0:00

The following talk was

0:02

given at the Insight

0:04

Meditation Center in Redwood

0:07

City California. Please

0:09

visit our website

0:11

at audiodarma.org. With

0:13

that reminder for me, there

0:16

is a famous story in

0:18

Buddhism of the Buddha supposedly

0:21

when he was about

0:23

six or seven. It was

0:25

a springtime, it was apparently

0:27

a nice spring day. His

0:29

father was leading the ritual

0:31

first plowing of the season.

0:33

So they were out in

0:35

the field plowing this. It

0:38

was kind of a little

0:40

bit of a festival, maybe

0:42

like we'll do next week.

0:44

And then, but because everyone

0:46

was involved in the plowing,

0:48

they left this little boy

0:50

alone and he felt safe,

0:52

secure, comfortable being there. And he

0:55

was under, they say, a rose

0:57

apple tree. I love it that

0:59

they remember the tree that he

1:02

was sitting under. So in the

1:04

shade, watching all this happen in

1:06

front of him. And maybe he

1:09

got a little bit absorbed in

1:11

what was happening. He felt content

1:13

and happy. It was engaging for

1:16

his eyes, maybe, and he was

1:18

following it. And in the process

1:20

of that, he got concentrated. and

1:23

entered into a relatively

1:25

light Samadi. But still,

1:27

it was an inner

1:29

state of well-being, of

1:32

unification, of being settled

1:34

and peaceful. And that

1:36

was nice for him,

1:38

until he was about

1:41

36. And then by that time

1:43

he had spent years practicing

1:45

as an ascetic, about six,

1:47

seven years. trying to find

1:49

a way to liberation in

1:51

the systems of India at

1:53

the time. And none of

1:55

it worked for him. And

1:57

so one day he was

1:59

sitting. and probably

2:01

because his tail end of

2:04

his ascetic period he was

2:06

probably looked pretty emaciated he

2:08

was kind of extreme ascetic

2:10

of sorts but he was

2:13

sitting meditating and he remembered

2:15

that experience from about 30

2:17

years before and and he

2:19

recognized that that experience was

2:22

onward leading that experience was

2:24

had the taste or flavors

2:26

of the liberation he was

2:28

looking for, that this, that

2:31

it was pointing to the

2:33

possibility onward to liberation in

2:35

a way that none of

2:37

his previous practices he did

2:40

and none of the, somehow

2:42

showed that to him. And

2:44

he got, I don't know

2:46

if he got excited, but

2:49

he got inspired that this

2:51

was the way to liberation.

2:53

and that this kind of

2:55

deep samadi, settled, quiet, peaceful,

2:58

was not to be feared,

3:00

not to be afraid of

3:02

that, this way of being.

3:04

So there was 36, he

3:07

remembered this experience, and that

3:09

was kind of his entry

3:11

away to that experience, to

3:13

kind of remembering that, maybe

3:16

he felt some of it

3:18

by memory, and so then

3:20

he started his path, and

3:22

he got into that state

3:25

again. And then from there,

3:27

Bill to Sammadi until he

3:29

got strong enough Sammadi that

3:31

he was in a good

3:33

state for his awakening. So

3:36

a childhood experience of well-being,

3:38

being settled, peaceful at home,

3:40

comfortable, probably not something you're

3:42

strong enough that some of

3:45

you, if you had something

3:47

like that as a kid,

3:49

occurred to you to tell

3:51

anyone. It's just some of

3:54

you maybe had something like

3:56

that as a kid in

3:58

the garden. I had under

4:00

the kitchen table. And I

4:03

put a white sheet over

4:05

it and made myself a

4:07

little tent and there was

4:09

beautiful sunlight would come in

4:12

there. I was so safe

4:14

in the kitchen. I think

4:16

my mom was cooking some

4:18

nice wonderful sounds around me

4:21

that helped me feel kind

4:23

of cozy. And I remember

4:25

feeling so peaceful, so at

4:27

ease, and it was a

4:30

feeling of probably purity or

4:32

a very clean state just

4:34

under the white sheet, the

4:36

white light coming in me

4:39

just being so cozy and

4:41

contented there. And so it

4:43

was an experience that he

4:45

had. Once he was enlightened,

4:48

the Buddha started teaching. And

4:50

they say, the way it's

4:52

classically taught in Buddhism, he

4:54

taught the Darma. And the

4:57

Darma is the closest thing,

4:59

closest word probably, that corresponds

5:01

to the English words, religion

5:03

or spirituality. So those are

5:06

Western terms that are relatively

5:08

complicated for some of us.

