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Session 20

In the Bodhicaryavatara, all other virtues are like the water tree; the fruit comes and it finishes. But bodhicitta always offers the fruit and increases unceasingly. It increases unceasingly. All other virtue are like the water tree; the fruit comes and it finishes. And the bodhicitta tree, it always offers the fruit and it increases unceasingly. After you have taken from the water tree, after you have picked up al the fruit or what it produces, there is no more fruit left there. It becomes fruitless, that tree. Without bodhicitta, other virtues are like this.

You accumulate those merits, such as making charity, keeping moral conduct, things like that, not stealing, not telling lies, those good karmas collected with just the virtuous motivation to have a good rebirth, to have good enjoyment, perfect enjoyment, then in the future life one gets born as a human being. In that future life one has received the result of the human body and has great enjoyment. Then it finishes. There is no more after that to generate gradually the whole path, to free from samsara, to reach enlightenment. It does not happen. It does not increase like this, you see. Like the fruit from the water tree, like that.

Either that or one receives nirvana, the blissful state for oneself. Then that’s all. The merit that is accumulated with bodhicitta, the motivation possessed by bodhicitta, is like the wish granting tree. Whatever you wish, whatever you ask from that wish granting tree, unceasingly you get the fruit from that wish granting tree, not only receiving happiness in this life, not only receiving temporal happiness in the future life.

This causes you to generate the Mahayana path. Then more and more, one enjoys the result of the virtues of accumulating bodhicitta, and one reaches a higher and higher path. This causes one to achieve enlightenment, the rupakaya, dharmakaya. One receive this good result, and after having achieved enlightenment, one does unceasing work, one does continual unceasing work for all sentient beings. So the good karma accumulated with bodhicitta, the more we enjoy that, the more we increase the Mahayana path.

And also, but in the present time, the good karmas that we are accumulating with the motivation of bodhicitta becomes beneficial for all the sentient beings. Then especially after we have generated bodhicitta, and entered in the Mahayana path, when we become a bodhisattva, we are able to dedicate more for other sentient beings. We are able to work continually, more sincerely, and as we approach the higher and higher bodhisattva path, the work for other sentient beings should become more and more skillful, greater and greater. As the wisdom develops, the two paths, method and wisdom, the works for other sentient beings become greater and greater, more and more extensive.

After having achieved enlightenment, the result of the bodhicitta is not finished, it’s not finished. So then after having achieved enlightenment, one does this spontaneous, unceasing work for all the sentient beings, until all sentient beings become enlightened.

So therefore even after enlightenment is received, still the benefit of bodhicitta, the result of the merit that was accumulated has not finished. Therefore, as this bodhicitta has incredible benefits like this, if you’re able to train in this path, bodhicitta, then this is the greatest meaning of the human life. So therefore, to be able to train the mind in this, we need to hear and understand, to meditate, and practice in the graduated meditation on bodhicitta.

So think, “I am going to listen to the profound, Mahayana thought training teaching in order to achieve enlightenment for the benefit for all my kind mother sentient beings.”

Then also think, “After checking how great I have been wasting my perfect human body, seeking only the happiness this life for myself and completely dedicating my life for this, what is the difference between my life and the birds, dogs, cows, buffaloes, the worms crawling round, going up and down, seeking only pleasure of this life, comfort of this life? What’s the difference?” Think like this.

What better do I do than them? This time I was born as a human being, but has it been really meaningful or not? Has it been really worthwhile or not that I have taken this body?

For instance, let’s say we sent a member to do the work for the country, to another country for a meeting. Then if we give him the title “member” like this, and if he didn’t do anything to get help for the country, and comes back with empty, the people in the country will criticize him. As he has the title, it has not been worthwhile because he did not act, did not function as he was supposed to function with that title. So he was not worthwhile. So like that.

In many of one’s own past lives we have accumulated, tried so hard to receive this human body, the perfect human body. With much hardship keeping the moral conduct, making charity, making prayers, or things like these. So this time I was born as a human being, having taken this body, but so far, has it been really worthwhile, did I really do the work that I am supposed to do?

Check like this, examine like this. Any work that has been done has been to obtain happiness of one’s own life. With attachment, seeking only pleasure this life—all this is meaningless work, meaningless work. None of that is the meaning of human life.

Even the animals do this. They do it very well. In regards to collecting material, by thinking of next year, next year, by thinking of the future, making preparations, collecting material possessions, things like that, even the animals do this. Like the bees collect the homey for the winter or the ants collect much food to eat the next time. They collect so much in the fall to eat in the future. So many worms do this too, collect food to eat in the future. So they work for their comfort of this life. Think like that.

Also mice are so clever, extremely clever, in regards to working for happiness this life. They know very well how to steal; they didn’t go to school or anything. Very well they know. They know very well how to cheat other sentient beings. They know very how to hurt other people too. If people harm them, they know very how to take revenge. This kind of thing. Working for the comfort of one’s own life, they do very well.

If you disturb a mouse, they know where your greatest object of attachment is. They know very well. They know, the cloth or jewels, whatever it is, you keep in a box. They come to it, and if it is locked, then they bite it from the bottom. They bite, they eat like that, then they get inside. They get inside, and take the jewel away. Or if you have expensive clothes, kept in the cupboard or whatever it is, then they go inside and make a hole. It doesn’t benefit them, doesn’t help them. It doesn’t make them warm and they don’t eat it. It’s just because they were harmed before, they want to harm back.

One time happened in Tibet there was one Kadampa geshe, I think, Geshe Langri Tangpa, in his retreat house. So while he was meditating there were a bunch of mice, keeping busy. So busy around. And so he looked at them, what they were doing. They were so excited and they were so busy. So he watched them. There were three mice in front of him. Nearby him there was a wall. So the three mice had stolen one big, big turquoise from another family, somewhere around. There was a crack in the wall. One mouse cannot manage that turquoise alone through the crack. So one mouse went inside the hole, and one mouse he lay down as a bridge. Then one mouse on the other side pushed the turquoise on the backside of the other mouse, to get over, to get to the other side. This made him laugh. This meditator, Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa, in his life, he laughed only three times. So this was one of the things that made him laugh. He saw that even the mice are so clever. Normally, all the time he meditates on impermanence, impermanence, death. So people don’t see him laughing.

Even the bugs, the red bugs, know the right time to come to bite, at night time. When there is a light, they do not come. They hide in the corner. When the light goes off, when the person went in deep concentration, then they come down, then they crawl down like this.

In India where we were lived for eight years, at one place called Buxa—a concentration camp, prison for Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru, when it was controlled by British—it became a monastery after we came there, escaped from Tibet, from Lhasa…

[end of tape]

Gandhi prison’s became a nunnery. And some nuns lived there and the other building became our college, the Sera prayer hall.

It was a very long building, a very long building, with many bars outside the windows, doors, full of bars, the whole windows tied with the wire and thorns like that. It was a very strict place. Nowhere to escape. So in that place there are a lot of bugs there, so that’s how I saw this. On the bed, there are lots of bugs, and in the space, a lot of mosquitoes, and then if you go outside, leeches, snakes. If you go out to make peepee, you put the umbrella outside, because the snake, or leeches sometimes they come in the house, they fall from the roof. Even so, the monks studied so hard in spite of the climate or those things.

In Tibet there is one sweet plant. In Tibet they use it in the rice. On special days, new year or a festival or something like that. It has a little bit different taste from the raisin. They pick it up and then collect it together at one place, under the ground. Maybe two, three places. It’s piled on the ground. They take off the leaves, it’s kind of like a seed, so they take off the leaves and the roots, the bottom part. They break it and then they break also the leaf part, the stem, and only the middle one. They clean the dirt they collect two, three places, like that, under the ground. And so when the Sherpas, who live in the mountains, work they can feel where this sweet plant is collected by the monks, when they are walking. They feel very soft. I ask them how do they find. So they say, while they are walking, that they can find them because they feel very soft. Then they dig it up, then they take it away. The monks collect them to eat in the winter time, in the freezer.

One time in my room also, last year, there were mice. They were there, I think, for a long time. One time, Lama Yeshe saw the mouse when bending forward. One of the monks tried to keep the mouse out with a stick. So the mouse ran away. He jumped from the upstairs to down on the ground. Afterwards those mice came back, and in a cupboard a nun had kept one very thin robe, to wear in Japan when it is very hot. She was planning to wear it at that time. It was folded well and put in the cupboard. So there were many robes. There were other robes, not new ones. So what happened was, the mice came back and right in the center of the robe they made holes. So when you opened the robe there were four or five holes. Without having a patch, you can’t really use. Very skillfully they did it. I was very surprised, extremely surprised, incredible. They could have bitten many of the robes, but they didn’t.

Ants are incredible, just having this body, a tiny, tiny, but they act exactly, exactly as common people—especially fighting. So similar. Also they have so much discipline—I saw one time in India two types of ants. One day I went walking outside, and on the mountain and on the stone, there were two types of ants. On one side were black ones. On one side the red ones, I think. It was full of ants and they were fighting so much like this, biting each other like this, so much, so busy. You can’t really see very clearly because there are so many and they are fighting each other. So busy. If you had the cameras, you could make it very slow, like on television, on football.

Anyway, for a few seconds they fight so much like this and a few of them fall down. Then after a few seconds, they completely stop.. Everybody stands up. The bottom of the body completely stuck on the stone and the other parts of the body completely stand up. Very funny. And after standing like this, again they fight. That was really amazing. Even the animals do this, very amazing.

But I didn’t watch the whole time. So I don’t know what happened at the last.

There are lots of ants in my room. They come for the seeds and things like that. They stop the journey, going back and forth, around nine o’clock. Then in the morning after the sun has risen, when things became warm, around eight o’clock then again they start to come, the whole group, through the windows, under the bed, in the table.

