WORLD PEACE COMES FROM INNER PEACE
Yeah, if you have some questions? Maybe before the discourse starts. Okay. Yeah?
Student: [inaudible]
Rinpoche: Function of the brain? To sleep! To sleep well. What? What’s good? You ask the physiologist. You mean the physical part? I don’t know about the physical part, the details, the physical function, but it’s certainly it is a very important part of the body that is the vehicle for the mind, a very important place. So much is dependent on this base. Whatever affects the physical, the blood circulation, the brain affects the mind, and affects the capability of thinking. Otherwise the physical part, I don’t know, I have no idea but it seems important. For those who have a physical body, it seems an important part or base, a quite sensitive or quite precious part, because it affects the capability of the mind very much.
Student: Would you like to tell us something about the Buddhist Conference in Katmandu?
Rinpoche: Yeah, I don’t know.
Student: You don’t know. That’s interesting because we don’t get any news here on the aims, the topics? Or is it sort of secret? Or is it a board meeting? Or a political...
Rinpoche: I think nothing deeper than what we’re doing here. How much discussion was done down there, there is nothing deeper than what you’re doing here. This is what is seems. Just a minute....
Student: [inaudible]
Rinpoche: Just a minute. I never finish my answers. Yeah, I think it’s good, very good I think to meet the different paths and different Buddhists—different outside looking, different dress—but it doesn’t seem that there is so much time for teaching the methods for bringing peace. From the very high lama from Tibet, the Panchen Lama, there was a very, very, very short message. Very short. Just dedicating and expressing his wishes very strongly from the depth of the heart that he will pray that the actions of the Triple Gem to cover all the three realms. So in that way there will be peace, pacifying sufferings, and having happiness. This is a very essential method of bringing happiness in the minds of sentient beings. That’s what I heard and I don’t know what Rinpoche said in the Chinese language. That’s very short.
Maybe there was more emphasis on the fact that we should have peace but not so much on the method, especially relating to the mind. We should have peace, which is what everybody wants, which even the animals, who could not come for the meeting, also want to say. By looking at their physical body you can see that they need peace. Even if they don’t have the words.
So everybody can say that there’s need for peace, but to take the responsibility of peace upon each person, to feel that—that part is the most important one. Important and maybe difficult in our day to day life, in the world, with the world. That has come from change. There’s no way to bring peace within our mind and within the minds of others, without changing—without stopping our own harmful and negative thoughts toward oneself, toward others, for the temporal and ultimate happiness of self and of others. Without this change of mind, there’s no way to bring peace—without attempting to change the part of the mind that is the creator of the suffering. Without practicing the unmistaken methods that eliminates this, that brings us and others in danger, and the whole world in the danger. Without changing that and without knowing the methods and changing others’ bad thoughts from where the problem rises. So without that, without dealing with the mind, without understanding the methods, and then putting the correct understanding, the methods into practice—as long as there’s no practice, there’s no peace. There’s no resultant peace in the mind without the practice. Even the understanding alone is not enough.
Without teaching the methods, without knowing the methods of practicing patience, loving kindness, and compassion to all beings, without equalizing this partial mind, the partial action that benefits somebody that you like and harms somebody that you don’t like, and not helping them, without the impartial attitude toward every being the equal action to benefit everyone, without accomplishing this within yourself, there is no way that you can be a good example for others to bring peace in the world, to stop the dangers in the world.
There are so many meetings on this earth for peace, claiming the need for peace, and the methods of bringing peace, temporary peace, ultimate peace, is known to those who have the opportunity to hear Dharma, those who meditate, those who try to transform the mind in the path. Only those people are really involved in the listening, reflecting, and meditating on the method. Really, here is the actual method to bring peace into yourself and into the minds of other sentient beings—not only human beings, but every sentient being who wants happiness, whose mind is obscured, who has suffering.
I’m not praising, I’m not making it up, that’s the truth that I see. The actual method is discussed. So to establish peace within your life and mind, to develop that, you have to develop the mind, to develop the good heart. The virtuous thought that brings peace has to be developed. So actually, we are here for one month, hearing teachings especially on bodhicitta, meditating and hearing the teachings, renouncing and realizing that the self-cherishing thought is the source of all the problems and that is something to be abandoned forever, forever. Then, realizing that cherishing others is the source of all happiness and that it is something to be practiced, since that is the source of all the happiness for us and for all sentient beings. That is something to be practiced all the time. The miserable life, the happy life, the depressed life, or the excited life—even if you have an exciting life or whatever happiness....
You need to not only understand mind training, but especially to try to transform the mind from the painful selfish mind into cherishing others. Bodhicitta is the source of all the peace and happiness for you and for all sentient beings, and by having this you can offer and cause all the happiness—temporal, ultimate, every happiness that they’re wishing for.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE THREE PRINCIPAL ASPECTS OF THE PATH
So this essential method, and also all your past, present, and future happiness, everything comes from bodhicitta, from the ultimate good heart, bodhicitta. All the three times’ happiness for yourself comes from your own good karma. Good karma is accumulated by practicing the teachings. This comes from the Buddha. Every good karma, every virtuous action that you generate, that arises, is the action of the Buddha. The Buddha came from a bodhisattva, and bodhisattvas come from bodhicitta. Then, also, by meditating on the renunciation of samsara, by meditating on the true cause of suffering, karma and disturbing thoughts, by studying that, recognizing those, and how all the sufferings arise from that.
By hearing the teachings as explained by the Buddha, you understand the evolution of suffering, the unmistaken cause of suffering. So in this way you know what liberation means, what you need to achieve and what you’re missing now—that your mind is empty. You seek the right method, and this way, there’s great freedom. You can study the realizations and the experience and the correct understanding of the teachings, the method that definitely leads to liberation, which in qualified masters. It’s up to you whether you study and practice this right method, the teachings that reveal the unmistaken path to the liberation, that have not ceased, that have not degenerated. If you study and practice, there is liberation, and if you don’t put effort into this, if you don’t open the mind, don’t study, don’t practice, then there’s no liberation.
By hearing the teachings of Buddha, you recognize the cause of the sufferings and their shortcomings, and this way you are able to control the mind. By renouncing the dissatisfactory mind, the clinging, grasping mind, all of this life’s up and downs—so much of the problem arises from desire. The painful, unsubdued, clinging mind, which finds it very difficult to separate away from the object. By renouncing this, the door for peace is opened—by conquering this. Then same thing, hearing the teachings on emptiness, meditating on this, each time you meditate on the unmistaken teachings of shunyata, this plants a seed, makes preparation to generate the wisdom realizing emptiness. So each time you make the preparation to cut the root of all of samsara, to cut the root of all suffering. Each time you are preparing, becoming nearer and nearer to eliminating the root of all suffering, ignorance.
These three things I think, these three meditations—renunciation, bodhicitta, and shunyata—are the basics. If you know well first of all how the problems come from ignorance, how all the problems arise from ignorance, how the self-cherishing thought is so harmful in everyday life, how desire, clinging, grasping so much to this life and to samsara are greatly harmful, if you know the shortcomings of these things, as much as you recognize this and meditate on the shortcomings, that much you are able to abandon and conquer these disturbing thoughts by practicing the three principles of the path to enlightenment—shunyata, then bodhicitta, then renunciation of samsara.