5:10

And some of us avoid

5:12

one more than the other,

5:15

or some of us are

5:17

happy to use it, and

5:19

not use it. You know,

5:21

it's a complicated words, the

5:24

whole word. But the comparable

5:26

word in India was Darma.

5:28

Darma. And the Darma has

5:30

many meanings, but has two

5:33

primary meanings. It means the

5:35

teachings of the Buddha. And

5:37

it means the experience that

5:39

he is pointing to, like

5:42

the experience he had as

5:44

a six-year-old, something very personal,

5:46

a personal process, a personal

5:48

experience, something to be experience

5:51

for yourself. And both those

5:53

terms for Darma are encapsulated

5:55

in a very famous, as

5:57

part of the liturgy, this

6:00

is chanted by monastics every

6:02

day, where they chant the

6:04

qualities, the characteristics of what

6:06

the Darma is. And begins

6:09

by saying, the Darma, well-taught,

6:11

well-spoken by the Buddha. is.

6:13

And so, and then they

6:15

describe the drama, the qualities,

6:17

characteristics of this thing called

6:20

Darma. And so in one

6:22

way, he's saying, the teachings

6:24

taught by the Buddha is

6:26

this way. But as you

6:29

hear these five characteristics, it's

6:31

not just his teachings, it's

6:33

the, the, the are to

6:35

have in doing this practice,

6:38

this is what this interconnection

6:40

is, the inner darma, this

6:42

experience is feeling we're supposed

6:44

to have. So you see

6:47

this play, it goes back

6:49

and forth these two meanings.

6:51

And what that represents for

6:53

me is that to whatever

6:56

degree Buddhism is a religion,

6:58

it's a religion that is

7:00

based on our own personal

7:02

experience. And so those five

7:05

characteristics are... The Darma is

7:07

here in the present moment.

7:09

The literal language of it

7:11

is it's visible here and

7:14

now. So visible, you know,

7:16

something you can experience sense

7:18

and feel for yourself. That

7:20

it's immediate. It's not something

7:23

you wait for in the

7:25

future. You'll get the rewards

7:27

in the sense. There's something

7:29

about the immediacy that we

7:32

can experience here and now.

7:34

It's like now. What there's

7:36

really about is not about

7:38

time. And then it is

7:41

onward leading. Meaning that there's

7:43

something about it that... that

7:45

kind of opens a door,

7:47

puts you on a trail,

7:50

puts you on a road

7:52

that's armored leading, or puts

7:54

you on a slide. There's

7:56

something there, there's a feeling,

7:59

there's something's opening for you

8:01

there, and here, coming. go

8:03

forward here. And then it

8:05

is, and then now they're

8:08

using a very colloquial expression

8:10

for the next characteristic that

8:12

literally says, hey, come and

8:14

see, come and see for

8:17

yourself. Usually people don't, they

8:19

translate a little bit more

8:21

sophisticatedly, they say inviting inspection.

8:23

The Darma invites inspection. So

8:26

this onward laying, this Darma,

8:28

come and look for yourself.

8:30

There's something about the nature

8:32

of this experience that is

8:35

kind of requesting or inviting

8:37

you. And if this Darma

8:39

is to be found in

8:41

yourself, then you can imagine

8:44

it's the heart's into what?

8:46

Whatever it is, the last

8:48

characteristic of the Darma is

8:50

that it's to be experienced

8:52

by the wise. And this

8:55

is a very nice way

8:57

of speaking about you. To

8:59

be experienced by the wise.

9:01

And no, it's actually more

9:04

detailed than that. It's to

9:06

be experienced personally. to be

9:08

personally experienced by the wise.

9:10

So there's very individuals, like

9:13

this is something you can

9:15

experience. And some things in

9:17

life you can only really

9:19

experience for yourself. You can't

9:22

ask someone else to do

9:24

it for you. And there's

9:26

something about the movement towards

9:28

spiritual freedom, inner freedom, freedom

9:31

of the heart. You can't

9:33

ask someone else to free

9:35

their hearts so you don't

9:37

have to. You know, that

9:40

doesn't, you know, I guess

9:42

it'd be nice for them.

