Lecture 28

It is not enough just having a virtuous motivation, it is necessary to cultivate the virtuous motivation of bodhicitta in order for the action to become the cause of receiving enlightenment, besides becoming Dharma. I’m going to listen to the teaching on the gradual path to enlightenment in order to receive enlightenment and to enlighten all the kind mother sentient beings.

The listening subject is the Mahayana teaching which leads the fortunate ones to enlightenment. It is well expounded by the great, highly realized Mahayana philosophers Nagarjuna and Asanga. It is a profound teachings, the essence of the highly realized bodhisattva Atisha, the Dharma king of the three worlds, the great Lama Tsongkhapa whose infinite knowledge and understanding of the teachings was shown. These teachings contain all the essence of the 84,000 teachings shown by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. All these teachings are set up for the gradual practice of one person to receive enlightenment and this is the sole path through which all past, present and future buddhas have received enlightenment. Even before the buddhas, past buddhas, numberless buddhas who happened before Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the present buddha, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, many other buddhas who received enlightenment during the time, during the period of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching and also those who received enlightenment—sentient beings who will receive enlightenment in the future—the only path through which they can receive enlightenment is this gradual path to enlightenment.

So just to offer a brief explanation on the gradual path to enlightenment. It has four basic outlines. The last one is how to lead the disciple of the actual teaching. That has two outlines: how to do the guru practice, which is the root of the path, and how to train the mind in the gradual path by following the guru.

So there are three different levels of the gradual path in order to receive enlightenment. Part of the subject that is for the gradual path of the lower being. The impermanence of life and death, and refuge. The meditation on impermanence of life and death is extremely powerful, the quick way to control the delusion. To receive peace within one’s mind it is important to practice the meditation on the impermanence of life and death. Especially to make preparation for the death, or the future lives.

My death is definite so I must practice Dharma. The actual time of death is indefinite, so I must practice Dharma right away. I am not sure when it will happen so I must practice Dharma right away as this is the only method that can benefit at death time. The actual time of death has three outlines, three ways to make checking meditation. The first one is the human life. Generally the human life on the southern continent is nothing definite, especially human life in this degenerate times. In previous times, during the times of the original human beings, the very first human beings they lived for a long time. It wasn’t definite but they lived for a long time, they did not die young.

So as I mentioned examples yesterday it’s easy, because those are the things that we often hear, we often see, so it’s easy to make meditation but it’s necessary to use them on oneself. That can happen to me. So that in that way there’s a feeling of impermanent life and death in the mind, otherwise, it’s just like watching a movie. What we see, what we hear, everything can be used for meditation. If you don’t use for meditation, it’s just like watching, those kind of life problems are nothing to do with me, is their own experience, looking outside, thinking that such life problems will never happen to me, believing that oneself will be always happy, will never experience problems like that and death like that.

Thinking this cannot happen like that, as we see happening with other people. It is not useful thinking like that. All the time we hear and see, in every newspaper, always there’s something about the people who were killed, something bad conditions you know, house burned, flood, so many things, police shooting, all this, so many things. In every newspaper there’s someone who was killed or died or something.

Then especially in New York or somewhere there’s a newspaper where one side of the newspaper, the back side, there are all the names of dead people who died in one week. So for people who meditate on impermanence of life and death, that’s extremely useful. The teaching, the lam-rim is just there. For someone knows how to meditate, whatever he hears, whatever he sees, the person who knows how to meditate, can use all this for meditation, and all this becomes helpful for his continual Dharma practice. Dharma is more pure and strong.

In the second outline, there’s fewer conditions for living and more conditions for death. That is easy. By checking how there are more conditions for dying and less conditions for living. Also, even the living conditions become a cause for death. For instance, we build a house with many stories, which collapses in an earthquake and kills us. Also then such as gas and those things, arranged for living conditions, but many times become a cause of death. Also the fires. In the West, every time there’s a house getting burned, the police cars making much noise in the street, so always there’s danger the people died or couldn’t escape, they died the house being burned and couldn’t escape out. In America like that, in England again the same information, or in India also same information like that.

Also a candle is a cause for living, but then it catches fire, and the house gets burned and people die inside the house. And also the weapons. The weapons are mainly for living, to protect the life from the danger of other people, enemies, so you keep the weapons inside. Then the thief comes and finds the weapons and uses the weapons to shoot you. So it is like purposely arranging the weapon to kill oneself. Many times, many times, many times in the family, when you’re angry, you use the weapons to kill each other.

Also material possessions. A person has a lot of jewels, has collected a lot of jewels, a lot of gold, then there’s much danger fro the life of the person. Other people find it…

…feel jealous, other people want to take it, want to steal it, things like that. Then because of material possessions they come to kill you.

Also many times happen in the West robbers come in the house, they take away your money, material possession, also if you have money in the bank, they say if you don’t give them a certain number, a certain number of millions of dollars, then I will kill you. You see, many times there is this danger in the West.

Also in many other countries it is the same, when they see you have some jewels or something like that, they follow after you, such as in India, they follow, they kill you. Many times it happens like this. Many times people get killed because of the material possessions. This is arranged for living conditions but it becomes a cause of death.

Then also food. Food is especially made for living but many times also it becomes a cause of death, a condition of death.

One time in India last year, one Tibetan woman was suffocated by police, not by any other reason, just by the body. When her husband was not there, when he was away, then those police came and had physical contact with the Tibetan woman and then after, because there would be a big problem, it would be their own fault, they put a cloth in the mouth to stop the breath. So like this they killed her, like this. When those other people see in their view, they see she is beautiful, but the body became the condition of death.

By this second reason, the actual time of death is indefinite, therefore the Dharma must be practiced right away.

The third one is the body is extremely fragile, like the water bubble. If a small hair passes through, it pops, one small hair, tiny small hair. It is so easy to decay. So easy to become destroyed you see. Like this the body is also very fragile. If you are not wise you can diet, if you make mistake in the way of eating. It also makes one get sick, all of a sudden. If you eat another food which does not fit well in the stomach, you easily get pain in your stomach.

Oh then, also the weather, if you make a mistake in eating, it is so easy to get sick. When the climate changes from hot to cold and cold to hot it is very easy to get sick if one doesn’t know how to take care. If you put a thick cloth, you feel hot, if you wear thin cloth you feel cold, so easy to happen, to feel uncomfortable like this.

Even when we walk, if we don’t walk properly, if we make little mistake we fall down, the legs gets dislocated, makes wounds, bones get broken, all things like this. It is so easy to get sick, so easy to die. If one doesn’t wear shoes, so easy to get hurt, so easy to get thorns inside, there are many examples like this how the body is so fragile. Even when one sleeps, if the bed’s a little bit not comfortable, it is easy to get pain, to feel discomfort like this.

Then there’s also many other reasons, hindrances to life, there are 424 different types of sickness.

Then there are many other different types of spirits—upper spirits, middle spirits, lower spirits, there are many other different types of spirits, spirits being situated in space, on earth, there are many different types of spirits. Life is full of hindrances and also the different types of disease.

Another way to think is how fragile it is—it is like a machine, our body. The breath coming out, going in like this, it is like a machine. We think “I am alive, I am kind of very concrete, very solid thing, kind of very permanent,” but it’s just what we call life, the human life, and why we have life now is just because this air is coming out, going in, functioning now. How long this continues is not our choice. If it were in our hands, we could keep the breath coming out, going in, we could keep the breath forever.

How long we can live is up to the breath running, up to the circulation of the breath, it’s up to the breath. How long to keep the breath is not up to oneself. We are completely up to the breath, the breath is not under our control. So you see, we not sure when this will stop. This breath can be stopped at any time, this coming out, going in, coming out, going in. If were a machine we could make it function again. But once it’s stopped we can’t make it. So how life is so fragile, we can understand, we can see even from this example. This breath is very fragile, it can be stopped any time.

Also we think the future life is kind of a long time, after thirty, forty years it will happen, a long time. We never think of the future life as starting tomorrow, or tonight. The realm of the lower transmigrator or the realm of the happy transmigrator, it is very far, very far, very far there’s much time to e born in those realms. So how far is it? How close is it? That is a question of when this breath stops. That is up to the breath. So if the breath stops now, the future life starts. The breath can be stopped any time, so the experience of rebirth in those realms is definite to happen, at any time.

[BREAK]

Student: All the karma of every people are all connected between people?
Rinpoche: Oh yeah, yeah.
Student: Because if I shoot somebody it’s because he shot somebody in previous life. Is like I shoot in front of a mirror.
Rinpoche: Ya, then? The last part, what do you mean? When you shoot at the person his experience of that is because of his previous karma, why he has to experience that, why he died or why he is shot is because of karma.
Student: So if a person reaches enlightenment, it must have impact on the other people, a connection with the other people?
Rinpoche: When the person receives enlightenment?
Student: How is it connected with other people. There is, it makes something?
Rinpoche: When the person receives enlightenment, is there connection to other people?
Student: Is there a relation on the life of others?
Rinpoche: Oh, possible, possible. But not the same as ordinary people, because this time he has created the karma to be shot in the previous life, so you have the relationship with him. Not that kind of relationship of negative karma. The object whom that enlightened being has to subdue or benefit. Certain types of buddhas can subdue the different sentient beings, sentient beings who have different minds, different personalities. In that way there can be a relationship, but not this kind of negative karma.

