giving it away too badly, although, you know, maybe it's just so obvious, it's a Buddhist film. very clearly a buddhist film and after all the the fancy footwork the the you know the things they do with the cameras and with the digital clever digital magic and so on you know they draw the same conclusion that the dalai lama said about our practice about buddhism that the purpose of our life and the purpose of our practice is kindness kindness and uh you know every time i i hear that or remember that I feel like, yeah, I think that's kind of it. I mean, that's really all we need to know and to do and to remember, to be kind. It's hard enough, so just to be kind.

[19:48]

So sometimes in these stories, in the transmission of light, it's hard to see the kindness of the old teachers to their young disciples, especially when they're yelling at them or hitting them, you know, the whisk in the face or expelling them. from the monasteries. There are several stories where the teacher says, you know, go. And there are times when we've asked people to go for various reasons. Oftentimes because it seems like this just doesn't seem like a good fit for you. Like, do you really want to do this? Is this what you want to do? Because if you don't want to do it, you know, if we keep needing the question, you know, where are you or why aren't you showing up for this or for that? It seems like maybe this isn't the right thing for you to be trying to do if you don't want to but if you want to we'll help you any way we can but um i remember reb saying years ago this is the i want to do this zen center and if you want to uh that's all you really need and and then you try hard but uh otherwise maybe you got to find out what you want to do and and do that with wholeheartedly and that's kind of the thing where where is it you can be wholehearted you know

[21:02]

What activity in your life? So, yeah, and as I said, sometimes these stories don't seem like they're kind. They seem like they're kind of rough, you know. But I remember one Zen teacher saying years ago that their teacher was so kind that he never taught them anything. They may have been talking about Suzuki Roshi, you know. He never taught me anything. He never corrected me. He never added or subtracted from the reality that was arising in our meeting. You know, he was just there. He was listening and responding and, you know, clearly aware of my presence and of what I was saying. But, you know, not trying to change me or trying to do something that felt like, you know, a change. Not trying to make me different than I was. So he simply let the moment be what it was, you know, beyond comprehension. Which is just like this moment that we're all sharing right now. It's beyond comprehension. I cannot comprehend.

[22:03]

I am not fast enough to comprehend what is happening in any given moment. You know, it's just like... It's just moving through. It's a very interesting thing that we have going as humans. It sort of seems like something, but then when you try to catch it, it's already passed. So, you know, it's just... This is it. I mean, that's kind of become my most favorite Zen phrase. Just this is it. Just this is it. It's the most elusive realization of them all. You know, just this. Yeah, even though we are it, it's very challenging for us to have any concepts that allow us to describe or to hold or to capture the moment, whatever moment. Try as we may. So I wanted to connect back to this last time, as I said, that we met before going on to the new material.

[23:05]

And so to do that, I thought I would do a brief review of Rue James' chapter that I talked about in December 4th of 2022. And, you know, what it says in that chapter, for those of you who were here, I probably don't remember. So that's why the review I didn't remember. Still, I read the notes. So I thought, well, maybe it's helpful to reconnect. So Ru Jing, again, he was Dogen's teacher. He's Chinese Zen master, Soto Zen. And he's the one that Dogen met when he went to sailed on the high seas to China looking for the true teaching. And he ended up at Ru Jing's temple. And that's where he had his awakening experience that he talks about, you know, in his writings. So Ru Jing, for some reason, was driven. by a serious sense or a serious backlog of a karmic debt he felt he owed somehow. He doesn't know.

[24:05]

We don't know. But he just had this deep drive to pay back his debts. I kind of got a little feeling for that. Somehow we owe. Somehow we owe something. We need to do something about that. Try to make it better in some way. So in his exchange with his teacher, Jirjian, At the beginning of this chapter, he is asked a question in response to a request that Ru Jing has made to be put in charge of cleaning the monastery toilets. So this is how he's going to requite his debt. He's going to clean the toilets. And the teacher says, how can you purify that which has never been defiled? So it took a long time for Ru Jing to be able to answer this question. And that's what this chapter is all about. His search... an answer to the teacher's question how can you purify that which has never been defiled so of course it's a metaphor how can you purify yourself if you've never been defiled if there's nothing wrong with you what are you doing what are you trying to fix or improve well how would it be to imagine that there's nothing wrong with you you know just try that on there is nothing wrong with me

[25:18]

Well, except Suzuki Roshi said, you know, you're perfect just the way you are, and there's a little room for improvement. So he did allow us a little space for improvement. So this question, this about purity, isn't very different from the one that plagued Dogen in his own quest for freedom, for liberation, from his unrequited love, you know, the love he felt for his mother as he stood there as a boy watching her... on the funeral pyre as she died when he was quite young and he felt this great debt of gratitude to his mother and his grandmother as he spoke about in one of his lectures that he felt his promise to them to become a monk and to become awakened was why he was his seeking that was the heart of his seeking was to repay the debt of gratitude to his mother and his grandmother so which led him on hearing the Dharma that we're already Buddha.

[26:25]

You're already Buddha. That's the teaching. That's certainly the teaching of this school. This is awakening. So why do you need to practice? That was Dogen's question. Why practice if we're already awake? And why make an effort? Why do we have to make an effort to do that? What is this all about? So in Ru Jing's case, the toilets were this metaphor. for the original purity of our existence. And his request to clean them was a mistaken view that somehow they weren't already pure, you know, just as they were. That, you know, sometimes the toilet is just a toilet. It's just, that's what it is. There's nothing wrong with that. That's just what it is, right? So, you know, that's the all-inclusive reality, which is toilets and flowers and... Dogs and ducks and slugs and, you know, all of it. Trees, walls, tiles, pebbles. So if you take any one of these things away, then something very precious is missing from the universe.

