WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Here is one of a series of talks by spiritual 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:06.139 leader Lola McDowell Lee, spanning two decades 00:00:06.139 --> 00:00:10.160 from the early 70s through the 90s. Lola was 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.279 a Zen roshi whose Rinzai lineage included Dr. 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:17.160 Henry Platov and renowned Zen master Shigetsu 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.820 Sasaki. Lola was a religious scholar as well 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.059 as an ordained Christian minister. While the 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:26.699 talks are focused mainly on Zen and Buddhism, 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.539 Lola drew on many spiritual traditions, including 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:34.840 those of Jesus, Plato, Lao Tzu, the Hindu Vedas, 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:59.939 Meister Eckhart, and Gurdjieff. Sound true, huh? 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.899 Three spokes unite in one nave, and on that which 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:07.799 is non -existent, which is on the hole in the 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:13.480 nave, depends the wheel's utility. Clay is molded 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:17.159 into a vessel, and on that which is non -existent, 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:21.299 on its hollowness, depends the vessel's utility. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.599 By cutting out doors and windows, we build a 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.920 house. and on that which is nonexistent, on the 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:33.379 empty space within, depends the house's utility. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:43.280 Therefore, existence renders actual, but nonexistence 00:01:43.280 --> 00:02:00.150 renders useful. That's clear? Well now and then 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:04.790 we think about life and I too bad I can't mention 00:02:04.790 --> 00:02:14.150 a little bumper sticker I saw but I can't But 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:24.530 we think about life, you know, it's ups and it's 00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:31.819 downs and then Coming here, why, you know, then 00:02:31.819 --> 00:02:37.360 we're told a few things about it now and then, 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:46.719 and that there is such a thing as the thing in 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:50.919 itself, the life, life, the thing in itself, 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:57.439 rather than just my life, you know. So then we 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.300 try to, with this life, Looks like, you know, 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:05.539 we try to picture in our heads, what is this 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:08.340 that we call life? You know, I'm supposed to 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:13.479 see it. What is this thing? You do do that, don't 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:18.479 you? Try to make a picture of it. What is this 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:24.199 thing? Life. Well, picture it, of course you 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:29.770 can't, but you do have a feel of it. hmm now 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:36.250 and then a feel of life you know a kind of a 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:47.669 sense of it you know you know it's kind of through 00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:50.969 this sense of it this this feel of it you know 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:56.729 uh you know we can see then that what they talking 00:03:56.729 --> 00:04:02.509 about when they say life flows this feeling the 00:04:02.509 --> 00:04:09.969 sensing it and we read stuff in in books and 00:04:09.969 --> 00:04:15.129 it says that life flows and life flows like a 00:04:15.129 --> 00:04:23.850 river life flows like a river and so we relate 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:30.430 this flowingness uh to this you know the movement 00:04:30.430 --> 00:04:35.689 of life going up and down you know movement that 00:04:35.689 --> 00:04:40.490 we're in day after day this is then we have this 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:51.889 feeling of life flowing sometimes it there's 00:04:51.889 --> 00:04:58.000 this smooth flowing And sometimes it goes dashing 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.699 up against the rocks, and sometimes it's flowing 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:02.759 over the rocks, and so we have what are called 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:07.439 rapids. And sometimes it just seems to flow into 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.879 a kind of a pool, and it gets very deep just 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.240 in this one area, almost to a point of stagnation. 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:24.139 Our life is like this, huh? This is, you know, 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:29.360 this existence is like this. We flow with this 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:36.439 river. We move with this river. Of course you 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:44.680 know all rivers run to the sea. They all flow 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:59.970 to the sea. Are you flowing to the sea? What 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:03.449 we do not seem to comprehend, amongst other things, 00:06:03.509 --> 00:06:12.350 I guess, we don't seem to see that this flow, 00:06:12.550 --> 00:06:19.050 this ebbing and this rising, as it were, is called 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:25.029 the law of opposites. The dashing against the 00:06:25.029 --> 00:06:31.889 rocks or the smooth flowing. or the rapids, or 00:06:31.889 --> 00:06:36.930 the sudden deep pool, you know. The law of opposites 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:41.910 moves from one thing to another, one state to 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:47.790 another. Here in our ordinary world, in our superficial 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:52.050 way of looking at things, our way of viewing, 00:06:52.329 --> 00:06:58.389 you know, the expansions, and again the contractions, 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:03.459 You know, the effects thereof are pretty visible. 