How the body is extremely fragile, like the water bubble, even just from this example, we can understand. Then by this third outline, the actual time of death is indefinite, therefore I must practice Dharma right away.

At the death time, at the death time, material possessions benefit. At the death time, the beggar who is in the street, who has one stick, who has one bowl and stick, the king who is living in the palace, who is dying on the throne, who has many stores of jewels, who has such material possessions, who has food that can last for one hundred years, two hundred years, who has cloth to wear for one hundred years, at the death time is no different from the beggar who dies in the street with one stick to protect him from animals, and one bowl. The beggar at the time of death has to leave that too. The king has to leave everything, there is no choice. Even one single hair from his body, he can’t take, there’s no choice to take it to the future life. Even one atom from his material possessions, even one single hair from his body, there is no choice to take it to the future life.

Even the person has food that has been stored, collected for one hundred years, at the death time has to go with an empty stomach. Even if the person has one hundred, two hundred years of clothing to wear, the person has to leave with his bare body. Even if the person is surrounded by hundreds, so many friends at the time of death, he can’t take it with him.

So like this, the material possessions cannot benefit at death time. One can’t take even one friend. So like this, the material possessions cannot benefit at death time. If the material possessions can benefit at the death time then a rich person, a wealthy person, when they die, their material possessions should benefit at the death time, should make their life happy at the death time. They should have a happy mind, but they do not.

Even whatever surrounding people one has cannot benefit at the death time. One can’t take even one friend to the future life with oneself. Kings who have millions and millions of populations, many militaries, many ministers, hundreds and hundreds of bodyguards, always they accompany the king, at death, he can’t take them to the future life. Even his child, or his wife, most dear among all the ministers, body guards, cannot go with him.

At death, even if he’s surrounded by many relatives, all the brothers, sisters, whatever the person has usually, all of them come, all of the relatives come around the person, around oneself. And also, even all the doctors who are available in that country, even if one invited all these doctors around one, as one is dying, they can’t do anything.

The relatives, the families, many of them hold the feet, many of them hold the hands, head, the person’s head, asking, “Please don’t die.” No matter how much they give presents, no matter how much they ask, there’s no choice. Instead of helping the person who is dying, it harms. It can cause the person to be attached to the home, to the surrounding people, the relatives. It can cause him to be attached. No matter how much he is attached when his eyes are looking on the face of the relatives, the tears come out, he has to leave. The breathing stops and he has to leave. There’s no choice. While others hold the head and hands, and his feet like this, no choice.

When the person’s close to the death, even the doctors, no matter how much they’re wise, no matter how much they have high degrees, it is time to leave, there is no method. Nothing surrounding one can benefit at the death time. Even one’s body which was cared for most among the numberless sentient beings cannot benefit, cannot be taken to the future life. Wherever the person is dying, the body has to be left there. Just the mind alone, when there is a hair in the butter, the butter does not come off with the hair. So just like that, the mind at the death time, there is no physical matter, nothing goes with the mind, the mind has to leave, completely leaving the whole body. Oh then, like this.

If at death time, besides material possessions, surrounding people, one’s own body, instead of benefiting at the death time, if one is attached, if one is not renouncing the attachment, being attached to material possessions, surroundings, and one’s own body, this causes one to be born in the realm of the lower transmigrators, such as pretas, narak, animal, in those realms. So therefore, so instead of benefiting at the death time, it harms.

Just talking about the story of my mother. Last year when I was on the mountain for the ceremony, the Chenrezig ceremony, the festival of the compassionate Buddha Avalokiteshvara, usually when I go to the mountain, my mother cooks. She has one elder sister, so they cook for us. So usually, there’s not much time to talk to mother, whenever she comes in the cave to bring, whenever she brings food in the cave, usually we don’t talk serious things, I don’t talk serious things to her. Just all the time making jokes, you know, all the time teasing each other, making retreat, making pujas, time is going like this.

So the very last day, when the retreat is finished, the very last day, I thought, so she is very old, so she may die at any time. Also, she is not well, so I thought, had doubt that she may die this year, so there’s nothing to benefit her. That day the retreat is finished, at night time the burning puja, so tomorrow early morning we had to leave because of the airplane—if don’t get down in time, you have to wait for the airplane because of the weather and things like that.

So, at breakfast time, in the morning, we had just a very short talk, just a very short and serious talk. There was not much to benefit, so while we had breakfast this time about to leave, just three things for her to practice, in daily life, three things for her to practice until she dies, in the Dharma. The Dharma subject is a little difficult for her to understand, maybe because of my language, I don’t know, and she doesn’t pay attention, she listens with her own mind.

However, I have one uncle who’s a monk, so the uncle wrote down the three things to remember in case she forgets, to practice in daily life, “Today I’m definitely going to die,” the first one is that, “Today I’m definitely going to die.” What benefit? Material possessions, surroundings, even body, nothing of these can benefit, I should not be attached, I should not be attached, I should not be attached. “Today I’m definitely going to die, so I should not be attached to the material possessions, surroundings, even my body.” The second one. The third one, “What can benefit at the time of death is only Dharma.” So three things, so by remembering Dharma is the only thing, then she is reminded to pray to Avalokiteshvara, the mantra she often recites, the prayer she often does.

So three things, so she should remember these three, today I’m definitely going to die, so therefore I should not be attached to material possessions, surroundings, or one’s own body, and Dharma is the only thing which benefits. She should remember these in the morning time, when she gets up, and she should remember at lunch time, and then in the evening time when she goes to bed, three times, every day. Just hoping that if she does that every day, that it can—because the worst thing, at the time of death the worst thing is attachment, negative mind. This makes one be born in the preta, narak, and animal realms, according to how heavy the karma is, there’s no choice. There is no other method by which I can benefit her at the time of death.

By training the mind like this, if she can stop the rising of anger and attachment at death, they she will find the way to receive the birth of a happy transmigratory, to be born in the pure realms, depending on her karma and her wish. If she’s suffering or happy, anytime she can remember Avalokiteshvara, which she used to practice, so at death time she can remember. So like this, in the future life she again meets Dharma. That’s the only thing that can benefit her whenever she dies, whenever she dies. It doesn’t make any difference even if I am there on the mountain with her, or in the West, wherever it is, it doesn’t make any difference. Just mentioning this in case somebody wants to do also, with mother.

Lecture 29

... which is similar to bodhicitta. The listening subject is the Mahayana teaching which leads the fortunate one to enlightenment. It is well propounded by the great philosopher, the great Mahayana philosopher Nagarjuna and Asanga. It is profound. The highly realized Pandit Atisha and Dharma king of the three worlds, the great Lama Tsongkhapa, their understanding of the teachings was shown in these teachings, which contain all the essence of the 84,000 teachings shown by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. All these teachings are set up for the gradual practice of one person to achieve enlightenment, this is the sole path of all past, present, and future Buddhas who have received enlightenment and in order just a very brief explanation on the gradual path to enlightenment.

There are four outlines. The last one is the gradual path, how to live in the actual teachings in the gradual path to enlightenment. There are two outlines about how to make the guru practice which is the root of the path and how to train the mind in the gradual path to enlightenment which by following the guru. The whole path to enlightenment. There are 84,000 teachings shown by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha..

…which gradually lead to enlightenment. The whole path is included in this theory. There are three paths, the gradual paths of the lower intelligent beings, the middle intelligent beings, and the higher intelligent beings, so this part of the meditation subject is from the gradual path for the lower intelligent beings.

Death is definite, so I must practice the Dharma. The actual time of death is indefinite so I must practice the Dharma right now. At the death time nothing can benefit, the material possessions, the surroundings, the body cannot benefit. The only thing that is beneficial at the death time is the Dharma. So actually, it is good to think death is definite, the actual time of death is indefinite, so I must recite mantra or I must go around stupas or I must read Dharma texts. It’s good even to think that much is good, “I must practice Dharma.” But to think like that, I must do something else, it is okay, it is right, but it is not the main thing. The actual time of death is indefinite so I must practice Dharma right away.

The main thing is, the actual thing is I must renounce attachment. The cause that makes one be reborn in the realms of the suffering transmigrators and the cause of the samsaric suffering in the three upper realms, the whole thing, is the delusions. That is the main thing. Delusion is the main thing that disturbs the happiness. So as I explained before, to practice Dharma, renounce delusion; we should concentrate on this point. When we meditate, we must emphasize to oneself, death is definite, I must practice Dharma, this is the one thing which will benefit at the death time, nothing else can benefit—the material possessions, surroundings, and body cannot benefit Dharma, when we think of Dharma we should not think of reciting mantra, some kind of reading texts. It is good it is right but the main thing is to renounce delusion, cease delusion, cut off delusion.