9:44

It doesn't really do something

9:46

for you if you, you

9:49

know, you know, you know,

9:51

contract it out to someone

9:53

else to do it for

9:55

you. You know, the meditation

9:58

should really... really great. And

10:00

I'm going to take all

10:02

my money and I'm going

10:04

to get so great, I'm

10:07

going to pay 10 people

10:09

to meditate for me. So

10:11

I don't have to. You

10:13

know, it's ridiculous. You know,

10:16

there's no point. Meditation is

10:18

something you're supposed to be

10:20

experienced for yourself. So the

10:22

same thing with liberation. So

10:25

this personal experience. And so

10:27

as a seven-year-old, six-year-old, he

10:29

experienced something that inspired him

10:31

when he was older. And

10:33

what's called the word for

10:36

inspiration in the ancient language

10:38

means, literally means something like

10:40

to have a feeling for

10:42

the purpose or the meaning

10:44

or the goal. The word

10:46

is ahta in Pali. And

10:49

some of you know, Sanskrit,

10:51

it's artha. So it has

10:53

multiple meanings. But ahta-veda. which

10:55

I mean, to have a

10:57

feeling, and this Veda can

10:59

be inspired, be aroused,

11:02

but often it means

11:04

like a feeling, and

11:06

then, or knowing, a

11:08

deep knowing, and then

11:10

to be, have this

11:13

dumba Veda inspired in

11:15

the darma, this darma

11:17

feeling, this darma movement inside

11:20

the heart. And so this

11:22

kind of inner feeling that

11:24

we can have, and the

11:26

reason I'm giving this talk

11:29

today is because yesterday we

11:31

sat under the boater tree

11:33

here, meaning we had a

11:35

day-long retreat here, and it

11:38

was really nice to sit

11:40

here. We were about 45

11:42

people meditating. And I mean

11:44

really, ever since the pandemic,

11:47

people coming to these day-longs,

11:49

they seem to sit so

11:51

well. you know, there's quiet

11:53

and intent and there's very

11:55

sincere and dedicated. And during

11:57

this day long, I saw

12:00

I don't know, 16 people

12:02

for 15-minute meetings to talk

12:04

about their practice. And there

12:06

was something about every single

12:08

one of them. They had

12:10

a wide range of things

12:13

they wanted to talk about.

12:15

But every one of them

12:17

came with a certain kind

12:19

of sincerity. They were coming

12:21

to talk about something that

12:23

was important. And something about

12:26

them had gathered together in

12:28

some kind of, like they

12:30

were connected to something inside.

12:32

Some kind of things, this

12:34

is important. I'm here to

12:36

share something that's valuable for

12:39

me, even if what they

12:41

were talking about was their

12:43

suffering, their challenges in life.

12:45

It's like there was a

12:47

kind of a coming together.

12:49

And I was so inspired

12:52

by this, by some kind

12:54

of inner, something inside of

12:56

them that had gathered together

12:58

to engage in this, in

13:00

their process of the darma,

13:03

of practice, of spirituality, of

13:05

religion. And some of them

13:07

it was more clear the

13:09

nature of this gathering together.

13:11

And some of them clearly

13:13

had years of meditation practice

13:16

behind them. And it was

13:18

the years of practice somehow

13:20

that I could feel the

13:22

accumulated combination of their intentionality,

13:24

their sense of purpose, and

13:26

what they've been doing. And

13:29

for all these years, it

13:31

felt like they're here. They

13:33

might have had a mind

13:35

that was over activated and

13:37

felt like they weren't getting

13:39

concentrated, but I could feel

13:42

that there was something here,

13:44

and in some of them,

13:46

the best way I could

13:48

characterize it to myself, and

13:50

one of them to that

13:53

person, was, there was a

13:55

contemplative heart, contemplative nature inside

13:57

of them, that of a

13:59

contemplative. I think the person

14:01

got a little bit scared

14:03

because they associate that becoming

14:06

a monastic. But I'd be

14:08

sure. that's not what I

14:10

meant. But there's a kind

14:12

of a inner sensibility, a

14:14

kind of faith, a kind

14:16

of sense of being connected

14:19

to something that's really good,

14:21

onward leading, something that feels

14:23

certainly pleasant in a certain

14:25

way, but exactly how to

14:27

characterize it for any, maybe

14:29

it's very different for different

14:32

people. But something within that's

14:34

very peaceful. maybe or warm

14:36

or sense of this is

14:38

home or this is where

14:40

some kind of different quality

14:42

of joy or happiness well-being

14:45

exists that's very different than

14:47

the joy of winning the

14:49

California Lottery. That's maybe joyful

14:51

for a little while but

14:53

that's actually the end of

14:56

that day celebrating you're probably

14:58

exhausted and or crying. But

15:00

this deep peace, there is

15:02

something the Buddha called the

15:04

greatest happiness, this peace. So

15:06

some sense, some hint, some

15:09

feeling, quality for something inside

15:11

that's living there. And I've

15:13

had coming down here thinking

15:15

about this talk today, walking

15:17

down here. I was kind

15:19

of decided I would try

15:22

to remember the different times

15:24

in my life where I

15:26

experienced this kind of thing,

15:28

even before I started meditating.

