LECTURE 21: 9 DECEMBER 1992 PM

UNDERSTANDING THE DHARMA
So, yesterday what I was mentioning, yesterday was introduction of myself [RL], it was mainly introduction of myself [RL], that, so the essence what I was trying to tell [RL], yesterday was that the talk, that my talk, even though it is very messy talk that, you know, like torn cloth, cloth that which has many holes [RL], like rag cloth, old rag, rag cloth, that no beauty, no professional, all these things, as I mentioned yesterday, so I’m not going to repeat again [RL], so what I was trying to tell is that there are many reputations and so forth, however, if one does listen, it has some meaning in it, the talk has some meaning, it has some meaning if one listen and if one check, it has some meaning.

But however, of course, generally to understand Dharma, it’s also dependent arising. Not only dependent intelligence, it depends on merit, good karma, to understand, understanding words is one thing, then understanding meaning is one thing, then still that is not sufficient, still that also depends on a lot of merit, good karma, and even to have that opportunity, so, you see, anything, that, of course there could be many mistakes but which are correct, which are not contradictory to Buddhism, which are not contradictory to Buddhadharma, which are according to Buddhadharma, which is according to what Buddha said, so to understand those, that which is unmistaken path to peace, needs a lot of merit even to hear, to understand the words. And then to feel it, then on top of that to feel it, understanding the words, meaning, what the word means, then the very important one after that is to feel it, which means not only understanding the words but that, having feeling in the heart, you feel in the heart, the meaning of the words, if one feel in the heart, that’s the feeling, whether it’s renunciation or whether it’s emptiness, whether it’s talking about karma or whether it’s bodhicitta, one feel in the heart.

So to feel in the heart that depends on, with the understanding, understanding is accompanied, understanding comes with the, with the understanding, understanding is accompanied with faith, not blind faith but understanding faith, faith with the logic, not with the blind faith, faith with the understanding. So that, especially for that one, need a lot of merit, lot of, it’s dependent arising, that is not easy, even one can understand the words, but to have the understanding with the feeling or the feeling in the heart of faith, so, that one needs a lot of merit because it’s like realization, that itself is like realization, that itself is achievement, what comes with it, besides intellectual understanding, the feeling, the meaning of the teaching what one feel in the heart that experience itself, even it’s not high realization, but it’s kind of an achievement to start with, before the actual realization. So especially for that need a lot of, so much merit, good karma.

So however, such things as karma, reincarnation, emptiness, to feel compassion for others, bodhicitta, to feel bodhicitta in the heart, all these things, if there’s no obstacle within our mind, if there’s no obscuration, if there’s no obstacle, wrong views, the obscurations, then, you see, then there would be realization, as one hear the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, in our mind there will be realizations exactly as it is explained in the texts or taught by Buddha, everything, the meaning of the words, bodhicitta and emptiness, renunciation and the two stages, the Highest Yoga Tantra path, two stages to achieve enlightenment, all these things, the meaning will be in our heart, in our mind, the meaning of the words, without the obscurations, the wrong view, wrong concept, then the meaning of all these words will be in our heart, the words are written in the text, but the actual meaning of that will be in our mind, which means the whole path in our mind.

So until we have realizations through meditation, the meaning is not in our mind, the mind is disconnected with the words. Compassion, loving kindness, bodhicitta, emptiness, renunciation of samsara, guru devotion, all these paths to enlightenment, until we have realizations, until we get the feeling of it by transforming the mind into that, whether the mind is transformed temporarily into that with effort or by thinking of quotations of Buddha, pandits, yogis, the experienced lineage lamas in their quotations, words, teaching that came out of the experience, and the logics, so until, with effort, the mind is transformed into that temporarily. But when you don’t continue the reason, when you stop thinking of the reasons—keeping the mind in the state of impermanence and death, the appearance of this life is very short or reasons that keep the mind into compassion towards all, towards every sentient being, which keeps the mind in the state of emptiness or dependent arising or merely labeled or emptiness, bodhicitta, so forth, patience, reciting the words, speaking words of compassion, loving kindness, all these paths—words that we recite or that we talk, when you stop thinking of the reasons, the heart is disconnected. So however, so besides the words, the meaning, so the meaning of the words only left on the paper, not in the heart, only left on the paper, in the book. So, like that.

So however, so anyway, what I’m saying! So, to be able to be understand and to feel and to experience karma, reincarnation, emptiness, bodhicitta, so forth, these things, in order to feel in the heart, to be able to understand and to feel in the heart especially then, that, to feel in the heart then especially to actualize the realization, to actually discover or to actually realize, so that depends on, as I mentioned one of the days, having all the conditions perfect, that, cause and conditions, having purified the obstacles, having accumulated extensive merit, planted the seed of the path in the past, left imprint of the path on one’s own mental continuum in the past, so depends on so many things.

If one doesn’t understand well or one cannot feel in the heart, all this is due to obscurations, wrong concepts, so if we purify those things, so when there’s enough practice of purification is done, then, because mind is dependent arising, mind is not independent, mind is not inherently existent, mind is not independent, so mind is dependent arising. Even without depending on the meditation, the object, the mind changes even without meditation, object on which, that this mind is attached, now, this object does not become object that this mind get attached, one’s own mind get attached. This object does not become object of attachment, one’s own mind attachment forever, it does not become object of one’s own attachment forever. Even without depending on meditation, it becomes, it changes. After some time it doesn’t become object of attachment, it become object of anger or nothing, indifferent, object of ignorance, neither attachment nor anger. Even without the meditation, it changes.

DEALING WITH ANGER
And object on which the mind is angry now does not become object of anger forever. Even without meditation, after some time it becomes object of attachment or indifferent object. The anger or the attachment get stopped on that object, even without meditating. This happens because the mind is a dependent arising, dependent on causes and conditions. This object, now it’s object of anger, by using the reason that this person gave me harm, looking at it, what the person did to you by labeling it harm, by interpreting that as harm then regarding, labeling, regarding that as bad, so, then, anger, the mind become under the control of anger and this become object of anger. So, we create it, we make it up, by thinking of reasons, by making causes and conditions we make up the anger. Same thing with the attachment. So by depending on other cause and conditions, then anger stops, the attachment stops, so like that.

Then especially with meditation, by looking at it, instead of labeling what the person does to you, that with the body, speech and mind, that which, so body disrespect or badly treat, and disrespect, then, speech, criticizing or that, things like that, one did something for that person and the person didn’t thank or something, however, so, speech, some action with the speech and then action of mind, the person hates you or the person doesn’t love you, doesn’t like you. Especially by applying meditation on patience, from the graduated path to enlightenment, the paramita of patience, you look at the person’s way of behaving with the body, speech and then the way the person think, how the person look at you, how the person think of you, by applying the meditation on the paramita of patience, then one interprets all these as positive, hundred per cent positive. That is helping you, benefiting you, helping you to finish your anger, to cease your anger, anger which is the most harmful enemy that destroys your merit, your good karma, which is only the cause of happiness—all the temporary happiness, all the temporary enjoyment, comfort, everything, especially ultimate happiness, liberation, full enlightenment.

So this good karma, this merit is like a jewel, so precious, because all the happiness come from the good karma, merit. So this enemy, anger, destroys that, your enemy, anger, destroys your enlightenment, destroys your liberation, destroys your day-to-day life peace, destroys even your temporary happiness, happiness of future lives. So, anger is one great harmful enemy, especially to generate bodhicitta. Anger is great harmful enemy of bodhicitta. For a person who is so impatient, who has a lot of anger, it is difficult to practice, difficult to keep the mind in bodhicitta, difficult to generate bodhicitta, to receive the realization of bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is the door of the Mahayana path to enlightenment. Without bodhicitta cannot achieve enlightenment, one cannot achieve full enlightenment, then one cannot free all sentient beings, one cannot do perfect work to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and lead to full enlightenment.

Without the bodhicitta realization, you can’t really accomplish the ultimate meaning of human life—yourself by achieving full enlightenment, the state of mind free from all the mistakes of the mind and having completed in all the qualities of realizations, you are able to bring all sentient beings to highest full enlightenment. This is the ultimate meaning of human life, why we are human beings, why we have this precious human body. Without bodhicitta we cannot accomplish this ultimate goal of the life, the purpose of living.

Anger is the one great harmful enemy to generate bodhicitta, that which is the source of all one’s own happiness, temporary, ultimate, all the perfections as well as source of all other sentient beings’ happiness, temporary, ultimate happiness. For example, after having the realization of bodhicitta you enter in the Mahayana path, then after having bodhicitta there’s no thought of working for self, only thought of working for other sentient beings. Then whatever in everyday life, whatever the body, speech and mind does, even breathing, even each breath breathing in and out, every single action of body, speech and mind, only becomes work for every sentient beings. It becomes work for sentient beings who are equaling the infinite space. Even the very new bodhisattva, who just generated bodhicitta, realization of bodhicitta it’s like this, who has realization of bodhicitta, that is Mahayana sentient being. Why is it Mahayanist? The follower or the attainer of the Great Vehicle, a Mahayanist because this being, this bodhisattva, has the special attitude, carrying the works for other sentient beings as one’s own responsibility, voluntarily, without depending on other sentient beings’ requesting or not. As the sentient beings they need, what they want is happiness, what they do not want is suffering, so they need to be free from suffering, that means from the cause of all the sufferings, obscurations, even the seed, imprint and so what they want is happiness so they need to achieve not only temporary, especially ultimate happiness, highest enlightenment.

BODHICITTA: THE SEVEN POINTS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
The Mahayanist, that bodhisattva, that living being who is Mahayanist, who has the realization of bodhicitta, has the special attitude of working for other sentient beings, no matter how many eons it takes, no matter how hard it is, no matter how difficult it is to succeed, no matter how many problems there are to do work for other sentient beings. To accomplish the work for other sentient beings, to do service for other sentient beings, no matter how hard it is, no matter how many eons, how long it takes time, having brave mind like this, having the special attitude carrying the work for other sentient beings as one’s own, carrying the works of other sentient beings in one’s own responsibility, that I will do it my myself alone, so that one. Not just even I will do it, but I will do it by myself alone. So this is the realization, so there’s, for example, after having achieved the renunciation of the whole entire samsara, then there’s realization equanimity, then realizing all the sentient beings have been mother and kind, then, realization to repay kindness then the loving kindness, somebody who is very kind to you, that one see kind of beauty, warmth, so loving kindness of beauty.

Then, the great compassion, then after this, so loving kindness that not only wishing all sentient beings to have happiness, so this is called immeasurable loving kindness. Even the arhats, the Lower Vehicle arhats, who achieved the liberation from samsara, even they have this, wishing sentient beings to have happiness. So this is immeasurable loving kindness or immeasurable compassion even they have, and it is said in some texts, in some teachings they don’t have the great compassion or great loving kindness, that I will cause them happiness, I will free them from the sufferings, so this, taking responsibility on oneself, so this great compassion, great loving kindness, that I will do it, that I will cause all sentient beings, free from all the suffering, I will cause happiness towards sentient beings, so this they don’t have this. In some teachings it is explained like this. In some teachings it is explained that arhats they do have great compassion, but they don’t have the brave attitude, the special attitude to carry on the work freeing all sentient beings, liberating sentient beings from the samsara, carrying this responsibility by themselves. So there are different texts which give different definitions.

After the loving kindness, then great compassion, then special attitude, the seeking the works for other sentient beings, that, to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings, obscurations and to lead to the peerless happiness the full enlightenment, so, then, to do this work by myself alone, no matter, even there are numberless Buddhas, bodhisattvas, however, it’s my responsibility, it’s my turn, that I will do it by myself alone. So this is what is called special attitude, to work for all other sentient beings, no matter how hard it is, no matter how many eons, how long it takes, I will do this by myself alone.

After this, then comes bodhicitta. So, to be able to do this perfect work for all sentient beings by myself alone, there’s no other means, there’s no other ways to do this except only first myself achieve enlightenment, full enlightenment. So, that means to be able to do perfect work for all sentient beings by myself alone then you need to know every single, one has to see directly every single level of their mind, nature of their mind and every single method which fits to them. Even to guide one sentient being we need so many various methods, in different time one has to reveal different methods, according to the level of mind of that sentient being.

The only being who can understand directly all these things and can reveal all these methods, having perfect power to reveal all these methods, is the enlightened being, so therefore there is no other way, I must achieve full enlightenment. When one feels this thought to achieve enlightenment, day and night, constantly, that as one meets each person or each animal, each sentient being as one sees, you feel this, naturally your mind is in that state, thought to achieve enlightenment for the sentient beings. Each suffering sentient being you see, you feel this naturally, without need to think of reasons why I have to achieve enlightenment or without need to think of reasons, just like how the attachment rises naturally or how, so like that, naturally, without effort attachment comes, day and night one, naturally, without depending on reason, at that time then one has the realization of bodhicitta.

Then one has entered in the Mahayana path, then one become fortunate being, what is called fortunate being in the sutra and tantra. At that time one becomes a real fortunate person, the real successful being, person. So however, before bodhicitta there’s the special attitude taking the works of other sentient beings, to do it by oneself alone. When one has this realization, when one has this special attitude, then that is what is called a Mahayanist. When one’s mind is not in that nature, not in that state, when one doesn’t have that realization, then one is not Mahayanist, one might be practicing, one might be following the Mahayana teaching, but one is not Mahayanist.

THE BENEFITS OF PATIENCE
What I was saying before is that, by applying the meditation of patience, that person who harms you, badly treating you with the body or criticizing with the speech or hating you with the mind you see completely, hundred percent positive and that this person is unbelievably kind because he is helping you, this person is helping you to destroy your enemy, anger, your enemy who destroys your enlightenment, liberation, all the happiness of day-to-day life, even peace. This enemy who doesn’t let you have any happiness, any success. This is what this person is offering you, all this happiness up to enlightenment, this person is giving to you. It’s a gift by this person to you. The way this person does this is by treating you badly, harming with the speech, harming with the mind. By applying the meditation on patience, practicing patience on this, you get all this happiness from what that person gives you, one receive all this from that person. So, all the benefits of the patience, up to enlightenment. Then, being able to bring every sentient being from all the sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment, after you yourself has achieved enlightenment. This is the gift to you by this person with whom you practice patience. All these are gifts you can do, having infinite qualities of holy body, holy speech, holy mind, then, able to free every sentient being from all the sufferings and bring to enlightenment. So all these unbelievable benefits, happiness what you can give to each sentient being are all gifts to you by this person on whom you practice patience.

By applying the meditation of patience you see everything what this person does is completely, hundred percent is positive. It is incredible, incredible benefit to one’s own mind. So this person is real liberator, who liberates you from all the sufferings and cause of suffering, particularly anger and so forth. Then, by destroying the anger, there’s space for bodhicitta, there’s space for loving kindness towards others, there’s space for compassion towards other sentient beings. There’s space for bodhicitta, to generate bodhicitta for other sentient beings. All these realizations come. All these are great gifts from this person, unbelievable gifts, the best gifts.

Especially by applying the meditation on patience, one see this person that the best, he’s the liberator, he’s your liberator, the most kind teacher, most precious, most kind teacher of patience. Even if somebody gives you mountains of diamonds and gold, you cannot get from that the deep peace, satisfaction from the heart. One cannot experience this. But one can feel this with the enemy, but one can feel this, one can experience this with the enemy. By applying the meditation on patience, by realizing that actually that person is not harming me, that person is not actually harming me. Actually what he or she is doing to me is only benefiting, is of great benefit.

If that person doesn’t do these actions to me, if that person doesn’t treat me this way, I myself always follow the self-cherishing thought. By myself, I must always follow the self-cherishing thought, but this person is helping me, helping me together to destroy my inner enemy, the self-cherishing thought which gives all the problems, all obstacles. From the beginningless rebirth this thought didn’t allow me to have any realization of the graduated path to enlightenment within my mind, didn’t allow anything. It made my mind empty completely empty, ordinary, empty from the beginningless rebirth until now. And besides that it has been always torturing me, always harming me. Letting me experience the sufferings of the whole samsara. And if I follow the self-cherishing thought it will do the same thing, never allow to have any realizations in my mind. Always ordinary, always mind is left ordinary and without any single realization. And then constantly experience all the problems of samsara, all the obstacles again and again, again and again, without end.

So myself always follow the self-cherishing thought, the greatest enemy, the devil. But this person is helping me, but this person is helping me together to destroy my self-cherishing thought. So, somebody who puts you down or somebody who looks down on you and who thinks that you are not important or who looks on you down. So by thinking this way, by recognizing the kindness of the person, by meditating on the kindness like this, then one feels the kindness from the very bottom of the heart. And then one feels so much satisfaction and peace in the heart. Then one feels that person is unbelievable, how incredibly kind that person is, that you want to thank that person, that you want to offer something, that you want to offer a present, that you want to offer something to that person, for this experience, because he or she is helping you to destroy the ego, the self-cherishing thought. So you want to thank, you want to offer something.

