So that is absolute guru, so the guru has absolute guru and conventional guru, so that’s absolute guru. So conventional guru is, because we don’t have karma, we don’t have, to be able to see pure, without mistakes, to be able to see pure in the aspect of buddha, pure aspect, aspect of buddha, without any mistakes, without any sufferings, without delusions, without, so mistakes in the actions, to see in the aspect of buddha, we don’t have the karma, we don’t have the karma yet to see pure, so therefore, there’s a need ordinary aspect for us to, to guide us. Ordinary aspect means having mistakes, so having suffering, the old age, sicknesses and so forth, having suffering and then having delusion, mistakes in the actions, so that becomes what it means “ordinary aspect.” So, we have only karma to see the ordinary aspect and to receive guidance, so therefore, the absolute guru so bound with the infinite compassion to us, to you, to oneself, all sentient beings, so the only way to give direct guidance, to save, directly to save, is only through this, the conventional guru, the ordinary aspect. So then guide us, which we can, which manifested according to, exactly according to the present our state of mind, that which is impure, mistaken. So that the only, only, so only with this, only with this can receive, even though there are numberless manifestations of deities, so many, also those others, lineage lamas, ________, or we didn’t have karma to directly see and receive guidance, so those who happened in the past. So there are numberless buddhas, aspects of buddhas, deities, like that, with them could not guide you directly, cannot see, then can’t see so cannot give you direct guidance. So the only way, the only one left, the only one that can receive direct guidance is this ordinary aspect, the conventional guru. So, yeah, by manifesting or through this, then guides us directly, save us, save oneself directly from suffering, from the lower realms, from the suffering of samsara. So the way to do that is, then, let us, letting us, letting oneself to abandon the negative karma of killing, negative karma of stealing, sexual conduct, then all these, starting from these mistakes, starting from these negative karmas. Then, so, starting with this abandoning these negative karmas, then gradually, then actualize the path and remove the first, the disturbing-thought obscuration, then next remove the subtle obscurations, like this, then bring to enlightenment. By actualizing, by causing to actualize the path and, reveal the teachings, show the path and then from one’s own side to reflect, do listening, reflecting, meditation practice, then actualize the path, cease the disturbing-thought obscuration, then one liberate totally from the oceans of samsaric suffering, so brought to liberation. Then cease all the, even also, then by actualizing the Mahayana path, cease even the subtle defilements and brought to enlightenment.

So that, because I mentioned that yourself become guru-deity, that practice, so then just happened to, also I mentioned no separation, realizing that there’s no separation between the deity and the guru. That’s similar saying, realizing from one’s own side, realizing between your guru and buddha. So because this topic happened so then I just got a little bit extra, so extended. But it’s, but this way of understanding, but this understanding is the very point, this is the very point of the guru yoga understanding, the very point of guru yoga, guru devotion, the very point, the heart, how to meditate or what we have to discover, realize, that.

So, now, so that absolute guru manifests in all the deities. So then, so now here you can see that no difference between, no difference, so with this realization you don’t see difference between Maitreya Buddha and guru, you don’t see difference between Tara and the guru, you don’t see separation from Manjushri and the guru, so everything, all the rest, same. So it’s all one being, there’s no…. So all the buddhas in reality is one. Same, how many different aspects of deities, even the Tara, there are twenty-one Taras, there are many different aspect of twenty-one Taras. There’s twenty-one Taras according to Lama Atisha, twenty-one Taras, the one face, two arms, and in the right hand holding a vase, which shows, which signifies different activities what they do to the sentient beings, what they grant, help. Then there’s twenty-one Taras which has many arms, according to Pari Lotsawa, the great translator, Pari ?Rigpa, the great lama. So maybe the pure vision that appeared, twenty-one Taras appeared to him, I’m not sure. Then there’s another one, twenty-one Taras different aspect. I’ve seen the cards from Taiwan. So, to build, so I already made three sets of twenty-one Taras statues, one large one, this size, I think. Maybe this size—it’s getting higher and higher, so anyway, so like this size, I think, Twenty-one Taras, that’s in Nepal. Then, I think one this size, I think another one this size, style from the cards that I have seen from Taiwan, so it came out in the divination, so it’s meant to go inside the statue of the 500-feet Maitreya Buddha statue. So the reason why I made this before, even before the statue of Maitreya Buddha actualized is to create the cause, merits, for the success of the project. So , then the large one is in Nepal, but I think the size, the one set, but it was in my room now I offered it, it was in my room at Kopan, so I offered to Geshe Sopa Rinpoche for his, because there’s going to be a new temple. Then the small one, I think one Tibetan lady asked so she got it, the small one . So anyway, so disappeared. Even before my room at Kopan, twenty-one Taras offered to Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, which is going to be in his new big temple, that which Geshe-la is building, just completed the outside. So anyway, so which is going to be inside. So then Lillian Too from Malaysia, she, yeah, so she sponsored so again same size twenty-one Taras came back in the altar. So anyway, so then recently I’ve seen another twenty-one Taras, different one. But this is third I have seen, another fourth, I’ve seen another one. So far I’ve seen four different aspects of twenty-one Taras.