When one tells oneself, emphases to oneself, one should remember, saying the word, using the word Dharma, but really concentrate on the meaning, at the death, like this. Then you see you are really concentrating on the meaning of Dharma, you really know what it means, practicing Dharma.

You see, what I said before in the part about the perfect human body, only making prostrations, only reciting mantra the whole lifetime, not making meditation on the gradual path to enlightenment, that is good but it is not the greatest or the most practical thing. The reason I said is because you see the actual thing to cut off the delusion, the cause of the suffering, the main tool, the main weapon is the meditation on the gradual path to enlightenment, but the main weapon to be able to cut off the delusion. This depends on making purification and making merit. These other practices, reciting mantra, making offering, prostrating, making charity, all those things are necessary.

You see, all those are necessary to actualize the gradual path to enlightenment in the mind, by that a person can completely destroy all delusions. So the main thing is that, in the gradual path to enlightenment that is the main thing, so those other practices are to help, like branching practices to help to support, to actualize the gradual path to enlightenment. So the gradual path to enlightenment to actualize the methods that is the main thing, which actually destroys the delusion that is the main thing. So that is why I emphasized before.

Same thing, why I repeat this thing, at the death time, to remember the actual meaning of Dharma is to renounce the delusion. At the death time what makes the person’s karma born in the realm of the lower transmigrator is to rise the delusion at the death time. By rising anger, attachment, and pride, those other delusions rising at the death time. If the person does not renounce, if the person does not face, does not try to stop delusion at death time that is how the person gets born in the realm of the suffering transmigrators.

If the person can control at death time, if the person can stop rising delusion, if he can take care of himself at death time, when his breath starts to stop, at death time he can protect his mind from delusion, it is impossible to be born in the realms of the suffering transmigrators.

The great bodhisattva Togme Sangpo explained in his teaching on the bodhisattva’s thirty-seven practices, “The friends and relatives with whom one accompanied for a long time, become separated. The material possessions which have been collected with much effort are left. The guest house of the body is left by the guest consciousness.”

Each word has incredible feeling which is exactly true. For years the families have lived with each other, eat together, sleep together all the time, the relatives and friends in the lifetime together must separate at the death time, there is no choice they have to be separated. All the material possessions that have been collected by stealing or spending much energy and time, by making much work with body and much work with mind, with speech, whatever material possessions obtained by stealing or by cheating other people with so much work of body, speech, and mind. The material possessions that have been collected at one’s home all these things for which one has created so many negative karmas while collecting these material possessions, to prepare these material possessions at one’s home. So at the death time there is no choice; it is left.

Like when Tibet was taken over by the Chinese. The Tibetan people had to leave all their material possessions that had been collected, they had to leave everything at home, then run away like this. At the death time there is no choice, not one single atom to take, not one single atom of possessions to take to the future life, no choice.

The body is a temporal place, like a temporary guest-house for the guest. At death time it has to be completely left, the whole body formation made up of atoms has to be left by the guest consciousness. The consciousness also has to go into the intermediate stage after death.

Then after death wherever the body goes, like the shadow follows the body one has to follow according to karma. Where one will be born, upper realm or lower realm, that is up to karma.

Before going on, just making clear. Only Dharma is the thing that benefits during the death time, that doesn’t mean that Dharma is the only thing that can stop the person from experiencing death, it doesn’t mean that.

The material possessions alone cannot benefit you to not have worries and suffer at the death time, that alone cannot stop to experience negative and cannot stop to experience negative karma which makes to be born in the realm of the suffering transmigrator. At the death time, what can make the mind happy and not have suffering at the death time, and also not to be born in the realm of the lower transmigrator, that is only Dharma. Just to make clear on that point.

So this two rebirths, in the realm of the suffering transmigrators or the upper realm it is up to karma. The causes, the karma and delusions. The cause which makes us be born in the realm of the suffering transmigrator is the negative karma, the non-virtuous action. That which makes us to be born in the realm of the happy transmigrator that is the virtuous action, the good karma. So one day just even one day however what karma is more created, virtuous or non-virtuous karma, which karma is more created, if it is examined, I can find more non-virtuous karma in one day, by examining.

So by figuring out this example, in this life more negative karma is created than the number of virtuous karma I have created. So therefore, according to the karma, at the moment, it’s more definite to be reborn in the realm of the suffering transmigrator, according to the present karma. Then what can be done? Is there any solution to stop the rebirth of the suffering transmigrator, is there any solution? There is a solution, there is a method, there is a possibility to stop, to not experience the rebirth of the suffering transmigrator after the death. Before the death happens, between this time and death time there is a possibility, there is a method. The method is refuge.

If you practice, try to actualize refuge between this time, within this minute before the death happens if you practice this method it can stop the rebirth of the suffering transmigrators after death. The method to guide oneself from the suffering of the lower transmigrator is refuge.

[BREAK]

To guide oneself from the samsara, the fundamental method is the refuge. Even if one wants to release other sentient beings from suffering and bring to enlightenment, the fundamental method is the refuge.

By having refuge one enters, one becomes an inner being. The outline in the teaching, the outline of refuge is called “the door entering the teachings.” “The door to enter into the teachings is refuge. The refuge, which is the holy door to enter into the teaching, which means the holy Dharma, the Buddhadharma.” Even just from the title, you can see how big, you can understand how important refuge is even from the outline. Even from the outline you can understand you cannot enter the door without the teaching. There is no door if there is no refuge, so if you have refuge you have the door to enter into the teachings, the Buddhadharma. Even the outline contains much explanation, it contains the purpose of taking refuge.

So you see, the person who has no refuge in the mind has not entered in the teaching, for him there is no door, there is no door to the teaching, that is why he is an outer being not entered in the teachings, he doesn’t have a door, the door to the teaching, so he has not entered the teaching. So he’s out of the teaching, so he is an outer being. The person who has the refuge, has entered in the door to the teachings. The person who has entered in the teaching is an inner being, inner, outer, is like this.

What common name is used by people “Buddhists,” they are called Buddhists just because the person goes round, goes to temples, because he has a lot of statues, a lot of thankas, a lot of Tibetan things, statues and thankas at his house, so they call him Buddhist. The person born in the family who makes offerings, who has altars in the house, goes to the temples and who makes offerings, just because born in the family recognized, that child is a Buddhist. However, even if a person has a whole library of the whole Dharma text in his house, sutra and tantra everything, even though he reads, even though he can explain the whole sutra and Tantra, even though he can explain by heart, fluently, just by that doesn’t mean he’s a Buddhist. Usually we think the person who talks about Dharma, who teaches at university we think he is a Buddhist, we define as Buddhist, however the person who can explain well the whole sutra and Tantra by heart, the whole texts by heart 1,000 or more texts by heart that doesn’t mean he’s an inner being, since there’s no refuge he’s not an inner being. The person who has a lot of statues in his house that is not the definition of an inner being, doesn’t make him an inner being; many business people these days, who are outer beings, many of them have a lot of Tibetan statues in the room, there are a lot of decoration of thankas and statues.

Even if a person has robes on and hair shaved, yellow and red robes, still that is not the definition that the person is an inner being, that the person is Buddhist. Even if the person knows how to make pujas very well, even if they know how to play music, the Vajrayana the assembly of this music, who can play very well, who can chant very well and who can do all the sounds very well doesn’t mean he’s a Buddhist. So usually, people in the West believe those who often do these things usually believe he’s Buddhist, like this.

Even in the monasteries, the head lama, such as the Abbot, even if he sits on high thrones like this, if there’s no refuge, he is not Buddhist, not an inner being, even if he sits on a very high throne and explains the Dharma, he is not Buddhist, not an inner being.

The person who has one of the three levels of refuge in the mind, that person becomes an inner being. Only by the understanding, the wisdom of Dharma, the person becomes an inner being. What kind of Dharma wisdom? To have the refuge in the mind of the person depends on having those two causes of refuge, that is the understanding, fear of suffering, not wishing to suffer, and devotion to the triple gem, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

The three different ways of taking refuge: first of all karma has to come, the person has to know that negative karma makes one be born in the realm of the suffering transmigrators. If one is born there it is unbearable suffering one has to experience. The person understands, he is not ignorant, like you know the fire is hot, there is fear to touch our body with fire, fear of the suffering of burning, the body feeling hot. That fear comes from understanding fear, the fear which comes from wisdom having this understanding fear of the sufferings of the lower realms, not wishing to be born there, not wishing to suffer. This is one cause, which makes to seek refuge, to seek method; so the method, as the person seeks the method, object of refuge in be able to guide himself from that, the person finds object of refuge. The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the only object of refuge who can guide oneself from these sufferings. Then having devotion, the devotion arises after having found the refuge, only these 3 can guide oneself from these sufferings. The devotion arises, completely relying on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha that they have the power to guide oneself from those sufferings. Not wishing to suffer, so this person has two causes of refuge, not wishing to suffer, not wishing to experience of the lower realm and understanding fear, having devotion to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—that person has refuge.

Since the person’s mind is in such a state, that person has refuge. That person takes refuge. That person has devotion, completely relying on…taking refuge is not saying words, it is having devotion, the mind completely relying on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; understanding they have the power to guide oneself from suffering. It is relying, not saying the prayer of refuge.