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:09.540 One day you're feeling great, and one day you're 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:12.079 feeling miserable, and one day you're happy, 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:15.120 and the next day you're angry, and, you know, 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:19.600 all kinds of things coming and going. And we 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.040 feel them, we're involved with them, and this 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.500 is all somewhat visible to us. rising of this, 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:29.759 and then it falls away, and then something rises 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.819 and falls away, and something else rises and 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:38.120 falls away. Now, but the collaboration of this 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:43.279 flow itself, underneath all of this, this that 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:49.339 is in the depths, that which is actually working, 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:59.350 you see, that's not seen. For instance, now, 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:07.670 in India, they study and they often read. I mean, 00:08:07.709 --> 00:08:11.550 if a little kid is going to go to a guru, which 00:08:11.550 --> 00:08:15.290 is, they teach him to read and to write also. 00:08:16.269 --> 00:08:20.730 And what they study then is the Mahabharata. 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:27.670 And this is this, part of it is the epic poem, 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:34.259 that is called the Ramayana. And the Ramayana, 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:41.080 together with the Bhagavad Gita, these two poems 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:49.840 make this book, the Mahabharata. And the term 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:56.799 Mahabharata means the great war. It's the longest 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:02.600 poem. in the world, and it is of tremendous antiquity. 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:07.799 There are people in this world who believe that 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:15.200 Homer's Iliad was based on the Mahabharata, and 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.539 there's others that say just the opposite, that 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:21.279 the Mahabharata was based on Homer's Iliad. Who 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:29.399 are we to say which one? But old, old. And in 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:36.679 this poem of the Ramayana, and the allies of 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:43.820 Ramayana, who are the monkeys, led by one Hanuman. 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:51.220 And also they had some monster birds, and they 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:53.759 have a lot of animals in the thing, but monkeys 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.159 mainly. And the whole army now is led by this 00:09:57.159 --> 00:10:01.200 Hanuman. And they are all in this fight against 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:08.820 the Rakshasas. And the Rakshasas are the demons 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:17.259 of Sri Lanka. Now, Ramachandra, who is the hero, 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:20.980 he's our hero in this poem, he's married to a 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:26.080 woman named Sita. And Sita is the female avatar, 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:33.549 she is called, of Lakshmi. And Lakshmi is Vishnu's 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:39.509 wife in the triad, in the trinity of Brahma, 00:10:39.570 --> 00:10:45.730 Vishnu, and Shiva. That particular. So Vishnu 00:10:45.730 --> 00:10:51.009 had a wife, and her name was Sita. And this Sita 00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:59.980 is an incarnation of Lakshmi. And Rama is the 00:10:59.980 --> 00:11:08.559 incarnation of Vishnu. So, in other words, Vishnu 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:15.500 on this level, so -called, is married to Lakshmi, 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:24.620 just as in the unseen levels. And as for Lakshmi, 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:29.559 There are in India many, many, many shrines to 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:34.460 this goddess. There are shrines to this goddess 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:39.539 wherever there are the Hindu people. In Trinidad, 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:45.519 we were there. Becoming acquainted with some 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.480 of the people there, they were Hindus. And there 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.259 was one taxi driver that took us to his house 00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:54.240 so that we could see his shrine. One room of 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:56.769 the house is set aside. and the this is what 00:11:56.769 --> 00:11:59.070 they they all did their one room of the house 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:03.190 is set aside and it was made into a shrine and 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:09.129 here in this little shrine is this uh statue 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:16.450 of of lakshmi and um in the orient in in japan 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:20.169 and i don't know about china i didn't see anything 00:12:20.169 --> 00:12:25.950 in hong kong but uh People in China, they have 00:12:25.950 --> 00:12:29.070 little shrines and like that, and they have in 00:12:29.070 --> 00:12:33.129 this shrine Kuanong, or as they call her in China, 00:12:33.309 --> 00:12:38.009 Kuan Yin. And Kuan Yin is depicted as a female, 00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:43.269 and women pray to him for children. And they 00:12:43.269 --> 00:12:47.669 pray to him for safety. And they pray for whatever 00:12:47.669 --> 00:12:52.870 women pray for, they pray to Kuanong. And the 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:59.909 statue of her stands in front of Shogen -ji. 00:13:01.309 --> 00:13:04.789 And I think practically in every other temple 00:13:04.789 --> 00:13:14.929 in Japan. And Kwan -an is called He because in 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:20.970 the beginning it was... Now I can't say it this 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:30.690 morning. Avalokiteshvara. Hmm? Yeah. The one 00:13:30.690 --> 00:13:39.129 with the many hands. Now Rinzai at one time gave 00:13:39.129 --> 00:13:45.809 a sermon about Manjuthri. Now this is the great 00:13:45.809 --> 00:13:50.029 god of wisdom. And the people at that time were 00:13:50.029 --> 00:13:53.250 going all over looking for this god of wisdom. 00:13:55.309 --> 00:13:59.649 And then this Rinzai is saying, he's giving this 00:13:59.649 --> 00:14:02.549 talk, and he says, there are some student monks 00:14:02.549 --> 00:14:10.490 who look for Manjushri at the Wutai Shrine. Now 00:14:10.490 --> 00:14:14.470 in China, there was at that time, I don't know, 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:17.409 there was like a mountain. And on this mountain 00:14:17.409 --> 00:14:22.549 was this shrine built for, excuse me, Manjushri. 