This is without talking about tantra, just basic things. Even by having the understanding of the teachings, if you don’t practice, but if you at least understand the words, there’s great freedom. Now it’s up to you—once you have the understanding it’s up to you, whether you have faith, whether you want to believe it or not, whether you want to practice it or not. Even with the understanding, even if there’s no realization, even if you don’t practice, even if you just have an understanding of the words, the correct understanding of the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, it benefits so much. Even talking about the words, even just explaining the words to other suffering sentient beings—it changes even the very root of the problems in other’s minds. It completely changes, it can be completely eliminated.
So that’s how you can benefit, that’s how you can bring peace to the minds of others. Even if you have not studied all the five treatises—the Madhyamaka, the Abhidharmakosha, the Abhisamayalamkara, the Pramanavarttika—the teachings that develop intelligence, wisdom, and the Vinaya, even if you did not study these extensive teachings as well as tantra, even by knowing some basic, just very essential teachings of the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment, you can see, you one can explain the root of the problems, first. So once you have recognized the root of the problems, others have the wish to get rid of them, to eliminate them. So that’s how to lead others into the practice of the method to eliminate the root of the sufferings.
So what I’m saying, the whole thing is, I think this one month meditation course, one day or fifteen days, doing meditation, listening to teachings, hearing the lamas, the geshes here—these are teachings that you hear from somebody who is living in the practice. Somebody who has lived their whole life in the practice—what those geshes teach, they themselves live in practice. Not just speaking words from the text. These are unmistaken teaching that are very rare to hear. So I think this is the real donation for the world peace. This is the very deep, great donation, what we are doing here. You go very deeply into the root of the problems, and then you also hear the correct methods and then try to practice to eliminate them. So through this change of mind, you can bring peace; it is possible to bring peace within yourself through your own change of mind, changing from bad thoughts. This gives you the possibility, and gives you incredible freedom to can lead others to temporal happiness and ultimate happiness, to liberation, and enlightenment.
Not only to stop fighting, not only helping, causing, and benefiting others to stop fighting, but to finish every stain of the mind, all the obscurations, to completely liberate them from all the causes of suffering. It is easy to lead them to peerless happiness in that way. So I think, in other words, this one month here, knowing the methods to practice patience, how to generate the thought of loving kindness, compassion, these things, if one person from here practices that, there is less harm to the rest of the world, the rest of the people, sentient beings, there is less harm from this one person, because of his change of mind.
So now, the rest of the world becomes less dangerous. Now, here, there are sixty or seventy people, okay, everybody here, everybody practices patience, loving kindness, compassion toward all beings, and now the rest of the world, the rest of the sentient beings have much less danger, and there is much less harm. Here, this many people change their minds, develop their minds so the rest of the sentient beings receive much less harm from these sixty or seventy people. So that itself is peace, starting from your own family, starting from there, starting from here.
You can see now how what you are doing here is unbelievable, you can see how important it is, how unbelievably important it is, now.
All sentient beings’ happiness and peace depends on each of us. You can see how in this way it depends on each of us. So now you can see how incredibly important it is to develop and study the teachings, the methods—to develop the mind up to enlightenment, this omniscient mind, okay? To practice the teachings on the path that you hear, now you can see how incredibly important it is. How much one person benefits the rest of the world, and how these sixty or seventy people—with this attitude, if there is patience in the mind, the result in the actions is that there is no harm to others. If you have loving kindness, compassion in the heart, the result is to benefit—it is not only unbearable to give harm, but the result will come that is the action to benefit others.
So not only do you stop giving harm to others, but with this attitude, you benefit, help everyone, every suffering being. So how important it is to develop the mind to practice Dharma, which means changing the attitude from the bad thoughts into the good heart. The more you develop this the more you are able to benefit. The more good heart, wisdom, method, the more your capabilities increase, so then without a partial mind, you develop your capabilities. You are able to fulfill the wishes of every suffering being. So this is what he asked about world peace.
Student: Full answer.
Rinpoche: I hope so!
QUESTION AND ANSWER: DREAMS, LOVE AND DHARMAKAYA
Student: Why do we dream?
Rinpoche: Good dreams, bad dreams, that which makes you happy or unhappy, basically this came from your own karmic mental factors. The results that are fearful dreams or very pleasant things—similarly there are good days and bad days—they all come from karma. A dream arises because of something you did in the past that left an imprint on the consciousness—some dreams are the projection of this, the imprints manifested in appearance.
Also, it could be the sign of harm, receiving harm, like before a person starts to get sick maybe they may have dreams that are signs of spirit harms. Some dreams could be basically karma, the prediction or signs of the guru or deity that you practice—some dreams are related to your own meditation practice. If you have taken vows and then do the opposite of that vow, if you have degenerated bodhicitta or the tantric samayas, some dreams may come that night. If there is some other negative karma that you have accumulated during the day, in the night the dream may show that the mind is polluted, that life is going to be very difficult, or things like that. There may be dreams of a future rebirth.
Then again, if you want to do something good, strong purification or accumulate much merit, there may be good dreams, and when you wake up the mind may be very happy. With the other one when you wake up the mind is very depressed. Also there may be dreams that show untimely death, due to negative karma.
Student: Lama Zopa, how can one tell the difference between what is just mental garbage and what is a significant sign in a dream? How does one know?
Rinpoche: There are many things in the past that you have done but cannot remember. So some dreams are related with the disturbing thoughts of anger, attachment, jealousy, and pride. If the actions are involved with one of these, then you get a dream associated with that. So the imprint of something you did in the past comes back in the dream. You can understand the good signs from the teachings, which talk about dreams, and the bad signs that show one’s mind is obscured, and the obscurations were purified.
Student: We heard incessant talk of suffering and death, and yet we have heard very little about love. What is love to a Buddhist and why does it play such a small role in Dharma?
Rinpoche: What? Love? If you are talking about loving kindness, that’s the basic thing. To whom do you feel more loving kindness? Enemies, strangers, or friends?
Student: Naturally for my gross sense—a friend.
Rinpoche: That is very clear. It is very difficult to rise loving kindness to the stranger, especially enemies, isn’t it? Isn’t it?
Student: Can you repeat, I didn’t quite catch what you said?
Rinpoche: Very difficult to repeat the second one.
Student: In the gross sense—yes.
Rinpoche: So loving kindness, so what is it? You feel loving kindness only for the friend, not the stranger or enemy. Why don’t you feel loving kindness to the stranger and friend, while they are all the same in that they both want happiness, and they do not want suffering. They all don’t want harm from you, they all want help from you. They all three wish to have loving kindness and compassion from their side—they want you to like them. While it is the like this, why is it that you feel loving kindness toward the friend, and not the stranger, or the enemy?
Student: You are asking me. I feel that the reason I feel love for my friend, rather than for an enemy, is that they are able to give me cherishment so am able to give them cherishment—love is a sort of a simultaneously two way thing.
Rinpoche: Love is business; it is big trading.
Student: Love is the capacity for mutual cherishment.