However, because why? Because sentient beings have different karma, so that’s why even twenty-one Taras has different aspects, there are different aspects of the twenty-one Taras.

So, however, it’s all one, in reality just one. So that one, that absolute guru, guru, absolute guru, so in reality it’s one. So even the Compassion Buddha, Chenrezig, there’s so many different aspects, so many, but it’s all one. But it’s all that one, that absolute guru.

So when you become the deity, that time you become the guru, that’s what should understand. So anyway, so oneself become the guru-deity, then you transform the food and drink into nectar then you offer to yourself the guru-deity. So that way then it doesn’t become pollution and it becomes very powerful means to collect extensive merit and incredible, it becomes great purification and quick cause to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. So because I meant to talk about the circumambulating stupa, but then it kind of, it’s just like the wind, goes all over, the wind blows the leaves or paper and leaves then goes all over, it become like that. Went to the elaboration of the stupa, chöten, then from chöten went to, because chöten there’s talk about pollution, so then that’s how it went into the what can be done in order to not get pollution. So then methods, so then here involved the tantric practice, yourself visualized in deity, that which is guru, so then , so it kind of , so it kind of went all over.

Anyway, so it seems if one has bodhicitta attitude, give everything to the sentient beings, however, whatever you do, do for sentient beings, having the enjoyments, the livelihood but using these for sentient beings, you yourself to offer service, you yourself as a servant to free the sentient beings from the sufferings and to bring, to cause happiness to them, so yourself as a servant having this livelihood, means of living, with that attitude, which is everything what you do, using this livelihood, everything, for sentient beings, which becomes everything for sentient beings. So that one, so with the bodhisattva’s attitude maybe there’s no karmic debts, with that kind of attitude, practicing like that then I think then there’s no karmic debts. But can be checked. Otherwise, even one lived in pure vows, but without that, even one lives in pure vows, still there’s karmic debts.

So, this kor, in Tibetan word kor, or pollution, so whether one receives pollution or not I think it depends on the, it’s not, this is not truly existent, this is not independent, truly existent, so it’s dependent on the person, as I mentioned before, buddhas do not, buddhas, when they receive offerings, it does not become, not receiving pollution, so it’s the same. So the arya beings they don’t receive pollutions, so as I mentioned before. So then I mentioned before that there’s practice, if one does this practice then one doesn’t receive pollution, that way I explained that, one who has food and drink, this.

So anyway, now go back. So I mentioned the remedy four powers, so the last one then that is power to not commit again, which is within the prayer, Thirty-five Buddhas’ prayer, the last part of the prayer, after finishing the names, then you go through some of the heavy negative karmas, go through the list, to regret, then there’s the last power, fourth power, power to not commit again.

So the [pause], among those four, yeah, that I mentioned already that. Among those four, very important one seems the regret, to have strong regret, having, to those negative karmas. So depending how strong you have that, the power of regretfulness, feeling regret, so how strong that is then that much the negative karma become thinner that much, so it seems from those four, seems very important, to become strong purification.

