Kopan Course No. 33 (2000): Audio and Unedited Transcripts, Continued

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Kopan Monastery, Nepal. (Archive #1257)

The following are excerpts of the teachings given by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche at the Thirty-third Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2000. Included is an oral transmission of the Medicine Buddha mantra and portions of the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

Lectures 6-10 are below; the first five lectures can be found here. You can also read the entire lightly edited transcript here.

Day 10: Practice Mindfulness, Oral Transmission Continued, Advice for Daily Practice

...so each of us is like that, total hallucination. So the third day, practise of mindfulness, how all this hallucination. When you think of all this hallucination, mindfulness, stay the mind a little, while, as much as you can, looking as hallucination, that which is hallucination. So when you think of that the understanding what comes into the mind is “empty,” mind is empty, I is empty, aggregates are empty, everything is empty, body is empty, mind is empty. That feeling, that understanding should come, you know they are hallucinations.

Then next day you do more on the external form, sound, smell, looking at them, then meditate a little bit…do that, then have hallucination, appearing that way, after your mind merely imputed. So then you stay rest of day as much as one can practise that. Morning you begin, like this rest of the day. When you meet friend, while you are talking to friend, you meditate like that; when you are talking to enemy, when you meet enemy, you practise mindfulness like this. When you go shopping, when you go to market you meditate like that. When you go for shopping in department store, supermarket, meditate like this. From your house you plan, when you go in car you meditate like this, when you enter shop, when you are going through the steps the how is it? Escalator you think like that. When you are in the shop there are so many bright objects, billions of things, make-up things, cosmetics, there are billions of cosmetics, anyway in the shop meditate on this, you walk around meditating this, looking at your false view of hallucination, by meditating, practising mindfulness - looking at hallucination, yourself, people, shop all these things like that. So it is really fantastic meditation, doesn't have to be only sitting on the cushion, sitting like this, you can do very effective meditation in the market or when you go sight seeing.

For example, now since you are in Nepal, when you go to India in train stations, there are people fighting, quarrelling, all things happening in the train. However all this is like dream. So meditate mindfulness, looking at the hallucination as hallucination, projected from your imprint on the merely labelled phenomenon.

Good while you are eating food, practising mindfulness all this is hallucination of real I, real action, eating real food, real in the sense of appearing from it's own side, but it's not there, exists nowhere, by analysing. The eater, eating action and the food exist, but what appears as something real from its own side cannot find anywhere. Other one can be found, not on the base, but it exists, it can be found but this real eater, real I, eating, real action eating, real food appearing from there, real TV appearing from there - this, if you analyse, this in reality cannot be found anywhere so empty, it doesn't exist. So anyway practise mindfulness while eating.

Same, while you are doing job, also mindfulness on this, all, everything is hallucination. While you are talking to people, clients, all this what appears real from it's own side is totally non existent from its own side. So anyway, practise of mindfulness, hallucination, that they are hallucination, which are hallucination, like that. Whether you are in hospital, whether you are in school, factory, do this as much as possible.

When you do this it helps so much to not arise ignorant thoughts. When you think this it slowly cuts down and makes your life stable, stability, peace, happiness, contentment, so much benefit so much benefit. It doesn't also allow to strong ego because everything you look at empty so strong selfish mind doesn't happen, pride or these things, so anyway same thing.

Even with your family practise mindfulness like this. Like dream, that you have family, same as the dream, same as your dream, you are seeing whole family in the dream, like that, exactly same. Already inherently existent, you are not sleeping but, you don't sleep, this, but already inherently existent which is not there. So in the dream everything appears real, friend, having babies, having cars, having all this is something real – it is not there, not true so its very good helps very much in your life attachment, painful minds of attachment and anger, it helps for everything. So like this you see very good fantastic, so powerful meditation.

If you can do that it is so enjoyable. Constantly you are watching your own TV, TV of your mind, watching your hallucination. It's very, very interesting and even other people criticise you, if you are meditating, in state of meditation, if there is anger it doesn't effect you, if people criticising you, talking bad about you, even somebody praises so much, your mind has stability, not ups and down, excited, so depressed… so peaceful, your mind is so peaceful, somebody criticise, somebody praise whatever so like that. So anyway the lam-rim meditation how to integrate with life, especially emptiness, how to integrate in the life, how to integrate with your working life is like that.

Then next one, now I make short. Next one, now third one, is the Buddha, numberless buddhas, what they see is this real I appearing from there is totally nonexistence. Numberless buddhas, higher bodhisattvas, they see it is totally non existent. I believe it is there but the numberless buddhas, omniscient ones, numberless bodhisattvas see this is totally non existent. I believe this is real but they… same aggregates, these aggregates in my view real one appearing from there, but all the numberless buddhas, bodhisattvas… but main thing here meditation, what they see, you meditate in the view of what they see, totally non existent, so mainly meditating on how they see, so like that. Then next day form, external phenomena.

As far as emptiness… so you see whatever problem happens to you, having cancer, any disaster that happens to you, you think this way. It is like dream, problems, you encounter some problems become like dream, you encounter problems in the dream, like that. When you do this in everyday life, constantly what is happening is that you are destroying the root of samsara, your enemy, the root of samsara, you are cutting, so that is the main purpose, cutting the root of your suffering, liberating yourself from samsara, continuously, everyday life when you do this mindfulness, making preparation yourself to liberate other sentient beings, that is the purpose.

