KNOWING THE MEANING OF LIFE
[Rinpoche and students recite Prayers Before Teachings]
It didn’t happen today but tomorrow we will do the walking meditation, so maybe there won’t be a discussion. Sometimes it’s not necessary. We can do other things, like a walking meditation or other things. Having discussion groups is not necessary all the time. But [we need to] practice mindfulness with the three principal aspects of the path—renunciation, bodhicitta and right view.
We need to do a walking meditation with the right view, a walking meditation with renunciation. With renunciation, nothing becomes the cause of samsara. It becomes the cause of liberation. Then, with bodhicitta it becomes the cause of enlightenment, and with right view everything becomes a remedy to samsara, a remedy to ignorance, the root of all our suffering, our samsara. Meditating on right view eliminates that. That’s what we all need.
If we do not like suffering, we have to put effort into actualizing emptiness. If we do not like depression, if we do not like suffering, even diarrhea, we need to put effort into studying and realizing emptiness, not only all the extensive philosophical teachings but especially the lamrim, the essence, the short teachings, the very important teachings. We cannot just study, leaving everything on an intellectual level. That is like leaving it all up to tape recorder or the computer. We invest in information, put it all in a tape recorder. It’s not like that. We invest in our brain, putting so much information in there, without practicing, only discussing, only in order to be an important… I forgot the word, what? University teacher? Professor! Like that.
We study to actualize the subject. Everything becomes practice, and through practice, we actualize. Then, everything becomes an antidote to our samsara, to our ignorance, to the root of samsara. It eliminates the root of the oceans of suffering of samsara. That is what we need. Unless we like suffering, we need to put effort into that. It’s extremely worthwhile.
We not only need to free ourselves from the oceans of sufferings of samsara, but also with the help of bodhicitta, we collect inconceivable merits. Then, with the wisdom realizing emptiness, we directly cease the obscurations, not only the subtle ones but also the gross ones, bringing us the realization of emptiness. Then not only that! We are able to liberate all sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring everyone to buddhahood.
If we do not like suffering, if we have relationship problems—with the family, with the husband, with the wife, with the children, with friends—we should know that. The antidote is to be free from the suffering of samsara. For that, we need to be free from karma and delusions; for that, we need to be free from ignorance, from the root of samsara. For that, we need to meditate on emptiness. That is what we need. Otherwise, our problems have no end. Then, we will rely on a psychologist or a psychiatrist. It has no end. Our going to hospital has no end. Our going to hospital and having operations on our brain is endless. That is the nature of samsara.
When we have problems, we need to think this is a sign that we are in samsara. The problems prove to us we are in samsara. Then we think, “I need to be free from samsara; therefore I need to practice the Dharma.” The conclusion we should come to is that, to actualize the Dharma, the heart of Buddhadharma: renunciation, bodhicitta and right view. We should come to the conclusion that we need to practice the lamrim. That is the best conclusion.
We have to do what is most worthwhile for ourselves and for every sentient being: to benefit every hell being and there are numberless, [to benefit every hungry ghost and there are numberless,] to benefit to every ant, every fish, every chicken, every goat, every sheep—whatever we eat—to benefit to every mosquito, every small fly (they are so tiny but numberless), to benefit every one with bodhicitta. Then, we need to benefit every human being, every sura being, every asura being, every intermediate state being.
Then, instead of depression we have so much happiness in our life because we know what to do. We know the meaning of life. After they have gone to school and grown up, so many people think that they cannot find any meaning in life and they want to commit suicide. There is so much unhappiness in the world. After they grow up, life has no meaning for them and they want to commit suicide—old people, young people. I don’t know if it happens every day. That is because of not knowing the meaning of life. That is the big problem in the West—not knowing the meaning of life.
The mind is totally dark, without sun, without light, totally foggy. This is due to not knowing the meaning of life. That brings a lot of unhappiness, a lot of depression. Not knowing the meaning of life, the purpose of life, is the root of so much unhappiness. This is not talked about in education, at school or university. Some universities have a Buddhist subject [but that is only for intellectual study]. Trying to enjoy life [without knowing the meaning of life] is all a hallucination. It is sort of a hallucination over the hallucination. It is not the first hallucination, not the second hallucination, not the third—there are piles of hallucinations.
There is no way to really enjoy life if we do not know the purpose of life at all. Without knowing the secret of the mind, it is totally black. That is very sad, very sad.
THE MIND IS LIKE A WISH-GRANTING JEWEL
At this time, your coming here to Kopan, Nepal, you have learned all these things. You have opened your eyes to see these things. You have seen other worlds; you have seen enlightenment and hell. Every religion talks about hell, but what you have seen is different. Here, you have learned that it is your mind that creates hell and it is your mind that can stop hell. It can create hell but it can stop hell, because hell comes from your mind, so your mind can stop it. That is the thing. You do not have to be forever in hell. Your mind created it so your mind can stop it. You can be free from samsara; you can achieve liberation from samsara and enlightenment. So you see, coming here, your eyes have been opened to see your life.
This human life is so unbelievably precious. What we can do is not just for ourselves. We are able to not just liberate ourselves but the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings. We are able to liberate every single sentient being in each realm from the oceans of sufferings. That is great happiness. That is amazing! We can do that by developing our mind. Then, we can bring them to the peerless happiness of enlightenment.
We cannot see the mind; it is colorless, shapeless, formless, but this is what we can do. We can use this mind to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment with bodhicitta. When we open our mind to see all we can do with our life, it is so precious.
