Teachings from Guadalajara: Days 1 - 4 (Audio and Unedited Transcript)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Guadalajara, Mexico, 2008 (Archive #1700)

Days 1-4 of an eight-day series of lam-rim teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Guadalajara, Mexico, in April, 2008.  You can listen to days 5-8 here.

You can also read an edited version of this series here, and listen online to the public talk that Rinpoche gave prior to this series.

Day 3: How Things Come From the Mind, Part 1

So, so basically, whatever we see, whatever we hear, whatever we smell, whatever we smell, whatever we taste, touch, tangible object, all these, all these sense objects or, I think it’s, came from our mind, how we see, the view, what kind of view you have, when you see the object of form, smell, taste, tangible objects, all these, how you see, how you find, how you see, all these are view of your mind, your senses, so, it’s all a creation of your own mind, and this meditation is extremely important, unbelievably important, this mindfulness, mindfulness in this is the most important, and, and it’s extremely beneficial to see the ultimate nature of the, truth, ultimate nature of the phenomena, extremely beneficial for that. So, this, to do this meditation, this awareness is extremely essential, extremely important, the awareness in this, all came from your mind, all these are a view of your mind, came from your mind. So, now, so I’m going to mention to you, there’s two ways: one is right now, whatever you see, how you see the forms, smells, sounds, tangible objects, all these sense objects, so, because you see, depending on, bad and good, bad and good what you see now, bad and good, forms, smells, the sight, the sense of eye, this eye, not this I. I don’t know where the I is but, so, this eye, here’s a very important point, I want to explain this story.

So when I came the first time to Mexico, the very first time to Mexico, so, I gave a teaching, I don’t know anybody here who organized that course, I’m not sure anybody is here, I’m not sure here. So, there’s one professor, from the university, I don’t know his name, he invited His Holiness, I think he is the one who organized to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Mexico, the first time in Mexico, then I came after that. He wanted me to introduce His Holiness for the Mexican people, but I said Geshe Sopa Rinpoche would be better. So Geshe Sopa Rinpoche came, I think that might be the first time coming to Mexico, invited, _______ His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the people in Mexico. Then I came after that, after His Holiness left. So one lady, one girl whom I met in Nepal or Dharamsala, Tushita Dharamsala. There were, I think, two, one or two persons who lived in Dharamsala I think, for a few months. So the professor invited me, so there was a teaching, three days or two days of teachings in Japanese, I think Japanese shrine room, I think, so, it’s from there, here, from there to here, from there to here, this size, the hall, what I remember. So then, the translator was, the first night the translator was one old man and woman, I don’t remember their names, sorry. So I think they had one Tibetan monk for one year lived at their house, who they invited from Nepal, so one Gelugpa monastery. So, and then, yeah, I think because, yeah because they have been receiving teachings or initiations from this monk, so, I think, the group, I guess, maybe they thought that the couple, the old man and woman, were, more Dharma knowledge, so they translated the first night. So I was talking about the I, I was talking about the self, self, of course, if I had said self, then there wouldn’t be this, they wouldn’t get misunderstand this eye, but I didn’t use the self so I guess used I. So I think, so, this eye is still the same pronunciation, there’s no different pronunciation for this eye and the I, the self, I and the eye, the two eyes to see, so I mean, the pronunciation is the same. So, the old man and woman, they were my translators, so, I mean very generous, they did translation and they invited the monk, to be there for I think, one year or something, the monk didn’t stay, he went to Los Angeles, I think he did it by himself. So, anyway, that, he left here, went to Los Angeles, I think, I didn’t see but I heard they were selling hotdogs on the road, hotdogs, something like that , anyway.

So, so I think I was talking the self, the I, so I think the first night didn’t say anything, the second night then, I don’t remember the first night or second night, so then, one lady from the audience who came to Nepal just for a short time, whom I knew, so she corrected, she’s in the audience, so she corrected to them, it’s not this eye, this I, the self. So then they translated, all those times, I think, like this, the eye. So anyway, so I just remembered. So I thought it’s a story from Mexico, so I thought I must tell. [GL, RL]. So, I think maybe the, I don’t remember, corrected to them, maybe the second night or the first night at the end, I don’t remember, then, the third, the second, third, maybe the translator is, I think the translator is the girl who corrected, I think, maybe she translated, I think.