15:30

And so, you know, I

15:32

described under the kitchen table.

15:35

I grew up on the

15:37

water, a lot next to

15:39

the water. I'm from Norway,

15:41

on the coast there. There's

15:43

sometimes being on the fjords

15:46

early early in the morning

15:48

with the water completely still

15:50

and quiet no wind. Somehow

15:52

that just was like that

15:54

under the under the rose

15:56

apple tree experience. The newer

15:59

that's where I was supposed

16:01

to. be. That's where it

16:03

was peaceful. That was things

16:05

helpful and complete and nothing

16:07

else had to happen. When

16:09

I was 10, there was

16:12

something that's happened on the

16:14

public bus coming home from

16:16

school. It was they had

16:18

a conductor. They had the

16:20

driver and the person who

16:22

sold the tickets back then.

16:25

It was in Italy. And

16:27

I discovered, I never thought about

16:30

at a time, I just kind

16:32

of did it by instinct, but

16:34

I discovered that if I sat

16:36

in certain seat, because I lived

16:38

at the end of the bus

16:41

line, if I sat at the

16:43

end of the seat, the conductor

16:45

would sit in front of me

16:47

and would take out his ledger

16:50

and record all the different tickets

16:52

he sold for that trip, you

16:54

know, around trip, one way. children,

16:56

old people, you know, whatever it

16:58

was. He had a whole bunch

17:01

and he had to keep a

17:03

log. And I would sit over

17:05

him, look over his shoulder and

17:07

watch him with his pencil and

17:09

his doing his numbers, whatever he

17:12

did. And I would just start

17:14

feeling so good. I just felt,

17:16

ah. And I wasn't thinking about

17:18

it. I wasn't like grabbing it

17:20

or wanting more of it. It's

17:23

just like, I knew I should

17:25

do this. And then when I

17:27

stopped going on the bus, it

17:29

never occurred to me to want

17:32

that again. It was just almost

17:34

like instinctual, it was like the

17:36

sun rises in the morning. I

17:38

would just go sit there and

17:40

have this good feeling. Years later

17:43

when I started meditating, so oh,

17:45

that's what I was experiencing. That

17:47

was a wonderful feeling for me

17:49

of being at peace, being at

17:51

ease, being in myself comfortable. Even

17:54

though my life around me was

17:56

quite... You know, you know, I

17:58

moved around a lot when I

18:00

was growing up and I was

18:03

in a new city, new language,

18:05

new country. didn't know anybody and

18:07

got a bus where I don't

18:09

know you know but so it

18:11

was you know it's in some

18:14

ways a challenging time but but

18:16

that bus ride was a refuge

18:18

for me and and so and

18:20

then I kind of had begun

18:22

meditating but then I stopped when

18:25

I lived with my friends on

18:27

their farm and because I was

18:29

living there for a while they

18:31

decided they could take a difficult

18:34

to acquire vacation because they had

18:36

these cows had to be milked

18:38

every day. So now I could

18:40

do it. Feed them, feed them,

18:42

milk them. And so I was

18:45

left alone for the first time

18:47

in my life for five days

18:49

and didn't see anyone really for

18:51

the talk to anyone for those

18:53

seven days a week. And again

18:56

I had this feeling that welled

18:58

up being alone that a long

19:00

time in a beautiful Norwegian. kind

19:02

of rural place with these wonderful

19:05

girlfriends that I had, that I

19:07

loved so much and caring for

19:09

them. And so this wonderful feeling

19:11

grew up with, this time also

19:13

with a tremendous clarity of mind.

19:16

Like, wasn't that I stopped thinking,

19:18

but I started seeing every thought

19:20

like a diamond. It was so

19:22

like, no matter how bad the

19:24

thought was, it was like, wow.