Otherwise life in the West has no meaning; there is nothing to enjoy, there is no meaning. Most people have no idea. They think there is no life after we die. Although some might not be sure, this is not the main subject in society; it becomes like it’s hidden. But the most important thing to discover is what is right and what is wrong! It’s the most important thing to discover but it’s like it’s hidden. Generally Western people do not have a good idea of this, but this is something we have to discover. Then, we can get rid of suffering and achieve happiness. In this way, we understand the meaning of life. Unless we are with people who can explain all this, nobody can explain what life is all about. Then, it becomes a kind of hidden subject.
We all have to die; we all have to go through that. Because we have not had a direct perception of emptiness that ceases the seed of karma and delusions, the cause of samsara, we all have to die. If we could cease the seed of karma and delusions, that would cease true suffering: the suffering of rebirth, of old age, of sickness and of death. We could cease this by actualizing the four noble truths, by actualizing the true path.
We are in a society where nobody knows about life. We cannot get answers from our society. It is most important to learn but it is hidden. Nobody can explain it to us. People are totally hallucinated, so that is very, very sad.
Of the mind, there is the general mind and then the mind that has buddha nature. At this time, we have a human mind. There is so much potential, but the people around where we were born have no Dharma understanding at all—in fact, their way of thinking is opposite to the Dharma. Therefore that incredible potential we all have, like a wish-granting jewel from ocean, is totally wasted.
To find a wish-granting jewel in the ocean, first of all we need a lot of merit. Wheel-turning kings and bodhisattvas are able to do this. After they clean it in three ways, on the fifteenth day [of the lunar calendar] they put it on top of a banner and, when people pray for any of the material things of this life, everything they pray for gets materialized. The main thing is people’s good karma. This is the condition. Sai Baba does this, where some people get gold chains or watches but most get ashes. This is from good karma. With a wish-granting jewel, whatever we pray for in this life, everything gets materialized.
Our human mind is like this. We can achieve any happiness: the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara, even enlightenment, whatever we need. This mind with buddha nature is like a wish-granting jewel. It’s incredible what we can do. There are so many different levels of happiness when we actualize the path, and we can achieve all that. But in Western society, people think totally the opposite to the Dharma. If we try to live our life according to the Dharma, people do not accept that; they think we are crazy. It’s right, but right is regarded as wrong! Right is regarded as wrong because of society, culture, all those concepts.
The human mind has the potential to create all the happiness up to enlightenment. What the Buddhadharma offers is the complete method. By meeting the lamrim, we learn the correct method, with nothing wrong. Everything shows us how to achieve enlightenment.
You are so fortunate. Having been at this course, your eyes have been opened. You are using another eye, your wisdom eye, which has opened to discover all this. I think there must be some karma, some Kopan karma, that has brought you to Nepal. It is a very poor place compared to the West, but thousands of years ago it was an incredible holy place. Shakyamuni Buddha gave the prediction that so many beings would become enlightened in Nepal. So many holy beings have achieved different things here. Milarepa achieved different realizations in Nepal. Anyway, it’s your karma and Kopan’s karma to have this one-month course together. We still have ten days, right? Ten days.
Ani Karin has been leading it for so many years. There is karma from your side—all you people coming from around the world—and karma from Kopan’s side, from Ani Karin’s side. This is what happened. Isn’t it interesting? Without the karma to experience it, it cannot happen from our side. There’s no way. So, it takes both sides. Both sides need the karma.
This one-month course has been going for so many years. What is the number? [Ven. Roger: Fifty-one.] Fifty-one one-month courses! That is what you are doing, the fifty-first course.
EARLY KOPAN STORIES
Sorry. We were in Bodhgaya. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was giving a Yamantaka initiation, the extremely wrathful aspect of Manjushri. At that time, a Japanese Zen monk—I think his name was Zengo—came from Scotland, where there is Samye Ling monastery, the first monastery that happened in the West, founded by Lama Trungpa and his brother, Akong Rinpoche. The monk, Zengo, did a seven-day course in Bodhgaya. Our very first student, the Russian lady, Zina, was there. She liked to go to see many lamas from the four different sects and when the monk finished the seven-day course at the Burmese Vihar, she wanted to meet him. With her were Lama and me and I think Michael Losang Yeshe, a monk who had been living in Sera for a long time. He lived in Australia and translated for Geshe Doga at our center in Melbourne, Tara House. His mother was one of the very first people at Kopan, when Kopan was just the old astrologer’s house built by the Nepalese king. As a little boy he was there with his mother.
There were one or two people there, I don’t know who, so we went to see Zengo. He guided a meditation for an hour I think, but at the end of the meditation I thought that there was no difference between his guiding meditation and a deep sleep!
Zina asked Lama twice to lead meditation, but we didn’t have the time. Lama had done retreat in Buxa on all these highest tantra deities such as Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka and Chakrasamvara, with many, many monks. If you are living in the practice of renunciation, bodhicitta and right view, in the practice of the lamrim, you are always in retreat. Tantra is a lifetime retreat. It is the unbelievable, unmistaken path to enlightenment. She asked Lama, but Lama didn’t accept. At that time, I was reading this great commentary of lojong, thought transformation, and in particular the extensive teachings on lojong after the bodhicitta explanation, by Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen, a great lama. Great lamas are like the sun and moon in the world. Animals can enjoy the sunshine; people can enjoy the sunshine. Like that, he was a high lama in Tibet who was of great benefit to sentient beings and the teachings of the Buddha.
I got that text from a Sherpa, Ang Nyima. (All the Sherpas have names starting with Ang.) This Ang Nyima was an ex-monk from Panchen Rinpoche’s monastery in Tibet, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. He was a vegetarian, not eating meat and maybe even not drinking alcohol, I’m not sure. He had a business selling statues and thangkas with about twenty young Sherpas, including my cousin, who he was like a guru to. When the monasteries from India wanted to raise money to build new monasteries, he invited all of his disciples, his people selling statues and thangkas, and explained about the monastery and they all gave donations.