[27:30]

Something that, you know, has nowhere else to be except right here with us. Everything belongs. There's nothing out of place, you know. Everything belongs. And just how we care for things, how we care for ourselves and how we care for each other is really sometimes where we fall into confusion. So when Ryu Jing was 19, he quit his academic studies of Buddhism and he joined the Zen community of Zhejiang, a teacher named Zhejiang, who was the last chapter, chapter 50. And he spent all of his waking hours sitting in the meditation hall. and much more than any of the other monks. This is oftentimes not a very good sign. That happens here sometimes. I'll go in the Zendo to look for something or check on somebody, and there'll be these dark shadows in there sitting hour after hour. It's like, hmm, what's going on with that guy or that woman?

[28:31]

Usually something. Something's really hurting. Something's really hard. So we do pay attention to that when people are... just wanting to be in there all the time. So that was Ru Jing. He wanted to be in there all the time, sitting. And so it was during his first year of monastic practice that he asked to clean the toilets. In addition to sitting, he wanted to do that. And his teacher said, unless you can tell me how you will clean what is not dirty, I won't let you be in charge of cleaning them. You can't clean the toilets if you can't explain to me how you're going to do that. how you're going to purify that which is already pure. Mainly, he's talking about his mind or his existence itself. So as a whole year passes and Ru Jing still can't answer this teacher's challenging question, so Jiu Jing then says to him, if you could just get out of your old nest, you would find a way. Get out of your old nest. So why can't you say?

[29:32]

You have to get out of your old nest. So this is that kind of, you know, it doesn't sound kind or is it like, get out of that old nest. He's really exhorting him to break his old habits, to break this conviction he has about his own impurity, that there's something wrong with him. That's his old nest. He's really tight in there, very tight fit. So Ryu-jin's response to this challenge from the teacher was to work even harder at meditation. So he spent even more time meditating, which is his old nest, doing all his meditation. That's his old nest. So then one day, Ru Jing is suddenly awakened. And he says to Zhejiang, now I can say it. Now I can say it. And Zhejiang says, this time then, say it. And Ru Jing says, I have hit upon that which is undefiled. I have hit upon that which is undefiled. Eureka, I found it.

[30:34]

But even before he's finished speaking, Zhijian hits him and whacks him. And Ruijian breaks out in a sweat. And then he bows and Zhijian approves of him. So apparently from this story, from my understanding of this story, there's still this slight residue that he has of clinging to purity, which is what causes his teacher to hit him. And then after that, after this exchange in which he gets approval from Zhejiang, he then works in another monastery as the toilet cleaner. They finally give him the job. And as a way of now requiting the circumstances of his enlightenment under Zhejiang. So he feels now he owes even bigger debt for having awakened. So now he's really into cleaning the toilets. So... As I said in December and reflecting again, what I think about this exchange is that realizing the emptiness or the dependent co-arising of one thing, like a toilet, for example, a person is able to apply this same method of realization to other sticking points in their life.

[31:53]

So it's not just this... One-off. I get it about toilets. Well, that's nice. Now, what about, you know, rain? What about hard work? Or what about your friends? Or what about your idea that things aren't being done quite right, that something's wrong? What about those things? Each one of those, each sticking point is another time, another opportunity to, again, recognize or awaken to the dependent core rising, the all-inclusiveness. All of that's included. There's nothing outside. Nothing that you can think of or do or say or imagine is outside of reality. It's all included. And therefore, justice is it. It's how we respond. If we think something's wrong and we get upset and we start to engage in anger and projections and opinions and violence, which we've seen so much of, Just horrid violence by how people think.

[32:57]

I mean, they think they can do that to other people, right? That there's something there that has them thinking that that's an okay thing. We can do that. We can be violent to other human beings or ignore them or be disrespectful to them. This is craziness. This is delusion, the worst kind of delusion. So we have to apply these methods of waking up to each and every place where we're stuck, to our own nests. In our nest, we built the nest. There's that old saying about who can take the bell off the tiger. Well, the one who put it there. We put it there. You put the bell on the tiger, so you're the one who can take it off. Or who can untangle the tangle? That's another Zen question. The one who made the tangle. It's our tangle. It's mine. It's been custom built by me and I moved in. So now it's my job is to dismantle it. I know the parts.

[34:00]

I know how it fit together. And it's my responsibility to, you know, one by one to take it apart and have an open field. They talk about the white ox on an open field. That kind of freedom of vision, a freedom of spaciousness, you know, of the mind is spacious. So when we come to see the sticking points are simply attachments to illusions that we have about ourselves and about the world. They're just illusions. They're just fantasies. That's all. You know, like smoke. Just puffs of smoke. Smoke rings. You can just go like that. And we just forget that we can go like that. Like, oh, what am I thinking? Is that true? I think I've said to you, and I really admire the Byron Katie, Questions, I think many of you know them. Is that true? That thought I'm having, is that true? And what would it be like if I wasn't thinking that? How would I feel if I didn't have that thought? Most likely, I'd feel pretty good.