However, cheating other sentient beings for one’s own profit, for one’s own happiness—for that some animals are much more skillful than the human beings. Like honey, things like that, the animals collect from each flower, picking up like this. The tigers, those things, the cats, the spiders, many of the animals, they are so skillful to obtain the means of living. The spiders have a web. They put the web outside there where there are many flies, and they hide inside somewhere else. And whenever a fly comes, and drops there, they come down to eat it.

Also the animals in the circus, those who play very much, those who are very clever, who dance. The elephants who sing and dance following the music, following the people who play music, in the circus. They’re standing on the chair or the round things. If they didn’t do this they would have difficulty in the means of living. After they play then the people give them a big loaf of bread in the mouth. Dolphins they do many things. They carry surf boards in their mouth, and they wave their tails saying kind of goodbye or thank you, whatever.

However, any work that is done only for the happiness of this life, with attachment, is meaningless work because it does not benefit, it does not become the cause of happiness. It does not bring the result of happiness. Only suffering result.

Even one if one’s whole body has got light, an aura—many creatures have that too—so there is no surprise. What’s the surprise of that.

Even if one is able to disappear, go under the earth, able to fly—none of these things are the meaning of human life.

In the water so many animals go under the ocean, from the surface, and many animals fly. All these things we did numberless times, we were born as birds, we flew numberless times in the space. None of this is a new experience for us.

Even if one has the five clairvoyances, seeing the past life, future life, very far distant things, other sentient beings’ thinking, psychic powers to fly, to show many transformations, many miracle things, even if one has unshakeable concentration, even if a hundred jets flying around cannot disturb the concentration—none of this is really the meaning of human life.

We had these things numberless times in past lives. The best way to make life meaningful—we had all these things but we have not been liberated from samsara so far because we haven’t generated the realizations of the graduated path to enlightenment, the wisdom realizing shunyata, bodhicitta, renunciation of samsara. So therefore, train the mind in the graduated path to enlightenment. Year by year, month by month, week by week, day by day. Try to make some progression, better in each year. Your mind is better in each year, like this. Closer to the path, closer to the graduated path to enlightenment, in each year. This is really good, the best meaning of human life. It’s a new experience. This is really a new experience that we haven’t done, from beginningless previous lifetimes.

From childhood you studied then you worked and collected money. Then traveling, to see new countries, mountains, old countries. Then spend the money—use the precious human body for that. Like this finish. And again start over. Each year, go to another mountain to camp or have a picnic, come back, say how good it is, then next year where will we go? I’ve never seen this mountain or this island. Then again work hard, save money, then spend it all. Again and again like this. One day life is gone. This precious human body is finished. This has no meaning. Life kept busy. Suddenly, unexpectedly it’s gone. Gone. Finished.

Then that day, that day, when he’s passing away, when uncontrollable death happens, whatever enjoyment he had, whatever exciting enjoyment, there is not one single thing from that which is beneficial at death time. Nothing. He cannot carry it with him. But good karma he can carry with him, to benefit the future life.

So what I am saying is this. My conclusion is, as I explained before, train the mind in the graduated path and make progress in each year, month, day by day, like that. Especially train the mind in bodhicitta. Then train the mind in wisdom, shunyata. Most skillful. You can understand from all these benefits. Without bodhicitta, with shunyata realization alone you cannot achieve enlightenment. One enters in the path to nirvana of the lesser vehicle. Instead of spending money like this, for meaningless works, at least in one year, do a one month retreat on the lam-rim. It doesn’t mean you can only one month, it doesn’t mean that, but one month, that’s very important. At least fifteen days. Whether you normally meditate or not. If you normally meditate it’s very good, but this is extremely important.

I think that’s all.

[Chanting]

Session 21

The motivation is bodhicitta thinking to listen to the teaching to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all mother sentient beings.

In regards meditation on the usefulness or the purpose of perfect human rebirth, one should talk about all the possibilities to achieve all the paths to enlightenment. So one should explain the whole path. It cannot be finish explaining.

As I mentioned this morning, if one is able to do meditation on lam-rim every day, then that is of course excellent. If that is not possible, one has to live in the city, one has to work, one has much responsibility with the family—in Tibet, other countries, the children have to take care of their parents until they die. Anyway, having ten, fifteen children, much responsibility, or if one is unable to meditate every day, make plans for the future. Like you make plans for other things. Even if you can’t put signature, can’t really say it will be definite that I will be alive next year, still you make plans for next year. Like we make plans to go to the island, to go that beach, to go to distant places…

[end of tape]

…we can either study or do retreat or study and retreat together, this way then. The little time that one has in each year, you save money for that, you save the time for that, and then spend that time studying or to making retreat. If you can do like this, it’s extremely good. If one lives fifty years, and you spend one month from each year for retreat then you get retreat done. It is extremely good if one can do that much.

One way to make the life highly meaningful, as I normally emphasize, is to make a direct meditation on the graduated path to enlightenment, like we did this morning, by following the short prayer like this, which contains the essence of the whole path, sutra, tantra, and also meditation on tantra. Also you purify to generate the realization of tantra.

Doing formal meditation like we did in the morning, those preliminary practices, the practice of purification, accumulating merit, and then the visualization of the merit field. Then practice the seven limbs, mandala offering and then the direct meditation on the essence of the path.

So the reason why I try to spend a little bit of time explaining these paragraph is to be able to understand—normally in daily life if you’re going to do this, if you’re doing to do direct meditation on the whole path, on the essence of the whole path, then to know how to do this, how to do the meditation with that. So do the direct meditation, and try to be mindful while you are reading the short teachings.

Then if one has time, after finishing this prayer, instead of giving the teaching, if you have time, then you do a little bit of meditation. Today you do little bit of meditation on the perfect human rebirth. If that is not finished, if you don’t have time, do the rest of that tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning if it’s not finished then do the rest of that meditation the following morning. Then you go gradually follow like this, one after another meditation. So in that way, bodhicitta, then shunyata meditation, those things. You go down that much, then again you come back and again you start from the beginning, perfect human rebirth or the meditation on guru yoga, those things. If one knows how to do this, then like that. Try to get the whole of idea of it, try to get clear idea of the whole meditation, for awhile. There are two ways to experience the meditation. First, before you get the effortless experience of meditation, you should get the effortful experience of the meditation. The meditation that we are doing now, by using this two techniques, analyzing and fixed, this is called the effortful experience of meditation.

When this is done well, then try to get the effortless experience of each meditation. Try to generate the realizations of each meditation. After you got the effortful experience, in the whole meditation, in the basic meditation down to bodhicitta, shunyata, then from the meditation on the guru or the prefect human rebirth, try to get the effortless experience, spend more time on one specific meditation, until you generate the realizations of the meditation. Then after you’ve generated that realization do the second meditation on the usefulness. Then after you generated that realization then you generate the realization of the difficulty, you do this gradually.

There are meditators who meditated on the graduate path and who generated the realization of these meditations. They do it like this. Then those who are much more capable, and without spending time on one particular meditation, they practice together. They try to get the effortless experience of the meditation on guru yoga and also perfect human rebirth and shunyata, together like this, but meditating in a different time—maybe in the morning guru meditation, perfect human rebirth in the morning and shunyata maybe in the evening time, with more time in those. In that way one finishes very quickly generating the realizations of this fundamental path.

Then it doesn’t take much time in order to generate the realizations of the tantra path.

If one can do it, do it like this. In the morning, with this preparation do this direct meditation, and after this if there is time then do a little bit of meditation..gradually on those meditations. Today one meditation, tomorrow, usefulness, the day after tomorrow the difficulties—it can be done in that way, however one wishes.

Then also trying to have relationship between the rest of the daily life and the morning meditation. What you meditate on in the morning, try to have some connection. Then also in the rest of the day, if you are meditating on the perfect human rebirth, try to get that experience the rest of the day—remember this again and again. By remembering the meditation that you have done in the morning in the rest of the day, it helps very much to not waste the life. It helps the rest of life to become meaningful. In that way the morning meditation is very healthy, very beneficial for mind, like that.

In that way all the money that you want, that one has collected, material things like that, become worthwhile. They become worthwhile, and they become Dharma in that way. The jobs that one is doing—it is very easy for them to become Dharma because you can think, oh I am doing this work in order to practice Dharma, and I should have the conditions, the means of living to practice Dharma for the benefit of other sentient beings. In that way even the daily work—it is easy for it to become Dharma, as one has that goal.

However the essence of the life, the conclusion, to have s meaningful life, the essence of an easier life, having taken the human body, is to have a good heart. To benefit, to not give harm to any other sentient beings, without any partial mind, to benefit and to always have a good heart. That is the essence.

If one has a good heart, one has a good life, one doesn’t have much confusion in life. Oneself is also happy, other people are also happy. It makes them happy. If you have a good heart, it makes other people happy. If one has a very cruel mind, very bad, evil mind, a very strong selfish attitude, it makes everybody upset. Even people with whom you life together, friends, everybody; it makes them upset.

So therefore as I emphasized before, this is generating the realizations of the graduated path, this is a new experience. This is very new experience for us that we have never done before. So therefore we should try very hard, we should put as much effort as possible, not having little mind, not thinking very force, looking far, the aim, enlightenment, for the benefit of sentient beings. Don’t think very short. Look at the very end, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all the sentient beings. And then generate wide mind, wide mind, I don’t know. Generate wide mind, very large mind, large mind, wide mind, not white, not the color, WIDE, wide.

Even if it takes three countless great eons to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of other sentient beings, even if it takes that much to do this, to complete this work for other sentient beings, I will to do it. You need this very strong mind. Even it takes that much time, I will do it. Like this.

Then if one really has such a great will, no matter how much difficulty there is, no matter how much it takes time, even three countless great eons, one has such a strong will, having patience to bear difficulties, and for him it is possible to achieve enlightenment within this life or within three lifetimes or within sixteen lifetimes.