If the mind has no refuge no matter how much the person says the refuge prayer, their whole life, doesn’t mean he’s inner being, it doesn’t mean he has refuge.

So taking refuge is not only the action of speech, mainly the mind has to take refuge. It has to be an action of mind, actual taking refuge is an action of mind, relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—understanding they have power to guide oneself from suffering. As that person has lower being’s refuge so that person is an inner being. Then the person has understanding fear of the sufferings of whole samsara, then having devotional mind completely relying on the Triple Gem, understanding they have the power to guide oneself from all the sufferings of whole samsara. That is also having the two causes in the mind of that person. As the person has understanding fear of the whole samsaric suffering, including suffering of the upper realms, having aversion to whole samsara, that is the cause, then devotion is another cause, so the person has both causes for refuge. As the person has aversion to whole samsara that is refuge of the middle intelligent beings, the way of taking the middle being’s refuge. Without question, that person is an inner being. The person who has Mahayana refuge… first of all three qualifications are needed for Mahayana refuge. The very first thing is aversion to one’s own samsara. On the basis of that, seeing other sentient beings experiencing samsaric suffering as unbearable. On the basis of that aversion, understanding fear of one’s own samsara, and on the basis of that, feeling other sentient beings experiencing samsaric suffering as unbearable. To guide the sentient beings from those sufferings, then taking refuge, then the devotional mind completely relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, understanding them to have perfect power to guide all sentient beings from suffering. That “they have the power to help me to be able to enlighten other sentient beings.”

So the Mahayana refuge has three qualifications: aversion to one’s own samsara then, when that person thinks of other sentient beings’ samsara, that becomes compassion. It feels unbearable other sentient beings living in samsara. Then, with this thought, the person takes refuge with a devotional mind. “In order to release others, myself to achieve enlightenment.” Then the person takes refuge. It has three qualifications…

…for the Mahayana way of taking refuge. The person who has this refuge is without question an inner being. There is no question. He has the highest refuge.

Lecture 30

I am going to listen to these teachings of the graduated path to liberation in order to benefit all mother sentient beings. The listening subject is the graduated path of the middle intelligent being, and general. Why it is said in the outline of the teachings: the graduated path of the middle intelligent being and general, the graduated path of the lower intelligent being, and general, is because the followers of the lesser vehicle, the Hinayana path to receive nirvana, this is also their path to nirvana. These graduated paths of the lower and middle intelligent beings are also the foundation of the Mahayana path, so person who follows Mahayana path also has to actualize these paths. So they are the general paths. The higher graduated path doesn’t mention like this, because that is a particular path to enlightenment, that is not a general path for the followers of the path to nirvana—the Hinayanists, followers of the lesser vehicle path to receive nirvana, don’t follow the graduated path of the higher capable beings, it is not joined after the middle path.

In order to receive nirvana, by releasing from samsara, first one should receive the pure mind renouncing the whole samsara. That depends on having strong aversion to whole samsara. Just as we feel aversion to being in a fire hole. One thing, the suffering one experiences being in a big hole full of fire, feeling aversion, wanting to be out that right this minute, this second—we have to have such strong aversion to all of samsara.

The reason we have aversion to a hole full of fire is because we see clearly and understand the shortcomings of that. By being in that fire hole one’s body burns and one experiences such suffering. So to feel such aversion for the whole samsara what one should realize is the shortcomings of samsara.

There are six general samsaric sufferings: nothing is definite in samsara, nothing can be trusted in samsara, the samsaric perfections, the material possessions, the relationships, even one’s own body, like this. For instance, example, there was one old man who was over eighty and became a monk, during Guru Shakyamuni’s time. His name was Jinpa Pelgye, he was terribly old, he had to rely on a stick and his body shook, but even at that age he came to monastery and became a monk. There are many life stories about Jinpa Pelgye. One of his previous lives was as a young woman, in a desert place near an ocean. When that young woman died, her body was lying in the desert near the ocean, and one monk saw her, I think an arhat, Gedun Chuwa. I think as he passed by on the way to the ocean he saw her body. There was a snake coming going inside her nose and going round and round, comes out of the mouth, again goes into the nose, like this around and round. One of his lives was like this. After that in a future life she was born as a tree, in the shape of a tree, as a sentient being, not a tree. The tree was full of worms from the top to the roots, whole tree was being eaten by worms. In another life, another body, he got beaten very much by yamas, fearful sentient beings whose body is shape of a man but having different heads, such as lion’s head. Having many different fearful heads but body shape of human body, yama. He got beaten so much by such sentient beings.

Then in one of his lives after that, he was, the direct translation from Tibetan is “water lion,” (Student: Maybe sea lion?)—there to be this big thing that stopped the ships, the largest animal in the sea—(Students: Whale)—yes, I think whale. A type of fish whose body is big like a mountain. One of his lives was one of these big whales, or fish. Even the bones of that animal were greater than the size of a mountain, incredibly high, almost can obscure the sun—that much body. The whole meat had gone and only the bones were left, so high it obscures the sun.

The first one, the woman’s body with the snake, was because when he was born as that woman, she was extremely attached to her own body, always looking at it in the mirror, so attached, thinking I am so beautiful etc. So she was born as a snake going around and around the body.

Then the second one, born in the shape of a tree being eaten by worms, was because of the karma that in one life he used firewood from trees that belonged to the monastery, carelessly. He used the tree belonging to the community of monks. Because the monks are holy objects even small things become heavy negative karma. So by that karma he was born in the shape of a tree eaten by thousands and thousands of worms.

Why one of his lives he was so bitten by yamas with many fearful animal heads, was because of the karma of one of his previous lives as a hunter in the forest, killing animals.

The last one, the reason he was born as that incredibly huge sea animal, because in one previous life he was king of a country. The king was watching a match, or a play or something, with thousands of people, and one minister who punished criminals and so on asked the king what should be done to punish a particular person. The king was completely concentrated on the match, so he didn’t want to listen to what the minister was saying, and didn’t want to discuss it so he said “Do as I said before.” So the minister thought that meant to kill him, so he killed the criminal person, who shouldn’t have received that punishment. After the match finished, the king heard the criminal had been killed and was very upset. So by that karma he was born as a water-lion, the sea animal, who kept his jaw like this for days and days, even months, only closing occasionally on special days like full moon etc. So thousands and thousands of animals and birds lived inside his mouth like a cave and when he closed his mouth they all died and the blood would come out. While this big water lion’s mouth was opened, the traders would come and get jewels from the ocean in ships, and usually there was danger as the water would go in the sea-lion’s mouth, of the boat to go inside also. So the traders took refuge very strongly from the heart to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, relying for refuge, from the heart, and said refuge prayers. As they repeated the refuge prayers, with much devotion, completely relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, as the boat came near. Then the sea lion heard the words of the refuge prayer and by that, before the boat got swallowed, he closed the mouth and died.

I think maybe he died by starvation or something, then many hundreds of traders used to go to get jewels from the ocean, and they didn’t get swallowed but were quickly released from that danger by saying the refuge prayer.

Jinpa Pelgye’s previous lives were in the form of many different suffering bodies like this. So, those were just a few examples, as explained by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, without mentioning all the previous different bodies he took in samsara.

So like this, we also have been taking different bodies, this life, previous lives, sometimes as a dog, sometimes as a butterfly, sometimes a preta, sometimes a narak—all these different suffering bodies we have been taking. Nothing exists definite in human body.

Usually when we make meditation on this, after each of the sufferings, then “nothing is definite in samsara, samsaric perfections, also samsaric happiness, nothing definite, only for a few minutes, few seconds, relationships, even the body, nothing is definite, therefore I should not be attached. Attachment has been keeping me in samsara and obliging me to experience suffering. If I still follow attachment it will keep me in samsara and continuously experience suffering,” emphasize that. In that way we see the purpose of meditating on the shortcomings of samsara. That is to control the delusions. By meditating like that we see all the sufferings, the shortcomings of samsara, but also we automatically understand the shortcomings of delusion. As all these things are caused by delusion, attachment, so we automatically see it is the fault of delusion, the fault of attachment. So therefore, after each suffering, meditating, emphasize like this.

Then the shortcoming of samsara: dissatisfaction. Also, take countries. For instance, in Germany, the German people here will have to have patience. First of all they try to control the whole world, try to possess, one after another. Then what happened? Instead of having complete control over all the countries, even their own country cannot protect itself. That was the result—all the other countries fought and completely destroyed. They couldn’t even look after themselves. That is the shortcoming of dissatisfaction.

[BREAK]

Student: The old man, how did he create the cause to be a monk just by going around a stupa?

Rinpoche: That’s possible. By making offering or going around the stupa, why the action becomes virtue even though one does not have a particularly virtuous motivation is because the stupas are blessed by highly realized lamas who have invoked all the buddhas’ transcendental wisdom. The stupas are satiated with this and like this are blessed, so the stupas become holy objects. So the virtue is not so much through the power of the motivation of the person, it is through the blessing of the power of the object, stupa or statue of Buddha. It is mainly from the power of the holy object.