[35:02]

I'd feel a lot better. So these are the sticking points. And we need to turn our awareness, our attention, our effort toward those thoughts that we're having and ask ourselves with a kind of... integrity, real integrity. I think a lot of times what happens is we're ashamed of things that we think and how we act, and so we defend ourselves because we're embarrassed. So rather than get more embarrassed by saying, oh, God, that was really dumb or that was really wrong, we make it right. No, I was right. So we get really righteous rather than humble. So I think the direction of our practice is... is humility, is finding a way, as it says in the Diamond Sutra, by this humility, by this humiliation even, you shall be liberated. Not by this great realization, this great accumulation of knowledge. That's not the way. The way is to really be honest and truthful about our limitations.

[36:04]

Confess and repent. This morning we did the full moon ceremony, which was, it was so nice to be back in the Gringottsendo and having the full moon ceremonies. Beautiful. We have a really capable crew at the moment, the Eno and the Tanto and the person chanting did a lovely job and everything was really well set out and beautiful flowers on the altar. And I got to be the Doshi. I got to be the person in the middle offering incense and chanting the precepts. You know, so it was confession and repentance, you know, all my ancient twisted karma. from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion, born through this body, this speech, and this mind, I now fully avow. I did that. I'm not unrequited. I need to requite my actions from the past, even though I can't really remember what they were, but I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty darn sure. So the sticking points, once again, are these attachments we have.

[37:10]

to illusions about the world and about ourselves. And as we, you know, snap out of it, we begin to let go of those attachments and to realize there's nothing there. There's no substance there. Then we begin to feel that, that sense of freedom, as Roo-Jing did when he was able to tell his teacher, oh, I've touched it. I've touched it, the purity that's not pure, as no. This illusion, it's an illusion of purity. And I've touched it, the illusion. And then as if by magic, he came to realize the emptiness of everything at once. Everything, everywhere, all at once. At which time his teacher hits him. Because he still has this little residue. Because Ru Jing said, I have hit upon that which is undefiled. I. So you get that little thing of the I. That's his little residue of as though he somehow hit upon something rather than it was there.

[38:11]

He recognized something that was there all along. And the recognition recognized, he didn't recognize. That's like a little bit too much credit for what was happening there. So that's why he gets hit. I have hit upon that which is undefiled. What he meant was that he had touched or he hit upon the emptiness of all things. you know, how the whole works as dependent or rising, which is himself included, but without the self. So he still had that little residue of the self who hit upon this emptiness. So that his teacher picked up on that and said, did you just say I have hit upon that which is undefiled, you know? Whack. So saying hit or touched is in contrast to saying that I have grasped, you know, I have attained awakening. So there's sometimes a language. And our literature uses words, we were talking about that in our seniors meeting this last week with Reb, that when this word attained enlightenment or attained awakening, it feels like you got something, you got a hold of something that wasn't already there or achieved.

[39:23]

So all that kind of language of getting something is problematic. So when we hear those words, they should kind of trigger a little bit of, I don't know about that. Maybe realized is okay, something that was already there. Realization seems to be a little safer, certainly, than attainment. So I have attained awakening as if awakening is separate from you and must therefore be gotten or repossessed. So touching, what Ryu Jing said, touching is temporary and it doesn't leave a residue or a fingerprint of attachment or clinging. So we're touching. the various elements of our life. Gentle, gentle touch. Touching our ears or our sense organs are touched by sound, by visual objects, by taste. There's a touch, you know, that brings us to life. So once he had been certified by Zhu Jing, Ru Jing diligently practiced meditation.

[40:24]

Well, that's what he did. That was his thing. So before and after, he diligently practiced meditation and He was well regarded as a very highly disciplined practitioner. He didn't go to any social engagements. He didn't visit any of the rooms in the monastery where he lived. He didn't speak to those who were sitting with him in the monk's hall. He just sat and vowing he would sit even on a seat of diamond. And at one time his flesh was so ulcerated from sitting, but he didn't stop. He kept sitting. I have some friends like that. They just keep sitting in this terrible pain, and I'm like, okay, that's your way. So from this first thought of enlightenment to the end of his last abse, there was not a single day or night that Ryu Jing didn't sit. And as it says in this chapter, his virtue was unequaled in his time, his discipline peerless in ancient or modern times.

[41:26]

I think that's true. But what he hadn't apparently given up, even at the very end, was the pleasure of meditation, which is understood to be the highest worldly pleasure. And that's kind of an interesting thing about meditation, that once you hook into the peacefulness, the contentment, the utter contentment that's there at the core of our existence, once you touch that, this is considered to be the highest worldly pleasure. And Kazon says, it is none other than a stable mind. The highest worldly pleasure is none other than a stable mind. A mind that's not wobbling. Dukkha, the suffering means to be out of round, to be wobbling. So I think we all know what wobbling feels like. But when you stop wobbling, when you're settled and you're quiet and peaceful and still, that's a stable mind. And that's the...

[42:27]

Utter contentment are the highest form of pleasure. Sometimes nirvana is translated as utter contentment. So renouncing that, renouncing this utter contentment, would be the final release from this tiny shred of self-clinging. Even that has to go. And yet, since there was never any defilement, which is what Ru Jing has realized, even this tiny shred of self-clinging has no need to be purified. I mean, the logic of his realization allowed him to keep on sitting as much as he wanted. There's no problem with that. There's nothing impure about my discipline of sitting and not being in social conversation with anyone. There's nothing impure. So he was very true to himself all the way to the end, even when he realized that there was nothing needed to be changed. So he didn't. He just kept on sitting. I remember, I think I told you about reading about this abbot who said to his attendant, even after all these years, I put my okesa on with a flare, Buddha's robe.

