Subtitles
now people have greatly misunderstood 00:00:01
now people have greatly misunderstood this they have imagined that unknowing 00:00:03
the state of the highest contemplation 00:00:11
was the acquisition of a blank mind from 00:00:16
which you first discarded thought you 00:00:21
went on to discard beset him he went on 00:00:24
to discard any kind of sensory content 00:00:29
in awareness until you were so far as 00:00:34
anyone could say aware of nothing 00:00:37
[Music] 00:00:39
and they supposed that this kind of 00:00:42
catatonic state was mystical 00:00:45
consciousness this is often believed in 00:00:50
India if you go to the Vedanta Society 00:00:54
and asked what do you mean by nearly 00:00:56
count for Samadhi they will tell you 00:00:59
that the one in that state has no 00:01:02
consciousness whatsoever of the sensory 00:01:04
world that is completely absorbed as you 00:01:09
sometimes see Hindu holy men sitting in 00:01:12
a state where they are blind and the 00:01:23
founder of Chinese man known as way nun 00:01:29
described people like that as no better 00:01:32
than pieces of rock of lumps of wood 00:01:35
that is a very serious mistake indeed to 00:01:39
confuse sunyata the Sanskrit word to the 00:01:43
great wide it is a great mistake to 00:01:51
confuse it with nothing it is rather to 00:01:56
be thought of as a small white space in 00:01:59
our space so in the same way the state 00:02:08
of mind of the person who is to me is 00:02:10
vital is not him it contains everything 00:02:10
but light space it is not stained by what it contains but it's often said in 00:02:24
Zen imagery 00:02:28
you can't hammer a nail into space 00:02:32
you can't spit on the sky and sight if 00:02:36
you try the spit will just return and 00:02:38
hit your own faith so they go on to say 00:02:42
the consciousness in all of us your 00:02:45
basic mind is like space it is 00:02:48
completely pure but of course by purity 00:02:52
they don't mean unsexual which is of 00:02:58
course what purity generally means in 00:03:01
the Western world blessed are the pure 00:03:03
in heart for they shall see God 00:03:06
Fossen is pure in heart is giving the 00:03:08
understand as Waffen never has an in 00:03:10
honest or 00:03:10
you know what naughty means means vain negative empty a naughty person 00:03:18
therefore is gone does about there's 00:03:26
nothing that's the real meaning that 00:03:26
this misunderstanding of the nature of contemplation existed not only in India 00:03:38
from which it was transmitted to China 00:03:45
but also in the West we leave many 00:03:49
treatises on Western mysticism and the 00:03:52
still feeling that getting into a 00:03:54
big-name trance sometimes or rap 00:04:00
again the word back Joe we talked about 00:04:06
raptures people being beside themselves 00:04:09
with pleasure 00:04:11
after be wrapped means to be taken away 00:04:15
from the body so also ecstasy we now 00:04:20
interpret as meeting in a state of my 00:04:23
pleasure but it means to be outside 00:04:25
yourself to stand outside yourself your 00:04:28
soul has left you which is with God as 00:04:31
Arabs say of all crazy people 00:04:33
be kind but actually if it can be true 00:04:44
as Buddhists say that Nirvana in samsara 00:04:48
are one and if it can be true as 00:04:51
Christians say that the spirit can be 00:04:55
made flesh the word could be made flesh 00:04:58
then obviously the highest form of man 00:05:01
is not sitting in a trance like a lump 00:05:04
on a log with a perfectly blank mind 00:05:08
because if that were the highest state 00:05:11
of consciousness it would be an 00:05:13
exclusive state of life a state of line 00:05:17
that shuts out life and in that sense it 00:05:22
could not qualify for being what the 00:05:24
Hindus call non-dualistic they always 00:05:28
speak of the highest reality as being 00:05:30
not one because one excludes many not 00:05:34
nothing because nothing excludes 00:05:36
something not being because being 00:05:39
excludes non being and vice-versa so 00:05:42
they use this word non dual to mean that 00:05:45
which doesn't exclude anything which as 00:05:48
it were has no outside 00:05:50
as we say space has no outside you can 00:05:54
only have outside the inside space you 00:05:57
can't have any outside the outside space 00:05:59
there's no outside so if you want to 00:06:12
