How much one is able to learn Dharma, practice, have experience, many things, however, that came from past, having studied Dharma, meditated, left positive imprint on the mind, so you can see that somebody has revealed that, so however, this guru, however, the lama, the absolute guru, so from beginningless rebirths guided you, guided oneself. So, all the numberless happiness from beginningless rebirths, so it came from the guru, the present and all the future samsaric pleasures, all the things and then liberation, enlightenment, everything, what one will receive in the future, every single realization, all comes from the guru. So this lama ton pa chom den de, lama, so this, okay, guru, that which also manifests, so as I mentioned yesterday, at the moment one’s own mind is not pure, so obscured, so full of mistakes, and so therefore, can’t see, cannot see in the aspect of buddha, without any mistakes. In the aspect of buddha means no mistakes at all. So therefore, the karma what one has is only impure karma that can see only ordinary aspect, that has mistakes, delusions and sufferings, body, mental and physical sufferings and mistakes in the actions. So only ordinary aspect, that karma, impure karma only to see in the ordinary aspect, so definition of ordinary aspect like that, so only in that. So therefore then, that lower than this, animals, we can’t recognize, can’t receive teachings, if manifest in that can’t receive the teachings and difficult to recognize. So then higher, more pure than this we cannot, we don’t have the karma to see. So therefore, the dharmakaya, the absolute guru, manifested, so therefore, this is the only, this ordinary aspect is the only one that can help you, can guide you, can guide oneself directly, can directly guide, that one has karma to see and receive guidance directly, communicate, receive guidance directly. So therefore, this is the only one, this is the only one that one has, according to one’s own present state of mind, so one has opportunity to receive guidance. So therefore, manifested into this, through this guides one, through this guides oneself.

So, without this, if one doesn’t have this ordinary aspect, the guru, the conventional guru, then, without this, this is not shown, then you are totally lost, guideless, totally lost. You have no guide. So as I normally mention that, like a child that left on the desert, where there’s nothing, nothing growing, the hot desert, maybe there’s a lot of harmful snakes or a lot of harmful creatures. Baby left there, child left there. That or in the forest, dark, not even moon, stars, totally dark, foggy, and then in the forest surrounded by tigers and vicious animals, very dangerous, so there’s nobody to guide, that you are there and nobody to guide, protect you, to look after you.

So therefore, this ordinary aspect that showing having delusions, suffering, mental, physical sufferings, problems, then old age, sickness, so forth, ?suffering nature, so forth and then that can, one can receive guidance, that can guide directly, which you can see it so you can communicate, so according to the present impure karma, so that becomes the most precious, the most precious one in one’s own life. The most precious one in this life. There are numberless buddhas, deities, all these, but you don’t have karma, the obscurations, negative karmas, obscurations, blocked, can’t see them and can’t receive direct guidance, can’t communicate with them. So therefore, this aspect is, this ordinary aspect of you is precious, most precious, the most precious, every second how important it is for you in your life, more precious than the sky filled with wish-granting jewels, than sky filled with the gold, diamonds or wish-granting jewels, more precious than that, this aspect, ordinary aspect, showing delusions, mental and physical suffering, ?these ?things. And then that can give, that you can see directly and receive guidance. So then, with this aspect then, because of that, then can show the path, give teachings, then that you can achieve higher rebirth, can lead to higher rebirth. And not only that, leads to liberation by revealing the four noble truths, like that, it brings you to liberation, ultimate happiness. And then, by revealing the Mahayana path, it brings to full enlightenment.

So here, [pause] so therefore, this guru, this conventional guru, the absolute guru in this form, however, more, so therefore, kinder than numberless past buddhas, kinder than numberless present buddhas, kinder than numberless future buddhas, kinder than all the three-time buddhas. Why in prayer, Six-Session Guru Yoga, there it talks about kinder than the three-time buddhas, so that’s why in the Guru Puja, when we begin the Guru Puja, when we do refuge practice, why we take refuge in the guru first, so also that shows a very important point, reasons. When we begin Guru Puja it’s namo gurubhya, namo buddhaya, namo dharmaya, namo sanghaya. Namo gurubhya comes first. In the refuge practice the guru comes first. [pause]

So, there was, in the early times, at Kopan in the early times, when we started the Sangha, when there’s a lot of Sanghas, so when Lama started the examination to to the Sanghas, to the monks and nuns. So, they were not told which subject, they were not told the subject what they had to answer, what the questions they were put, so suddenly, Oh, the examination. Then Lama appointed one Sangha to sit in front of the throne, facing down, then the Sanghas and all the lay, so they ask questions, basically lam-rim questions. But it wasn’t told before which subject. So used to do that, one of the periods when there’s a lot of Sanghas, monks and nuns, started, at Kopan, so we used to do that.