Rinpoche: Now, I ask you one question—that person who praises you yesterday and the same person who harms you today, what you do with that? Yesterday the person showed love to you, okay, today he hates you, okay, so what do you do? Do you have any questions?
Student: [inaudible]? How to visualize yourself in dharmakaya.
Rinpoche: That is as explained in the tantra teachings, the way of looking at it. The deity, the three complete pure results that you are going to achieve in the future. You visualize yourself now as one, and while you see yourself as the deity, in the aspect of the deity, yourself as the deity, in essence the aspect of the buddha, pure, stopping the ordinary appearance and the conception of oneself and others as ordinary. By stopping the ordinary appearance, the conception of the place is transformed, and realizing the mandala and visualizing all sentient beings as the deity, purifying all sentient beings and bringing them to enlightenment. Even with the activities that you do toward other sentient beings, you are still visualizing them as the deity. The movement and actions that you are doing for sentient beings is with the divine pride of the deity benefiting sentient beings.
So the three pure results, then the pure sense objects—pure enjoyment. Enjoyment in the form of offering. That is not just transforming the pure aspect, but with the divine pride—you have to hold the divine pride that I am the future guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the resultant Chakrasamvara, or the deity that you are practicing. Instead of thinking that I’m separate from the Buddha or an ordinary person like this, generate the divine pride by stopping the impure appearance and the conception that I am the deity. The whole pure result, the divine pride, is to transform, is the embodiment of dharmakaya—so that is the way, that is the very essence—to think dharmakaya is not just changing the shape, the most important one, the details cannot be explained in public without having received the initiation, especially the highest tantra initiation. Yes please.
Student: [inaudible]
Rinpoche: Next year, next year.
Student: Next year, we need them this year—I only have maybe four minutes or four hours to live and I do need that teaching, but I wish that you will address the field of relationship, if you would, for us beginners that are Buddhist practitioners and are serious about continuing our life not in cleric robes as monks and nuns but as people that are highly intentioned and still want to be of the world and of the senses.
Rinpoche: Your reasons are very strong. So I guess I have to speak a few words, I’m planning, yes, I’m planning, I don’t give up.
Student: Rinpoche, can you give us a method to not have impure dreams, and especially for men not to lose semen during the night.
Rinpoche: Mainly this depends on the mind—the main method is the strong renunciation of the object of attachment. Then it comes less in the dreams. What kind of dream comes depends on that—as there is that much renunciation of those objects of attachment, the dream also does not happen, it becomes less. Also you dream because in the daytime you have strong renunciation—so also in the dream you have renunciation—even if you see the object you have renunciation. So like that—in that way the problem does not happen. I think the mind is the main key, but generally to stop the sperm and semen from coming, there are different methods, with mantra and blessed things to keep them in the body. There are different mantras and different ingredients or blessed strings to tie around the waist—there are different things like that, to protect you.
Student: Lama Zopa, if I say mantras just before I go to sleep, then I dream of things, especially in the past, that I try to kind of forget about—why does that happen, usually unpleasant things? You know, maybe things you were not too happy about.
Rinpoche: You mean things that happen in the past, some undesirable things coming, those things coming back in the dream?
Student: Yes, something that I would rather forget.
Rinpoche: That comes because of the imprints.
Student: Is it good or bad?
Rinpoche: It does not matter. The dream is the appearance of the illusory mind, so you shouldn’t care so much. Just think of the appearance of the illusory mind, just think of that—even if bad dreams happen you should meditate like that—just think that they don’t exist, expect that they appear to the illusive mind, okay. Yes, and then?
Student: This is kind of a confusing question, it is in three parts. The first one is, can world peace be achieved on this earth as we know it, in the conventional sense. The second part of that question....
Rinpoche: What do you mean by conventional sense?
Student: Conventional in terms of conventional reality and ultimate reality, what we perceive things, we perceive trees, we perceive books and things like that. And the second part of the question is: if world peace is achieved, will all suffering be eliminated, including those that we perceive now as beneficial. By that I mean like looking at nature and seeing how nature recycles itself, by using death to make things grow again. And then the third part is, how would the world be different?
Rinpoche: World peace is something that appears to ignorance, all-obscuring ignorance, so that is truth for the all-obscuring mind. Conventional truth world peace itself and the reality of that, the emptiness of that—it is empty from its own side, not the object of ignorance, but the object of absolute wisdom, so that, so it exists as it appears to absolute reason, and that’s absolute truth.
Student: Would the world as we know it right now, just when we look out, the same kind of animal, would all that be eliminated because...
Rinpoche: If the beings are free, yes, free from the root suffering, yes, then, will the world change, I see—I will put this way, when everyone becomes enlightened there is no animal realm, there is no preta realm, there are no naraks—when all the mental stains are purified and we complete all the realizations by practicing the remedies, the complete path, at time since there is no mental obscuration, there is no suffering realm, and the appearance that came from that, you understand. The appearance of the negative mind, the suffering realm, the undesirable place, the undesirable body—all these things do not happen, because there is no creator, and when the mind completely becomes pure, omniscient, having finished all the stains, completed all the realizations, there is no samsara, there is no human samsara, no deva samsara, and all this get ceased—all this existence that came from ignorance, the place, the body, all this true suffering, gets completely ceased, and then what exists is only a pure appearance, the appearance of the transcendent, completely pure, whole mind of Buddha—all appearance of that.
So anyway, when one become Buddha that is how it is. To his senses, when objects contact the senses, there is no impurity, but it does not mean that the Buddha does not see what we see. The Buddha sees what we see, the Buddha sees our appearance—we are at Kopan and these sheets are bamboo—the appearance that we have now, this Buddha sees. When their senses make contact with the object, there is no impurity, there is only pure appearance, the nature of great bliss.
The Buddha sees naraks, the Buddha sees the six realms—that is what sentient beings themselves see. The Buddha sees those things that exist to the valid mind. In other words, after he becomes enlightened, the present Buddha does not experience suffering, but he sees our suffering. What appears to us, okay, like that, then, yes?
QUESTION AND ANSWER: NO KARIN EXISTING FROM HER OWN SIDE
Student: In the Heart Sutra we read every day that when there is emptiness there are no karmic imprints and in emptiness there is also no wisdom, and how I should understand the basic subtle consciousness—I thought when it leaves the body after death, the karmic imprints go together with the subtle energy. Now I heard of the emptiness which is also this consciousness without karmic imprints and without wisdom, and I thought that in this subtle energy there is wisdom, there is the nature of Buddhahood. And now there is nothing!
Rinpoche: It’s not saying that, how do you say? In the consciousness there is emptiness....
Student: In the basic subtle consciousness, it is empty. And we heard in the Heart Sutra, in emptiness, there are no karmic imprints, and also in emptiness there is no wisdom.
Rinpoche: I think that is a matter of just understanding the words. When you are talking about, “In emptiness there is no this and that,” that word and absolutely, from its own side, all this is the same meaning. Just a simple example, maybe better to, ah yes, what is your name?
Student: Karin.
Rinpoche: Karin, okay, I am sorry I think I might have forgotten. Karin, maybe this way is easier to understand, is there Karin that exists, unlabeled or not merely labeled by the thought? Is there Karin that is not merely labeled by the thought? Is there?