[43:37]

Even after all these years, I put my okesa on with a flare. And, you know, I said to you that back in December that that's the guy I feel close to. That's kind of a Dharma kin, you know, a little bit more so than Ru Jing, whose discipline isn't so appealing to me. But Ru Jing's virtue, his kindness to others, is very much something I deeply respect. He made every effort to cultivate all the students who came to him. He worked carefully with them. He encouraged them. He sat with them. He devoted his life and his energy to their welfare. There's a story in the chapter about the gardener who was 60 years old when he was practicing Zen, started to study Zen, and Ru Jing developed him. until he reached awakening. And from then on, this old gardener was able to say these extraordinary and marvelous things. So I think that's a wonderful thing about Ru Jing. And so he understood that the practice was to support others.

[44:40]

That's the purpose of it. Our shared practice is a social event. It's not done for ourselves alone, but for the sake of others, you know, for the sake of the Sangha. It's like this queen bee who spends a long time by themselves inside the hive until it's time to fly off and nurture a new colony. That's what we hope from our students, that they'll ripen to the point where they're ready to fly off and nurture a new group or a new sitting group or find the inspiration to help others to enter into this practice realization. So Kezan says that in an assembly where there is the way, there are many people imbued with the way, many people with the heart of the way. The way for Ru Jing was to just sit, which is echoed in the teachings of his disciple, Dogen Zenji, and in the teaching essay called the Self-Receiving and Self-Employing Samadhi, which many of you have chanted if you've been to any of our temples, particularly Green Gulch, we chant that usually during practice period at noon, noon service.

[45:45]

So Ru Jing and Dogen both said that burning incense and bowing, reciting Buddha's name, performing repentance ceremonies and reciting scriptures are not needed. Just sit. Shikan taza. Just shikan. Hit. Ta is hit. And sitting, za. So just hit sitting. Shikan taza. Hit sitting. Just hit it. Right on the moment. Right on time. Which is now. Right now, you hit sitting. That's the only time you can hit sitting is when you're sitting. Right now is the sitting of sitting. And Rujing taught that if you don't forget the way-seeking heart and you concentrate only on truth, on dharma, and don't follow after the fashions of the time, even if you don't gain understanding, you will be originally an undefiled person. And if you're undefiled, this is being originally... clean and pure. This is setting your will on the ultimate truth, on re, the truth in which there are no views of pure or impure, of self or other, of right or wrong.

[46:54]

You know, justice is it. So unless we can escape the I that sees defilement and sees impurity, we are not free. And as happened with Rujing after this great effort, there was no more skin to strip off of him, no body or mind to shed. And then is when he hit upon that which had never been defiled. You know, when all of his nest building was falling away, it all dropped away. And there he was just kind of naked and visible to himself. Like in this familiar teaching that we all know, no eyes, no ears, no nose, dropped away, no bones. body, no mind, no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no objects of mind, no, no, no, nothing abiding, nothing held onto, nothing grasped, no suffering, no cause of suffering, no cessation of suffering, you know, no path. Well, this is very strict, very strict, this Heart Sutra. So this is the insight that broke Rujing free, the teaching of the perfection of wisdom, you know, the Heart Sutra.

[48:02]

Beyond all inverted views, upside down views of a self and of possessions that will make the self happy, we realize utter contentment, nirvana, you know, the absence of all views. And then we give that up too and realize complete perfect enlightenment. And then we give that up too. So everything, everything is to be given away. It's this first paramita, generosity, dhanaparamita, give it away. So this is what happens later on in this exchange between Dogen and Ru Jing's later years when he meets with Dogen, who's just had his own big realization on hearing Ru Jing say, drop body and mind. Dogen does it. He drops his body and mind and he goes to Ru Jing, offers incense and says, dropped body and mind. And Ru Jing says to him, body and mind dropped. Turns it, meaning now drop that too. Don't get stuck. Don't build another nest.

[49:03]

Don't make yourself into something. Don't make yourself into freedom or liberation or Buddha or anything. Just drop it. Just keep dropping it. So if we just keep dropping, or better yet, just keep seeing how everything is already dropping, like the black rain on the temple roof or like the hissing of the snowflakes on a hot iron skillet, then we're closer and closer to this impermanence that we struggle so hard with. It's so much like not to be so. Couldn't we just have one thing we could keep for a while? Nope. Nope. Nope. Just the love of the Dharma. That seems to be available. Kezan ends the chapter with a verse, The breeze of the way blowing far is harder than a diamond. The whole earth is supported by it. The breeze of the way is harder than a diamond. The whole earth is supported by it. To which our teacher, Reb Anderson, said to our group of students when we finished studying this chapter, another October has passed away and we are here to feel the loss.