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:29.769 And he says that many monks are making pilgrimages 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:36.029 there seeking Manjushri. And he says, but they 00:14:36.029 --> 00:14:39.870 have already taken the wrong road. There is no 00:14:39.870 --> 00:14:46.899 Manjushri at Bhutaishan. Do you wish to know 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:56.059 where he is? There is something at this very 00:14:56.059 --> 00:15:08.159 moment at work in you. It shows no tendency to 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:16.940 waver. There's something at work in you. It betrays 00:15:16.940 --> 00:15:21.419 no disposition to doubt. There's something working 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:31.000 in you. And this is your living Manjushri. Not 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:38.019 in the shrine. The light of non -discrimination 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:42.600 which flashes through every thought of yours. 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:53.840 this is your universal sage this remains true 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:07.059 all the time every thought of yours knows of 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:13.139 itself every thought of yours knows of itself 00:16:13.139 --> 00:16:21.120 how to break off the bondage. It is emancipated 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:32.720 in every moment. So when someone says to you, 00:16:32.779 --> 00:16:36.440 and this is not Rinzai, someone says to you, 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:41.940 observe, what is it that you are really observing? 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:46.049 Do you observe every thought of yours and see 00:16:46.049 --> 00:16:50.529 that in through that you can be free? Can you 00:16:50.529 --> 00:16:53.409 see that even though you're thinking and judging 00:16:53.409 --> 00:16:56.830 somebody that in that very thing itself there 00:16:56.830 --> 00:16:59.830 is a non -discrimination? It flashes through 00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:05.009 the thing. Any moment, any moment, any moment 00:17:05.009 --> 00:17:09.230 when you can see that you can be free. Why are 00:17:09.230 --> 00:17:17.250 you running to Wu Taishan? And he says, this 00:17:17.250 --> 00:17:21.309 is entering into the samadhi of Avalokiteshvara. 00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:32.109 Really, to really so observe yourself. It's a 00:17:32.109 --> 00:17:34.210 lot of hard work once you get through playing. 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:43.690 Anyway, in this poem, the Ramayana, a sita is 00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:48.869 carried away, by the the demon king and this 00:17:48.869 --> 00:17:53.609 of course leads to this very famous war the bhagavad 00:17:53.609 --> 00:17:57.609 -gita as you know is the war of arjuna he is 00:17:57.609 --> 00:18:00.450 there and looking at this the soldiers all straight 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:02.609 you know here's one side and here's the other 00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.069 side and he looks at him and he says how can 00:18:05.069 --> 00:18:07.829 i fight there's my friends on this side there's 00:18:07.829 --> 00:18:10.410 my family on this side and blah blah blah blah 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:12.329 and they turn around and here's my friends on 00:18:12.329 --> 00:18:14.690 this side here's my family on this side They're 00:18:14.690 --> 00:18:17.470 on both sides. How can I fight? Which side would 00:18:17.470 --> 00:18:21.250 I choose? I can't. I can't fight them. And Christian, 00:18:21.349 --> 00:18:23.430 you know, is in the chariot there with them, 00:18:23.490 --> 00:18:29.549 and he tells them, fight! You are of that particular 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:33.589 caste. You do what you must do. And so then it 00:18:33.589 --> 00:18:36.549 does, the book then through this war, it tells 00:18:36.549 --> 00:18:45.390 you the four yoga systems. Hmm. Yeah. Now, the 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:53.450 war of Rama. And he fights these Rakshasas, which 00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:58.710 name means raw eaters. And they are supposedly 00:18:58.710 --> 00:19:05.289 giants, these demons. And by some they are considered, 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:09.609 in the Bible it talks about giants that are there. 00:19:12.649 --> 00:19:20.130 remnants of the Atlanteans, leftovers from Atlanta. 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:25.309 And they're giants. They were giant people. So 00:19:25.309 --> 00:19:31.109 now these are the raw eaters. And anyway, Hanuman, 00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:37.650 who is the king of the monkeys, he is the general 00:19:37.650 --> 00:19:42.680 of Rama's army. And this Hanuman is the son of 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:48.500 Vayu. And Vayu is the god of the wind, or the 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:52.900 god of the breath, or the voice, as it were. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.460 Which is, you know, they mention that in the 00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:04.180 Upanishads. So now the breath, or the voice, 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:10.900 is the faithful ally of Rama. the great creator 00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:19.460 Vishnu and together with Sita or Lakshmi you 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:28.119 see Shiva the destroyer together we have creation 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:31.059 because unless something is destroyed nothing 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:34.859 new can come about so here we have these opposites 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:41.839 in there but anyway this Hanuman He is, the audacity 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.700 of him, you know, the temerity, you know, and 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:48.839 his wit and his humor, you know, he conquers. 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.980 So today in southern India, the monkeys are still 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:00.380 very revered. The rest of India, it's the cows, 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:05.740 but in southern India, it's the monkeys. And 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:08.680 maybe someday I can bring it down. I have a record. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:13.119 of the monkey chants that they do to uh haman 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:28.700 anyway all that's all kind of a side issue because 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:32.660 that was a for instance now now if you were to 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:39.519 remove ravana that is the enemy The great giant, 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:41.960 Demon King. If you removed him from this story, 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:50.380 what would become of Rama? There would have been 00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:52.740 no great war, so there would have, of course, 00:21:52.740 --> 00:22:03.279 been no poem. Monkeys might have all been eliminated, 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:08.710 but why should you revere them? I mean, there's 00:22:08.710 --> 00:22:17.829 been no Hanuman to know about. So we look at 00:22:17.829 --> 00:22:20.450 something like that and we begin to see that 00:22:20.450 --> 00:22:26.490 it's this challenge, you see, it's the opposition 00:22:26.490 --> 