Today is June 4 2023. And this is a Dharma talk. I hope there'll be time for questions and answers, which can be provided by some of the noble characters who are in this room other than myself. That's the, I'm going to be talking from the chapter of a book, which is called Happiness is an Inside Job. And it's really about the Brahma Viharas. In Zen, we don't really study meant much of the sutras or go into the teachings in great depth, because we're looking really towards uncovering the fundamental, which is, beyond words, the great silence, the unknown, the Yes, so. But the Brahma Viharas were part of the Buddha's teaching. And actually, you could say, it's kind of Buddhist psychology. And they can be really useful for us in how we manifest ourselves. In daily life. It's not just the lives are not about coming here and sitting just it's about what do we, what do we show up with? How do we show up. And so many of us have trauma in our background. And it's, one could give a whole talk about how to deal with trauma because it comes up for people in in sesshin, and in settings, but we're going to go for the little more of how we may approach our daily lives. So there are four Brahma viharas. And they are our compassion, loving kindness, sympathetic empathetic joy, and equanimity. And although we talk a lot about compassion in Zen as being it's kind of the word we use instead of love, although love is really it's the fundamental of the universe. There's no question about that. We don't talk much about love. And we talk a lot about compassion. But if you the two chants we just did the Heart Sutra and the cansia. And those are the, the two wings of the bird. If you just have Karuna just have compassion. You're gonna, you're gonna not stay afloat, you're not going to you're not going to have that wisdom to fly. So the other branch is wisdom. form here is only emptiness, emptiness, only form. So, rather than focusing on the Brahma Vihara, of compassion, we'll work with through this particular happiness is an inside job. We'll work on equanimity. Will Packer and I'm using our happiness is an inside job by Silvia Borstein. She's a psychologist, and a leading teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in barre Massachusetts, and also a co founder of Spirit Rock Center out in California.
Her teacher was Deepa Ma, a Burmese Buddhist woman known as the kind of the teacher of laypeople. And one of the things that she said is what's in your mind? Well, most of the time, she was asked what was in Deepa Ma was asked what's in your mind and she said, What's in? In my mind? Well, most of the time, there's nothing there except peace and equanimity and loving kindness. When the mind is at ease, it preserves equanimity. When there's equanimity. It preserves peace of mind, and the loving kindness is its expression. So now we'll go to the actual text. Brahma viharas is the Buddha's name for the set of four emotional states that includes equanimity and its direct derivatives, impartial goodwill, so Spontaneous compassion and genuine appreciation of the horror in Pali. The language in which the oldest Buddhist scriptures are written is a dwelling peace place, and Brahma is the word associated with divinity. Classic tasks translate the term as divine abodes named the four basic ones metta loving kindness, karuna, compassion, mudita, empathetic joy, and ooh pakka equanimity. I love the term divine abodes. And I think of these four states as wonderful conditions of human consciousness, in which the mind can rest feeling at ease, as if at home. You could also say these are heart qualities, these four heart qualities. Equanimity seems to me is the ground out of which the other three flavors of benevolent mind arise, everything depends on it. Equanimity is the capacity of the mind to hold a clear view of whatever is happening, both externally and internally, as well as the ability of the mind to accommodate passion, without losing its balance.
The capacity of the mind to hold a clear view of whatever is happening, both externally and internally. Mostly, when we're in interactions with with each other, we see what we want to see, we don't necessarily see what is we don't see what is actually really happening. We have stories, things that come up for us. And we don't see things clearly things as they are. And when we don't see things as they really are, we believe things that are quite untrue.
And the ability of the mind to accommodate passion without losing its balance. And that's something we get from sitting, you know, the anger may come up, you feel it in your body, most of these emotions are experienced as sensations that come up. And you get that little tiny gap where you can witness awareness and you can you can, you can let the anger just flow away. You could say equanimity really. Is is awareness. I mean, this is our fundamental, true mind is awareness. It's, it's some, you could say witnessing awareness because when you're really truly aware, there is no sense of yourself being aware, you're just right there and you're witnessing awareness.