If one has that much more extended, wide mind, strong will, then it is not necessary to take three countless great eons. Because of that, he puts much effort in the practice, in the study, in the practice. So he achieves enlightenment quickly.

The person without that mind like that, the person who doesn’t have to bear much difficulties for practice and Dharma, doesn’t have to accumulate much merit, or make much purification, who expects not to have to do much, who expects to not bear much hardships in following the path, who expects to receive enlightenment very easily and quickly, within one month, within three years, so comfortably and so easily, so quickly, just like the automatic machines in America, you push the button and then it comes, for the person who expects that, enlightenment is impossible. Even to generate bodhicitta is not possible. For that person who expects that so easily to happen, so quickly, right away, by doing one session, the beginning of the meditation session he was not a bodhisattva but after two hours meditation, he become bodhisattva…

Even just to generate the mind renouncing samsara, for the person who expects it so easily, who doesn’t have such an extensive mind, he cannot generate.

Looking at the very far end, that’s one thing. The second one is to have strong will, the third one is having relaxation of mind, not feeling tight, like the people who build factories, who have big projects, who do the worldly work just for the happiness this life, who do many projects. They make much plans to build so many buildings, so many places, and do this and do this and do that, do this, so many things—he can’t do that, all those things, he can’t do it within one day or within one month. It takes much time, much effort and much material expense, so slowly he plans and he has great aims, in his mind he has plans to do this work. He doesn’t expect to finish in one day.

Then this kind of mind, this kind of mind, feeling very, oh I can’t do this, when can I finish this? Kind of think, this is impossible, it’s, thinking like this, having little mind, like this. This only becomes, this only becomes hindrances. This only become hindrances. It only becomes hindrance to continue, to continue … to study, to understand and to generate realization for meditation. It only becomes hindrances, it doesn’t help, feeling uptight like this, like this. Should like this example, the ordinary person, the … person who do worldly work, who do worldly work, who makes so many plans, for comfort of this life, make so many plans, so many projects, do this and this, so many but he does gradually, he doesn’t expect to, to finish within one month or one day, like that, and feeling very uptight and, he has … he makes big plans, he does slowly. Like that. One should have relaxation. One shouldn’t feel uptight, one should have realization of mind.

These three are extremely important to have. If one doesn’t have this three then it is very difficult to generate the realization to the path and achieve enlightenment. This is something to keep in the mind, these three things.

If you want to study the realizations of the graduated path then you should keep these three things in our heart, this advice. We should keep it in our heart and then remember.

Then this perfect human rebirth that we have received now, if this can be found again and again, again and again, if it’s kind of fixed, if always you can find the perfect human rebirth, then you don’t have to worry so much about wasting this perfect human rebirth. Maybe we can waste a little bit. I am joking. However, to find again this perfect rebirth, it is very difficult. Whether we will find or not, that can be figured out, it’s nothing difficult. It is nothing difficult to find this answer. If somebody asks, will you take again the perfect human body or not, if this question rises in your mind, then to give answer to this person is easy. The answer is within your mind. The answer is within your mind and you don’t have to ask anybody. You don’t have to ask a scientist or you don’t have to ask Tibetan lamas, or anything. It is within one’s own mind, by checking each day, how I live my life. The conduct of my body, speech, and mind. You can understand from that, very clearly. The answer is very clearly there within your mind, whether I will find the perfect human body again or not.

In the teachings, they say what karma was collected by the previous life, look at the present body. In the future what body will be received, look at the present mind.

In the previous life you collected good karma; you can tell because you have this perfect human body.

[end of tape]

That means in daily life, by watching the way of thinking, from that you can tell whether the perfect human body will be found again or not. That is actually true; by checking, one can understand.

How that is difficult to find again, because to create the cause of the perfect human body is very difficult. Even one if one tries to make charity, there are so many hindrances, so many hindrances, from inside, miserliness, things like that. Then also from outside, hindrances, not letting one make charity. Even if one makes charity the self-cherishing thought doesn’t lead to charity, there is miserliness, attachment, those things like that. From outside, other people disturb and don’t let you make charity or things like that. Even if you try to make charity doesn’t become pure, because again it is polluted with attachment, with the eight worldly Dharmas. It’s done for one’s own comfort, for one’s own pleasure. It doesn’t become pure Dharma.

There is so much hindrance for moral conduct. So much hindrance to able to take the different levels of ordinations, the different numbers of precepts. First to take vows, ordination, so many hindrances from inside, from one’s own mind; and from outside, so many hindrances. Even if one is living in the precepts, in the commitment, in the precepts, there are so many hundreds and hundreds of hindrances around, from inside coming, from outside coming. It is difficult to live and difficult to continue living in moral conduct. There are five ordinations that have five precepts, eight precepts, things like that. And then the thirty-six precepts, 250 precepts, the pratimoksha ordination, the ordinations of liberation for self, liberation, nirvana for self.

Think like this when you meditate on this in order to generate the realization of the difficulties in receiving perfect human body. To create the cause is difficult. Then first you think of charity, then you think of the moral conduct. First check outside. Who keeps the 250 precepts, who has become a monk, with full monk ordination like this—very, very few, so rare, so rare. Again then check, who are living in the 36 precepts, in this ordination. Those who don’t live in this ordination are so many, an incredible number. Those who live in this ordination, the 36 precepts, are very little. Then the ordination which has eight precepts, how many people are there in the world who don’t live in this ordination that has eight precepts, how many people are there? So many, an incredible number. Then who are living in this ordination with eight precept? Very few. Then even in the country like Tibet or lets say India, where there are many monks and nuns. The people are keeping all these levels of ordination but still the number of people who don’t live in these precepts is incredible number. And then five precepts. On this earth the people who are not living in the five precepts is an incredible number, so much. Those who are living in the five precepts are so little. Even those who are living in the one precept, not taking others’ life, or not telling lies, even living in one precept has a very little number compared to the number of the people who don’t live even in one precept.

Why are there little numbers, people who live in ordination, people who observe karma, who protect the karma? Because it is difficult. Why is it difficult? Because there are so many hindrances, as I mentioned before. Inner hindrances, outer hindrances, so many hindrances, so that’s why it is difficult. It is difficult.

Then first check outside like this, then secondly check up on yourself. If you are able to count, if you notice the number of eight precepts, then you count. Believe yourself as if you are living in the ordination that has eight precepts. And then think, it is easy or difficult?

So by counting each one, not taking others lives, not telling lies, then think, believe that you are living in ordination with the eight precepts and think, is it easy or difficult. Meditate, easy or difficult. Then after that, check again with the five precepts, check again with the past, whether it is easy or difficult.

[BREAK]

Let’s say I am living in this commitment, I have this commitment and how it is easy or difficult, just check. If one has been living in the precepts, one of these ordinations, then check. I took this ordination but whether I have been keeping it purely, perfectly, ask yourself and check, whether one has been keeping it perfectly, without the precepts being degenerated, without them being broken, like that check. Then the answer comes. It is so difficult to keep them perfectly without breaking them. If one has kept them without being broken, that is something for which one can feel great rejoicing. If after checking if one has found this, check like this.

Because the cause is difficult to create, the result of the perfect human body is difficult to be found. Even with numbers, besides from the point of view of cause or examples—anyway I am not going mention much in these examples—you might have heard and you might have read books on meditation. So having found the perfect human body is like the blind tortoise who lives in the ocean and comes up each hundred years to the surface of the ocean and puts his head through a golden ring that floats on the surface of the waves. This is like having found the perfect human body. The ring is always moving, it doesn’t stay in one place. His head goes through the golden ring. So for this to happen is kind of impossible. So having found the perfect human body is more difficult than that example.

Anyway you might think how does gold stay on the water, it’s an impossible example. It can be a plastic ring. We have to use some example so the example for finding the perfect human body and also having met the teaching is gold. One of the expensive materials. The golden ring signifies the pure teaching of the Buddha. The blind tortoise is we who are wandering around in the lower realms, not having the Dharma wisdom eye. His head going through the golden ring is having met the pure teaching of the Buddha, having found the perfect human body. It is very rare—like if you throw rice on the window glass, a piece of rice staying there. Very rare, relating to the example.

In regards number, first if you think about animals it is very good. Easy to understand. These are objects that we often see. So in regards animal, in one tree on the mountain there are many tiny creatures that we cannot see. In one handful of earth, there are many tiny creatures. Even if one flower pot there are many creatures that we see and don’t see. If you just watch the animals, the ants, how many different types there are, how incredible their numbers.

It’s not just in one country, not just in Nepal, not just in India, in East and West, in anyplace there are these types of animals. Many various types of birds, so many animals they are flying. Many varieties of butterflies, many flies, many creatures flying in If you watch in summer time, in the hot country, if you look in space in the morning, there are so much. The whole space is full of flies, so many different types of animals flying. Then if you listen at night you can hear them making noise, suffering.

Then if you get into the water, so much, under the ocean, so many. Under the ocean, the animals are piled up like dust. Everybody has seen the Atlantic sea, everybody has been to the beach so you can see very clearly the incredible number of animals in the water. If you think about the shells, there are unbelievable numbers. In the water, just even around the rocks, around the beach, the edge of the water—there is no place to step, no place to put your feet.

The first time I was in New Zealand, the place where we did the course, just down below the house there is the sea. And at first I didn’t know that all these white spots were animals. So then afterwards I looked carefully, and there were very tiny shell on the stones, like there is no place to step over. So much.

Then in the water, incredible numbers of shells, all these varieties of fish, so much. Even in the small water stream there are so many creatures. If you keep the water two or three days, after two days there are worms there, very tiny ones, long ones, all kinds. They are easy to be born there and if you keep some food in fruit, if you just keep it there for a few days, one or two days, three days, easily it becomes full of worms.