00:22:32.829 to his enemy, to Ravana, that brings out this 00:22:32.829 --> 00:22:37.589 resilience and audacity and temperance of Rama's, 00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:41.690 character and it reveals you know the brilliance 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:49.630 that he develops in his personality ravana and 00:22:49.630 --> 00:22:56.710 rama they grow with each other's support superficially 00:22:56.710 --> 00:23:02.089 their enemies in the act what we call actuality 00:23:02.089 --> 00:23:07.630 their enemies but in existence It's the use of 00:23:07.630 --> 00:23:12.990 each other to grow. In the depths of life, they're 00:23:12.990 --> 00:23:19.009 partners. So it is this struggle, you see. And 00:23:19.009 --> 00:23:21.490 people say, why do we have to struggle so in 00:23:21.490 --> 00:23:27.069 life? You know, God made this world, and it should 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:31.490 be nice and pleasant and really nice. And here 00:23:31.490 --> 00:23:33.890 it is all nothing but a struggle. We struggle 00:23:33.890 --> 00:23:35.730 to grow up, and when we're growing, we think 00:23:35.730 --> 00:23:37.589 everything's going to be nice when we grow up. 00:23:37.910 --> 00:23:40.529 I'm going to be 25, I'm going to be 21 or 25 00:23:40.529 --> 00:23:43.210 or 30, and from there on out, it's going to be, 00:23:43.349 --> 00:23:46.490 you know, I have reached a maturity, and I have 00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:49.410 reached the age of reason, and now I can reason, 00:23:49.490 --> 00:23:53.579 and I'm just as dumb as I was before. see so 00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:55.819 the whole thing is just this struggle struggle 00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:58.400 to keep a roof on your head over your head and 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.000 clothes on your body and food on your table and 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:03.180 not only that it's it's a struggle to keep your 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:09.220 health so you just don't lie down and die it's 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:13.319 this struggle that's where it comes along i heard 00:24:13.319 --> 00:24:15.259 this little thing and i'm quite taken with it 00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:18.740 uh the work ethic in this country you know is 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:29.660 has subsided somewhat yeah and so there was this 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:34.259 person on the TV and he said you know personally 00:24:34.259 --> 00:24:39.279 I don't like work in this discussion he says 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:51.680 but it is through work that I find myself It 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:56.539 is in the struggle. It is in the challenge. You 00:24:56.539 --> 00:24:59.180 may go to work and do the same thing all day 00:24:59.180 --> 00:25:02.779 long. I mean, if you work in Detroit and you 00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:05.420 put nuts on a wheel, why, that's what you do. 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:08.460 But you've got a lot of time to think while you're 00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:13.460 doing it. And in that, maybe aggravation, who 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:16.799 knows what goes through these minds, rather than 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.640 letting the work ethic go, to really do the best 00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.190 you can. and watching yourself all the time in 00:25:23.190 --> 00:25:27.170 this work in this struggle it be the whole thing 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:31.950 can become a challenge and you will find something 00:25:31.950 --> 00:25:35.150 not only will you find something but that very 00:25:35.150 --> 00:25:37.789 challenge of doing it will bring about something 00:25:37.789 --> 00:25:44.849 in you to help the character become laziness 00:25:44.849 --> 00:25:55.380 never did it You know, in this seeming opposites, 00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:01.740 in this struggle, you see, against, you see, 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.819 there are partners. You become partners with 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:08.160 something. You're collaborating with something. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:13.200 But in yourself. Put it out there. It's in yourself. 00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:29.019 And know, too, that this has to develop. You 00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:30.839 can't struggle one day and then say, well, I 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:33.859 did it. Am I any better? Oh, yeah, now I got 00:26:33.859 --> 00:26:38.559 character. No, no, it's on and on and on and 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:43.579 on and on and on. Boringly on and on and on. 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.200 And that's what develops. Something develops 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:50.779 out of that. So, you know, we find ourselves 00:26:50.779 --> 00:26:59.420 tied to both, friend and foe. it's very difficult 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:06.119 to accept the opposite let's say someone here 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:08.940 is very angry with me let's say we're outside 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:11.799 and oh they are so angry they take off a shoe 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:19.359 and they hurl it at me you know you can be angry 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:22.140 in turn and the whole thing is a mishmash then 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:26.940 huh yeah or you can stand stand aside and say 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:32.059 Well, I wonder why he's so concerned about me 00:27:32.059 --> 00:27:35.380 to take such trouble. I mean, the concern is 00:27:35.380 --> 00:27:37.920 there. If he didn't care, he wouldn't throw the 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:45.420 shoe or rock or whatever. There is a caring of 00:27:45.420 --> 00:27:50.180 some kind. And so I should become aware of the 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:55.779 trouble he is taking for me. And if I do that, 00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:01.839 then other things will just pass me by and I 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:06.539 don't have to be involved just with this particular 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:16.460 caring. What we do generally is that we look 00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:21.180 at one side and we forget the other. It's like 00:28:21.180 --> 00:28:25.299 we pick a rose And we are so entranced with its 00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:30.799 fragrance and its aroma and its beauty, and all 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.279 of a sudden, what have we got? Our finger is 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:41.960 bleeding. It's got a thorn. Hmm? This, you know, 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:43.579 and now we've forgotten the flower altogether. