4. Refuge and Precepts

Now I’d like to give you a short introduction to taking refuge and the five lay precepts, but with respect to refuge, I don’t need to talk too much because you have meditated and checked up on it already. Furthermore, several aspects of refuge have also been explained in the student lectures.¹² So here I’m just going to give a short, simple explanation.

Refuge

Now, you already know what taking refuge means. For example, when it’s raining we protect ourselves by using an umbrella. To avoid other kinds of physical harm from heat, cold and so forth, we go into our house. When we’re thirsty, we take refuge in water; when we’re hungry we take refuge in food. These are simple ways of taking refuge to solve various problems, but such means are only temporary. Like when we’re sick, we take refuge in our doctor, who gives us the appropriate medicine to alleviate our physical suffering. But what doctors can’t treat is our restless state of mind. For ordinary doctors, that’s extremely difficult. 

In the West, when a problem with our partner upsets us we freak out and seek refuge in our therapist. Some of us might take refuge by going to the pub and having a few drinks. Or, if we’re not all that restless, we might just go to a movie, a ballgame or look for some other kind of excitement as a release from our suffering. These are all different ways of taking refuge, but they cannot solve the problems that lie in the profoundly deep ocean of our mental confusion. Regular doctors would find it impossible to solve such problems. 

Therefore, by understanding the nature of your own deluded mind and at the same time being willing to release your delusions and discover the everlasting peaceful state of mind, you know you can’t do it alone. You’d like to say, “I can do it,” but seeing how deeply you’re sunk in an ocean of confusion, you’re really just groping in the dark. So you need help to know how to escape from this vast sea of bewilderment, and that’s when you turn to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha for the right direction. You know that by taking refuge you can discover everlasting peaceful enlightenment, and you’re definite about this, not just maybe, maybe. You understand that taking refuge establishes you on the right path. 

Often during a meditation course such as this you get to see your problems clearly. Seeing your problems can be a most difficult thing. That itself is some kind of realization. For that reason, when Lord Buddha taught the four noble truths, the first one he explained was the truth of suffering.¹³ That’s so simple; it’s universal. Whether you’re a Hindu, a Christian or totally non-­religious, it doesn’t matter—you can’t reject this truth. When we talk about a person’s confused state of suffering, nobody can deny it. 

When Lord Buddha taught, he didn’t just make things up out of nowhere that didn’t relate to us. He didn’t talk about some heaven up there that has no connection with us down here such that we’d reject it: “Oh, come on! I don’t know about that. . . .” Rather, he explained exactly what we now are: “This is you.” He pointed out our own nature very precisely. That’s so fantastic, isn’t it? There’s no way we can reject what he explained: “Your mind thinks this way; your body acts in that way; your speech is like this. This is how you are in everyday life. In particular, you are confused because you think, speak and act the way you do.” 

Lord Buddha’s teachings are very simple, so scientific. When they’re explained, you can’t deny them. You’re all twentieth century people. You’re not stupid; you’re intelligent. Therefore you can clearly understand and relate to what Lord Buddha is saying. That’s why many Western people are interested in Buddhism. They communicate with the teachings and can see that they contain the methods to immediately release human problems. That is very important. 

It’s extremely important to see and understand suffering. You can’t say, “I’m not suffering; I have no problems.” That’s an incredibly polluted view. There’s a Tibetan expression that says when a frog contemplates its abode it feels as if it’s a fantastic, paradisical mandala. Is that true? Of course it’s true. Another example is those animals that enjoy kaka. They are born and grow in it and are very happy in that environment. They are protected by it and see everything as perfect. 

Can you see why I say these are good examples? Sentient beings in this world—insects, humans and all—no matter what they do, all think that their trip is the right one for them to be happy. Look at what’s happening all over this planet. Take soldiers, for example. Many people who look at the way soldiers spend their time killing others will think they’re ridiculous. But for the soldiers, that’s normal; that’s their purpose. However, when they die they have very little positive to show for having been human. Can you see that? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s different in the West. When you look at the life of a soldier it can seem not particularly meaningful: keeping busy doing that kind of wrathful work, killing others or, at least, thinking about it. 

When you look at this example you might think it’s a useless kind of life, but in fact, it doesn’t matter whether the person is a soldier, a philosopher, a doctor, a professor, a sailor or whatever Western occupation you look at: the way society is structured, their whole trip is to take refuge in what they do in order for themselves to be happy, that’s all. These are very small aims, aren’t they? Their human life is potentially so profound yet they spend it chasing tiny atoms. It’s such a waste.

Think about the philosopher. Irrespective of what they work on at school or university or wherever, when they get back home at night, whatever they do there has nothing to do with their daytime activities, their everyday life. They teach their students philosophy just for the salary, but it has no meaning for their life. Lord Buddha’s philosophy is completely different. It has meaning and you can integrate it with your life—your whole life. Buddhist philosophy is basically wisdom. When you are miserable, Dharma philosophy talks to you. It explains why you are miserable, how the way you think is making you miserable and how to think to bring yourself up out of it. So it’s incredibly useful and does relate to your everyday life.

Look at the way society is structured. Basically, people have to study or work just to eat. Observing it closely can make you sad. People have to spend their whole life getting money just to buy food and pay their rent. It’s incredible. To me, it’s so sad. Whatever you study in pursuit of a profession doesn’t really support you mentally or make you happy. It just leaves you with a cold, empty feeling. You go to work in the morning, come home in the evening, collect your pay, spend it, then go to sleep . . . phew! It’s exhausting just to think about it. The way I look at it, it’s painful, very painful. 

We have received such a profound life that brings us the potential to totally awaken but we use it in pursuit of tiny atoms. In other words, we use our life solely to take care of only this body. We’re not at all concerned with our mind. We overemphasize the physical and have no understanding of the nature of our inner, psychological world or how it functions. That’s the way in which we are deluded. It’s really painful. 

When the whole thing no longer works—we get old, our salary stops and our savings run out—they stick us in an old folks’ home. It’s incredible, isn’t it? We’re young enough now, but the time will come when we either die or get institutionalized. That will happen soon enough. Have you seen these old people’s homes? They’re so distressing. Western people can’t say, “We’re very happy. We don’t need meditation, we’re not suffering, we have a perfectly clean place to live.” No. It’s incredible suffering. Just look.

It doesn’t have to be like that. Even if you’re physically old, even if you’re living in miserable conditions, your mind can still be young. It can even be enlightened. That’s completely possible. You don’t have to be a person who’s just sitting around waiting to die. That’s just terrible. Irrespective of age, no matter whether they’re beautiful or ugly, regardless of the miserable conditions in which they’re living, the person who has taken refuge and practiced Dharma is possessed of a warm feeling. The person is hopeful rather than hopeless; they see their potential: “I can do something.” You understand the transitory nature of this world and the potential for mental development. Even if you are put into assisted living, you can think, “That’s good. I’m going into a home. Now I can retreat for the rest of my life, perhaps even get enlightened.” That’s possible, isn’t it? I really mean it. 