If a dog dies, in one or two days his body is full of worms. If it is left there, his body full of thousands of worms, moving like this. So much and so easy to get born. There are even worms in the stomach of human bodies.

Like this, in the intermediate stage there are so many beings, and they are easily born. If you keep a piece of meat, two, three days, easily it becomes full of worms. Or you keep food or some stuff in a bottle, without any chemical medicine, it becomes full of tiny, full of tiny jumping ones, thousands of them get born, so easily.

So this explains the intermediate stage; that there are so many sentient beings who died from one realm and are in the intermediate stage. They are ready to be born, seeking a place, ready to be born as animals, or as pretas or as narak beings, like this. If in the intermediate stage there were not that many sentient beings seeking a place, there would be no reason for these creatures to easily they get born like this. Even if there are conditions, there is no reason to be born. You don’t put them in the refrigerator, anything. There is no reason why these worms should be born there. It doesn’t matter even if the condition is there. Why they should be born? This is very good to find out, to check up.

So like the animals that we see with our eyes, so easy to be born, like this everywhere. Even in the tree, even in the bamboos, even in the rock, no doors—they get born in the rock, due to karma, even inside the tree. We don’t see from where it entered, there are no holes, nothing, in the bamboo, the whole thing is blocked, you don’t see it but snakes are born in the bamboos.

Anyway, with those other sentient beings, we can check out the numbers in paradise. Like the sand grains. Like the snow flakes, like the dust of the earth. The beings who receive the body of the happy transmigratory being are so rare, so small in number, incredible number. It’s like the dirt you get in your nail when you scratch on the ground, a very small number. Especially the beings who receive a perfect human body—the smallest number, smallest number.

The question, why, there are so many animals so easy to get reborn, so many incredible numbers, and the number of people is so little. In one country you can never compare—the number of people in Nepal is lost when you count the creatures, even in just one mountain. So the number of people on the whole earth is so little compared to the number of animal creatures. How did this happen? Why can’t there be more human beings and less creatures?

The answer is very easy. By examining the mind and actions of each day you can understand why there are so many, why it’s so easy to be born as a suffering being.

Session 22

… just this way, because even if one has accumulated the merits, it wasn’t dedicated properly, and so then the anger has destroyed the merit. No cause is left for the result happiness. Check, like this, in one week how many times anger arises. One day, one week, one month, one year, one year, since I was born until now how many times did I get angry. Examine the undedicated good karmas how it was destroyed. This made the merits not have the potential to bring the result of happiness. Like burnt rice. So meditating like this.

As Shantideva explained in the teaching the Bodhicaryavatara, the good karma of making charity, having made offering to the buddhas and so on, collected for a thousand eons is destroyed by one second of anger. It is dependent upon how many seconds one get angry, and with whom one gets angry—bodhisattvas, buddhas—how much merit the anger destroys depends on how long and also the objects with whom one get angry. If sentient being’s level of mind, if his realization is higher than yours, then the anger destroys that much merit. Anger is incredibly so dangerous. Anger at bodhisattvas destroys so much of the good karma that has been collected in many eons, like Shantideva said in his teaching.

Similarly, the negative karmas, the anger relating to the holy objects, one’s own guru, who shows one the Dharma, the manifestation of buddha, the holy beings, bodhisattvas—Shantideva said in his teaching that even one negative karma accumulated on one second causes one to abide in the unimaginable state of the narak, so no need to talk about the negative karma that has been collected from beginningless previous lifetimes. These negative karmas do not let oneself to go in the realm of the happy transmigratory being. What he’s saying is, with such relationship with these holy objects, anger arising, the wrong view, heresy, like this, this negative karmas in one second has harms that much. So if it harms that much, such negative karma collected in one second, then there is no need to talk about all the negative karmas that has been accumulated from beginningless previous lifetimes. It is very difficult to be born in the realm of the happy transmigratory being, to be born in the upper realms, it is difficult, because of those past negative karmas. Therefore it is extremely important to try to control the anger as much as possible. Even if the object is not sentient beings, or even if it is an animal, a crazy person, a person who behaves very badly, who looks ugly, as you see that sentient being in your view the fact that he is like that is not certain. Among the animals, we can’t say which is the transformation buddha, which is not the transformation buddha, we cannot discriminate, actually we haven’t got the clairvoyance, the powerful knowledge, able to see the level of other sentient beings’ minds. So we cannot discriminate who is a holy being, who is not a holy being by judging how the other sentient being behaves and looks. With this alone you cannot discriminate. You can’t really say. Because like this now we see things according to the level of our mind, according to how thin our and thick our obscurations are.

So therefore it is important not to get angry at any sentient beings who is in our life. If one gets angry, if one lets go under the control of anger, then you lose your happiness completely. You lose your temporal happiness, ultimate happiness. You lose the root of perfection, this life and also future lives. By remembering these things, then you stop, try to control anger. Also try to stop rising the wrong thoughts, heresy, to the refuge objects.

Check like this, meditate like this. Remember this quotation and then think, I have meditated so much and I did lot of things; I made so much charity; I always gave money to the beggars—if you feel pride, think, how many times I got angry, check like that. And other hindrances, the rising the wrong view. Those things.

To create good karma is so difficult. Generally even we who think, I am practicing Dharma, I have been practicing Dharma, if you really check up one year, one month, like this, if you really check up, the good karmas, the merits, what has been accumulated is so little. If you count from morning until night how much good karma has been collected, how much negative karma has been collected, if you have machines or calculators—the merit, the good karma is the smallest number, the non-virtuous action is the greatest number. Many times we try to do Dharma but it does not become virtue.

The virtuous actions that we have collected are not so powerful, incomplete—they had the motivation but were not dedicated. Or the action is not properly done. So it is not so powerful as the non-virtuous action. For the non-virtuous action we have very powerful motivation, very strong, powerful motivation and also the actions are well done, and the main body of the action is well done, we feel much rejoicefulness, and we make very powerful negative karma.

If it is the bug bites you, disturbing you, while you are sleeping very comfortably in the very warm bed, very peaceful, and this bug is biting everywhere—when you move your body it bites another place—you move your body and it bites another place, and you are unable to catch it. Then you afterwards you find the bud that has been disturbing you for hours and then you want to kill that bug, for sure. As soon as you see the body, you just crush it, crush it, crush it. After you are able to crush the body, then you are so happy, incredibly happy. Now I got peace. Now I can relax. There is great joyfulness in the mind. The non-virtuous actions are done very powerfully.

So, then with numbers you check up, and with the cause. You think as I explained yesterday, the numbers of people and animals in this world, like this you check up.

First concentrate on the creatures in the ocean. All those different fish, so busy running around back and forth. In the depth of their heart they are only trying to obtain the pleasure of this life. They keep themselves so busy, running back and forth, seeking food, seeking place.

All the creatures on the ground, and flying, crawling—concentrate on their minds, the way they think. They have the same thing in the very depth of their heart. Only the comfort of this life.

You check up. Then watch one city, like New York. Watch all the people in that city. Watch their mind, not so much the body, the way they are thinking. Again you find the same thing. People, with the exception of maybe one or two, in the city, flying in space, in vehicles, airplanes, they have the same way of thinking, the same concern for the comfort of this life, the pleasure of this life. Nothing else, keeping the life so busy. Those who are flying, on the water, have a similar way of thinking. If you watch their minds, you do not find any different. They keep so busy with attachment, seeking only the pleasures of this life.

Then again, those who are in the shops, keeping so busy, again have the same way of thinking. Those who are in the car, in the car outside, running up and down, like this, so busy, so busy, all those things in the mind, in the heart. For what reason are they working? You watch their mind. Then same thing, only, nothing else, there is no other thing, only to obtain the pleasures of this life, that’s all, what is in the heart.

So, you see, doing the worldly work, being under the control of attachment, seeking the pleasures of this life, not having the sense to practice Dharma, doing only the non-virtuous work with this motivation. So, this is the reason why there are so few human beings, and an incredible number of suffering transmigratory beings. This is the reason. So anyway, by examining, by examining one’s own mind, in each day life, this can be understood.

What makes one waste the perfect human body, which is highly meaningful and difficult to find again? What is the thing that disturbs all the actions from becoming Dharma, from becoming virtue. That is the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas, this attachment seeking only the pleasure of this life. The evil thought of the worldly Dharmas disturbs oneself from achieving the ultimate happiness, and even the temporal happiness. How it disturbs to achieve the ultimate happiness, that is very clear. To achieve nirvana, the blissful state of peace for oneself, the door of the path to nirvana, that is what? That is the mind renouncing samsara. This is the first thing to generate. This is the door of the path to nirvana. So as long as the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas still occupies our mind, there is no place for the realization of the mind renouncing samsara. I already explained that in order to generate this realization first we need the mind renouncing attachment, seeking the pleasures of this life.

The thought of the eight worldly Dharmas, how does this disturb us from achieving enlightenment? The door of the Mahayana path is bodhicitta. In order to generate bodhicitta we must generate renunciation of samsara. So that’s how the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas disturbs our ultimate happiness of enlightenment.

It doesn’t even let us attain temporal happiness of the future lives. To take the body of the happy transmigratory being in the future, we need to practice moral conduct. But the evil thought of the eight worldly Dharmas, this attachment, makes this difficult for our mind. It is not a net, a prison, a very sold iron wall that you have to break, no way to escape from it—not like that. It’s just the mind’s way of thinking. Finding it difficult to have faith, to practice Dharma—difficult is just made by the mind. The mind is not physical, it’s formless. You can’t see it with the eye, you can’t touch it, so it’s formless, just a way of thinking. Just a way of thinking makes it incredibly difficult. It makes a difference. One makes you believe, oh this is harming me. One makes you believe, oh this is benefiting me.