[50:16]

Another October has passed away. We could say another January has passed away and we are here to feel the loss. So... What I want to do next week at the request of Paul, I thought was a wonderful request, having heard some talks about Hongzhi at Zen Center, I thought I would do a little sidestep over to Hongzhi, and I wanted to recommend Cultivating the Empty Field, which is a book I hope some of you have. If you don't, you would really be happy to have this book. It's a very nice book. It's written... translated by Taigen Dan Leighton, one of our, my Dharma brother, we were ordained together, and he's gone on to do a tremendous amount of work in offering translations of beautiful things, Dogen, and in this case Hongzhu. Hongzhu is also the person who collected the koans that were made into the Book of Serenity, and his comments are run throughout the Book of Serenity, which is the Soto Zen

[51:24]

Koan collection. That's the one we reference most often. And again, that's Hongzhi. Hongzhi is a beautiful writer. He writes lovely Dharma. And I thought I would share with you his story. He's not directly in line, Soto Zen. He's not on our lineage chart because he had a little different teaching lineage and his descendants went off in a different direction. So he's not in a straight line from Ru Jing or Dogen. But Dogen quotes... Hongzhi more than anyone other than Ru Jing. So Dogen had great respect for Hongzhi and for good reason, as I think you'll see as we look at some of his rather short and lovely poems and teaching essays. So I'm going to share some of those with you next week. And I think that's about all I wanted to say. It's getting a little late. But I did want to say that... There's a chance, I don't know, there's a chance that the 12th, which is a Sunday, I won't be able to come online.

[52:31]

I don't know because that's the mountain seat ceremony here at Green Gulch. I think it's over in the morning and I think it may not interfere. But I will let you know. I'll be here next week and the week after and so on. So once I know more about the schedule of those ceremonies, I will let you know whether I will be able to be here then. or not. So I would love to hear from any of you who would like to offer some thoughts or some greetings to each other. It's lovely to see you. What am I going to do now? I'm going to... Well, you can raise your hands. I'm kind of remembering things all of a sudden. If you'd like, if you'd like to say, hey, Melissa, great. Please. I just want... Say hello to everybody. I have missed you all so much. And I'm so thrilled to have Fu back and to be together with all of you.

[53:33]

I'm just so grateful and happy to continue the study. And I'm thrilled to hear that we're going to be studying Hangzhou because I just spent November contemplating case 14. January, studying Case 14 of the Book of Serenity, and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. So I would love to get a little bit more insight into Hongzhi. So anyway, thank you, and I've missed you all, and I'm so happy to see you. You too. What was Case 14? What's the name of that case? Case 14 is Somebody Serves Tea, and it's about... A young student. Actually, I don't think he's a young student. I think he's quite an older student who goes to his teacher and says, you know, I cast the spell for the dragon and all I got was this lame tortoise. And the teacher says, what?

[54:34]

And then just kind of ignores him. And then he goes to take his bath. The teacher takes his bath. And as he's coming back from the bath, the student offers tea. And the teacher just gently pats him on the back. And there's his realization. I have touched something. Touch. Yeah. So, yes, it called to me. And so I've been studying it and sitting with it. And I'm certain there are layers I've yet to see. Wow. That's great. I had a lot of images came up when you were telling that story. Great. Let's look at that one, too. That'd be fun. Great. In fact, any of the koans from the Book of Serenity, if any of you want to take up as we're going through looking at Hongzhi, please feel free to pick a favorite or bring it forward. We have nothing but time, so whatever you'd like to talk about is very welcome. And then, of course, we'll be spending a lot of time with Dogen. That would kind of take us to the end of our lives probably.

[55:36]

So I'm not thinking we're going to run out of material anytime soon. Thank you, Melissa. Nice to see you. And would anyone else like to say hi, Guy? Thank you so much for – Guy, when I couldn't get on earlier, Guy was very kind to offer his own access channel. And so a few of us made it there. So thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you so much for the talk, Fu. And hello to everyone. I've missed everyone so much. It's so good to have you back. And I'm really looking forward to studying Hangzhou. When you recommended the book and we had some time to read it, it is truly... Yeah, it's something that really, really speaks to... at least the experience of my practice for sure. So I'm, I'm really, really looking forward to it. I'm sure everybody's going to really enjoy it as well. Um, my, uh, maybe, I don't know if it's a question or a, uh, or a commentary, but on the, um, what you spoke about kindness and how there's so much anger and hate.

[56:54]

And I, um, what i've been um noticing in my practice is that for example um if my wife and i or so if we i've noticed that whenever we're in a team situation or some sort of group situation and we feel as though we've been wronged there is such a human tendency for an eye for an eye in a way or for expressing that that's not acceptable. And I'm finding, I'm trying to find how to balance the compassionate approach for those who have wronged us and are confused, but also understanding how it feels to have been wronged and that feeling, right? Because when I respond, oh, well, we should answer in kindness or we should just respond in this way, then it feels as though, oh, well, what about the eye for an eye mentality?

[57:56]

So that's something that I'm learning as I bring my practice forward to the world that it's so ingrained that balancing that where I understand I've been there. I know how it feels. I still, someone cuts me in line and sometimes it's still there, but also knowing that kindness is so radical, right? Just like in Reb's book when he speaks about... I can say it in Portuguese, but I forget, right, of where the priest gives to the one who tried to steal. And I feel like that's so radical. And in a partnership, how can we manage that compassion, right, and that approach? Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of teachings about that because it's hard. Like you said, you have a reflex to get even or to hit back or to whatever. I just saw this.

[58:57]

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I'm a TikTok fan. Anyway, I really enjoy some of these comedians and dogs and horses and everything. Anyway, for those of you who have that problem. it's just part of the world that comes in there. And one of them, just today, it was, what's his name? Noah, what's the commentator? He's the black... No, his name's Noah. Trevor Noah? Trevor Noah. Trevor Noah. And he's doing this little stand-up comedy bit. And he said, when he was about four years old, he said, my mom is, when he grew up in South Africa, I think his dad was... His mom was white or his dad was black or whatever. It was against the law for them to live together. So anyway, he couldn't live with his parents. He lived with his mom. And he said his mom was really tough. So he was with his mom. He was about four years old. And someone yelled the N-word at them.