One day he came to Lawudo. I don’t remember my past life, the life of the one who lived in the cave at Lawudo, the one with knee pain for many years who lived in retreat and sometimes gave initiations and teachings to the people. Other lamas regarded him as a good practitioner, a lay lama, a married lama, but ascetic, kind of like that. I don’t remember but other high lamas mentioned that I’m the incarnation of that Lawudo Lama. For that reason, Ang Nyima gave me Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen’s lamrim book on the extensive thought transformation. Then, for Lama, he ordered the Heruka commentary written by Dagpo Rinpoche, who was Kyabje Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo’s root guru. When Lama went out, I checked which part of the text Lama was reading, and even at that time he was reading about the completion stage.
I was reading this lojong text, and I took it up to Lawudo. I was supposed to be watching the workers, but I stayed in the cave reading the text. The text was made of very thin Tibetan paper with many stamps on the side of the text. I was reading the part on refuge and things like that.
The third time [Zina asked Lama to teach] and Lama didn’t accept, she asked me. I then asked Lama. My inspiration came from that text, and I felt I wanted to very much. So, Lama said that if I thought it would be of benefit, I should do it. So, I accepted and we did a five-day course in the old astrologer’s house. For the five days, every morning I did gegtor. We made torma in the kitchen and give it to the interferers, those who interfere with giving teachings. On the last day, the fifth day, at night, I was talking about bodhicitta. There was an American who had become a monk on the mountain at Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche’s monastery. He was sitting there, and there were people who kept on coming every day from Zengo’s course in Bodhgaya. I was talking about bodhicitta and that man stopped my clock. There was a clock on the table. He stopped the clock and wanted me to continue the talk on bodhicitta. Then, I stopped and went for dinner in Lama’s room. It was the corner room, very small.
Zina was a nun at that time. She had become a nun long before from Lati Rinpoche. She requested His Holiness but His Holiness was busy, so Lati Rinpoche, who lives down below in Dharamsala, [ordained her]. Zina brought the dinner. She was totally surprised with my talk on bodhicitta that day. She expressed this in front of Lama after she brought the dinner.
Because of that, we started the second course, a ten-day meditation course. At that time Massimo Corona from Italy was there with two other Italians, Claudio and Piero. Massimo Corona is the one whose family offered the money for the land of Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, the main center in Italy. There are many branches to the Institute and both the Basic Program and the Masters Program have been done there many times. He offered the land to Lama. It was his share from his parents, but he offered it to Lama for the center. That is the main Italian center of FPMT but there are many other branches. He went from there to Lawudo when we were there and did a Vajrasattva retreat in a cave. He got up at three o’clock in the morning and drank some black tea. There was a geshe there who was the first Kopan monk at Lawudo. He was the abbot. Of course, it’s best to finish a retreat, but I did another retreat in the cave and Massimo had to move to another village, a holy place, where we had a house. He did the retreat there, and then we left together, with his wife and a daughter, a little child called Maitri Drolma.
And then there was Piero, another Italian student. According to his karma, he saw Milarepa’s life story in Milarepa’s book, how he led an ascetic life with nothing, a completely austere life, just practicing the Dharma, achieving realizations and becoming enlightened in that life. When Piero read the book, he gave up everything. He gave all his things away to people, wanting to be like Milarepa, who meditated and became enlightened in that life. Through reading that book, he gave everything to other people. When he came here, he was wearing nothing but a very thin, yellow robe, like Krishnamurti. I think it’s more or less stopped now but for many years, when many people saw us, they thought that we were Hari Krishna. Hari Krishnas wear thin, yellow dress. He wore that. You could see through it when he stood up! Probably afterwards he might have realized that, but the thought was to really give up all attachment, which brings all the problems of life. I hope afterwards he realized what a renounced life meant.
I did not finish the course. I had to go to take a Heruka commentary and many initiations from my root guru, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche in Bylakuppe, South India. Lama was supposed to go too, but the course happened, so Lama stayed. Lama took the loss and gave the victory to me, sort of like that. I had taught up to karma. I did straight from lama sang gye lama cho, because the people there were not new; they had done courses before. After karma, I left.
Then, we continued, doing two one-month courses. Then, after we started traveling to the West, we only did one one-month course [a year], which is how it has been up to now. In that way, the courses have continued up to now. Fifty-one. Did you say fifty-one? [Ven. Roger: Fifty-one.] Like that, the one-month course has continued, right up to the fifty-first meditation course now.
Up to the seventh course, people praised me so much, saying what I did was fantastic, but in my mind I didn’t think it was me doing it; I always thought it was Lama Yeshe. When people praised me, I always thought in my heart it was Lama Yeshe. Even though in many courses I came to do the guided meditation, I also taught. Anila Ann was there to help, especially in the early courses. We spent a lot of time discussing the mind, which is not a common thing in the West. But I thought that when people gave praise, in my mind it was Lama Yeshe.
That was up to the seventh. Then, after seventh course, I don’t know what happened, something wrong happened to my mind. That feeling was gone; that feeling that it was the blessing of Lama, the virtuous friend. Now the BBC channel is finished [and it’s just] CNN.
The FPMT meditation centers in the West were generally started by the young people who had taken drugs like LSD, hashish, whatever, I don’t know. I didn’t hear as much about cocaine at that time as you hear now, but hashish, marijuana and LSD. The young people came here and to India to look for a new happiness, to look for a new life. Many tried to find it by taking drugs, thinking the mind can travel without the body, all these things. I guess they disliked the material life in the West, so they came to look for a new happiness. Some met Hinduism and their whole life became Hindu, but after one or two years they met Buddhism. For example, Roger. Which place did you go to in India, near Bombay? [Ven. Roger: Rishikesh.] He went to Rishikesh in the mountains, where there were many sadhus. He went to see the sadhus. Is that how it happened? [Ven. Roger: Yes.]