Karin: Not labeled? Well. I exist only by labeling, yes!
Rinpoche: Not merely labeled, is there Karin existing not merely labeled by the thought? Is there?
Karin: No.
Rinpoche: So, not merely labeled Karin, the Karin that exists from its own side, so that does not exist, isn’t it? Isn’t it?
So existing means existing from its own side. Karin existing from Karin’s side. Absolutely existing, from its own side, in emptiness there is no Karin existing from her own side, Karin existing from her own side is empty. So you remember what empty means, okay. You should take the meaning, not the word e-m-p-t-y, you think of the meaning, empty means Karin existing from her side. Karin existing from here, independent Karin, not merely labeled Karin. So when you hear “empty” this is what you should remember in the heart, the meaning—empty of what? Empty of what? And not merely-labeled Karin, independent, Karin existing from her side, okay.
In emptiness there is no Karin which means that there is no Karin absolutely existing—the same meaning, same meaning—so absolutely, emptiness, if something exists, if Karin exists, then there would be a Karin not labeled by anybody, not depending on the aggregates okay, and then in that case, by analyzing that Karin comes the conclusion that Karin does not exist. I think it is just a matter of words. Consciousness is empty, form is empty, “I” is empty—perhaps you might be thinking like this, but I think more, this mug is empty, after I drink whatever is inside the mug, it is empty of tea, okay. The mug is empty, the mug is empty of tea—that is ordinary emptiness. Here when we talk about shunyata, what the Heart Sutra says, form is empty, the mug is empty, they are not the same. This does not mean what people normally mean when they use the word or what they understand by it. The other way, the normal way—the mug is empty of some other existence. Now here, in the Heart Sutra, in shunyata, the mug is empty, form is empty, and the empty does not mean that the mug does not exist—there is no mug on this table. It does not mean that when you point to this mug it is empty—this mug is non-existing, which means there is no mug on this table—not in that way!
This mug is not empty, this mug that is merely labeled by the thought on this base, is not empty. But now similarly, the mug that the person labels on this mug, okay—therefore this mug doesn’t exist at all, from its own side, not merely labeled, okay. This mug is empty of independence, okay, empty of being an independent mug. “This mug is empty” means this mug you have labeled on this base. “Empty” means it is empty of existing from its own side, from the mug’s side, not merely labeled, so the mug is empty, the truly existing mug, the inherently existing mug, the independent mug, which you cannot find anywhere, is completely empty.
First, now, after seeing the base, you label mug, you point out that this is mug, okay—but not being aware that you are merely labeling “mug” on this, because of previous habits you are addicted to the ignorance of true existence, habituated to it, have so much clinging to the appearance of true existence, believing in that—so even though you have labeled it, you’re not aware that this is a label on this base, so immediately after you label it, it appears, you see the mug, but the aspect of mug exists completely from its own side—you see the mug, but you see it as completely existing from its own side. The whole mug is completely covered by true existence, completely pervaded by inherent existence. Like, this table that is covered by this cloth, but not exactly the same, the whole mug, every single part is pervaded by the mug that merely labeled on this base—every single part is completely covered by true existence, absolute existence, true existence, independence—so it is the thing when you have realized emptiness. You have to realize the true existence that you see on the merely-labeled mug. You have to realize that every single part of the mug is empty. The mug being empty does not mean that the mug is empty of something that does not exist—the mug is empty of true existence. Do you have the idea?
Student: I think I got, and what I don’t understand is...
Rinpoche: So now, you understand the mug is empty, and we are not saying that even though there is tea, the mug is empty of tea, we are not saying that. Consciousness is empty of truly-existing consciousness but this does not mean the same thing as there being no tea in the mug—consciousness does not carry the karmic imprints—it does not mean that, you understand? You see the purse is empty, okay, the money purse, the purse is empty so you can’t get biscuits—the purse is empty—as the Essence of Wisdom says, “form is empty,” which does not mean the same as what we mean when saying the purse is empty. Even if there is money inside, the purse is empty. According to the Essence of Wisdom, even if there is a million dollars in the purse, the purse is still empty. Purse empty, bank empty…
Student: We seem to be in the most incredible game, this game is a very, very serious game, and I will call it the game of the great escape—where people fall out, escape, and come back and help other people escape, and this process is going on, this is the enlightenment process. What I want to know is what is this game all about? Why do we have this game in the first place? Is it just for continual amusement, which goes on from beginningless time to endless time—in which case, it’s good for us to be left in samsara because we keep the game going. Is there a deeper reason, and I am asking for a reason beyond, just trying to get us to win the game, to bail out of samsara and enlightenment. What is it all about?
Rinpoche: This game becomes more serious the more we understand the suffering of samsara. The less we understand samsaric suffering, the less we feel this, we do not see so much importance in it—so to really see, to really feel how this is important, and to get the inspiration to listen and reflect and do meditation practice, this comes from realizing the evolution of suffering. By meditating on the suffering, by realizing the evolution of suffering, true cause, true suffering, then you get, as I explained yesterday when I talked about loving kindness—there are all these different levels of suffering and the cause, so then you really get the wish to eliminate the cause. When you have that wish, when you have strong renunciation to abandon the cause, there is no other solution, except to realize emptiness. To cut the root of samsara, ignorance, even bodhicitta or any other realization or path besides the realization of shunyata can eradicate the root of samsara, the root of all suffering.
When you have the strong wish to abandon the cause of suffering, you find out what the method and the path to eliminate this is, and that is only the wisdom realizing emptiness—then it becomes very serious, then it’s real, very serious—there is other means, without listening, reflecting, and meditation, without realizing, there is no other way to cut the root of suffering. Then in this way, stronger aversion arises, and you discover the shortcomings of true suffering, you have strong renunciation and the stronger wish to realize emptiness—you have that wish constantly, day and night. Like for example, somebody who has a job that gives them a million dollars—to be able to get that job you need a degree, so there is so much benefit—so day and night, constantly, you have this idea so strong from the heart—to get the degree, and you can’t wait, you cannot wait, every hour, every minute you want to get it immediately. You have this strong wish, stronger renunciation for suffering, true suffering, and more understanding, more extensive, deeper, strong renunciation. Then you become like somebody who has a serious disease and is going to die any moment, somebody who has cancer, and the doctors have told you there is medicine to cure it. You cannot wait to get this medicine, you cannot stand to wait even for an hour. This is very important medicine, and you understand that because it can stop this sickness, this heart problem. This is nothing compared to the true cause of true suffering that does not have beginning, that you are constantly experiencing—this wisdom realizing emptiness, incredible, unbelievably serious medicine.
I thought you may have some other questions, more in other practices, yes?
Student: Sorry, this is not on a practice, but we have been talking about attachment and grasping with friends and material objects throughout the course, yet it seems that some of us have strong attachment to the Dharma and to the guru—is this strong attachment good or bad? And will it hinder practice or create negative karma?
Rinpoche: Eh?
Student: Strong attachment to Dharma and guru, will this create hindrances to our practice, or negative karma?
Rinpoche: The motivation is very important. Therefore, each time we begin meditation, each time we read a book, each time we listen to the teaching, it is very important to transform the motivation, you understand, that’s all—that includes all the gurus.