Then bodhicitta, how to live daily life, how to integrate daily life with bodhicitta, I explained already before. One day exchanging oneself for others, one day sevenfold technique Mahayana cause and effect. So after emptiness, short meditation emptiness, whatever, depending on your time, then after that bodhicitta. So you meditate emptiness then you plan how I am going to practise today, then bodhicitta, chant, Om Mani Padme Hum and attitude for life, then you plan this how I am going to live my life from now on, today, then practise like that. So the two legs to go to enlightenment.

Then you must study the Liberation in the Palm that is most elaborate one now. You do the short meditation like Guru Yoga, like the Buddha Shakyamuni Buddha or you do Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, one of the guru yogas that has preliminary practises. Then if you are not familiar with the lam-rim teachings, the text, something like Liberation in the Palm you read a little bit today relating to your life, that becomes meditation. Anytime you relate it to yourself it becomes meditation. Then whatever is not finished do tomorrow, whatever is not finished then day after tomorrow - generally like that, after you have finished the direct meditation, lam-rim prayer do that.

Between the bodhicitta attitude of life, before you begin practice it is very good to do prostration by reciting Thirty-five Buddhas names. If you haven't memorised you make tape, you play a tape and you stand, you meditate at the same time, then do prostration, because reciting the prostration collects skies of merits, unbelievable and then reciting names, each buddha it purifies many, many eons negative karma, the different negative karmas. So therefore if you don't recite you lose unbelievable opportunity of purification so its very important you yourself recite, it is not enough somebody else recite, you should recite verbally.

If possible then you should recite… you see you go for refuge to Guru, keep on reciting that until you put your head on the ground then you change to the next, “I go for refuge to Dharma” so like that, you do prostration like that, you finish the last name of the Buddha, the poss----- ceremony of Buddha after that, then you come back again, do another one, finish, come back again and do another one - about 115 prostrations you have done, you don't need to count the prostration itself just the combined - this gives you idea of 115 prostrations, it becomes like that.

Each day, if can do that sort of daily practise that is unbelievable, excellent - that can be, I am not saying everybody should do, but if that can be, but however should do some, at least even once, its extremely good for realisations, the main thing. Then by the way it takes care of good rebirth in the life, and for whatever success in this life, it takes care.

Then if possible do the lam-rim read, lam-rim like this two or three times, it makes everything very clear, brings very close your feeling of the lam-rim, that is very good. Then either after that or along with that you can also do… so the practice, enough(?) to have realizations, either with that or after. However, daily practise guru devotion fifteen minutes or twenty minutes or half hour whatever, every day something on guru devotion until you have realization, until you see all the Buddhas are Guru, every guru is all the Buddhas, very stable realisation that lasts long time, not just few days, few hours, last long time, very stable.

Then you should continue, no matter how many years it takes, on the basis of that the first part of lam-rim, gradual path of the lower capable being, from perfect rebirth up to karma, mostly on impermanence and death because when you have that realization it helps to have good realisation of all others, so that is the key, that is the most important among those. That is quick way to have realisations of first lam-rim path. Then something on that, like that, because here you have to go step by step.

Then if one can on that there is also emptiness to meditate. Then on top of that if one… to do some meditation on this and then on top of that if one can, there is shamatha, calm abiding. If you able to make time for, however, to try six months or one year, to try. Anyway Rene he did meditation on that so can discuss on that, can share the experiences, whatever, you see he tried for some time, so the experience, how to do.

Anyway, then those who are practising tantra… on top of that there is tantra, generation stage. If you are practising tantra, then lam-rim, you put main effort, you put your main effort in lam-rim because if you don't have realisation of Three Principle Paths, guru devotion, you put your main effort lam-rim then as a second effort, tantra. Otherwise, if you make your main effort tantra and no lam-rim, then you cannot achieve complete tantra realisations. So what makes tantra very tasty, very rich is by lam-rim, like the ice cream by the cream like that. Anyway that's the tantra path to achieve enlightenment quickly so you can liberate bring sentient beings quickly like that.

Then eight Mahayana precepts, another very important thing to make your life so meaningful is the eight Mahayana precepts. On the special days in each month fifteen and eighth and thirtieth you can, the Tibetan calendar, there are many calendars you can do that, more merit collect those days especially the day of the Buddha, or when sun or moon eclipse - more merit. Then also any other times, whenever you think you can, good to take eight Mahayana precepts at your own house in front of altar or even if you don't have alter, by visualising you can take, so like that. This is for one day so it makes very easy. Of course if you have lay vows for life time, that is good. So here I am talking how to make the life, how to practise, how to make the life most beneficial.

Then the very basic thing is a kind heart, most important, very basic thing, to live the life, kind heart. Whether you do all those practises or not, whether you are able to do all those practises or not, whether you are able to meditate lam-rim every day or not, however even though you can't do that, kind heart everyday life, to live the life kind heart, as much as possible stop giving harming others and benefit as much as possible that is the very basic practise of Dharma. I think that is it.

Then each year to do some retreat either preliminary with the lam-rim or deity's retreat with the lam-rim each year to do some retreat.

(Tibetan chanting)

So thank you very much. So anyway even I see you, that is the advice, even I don't see you.