BP: Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds (9 February 2015)

0:00 Yeah, it's nice to see some, I was going to say old, but familiar friends' faces and a few new faces. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:16 How's everybody been? Report an error in the passage at 0:16 Highlight the passage at 0:16

0:25 Did you bring your new school bags and sharpen your pencils? I thought it was kind of exciting, actually, going back to school. Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:50 I thought, Report an error in the passage at 0:50 Highlight the passage at 0:50

0:53 before we actually begin, if we could just... Go around and maybe just give your first name and what you're, how shall we phrase it, what you'd like to get out of looking at Shantideva's text, engaging in the bodhisattva's deeds, what you're looking for. Report an error in the passage at 0:53 Highlight the passage at 0:53

1:27 Yeah, something like that, okay. So just 25 words or less, your name and... what you're looking for while you're here. Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:40 if you want to pass, you're welcome to pass, no pressure. Report an error in the passage at 1:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40

1:46 we can begin Mary. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

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2:25 Oh, you guys are coughing out. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:43 very admirable. Thank you for Report an error in the passage at 2:43 Highlight the passage at 2:43

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3:24 That's Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:29 great. Thank you, sir. Report an error in the passage at 3:29 Highlight the passage at 3:29

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6:55 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 6:55 Highlight the passage at 6:55

7:00 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

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7:50 Thank you Report an error in the passage at 7:50 Highlight the passage at 7:50

7:55 for that. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:02 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

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8:44 We'll try to make it not too off-putting. Thank Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

8:56 you. Report an error in the passage at 8:56 Highlight the passage at 8:56

9:06 Just to go over the format that we've been following and that we will to some degree follow this semester is that we'll begin by simply adjusting our motivation. You know, on the basic notion that it's not so much what we do, but why we do it, the intention behind it. You know, I was speaking to someone earlier today, and we Report an error in the passage at 9:06 Highlight the passage at 9:06

9:39 always don't know, at least for myself, you know, where we're coming from in terms of our decisions, whether we're coming from a place of wisdom or maybe a place of delusions. It's difficult to make that kind of... Discrimination sometimes. Sometimes it's quite subtle. Report an error in the passage at 9:39 Highlight the passage at 9:39

10:02 And as I was mentioning to this person I was speaking with this evening, I was fortunate a number of years ago to have an audience with the Dalai Lama when I lived in Dharamsala, which is in northern India, where the seat of the Tibetan government in exile is located. He lived across the street, more or less, more than less, actually. Anyway, I was quite fortunate back in the early days when he was much more accessible than he is now. Report an error in the passage at 10:02 Highlight the passage at 10:02

10:47 So there was a time when I had to make sort of a life decision about the course of what I was about to do. And I was wrestling with it, and I couldn't come to any. Conclusion of whether I was coming from a place of wisdom or whether I was just maybe just burnt out or just wanted a change for change's sake and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 10:47 Highlight the passage at 10:47

11:15 So I asked the Dalai Lama and I remember he said, well, we always don't know whether we're coming from a place of wisdom or not. We can make mistakes. You know, there are so many variables that it's difficult to take into. Consideration of all the forces that are working, any type of outcome. All we can do is have a good intention. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:45 We try to be a skill force. We can. No question about that. But over and above that is having a quality that we're trying to benefit. It's not a matter of indifference. It's definitely not a matter of seeking advantage or exploitation in some way. We want to help. Help ourselves. And as we're going to begin to look at, in helping ourselves, we can actually help others. In helping others, we help ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

12:14 So the idea is to help. And with that kind of beneficial intention, okay, we can make mistakes and we can learn from mistakes and we can adjust that and become a little more skillful in the future. And so getting used to simply... Developing the ability to adjust one's mind in terms of a beneficial intention. It's not something that we can prescribe for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 12:14 Highlight the passage at 12:14

12:43 There's no formula. It's something that we have to find a key within our own hearts. How to adjust our mind. How to find some way to make what we're doing of use to ourselves and others. No matter what it might be. There is always a possibility. So we come together and we're doing this. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:05 I don't think anyone's here to become a scholar of Buddhism. Perhaps you are. Sorry to disappoint you. Or you went to fame or you're in it for the money or whatever. I think we're all here to help ourselves in some way. And in helping ourselves, maybe we can develop the more expansive motivation of using that ability, the more I am, the more I have to give. Report an error in the passage at 13:05 Highlight the passage at 13:05

13:33 The more I help myself, the more I can help others. So we're here to help ourselves and to help others. It may not be immediate. It may not be tonight or tomorrow. It may be sometime down the track. Something I say or something I do or just who I am as a person, just my being, could be a benefit. Maybe we'll never know the benefit that we actually are. Maybe it won't be obvious, some word or some gesture. Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

14:04 It was meaningful to somebody that we will never know of, but it meant something to them. We can't be sure, we can't know, but we can aspire to that, to make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of other people. First those who are immediate around ourselves, our family and our loved ones and so forth, but then beginning to expand our mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:29 You know, that's what the Mahāyāna, the great vehicle, is all about. A big mind, big vision. The possibilities of what we can do, the difference that we can make. And I wonder the founder of the FPMT, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mayana Tradition, of which Vajrayani Institute is a member. Report an error in the passage at 14:29 Highlight the passage at 14:29

14:53 The third from the left of these six pictures to your left on the wall is Lama Yeshi. And I think he touched people's hearts. He changed a lot of people. Report an error in the passage at 14:53 Highlight the passage at 14:53

15:07 He was sort of a magician. He could take hippies off the streets of Kathmandu, junkies, some of them, and have them doing prostrations and the next day and trying to develop themselves and their hearts, trying to change for the better. Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:34 It's quite magical what he was able to do. And just the efforts of a single individual. We're sitting here now. It's a matter of dependent arising. The difference that a single individual can make. Now there's 150 centers around the world, all dependent upon this one individual and how the ripples that are still resonating out, the difference that it's making in some small measure, maybe not even small, in some measure. Report an error in the passage at 15:34 Highlight the passage at 15:34

16:11 To the people and the rest of the world. There's no reason why we can't do that ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 16:11 Highlight the passage at 16:11