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:51.930 Now we're concentrated on the thorn. We do this 00:28:51.930 --> 00:28:54.630 all the time, and this is one of the great misfortunes 00:28:54.630 --> 00:29:03.210 of man. Our vision is partial. Now, partial vision, 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:06.869 we can't say, as they would say if you were going 00:29:06.869 --> 00:29:09.890 to church, that it's a sin. It's not really wrong. 00:29:10.109 --> 00:29:16.269 It's just that it's not complete. We only see 00:29:16.269 --> 00:29:20.430 one half of the picture. And the other half is 00:29:20.430 --> 00:29:24.589 so contradictory that we can't relate one to 00:29:24.589 --> 00:29:34.150 the other. So this doesn't fit, you see. Machiavelli, 00:29:34.289 --> 00:29:36.809 you know, he wrote this book called The Prince, 00:29:37.009 --> 00:29:39.309 and he writes in it, he says, the greater the 00:29:39.309 --> 00:29:42.690 intimacy, the more cautious you should be of 00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:48.380 your friend. The thicker the friendship, the 00:29:48.380 --> 00:29:52.259 more vigilant you should be. If you do not want 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:55.960 your enemies to know the facts, take care that 00:29:55.960 --> 00:30:02.240 your friends do not know them either. That was 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:08.079 this guy and how he thought things should operate. 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:13.779 So we know by now, too, that life changes at 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:19.279 every moment. Petula Clark sang a little song, 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:24.980 round every corner, you know. Life swings from 00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:34.359 one extreme to the other extreme. In the depths, 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:41.200 you know, it's one life. And on the surface, 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.640 boompty boompty, but it's a bumpy road to ours, 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:52.660 isn't it? One place we have all the movement 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:57.059 and in another place place on quotation marks 00:30:57.059 --> 00:31:00.019 because they really all together we have what 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:04.720 is what Eliot called a still point and That's 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:07.640 where the dancing is that has no movement to 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:14.700 and no movement It's just a very still point 00:31:22.990 --> 00:31:28.369 yeah now if we begin to look for that still point 00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:38.750 that depth you know we begin to see a little 00:31:38.750 --> 00:31:41.750 more what we're like a little more what we do 00:31:41.750 --> 00:31:47.869 and we might even find something else but if 00:31:47.869 --> 00:31:49.750 you're just going to sit on the surface and go 00:31:49.750 --> 00:31:53.710 bumping along i don't know how you would ever 00:31:53.710 --> 00:32:07.369 begin to understand lao tzu because if you read 00:32:07.369 --> 00:32:09.089 them in chinese you won't understand them either 00:32:09.089 --> 00:32:19.950 oh well 30 spokes of the wheel combine at the 00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:24.319 center And the usefulness of the wheel depends 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:29.099 on that empty space, that still point at the 00:32:29.099 --> 00:32:36.420 center. Everything moves but that. Around that 00:32:36.420 --> 00:32:44.599 which does not move. Now, there is a saying around 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.440 and about, if you meet the Buddha on the way, 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:59.430 kill him. this is started in the Orient with 00:32:59.430 --> 00:33:04.769 some Roshi's and then the psychologist here picked 00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:07.130 him up because what they're talking about of 00:33:07.130 --> 00:33:11.549 course is your own images your imaging if you 00:33:11.549 --> 00:33:16.589 have an image of the Buddha in your head get 00:33:16.589 --> 00:33:23.140 rid of it if you have an image of Jesus in your 00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:31.059 head, get rid of it. The image is not the thing 00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:35.539 in itself, not the person. But however, if you 00:33:35.539 --> 00:33:41.619 meet a real Buddha on the road, study him. Kill 00:33:41.619 --> 00:33:49.779 the image and study the real one. Now, a Buddha, 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:53.519 you know he walks with a begging bowl so -called 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:57.539 and appears to have absolutely nothing so that 00:33:57.539 --> 00:34:03.359 all around him is empty he has no wealth he has 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:07.759 no status in this world he has no palaces he 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:13.980 has no jewelry no glory no nothing now as far 00:34:13.980 --> 00:34:17.480 as shakyamuni buddha is concerned at one time 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:20.949 he had all of that And he had all of that and 00:34:20.949 --> 00:34:25.429 he felt empty. There was nothing in the world 00:34:25.429 --> 00:34:29.730 out there that he could not have had just for 00:34:29.730 --> 00:34:32.489 the asking. All that he could have had just for 00:34:32.489 --> 00:34:37.269 asking for it. His revolving wheel was full. 00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:44.050 And he felt what's the use of all this outside 00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:50.510 fullness if he felt so poor within. So he went 00:34:50.510 --> 00:34:53.329 to the forest and became a beggar. Or at least 00:34:53.329 --> 00:34:57.409 this is what the legend says. It's how the legend 00:34:57.409 --> 00:35:05.010 goes. I do not recommend that you do this. And 00:35:05.010 --> 00:35:08.030 now after spending years and years and going 00:35:08.030 --> 00:35:10.329 through all kinds of experiments in the forest 00:35:10.329 --> 00:35:13.809 and becoming this beggar, you know now you meet 00:35:13.809 --> 00:35:18.269 him. The outside is empty where before it was 00:35:18.269 --> 00:35:21.789 full. Now the outside is empty, and before where 00:35:21.789 --> 00:35:27.510 the inside was empty, this is now full. It reversed 00:35:27.510 --> 00:35:36.429 itself. People writing, people who write books 00:35:36.429 --> 00:35:40.469 and articles and so on, and they say a lot of 00:35:40.469 --> 00:35:41.889 stuff that they don't know what they're talking 00:35:41.889 --> 00:35:45.409 about, they say that you cannot accumulate wealth 00:35:45.409 --> 00:35:55.449 and remain empty or become empty. I cannot say 00:35:55.449 --> 00:36:00.869 that anybody who is making money, they're sharp 00:36:00.869 --> 00:36:03.750 enough to, you know, to gather some wealth, that 00:36:03.750 --> 00:36:07.610 he still can't find the way home within himself. 