As long as the audience didn’t think they have to go to the hospital to operate the eye, then it’s okay. To go to hospital to operate the eye, so that you can so that you can see, when you look at the things, you see the conventional nature, how they are in the nature of impermanence, all the things , and then you see the ultimate nature, how they are empty, then you don’t have to meditate, you don’t need to meditate, you just go to the hospital. Then just ask the doctor, just go to the hospital ask the doctor and get in, you have to check ?maybe get enlightened, come back to home enlightened . So, anyway, so there’s two, so since, I mean since I came to this point, so I think, anyway, so, how everything created by the mind, okay, so there’s two ways to, how it came from the, created by mind, came from the mind, so there’s two ways to understand. One is the, how you see the things: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, that, created by your present mind, concept, that’s the first, that’s the first to understand. And the other one, how things came from the mind, created by mind. The second one is that’s the, that is the, that is something that was done before, a long time ago, okay? So there’s two ways to discover, to meditate, to discover.

So the, so, by seeing the base, then your mind creates the label, the immediate creation of the mind, how your mind creates. By seeing the base, then you create, your mind creates the label, okay? So, if you put a negative label, then you see negative. If you put, if you create a negative label, by seeing the base if you create a negative label, unpleasant or impure, then, with the belief, you did this with the belief, then when it appears back, it appears back according, it appears back impure, or bad, because you labeled bad, not bat, the animal bat, not the, having mouse face, then, I don’t want you to misunderstand, like the I, bad, bad, so, so not that bat. Bad or bat. The same, same word, huh, b, a, d, bad, and the other one, the animal? Bat, same, huh, same right? Or different? How do you say? [Students: Different.] No, how do you say? [Ven. Paloma: B, a, t, bat; b, a, d, bad.] Bat and bad. Bat is bad. Bat and butt. Butt is the animal? [Student: Animal is the bat.] Bat. Okay. Then what about the other one? Bat, bad, and butt . So bat, the longer one is not the nice one, right, is that right? Butt, ?made with a d? [Student: T.] T is the animal. The d? How you say the d? [Student: Bad.] Bad. The animal? [Students: Bat.] Bat. So, yeah, so if you see, by seeing the base, if your mind put negative label, bad, ugly, whatever, then, with the belief, if you don’t have belief, if you don’t do it with belief, then you don’t see bad, it doesn’t appear to you bad, it doesn’t appear bad, and then, it doesn’t appear you bad, and you don’t see bad, okay? It doesn’t appear bad, as it is bad, and you don’t see it as bad, okay? I’m talking about the bad, ugly. So, the last thing is you don’t see as, you don’t see it as bad, butt, bat . English, British is bad? English? B, a, d, bad, huh? [Student: B A D.] B A D, how do you say? [Student: Bad.] Baaad. Baaad. It has quite a tune inside. Baaad. Okay, anyway, so, oh, so I have to….. So my earring dropped. So it’s very important, that to, what I’ve just said now, very important to, in our everyday life to be aware, to meditate, to be conscientious, to be mindful, not only when you sit on the, in your meditation room or cushion, not only that. While you are walking, doing job, any time, any time, it’s extremely, then especially when you are having problems in your life, especially when you are having relationship problems, problems in the office, whether you are at home or whether you are outside, so, very, especially, where it’s so helpful, that this becomes so, so helpful to, like, to remove your mental sicknesses, mental disease, mental sicknesses, thinking this is bad, thinking this is bad, this and that bad, so you see, there’s so many bad, it make your life full of bad, instead of good, then make everything bad. So, anyway, this is bad, that’s bad, what you hear, what you see, so, anyway, then you make your life, all the appearances bad. Whatever appears to you, everything bad, it made everything negative, everything become undesirable. You made everything disturbing to your mind, what you see, what you hear, everything, disturbing to your mind.