16:22 We all have an aspiration. This is one thing I want to emphasize somehow in my fumbling and neurotic manner, that we have something that's inside of ourselves, some basic wisdom, some basic sanity. we have to, you know. Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:42 A basic caring and intelligence, an aspiration to be of benefit. From time to time, that element of the Buddha nature is in all of us. And we have to create the conditions, to nourish that, to develop it, to allow it to shine, to have a big mind, big vision, big possibilities. Report an error in the passage at 16:42 Highlight the passage at 16:42

17:13 Not an arrogance, not an ego trip, but just to be moved. To realize more of our potential and to be more of who we are. We're much more than we could ever imagine ourselves. We're much more than we could ever hope to be. And Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:33 we have to touch that. So that's why we're here. Report an error in the passage at 17:33 Highlight the passage at 17:33

17:50 There's a lot more going on than I think we're conscious of. That's when our intellectual grasp or our rational thinking... I don't mean to become romantic or... Mystical, but there is more to our minds and how the world is evolving and ourselves as a part of it than we perhaps are capable of conceiving. Report an error in the passage at 17:50 Highlight the passage at 17:50

18:23 And so we can become a part of that flow. We enter into that process of becoming more, allowing this Buddha nature to flourish, to give it an opportunity. Depart the weeds and let the light of our own wisdom and love nourish it and develop it. Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:51 So this is what we normally mean by going for refuge. There are various types, various levels. Report an error in the passage at 18:51 Highlight the passage at 18:51

19:05 We've got a long journey ahead of ourselves. We Report an error in the passage at 19:05 Highlight the passage at 19:05

19:21 have to believe in ourselves. Maybe we failed a hundred times. That's okay. know, I always... Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

19:32 We can begin again to be that person we've always thought we could be at some moment in our life, to begin to put the foundations of the dreamed-of life that we've all envisioned for ourselves, to translate it into some kind of reality for ourselves, to be the kind of person we know we can be, Report an error in the passage at 19:32 Highlight the passage at 19:32

20:02 to take a risk and be a Buddha, even Report an error in the passage at 20:02 Highlight the passage at 20:02

20:09 if we make mistakes along the way. So we go for refuge to something with the inside of ourselves, something that we may not totally comprehend or that's completely irrational. Report an error in the passage at 20:09 Highlight the passage at 20:09

20:27 You know, I think it was Carl Jung who said, the intellect requires demonstration and proof. And the heart, he used the word soul, but I used the word heart. And the heart, meaning and belief. We're all looking for meaning. We all want something to believe. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:50 The material existence which hasn't quite satisfied what it is that we need at the depths of our hearts. So this is an education, isn't it, in values, in something that we can find is worthy of our lives, worthy of our commitment, our dedication. We can find meaning in belief, a sense of fulfillment. We may never arrive at a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 20:50 Highlight the passage at 20:50

21:19 I am not quite sure what a Buddha is. But nonetheless, we can lead. Profoundly meaningful lives, fulfilled lives, where we feel like we're in tune with something very basic that resonates to the deepest part of our being. We feel whole, integrated, Report an error in the passage at 21:19 Highlight the passage at 21:19

21:43 so we go for refuge to something inside of ourselves. But simply wishing it was so is not sufficient. We have to actually do something. We have to practice, as has been mentioned by a number of you. Developing the tools, applying these ideas, some way of finding them relevant in how we lead our everyday lives. Report an error in the passage at 21:43 Highlight the passage at 21:43

22:17 That's the Dharma, sometimes translated as the teachings or the doctrine, maybe just the truth of things, the way things are beyond the fiction which we're continually projecting upon ourselves and the world about the way things are in fact, getting in tune with that. And working with the reality as it is. And this occurs amongst us all, you know, the saṅgha, the community. Report an error in the passage at 22:17 Highlight the passage at 22:17

22:49 You know, we have to, this is an opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

22:56 The world doesn't much care what we do here. The mantra of the world is bigger, better, more. Here we're trying to do something quite different. So we have to, we aren't alone, so alone in our journey. As we might feel at times, we have a fellowship of like-minded individuals who we can begin to share with. Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:30 And it's tremendously important to begin to normalize that we're not freaks, we're not abnormal in some way, that what it is that we aspire to, we're not alone in that, we're not an aberration, we're not simply a... Going off into so romantic, Report an error in the passage at 23:30 Highlight the passage at 23:30

24:03 something very real. So I would ask you, and I try in my own faltering way, to be as honest as possible with each other, with ourselves, where we can talk about things which are meaningful to ourselves, issues which are difficult to speak of outside of a safe environment in which of the like-minded individuals, where we can... Report an error in the passage at 24:03 Highlight the passage at 24:03

24:33 Begin to open up, experiment. It's like a social matrix which supports our awakening, which nourishes our Buddha nature. The things that we talk about, the things that we share, that we question. And Baal means question. Don't doubt yourself. Report an error in the passage at 24:33 Highlight the passage at 24:33

25:04 We don't have to be politically correct here. Respectful, but not politically. We can be honest and open. And even that in itself is a real learning process. That in itself can help us a great deal to be a better person, to find out more of what it is we're about and how to relate more Report an error in the passage at 25:04 Highlight the passage at 25:04

25:32 authentically in the world, which I think is a very significant part of what we're about and what our goal is about. So we go for refuge to the Buddha and the Dharma and the Saṅgha. And we try to raise the liver for motivation. And this is what our text is all about. Report an error in the passage at 25:32 Highlight the passage at 25:32

25:55 Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds. Lots of different titles for this text, but that's one we can use. Report an error in the passage at 25:55 Highlight the passage at 25:55

26:09 I don't mean to sound like an old philosopher, but I'm getting old. I know that. But I think of all the years that I've been in this business, questioning and fumbling. know, trying to... Report an error in the passage at 26:09 Highlight the passage at 26:09

26:32 Falling down and picking myself up. It seems like, what is the essence? What is this about? I think it's effective compassion. Report an error in the passage at 26:32 Highlight the passage at 26:32

26:44 Effective compassion, but effective. Compassion is the wish to alleviate suffering. But that in itself is not sufficient. We have to develop the means to be able to be effective. Report an error in the passage at 26:44 Highlight the passage at 26:44