Finding it difficult to make the determination to practice Dharma can become so solid, so real. Finding it difficult to practice moral disciple, good karma, stopping the actions of the unsubdued mind. This is just make by one’s own mind. It seems more difficult that a huge rocky mountain to break. Your view becomes so solid. It’s created by your own mind, just a slight different way of thinking.

One way of thinking is so incredibly easy. One way of thinking is more difficult. What makes you think it is difficult? The evil thought of the worldly Dharmas. It doesn’t let one create the root of happiness—the practice of good karma, moral conduct, precepts. It also makes them difficult to keep, even if one has taken them, and makes one lose and degenerate moral discipline.

That’s very clear, easy to understand. Because the person is clinging so much to the comfort of this life, they can’t understand the benefits of the results of the karma. As the attachment is very strong, they find it difficult to practice dharma, to practice karma, keep the moral conduct, things like that.

Again, one tries to practice dharma by making charity. Again this evil thought of worldly Dharma disturbs. It makes you seek reputation, reputation, you know.

Even if one tries to meditate, you know, again it comes to disturb. The evil thought of worldly dharma comes to disturb. There is a one hour meditation session, but in actual meditation you spend only five minutes. Most time is wasted.

[end of tape]

…meditation on the unsubdued mind is mostly spent in distraction, caused by this evil thought of worldly Dharma. If you check up, you can see very clear, this is the main distraction in the meditation for our concentration, so easily the mind gets distracted. If you check up with that object, if you check up the mental pictures, the objects that we remember during the meditation time, mostly those are objects that one is attached to. So it is clear how the evil thought of worldly Dharma disturbs your meditation.

Even if one knows Dharma, even if one knows karma, even if one has a little bit of faith in the karma, one finds it difficult to practice, to do the action. One has much intellectual understanding of Dharma, you study so much, but in action difficult. Practice is difficult, can’t get done. This again is because of the evil thought of worldly Dharma. Even if one has a lot of time to meditate, one knows the meditation subject, what to meditate on, even if the daytime is busy working on other things, in the morning there is time to meditate, we do not time for Dharma practice, meditation practice. We find time to do other things, to do other worldly work, but no time for Dharma time, no time to meditate. Even if there is time in the morning, one is unable to do it. There is time for sleeping, there is much time for sleeping, but no time to meditate. Those things are due to the evil thought of worldly Dharma. Very clear, if you check up this.

I think stop here.

Session 23

The great bodhisattva Shantideva has explained in his teachings.

Just like the foggy, dark nighttime showing the lightening, like that, due to the power of the Buddha the virtuous thought arises for a short time in the mind of the beings in the world. What Shantideva is saying is at nighttime, when it is dark, no moon, no stars, completely dark, very foggy, for such a short time lightening happens, in seconds, it comes instantly, and gives a clear light. It makes you see things clear. It doesn’t happen all the time. It only happens for a short time, gives light for a very short time.

The mind of the sentient beings in the world are like nighttime, obscured, obscured, completely dark, obscured by the “I”-grasping ignorance. By the I-grasping ignorance. Not realizing the meaning of selflessness, ignorant of the inner meaning of selflessness.

Secondly, they are foggy, not having Dharma wisdom, understanding karma, completely foggy, like that. So in those beings minds, even if the virtuous thought rises it rises very rarely, it happens very rarely. When this virtuous thought is rising in the mind of some of the living beings in the world, first of all it rises occasionally, very rarely, for a very short time, like the lightening. The virtuous thought, the thought of Dharma, when it rises, lasts just seconds, like that, a very short time. The virtuous thought, which is the cause of all the perfections and all happiness, that rises just for a very short time. And so usually their mind is foggy, also with attachment, anger, those unsubdued mind.

Shantideva is saying that always they dwell in the small virtue, not so powerful. In the small virtue, with the incredible powerful of negative karma—what other virtue can pacify this except the thought of enlightenment. What are the virtues that can pacify this, except the thought of enlightenment. So what Shantideva is saying in his teaching, is that the mind is like this, the mind of the sentient beings in the world is like this, so even those who accumulated virtues, they always live in small virtues and in very powerful negative karma, which causes rebirth in the realm of the suffering transmigratory beings and the experience of the result of the karma for a long time.

What are the virtues that purify? No other virtues can purify except bodhicitta, which intends to achieve enlightenment and to take out sentient beings from samsara. Only this can pacify all those heavy negative karmas. Shantideva is emphasizing this in regards to purification. What is the most powerful method to purify the negative karmas, the unfinished negative karmas?

The most skilful thing is to quickly pacify all the karmic obscurations. Even if one thinks I have accumulated very heavy negative karmas, one should wish to purify it, in the most skillful way, quickly purify and extensively purify, by training the mind in bodhicitta. Therefore we should generate the realizations of the graduated meditations that lead to bodhicitta. Think, “I must do it, listen to teachings,” motivate like this, “I must achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all my kind mother sentient beings, therefore I am going to listen to profound Mahayana teachings.”

So yesterday the meditation I told you was not finished, on the evil thought of worldly Dharma. You check, after meditating on difficulty, check three ways, like this: the cause, the example, the number. Check what makes one waste this precious human body. That is the evil thought of worldly Dharma. Recognize this, then check like this, how it disturbs you from receiving ultimate happiness, even temporal happiness. Then you check how it disturbs you from achieving ultimate happiness, nirvana, and enlightenment, by checking how it disturbs achieving the mind renouncing samsara.

After that then, check the how it disturbs temporal happiness. It disturbs the temporal happiness of this life, the temporal happiness of future lives, as long as you are in samsara, it doesn’t let you experience even the temporal, samsaric happiness. It disturbs. How? You check like this, you check the cause of happiness, practicing Dharma, and how it disturbs the practice of Dharma. The cause of the body of a happy transmigratory being, moral conduct, charity—how it disturbs, you check. Generally how it disturbs, any time, whatever you do, the different types of actions, when you try to meditate, when you try to make offerings to holy objects, when you try to make charity, when you try to help others. Every time you try to do good, always this rises, always it comes there, comes there to disturb you, to not let the action become the cause of happiness.

When you listen to teachings it comes to not allow the action of listening or teaching Dharma become effective. It makes you think, “Oh, it is hurting me. It is hurting me.” Actually it is hurting your attachment, the evil thought of worldly Dharma. It is hurting the eight worldly Dharmas. It is hurting his enemy but he does not recognize that. He thinks it is hurting him, not recognizing it is hurting to the enemy who always destroys his happiness.

So the person becomes pessimistic. Everything gets transformed into suffering, yourself suffering, everything you see turns negative. Everything becomes kind of unpleasant. Kind of the enemy to oneself, sort of.

Even if one talks Dharma, teaches Dharma, again this eight worldly Dharma arises and disturbs. It makes the motivation non-virtue, evil.. It does not let the virtuous thought arise.

So when we listen to teachings, we reflect on the Dharma, when we are studying, when we meditate, when we practice, all those times this evil thought of worldly Dharma arises and doesn’t let these actions become the path to nirvana, the path to the boundless state. This evil thought of worldly Dharma doesn’t let our holy Dharma become the path to the boundless state, the nirvana. Always, it’s like this, always when you try to good, listening to teachings, reflecting, studying Dharma, practicing meditation, the eight worldly Dharmas make it like delicious food with poison. It is good looking but it is not worthwhile to eat. You have to throw it out.

Even when we want our mind calm, peaceful, what doesn’t let our mind keep calm, peaceful, relaxed? What makes the mind like a water bubble? Like the boiling water, like the dust that is taken by the wind, completely controlled by the wind. The mind has no control, can’t relax the mind. No peace of mind. The cause of that is the evil thought of worldly Dharma, this attachment, seeking the pleasures of this life.

If you are aware, if you keep your mind inside, if you examine, you can clearly recognize all these things—how unhappiness, loneliness, all these things, the unpeaceful mind are caused by this attachment. All the depressions, aggression, whatever you call it, different names—what causes all these things? That’s the eight worldly Dharmas, this attachment, so much clinging to the pleasures of this life. If you carefully check it’s nothing difficult. It’s not like meditating on shunyata or a profound meditation, nothing like that. It’s just a matter of being aware. It’s nothing difficult. It’s just being a matter of being aware. Just matter of watching your mind, Just a matter of studying your own mind, just a matter of studying your own mind. Like looking in books and studying like that, you watch your mind all the time like a book, study, watch, kind of like this. Then you can understand. It’s a matter of not being introduced, somebody hasn’t explained, just a matter of that. It’s not a matter of not having meditated in this way.

So how it disturbs even the pleasures of this life—anyway, from this you can understand. As Nagarjuna has explained in one of his teachings, when one receives something, when one finds something, one is happy. Happy. Happy. When there is no receiving, there is dislike, dislike. When there is receiving, attachment arises. When there is no receiving then dislike, dislike. When there is happiness, there is like; when one receives unhappiness, dislike. When there is reputation, there is like. When there is criticism, dislike. When there is good reputation, like. When there is bad reputation, dislike, dislike. When there is admiration, then there is like. When there is opposite, abuse, then dislike. These are the eight worldly Dharmas.

The four objects that we cling to, and the four opposite objects that we dislike.

In the present life, for instance, Christmas time, birthday. If a person who normally gives you presents, from whom you expect presents gives a present on the birthday, there is like. The mind is lifted up. If somebody gives delicious cake, the mind kind of sinks into the object, attaching, absorbing itself. The mind gets stuck to that object. It not actually got stuck, no material, no kind of wax or anything that makes you stick there, but this is the nature of the attachment…

[end of tape]

…much more stronger. There is no comparison. The mind kind of sinks, sort of absorbing into the object. Getting kind of completely got stuck to that, and difficult to separate away, difficult to give this to somebody. Difficult to give it away. Difficult to renounce it. There is nobody who keeps you there but the mind makes it difficult. What makes it so difficult in your mind, with that object? What makes it difficult is this attachment.