It's the mind that sees clearly that meets experience with cordial intent because it remains steady, and thus unconfused it's able to correctly assess the situation. Assess the situations it meets. If there's enough equanimity in the mind to fend off confusion, wisdom can prevail. This correct assessment brings with it what the texts call clear comprehension of purpose, the sure knowledge of what response is required, and what is possible. clear comprehension creates a response, sometimes inaction, sometimes just in thought. And because we are humans and have empathy, built into our brain structure, when we are touched by what we encounter, and when our minds are balanced. We respond with benevolence with friendliness, or compassion or appreciation. It's a beautiful truth about the potential of human beings. Here's how it works. I'll explain it using Buddhist psychology. And I'll include examples of how this works in my life. As you hear this, see if these century old postulates about the natural responses of the mind are true for you as well. There are three possible Valence is of emotional response to every experience. pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. Here, you might think for a moment about how many times in a day or even in an hour you think, Oh, good. Oh, great, or, Oh, phooey. I don't even have a boring day not much happening. My life's not much good, blah, blah. The Buddha taught that these different flavors of experience are normal, just the facts of life and that they aren't by themselves problematic. They do, however, have the potential to create unhappiness. If they're not recognized and acknowledged, they create thoughts then that carry an imperative for change. I need more of this, I must get rid of that I can't stand this. The imperative agitates the mind into confusion. And of course, as we go off into a narrative, whatever it is, we get stuck. And I think we all have that experience of somebody's done us a harm. And we carry it. Oh, we don't just carry it for half an hour? Or an hour or two hours or No, no, we go to bed with it. We dream about it. We get up in the morning. And we're still annoyed and and we say to us, oh, no, no, no, no problem. I'll forget about that. And then up, it comes again. So we stick stick stick to these negative mind states. If, on the other hand, there's enough equanimity in the mind to fend off confusion, which is that's making a choice really, you know, it's, um, do you go there? I think practice helps us to not go there, you know, to turn away when maybe earlier, we might have gone there. We decide. I'm not going I'm not doing that. I remember when my granddaughter, she loved to play school. And I would got really into it and started turning the pages and giving her more and more. And then I got to a math thing. She was only three. And she said, she looked at me. She said, Grandma, we're not doing that. And I said, No, we're not. And I think we all those of us who are blessed with grandchildren know that the truth comes clearly out of small people. And it often comes out the truth often comes out in anger, you know, when we're really pissed off about something, we can actually say things that yeah, that are true for us at that moment. If, on the other hand is enough equanimity, defend off confusion, wisdom can prevail, then the mind can respond to ordinary situations with goodwill, to frightening situations with compassion, and to Pleasant situations with relaxed appreciation. There are three examples that come from my living in France for several months each year, and traveling back and forth between San Francisco and Paris frequently. The first is about ordinary goodwill friendliness. What is that, which is what the Pali word metta means? Perhaps I understated by calling it ordinary friendliness. It's closer to intentional, omnipresent, devout friendliness, based on the awareness that everyone including oneself, because life is complicated, and bodies and minds are often uncomfortable, needs to be working hard all the time just to keep things Okay. Here's an example. The overnight flight from San Francisco to Paris takes more than 10 hours and in the time between midnight and morning, the hours seem longer, and the space between the seats and the coach section seems shorter. When I get up to stretch, and perhaps walk down an aisle I see men and women, old and young, large and small, all unknown to me, some traveling with small children, or trying to figure out how to be comfortable. I see them wrapped up in airplane blankets scrunched up into whatever position of repose they can organize, leaning on each other if they're traveling together, or trying not to lean on each other if they aren't. Often a man or a woman is patrolling the aisle from me holding an infant against his or her chest and moving in the rocking gate that often soothes the baby's distress. I feel a pleasant intimacy with them. I too, I'm trying to stay comfortable. I'm not frightened for them or for me because I'm relaxed about flying and I assume we will land successfully but I wish them well. The moment of easy impartial benevolent content connection metta boys up my mind, I feel better as I sit down back on my seat. Compassion is a variation of metta. It's different from relaxed friendliness, because it's hard for the mind to stay relaxed and friendly when it encounters a painful, unpleasant situation. In fact, it's normal and often helpful for human beings to startle the awareness of distress. The startle is an instinctive response a single to a signal to the mind up Oh, something is wrong, and you might need to do something. Yeah, in terms of what actually happens in the brain is there's a release of cortisol when we're in danger, and that's part of our more primitive brain. And at that point, the thinking brain shuts down, because there's to be no interference with me getting out of here immediately. And what if I need to do that, that's all that needs to happen. And so my thinking mind shuts down, which is why people will panic, because they can't actually rationally think things through. And this cortisol has an enormous effect on our lives, which is subject for another, another talk some other time. But we do start off at at at fear we get frayed. And sometimes when the struggle is strong enough to frighten the mind into confusion as a period of unease, as the mind tries to cope. It contrasts when the mind is able to stay steady, it moves immediately to act in thought or indeed, in consultation, traditional Buddhist texts say the heart quivers in response. And this is where we see people acting in unbelievable ways to save a life or to jump into a moving scream to to rescue somebody who's, who's obviously drowning or in trouble. This is our heart quivering in response. This is the compassion the moving, moving us to action, because compassion without action is not compassion. And the other side of compassion, the near enemy of it would be pity Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, God, I'm sorry, you. Sorry, you lost your whatever. But hey, I'm busy. I'm, I'd like to help people next time maybe. In fact, we could all think of an occasion when we've done that. Maybe in the past week, even there been a time when you arrive turned away. You felt it. We were moved. Too busy. Too much risk. too frightening.