27:06 Translating that wish into some kind of practical reality. That's what we're all about, our hearts and our minds. Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:18 So I think we have a rare opportunity together if we make use of it. And we all contribute what we have. So much wisdom and experience amongst yourselves. And we have the wisdom of the texts and so forth and all the conditions. So we can do a lot together. Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

27:44 It's meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

27:47 So if you'd like to recite in a kind of, in a more formal fashion, some of what we've been discussing in the going for refuge. Report an error in the passage at 27:47 Highlight the passage at 27:47

28:08 So this is on the preliminary prayers, which I think you all have a copy. You've got lots of pieces of paper. I'm very much a believer in pieces of paper. Report an error in the passage at 28:08 Highlight the passage at 28:08

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28:51 I go for refuge until I'm awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 28:51 Highlight the passage at 28:51

29:20 I go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices. May all sentient beings be free from suffering in the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the joy that is without sorrow. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity. Report an error in the passage at 29:20 Highlight the passage at 29:20

29:52 Free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 29:52 Highlight the passage at 29:52

30:06 So part of our format will be adjusting our motivation as we've been doing a session of meditation. And this will be partially at times a mindfulness meditation as we've been doing, but also we'll meditate on the various subjects as we come through them in engaging the bodhisattva deeds. Report an error in the passage at 30:06 Highlight the passage at 30:06

30:34 Okay, and then I'd like to make more of a part of our sessions together, small group discussions, really churning over, sharing the ideas that are being presented, questioning. Report an error in the passage at 30:34 Highlight the passage at 30:34

30:53 And then we'll also talk about the text as well and have some questions and answers. Okay, so we're going to sit and meditate for a short while. So if you'd like to stand and stretch. And then we'll sit together. Report an error in the passage at 30:53 Highlight the passage at 30:53

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31:55 So taking a comfortable but firm posture. So I might suggest if you're sitting, you're welcome to sit on a cushion, you're welcome to lie down, or sit on a chair. If you're sitting on a chair, I might suggest that you place your feet flat on the floor, your hands in your lap or on your knees, bringing Report an error in the passage at 31:55 Highlight the passage at 31:55

32:27 your awareness to the crown of your head, your scalp. And we'll begin by relaxing, softening. The wrinkles in the brow, in your forehead, Report an error in the passage at 32:27 Highlight the passage at 32:27

32:52 the pressure in and around your eyes diminishing, the Report an error in the passage at 32:52 Highlight the passage at 32:52

33:07 muscles of the face softening, Report an error in the passage at 33:07 Highlight the passage at 33:07

33:28 your tongue is soft, the jaw relaxed, Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:41 bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and perhaps turning your head to each side a few times, just very gently loosening, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck. Report an error in the passage at 33:41 Highlight the passage at 33:41

34:02 And bringing your awareness to your upper back and shoulders and perhaps drawing your shoulders up toward your ears and circling them to the back. Report an error in the passage at 34:02 Highlight the passage at 34:02

34:22 Just rotating your shoulders a few times and Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

34:37 eventually returning your shoulders back up toward your ears and just allowing them to drop comfortably to the sides. And with that feeling of some kind of weight or burden that you may have unknowingly been carrying around on your back over the course of the day. Moving down and through your body into the ground. A feeling of relief as if some burden's been lifted from your back, from your shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 34:37 Highlight the passage at 34:37

35:19 Bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands. Hands are soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:35 Relaxing your lower arms. Report an error in the passage at 35:35 Highlight the passage at 35:35

35:41 Just experiment. How would that feel if your arms were completely relaxed? What would that feel like? Report an error in the passage at 35:41 Highlight the passage at 35:41

36:04 Your chest is at ease. Report an error in the passage at 36:04 Highlight the passage at 36:04

36:12 And relaxing throughout the heart area, the central space of the chest. Report an error in the passage at 36:12 Highlight the passage at 36:12

36:39 And releasing the tension we often hold in our stomach muscles. Just allow the belly to go soft. Report an error in the passage at 36:39 Highlight the passage at 36:39

37:05 Keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles throughout Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:29 the pelvic region. Report an error in the passage at 37:29 Highlight the passage at 37:29

37:50 Eyes, Report an error in the passage at 37:50 Highlight the passage at 37:50

38:17 finally your feet soft. Report an error in the passage at 38:17 Highlight the passage at 38:17

38:37 We're going to scan through the body once again. From the crown downward through the central portion of the body. As you move from the crown downward. Report an error in the passage at 38:37 Highlight the passage at 38:37

38:49 Notice any tensions or tightnesses in the body, Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

38:56 maybe in the back of the neck, shoulders, upper back. Report an error in the passage at 38:56 Highlight the passage at 38:56

39:04 If you come across a place where you feel some tightness or tension, breathing in and following that breath with awareness to wherever the tension is being held in the body, suffusing that area with the breath of awareness and as if breathing out from that same area. And with that out-breath, imagining or actually feeling some kind of loosening. Report an error in the passage at 39:04 Highlight the passage at 39:04

39:29 A releasing. The tightness diminishes. The tension lessens. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:41 Again and again, breathing into those various areas of tightness and tension. Again and again, breathing out from those same areas. Report an error in the passage at 39:41 Highlight the passage at 39:41

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40:21 Becoming comfortable, relaxed, at ease. Report an error in the passage at 40:21 Highlight the passage at 40:21

40:30 It's a pleasant place to be in the body. Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:39 Relaxed indeed. Report an error in the passage at 40:39 Highlight the passage at 40:39

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41:29 Staying with your body. Report an error in the passage at 41:29 Highlight the passage at 41:29

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42:40 I invite you to become aware of the fact that you're breathing. Just now, when you became aware of your breath, Report an error in the passage at 42:40 Highlight the passage at 42:40

42:50 Where was the physical sensation that indicated to you that you're breathing in, that you're breathing out? Where was it most clear and obvious to yourself? Report an error in the passage at 42:50 Highlight the passage at 42:50

43:08 And just lightly rest your attention, focus your awareness on that physical sensation associated with the natural breath. And if it's helpful, you can count your breaths, breathing in, breathing out, counting one, in, out, two, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 43:08 Highlight the passage at 43:08