So at Dharamsala, I think around those times, Lama organized, so there was Jampa Zangpo, that time he was a monk. So he was the, appointed to give, sort of like the, in the monasteries, debate, like that. So he was asked by Lama to give the answers to the people who ask questions. So there was Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, the resident teacher from the Tibetan Library at Dharamsala, so he came up, I don’t remember if we did puja, I’m not sure. So then there was one, I think maybe I put the question, I’m not sure, I don’t remember. Maybe I did that, I’m not sure. Whether I asked Jampa Zangpo, so why the guru, why when you recite Lama Chöpa, in the Guru Puja, why the guru came first. So I think he couldn’t answer immediately so Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey helped him to answer. So why? Because the guru is kinder. Why the guru comes first? The guru is kinder than all the three-time buddhas.

That can be one explanation, but I think, as I mentioned before, from where all the, all the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha came from the guru. So you have to understand that. For that you have to understand absolute guru. The real meaning of guru, that which was mentioned yesterday and today. So, where all the buddhas come? Then where the buddha comes that means Dharma comes from that, Sangha comes from that. That’s easy to understand. So that’s why the guru comes first when you take refuge, that’s why in our prayer the making offering, lama sang gye lama cho, de zhin lama ge dun te, kun gyi che po lama te…, all the doer is guru, so the meaning is that. So from that, all the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha came from that. So then all the, not only that, on the basis of that, all your past, present, future, all the happiness, collections of goodness, came from that, so all the doer is guru has big meaning. Has a big meaning, has a very important, has a very deep, very profound, very deep meaning, all the doer is guru. Kun gyi che po lama te. So this prayer is very profound, extremely profound subject, yeah, this prayer, lama sang gye lama cho…. So this that we use for offerings or for taking refuge.

I think this is from, I don’t remember now, I think from a root, from one of Buddha’s root texts, I think, root teaching, I think, this one, but this is not common to recite. It’s only in the FP, FPMT. This prayer, lama sang gye lama cho…, this is only in FPMT. This is not common. You don’t hear normally this prayer. So, because I saw in one, it says in one root text, Buddha’s teaching, so I used that to, in early times Kopan courses, the book, for the refuge prayer, I used that , so that’s how it propagated. So in the early morning cold and taking precepts at Kopan, then you begin the la ma, lama sang gye, so in the cold and then dark, still kind of dark.

So anyway, yeah, so that, so going back to the, yeah…. [pause]

So we have a prayer, in the monasteries normally, the first thing they begin this prayer, the refuge, see if I can remember. [Tibetan] [Rinpoche checks with Jinpa.] So the very first thing in the monastery they recite this very wonderful prayer of refuge, the guru, who is the essence of the ten-direction [Tibetan] three-time, past, present and future, all the Tathagatas, who’s essence of all the three-time, all the past, present, and future, and all the ten-direction buddhas, ten-direction then all the past, present, future Tathagatas, who’s the essence of that. Then, originator of the 84,000 teachings and then…. [Rinpoche checks again with Jinpa.] So, originator of all the 84,000 teachings, then [Rinpoche checks again with Jinpa] so the essence of all the Tathagatas, all the buddhas, their holy body, holy speech, holy mind, all their qualities and actions, so the essence of all those. Originator of all the 84,000 teachings, Buddha, then the Sangha, like that. Possessor of all the Sangha, like that. So by looking at it as embodiment, then taking refuge to that.

So however, so here so lama, lama ton pa chom den de, lama, so very, like oceans, very deep subject, lama, so first in the mind think, absolute guru, the real meaning of guru, then that manifested in the conventional ?guru, then through that guided. So first the real meaning is that. Then from where numberless past, present, future buddhas come, then manifest, then also Dharma, Sangha. Then, from whom you receive all your past happiness, numberless past, present, future, all, up to enlightenment, so kinder than all the three-time buddhas. So at least one feel that, when you say “lama.”

This lama then manifest the present founder of the Buddhism in this world, in the southern continent, so manifested into Shakyamuni Buddha, ton pa, founder of the present Buddhadharma, manifested into this. Then, so here the meditation is all the gurus, how many gurus, one or a hundred, a thousand gurus, how many one has, billions of gurus, however, so all in this one aspect, manifested, think like that. Ton pa, Shakyamuni Buddha, founder of the present Buddhadharma, ton pa, so this.