Even if one offers to that person a thousand million dollars, it’s not sufficient, not enough, comparing what incredible benefit he or she has brought you, what incredible mind training in the path you have developed, that person has helped to develop your mind in the path. How incredible. Comparing the value of this experience, of this development of the mind, transforming the mind in the path into patience which is the path that makes it possible to achieve enlightenment, which leads to enlightenment. That, the infinite quality of Buddha’s holy body, holy speech, holy mind. Then able to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment. So the value what this person, the benefit that the person gave to you, the present that you give, even it is thousands of millions dollars, it is nothing.

The mind becomes transformed into the nature of patience, into the path, that is a hundred percent positive towards to that person. That is because the mind is a dependent arising, depending on another cause and condition, the mind becomes completely changed, that person, the mind is transformed into patience and you see that person unbelievably kind, so precious. And what he does, what he did to you everything is positive, only benefit. You don’t see one, you see no harm, you see nothing is bad, you see no harm in that person’s action, you don’t see harm to you.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH
I stopped at the part. The importance of the three principal aspects of the path, so without renunciation of samsara, then any meditation practice, any Dharma practice, spiritual practice we do, does not become cause to achieve liberation. And besides that the twenty-four hours our activities from morning until night, twenty-four’s activities—including walking, sitting, sleeping, eating, working, talking; all those things—without renunciation of samsara, nothing of these, our daily life activities, nothing becomes cause of liberation, cause to achieve liberation. So that has to be clear, that point one has to understand, at least the word in that point.

Then, without bodhicitta practice, without bodhicitta realization, whatever Dharma practice meditation you do, nothing becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment. And then besides that even our normal activities what we do twenty-four hours, nothing becomes cause to achieve enlightenment. Nothing becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So that second thing, that second very important thing to clearly understand. Second very important point important to understand.

Then, without right view, the mind which is doing the Dharma practice, meditation, the spiritual path, all these things whatever one does, nothing becomes the remedy to cut the root of samsara, the root of the whole entire suffering. Then same thing, whatever we do in the twenty-four hours, all these activities, whatever we do, without the mind doing all these activities, without being possessed by the right view, the view of emptiness, without that then nothing of these actions becomes the remedy, nothing of this action, our daily life action, nothing becomes the remedy to cut the root of samsara, the root of the whole entire suffering and causes. So by understanding these things you understand naturally, Dharma practice, spiritual path, meditation, anything that we do, there is some action, something special, additional action, if it is done with renunciation of samsara, all these practices become the cause to achieve liberation, ultimate happiness, liberation for self. Then also walking, sitting, sleeping, all the daily life activities—if done with renunciation of samsara, become the cause to achieve liberation. Then if it’s done with bodhicitta, if it’s done with bodhicitta, besides all these Dharma practice things, even the daily life normal activities—walking, sitting, sleeping, working, all these things—become the cause to achieve enlightenment. Every single thing becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment.

Then if all these, besides Dharma practice, meditation, then all the even normal activities, if it’s done with the right view, emptiness, then all this becomes the remedy to cut the root of samsara. So all these things become Dharma. So all these, besides the action of meditating, action of meditation, besides the meditation, the practice, the action, the practice, besides that then, what the daily activities that we normally do, then everything becomes Dharma. In this way everything becomes Dharma.

So even if one doesn’t have all the three principal path realizations, just renunciation or bodhicitta or right view, then even if one doesn’t have all three, just one of them, then all the actions become Dharma. If all the actions are done with even one of them, from the three principal aspects of the path, with one of them, then everything becomes Dharma. So like this.

So this one is extremely, this one is the main topic of the course. To understand this point is the main topic, is the essential topic of this meditation course. What is the benefit of having the renunciation of samsara? If you don’t have it, what are the obstacles, the shortcomings? If you have bodhicitta what are the benefits? Without bodhicitta, what are the shortcomings? To yourself and to all sentient beings. If you have right view what are the benefits? If you don’t have, what happens, what are the shortcoming to yourself and to all sentient beings?

So this understanding what I have just now explained, this is the basic outline, this is the essential meditation, the heart meditation, the heart practice.

By attending this course, this one month course, even if we haven’t understood much, but at least we have got clear these three, the three important points, the need of these three realizations, how great shortcoming for oneself, for all sentient beings, then, if you don’t have these three.

So just having clearly understood the purpose of three, the purpose of practicing and achieving the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, then the essential purpose, the essential benefit, the purpose, one received the essential benefit of the course, or the purpose of coming to this course is fulfilled. So by understanding the importance of these three then, because, what, to, then you know, then you can judge for yourself what you are doing. Then this way you can judge your own life, right, what you are doing. What you are doing, in our everyday life we can judge. You have the wisdom to judge whether you are making your life meaningful or not. So you can judge. In our everyday life, every hour, every minute you can, you have the wisdom to tell, you have the wisdom to recognize your own life, your own actions. Whether you are wasting it or whether you are making it meaningful, whether you are doing the right thing or wrong thing. So, you can tell, every hour, every minute of life, then, every single action, whatever you do, whether it’s right or wrong. Because you don’t like suffering, if it becomes the cause of samsara, it is wrong.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION
So if one is doing the action, either with renunciation, or emptiness, or bodhicitta, then the action becomes the cause of ultimate happiness. So therefore you are doing the right thing. And especially your action, you see your action became, whether you are talking to people or whether you doing a job, whether you are sleeping, eating, walking, whatever you are doing, your action becomes cause of enlightenment. So that is the most meaningful, that becomes the most meaningful action. That means that one is making one’s own life most beneficial for oneself, most beneficial for all sentient beings. So that means when it becomes most beneficial for others then it becomes most beneficial also for oneself.

For example, I give one example. If one is doing Vipassana meditation, you can do the Vipasana meditation, there is the Vipassana meditation where you practice mindfulness that you are walking, to be aware that you are walking, that is all, nothing else. Or that you are watching, the abdomen, the stomach, belly, now went inside, now went outside, then went inside (RL) not outside, not going outside (RL) but went in and went out like this. On the sensations, just being aware of the sensations, what sensations you have, just being aware. Whether it is pain or whatever it is, just being aware. So normally, nothing more than that, just watching. So and there is no, especially there is no emphasis in the motivation, especially, you just began the meditation straight, there is no special preparation for the meditation. There is no setting up pure motivation. First you make the mind Dharma, then only then your action of meditation can become Dharma. So this is without even talking about the three principal aspects of the path, the renunciation of the whole entire samsara, without talking about that, just talking about mind becoming Dharma, which means not attached, not clinging to happiness of this life. Just to have some calm, some peaceful, just some calmness, some comfort. So happiness of this life, that simply just to have some calmness, some peaceful mind, [from the very busy thought, not particular delusion, not particular mind to be free away, mind to be free from delusion, not particular, just to relax the mind, just a little bit of quietness from busy thought. So there’s no discrimination virtuous thought, nonvirtuous thought, there’s nothing in particular like that. So, cutting off attachment clinging to this life. There’s no renunciation of this life, there’s no Dharma mind, there’s no motivation, setting up special motivation, the special motivation, the mind which is Dharma.

So without this, then straight one does the meditation. So even if one watches the mind but there’s no, second, one doesn’t fulfill the purpose of watching the mind. So purpose of watching the mind is, so if your mind is nonvirtue, attachment clinging to this life, looking for power, if I meditate that I will have some power, that I will have some spiritual power or something, reputation, that to become meditation teacher or something like that, so that one can have many followers or can teach meditation to others, or the attachment seeking for reputation or power; power so that you can be famous, having some power so that you can be famous. So basically kind of attachment clinging to the happiness of this life. So things like that.

Even seeking for peace, even clinging for peace of mind. For example, the peace of mind as I told one day the long explanation that ... for example, the, after meditating how the desire realm pleasure is suffering, then you seek for inner peace, you cling to inner peace, then through meditation, then that’s how they go to the formless realm, which is just another samsara, another samsaric suffering realm, another suffering realm. Even if one reached, even one achieved those level, but just that having removed the visible delusion towards desire realm pleasure, the form realm, formless realm, even if one reached those through the development of the mind, seeking those, seeking inner peace, the clinging those inner peace. So the result is just, you achieve, just you achieve another samsara. And that’s it.

So however that is due to not having renunciation to the whole entire samsara, that is due to not realizing how the whole entire samsara is the nature of suffering. Now without renunciation of the whole entire samsara, the problem is just even one has renunciation to the sense pleasures, depending on the external objects, the desire realm pleasures, even one has renunciation to that, but only what you achieve is just, because there is no renunciation to the form realm and formless realm, so what you achieve is another samsara.

What I’m saying is that there’s not this special setting. The purpose of watching the mind is, if you find out the motivation is the mistaken, the cause of suffering, then you transform that into the path, renunciation of this life. If you find out this is attachment then you transform by remembering impermanence and death and so forth, then you transform the mind into Dharma, into renunciation of of this life, or renunciation of the whole entire samsara, or in emptiness or bodhicitta. So first you make the mind Dharma. Then you do the meditation which makes the action of meditation become Dharma. Only then the action of meditation becomes Dharma.

So there is no emphasis, there is no advice from the side of the teacher, there is nothing about the motivation, you see, nothing, nothing, no one single word about the motivation of the meditation. There is no one single word, emphasis on the motivation, there is nothing. So it becomes very difficult, for example one month meditation or one week meditation that one did, mindfulness of breathing or whatever these things. Even if one did meditation on these things, mindfulness and these things, it might during that time, of course because you pay attention, breath or stomach or something, so of course it might help that to not get strong attachment or anger, as your mind kept on this. So you don’t think of the enemy or object that one has attachment. Of course it might help for that, to not create those negative karma, to do with anger and strong attachment. But you see now, without examining the mind, without transforming the mind into Dharma, without any of these principal paths, then very difficult for the action to become Dharma, the action of meditation to become Dharma. The meditation to become Dharma is very difficult. Dharma and pure Dharma, very difficult. So when we do meditation, when we retreat, it’s very difficult. So, the motivation is attachment to this life as I mentioned before that, so without renunciation of the samsara, it becomes another cause of samsara. This meditation when we do meditation, one month retreat, it becomes another cause of samsara.

So how to meditate is extremely important. How to meditate, that’s a very important question. How to meditate is not just watching how you are walking or that you are breathing air in and out, not just that. How to meditate means how you begin the meditation. So you have to begin the meditation with a special mind, not with the ordinary mind, not with the old mind, then with old mind does not become Dharma. So we have to do the meditation with the new mind, with the Dharma mind. So how to meditate is very important. It becomes very essential, very important question or that answer is a very important answer.

As I normally explain, even the thieves who go to steal from the bank, it always shows in the TV movies that they have incredible tools to open the doors and they have a special time fixed when to go, exact time when they should be there and how to enter the house, from where to count, where the money is, where the jewels are kept. So they need a lot of awareness of that. When you go to steal, you need a lot of awareness, you need a lot of mindfulness. There is need of a lot of mindfulness otherwise you won’t get it. You might get killed. So you need a lot of awareness in that, to get there at the right time and everything, how to approach, the right time and how to do. They have a lot of mindfulness, the house, time, many things, place and how to, there’s a lot to pay attention to, a lot of concentration. So anyway even the thieves, they need a lot of awareness. They think going to steal all these things that they are going to steal.

Similarly when you are walking on the road. The problem is that is not sufficient, just that is not sufficient. The purpose of doing mindfulness of what you are doing, so that by examining the motivation, you watch the action and watch the mind. Watch action and watch mind. Then the purpose of watching, practicing mindfulness is if you discover the motivation, the motivation is negative, whether the motivation opposite to three principal aspects of the path, then it is a problem. Then the action is a problem, then the action becomes the cause of suffering. It is negative, so therefore you transform the attitude. You transform it into a positive one, one of the, from three principal aspects of the path, one of them, here we are just talking about, we are not talking about tantra practice, highest practice, we are just talking about the common fundamental practice. So then, only then by transforming the mind, then you can change the action, then you can transform the action into the cause for liberation, cause to achieve enlightenment, the cause of happiness in the future life. So you can transform. This is the purpose. Then the purpose of mindfulness is fulfilled. After mindfulness, then need something else. If the motivation is not virtue, not one of the three principal aspects of the path then should be transformed. Then, that is the purpose of practicing mindfulness, only then the purpose is fulfilled.

So if one doesn’t know how to meditate, even if one believes I have been practicing Dharma for many years, whole life, there is a great danger what you have been practicing just cause of samsara. Just practicing just cause of the lower realms. If it is done with attachment this life, then just additional, another negative karma, just another additional cause of lower realm. Outwardly, externally it looks like it becomes special action but in reality it is nothing special. It did not become Dharma, so it is nothing special than other normal actions.

So yeah, then I stop here.

THE BENEFITS OF LIGHT OFFERINGS
I thought to go over in everyday life how to practice lam-rim, and in everyday life how to integrate the life with the lam-rim, with practice of the graduated path to enlightenment. And also the food offering, how to practice, how to do the food offering, in extensive way to accumulate merit. I just think at the moment, since we are going to do some light offering, I thought just to mention how to make light offering at this point. So without talking about all those other things, then just to know how to, benefits of light offering, then how to make light offering.

How to make the light offerings. If one knows food or light offering, how to accumulate extensive merit, if one knows one, then it’s same. Any offering then you just do the similar meditation with any other offerings. So if you know how to do one, then it is the same, all the rest you know. Most skillful way how to accumulate merit, it is the same.

So, anyway, first explain this. Making light offerings is explained in the sutra teachings called Clarifying the Karmas. The Tibetan title is: Le nam par je-ba do. Do is sutra and je-ba is explaining, clarifying, clarifying the aspect of the karmas. So if you do this, if you do this karma what result will happen. So the various karmas, various good karmas.

So now the benefits of the offerings, benefits of each of the offerings. There are eight different offerings. The benefit of each offerings are integrated into ten. Basically same but there is a little bit differences according to the different offerings. So then the benefits. Benefits contain temporary benefits and ultimate benefits, highest enlightenment.

So one receives the eye. One receives the flesh eye and second one, the deva’s eye. I’m not sure clearly what the difference is, but what that can see, having psychic power that can see, that the sense of the eye can see, has power, psychic power that can see very, very far things, like behind a mountain. What is it behind the mountain? If you are here, but you can see what is behind the mountain, very, very far things. A place it takes many days, months, years to get to by land, that the eye having the psychic power is able to see. So the deva’s eye. I am not a hundred percent sure what it us exactly, but it’s to do with the psychic power.

Then having the Dharma wisdom to know what is virtue, what is nonvirtue. It’s a very extensive subject to know all those things. So, the pure flesh eye, then the pure deva’s eye and then the Dharma wisdom knowing what is virtue and what is nonvirtue. Then eliminating the darkness of ignorance. Even the times while one is in samsara, that one has the karma always to have light. So the times, the daytime there’s light and nighttime also there’s, that now we have light at this hour we have light. There are sentient beings who never see light, always have to stay in the darkness, always their whole life in darkness. So there are sentient beings like this. So this time that we have so much karma to have light, daytime and nighttime, except when the electricity goes off (RL), except those times. Most times there’s light. Anyway, so like this. Even while we are in samsara that we see, we are in the place that always we have light. So it creates the karma for that.

Then also wealth, it becomes the cause of wealth, wealth in this life and future lives. Then after this life, deva, human, the body of the happy migratory being, deva, human body, it causes to achieve higher rebirth. Then the sorrowless state, liberation from samsara. Then the highest one is full enlightenment.

So then there is also for cleaning the room, doing prostrations, making offerings of flower, then making offerings of incense. Each of those has also detailed benefits like this. But there is a little bit different to each, depending on which offering. There is some different as a result.

HOW TO MAKE LIGHT OFFERINGS
Making light offerings is important. Brighter it is better light offerings. If one can manage brighter, more it can dispel the darkness, it is a better light offering. Electricity, the light that we often use in our houses, is the best light offering. One doesn’t have to push the Tibetan custom, that small container of butter, something small container then put butter and the wick. Of course one can offer many lights, even though small light offerings, as many as possible besides those electric light offerings. Because from each light offering to Buddha, whether it is big or small, one accumulates, we get these ten benefits from each one. So it’s extremely important to offer, whether it is even the small one, as many as one can.

Those small lights are also very good that they have in temples in the Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in the Chinese temples, they have right or left side. In the middle they have big statues then right, left side usually they have kind of like a stupa but there is one maybe 1,000 Buddhas, many Buddhas, it is kind of like a stupa, it is a round, another one. So there are many like this kind piled up. Then there’s a light offering in front of each one. So there is one Buddha, 1,000 Buddhas, there are 1,000 light offerings, small lights. So also at the back side, the right and left side, there is a whole wall like that, whole wall they put this, many of those small electric lights. So there may be many thousands there, each of those big on the wall.

So it is very much emphasized in the teachings, also in tantra to offer 100 lights, 1,000 light offerings is very much emphasized to hook the realization, for quick realization, and is regarded as very important, many light offerings. So it is extremely good that in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, in those temples, if it is a small temple or a big temple, also there is so many light offerings that are all day long offered.