Student: If Buddha has been manifesting since beginningless time for sentient beings, then through the power of these objects why aren’t all sentient beings enlightened?

Rinpoche: That is because there are infinite sentient beings.

Student: But Buddha’s mind is infinite.

Rinpoche: Even Buddha has numberless manifestations but leading to enlightenment takes a long time, but gradually let the sentient beings create one virtuous action, then, when they are born as human being there is a chance to create virtuous actions. Such chances are very rare so, little by little. Even though they may be born in a higher realm by creating virtuous actions, again they create negative karma and are born in lower realms again. So, little by little, by creating virtuous actions gradually, gradually they are led to enlightenment. It takes much time.

For instance, why am I not receiving enlightenment? There have been numberless buddhas from beginningless time, so why am I not a buddha? Put the question to yourself. I think that answer is within our minds—it is because we did not follow the path! (Clock alarm goes off.) Even the clock has the answer!

We ourselves always engaged in creating non-virtuous actions, even though, in this world, many times Buddha descended. We don’t always get born in the time Buddha has descended, where Buddha gives teachings. Also question: why were we not born in Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, when he gave teachings in that nirmanakaya aspect? Where were we? Where have I been hiding away from receiving teachings from Guru Shakyamuni?

Even Buddha descended many times like this, even we didn’t have the fortune, didn’t create the karma to be reborn at those times and receive teachings directly from Buddha. It is our own fault, it is not the fault of Guru Shakyamuni or any other sentient being. It is our own fault. That is because we didn’t create the karma, we created non-virtuous karma. That time when Guru Shakyamuni was in India, benefiting so many by turning the Dharma wheel, actualizing the Vajrayana path, actualizing the Mahayana path, even actualizing the lesser vehicle path, receiving nirvana, so many of them received enlightenment. During that time as we had such non-virtuous karma, either we were human beings but in a time and place where there was no Buddha, which was completely dark, no teachings; or we were born as animals, crawling around, or preta or narak. We were in hiding, like this.

This is just one example, we were like this many times. We were not always born where and when Buddha was giving teachings. The whole answer is because, born in upper realms, again creating negative actions; when we were born as a lower transmigratory, without question, we were continually creating non-virtuous actions. Even we were born as sura or human being, without question, all the time we were creating non-virtuous actions. So that is why we are not free from samsara, that’s why we haven’t completed the Dharma path that was shown by Buddha.

Thinking like this oneself, one can understand clearly, then similarly with all other sentient beings.

From our side, why we do not follow the path, as long as we don’t practice Dharma, even we are shown the whole path by a thousand buddhas, all the time we are living with a thousand Buddha friends, our whole life living with Buddha, if one doesn’t practice Dharma oneself one cannot even receive rebirth as a happy transmigratory in a future life, besides not receiving enlightenment.

The third shortcoming of samsara: leaving the body, again and again. Some worms, even in one life change so many different bodies, then becoming butterfly etc. Also snakes change their bodies each year many times, leaving the cover. Also flies.

As Nagarjuna said in his teaching, “After having received the great happiness of desire in the realm of the gods (sura), such as born as the god called Brahma, great pleasure, not having strong gross attachment like humans do, then again born in the narak state, which is called ‘unbearable suffering state,’ body becomes firewood, and experiencing unceasing suffering.”

Unceasing suffering means not having gross attachment such as the god called Brahman, those gods who are not free from samsara, they still have delusions but temporarily, by the power of one-pointedness concentration, they don’t have such strong attachment as we do, they have great enjoyment, pleasure.

What Nagarjuna is explaining is that after having being born in the realm of the sura, having incredibly beautiful body, wearing beautiful expensive clothes and jewel ornaments, always having great enjoyment, experiencing great pleasure from the very high enjoyment, not having strong attachment; after that, completely changed, upside down, by being born in the narak state called ‘unbearable suffering,’ one’s body becomes like firewood. Firewood becomes completely red, burning, the wood becomes oneness with the fire. So even after having received such an incredibly beautiful body, such rich ornaments. Even one tiny jewel from the ear-ring is more than the value of the whole of the earth’s treasures, incomparable. Yet after, by being born in the unbearable state of the naraks one’s body becomes completely oneness with the fire, completely red, cannot be distinguished from the fire—what is fire, what is sentient being. Even one has received such a beautiful body, having great pleasures, it has to be left, changes, like this.

As Nagarjuna explained also, “One has received the body of ‘sun’ and ‘moon,’ the light of one’s body makes clear all the four continents, southern, eastern, western and northern. Again, born in a completely dark place, can’t even see one’s hand and leg stretching and contracting.”

So again one is born in a dark place like this, can’t even see one’s limbs stretching and contracting. All the bones… what Nagarjuna is explaining, I think I mentioned before about the sun and moon and planets. Actually, without the karma one cannot see the beings who inhabit these planets, their palaces or enjoyments. Without the karma being ready or without the psychic powers we cannot see their world. According to our karma we can only see our own world. Either you have to have karma to be born there, or by having complete control over the mind, by psychic powers, can see.

Actually “sun” and “moon” are the names of beings, not the place. Also their palaces are made of jewels and radiate light. Also their bodies have their own light, they don’t need to depend on another sun. The light that comes, that shows the world is the light of their own bodies, sun and moon. That is received by their previous karma. Even the original human beings’ bodies had light, their enjoyments were pure, not impure, so their bodies were also pure, with a little bit light.

Those sentient beings are not free from samsara so they are also reborn—even if they have such bodies they have to leave them and be born in such completely dark places.

So numberless times we are born in the realm of the gods, suras such as Brahma, having beautiful bodies and great enjoyment; after that again born in unbearable suffering state of the naraks. We are born like this numberless times. Leaving bodies. Again and again we have been born as sun and moon, those samsaric gods, lighting up the world with our bodies, and again and again left those bodies.

As Nagarjuna explained, by having received the beautiful sura body, always enjoying with girlfriends, the goddesses, enjoying, pleasure by touching the breasts or embracing, after enjoying like this for a long time then born in the naraks, surrounded by many karmically created yamas, those fearful sentient beings, protectors of hell, bodies human but heads of different types of animals, causing so much suffering. The narak beings try to escape from those karmically created fearful sentient beings, yamas, by trying to climb up a tree, then all the branches becomes thorns like swords pointing down, piercing the body, then when they reach the top of the tree, they hear a karmically created kind of voice of a relative calling them down from the tree. As they try to climb down, expecting to see their relative, the branches point up, piercing them.

...palace made of lapis, different types of jewels, transparent like mirrors. Having beautiful ---- incredible beautiful enjoyments like this. After enjoying like this for a long time, born in the narak, the base is burning iron ground, the red hot iron houses are window- and door-less…

…after having great enjoyments, then completely changed, being born in naraks. It happened like this, we left the body again and again numberless times. There is no beautiful body, even beautiful or ugly human body, different animal bodies, different bodies of sura and asura. In samsara there is no body that we never took.

So the conclusion is that, from beginningless samsaric lifetimes until now it has been like this. All this samsaric suffering caused by attachment. So now, if we don’t try to escape from samsara by renouncing attachment—continuously we will have to take different bodies one after another. The conclusion to emphasize is this. If we don’t want to experience suffering continuously, have to escape from samsara, have to renounce the thought of samsaric suffering.

Ge wa di yi....

There are many words but the essence is to try to escape from samsara by renouncing attachment.

Lecture 31

One time I had asked His Holiness—actually, this was not the question I wanted to ask. I requested His Holiness to please pray for my mother not to go to narak realm. It happened like this. The method to escape from the suffering rebirth is refuge. His Holiness told me that refuge has great importance.

The way of taking the Mahayana refuge, having the mind renouncing one’s own suffering of samsara and then wanting other sentient beings to release from their suffering of samsara. To be able to do this oneself. Therefore I must achieve enlightenment. So completely relying on Buddhadharma Sangha having the power to guide oneself and other sentient beings, to fulfill this. But in order to take Mahayana refuge, to have realization of mind renouncing samsara, the pure mind renouncing one’s own samsara and having pure compassion for other sentient beings…

But even if there’s no actual realization mind renouncing samsara or realization of great compassion for other sentient beings, since there is a wish to have mind renouncing samsara, a real aversion to one’s own samsara, and a wish for other sentient beings to be released from samsara. Having a wish like this. Because there is aversion to one’s own samsara the wish to renounce is also that much stronger.

The point is, by having refuge one becomes an inner being, so I am explaining one has to have one of these three levels of refuge. So it is easy to tell whether one is inner being or not, “whether I have entered the teaching or not, whether I am inside or outside,” according to which refuge one has in one’s own mind.

If one has refuge, it becomes the base of all the ordinations. To take ordination, it is not enough just having mind renouncing the lower suffering realms, one should have mind renouncing whole of samsara, and devotion to Buddha as having the power to guide one from the whole suffering.

