When I think about our practice, or when we think about our practice, there are two sides. One side is the actual, practical, realistic side. And the other is the ideal side. The practical day-to-day side is really highly emphasized in Zen practice, moment by moment, to realize our way. in the most common ordinary activities of our life. The other side, the ideal side, is following the Bodhisattva path, realizing that we are Bodhisattvas.

[01:26]

This side is not so emphasized. Maybe idealistic side, if we emphasize idealistic side too much, we get caught up in conceptual thinking or some dream image or some big idea and get lost in some ideal way. So we put a lot of emphasis on daily life and put the practical way of doing things. But I think we need to have more to balance our life with the ideal side. We need to bring up the ideal side and realize if we don't see the ideal side, then we easily lose our way or lose the sight, lose the goal of practice.

[02:48]

Sometimes we say, well, there's no goal in practice, but that's not so. The goal in practice is to realize your Buddha nature. as a bodhisattva. But when we usually speak of goal, we think of something materialistic, or something that we can hang on to, or some object, some beneficial object. If you're in a dark tunnel, you can just keep walking and one foot in front of the other brings you right down to yourself. But if there's a light at the end of the tunnel, you know where to go. So it's important to be able to walk in the dark and to

[03:56]

bring your attention right down to your footsteps. But on the other hand, it's really helpful to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to know where you're going, what you're doing, and why. So for a Zen student, The bodhisattva ideal is very important. So we don't want to get lost in idealism and we don't want to lose our way just through practical means without knowing where we're going or what we're doing. So our ideals should be pretty high what happens when we forget our ideal is that we fall into kind of bickering and we see each other just as ordinary beings and we don't see each other as bodhisattvas and we only see ourself as an ordinary being and we don't see ourself as a bodhisattva this

[05:23]

So this causes big problems. We can live together, practice together, as a sangha of ordinary human beings, which we are. That's one side. But it's also necessary to see ourself and each other as bodhisattvas, and all beings as bodhisattvas. And it's necessary to see everyone as our teacher. When we only see each other as ordinary humans, then it's easy to get angry at each other. It's easy to despise each other and to just descend into our animal nature. Our animal nature is very strong. And our human nature is very hard to maintain.

[06:31]

Just to be able to maintain our human nature is very difficult and takes constant vigilance, constant effort. We take for granted that we're human beings. We just really take it for granted. And then when we, whatever we do, we say, well, that's human nature. It is human nature, but there's lower nature and higher nature in the human being. So when we say, well, that's human nature, Sometimes we're thinking of our lower human nature, which is closer to animal nature, of which we are animals. But we're human animals.

[07:39]

And it's the bodhisattva path is to put our effort into maintaining our human nature, higher human nature. Developing our higher human nature and maintaining it. And we're always falling down. We're always... It's almost impossible to maintain our higher human nature all the time. But that's our struggle and the forces in the world are a reflection of this struggle. The forces of good and evil and so forth are reflections of this struggle to maintain our higher human nature

[08:53]

So, especially in a Buddhist Sangha, where people are practicing together, each one's private or secret practice is to maintain, to develop and maintain our bodhisattva way. Why we don't talk about the ideal aspect so much is because each one of us should be practicing that in our own secret way. Secret practice means that you don't advertise yourself as a bodhisattva or you don't do something nice or kind in order to get

[10:20]

recognition. Maintaining a good attitude can be very egotistical. So, if we talk too much about it, And if we try to be too goody-goody, then pretty soon we're making ourselves feel good by trying to curry favor through doing good. And that's very bad. We try to do something good, but the result turns out to be very bad. how to maintain real bodhisattva practice to really feel that you are practicing as a bodhisattva without mentioning it or making it obvious is the real practice.

[11:36]

But if we do maintain that kind of practice it will be very obvious and there will be humility and correct action follows just naturally. As soon as we start looking for rewards or strokes or compensation, you know that you're sliding off the path Maintaining a Bodhisattva way is to, the way to maintain a Bodhisattva way is to just maintain it. Last time I spoke, I talked about the four methods of guidance of a Bodhisattva.