19:27

And that also was something I

19:29

started, oh, in meditation later, I

19:31

started, oh, that was kind of

19:33

a state, meditation. Often people can

19:36

have on retreat. And, but this

19:38

was so important, that experience, well,

19:40

when my friends came back, I

19:42

lost it when it disappeared. But

19:44

it was so important for me

19:47

that this was really something to

19:49

guide a life with. This is,

19:51

this I have faith in. This

19:53

is something I'm inspired by. So

19:55

I had this. and darma feelings,

19:58

darma inspiration around this experience. And

20:01

so then I became my dedication

20:03

to figure out how to answer

20:05

this question. And the question was,

20:08

how can I be alone with

20:10

others? I didn't want to be

20:12

a hermit, because that's why I

20:14

was alone for this week. But

20:17

I wanted to have this experience.

20:19

It felt like this is how

20:21

to be alive. And maybe it's

20:23

a strange expression for some people

20:25

to hear you, wanting to be

20:27

alone with others. But there was

20:30

a best way of 20 that

20:32

I could somehow understand what I

20:34

was trying to do. I wanted

20:36

to be with people, connected to

20:38

people involved in the world, but

20:40

I wanted also to become from

20:43

that place, that clarity in that

20:45

peace inside. So this was an

20:47

example of an onward leading in

20:49

the present moment. It was timeless.

20:52

It was be experienced by someone

20:54

who was attempting to be wise

20:56

on his way. And so all

20:59

these things were behind me. to

21:01

get interested in Buddhism, Buddhist practice,

21:03

meditation. It was there as a

21:06

kind of a reference point or

21:08

a guide. And so, and then

21:11

as we practice this kind of

21:13

inner feeling of what the Darmai

21:15

is, what this religious

21:17

experience, this contemplative experience,

21:19

this spiritual experience, this

21:21

kind of, can start

21:23

becoming a clearer reference.

21:25

in a clear sense,

21:27

oh this is important,

21:30

this is valuable, and

21:32

how do I allow

21:34

this to grow in my life

21:36

and develop in flower, rather

21:38

than just have it be

21:40

something I occasionally touch in

21:42

in meditation or occasionally touch

21:44

in with by going on

21:46

retreat, how can we, how

21:48

do you live from this

21:50

deeper sensitivity, this deeper feeling,

21:52

this deeper kind of peace

21:54

that's possible? And each person,

21:56

each of you, will have

21:58

a different way. describing it.

22:00

There's a lot of different

22:03

ways. So I don't want

22:05

to use my words and

22:07

get you believe you're supposed

22:09

to have it like me.

22:12

But to have this this

22:14

this a darma feeling, this

22:16

darma sensibility, this darma, this

22:18

inspiration, and And sometimes the

22:21

Buddha was explicit that it

22:23

can come from a variety

22:25

of things that can come

22:27

from. All of them are

22:30

considered part of, pardon, parcel

22:32

of Buddhist practice. It can

22:34

come from living ethically. And

22:36

there's something about ethical integrity

22:39

that can touch into this

22:41

place. that you feel. It

22:43

isn't just like you're making

22:45

ethical choices through your life,

22:48

but there's a feeling that

22:50

ethics is arising out of

22:52

some kind of deeper feeling

22:54

of what it's like to

22:57

have a certain kind of

22:59

ethical integrity. The Buddha said

23:01

it can come out of

23:03

generosity. There's a way of

23:06

being generous, of being magnanimous,

23:08

being open-handed to people and

23:10

to others and to the

23:12

world. rather than miserly or

23:15

clinging or hoarding, that just

23:17

kind of something, but there's

23:19

a movement of freedom in

23:21

opening your hand and giving

23:24

away. And that in that,

23:26

and done well, also can

23:28

give a person someone that

23:30

darma feeling, that feeling for

23:33

what the goal is. And

23:35

you can maybe feel a

23:37

little bit more like that

23:39

for generosity, because generosity is

23:42

a liberation of things. It

23:44

is a letting go of

23:46

something. So it's a kind

23:48

of precursor of the deep

23:51

letting go that liberation is.

23:53

And then in the letting

23:55

go. that we begin experiencing

23:57

at some point, a very

24:00

special point arises, where the

24:02

letting go that we do,

24:04

that we experience for ourselves,

24:06

gives birth, gives rise to

24:09

a real clear feeling of

24:11

the goodness of letting go,

24:13

the peace, the warmth, the

24:15

happiness of letting go, the

24:18

heart not being clenched or...

24:20

contracted or hard or crusted

24:22

over or armored or something.