That's why compassion can be it asks more of us it asks for action. That's the third you know, Samantabhadra the third bodhisattva stepping down. That's that's what we're called to do. In our lives when we do that are enriched and we become the one of which we are. She goes on, a man died suddenly in the middle of a flight. I was on from Paris to San Francisco. I didn't see it happened but I knew something was wrong. Because the plane icon on the TV map on the screen in the back of the seat in front of mine reverse direction. Soon after that, while the people around round me was showing one another the map and discussing what might be happening. The pilot announced that they had been a medical emergency and requested that any medical personnel come forward to assist. My husband Seymour responded as he had on previous flights. When there was a call for a physician and was gone for an hour. The flight continued as if nothing were arrived. Flight Attendants serve lunch, people watched movies, the icon on the TV turned westward again, and I assumed correctly I later learned that the person had died. And that landing for emergency medical, medical care wasn't necessary. I wondered who the person had been whether he or she had been traveling alone, how his or her family would learn the news. I thought about how my family would feel if it were I or SEMO who had died. I thought I hope I don't die in a plane. But then I realized that the center of my startled mind was the awareness that I can't choose when or where I'll die. No one can.
See more told me later that as the flight personnel carried the dead man's body down the length plane to the front galley where they made the requisite CPR attempts. People turned themselves in their seats and averted their eyes to avoid seeing what was happening. I'm imagining many of those people were thinking as I was, that could be me. I knew I was too unnerved to read or watch a movie and I did not want lunch, I sat quietly. And after some minutes, I heard my mind on its own begin to recite wishes of consolation. May the dead person's consciousness wherever it is now be at ease. May that person's family on this plane or wherever they are, be strengthened in their loss. May the memory of this person be a blessing to them? May all the people on this plane you've been frightened feel at ease. May we land safely? Those of you who remember Cynthia Seefeld wonderful spirit. Cynthia used to whenever an ambulance went past she would start reciting the connote sutra I've often thought of it, you know, comes to me too, you know you. And that's because of that example that Cynthia gave you know.
I am aware of painful feelings in me as a result of what is happening to you or to me. And even though I know that everything passes now is a suffering time. I hope we all have the strength to endure what is happening without creating extra turmoil.
I thought this plane is like a small city 300 people, lots of new babies, lots of old people, all ages of people in between people eating people sleeping people working people dreaming, and one person who just died. It's like regular life. I felt sad for the family of the dead person. But I felt see more come back to his seat. He'd spent some time talking with the wife and daughter of the man who died. His death hadn't been a surprise to them. He'd been very ill. Still, it was a shock. They seem to appreciate you told me having someone to talk to. We noticed that members of the flight crew took turns sitting with them for the rest of the flight talking. It might be part of standard airline training, but I think it is anyway. The instinctive response of human beings to pain. The heart quivers in response. And here's another story an example of how the mind surprisingly needs equanimity when it meets pleasant situations. It seems as if pleasant situation should leave the mind unruffled. Not true. If an experience inspires yearning when a moment before yearning did not exist. On the last day of winter months spent in France, Seymour and I drove to Los Angles later on, excuse me, a ski resort two hours from where we live. We had enjoyed seeing the snow on the peaks of the Pyrenees from our deck. But this was the first time up close. The resort was full of Christmas holiday skiers, I was feeling particularly glamorous in my new high heeled fake fur lined boots, and purple tweed cap and scarf that my friend Tony had knitted for me. I thought about all the years Seymour and I had skied and all the trails we'd raced each other down before we stopped skiing 10 years previously, we could ski again I said this is an easy Hill next year let's ski no we can't it's not worth the risk. We're old we could break something. Look though this is so easy. It will be just such fun to put on the skis again. We choose a sunny day like today. Forget it. It would be ridiculous. Your back isn't so good. You have precise in your shoulder. Last year you pinched a nerve in your neck. Let's go have lunch on the