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47:14 Bring your mind back. Report an error in the passage at 47:14 Highlight the passage at 47:14

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48:30 And we're going to shift our attention to a sensation of the body. Other than that of the breath. Maybe it might be the pressure of your buttocks on the chair, your hands in your lap, focusing your awareness on the sensation of the body other than the sensation of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 48:30 Highlight the passage at 48:30

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50:19 And again, we shift our attention. This time we're going to listen to sound. Focusing your attention on the sounds, both internal and around us. Listening to sound. Report an error in the passage at 50:19 Highlight the passage at 50:19

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51:31 Listening to sound. Report an error in the passage at 51:31 Highlight the passage at 51:31

51:59 And again, we'll shift our attention this time to the objects of our mental consciousness. So these are the thoughts, the words passing through our minds, the pictures, images, but also the states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 51:59 Highlight the passage at 51:59

52:16 Maybe you're feeling restless, maybe sleepy, maybe there's pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings, maybe there's an emotion of one sort or another, objects and states of mind. Report an error in the passage at 52:16 Highlight the passage at 52:16

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53:41 And finally, we're just going to allow the mind to become involved in an object that it naturally tends toward. But in a relaxed and easy way, just maintain a degree of awareness, a watchfulness. Report an error in the passage at 53:41 Highlight the passage at 53:41

53:55 Just observing the play of the mind as it moves from object to object. Report an error in the passage at 53:55 Highlight the passage at 53:55

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54:54 And then bring the mind back to the breath. Easy, gentle, in and outflow of the natural breath. Report an error in the passage at 54:54 Highlight the passage at 54:54

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57:14 So you're welcome to stand up and stretch if you like. Report an error in the passage at 57:14 Highlight the passage at 57:14

57:35 So tonight we're going to begin to become bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 57:35 Highlight the passage at 57:35

57:41 You have to sign up for boot camp. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

57:56 So just to give you some idea of the direction in which we'll be headed. Report an error in the passage at 57:56 Highlight the passage at 57:56

58:06 This semester is dedicated to the study of a text called The Bodhisattva. There's various ways of translating this title, which we'll go through. But the standard FPMT title translation is Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds. we're going Report an error in the passage at 58:06 Highlight the passage at 58:06

58:24 Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds. So perhaps we'll just refer to it as the Bodhisattva's Deeds. Just a short version. And it has ten chapters. And this semester we're going to look at the first seven. So we're not going to cover the entire text. This year we'll take the first seven. And next year we'll take chapters eight, nine and ten. Eight. Report an error in the passage at 58:24 Highlight the passage at 58:24

58:51 It has to do with meditative concentrations, various types of meditations. Nine is the wisdom chapter and ten is the chapter of dedication. So we have 19 weeks to cover seven chapters. Report an error in the passage at 58:51 Highlight the passage at 58:51

59:08 And as you are becoming familiar with, I'm not a very good time manager, so I don't want to say about that. All the chapters for last week or something like that. So we're not going to be able to go through the text verse by verse. I don't think I have the background to be able to do that. But I want to go through and expand upon some of the most, what I think are the most relevant verses, salient, important verses. Report an error in the passage at 59:08 Highlight the passage at 59:08

59:48 We have lots of resources that we're going to be made use of. Report an error in the passage at 59:48 Highlight the passage at 59:48

59:58 We're going to base our discussions together on a commentary, which is called The Entrance for the Children of the Conqueror. Report an error in the passage at 59:58 Highlight the passage at 59:58

1:00:14 It's by Galsap J. I'll talk a little bit more about Galsap J. He was a direct disciple of... Jaffe Tsongkhapa. So this would be the basis for our discussions together, this text. There are other resources, and amongst the various handouts that you received is a sheet covering resources for the study of Shantideva's engaging in the bodhisattva's deeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:14 Highlight the passage at 1:00:14

1:00:52 And as it mentions in the very first paragraph, our main resource is going to be Galsav Jaffe's commentary to the text. But there are a number of translations to the text itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:52 Highlight the passage at 1:00:52

1:01:07 There's one which has been fairly recent. Many of you are familiar with Alan Wallace, his partner Vanessa Wallace. So this is an excellent translation. It's coming from the Sanskrit. But he does indicate the Sanskrit and the Tibetan. There are some discrepancies, and he translates both of them. So this is the root text. This is the text that Shantideva, the 8th century yogi scholar, actually composed. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:07 Highlight the passage at 1:01:07

1:01:39 This will be interspersed in the commentary that we'll be going through, the commentary by Shantideva. There are a number of English texts which are commentaries to Shantideva's text. And I'm just going to give you an idea. There's one by the Dalai Lama. This takes up all the chapters of Shantideva's bodhisattvas, engaging the bodhisattvas deeds, except for the wisdom chapter. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39 Highlight the passage at 1:01:39

1:02:15 There's another text which takes up the wisdom chapter. So this is, of course, excellent. But I think he gave this teaching. This is from a teaching he gave. He probably gave it over a course of maybe three days. So he doesn't cover very many verses. So it's just a very abbreviated commentary. There are two other commentaries that I just mentioned. I had hoped to purchase this for everyone, but it didn't eventuate. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:15 Highlight the passage at 1:02:15

1:02:49 I saw it online for $8.50. I thought, wow, that's a bargain. I've got to get those. But they only had one copy. Anyway. This copy, it is available, but it's not at the price of $8.50, I'm afraid. This is by Geshe Yeshe Tukton. He taught at Tsongkhapa Institute in Italy. I met him just when I arrived there back in, I think, 1989. No, not 1989. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:49 Highlight the passage at 1:02:49

1:03:22 99, I think. Anyway, this is a very comprehensive, it's a very traditional commentary, but very comprehensive. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

1:03:31 I'm not selling these texts. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:31 Highlight the passage at 1:03:31

1:03:36 Many of you are familiar with the work of the teachings of Pema Chudan. She's an American Tibetan Buddhist nun. She's an excellent communicator. It makes things very relevant, very accessible, very immediate. It's not technical, not particularly traditional. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:36 Highlight the passage at 1:03:36