think incidentally of that curved space 00:06:15
go and take a look at photograph in now 00:06:19
to life a book on mathematics where 00:06:23
there's a picture of a client bottle 00:06:25
which is a three-dimensional mobius 00:06:28
strip obvious strip you know is a piece 00:06:31
of paper that is twisted it has only one 00:06:35
side only one edge our time bottle is 00:06:39
the three-dimensional mobius strip and 00:06:42
it only has one inside it has no outside 00:06:42
there's a train but there's something like that would be the nature of space 00:06:52
as that which does indeed trap transcend 00:06:57
the opposite right now we'd have to do 00:07:04
one extra move on a circle 00:07:06
[Music] 00:07:10
you'd have to touch its head vegans to 00:07:13
the side of its skin and make the 00:07:17
aperture through the mouth continuous 00:07:21
with the inside seven was the table so 00:07:21
what I'm getting to I'm giving you something out of the general history of 00:07:36
your digits has been meant by the 00:07:43
mystical state state of Samadhi or 00:07:47
awakening in certain traditions is not 00:07:52
this state of trance another state of 00:07:56
consciousness in which you carry on 00:07:58
daily affairs and across what is meant 00:08:01
by a bodhisattva as the ideal type 00:08:06
[Music] 00:08:07
is that he is not wrapped that he is 00:08:12
actively engaged in the life of the 00:08:14
world because he has gone beyond the 00:08:17
illusion that Nirvana is to be found 00:08:21
away from everyday life so what is then 00:08:26
the point of meditation 00:08:27
why meditate why do you have to crawl 00:08:30
off into a hole or go to a Zen monastery 00:08:33
or retire and be quiet when this is only 00:08:39
a withdrawal is there anything to be 00:08:43
said for it a meditation is in there in 00:08:49
that sense as a practice as a discipline 00:08:51
is a very curious problem because from 00:08:55
one point of view it's a help and from 00:08:58
another point of view a hindrance and I 00:09:03
think we have to understand first of all 00:09:04
that meditation exercises are medicinal 00:09:07
rather than dietary the same could be 00:09:11
said of LSD a medicine not a diet 00:09:17
something that is described in Zen as 00:09:21
when you want to open the door or summon 00:09:24
someone to open the door for you you 00:09:25
pick up a brick and you knock on the 00:09:27
door 00:09:27
if you don't carry the brick into the 00:09:29
house 00:09:29
when you need a raft for crossing a street you cross the stream on the ramp 00:09:34
but you leave the Raph on the back the 00:09:37
other side carrying it around 00:09:37
but a lot of people when they get into meditation while they get into religion 00:09:43
or into any kind of exploration of this 00:09:50
sort the door it were revolving door and 00:09:55
keep on going round and round and round 00:09:57
and never get through they say when a 00:09:59
gas it is to be in this revolving door 00:10:01
to they be a good definition of a 00:10:03
parasite the person who goes through a 00:10:05
revolving door of someone else is 00:10:06
pushing so there are all sorts of people 00:10:13
in the religious racket who are going 00:10:18
through revolving doors and they're very 00:10:20
bitter about people who walk right 00:10:23
through and leave the door behind 00:10:24
because they say well you have to pay 00:10:25
enough respect do you must really 00:10:28
understand religious women it's a 00:10:30
tremendously important thing 00:10:33
and don't be caught out of balance 00:10:35
because what happens is there's a little 00:10:38
game going on with a huge 00:10:41
and it's played at sin which is it works 00:10:51
like this if you go to a teacher and ask 00:10:55
for rich spiritual instruction or even 00:10:58
if you come to a seminar like this you 00:11:03
are by doing that infusing yourself 00:11:09
because you are looking for what you're 00:11:11
asking for outside as if someone else 00:11:14
could give it to you as if you didn't 00:11:16
have it so the teacher knows that as 00:11:20
long as you do that you haven't done the 00:11:24
steward but he doesn't just tell you to 00:11:29
go away 00:11:31
we may sometimes does they go away out 00:11:35
to visit many in any case I can't tell 00:11:38
you anything well people will take that 00:11:41
for naught 00:11:41