With respect to Dharma wisdom, taking refuge in Dharma doesn’t mean you’re taking refuge in something outside of yourself. It’s not like you open your arms to Dharma and it comes down and scoops you up into heaven. Dharma is wisdom—your wisdom—so when you practice it you become wisdom; you become Dharma. Dharma is the vehicle that carries you into everlasting peace. That is a state of mind, not something that you can walk to. 

In the West they teach children that some holy being can physically lead you into some beautiful paradisical place. There’s no physical way to get to a holy place. It has to be psychological. Holy places are conscious realms, mental realms, psychological realms. 

A simple example is how we’re always up and down, up and down. When we’re miserable we become kind of hopeless: “Ah, I’m hopeless.” But when someone who understands their own potential, understands buddha nature, understands Lord Buddha’s universal compassion, takes refuge sincerely, it is incredible; so powerful. That automatically releases their miserable, hopeless state. They can see their own potential and that there’s hope. That’s better than being miserable, isn’t it? 

Taking refuge doesn’t mean you have to go to a temple, set up an altar, recite prayers or chant “Woo, woo, woo!” No! It’s not like that. It’s a mental thing. You can even go into a bathroom, sit there, meditate and take refuge. As long as you have the strong feeling that “My potential is so great; if I put my energy into the one positive direction, I can achieve everlasting peaceful enlightenment,” as long as you understand this, if you have strong motivation, you can always be taking refuge. It doesn’t matter if you’re gardening, working in the kitchen or whatever, you’re constantly taking refuge. 

In many Eastern countries Buddhism is part of the culture and, as a result, has some kind of public aspect to it. But most of the lay people there have a simplistic view of refuge. There are, of course, words we chant when taking refuge: Namo Buddhaya, etc. But refuge is much more than that. However, for what we might call cultural Buddhists, who don’t really understand the deeper aspects of refuge, that can be the main part. They think that taking refuge means that they have to go to the temple, make three prostrations, chant the refuge formula and that’s it—they’ve taken refuge. 

According to Lord Buddha’s teachings, however, taking refuge does not mean imitating others’ external actions. In reality, refuge should be taken at the mental level. Lord Buddha’s teachings are incredibly deep. Westerners should know that practicing Dharma does not mean imitating what Eastern people do or adopting some kind of Eastern trip. 

Sometimes I think that Western bathrooms are the perfect place for meditation. Kitchens are too busy; so are dining rooms. But when you go to the bathroom, it’s clean and there are no distractions. So if you want to meditate, go to the bathroom. Unless, of course, you create some kind of orderly place in your house. Normally, the way you arrange your house reflects your mind. So, in your house, set up a small altar in a clean-­clear area reserved for your practice such that whenever you enter it your mind automatically goes into a meditative state. But I don’t want to talk about all that right now. 

The bottom line is that taking refuge is not just doing or saying something. Words are not refuge. Taking refuge comes from strong inner understanding of the nature of the Buddha, the nature of the Dharma and the nature of the Sangha. And inner understanding is not the mere intellectual understanding that, say, professors of Buddhist studies might have. I’m not saying Buddhist professors are somehow lower; I’m not complaining about them—well, maybe a little; but then again, I do complain a bit about much of Western intellectualism. But those academics talk—blah, blah, blah—get their salaries, and when their classes finish they go back home to live a life totally contrary to what they’ve been teaching.¹⁴

Now that you’ve learned some Buddhist philosophy by attending this meditation course, which contains a great deal of philosophy, doctrine, meditation and practical advice, you have a good basis for checking your everyday life when you go back to it. You don’t have to believe what I’ve told you, but when you get back, analyze the Buddhist philosophy you’ve heard. Perhaps you’re not that interested in philosophy. You might feel that it doesn’t relate to your everyday life, which is more concerned with working, getting paid, eating, having fun and so forth. But philosophy does have value. For example, if you’re having a difficult time, by reflecting on Lord Buddha’s teachings you can elevate your mind into a higher state of consciousness. It’s a living philosophy; check it out and learn from your experiences. 

What I’m saying is that it’s painful to think that only certain people or objects can make you happy: “As long as I have this, I’ll be OK. Only this can make me happy. If I lose it, I’ll freak out.” This, in fact, is your own philosophy: as long as you have that object, you’ll be happy; if it disappears, your life will collapse. 

If you don’t have far-­reaching aims instead of your usual immediate ones, if you don’t live up to your potential, where you can always do better and develop your mind infinitely, your life will not be meaningful. It’s incredibly stupid to believe that your happiness depends on this person or that thing. The more you make that determination, the thicker your attachment becomes. One day that person or object will disappear. That’s the nature of things. Eventually this entire world will disappear. So instead of taking refuge in the material world, take refuge in something more reliable. I mean, the material world does give you some kind of joy, some kind of protection, some kind of safety, some kind of benefit, but you should not expect too much. Doing so will completely pollute your mind; you can see how deluded such an attitude is. 

Instead of relying on material objects for your happiness, which only makes your mind go up and down, you now have the wisdom to explain the nature of mind and other phenomena to yourself, which is of incredible value. And that wisdom doesn’t make only this life better—it benefits you in the intermediate state [Tib: bardo], in your next life and, as you carry that wisdom with you, in all future lives, even if you do not reach enlightenment this time. 

An example from my own experience is what happened when I had to escape from Tibet. I mean, in some ways Tibet was kind of a primitive country, but still, I had my mother, my father, my uncles and a home, with everybody taking care of me. When the Chinese invaders destroyed all that, I fled with basically nothing. Normally, if you’re going on a big trip, you take a bunch of things with you. But in this case I left without even my shoes. All of a sudden, we just had to go. This would be difficult for anybody, but it was a bit easier for those of us who had at least a little Dharma knowledge. I found it extremely helpful. I felt as if the Chinese were giving me an experience of reality. I’m not saying I had some kind of higher realizations, but they showed me the reality that at one moment you can have plenty and the next you can have nothing. The Dharma teachings allow you to explain to yourself how that can happen and how to enjoy such situations. In that way, I felt that the occupiers were very kind, very kind. 

That was my personal experience. I’m not saying that all people are kind. What I am saying is that if I had been relying solely on my family, my house, my possessions and even my nation for happiness, when the exile happened I’d have freaked out. When materially you end up with nothingness, the Dharma offers incredible support. Dharma is just the most beautiful, constant, reliable friend we can have. I lost my entire family and all my possessions; I lost everything. But what I had left and what really helped me was the Dharma wisdom that explained why such things happen, and that made me happy. There it was: I was brutally forced to leave my country and found myself in a totally unfamiliar situation, a new life that I had never experienced before, but at the same time Dharma wisdom explained what was going on and allowed me to be happy, no matter what. 