[59:58]

And he looked up at her and he said, you know, like waited for a response. And he said, what do we do, mom? And his mom said, you take it and you mix it with Jesus. And then you throw it back. And he said, I didn't understand. Are you crazy? He was thinking his mom was really crazy. He said, later on, years later, you know, some guy in a pickup truck goes by and does the same thing to me as an adult. And I said, I took it and I mixed it with Jesus. And I just threw it back. And I thought, really, a pickup truck? You can't do better than that. You know, I mean, it's so stereotyped. For a racist to drive a pickup, he said, why don't you drive a Prius or something? Anyway, he just turned it into something else. He did some alchemy with this hatred that allowed him to be free, allowed me to appreciate his freedom and his wisdom, his mom's wisdom.

[60:59]

So that's our job. Mix it with Jesus. the what i find the the struggle for me has been to and and i find that this is my struggle is is turning things into words so others can understand what what i'm feeling or what i'm trying to to portray so for example if if something happens and I can let it pass, it's not necessarily going to be the same reaction. And I know that I should respect that reaction and that many times there's good reason for why people respond in anger. And I think it's exactly that is how, and this is my practice, is to be better at and explain how do we mix it up with Jesus, right? When someone asks, I can't, I don't know how, I don't know what happened that I'm no longer, you know what I mean? Like I said, sometimes, but that's exactly it, right?

[62:04]

Perhaps it's like anything. It's finding the appropriate response. And sometimes it's a little more complex when you're not only responding to one side, but to the other. And in the end, knowing there are no sides, but it's radical, right? I find a struggle to explain or to... show this interconnectedness that essentially is what it is, right? It's that self thinking that we could be wrong and that's why we need to push that same back. Whereas when we fall into a function or together and respond in kindness, it's really what I have found to be most powerful, right? And most shocking a lot of times. Yeah, it's radical. I think you're right. It is radical. And there's also creativity involved. And, you know... our intention, we just vowed this morning, full moon ceremony, you know, to not harbor ill will and to not praise ourselves at the expense of others and to not kill and to not, you know, so all of those things that we promise are, are the kind of substrate of, okay, if I can't do that, I can't kill you.

[63:16]

I can't be angry with you. And I just promise not to do all those things. What's left? Well, a lot of creativity, you know, a lot of, of alchemy and finding a way to work with your own anger, finding a way to be honest and truthful. It's not like, okay, everyone gets away with everything. It's not like that. It's like, you know, ouch, ouch. You know, a lot of times when you're honest in a situation, and particularly if it's not a dangerous situation, I mean, you got to be smart too, not to try to rumble with somebody who's going to hurt you really badly. I'm not going to do that. I learned better. very young so but you know you can in situations most of the ones we face are with people that are you know just being rude or something and so how to be straightforward and honest about things that happen to us without the infusion of anger and hatred you know sometimes it's amazing what happens when you meet people with your face open you know yeah yeah a

[64:25]

Can I just say something? Yes. Oh, hang on. Can you hear me? Thank you very much. I think I also have trouble turning things into words. And just as I'm listening, I'm just thinking about the sounds. You know, sometimes that's just the sound, you know, the sound kind of communicates something. Yeah. Thank you very much. You know, I was just listening to the, I forget what his name was, but the guy who spoke this morning. Jiryu. Yeah, yeah, wonderful, really wonderful. And I think one of the questions he posed was, you know, why is it so hard to be kind? You know, I remember he said that, you know. And I'm just listening to you today. I just think, why is it so hard for me to be intimate, you know? Why is it so hard for me to, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's a question for me.

[65:26]

And also, you know, I was watching on the television last night, there's this British guy, Louis Thoreau, who goes around doing these documentaries and he was in San Quentin, you know, and he was kind of talking to the prisoners there. And, you know, some of these people, some of these men have just committed these terrible crimes and been very cruel and nasty. And even to each other in the jail, you know, with their gangs, whatever, you know. So, yeah, I was just reflecting. And then when I heard him this morning and I just did a little bit of looking around and seeing that some people are actually going in there, into the prison, and they have a sangha. So I thought, oh, wow, that's a very cool thing. That's very nice. Yeah, I guess the question is, how is it for me? Why? You know, even, you know, I am a part of a sangha here.

[66:27]

I'm in Adelaide, Australia. But I haven't been attending, you know, and I have trouble kind of going to the teacher, you know. Everyone does. Yeah. It's very tender. I mean, when do you do that? Sit that close to someone, you know, face to face. It's a very powerful thing to do. And, you know, it just takes a while to... I never got comfortable with it, but I certainly have become very fond of that opportunity. I want to go there and see how I do. How can I meet someone with an open face? Yeah, yeah. It's good to hear. And I guess I was just thinking, even this morning, maybe just... this intimacy or kindness, like it's a practice. So we make little steps. We just don't suddenly, well, maybe suddenly become kind or suddenly become intimate, but little practice steps on the way, perhaps.

