Just to say that tonight's formats are a little different, I'll be doing what we sometimes

call a darmat, which is like a little mini darmatok, it's shorter, and then opening the evening

to any of your questions you might have on meditation practice, formal practice, and daily

life, and just out of curiosity, how many of you came here tonight with an idea of a question

you wanted to ask? Can I just see so I get a sense of what's in the room? Wow, overwhelming,

maybe I'll do more than a darmat, just keep talking. Well, I'm going to hope that as I speak

and as you reflect that you may have some questions, I actually got one sent to me that's a good one.

Maybe to start with one of my favorite stories that I think informs us about practice real well,

share, and this is took place in northern India, Buddhist monk lived some centuries ago,

known as a brother of mercy, and he was a healer who could be with people and touch their hearts in

a way that allowed them to heal their sorrow. So he really held a space of compassion, did it for decades,

and found he was getting exhausted and dispirited, and he heard about a very great teacher who lived

hundreds of miles to the south, an older woman whose reputation had spread far and wide, and she

was a Buddhist nun, and she was known for her directive healing style in her way of strengthening

the capacity of people to see into the nature of reality. So he was very drawn to this and

decided he needed her wisdom. So he set off across the country in barefoot, vowed to walk all the way

to where she taught and meet with her, got halfway one night into his journey and found a shelter

in a temple where Pelcom stay and there he encountered an old nun and told her his story how he had

spent his life trying to help but had become exhausted, lost inspiration, and sympathetic with the

situation the old woman offers to guide him to the residents of this great teacher. So they arrive

at the edge of a bustling village and are warmly received and it turns out that the old nun had

been none other than the much loved teacher he had been seeking out. And over the years she taught

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