That, the power to not commit again, so since I’m talking about this, let me just finish this one. This part. That, so I will never do again, so I mean it depends on the individual person, but many of the vices, even though we say, I will never do again, that doesn’t become sincere, and you know that you won’t be able to do, that, from your heart you know that it won’t be true. That’s not true that you will never commit again, that won’t happen. So, many of the vices, so to not become telling lie towards the merit field, so the lineage lamas they advise, the ones which I can, to not commit then I will not commit forever, from now on I won’t commit. The ones that which are very difficult ones then, the ones that which are very difficult to not commit, then one day, hour, minute, even for a few seconds, I won’t commit. The ones, very subtle ones, like for example, tantric practice, after you have taken Highest Tantra initiation then there’s the tantric vows, like you have to visualize the place into mandala, yourself into deity and everything pure, so can’t maintain, you don’t have the, you haven’t achieved stable concentration, so those things, one-pointedness meditation haven’t achieved so can’t maintain, can’t hold, so things like that. So there are many of those vices that one collects. So the ones which I can protect, to not commit, I will do that from now on. The ones which are extremely difficult then I will protect from those vices one day or hour or a minute or even for a few seconds. So this way then it becomes more truthful. So the last power, power to not commit again, so end of the Vajrasattva practice, end of the Thirty-five Buddhas, whenever we do practice of purification, so confession, this is best, so that it becomes more sincere, more truthful.

Now go back…. So, as far as practice of purification, why Lama Tsongkhapa did so much prostrations, so many hundred thousands of prostrations by reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas, rather, you don’t hear much about Vajrasattva, so I asked Kyabje Denma Lochö Rinpoche why is it? So Rinpoche wrote, Rinpoche replied back in the correspondence, Rinpoche said that because Thirty-five Buddhas practice, if you do even one time well, “well” means thinking of those meanings and the four remedy powers, not just reciting the words, mind, without meditation just reciting the words, going over the words like a tape recorder, like playing a tape recorder, not like that, but meditating in the meaning, practicing the remedy four powers to that, so if you do the Thirty-five Buddhas practice, purification, even you do one time well, it purifies the very powerful negative karma, very heavy negative karma, the five uninterrupted negative karmas, killed father, mother, harmed Buddha, caused blood to the Buddha, and killed an arhat and caused disunity among the Sangha, among the, in the Sanghas you cause disunity. So such this heavy negative karma then without interruption of another life, in Tibetan called ?sar me nga, so without interruption of another life, after the death, after this life, without interruption of another life immediately you reincarnate in the lowest hot hell, the ?nya war nar me, the Inexhaustible hell realm. It’s so long, the suffering is so, heaviest suffering in samsara, in the lower realms, and then the duration is longest than any other suffering, longest, one intermediate eon. So, yeah, reincarnate in that and experience suffering for one intermediate eon. So whenever you hear in the prayers or benefits, the five uninterrupted negative karma, very important to remember the result, rebirth in lowest hot hell, the number eighth, the Inexhaustible, the most unbearable, inexhaustible, the hell realm, so to remember that, which duration is one intermediate eon. Very important to connect to that, then you have, then there’s feeling, idea or feeling how that is so heavy karma, so heavy karma. So then you feel, then you see how this practice of purification is so important, then there’s incredible need for you, so you see the need, incredible need, utmost need, the most important, utmost need for you, to practice. So there’s appreciation, such this method existing or such this method given to you.

So then, now we go back to the circumambulation. Finally. Okay. So by having done, so in the sutra of Circumambulating the Stupa, by having done circumambulation to the stupa, then [Tibetan] it abandons the eight states which has no freedom. Maybe have to look better English. So that is, it abandons the eight, so if we’re born in the hell realm there’s no freedom to practice Dharma, so heavy suffering, you’re overwhelmed by heavy suffering so can’t, no opportunity to practice Dharma. Then same, if you’re born in the animal realm, same, heavy suffering and also the body doesn’t allow to learn words and meanings of Dharma, so no opportunity to practice Dharma. Then, the same, hungry ghosts. Then, _________ the heavy suffering. So then, being a barbarian. I don’t, in the outlying country where there’s no Buddhadharma, but not so much to do with the place, being in the place itself. It’s more no understanding at all, no faith, no understanding at all the Dharma. So, no understanding at all the reincarnation and karma, all these fundamental, all these foundation Buddhadharma, no understanding or faith, nothing at all, slightest, so mind is totally dark. So there’s no opportunity to practice. Then the long-life god. Then the, in the deva realm, that’s divided in three: desire realm and form realm, formless realm. The deva realm, the worldly gods divided in three: desire realm, form realm, formless realm. So, desire realm, form realm, formless realm. So, form realm, these devas they live an incredible length of time but then at the beginning there’s awareness, born, and then when they die, there’s awareness, this dying, but between that it’s like deep sleep, no awareness. So because of that, there’s no opportunity to practice Dharma, so the long-life god. There could be also formless realm. So, the specific one is the form realm but that can be general also in the….