00:36:08.730 --> 00:36:13.489 So I always say you do both. Be comfortable while 00:36:13.489 --> 00:36:20.469 you're struggling. And there have been people 00:36:20.469 --> 00:36:25.090 all over this world who struggled to have great 00:36:25.090 --> 00:36:27.530 wealth and finally had it, and they turn around 00:36:27.530 --> 00:36:31.030 and give it. They give it away. I mean, Gerald 00:36:31.030 --> 00:36:36.190 Hurd gave the Tribucco Canyon Monastery to the 00:36:36.190 --> 00:36:38.769 Vedanta Society, and it's a very, very lovely 00:36:38.769 --> 00:36:42.889 place. And the big self -realization facility 00:36:42.889 --> 00:36:46.150 on the coast over here, I don't remember who 00:36:46.150 --> 00:36:52.260 gave it to them, but it was given to them. And 00:36:52.260 --> 00:36:57.340 this was really very long. I guess, how come 00:36:57.340 --> 00:37:00.639 we can sit here? First of all, Rosalind gave 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:05.780 us the land. And then Rosalind and Ernie lent 00:37:05.780 --> 00:37:12.039 us the money to build the building. And we paid 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:17.360 it back, some of it. Well, Ernie died and said 00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:20.670 the rest of the debt was canceled. That was fine, 00:37:20.730 --> 00:37:22.530 so then Rosalind had to do the same thing too. 00:37:23.369 --> 00:37:25.489 And then there was a woman by the name of Alice 00:37:25.489 --> 00:37:29.449 Peake who left us some money, and by the time 00:37:29.449 --> 00:37:35.030 her doll collection was sold, it had more than 00:37:35.030 --> 00:37:39.809 quadrupled. And then, of course, Bill Soot says, 00:37:39.889 --> 00:37:42.929 you give it to me, and the money that you had 00:37:42.929 --> 00:37:45.369 from Alice Peake, and I'll see to it that you... 00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:48.639 we'll get some interest on it. He paid his 22 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:53.219 % interest on the money. You see, and then they, 00:37:53.300 --> 00:37:57.480 Suitses, you know, added some more, and Melody, 00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:04.000 a tremendous amount. So, you see, little by little. 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:07.820 And it hasn't depleted anything from them, has 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:14.679 it? No. Ruth, and Rosalind, and there was Henry 00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:19.690 Eklund. And Ernie, you know. And you know this 00:38:19.690 --> 00:38:24.449 Ruth Suzuki, I'm given to understand that she 00:38:24.449 --> 00:38:28.190 was at one time a very wealthy woman. And she 00:38:28.190 --> 00:38:32.409 gave her wealth and her health to promote Zen. 00:38:32.469 --> 00:38:35.809 She built the little hermitage over there at 00:38:35.809 --> 00:38:41.969 Naitoko -ji. And she is so highly revered, you 00:38:41.969 --> 00:38:46.440 know. You all know the story. They wanted to 00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:49.440 make her a roshi, and she refused. She said she 00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:53.840 wouldn't teach. And they told her that if she 00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:57.059 wouldn't, why, she'd have to leave. And all the 00:38:57.059 --> 00:39:02.760 monks rose up and said, unheard of, you know, 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:10.219 if she leaves, we all leave. So wealth and God 00:39:10.219 --> 00:39:15.760 exist together. You know, it's still the same 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:18.780 old thing. When it comes to the final point, 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:24.820 it depends on the person. I'm not here saying 00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:26.760 anything about giving money or anything. That 00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:31.019 was not my point at all. It is the person. I 00:39:31.019 --> 00:39:33.099 mean, they say that you can't do this and you 00:39:33.099 --> 00:39:34.940 can't do that and you can't do the other thing. 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:39.500 I'm not so sure. It depends on the person. Everything 00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:42.079 depends on the person. It depends on the person 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:45.000 and the motivation they have for seeking. It 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:47.780 depends on the person how hard they seek. I mean, 00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:52.019 it all boils down here. What are you like? What 00:39:52.019 --> 00:39:53.920 are you? What kind of character do you have? 00:39:54.659 --> 00:39:58.420 The money is beside that. It doesn't matter. 00:39:58.599 --> 00:40:01.639 It doesn't count. It is what you are doing with 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:04.880 your life. Are you really the river flowing to 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:17.650 the sea? You understand what I'm saying or trying 00:40:17.650 --> 00:40:24.349 to say? Yeah. Okay, a pot is formed of clay, 00:40:24.510 --> 00:40:31.349 but its usefulness is in its emptiness. They 00:40:31.349 --> 00:40:37.730 speak of empty mind. You know your mind is empty. 00:40:38.530 --> 00:40:41.809 If it were not for that, the first thought you 00:40:41.809 --> 00:40:44.070 ever had, you would still have, and that would 00:40:44.070 --> 00:40:53.130 be the only one but they flow through the same 00:40:53.130 --> 00:40:56.710 with your feelings the first one you've had you 00:40:56.710 --> 00:41:01.090 ever had you don't even remember they flow through 00:41:01.090 --> 00:41:09.230 let them flow through they come and they're going 00:41:09.230 --> 00:41:12.969 to go let them flow don't say this is my thought 00:41:12.969 --> 00:41:15.869 or this is my feeling and this is the way i feel 00:41:15.869 --> 00:41:22.809 now and hang on to it let it flow through when 00:41:22.809 --> 00:41:26.809 you buy a pot you're going to go to the store 00:41:26.809 --> 00:41:29.630 and you're going to buy a pot do you buy it for 00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:33.670 the sake of the the pot or do you buy it for 00:41:33.670 --> 00:41:41.070 the emptiness inside what are you buying actual 00:41:41.070 --> 00:41:48.090 pot is the space what is visible to your eyes 00:41:48.090 --> 00:41:51.130 and what you're usually buying is the limit of 00:41:51.130 --> 00:41:57.849 that space hmm yeah it is its particular boundary 00:41:57.849 --> 00:42:04.550 see this right here that's the boundary of the 00:42:04.550 --> 00:42:09.530 space within if it were not for this both the 00:42:09.530 --> 00:42:12.309 boundary and the space within those flowers couldn't 00:42:12.309 --> 00:42:16.070 be there if the whole thing were solid you could 00:42:16.070 --> 00:42:18.969 put nothing in it and if it didn't have any walls 00:42:18.969 --> 00:42:27.429 it wouldn't hold any water or flowers but do 00:42:27.429 --> 00:42:33.250 you go to the store to buy emptiness and then 00:42:33.250 --> 00:42:38.750 we talk about a house Well, we're all sitting 00:42:38.750 --> 00:42:42.610 here in this emptiness. The building consists 00:42:42.610 --> 00:42:47.429 of walls. Nobody sits in the walls. But the walls 00:42:47.429 --> 00:42:51.590 are what we call a house. It's the emptiness. 00:42:52.489 --> 00:42:55.289 The walls divide the outside from the inside. 