[Music] come on if he just said go away they 00:11:48
would just find some other teacher who 00:11:53
would exploit 00:11:55
maybe keeping the Solomons for you 00:11:55
twenty dozens another thing 00:12:03
fries 00:12:08
as if you say 00:12:13
you have a great long distance to go yet 00:12:17
your attainment is not at all perfect and where they're always talking about 00:12:26
other sects and other schools and saying 00:12:34
well they haven't really got the point 00:12:36
see so that you keep losing faith in 00:12:41
yourself and feeling my goodness I 00:12:47
haven't yet attained this thing and that 00:12:50
keeps you working not all the time 00:12:55
you're being taught doubt it's like 00:12:58
someone who's the pickpocket is stolen 00:13:01
your own watch and is selling it to you 00:13:03
[Music] 00:13:03
but just so long as you can be talked out of yourself you deserve to be 00:13:10
[Laughter] 00:13:15
[Music] 00:13:19
[Laughter] 00:13:23
[Music] 00:13:23
now you've become very aware of this if you ever do momentarily slip into some 00:13:40
sort of a mystical experience you become 00:13:47
aware of this tremendous gamesmanship 00:13:50
going on in you see it is sort of 00:13:54
continuous with them with all sorts of 00:13:56
cosmic games that are going on of 00:13:59
creatures easy and other creatures up 00:14:01
and the creatures that get eaten 00:14:04
boss transform themselves into creatures 00:14:06
that eat them and then in turn eat other 00:14:09
creeks and you see the whole item see 00:14:13
game going on and then you realize very 00:14:15
clearly that the state of development 00:14:18
that you are in now is 00:14:19
[Music] 00:14:19
anybody else's state because this light 00:14:25
space it again [Applause] 00:14:32
which planet is in or which star is in 00:14:35
the best decision 00:14:36
[Music] 00:14:39
well it's Holi 00:14:41
[Music] 00:14:42
they're all in the middle anyone can be 00:14:45
considered as the center one 00:14:45
any point on the sphere is the center of the surface of this wheel 00:14:51
[Music] 00:14:55
so you know with that in the same way 00:14:57
everybody in all his behavior whatever 00:15:00
he's doing whether we call him from a 00:15:02
certain point of view sick or whether we 00:15:04
call him healthy whether we call him 00:15:06
good or bad neurotic normal psychotic 00:15:10
saying all the manifestations are just 00:15:14
like the leaves on the trees and in each 00:15:21
being in a unique way is as Christians 00:15:26
would say manifesting the will of God 00:15:26
so they're really from my point of view there is nothing to do 00:15:39
[Music] 00:15:42
to attain buddhahood nothing at all 00:15:48
but you see that's very difficult to 00:15:50
understand because a lot of people when 00:15:52
they care that there's nothing to do try 00:15:54
to do nothing and you come because you 00:16:03
are karma and karma means action you 00:16:06
can't do 00:16:06
the thing you are looking for I think you're looking is what you're doing is 00:16:13
what's volumes 00:16:21
and of course as we all know we've 00:16:25
got ourselves into the idea that oneself 00:16:28
is so difficult 00:16:28
because it's like as I've often said try to bite your own teeth I look into your 00:16:35
own eyes and you can't find it it's 00:16:41
always behind it's like if your kid is 00:16:45
from the optical point of view and space 00:16:49
be the law light no dark it's right in 00:16:52
the middle of everything and so one of 00:16:57
the great tricks of gurus is to set 00:17:00
people looking for their heads the 00:17:03
famous story of a king in India and 00:17:06
ancient times called judge Matata and 00:17:09
one morning he woke up and reached out 00:17:11
for his mirror brought it over no here 00:17:16
he was looking at the wrong side of the 00:17:18
mirror you know he was kind of leery 00:17:21
eyes and had a hangover so he summoned 00:17:25
servants and said he thoughts I've lost 00:17:27
my head find it and as they sit with 00:17:31
your mana stands there on your shoulders 00:17:32
he said it is not I can't see it in the 00:17:34
mirror nobody can show me my head so 00:17:36
they were rushing all over the place 00:17:36
now the trick to that is of course that you are perfectly well aware of your 00:17:45
head only not in a form in which we 00:17:49
expect to be aware of 00:17:49