It’s Dharma wisdom that really makes us happy. If we depend on material things alone, when they collapse we can have a complete mental breakdown, which is very painful. Therefore, we take refuge in the light of Dharma wisdom.

We also take refuge in the Buddha, by understanding the enlightened being’s preeminent qualities. The Buddha is the supreme physician and completely surpasses ordinary doctors. Worldly doctors can usually manage physical problems, but they can’t put an end to psychological problems. Lord Buddha sees all problems clean clear and also knows how to stop them. Furthermore, a buddha has universal, unbiased compassion and does not discriminate between beings. Somebody can be viciously stabbing one of the buddha’s arms while somebody else is lovingly applying sweet perfume to the other one, and a buddha will feel equally warm toward both—complete equanimity. That’s difficult, isn’t it? Extremely difficult. We need not only deep understanding of the root of psychological problems and universal, nondiscriminatory compassion to be able to react like that, but also knowledge of all the various methods of overcoming suffering. Those are exceptional qualities and in order to acquire them ourselves we need to have profound devotion to the enlightened beings’ power, wisdom and compassion and the strong determination to acquire all that knowledge ourselves. Taking refuge in the Buddha is so worthwhile. 

Also, you can see that if you act just as Lord Buddha advises, you can attain exactly the same quality of enlightenment as he did. Therefore, generate the strong determination that “I can see clean clear the perfection and profundity of Lord Buddha’s teachings, and that pure Dharma wisdom, unmixed with other doctrines, is the perfect solution to all problems. If, from now on I put myself on the true path, there is no doubt that I will attain everlasting, peaceful enlightenment.” If you think in that way, you are taking refuge.

We talk about receiving the blessings of the Buddhadharma. You receive blessings when you act in accordance with the teachings. If you don’t act, there’s no way to receive blessings, even though you might say, “Buddhism is fantastic. I totally believe in it.” You have to act as well. 

So now we understand what buddha nature is, how profound the Buddha’s qualities are and how Dharma practice is the most perfect, pure thing we can do. But we beginners find it difficult to act without mixing our samsaric way of being with the profound purity of Buddha and Dharma, especially if we don’t have a conducive environment or Dharma friends to support us. Our abilities are insufficient; they’re like a small candle in a hurricane—so easily snuffed out. It’s difficult. Our tiny knowledge goes up against the sense world environment and we end up with nothingness. All it takes is for one big attachment visualization to arise and poof!—our wisdom disappears. 

What other reason could there be for our practice getting worse and worse? It’s a lack of wisdom, that’s all. As long as our mind is polluted, we don’t have strong enough wisdom energy, we’re not awake enough, to resist our negative tendencies. What we need, therefore, is the right environment and the strong support of Sangha. When I say the strong support of Sangha, I don’t necessarily mean someone to explain things intellectually. Just the presence of such a person can be enough to help you. They don’t have to be giving you teachings. Sangha means someone who acts with wisdom, reasonably and compassionately, giving you positive vibrations and automatically energizing your wisdom and turning your actions toward the positive. That is what a Dharma friend is. The person who helps sentient beings most is the one who acts. The sight of that person and their positive vibration automatically speak to you. As I have said before and as I always say, Dharma is not just words. 

If you want to help others with Dharma, consider the example of a young person who has just completed a meditation course. Full of energy, they get back home and tell their family, “Mmm, I just found this amazing chocolate, mmm, mmm,” and proceed to regale them with all sorts of Buddhist philosophy and doctrine. But when they act, their actions are like kaka. Well, excuse me! That’s just an expression. Perhaps I’m not supposed to use such dirty words. But the family thinks, “What did you actually learn? You’re unbelievable: you talk profound philosophy but look at the way you behave. You’re dreaming.” I know this. Many of my students are like that. Of course, in one way, their family and friends aren’t open to the Dharma and don’t want to accept it, but on the other hand, some of our students are totally unskillful, believe me. 

I think the best way you can be in that situation is not to talk too much but just be normal. Act reasonably. If you act according to Dharma, they can’t argue with that; they can’t reject reasonable behavior. But if you go on some kind of pseudo-­ascetic Milarepa trip, they’re going to say, “What are you doing? Can’t you help around the house, make coffee or something, instead of . . . whatever it is you’re doing? Do something useful instead of nothing in your hallucinated fantasy.” Some parents will react like that, so now I have to act like a parent! But you’re dreaming, not acting. They can see you’re strong enough to take care of yourself, so behave reasonably. Otherwise, they question what you’re doing: “She can take care of herself; she’s not a weak person. But she’s trying to be spiritual. She escaped from her everyday life and went East in search of the spiritual life.” So when you return, it’s better they say, “She’s functioning well in her daily life but at the same time she’s interested in different philosophies and doctrines. It’s kind of interesting.” They can see something of value in what you’re doing. 

And Western parents in particular don’t like it if you’re not doing anything and just say, “But I’m meditating, Mum.” I’m not saying all mums are like that; I’m just speaking superficially, generally. They like you to act, to be doing things, not just focusing on your spiritual trip, meditating and so forth. I mean, it’s good, but parents are concerned that their children act professionally in the real world. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about! 

Seriously though, it’s very important that you act, do things, and at the same time behave in a reasonable manner, that’s all. Very good. Of course, all this is easier said than done, but to act reasonably, with wisdom, you must put tremendous energy into cultivating awareness and an understanding of your own nature. In order to do that, you need some kind of method, such as meditation and taking refuge. That’s what I’m talking about. It’s very useful. 

The conclusion is, if you can’t see your own problems, it’s impossible for you to take refuge. You can’t see the purpose of it. You need to see your own problems. And problems come in an incredible variety of guises. They can be on the gross level, the conscious level, the unconscious level or the very subtle level. Take, for example, the ten bodhisattva bhumis, or levels. Each of the ten has specific delusions that need to be corrected. How is that done?

You can’t completely cut all your delusions at once. First you have to cut your gross level delusions. After that you can see the more subtle ones. Then you see the ones subtler than that. Then the more subtle, more subtle, more subtle . . . like that. Say my sweater has an oily stain. It looks and smells dirty. On the first wash, the gross, visible stain is mostly removed, but you can still see where it was. Then you give it another good wash but still, on the subtle level, the smell remains. Ordinary washing can’t remove that; it needs a special process, like dry cleaning or something. The process of purifying delusions is similar to that. First you need to correct the gross and frequent negativities of your body, speech and mind, such as those stemming from anger, for example. Obvious delusions. Once you have controlled those, you move on to purifying the less obvious ones. So slowly, slowly you can eliminate all your delusions.

There are two causes that lead us to take refuge. One is an understanding of our own suffering and the psychological nature of our problems; the other is the understanding that the Buddha has the power and the methods to help us, and that Dharma is the actual path, the actual solution, the actual elevator, the actual vehicle to take us out of our suffering and problems. If we take refuge with this kind of understanding, it is so worthwhile. Also, there are higher, or different, levels of taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We take refuge at the level that accords with our own individual experiences. 