If the offerings are done as many as one can, then from that success of this life, success of future lives, up to enlightenment. So all the success can come, without many difficulties, without obstacles, it can come very easily. One can do extensive work, great service to help other sentient beings, then to do service for the teaching of Buddha. One can do all those services, one can succeed very easily as one wishes, as one makes plans, as one thinks, the project can succeed very easily. Because everything depends on a cause, everything is dependent on a cause. Suffering is dependent on a cause, happiness is dependent on a cause. All these are causative phenomena, so you have to create the causes. If you don’t create the cause, it doesn’t happen, you cannot have success, whether it is benefiting others, whether it is benefiting to yourself, whatever.

First generate the motivation of bodhicitta. The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings and to lead to enlightenment, therefore I must achieve enlightenment. So therefore I’m going to make light offerings. Then one can also dedicate, then also one can think of this project, for this success of this project, this work to benefit other sentient beings, which benefits for other sentient beings, so many other sentient beings. Then one can think also that particular project which benefits many sentient beings.

Quite a number of the students of the Amitabha Centre in Singapore came here for the course. All the students there are extremely dedicated to do service for sentient beings, as a group, as a community, as an organization, then together to benefit for other sentient beings, by spreading Dharma, teaching of the Buddha, the unmistaken path to the peace, that sincerely to benefit for other sentient beings, with the highest guidance of the Buddha, the Dharma, that which is Dharma, spreading Dharma. So to serve sentient beings and to serve the teaching of the Buddha, which is serving for all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, because their wish is to help the sentient beings, to free them from the sufferings and to obtain happiness for them.

So they have already bought the house for the center, but the gompa where teaching or meditation place is a little bit small, so one member, one student took responsibility, took complete responsibility to have larger place, to have much larger place. So he took complete responsibility, but I said that, even though he had much success in the past, but for us to have success, we need good karma, merit, even though he had success with other projects. So by checking that it came out, to make many light offerings to the stupa, to that precious wish-granting, wish-fulfilling stupa, stupa down there you can see in Boudha, Boudhanath Stupa which has unbelievable story. If you have time there is a book in the library. So one must read, it is incredible. Then you can understand the benefits of, quality of that stupa, praying and making offering.

So light offering then, many light offerings. Then other thing is, offering money in the bowl, then fill up with money offer to the most precious statue in the Lhasa temple, blessed by Buddha himself and predicted by Buddha himself. That in the past when there was a lot of famines happened in Tibet, famines, no food, famines happened in Tibet. So one great yogi, Tangtug Gyalpo, one great yogi called Tangtug Gyalpo, I think (RL), it might be Tangtug Gyalpo. This yogi filled one big bowl with grain, then he offered it to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue, blessed by Buddha himself in the temple, in the Lhasa temple. So then he made strong prayer there. Then the place where there is a lot of famine happened, scarcity of food, so some people got a vision from the space, that vision that Chenrezig making rainfalls of grain in that area. Due to this great yogi praying there, making offerings, with the bowl filled of grain, so then this place completely changed. Then the crops grew well and things changed. So by making offering to that Buddha statue, making prayer so that karma, that good karma changed their life situation, the scarcity of food, poverty was relieved. Then they get plenty of food.

Also recently in London at the center, the last teaching, which took several hours, (RL GL) late night teachings, also I suggested, now there in London, there is so much recession, so many people with no jobs. As you travel to the train stations or outside the station you see many people, they are begging, no job, sitting in the train station, when you go down steps to the train, staying right there. So there are so many people, poverty is increasing so much.
So there happened similar like this in Tibet. So this great yogi did prayer from his, with his bodhicitta, then he did prayer and then made offering, then changed the lives, changed the situation there. So I tried to check. I am not good, not (RL) professional at doing mo or whatever, but according to my observation, it came out very beneficial in order to stop the recession, those problems, that the center makes for the sake of everybody, the whole country, to make an offering of a large bowl filled with money, to make offering to that statue in Lhasa, blessed by Buddha, predicted by Buddha. So if possible even one, two, three, four, more times. However, thought to say, according to my observation, came out beneficial to solve the peoples’ problems, the country’s problems.

Without creating good karma you cannot stop the problems. So then other thing is that country as many people as possible able to take Eight Mahayana Precepts, as many people as possible in that country take five precepts or many people take Eight Mahayana Precepts. This is excellent, but they don’t have the time, then even one precept, two precept, even it is not whole lifetime but few months, few years, even one is able to take the precepts with a motivation to benefit for other sentient beings, to not harm other sentient beings. So these offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and then the other thing is living in the morality. Then this as many people can do then this can definitely can change the situation, can definitely improve the country, the poverty. So there have been a lot of stories in the past, as explained also in the book which talks about benefits of the Eight Mahayana Precepts.

So now each time when we light, generally whenever we put any offering at the altar, in front of the altar, whatever offering food or incense, whatever offering, as soon as we put it there we should bless it, OM AH HUM, with the mantra OM AH HUM. If you don’t do that there are different interferers abiding to those offerings. Maybe they take the essence, then maybe it becomes impure, that there are different interferers abiding in the different offerings. So then if you don’t bless with OM AH HUM then, by blessing with that maybe they cannot take the essence of the offering. If you don’t bless the offerings with OM AH HUM, then there are different interferers that damage the mind, that damage the practitioner’s mind. For example a flower, whenever we offer flower at the altar, as soon as we put there in the front of altar we should recite OM AH HUM, otherwise there are interferers, I don’t remember the name, it damages the mind that to develop attachment, very strong attachment. So each offering incense, light, water, so there are different interferers. If you don’t bless with OM AH HUM, then maybe they take the essence of the offering and then maybe it becomes impure, however it damages the mind, causes different obstacles.

Without blessing the light with OM AH HUM, I’ve forgotten that either this, the interferer who causes, mind makes very sleepy, very unclear, sleepy, fogginess, that whenever you start to meditate, to do prayers, then the mind becomes, immediately kind of mind is unclear, sleepy and then also falling asleep when one tries to do practice. That kun du don, for example when you start to practice, sit one place and start to practice, then thought comes to go somewhere, then later one wants to go somewhere to practice, then when you went there and started to practice, then again thought comes to go somewhere else. (GL) This is one interferer that always damages the mind, that always wants to go there and there, and then doesn’t get any practice, interfering the practice. It doesn’t let to be at one place. So there is one like this. So I got a little bit mixed up. I’m not sure which one. So if, maybe I will tell tomorrow or day after tomorrow.

So anyway it’s very important each time when one lights, after one lights then one say OM AH HUM. Then so while one is lighting, one can offer immediately, without need to wait later after everything is finished. If it’s a candle then it’s already gone, finished. (RL GL) If it’s a small candle then if you are going to wait for many then it’s already gone finished. (RL) So it’s better to offer immediately.

Usually when you light in the front of the altar you think that, for example, how many holy objects there are here in this hall. So think all these are the embodiment of my guru. If one has many gurus, to make it simpler, then one can think my root guru. Then one can think all these are embodiment of root guru. So in the reality, we have to, how we have to recognize or meditate is that it’s all one. How many gurus one has, it’s all one. That’s normally how the meditation is done, how we have to realize. So therefore how many holy objects here, then all these are the embodiment of, think, all these the embodiment of my root guru.

So then after recite OM AH HUM, then you offer them. Then after this one can offer to all the holy objects in Nepal including that great stupa, wish-granting stupa, then all the holy objects, statues, stupas, scriptures, all the holy objects in Nepal. So thinking embodiment of one’s own root guru, then one offer. Then, you know, or by visualizing embodiment of one’s own root guru, then one offer. So, now like this. As I mentioned, the ten benefits, the highest one is enlightenment. So you see now, this is talking, if you offer light offering to one statue of Buddha, no matter if it’s small or big, even if it’s a tiny picture of Buddha, even if it’s the, you know those photos of thangkas you know like that, so there’s tiny, there’s, even if it’s so, even if it’s very tiny you know, Buddha’s figure there. It is Buddha’s, even if it’s so tiny, it is Buddha’s figure so therefore by making offering to that, one get same merit, same benefit as having offered to actual Buddha, having offered to actual living Buddha. You meet the actual Buddha and you offer light—it’s the same, the merit is same, exactly the same. There is no more higher offering to Buddha, nothing higher than offering to a small picture of Buddha.

So, offering to one Buddha statue, whether it’s big or tiny, you immediately get the ten benefits, these ten results. The main, the particular benefit of the light offerings is wisdom, Dharma wisdom, so it helps to develop wisdom. It’s extremely important. Then, it helps to have clairvoyance. There are six types of clairvoyance, like to able to understand others’ mind and so forth, remembering past lives, future lives, those kinds of clairvoyance. So there are six types of clairvoyance. So, without clairvoyance you can’t really work, we make many mistakes without clairvoyance. Even for business, if you don’t have clairvoyance, you make many mistakes in business because you cannot see the future. Even for the doctor, even for the doctor, without clairvoyance, he cannot cure everybody. He cannot diagnose without mistake, he cannot see every single thing. Even offering to one tiny Buddha, figure of Buddha, one get these ten benefits.

In your own room, altar, or for example here, there are so many. So, from each buddha, by making offering for example here, from each buddha you get these ten benefits, from each buddha, from each buddha figure. So, therefore, if you offer like this, to each country’s holy objects, even in one monastery, even in one person’s altar there’s so many. So if you offer like this, it is unbelievable. This way of offering, we offer everybody’s, their own house’s altar, from here we made offering. So one person’s altar has so many pictures, so many buddhas. So therefore, the ten directions statues, stupas, scriptures, so therefore these ten benefits, we receive these ten benefits from each of those holy objects. So therefore, it’s inconceivable merit, unbelievable merit, good karma, good luck, luck or merit is accumulated. Unbelievable. So, it becomes very, very powerful.

So then, on top of this we visualize the guru. So, that part of subject, hasn’t been before, except maybe, during morning meditations, those who do the Jorcho practice, preliminary practice. So by visualizing guru, one’s own guru, the merit is far more greater than having made offering to all the statues, stupas, scriptures. Even if it’s just one, visualizing even just, even by thinking one guru, the merit is much more than having made offering to all the numberless, statues, stupas, scriptures, numberless, the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Why? Why? In the short answer it is the power of the object. The guru is the most powerful object among all these holy objects, the most powerful object. How does the power come? Whenever, with the recognition of guru and disciple, when one took teachings, received Dharma, took teaching, then at that time, that power is created, the power is received, just like two batteries. When the two batteries, negative and positive, when the two batteries come together then it’s able to create light. So like that, so this power is dependent arising. Depending on that being from whom one received teaching and oneself is the disciple, so with the recognition guru/disciple, then taking teachings, that creates the power. So that is the nature of that phenomenon. So that has so much power. So therefore, if you do a little bit of mistake with that, there are great shortcoming, danger. If you do a little bit good, little, respect or little good, positive, good thing is done, there’s incredible results. They say the benefits, the good results, temporary happiness, ultimate happiness.

So therefore by visualizing guru, every one, all the holy objects, making offering, then it’s not just one Buddha statue, numberless. So therefore, by visualizing all of them guru, by making offering, it become more powerful, unbelievably powerful, good karma, like this.

Then, the other thing is, you can think: this is the wisdom light, light of dharmakaya. Then this dispels all sentient beings’ ignorance. It illuminated all sentient beings’ mind. It dispels all sentient beings’ darkness, ignorance. Then it caused Dharma wisdom in all sentient beings’ mind. One can think it has generated the dharmakaya, ultimate wisdom in all their minds, they all become enlightened. So, this practice can be done, if those who have received initiation, great initiation, then you become, you are deity, yourself visualized as the deity. So this light, the wisdom light, you can think your own, you, yourself, the guru deity’s, your own mind, the guru deity’s Buddha’s holy mind all one. So, this light is not just separate wisdom but this wisdom, this is dharmakaya. So in the form the light then, dispelling all sentient beings’ obscurations, ignorance. Then, generate Dharma wisdom, then ultimate wisdom, dharmakaya and they all become enlightened in the deity which one practices.

While one is lighting, one can immediately think, “I’m offering this to all the ten directions’ Buddha, Dharma, Sangha who are embodiment of the guru, then all the ten directions’ statues, stupas, scriptures who are embodiment of gurus.” So like that, then light next one, also think like that.

Now everything finished, then one can do each country, Nepal, India, Tibet, then also other Buddhist countries, those who have many holy objects. Then again one can do ten directions Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all the holy objects. At the end, again one can do more like that, more extensive. Then one can dedicate the merit for bodhicitta and to achieve enlightenment. Normally I repeat, by sealing with emptiness, to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings, then particularly that project. The success of the Amitabha Centre, whatever they wish, whatever the organization wishes, to be able to succeed everything. So, the place, the whole place, everything, all their material needs, to receive, then, to be beneficial for all sentient beings to meet the Dharma, to actualize the path, become enlightened, particularly the Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching, the unification of sutra and tantra.

THE BENEFITS OF OFFERING TO THE FPMT
It can also be dedicated to the general organization, the FPMT, general organization activities and then also individual, other meditation centers, that all their works to benefit other sentient beings to be succeeded immediately, to receive all the needs, and then dedicate that, all the students of this organization to be able to actualize the complete path to enlightenment, the lam-rim path, graduated path to enlightenment, the pure teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa, in this very lifetime, and especially and all the hard workers, all the members who sacrifice their time, energy, material, their life, who sacrifice to benefit sentient beings, to serve the Buddhadharma, by working for a meditation center. For all the students to have a long healthy life, and that all the actions of body, speech and mind to become Dharma, whatever they do to become Dharma. That all their wishes to be succeeded according to the Dharma, from now on never to be reborn in the lower realms. And even enlightenment is not achieved in this life at death-time to be able to be born in the pure land of Amitabha, to achieve enlightenment there, to be able to achieve enlightenment, so like that.

Then one can dedicate for all sentient beings. There are many other different dedications, so one can dedicate for all sentient beings.

One thing what makes me to feel happy, to feel so fortunate and really feel happiness in the heart, that is this great service to the world. Without the Dharma, the teaching of Buddha, the cause of suffering of sentient beings cannot be eliminated, the cause of the suffering of sentient beings which is in their mind, which is their mind, this cannot be changed, this cannot be stopped. There’s no other way you can do this without Dharma. Eliminating the cause of suffering of samsara which is within the mind of sentient beings, this you can do only with Dharma. So, their mind transforming into Dharma. So for that, you have to reveal the Dharma. So, even Buddha coming in the world, even Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, all those buddhas, Maitreya Buddha, all those buddhas coming in the world, descending in the world, is to reveal Dharma. To free the sentient beings from the suffering, which means to liberate the sentient beings from all the suffering and causes.

So, the best guidance, the best method, the highest method, the best guidance is teaching Dharma, revealing Dharma. Explaining the path, and letting them practice and letting them transform their mind into path. So therefore, that I feel extremely fortunate that something, real thing to enjoy, happiness in the heart that this is mainly by kindness of Lama Yeshe. Also, first His Holiness, who is very close to us, those especially who received teachings from Lama, who received guidance from Lama, who have been taking care by Lama, guided by Lama, so particularly Lama Yeshe’s kindness, that has enabled so many sentient beings to meet Dharma and the right path to peace, as is taught by Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. Not just only that we teach but also, by inviting many excellent, perfectly qualified teachers, who are living in the practice, sutra and tantra, who are fully qualified masters, who are a hundred percent, who are reliable, whom you can trust, who can reveal the whole path to enlightenment, who have compassion, whom you can trust. So, so many fully qualified teachers, all these meditation centers.

On top of that, beside those resident teachers who are extremely qualified, who has compassion, who doesn’t mislead, that whom people can trust, which is very important. On top of that, many high lamas are invited, many qualified, great practitioners, who have very high realization of tantra, not only three principal aspects of the path. We are able to invite, the organization, the meditation centers are able to invite, able to arrange the facilities, so many other sentient beings are able to meet Dharma. Every year able to do like this.

To rejoice, what makes one feel happiness in the heart that we are so fortunate, to be able to serve like this. One thing is the path, the teachings that are complete, unmistaken, and reliable. The other thing is the teacher, who reveals the path, is fully qualified. They themselves studied their whole life, practiced, so very reliable. They can reveal the whole path; they can be used as an example. So these two, being able to invite teachers and able to have many resident, perfect and qualified teachers. And then time to time able to invite many high lamas, those who are great yogis. And then, also including, time to time also His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is the actual Buddha of Compassion in a human form, so to arrange teachings, in the East and the West. Seeing all these benefits that other sentient beings are receiving, that we’re able to offer, that the organization is able to offer this, so this is extremely fortunate, something to really enjoy. However, even myself doesn’t practice Dharma, however to see, to be able to, having opportunity however, that together, all the students together to benefit the world, like this. So that is just something, something to really enjoy, to feel happiness in the heart. So this just happened [GL], sorry [RL]. So I stop here.