Without refuge one cannot receive any of the ordinations. Understanding the suffering results of negative karma, negative actions, protecting oneself from negative karmas which bring suffering results. Also to be able to be completely free from whole suffering of samsara, keeping ordination, understanding the suffering results of negative karma, actions done with delusions, opposite to the precepts.

…negative karma, actions done with delusion, opposite to the precepts, the negative action done with delusion, opposite to the precepts. So understanding if I do this, this and this, I will suffer this, this and this, experience the lower realms. Also it keeps me in samsara. By understanding this leads to renounce the rebirth of the lower transmigrator and leads to renounce the whole samsara. So protecting oneself away from the negative karma. the cause of samsara, keeping precepts, keeping ordination, becomes the best of all ordinations.

That is why whenever ordination is granted, sutra or tantra, always it comes the refuge comes at the beginning. Even if one takes one precept, even if one takes eight precepts or one or two precepts, always refuge comes at the beginning.

Then the 3rd benefit of refuge is by taking refuge it can purify all the negative karma which have been collected from the beginning of samsaric life times.

Also, the fourth one, by taking refuge one quickly collects extensive merit, as Buddha has explained in the sutra teachings. The benefits of taking refuge, if it is in the form, in matter, then even the galaxy is small. If the benefits of taking refuge is in the form or matter even the galaxy, thousands of them in the universe, is too small, the benefits do not fit in that much of the universe. Then also taking refuge one doesn’t get harmed by other human beings or spirits. It has been many other people’s experience how refuge protects, how refuge is the best protection to keep away from the life hindrances from people and also spirits.

It happened many times in India in the Tibetan settlement, the refugees, it is a very mischievous place where there are many harmful wild animals, elephants, tigers and many other harmful animals and as they have to work on the land, in the fields, so many times it also happened to many monks. The elephant many times they stop even a car. If someone is driving along the road, the elephant stops the car by nose, trunk, not nose; elephant doesn’t have nose? It happened many times the trunk, it holds like this then put down and it’s very strong and can kill and breaks, usually gives much harm to other animals. I think usually in India whoever works in the fields, they have to protect at night time and at the day time, and the grounds. So many times happen the monks were in the fields when the animals come, these are not tame ones. These are wild, come from the forest.

So many times they experience as the animal comes in front of them, they remember his Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama they remember in the mind like this when they remember from the heart they take refuge, completely concentrate on his Holiness the Dalai Lama; the animal doesn’t bother, he just goes, didn’t harm the monk. Also, sometimes also even you climb on top of the trees, the elephants can make the tree fall down, the trunk goes around the tree and they drop it down, very strong like this. Also many of the Tibetans, when there is danger of animals, when they are at the top of the trees even the animals is a strong animal, they were taking refuge and somehow the animal didn’t pay attention, just leaves and goes away. This has been many of the experience that has happened many times.

Even some Tibetan lay person somewhere in some Indian village when they stay in a family house. Usually in the house there is much offense, kind of night time when they sleep, tomorrow morning their whole bodies, their whole beds has moved outside the house, all things like that happened offense happens by the spirits, like this. Sometimes with the Tibetan lay person who takes refuge when they come to sleep nothing happens like this, no chance happening in that family. Night time usually much offense, so many stories like this. Or there is danger of snake and taking refuge in Tara, as the danger of tiger taking refuge in Tara or Avalokiteshvara like this. As there is danger of water flood then taking refuge in Buddha the person is released from that danger. Many stories like this, the experience of even just common people.

In previous time, in another country, in India it happened, in that country the king has to make law, whenever there is a criminal person in that country, they take the person and leave at the cemetery at night time, so that cemetery is a very fearful and mischievous cemetery, it doesn’t leave the body in the morning. If it is left there, you can’t see the body tomorrow morning, completely eaten by the hungry spirits.

So one person did some criminal action, so according to law, he was left at the cemetery. He saw a piece of ... He was so incredibly scared because usually nobody lives there, they destroy, they eat you at night, so he was so incredibly scared. He saw a piece of red cloth around there at the cemetery, so he thought it must belong to a monk, so with much devotion he put the piece of red cloth on top of his head, so all night he tried to take refuge. By leaving the piece of cloth on his head the whole night he tried to take refuge. As he took refuge by putting red cloth, think that belonged to a monk, think as this as Sangha robes. So with much devotion and respect he put it on top of his head then all night he took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. As he took refuge in that cloth, thinking it is Sangha robes, no spirit. Usually every night there would be so many spirits. They used to gather. In that night no spirits came, no spirits came and tomorrow morning alive, he was alive so he could come back. Many times like this happened in Tibet.

Also one time it happened in Tibet; there is one meditator who lived in a hermitage. One day a thief came to this meditator, to this hermitage. The hermitage doesn’t have a door, sometimes caves, sometimes mud, they make small holes just big enough for one person. They make wall, those who make years and years and years of retreat they have small hole. People come to offer food there, benefactors. The hole is big enough to pass the food. The small hole, the thief looked through the hole and inside on the backside of the meditator he was wearing one cloth, one shirt in expensive material, shirt which came from Bhutan or India.

So the thief wanted to steal that, so he asked the meditator can you give me that. So the meditator realized he was a thief and said I will give you that. Stretch your hand inside through the hole. Then as he stretched his hand through the hole, the meditator tied his hand with rope up to the pillar inside, he got the hand tied with the rope to the pillars. He opened the door and came outside with the sticks. Then the meditator beat the thief, saying, first Lama.la kyab.su.chi.wo, I take refuge in the guru. Sangye.la kyab.su.chi.wo, which means I take refuge in Buddha. Then chö.la kyab.su.chi.wo, which means I take refuge in the Dharma, then he beat a little bit stronger. Then third time, I take refuge in the Sangha, then he beat stronger than before. So like this he beat the thief; the thief was so scared. Then afterwards he ran away, he didn’t get the shirt so he ran away.

After he got back to his place it became dark, the sun set. There was a bridge, I don’t remember the name of the bridge. It is a kind of well known bridge; everybody around that area talked about it, doesn’t pass by that, on that bridge at night time, it is a bit harmful at that time. It is a place where the pretas and spirits gather, they meet, they go to the bridge at night, so the people don’t go. He knew this so he was so scared; under the bridge there was a small cave kind of rock, he sat down on this and he was so scared, he tried to think of a method, what can be done. “I can’t go, what can be done to save life tonight?” he couldn’t remember. Then after he remembered to repeat the prayer that the meditator had told him while he was beating him. First what he thought was this. He was so happy, he was thinking “how good it is today that there are only three refuges, not four or five refuges. If there were more refuges I would have been beaten so much exhausted, completely exhausted. Instead how good it was only three refuge.” So then after he was thinking of a method to save his life from the hungry spirits. Then he thought he found the method, he doesn’t know so much how to make meditation on refuge, what the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha actually mean. All these things, just by thinking the last he found the method, to repeat what the meditator said when he was beating. All through the night he repeated this. And that night nothing happened, no spirits passed through the bridge, no spirits around that place during the night, nothing, it was completely quiet, nothing happened to him.

There are so many other stories. Then by taking refuge also in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, then whatever success you see, whatever, whatever work one wants to be fulfilled, to become successful, by taking refuge it will become successful.

By completely relying on not just word from the mouth, mind doubtful, not like this. Not really taking refuge, mind doubtful. Mouth saying prayer does not have action of taking refuge. So completely relying on like guide who takes us in new a country, in new place, we go wherever he says to go, we completely rely on him. The guide understands how to take oneself in those countries, how to keep from the dangers. Like this, completely without doubt, without two-pointed mind, without having doubt, one completely relies on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Also one’s works can become successful; there are many other peoples experience, many other meditator and lay people’s experience.

In our country, the place where I was born on the mountains, there are three or four very dangerous mountains. One place, when I was trekking four or five times from one place the Sherpa’s call Roaling, which is close, one or two days away, where Milarepa was born, where he had cave, very close to that. So from there… that’s the place where I spent seven years, where my teacher taught me the alphabet. So from there, sometimes, for different reasons, as I was coming to other place, where there is the cave, to the place where I was born, when we were passing… the whole road, there’s no real road, the whole road is on the rock and snow; at night time you sleep in the caves. There are four or five dangerous points; one mountain is very high mountain, also many people get killed, so high, so steep, so high, you can’t see the top and then the water comes through with so many stones in each minute so many stones big and small stones and so much noise as they fall down, as if some-one was throwing a stone like this. It comes down like the noise of lightning. We call the noise, the Tibetans call it the noise of the dragon. It’s very noisy; when a small stone comes there is little noise, when big rock falls down it is like throwing. It’s a very mischievous place.

The people, the Sherpas, because it is a very dangerous mountain what they do first is drink much alcohol made out of potato, potato alcohol, to make the body warm, then they rub the hands and make warm. That time they don’t recite so many mantras, they don’t take refuge that much. Then everybody carries the heavy loads, you wouldn’t believe it, like maybe they could carry two or three western peoples’ luggage. That maybe one person carry, the heavy load then they start to shake the body, when they have to cross this, the road is not down, it’s up. So their bodies are shaking like this, there is no simple road, is not down, it’s up. So the bodies are shaking like this, there is no simple roads, but I was carried on the back by my teacher who taught me alphabets, he carried me on his luggage and he passed food like this. I remember, so I didn’t have to suffer so much, sometimes there were cracks in the snow, you don’t know. So he fell down, so when he fell down I fell down.