Putting it simply, say you have a problem with the delusion of anger. In order to free yourself of that, you practice a certain Dharma wisdom method. Once you have dealt with the gross level of anger, you can see that there’s a more subtle level of delusion underlying it, so you invoke a more powerful level of wisdom to get rid of that. Then you may find an even more subtle level beneath that, so you invoke an even more powerful wisdom as an antidote to that. In that way, your psychological problems gradually completely vanish. 

Carl Jung, the Western psychiatrist, spoke about many levels of consciousness, didn’t he? I believe his thought was influenced by ideas from many different disciplines, including Eastern ones, which he then tried to relate to the Western way of thinking: a bit of this, a bit of that and so forth. But he couldn’t go too far with all that in case European people would think he was on some kind of fanatical spiritual trip and not accept what he was saying. In order to avoid that he presented his ideas in a not too serious way. You can see that if you read his work. 

Anyway, it’s simple, isn’t it? Taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha gives you hope. You have a goal. You can develop your consciousness infinitely. It’s incredible. 

Sometimes when you meditate you can feel very happy. You’re almost like, “I don’t have any problems.” That’s not right. If you look closely, you’ll find problems. It takes time to cut them completely. So don’t be satisfied with that level of happiness. It takes time to grow the realization of everlasting, peaceful, infinite happiness. Do not be easily satisfied, thinking, “That’s enough happiness; now I’m going to stop practicing.” 

Then, if refuge is a state of mind, why do we take refuge from a lama? The thing is that sometimes our mind is weak and unstable. When the conditions are good and everything is all right, we think, “Dharma is fantastic.” But when the conditions are disastrous, all of a sudden we’re like, “I’m not sure about Dharma.” We’re very up and down. But when we take refuge from a lama, it’s akin to making a vow. With understanding, we’re basically saying, “Now that I’ve discovered the way things are, from now on, no matter what happens in the sense world—whether I’m having a difficult time, whether I’m caught up in a disaster such as an earthquake or a plane crash, whether my partner leaves me—it doesn’t matter. No matter what conditions arise, the Dharma is absolutely my path, the Buddha is always my teacher, my guru.” Taking refuge from a lama with great determination and that kind of mindset has more power than doing it with a yoyo mind. It makes our refuge stronger. That’s why we take it in person like that. 

Normally the Western mind says, “Instead of taking vows, why don’t we just avoid doing those things to which the vows refer?” Well, you can think that, but our minds are incredibly weak, so it’s difficult to keep our promises. That’s why we have formal wedding ceremonies. We don’t just say to somebody, “Oh, you want to be her husband? Will you look after her?” “Yes, sure I will.” “OK, go for it!” That’s not how it works, is it?

In the Tibetan tradition, when you receive an ordination, it’s not just a matter of telling the lama, “I will do this, I won’t do that.” No. During the ceremony your nervous system receives from the lama the unbroken energy force of the lineage, which protects you from negativity. This coupled with your great determination makes the vows you take exceptionally powerful. If your mind is, “Yeah, maybe I won’t do that; I’ll try my best,” you’re open to any kind of situation that might arise. If you’ve taken a vow of celibacy and the opportunity to have sex presents itself, you might just go with it because your mind is weak, even though right before that you had no intention of doing so. The conditions change and you take advantage. That’s a good example of what I’m talking about, which is that acting out of delusion is not something that you choose to do deliberately. When you put yourself into the right environment, pam!, the delusion just explodes. 

So, when you take refuge you need strong determination based not on some kind of extreme belief but on a reasonable understanding of your reality: “I can see all my problems, my entire evolution. I can see the whole thing. And I can’t go on behaving in the same way, again, again, again and again. All my mistaken, deluded actions serve only to add more obscurations to my mind, thicker, thicker, thicker. . . . I can’t go on like this. Especially now that I have full confidence in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to guide me and the strong determination to completely rely on them.” If you take refuge with such understanding it becomes very powerful, very meaningful.

That’s good. If you don’t act . . . well, a good example of what I want to say is when you take the eight Mahayana precepts here each morning.¹⁵ According to your regular life, that’s an unusual thing for you to do, isn’t it? If, before you came to this course, somebody had told you that by coming here there’d be days where you took vows early in the morning and ate only one meal a day you’d be thinking, “What kind of trip is that?” But here you are doing exactly that, taking precepts without expectation. That’s a result of your having decided to be open to any opportunity that arises and to take advantage of it when it does. With understanding, you’ve taken precepts to not do certain actions with certain kinds of motivation. That automatically stops your superstitious mind seeking here, there and everywhere for satisfaction and allows you to feel more liberated and comfortable within yourself. 

Constant seeking is painful, isn’t it? Constantly seeking for things that make you happy causes psychological pain. That makes you open to opportunities to feed your desire. And that automatically causes problems. 

Of course, Lord Buddha teaches that you should not push yourself to do things that are beyond your present capacity. Check what you’re able to do at the moment. If you think that taking refuge will help you cope with your life, it’s reasonable and worthwhile to go ahead. If you make commitments that are beyond you, that just makes your life more difficult. That’s why Lord Buddha’s teaching has all these different levels. It’s very individualized and personal because we’re all different. We come from different environments, we have different desires, we have different definitions of good and bad, so we need different practices. Therefore we need to choose for ourselves, according to our own abilities and life situation. Practicing in that way is very good. 

Determination, or willpower, is really useful. It’s incredible. Airplanes can fly thanks to the power of the mind. That’s what made it happen. What do you think about that? Trains, modern means of transportation, scientific equipment: who made all that? Inventors experimenting: “Hmm, hmm . . . what if I try this? What if I try that?” That’s the power of determination, the power of the human mind, which is much more powerful than atomic energy. We say “atomic energy” but there’s no such thing. Through our own skill and capability we create energy. The basic elements are there, but we put them all together and pam! We can use it. Amazing.

Just look at the development in London, with all those big, tall buildings. Even this building, Conishead Priory, is a good example. We don’t need too much logic when we look at all these. If you had to construct them you’d be exhausted, but those who did had the power of will, determination, and the material power as well. All that power motivated the builders to complete the construction. In the meantime, you young people are thinking, “Wah, what kind of mind? We couldn’t do it.” So it’s incredible. The development of the entirety of human civilization has been powered by will. It wasn’t made by God. God didn’t come down and lay bricks or paint the woodwork. It’s all the result of human determination, the strong will to succeed. 

Even your being at this meditation course is the result of the power of your decision making. Your will, your motivation brought you here. Nobody else makes your life decisions for you. It’s also your own willpower that takes you back home into whatever trip or situation you decide. That’s life. Therefore, the human mind is very powerful; the power of the human will is incredibly strong. 