deck. We'll watch the screen from there. I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in a window as we walked to the restaurant. I look shorter and plumper definitely less glamorous than I had imagined. We ordered lunch I felt my mind mired in nostalgia dragging itself along seeming to arrive at the table after I did. I thought momentarily of sulking, pretending to be peeved what I perceived as a peremptory dismissal how often do we get peeved? You know? Amazing. I realized that what I was peeved about was being old and Then I noticed two women sitting at the table next to ours, not unlike me in size and age carefully made up quaffed wearing brightly colored warm, non ski jackets and big beautiful earrings. They were eating hearty lunches, talking and laughing as they eat. I thought they looked marvelous. I looked down at my boots and was glad about the high heels. Later on. Before we left, I took some great photos. What I guessed was a three year old girl in a pink snow suit balanced on her skis. With the tips crossed, trying to get her pole straps over her wrist. She looked marvelous to the mind wobbles when it discovers it can't have something at once. And then when it catches itself, it appreciates. This wobble was a small one easily overcome. Other yearnings are much more powerful. The cycles though of Oh, a pleasant thing, I want it, oh, I can't have it. I feel sad. I want to be more powerful, I want more. I want more of a role. I need this, I don't have enough money. I don't look very good. This is the way it is. It can't be other no are the same regardless of whether the yearning is trivial or tremendous.
In the end, relief comes in two stages. The first is the moment that the mind stops struggling and says I wanted something different, but this is what I have. The second is the ability to rejoice with other people delighting in their pleasure. May you two beautiful women enjoy this lunch and many others. May you lovely little girl who reminds me of my own children and grandchildren grow up to enjoy skiing and also your whole life. This is mudita sympathetic joy. And there is one final piece of Buddhist theory that I can add now that I've told stories of what seemed to me to be the natural goodwill responses of the mind balanced by wisdom, the responses of friendliness, compassion, and appreciate them that I felt in these three situations depended on my mind being relaxed and alert enough to notice both what was happening around me and what was happening as my internal response. In each case, even though the situation included challenge, my mind had enough equanimity in it to allow me to stay connected with affection. My refuge was my own good nature available for expression. And it might have been otherwise, if my mind in the long flight had been preoccupied with stories of my life past or anticipated, or had been agitated by fears about flying or even if I had simply been too tired to pay attention to the scenery around me, I would have missed it. I would not have been able to recognize the fundamental truth about human beings, that we do our best to keep ourselves comfortable in orderly ways, so as not to disturb others. In whatever situations we find ourselves. And I would have missed the opportunity to be touched by human courage. Instead of feeling warmly connected to the other people on my flight, I would have been indifferent. On the outside, I would have looked the same on the inside, I would not have felt nearly as good. And the near enemy of course of equanimity is indifference. I see it myself, you know, the ants that crawl across my counter. I could carefully catch them take them outside that I'm in a hurry so I get my washcloth my dishwasher then I wipe them off we all have that indifference to another suffering indifference to so many things. Just think for a moment how you might have been indifferent small or large saying.
When we recognize that it's very painful causes suffering.
Perhaps if I'd be I'm less happy than I was on the day that lays on, I would have fallen prey to my envy or jealousy. And to avoid recognizing those feelings, I might have started a quarrel about being spoken to peremptorily. As it turned out, I had enough wisdom available to me to think things change that was then now is now there are other pleasures I can enjoy. Everyone takes turns being able to do this or that in life, we can for a while and then we can't. May everyone including me, enjoy this moment. Think that's a profound thing that things change. You know, we try to accelerate everything to get a solution to things but time solves so many things, letting it be just waiting, being patient, staying in that equanimity, not rushing, not trying to fix everything. Because the opposite of equanimity is actually anxiety. It's restlessness. Most of us have a great degree of anxiety. I mean, that's what makes us quite functional, to be truthful. But if you think of it that way, indifference, equanimity, anxiety, restlessness.