Then they would shake their bodies, then they would recite a mantra, it doesn’t stop. The great bodhisattva Padmasambhava’s mantra they recite because that is the mantra that they know, some recite the mantra OM MANI PAD ME HUM, then some say prayers, prayer of refuge, however they say mantra, but the mind is taking refuge, relies on the Buddha, everybody says something, whatever prayer they know. That time they use it, then right after we finish climbing up then it was stopped, no more reciting mantra, no more prayers saying.

It is very funny because every time just after we finished this, we crossed this, stones come. When we were crossing, the stones never come, right after we got here stones came. Incredible, right after people, instead of coming, stones come, big stones, small stones, incredible. Many people died there, also, western people when they were crossing died there. So I think it was four or five times we passed but nothing happened as I remember, no person got the stone until right after we crossed it, we finished this. We crossed the danger line, then the stones comes all the time. So I think that definite, think the sign of the Buddha, power of refuge, the fact in the power of Buddha.

Whole thing is, the person must rely on his mind, must make connection, with devotional mind as his life is in the problem he seeks refuge. At that time the devotion is strong, devotional mind takes refuge, mind makes connection to Buddha. Actually it’s really the power of Buddha, that is also due to the power of refuge, the Sangha.

When we were at Dharamsala the Sangha found it very difficult to find a place to live together, generally, its very difficult to find a place like that, many people to live together in a very big house like this. So some of them went to see one of our gurus, Serkong Rinpoche, who was a helper, not the actual teacher, a helper to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the study of the philosophical teachings in Tibet before. Not actual teacher but helper helping in the debate, giving answers. Then afterwards some of us took teachings from him, then also he was the Dalai Lama’s teacher. So some of them went to ask His Holiness Serkong Rinpoche what to do, we have to get house to live together, according to instructions, but we can’t find house, we have to meditate, what to do? So His Holiness Serkong Rinpoche suggested to go to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s temple where there’s a Padmasambhava statue and Avalokiteshvara statue and Guru Shakyamuni statue. Rinpoche suggested that they should go to the temple, in the front of Padmasambhava statue, they should pray for the house. Then I think they tried.

First they had difficulty with the monk who looks after, protects the monastery, he didn’t know what they were doing, he didn’t know why they were coming, what they wanted to do. Then afterwards they prayed like this, then after some time praying like this they found the house, they met one Indian lady, Sunita and unexpectedly found the house. That is also an example of the benefits of refuge.

However, as one completely relies on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha without doubt, whatever work can be successful. I think there are many stories, life experience, how things became possible by relying on Buddha.

Such as also people having opportunities to practice. In the area of Solu Khumbu, where there hadn’t been such a monastery, where there is a possibility to receive such an education, especially to study Dharma in such a wide way, I had a plan to benefit the people in that area, as most of the people are ignorant, even they have no devotion but no understanding, so able to carry on like this, problems becoming more and more instead of less and less, experience by praying, completely relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, even before the work starts. So far it could carry on. These are the benefits of taking refuge, relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Then, without difficulties, they received good opportunity, such good enjoyments to study Dharma in a different way, the precious teachings like nectar to cure the sufferings of samsara. Their having such special opportunity is the benefit of taking refuge.

Then the benefit to quickly receive enlightenment.

The last one is one doesn’t get born in the realm of the suffering transmigratory. There happened many stories like at the death time remembering Avalokiteshvara, remembering Tara or Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, relying on and taking refuge, one doesn’t get born in the realm of the suffering transmigratory. At the death time, even though there is karma to be reborn in suffering realm, they remembered and took refuge. Also at the intermediate stage there happened so many things.

If one is dying, what to do? One method is to remember Buddha. If one can remember Buddha at the death time one never will get reborn, it is impossible to be born in the lower realms. That is by the power of the Buddha, you are making connection to the Buddha, your mind is making contact with Buddha; that is how the person doesn’t get born in the lower realms.

So that is one benefit of present time our making visualizations of Shakyamuni Buddha. If you visualize Shakyamuni Buddha now, from now on, day and night remembering, at death time as the mind is trained, the person will remember the method: taking refuge. Easily remember. That way, also not much suffering at death time.

If we don’t try to train our mind now, even we are happy or suffering miserable conditions, always remember Buddha. That is the main thing, remember Buddha. If we don’t train now, at death time it is very difficult to do anything, to practice, to remember. As mind is not trained and heavy obscurations, karma, the person doesn’t remember any methods, taking refuge. Like when there is an earthquake, we don’t remember what to do, it happens all of a sudden, the mind just gets scared, doesn’t want to die. Only wants to be free from this problem, can’t remember any method.

In California, this is quite interesting, there was one student from New York, who insisted I watch a movie. I said if it’s a horrible, suffering movie, I’ll go, but otherwise I won’t. So he said, it’s a very suffering movie, so I went. So Lama Yeshe and myself and that couple’s family, and another girl, and this man Larry, went together, in the night time. It was about a mother and young son in California who had an idea that an earthquake can happen in California, so they show a movie of an earthquake, how people get injured and die, buildings collapse, expecting such an earthquake can happen in the future, to show other people. The leaders of the country tried to talk, to move the whole population, they couldn’t find any method to deal with the earthquake. It was an interesting movie.

So at the death time like this. At present when tragedy happens don’t remember anything what to do. At death time also, difficult to remember. So while you are physically and mentally strong, well, you have to make ready, day and night, whatever you are doing, drinking, eating, whatever—you have to take refuge again and again. Especially at meditation time, then at death time, we can easily remember Buddha. That way one gets saved from the birth of the suffering transmigratory being.

Lecture 32

In order to receive nirvana, the boundless state, the release from oneself bound to samsara by the delusions and karma, release from the bondage of delusion and karma. In order to receive nirvana depends on receiving the root of the path, the pure mind renouncing the whole suffering realm, the samsara. That depends on understanding how samsara is in the nature of suffering, or, the shortcomings of samsara. It is the same. All the true sufferings are the shortcomings of samsara—of the Four Noble Truths, True Suffering—all that is the shortcomings of samsara.

How to meditate on the general six samsaric sufferings: the shortcomings that nothing is definite in samsara, dissatisfaction, leaving the body again and again. Regarding leaving the body again and again, yesterday I related to the bodies of suras and asuras, their bodies that can experience great pleasures with great enjoyment, and then again changing, getting born in the realms of the suffering transmigrators, such as the naraks. When you meditate you can relate also to the human world. The rich person, the king, in previous times one king had hundreds of wives, it happened like this. The suffering transmigrators. You can meditate also like this. The point is, why in the teachings it explains about the suras is because those samsaric gods have greater pleasure and enjoyments, so by meditating on that, even those bodies have to be left again and again, changing from there to the naraks, so by meditating on that, it stops the attachment to our enjoyments, the attractions you find in the human world, those who have great enjoyments and material possessions and surroundings, many husbands, wives and children—the attachment is in the attraction itself, when you know the sura realm having greater enjoyment, you don’t have such attraction to the human enjoyments.

Also, when you meditate that those bodies have to be left again and again, it stops the attachment.

The fourth shortcoming is: joining again and again. The present mother came from the grandmother, the grandmother came from another mother, that mother was born from another mother—it goes back uncountable, mother from mother from mother. It goes back like this, the many previous mothers, the mother of the mother. The shortcoming, joining again and again, is this.

Then as Nagarjuna explained in his teachings,

“The beginning of the mother, even if the whole world is made into small pills, the size of the juniper berry, they wouldn’t be enough to count the number of your previous mothers. In this way also we understand how are body is not pure (another way to stop attachment to the body), the body is a collection of billions and billions of sentient beings’ blood.”

You see, as the previous mothers are uncountable, the blood which forms this body not only came from the present mother, it came from her mother’s blood and that generation blood came from another mother’s blood. Also the father, the father was also born from other parents, his blood came from your grandparents blood. So when you think back all these generations of blood, where the sperm came from, where the red blood came from, where they came from, you can see. Actually all this blood passed from one parent’s to another parent’s sex, all like this. Came a long way through their sex, through one sex to one sex, to one sex, to one sex. Unbelievable. Then we really feel how the body is not pure. When you actually think how much my body is clean, how much one believes it is pure. In fact is like this. So even when we think this, this generation of blood came from one parent to another parent. So how much it is a collection of so many uncountable other human beings blood, this body is formed of that.

This also you see is useful meditation, useful to remember, to stop attachment, to control it, to stop attachment to the body and to stop the wrong conception believing it is pure. For instance this kind of measurement. The father is from other parents, the mother is from other parents and then that father is from other parents. The mother is from another parent and all this is like the branches of a tree. Like a root of the tree. So you see, the blood is so collected from so many different sources. Uncountable numbers.