However, then when it’s a heretical being, who believe opposite, anyway who don’t believe in the reincarnation, karma, can’t accept Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all that, so, liberation, enlightenment, all this. Then, who has wrong view, then also no opportunity to practice Dharma, so heretical being. It doesn’t have to be from birth, because sometimes even you become Buddhist for many years, then you can become totally the other way round, heretical being. Some heavy karma from the past, past life, happened suddenly then whole your view totally change, suddenly totally you totally become another person. One day suddenly your whole view totally change. So therefore, purification is very important, such those negative karmas collected in the past by heresy, so purification, very strong prayers, are very important otherwise it can happen, because the life is under the influence of karma, so therefore, even the person has been, even you can be geshe, but then after, you can be a great scholar, geshe, like that, but then after some time, past negative karma ripened, then totally, that person become totally something else, doesn’t believe anything, reject all these things. So can happen. So it’s very, it is very terrifying. So therefore, purification and prayer every day, dedicating the merits is very important.

So doesn’t have to be all these from birth. I think, yeah, I think mainly related now, present your state. The same thing then, anyway….

So there are people, totally change mind happening after some time, after many years, so because the life is under the influence of karma. Of course, it does not mean you can’t change karma. You can change karma, but you need purification and much merit and dedication, prayer, you need to actualize the path, to, yeah, to actualize the path, to always have this, the correct faith, understanding, not wrong faith but correct faith. Not blind faith. Blind faith is, there are two different ways, blind faith. One is without understanding, but whom you have faith is correct, that object, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, has all the qualities, can guide you, can save you. You’re born in the family, you’re born in a Buddhist family or something, because of family then you found correct object of refuge or, yeah, but you don’t understand, but you have no knowledge. But, yeah, the other one is, object whom you take refuge doesn’t have quality, doesn’t have, no quality, no power, but you believe it has power, quality. So the result is you’re cheated, you are misguided or cheated, so you can’t achieve liberation. There’s no liberation, so liberation or, like that.

So anyway, so that’s totally ignorant, total blind faith. So because whom you believe, whom you trust, doesn’t have that quality. So that’s totally wrong. So I often think, the Solu Khumbu, where I was born, those Himalayan ridge, all this, they don’t have intellect at all, they don’t have intellect at all. At all. What? What? What? What happened? Huh? Now they have school, I mean school started, before when I was there, there was no school, nothing. There was nothing. Only people who want to live their life in Dharma or, only those people, those who want to learn Dharma, who want to live the life into Dharma, only those, some of those people then they learn Tibetan alphabet, come to learn Tibetan alphabet. So that means you’re going to live your life in Dharma, the very beginning attitude is that, you’re going to live your life into Dharma, not business or not , so anyway…. So now, after I came back, then there was a Nepalese school, that started by Sir Edmund Hillary, from New Zealand, who climbed Mount Everest, I don’t know how many times. So, he started, so because he got his reputation from, by climbing Mount Everest, by coming to Solu Khumbu and the people helping him, I think, climb Mount Everest, so then I think he wanted to benefit something back to the country, so he started schools, hospitals, there. So there’s something, schools need to learn.

So anyway, but however, the general people in Solu Khumbu, they have much devotion. They don’t have knowledge of Dharma, generally speaking, the general people, they can’t explain Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Whom they devote they can’t explain. But Buddha, Dharma, Sangha exist, whom they devote exist, and they have all the qualities as it is explained in the Abhisamaya-alamkarika, those philosophical texts, those extensive subjects, Abhisamaya-alamkarika and Madhyamika, that in the monasteries they study for many years, so it is there, all those qualities, and extensive study. And in the lam-rim, just very little lam-rim just mentioned, like a drop, a very little mentioned.