Then describing about the quality, what it is, either guru or Buddha, then chom den de, destroyed, not only destroyed one’s own mistakes of the minds, defilements, but also destroy others, us sentient beings’, all the, where the cause of suffering comes, the delusions, where the suffering comes, delusions, destroy, so destroy us all sentient beings’ delusions.

Chom den, den there’s mentioned six qualities, I don’t remember at the moment, but another meaning is having four kayas and the five transcendental wisdoms of buddha, den, endowed with the four kayas and then the five transcendental wisdoms, the buddha’s holy mind.

De means gone beyond, gone beyond from samsara, two extremes, gone beyond from samsara and beyond from the lower nirvana, the two extremes, beyond from, so two extremes, beyond from samsara and not only that but also beyond from the lower nirvana, so that means having achieved enlightenment.

Then de zhin sheg pa, gone as it is, Tathagata or gone as it is, so then that means, still describing the qualities, what it is, so, de zhin sheg pa. Then, that all the phenomena, including yourself and all the phenomena, that no phenomena has true existence, slightest even atom of true existence doesn’t have. I and all the phenomena do not have true existence, even the slightest, even an atom, doesn’t have. So everything’s empty, everything are empty existing from its own side, so therefore, so then, that I mentioned, the guru-buddha, that dharmakaya, then that dharmakaya directly seeing the emptiness of all the phenomena, emptiness of yourself and all the phenomena, directly seeing, so gone as it is, “as it is” means the emptiness, so as things are empty [a couple or words inaudible.] Their ultimate nature, emptiness, so can directly see all this, the emptiness of all phenomena. “As it is” means all the phenomena are empty, so then as they are empty, that dharmakaya sees directly, that absolute guru or the ________ see, emptiness directly, so “gone as it is” means, “gone” means directly seeing emptiness of all the phenomena. But not just that, directly seeing emptiness of all the phenomena, includes yourself and all the phenomena, directly seeing, but not just that, not kind of, not just seeing from far, not like that. Directly seeing, besides that, nondual with emptiness forever. It’s immovable and nondual with emptiness forever, immovable from the emptiness, pervades, like we say, buddha is everywhere, buddhas covers, buddha pervades all the phenomena.

So that dharmakaya, that also guru-buddha, so therefore while it is directly seeing emptiness of all phenomena, nondual with it, immovable from that forever, in the one equipoise meditation in the emptiness forever, at the same time that dharmakaya manifest numberless forms, take numberless forms, pure, in the form of buddha, for those who have pure mind, and impure forms, those who have impure minds and all sorts of forms, animals or, different animals, all sorts of things, even in the forms of spirits, when there’s need for sentient beings, so all sorts of forms, whatever the aspect can help that sentient being, can subdue the mind of a sentient being, fit the karma of the sentient being and then reveal the path, reveal the means then bring the sentient being from happiness to happiness to enlightenment.

So however, so the buddha’s holy mind can do, while the dharmakaya in equipoise meditation in emptiness, then at the same time, the holy body manifested numberless various forms and then holy speech send the, reveal the various, even giving teaching but different, at the same time different teaching to the different sentient beings at the same time. So, that the holy mind, while it is in equipoise meditation, directly seeing emptiness, equipoise meditation, one-pointedly, equipoise meditation, at the same time also can see directly the conventional truth, can see directly at the same time the conventional truth. So while it is in equipoise meditation, in the absolute truth, at the same time directly seeing conventional truth at the same time. So that is a special quality of the buddha, whereas even arya bodhisattvas cannot do directly, see both together, absolute truth and conventional truth. That’s a special quality to the buddha.

So, while the holy mind is abiding in equipoise meditation one-pointedly in emptiness of all the phenomena, then take the, they show the twelve deeds. Like Buddha did in this world, has shown twelve deeds, so while the Buddha is showing the twelve deeds in this world, the descent from Tushita, then showing holy deed of birth, while this is happening in another universe Shakyamuni Buddha is showing the twelve deeds in other universes, at the same time when happening here, in another universe, showing enlightenment, deeds of enlightenment, in another universe at the same time showing the holy deeds of birth or something, passing away sorrowless state also, in numberless universes, so many, showing the twelve deeds. But while something is happening, another twelve deeds, so like that, as I mentioned before, it’s happening. So Buddha can do like this, even the twelve deeds, happening different twelve deeds, at the same time different ones in different universes, like that. While all this, guiding the numberless sentient beings, manifesting in various forms, all those, like that, then at the same time the holy mind, dharmakaya, that directly, one-pointedly in equipoise meditation on emptiness, immovable from that forever.

So, dezhin sheg-pa, Gone As It Is, so this just got a little bit ?extended from that.