1:04:00 So we have here something in a text which is very traditional and comprehensive, and on the other hand, something which is very accessible, relevant. I'm not saying this is inaccessible. So I would recommend either of these two if you want to read along as we go along. So There's No Time to Lose by Pema Chodron and The Way of the Awakening by Geshe Yevta Eshi Tupten. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

1:04:29 An abbreviated version of the commentary by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So those are some of the, but there's some other texts that are mentioned as well in this, mentioned the resources. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29 Highlight the passage at 1:04:29

1:04:53 So as I mentioned, I won't be covering every, we simply, in 19 weeks we're going to cover seven chapters. There's quite a number of verses. So we won't be going through verse by verse. Some will carry over a general theme. For example, the first chapter is very much concerned with the benefits of developing the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:53 Highlight the passage at 1:04:53

1:05:26 I think that the message of Shantideva's text, engaging in the Bodhisattva's deeds, is why it's important to develop this quality of an awakened heart and how to go about doing it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:26 Highlight the passage at 1:05:26

1:05:46 And I think Shantideva, I actually, just to share my own personal experience, I did a retreat on this text. This was quite a number of years ago. It's really quite a, probably one of the most moving, profound texts in all of Mahāyāna Buddhism, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:46 Highlight the passage at 1:05:46

1:06:14 He's really trying to, I think, and I want to get, I like to, Get across one thing. And I want to give you some background on Shantideva's life himself. But over and above that, he was a monk. He lived in a monastery in Orlando University. He was addressing other monks. This is back in the 8th century in India. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:14 Highlight the passage at 1:06:14

1:06:42 So we have a very selective audience and a somewhat different culture. I still... Report an error in the passage at 1:06:42 Highlight the passage at 1:06:42

1:06:57 Many of the ways that he presents the material are addressed to other monks, males. That's to be understood. So my point that I want to try to get across is don't let the words or sometimes the cultural distinctions or the gender distinctions stand in your way of getting at what Shantideva's message is all about, what he's trying to say to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:57 Highlight the passage at 1:06:57

1:07:30 I think he's really sincere about trying to show us an alternative, an option. We talk about developing tools, how to make these teachings relevant to our daily life, and this is what we're looking for, how to bring about change. I think he was tremendously sincere and tremendously insightful in trying to address The basic issue of the human dilemma in terms of what some of our major sources of our problems are. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:30 Highlight the passage at 1:07:30

1:08:13 Our own self-centeredness, our own narcissism, our own exaggerated self-importance. He was trying to give us a reason why, a way to live our lives. He was very much concerned with ethics. Ethics is how we be in this world with other people. Human beings besides ourselves. And he was trying to show us another possibility, an alternative, and trying to educate us to that possibility. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:13 Highlight the passage at 1:08:13

1:08:45 He was trying to help us develop a big mind, a vast mind, another perspective. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:45 Highlight the passage at 1:08:45

1:09:01 So we want to try to make Shantideva's message our own, to make it relevant to ourselves, to have it touch our hearts. So sometimes the words might get in the way is when I'm getting at. Maybe they won't. Maybe when he talks about the foulness of the woman's body. And then, oh, why is he picking on women? He's talking to monks. Why wouldn't he be? Or why? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:31 So we have to, we have to, you know, there was a, I haven't read this for a long time. Long time ago I read it. There's a book by Hermann Hesse. Called Steppenwolf. And this character was in a bar. And the radio was on. But it was playing music, but there was lots of static. And he was complaining to the bartender, you know, get rid of that static. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:31 Highlight the passage at 1:09:31

1:10:02 Get rid of that static. And the bartender said, around here we try to pay attention to the music. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:02 Highlight the passage at 1:10:02

1:10:10 If we could live next door to a Buddha, we would find fault with our neighbor. There's no doubt. It's just a matter of what we pay attention to. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10:10

1:10:21 So I'm not saying overlook. I'm not saying rationalize. But I'm saying pay attention to what the message that Shantideva is trying to address to our hearts, what he's trying to communicate to us. I think it's terribly relevant to ourselves. And I think he's quite sincere. But he was of another age and another context. So we're going to have to do some work with that. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:21 Highlight the passage at 1:10:21

1:10:52 You know, just talking about Shantideva himself, it said that he had three realizations, Report an error in the passage at 1:10:52 Highlight the passage at 1:10:52

1:11:05 eating, sleeping and shitting. He was, this is the story that surrounds him. he was he was Many of his fellow monks thought he was unworthy of illustrious Nalanda. Nalanda was considered the center of learning in India at that time. And he was kind of bringing down the vibe. He never came to the prayer sessions. He wasn't studying. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:05 Highlight the passage at 1:11:05

1:11:38 He didn't appear to be studying and so forth. So there's this story that they... They asked him to, it was through tradition that the monks, the various monks, would be asked to give a teaching in front of the assembled monastery. And he was asked to give a talk. And they thought he would be so embarrassed, he'd be so ashamed, he would just leave of his own accord. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:38 Highlight the passage at 1:11:38

1:12:03 And so he said, upon being invited to give discourse in front of the entire assembly of monks. He said, well, would you like something traditional or would you like something original? Yes, original. So they thought he would be so terribly embarrassed and make a fool out of himself. And to add to that, they built an extremely high throne, but there was no stairs. So it said that it came time to deliver this sermon, this discourse, from this great assembly of monks and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:03 Highlight the passage at 1:12:03

1:12:46 He walked up to the throne and he just floated up and landed on top. And he delivered what became probably in many ways the manual of a bodhisattva, the how-do. A bodhisattva for dummies, maybe not even for dummies, for aspiring bodhisattvas on how to actually go about it. How to awaken your heart and how to develop and nourish that aspiration to become the best possible person that you can become to translate into some kind of reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:46 Highlight the passage at 1:12:46

1:13:26 And it's said that as he was delivering this discourse, when he got to the ninth chapter, the ninth chapters on wisdom, he got to a particular verse. I think it's the 34th verse. He began to float up. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:26 Highlight the passage at 1:13:26