[12:44]

Giving, kind speech, beneficial action and identity action. And just maintaining these four modes without making an issue of it, very important. one of the main ingredients, almost impossible, unnecessary modes of action is to not, is to

[13:52]

not give in to fault-finding. In the Sixth Patriarch's poem in the Platform Sutra, one of the things that he emphasizes is not finding fault. He says, if we find fault, even if others are in the wrong, we defile ourselves Now, this is an interesting point. Even if others are in the wrong, you see something obviously not to find fault. Otherwise, we defile our own mind. There are two things here that I want to point out. One is just the fact of fault-finding, and the other is

[14:59]

how you defile your own mind, or what is it that you want to maintain? What kind of mind do we want to maintain? It's a very important point. Sometimes we decide what kind of mind we want to maintain, and sometimes we just give in to whatever pulls our mind. Giving in to whatever pulls our mind is to be attached to feelings, emotions, thoughts. It's called getting hooked or getting caught or getting pushed off base.

[16:04]

So the most important thing in Bodhisattva practice is to maintain a Bodhisattva mind. That's more important than being hurt by what somebody says and attacking them, or reacting to various wrongs and things that hurt you. For Bodhisattva, the most important thing is to maintain a calm mind and equilibrium. to stay grounded in the bodhisattva mind which is not retaliative and is always peaceful and always grounded in dustness and isn't shaken by circumstances.

[17:21]

That's a tall order. But that's Bodhisattva mind. And that's the mind which we, when we practice, we aspire to. So calling people names, even in your own mind, reacting to unfavorable circumstances, retaliating, being mean, stirring up anger, resentments. These are all natural human emotions and feelings and human nature. And sometimes we do descend into them. But if we maintain bodhisattva mind,

[18:27]

Even though that happens, we know what we want to maintain. We know what we want to do. We don't just get lost in our feelings or just get lost in our thoughts or just get lost in our anger and retaliation and meanness. It's very easy for a human being to turn mean Very easy. So to maintain bodhisattva mind is to not give in to meanness. So, for bodhisattva, it's more important to be able to accept insults and difficulties and maintain non-meanness than to give in to meanness.

[19:56]

It's also a little bit tricky, but that's the hard practice of the Bodhisattva. Even though someone insults you or treats you in a mean way, you don't become mean. One of the characteristics of our human nature is that when we become defeated, we take on the characteristics of those that defeat us. If someone acts mean to us and we become mean in return, then we are defeated.

[21:15]

And we take on the characteristics of that which defeats us. there's a story in the Lotus Sutra one of the chapters of the Lotus Sutra is the story of the Bodhisattva Sadaparudita Sadaparudita and Sadaparudita lived kalpas ago in the realm of in the time of some ancient buddhas and He used to go around and to the sangha and he would say to people I can never despise you because you are bodhisattva and you will someday become a buddha and

[22:32]

And people would say to him, what is this guy talking about? Who does he think he is coming up to us and saying, I can never despise you because you're a Bodhisattva and because someday you will be a Buddha? Who does he think he is telling us this? He sounds like Buddha depicting or predicting my future Buddhahood. And people used to beat him, maybe verbally. I don't think they would beat him with sticks, but it says in the sutra they beat him with sticks. But he always accepted it, and he never got angry at them. And the more they beat him or got angry at him, He wouldn't say, I can't get angry at you because you are a Bodhisattva and someday you'll be a Buddha.

[23:38]

And he was given the name, never despising, the Bodhisattva never despising or Sataparudita has a kind of double meaning. It has the meaning of despising and not despising. So people despised him in a certain way, but he never despised them. So the name kind of goes back and forth. It has that double meaning. And They also called, later he was called Bodhisattva of Wonderful Power because through this power or through this attitude of never despising or never giving into anger and seeing everyone as Bodhisattva, he gained great power.

[24:52]

He didn't have to look for power But just through his practice, he attained great power. This is another interesting point. When we try to attain something, we don't get it. When we want power, when we want authority, when we want position, we don't get it. We don't get the real authority or the real power. We may get some position, but we don't get real power or real authority, no matter what our position is. When we maintain right attitude, people ask us to do something. No problem. So it's important actually to give up so-called ambition.