[End of Discourse]

LECTURE 22: 10 DECEMBER 1992 AM

THE DANGERS OF CLINGING TO THIS LIFE
So as I explained last night, without understanding the important point of the, the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, the renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness, without these three, that it is not clear that, as I mentioned before, one of the days, that even you are practicing meditation following what’s called a spiritual path, however, it’s not clear where, the practice what one is doing, where it leads. It’s not clear, you have no idea. The practitioner has no idea, without understanding, these different levels of motivations, the different levels of Dharma, motivation. However the important points of the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness, without understanding this, this fundamental thing, without understanding this fundamental thing, it’s not clear, you have no idea, you’re doing some meditation, meant to be following some spiritual path but not clear, you have no idea where this will lead, just believing that it does good, just general belief that this is what I was taught by the meditation teacher and, so just believe that it will do good things, just that it will do good things [RL], good things. So that’s all, so nothing much [GL]. Nothing is clear.

That also, so if somebody asks whether your action, the meditating, whether it’s virtue or not, if somebody ask, the person has no clear idea. Whether it become virtue, whether it become Dharma. Then if you ask what is the definition of virtue, what is the definition of Dharma, if the person is, become confused, doesn’t have a clear idea. So, perhaps the person think that, maybe the person think that he doesn’t have an angry mind, when he’s doing the meditation that he doesn’t have an angry mind, so that’s, He doesn’t do out of anger, so it’s positive. Perhaps the person might think that. It is hard to understand that, to recognize the meditation that is done, with attachment clinging to this life, that is nonvirtue. The meditation that is done with eight worldly dharma, the thought of the eight worldly dharma, the attachment clinging to this life, that is a nonvirtue because that action, the meditation become nonvirtue, not Dharma, because the attitude is not Dharma. So that is difficult. Without studying, without being introduced, it is not easy to understand this point what is Dharma, what is not Dharma. So, like that. The person just assumes that one is sitting in meditation position, and one is concentrating on something, so that’s a meditation and that’s positive, just simply by that, simply because what, it’s called meditation so it’s positive.

Even if one practices Highest Yoga Tantra, which is quickest path to achieve enlightenment, meditating on the deity, those practices of deity, such as the generation stage and the completion stage, meditation on the tummo, the fire in the navel chakra, meditating on the channels, wind, the kundalini, the drops. Even if one does this Highest Yoga Tantra meditation practice, without the renunciation of samsara, the tantra one practices, even if it is a more skillful means to quickly achieve enlightenment, and Highest Yoga Tantra to achieve enlightenment quickest. However without the renunciation of samsara, even the Highest Yoga Tantra practice does not even become the cause to achieve liberation for self, it does not even become the cause to achieve liberation, from samsara, for oneself.

The tantra subject is Dharma, particularly the Mahayana teaching, the tantra, but the person’s action, practicing, tantra, the quickest path, the Highest Yoga Tantra, so without the renunciation of samsara, there’s danger that it becomes cause of samsara. Instead of becoming cause of liberation it becomes cause of samsara. There’s no renunciation of samsara, the motivation to practice tantra doesn’t have renunciation of samsara. So that means attachment, clinging to the samsara, the samsaric happiness, perfections. So therefore the tantra practice, becomes cause of samsara. No matter how high, extremely secret, no matter how high it is, besides it does not become cause to achieve liberation for self, it becomes cause of samsara. Not only that, even if it practiced, if tantra is practiced, even it is very secret, even if it is a very profound, even if it is a very high, very secret practice, if one practices without the renunciation of samsara, without the renunciation to this life, which means practicing tantra with attachment clinging to this life, with the thought of the eight worldly dharma, one’s own practice of tantra it becomes even the cause of lower realms, even the cause to be born as preta, hungry ghost, or to be born in hell.

So, there’s a danger even to become cause of lower realms, to be born in the lower realms. Even one does meditation of deity, but one practice without the renunciation to this life. In other words it means practicing with the attachment clinging to this life. So this way there’s a danger to be reborn, the practice, there’s danger to become cause of lower realms.

So there have been stories. In India, India and also in Tibet, there were two meditators who were meditating deity, the extremely wrathful aspect of Buddha of wisdom, Manjushri. Manjushri is a Buddha who is the embodiment of all the Buddhas’ wisdom. In order to develop wisdom and in order to eliminate obstacles, to complete the Dharma practice, so there’s an extremely powerful deity who is a manifestation of the Buddha Manjushri. There happened two meditators who spent their life meditating on the deity, doing a retreat in a hermitage, doing retreat all their life in a hermitage. So, one meditator died and was reborn as a hungry ghost, very powerful hungry ghost that has a [RL] similar aspect [to the deity he was practicing]. The who did not die, who was still doing retreat, every evening, one who was still doing retreat did a special practice, in the evening time, or when, after the sunset, what it’s called that time, dusk time, around dusk time, it’s a time that spirits, it’s one of the times that spirits are running. So there’s a special practice to make charity for the spirits who live on the smell of food. It’s called eating smell, those spirits. So there’s a special practice. You burn flour, it can be any flour, from barley or from corn or whatever, doesn’t have to be specific. Perhaps it might have also other things to mix. However, then there’s a prayer, you bless and then, make charity for the spirits, so that helps them very much. So it’s like, food.

So, my mother, I don’t know how she does but anyway, she does all the time, even if she’s sick she asks somebody to do in the evening time, outside to burn to make charity for the spirits.

So, the one who was already born as a spirit, his friend, who was still doing retreat, so every evening he was doing this. So his friend who was born as a spirit [RL] then came, came to have this smell of the food, to receive this, this is called sur in Tibetan language, this practice, it’s called sur. Which benefits a lot for the spirits and also for the practitioner, creates a lot of merit. So, the friend saw this being with many hands and legs, similar form of the deity. So, I think, so every night when he does this, he comes to receive the sur.

And then, not only that, there happened other stories. Even though they spent their life retreating, practicing tantra, doing meditations of deity, but because it’s not done correctly. The mistake is, the tantra practice was done without lam-rim, without the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, without, bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, without right view, emptiness, without, renunciation of samsara, without this proper attitude or without the lam-rim which means graduated path to enlightenment, without any of these three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment. So therefore, it’s done with the attachment clinging to this life, so therefore that’s what happened, the result.

So now you have to understand that, people even having some experience of tantra, some experience of completion stage, even those Hindus by meditating on the fire, in the chakra, even Hindus doing meditations on the chakras, do kundalini, meditating on the fire, so meditating on the fire, even this, visualizing fire in the navel chakra, and able to, able to bring up the sperm, the drop or the kundalini, able to bring up to in the channel, even this, even Hindus you experience much, you experience some bliss, so much more than ordinary sexual pleasure. Even Hindus, by doing they have even these meditations, meditating on the fire inside the navel chakra and, to melt kundalini, the drops, to bring up, in other words without losing them out to bring it up.

It’s possible they also have some similarity but not exact according to what is explained in the Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra, the Highest Yoga Tantra, that one experiences all the twenty five absorptions, like I think you have gone through this death meditation. For example when a dog dies or a human being dies one has to go through these twenty five absorption, then the extremely subtle consciousness this, everything stopped, gross mind, subtle mind, everything stopped, then only what is left is extremely subtle consciousness. Then after that, then extremely subtle consciousness, when the gross mind and subtle mind is stopped, what’s left is extremely subtle consciousness. Then after that, when that is stopped then the consciousness leaves from the heart, not this normal bumping heart, the heart that we can transplant, [GL] or this bumping heart, what we call heart attack, the person’s having heart attack, not that heart. By measuring from the two breasts, then in the center, inside the central channel, for example when you have a sliced snake body, when the, after the snake’s body is sliced, then you see there’s the body which has the heart, so there’s the head then after some time, a little bit down, then there’s something like this [GL], this is skin, this is the body, then her body is other side [GL], so this one, there’s something like this, even her body is completely sliced, but this one’s still a little bit moving like this, in the heart, it’s still not dead , there’s the consciousness.

THE EARLY DAYS OF THE FPMT
So many years ago, after we arrived from India, the very first disciple, Western disciple, who became a nun later, passed away in Solu Khumbu, down below, the place called Junbesi. Tulshig Rinpoche who I mentioned the story some time ago, at his monastery, there’s a nunnery, there are many nuns, and also monks. So she was sent there by Lama to do retreat, that deity that I mentioned before to do retreat for a long time. He gave her so many, huge number of mantras to recite, I think, I do not remember, it was a huge number of mantras to recite. So she finished everything, she did everything, and then Lama went to see her, so that was the last meeting. Then she received an initiation, one special deity, female aspect, Buddha, called Vajrayogini. So she received initiation from the Rinpoche. I don’t know whether there was translator or not during the initiation time because usually there’s no translator. There’s one or two nuns maybe, maybe one nun who speaks a little bit of English. So however, even there’s no translator who can translate everything but it seems there’s some Western people take initiation just, there’s some understanding of the deity and strong faith, just take from the lama, even there’s no translation, translating the whole thing.

One American who was a monk before, one American student whose name is Ngawang Chodak, the Tibetan, the Dharma name, so he received, he requested this deity’s initiation and Rinpoche gave the initiation. I think he knew a few Tibetan words, but Rinpoche gave the initiation, no, I think it’s a commentary, I think [RL], gave a commentary, gave with the hands, gave a commentary of the deity Vajrayogini, with hands [RL], so anyway he received the commentary like that. Rinpoche speaking Tibetan and also then, explained with the hands, like that. So he received the commentary [RL]. So like that.

So anyway, I don’t know whether she had any translator or not during the initiation time but however, she received initiation, she did retreat. So during that time I think she had a lot of experiences, during that retreat. She has very strong, karmic contact to this deity. Usually in her life she always makes painting, she often makes paintings of this deity, quite often, paintings of this deity. So I remember one time I drew something very naughty there, [RL, GL], while she was not there in the room [RL]. Something that she doesn’t draw, leave out, while she’s away, then often she makes painting of this deity, so I just do to make fun. [GL]

So I think she had a very good experience, I don’t know how much she understood the commentary of the path, that I’m not sure. It seems that according to her letter, it seemed that she might have realized emptiness, that’s what she was talking about but I couldn’t understand well, completely all the letter, that time. So while I was building, Lama was building Kopan Monastery so I was building, at the same time I was building the Lawudo monastery up on the mountain, where there’s the cave that, there are people talk about a story relating to me. So at the same time I was building monastery up there where this school or where these monks started, so originally started from there.

ZINA
After I returned back from Tibet through India, the plan was, after Lama and myself, after we met Zina, the first Western student, who was a Russian. Her family lived in Russia. Her father was a king, had the title of a king. However during one of the revolutions then they escaped from Russia and lived in France and maybe she lived in France when she was young but I think later part of life, seems mostly lived in America, before coming to Nepal. But I think she traveled quite a bit and also lived for some time in Greece or many different places. But that she had all sorts of life—poor life, very wealthy, middle class, she had all sorts of life. So, I think she did everything, all those different aspects, every lifestyle. So however, because of that she knows so many people that, different class of people, rich people, middle, the high class people, middle class, then even the simple people, so all kinds of people she knew or met or stayed together in different places.

Her plan was to start Mahayana meditation center in Sri Lanka. So after we spent more than nine months living together, at Darjeeling, one month, before that one month she came every day from Darjeeling, from the town, to the monastery, a monastery called Samten Chöling. There’s one new monastery belonged to one very high lama, called Tomo Geshe Rinpoche whose previous life who was a great yogi. That great yogi was the guru of Lama Govinda, who was German, went in Tibet and met Tomo Geshe Rinpoche, this great yogi, and received teachings. So he wrote The Way of the White Clouds, I think twenty years ago, maybe more than twenty years ago, when there was explosion of LSD [RL, GL], the times of the LSD, anyway, those things, when those things started. So, so many people have met Dharma through this The Way of the White Clouds, after having taken LSD and so forth [GL].

In Lama Govinda’s book The Way of the White Clouds he talks about experience of tantra, that the mind can exist without the body, so I think, I guess signs of death, those visions of death. I haven’t read it completely but I guess it gave some explanation of, some experience of tantra path. So however, also maybe trying to relate, however maybe scientifically trying to explain, I’m not sure, I myself haven’t read but this is what I’ve heard. So, however those young people who have taken LSD and so forth, so by seeing this book, they could identify the experience, they could relate the experience, so somehow that, and then The Book of the Dead by Evans-Wentz or, I think, later, that might be original one. So however, and then also the other book, the great yogi Milarepa who achieved enlightenment in one brief lifetime of degenerated time, his life story which is extremely inspiring, talking about his guru devotion, his strong practice, how his life sacrificed to his guru Marpa, who is enlightened being but manifesting or appearing as ordinary farmer, appearing as a farmer, ordinary couple, appearing like that.

So, The Way of the White Clouds written by Lama Govinda, books like this, opened their minds. First with the drugs [GL], then second with the books gave them more, because of the drug experiences then, it gave them more faith. By seeing these books then, gave them more inspiration, that first broke their concept, fixed concept of the one life, many of them had fixed concept, so by drug experience and then, according to those individual beings’ karma, it become way to start to break the very solid concept, wrong concept, to see things, to see life deeper, to see life or the mind, to see deeper than what normally believed in the West, how it is according to Western culture, or the philosophy. So to be able to see more reality, life or the mind, however, phenomena.

So then by reading these books, then that inspired to come to the East to look for, to seek spiritual master, spiritual guide, guru, and then, however, to look for spiritual guidance, new way to live the life. However, then according to individual person’s karma then some meet straight, from the very beginning they meet the Buddhadharma, meet the Buddhist teachers, who teach Buddhadharma, geshes, Tibetan teacher, geshes, lamas, like that. Then, some first met Hinduism, Hindu teacher. Then they do, they follow some time, they try for some time, by living in the ashram and so forth. So, they try for some time, then could not find satisfaction, could not find answer, after some years going to different ashrams or trying. Then some who has karma to meet Buddhadharma, then after that, then wondering what about Buddhism, then go to study, or to check, Buddhism.

So because of the young people around those times, mainly those the experience of the drugs and things like that, by having read some of these books, Dharma books, so that’s how Buddhism, Buddhadharma spread to the West, was able to bring in the West, spread in the West, by inviting teachers to the West. So far it has been developing more and more, as they find answer from Buddhadharma, meaning of the life, how to live the life, what for the life is, and things like that. Through meditation practice, they are able to find satisfaction in the life, things like that. So the basic thing is the experience, what they had.

So this monastery, new monastery called Samten Chöling, which is in the place, in the town called Goom, before Darjeeling, I think five miles to Darjeeling I think from there. So this monastery is down below the road which goes to Darjeeling, so everybody who pass through the road can see the monastery. So we were there for nine months, vacation. Also I think, for my health, because the place, Buxa, where I lived for eight years is very mischievous place, very, very unhealthy place. And extremely hot, and not healthy.

Zina came every day from Darjeeling, since we met, after she met us, then she came every day from Darjeeling in the morning, so she came with many books, this Way of the White Clouds, Lama Govinda’s book is one, that’s the main one. She actually came to look for Tomo Geshe Rinpoche, to receive spiritual guidance, to receive meditation. But Rinpoche was not there. So somehow, one monk from that monastery thought she came to look for us, he thought came to look for me. Because knowing some English words, so he thought that she came to look for me.

So somehow then, we met her, and then, she started coming every day from town to ask Dharma questions. So, that time Lama, Lama has been learning English but that time in the aspect didn’t speak much English. So I tried to translate whatever I can.

The main books that she read, that she spent her life, from which books that she asks questions, the books written by those who went in Tibet, one is Madame Blavatsky, one French lady, Madame Blavatsky. Then there’s one huge thick book written by her. I think, I guess theosophical I think, this thin book I think. Then there’s another book written by, that’s I think straight Dharma, one French lady who went to Tibet, Alexandra David-Neel, that who met lama called Yonten. Her books are more straight Dharma. So these are the books that she, Madame Blavatsky is one. So she often asked questions from those books.

So, she spent like this one month, every morning coming, spent two hours or three hours, then going back. So then after one month she asked us to come down to teach. So then she spent nine months. Then, she had to go back, she had to leave, so she went to Sri Lanka. I think she might have been there before. So she was hoping to start a Mahayana meditation center there. But then however, when she came to get us, we went to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with this idea, with this plan. But however, there was a problem. She was suspected by the Indian government as a spy. I think because she’s from Russia, she’s Russian, and also maybe the way she appears. I think the way she appears I think they suspect very much as spy [GL]. So because of that problem so could not go to Sri Lanka, I think which turned out, I think that problem became become beneficial. So because of that problem then Lama thought, Lama’s idea, he thought to come back to Nepal, because this is where I was born, to come back to Nepal to do pilgrimage. So we came here [RL].

Then we lived at Boudhanath, near the stupa, in a monastery, the Gelugpa monastery near the stupa for I think, I don’t remember, for a long time. Maybe almost a year or less. Then there were one or two houses we stayed, in Boudha. So I think some years we stayed, maybe three years, something like that. So that time we had some friends, so I’m just coming back to the [RL], to the snake [GL].... so it became very long, sorry [RL, GL]. The story went on like that, but I tried to come back without talking too much about her.

Anyway, we had some friends, one French artist and one French doctor who used to go to work in the public hospital voluntarily. Every day he meditates, I don’t know what he meditates [GL]. So, we have a few friends living together in the same house for I think about three years. Even after we moved here, here there was old building, the old building that was built by the king for his guru or the astrologist, the astrologer. So even when we were living here also they were here for I think some years.