Student: This question concerns the purpose of beauty. This is a quote I heard this morning, “Aren’t you ashamed to lose your soul by regarding the creatures instead of the creator, if all the beauty on the earth prevents us from seeing the invisible, and those they must perish. “ This question, I want to know if the purpose of beauty—for instance why, when somebody asked him, “What is it all about?” why did Buddha hold up a flower instead of his hand or this thermos bottle or something. Is there a good reason for appreciating beauty or is it just our fault and we should not be attached and should ignore it and not be distracted at all by beauty, or is there a good reason for being able to appreciate beauty, beautiful things?
Rinpoche: If you are attached to beauty then you use the beauty in the wrong way, but if you don’t have attachment, if you use it without negative thoughts, then it might be beneficial, understand.
Student: Which kind of negative thoughts?
Rinpoche: If beauty is used with a dissatisfied mind, attachment, then it is not used in a beneficial way, a skillful way, you understand. If it is used another way, with wisdom, loving kindness, and compassion, then it becomes very beneficial, like that, okay. Yes?
THE BENEFITS OF REFUGE
Student: Would you please explain to me how and when to do my daily refuge to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha?
Rinpoche: The prayer can be done anytime. There is benefit, there is great benefit, great purification, accumulating merit, purifying the obscurations that interfere with the development of the mind and the temporary, ultimate happiness for self, for other sentient beings—even if the prayer is said at certain times, morning, evening, afternoon. Even if the prayer of refuge is said just one or two times a day, the main thing about refuge is not only the prayer, but the refuge practice in the mind.
I think this question is very good. When you meditate on bodhicitta, when you wish to have compassion, loving kindness, when you wish to have the realization of bodhicitta and you meditate to have the realization, this is taking refuge, this is already taking refuge in Dharma with the correct meditation technique of the seven techniques of Mahayana cause and effect—the kindness of the mother and repaying that, loving kindness, compassion, generating the thought, taking responsibility to do all the works of sentient beings by oneself alone, and to achieve enlightenment oneself as the means to that—whenever you have the wish to have this realization and you practice and meditate to transform your mind into this, this is taking refuge in the Dharma and bodhicitta. When you meditate on the renunciation of samsara, transforming your mind into that, trying to control your dissatisfactory mind, that is taking refuge in the Dharma. When you meditate on the meaning of the life, this precious human life, and the great meaning you can achieve with it, and how difficult it is to achieve this again, it is so short, it can be lost any moment, and then by thinking of karma and future rebirths, suffering rebirths and happy rebirths.
You stop the selfish mind by realizing the shortcomings, and all the problems that arise for you and for other people. And then see all the benefits and peace of living in the practice, living in the vow not to kill. All others are also like this example.
When you do this meditation, transforming the mind into this path, when you do these practices, we are taking refuge in the Dharma of the lower capable being’s path. When you transform the mind into the renunciation of all of samsara by meditating on the evolution of the true cause and true suffering, this whole evolution, practicing the means to achieve liberation from samsara, the three higher trainings, the higher training of moral conduct, concentration, and wisdom, you are taking the refuge in the Dharma, the graduated path of the middle capable being. Then you transform your mind into bodhicitta, the six perfections, and during those times, with the aim to achieve enlightenment for the sake of other sentient beings, you are taking refuge in the Dharma, the graduated path of the higher capable being. Then the same thing with tantra.
You are just caught up in some words of refuge, something there, already you have taken refuge but you are caught up in the words. It is just the words. You have done the inner meaning, the inner practice. So it’s like that.
Now when you practice, when you do listening, reflecting, and meditation practice on the path, on this graduated path to enlightenment, since you rely upon these teachings, this teaching has to be revealed by somebody, and it was revealed by the Buddha. So naturally you rely upon the Buddha, you are dependent on Buddha, who revealed the path. Naturally, when refuge is taken, the mind relies upon the Buddha. When you put the advice, the Buddha’s teachings, into practice, you rely upon Buddha, so already that is taking refuge in Buddha. That’s the refuge. So even though you don’t say the words, blah, blah, blah, blah. This “Lama sangye, lama cho, Guru is Buddha, guru is Dharma,” whether you say them or not, mentally, it’s always there. So it’s like that.
Sangha are the attainers of the Dharma. The absolute Sangha is the attainer of the true path and the true cessation of suffering, the lam-rim path. The absolute Sangha has the attainment of the actual refuge, the true path and true cessation of suffering, the truth for the all-obscuring mind. The conventional truth Sangha is the one who is living in the practice, particularly living in the precepts of morality. There are lay Sangha like Milarepa, or Marpa, or many other great yogis who are lay and there are many who are in the form of celibate, who have the actual refuge in Dharma attainment, who are living in morality. So they are like this.
Like them, like these holy beings, great yogis, who have complete control over the body and mind, and over the elements. Like the sky, they have so many unimaginable realizations. Inconceivable bliss, and incredible peace in the body and mind. By also wishing to be like that you are taking refuge. Whenever you get wish to be like that, and then you try to follow to that, that is taking refuge in the Sangha. So that’s how the Sangha guide you, this is how the Dharma guides you—by practicing this path, the graduated path to enlightenment, and relying upon this Dharma, by realizing wisdom or shunyata, you are protected—you cut the root of samsara so you are protected from that, and from all the sufferings. Generating renunciation frees you from samsara, and allows you to have liberation. Having bodhicitta protects you, and relying on this Dharma protects you from the selfish attitude from which all the lack of success, all the undesirable things arise, and also from the obscurations, all the gross and subtle obscurations, and cause you to be able to achieve omniscient mind. This is how Dharma guides us, if we rely upon the lam-rim, and the realization of bodhicitta and shunyata, okay? It is similar with tantra. Practicing tantra protects you from the impure conception, from the impure appearance, and in this way you are able to—generally, this is very basic, there are many other details—but you are able to quickly achieve enlightenment, having all the qualities and realizations, having ceased all the mistakes and obscurations, the peerless happiness in this life, within sixteen lifetimes, within three lifetimes, even within a few years in this life. This is the advantage, and these are the benefits—how taking refuge in the Dharma, in tantra, protects you. So like that.
Yeah, so I think I stop here. It’s like this—the person is already in the car, but the person doesn’t want to say, “I’m in the car.” You know what I mean? The person’s already in the car, going to the desirable place but somehow doesn’t want to hear that “I am in the car.” It’s like that.
Thank you.
THE HEART SUTRA
“There is no eye, no ear.”
This emptiness is by truly existent form, so the way to understand it is this. There’s no form, no truly existent form and truly existent feeling, truly existent recognition. So this is the way to meditate, this is the way it is to be understood.
“Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there’s no form.”
What you do is similar to the previous subject—form is empty, so you look at the form and it appears truly existent, and itself is the emptiness of the form, the form that appears as truly existent to you—that itself is empty, and that emptiness is the absolute nature of the form. So again it is the same thing here—in emptiness there’s no form, so when you hear “emptiness,” it is truly existent form. You have to remember that. So again look at the feeling—remember, look at the feeling, the mind looks at the feeling, at what appears, at the feeling that appears, the truly existent feeling, and that is what is empty. So in emptiness, there is no feeling, no truly existent feeling. No recognition.