24:24

And the real feel, oh

24:27

look at this, this is

24:29

good. It might be, in

24:31

one metaphor that Buddha used

24:33

was a open path in

24:35

an overgrown jungle. Have you

24:38

ever tried to go through

24:40

an overgrown jungle with there's

24:42

no path? It can go

24:44

slow going. You finally find

24:47

the path, you're even lost,

24:49

you know, where's that path?

24:51

And you're lost and you're

24:53

going around, I've done that

24:56

and ended up all scratched

24:58

up in bloody. Because it

25:00

was so dense. And then

25:02

finally the open path is

25:05

there and it just feels

25:07

like now I'm sailing through.

25:09

It just feels so good.

25:11

I know where I'm going,

25:14

I'm finally safe, I'm heading

25:16

home or something wherever. But

25:18

now there's, you know, it's

25:20

unencumbered to go that way.

25:23

So to have that feeling

25:25

in your heart. And to

25:27

have it so clear that

25:29

that represents this Darma feeling,

25:32

feeling for the Darma or

25:34

this inspiration, this contemplative feeling,

25:36

this spiritual feeling that we

25:38

have in Buddhism, it's a

25:41

little bit hard for people

25:43

coming out of Western religions

25:45

to understand this can be

25:47

a form of religious experience.

25:50

And if so much of

25:52

the religious experiences around a

25:54

relationship to a deity or

25:56

a deity or some... something

25:59

that's outside of you. But

26:01

it might be very comparable.

26:03

kind of deep experience. It

26:05

just has a different kind

26:08

of object of where it's

26:10

directed. And here in the

26:12

darmai, it's directed to an

26:14

experience we're having that then

26:17

grows and inspires us. And

26:19

the reason, one of the

26:21

reasons why this inspiration is

26:23

so good is that for

26:26

the Buddha, when we kind

26:28

of really get a feel

26:30

for it, it gives rise

26:32

to joy. It doesn't take

26:35

us away from the present

26:37

moment, puts us into the

26:39

present more fully. And so

26:41

it supports the practice of

26:44

mindful presence, being really here.

26:46

And it's a joy that

26:48

begins sitting in motion, this

26:50

onward leading nature of a

26:53

certain way, a joy that

26:55

leads to happiness. A happiness

26:57

that leads to a peace.

26:59

No, it's a gladness that

27:02

leads to joy. A joy

27:04

that leads to tranquility. A

27:06

tranquility leads to happiness. And

27:08

a happiness that leads to

27:11

a deep version of this

27:13

Samari. A deep, deep version

27:15

of this feeling of being

27:17

under the rose apple tree.

27:20

And so... It

27:22

was nice yesterday being here

27:24

and feeling that there were

27:26

people who had were expressing

27:28

in their how they were

27:30

sitting how they were talking

27:32

You could feel that there

27:34

are kind of sense of

27:37

very wonderful sense of purpose

27:39

that they had for some

27:41

of them it came from

27:43

Having something in there that

27:45

saying this is the path.

27:47

This is what they're doing.

27:49

They'd practice long enough. You

27:51

could see that there was

27:54

this wonderful way in which

27:56

They were giving the practice

27:58

a chance, meditation practice a

28:00

chance, to really change them

28:02

and open them and reshape

28:04

themselves. in some kind of

28:06

profound way, because of how

28:09

much they sat and what

28:11

they dedicated to and what

28:13

they're allowing to grow and

28:15

see coming. And so I

28:17

was inspired, and my hope

28:19

was to share that inspiration

28:21

with you coming here today.

28:23

So maybe you have a

28:26

contemplative heart. I think everyone

28:28

does, but maybe we shouldn't

28:30

you. Maybe there's a better

28:32

word for you than contemplative

28:34

heart. Maybe you have a

28:36

practice heart, a practice orientation,

28:38

maybe you have a, a,

28:40

a, not a liberated heart,

28:43

but maybe you have a

28:45

liberating heart, a heart that

28:47

wants to be liberated. Maybe,

28:49

it, maybe you like prefer

28:51

the word love. Maybe you

28:53

have a love, a loving

28:55

heart, and your feeling of

28:57

what love is, it's love

29:00

that needs nothing that's so

29:02

deep. Maybe that's the experience

29:04

we're talking about here for

29:06

you. So maybe also, this

29:08

is a nice talk before

29:10

we celebrate the Buddha's birthday

29:12

next week. Is he celebrating

29:14

his birthday? He's in light.