you expect to be aware of your own head in the same way as you're aware of other 00:17:56
people's ears but that would be true of 00:18:01
you because you've got an inside view on 00:18:03
your head you have an outside view of 00:18:07
other people's you're taking an inside 00:18:10
point-of-view but the way in which you 00:18:13
are aware of your head is in terms of 00:18:18
what you are seeing and hearing because 00:18:21
all sites and all sounds are what the 00:18:25
nerves inside your head are doing that's 00:18:28
how to be aware of one's head you are 00:18:31
aware therefore of yourself 00:18:33
the mysterious self that you have in 00:18:36
terms of experience because there isn't 00:18:40
really any difference 00:18:40
but that always escapes me so perpetually so long as you don't 00:18:49
understand that you can be talked into 00:18:54
going onto all kinds of weird excursion 00:18:58
and just so long as you believe it 00:19:01
you're a sucker your book 00:19:01
and it takes a tremendous inner confidence of nerve 00:19:09
finally to say it don't pull that stump 00:19:12
hi-c through your game 00:19:19
and there because there is a very clever at putting you down for that is trying 00:19:30
to see how strong you are testing you 00:19:36
out see if they can hoodwink you so long 00:19:41
as they can see they're going to go 00:19:42
under because they're gonna hit you but 00:19:44
they can't do it you anymore then 00:19:46
they'll graduate and so 00:19:46
one of rims eyes students after he saw treats and well wasn't much in RINs eyes 00:19:59
but is a mouth of all across the woman 00:20:06
he said boldly and straight out my 00:20:09
teaching is just like using an empty 00:20:12
fist to deceive a child you know when 00:20:15
you play games with a child and pretend 00:20:17
you've got something here the child goes 00:20:19
into all kinds of tizzy to get you to 00:20:21
open your hand and show what it is and 00:20:23
then there's nothing fool see you so you 00:20:28
can be fool 00:20:31
as long as you can default when you 00:20:31
as long as you can default when you can't be fooled you don't ask the 00:20:35
question anymore because it's all become 00:20:41
clear it's all become clear that there 00:20:43
is no puzzle about this universe what 00:20:48
makes you think the rapunzel's about 00:20:50
this universe very simple reason you're 00:20:53
trying to explain it 00:20:55
and when you explain this what you would 00:20:59
what do you mean by explanation there 00:21:04
are several meanings of explanation in 00:21:06
any one basic meaning but first of all 00:21:09
to be able to translate what is 00:21:11
happening in terms of words or numbers 00:21:14
in other words to describe but a real 00:21:19
explanation is not just a description 00:21:21
it's a description which enables us to 00:21:25
control 00:21:25
but didn't we see in the last session adapt to control the world is not really 00:21:33
what we want to do so the live all 00:21:43
explanations have as their function 00:21:45
enabling us to control things then maybe 00:21:49
an explanation isn't what we wanted 00:21:49
and furthermore you and when you try to talk about the processes of danger 00:22:39
what is complicated is not the processes 00:22:43
of nature for trying to put them into 00:22:44
words 00:22:46
that's as complicated as trying to drink 00:22:48
up the ocean with a fork 00:22:50
[Music] 00:22:51
takes forever 00:22:54
so this intense complexity that we see 00:22:56
in everything 00:22:58
is created by Artem Lana lies 00:22:58
and so what we do visit even the animals beams are 00:23:07
we detect them and we have to put a label on every piece we please on the 00:23:16
back device and it goes on forever there 00:23:44
is no end to the mine you the simple 00:23:50
reason that the investigation itself 00:23:53
[Music] 00:23:53
all that is vain look 00:24:18
because you see here what it does is it gives you the illusion that you've 00:24:27
solved your problems when you have 00:24:32
control certain things and you have 00:24:34
solve certain problems practical 00:24:36
problems say five more of that please 00:24:40
let's go on solving problems and then 00:24:45
you do you create a world of people as 00:24:49
we are today far more comfortable than 00:24:52
people who lived in the 19th century but 00:25:15
the problem is we keep running into this 00:25:17