“In emptiness, no recognition, no volitions…no mind.”
This could mean also expressing the experience. So while you’re concentrating on the emptiness, while you’re concentrating on the emptiness of form, while you’re realizing or concentrating on the emptiness of form, the form does not appear. While you are concentrating on the emptiness of feeling, through that wisdom, feeling does not appear—during that time. While you are concentrating on the emptiness of recognition, due to that wisdom, the recognition does not appear. Only the emptiness appears, only the emptiness. So here it could be expressing the experience of the meditator, his mind. So while you are concentrating one-pointedly on the emptiness of the “I,” at that time, to that mind, it looks like the “I” is not there, the “I” doesn’t exist. That is the experience. So I think this meaning could be expressing the experience. Like that.
“There are no forms ....”
For this, whichever merit field you are familiar with, please do the visualizations—the nectar rays emitting, purifying all the obscurations, particularly the ignorance of the grasping at true existence. And also the self-cherishing thought. As the replica absorbs into you, generate the whole extensive path, especially bodhicitta, the whole profound path from the beginning up to enlightenment, especially the wisdom realizing emptiness, okay. With you own mind and in the mind of all sentient beings.
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING SUFFERING
[Prayers, mandala etc.]
Please listen to the teaching well by thinking at least of effortful bodhicitta, thinking, “I must achieve the state of enlightened mind for the sake of all the kind mother sentient beings who equal infinite space, therefore I am going to listen to the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment.” Also please purify the righteous conduct of listening to the teachings according to the traditional practice of the lineage lamas.
It is said by Maitreya Buddha in the Do-de Den, “The disease is to be understood, the cause of disease is to be abandoned. Abiding in that happiness is to be achieved, and the medicine is to be taken.” So that’s the example. Like that then, the suffering, cause, and cessation of that, and likewise the path, are to be understood and to be abandoned, to be realized. So, if you do not realize the suffering as I mentioned before, during the answer on loving kindness, such as the three types of suffering, if you don’t have the wish to free, when you don’t have aversion to suffering—it is similar to not recognizing the disease that you have—in this case, there’s no aversion to be free from it. Similar. And also, if you do not recognize the sicknesses, you wouldn’t seek the cause of the disease. There would be no reason for that person who has the disease but doesn’t recognize the disease to check the cause of the disease—there’s nothing to cause him to check, to find out. Normally, if you have some pain or if you feel uncertainty or if you don’t want to have the disease, if are not sure whether you have it or not, when some pain starts, some strange feeling or something happens, then you go to check—you have x-rays, or a blood check, at the doctor’s.
Similarly, if you do not realize suffering, you will not see the cause of the suffering. You will not question it and you will not try to find out what is the cause of suffering, okay? Then if you do not try to understand the cause, if you don’t question what the cause is, you wouldn’t know that karma and disturbing thoughts are the cause, that the cessation of that is the ultimate liberation, that it is the ultimate happiness. You don’t come to this point.
As you don’t know liberation, which is the cessation of the true cause of suffering, true suffering, you wouldn’t question, wouldn’t seek the path to achieve liberation. So now you can see how important the understanding of the four noble truths is. So that’s why when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha turned the first Dharma wheel at Sarnath, he didn’t show the path out of suffering of samsara immediately, “This is the path.” Now you can understand, without talking of the suffering, if you show the path at the very beginning, it doesn’t make much sense. Even though to you it has greater meaning, it doesn’t make much sense for the listener, the disciple, the sentient beings—it doesn’t become important for them. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha taught true suffering first—how samsara is in the nature of suffering—and the shortcomings of karma and disturbing thoughts. After explaining true suffering, when they had come to the point to find out the cause, whether it has cause or not, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha revealed the true cause of suffering, karma and disturbing thoughts, in order to abandon them. Ceasing karma and disturbing thoughts, the true cause of suffering, you will not experience true suffering.
When they got the wish to achieve this, in order to actualize this, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha taught the true cessation of suffering. As they come to the point, whether the true cause of suffering can be abandoned or not, whether the cessation of suffering can be achieved or not, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha revealed the method by which it is possible. He revealed the true path. So therefore, the conclusion—if you do not realize true suffering, the true cause of suffering, then there is no way renounce it, no way to have the strong wish to achieve the cessation of suffering and the true path. If the renunciation of suffering becomes just a word, not in the heart, the wish to achieve the cessation of suffering also just becomes words. You don’t feel it from the depths of the heart. Also, if you do not recognize the first two truths, true suffering and the true cause of suffering, correctly, perfectly, then you do not recognize what liberation is. There is no way to understand the ultimate liberation that you have to achieve. If you don’t understand true suffering and the true cause of suffering correctly, your connotation and his idea of liberation will be something else. The liberation that you are wishing for will be something else—there is danger.
Also, as you don’t know what the actual liberation is that you are supposed to achieve, if you recognize liberation as something temporary, not experiencing the suffering of the suffering, not the cessation of all suffering, the pervasive compounding suffering under the control of karma and delusion, as temporarily not experiencing this suffering of suffering, or the suffering of change, if that is liberation for you, if that is what you recognize, then also there’s the danger that you will not seek the whole path. It interferes with his following the complete path, the true path, which leads him to the cessation of all suffering.
Guru Shakyamuni Buddha taught in the sutra that suffering should be realized. Abandon the all-arising. “All-arising” means karma and disturbing thoughts. The reasons it’s called “all-arising” is because all the three types of sufferings arise from karma and disturbing thoughts. By the result, I think, the name is given as “all-arising,” referring to karma and disturbing thoughts. Abandon the all-arising, actualize cessation, meditate on the path. “Meditate on the path” means transform the mind into the path. Buddha taught this extensively in the sutras.
The suffering of rebirth, old age, sickness, and death, and the person who has leprosy, infection—those are the suffering of sufferings. By getting close to the fire there is a kind of pleasure. When there is hunger, eating food is pleasure, when there is thirst, drinking is pleasure. When you are tired of sitting for a long time, standing is pleasure. When you are cold, wearing clothes is pleasure. All these types of samsaric pleasure are the suffering of change. And then there is the pervasive compounding suffering—all these are true sufferings. Karma and disturbing thoughts are the all-arising truth that oneself to circle in samsara. The cause and result of samsara, the two truths. Then liberation from samsara. Then there is the result of being liberated from samsara, the cessation of suffering, or the sorrowless state. The method that causes one to achieve that is the true path. Like this, the general teaching.
THE TWELVE LINKS
Then Guru Shakyamuni Buddha taught the twelve links to show how each samsaric being, each person, particularly each human being goes from one life to another under the control of karma and disturbing thoughts—how you circle in samsara, continuously without break. And how, by ceasing karma and disturbing thoughts, you get liberated from samsara. To show details of these two, how you circle in the samsara, the evolution of samsara, and how you can be liberated from samsara, the continuous circle. To show these two, Buddha taught the twelve dependent arisings, the evolution and the reverse.