[67:33]

That's right. That's right. It's courage. It takes some courage. Yeah. And we know that feeling, that heart, courage, heart, you know, takes us, you know, to walk through the wall of fear that, you know, and every time you do that, it gets a little more obvious that that's not really a wall at all. And it's something I'm creating. Oh, I'm making that. So it's a wonderful opportunity. I hope you'll take it up as you're able. Yeah, well, I hope I can come over there at some time. Oh, great. Can I just ask you one question? You mentioned the school administrations. Does that mean people from overseas can come here? Yeah, yes. Oh, no, that's what I'm waiting for. Yes, yes. We used to be able to give student visas. In fact, some of our abbots are, you know, ones from Ireland and from all over the place because they were able to get student visas, and now we can do that again. Oh, that's what I'm waiting for, yeah. Great, yeah, yeah. We'll just get a hold of Zen Center.

[68:36]

Yeah, I'll get on a plane. You're all welcome. Just a few hours, right? Yeah. Take long. Right. 14 hours. You're in the future right now. Yeah, the future's cool. Go to the past. Is it? It's okay. We can go forward now. We're right behind you. I'm there all the time. I'm there all the time. Anyway, that's my struggle. Gary, I really appreciate what you said, especially about the sound, right? The way that things are said sometimes. And sometimes a shout is the appropriate response in a way. We see a lot of Zen stories, right? So I appreciate that. Thank you. Okay, dear people. It's almost 6.30. It's a good time to go. Thank you, Gary, for coming on. And Guy, so good to see you and all the rest of you. So if you would like to unmute yourselves, you're sure welcome to do that.

[69:42]

Thank you so much, Fu. So good to see you. Good to see you, honey. Thank you for your words. Welcome back. Yeah, welcome back. Welcome back, everyone. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Thank you, Fu. We've got a lot of Australia here. We just sent two Australians back to Australia, by the way, Robin and Krista. We're back home, so you've got to go find them. They've got themselves a little place with the Zendo. I'm not sure where they are. Australia's pretty big, isn't it? It's huge. That's too bad. They're over there. Melbourne, right? I think so, yeah. You wouldn't believe it, but this is Chris's robe. No. Oh, fabulous. Kim Hart gave it to me on the last day, but that's another story. So how interconnected we all are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're great.

[70:43]

They're little boy Milo. They're wonderful. We're very lucky. Australia is really solid now. Taken care of. Okay. All right, everybody. Please be well. I'll see you next Sunday. And we'll be looking at Hongzhi. cultivating the empty feet. Good night, everyone. Good night. Bye. Thank you. You're welcome. So, yeah, I have to talk to the page people. Don't you go anywhere. Don't you go off the page. Bye, sweetheart. It's so good to see you. Good to see you, too. Nice to see you smiling. Really nice. So, what's possible for you guys? We're pretty open.

[71:45]

We've got, like... We've got a what? A dog? Karina, could you come over here and speak for yourself? Thank you. Karina. I've got my... Oh, my God. Does it read backwards? No. It reads correctly. Really? Yeah. It looks backwards to me. Yeah, it looks backwards on here. That's really mysterious. But it transmits correctly. Welcome home from a wonderful trip. Yeah, it was. It was really, really wonderful. I thought of making a slideshow, but it would have been several hours. Oh, here's the Tower of London. All these things, lots of pictures. You guys have been there, yeah? Most of the places you mentioned.

[72:46]

I have family there. We'll tell you the story when we talk a little bit. Where's your family, Kate? Something in London. I guess now they're all in London. and outside of London. When we were younger, the aunt and uncle was in Birmingham. We would go over and we would do car trips with them around England and sometimes onto the continent over the years, you know, kind of a summer trip. Fun, fun. You didn't drive in London, did you, in England? Yeah, I drove. Yeah, it was fun. I drove around the block and hit the curb three times. I decided, yeah, you're great. I was afraid to cross the street. You know, there are big signs now that look right. I don't know that I could do it anymore, but some years ago I could focus on it and do the left-right translation and did okay. You have to go left to right, right to left when you're turning.

[73:49]

Fortunately, the controls are the same just with the driver's side on the right. You don't have the... Gas on the brake reversed, too. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, that would be. Yeah, that would be him. That would do it. There was one time we took a taxi to Heathrow to rent a car to drive somewhere else, and the taxi driver was saying, give me a head start. I don't want to be there when you're driving. Exactly. The woman who was driving us around, we will tell you more, and we'll show you some pictures. Well, she had a mini cooper. Oh, yes. A two-door mini cooper. So we had all our luggage. She had the Christmas food, including a full turkey, and a case of wine, and all this stuff in the trunk, which was like this big. And then we had our stuff. And Karina, all you could see was her head. And then all the luggage was all over her.

[74:50]

Six hours. She picked us up at Heathrow. Right. And we went to Cornwall. Anyway. But, you know, it was all in good fun. We're flexible. Years and years and years ago, they had a Mini Cooper, the aunt and uncle. But when we were just visiting, they took us around shorter visits. In a two-tour, same thing. We didn't have luggage. We weren't traveling. It was the perfect car for those roads. Yeah, I grew up with Minis. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know how you drive these big cars on a dual road. You don't. You couldn't. The cars are half the sizes here. It's those one-way roads with the hedges. You can't see anything ahead. There's no place to go. I don't know where to go. We did a lot of that. You just pray nobody's coming. Yeah, and they do.