Then when somebody suddenly shows a present or something like that, clothing, or a cape, suddenly the mind kind of lifts up, stuck to that object. This makes it excited, the mind is not in peacefulness. It’s not in calmness. The person talks about how good it is, he talks lot about the qualities of that; because of the object, the mind always clings to the person who gives the material.

The parent or the friend, normally he gives a present on the birthday or Christmas, but one time he doesn’t give, one time he stops giving presents, and before one has been expecting, oh, I will get a present from him on Christmas or my birthday, and then if you don’t get it, the mind is confused. Then you wonder why, much speculation, much doubt arises. Then dislike, very strong dislike mind arises, to the person. Then if it is the parents, then you’ll complain to the parents—why do you love the other children, other sons, other daughters, why you don’t love me? You complain to the father or mother, criticize them. Maybe spit in their face. If you are sitting at the table having lunch, then you break the cup, you break the bowl, the plate. While eating without finishing it, you throw your food on the floor and you make a big noise with your feet. You make a big noise, quickly running back to your room. Shutting the door with a big noise so that everybody in the room can hear. Then maybe you go inside the bedroom and you cry, or maybe criticize by reciting mantra. Hours and hours like that, reciting mantra.

When materials are not received, then how much confusion, how much the worry there is in the mind of that person. That depends so much on how he likes receiving materials. The stronger attachment he has in receiving material things, the greater worries he has when he doesn’t receive. There is much greater confusion in the mind. His mind becomes that much unhappy. That much unhappy.

When he doesn’t expect so much, when he doesn’t cling so much, when he receives little, the confusion is also little. So it is dependent like this.

[BREAK]

Simply talking like this. There are four other dislikes, you see.

When we do not receive material, there is unhappiness. Then uninteresting things, reputations, and abuse. With these four the dislike arises. So of course normally we understand that it is not comfortable to meet the four undesirable objects. We are not happy, that is suffering. We understand. When we meet the four desirable objects, receiving material things, happiness, good reputation, and admiration, we believe that is happy. I am happy because I got this present. I met this friend or it says I have a very good reputation in the newspaper. It’s got articles of me, saying how good I am or what a great educated person I am or how compassionate I am, sort of like this. This person is telling me nice things. So when we meet these four desirable objects again our mind is confused again, on the other hand. Because actually that time, mind feels highness, and the actual nature of mind during those mind is a very uptight mind. If you watch the nature of mind those times, when you meet the four desirable objects, if you check, if you watch your own nature of mind, it’s not the absolute nature that I am talking about, it’s the relative, talking about conventional truth. How you feel. How does the mind feel at that time? The mind is not relaxed. When we meet the four desirable object, the mind is not relaxed. That mind is unpeaceful and uptight. That is the nature of attachment. When you attach, when you cling, when you cling to the object the mind is kind of uptight. Not peaceful. It is different pain, than when we get sick, but when attachment rises the object, there is pain there. The pain of attachment. So if you watch during those times the mind is never peaceful. It’s confused, it is a disturbed mind, it is a confused mind. As there is strong attachment during those times, when you meet this object, it is hard to see. It is hard to control and see the absolute nature, even to discover the nature of the mind, the conventional truth. And to see the result, to see the result of karma. It obscures the see the result of karma, also.

When you meet the four undesirable objects and the four desirable objects, both minds are confused minds, not calm, peaceful at all. So in both times, actually, the mind is in the nature of suffering, the mind is suffering actually. The other one will recognize will clearly but this nature of the mind, we do not recognize how it is suffering, how it is pain or attachment, when we meet the desirable object. That’s normal, you don’t check up and the mind becomes uptight like this, attached to the object. That’s what we call pleasure, I am happy. I am happy.

So similarly, when one is attached more to that friend or to that person, on the other hand there is that much greater worry of losing it. There is fear that he or she might separate away from me.

Then, you see, all those problems that we always see in the television, all the problems of the people, the relationship, families, the couple relationship, the hero in the movies, in television, in the newspaper—somebody divorced, somebody doing this, somebody doing this, a bunch of things. Somebody is lost, somebody escapes, all these things. Actually this is the shortcoming of the evil thought of Dharma, the attachment seeking pleasures of this life. It shows very clearly this is the shortcoming of the evil thought of Dharma. Causing problems to the life, this evil thought of worldly Dharma, within the minds of the people. Making life unhappy, confused, like that.

So, you see, as there is very strong attachment to that person in the mind, then, as I mentioned before, the nature of attachment, the meaning of attachment, is either an inner object, or living beings or non-living beings. The mind kind of got stuck to that, sunk or stuck to that object, and it is difficult to separate away from that object. That is nature of attachment, difficult to separate away. You find it very difficult to separate away from that object, so that is nature of attachment.

There is that much attraction to that person, and there is that much fear when she goes away, when she goes alone outside, even for a short time, for one, two or three hours. The husband who stays at the house has that much kind of worry or fear, to lose or that she will e possessed by other people. If she went for a few days or one week holidays, off from the husband, going to another place, there is so much worry in the mind, can’t stand, can’t wait, can’t wait .. if she did not come back in time, how much worry, incredible worry in the mind. You can’t relax in the house, can’t stand it. Like that.

If she didn’t come back, then you make a phone call to everybody. Keep everybody busy. The mind is so nervous, the whole body so nervous. Then if one hears, oh, she has left with another man, she flew this morning to Chicago or to Hawaii or something with somebody, with another gentleman, then you can’t stand it, completely shaking. So then the other person, in one’s own view, there is no worse enemy than him in the world. He’s the greatest enemy in the world. As soon as you see his face, you want to kill him, make him explode, completely make him non-existent. Completely cease his consciousness. If one has the power, one would think of this. You are so nervous you don’t eat food at the house, even though you have everything in the kitchen, no thought of food coming. No hunger. Even if someone else makes food and brings it in front of your table, there is no taste. You don’t get the taste from food. The food just going in the mouth, but there is no taste because the mind is full of worry, the mind is completely concentrated on the that enemy and one’s own friend that is lost.

Then at night time, no sleep. The whole night you move around your body in the bed, sleep upside down and backside like this, all, no sleep, the whole night completely meditating on those two objects. You are so nervous, you can’t relax at all. So then right away if you hear that they have left the country then, no matter how much it cost you get an air ticket and then suddenly you go to that country. So then whole time you completely concentrate on that problem.

After going round, round, round, round, round and round, checking everywhere, looking very nervous, very worried, completely spaced out, everybody can see from that person’s face the problem he has. When he meets these people, he suddenly makes a big scandal, a big hassle, shooting each other, killing each other, then maybe unfortunately, before you kill the other boyfriend or whoever it is, you get killed, you get shot. Then finished. All those worries, all those attempts were unsuccessful.

Having much confusion in the relationship is similar—the husband or the wife met another man or another wife. First of all this is a fantastic person, how good he is, how beautiful, how handsome he is. The mind clings so much. Then you make the relationship. Then after some time you have another person outside, besides that. So when you are outside in the city, or outside from the house, then you have somebody whom you can enjoy also. For a long time the inside house husband or wife doesn’t hear that he or she has a friend outside. Then after some time unfortunately, after having kept the secret, like the tantra teaching, like the Vajrayana teaching, one day it’s exposed. So without choice, unfortunately it happened. Then after the husband or the wife comes back, they hear all these stories from another friend, a friend of a friend, oh yes your wife blah, blah, blah. Your wife was following this, drinking this, at this party, and blah blah blah, all these things. Then whoever is in the house, so nervous waiting, the face becomes most completely red. He or she is unable to do any work, just keeping the hands like this. On the chairs, on the table, even somebody making a phone call—you stop it. You drop the telephone. You don’t answer.

Then when he or she comes back, there is big screaming. All the other families, downstairs, upstairs, can hear. What’s happening, what movie is being shown in that house?

Sometimes maybe the families who are upstairs, downstairs, outside, they get fed up—this couple always screams, they always fight. Oh, this is no good. Better to move to another place, somewhere in an area where there is more peace.

So anyway, they fight each other, and it gets worse, stronger, stronger; one says this, he says something, she says something, then it generates the mind of anger. Afterwards there is no choice, they fight each other. Grab the hair. Pull the hair. Then they beat each other, like this. Then maybe probably they get killed, or if one is not so brave then one person escapes away. Suddenly he packs up, suddenly he goes in the toilet, the clothing place, picks up the clothes, pick up the suitcase, shuts the door very loudly, and then leaves. Something like that.

Then probably if his mind is not so sure, he might come back after one or two days. He might appear again in the house. But because he was not there, the other friend that stayed outside, who was kept very secret, came in the house. While they are enjoying, having great excitement, then the other husband came back. Again another trouble. Even worse. Then like that.

Even if you don’t have much money this makes you crazy, and you go to one country to spend a few years, few months, trying to find a desirable object. Trying to find a friend. The mind is so upset, so lonely. There is much worry, then again you go to another country. You go to Greece maybe, and spend some time there, wandering round, hanging around, in all those different cities, then you don’t find a favorable object. Then maybe you go to California.

You spend all your money like this. By clinging to one person’s body, you are unable to meet him, unable to live with him, but you want to live with him. You go round in the world, following attachment like this. You experience a difficult life, all those things caused by the evil thought of worldly Dharma, attachment, seeking the pleasures this life. Having so much attachment to receiving friends…

[end of tape]

Then after some time, you suddenly become pregnant. Even if there are pills to take, without choice it happens, uncontrollably it happens. Then after some time there is incredible worry in the mind. Then you are unable to tell the husband, unable to tell the parents. It’s very expensive to do an abortion, so incredibly expensive. No money, then what to do? If one tells this to the parents and the husband in the house, they will get angry. They will scold, you will be kicked out. Then what to do? Better to steal some money.