thing constant emulation 00:25:17
and when we take it as a matter of course perhaps up 00:25:26
then we switch the level on which we 00:25:31
worry 00:25:31
when you solve a whole set of properly people find new ones work 00:25:37
here's a call [Music] 00:25:46
an eternal occurrences that is to hide and seek that is the nature of what the 00:26:12
Hindus for the and the pralaya 00:26:20
the period in which the Maya evermore 00:26:33
came out by the same door 00:26:33
is to get to the part where you can't see that you are doing that 00:26:40
[Music] 00:26:42
you know [Music] 00:26:54
all beating an ally now that you have to think 00:27:06
I can fight I wake up for sahur sake 00:27:12
[Music] 00:27:15
in other words what you call diversification is your game the same 00:27:33
way as your chocolate thing and the 00:27:37
newspapers made people do you forget 00:27:41
that you cut it 00:27:42
so when you see this from your life cup 00:27:47
you two might one day to see how does in 00:27:51
hundreds of people are running our class 00:27:53
or something but they weren't exactly 00:28:00
the same way the group is giving an 00:28:03
ecology where Krishna is so clever 00:28:09
because he says if you ask me for 00:28:13
enlightening how can you ask me to 00:28:15
invite you if you don't know what it is 00:28:16
how do you know you want is it any 00:28:21
concept you have of it will be simply a 00:28:26
way of trying to perpetuate the 00:28:29
situation you're already in 00:28:32
if you think you know what you're going 00:28:34
up for all you're doing is you're 00:28:36
seeking the past what you already know 00:28:38
what you've already experienced 00:28:40
therefore that's not interested because 00:28:44
you say you're looking for something 00:28:45
quite new but what do you mean new 00:28:50
what's your conception of something new 00:28:50
something old something I once had 00:28:55
so he doesn't say it 00:29:01
he doesn't 00:29:06
[Music] 00:29:16
[Music] 00:29:24
[Music] 00:29:36
[Music] see stay here 00:30:03
[Music] 00:30:07
improve your situation 00:30:21
[Music] 00:30:24
[Music] 00:30:55
that's fine 00:31:11
[Music] Jesus divine 00:31:18
[Music] 00:31:22
but you've got to call the bluff there's 00:31:24
going to be a showdown and it's a double 00:31:29
blind the whole situation is a double 00:31:30
bar 00:31:32
because doesn't there any good to stay 00:31:35
here doing any good to go away 00:31:35
either to do something about it or to do nothing about it 00:31:41
now then there's something else when you understand that and when you realize 00:31:47
that there's nothing to realize but it's 00:31:55
all here know what you're gonna do 00:32:00
[Music] 00:32:02
well Acosta's is the acceptance of the 00:32:04
Zen poem supernatural activity and 00:32:08
marvelous power 00:32:10
drawing water carrying fuel do whatever 00:32:15
arises 00:32:18
an element of solicitors 00:32:21
it's like when a child is pestering 00:32:24
father or mother of all sorts of 00:32:26
questions 00:32:27
Monica Donald disparities oh shut up 00:32:27
and I wouldn't say that [Applause] 00:32:39
[Music] 00:32:41
because nine as one looks at is it back 00:32:46
to celebration 00:32:47
[Music] 00:32:51
readygo counted nine of the stars 00:32:54
[Music] 00:33:01
elevator 00:33:02
[Music] 00:33:02
therefore the proper function religion is digging this is not seeking 00:33:16
it's not seeking anything but is in a way Thanksgiving 00:33:25
[Music] 00:33:35
that's complicated way of thinking about 00:33:37
it 00:33:38
[Music] 00:33:38
so they're in religion all religious exercises whether they are meditative or 00:33:46
whether they are ritualistic 00:33:48
there are not something you do in order to retain anything they are like art 00:33:55
forms like dance 00:34:01
they are expressive of the table of the 00:34:05
attained listening so here's another 00:34:10
when you go to mr. Suzuki one event is a 00:34:14
good disciple of poker 00:34:16
[Music] 00:34:17
we'll brought them seven dual identity 00:34:21
paths in the 30% 00:34:21
Jochen said you can't sit and meditate unless you're already a Buddha in which 00:34:30
case why meditate well meditation is 00:34:37
just the way a Buddhist sits and he call 00:34:42
this sitting justice it not to attain 00:34:45
enlightenment the minute you do that you 00:34:47
see about meditating 00:34:47