So then you get, so the more you do that, you get your lung, lung, I’m not sure, only those who have been, maybe elder students, maybe, they know more the lung, but newer, I’m not sure. So, anyway, the lung, it’s called wind disease, so then can also arises, so, the more you have, the more you use your mind to instead of putting positive label, looking at everything good, then looking everything bad, this is bad, this is bad; this person is bad, this person is, the way of talking bad, so, way of thinking bad, or so many things. Then, the more you think that, the more you do that, then the wind disease, lung, then get also, develop more and more, so instead of developing more and more realizations, instead of getting more and more positive experience, realizations, then, get more and more lung. And then same, same also when one works at the Dharma center, same. So, [long pause] anyway, maybe I begin with this. So, in Tibet, two disciples came from very far to the monastery, came from very far, from their home, I think, probably maybe months on foot, came to the monastery. So their teacher served cold tea, gave cold tea. So one student thought, “Oh, the teacher is so kind, so precious, so kind, he purposely made the tea cold for us. We came on foot, so long and so tired, so he made the tea purposely cold for us, so kind.” He was appreciating, kindness, he was appreciating so much, so happy, so happy, appreciating so much, thinking of the kindness of the teacher. So happy, very deep appreciation, feeling the kindness of the teacher. The other disciple, the other disciple thought, “Oh, we came from very far, so tired, the teacher didn’t give us even hot tea,” he got so angry, so he got angry, got so angry, the teacher, so he thought so bad, that didn’t give us hot tea.

So, one, so the first one, the second one, cold, it’s cold tea but he gave the label, bad, that’s bad, he put a negative label, bad. So then of course, with the belief, with the belief he did that, but if there’s no belief, that, you don’t see that’s, it doesn’t appear bad, as it is bad, and you don’t see it’s bad. So, then you don’t, you don’t get angry, so all that thing doesn’t happen, creating negative karma, I mean that’s the heaviest negative karma. Among negative karmas that’s the heaviest negative karma, so, with the most powerful holy object, so the, [RL, so I guess, since I mentioned the most powerful, then I need to explain that. So why it’s the most powerful? Explained in the teachings like this, most powerful, because the, from whom received teachings, Dharma connection, with whom you have received Dharma connection, you are disciple and that’s the guru, with this recognition, you are disciple, the other person is guru, then you receive Dharma connection, receive teachings, so that person is the guru, so that, because of that.

It’s mentioned in the teachings that, so first, first powerful, first powerful person in your life, it means to gradually start, to the guru, is the father and mother, your, this present father, mother, they are more powerful object than the outside people, the other families, other family members, outside people, who gave you this body, your precious human body, they are more powerful than the family members or outside people. So, with the parents, because they are powerful objects, so, with the very small disrespect, harm, criticize or small beating, small beating or small criticism or hurting with the words, small disrespect, however, become heavy negative karma, because it’s heavy, you see the suffering result in this life, it initiates in this life. Then, so many lifetimes, as I mentioned yesterday, karma is expandable, and now here talking about the powerful object, so you experience, I mean, the suffering in the lower realms, and then even in the human being, due to another good karma you are born as a human being, many lifetimes so, I mean, hundreds, thousand lifetimes you experience these problems, suffering results, what you did, how you treated your parents. So then you get the result back, harm for so many lifetimes, hundreds, thousands, from one, I’m talking about from that one action, as I mentioned the other day. So, then, even a small respect, small service, even a small service, small respect, help, whatever you did this life parents, then that good karma is very powerful, and you start to experience the result, happiness, success in this life, result happiness, success, is initiated in this life. Then, for many lifetimes, hundred, thousand, many, many so it goes on, you receive, you enjoy. So, therefore, so now here since I’m talking this case, since I’m talking this subject, so, if one especially in the West, it doesn’t have the education to respect the parents. In the West, it doesn’t teach in schools to respect the parents, it doesn’t teach, and so, there’s missing in the Western culture to respect the parents, from the relationship between the parents and children, the positive side, doesn’t teach, so, in Buddhism, it’s very, very important, because powerful object, so you have to be very careful. Because you want happiness, you don’t want suffering, so, because of that, and also, you want to help others, other sentient beings, so then especially that case, you need success, you don’t want problems in that, to cause happiness not only your parents but all the sentient beings.