Then again dra chom pa yang dag par, destroyed the enemy, not only their own but also us sentient beings’ enemies’ destroyer. Yang dag par dzog pai sang gye, then, the fully, completed the qualities, the qualities of cessation and qualities of realization, yang dag par dzog pai. Then, the last thing, sang gye, the conclusion is that. So eliminated all the defilements of the mind, gross, subtle, everything, then completed all the qualities of realizations. Then glorified, then shakya thub pa, born in the caste Shakya in this world. So thub pa, the mighty one, so what might is the, it is same, mighty, having eliminated totally not only all the sufferings of samsara but even the cause, ignorance, the three poisonous minds, ignorance, anger, attachment, including the seed, the imprint of that, totally removed the seed, so mighty one.

So the TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA, so same, thub pa, thub pa, great thubpa, so the first, so relating to lam-rim, having overcome, having abandoned the attachment to the samsara, samsaric perfections. The second one, removed the root of samsara, the ignorance, the second meaning of mighty. Then, MAHAMUNA-YE, the bodhicitta, removed, abandoned self-cherishing thought. Also, the first MUNÉ contains the Lesser Vehicle path, to achieve liberation. Then, it could relate also, based on guru devotion that from perfect human rebirth up to karma, those paths, path of the lower capable meaning. Then the second one, so ceased the attachment clinging to this life. Then, so first renunciation, then second one the renunciation even to the future life samsara, samsaric perfections, by realizing the true suffering and true cause of suffering, how samsara is in nature of suffering, the shortcomings of delusions, all that. So, renounced the attachment to even also future life samsara, samsaric perfections. Then, then also by realizing emptiness then the other one is bodhicitta, abandon the self-cherishing thought then actualize bodhicitta.

So however, this, on these three then contain the whole path: Lesser Vehicle path, the Mahayana Paramitayana path, then ?can achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, then the Mahayana Secret Mantra Vajrayana path also, the MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNA-YE. So then, SVAHA, then establish the ?chi-supa, establish the basis in one’s own heart. I guess, receiving blessing, through the devotion, I think. Could have that meaning. Then, actualize the path that is signified by MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNA-YE in one’s own heart. Then, purify the ordinary body, speech and mind, one’s own ordinary body, speech and mind, then achieve the pure indestructible vajra holy body, holy speech, holy mind of buddha, which is signified by the three sounds, A, U, MA, integrated into OM, so like that. So all these are processes to be qualified oneself to do perfect work towards sentient beings. After you’ve actualized, after you have actualized the meaning of TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA, after you have actualized the meaning of all that within you then you become perfect guide to be able to do perfect work towards sentient beings from that. So TADYA THA, so I think how Buddha achieved full enlightenment, so how Buddha practiced the path to enlightenment, then like this. So which means that yourself, since you have Buddha-nature, so you can do the same thing, you can actualize this whole path to enlightenment, so then do perfect work towards sentient beings. So I think so could have that meaning.

So, so this wasn’t the subject but I think this just anyway happened. Wasn’t planned _______ ________, anyway.

So this prayer, lama ton pa chom den de…sha kya thub pa ?chag tsel lo TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA, this is very important, I don’t remember from the, this is explained by Buddha in the Kangyur, very important, unbelievable very important practice. So there is the heart of all the 84,000 teachings of Buddha is the Perfection, the Wisdom Perfection, the teachings, the Gone Beyond of Wisdom, these teachings, teachings on emptiness, so then there are many volumes, twelve volumes, 100,000 stanzas, then three, 20,000 stanzas, three volumes, 8,000 stanzas, one volume, now the heart of all these the Wisdom Gone Beyond teachings is the Heart Sutra, the heart of the wisdom, this teaching of Buddha, this is the heart of all those. The heart of all the 84,000 teachings of Buddha is the teachings on the wisdom. Then the heart of all those teachings which I mentioned then that is the Heart Sutra, that is the Heart of the Wisdom, sherab nyingpo. Now the, after that, the [Tibetan], the few syllables, out of the Perfection of Wisdom, the few syllables of the, the lesser syllables, less, ?nyung-mo, small amount, lesser…. [Student: Few.] You can say “few” but maybe not. It’s okay the meaning but, I’ve been saying “a few syllables” but I think lesser, less, ?nyung is less. So, [Tibetan] lesser words of the Perfection of Wisdom, so now that so that’s now kind of the heart of everything, even the Heart Sutra isn’t even the heart. So the [Tibetan] the lesser, fewer or lesser words of the Perfection of Wisdom, so that is this, lama ton pa chom den de de zhin sheg pa dra chom pa pel gyal wa sha kya thub pa chag tsel lo, TADYATHA OM MUNÉ MUNÉ MAHAMUNAYÉ SOHA, this one.