00:42:55.590 --> 00:42:59.010 The walls, you know, keep us warm or cool in 00:42:59.010 --> 00:43:01.469 here. If it's warm outside, we're a little cooler 00:43:01.469 --> 00:43:04.329 in here. Or if it's cold outside, we're a little 00:43:04.329 --> 00:43:08.949 warmer in here. keep the outside out and keep 00:43:08.949 --> 00:43:17.550 the inside in there's the boundaries but the 00:43:17.550 --> 00:43:19.650 use of the house see the walls are the actual 00:43:19.650 --> 00:43:22.789 but the use of the house it's empty the house 00:43:22.789 --> 00:43:25.090 were full of something you couldn't sit here 00:43:25.090 --> 00:43:30.110 and when we talk about building something when 00:43:30.110 --> 00:43:32.610 we were building this one did we talk about emptiness 00:43:32.610 --> 00:43:36.199 we're going to build an emptiness A particular 00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:41.739 kind of an emptiness? We design the doors and 00:43:41.739 --> 00:43:44.460 the windows, huh? And we never give a thought 00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:50.059 to the empty. We're giving a shape to the void. 00:43:55.260 --> 00:43:58.440 Makes it precious, doesn't it? Any boundary. 00:44:02.420 --> 00:44:08.929 Now, when you meet a person, casually what do 00:44:08.929 --> 00:44:15.710 you look at the body the walls huh how about 00:44:15.710 --> 00:44:22.190 looking at the empty within you people fall in 00:44:22.190 --> 00:44:23.969 love pretty much like they go to the market to 00:44:23.969 --> 00:44:31.289 buy a pot they're attracted by the form and of 00:44:31.289 --> 00:44:33.570 course later on why they have all these regrets 00:44:33.570 --> 00:44:36.590 and they begin to talk about the foolishness 00:44:36.590 --> 00:44:41.010 of calling myself a fool. I think it's in the 00:44:41.010 --> 00:44:47.289 Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Christianity, 00:44:47.469 --> 00:44:50.789 that they talk about calling yourself foolish 00:44:50.789 --> 00:45:01.929 has no points with God. Right on. You know, a 00:45:01.929 --> 00:45:04.889 person is not significant because of his body 00:45:04.889 --> 00:45:08.480 alone. But you know, I watched those skiers and 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:12.699 those skaters at the Olympics, and man alive, 00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:16.780 the use that they can make of that body. All 00:45:16.780 --> 00:45:19.139 the discipline that they go through to make a 00:45:19.139 --> 00:45:27.480 use of. But it's a discipline that allows them. 00:45:27.480 --> 00:45:29.599 You see, it's in the struggle, it's in the work 00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:32.800 that I find myself. And they are then able to... 00:45:33.900 --> 00:45:37.639 moving their bodies down that mountain, you know, 00:45:37.659 --> 00:45:41.820 and shoom. I wish I could even do as good as 00:45:41.820 --> 00:45:48.699 little Eddie. Yeah. You know, so this body is 00:45:48.699 --> 00:45:51.659 very necessary. And if we didn't have it, we 00:45:51.659 --> 00:45:54.159 wouldn't be here. Right? You couldn't sit in 00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:59.320 the chair at all. But it is the empty that decides 00:45:59.320 --> 00:46:12.389 the excellence. In the parlance of, let us say, 00:46:12.530 --> 00:46:21.769 esoteric, it is in this empty in us there blooms 00:46:21.769 --> 00:46:25.670 a flower. And this is how the Rosicrucians, you 00:46:25.670 --> 00:46:28.849 know, depict it. They call it the rosy cross. 00:46:29.809 --> 00:46:32.809 There is a cross in us and in the center of which 00:46:32.809 --> 00:46:39.090 this rose is supposed to bloom at this very still. 00:46:39.550 --> 00:46:43.090 point the rose blooms so we're nailed to this 00:46:43.090 --> 00:46:48.809 cross within and this flower blooms this it's 00:46:48.809 --> 00:46:54.250 the flower of love rose now this kind of a love 00:46:54.250 --> 00:46:58.210 that blooms from this still point uh is neither 00:46:58.210 --> 00:47:01.869 love nor hate as we usually know it you know 00:47:01.869 --> 00:47:06.670 it is rather this very intrinsic essence this 00:47:06.670 --> 00:47:15.510 great power that we call love. Do we usually 00:47:15.510 --> 00:47:19.429 take time and trouble kind of to see and to witness 00:47:19.429 --> 00:47:24.710 this in somebody else when we meet them? We meet, 00:47:24.750 --> 00:47:33.170 a man sees somebody, and I've seen men do this. 00:47:33.190 --> 00:47:35.650 They may not say anything out loud, but you can 00:47:35.650 --> 00:47:38.820 just see it going through their heads. wow look 00:47:38.820 --> 00:47:42.960 at her you know and then they proceed on from 00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:47.000 there and I think wow I'm yourself or a woman 00:47:47.000 --> 00:47:51.599 will say you know look at him Oh handsome and 00:47:51.599 --> 00:47:54.900 you know with those words to ourselves way we 00:47:54.900 --> 00:47:57.880 go and it's kind of like there's a mechanical 00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:00.659 happening it's like somebody pressed a button 00:48:00.659 --> 00:48:03.280 and turned on a fan and boy did you get lost 00:48:08.969 --> 00:48:16.510 Hands work if you press a button. Tagore wrote 00:48:16.510 --> 00:48:24.409 a poem about a monk they call in India Buddha 00:48:24.409 --> 00:48:29.190 Bhikshu. Bhikshu is a monk. And this was an enlightened 00:48:29.190 --> 00:48:33.630 monk. And he was one day, he was with his begging 00:48:33.630 --> 00:48:37.019 bowl passing through. One village after another 00:48:37.019 --> 00:48:39.760 and he came to this particular village and the 00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:42.199 village prostitute is standing on the terrace 00:48:42.199 --> 00:48:46.340 of her house And now this word prostitute, you 00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:50.099 know here and today in this age This country 00:48:50.099 --> 00:49:03.400 in particular I guess is a very derogatory People 00:49:03.400 --> 00:49:09.460 of different times and different cultures have 00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:15.739 had and do have different attitudes, different 00:49:15.739 --> 00:49:20.659 words, you know, for naming such a person, woman, 00:49:20.780 --> 00:49:25.519 man, too, down in this day, I guess. In the Orient, 00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.079 you know, as I've said before, they're called 00:49:28.079 --> 00:49:32.900 women of the willow world, who are... trained 00:49:32.900 --> 00:49:40.860 in pillow talk. And in India where this particular 00:49:40.860 --> 00:49:43.280 one lived, why they called her the daughter -in 00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:54.159 -law of the village. Well, and there are some 00:49:54.159 --> 00:49:59.840 psychologists I have read who say that wives 00:49:59.840 --> 00:50:04.820 and prostitutes are in the same boat. The only 00:50:04.820 --> 00:50:07.059 difference being that one has a short -term contract 00:50:07.059 --> 00:50:12.199 and the other has a long -term contract. Anyway, 00:50:12.199 --> 00:50:16.940 this daughter -in -law is standing on the terrace 00:50:16.940 --> 00:50:23.699 of her house and she sees this picture. And she 00:50:23.699 --> 00:50:27.239 sees somehow right away in him the integrity 00:50:27.239 --> 00:50:30.960 that he has. And all this that shows by this 00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:35.300 discipline. this beauty in him. And he has an 00:50:35.300 --> 00:50:37.440 entirely different kind of dignity than she's 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:40.739 ever seen before. It's almost a majesty as he 00:50:40.739 --> 00:50:44.079 walks down the road. And it's not anything that 00:50:44.079 --> 00:50:47.579 he's doing, it's just because of the discipline 00:50:47.579 --> 00:50:51.639 that he has. And just like that, she's in love. 00:50:52.280 --> 00:50:56.260 She has seen these characters, characteristics 00:50:56.260 --> 00:51:00.440 in him. And so she runs down from the terrace 00:51:00.440 --> 00:51:03.000 and she approaches him and asks him to be her 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:07.820 guest for the night. And he declines and he does 00:51:07.820 --> 00:51:11.860 it very nicely. And he says, you're young and 00:51:11.860 --> 00:51:14.780 you're beautiful and your nights are not lonely. 