In the sutra of the Salha Jhangpa, probably Sutra of a Green Plant, Shakyamuni Buddha held a rice plant in the hand and said any bhikshu—meaning virtuous beggar, those who “beg” for virtue, for nirvana, the sorrowless state, the Tibetan name, gelong, means begging for virtue—whoever among them who saw dependent arising would see the Dharma. I think this means the absolute truth, the emptiness of the “I,” suchness. Who sees the Dharma will see the Buddha—which means, I think, that the one who realizes absolute truth will see the Buddha, which means that he will achieve the dharmakaya within himself. With the omniscient mind, his own mind, having finished even the slightest obscuration, he is able to see all the three times’ existence directly, which is the dharmakaya of transcendental wisdom. Then the absolute nature of that, which is completely free, separated away from even the subtle obscurations, is the svabhavakaya, the holy body of self-nature. “One who sees the Dharma will see the Buddha.” I think this doesn’t mean so much seeing Buddha with the eye, but more everything within the person himself.
The dependent arising is explained in two ways—outer and inner. Outer dependent arising is like the stem that arises from the seed that is planted in the field and has all the conditions—minerals and water and heat—to make it grow. The twelve links are explained using external dependent arising as the example.
Inner dependent arising is from ignorance, compounding action, consciousness, name and form, sense basis, contact, feeling, craving and grasping, becoming and rebirth, old age and death. Inner dependent arising is explained by relating it to the outer dependent arising. From the sutra text called Sala Jhangpa, ignorance is the cultivator, the farmer. Action, karma, is like the field, and the consciousness is like seed. Craving and grasping are like water, making the seed wet. Name and form are like actualizing the stem from the seed. The very first, the ignorance grasping the “I” as truly existent, motivates the action. That is the very first thing. So that is the farmer, the cultivator. From the field, various crops arise, bad and good. So similarly, from karma, the various results of samsara, bad and good arise, in other words, suffering and happiness, samsaric rebirth. So the karma is like the field. This is the same as what is mentioned in the Abhidharmakosha, that all the various worlds come from karma. One day I think I was asked about the sun—somebody wanted to know about the sun and the evolution of the world. I didn’t get to finish that because somebody else put a question between that. There’s an extensive explanation on that in the Abhidhamakosha, I think in the second chapter, the extensive explanation on the evolution of the world.
I’m saying that that is on the paper in the text, not on my mind.
The very first, ignorance, motivates karma, the action. I’ll finish the first. So the consciousness, until the result is ripened, holds the potential or the seed, the result, the various happy and suffering samsaric rebirths. Like this, until the stem grows from the seed, the seed holds the potential of the stem, or the flower, the fruit, everything. Therefore consciousness is like the seed.
Then with heat and water, by getting that dry seed wet, it ripens. Immediately it produces the stem. So like that, craving and grasping ripen the seed of the karma in the consciousness and cause the future rebirth to arise. So craving and grasping are like water, heat, and minerals.
When the seed becomes ready to actualize the future rebirth, that is becoming. Then, taking birth by the consciousness joining in the mother’s womb—if it is a birth from the womb, then it is like that. Taking rebirth is by joining the consciousness to the next life. That is like the result, the stem, the plant arising.
Ignorance is like the farmer, the consciousness is the seed in the field of karma. It is planted in the consciousness, which holds the seed of the various happy and unhappy samsaric rebirths, and then plants them in the field of karma. Our body, the craving and grasping are like manure, heat, and water, to ripen that seed that is held by the consciousness—the human rebirth, the happy body, the happy rebirth is actualized, like the stem.
EVERYTHING COMES FROM THE MIND
What is actualized for us now is the happy samsaric rebirth. So you can see now in this way from the head down to the feet, this body or these aggregates, the association of the body and mind, this completely came from one’s own karma, motivated by ignorance, karma and action—it is not God, it is not the thought of the God, it is not action of other separate beings. The action, the karma, which means thought, this karma is a thought that came from the principal consciousness. That is the definition of karma, that is the characteristic of karma—a thought that came from the consciousness.
So that thought, that karma, is only your own thought, not somebody else’s thought. So now you can see this whole body, whether it is male or female, this completely came from your own thought, your own mind. Using mind as a general term for knowing phenomena. So now the evolution is very clear, from the head down to the feet, whether you have three arms, two arms, seven arms, or a bald head, a long face, a square face, whether you are skinny or fat—that basically came from the not knowing the nature of the “I.” So you can see how all of this suffering came from ignorance, your own ignorance.
So now, similarly, as you understand this samsaric body, this birth, these aggregates, this body is one part, but the aggregates means the whole thing. This completely came from your own thought, the karma that is your own thought. So now, this one is the body of the happy transmigratory being, this human body doesn’t experience the heaviest sufferings, like the narak beings experience. It has so much opportunity to experience happiness—temporary and, if you develop your mind, ultimate happiness. So compared to the liberation from samsara, this is what you should not have— you should not have taken this, but compared to the naraks, pretas, and animals, this one that you have taken is better. So this one, happy, the good samsaric rebirth, the body, came from your own karma, which was motivated by ignorance, but it was a virtue, a positive one.
Similarly, today, from this morning until tonight, all the good sense objects, all the desirable ones, the beautiful flowers and forms, the clean place, the good sound, taste, contact, smells—all these good and desirable objects, and this body, all of this came from karma, from one’s own thought. The seed was planted on the consciousness, and that is why you enjoy all these good things today.
Now, today, from this morning until night, all the dirty places, toilets, filled with garbage, muddy, ugly forms, undesirable forms, uninteresting things, hearing criticism, bad words, uninteresting sounds, bad smells, tastes, undesirable contact—all these came from you own karma. The good ones came from you own good karma and virtuous thoughts, and the undesirable things, the undesirable objects of the five senses came from you own nonvirtuous thoughts. Motivated by ignorance.
So I will check whether this is from good karma or bad karma. For the eye it looks okay, but for the tongue I don’t know [drinks tea]. Not bad. I must thank my past lives.
Same thing, if it were not to do with the mind, in other words, if it were not to do with karma, there wouldn’t be food that some people hate the taste of and see as undesirable, and others like so much. There is one object but people have different experiences, different feelings—happy, suffering, different. Those who get the suffering feeling, who find things to be undesirable, ugly, you can see now that this is due to the mind—the result of his own karma. This came from the field of his own karma and nonvirtue, okay? From the unsubdued mind of evil, anger, or dissatisfaction. Out of the three types of poisons, it is one of those, okay? Basically, it is from ignorance, not knowing the absolute nature.
So those who see that same object, who enjoy it and receive happiness from it are experiencing a result that came from the field of good karma. If it were not to do with the different perceivers, if it were not to do with the perceiver’s mind, that object should appear the same to everyone. However, there is no such object that did not come from mind. Without depending on mind, there is no existence, there is no causative phenomena—there is no existence that exists without depending on mind. There is no phenomena that did not come from mind. That’s why in some teachings it says that all the existence is only the nature of the mind. It doesn’t mean that they are saying that all existence is mind, but that it came from the mind. They are not saying all phenomena are only mind, only mind. It does not mean that they are mind but it means, in other words, relating to yourself, your own samsara, your own enlightenment, even when you achieve enlightenment, your own enlightenment, all the pure appearance at that time, the mandala, everything, all the pure appearances of the six senses, and while we are in samsara, all the impure appearances, various good and bad things, happiness, suffering—all these things came from only your own mind. They came only from your own mind—“only” cuts off a creator, being created by somebody else, by a separate being.