So however, when we lived down there this French doctor, there were many snakes in the field, so the French artist, they used to catch many snakes and they wear on the neck, they put on the neck and then, by holding their head and tail like this then they come.... [GL] So the doctor, he cut the snake, sliced the snake. That was during lunch time [GL]. Not at the lunch table but he did outside [RL], just lunch time to make lunch, so they were cutting the snake. So I saw one part of the body, there was still the heart, beating like this. Whole half body is completely gone, completely separated. So that was the point coming back [GL, RL].

THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH ARE NEEDED EVEN FOR TANTRA
So, what I was trying to talk about, Hindu meditations and so forth. So anyway, yeah. So, after the clear light, after everything absorbed, gross consciousness, subtle consciousness, then what is left only extremely subtle consciousness. Then that leaves from the heart. Then, as soon as it leaves from the heart then it becomes the intermediate state being, except if you’re going to be reborn in formless realm, then there’s no intermediate state being.

Even Hindus, do the twenty-five absorptions and clear light in meditation. After that then, through meditation experiencing twenty-five absorptions, through meditation of highest tantra, completion stage, then experiencing the twenty-five absorptions and clear light. To actually experience clear light, which is the direct cause of dharmakaya, the enlightenment, then after that illusory body, achieve illusory body, which is the cause of the rupakaya; now, actually to experience this through meditation, to actually experience this realization, it is impossible without bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, renunciation of samsara, emptiness, there’s no way to experience this actual tantra, actual completion state of the highest tantra, these stages—there’s no way. So however, but by meditating on the fire and tummo, fire in the navel chakra and able to melt kundalini, the sperm, able to bring up some, able to experience greater pleasure, bliss, than the ordinary sexual pleasure. Some experience of this even Hindus, even they have.

The essence of what I’m trying to say is that without the three principals of the path, renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness, so even if one practices the Highest Yoga Tantra, completion path, like these practices, the chakras, the wind, drops, so forth, the tummo, the fire meditation. That, and such as Hindus, the Hindus have some kind of, there’s some kind of similarity. There are some things which are kind of similar about these. So even one has those experiences, able to bring up kundalini and so forth, the sperm, able to have some experience, however, spending the whole life doing those meditations, without renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness, it simply becomes cause of the lower realms. All this becomes cause of, it’s just another additional negative karma, cause of reincarnating in the lower realms, hungry ghost, animal, preta, hungry ghost, hell, animal, one of these realms. It just becomes another negative karma, that’s it. So that’s the point what I was trying to bring, trying to understand the point.

So even if somebody has some experience of these, within one’s own body, meditation on the channels or something, chakras. Anyway, the conclusion is without the realization of the three principal aspects of the path there’s no way to have actual experience. One may have some similar, some similarity, one may get some similar experiences, able to bring up through meditating on the fire at the navel, then able to bring up the sperm, the seed, things like that. One may get some experience or similarity but not the complete actual one, through the twenty-five absorptions then experiencing clear light, then from that illusory body. This is the actual one which is the path, the completion stage path to enlightenment, the Highest Yoga Tantra path, the completion stage path to enlightenment.

Understanding this point becomes very important so that one doesn’t waste one’s own life. The point is that this one time perfect human rebirth that we’ve found so we don’t waste by doing meaningless work doing wrong practice. Believing that it’s correct but actually doing wrong practice. The whole life is spent doing wrong practice. Creating another cause of samsara or cause of the lower realms, another additional cause of lower realms. Without understanding, without the preliminary practice, realization, the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment.

Yeah, I think I stop here.

By the buddhas, bodhisattvas, due to all these merits which are merely labeled by the mind, may the I who is merely labeled by the mind achieve the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, that which is merely labeled by the mind, and lead all sentient beings who are merely labeled by the mind to that enlightenment as quick as possible.

[End of Discourse] 

LECTURE 23: 10 DECEMBER 1992 PM

LAMA YESHE’S STORY
Lama Yeshe had incredible perseverance to something start and complete it, to continue, every day. In Lama’s case, Lama studied English also in Darjeeling while we were there nine months. Every day, almost every day, anyway, in one week many days Lama used to go, whether it’s raining or whatever is happening. There’s no car, so we has to walk I think maybe two miles, I’m not sure, from the house where we were staying.

The house where we stayed is, there are two movie places in Darjeeling, so near the higher movie place, near to the higher movie place. So from there Lama used to go on foot to learn English. Usually the weather is very wet in Darjeeling, very foggy and normally, most of the time raining.

So Lama used to go, it’s quite far, to learn. Two very old missionaries, two old mothers, even the bodies are a little bit bent, two old missionary Christian mothers. Even they are very old but they put so much effort to learn Tibetan language, even they are quite old, but because of their strong will, strong determination they were learning very hard, trying to learn Tibetan language very hard so that to teach Christianity to the Tibetans. So Lama used to go to learn English from them for many, many months, many months. So before learning English they chanted. So I went there one or two times. They chanted, I don’t remember the meaning of the prayer, but very nice chanting, very moving chanting, very nice. I don’t know whether it’s a praise to God I’m not sure, something.

At the same time Lama used to go learn astrology from another very learned Sherpa man who is very learned in astrology and poetry and many, many things, whose name was Ngawang Yonten, who produces the calendar which has all the details, the elaborate calendar, every year. For so many years he did, that which describes everything.

So Lama studied completely astrology, and Lama said that he can produce a calendar, that which has all the details about things, explaining about year, the calendar talks about each year what problems will happen different parts of the world. Just, it gives a rough idea: rain, war and so forth, many, many details. And then many, many details of each day, different planets, different good and bad, all these things.

KARI RINPOCHE
So however, so, when we went in Solu Khumbu first time, so there’s one Gelugpa monastery. There was no Gelugpa monastery before but that time there happened one Gelugpa monastery, the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition, following the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition. So this great ascetic lama called Kari Rinpoche that who was, originally he was a simple monk in this large monastery in the upper place of Tibet called Sherka, this monastery which has been situated on a very, very high mountain rock. Huge rocky mountain and the monastery is not on the right, a little bit down, almost near to the top, kind of, almost near, close to the top. And you wonder, because when I was going to Tibet I was very small, so when we were looking from down there, from the ground up, it looks like, how you can go up there? It’s just rock, very huge rocky mountain, how the monastery is, how you can go up there? But there is a road that goes around. So you go up like this. So, monastery is here, there’s a rocky mountain, monastery is up here. So then you go round and then I don’t know how they made, so in the rocks they put wood, big wood, and then put the stuff, from the ground, the grass growing, the stuff that grows on the rocks, so they put on big pieces on those, big pieces of wood, put like this in the rock. Then they put those earth, the grass growing. So this is the path to the monastery. But once you reach there everything is very shiny, very clean, very neat and inspiring. And there are five hundred monks, many, many young monks there.

So, this Kari Rinpoche, he was a simple monk there. Then, the monastery asked him to be manager of the monastery, to collect grain from their own population or their own the people who belong to, villages, towns, like that, belong to the monastery, somehow connected to that monastery. So then the manager has to go to collect the grain from the villages. This is for the monks living, for their food. From the barley then they make tsampa, and then, they offer to the monks. I think he did business for the monastery to, doing exchange or these things, grain and so forth. So however, so he completely failed, he failed the business [GL]. So, because of that, that gave him big experience, big understanding, renunciation of samsara. That gave him big understanding. So his mind completely changed from that time after he failed the business, whatever exchanging the grain or collecting the grain from the people or whatever the business was. So then, he got somehow renunciation to this life, from that, by being failed in business.

Then, so he changed his mind and he went to take teachings. So, he took lam-rim teachings. Seems he maybe did not, probably, it seems didn’t do extensive studies in Dharma, like debating so forth, extensive philosophy, but took the essence of Dharma, the lam-rim teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment and those very important, essential practice. Received from this one very learned, very high lama called Lingka Dorje Chang, one very high lama, very learned. The little boy who came just before so that’s, he’s the incarnation of that lama. So, the Kari Rinpoche, he took lam-rim teachings, so all the practices, all the commentaries, so teachings on renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness, samatha, so forth, then, however, those basic practices, about the teachings on the basic practices he received from this very high lama, very learned lama, Lingka Dorje Chang.

Then, after he received the whole lam-rim teaching, maybe also he received also tantra, different practices, so however, then after he left the monastery, he went on the mountains. Then lived in a hermitage for many years, in a mud house. So in Tibet, when you travel in Tibet you can see mountains that are like ants, like place where the ants live, so many many holes, like the place where the ants live. When you tear off the rock, so if the ants live there then there are many, many holes. Like that, mountains you can see many many holes—those are hermitages in the past. Now so many of these mountains where there’s lots, so many, hundreds, so many hermitages, many are kind of now worn. Even the hermitage, even those mud houses are not there. So it’s kind of all ruined. And still you can see many, so many from outside you can see like a hole, you see many holes in the mountain.

I think he lived in a hermitage for six years, in a mud house, never went outside. Also there he did “taking the essence” practice. So there’s taking the essence with flower, with water, with stone. That, in order to save time, so if you have to go to look for food then you have to go very far, many, many miles, then, it takes a lot of time. You come back, then again you have to go back when the food finishes. So, to save time, to continue the retreat, and also to have clear mind, to have very clean, clear mind, so for the success of this calm abiding meditation which has nine levels, which is the method how to achieve one-pointed concentration. The calm abiding meditation, this is the one, by achieving this meditation only then you can do perfect meditation without attachment-scattering thought and sinking thought. So, these two are the main obstacles for the concentration, to have perfect concentration, perfect one-pointed concentration, without damaging the mind.

So, calm abiding meditation, this is the one, one has to apply these methods what is explained there, in order to develop concentration. So however, by achieving the calm abiding mind, calm abiding, this meditation, then you can achieve one-pointed concentration and not just that, then, extremely refined the body and mind, the rapturous ecstasy of the body and mind. So, it’s not just one-pointed concentration. So at the end this is what one experiences, one achieves, on the basis, by achieving the one-pointed concentration.

So however, so this lama for six years he lived in retreat. I think did this “taking the essence”, living on the pills so you don’t have to cook food. It saves a lot of time, and makes the mind clear and able to achieve easily the calm abiding meditation that which has nine levels. So, this lama accomplished all this, and renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness, all these things. And because of this, the lama, because of having completed the samatha, this calm abiding meditation, which has nine levels, so, and also, possible, that time also tantra realization, but however, in the common view definitely actualized those three principals of the path and samatha.

So, that’s why, Kari Rinpoche, this lama, had clairvoyance, no resistance to be able to tell the future. However, this lama will tell you, if you meet this lama then even you don’t ask, this lama will tell you. So he knows what your purpose, what your plans are. So he will tell, even you don’t ask for it he will tell [GL, RL], he will tell that “do this, don’t do that”, without asking you get the advice.

After he came to Solu Khumbu, he was one of the lamas that everybody go to ask to pray for people who died in Tibet, the Solu Khumbu area and who are sick, who are living. So he’s one of the lama besides Trulshig Rinpoche, this one lama that everybody ask prayer for help for those who died, to liberate them from the lower realms, to not get reborn in the lower realms, asking to pray to help, and also those who are living ones.

So, he’s ascetic lama, so he keeps nothing, no offering, no material, he keeps nothing. So everything is offered. So there’s nuns, monks. Now many died, become now very little number. That time there were quite a big number of monks and nuns. So all the offerings what he received then he take care, with that then he take care of all the monks and nuns, like that. Everything, whatever the people offer. Himself, just wear very ragged robes, like clothes that he picked up from the dump. Dump? Yeah, clothes that’s thrown out, old clothes that is thrown out in the garbage, like that, himself wears like this.

In the common view, he’s a great bodhisattva. Even if somebody offers, even some servants make special food for him, momos, the Tibetan food momo or something, special food for him, so that, Rinpoche feels that, he says that my monks, my people, the monks, the nuns, they don’t have this food so how can I eat, how can I myself alone, how can I have this? Even somebody, the servants, even they try to make special food for him, so this is the attitude. However, because of the power of his bodhicitta, so, because of his realization of bodhicitta so everything, his body become, because his mind, the realization of bodhicitta, this holy mind, because of that then, the body, even his body, whole thing becomes blessed, becomes a relic, become holy, even his robes, everything become holy, a relic.

So this Rinpoche time to time he takes aspect of sickness, so sometimes he vomits blood and things like that. So whatever comes from his body, the disciples make pills out of that, mixed with tsampa, flour. So if he vomits blood, in a container, so they made pills out of that. So people who get sick, who has colds and any disease, headache like that, who has any of those disease, by taking this pill they get completely healed. So that’s the power of his bodhicitta, power of his realization of bodhicitta. So, the whole body, even the clothing, everything, the robes, everything become relic, holy, has power, carries blessing.

When we went to see this lama, sometimes he takes aspect of sickness, then when he hears some good news, about the teachings of Buddha, and, something good thing happening in the world or for the Tibetans, then immediately takes the aspect of being recovered.

However, so this lama heard that we came, so he invited us. So he put some Dharma text above the shelf, for us to carry to America, to bring to America. So during that time, so the lama predicted to Zina and the other girl, New Zealand girl, Jacqueline, the lama said both of them they will be able to directly perceive emptiness, not just able to realize emptiness but, what the lama says, directly, able to see directly emptiness, means they can become higher beings, arya beings in this life. The lama predicted to those two, Zina and Jacqueline, both of them will be able to directly see emptiness in this life, and did a lot of prayers at the end when we were parting, leaving, then the lama did so much prayers to be able to spread Dharma.

So there’s some text he kept to take to America, so he did a lot of prayers. There’s Guru Puja, this Highest Yoga Tantra practice, the path, then I think there’s Yamantaka, maybe also Vajrayogini, so some commentaries, I don’t remember exactly but sadhanas, like that, different texts, also lam-rim. So he did a lot of prayers, so he said, he advised us to take it to America, doesn’t matter to whom we will give but as long as it reaches America, that is important.

So, when we first, the person who sponsored the tour, first tour from Kathmandu straight to New York, that was the first tour to the West. So there is one very wealthy Chinese man who had a shipping business, extremely devoted, he was translating many sutras from Chinese into English, in one of those buildings in New York that, one of those very tall buildings. Where he does work translating sutra from Chinese into English is one of those very high buildings, on the top, had to go very far, from the lift, to the top. So there are a few people, a few American girls translating, maybe they know Chinese language, so they were translating and he corrected them. So while he was making phone call, all those business, all those problems, all those business, shipping and so forth, so while he’s making phone call also then he correcting the sutra texts [GL, RL]. He corrected the other people, and those girls who were working for him, also he corrected.

So anyway, he was called Mr. Chang. He was the first benefactor who sponsored the whole tour, coming and going, and also, I think also eight months, so from New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, quite a few places, so everything he sponsored. He has a library that collects all the texts whatever he can get, in microfiche. All the Kangyur, Tengyur, many hundreds of volumes which are in the monastery filled up in the shelf, so he had, because they are microfiche, so in a small container [RL, GL]. He’s the benefactor who built a monastery for His Holiness Karmapa in New York.

ZINA DIES
So anyway, so because this lama predicted to Zina, to her and this girl, when she wrote to me, when she was doing Vajrayogini retreat, so she had a lot of experiences but she asked me to come down because there was nobody down there to help her. That was during the rainy season, summer time rainy season, and somehow I didn’t make it to go down to her place, Junbesi.

So after the six months being at Lawudo where the monastery was built, where the cave is, so I came down from there to Kathmandu, somehow I still didn’t get to go to see her. So afterwards, I’m not sure even I went there how much I could help but I felt some disappointment that, but I’m not sure how much I could have helped.

While I was doing the second meditation course here, in the old house here, so that time she came, just for a short time. She was here in the first meditation course that I did and second time she was staying down there in Boudhanath and she came up for I think one hour, she was in the teaching for one hour, two hours, something like that. Then she left for the mountain as Lama advised. So then, that was the last meeting, so I didn’t meet her after that.

So she passed away there. She passed away there and some stomach [problem], something to do with swallowing or something. But that got better. I think maybe the condition of death was the heart, the way I heard. However she had very good death, the actual time of death, and also cremation time, the good, the weather and so forth those are very good signs.

So however after some time I checked one very high lama in South India, who was highly respected by His Holiness Dalai Lama’s younger tutor His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche, who is my root guru, and His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, all those the top lamas, who are guru of many of the monks of Sera, Gaden, Drepung those largest monasteries, who are the guru of those monasteries. I went to ask this lama to check her rebirth what happened. So this lama said, “Extremely, she’s in extremely good state, her rebirth is extremely good.” So in my mind I understood the pure realm, that she was born in the pure land of Buddha.

I have one friend in England, a pen-friend, a benefactor, I never met her but she took care of me for six years, six or seven years, when I was in school, who spent all the money for the hospital expenses, medicine for many years, clothing, and, food, at Buxa, when I was at Buxa living with Lama. So six or seven years she took care. I never met her but she treated me like her son, very, very loving mother, that even by seeing her picture you can feel that. Anyway, I think she’s a writer, there’s books written by her. So one time she asked me a question, “What, do you like to come to England?” So I, I don’t remember exactly what I answered, so she sent another letter. She said, “When you become like Lama Trungpa, then that time you can come to England.” [GL] That’s what she said. So anyway, so I asked about, asked the lama about her rebirth. So the lama said, “She has good rebirth now,” which means after some time, she may be deva or human being, but which means after some time it changes. So didn’t say where she will reincarnate.