The other boy who made the child doesn’t help. He made the child but he doesn’t help, he doesn’t give money. Or he doesn’t have money. Things like that. Either you steal money or borrow money, you are in great from doing the abortion. Then after one abortion, another one happened.

Anyway, we should know the source of all these problems is caused by the eight worldly Dharma, the attachment seeking pleasures of this life. This is the one that disturbs one’s own life. It does not allow you to have peace in the life, giving so much worry. Dissatisfactory mind.

So I did not finish the meditation, but anyway it doesn’t matter. The meditation you do like this. You remember as I explained, the four desirable objects, you count the eight worldly Dharmas and the four desirable objects and the four undesirable objects, how much they relate to each other, how everything depends on clinging to the four desirable objects. Without this will it happen or not? So very clearly you can see how all these problems I have mentioned are really caused by the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas.

Then you remember all the problems of your life, this year, what problems I have gone through, with friends, with people, with oneself, all these things, remember each one, whether it is caused by the evil worldly Dharmas or not. Each problem that you can remember, today’s, yesterday’s, this month’s, this year, the previous year, as you can remember from childhood, relationship problems, all those things, you check, are they caused the eight worldly Dharmas or not. Like that.

Then at the end, you purify. Maybe you ask Dr Adrian to take it out with his tools.

[Chanting]

Session 24

When there is upsetness, remember bodhicitta. When there is suffering, remember bodhicitta. When there is fear, remember bodhicitta. When there is happiness, remember bodhicitta. When the mind is discouraged, feeling much kind of depression, thinking I am hopeless, I can’t do anything, that you are the poorest sentient being among all sentient beings, when the power of the will become weak, reflect on bodhicitta. When the work for other sentient beings becomes loose—what he’s saying is that when you don’t feel so much the work for other sentient beings, how important it is, you don’t care so much, the mind is kind of careless, even if one’s action doesn’t become beneficial for others. Even if it becomes an action of selfish attitude, one doesn’t care. The work for other sentient beings becomes very weak, loose, very weak. Not strong, not sincere. When the work for other sentient beings becomes loose, reflect on bodhicitta.

When there is laziness, reflect on bodhicitta. When there is tiredness, exhaustion, when you are completely collapsed—maybe tonight, you can wait for that. And see whether you can remember bodhicitta. When the front stomach is touching the backside stomach, when you can’t keep the body straight, when you can’t keep the body up, automatically it falls down, then at that time you can try it. When there is tiredness, reflect on bodhicitta, which means to meditate on bodhicitta. Remember the kindness of other sentient beings, remember the sufferings of other sentient beings, how they are experiencing the sufferings from which they are not free, then generate the wish to lead them to enlightenment by liberating them from all the samsaric sufferings.

The guru, Khunu Tenzin Rinpoche, the great bodhisattva, said, when there is upsetness if you meditate on bodhicitta, the upsetness goes away, especially the useless upsetness, that is of no use for enlightenment, no use for anything. Just only creating double suffering. Upsetness without having lost pleasures of this life. It’s the best meditation, best method.

When there is suffering, if one meditates on bodhicitta, practices bodhicitta, then the suffering gets transformed into happiness. There is no suffering for the mind of that person. Right in that minute as he meditates on bodhicitta, it becomes happiness for the mind of that person.

If one meditated on bodhicitta when there is fear again, this fear disappears. The person’s mind becomes fearless. The fear that the person has becomes the path to enlightenment. As one meditates on bodhicitta, as one remembers bodhicitta, one has to reflect on the compassion and love for others, so the fear goes away. Like that. By generating compassion, love for other sentient beings of whom you are scared, of whom you are frightened, that fear goes away. It gets transformed into the path to enlightenment as one generates love and compassion to those objects, the sentient beings.

Then when there’s happiness, if one meditates, again it is necessary to meditate on bodhicitta, to reflect on bodhicitta, then, you see, this samsaric pleasure that we experience does not become the cause of pride or developing attachment;. Normally, you see, the person who’s caste is recognized as a good caste, when he’s among the people in the lower caste, he has a kind of reputation, so he feels a kind of pride. He feels a kind of pleasure and pride from that. The rich person who has much material possessions also feels a kind of pleasure and from that pride rises and attachment rises, so then like that.

These are just examples like this. However the mind gets conflict, the mind becomes confused. The mind doesn’t become peaceful, doesn’t become relaxed. If one reflects on bodhicitta, there is no way for happiness, the samsaric pleasures that you experiencing to become the cause of developing attachment or pride. And then not only that, the happiness that one is experiencing is utilized in the path to enlightenment, is dedicated for other sentient beings. Without the need to prevent experiencing samsaric pleasure, then while you’re experiencing it, one can make it beneficial for other sentient beings. Like this.

So when one’s power of the will to work for other sentient beings, will to practice Dharma, will to keep the precepts, all these things, becomes weak, then remember bodhicitta, reflect on bodhicitta and that strengthens the bodhicitta. It affects the will. The power of the will. Affect the power of the will to work for other sentient beings, and as it get strengthened, it becomes more powerful, so the work for other sentient beings is done with great effort, with great concentration, and continuously.

So by remembering bodhicitta, where there is laziness in the mind, “I am tired, I am getting bored, I am tired, I am tried of meditating, first session this, second session, tired, tired. I don’t want to do it. Oh it’s difficult for me. I don’t feel comfortable.” Then for so many reasons, still you not find comfort mentally, there is something wrong, for many reasons, didn’t find. “I am tired, I am exhausted. Maybe, this session, I can hang around, I can take a rest. Oh, I am tired, exhausted.” Then the mind doesn’t want to be do that practice, doesn’t want to get up in the morning. “Oh, it’s cold, oh, it’s very cold in the morning or very freezing.” It makes one exhausted all day. Then one doesn’t feel to meditate or to make prostrations or to do practice. Laziness or not necessarily kind of sleeping but you stop the Dharma practice to talk gossip about somebody, how bad he is or how good he is. You prefer to do those things instead of Dharma.

Anyway, there are different types of laziness, anyway. So when there is laziness, one feels exhausted, finds many excuses. If one reflects on bodhicitta, one has to remember the kindness of mother sentient beings, and the suffering of mother sentient beings, how they are suffering in the narak, now, right this time, who have been extremely kind to me, from beginningless lifetimes, how there is no refuge, they are guideless, no helper, nobody whom they can call to help. So then like this, how it is when oneself is traveling alone in another country, in the east, and all the people that you see are completely new people, not friends, not one single friend, and one is completely sick from the hair down to the feet, having so many problems, nobody to help, nobody to help. You are left in the road, couldn’t do anything. No helper, no nothing. Starving, no food, no drink, nobody comes to give food. You are left on the mountain. How is it? How do you feel?

Or if one is caught in prison. Nobody comes to help, nobody knows. No parents, no brother, no sister, nobody knows in the West, no family knows what’s happening there. So you are having big problems that you going through much difficulty. How much do you feel upset? How much one cries. Missing the friends, missing the family.

How my kind mother sentient beings how they are suffering now in the preta realm, being born as a preta. How they are suffering. In the animal realms, how they are suffering. Then as humans, samsaric sentient human beings, sura, and asura.

When you remember the kindness and sufferings of those other sentient beings, when you think of the suffering of other sentient beings, think of how one’s own mother, the extremely kind mother sentient being, is suffering now. They do not even have the opportunity to experience samsaric pleasures. When you strongly feel like this, reflect like this, love and compassion are automatic, by that, naturally you have to do something. You can’t just be lazy. There is no way to relax yourself. You live comfortably without practicing Dharma, without doing some beneficial work for the kind mother sentient beings. You can’t stand even a minute just to relax. You dare not. One dare not relax even a minute when you think of other sentient beings’ suffering. It’s just exactly like this present mother who gave you this present body fell in the fire. While she is in the fire, can you relax a minute? Can you relax comfortably without practicing Dharma, without doing some beneficial work for other sentient beings with your speech, body, and mind. Even one minute of doing this is a very evil, very cruel, very evil thought. It’s just exactly like this, with the mother sentient beings, all mother sentient beings.

Anyway, this is kind of long, but what I am saying is this—laziness goes away, disappears. As the compassion and love gets generated, the laziness goes away. Then you feel you can do it, keeping or taking ordination or whatever hard Dharma practice. However hard it is, even if you want to give up your life, you can feel it. Then the thought rises, the thought comes. Even if I die, it doesn’t matter. Even if it causes life danger to me, by doing this Dharma practice, benefiting other sentient beings, there is great pleasure, I am extremely happy, something to enjoy. Even if I have to be born in the narak, there is great enjoyment. Think like this. Then there is no place for laziness.

Similar with tiredness, generate the bodhicitta that has incredible benefits like this. First we should generate the thought of renouncing the eight worldly Dharma, seeking the pleasures of this life. In the very beginning, we have to generate this thought. This realization.

So therefore, it is necessary to listen to the teachings, these meditations. So generate the motivation, “I must achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all mother sentient beings. Therefore I am going to listen to this teaching.”

So like this, the eight worldly Dharmas have been wasting our prefect human body so far, and not letting each daily life action become Dharma. We who are laypeople, we who are monk, or nun—this is one that disturbs … even what’s called lama, whatever it’s called, yogi or whatever it’s called—that practitioner’s action won’t become Dharma because of this. Clinging, seeking the pleasures of this life. Because this is living in the heart, this disturbs, and makes the false religious person, the person who tries to practice Dharma, the person who thinks, who believes I am a religions person, I am practicing Dharma, an irreligious person.

This eight worldly Dharmas are the one. Even if we have met the Buddhadharma a long time ago, many years ago, so far, no realization is gained in our mind. No change has happened in the mind, so far. Still the same thing, the mind, as before. This again, because of this eight worldly Dharma, we always follow it, we always listen to it. Otherwise, definitely we have met the Dharma, the Buddhadharma a long time ago, otherwise there are some differences, some changes in the mind that weren’t there before, there’s some realization gained.