Sometimes I introduce this idea to the Western mind with this example. In fact, I always do this myself. When I go to bed, I make up my mind, “Tomorrow morning I’m going to wake at 5:00 a.m.,” or whatever time I decide. If your determination is strong enough you will wake at exactly that time. Why is that? It’s not some religious trip; it has nothing to do with belief. Scientifically, how are you going to explain it? There’s no physical scientific explanation. It’s that the willpower of the human consciousness is strong enough to bring this about. Similarly, by understanding how your psychological problems relate to the physical world, your great determination can help you eliminate them completely.

The Five Pratimoksha Precepts¹⁶

Let’s look at the five precepts taken by lay Buddhists. The first one is the vow not to kill. Western people understand and accept that pretty easily: “We don’t kill because it causes other people suffering.” But Lord Buddha’s point of view is that that’s not the only reason not to kill. It also causes you suffering. When you kill other sentient beings out of craving desire or hatred, you’re destroying your own peaceful mind. The Vinaya rules place more emphasis on that—your own suffering rather than that of others—that’s why you don’t kill. 

Of course, Western people easily understand that killing causes others to suffer, therefore you shouldn’t do it. That’s good. I respect that. But it’s not enough. Lord Buddha’s admonition is more powerful: if you take another’s life out of your own selfish motivation—your own attitude of grasping for pleasure or your hatred of the other—you’re destroying your own life, your own happiness; even though at some level you’re killing for your own happiness. That’s what we say, isn’t it? That whatever we do is motivated by the wish for happiness. No matter their profession, their work, whatever people do is done in order to make themselves happy. That’s what they believe. 

Moreover, Lord Buddha also emphasized that he never ever said, “Don’t kill others because I said so.” What he did explain in his teachings was, under these conditions, with this motivation, with this kind of mind, if you do this certain action, it will lead you to this state, therefore it’s better that you don’t do it. Every single precept he gave was given in incredible detail. It wasn’t just that you ought to avoid certain kinds of physical action. It was completely psychological. You can see from your own experience of taking precepts every day of this course how helpful they are. They destroy superstition and cut the sneaky mind. So, if your motivation for doing an action such as killing is immoral, you’re destroying your own as well as others’ happiness. That’s why you should not kill. 

Then there’s the second precept, the vow against stealing. That’s also psychological. It’s not just about not taking a physical object; it’s a psychological thing. Wanting it for your own purpose, your own happiness, your own pleasure, and taking it without its being offered to you. 

For example, you might give me something, saying, “Lama, can you please keep this for me until next year?” Then I’m so happy: “Oh, she gave me this beautiful thing. I like it.” Then, day by day, I get more and more attached to it, until finally I’m thinking, “I hope she forgets she gave it to me,” and start believing it’s mine. Then, when I meet her again the next year and she doesn’t say anything, I think, “Hmm, she didn’t mention it. Now it belongs to me.” At that moment, I’m stealing. Completely. I have the motivation “I hope she forgets,” and when she does, I believe it’s mine—at that time I’ve stolen it. So, you see, it’s not necessarily to do with your taking something; it’s the psychology of it. And that damages your own mind. 

It’s the same thing with the third vow, which is against telling lies. Lying can be incredibly subtle. When we hear “telling lies,” it sounds like it refers to speech, but Lord Buddha’s connotation is that it doesn’t just refer to words. Like if somebody tells me, “Lama Yeshe, you must be so enlightened,” and I don’t say anything but just smile knowingly, that’s lying. You can lie without speaking. 

For example, in the West we have all these big shows put on for entertainment. There’s a bit of lying involved in all that, isn’t there? Well, I don’t need to talk too much about that, but you do understand that telling lies doesn’t necessarily involve speaking words. It’s sneakily cheating other people by any means, wanting to turn their minds in a certain direction, away from what’s true; deliberately trying to make them believe something that has nothing to do with reality. With this kind of motivation there can be many different ways of lying. You damage your own mind and mess with other sentient beings, giving them a sort of double delusion. So that’s telling lies.

However, there’s more to it. Say the police show up demanding that you tell them where your friend is: “Where’s Michelle? Where’s Michelle?” But you have compassion for Michelle, so even though she’s here, you tell them, “Michelle went to France yesterday.” That looks a bit like lying, but it’s not because your motivation is compassion and has nothing to do with your own pleasure. If you change others’ minds in that way, it’s not considered lying. Of course, Western people are going to freak out at that concept. That’s the way the man in the street thinks. It might be common law but it’s not Lord Buddha’s. According to divine law, it’s all about psychology, not just words. In ordinary parlance, lying doesn’t have a precise definition. Regular people’s understanding is just delusion. 

Let’s say that, for the sake of sentient beings, you stop somebody dropping an atomic bomb on Britain by telling them something that’s untrue, changing their mind in that way. That’s not lying. You just saved countless British lives. Instead of having a negative effect on your mind it has a positive one. On the face of it, lying in this way would seem to be a negative act, but in fact it is positive. 

The fourth precept is not to engage in sexual misconduct. In a marriage, the couple promise not to engage in sexual activity with people other than their spouse. That’s usually a verbal agreement, but also a psychological commitment. But then, impelled by your dissatisfied mind, you go off with somebody else. That creates disorder in your mind, which can sicken not only you, but also your partner. I think that’s simple. You probably understand this better through your own experiences than from what I’m saying. But there’s no way to find satisfaction by feeding desire. Historically, I think you’ll find that’s true, both personally and in the world at large. Has one person ever completely satisfied the desire of another? It’s impossible. No such thing has ever happened. Here, of course, I’m talking about the sensual sphere. What is possible is that the right partner can satisfy you by showing you reality. That is definitely possible. But for two foggy minds engaged in a physical relationship—there’s no way, because sensual desire is infinite, wider than the widest ocean. This is a philosophical reality: you cannot satisfy desire by continually feeding  desire. 

Let’s say I desire chocolate. I eat, eat, eat more and more chocolate. Will that solve my problem of desire for chocolate? It’s impossible. It’s more likely to produce even more desire. That’s a good example. Nepalese people don’t desire chocolate because they’ve never experienced chocolate. Westerners, on the other hand, have so much desire for it: “Mmm, chocolate . . . yum!” And it’s also advertised in a fantastic way. 

The conclusion is that feeding desire in order to release desire is extremely difficult. In fact, it’s impossible. Therefore, especially when you’re married and have mutually agreed to stay together, you shouldn’t create confusion with other people. Yet still, you do, causing pain to each other. It’s like this the world over. The human problem is that they create the conditions for suffering to arise and then it does. I’m not talking philosophically. Simply put, you create the conditions that bring suffering and then you suffer so much. It’s like you’re beating yourself with a stick. It’s incredibly painful. 