One sadhu he met mentioned he should go to Kopan; he directed him to go to Kopan. That is why Roger came to Kopan. Very interesting. It’s very well-known that there can be buddhas and bodhisattvas among the sadhus. In any of the different religions there can be buddhas and bodhisattvas. You never know who a sadhu is. So, Roger was told to come to Kopan. He didn’t know about Kopan or Nepal, but that is why he came to Kopan. Of course, it depends on his karma from a past life.
THE FPMT GROWS
Like that, many meditation centers, such as those of the FPMT, were started by young people. They might have just finished university with a little bit of business experience, but they knew nothing about making money. They faced so many hardships, like the center in Barcelona in Spain. They invited a resident teacher and then a translator because the teacher did not speak [Spanish], so there were many debts. I think they were something like a hundred thousand dollars in debt. I think the huge hardships are still continuing at the center.
The centers came like this, slowly, with many hardships. But it is now better compared to those past times. There is also so much more Dharma understanding; the mind’s wisdom eye really is learning so much Dharma, both sutra and tantra. We have forty-five or six geshes as resident teachers, mostly those who finished studying at Sera or other monasteries. They are expert teachers who have studied in the monasteries from the learned teachers there, studying and discussing for many years. And materially, the centers are much better now, compared with before.
It is by the kindness of the people who started the centers in the early times with many hardships that the centers continue to benefit the sentient beings, that the teacher, the translator, the director and the whole group can now benefit numberless sentient beings. Many centers also offer social service in many different ways, which are also of great benefit to sentient beings, like a lotus blossoming. And they offer great service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the one guide leading sentient beings from the lower realms, from samsara, bringing them to enlightenment. The one guide, who makes the buddhas work for sentient beings with compassion. He is the embodiment of compassion of all the buddhas. Like that, the FPMT offers service to His Holiness.
What I was going to say is tomorrow we will do the walking meditation on the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, the very essence: renunciation, bodhicitta and right view. You can do walking meditation with renunciation or bodhicitta. You can use any of the meditations you do when walking. Walking is one thing, but of course with other activities you can meditate at the same time. To give you an idea, meditating does not mean you only sit on this thick, round cushion. You can go for a walk all day long doing meditation. As I explained, the idea of the meditation on emptiness, when you go to the beach or to different places—a department store, a pilgrimage, different places—the mind is still in meditation. The basis of tantra is renunciation, bodhicitta and right view, but there is also guru devotion, correctly following the virtuous friend. You can also do a mindfulness practice on that.
With a walking meditation, you can just think “I’m walking,” as you go back and forth, “I’m walking.” [That is mindfulness] but you can do the same thing while you are stealing. You can do the same thing when you go to steal from the bank. You have to know the right time, how to open the door and all that. I don’t know, you have to know all the techniques. So, while stealing you can think “I’m stealing,” and it’s the same with “I’m walking.” Whatever you are doing, you are doing that. I’m just comparing.
Up to now, how many centers do we have? [Ven. Roger: One hundred and sixty-six.] Some are schools but most are meditation centers. A hundred and sixty-six up to now. Only a few have started and then disappeared; most have continued. For example, many years ago Lama Tzong Khapa Institute started a center in Switzerland. Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe’s and my teacher, went there and gave teachings and I gave my blah blah blah. A couple, I don’t know their names, started it but they could not continue. At the beginning, they started in Switzerland but because they could not continue, they moved to Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Italy. And the same thing in Hawaii, Shantideva Center. I don’t think it was started by Lama. A couple who lived for a long time in Dharamsala started it and offered it to Lama. They built a small room. I went to Hawaii at least twice to give teachings and an initiation. They divorced and the Shantideva Center disappeared, so that’s the name we now use for the center in New York. There are many people, and Sangha and lamas go there to teach. I also went there to give teaching. At that time, they did not have a place but now they have. I spoke at Tibet House in New York for three days.
So, there are a few centers that have disappeared. Having a meditation center is so important. Now that you have been to Kopan, you know the benefit of the Kopan course, so you can understand from there. That is the same. That is why the meditation centers started in the West. You can see the benefits of studying and meditating here. People come here to the Kopan course, they benefit from it, and when they go back home, they wish their friends can get the same benefit. That is how most centers started, by the students.
The exception is the Singapore center. When I was there and was giving teachings in different temples, I thought it would be so beneficial if there was a center there teaching lamrim and if possible the philosophy behind it. One thing that was different was that we didn’t speak Chinese. If we asked the question “How do you start a Dharma practice?” I think it was difficult to get a right answer. Even if you asked monks how to begin to practice the Dharma, it was difficult to get the right answer. That’s what I felt. So, I thought to start a center there where they can teach lamrim and philosophy.
Before he became Kopan’s abbot, Geshe Chonyi became the resident teacher there. He has been there for twenty years, teaching the Basic Program. The Masters Program has not yet started, but with the Basic Program, he has been very, very busy. Singapore is the center where you get the most students learning the Basic Program. At the beginning of the second Basic Program, there were about two hundred students. [Rinpoche confirms this with Geshe Chonyi in Tibetan] That is the center with the most number of Basic Program students when they started it the second time. It has been very beneficial.
Geshe-la is the first geshe from Kopan who went to Sera to study. He studied here and then went to Sera to study and he became a geshe there. Even the older monks, the old geshes there, really appreciate and respect Geshe Chonyi. His life is learning. He has not just studied and learned the philosophy but with his conduct, he is a good monk. The old geshes regard him as a good practitioner. He has been very beneficial in Singapore for so many years.
