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(Bell)

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(Bell)

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Dear Thay, my name is Frances.

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My parents gave me that name[br]after Saint Francis of Assisi.

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Thay , we are all your continuation

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and I vowed to continue[br]what you taught us.

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Especially yesterday you told us[br]about the bell.

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Perhaps we will be awakened

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and will help others[br]to be awakened

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and we transcend the path[br]of anxiety and sorrow.

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This is my vow

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and I know that the path[br]will not be effortless,

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even though we've learned[br]about effortless,

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we have learned about[br]mindfulness with insight.

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I know that the solution for that[br]is the dying of the self.

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With the dying of the self[br]there can be effortlessness.

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But at the same time,

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to live a vow

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we have to go through[br]burning decisions,

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like a flame is burning.

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I have to make a decision[br]against the collective energy.

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I also see that I am[br]transforming my suffering

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and also my parents' suffering.

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The way I have been doing it[br]and the way that I will continue to do it

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is to... I pray to God[br]and to the Goddess in me.

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Outside of me is[br]the cosmic true nature body

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and it is also inside of me.

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But supposing that everything comes [br]from the arising of conditions,

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I see it as if everything[br]comes from God's plan

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which is that everything is good.

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I get anxiety, I get depression,[br]I get ill health

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it is a blessing.

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If I get good health,[br]I get a Sangha, I get a teaching,

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it is a blessing.

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So I cannot see it as if[br]everything arises from conditions.

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I see it as a path of compassion

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and everything arises from compassion.

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(Sister) Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

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our friend Frances[br]was named after the monk

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Saint Francis of Assisi.

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First of all she expressed to Thay

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how inspired she was by[br]Thay's teachings of the bell yesterday.

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She has made a vow to herself

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to continue Thay and[br]to really master this practice

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and to live the insight[br]of the gatha deeply

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to transcend her own anxiety and sorrow.

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Her first partial question is:

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How, with such a strong vow,[br]she can do that

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without having[br]a too strong sense of a self.

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How can she realize her vow[br]to overcome difficulties in her life

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to heal herself.

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For example, in order to truly transcend[br]anxiety and sorrow

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she knows she will have to[br]make a lot of burning decisions

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to change her way of life

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against the opinions of those around her,[br]her family and society.

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How can she realize that vow without[br]having too strong a sense of self?

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The second part of her question is

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that when she experiences[br]difficulties in her life,

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whether it is anxiety,[br]or depression or ill health,

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she understands this[br]as being a gift from God.

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Frances is a Christian

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so she takes these as a blessing,

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it is part of God's plan.

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So her question is:

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She sees God as something both[br]outside of herself and inside her.

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But is it true that God is good, that[br]everything that God sends her is good?

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And that she should receive it as good?

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Frances is aware that[br]everything arises from conditions.

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Can we see God's world[br]in these conditions?

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You spoke about the death of the self.

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The dying of the self.

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I don't think that the self has to die,

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because there is no self to die.

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(Laughter)

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The self is just a view,

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a wrong view, a notion.

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It is not reality.

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So there is no need for something[br]that is not there to die.

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We should not try to kill the self.

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But you can remove the illusion

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by having a deep vision of reality,

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practicing the meditation[br]on impermanence,

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because everything[br]is changing so quickly,

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and naturally the notion[br]of the self is no longer there.

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Because the self is something[br]that is everlasting,

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remaining the same.

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We may ask whether God is a self or not.

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It is sure that God is not a self.

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If God is a self,[br]then all of us are selves.

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A big self or small selves.

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If there is a me, a self,

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there should be a non me[br]existing at the same time.

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We can accept the self as a reality.

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On the conventional level of truth[br]we can speak of me, I and you,

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he and she,

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because that designation is useful.

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It is called conventional designation.

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If we don't have[br]these conventional designations,

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we cannot talk,[br]we cannot do business.

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I, you, this and that

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are called conventional designations.

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The problem is that we have to be aware[br]that it is only conventional designation,

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and we are free from them.