So, but Zina, the lama mentioned, for Zina this high lama Targyab? Rinpoche, he mentioned extremely good. So in my mind I thought she’s in pure realm of Buddha, and didn’t say “now is good”, he didn’t say like other, the benefactor.

So, then also, somebody asked, I think one American nun called Thubten Wangmo, anyway, she went there to check, place where Zina, she did retreat. So she asked Trulshig Rinpoche where Zina was born, so Rinpoche said in the pure land of this female aspect Buddha, Vajrayogini, in the pure land of that deity.

So however, some years ago, she was reincarnated in France, in Paris, but I didn’t pay much attention. I heard something but I didn’t pay much attention. Then, then again some of the people asked again to the same lama, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, who is the head lama of the Sakya sect, one of the four Tibetan Mahayana sects, who’s also my guru, from whom I took a number of initiations. The Sakyapa have a very precious initiation called Thirteen Golden Dharmas, that in Tibet, these teachings, initiations they don’t give to just anybody, they don’t let it pass beyond from the fence of the monastery, anyway what it means, so they keep it very secret.

So, this Thirteen Golden Dharmas, so most of it, during the, I think, Second Dharma Celebration we, as Lama, Lama didn’t decide but he had this plan maybe to request and to receive. So I just continued Lama’s wish, so requested His Holiness what he think. Then, so then requested to His Holiness Sakya Trizin, so we received, during this, those who were there, students who were there, during Second Dharma Celebration, so received most of this initiation.

I think somehow Rinpoche Zina’s recognized reincarnation a long time ago, but then, last year, two, year before, something like that, so again people were talking about it, so somebody asked Rinpoche. Then Rinpoche did many observations, he checked whether this child is the incarnation of Zina. And, I heard all that thing, then I wanted to make sure, so I personally asked Rinpoche, wrote, asking that to make observation again, to check again, whether it is reincarnation of Zina, or not.

So when Rinpoche was in Malaysia, making tour in Malaysia, Rinpoche did many observations, so Rinpoche sent a very clear letter saying that this is definitely Zina’s reincarnation, that he did many observations and all comes on same answer. So he sent a very clear letter.

So last year, last year or this year? [Rinpoche asks someone] Last year, so then we asked the family to come here, then we inaugurated, last time here. So since I mentioned a little bit this morning so I thought that to mention some part of her life story anyway, but again it became long.

So please tea.

[Tea break]

THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH: YOUR WISDOM IS YOUR GUIDE
So first, first you understand the importance of practicing renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness, importance of having these three fundamental realizations. If one doesn’t have, what happens? If one has these realizations, if one practice these things, what do benefit you get from that? It’s extremely important. Understanding of this, clearly, clearly, is the very essence of the course, this one-month course. This is the main subject. So if one doesn’t understand, if one did not understand the important point, practicing these three, or to have the realization of these three, it is very important how to make the life, what makes life most meaningful. The answer is missing if one doesn’t understand, if one has no understanding of the purpose of practicing these three. At least one should have an intellectual understanding. Then at least you have the intellectual wisdom so that you can guide yourself wherever you are, whenever you want to do practice, then you know how to correctly practice. Then you have to wisdom to discriminate your own actions whether it is becoming the cause of liberation or the cause for samsara. Whether it is becoming the cause of happiness in future lives, or whether it is becoming the cause of the lower realms. Whether it is becoming the cause of enlightenment or not. Whether it is becoming the remedy to cut the root of samsara or not. So it becomes very clear.

So your own wisdom becomes your guide or it is the guidance to your own life, guide of everyday, your own mind becomes your own guide to guide everyday life, every day your own activities, to direct everyday life activities, to direct towards happiness. Not to direct towards suffering, but to direct towards happiness in future life which is more important than the happiness in this life. Direct, more important than liberation from samsara, the most important happiness, the full enlightenment. So one can direct, by having this wisdom, by having even this intellectual understanding, you can direct your actions, your everyday life actions in the best way towards enlightenment. You can make it most beneficial towards all sentient beings.

Even if we went in the lam-rim subjects, in the topics, even if we went into very extensive details, or very extensive philosophical teachings, even we go through very extensive details but if one doesn’t understand, if one has no understanding, if one missed out on understanding the importance of practicing renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness, then you don’t have within your mind the important guide or guidance. It’s like the gate, whether you let the enemy come in to destroy yourself or he comes to the gate you block it. You don’t let it come in. So it’s like that. So if there’s a water flood, if there’s an ocean or lake that’s going to run out and destroy the whole city, then you have to block, you have to build a dam or make a fence. You have to block that danger before it comes out. So like that the practicing the three principles of the path is like this. It is incredibly important protection, to protect oneself from the lower realm sufferings, from the whole entire samsara, even from the lower nirvana, the lower liberation, the blissful state of peace for oneself. So even protection from that because if you fail in this, if you are bound to this, then so many eons, inconceivable eons you don’t become enlightened. You don’t generate the bodhicitta and enter in the Mahayana path, cannot achieve full enlightenment. So it becomes protection. For example the bodhicitta from the three principles of the path, bodhicitta becomes an important protection for you to not fall into the lower nirvana, the lower liberation.

UNDERSTANDING THE LAM-RIM IS PREFERABLE TO HAVING CLAIRVOYANCE
So now, it is mentioned that Kadampa Geshe Pulchungwa, those meditators, followers of Lama Atisha’s tradition, those who have realization of bodhicitta, emptiness, renunciation of samsara and then great yogis of the also tantra, of the Highest Tantra, so these Kadampa Geshes, those who practice tantra, but very secretly. However in reality, that are great yogis who achieved very high tantric path. However, Kadampa Geshe Pulchungwa asked to Chen-ngawa, What is better? To have psychic power to transform things, then the clairvoyance to be able to tell the past and the future, and then the concentration, having a stable concentration so that even if somebody beats a very big drum in front of your ear, beating a big drum in front of you cannot disturb your concentration. The sound of the drum cannot interfere with your one-pointed concentration. So these powers, clairvoyance and this stable concentration, which can last so long and even beating a big drum near the ear cannot disturb your one-pointedness concentration. Or practicing lam-rim, facing life, you are facing towards the lam-rim. You are turned towards the lam-rim, the practicing lam-rim, the renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness. Which one do you prefer? This one, or having those powers? Psychic power, clairvoyance, stable one-pointedness concentration.

So Kadampa Geshe Chen-ngawa replied that “I would much prefer even just the thought to want to examine what lam-rim is, what is the graduated path to enlightenment? I would prefer much even the thought want to question and examine what the lam-rim is. I would prefer much this than having all those powers. Why? Because these realizations we have never achieved before, we never had before. From the beginningless rebirth until now we did not achieve. But these powers, psychic powers, this clairvoyance, such these stable concentrations we achieved numberless times in the past from beginningless rebirth. So it is nothing new.” Kadampa Geshe Chen-ngawa replied like this.

So this is one very important point, and these well-experienced meditators, according to what, those who actualized the path, the path, guru devotion, renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness and even highest tantra, so this is their, those who developed mind in the graduated path to enlightenment. This is their point of view. This is what they see, what is important, what is not important. What is the most beneficial thing to practice in life. What is the most worthwhile thing to practice, to achieve in this life.

So by achieving samatha, this calm abiding meditation, I said also even Hindus, they have this. So achieved these things in the past, numberless times, had clairvoyance through meditation, achieved through meditation. The clairvoyance according to karma, due to karma, like as I mentioned, even those eagles their eyes have the power, due to karma, to be able to see so far, to be able to see what is behind the mountain. If there is food or anything. However like the devas when they are dying due to karma they can remember from where they came and where they are going to be reborn. They can see. So things like that, they can see past and future due to karma. They have those mental powers.

There are Hindus or there are people who have clairvoyance to a certain extent. To a certain extent they can tell, they have power to tell the past and future up to a certain extent. But there is no renunciation of samsara, there is no bodhicitta, there is no realization of emptiness, and also not sure. It is not necessarily, that even they have clairvoyance up to a certain extent, but not necessarily that again, even that they understand how to practice Dharma. Definition of what Dharma is, it is not necessarily having understanding of what definition of Dharma is. Although some people who has power to tell future, like a fortune teller, who has some power to predict the future, not necessarily that person knows Dharma and all that person’s everyday life activities become Dharma. It’s not necessary, not necessarily even having refuge in the mind, relying on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, so that means not having entered into Buddhadharma, even the very first practice or even the very first thing, foundation of all the realizations, of all the vows, even the refuge. They can be fortune tellers who have some power to tell the future things, but there is not even the refuge in their mind, no basis for all the realization, the vows.

However then, we have reincarnated numberless times in those form realms, by developing of concentration we’re born, we’ve reincarnated numberless times in those form realms, formless realms. Those samsaric realms through development of concentration, by achieving shamatha, calm abiding, through development of this concentration, such stable concentration, so we were reincarnated form realm, formless realm numberless times. So that alone didn’t help to end the samsara. That alone didn’t liberate us from the samsara.

THERE IS NO HAPPINESS IN SAMSARA
So the realization the renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness is a new experience. Yesterday—yesterday or day before yesterday?—I started to say that in samsara there is no happiness, there is no samsara happiness which is the first time to experience, which is new, never experienced before and this is the first time, there is no such thing. Any samsaric happiness we experienced numberless times. I continued the talk from there, but then I didn’t come back at the end to that point, so didn’t remember [RL]. It took so long between so many things that did not remember. Did not remember at the end, that, in the samsara any problem we experience, we talked about relationship, all the changes, parents, brothers, sisters, all the family, changing all the time, sometimes becoming, so this one being, so, like this. However, that, whatever suffering of samsara, whatever problem, also, there is no one happiness from samsara, happiness of desire realm, form realm, formless realm, however there is no one happiness of samsara which we have never experienced before. There is no enjoyment of samsara, any enjoyment that is new, that we have never experienced before. There is no material possession that this is the first time to have, never had before, there is no such thing. And even in regards sufferings, problems of samsara, whatever problem there is, everything we have experienced in the past and even that, numberless times we experienced. So there is no new sufferings or problems. The experience of the samsaric problem, there is nothing that which is the first time. There is nothing which is new. One has experienced them numberless times. Whether it’s a relationship problem, whether it is sicknesses, cancer or AIDS, whatever it is, even disease, nothing is new. Nothing is experienced for the first time. It has been experienced numberless times in the past lives.

So that, yourself and myself in the past lives, being animal, being human being, killed each other. Being animal, you and me, in the past lives, then you eating me. I have eaten you, being animals, being a tiger and eating you, being other animals, and numberless times. The same thing you have also been tiger eating me, being other animal, those zebra or goat or those animals, that you have eaten me numberless times. There is no number to count each other we have eaten, just being animal, just being a tiger have eaten each other. If you pile it up, all the bones, all the flesh, all the blood that one drank, if it has been piled up, there wouldn’t be any space left. Because it’s from beginningless rebirth, so how many times it was done, no number. So therefore if it’s been piled up, there wouldn’t be any space left, empty space. The whole sky would be filled up.

Same thing, my being a mosquito and drank blood from you and you being a mosquito and drank blood from me. Even though when it drinks blood, even though it’s one drop, very small, but if you think how many times you have been a mosquito and drank blood from each other, so if it has been collected, even the ocean, even the Atlantic Ocean, how big it is, it’s nothing. Being a mosquito and drank blood and each tiny blood is collected, how much I drank from you and how much you drank from me, there wouldn’t be any empty space left. Because it is numberless times, there is no beginning, there is no number. So from beginningless rebirth.

Because delusion, continuation of delusion has no beginning. So therefore continuation of karma has no beginning. So therefore continuation of samsara has no beginning. Samsaric suffering does not have beginning. So this is the reality.

So, being mother, you are being mother to me and me being mother to you, being child to each other and being mother to each other, then cried. Then also the friend, enemy each other, wife, husband each other. So it has no number, how many times it has been, how many times we have been like this, it has no beginning. It has no number, this much thousands, billions, it has not number, numberless times. And because of relationship problems, how much we cried, being mother each other then also, family each other, then wife, husband each other, so we cried numberless times, having problems, then if all these tears, if you collected, how much we cried because of problems of samsara, if you collected all the tears, there wouldn’t be any empty space left. Even the Atlantic Ocean become nothing compared to the tears from the beginningless rebirth.

THE WHEEL-TURNING KING
Then, we have been king numberless times. We have been the president numberless times. We have even been a wheel-turning king. That doesn’t happen all the time. Very rarely it happens, as Geshe Sopa Rinpoche explained, who has been a professor in Madison University in America for many years, who is also my teacher, who is extremely learned, all three qualities, learned, strict in morality and also good-hearted.

So as Geshe-la explained that with wheel-turning king, so usually, the other kings there is always a comparison. There is no other king who can compare, same, with the wheel-turning king. There is no other being who has the same power in the world. So the wheel-turning king who owns, who possesses, who has control over the whole continent, not just one country, not just one’s country, but the whole continent. Let’s say this is one world, this Earth is one world. There are many countries. So one who has control over the whole Earth, so in this case there is no comparison, there is no other who is comparative. It is the particular past karma, the wheel of the particular karma that is turned this time, is experienced, this time. It has control over the whole continent, the whole Earth. So if you are king of one country, then there’s other competitors, but here there is no competitor. So there is a wheel-turning king who possesses one continent, two continents, three continents, four continents. So however it doesn’t happen all the time. I don’t remember a hundred percent, but it seems like it happened the time when the Buddha descends. The time I don’t remember a hundred percent. So however, who has all the wealth and power, there is no comparative. There is nobody who competes your power.

So even like that, a wheel-turning king, even that we have been numberless times like that, who has all the power, all the control and all the wealth. We have been numberless times like that from beginningless rebirth.

HOW DEVOTION CAN HEAL: TONY WONG’S STORY
So therefore the problem is because we haven’t actualized renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness and didn’t actualize this lam-rim, the graduated path to enlightenment didn’t develop. So therefore still we are in samsara. So therefore still we are not, even though all this experience happened, we had numberless times, but because having not actualized the lam-rim path, the graduated path to enlightenment, so therefore still we are stuck in the suffering of samsara, not liberated. So therefore you see how important it is to practice lam-rim.

So what is the best way to use life. What makes life most practical. So it is the lam-rim, practicing lam-rim. Nothing of all those powers, psychic power, even that stable concentration, even those clairvoyance. So when I was traveling, two or three years ago in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, some years back, I think the first or second time I traveled in Malaysia there is one Chinese man in Malaysia called Tony Wong, who is extremely devoted, he is one who receives all the lamas who come to Malaysia. So his life is full of miracles, of his healing other people. He put a jar of water in front of Compassionate Buddha, in front of statue, Kuan Yin, the female aspect of the Compassionate Buddha. Some sentient beings manifest as male, some sentient beings maybe, for some sentient beings, maybe for Chinese, however not only that, there are also other sentient beings manifest in the female aspect, the Compassion Buddha manifest in female aspect, Kuan Yin.

So he put the jar of water in front of those statues. He has many statues at his altar. Then he chanted for many hours, different mantras. Then he give the water to, someone with cancer, who brought, by holding, patient came by being held by other people. So yesterday he had water and then today that person is able to come into the shrine room where they do chanting. So the person came today without anybody helping them, without anybody holding them. So his life is full of miracles. He heals people. Due to his sincerity and devotion to Compassion Buddha, so due to this karmic link, however he is also able to receive message, predictions, like that.

There many people who are healers. That person who didn’t get up for thirty years. They go in a wheelchair or stick. But somehow this certain healer can just cure them. There is one young Chinese man from Mainland China. So even without touching the body, just keeping the hand like this, that person is able to immediately get up. All of a sudden no need the stick. So he was talking, for example, he was giving a talk and in the audience there were many people who were sick. So while he was talking, after he had finished talking what he was talking, the person sitting there had recovered. He no longer needs to depend on his stick.

Now, however, such as these services that one is able to do is incredible, it’s great many years. But it seems there may be somebody who doesn’t get healed. So depending how heavy karma that person has, so I think it is dependent on that. Maybe it also depends on whether there is a connection with that person or not. Usually a doctor and patient, I think if there is a connection, it can also benefit. It is like the guru and disciple. If there a connection from the past, then there is great benefit. The disciple receives great benefit from that guru. So effective for the mind, to transform and to develop the mind. So they can be very similar. There is a possibility in other cases as well.

However, it is so fantastic because the person who is sick, if you think of the patients with so much suffering for so many years. They are in so much pain, they have incredible need. So to be free from this is fantastic, there’s incredible need, so therefore it’s fantastic.