1:13:48 And to the sky. And by the time he finished the ninth chapter and began the tenth chapter, they could only hear the voice coming from the sky. And he was never seen again. So I think they were rather disappointed that they felt a great loss. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:48 Highlight the passage at 1:13:48

1:14:11 He wrote two texts. One is called, as we'll be looking at, The first seven chapters engaging in the bodhisattva deeds. The other is called the Compendium of Training, Shikshya Samachaya, which again is very much concerned with the practices and the ethics of a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:11 Highlight the passage at 1:14:11

1:14:37 We'll be looking at this commentary by Gausapche. You have another handout which you've received. Which are the notes, notes number one. It talks a little bit about, first, there's a photograph of Shantideva. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:37 Highlight the passage at 1:14:37

1:15:03 They didn't have very good cameras in those days. Pixels, they weren't very, one pixel or something. Anyway, there's a, in Tibetan, Shantideva is Siwa, Siwa Ha. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:03 Highlight the passage at 1:15:03

1:15:19 So Shanti means peace and Deva means a deity. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:19 Highlight the passage at 1:15:19

1:15:28 The commentary that we're going to be looking at. That we're going to be making use of is by a direct disciple of Tsongkhapa. His name is Gausip J. And his full name is Gausip Dharma Rinchen. And he's depicted to, Report an error in the passage at 1:15:28 Highlight the passage at 1:15:28

1:15:49 he's always sitting to the right of Tsongkhapa. The two main disciples of Tsongkhapa, who is the originator of the particular tradition which is mainly followed here at Vajirani Institute, the Gelu tradition. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:49 Highlight the passage at 1:15:49

1:16:05 To Tsongkhapa's right is Galsapche, to his left is Ketopche. So he became the first throne holder of the Gelipa tradition. And he wrote a great number of texts, and one of his most important texts is a text that we'll be looking at in translation, the commentary to Bodhisattva's deeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:05 Highlight the passage at 1:16:05

1:16:37 So just my way of... Talking about the text, Report an error in the passage at 1:16:37 Highlight the passage at 1:16:37

1:16:48 as I try to emphasize, it's a bodhicitta manual. First, Report an error in the passage at 1:16:48 Highlight the passage at 1:16:48

1:16:58 how to touch our hearts, how to awaken our hearts, how to access Report an error in the passage at 1:16:58 Highlight the passage at 1:16:58

1:17:07 and begin to nourish, create the conducive nourishing conditions to foster this quality that we all possess, this awakening heart. And if you notice on the third page, Report an error in the passage at 1:17:07 Highlight the passage at 1:17:07

1:17:30 There's what's called a summary. So the first three chapters of the Bodhisattvas explain the methods of nourishing the conditions to giving rise to awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:30 Highlight the passage at 1:17:30

1:17:46 So the actual meditative tradition, the actual meditation by which we cultivate the awakened heart is set out in the eighth chapter on meditative concentration. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:46 Highlight the passage at 1:17:46

1:17:58 the text... The first three chapters, how do we nourish that aspiration, the longing to become a better, as was mentioned. I want to become a good person. I mean, it sounds prosaic, perhaps, but it's very deeply meaningful. To become the best person we can become, both for ourselves and others. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:58 Highlight the passage at 1:17:58

1:18:27 That's really quite an ambition. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:27 Highlight the passage at 1:18:27

1:18:32 And how do we nourish that? Sometimes or other, we've all touched that, haven't we? There are times when we'd like to go beyond our self-importance and be there for others and be there for ourselves in a more effective and wholesome manner. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:32 Highlight the passage at 1:18:32

1:18:52 So the first three chapters, the fourth through sixth chapters, when we're developing this aspiration, they stabilize this aspiration. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:52 Highlight the passage at 1:18:52

1:19:02 And then through the seventh through the ninth chapters, We begin to methodically take up what are called the six, you know, traditionally called the six perfections. I think I talked about that when we were doing the lamrim. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:02 Highlight the passage at 1:19:02

1:19:20 I hate to use difficult words, but transcendent practices. And we'll talk about why. I don't want to get hung up in the words, but the six perfections of generosity and ethics and patience, joyous effort, meditative concentration and wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:20 Highlight the passage at 1:19:20

1:19:39 And so forth. We're going through these. So the text overall in ten chapters covers three stages of the development of the awakened heart, bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39 Highlight the passage at 1:19:39

1:19:56 And this is contained in the dedication prayer which we'll be reciting. We have been reciting and we'll continue to recite together. It's on page three of our notes. May the supreme jewel of the awakened heart That is not arisen, arise and grow. So the first three chapters are getting in touch with that quality of mind and nourishing it, causing that aspiration to develop. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:56 Highlight the passage at 1:19:56

1:20:27 And may that which has arisen never decline. How do we go about stabilizing it such that it doesn't diminish? The fourth through the seventh chapters. And then... But increase more and more. We actually work with the various perfections whereby we develop that aspiration and translate it into some kind of reality when we can actually bring about the welfare of others and ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:27 Highlight the passage at 1:20:27

1:20:59 So this verse of dedication covers the three stages of the awakening of our heart. Developing the aspiration, stabilizing it such that it doesn't... Report an error in the passage at 1:20:59 Highlight the passage at 1:20:59

1:21:14 We're going to begin with the first chapter. And that's, again, that's on page two. There's a summary of, note one, the summary of each of the ten chapters. So essentially chapter one is like a praise to bodhicitta, to the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:14 Highlight the passage at 1:21:14

1:21:43 There's a profound psychology. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:43 Highlight the passage at 1:21:43

1:21:52 We all want to change. I think that's almost assumed in some way. I mean, that's what perhaps Buddhism is really all about, change for the better. But we have to be aware that there is some resistance to change. There's some momentum to who we have been, which is going to perpetuate a lot of the old habits, the old patterns. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:52 Highlight the passage at 1:21:52

1:22:23 That we're going to meet resistance. We're not beginning with a blank slate from a zero game, but working from there. So there's a notion that the mind is basically moving toward that which conceives as integration, wholeness, purposefulness. The mind is dynamic in its nature. And it's moving toward that which it conceives of as happiness. We don't have to force ourselves to be happy, at least to move, to desire to be happy, to move toward what we conceive of as happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:23 Highlight the passage at 1:22:23