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We can make good use of them[br]but you are free from them.

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And as I said, even the Buddha,[br]he had to be free from the Buddha.

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There was a Zen teacher.

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One day, in his Dharma talk, he said:

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'I am allergic to the word Buddha'.

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(Laughter)

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'But sometimes I have to[br]pronounce the word Buddha.

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But you know, my friends?

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Every time that I have to[br]utter the word Buddha,

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after that I have to go to the bathroom

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and rinse my mouth three times.'

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(Laughter)

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That is the way the Zen people talk.

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(Laughter)

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They want to speak about freedom.

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Even freedom from the Buddha.

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The Zen teachers have their own way,

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and their way is sometimes very strong.

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'I'm allergic to the word Buddha.

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Every time I have to[br]pronounce the word Buddha,

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I have to go to bath[br]and rinse my mouth.'

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It is something not very clean.

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It is a very strong statement.

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Then, in those days,

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there was a Zen student who stoop up

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and said:

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'Dear teacher,

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I am also allergic to the word Buddha.

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Every time I hear you[br]pronounce the word Buddha,

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I have to go to the river

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and wash my ears, three times!

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(Laughter)

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I think that is a good[br]teacher-student couple.

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(Laughter)

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They are free from words and notions.

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Even from words like Buddha or God.

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They are free from the notions.

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Because you may get [br]Buddha and God only as notions

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and not the truth, the reality.

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So you have to be very careful.

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Of course you have learned[br]about dependent origination.

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Remember we have[br]that example on the clouds.

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There are many clouds in the sky.

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These clouds interact with each other.

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They produce each other.

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There is the lateral,[br]horizontal relationship

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but we all know that all clouds[br]come from the ocean.

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So there is a vertical relationship.

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You are a cloud,[br]you carry the ocean with you.

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You are a human being

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but you carry God inside of you.

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That is a vertical relationship.

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So there is the horizontal explanation

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and there is a vertical one.

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But these two should not be distinguished[br]as two separate things.

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Looking into the horizontal[br]you see the vertical.

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And looking deeply into the vertical[br]you see the horizontal.

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But you have to remove

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the notion of horizontal[br]and vertical at the same time.

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We have learned

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that notions like being and not being,

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good and evil have to be removed.

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Because that is the way [br]our mind consciousness perceives things.

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If you describe God[br]as the ground of being,

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we lock Him, we lock Her into a notion,

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the notion of being.

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If God is the ground of being,

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who will be the ground of non-being?

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So we cannot think of God[br]in terms of being and non-being.

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God transcends the terms[br]being and non being.

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As the Buddha said:

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'The right view is a view that transcends[br]both the notions of being and non-being.'

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Not only that,

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but the right view is also the view that[br]transcends the notions of good and evil.

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If you say that God is in control[br]of the Kingdom of the Goodness,

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who will be in control[br]of the Kingdom of Evil?

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So God ultimately transcends[br]both the notion of good and evil.

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Until you see that,

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you cannot see[br]the plan of God, his intention.

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So that means you are pulled to say that

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if God is compassionate,

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why He has created something like death,

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tsunamis, tempest and things like that?

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Why He has allowed[br]these things to happen?

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Delusions are trying to say:

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'This is for you to learn,[br]that is also good for you.'

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But our mind is inclined to think

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that what is good[br]is not causing suffering.

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Only the bad things are called suffering.

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So that is our mind of discrimination.

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We should not use[br]that mind of discrimination

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in order to try to understand God.

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That is why the deepest way,

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the most wonderful way[br]to touch the ultimate

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is to remove notions.

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Including the notions of[br]being and non-being, good and evil.

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We have learned that for alayavijñana[br]everything is a wonder.

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There is no good and evil in it.

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There is no being and non being in it.

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Only mind consciousness[br]has these notions.

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We are caught in these notions.

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These notions may be useful.

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But if you are caught in them,[br]you suffer.

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(Bell)

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(Bell)