When you travel, if when you go by vehicle, by airplane, or by bus, or whether you go by car through the country, through the valleys in a train, when you look at the views, you see good things, bad things, all kinds of objects of the senses—beautiful mountains, ugly mountains, beautiful trees, ugly trees—you see so many things as you are passing through. As you’re going by car, you pass through the mountains and valleys, many things, and you see so many various good and bad things. So all those appearances that you are looking at it are your own view, your own appearance, your own. Perhaps it can be a simple projection like the one that happens when the machine with light projects through the negative onto the wall. Whatever seed the consciousness carries in the field of karma, while you are travelling, it projects or gets actualized. Like the stem coming out of the seed. You are looking at your own view, your own appearance, all the time, which came from your own mind. Your mental appearance is not something coming from over there, but comes from your mind. It comes from your own karma.
You’re looking, wherever you’re looking at it, you’re looking at your own mental appearance, the appearance of karma. It’s very useful while you are practicing awareness of this, while you are traveling, while you are looking at the views, while you are walking—practice this awareness. You look at things with awareness and think that this came from the field of karma, okay? Be aware, this one, ugly, came from this. Negative karma, nonvirtuous karma. The unsubdued mind, okay?
Then see a good one, very nice, beautiful, and think, “This appearance that I like, that I enjoy, came from my good karma, from positive virtuous karma.” This is very useful, very useful. How your mind creates things is very interesting. You can say that your appearance is the creation of your own mind, created by your own mind. Your appearance is the creation of your own mind, by your own karma. So you relate the appearance to the mind—it is something that you always you relate, it comes from mind and it is something that you relate to the mind. The appearance is not something that arises without depending on your mind at all—something bad and good that exists without depending on your mind, coming from its own side, it’s not that. Even when you hear “appearance” it’s something to do with the mind.
If the appearance came from the object, like the mountain and those things, it wouldn’t matter. If there’s no perceiver of this mountain, if there’s no perceiver of Kopan, then there’s no Kopan; the object Kopan doesn’t exist if there’s no perceiver. If there’s no knower of Kopan, if there’s no valid mind knowing Kopan, if there’s no valid mind, Kopan doesn’t exist. So it’s up to the mind.
If there’s a perceiver, if there’s a knower, then it exists. The knower and sensor, generally speaking. Whether any existence exists or not is dependent on whether there’s a knower or not. Here’s somebody praising you, here’s somebody criticizing you, praising how good you are, how fantastic, how you are lovely, kind, all that, knowledgeable, a good meditator, able to sit still for a long time, able to sleep for a long time—and at the same time there is somebody who talks about how you are ignorant, how you are stupid, the opposite—you are not meditating—your body is sitting in meditation but your mind is wandering—somebody saying all the opposite. So anyway, there is somebody who beats you, somebody who puts weapons on you, and somebody who puts perfumes, nice dresses, creams, massage.
The conclusion: both appearances—the desirable and the undesirable—both which appear to you, harming and helping, both came from your own karma, and are a projection or creation of your own mind, okay? They came from your own karma. The other one came from good karma, and this one came from bad karma. It completely came from your own mind.
RELATE EVERYTHING BACK TO YOUR KARMA
The conclusion is that there is nothing to blame in relation to that person, however much he criticizes, harms, or even if he kills you, there’s nothing to blame. The blame is only upon oneself, on ignorance, following ignorance, following the disturbing thoughts, and because of that creating karma. You don’t find the slightest thing to complain about to others. From birth until the death, all these appearances, bad and good, while you have this human body, all these appearances that you have from birth until the moment of death, until the appearance stops one day, for the duration of this time, all these appearances, bad and good, “I was happy, I enjoyed,” and unhappiness—all of them completely came from one’s own mind. Karma.
Now the very important thing, if you continuously want happiness and do not want suffering, if you don’t want any more problems, you have to eliminate ignorance and realize shunyata. This is referring to the root ignorance from which the disturbing thoughts and karma arise. In order to be capable of realizing wisdom, emptiness, and eliminating ignorance, you need to control and stop creating negative karma, polluting or obscuring the mind. You have to stop creating negative karma, obscuring the mind. Out of anger, attachment, and ignorance, okay. Being under the control of ignorance, anger, and attachment. Therefore you have to practice the lam-rim, the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment, to control anger, ignorance, and attachment. In that way you don’t create the negative karma obscuring the mind. So I think I will stop here.
This is a very good meditation. Very important. A very essential and very basic thing. This way you know how important it is to develop your mind, to practice Dharma. This is the first thing in life, the most important thing to do, all the time—while you’re eating, while you’re walking, while you’re talking, while you’re out doing business, while you’re working for our family, in the office, all the time, even sleeping. As much as possible.
I find it very interesting, if you look at the flowers in the garden that you enjoy outside, inside—when you look at these beautiful objects, when you go in a beautiful park, what you see is your own karmic appearance.
For example, this flower has such a shape like this—now it’s closed up, inside there are some very small things, certain particular leaves. Yeah, this one is like this, here, look. Do you see this one? And this one. Oh, sorry. This one has a particular shape like this, this many petals, and this one has particular leaves like this. Particular figures. You see some flowers with unbelievable designs, so tiny but with so many things inside, so many designs, so very artistic—you come there, and then there’s something. Their leaves have incredible, unbelievable figures.
As you are seeing these things, you’re looking at the view that came from your own mind, your karma. So it’s very interesting, very interesting. It’s more clear why it is like this, so beautiful, like this. All this comes from the perceiver—the person to whom it appears beautiful—it came from the perceiver’s karma. The mind can do such things! The mind can actualize such a thing, karma can actualize such a thing. You get astonished or you get very surprised at what the mind can do, it’s unbelievable.
This inspires you, it gives you encouragement instead of making you feel hopeless. Instead of feeling, “I’m incurable, I’m hopeless, I can’t do anything, I’m nothing,” it gives you encouragement, how the mind can be developed. You can have greater enjoyment than this, if you develop the mind. This came from past lives, good karma, virtuous thoughts. This is my idea, I think like this—now you see beautiful things, objects like this, and these enjoyments came from the mind, from your own karma, and were created by you. This shows that your own mind can be developed. In other words, in a deeper way of thinking, this is still impure enjoyment, although it is more pure. By developing the mind more, making the mind pure, you can have pure enjoyment. This also proves that by developing the mind, you can be free from all the suffering realms, all of samsara. From all problems. You can achieve liberation. I think you can understand this by these good objects that came from the good mind.
You can achieve liberation from the whole true nature of suffering, the true cause of suffering—you can achieve the highest enjoyment. Like Buddha’s enjoyment. There is nothing impure in the object of Buddha’s senses. For the Buddha’s senses, nothing is impure. There’s no impurity. That’s the completion, when the mind is completed, when the pure mind is completely developed, completed. There is no impurity to the senses at all. So I think this is proven by these examples.