1:23:17 But the problem is many of our conceptions about what happiness is are not in fact in keeping with the nature of what in fact happiness is in reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:17 Highlight the passage at 1:23:17

1:23:31 The mind will naturally move toward that which we hold as valuable, that which we conceive of as a source of well-being and happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:31 Highlight the passage at 1:23:31

1:23:41 So we want to begin to, what you hold, I don't know, Report an error in the passage at 1:23:41 Highlight the passage at 1:23:41

1:23:59 we have to see the value of the awakened heart. We don't have to force ourselves. I think I'd like to emphasize this. We don't have to perform some kind of mental gymnastics. We don't have to fit ourselves in some kind of spiritual mold or a spiritual straitjacket of some sort or another. If we go about this process of change intelligently, we can use the very nature of our mind as an ally to help us to move in the direction of what is real happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:59 Highlight the passage at 1:23:59

1:24:41 here we We begin by this chapter one, the benefits of the awakened heart. If you want to make some kind of change, you begin by the simple-minded process of looking at the advantages and disadvantages. What are the advantages of this change? What are the disadvantages of this change? Not theoretically, but within my own experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:41 Highlight the passage at 1:24:41

1:25:07 If you want to stop smoking, what are the advantages of smoking? What are the disadvantages of stopping? So you're relying Report an error in the passage at 1:25:07 Highlight the passage at 1:25:07

1:25:32 upon the natural intelligence of the mind. It will naturally move toward that which it understands as beneficial, as happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:32 Highlight the passage at 1:25:32

1:25:47 It will naturally move away from that which it conceives as sources of suffering, as problematic. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:47 Highlight the passage at 1:25:47

1:25:58 If you want to make a change, it begins with a process of where the payoff is and what are the drawbacks. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:58 Highlight the passage at 1:25:58

1:26:10 Unless we do that kind of groundwork, the change will simply be a matter of intellectual, will be a matter of theory. It won't be rooted in, you know, the principle of pleasure and pain prevails over logic. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:10 Highlight the passage at 1:26:10

1:26:29 I know I should, but it feels so good I can't stop. Does it really feel good? That's the question. And is there something that could feel better? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:29 Highlight the passage at 1:26:29

1:26:40 If we can really begin to bring that out in our experience, then we played with the toys of a child at one time. And if somebody tried to take those toys away from us, we would have cried. We would have, no, please. But there was a point when those toys were no longer relevant to ourselves. When there were other toys, big toys, real people, you know, real cars and things. And we started playing with those less and less. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:40 Highlight the passage at 1:26:40

1:27:13 They weren't as significant. We didn't hold to them as a source of pleasure anymore. There was a point when we forgot all about them and we moved on in our life, hopefully, to some degree at least. We're not still stuck in the childhood notions. So likewise. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:13 Highlight the passage at 1:27:13

1:27:34 can begin If we can show ourselves, within our own experience, the advantages of Report an error in the passage at 1:27:34 Highlight the passage at 1:27:34

1:27:47 a particular state of being, of a development of a particular perspective, a new way of relating, another vision of how we could be in this world, and the disadvantages of the claustrophobic, limited, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:47 Highlight the passage at 1:27:47

1:28:06 self-harming way we've been working. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:06 Highlight the passage at 1:28:06

1:28:14 The mind's going to move. There's going to be a shift. So we don't have to really force ourselves. We don't have to traumatize ourselves. So chapter one consists of a detailed explanation of the benefits of developing the awakened heart. That's the beginning. That's the start of any kind of change. That's what we're going to begin to work with. Does that make any sense? I hope I'm making sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:14 Highlight the passage at 1:28:14

1:28:44 So we have to be honest with ourselves. We don't have to be politically correct here. It doesn't do any good. It's an obstacle. It's wasting time. You have to be honest with yourself. It's not easy to feel what it is you actually feel. We're so propagandized, conditioned to believe in other than what we actually feel. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:44 Highlight the passage at 1:28:44

1:29:16 We could be very out of touch with what our actual experience. But that's part of the journey, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:16 Highlight the passage at 1:29:16

1:29:29 So we're going to begin there with the first chapter, which is in the praise of bodhicitta. So I Report an error in the passage at 1:29:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29:29

1:29:52 just want to mention, I don't know the title of the text. I've made a few possible alternative translations that you might come up with. On page two of note one, where it just says, you know, the word bodhi. So the name of the text in Sanskrit. So Shantideva composed this text in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:52 Highlight the passage at 1:29:52

1:30:25 The Bodhicaryavatar. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:25 Highlight the passage at 1:30:25

1:30:30 The Tibetan is Jongju Sempa Lajukpa. And in English, we're going to use the title engaging in the Bodhisattva deeds. So bodhi. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30:30

1:30:41 And I just, in case you're interested, there's a... The Tibetan translation, Zhongchu. So, you know, lots of different possibilities. Well, not lots, but it could be translated as awaken or enlightenment. I generally come down on the side of awaken. Bodhi actually means to awake, to wake up. So it's very much in keeping with the actual Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:41 Highlight the passage at 1:30:41

1:31:07 Sattva. So it can mean hero or brave one. It can just mean a being. So the word bodhisattva. You know, it's a pretty commonly used term. It means something like, I mean, it's a hero with respect to awakening, something like that. It's a courageous attitude. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:07 Highlight the passage at 1:31:07

1:31:38 Then charia, deeds, way of life, conduct, action, avatar, engaging, guide, to enter, introduction. So there's various possibilities of ways of translating the title into English. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:38 Highlight the passage at 1:31:38

1:31:57 A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Esaui Report an error in the passage at 1:31:57 Highlight the passage at 1:31:57

1:32:05 Wallace, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Introduction to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds. So, not Report an error in the passage at 1:32:05 Highlight the passage at 1:32:05

1:32:22 too concerned with the exact wording, just the notion of just looking at a Bodhisattva's manual, the how-to. Becoming and developing as a bodhisattva, this heroic individual with regard to awakening. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:22 Highlight the passage at 1:32:22