So anyway, so they don’t have intellect, they can’t explain, but they, but whom they devote has no mistakes. Whom they devote has no mistakes. Who has qualities, definitely guides. So therefore, whom they rely upon has no mistakes. Even though they don’t have intellect. So therefore I think those people are unbelievable fortunate, that’s what I think. They have no intellect, but they have devotion to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, so fortunate, unbelievable fortunate. Because of the devotion that they have then gives so much opportunity to collect good karma. They chant mantras, chant OM MANI PADME HUM, mantras and collect skies of merit every time and able to purify so many negative karmas and, whatever negative karma collected, that purifies, OM MANI PADME HUM. And so, even when eat, before they eat and drink, because of the devotion, first they make offering to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, then they eat. So here you collect inconceivable merits every day. So in Solu Khumbu they drink a lot of chang, a lot of wine, chang. It’s like coffee in the West. Chang. So the rice chang and barley chang and then the strongest one is the potato chang, the small potato, they don’t eat that, small potatoes, they make chang, the wine. So that is the strongest alcohol, so alcoholic.

So I remember that, I don’t know what age I was in Solu Khumbu, so anyway, so I escaped many, many times, a few times, anyway, from the monastery, the Thangme Monastery, Thangme is the village where I was born. My mother’s house, next to my mother’s house there is a big stone, carved OM MANI PADME HUM, then from there there’s a road to go to the monastery. So, I think maybe at least three or four, five, I’m not sure, I escaped from the monastery to the village, where the home is. So, I think, so in childtime you don’t, it doesn’t, childtime usually you think and you do it, you don’t analyze, you don’t analyze the benefits and shortcomings. So, I think still the same, I think. So anyway, the thought comes and you do it. So, anyway, when I was staying with my second alphabet teacher, so I remember that one morning, my second alphabet teacher, my uncle made soup, morning thugpa. So then I licked the bowl, the cup, old cup, so then I stood up, then carried the bowl and throw on the, I licked up, then I stood up, and carried the bowl, went to the toilet door and threw on the floor, then everything become pieces. And I watched. So you don’t, there’s not much thinking, reasoning, reasoning why, why I should do this, you can’t think.

So anyway, so I think three or four times maybe, three times or four times escaped. It’s very close, I think maybe it takes, I’m not sure, fifteen minutes, I’m not sure, from the monastery to the home. So doesn’t take much time because I run from the monastery to the home, because I get very scared, because I was alone so then there are many sort of caves or some dark things there. It’s daytime but , so I used to run from there to the home non-stop. So I don’t think it will take much time.

So anyway, then my mother send with somebody to the monastery, somebody carry on the shoulder and…. And then, so anyway, so one time, I think this might be my last escape, I think. So my mother made pants, that’s the first time to wear pants. Pants with another cloth on top, that goes together, the pants and the shirt goes together. So this is made of very, very cheap prayer-flag cloth, this very, very thin, not thin, very cheap cloth that you use for prayer-flags. So she dyed into red color. So where there’s two things joined, inside there’s a lot of lice, a lot of eggs, a lot lice, a lot of eggs of lice. Eggs of lice? Yeah, the round, that’s lice you call…. So the eggs of lice, full of the eggs of lice and lice, usually those things, when there are two clothing joined, so there’s a lot of lice, a lot of, not rice, lice! A lot of lice. I thought might, thought maybe said rice. Yeah, so then, I didn’t know, so one time the thought came to, my teacher went, my first teacher-uncle, was also uncle, the fully ordained monk that time, yeah, he was a fully ordained monk, so he went inside to make food. Then the thought came to run, thought came to escape. So then thought came, then run. So then, I didn’t know how to open the, for toilet, I didn’t know how to open the pants. So ?didn’t ?have idea, so then I think I escaped from the house to my mother’s home with the poo-poo inside. So, by carrying the luggage of poo-poo. So anyway, then when I arrived down there, my mother’s outside with some people around, so then she took off all my clothes and cleaned and, so like that. So that might be the last one, I think.

So anyway, what I’m saying. I don’t know why I was telling this. Forgotten now. Uh? Chang! Alle. Oh, that’s right! I should come back to the chang—it’s very important.

