Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

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Notice how when something shows up you go to belief, disbelief or distraction. It’s very difficult to use relative concepts to see over time what that’s pointing to beyond the words. It’s not logical or reasonable. The ego mind will use that to turn you around because it wants you in that carnival. It’s terrified of the open space, of not knowing. With each person this will have its own kind of chemistry or texture. It will be very personal to you. Notice the way you believe or attach to something before you’ve even investigated it. Of course, it’s about being aware of that. https://youtu.be/edtHLuvjEr4

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When you’re in conversation with someone, you can change the structure a little bit by receiving 90% of the time. Listen, receive. The idea with “90/10” is to move from producing to receiving what’s arising. Don’t add anything. You’ll be surprised at how much difficulty this can clear up. It will take awhile, perhaps quite awhile, before you can actually receive what’s right in front of you. See if you can notice the way you add on to things. Shikantaza will help train your mind to do that. https://youtu.be/wK9Dze1weHY

It might look very logical or reasonable when someone says something that we go into some kind of rotation in the mind where we try to figure things out. The phrases in our speech show us that we are not really looking at this. I’m not saying you can’t squeeze some relative happiness out of samsara. As a way of working with the tendency to be seduced into figuring it out, turn your awareness to everything that’s arising in consciousness. See the asymmetry of the mind. You don’t need to correct it, just see it. https://youtu.be/hnaHeEHU6vg

Sometimes fixing is all you can do. This works in the area of relative truth, such as a flat tire. Your mind stream is not like that. The desire to fix overrides the ability to see what it actually is. We need to know what’s fundamentally going on. If you’re a meditator, you can work with your your anxiety or emotional state by way of observing that without going down into it, which could be a trap for the thinking mind looking for results. Just look at what’s actually happening. https://youtu.be/Ml-NpARe4Yw

These three links on the chain of existence are a difficult area. The feeling arises and there’s a wish to have more of it, to get rid of it or to ignore it. Any feeling that arises is going to have a positive, negative or neutral aspect to it. If we don’t like it, we want to go to something else. Blame is one way we do this. Don’t abandon the feeling. When there are internal conflicting emotions, just be aware of the feeling. Your emotions are none of your business; Your karma is nothing personal. If you would like these teachings to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoi.org/donate, and thank you.

If you would like these talk to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoji.org/donate, and thank you.

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This is a dynamic we quite often use in looking at something we’ve done or need to do. Is it justified? There is no way you can tell. That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t do it anyway. Do the action you need to do, but don’t abandon your fundamental open responsibility by justifying it. Some people live their whole lives this way. You can justify anything, but all evidence is partial — it’s relative truth. You cannot see all the causes and conditions behind anything and you can’t find the first cause. It’s so incredibly complicated. If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoji.org/donate https://youtu.be/nxlygn6QhRE

If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoji.org/donate

The important thing about actually helping someone to learn is to meet them “Where they’re at”, not to see that they come up to certain standards. Standards are based on controlling people. The way we get an education is not just memorizing a bunch of facts and formulas. The intelligence, understanding and perception of the student needs to be included. Here at the monastery no one is required to memorize anything. In order to train monks to teach the dharma, I say study, discuss the material, practice, and face the wall: train your mind. The important thing is to learn, not to understand in the conventional sense. If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoji.org/donate

Quite often this is said to us by people who think they know more than we do: "Just let go." I say don’t do that. Anytime you sink your hooks into anything, just observe that: see the way you grasp. If we are talking about a situation in the emotional mindstream, don’t let go. It’s not about trying to get rid of anything. The underlying issue is mistaken identity. Just observe the way you cling to your emotions and your feelings. If you would like these talks to continue, please VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE AT sokukoji.org/donate, and thank you. https://youtu.be/Ku7KOcFF698

If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at sokukoji.org/donate

If you would like these talks to continue, please visit our donate page at sokukoji.org/donate, and thank you. https://youtu.be/kkhliP1akwo

If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at www.sokukoji.org/donate https://youtu.be/qKqhCk4TLFc

If you would like these talks to continue, PLEASE VISIT OUR DONATE PAGE at www.sokukoji.org/donate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njt2FtGKLZE