ONLY DHARMA CAN HELP AT THE TIME OF DEATH
But now we have to think like this. What about if they don’t change their mind, if their mind doesn’t get better, then what happens is they do the same thing. If their mind is always under the control of ignorance, anger, attachment, if the mind never changes, nothing gets better, then their actions are not going to get better. It’s always the same thing, repeating the same negative karma again and again, creating the causes of sicknesses again and again. Again to experience arthritis, again to get cancer, again to get AIDS, again to have a heart attack and all these things. So the person creates the negative karma again and again, again and again so the person will experience the problem again and again, again and again. Including the relationship problem, fighting and killing each other. All that again and again. So, as long as the person’s mind doesn’t change, these things have no end. The person will repeat the same thing in the future lives, this life and the future lives. They will do the same thing again and again and again. Again sick, again take medicine, again go to healer, again this, this. So there is no end to the problems. There is no end to the delusions. There is no end for negative karma. There is no end for the sufferings. So this is nature of how the life goes.

So now here you can understand, you see, how extremely important it is to help the mind, how urgent it is to help the mind, to protect the mind, how urgent it is to save the mind, to protect the mind from delusions, from ignorance, anger, attachment. To cease the delusions, one solution, ceasing the delusions, eliminating the delusions is one solution [snaps fingers], one-time work, finished karma, all the sufferings, all the endless sufferings. It doesn’t happen, stop. Which suffering is going to be endless, now it becomes the end. Now it is ended. Only then the suffering of life is ended. Only by changing the mind from delusion, only by ceasing the delusion. Relationship problems, killing each other, fighting, all these things. So now you can see ceasing the delusion, the cause of suffering which is in the mind of sentient beings, which is the mind of the sentient beings. There is no other way except only by Dharma, there is no other way to do this. Only by Dharma.

The method is only by Dharma there is no other way. So now we can see how incredible important it is that, now, the fundamental change, the basic change, is the mind is to be transformed, the renunciation of samsara, from attachment clinging to samsara. And the mind to be transformed from self-cherishing thought into bodhicitta. The mind is transformed into wisdom from this ignorant concept of true existence. Now you can see the lam-rim, the graduated path to enlightenment, becomes the real healing. This becomes one-time work, actualizing this path becomes one-time work, because first of all, the mind being transformed into renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness. The actions done out of this does not become cause of lower realms, sufferings of the lower realms, does not become cause of samsara. Actions done out of these three become the highest cause of enlightenment. It becomes the remedy to cut the root of samsara.

So, then by actualizing and completing the graduated path to enlightenment, even the seed of delusion is removed, completely, so there is no cause for the delusion to arise again. So once it is removed, that’s it. That’s the end. It never rises because there is no cause in the mind for the delusion to rise. There is no seed of delusion. So therefore Dharma practice is one time. Dharma practice is one time. Actualizing the graduated path to enlightenment is just one time. Through Dharma to solve the problem is just one time. Without Dharma when one is sick, taking medicine, so forth, all those things, so-forth, all those methods, because it doesn’t change the cause, it doesn’t do anything for the negative karma. It doesn’t change at all the cause of suffering which is within the mind of sentient beings. Other than Dharma, other than lam-rim, then nothing changes the cause of suffering which is in our mind or which is out mind.

So therefore even the medicine cures but it is just temporarily, because if the karma is still there you will get sick again. If one creates the karma again one will get sick. If one creates karma again with delusion then one experiences disease again. Even if the medicine cured, it is just for time being. It doesn’t mean that you won’t get sick forever. So other than Dharma, any other solution is like that. Even it help, it is just for the time being.

THE LAM-RIM DEFINITELY LEADS TO ENLIGHTENMENT
So when I think of these benefits of lam-rim, the graduated path to enlightenment, that even two days talking about lam-rim, the graduated path to enlightenment, even three hours, even one hour talking about the three principles of the path. What it does to the mind, the benefit that other sentient beings get, what is does to the mind, is inconceivable, it is amazing. [RL] I tried to find more other words but I could not find much [GL, RL]. Unbelievable, that’s true. So, even three hours talking on the lam-rim, the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, bodhicitta, emptiness, renunciation, even just one. However, talking about all three, it definitely plants the seed in other sentient beings mind. And that imprint, seed, when the conditions come together, that seed planted in the mind, this one or two hour talk of the Buddhadharma, the lam-rim, then this get experienced out. Then the this life or future lives, when the conditions come together, this causes the realization, imprint, seed, that was planted in this one or two hours talking about lam-rim, this gets experienced out and then one is able to meet Dharma again and one is able to understand Dharma much better than before because of the imprint and then also able to actualize the path. This definitely causes all that. Three principals of the path, to have in the mind. Then by actualizing the path, by developing that, it definitely leads to the enlightenment. By ceasing all the mistakes of the mind and causes to complete all the qualities of realizations, so that’s how it leads the person’s mind to enlightenment. It leads the person to full enlightenment.

So this evolution is definite. So this one hour, even not talking all three, just talking one, either emptiness or bodhicitta or renunciation of samsara. However, even this, talking even just one, definitely causes the person to actualize that path, sooner or later, when the conditions come together. The imprint, seed that was planted in the mind of that person, that sentient being. So however even if it’s just renunciation of samsara, that definitely causes to actualize the path. Then that leads to liberation, cessation of the whole entire samsara and the causes, and then also that helps to achieve enlightenment.

So this helps, even just by leaving the imprint, even if they don’t practice now, just by leaving the imprint in the mind that definitely causes to actualize the path, then it ends the suffering of samsara that which continuation did not have beginning, now it ends. By actualizing the path, it is able to end. Otherwise so only cure is if they change. Only by revealing Dharma what is right, what is wrong. What is the cause of suffering, what is the cause of happiness. Only by explaining Dharma, how everything comes from the mind, all the suffering comes from the mind, the need to change the mind, transform the mind. By explaining Dharma, then you can change the mind. As the person practices, then he changes the mind. So by changing the mind, it changes the actions, stop the negative karmas, creating the cause of arthritis, cancer, AIDS, all the things. However the cause of the entire suffering of samsara, the cause of rebirth, the karma which causes death and rebirth. So it gets stopped. Then as well as old age, sickness, all these things.

So therefore now, so the Dharma becomes the ultimate healing. Practicing Dharma, teaching Dharma becomes the ultimate healing, listening to Dharma becomes the ultimate healing, which completely ends, which completely ceases the cause of problems. Then it ceases the whole problem.

HEALING HELPS THE SYMPTOMS; DHARMA HELPS THE CAUSE
So therefore I thought, around those years, when I think about, when I compare teaching Dharma, lam-rim especially, then healing. Healing without Dharma, just heals the person’s disease, but there is no Dharma, there is no teaching Dharma, there is no teaching meditation, doing meditation on the renunciation of samsara, bodhicitta, emptiness, without anything, just to heal the person’s disease. So when I compare teaching lam-rim, the benefit of teaching lam-rim and the healing, just to heal the person’s disease, so there is no comparison, teaching Dharma, lam-rim. As I mentioned before, that becomes the ultimate healing. So however when I compare, as long as the person’s mind doesn’t change, so there is no change in the person’s actions, there is no change to the suffering and the person gets the problem again and again. So there is big differences doing healing without Dharma and without teaching Dharma and teaching Dharma. There are huge differences in the benefits that others get.

Therefore, this inspired me how it’s worthwhile, that teaching Dharma, lam-rim, how it is extremely worthwhile. To teach Dharma to other sentient beings is extremely worthwhile. When I thinking this, comparing to the healing then it inspired, gave more energy or encouragement.

So the previous one, what Kadampa Geshe Chen-ngawa explained, that is one thing to be kept in mind. The importance of the lam-rim, first thing is the three principal aspects of the path, the important thing. Then, second thing is what Kadampa Geshe Chen-ngawa explained, what he advised, how even just to question how the lam-rim is, Kadampa Geshe Chen-ngawa thinks this is much more worthwhile than all those powers. That is because, as I just explained, when the person checks, what is the lam-rim? The person start to read the book of lam-rim, so it leaves imprint on the mind. So, the result is enlightenment. The result of that imprint left by reading the Dharma, by reading lam-rim book, or by hearing lam-rim or studying lam-rim, checking lam-rim, so it leaves a positive imprint on the mind. That brings you to enlightenment. That brings the sentient being to enlightenment. Then able to bring all other sentient beings to enlightenment by oneself. So it has unbelievable benefit. [GL, RL]

So, then third thing to be kept in the mind is this comparing for healing, Dharma and the healing. Healing without Dharma. So you compare the benefits. Usually healing people, of course there is incredible need for the patients, general people think that is incredible. Incredible that some people can cure like this. It is incredible. As if there is nothing better method than this. However, that is the lack of understanding Dharma, lack of understanding lam-rim, lack of understanding what Dharma does, listening to Dharma, teaching Dharma, practicing Dharma. What it does to the mind. So lack of understanding the extensive benefits of the Dharma. So however, that being so excited that, is if there is nothing higher method than this. So like that. [GL, RL]

MOTIVATION FOR THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF THE ESSENCE OF NECTAR
That the oral transmission, just to start today. So this way we are able to hear, we are able to leave imprint of the whole lam-rim. Even the commentary, even the discussion, the explanation, even the explanation didn’t happen complete. But by receiving oral transmission of one complete lam-rim text, so this way leaves imprint of the whole path, nothing missing. So it makes it extremely worthwhile.

So as there happened when Buddha was in India, there were five hundred swans in the field. So Buddha gave teachings to them. Then because of that, they heard the teachings, the five hundred swans, in the next life, they all were born as human beings. They all received a human body in the next life.

Also one, there is also a story happened with the Nagarjuna, there is also a story happened with the Lopon Ingyen, I don’t know, Vasubandhu, yeah, in the Sanskrit. He was reciting the Abhidharmakosha, this text, every day. So there was a pigeon on the roof. So the pigeon was able to hear the teaching that Vasubandhu was reciting. So one day the pigeon died and Vasubandhu checked with this psychic power, after the pigeon died Vasubandhu checked where the pigeon is going to be reborn, then he saw with his psychic power, in the valley, somewhere down in the valley, one family, this pigeon was born as a human being in one family way down in the valley.

So one day he went down to the family and asked if they can give the baby back to him. If they can give the baby to him. The family accepted to give the baby. So however then he becomes disciple of Vasubandhu and he became a great pandit. Then the teachings what he heard when he was a pigeon, then in the next life when he became great pandit, become monk, ordained. So he wrote four commentaries on this text, Abhidharmakosha. So even listening to Dharma, even listening to the teaching of Buddha, it has incredible benefit, effect, that changes your rebirth in the next life. So therefore it is very important to recite mantra or to recite prayers, to recite Buddha’s teachings to the animals, to those who can hear, so to recite in their ear, where they can hear, because that can change their rebirth, able to reborn as human being and able to meet Dharma and able to practice.

[Short mandala]

[Preliminary prayers]

So the motivation to listen to the oral transmissions of the graduated path to enlightenment, the teaching which is the heart of the whole entire teaching of Buddha, sutra and tantra, all these extensive teachings. So first of all understand by the attachment, clinging to this life, by thinking that this, at this time that one has received the perfect human body, and met the virtuous friend, leader leading in the path to enlightenment and have met also Buddhadharma, three rare things one has met. One has all the opportunities to practice. So that, one can make this life highly meaningful in three ways, one can achieve three great meanings with this life. So therefore one must practice Dharma. It is difficult to find again this perfect human rebirth because the cause, morality, charity, these are difficult, because to create the create the causes is very difficult. The cause of the deva, human body, the body of the happy migratory being has to be pure morality. So even one practice morality, but it is so extremely difficult to live in pure morality. So therefore it is extremely difficult to find this perfect human rebirth again. So therefore one must practice Dharma in this life, with this body.

Then, that, not only that, death is definite to happen, but the actual time of death can happen at any time. So therefore one must practice Dharma right now. One must begin to practice Dharma right now. Then at the death time nothing can help, no possessions, no relatives or friends, how much one has, cannot help, even this body has to be left. Even this body that one cherished so much, even this has to be left at the time of death. When the death happens, nothing of this helps at the death time. So what helps at the death time, what is beneficial at the death time, this most critical, crucial time. When the death happens, at the end of the life, only Dharma, Dharma is the only one which can benefit. So therefore one practices only Dharma, which means keeping the mind always positive, always there is a positive attitude, always a virtuous mind, motivation and the best Dharma is bodhicitta. So always to keep the mind in bodhicitta. That is the best Dharma practice, most profitable Dharma practice.

However then that, by practicing Dharma, not being reborn in the lower realms after this life and receive deva, human body. Even one is able to receive deva, human body, still that is not the goal of life. Still that is not right, not sufficient, because we are born as a human being now, but it is only in the nature of suffering. So, being a human, deva realm is only in the nature of suffering. This is just like criminal people brought from prison for a short time sightseeing, short time going in the market, but after one or two hours have to go back in the prison. So being in human, deva realm is just for a short time and then because there is all the negative karmas so have to be reborn, have to go back to the lower realm again. So it is just for a very short time even to be deva, human realm. So however, nothing definite for oneself to be liberated even from the whole entire true suffering and causes, even that is not the goal of life, not the meaning of life, not real purpose of the life, why we are born as human being.

So, now, the real purpose of the life is to free all sentient beings from all the sufferings and to lead to highest happiness, enlightenment, that is the ultimate purpose of living. As we have responsibility to do this service for all other sentient beings, that all sentient beings, not only that they gave harm in the past, being enemy and gave harm, but also they gave help, being friend, all sentient beings, numberless times. and besides that, all sentient beings have been one’s own mother and kind in four ways numberless times. Gave body and gave hundreds of life each day and then led in the path of the world and they suffered so much for me, I caused them to suffer so much and they suffered so much for me. So like this, bore are so much hardships, so, unbelievable kindness, and so precious and must repay their kindness. The best way to repay kindness is to reveal Dharma so that they can be liberated from all the sufferings and then can achieve the highest full enlightenment. So this is it.

So to do that, I myself should practice Dharma and actualize the path. I, myself, should be qualified to do this. So therefore, practicing Dharma is the best way to repay kindness of all mother sentient beings, especially to practice bodhicitta is the best way to repay the kindness of all mother sentient beings. Think, “How wonderful if all sentient beings, if they have happiness and the cause of happiness, how wonderful it is, and I will cause all sentient beings to have happiness and cause.” So feel this.

“I must, so this is generating loving kindness, how wonderful it is if all sentient beings are free from all suffering and causes, and I will cause them to be free from all the suffering and causes. And I will do this work for all sentient beings by myself alone.” So make strong determination, the special attitude.

For that means, there is no other way to complete this except myself to achieve enlightenment first. “So therefore, I must achieve full enlightenment for the sake of all the kind mother sentient beings.” Therefore, I’m going to listen, so that depends on actualizing path, whole graduated path to enlightenment, for all this success I’m going to listen to the oral transmission of the lam-rim text The Essence of Nectar.

Think dedicate, think in the heart, when we listen to oral transmission we should think like this, “That each of the word that I listen, may I be able to actualize immediately the meaning in my heart and also when I teach this word that I hear towards others, when others hear the words from me, may it cause to actualize the path immediately in their minds.” So, should also pray like this.

So, sometimes when I remember that, I find very beneficial, effective, sometimes when I remember, then when we take initiations or teachings to think that all. What I’m saying is, I’m not telling that I am Buddha, what I’m saying is that meditating in this way is very beneficial to the mind. When I remember that all the buddhas are talking to you, that all the buddhas are communicating with you through this aspect, all the buddhas are giving you oral transmission of this text, Essence of Nectar. Or if it’s initiation, then all the buddhas are giving initiation to me through this aspect. So this way you feel connection with all the buddhas, with the numberless past, present, future buddhas. So to think, to meditate this, with this meditation, to listen to the teaching, then you receive more blessings.

I’ll read a few pages. I don’t plan to read it all now. [GL]. There might have been unnecessary fears [GL/RL]. The fear can be switched on samsara [RL] and negative karma [RL], like the TV station.

[Rinpoche starts oral transmission]

Also, it is useful to think that each of these words that I’m listening is not only for myself but for the happiness of every sentient being. In other words, you are taking the responsibility, that hearing each of these precious Dharma words, the Buddha’s word, teachings, is for the happiness of every sentient being, every insect, every animal, every hell being, hungry ghost, every human being, suras, asuras, all sentient beings like that. This way one is taking big responsibility. Every one of them to end their suffering and bring to enlightenment. And each of the word that one listen, it definitely does that, definitely causes that, gradually, definitely causes that.

[Rinpoche gives oral transmission]

So we finished down to special bodhicitta, visualizing the refuge merit field, then taking refuge, then the four immeasurables, then wishing bodhicitta. So I stop here.

[Short mandala offering]

Please dedicate the merit to generate bodhicitta within my mind and in the mind of all sentient beings [Tibetan].

Due to the all the three times merits accumulated by myself, by buddhas and bodhisattvas, due to all these merits which are empty from its own side, may the I, who is empty from its own side, achieve the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, which is empty from its own side, and lead all sentient beings, who are empty from their own side to that enlightenment as quick as possible. 