[75:53]

So what would be a good time for you guys? My best bets would be Monday or Friday afternoon. How about Friday afternoon? Okay. The 10th. Yes. Yeah. Are you sure you're doing it? Yeah, that's okay. Because I have Saturday and I'm going to, I've got, yeah, anyway, it's fine. So, yes. What time? Good. One. Could we later? Could we? No. Three. Two-thirds or three. Three. Three is good. Okay. I'll send you a Zoom thing. Oh, great. Okay. Perfect. Zoom with Paul and Kate. Okay. Done. Tenth at three. Yes. Tenth at three. Looking forward to catching up.

[76:55]

We haven't talked with you directly for months. I know. I know. We've seen you many times. Yeah, I know. It's like we were at this one birthday party for Karina's. One of her oldest friends is Imelda Staunton, who just playing the queen right now. She's the current queen in the crown. Oh, really? Her husband is Jim Carter, who plays the butler in Downton Abbey, if you've seen Downton Abbey. Anyway, so they're a hoot, and they're just lovely people. And, you know, the first time I met them, Jim answers the door, and he's like, yes. Big TV English. He's a huge guy. Anyway, very sweet people. So we were at her birthday party with a bunch of stage actors, mostly, and TV actors, British. They're all British, right? Yeah. And the guy across from me, whose name is Adrian? Adrian something? Anyway, very familiar.

[77:57]

And he pointed at me and said, I know you. And I said, no, you don't, but I know you. Because I see you on TV. And he's a Chelsea detective. Anyway, he's a character actor and all this stuff. So it was really delightful to have these different little sparkles of, you know, like... TV people and actors. Wow. Yeah, it was really fun. Like, wow. Royalty. Kind of like royalty. We did not have any royalty contacts, did we? No. Just in the news. The queen. Theater royalty. Theater royalty. Yes. That queen. She's a theater royalty. Yes. Okay, so we'll see you three on the 10th. That will be great. Yes. Terrific. You guys are great. You're well. Everything's fine. And we'll see you in March because we're coming over for that extravaganza. Great. We get to see you in person a little bit. You're probably, yes, pretty occupied with those ceremonies, but we can at least...

[79:01]

Say hello. Yes, definitely. More than say hello. Yeah, I think it's going to be, Ed and I are not into some big extravaganza. We say, can we just step down, have a little lunch, have a little dinner. That is not the Zen way. Is that an official ceremony too? Yeah, stepping down Friday evening, Ed and I will step down at the city center. And then there's a buffet at And then Saturday is the Jiryu and Mako together doing some joint temple ceremonies. And then Mako will stay and do the one for city center, mountain seat. And then Jiryu on Sunday will do the mountain seat here. So that's new. Yes. Yes. I didn't do it here. I did it at the city center. So they invited us to those two. So we... Well, you'll get one for mine, too. You're in my invitation list for the stepping down.

[80:05]

You haven't seen that. I don't know they've sent it out yet. They just showed me the comment. Oh, yeah, of course. That's later on. It's on the 10th. Oh, it's on Friday. Yeah, so we'll take a look. We're going to Healdsburg before that for... The CEO woman, Rosemary. Yeah, yeah. Doing what they call Welcome Wednesday. Small groups visiting in her office in Healdsburg, you know, in the sales office. And we got to meet her in person. So we signed up for the Wednesday before this gala weekend. Okay. In Healdsburg, I guess. If that is on the schedule, we can come back to... Come back down to Valley a day earlier or whatever. But I wouldn't want you to do anything where you get, you know, like it's at night. So that's not great.

[81:07]

So don't, you know, it's not, I'd love to see you. I'll see you Saturday and Sunday if you're around too. So it's not, anyway, don't do anything too difficult. So you're saying getting there and being there at night is more challenging. I would think so, unless you're staying close by, whereas you can just go the next day to the Saturday. So it's Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But the Friday is in the evening. We're staying in Yellow Valley. Oh, you are? Okay. Saturday is 3 o'clock and Sunday is 10.30. Okay. And I think, what does it say about Friday? Anything? I don't have it yet. I think it's at five, if I'm not mistaken, but I will find out and let you know. Thank you. Yeah. All right. So we'll see you this week. Lots going on in Enzo. We can say a few words. Yeah. I'm serious. They're talking about move in starting in October.

[82:10]

It's become serious. Like this is really happening up until now. It's been sort of this, you know, project someday. Yeah, exactly. I know. My friends like Maya and Emela and Mick and Suki are going to be gone. And I'm like, oh my God. Exactly. It's suddenly, oh my gosh, this is really happening. You're not going right away. I go next year. But I'll have access. I mean, I would imagine no one's using my place, so I'll have access to it. I'm not sure what I'd do with an empty apartment, but I should get a key, I would think. I think you do what we do, which my plan is to order a new bed and have it delivered. Oh, there you go. And go from there. And then go for a swim. Yeah. We'll have a bed and maybe some camp chairs. Perfect.

[83:11]

Perfect. And has Karina been cleared to join her? She has. Well, they've done this whole magic trick with Healdsburg. It wasn't just for us. We had the biggest problem. If Karina couldn't come and live with me, that would have been pretty serious. But other people did too because of their finances. So Healdsburg now has given a new category. So there's low income, and now there's modest income or middle income. So we're now in the middle income, which is way lower. Way higher. I mean, we're way under the middle income category. We were having trouble with the low income, but we're just fine for the middle income. So, yeah, that was really a great relief. And it worked for a number of other people, too, who don't have to kind of figure out how to get rid of all of their assets and so on. Good. That was really good. All righty. We'll see you soon. Catch you. See you Friday. Thank you. You too. She said bye.

[84:12]

Bye Karina.

[84:15]

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