The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

Please visit our website at adioderma.org.

So there are a lot of lists in Buddhism, and they're really so profound and sometimes kind of marvel at the genius of how the different factors fit together and work for our growing wisdom and compassion.

And there are lots of kind of spiritual factors that don't show up on the list.

And I kind of made up a list a couple years ago and now kind of rethought it a little bit,

and revised. And so the theme this week is like basically my fake list. You know, Matthew from California's fake list, not seven factors

of awakening or five jonic factors or something. It's just, but things that have been meaningful

to me on my path and offer for whatever it's worth.

So I was talking to a yogi after a retreat, and they said something like, you know, I'm suspicious of,

I kind of asked, like, how was the retreat or something like that?

You know, was I a little too playful or something, you know, because I remember trying to be

relaxed, you know? And they said, like, no, I'm suspicious of teachers who lack a sense of humor.

The lack of humor usually means they haven't reached deep into the mystery.

That's what they said.

And it sort of stuck with me.

Because for a long time, I thought Dharma practice was serious business.

And Dharma teaching, that's even more serious right hmm but I'll I'll tell you how I got my nickname, Captain Buzzkell.

It was awarded to me by my brother and a younger brother.

And I have a lot of joy in my life, but not much excitement.

Not because I'm like trying to be all Buddhist and be present and, you know, trying to, like, be in the most, it's not like that. Some of his temperamental, some of it's probably practice.

A lot of joy when things come, but not look so much looking forward. And my younger brother lives on excitement, kind of, you know, and looking forward to things. And he was telling me

something he was excited about. And I, you know, I was kind of just misattuned,

...