LECTURE 24: 11 DECEMBER 1992 AM

QUESTION AND ANSWER: HOW THINGS EXIST
[Tibetan chanting of refuge, etc]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
What is the reason that, for example, we see this pillar as true? What is the reason that the pillar exists? What is the reason behind?

[Reply inaudible]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
You mean you bump into the pillar?

[Student inaudible]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
But the person whose mind is hallucinated, seeing pillar even if there is no pillar, but seeing pillar so it’s also labeled, their mind also labels, same. The person who sees thing which is not pillar but seeing as pillar, then that mind also labels.

Question: There is a base, you have some bricks, people built it and so we call it pillar.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
But what is the reason that, yes, but it is the same thing, you see the bricks, but again what is the reason that you see that as true? That’s one reason, but that’s another reason.

[Student’s reply inaudible] [GL]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
What about things that you see in dream? Doesn’t that affect the mind as well,? The terrifying objects that one sees in the dream or the beautiful object in dream, doesn’t that affect the mind? They affect the mind, right? Those things, do they exist?

Student:
They exist in the dream reality. In the dream I believe...[inaudible]

Another Student:
They exist to the mind.

Student:
Both exist in the mind, both are dependent of the mind.

Another Student:
We see the pillar because it is not there. [GL]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
So you see pillars all over the world. [GL][RL]. You see pillars everywhere, there is no place where there is no pillar. [RL]. You see, there is a pillar in the nose, the nose pillar. So the things that you see in a dream, do they exist? Because they can affect the mind, do they exist?

Student: [inaudible]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
So they exist. [GL] Is there other way of existing other than existing to the mind? [RL] Is there other way of existing other than existing in the view of the mind? So the objects what you see in the dream, do they exist?

Student:
They exist in the dream. It is a level of existence.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
So what you see in the dream it exists?

Student:
[inaudible]...we are creating them.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
So there is nothing that which, there is no hallucination because everything you see it exists, in the view of that mind. Things which you see in the dream exist in the view of that mind. So it is the same. So in that case, there is no hallucination.

Student:
Hallucination is confusing the labeling. That’s hallucination.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
How it is confusing the labeling? That’s a very good point, but I think maybe little bit more explanation [GL/RL]. That’s a very good point.

Student:
Things exist for the mind who believes in the existence but upon analysis there is no object to be found.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
That’s too profound, I didn’t... [GL/RL] I’m not sure, maybe repeat again.

Student:
The object exists for the mind who believes that they exist, who believes in the existence of the object, but upon analysis there is nothing to be found outside.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
When the mind believes that it exists, it exists? But when you search it cannot be found. So is the reason that it exists, so this is the reason that things are existing? This is the reason how things exist?

Student:
Because the mind has the imprint to believe that they exist.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
So things exist because of that?

Student:
For this mind, things exist.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
Because the imprint makes to believe? What about the person, due to cultural, imprint and due to cultural influence, that anyway, so what about that person who believes there is no reincarnation, it is one life. What about that?

Student:
For this mind, there is no reincarnation.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
Doesn’t that come from imprint?

Student:
Yes.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
Person believes that it doesn’t exist, one life so it exists, that’s true? So, anyway.

THREE WAYS OF KNOWING
Generally, there are three ways, say, anything that which exists, there are three ways to discover. It is proved that it exists with three analysis, with one of them.

So the substantial phenomena, they are like this, before mentioning that, for example, from outside you see there is a house and smoke coming from that house. So then, from that you can realize there is a fire there.

Another thing, there is a person there. Understanding the age of the person is, something which is a little more difficult than by seeing smoke that there is a fire in the house. Then to understand, to be able to read the person’s mind is more difficult than to understand the age of the person. So, it’s more subtle to understand. So, similar like this, anything that which exists, the way to discover, there are three ways, with one of the analyses, that definition exists [noises]. Maybe I put in mouth [GL/RL] or in the nose.

If other direct perception, you are seeing pillar, you’re seeing smoke and you discover there’s fire. However, you see pillar but other people, other’s valid, mind, other’s direct perception, valid mind, see it’s not pillar, other’s valid mind. The undefected mind, not by drugs, by disease, and so forth, that undefected mind, hallucinated mind. So other’s valid direct perceptions doesn’t see, hallucinated mind doesn’t see, this is pillar. Either there is no pillar or that just a piece of rope or just a small piece of stick or something, not pillar, like this. However what other’s valid direct perception sees, table or something, anyway. So then, what you see if it receives harm from valid mind, from other’s valid direct perception, so that means what you see is something wrong, is mistaken, it’s hallucination. So if what you see doesn’t receive harm from other valid direct perception, then your perception is correct, what you see, the pillar.

Then, harder than that, phenomena which exists but harder than that, is like trying to understand the age of the person, like how things are, the causative phenomena, how they are in the nature of impermanence, and how they are empty, how their nature are emptiness because they are dependent arising and exist being merely labeled by the mind. So these things, these phenomena, we have to realize by depending on reasons, by depending on valid inferential, inferential? [Tibetan] What? [reply inaudible] In France. [GL/RL] The valid in France [GL/RL], inference, almost became in France. I’m joking. Inferential mind. So, the valid in France [GL/RL]. By reasoning then how things are dependent arising, specially Prasangika’s view, the subtle dependent arising, then through that one realizes the Prasangika’s view, which is the ultimate right view of emptiness.

So these things, by depending on logical reasons then one have to realize. Also these things, what we have to discover by depending on logical reasons, should not receive harm by other’s valid mind that which is the inference, that by depending on logical reasons, realize other’s mind, the valid mind inference. If it is, what you think, what you believe you are discovering, it receives harm from other’s valid inferential mind, then again, mistakes what you believe you discovered, emptiness and so forth. So it is wrong, it is mistaken. But if it doesn’t receive harm by other’s valid inferential, valid or true, the unhallucinated, unbetraying mind, the inference. So doesn’t receive harm from others’ valid mind, this inference, then it is true what you believe you have discovered. So what you discovered is true and your mind is not hallucinated. Your mind which realized that object is not cheating mind, not deceiving mind.

Then the third valid mind, the third thing, the more difficult one, that is like example to be able to read the person’s mind is more difficult than to understand the age. So now, the third category of the phenomena is, because yourself doesn’t have omniscient mind, and you don’t have clairvoyance to see these things, so therefore the only way to understand, to realize is depending on others’ explanation. Since yourself doesn’t have the capacity, due to not having developed capacity of your mind, to see those phenomena, so you have to rely upon other’s explanations who has capacity of the mind can see those phenomena, can realize, can see those phenomena.

REINCARNATION
So remember I told one day, even if we don’t remember we are born from parents, we don’t remember we were in our mother’s womb, how we were there for about nine months. Even we don’t remember we were actually, that I was born from this mother, but the reason that you believe in this and that you say, This is my mother, it’s not because, most of us, it’s not because your mind has capacity to remember that you were born from this mother, it’s not because of that, it’s not because you remember your consciousness took place in mother’s womb and so forth, it’s not because of that reason, it’s just because other people, parents and other people tell you, you were born from this mother, and so you believe in that.

So, as I told you that day, our everyday life is full of things that our own mind cannot see, neither there’s omniscient nor even ordinary clairvoyance. So there are many things we do not see but we rely upon other people’s explanations. We believe in other peoples’ explanations, those who wrote down, those who explained, those who discovered, those who have seen, have had the experience, and then they explained. So there’s so many things that we have to rely upon other people’s explanation.

So this third one is one very important point that we have to think about, that we have to understand. There’s so many things in our daily life that we believe other people’s explanation, but when it comes to very important point, very important subject, to realize, such as reincarnation, karma, so forth, those teachings what Buddha, subject of karma, what kind compassionate omniscient one explained, when it comes to the very important point, then you don’t, then, difficult to understand or difficult to have faith. When it comes to very important matters, very important point to realize, to study, to understand, to analyze but there is so many things that we believe other people’s explanations that which aren’t. Not only that, then there’s so many wrong views, so many culture, so many philosophies which are wrong, there are so many wrong views that we easily believe what other people explain. So like that.

Of course it is not easy, such these subjects, karma and reincarnation, these very fundamental, very important subject that, emptiness, the Prasangika’s specially the subtle, the extremely subtle emptiness such as the Prasangika’s view, so forth, all these things, you need even to understand and have faith, of course you need a lot of merit, it’s not easy, you need a lot of cause for that, to be able to recognize, to be able to understand, to be able to have faith in that, the two truths and the true path, method and wisdom and the dharmakaya, rupakaya, the achievement, you need a lot of merit in order to understand, to have faith in these things.

What Buddha explained that anyway, first thing, as far as reincarnation, after we are born from the mother it depends on which culture is introduced to you, you have fresh mind, nothing, your mind is fresh and new. That’s unless the child has strong karma from past, have met the Buddhadharma and practiced. So as it’s my own experience, as we did so many, as I met so far so many years, about twenty years, so just even hear due to courses for so many years and have met so many students who came to the courses, so there are so many people among those who naturally feel, without depending on culture, somebody teaching you the philosophy, without depending on that, there are many people who naturally, when one hear the Buddhadharma, when one hear about reincarnation, karma, you feel like home. This is naturally how you have been, the nature of your mind, that there is reincarnation and so forth and this loving kindness, compassion and renunciation, these things. Naturally you have been thinking that way from child time. So many people, students I’ve met so many like this, for whom the Dharma is familiar. Something very familiar. Just talking what the person has been believing, that have been thinking naturally or even practicing naturally. So depending on past life, recent past life, having practiced, having met Buddha dharma or being born in Tibet and practiced Dharma, those strong imprints.

And then, in the past we used to do five day’s meditation on reincarnation, a lot of discussion of the mind, so also meditation from today going back to yesterday, and then this year going back to last year and like that go back to child. You try to go back to childhood and then go back to the mother’s womb and then try to go back first time the consciousness took place in mother’s womb and then see how it is, try to feel. Then there are many, in the past it happened during those meditation times quite a number even, those who have a clear mind, could remember being in Tibet, very clear appearance. The person gets very clear appearance like remembering yesterday, or some place where you lived last year or something. remember very clearly even the rooms, making Tibetan tea, the container that you churn the Tibetan tea, butter, salt, or things. Anyway, could see even the room where the person lived, like that, and so, people had different experiences as real, as like we remember things what we did yesterday, or last year or childhood, so can remember life before this. Something like that, real.

So, other than this, naturally that you feel this way, otherwise, generally dependent on what culture, the very first culture what you’re introduced, it is dependent on that. So very first cultural belief introduced to you when you were a child mainly depend on, whether one believe in reincarnation or whether one doesn’t believe in reincarnation or karma, it dependent on that. So then, from one’s own side one doesn’t have the wisdom, one doesn’t have the knowledge to analyze, to check whether it’s correct or not, whether this culture or this philosophy you’re introduced, whether it’s correct or not. So, you don’t have the capacity, you don’t have the wisdom, the knowledge, to check, how to examine it. If one doesn’t have the wisdom or knowledge to check, to examine, and then you don’t examine it, your belief is mainly dependent on what is introduced to you at childhood, when your mind is fresh. It is dependent on that. So you just, common people normally just believe in that.

Even if that belief is not according to the experience of the life, even if it’s not according to the realization, even if it’s not reality. Even though it is not reality according to the advanced mind, according to the people who have clear mind, people whose mind is developed. Even though the belief in one life, there is no reincarnation, such things doesn’t exist, no reincarnation, one life, so forth, these things then doesn’t exist. The valid mind, the developed mind sees, they realize only that is non-existent. So what they realize, the advanced mind, the mind developed through meditation, the clear mind realizes only that these things exist—reincarnation, karma, all these things. Especially those very high, those aryan beings, arhats, who have wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, those aryan beings, higher bodhisattvas, for their such pure mind, well developed mind, they see these things, they have discovered only that there is reincarnation, karma, these things, this life, whatever happiness, that this life, experiences of this life, they see this life’s rebirth is result of past karma. If it is body of the happy migratory being, nothing, there’s no resistance, no resistance to directly perceive every single existence, past, present, future, everything.

The fully enlightened mind sees that there is reincarnation, that reincarnation exists, reincarnation, karma, these things exist. In reality there’s nobody who realized that there is no reincarnation, there’s no past, future life. There’s nobody who realized this, there’s nobody, no one. There are beings with a valid mind who have realized that there is reincarnation, karma and so forth. There are numberless who have realize these phenomena. So however, it is a common experience, remembering past, future lives, seeing future lives, even non-Buddhists, it is not only experience of Buddhists, it is common experience even outside of Buddhists. Old and young, those who have clear mind, who can remember. It’s just at this time we cannot, our minds are obscured and we cannot see past and future.

THE BUDDHA EXPLAINED VERY HIDDEN OBJECTS
The last thing is this. Buddha explained, all the karma, all the explanation of how the hell is, heavy suffering of the hell, hungry ghosts, the animal sufferings. However animal, what Buddha explained, so much of that we can see. And we can see also some, even we don’t see exactly the heavy suffering of the preta but some similarity we can see, you can see in the world. So however, these things, the explanation of hell all these things and, about, which is, all the explanation of karma, stories of individual beings who had unbelievable life experiences, unbelievable suffering, and also incredible, result of good karma, incredible things what happened. So those stories of karma they’re explained in sutra. So however all these Buddha’s explanations about karma, practice of morality, receive good birth, deva, human body. Practice charity in the past lives, then one receives next life wealth so forth. So however all these things.

Now, since these phenomena are not objects of our knowledge at the moment, there’s no clairvoyance, there’s no omniscient mind, not even clairvoyance, so therefore we have to rely upon, to discover these phenomena we have to rely upon, we have to rely upon somebody’s, we have to rely upon valid explanation. Explanation that which is true. Explanation that is true, that which is not telling lie, a valid explanation we have to depend on. So therefore, the way to realize these things is by depending on a valid quotation, valid quotation. Since we ourselves doesn’t have omniscient mind, not even ordinary clairvoyance, so we have to rely upon valid, somebody’s explanation, the valid quotation. So therefore, all the Buddha’s explanations, all about hell, all the sufferings, karma, everything, reincarnation all these things.

WHY WE CAN TRUST THE BUDDHA
Now, second thing is, how this is true. We have to check how Buddha’s quotation is valid, it’s this point what we have to check. If this Buddha’s quotation is harmed, all this what Buddha explained in sutra and tantra teachings, if it receives harm from other buddhas, from other enlightened beings—not ordinary people, it doesn’t matter whether it’s scientist or whatever it is, what doesn’t matter whatever is labeled scientist or whatever it is, it has to be fully enlightened being, who has no obscuration at all. To be able to see clearly, directly all the past, present, future existence. So if another enlightened being, who has all the qualities, then the same being says the quotation what Buddha said is not true. The same being says the quotation which is opposite, saying there’s no reincarnation such and such and such [clapping hands]. Same enlightened being who has same quality, an omniscient mind. If this statement is harmed by another valid quotation, who has omniscient mind, who has all the qualities, nothing missing. Then, what Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said receives a mistake. Then in this case then it will become wrong, mistake, in this case.

But, now the reason is, because, there’s no one single harm received, what Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained, from other valid quotations, explained by fully enlightened beings. So therefore, of course obscured mind, who is not enlightened being, of course they can make philosophy that these things don’t exist such and such, according to their mind, according to their obscured mind, according to the negative imprint from past life, wrong view. But that is not counted as a valid quotation because their mind is not fully enlightened. Anyway, to put it a simple way.

So therefore, this one doesn’t receive harm from valid quotations, from another Buddha, from another enlightened being. So therefore, what Guru Shakyamuni Buddha explained is a valid quotation, it is something one can trust. And so, the way to realize these things, these phenomena, is by relying on, by depending on, Buddha’s valid quotation.

Then the other reason, then. So therefore all these explanations of karma, all these, even we don’t, due to lack of omniscient mind and even ordinary clairvoyance, even we don’t see it but, what Buddha explained is true. And there’s no reason to cheat sentient beings because Buddha is the one that who has developed mind, who has completed mind training in the compassion. Who has completed mind training in compassion towards all sentient beings, towards every sentient being. So there’s no discriminating thought, there’s no danger to cheat. So like that. So this is one thing to understand, to remember.

And then, additional reason that is, numberless pandits and yogis, even nowadays many Tibetan lay, Tibetan or from other countries, lay or ordained, many they’re experiencing the path, experiencing three principles of the path, guru devotion, three principles of the path, tantra path, so, experiencing as the Buddha explained.

Besides all those numberless yogis, pandits, whose places we can see in China, Tibet, India, Nepal, many places where they achieved realization, many caves, many hermitages we can see, we can visit, where they became enlightened. So, numberless of them achieved enlightenment, achieved path as Buddha explained. They had the same experience as the Buddha explained. So they, each one, so many of them they explained the whole path according to their experience. Then again many sentient beings they follow to that, practiced and achieved the path. So there’s always a logic like, so there’s always experiential reason, reasons, logics, like that.

So this one is, this last one is again one of the main reason that how it’s reliable, because it’s been the experience of so many of those who correctly practiced. So therefore, all these subjects are correct.

So I think, sorry didn’t get the oral transmission [GL,RL].

[Dedications]

[End of Discourse]