If you haven’t made such an agreement, then it’s not painful if your friend goes off with somebody else. You don’t get jealous. If they go, it doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with you. If you have made an agreement to stay together and a psychological commitment to each other and still go off with somebody else, it’s practically impossible to stay together happily. Therefore, sexual misconduct makes you restless and confused and it’s very painful; extremely painful. 

I read in the newspaper where a married man had a girlfriend on the side and one day he got so angry with his wife that he hit her on the head with a brick and threw her in a pond, where she drowned. He told the prosecutors that he was just angry and didn’t mean to kill her, but she died anyway. So that’s the kind of problem that can come from sexual misconduct. 

That’s a good example. I’m not talking politics. This is reality; it happened here in England. If you’re married but get attracted to somebody else, you might stay home thinking, “This is my wife,” but deep inside you’re thinking, “I wish I could get rid of her.” So, as in the example I just mentioned, some small thing made the man angry and out of frustration he beat and drowned his wife. Then he had to stand trial, was found guilty and had to go to prison and suffer for the rest of his life. I mean, it’s simple to understand how this happens, isn’t it? It’s everyday life. You can read this sort of thing in the paper every day. 

Therefore, I say really, if you are married and have made that commitment to live with somebody, create good conditions and be as honest as possible. Running around with someone else is sexual misconduct and is not going to make you happy. It’s impossible. If you understand that the uncontrolled, always mistaken mind creates the conditions for you to suffer, taking the vow against sexual misconduct is so worthwhile. If you don’t understand that, you don’t need to take this precept. If you are not married and have not made a commitment to a spouse, you are free to have a physical relationship with whomever you like. That’s not sexual misconduct. But check up; it’s an individual experience. 

Finally, the fifth precept has to do with the use of intoxicants; to avoid getting intoxicated. So here, you want to achieve the everlastingly peaceful, totally conscious waking state of mind. You don’t want confusion. Yet you drink alcohol, smoke hash, drop acid and generally make yourself so crazy that you run around in public naked. I mean, that’s the effect these things have on some people. Some people have bad trips and really do go crazy. I’m sure you know all about this. So if you really want everlasting peace, if you want to awaken, why take drugs that cause you to hallucinate and make your mind foggy and dull? 

Now, what happens if you’ve taken this precept and you meet your parents for dinner and they want you to have a little wine with them? That can happen, can’t it? Different cultures, the French, for example, drink a little alcohol with lunch or dinner. You don’t need to say, “Sorry, Mum, I’m a Buddhist. I don’t drink.” You can have a small drink for your parents’ sake, to make them happy. Just be natural and take a small glass. You won’t go berserk. Of course, if you will, you shouldn’t do it! 

If you’re a monk or nun, however, it’s different. Then you shouldn’t take any alcohol at all. And a monastic’s parents should be expecting their son or daughter not to drink. That’s a different situation. But lay students should act naturally and join in. Sangha drinking just sets a bad example; you’re supposed to be in control and refusing alcohol is a good example of that. So, if you’re a lay person, having a small social drink with control isn’t going to make you go berserk. Therefore you can have one, but with control. Don’t be extreme.

Now maybe you’re going to ask, what about marijuana or LSD? Well, beginners, people who are completely physically oriented and have no idea about the mind or consciousness, can maybe do a little of something. Why is that? Because in the West there’s not much correct information about the mind or consciousness. Schools never explain your mind is this, this, this, so it’s very difficult to see your potential for development. So if a beginner tries some kind of drug perhaps they can see that there’s more to the mind than they realized. But taking drugs all the time is useless. It doesn’t give you any lasting insight, and if you take too much it can damage your nervous system. 

I think that’s all. Are there any questions?

Q. What about nicotine, cigarettes? 

Lama. Why do you want to smoke cigarettes?

Q. Because I smoked before, I suppose.

Lama. Well, if you really check up, cigarettes are not so good either. But what’s the actual reason you smoke? You’re just playing, sublimating desire, switching one desire for another. Now you’re smoking, now you’re drinking, now you’re eating, around and around. Really, it’s better not to have all these desires. Tibetan texts explain that tobacco is no good for your nervous system; it blocks your central channel [Skt: sushumna]. And contemporary medicine also explains that smoking damages your heart, lungs and other organs. 

Q. You say that Dharma practice is an internal thing, but we take precepts, sing prayers in Tibetan and make prostrations, which are very much Tibetan activities. Also, the monks are dressed in Tibetan robes and the gompa decorations are Tibetan style as well. Furthermore, we’re sitting cross-­legged on the floor with pain in our legs when we’re used to sitting in chairs. It all seems very external and traditional.

Lama. Well, let me address all that. First, we have translated many of the prayers into English and continue to do so, and from there they are being translated into other languages. And you’re right, some people do find sitting on the floor uncomfortable, but we probably have enough chairs here for people who want them. Still, many people prefer to sit on the floor and find it more conducive for meditation, so that should be an individual choice. You can’t make everybody sit on a chair. On the other hand, as I’ve said before, you can also meditate lying down. Nevertheless, there’s something about sitting cross-­legged on the floor that helps you develop control over your mind, and in that posture, keeping your back straight helps you unblock your deluded psychic channels, which is very important. 

The sitting position is very important. Let me give you an example. At home, you have a bed in which you sleep. When you look at it your mind automatically vibrates with the wish for a comfortable sleep. You see this a lot in movies or on TV—big, soft, comfortable beds with people luxuriating in them. Similarly, when you set up your meditation cushion at home, make sure it’s comfortable and inviting. Then, as soon as you see it your mind automatically vibrates with the wish to sit and generate control, right? Yes, of course. It’s so simple. That’s good. The way you arrange your surroundings brings different feelings and sensations. 

When you return home from this course, look at how you’ve set it up and check what sensations it evokes. If they’re all kind of worldly, think how you can rearrange things to change the atmosphere and engender different feelings. 

Now, with respect to these robes, they don’t necessarily have to be red, but they should be such that looking at them automatically causes a feeling of renunciation to arise. Even remembering them generates renunciation of samsara. When you wear pants, for example, they give you a certain attitude. The way you dress has a tremendous effect on yourself and others. When Tibetan boys get ordained and start wearing robes, their whole demeanor changes. But I agree; monks’ robes don’t have to be red. When Lord Buddha started his Sangha, he said that monastic robes could be red, yellow or even blue. He explained all this in the Vinaya Sutra. But in Tibet, in order to unify the Sangha, this shade of red, maroon, was chosen, lest the monks and nuns got into the samsaric trip of, “I like this color, I don’t like that one,” and everybody started wearing different things. Having no choice made things easier. 

In short, I agree with you. We don’t have to try to imitate Tibetan culture. What we need to understand is the essence of Lord Buddha’s teachings, the essence of what we are and how we are. That’s the essence. You don’t have to change what you wear. Even if you did, when you go back home, you’re right: you’re not going to change your country’s customs. That’s impossible. 

Finally, I’m going to say again that a bathroom can be a good place in which to meditate.