indifference, pity, envy and jealousy, all what the Buddha calls near enemies of the Brahma, the Horus. indifference, for example, might masquerade as equanimity, looking very balanced and even, but representing in fact, the very opposite of emotional connection. Think of the expression, I couldn't care less, which I've always heard as having a sad ring to it. Pity looks a little like compassion because it acknowledges suffering, but is still an arm's length, awareness of the pain and carry some aversion in it. And some superiority to Oh, I really pity her, I pity him. It's too bad this is happening to you. The mind thinks without remembering. This or some other painful thing will sometime happen to me or my kin. They all beings always be comforted in their suffering. And without balancing awareness in the mind, delight and affection morphed into envy and jealousy when other people's joys or joys we covered, or when we require something in return for our friendship. All of the near enemies or unhappy, tense states, the Brahma Vihara has all established connections that nourishing and enliven the moment. The near enemies create distance, and isolation. We could say it's separation from the fundamental the fundamental, which is awareness.
staying alert ly connected to the world outside myself, keep free from falling into the limitations of self absorption from which no reality check into wisdom is possible. And the reconnection with my own benevolent nature, each time it happens, protects me from the despair of feeling that nothing I or anyone else could do to make a difference. And here's one more detail from the traditional accounts of the Buddha's enlightenment experience. That because the Buddha sounds so human, and it is particularly inspiring, he is reported to have hesitated before starting out to teach thinking of the enormity of the task before him. Some legend say that heavenly messengers appeared to him urging him on reminding him of the benefits, about ending worlds about ending suffering. The Buddha's decision to teach was presumably the result of hearing these heavenly messengers. I know that in situations where I am hesitating about doing something, something I know will be helpful. My own kindness pushes me to it. I anticipate how bad I feel. I feel if I don't act, I think it was the same for the Buddha.
And that really is all So we have to say, at this point, so I'll close with an aspiration. A Sangha member made me aware of Plotinus. So this is a nice little quote from Plotinus. withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful as yet, do is the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful. The sculptor cuts away here, smooth there, makes this line lighter. This other pure until the sculptor shows a beautiful face upon the statue. We are whole and complete. And lacking nothing. I'll open it to any questions people.
Yeah, I was really struck by your by the teaching there that compassion requires action. And otherwise, it's pretty. I've never heard it stated quite that way before. And it's it's it's a powerful teaching, but also feels like a very difficult one. Because of course, if we responded to everything that needs a response. So I just wondered how you how you balance that, you know, not being overwhelmed?
Yeah, it's a really good question. I think that's part of what seeing what is, has to do with this, when you really see the situation you, you will know whether you whether skillful action would would be good or no action would be good to your right. We cannot get take responsibility for every terrible thing in the world. And that's where people can get really drawn in. And it's actually, it's not really the teaching. Yeah. Maybe someone else wants to answer that question. How would you deal with pity, you know, with non action? Or would how much action do you take?
You know, it's always, it's always dependent on the situation. It's really, I liked what she said. But often the solution is anchoring yourself in flux, really. Having that awareness and not getting lost in a story or reactivity or your little
there's a deeply enlightened woman, Byron, Katie, many of you may know of her already. She's not a Buddhist, but she's really open and free. And are she, her? One of her teaching methods is to have you ask when you're really faced with a problem, to say, is it true? And I often find myself, you know, when I'm hearing my dialogue going on in my head, I'll say, is this true? And the sad thing is, in her method, you can only say yes or no. So you always want to have shades of gray. Oh, well, you know what, it could be this way? No, you can only have yes or no. And it's really a very clarifying thing. Because if it's, if it's No, it's not true, then why are you believing it? You know, and it takes away our love of story or love of comforting ourselves with, you know, I'm suffering so much, and so forth. So I'm not sure that really answers your question. Anything else,
just for the folks that are here on so that it's all set up? So if you need to, if you want to say anything, you can just go ahead and unmute yourselves, or raise your hand either one and unmute yourself and, and speak. Ask your question and make your comment. And you can hear us and those of you in person. So yeah, go ahead
I think these are really aspirations you know, there. I mean, we talk a lot about in practice about it, and it's inward looking, and there's a lot of self criticism and judgment that goes on and having this understanding these four heart qualities, and then seeing what the near enemies are, you know, for seeing that our jealousy is the other end of, you know, loving kindness or have met, it's can be really helpful. And because we don't really do a lot of sutra study, it was in Korea and in Japan, I mean, in China sutra study is very much a part of the training programs. I think we might benefit sometimes from understanding a little more about our, you know, this, of what the Buddha actually said, but there we go. So,