So my second alphabet teacher, so we used to go back, I lived this place, it’s much more primitive than the Namche Bazaar, this side, it’s a place called Rolwaling. I lived there seven years; it’s much more primitive. All those are actually, all those are hidden places of Padmasambhava. There are many caves. In the past I think there are many yogis lived, I think, practiced. There are many caves, Padmasambhava caves, many Padmasambhava caves and long-life vase or print on the stone by Padmasambhava’s feet, the feet left print on the rocks or things like that. You see many footprints, some are small ones. Many yogis lived in caves so then they put they put their feet on the rock and the rock got printed there. So there are many like that. Or hand or feet, like that, so feet are quite common. So I was there seven years, so this is where, the same place where Jinpa, where he was born, where he came from is from the same place.

So anyway, so with my teacher, my teacher bring me back to home, in the other part of Solu Khumbu, sometimes for initiations from the, initiations or, I think basically something like that, because I think they took initiations. So, for me, well, I was very small so it was like a puppy being in the teachings, puppy, dog, puppy in the teachings. So I think, I was very small. Sit somebody’s, on the lap, and then for maybe five minutes I was awake, then asleep. I think at the beginning five minutes awake and then for the rest of the time I think asleep.

Anyway, so I went down to, with my teacher went to my mother’s house. Then that time then she put, very old, everything’s very old there anyway, so table, then she offered a glass of potato alcohol. I’d never had potato alcohol, so gave, offered to my teacher and, this is very common, the monks they drink, there are some monks who don’t drink, but there’s kind of a, sort of habit, I guess, maybe degeneration. So anyway, the general in the country, like that, but…. [pause] Of course, in the case of my teacher, that’s different. So anyway, so she gave, yeah, she gave me also, so I had two sips, one or two, I think maybe two or three, two sips, small sips of the, then when I was going back to the monastery I could not, my body became like a mosquito, when the mosquito is dead. When the mosquito is dead how it looks, or the fly or mosquito, the limbs are kind of not functioning. The limbs are not functioning, no way. So, the dead mosquito or the fly, so become like that, no control at all. There’s no control at all over the limbs. Can’t walk. So my teacher he grabbed from my back side the belt, then he just brought like this, pulled like this, he just dragged on the road like this, holding from behind the belt, to the monastery. He just hold up. I go like this.

So anyway, so that was, experience was terrible. Yeah, yeah. Why I came to chang? Why I came to this point of the chang, I’ve forgotten now. Yeah! That’s right. So, yeah, that’s right. So this is like coffee, this is the main kind of enjoyment, the chang, to work, to do hard work they rely on the chang, and even when they do celebration, chang, whatever, so even when they participate tsog offering or pujas, chang. So this is the main kind of life, kind of enjoyment. So anyway, so even when they drink chang, before that, before they drink, they make offering to Triple, to Padmasambhava or the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, they make offering.

So anyway, so because of the devotion like that, so because of the devotion they do prostrations, they chant mantras, so they do many things, whatever they know. So in the daily life, many things like this, because there’s no intellect, no understanding, but because of devotion it makes, the devotion makes them to engage in those many good karmas in the life. So I think there’s, it gives a lot of opportunity to collect merit and to purify, I think, even without intellect. So I think, making connection to the buddhas, still many good karmas collected, preparation for the happiness of future lives and liberation, enlightenment. So I think, I used to think that they are very fortunate, no understanding but they have devotion, so extremely fortunate. However, I’m not going to talk more on that.

So the person who has devotion, anyway, so fortunate because whom they devote is unmistaken, the object of refuge has no mistakes, has qualities, so all the qualities to save, to liberate, to save that sentient being from the suffering of samsara, from the delusion and karma, so that’s the main thing.

So, so it is mentioned from the Konchog ?Dala sutra, there it’s mentioned about the benefits, many pages about the benefits of devotion, faith. [Tibetan] So the devotion is like the mother. From the mother then many children, that grandchildren, all, generation comes. Then from devotion all the qualities come, realizations, all the qualities. The understanding words, Dharma words and so the realization of their meaning, so many qualities come, and then able to protect the qualities. [Tibetan] All the qualities come and able to protect the qualities.