Q. What is the best meditation to do when you feel lonely? 

Lama. Yes, I understand. It means you should discover that you are not alone. You are not alone. The universal sentient beings are your friend; the entire world of human beings is your friend. That’s such a simple thing. It’s incredible. The depressed mind makes you feel so alone that you think even the sun and the moon are discriminating against you. The sun and moon don’t discriminate. That’s just your ego. It’s a psychological thing. When you’re lonely and depressed—loneliness is a kind of depression—even the way somebody walks can upset you: “Look at the way he’s walking. He really doesn’t like me; nobody likes me, everybody’s complaining about me.” It’s not true. There’s no such thing as everybody disliking you. 

The best thing is bodhicitta, understanding the unity of all mother sentient beings in nature: equally, all can become enlightened; equally, all have been your friend, husband, wife . . . everything. So there’s no such thing as being lonely. It’s a stupid mind, one that doesn’t even understand taking refuge. Dharma wisdom is always with you. How can you feel lonely? But it also depends. There are different ways in which you can feel lonely; there are many kinds of loneliness. Who asked the question? In which way are you lonely? 

Q. I did. I am overwhelmed by incomprehension, so I feel quite lonely. I can’t communicate with people. 

Lama. The reason you can’t communicate with people could be that you’re dissatisfied with yourself. When you’re satisfied with yourself, when you’re happy with who you are, it’s easier to communicate. One of the problems with human communication is a lack of self-­confidence, and if you don’t trust yourself, it can be really difficult. In other words, you’re not happy within yourself. When you are, you can communicate with other sentient beings much better. When you’re dissatisfied with yourself there’s a wall between you and others. Even when you’re not dissatisfied in that way there can be fear within you. You can’t look other people in the face. You feel a vibration of strength coming from them so you want to hide your face. You don’t want to look at them; you can’t face them. So, the entire solution is to be satisfied with yourself, to get yourself together. If you’re together then it’s all right. If you feel, “I’m so untogether; I’m not sure of what I’m doing,” problems are going to arise. If somebody then says to you, “What do you think you’re doing?” you collapse. If somebody speaks to you loudly, you sink into yourself. Because of your lack of confidence. That’s the simple way of answering your question. 

Q. How does the understanding that all beings have been my mother reduce attachment? Surely a mother’s love is not bodhicitta but is full of attachment, and it is the very attachment of the mother-­child relationship that we have to outgrow. 

Lama. Well, you need to understand your mother’s attitude and concern for you, her child. From the time you were born up until now, according to her ways, her potential, her own point of view, she’s constantly thought, “What’s best for my son, my daughter?” Mothers do as much as they possibly can for their children. You have to understand what your mother is. She might be stupid, she might be unreasonable, but according to what she thinks, she does her best for you. Even though basically, her best comes from attachment and is therefore polluted, still, she tries to help you as best she can. And she has helped you. Now you think you are so intelligent and look at her askance, and if she comes knocking you kind of disappear. Nevertheless, she took care of you and you are still alive. So now you need to understand that every living being in the universe has been your mother and at those times did whatever she could for you, according to her ability; she took care of you considering you to be dearer than herself. 

There are so many examples of this. Look at animals, for example. They’re incredible. They have so much love for their babies and take care of them so well. Birds go to extremes to look after their young. A mother bird might be so exhausted that she’s almost dead, but she’ll still go out to gather food to feed her chicks. If you haven’t seen this in real life you’ve probably seen it on television. But I’ve seen it for real. I grew up on my family’s farm and saw firsthand how incredibly well mother animals took care of their babies. They are so ignorant, have very little wisdom and are extremely limited in capability, yet they go to great lengths to help their offspring. Human mothers are the same. It might be out of ignorance and attachment, but in their own way they too do whatever they can to help their children. So just as your mother took care of you, so did all universal living beings. Even though all they wanted was happiness and freedom from suffering, out of compassion, they acted opposite, putting your wellbeing ahead of their own. 

That’s not saying that understanding all sentient beings to have been your mother means that you should be as attached to them as you are to your mother of this life. The purpose of the example is not to produce more attachment. You’re not supposed to generate attachment to the kindness of all sentient beings. You do have a problem with attachment, but still, your mother has been very kind to you. 

So, this question was saying, “I’m attached to my mother, so if I think that all sentient beings have been my mother I’m just compounding the attachment I already have.” However, the purpose of this understanding is to realize how kind all sentient beings have been as mother and that it’s important to repay that kindness—not by giving them chocolate but by giving them the wisdom energy that will bring them to everlasting peaceful enlightenment. That’s all. To the person who asked that question: does that make sense? Yes? Very good. 

Q. Do the people of a country share in the results of the bad karma of their leaders, like presidents and ministers who start wars

Lama. Yes. If you put energy into those decisions, your energy is linked with that of the leaders. For example, America gives money and arms to Israel, and Israel uses all that to fight with their neighbors. If your tax dollars are supporting that, of course you share in the karma. That’s so simple.¹⁷ 

Q. What is the relationship between a buddha’s pure land and nirvana?

Lama. First of all, Buddhism describes two kinds of nirvana. Lord Buddha’s nirvana is complete enlightenment. We call the absolute nature of the enlightened mind nirvana. The other nirvana is lower than that and is still a kind of bondage in that the person having that experience has reached that level of attainment because of excessive concern for their own ego and problems and has meditated simply to escape from all that. That nirvana is true cessation, a state beyond ego, and comes about when the practitioner is motivated by the desire for self-­realization, their own pleasure, having no concern for the welfare of other sentient beings. “I really can’t deal with other sentient beings’ sufferings. First, I have to attain everlasting peaceful liberation for myself. And if I reach that state of consciousness, I’m going to remain there forever and never come down.” So when they do reach that level, if they want to, they can abide in that blissful experience of samadhi for billions of years. That is the bondage of nirvana. A being at that level is called an arhat. 

As an example of this from the Western point of view, consider yourself sitting about uselessly, hallucinating and enjoying yourself, concerned only for yourself without a thought for the suffering of the world’s sentient beings. That’s a bit like the bondage of nirvana. 

But when we talk about the Buddha’s nirvana, that’s completely different. That is beyond the dualistic mind; that is the cessation of the dualistic mind; that is not the bondage of nirvana. A being at that level is a buddha, a fully awakened one. 

A pure land is the perception afforded by a perfect visualization as opposed to a miserable one. It’s quite simple. When you’re happy you see your friends and surroundings in a good light. The sun is shining; you’re happy. It doesn’t matter what the external conditions are like, you perceive a good visualization. A pure land is like that: it manifests from your consciousness. There’s no such thing as pure from the outside. A person who reaches the pure land has their own positive karma and perceives an environment resulting from a positive vibration. That is their own world. 