00:51:16.500 --> 00:51:20.820 But he says, I promise you that one day when 00:51:20.820 --> 00:51:25.550 all your other lovers have discarded you. someday 00:51:25.550 --> 00:51:29.590 when there is no one to hear you at all, you 00:51:29.590 --> 00:51:33.449 will have a cry of sadness, and I will hear it, 00:51:33.469 --> 00:51:41.329 and I will come. She didn't seem to hear all 00:51:41.329 --> 00:51:43.710 of this stuff. It was just this tremendous blow 00:51:43.710 --> 00:51:47.570 to her pride and this great disappointment that 00:51:47.570 --> 00:51:53.960 she had. So 20 years later, Here's this same 00:51:53.960 --> 00:51:57.699 Bhikshu now, this monk, and he's walking down 00:51:57.699 --> 00:52:01.880 this very lonely road, and he hears someone groaning 00:52:01.880 --> 00:52:06.260 over there just on the edge of the field on this 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:09.380 little dirt road. And he walks over and he passes 00:52:09.380 --> 00:52:12.360 his hand over her face. He can't see her really. 00:52:12.780 --> 00:52:16.739 It is dark. And he asked her what ailed her, 00:52:16.800 --> 00:52:22.440 and she said, thirsty, need water. So he walked 00:52:22.440 --> 00:52:24.940 to the nearby village that he had just come through 00:52:24.940 --> 00:52:28.519 and he brought back water for her and a lamp. 00:52:29.780 --> 00:52:33.300 And in this lighted lamp, he saw the face of 00:52:33.300 --> 00:52:37.219 this woman, this daughter of the village, the 00:52:37.219 --> 00:52:40.500 daughter -in -law who had spoken to him so many 00:52:40.500 --> 00:52:45.099 years ago. Now she was a leper and she was thrown 00:52:45.099 --> 00:52:48.519 out by the village people and no one wanted her. 00:52:49.039 --> 00:52:54.289 So he gave her the water. He had heard that cry 00:52:54.289 --> 00:52:56.949 and he had returned. Somehow he had heard it 00:52:56.949 --> 00:53:04.010 and he took care of her. And she kept saying, 00:53:04.170 --> 00:53:07.409 you know, it would have been better had you not 00:53:07.409 --> 00:53:12.949 come. Not now. What's the use? You should have 00:53:12.949 --> 00:53:15.690 stayed when I was young and when I was beautiful. 00:53:16.929 --> 00:53:22.110 Her head is still in the wrong place. And he 00:53:22.110 --> 00:53:24.289 said to her, to the effect, you know, but now 00:53:24.289 --> 00:53:28.550 you are more wise. You have seen more life. You 00:53:28.550 --> 00:53:31.250 have lived through things. You have experienced 00:53:31.250 --> 00:53:34.489 pain, and you have experienced frustrations. 00:53:34.929 --> 00:53:38.510 Your body now may be nothing, but you have some 00:53:38.510 --> 00:53:52.570 space in you. There seems somehow at times something 00:53:52.570 --> 00:53:56.710 within us that seems almost contrary to this 00:53:56.710 --> 00:54:00.469 body I Mean, it's like we're we're struggling 00:54:00.469 --> 00:54:03.829 with something To make it go with the body and 00:54:03.829 --> 00:54:06.550 it's always seeming wants to go in another direction 00:54:06.550 --> 00:54:10.070 And yet this something is very United with its 00:54:10.070 --> 00:54:18.269 body This something that is here that we can't 00:54:18.269 --> 00:54:28.679 seem to and it is elusive. We can call it empty, 00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:31.340 for lack of a better word. It's what we struggle 00:54:31.340 --> 00:54:35.179 with. In a way, it's what we struggle against 00:54:35.179 --> 00:54:39.539 because we don't know what it is. But it is with 00:54:39.539 --> 00:54:46.590 that that we struggle. For the empty. You know, 00:54:46.610 --> 00:54:48.710 the little thing that Lao Tzu says about the 00:54:48.710 --> 00:54:54.210 pot that is being empty is its usefulness that 00:54:54.210 --> 00:55:04.750 pertains to man. To be an empty pot, you know, 00:55:04.769 --> 00:55:15.530 is to be self -empty. Now, when things Things, 00:55:15.550 --> 00:55:18.050 you know, are present. This is present, and this 00:55:18.050 --> 00:55:21.090 is present, and this is present. You know, the 00:55:21.090 --> 00:55:23.750 things that we see and feel and touch, you know, 00:55:23.769 --> 00:55:27.750 and hear, we call it actual. It's an empirical 00:55:27.750 --> 00:55:41.570 fact. This is hard. Hmm? To me. So this, you 00:55:41.570 --> 00:55:47.119 know... What you know about yourself. You know, 00:55:47.139 --> 00:55:57.679 this mystery of yourself. Make it actual. This 00:55:57.679 --> 00:56:02.699 empty. Make it actual. Make it as actual as this 00:56:02.699 --> 00:56:09.099 is actual. That's what you're supposed to be 00:56:09.099 --> 00:56:16.400 doing. We call that a chair, huh? Yeah. What 00:56:16.400 --> 00:56:28.679 is it if you do not call it a chair? What are 00:56:28.679 --> 00:56:41.039 they so excited about? I wonder. If you do not 00:56:41.039 --> 00:56:44.949 name something. Do not label something. You take 00:56:44.949 --> 00:56:47.329 away a label and all of a sudden we don't seem 00:56:47.329 --> 00:56:55.449 to know anything. I mean, we're lost. What is 00:56:55.449 --> 00:57:06.949 that if it's not called a chair? What are you 00:57:06.949 --> 00:57:19.840 without a name? Without any name? The non -presence, 00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:23.119 we have a presence and a non -presence. The non 00:57:23.119 --> 00:57:28.599 -present is such a mystery, it just blocks our 00:57:28.599 --> 00:57:33.820 minds all the time. And yet it is that non -present 00:57:33.820 --> 00:57:51.519 that we use all the time. It is the useful. Now, 00:57:51.579 --> 00:57:54.280 I will say one thing. We would never be able 00:57:54.280 --> 00:57:57.760 to find the mystery of ourselves unless the mystery 00:57:57.760 --> 00:58:12.480 is in a container. We've got to be here. But 00:58:12.480 --> 00:58:15.340 let us say all of a sudden the container is not, 00:58:15.380 --> 00:58:17.460 well, if the container is not, the mystery is. 00:58:20.719 --> 00:58:27.480 the actual the container and usually we see meaning 00:58:27.480 --> 00:58:33.539 only in this actual so we say okay this is life 00:58:33.539 --> 00:58:40.340 this is actual what about death is there any 00:58:40.340 --> 00:58:49.239 meaning in it well people say you know it's it's 00:58:49.239 --> 00:58:53.239 simply it's an end that's always some people 00:58:53.239 --> 00:58:56.340 say some people say well it's an entry into a 00:58:56.340 --> 00:58:59.840 new life we're going to have a new kind of life 00:58:59.840 --> 00:59:13.079 now well supposing it's not an entry into a new 00:59:13.079 --> 00:59:19.300 life But all it is is just a sudden closing of 00:59:19.300 --> 00:59:25.900 some doors. We come into this that we call life, 00:59:26.059 --> 00:59:30.000 and little by little we open doors, open new 00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:33.480 vistas so we can see, you know, what actuality 00:59:33.480 --> 00:59:36.840 is. We can see what this existence is. And when 00:59:36.840 --> 00:59:44.539 we leave, we close the doors. Hmm? Big deal? 00:59:45.289 --> 00:59:45.929 No big deal.