At the beginning I thought like that, so I started that one center in particular. So many people are able to have the wisdom eye to learn Buddhism, the basis: the two truths of conventional and ultimate truth. There are two bases, conventional truth—truth for all-obscuring mind—and ultimate truth. And then the path, method and wisdom, which leads to the goal to be achieved: a buddha’s holy body and holy mind, rupakaya and dharmakaya. Kopan has given so many the wisdom eye to see all this, and then ultimately to be free from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and achieve enlightenment. Kopan gives us this opportunity. It’s unbelievable. That is the benefit Kopan brings to the world.
OK, we’ll have tea.
[Rinpoche and students do the tea offering]
PRACTICING THE AWARENESS OF THE FALSE I
As I said before, if possible, every day it is very good, when you are traveling by train, by car, by airplane, or working at home or in the office, to practice the mindfulness of emptiness, the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, being aware of the real I that exists, not the false one, the real I that exists, the extremely subtle one, meditating on that.
Then, the next one, the false I. There is the merely labeled I, and then the negative imprint left by ignorance decorates a real I on top of that, projecting the real I on that. The real I, the false I. In the same way, the body and mind—the aggregates—and all the rest of phenomena are made real because the negative imprint projects, decorates the real on the merely labeled. It makes real what is merely labeled, what exists in mere name, by decorating something false, something that is not there.
So, while you are in an office, as a secretary or whatever, while you are busy working, having a meeting, part of your mind is in meditation, seeing how the false I appears real. Here you are, aware of the real I, the real action of having the meeting, the real people—everything is real, truly existent, which is not there. Everything has been made real by your ignorance. Practice this awareness. While you are busy talking at the meeting, while you are writing, a part of the mind is in a meditation on emptiness, using your awareness to look at what is a hallucination as a hallucination. This is very important. This word “hallucination” is very important. Look at it as a hallucination because it is a hallucination. You have to write it down. That is the meditation.
In reality, it is not there. In reality, nothing is there. For example, the real beautiful thangka, the real light, the real everything from there—the real me, the real carpet, the real everything—there is not even one atom that exists. All this [that appears as real] is not there at all; it is a total hallucination. A total hallucination.
Yes, there is Kopan, a merely labeled Kopan. Yes, there is a merely labeled holy object, there is a merely labeled you, there is a merely labeled me. But this real light, this real thangka, this real you—what appears to be you, what you believe to be you—is not there. Do you understand? I’m not saying there is no Kopan. It is almost like that. I’m not saying there is no Kopan, but it is like that. You have to understand.
Even if somebody is fighting with you, a part of your mind should be in a meditation like this. Even if somebody is arguing with you—“You are so bad! You are so selfish!” whatever they say, part of your mind is in meditation, seeing all this as a hallucination. You look at it as a hallucination as it is a hallucination. And because there is nothing there, you do not get angry. The other person is hallucinated, so you do not get angry. As I mentioned, when you are angry go back and look at how your I exists in mere name. Then, the anger is gone. Because it is unified with emptiness, with subtle dependent arising but unified with emptiness, the anger cannot last. Anger is built on the basis of the projection of ignorance. Both anger and attachment are based on their own hallucinations, based on ignorance, on what ignorance projects as real.
When you think of the merely existing I, the subtle dependent arising—which means the I that is empty—there is no basis. Because there is no basis of ignorance of what it projected, the anger cannot last; it cannot exist. You have to know this.
I want to tell you one thing. This real you, this real everything, is the view of ignorance. It is the view of your ignorance. Not somebody else’s ignorance, of your ignorance. The whole thing—the real Kopan, the real everything—is not the view of your wisdom but the view of your ignorance. You have to know this.
In the view of wisdom realizing this, it exists in mere name. Everything exists in mere name; nothing exists from its own side. That is the view of wisdom. Now, everything that is real—the real I, the real everything that appears like that—that is the view of your ignorance. Even knowing that will help. Knowing it is the view of your ignorance, not your wisdom, even that will help a lot. When you get angry, shouting “You did that! I didn’t do it, you did it!” if you can remember at that time that this is the view of your ignorance, the anger will go away, because what you are fighting about is based on believing what your ignorance has projected. Believing it is real, you then fight based on that.
So, I’m saying that every day it is very good to do this very important meditation on right view, no matter how busy your life is. Even if you are playing football, while you are playing football, one part of your mind is thinking, “There is nothing there.” There is no real football, no real player. Not even an atom exists; it is a total hallucination, the object of ignorance. Your mind in meditation on emptiness is like this, looking at that which is a hallucination as a hallucination. That is a very profound meditation. While you are playing football, while you are driving a car, while you are having a meeting or cooking. People think they have no time to meditate. “I’m busy. When I get home, I have to look after children. I have to watch TV. I have to go to sleep.” Bah! While you are eating, while you are walking, you must do this meditation. Then you can enjoy your life, then you can be free from samsara.
This is preparation to realize emptiness and to be free from samsara. Otherwise, there is only the hallucination; there is only suffering. Then, life has no meaning. Following the hallucination, thinking it is real, there is only suffering.
You can do a similar meditation with bodhicitta. You can practice the mindfulness of always seeing the kindness of people, the kindness of other sentient beings. And similarly with renunciation and impermanence, the impermanence of you and others. You can do this at any time. [Rinpoche snaps his fingers] Second by second, even within a split-second, according to Buddhism, it changes. Everything not only gets older, that is one thing, but it can also be ceased at any time. Your body is like a machine; it can be stopped at any time. You never know when. You can have a heart attack at any time. The person you are angry with, the person you are attached to, they can be stopped at any time.