For example, there are many of us in this room. Some of us feel very blissful and comfortable when we come into it; some might feel miserable; others might just think it’s OK, sort of neutral. We all have different experiences. So those different states of mind are our individual realm. In that way we all live in different realms. You people think that’s too much, right? Is it reasonable or not? I think it’s reasonable. You can’t say we all have to eat the same food, recite the same prayer, do the same thing. Everybody has different feelings, different enjoyments, different things they like—that is their own world. So my conclusion is, as I always say, that all universal living beings, Eastern or Western, completely, each sentient being is living in their own entirely individual world. Can you imagine that? You think it’s impossible? I think it’s possible. If anybody disagrees, we can debate that point. That’s outrageous, isn’t it? But if you don’t understand that kind of thing you don’t understand how to discover everlasting peaceful enlightenment. 

But just watch. Everybody is on a different trip. Sometimes it might look as if people are doing the same thing, but in fact everybody is living in entirely their own world. Take a married couple, for example. They meet in their twenties and stay together for sixty or seventy years. They eat together, drink together, do everything together. Yet the husband is living in his own world and the wife is living in hers. Can you imagine? It doesn’t matter that they do all these things together, there’s a difference. The wife has different feelings; the husband has different feelings. He has his environment; she has hers. They’re in their own worlds. I know the way that this sounds is too much for the Western mind, but in fact it’s true. I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter whether you accept it or not, you are living in your own world. It’s too much; the human mind is too much. It’s amazing, really. Just look at the human mind. It’s incredible. 

If people weren’t living in their own world it would be impossible for them to, say, choose different professions. “I like this, I want to do that, I want to be president, I want to become Queen Elizabeth!” Well, you know what I mean. “I want this; I want that,” each person chooses differently. If they didn’t have their own view generated by their own mind, if they weren’t living in their own world, it would be impossible for them to do this. 

Of course, looking superficially, when we have lunch or dinner together, we’re all eating the same food; we’re all doing the same thing. The superficial view is that, karmically, we’re all living in the same world. But within that, at the same time, each of us is living in our own individual world. And even though we might all be eating the same food it might taste different to each of us. To one person it will taste good; to another it will not; a third person may want to add some condiment. I would say that that’s scientifically correct. That shows what I’m saying. Of course, maybe you people have reached beyond such discriminations. If that’s so, excuse me.

Q. Does the realization of true nature only come gradually or is a deep sudden realization possible through practicing a special meditation?

Lama. It’s gradual. Because the delusions that obscure it vary in density. There are degrees of thickness and degrees of lightness; there are gross delusions and subtle ones. So, as we purify the heavier ones, the lighter ones beneath are revealed and we receive the relevant realizations. There’s a process like that. You can’t suddenly get rid of all the obscurations in a finger-­snap and immediately get enlightened. Of course, when the actual enlightened realization comes it is instantaneous, but it takes time to reach that point; it takes time to purify the foggy energy.

So that’s all the time we have for now. If there are more questions we can find time for them later. In the meantime, I think we are really fortunate to keep precepts for one day, observing the actions of our body, speech and mind.¹⁸ Very fortunate. It shows that you’re not hypocritical and that you’re not simply indulging in some kind of intellectual trip. You are really practicing Dharma. You’re putting what you have heard into action.

I mean, giving up dinner isn’t easy, is it? It’s not easy for the Western mind. So your trying to do that is an incredible thing; wonderful. It requires a tremendous expenditure of energy. It shows we are acting, acting. Very good. Action is important. Otherwise, we can talk about various philosophies till we’re blue in the face, but if we don’t act, we can’t solve any problems. Therefore, acting is very useful.

Also, it’s not necessary that you take precepts all the time. If one day you’re feeling foggy or are caught up with the activities of your daily life, you can forego taking them. Another day you might feel, “OK, today I’m going to take the ordination and spend some time meditating.” On that day you somehow clean yourself up. When you’re clear you communicate more easily with others. I think that’s a very important thing. 

A good example of the benefits of this approach is when you’re arguing with your spouse and having a difficult time of it. Instead of trying to fix this difficult situation by pushing, pushing, pushing in a time of confusion, distance yourself from it for a little while and make yourself clean clear. Then, when your head is clear, come together and talk. Then you’ll be able to communicate well and easily solve your problems because you won’t be attacking each other emotionally. You need skillful wisdom in order to open other people to you. When you’re uptight, others can’t really express themselves to you. 

Anyway, this is my suggestion. When you’re all foggy and things seem impossible, instead of feeling worried and guilty, take precepts for a day and kind of clear yourself out. When you find your energy is strong and clean clear, you can once again tackle the situation. 

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Notes

12. In 1974 or so Lama Yeshe introduced the dreaded “public examination,” where often, out of the blue, a student would be called upon to give the others a lecture on some random topic. This is what Lama is referring to here. During this course, the center director Harvey Horrocks was put in the hot seat. Lama said,

“Tonight we’re conducting Harvey’s public exam. All of you have to check up on what he’s saying to make sure he’s thinking correctly and to determine if he has the right view or wrong conceptions. It’s very useful. It’s especially worthwhile, because normally we have some idea of what Dharma and meditation are, but if we don’t check up we can overlook the wrong conceptions that are always concurrently there. 

“For example, from my own experience at Sera College, I’d be sitting there listening to my teacher thinking I had the right idea of what he was teaching, but when I went to the debate class I’d find that many times I was wrong. So, it’s very useful. The meditations we attempt and the teachings we try to understand are not something beyond words or human experience, and each of us has different experiences, different skills and different ways of checking. So it’s worthwhile that we all check each other’s point of view. In that way we get to have more confidence in our own, and so does the person sharing their ideas with the group. And if nobody gives that person a hard time, they might actually feel comfortable!

“Not only that. Often when we listen to Tibetan lamas teaching we might think, ‘These Himalayan mountain people only talk like that because they don’t have all the incredible, tremendously huge supermarkets that we do. What they’re saying is not our experience. It’s impossible.’ But when we hear the same things coming out of the mouth of a Westerner explaining Dharma through their own experience, we can’t reject what they are saying. We develop more confidence, strength and energy and relate more easily because it’s not some lama’s broken language.” [Return to text]

13. See Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book, The Four Noble Truths. [Return to text]

14. See note 8. [Return to text]

15. Here Lama is referring to the eight Mahayana precepts that he encouraged the students to take in the latter half of the lamrim meditation courses that he and Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave, in particular the one-­month November Kopan courses, where students took this ordination daily for the second two weeks of the course. One of the precepts is not to eat after midday. See Ritual for Taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts. [Return to text]

16. Pratimoksha (Skt.) means individual liberation. There are seven types of vow in this category. See Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment, p. 122 ff. [Return to text]

17. Once more, Lama is saying this in 1976. The US began supplying military aid to Israel in the 1950s. This increased significantly in the 1960s and 1970s and continues to this day. [Return to text]

18. See note 15. [Return to text]