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

Please visit our website at audioderma.org. So good morning everyone and welcome.

And the announcement before I give the talk is that I'll be away, then three weeks of which are teaching retreat

in the wilderness, and then week camping with my wife.

And I think the whole thing will be a bit of a vacation as well.

And some wonderful IMC teachers who will be teaching while I'm away

and now you'll be in good hands here at this YouTube channel. So, um, so this week I'm kind of basing the teachings on the Udai Sutai Suta and I'll read it as I have every morning.

It's not easy, Ananda, to teach the dama to others. The dama should be taught to others when five qualities

are established within oneself. Which five? The dama should be taught to others

thinking I will speak step by step. I will teach progressively. Damma should be taught to others thinking I will speak for practical reasons.

I will speak providing instructions in how to become free of suffering.

The dama should be taught to others thinking, I will speak grounded in kindness.

The dama should be taught to others thinking,

I will not speak for material reward.

The dama should be taught to others thinking,

I will speak without wounding myself or others.

So it's not easy to teach the damba to others.

And I suppose that's partly because these things are not easy to do.

And, or it's easy to overlook the simplicity of these ideas for other purposes in teaching.

And as I've been doing this week, these wonderful qualities are also very useful for those

of us who are not teaching, but when we're just speaking.

And I will speak step by step, is the first one in the Suta, but the last one for this week.

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