And renunciation, meditate on looking at samsara—yours and others—as in the nature of suffering. Without talking about tantra, with renunciation, with bodhicitta, with emptiness, it is amazing. This is the way to enjoy life. You want happiness. This is how to enjoy life, how to bring meaning to your life.
DON’T CLING TO TRUE EXISTENCE
OK, maybe I’ll explain a quotation. This one, by the Seventh Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Kelsang Gyatso, is a good one to understand. This is a very important meditation, showing what is false and what is truth in your life.
First there is khorde malupa which means every single thing having existence, then chochen meaning phenomena. Every single chochen [phenomenon] having existence. Khorde means samsara and nirvana, so the first line is,
Every single phenomenon having existence, samsara and nirvana.
This is my own idea, but I thought it is in relation to emptiness. Chonyi is emptiness, ultimate nature, but chochen is having existence. I think maybe cho is related to emptiness. Just as the I has ultimate nature, the mug has ultimate nature, chochen, so having ultimate nature. This is my own idea. Chonyi means “ultimate nature” and chochen means “having ultimate nature.” Malupa means every single thing.
For example, I told you, there is focusing on the aggregates and the concept of the merely imputed I. So, like that, there is the merely imputed body, the merely imputed mind—the merely imputed aggregates—the merely imputed form, sound, smell, taste, tangible objects, all the rest of phenomena. There is the merely imputed enlightenment, hell, samsara and nirvana, happiness and problems—everything is merely imputed. In reality, like the I, everything is merely imputed at the beginning by the mind. Nothing—samsara and nirvana, everything—exists from its own side. That is the reality of what exists.
[Then, the next line:
By holding onto the meaning of true existence, believing it to be true, this cheats you.]
Rangthobpai chopai gyupala, the concept is created. That is the first thing. Then, second, it appears. For example, when the I appears, it should appear merely labeled, but we are sentient beings, we are not buddhas. I certainly am not; I can’t say about all of you. When the I appears, it should appear merely labeled but, even though our mind merely labeled it just before, we don’t recognize that. The negative imprint left on the mental continuum from beginningless rebirths by ignorance decorates a real I on the merely imputed I.
And it is like that with all phenomena. All are merely labeled by the mind but then ignorance decorates real on them, making a total hallucination. That happens in the second moment. Then, in the third moment, our concept believes it is true. We think that the I that appears as real really exists, that it is a real one. We believe that all phenomena, samsara and nirvana, the whole thing that appears to us [is real as it appears]. In that third moment, because of past ignorance, we believe it. We believe everything. That is what this quote says: rangthobpai chopala. The concept [of true existence] is created in the second moment and we believe it. What appears as real we believe is true. Everything, starting from the I, is true. Our concept created this. Gyuma la means the illusion is not there. It is not there at all. You see?
Then, dondampa by holding it as truly existent, it cheats us. By holding onto it as real—this is true, Kopan is real, this painting is real, these lights are real, these bananas, these apples are real, everything—dondampa. By holding this as true, by believing it is true, we are cheated; we are deceived.
I’m going to tell you this. This concept is not only deceiving us now; it has been deceiving us from beginningless rebirths. From this morning, from birth, from beginningless rebirths this ignorance has deceived us, has cheated us. And it will continue cheating us if we don’t realize emptiness in this life, if we don’t study, if we don’t meditate, if we don’t do anything. Even if we study but it is only talk, not practice, if we do not actualize emptiness, it will continue to cheat us endlessly.
Because of this ignorance, we have been experiencing the sufferings of the six realm from beginningless rebirths up to now and we will continue to experience them. We will be reborn without end. This is the scariest thing. If a doctor told you that you had cancer, that would be nothing. That would be nothing compared to the endless suffering of samsara.
Our mind is so blocked, so ignorant, we cannot see this. We cannot see the past; we cannot see the future, but in reality it is like this. If we don’t realize emptiness, one of the three principal aspects of the path—renunciation, bodhicitta and right view—that are the essence of Buddhism, we will experience the oceans of suffering of the six realms endlessly in the future. That is the scariest thing.
Understanding this, practicing Dharma becomes the most important thing, more important than money, more important than a job. Practicing Dharma is more important than anything else in life. It comes to that point here. People think that money is the most important thing in life, but money comes from the Dharma. People with a degree from university, having learned this and that, why don’t they immediately find a job? Why does it takes years and months? With all that education, why is it so difficult to find a job? Money comes from the Dharma. Money, a job, a means of living, wealth, all that is the result; it is a causative phenomenon. It is a result, coming from the past karma of charity, of being generous to other sentient beings. Instead of grasping and clinging, we give. It’s the opposite of clinging. We give to sentient beings; we make charity to sentient beings. In our past lives we have made charity. That does not mean just the life before this one; it could have been billions, zillions or trillions of years ago. With that past life’s charity we have wealth in this life.
This human body came from morality, from practicing morality in a past life, from abstaining from harming sentient beings, such as keeping some or all of the five lay vows or the eight precepts. You have been keeping the eight Mahayana precepts for these two weeks. Unbelievable! That has not just been done for you, but with bodhicitta, for every single sentient being, for those in hell who experience the heaviest suffering, drowning in lava coming from the mountain. That is just an example. That is not the main hell, just a secondary hell. You benefit the numberless hell beings, who experience the heaviest suffering, and the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings, the numberless suras, the numberless asuras. You benefit every single sentient being: the numberless fish, the numberless chickens, the numberless goats that people eat, the numberless flies, even the tiniest ones. Even taking one precept with bodhicitta, the benefits are unbelievable, like skies of merit. I think you collect more than skies of merit! Incredible.