After that, then the one syllable, [Tibetan] the one syllable of Perfection of Wisdom, so that is the AH, syllable AH. So the other traditions meditate on this AH, that becomes very, very important to meditate on that. So usually the AH is used, it’s also in the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition, at the end of many initiations comes meditating on the AH. But the whole point is meditating on, it’s a method of meditating on emptiness.

So anyway, so this, AH is a negative word in Sanskrit, AH is a negative word. Negating word. Instead of saying “no” then use AH as a negative word, like instead of saying “no.” So that’s why Lama Atisha when he recited the Heart Sutra, the Heart of Wisdom, so “no form, no sound, no smell…” then used AH, “AH this, AH that.”

So here, AH, so negates, it means no, negates the object to be refuted. To our mind I, yourself, and action, object, whatever you do in daily life, all the rest of the phenomena, including hell, enlightenment, the samsara, nirvana, happiness, problems, or even the true suffering and cause of suffering, true cessation and true path, however, the whole thing, as I mentioned before, this extra thing, this projection, this hallucination, existing from its own side, and appearing and then we trust on that, we let our mind to trust on this, hold onto this. So, but the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, Buddha’s wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, arya being’s wisdom directly perceiving emptiness sees, their point of view, their wisdom, sees yourself, your action, object, your eating food, object, or walking in the road or whatever the object is, depending on what action you do, so and all the rest of the phenomena, which I mentioned before, that wisdom sees all these things totally empty. What you, what appears to you real, what you believe real all the time, a hundred percent, no question, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness sees all this, see you, totally empty, and all your actions are empty. The whole phenomena, totally empty, empty of a real one existing from its own side. AH, that’s what it is. The view of the wisdom, what wisdom sees relating to that action. So, what it discover is this, wisdom directly perceiving emptiness. So, totally opposite how things appear to us, how we believe and what the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, this is totally nonexistent, not even the slightest even atom, that’s the reality, seeing the reality.

So therefore, so this is the same meaning at the beginning of the teaching, looking at all the phenomena, after the subject, engaging, don’t engage in the unwholesome actions, engage in perfect wholesome actions, subdue one’s own mind, this is the teaching of the Buddha. So then, Look at all the phenomena like a star, so this is the meaning. So daytime you don’t see a star. When the sun’s shining, daytime, you don’t see stars. So here the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness doesn’t discover, fully discover, no, even including yourself, everything, all phenomena, has no true existence, everything’s empty of what appears to us and we trust on, we hold onto it.

So seeing what is empty as it is empty. Yeah, seeing empty as it is empty, as they are empty, according to their nature. So, look at all the causative phenomena like a star has very profound meaning like this. So this is how we should meditate, when we go through the words. Some of those means impermanent, many are examples of impermanence. Some of those means, illusion, like a dream, all these things means, same meaning, that things, the truly existent I, action, object, all those things that appear to us truly existent, that we hold onto it, we hold onto it a hundred percent, real, then looking at like a dream, like illusion, so these examples, like that. Reality if you see empty. Then through the realization, the mind training in this, then we’re able to remove the delusion and including the seed of delusion, then we achieve liberation and also ceasing the subtle defilements we achieve enlightenment, with the help of, support of bodhicitta, collect extensive merits, all that with the paramitas, like that.

So the AH negates, all these, I, action, object, all the phenomena that we see, which appears to us truly existent, not just merely labeled by the mind but something more than that, existing from its own side and that we hold onto so strongly, so ______ _______ AH means there’s no such thing there. There’s no such thing there, all this is totally nonexistent. So therefore the AH is ?sur ching yik kyi chikma, the one syllable of Perfection of Wisdom. So now even the very essence, after this lama ton pa chom den de…, the few or the lesser syllables of Perfection of Wisdom. Now this syllable AH is the heart of even that. So this is the heart of entire Buddhadharma.

So I was talking about lama ton pa chom den de…, describing just what I think, so anyway, so then I thought to mention, maybe translate this mantra, so like that.

So now it’s time, I think, now it’s time to meditate on dinner. To see the dinner as empty as it is empty.

Jang chub sem chog….

Due to all the three-time merits collected by oneself, three-time merits collected by others, that which is merely labeled by mind, which exists but which is merely labeled by mind, may the I, who exists but who is merely labeled by mind, achieve Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which exists, which is merely labeled by mind, and lead all the sentient beings, who exist but who are merely labeled by mind, to that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which exists but which is merely labeled by mind, by myself alone, who exists but who is also merely labeled by mind.

So please enjoy the truly existent dinner.