[26:13]

We should have ambition. Ambition is necessary, but our ambition should be to maintain bodhisattva mind and the attitude of a bodhisattva, not ambition to have some position or some power or some great authority. When we really make the effort to maintain our Bodhisattva attitude and Bodhisattva mind, people are happy to hand us the world. We don't need to ask for anything. So I think that it's very important for us to see each other as bodhisattvas.

[27:44]

And when we address each other or see each other or interact with each other, that we keep that in front of us, that ideal. It's a real ideal. It's not an idealistic ideal. It's an ideal which is real. When it's just an idea, that's ideal. But when that idea is reality, then it's no longer just an idea. It's the real state of things. So, we should realize it, then we don't need to think so much or worry so much about trying to untangle our tangles.

[28:59]

we will always have tangles and we will always have to untangle our tangles but when we keep our attitudes on a high level and maintain that level and when we see that we're sinking into lower levels, then that should be a warning to us. Anger is necessary sometimes, but the main thing is not to be attached to some special or not to be attached to our anger or revenge or whatever it is that's coming up as a hindrance.

[30:18]

We should be really aware of these things. Anyway, would you like to discuss this? I think for myself it's easy to be angry and mean and it's also easy sometimes to not do anything. What's hard is to respond appropriately to some mean act without... Right. Yeah. How do you respond appropriately to some mean act without getting mean? Or ignoring it. When you think that way, that's bringing up the bodhisattva mind, bringing forth the bodhisattva mind.

[31:20]

How do I do this without? And so you have to find some way. And when we work at finding a way, we'll find a way. That's what's important. It's not that there is a formula or some easy answer. It's when you bring forth the Bodhisattva mind, the Bodhisattva mind says, there's got to be a way that's different than just, what is that way? And if you're continually thinking that way, then it becomes easier and easier. It's hard when you're not thinking that way to come up with something appropriate. So that's why Practice is very important because continuous practice, through continuous practice, you're always in that, thinking that way, bringing forth that Bodhisattva mind.

[32:26]

And when something happens, you're not left with nothing. No means. Michael? I was on a trip. A month ago, on a plane, both going and returning, they put me in a smoking seat over my best wishers. And I made a mild nuisance of myself, until they declared the whole section non-smoking. And I could accept these guys as Bodhisattvas actually quit smoking. I just thought of accepting that Bodhisattvas were the ones smoking. I just wanted to bring that up. Well, don't you think they were smoking, Bodhisattvas?

[33:28]

Yeah, well, we're always annoyed by something. Something's always annoying us. And our tendency is to step on it. You know, if there's a spider, some people are very frightened of spiders. So their first reaction is to step on the spider. But, you know, you can be kind to the spider. and put the spider in a piece of paper, put him in a jar, put him outside, you know. When you're in an airplane with a spider, you just go outside, right? Open the door. But didn't they stop? Yeah, that's right. So there's a way to do something. Sometimes being annoyed helps.

[34:48]

But how do you do something when you're annoyed? There are lots of alternatives. Or maybe there aren't lots of alternatives. But maybe there's only one alternative. Maybe you have to kill somebody. Maybe there's no other alternative sometimes. But usually there are alternatives. And you look for the alternatives. And then, sometimes they get very narrow, sometimes they're wide. I find myself getting confused, and when I get angry, I'll find myself thinking, well, I'm angry, I want to handle this with equanimity and diplomacy and whatever, you know.

[35:54]

And then I find myself thinking, well, if I don't, I really am angry, and if I don't show my anger, I'm not really being honest as a person. And I get, you know, pulled between the two. Well, I am angry is a good statement. It means that you may not have to lift your fist. You can just express yourself. And I had a conversation with somebody yesterday. We were planning something, and then this person reneged. And I was angry. And then we had a talk, and I said, well, I am disappointed, which expressed my anger. It was more specific than I am angry. It was why I am angry. I'm disappointed.