yeah, the risk of given a secular answer in this very holy place. I like a word month is, when he's talking about, you know, when, when we're confronted with trauma on our parasympathetic nervous system is triggered, you know, you make the list goes on and over that, he breaks it down in, there is the event, right? There's nothing we can do about it, then there is our interpretation of it. And then the third parties have reaction. And what I found helpful is, is zero in that interpretation part of it. I'm like crazy in zoom in seeing what I'm seeing or responding what I'm responding. by it. I mean, if I'm on the horse, the horse is going, you know. So usually what I do is I pause myself, walk out of it, whatever. Because it's sometimes you hear a sad story, and you want to help, and yeah, I'll get the baseball bat, and I'll go with you. And we will get justice out of this. And then you realize, like, Oh, my God, I mean, that's the story. It's not even mine. So yeah, to get to that wisdom. For me, pausing is really important, otherwise, I'm running with horses
can make a comment. It's just, you know, Zen practice, traditionally, as you said, talked a lot about the role of the heroes or the other, you know, psychological teachings of Judah. They're extremely valuable. And I think, more nowadays, there's a little integration of the tissue, what can happen is, you know, you learn on the mat. To be present, present to notice what's going on, what's what's happening, in your own mind, to notice when you're buying into a story, and just noticing when you're feeling bad, you can feel miserable and not even know it. Because you're so transported by whatever story you're telling yourself. Do you learn to do that? And then it's really confirming to have some understanding of the states that you're talking about. And it's just, it's like, oh, okay, you know, I actually enjoy the fact that you're succeeding, or it feels good to know that you've just won the lottery. And you realize, okay, if things have shifted for me, I'm not always looking to protect myself and get what I need. I can appreciate that I'm just embedded with everybody else. And you realize what a healthy way that is to grow. You're not just trying to put on a face of oh, I'm a compassionate person. I'm a benevolent person I'm not you know, I'm not help people. You're just it's coming out of your your own ego mind. And you realize, okay, I'm going to stream this going in the right direction. Gotta keep doing it. Yeah.
Arrow Could you speak a little more about discerning the distinction between skillful inaction and indifference?
Where is he? Radha, where are you? Speak up
yes, good question. In Action. For us a stay in action because we're caught up in thoughts and situations and things and infection can be damaging for so or maybe because we get caught in our own story of what we believe happens. To us, and we start putting tags on Oh, this is this, this that. And then we just confirm our own belief system. We confirm that that's how the world is. You just don't see it as it really is. You see the throne descriptions? So the great problem with action. Acting is, is that this tendency of our minds to justify whatever feelings come up or things that happened to us, and then we can blame others. So it's a tricky one. It's a tricky one. So the best thing is, just to be able to have full awareness of what we're doing that the mothers that beam ourselves just just shouldn't be be there
you're cheap to take it from there.
No, I think you you're absolutely on it. You know, awareness that's being we're here to be not to do. And being means it. Yeah. Be present. You know, what is that? Animals have it. Awareness. cultivate it, you know? Just be just feel it. You know, a lot of this is stuff we need to experience and know, it's all about experience. It's in the body. It's not somewhere up here. I mean, Hirado, Sensei Roshi talked about no 14 Thoughts are what really are the enemy of equanimity? You know, and we're doing it all the time and you can't stop it. I mean, that's what your brain does to keep you surviving and to help you out and but beneath that, if you come back to awareness, then there you are. Right, Wayman. You're right.
Every performer needs an audience. Okay, so women's favorite, favorite phrase is awareness is Buddhahood. It's not a phrase to him. It's it's the truth. It's what Bodhidharma said, awareness is, you know, it is our true nature. So, yes, Jerry, we only have time for we have one minute and 10 seconds before people need coffee.
I really understand the difference. Because this is coming to our senses. Something's going on in me emotionally that says pause don't. And it gives me the time do I take action? Or sometimes action is no actions don't do anything. Wrong. You know, the other thing that I often get confused, you know, I know a lot is in compassion. And for me, this is just a personal definition of love is about myself and the other. But compassion is much broader. It's a selfless love that expands out that I think that's all I would define. Compassion has nothing to do with me. If I can have that selflessness, which we don't have yet to do, then, then we return we don't know we just become more effective in the way that's all.
Thank you, Jerry. That goes back to the fundamental that we are all one, you know that we're not separate. We see it as we are separate, but we're really not. So that goes also into fundamental truth, but I think it's probably coffee time either. Thank you, Jerry any more. Last minute. The bus is leaving. We will recite the Four Vows