Besides it disturbs one from practicing Dharma, it disturbs even this life’s peace. Briefly I explained yesterday, how it works. How so much of the confusions, cycles of life, are related, how those are the result of the evil thoughts seeking the pleasures of this thought, so much clinging. Even if you try to make retreat, this is the one that disturbs you to not have a good retreat. To not have a successful retreat. You find so many difficulties during the retreat. So many problems you find in the retreat, in regards comfort—this missing or that missing or this missing or I don’t have this, I don’t have that. Now I am completely crazy, become completely crazy. Oh I don’t have this and that. I can’t do this. Things like that. The room is full of bugs, oh I can’t do it. Many hindrances you find. Things like that.

Also during the retreat, some people make retreat and the mind becomes crazy. It is supposed to become better and better, more and more relaxed each day. But the mind becomes worse. You are in a small room, meditating on the whole world, remembering all the objects with which you had contact in past, friends, things like that—these are not used in order to pacify those unsubdued mind. These are used to develop attachment. Then you think more and more, more, more, more, more and more you think, more and more become stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger. It degenerates. With the electricity of attachment, it is generated, generated. Then by remembering it is generated. Then becomes more, stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger, then afterwards it’s about to explode. Anyway, then you can’t meditate, can’t meditate at all. Still you are in a small room, you are not going outside, then it’s too much, too much, you can’t stand it. Then after some time you kind of still did not recognize the source of the problems, and did not meditate on lam-rim. You didn’t practice the remedies, the meditation. Then probably maybe you just recite the mantra. Then afterwards the attachment becomes stronger, stronger, stronger then afterwards then kind of person shows a very strange face, start talking of very funny things. He doesn’t eat food. It’s like he is captured in prison. The eyes look very funny ways, and he makes peepee, kaka in the room. Then finally he goes to hospital, ends there with an injection.

When one meditates, instead of the mind getting better while one is studying Dharma, while one is making retreat—this is caused by the evil thought of the worldly Dharmas. This is from attachment. He’s becoming crazy. First of all there were these things getting strong, and he didn’t practice the inner remedies, he didn’t use the inner medicines. Then not being skilled, not having meditated on impermanence, death, on these remedies, not having meditated on lam-rim, the main mistake is not having renounced well the evil thought of worldly Dharma. His practice is not aimed to do renounce the worldly Dharmas. He is doing something, doing something, reciting prayers, or something, but not actually aimed at this. Like if you are shooting an arrow, you have some aim to shoot at, to destroy something that interferes with oneself. So like that, Dharma practice is not aimed at removing this evil thought of worldly Dharma, renouncing the eight worldly Dharma. He takes care of what he should remove. And the actual practice is forgotten.

Something when somebody studies Buddhadharma, during the course, studying, the mind is in a difficult situation. You are not strong enough, because of not having meditated on impermanence, death, sufferings of lower realms, the shortcomings of samsara, the general samsaric suffering. It is difficult to renounce the thought of the worldly Dharmas. Mentally, from the depth of the heart you don’t want to face that, you want to do something Dharma, something, but this you don’t want to do. You fear, “Oh, if I renounce this, I will lose my pleasures.”

Anyway, without talking much, the decision was not made in the heart, so this is what makes the mind become funny. You can’t make a decision, then after some time you become strange. Things like that.

So those are the mistakes. One ignores the meditations on the sufferings. You want to practice always on a good object, you want to reflect always on good objects, beautiful objects. You want to think of only beautiful objects, good object, you don’t want to remember or think about suffering. Not only when one practices Dharma, but even in normal life, people who become crazy. Same thing. Same reason.

[end of tape]

There are many like this. There are many who become crazy because their friend died, friend died, so much missing them. There is no method in the mind of that person, no method at all, no understanding of lam-rim. He thinks of the eight worldly Dharmas very strong, so attached, for one’s own pleasure. Then afterwards, also a combination of outside spirit offences. Then the inside problems. The person becomes crazy. The person is complete crazy the whole life, difficult to recover.

Many Tibetans, because they have lost their country, and then wealthy people, they had so many material possessions in Tibet, and they miss them so much. So many of them, in India, after they fled from Tibet, became crazy, missing so much—the properties, then families, the material possessions. It was all lost in the hands of the Chinese, then they worry, worry, worry so much, then after some time become crazy.

Those who become crazy have not made the strong decision renouncing the eight worldly Dharmas, it’s the problem. Unable to renounce well the object of the unsubdued mind.

One time I heard, in one place, I don’t remember the place, somewhere, I think, maybe close to Greece, somewhere around there, one old man was married, how many times? Seven? I had the newspaper but I think I don’t have it now. He married how many times, twenty? One after another he changed like this, he married, over and over. Again and again like this. And he said, still he wants, he’s going to have a wedding, to another young girl who is in prison, something like that. He was going to take her out of prison, something like that.

Anyway, in the East, Tibet, in Nepal, there are very few of these kinds of problem, is very few. The relationship is fixed from the beginning. At the beginning they check so well, because the whole life, one has to be together. With lamas or astrologists, many they check up, whether there will be harmony.

Anyway however, all those things, all these problems. Always going through so many similar problems, all the time, due to the shortcomings of the evil thought of worldly Dharmas, dissatisfactory mind, too much clinging seeking the pleasures of this life. So this is the one that makes the person go through all these problems, over and over, again and again. They experience it again and again.

Then, you see, the person who drinks alcohol finds it very hard to stop drinking alcohol. That is the shortcoming of the eight worldly Dharmas, the main disease is in the mind—he finds it very hard to stop. He can see all things that are happening, all the dangers, but he doesn’t pay much attention. He finds it very difficult to stop. What makes it so difficult?

He goes to work and as he gets the money every month he goes out to drink. He comes back drunk, or sometimes doesn’t come back. He spends the money before bringing it home and sharing it with the family. He loses it all and becomes drunk and fights with somebody and shouts. Then he comes home drunk and makes a scandal, a big confusion in the evening in the family. He complains to the wife you didn’t do this, I have been working so hard—even though she didn’t do those mistakes he criticizes like this. Breaking things in the house. Destroying the expensive materials. He becomes completely crazy until he recovers from that intoxication. He drives the car backward, so fast, without following the rules. Then lots of car accidents, completely breaks the brain, completely killed, crushed. Caught in prison by the police. All these things are the shortcomings of the dissatisfactory mind of the eight worldly Dharmas.

Even the person who wishes, “Oh, it’s no good, alcohol. This thing is no good. I want to stop, I want to stop,” but he wants to drink little bit, a little bit, not that much. But then he drinks two, three spoons, or maybe more. That’s three, this didn’t do anything. Maybe it doesn’t matter, drink one more. One more, one more, then again it becomes the same as before, normal, according to how he drinks. Then, after, the mind becomes more and more uncontrolled, so lost. Always happening like this, he gets the habit of doing this. He finds it very hard, even though he wants to stops, he doesn’t want to drink a lot, but it happens this way. That is also a very strong mind, shortcomings of the dissatisfactory mind, the eight worldly Dharmas.

Similar, smoking cigarettes. The wine also causes disease in the body. Then cigarettes, by smoking even the nails turn yellow. Even the face becomes kind of very nervous and inside the lungs or things it becomes black, too much smoke. Then the person afterwards having heart attack, cancer, many of those other diseases, which are difficult to recover from. Things like this happen, then having much worry about the sickness,. These are problems of the shortcomings of the dissatisfactory mind, the eight worldly Dharmas. It pollutes the mind, it pollutes the body, this black substance becomes actualized due to the negative karmas of the sentient beings. Then due to the wrong prayers of the maras, there is a whole evolution about these things, like ganja, like tobacco, the whole evolution about how this happened, as explained in the teachings. The maras, the evildoers who want to disturb the Dharma practice, who want to disturb the teachings in the world, who don’t want the teachings to develop, who don’t want to have peace in the world, who harm, who don’t let the beings have happiness. In order to disturb the Dharma practice, they made wrong prayers.

Anyway, how it disturbs is it pollutes the mind and pollutes the body, the vehicle, the body. It the chakras, it blocks the chakras more. It causes the virtuous thought to not arise, and disturbs the quick development of the realizations of the meditations. For the practice of Vajrayana, it’s a very big disturbance.

It destroys so many sentient beings. Besides making unhealthy oneself, it makes unhealthy and pollutes the mind of the other people who are around oneself, where the smell goes. There are other sentient beings that we don’t see. They protect us, the white gods, white protectors, they come to help the meditators, the Buddhadharma practitioners, and then they go away. When the place is polluted it makes them leave.

Also the animals, sentient beings such as nagas, these other sentient beings, usually need a very clean place. The smells of these materials completely destroys the whole environment, the place. Kind of like poison, spread from the airplane on the city.

For instance in the airplane, especially the first time I went to America on PanAm, it was full of smoke. For whole way it was like sleeping. Also even of somebody was smoking down here, down in the road down there, the smell came up in the room up there. Around the monastery. The smell is taken by the wind, right away smells up there. When you smell it, right away with the breath it goes inside the heart, you feel pain inside.

These are examples of the meditation on the general sufferings of samsara. One is to meditate on shortcomings of dissatisfaction. I am talking about the eight worldly Dharmas, the shortcomings of the evil thought of worldly Dharma. If you understand this, this is the same thing as meditating on the shortcomings of dissatisfaction, the general sufferings of samsara. So if you understand this, it’s the same thing, it helps each other.

From the smoke, what’s the interest? Check like this. What’s the interest there?

Just, think. Just like making fire in the mouth, something like that. Coming through the nose. Sort of like that. 

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