[36:56]

You don't need to do this. I'll do it. But I'm disappointed. So I expressed my anger as disappointment. And the other person said, well, geez, Maybe I'll da-da-da." And pretty soon, they were not backing out. But I didn't stop my foot, you know, and throw something, which would have made them light out. So, there's a skillful way to do something. Anger comes up, and then we have to handle it skillfully. It's like anger and lust. are like fire. And they're coming up all the time. And we have to handle them skillfully. That's a bodhisattva's ways to handle, how to handle this fire skillfully without burning things up. And so we're walking around with fire.

[38:08]

All of us. Some of us are on fire. But we all have this fire. And we have a valve or what do you call it? Not a switch, but a valve. Huh? The knob. And we turn the knob up and we turn the knob down. And sometimes We turn the knob down, but the fire goes up. You know, sometimes we turn it up and it goes down. But if it's in working order, we can turn it up and we can turn it down. And the main thing is to maintain that knob in working order. That's called skillful means. It's knowing how far to turn it up And how far to turn it down?

[39:11]

If you turn it all the way down, it'll go out. If you turn it too high up, it'll burn and start smoking. And, you know, so how do you keep it maintained so that you have just the right amount of heat to make things work and cook? So we're all cooking. Sometimes we're stewing. But, um, You have to have control of that. And so you can use the fire, you know. You can use it all kinds of ways. But then you have some control. The main thing is, how do you maintain control of yourself? Circumstances, you know. Sometimes you can control circumstances, but only to a limited extent.

[40:16]

The main thing is, how do you control yourself? You know, there's this, the perils of Pauline, right? Well, Pauline does not control circumstances. Circumstances are always being thrown at Pauline, but Pauline controls herself. She always gets out of it. The last minute, she knows just what to do. Sometimes she doesn't know what to do. But because she's always working at it, the right thing happens. And she takes the opportunity. Yes? You could say some more about fault finding because in the context, for instance, of the gentleman in the plane, if somebody is smoking, say, in a non-smoking section, you could have the right attitude without stamping your foot and still, in a sense, have to find fault by saying,

[41:31]

Please don't smoke. It's a non-smoking section. What is fault finding? In this case, I would say that we have to stop in a minute, but I would say in this case that fault finding would be you are smoking and that's bad. But the smoke that's coming from somewhere is not good for me. That's the problem actually. Whether they're killing themselves or not is not your problem so much. The problem is that something's happening to you. So this smoke is damaging me or annoying or something like that, right? So please stop. The fault finding, you don't need to find fault. All you need is to present the problem. I mean, it can turn into.

[42:33]

And they can think of it however they want. They can think, well, you're finding fault. But you don't have to do it that way. And sometimes there is a fault. But fault finding is like always looking for a fault. Maintaining an attitude of always looking for something wrong. the biggest part of the problem. So we have basic attitudes. Sometimes we have a basic attitude of anger. Sometimes we have a basic attitude of fault-finding, you know, always looking for something, you know. I was struck by your statement of in response to something that's irritating, that angers you, of finding alternate ways to respond.

[43:47]

And then you talk later about skillful means, and I think that kind of goes together. And I was thinking about myself, how it's helpful to me to get some time and space between the event and your response. It's always helpful finding alternatives, alternative ways to respond. But sometimes this is the spontaneity of an immediate response. That's right. That's right. Perhaps you might want to say more about the loss of spontaneity. develop a skillful means of response. This is knowing when to choose what to do what. Sometimes a good outburst of anger is correct. But it's like a dark cloud or a flash of lightning. But then it's over. As long as it's not maintained as an attitude, then you can use that means.

[44:58]

But it's dangerous. And waiting a moment, see what happens is emotions are like a balloon. Something happens and immediately it gets blown up, you know, some feeling or another. So when that feeling is blown up, we need some relief. And we can either put a pin in it and go, or we can kind of, if we have a valve we can you know, a little less pressure, then we can see a little more clearly, then we can think a little more clearly. Maybe we need more pressure, less pressure. You know, if we deflate it too much, then we don't have enough pressure and we feel defeated. So how do you maintain enough pressure so that you're not just putting a pin in it and exploding, but you have enough force to be able to think

[46:00]

clearly and present something. Anyway, that's my way of thinking about it. Okay, thank you.

[46:21]

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