So therefore, since in the West it doesn’t, that part in the education is missing in schools, doesn’t teach, then, also, so, that, and all the problems, whatever you experience problems, then, everything, blame, everything goes on parents, the culture, goes, everything, the blame, all the blame goes on parents, how the parents, when you were born, didn’t take care well this and this and that, so, all the blame goes on parents, so, nothing to do with the, there’s no, I mean, there’s no knowledge of karma presented, education in karma is not there, nothing, the children’s delusion, children’s ignorance, anger, attachment, delusions, the wrong concepts, all these, and karma, motivated by that, done in, I mean this life, and then, all the past lives, so there’s no education of reincarnation, there’s no education on karma, your action, the effect of your action, karma, your action and the effect of your action, positive action, positive effect, happiness; and negative action, negative mind, negative action, the negative, the suffering result, so negative effect from your action. So, you receive now and you receive later, long term, many, many lifetimes from that one action, negative result, you experience for many lifetimes, a hundred, thousand lifetimes, and then, also, harm to other sentient beings, harm other living beings. Then also, same, the positive, if it’s a positive mind, positive action, then it will affect, now happy, positive, and then another one, for many lifetimes, hundreds, thousands, or the highest enlightenment, liberation from samsara, enlightenment, amazing, and to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and enlighten them, so from your positive thought, your action, able to liberate numberless sentient beings from each realm, numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, suras, intermediate beings, and bring them to enlightenment. So it’s just amazing, just unbelievable, incredible, so, I mean, what good things what you can do with your mind, positive mind, just unimaginable, what you can do, okay? And, what bad things you can do with your negative thoughts, what your mind, so then generate negative thoughts and actions, then, affect yourself, suffering result, so, harm to, not only harm to you, I mean, all the future lives, no liberation, no enlightenment, and then harm to numberless sentient beings, harm to numberless sentient beings from life to life, like that goes on, then harm to numberless sentient beings. Even in one world, even in this country there happened many times people who have influence, power, killed many, so many millions and millions of people, even on this earth, happened that person who has influence, but, with the negative thought, generating negative thought, anger and so forth, hatred, killed so many millions and millions of people, the children burn in fire, then all the old people killed, put in prison, just unimaginable, by one person. So, tortured, killed, imprisoned, millions, so many millions, and then, so many thousands and thousands and thousands, so many tens of thousands, it can be said, tens of thousands or one hundred thousands or many, they engage in killing others, under your instruction and your desire, the anger, all this, then kill so many hundreds of thousands of people, engage them to kill, so many million people. This is without talking about the animals, the animals are not counted. So just human beings. So animals, how many harmed, destroyed in the ocean, on the ground, took the bomb, all those things, so no question. So with the, I mean, what you can do with the mind, with the negative thought, by generating negative thought, what you can harm, so, like that, happened in the world so many times, history, so we don’t want to do that, we don’t want to become like that, we want only to become, who can give, only, we can give only happiness to others, numberless living beings in your own country, this world. Then, even the last to yourself, only happiness, no suffering. So then, even your own life, this life, to complete your life, to live your life even in happiness, it has to come from positive thought, it has to come from positive thinking, it has to come from that, always to live a happy life, it has to come from your positive mind, positive way of thinking, the healthy mind, it has to come from a healthy mind, positive thinking. If you don’t know what, I mean, here, many of you have met Buddhadharma, already before lam-rim teachings, but, generally I’m saying, if one doesn’t know what positive means, healthy, well, maybe it’s the same, I think, healthy mind, so the [pause] ignorance, anger, attachment, the delusions, there’s immediate, when they arise, negative effect to your mind, to your mental continuum, negative effect, disturbances, when those jealous mind, all these, pride, all these things rises, immediately there’s a negative effect on your mental continuum. Then, negative effect to others, disturbance to others’ mind. So, it destroys others’ peace, other sentient beings’ peace, and your mental peace, so it creates negative, it creates immediately negative environment, when those arises, whether it’s in the home or the office, wherever you are, so negative mind, unpleasant situation. Then, you lead an unhealthy life, you have all this sickness of mind, all these delusions, so very sick mind, all these things, anger, and all this, desire and so forth, pride, jealousness, all the, ill will and all the things, sick mind. So then the body has like cancer, many sicknesses of the body, so now the mind has many of those sicknesses, so, then, because of that, then because of these, many physical problems arises, then it causes blood circ-, it causes not good blood circulation. It is said, it is confirmed or discovered by the doctors or scientists or the, most people having heart attack is people who have very impatient nature, people who have, majority of the people who have heart attacks are people who have angry nature, bad temper. So where there’s the most heart attack is happening whom, so the people who have so much anger, impatience. So that’s kind of they checked and this is what they discovered. [pause] And so the anger, more bad temper, it harms for smooth blood circulation, so like that, so brings, it’s said, it is also said cancer arises if somebody has a lot of fear or something like that, worries, worries. That’s not from teachings, but it’s just through analysis, from, like the one before, like the one heart attack, similar, through people’s analysis, who has a lot of worries, then cancer. But of course, that doesn’t mean worry is the main cause of cancer, it can be a condition but not, it may not be, but it should be checked as the main cause of cancer, but it should be checked. But this, but people did analysis, so like this. So, anyway, so then it brings many physical problems from that, mental unhealthy, then, so the one, the one couple from the United States, one is, husband is a doctor and the wife is a psychologist, something like that. I don’t remember their names, so there is a book written by them through what they analyzed, what they discovered. So they said that cancer is a result of, they analyzed and they discovered that cancer is a result of the unhealthy mind, the impure mind, negative thoughts, that’s what they said. So, through their analysis. So, anyway, so it is mentioned that, in the text that, a text and reality, like this, so the mind is, the wind, I’m not talking about this wind, the wind blowing the altars or the flowers or the, not that wind. So, there’s a, I mean, there are four elements within us, and wind, vehicle of the mind is the wind, vehicle of the mind is wind, okay, and so the mind and the vehicle, the wind, they are same in essence, but they have different functions, so by movement is called wind, and that which does the function of perceiving object, which is clear, perceiving object, then regards perceiving object, then, mind, like that, by the function then gave different label.