You can dedicate all this for the numberless sentient beings to achieve every happiness, especially enlightenment. Like that, you are so fortunate. You have not only been born as a human being but you are able to come to Kopan and take these eight Mahayana precepts for these two weeks. To even take them for one day is so unbelievably lucky. You have to recognize this. You have to appreciate it yourself.
So, the quote by the Seventh Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Kelzang Gyatso, says:
Every single phenomenon having existence, samsara and nirvana.
By holding onto the meaning of true existence, believing it to be true, this cheats you.
I’m making my own commentary on this. From beginningless rebirths up to now, this has cheated us, making us suffer, and we are still not free from samsara. We are still experiencing the suffering of pain, the suffering of change and pervasive compounding suffering. Unless we study emptiness, unless we practice, it will continue to cheat us without end. We will have to experience the oceans of suffering of each realm without end. That is the scariest thing.
We cannot see the future. If we could think of the future, there would be no way to fall asleep, no way we could even eat! If we could really see the future, it would crack our heart. But we do not see it; our mind is so obscured. To even remember our past suffering from beginningless rebirths, there would not even be a minute to relax without practicing the Dharma. Therefore, what to do? What should you do? I’m giving you the advice of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Kelzang Gyatso.
Don’t cling to things that appear real to you.
So far, we have been believing. We have been entrusting ourselves to the appearance of true existence, believing in it. That has been the cause of suffering from beginningless rebirths up to now, and again it will be the endless cause of suffering.
If we do not want that, we must not cling! We must not believe in what appears as real. Even though it appears to us as real, we must not believe it. It’s like a mirage, where there is the appearance of water but there is no water. Even though it appears, we do not believe it, we do not cling to it, we do not entrust in it.
Even if we cannot realize emptiness, we can still meditate like that. Even for an hour, in our room or wherever we are, we can sit and practice this mindfulness, not entrusting the real appearance of things, not believing in them, not clinging to them. So the whole quote is:
Every single phenomenon having existence, samsara and nirvana.
By holding onto the meaning of true existence, believing it to be true, this cheats you.
Don’t cling to things that appear real to you.
Look at them as empty.
That is the advice by the Seventh Dalai Lama. Look at it all as empty. That is very, very effective.
Tomorrow, we will do a walking meditation with that mindfulness to get the idea. That means any work you are doing, even playing football or having a meeting, driving—whatever you are doing—your mind is in that meditation. That is very good. You cannot say, “I can’t, I have no time.” While you are busy, you can meditate. Meditating doesn’t only mean putting the two legs like this!
I’ve heard about Zen masters who maybe lose teeth. If you are not good in meditation then problems arise, even physical problems. If you try to do this type of meditation where there is no particular object, no appearance, you can get stuck there for hours. You get stuck for a long time, but it is not meditation. It is not a meditation on emptiness, not even a meditation on conventional nature. It can cause disease; it can damage the mind. You should know this.
You should write it down. Sorry for saying that. If you write it down, then even if you forget, after many years you can open your book and see what you heard during the Kopan course. Even after many years, “Oh, the Kopan course!” Then, when you have certain problems, “Oh, it’s perfect!” You have the remedy, like medicine; you know how to solve the problem.
I don’t remember, I have to look at the text. My memory is very bad. The bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo16 said that we should think of this particularly when we have problems such as relationship problems or cancer, even if we are dying.
Countries like China, India or Tibet, certain countries have so much racism. Tibet has racism but India has so much more [discrimination], such as their attitude to untouchables or to girl children. For example, I heard that in the villages near Bodhgaya, if a family has a girl child, they give her less and less food and let her die, but if it is a son they keep him. I heard this. It’s terrible. I think that is why a son is more valuable in those countries. Even in the West, I think the son is [seen as] more capable of doing more work, I’m not sure. In certain countries, the son dying is the worst of all the various sufferings. When a son is born, the family is so happy, but if he dies, they are so unhappy. Like that, the whole of life’s sufferings are like a dream. Like in the dream you get a son and you are so happy. It’s a dream but you did not recognize it’s a dream. But then he dies and you are so unhappy. Like that dream, it’s not real.
We believe the various sufferings we experience to be real but there is not even a single atom of them that is real, as I mentioned a long time ago. We can use the son who died in a dream as an example. We had a son in the dream and that son died, but when we wake up, we have never had a son and that son has never died. But only when we wake up do we realize that. It’s like that when we realize emptiness. Now we think, “I have so many problems. I have this problem, I have that problem.” The problems seem to be real. But when we realize emptiness, nothing is there. There is nothing real. Not even one problem is there as a real one. All these problems are hallucinations, trulnang. Trulnang means hallucinated appearance. All these are hallucinated appearance, but by holding them as true, by holding them as real, by entrusting in them, we suffer. We experience unbelievable suffering believing them to be real.
In Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, Thogme Zangpo said,
All forms of suffering are like a child’s death in a dream.
Holding illusory appearances to be true makes you weary.
Therefore when you meet with disagreeable circumstances,
See them as illusory—
This is the practice of bodhisattvas.17
Especially, when we have problems, such as relationship problems—problems with our spouse or children, with friends or enemies—we need to apply this advice. This is what the bodhisattva Thogme Zangpo advised. You should write it down in your notebook, in your diarrhea book, and use it at that time, especially with whatever problems you have. That is very wise. In that way, we use our problems to be free from samsara. And with bodhicitta, we use our problems to become free from samsara and to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings.
I’ll just say one thing and then I’ll stop. This is very useful. You can make it into a song and sing it to remind yourself to practice.
All phenomena are like a dream, an illusion.