If we still don’t try to escape from samsara, we don’t try to renounce attachment, to such as this impure body, which is formed of blood, which came from many sexual doors of the bodies of other sentient beings, again and again we have to take another impure suffering body like this, numberless times. So just even thinking this it gives mind to renounce this samsara, the samsara of the body. Doesn’t want to live any more with this impure body, doesn’t want to take any more.

Also as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained in the Sutra teachings…

…by being born in the naraks, how much we have drank the liquid of copper, the boiled liquid of the copper in the narak is much greater than the Pacific Ocean. So if we don’t try to escape from the samsara, renounce the attachment, again more than that one has to drink boiling liquid copper.

Also, as Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained, by being born as a dog or pig, how much garbage is there, the impure things, if all that was collected, how much we have eaten, the impure things, like bones etc. which are garbage, since the beginningless previous lifetimes, it would have been bigger than the Pacific Ocean, the size of the Pacific Ocean would be like nothing. So if we do not practice renouncing attachment to samsara, again we have to continue the same trip, being born like those animals, eating the garbage. More garbage.

Also Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has explained in the Sutra teachings, from beginningless previous lifetimes how much we have cried by separating from the relatives, the parents, the dear ones, all the friends. By separating from these how much we have cried. All the tears, if it has been collected it is much greater than the Pacific Ocean. The ocean is nothing. If all these tears were collected from previous beginningless lifetimes, it doesn’t leave any space. The whole space fills up with tears. So Guru Shakyamuni Buddha emphasized, if you do not remember this time, if you don’t try to escape from samsara, renounce attachment, we have to cry more than that, more than we have cried before, by living in samsara.

Also Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained in the teaching, by living in samsara, the enemy. By fighting the enemy, other sentient beings, how many times enemy cut off ones head by fighting. If all the heads that were cut off by the enemy from the beginningless previous life time, then… the greatest mountain is Mt Meru, where the gods, suras and asuras are situated. Besides this mountain the size of the Mt. Meru is nothing. Usually we think these mountains are very high, like Everest, we think, incredible to be so big. Whoever climbs Everest is said to be expert, the top person in the world. However the size of that is nothing. Mt. Meru is much higher than the height of the sun and moon. The height of the sun and moon is very low. The sun and moon go round the first category of Mt. Meru.

So it is explained in the teachings, than this explanation, if all one’s heads that have been cut off by the enemy since beginningless previous lifetimes were collected, if it has been piled up it is much more greater than Mt. Meru. Actually, this is just to give an idea. If it has been collected then there wouldn’t be any space, you see, because the beginningless previous lives cannot be counted, even by omniscient mind, even by the full knowledge. Cannot count the number of our previous lives. Therefore the continuity of our precious lives is beginningless. So this time if you don’t ---- escape from samsara by renouncing attachment to samsara, again there will be more enemies who will cut off your head numberless times.

Also by being born as a worm, germ, in the garbage, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained in the sutra teachings, from beginningless previous lifetimes by being born as worms for instance in the stomachs of animals, or human beings, where there is kaka, born as worms in the stomach and eating kaka peepee, or born in the garbage, eating the minerals, in a dirty place, how much one has eaten of the minerals of dirty things, if it has been collected from previous life times, it would be much greater than the Pacific. There wouldn’t be any empty space left, if each thing, each time we have eaten these dirty things, there would be no space left. So this time if one does not try to escape from samsara, again one has to continue the same treatment, again one has to live in the kaka and peepee, in the garbage, live in the wet and dirty place, numberless times eating those dirty things.

The fifth shortcoming is that of becoming higher and lower, again and again. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha has explained in the Sutra Teaching called “Dulwa lung,” “the edge of the collection is to finish. The edge of being higher is to become lower, easy to fall down..” (Student speaks, not edge, end.) The end of…

…being higher is to fall down. The end of meeting is to separate. The end of living is to die. So the end of the starting is to finish. That is very true, end is to finish. Same thing with material possessions. What is the result of collection, is to finish. What the result of meeting is to separate. That is how now we met each other, talk, then we separate. That is the end of meeting. Each individual goes back to his own person, in his separate space in the world. By meeting friends the result is to separate. Same thing with the parents. There is no such thing as meeting without separating. Although we would like it, we would expect it, no choice.

Then you see the end being higher is to fall down. There are many times, when first, for instance he was president or king. First he was king then he was servant. Then he become completely poor. Even though he died as king, he didn’t become beggar, in the future life he is only born as human being. By being born king of the sura realm, there is no choice always to be high like that, in the next life he is born as a slave. It is true. What we do hear, what we do see. End of being higher is to be lower. The end of living, the end of being alive is to die. The result of being alive is to die. We cannot live forever. So this time we are alive. We are a live human being. As our mind is with this human body we are alive as a human being. There are people who think “There is no such thing as death.” Because why, because there is continual mind. There are many people who say mind doesn’t stop so there is no such thing as death or birth. And that is a completely wrong conception. Why, because if there is no such thing as death, if you don’t call death, mind separating from the body. If you don’t recognize death, then mind taking body from mother womb is not called birth. Then you don’t recognize death or rebirth and you say there is no such thing. Then there is no such thing as being alive. Then you the person wouldn’t be alive. Also you are not also a human being.

... he has to keep quiet. He has to take complete silence or then say some illogical things, comes to that point, you know. Those wrong idea, wrong idea, that is just talk, that is just talk, just talk without checking, you know, without understanding any thing clear, you know, nothing clear in the mind of the person, just, just talking. There are many people says like this. So it’s good to understand like this, you see, it makes you lose all the relative existence. Then by losing the relative existence, by losing the relative existence you lose also absolute existence, absolute truth, you lose because without relative existence there’s no way to exist absolute truth. Absolute existence or absolute truth depends on existence of the relative, relative truth you see. Relative truth.

Oh then, also business, also reincarnation, then kind of similar thing, there’s no such thing—this is kind of common in the West, kind of familiar.

Then, then if you don’t try to escape from samsara by renouncing attachment, then continually we have to through this. Then we always have to depend on samsaric perfections, you know, always have to depend on material conditions, always. That’s why, you see, we have to work so hard, that’s why we have to keep ourselves so busy like this, you see, because we, our life is dependant on material possessions. We’re not free, you see, and because we are not free from samsara, you know, we completely depend on the external things. There’s so much trouble, then. Then like this, continuously as long as one is in samsara, if one does not try to escape from samsara, renounce attachment, one has to continuously experience this, one has to always depend on these things.

Then always the higher and lower, high and low, always changing like this, you know. Then many times, you see, many times we accept—numberless times we were king before in the previous life. Numberless times we were king, we sat on thrones decorated by jewels like this, having all the fortunes, the material possessions, you know, what is available in the world, what is available in the world, then having everything see. Also, numberless times we were born as kings of the spirit realm, like this. Many times we were in the jeweled palace, now we’re sitting, in this life we’re sitting on a mattress on the ground. In samsara again you have to go through this, again, again like this.

Then, same thing, on all the relationships, you meet and separate, meet and separates, meet and again separate, meet and again separate, all the time like this; as long as we’re in samsara. Then again die, are born and die, born and die, all the time like this. We have to go through this without end as long as we don’t try to escape from samsara and renounce the attachment.

Then last, number six, is the shortcoming of samsara of being without a helper, without friend. It s funny, you know, the shortcomings of not having friend, not having companion. Then when one gets born, oneself is alone is born. If the language is not correct you can correct it in your books. We are without any companion at birth time. The mind alone came from intermediate state then into the mother’s womb. When we die it is the same, without any companion.

When our own bare contents go to the intermediate state, there is no companion with that. There’s no companion, no friend with it. There’s no choice to take a friend. When you were born it was the same, and when you die, you will have to die alone. If other’s don’t take a share of the suffering, what’s the use of the friend who is disturbing you? That disturbing can cause you to disturb your Dharma practice and virtuous actions.

So what I have been explaining is that at death time, at the birth time, only oneself has to die. And we may even steal from a bank for our friend. We may create negative karma for them. We may ask, “Could you take half of it please? Will you help me experience the suffering result?” If there were a choice, the friend could take the share. They could say, “Don’t worry, I can experience all the negative karma, you just eat and sleep well, and have good sunshine at the beach.”

But there’s no choice, other friends can’t take it. Once the karma is created oneself cannot experience it. So if they can’t take their share of suffering, what’s the use of friends who disturb us?

I think I stop here.

Just very briefly on the sixth general samsaric suffering. If by practicing in this lifetime as we have the chance, by trying to practice Dharma as much as possible, try to make the mind as much as possible the gradual path to enlightenment, try to escape from samsara as quick as possible. If it’s not possible to escape from the samsara in this life, but maybe in the next life, then make preparation in this life. If you don’t try like this, then, since you were born in samsara then always we have to experience these sufferings, on and on, on and on like this. Also one emphasizes that friends cannot help. So therefore, this is only emphasized in order to not to be attached to the relationships. This doesn’t mean you should get angry. It doesn’t mean you should look angry, it doesn’t mean you should be angry, doesn’t mean you can’t talk to him or doesn’t mean you can’t help him, doesn’t mean that.