So, when the mind becomes very disturbing, ignorance, anger, attachment, all these, jealousy, pride, so forth, these arises, disturbing the mental continuum, obscuring the mental continuum, and then engage in negative karma, which results only suffering, rebirth in the lower realms, all those unimaginable, heavy sufferings, and then the result, problems, suffering results, still even in the human realm, due to another good karma, when you receive a human, you got born a human being, but not finished those past negative karmic results, so you experience in the human realm, the problems, like the possessed result, to do with the place, all problems of the place, then you receive harm from others, and then you engage again, you do the same negative karma again, even uncontrollably, even if you know it’s bad, but still, uncontrollably happening. Whether it’s killing, whether it’s stealing, or whether it’s telling lies, all these things, then, of course, that’s right. So, like this, also harming to others, other sentient beings, even in the future lives you harm other sentient beings. You can see from this explanation, so, when the mind is disturbed, become disturbing mind, then, the vehicle of the mind, the wind, the wind becomes disturbing, unpeaceful, because the mind is not peaceful, so then the wind also becomes unpeaceful, disturbing, okay? So, then when the wind is not balanced, when it becomes disturbing, then, the four elements within you become unbalanced. Then, when they become unbalanced, then sickness comes, then problems, difficulties experienced in the life.

So then, so if the mind is very peaceful, so when you practice Dharma, the mind becomes very peaceful, in peace, know, either the guru devotion or the very peaceful, calm, very calm, very peaceful, very deep, very deep down peace, or the contentment, so peaceful, renunciation, so peaceful, you don’t, your mind don’t think, don’t create any problems, so, so peaceful, attachment, desire, create so many problems, not there, free, so peaceful. Then the bodhicitta, loving kindness, compassion, so peaceful, so happy, meaningful, joyful, bodhicitta, unbelievable, like the ocean, very incredible benefit, deep like ocean, you receive like skies of merit, benefit you get, it’s unbelievable. So when your mind has bodhicitta. Then also right view, peace, unbelievable peace, when your mind is in right view, there’s not all this troubled mind, during that time, there’s not all this troubled mind, everything is cut, total, complete, total view of you and others, whatever you see, incredible peace, like, you haven’t achieved liberation from samsara but however, like liberation, anyway, so, unbelievable peace, free from all these troubling thoughts, troubling you, troubling others.

So anyway, then no question about tantric practices, higher then, no question, which are based on that, generation and completion stage. So, anyway, so that’s why I said yesterday, at the end, without Dharma, life is only suffering, I mentioned that. Without Dharma in the life, then life is only suffering; there’s no inner peace, happiness, in the heart, and no satisfaction. Without Dharma you never, whatever you try in the world, externally, you never get satisfaction, inner peace, never. Always empty, your heart is always empty. Even if you own the whole world, but then there can be so many unbelievable problems, like the millionaires, billionaires, zillionaires, you don’t see them, that, unbelievable peace and happiness in their heart, you don’t see them, you don’t feel that. So normally, because I have been meeting many people, many different class of people, wealthy people, simple people, all kinds. So the different countries, however, those Chinese countries and many, so anyway, beginning looking very good, of course well dressed, everything’s so beautiful, house, but then you listen from them, after five minutes goes, ten minutes goes, fifteen minutes goes, then you hear, slowly, then you hear the problems what they have