Chochen, “phenomena,” so all phenomena are like a dream, an illusion. Unless we feel this, we will naturally think of the second one, the real I. The first one is the I that exists; the second one is the false I, the I that does not exist, the real I that does not exist. The real I is a good example. We should look at all phenomena, which appear as real phenomena, like the real I, appearing from there. We know that the real I from there is totally nonexistent in reality. Now, it covers all phenomena. It is exactly the same as the I, appearing from there, as real. That is exactly like a dream. All phenomena appear real, from there. Just like the I appears real, from there. “All phenomena are like a dream, an illusion.”
I have given you the meditation. Ignorance is like the magician who uses a substance, a mantra or whatever, to create the illusion for the audience. Like that, our ignorance creates the illusion for us, but it is not there. That is a very clear example. It is not there. Everything appears as truly existent, but in reality there is not even an atom that exists from its own side. Even though there is nothing from there, it appears to us as if it does. So, the Seventh Dalai Lama’s advice is don’t cling.
From our side, we must not cling. I think “don’t cling” is simple. Don’t cling. While we are dreaming, we don’t cling to the things we are dreaming about. They do not exist so we should not cling to them. The magician performing the trick does not cling [to what appears in the illusion], knowing it is not there. It’s the same for us, not only for our dreams but also in our waking life. Even in the daytime, we must not cling to everything that appears real to us.
That is the practice we need, the remedy to be free from samsara. Don’t cling! That is the Buddha’s teaching in Dhammapada.
[5:62] The fool worries, “I have sons, I have wealth,”
Indeed, when he himself is not his own,
Whence are the sons, whence is wealth?
We are not a fool when we no longer believe in the appearance of things, when we realize their nature is empty. Whoever has realized emptiness is not foolish, is not a child. But who has not realized emptiness, who believes everything that appears is true, that person is a child. For example, a child covers his feet with sand and thinks, “This is my house.” Then, when somebody breaks that sand, the child cries, “He broke my house!” If we see that, we say, “He is very childish.” Similarly, things appear truly existent to us and we believe them to be true. When we have problems, if we really believe they are true, we are childish.
Even though there is an appearance of truly existent problems or whatever, if we have realized emptiness, we do not believe it. The problem does not exist from its own side. Even though we have that appearance, when we disbelieve it, that is not being childish. “I have sons, I have wealth,” thinking they are real, that is childish—not childish meaning having a small body but having a childish mind. The person could be two thousand years old, but with a mind like a child.
In reality, the I does not exist. If there is no real I, how can there be a real son and real wealth. How is it possible?
In another quote from the Dhammapada, the Buddha said,
[20:278] “All thing are not-self.”
When one sees this with wisdom,
One turns away from suffering.
This is the path to purification.
If “I” does not exist, how can there be a real “mine”? If there is no real I, how can there be a real body and a real mind, how can there be a real mine? When the ignorance holding onto the real I and the real mine ceases, taking rebirth due to karma and delusions ceases. Then, there is no rebirth. When karma and delusions cease, the cause of samsara ceases. Then, there is no true suffering of rebirth.
I’ll stop here.
DEDICATIONS
[Rinpoche and students offer mandala]
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, may bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of every single hell being, every single hungry ghost, every single animal, every single human being, every single sura being and asura being, every single intermediate state being. May the bodhicitta that has been generated be developed.”
To realize emptiness. “Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, may emptiness be realized in all of our hearts, including the hearts of our family members, both dead and living. That includes our family members, all the students, and us here.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, may Lama Tsongkhapa be our direct, virtuous friend in all our lives. May we never be separated from the pure path admired by all the buddhas and may we actualize the unmistaken teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa in this very lifetime.”
We should pray for the world; we are responsible. “Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, may all the wars that are happening now and will happen in the future be stopped immediately. May all the famines and diseases be stopped immediately in this world, and the danger of fire that kills numberless animals, big and small, and numberless human beings.”
I’m not sure, in Indonesia some disaster happened very recently, where people had no opportunity to escape. I think this was due to water from the ocean or a fire. And also in the United States, they had no opportunity to escape. So,
“May all the dangers of fire; the dangers of water—tsunamis; the dangers of wind, air—hurricanes, tornadoes; and the dangers of earth—earthquakes and so forth, be stopped immediately.
“May perfect peace and happiness prevail in everyone’s hearts by generating loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta. May the Buddhadharma, the source of sentient beings’ peace and happiness, last a long time. May they all meet the Buddhadharma and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.
“May we be able to cherish every sentient being more than the whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels.
“Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me, all the three-time merits collected by the numberless sentient beings and the numberless buddhas, which exist in mere name, may the I, who exists in mere name, achieve buddhahood, which exists in mere name, and lead all sentient beings, who exist in mere name, to that buddhahood, which exists in mere name, by myself alone, who exists in mere name.”
You can do a retreat, like a month or fifteen days or a weekend, meditating on just this awareness—looking at that which is a hallucination as a hallucination. Just this one, using the example of the merely labeled I and the truly existent I, the false I. You can just meditate on it for months and years, for your whole life, it is so rich. Then, even when problems come, you don’t believe they are real problems. This means there is so much peace and happiness in your mind. You don’t suffer. Besides being free from samsara and achieving enlightenment, even in this life there is so much peace and happiness in your life. So that is why I say you must do this meditation every day. Not just listening to the course, and then when it’s finished there is kind of nothing for your whole life, not like that. Every day you must do this meditation. It’s so good.
OK, thank you.
Notes
16 Also known as Gyalse Ngulchu Thogme. A great master of the Nyingma and Sakya traditions and author of Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and a famous commentary on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. [Return to text]
17 See The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas (Snow Lion), v. 24. Rinpoche’s original translation was “When we encounter disharmony, we look at it as a hallucination. That is the practice of a bodhisattva.” But as it is definitely from the Thirty-Seven Practices, this is as close as I could find. [Return to text]