so you only become a good meditator 00:34:53
[Music] and what a great thing it is start to 00:35:07
dissect the world with your analytical 00:35:12
Internet 00:35:13
they wouldn't allow the water on trees 00:35:16
or the floor my god in depravity without 00:35:18
falling in light or fall on trees or 00:35:21
thinking that it has parts or thinking 00:35:24
that it's complicated it isn't so when 00:35:30
you can sit without thinking not with an 00:35:34
empty mind mind you I'm going back to 00:35:35
that point not with an empty mind but 00:35:37
just an on analytic mind a non probing 00:35:42
mind where you're not creating problems 00:35:45
all the time by trying to control it by 00:35:48
trying to control your mind by trying to 00:35:50
control your experience what you see in 00:35:52
here you then just simply discover now 00:35:56
there is no way of controlling what 00:35:58
you're experiencing because what you're 00:36:00
experiencing is you and to try and 00:36:04
really fundamentally control this is 00:36:08
going around the circle so if I would 00:36:13
say to you now what you have to learn is 00:36:14
to let it happen that's wrong - there's 00:36:17
no one to let it happen if I say to you 00:36:20
except your experience be calm and open 00:36:24
to things that again perpetuates the 00:36:27
illusion that you're something different 00:36:29
so we go wrong 00:36:29
but if there are some people who want to get together and like we would get 00:36:37
together to play poker or to have a walk 00:36:43
go fishing 00:36:44
say the boat if there are some people 00:36:46
want to get together to meditate and to 00:36:49
have rituals time great 00:36:52
[Applause] 00:36:55
and you can only use it and make it a 00:36:58
good off 00:36:59
[Applause] 00:36:59
[Music] 00:37:02
this is what really is the bane of towns 00:37:05
all over going to Buddhist temples where 00:37:11
they theoretically don't believe anybody 00:37:14
there are the people pray 00:37:17
and they're all doing it 00:37:20
although that 00:37:20
we get a male child next time around that will cost recover from the disease 00:37:26
[Music] 00:37:31
get secured to the drop see all these 00:37:34
petitions are going on and on and on 00:37:36
people always coming to the temple to 00:37:38
odd lowbrow people for lowbrow things 00:37:41
eyebrow people for highbrow they're all 00:37:44
the vendors sit outside and sell 00:37:46
souvenirs and magic the charms and all 00:37:48
the people go in and do this and all 00:37:51
this serious priest sitting there really 00:37:54
having to keep up face and they'll say 00:37:55
yes sir 00:37:56
we can't provide this service if you go 00:38:02
in to run these temples along with all 00:38:05
the faithful followers and have a ball 00:38:08
by oh by the by a candle by this father 00:38:12
by seven cents go in and take this great 00:38:15
thing going on salute the Buddha's or 00:38:17
the crystal ball to all the crucifixes 00:38:20
or what you are but don't take it 00:38:22
seriously and this is one of the great 00:38:27
important transformations of today in 00:38:31
our consciousness 00:38:35
is that a great many people are finding 00:38:37
out the religion is not supposed to be 00:38:39
taken seriously this is a shocking thing 00:38:45
to many people 00:38:47
those used to be an old saying that a 00:38:50
religion is dead when the priest laughs 00:38:52
about Leo 00:38:52
that's true in one sense when the priests know that they've got a racket 00:38:57
though they don't believe one word of it 00:39:01
and they're laughing and pass the 00:39:03
Ottoman all these suckers around 00:39:06
[Music] 00:39:06
but when the priests laugh at the audience because they're having such fun 00:39:12
because this whole scene is so beautiful 00:39:18
well it's the difference between 00:39:18
some stuffy old Buddhist priests coming a Sutra heard allen ginsberg times 00:39:26
that's the thing together 00:39:31
[Music] 00:39:31
you know they'd gone for interminably jabal they're sick of it but they get 00:39:37
painful this is magic but when I'm gets 00:39:45
about Johnson everybody gets in the set 00:39:47
when he gives you little bells get going 00:39:49
is just like a it's like a yeah a 00:39:51
Johnson where everybody is absolutely 00:39:54
delighted that's the way to do it and if 00:39:57
you cover it that way you forget it 00:39:57
[Music] 00:40:03