1:32:50 So I thought we could actually begin the text. And we're going to begin with, and I know you haven't, I'm well aware that you haven't read any of this yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:50 Highlight the passage at 1:32:50

1:33:07 So I thought you could read the introduction, Gal Satri's introduction and so forth. If you have any questions on that and so forth, we can cover that next week. But I'd like to begin with the actual text of Shantideva himself. So this is on page five of the text. So this is the very first verse of engaging in the bodhisattva deeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:07 Highlight the passage at 1:33:07

1:33:41 So the text is the root text of Shantideva. He's interspersed with a commentary by Gaussap J. So in the brackets is the verse number. So this is the first two lines, A and B, of the first verse. To the Tathagatas, possessing the Dharmakaya, their children, and to all suitable for homage, I prostrate respectfully. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:41 Highlight the passage at 1:33:41

1:34:12 So, as I said, we won't be going through this verse by verse. I don't have the background to be able to do that, the understanding, nor do we have the time. But some of the verses, I think, are worth our attention or looking at in some of them in detail, in fact. So, you know, as we talked about at the very beginning of our session together, this adjusting of our motivation. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:12 Highlight the passage at 1:34:12

1:34:45 Generally a term going for refuge. Here they use the term homage or prostration. I prostrate. And I've talked about the fact that the word for prostration is chaksel. And chak means hand. Sel means to seek. So what we're actually doing, so the word prostration here, it could be alternatively translated as homage or esteem. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:45 Highlight the passage at 1:34:45

1:35:15 We are saying this is really worthwhile. I would like to take that in hand. I would like to develop those qualities to myself. This is what is termed result and refuge. I'm going for refuge to my own Buddhahood, as it were. Something with inside myself, which I am the final transformation of. And we're valuing that. And I talked about the fact that... Report an error in the passage at 1:35:15 Highlight the passage at 1:35:15

1:35:46 Forgive me for repeating myself. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:46 Highlight the passage at 1:35:46

1:35:53 There's a very deep, I think, a profound notion in Buddhism, and this goes along with what we were just talking about in terms of change. What you pay attention to, attention is reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:06 What you focus on becomes your reality. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:06 Highlight the passage at 1:36:06

1:36:15 I quite often use the rather mundane example, but it's relevant to myself. To some degree, I can do 99 things right or fairly well. I do one thing wrong. I really make a big mistake. I blow it. Where does my attention go to habitually, unconsciously? I can't do anything right. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:15 Highlight the passage at 1:36:15

1:36:44 That becomes my reality about who I see myself, my self-perception. So we have to begin to consciously refocus our attention. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:36:59 And here we're focusing upon something that we can be. We're beginning the notion of appreciating what we value. What we value is what we care about. It's important to us. This is important. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:59 Highlight the passage at 1:36:59

1:37:19 The word appreciation has two meanings. One is value. I appreciate what you did for me last week to help me out. That was really useful. That was really beneficial. Thanks for that. I appreciate that. But appreciation has another meaning. It means to increase. The value of my house has appreciated. It's gone up. The more that you appreciate, the more valuable it becomes. The more you pay attention to something, the more significant it becomes for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:19 Highlight the passage at 1:37:19

1:37:55 So here we go for refuge. We're saying there's something I want to pay attention to that I value and I appreciate, that I want to take in a hand. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:55 Highlight the passage at 1:37:55

1:38:16 So here, I don't know, Report an error in the passage at 1:38:16 Highlight the passage at 1:38:16

1:38:22 Tathāgata, as I said, we can't go through each verse. A Tathāgata is just an epitaph or just another name for, I shouldn't say just another name. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:22 Highlight the passage at 1:38:22

1:38:34 It's another name for a Buddha, okay, Tathāgata. Actually, some of the translations use the word sugata. Tatagata means one gone thus. Sudagata means one gone to bliss. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:34 Highlight the passage at 1:38:34

1:38:51 This means that one has gone to the fulfillment of the human potential. And here it mentions the meaning of the word, the term sugata. So I'm halfway down on page five. So I don't know why he translated it. it's not Most translators translate the word, he's translated Tathāgata as Sagata, one gone to bliss. And it's useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:51 Highlight the passage at 1:38:51

1:39:19 The reason I want to bring this out is becoming all that we can be is a dual process. And here it's brought out in terms of the word abandonment and realization. We're diminishing certain negative qualities. And we're developing positive qualities. So there's a two-fold process at work here. This is brought out in the Tibetan word for Buddha is sangye. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:19 Highlight the passage at 1:39:19

1:40:00 Sangye. S-A-N-G-G-Y-E. Sangye. Sang means to clear away. It's interesting that they didn't translate the word Buddha. Literally into Tibetan. They invented a new word, sangye. Sang means to clear away. Gay means to evolve, develop, fulfill, bring to fulfillment. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:00 Highlight the passage at 1:40:00

1:40:26 So the word in Sanskrit means someone who's awake. They got behind, well, what does that mean to be awake? It means that we removed all of our... Report an error in the passage at 1:40:26 Highlight the passage at 1:40:26

1:40:40 Here we call them the afflictive emotions, the obscurations, the problems. And we've evolved all our qualities, our wisdom, our love, our inner strength, and so forth. That's what we're calling a Buddha, a happy, healthy, loving, sane human being. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40:40

1:41:08 Anyway, as you read this, maybe if you have any questions around this next week, we can look at that. Am I going too fast? Is it okay? Report an error in the passage at 1:41:08 Highlight the passage at 1:41:08

1:41:21 I'll just go through a little bit more and then maybe we can discuss some of the points that we're talking about here. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:21 Highlight the passage at 1:41:21

1:41:35 In the remaining part of that first verse, that's on page 6, this introduction to the discipline of Atatagatsa's children I shall formulate in brief according to the teachings. in... Report an error in the passage at 1:41:35 Highlight the passage at 1:41:35

1:41:54 In the land of tradition, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:54 Highlight the passage at 1:41:54

1:42:00 four points were covered in the opening verses of any traditional text. They would go for refuge. They would write a verse on commitment to compose. They would write a verse on humility. And then they would write a verse on developing some kind of confidence. So the first part of this verse is, as we just talked about, was the verse of going for refuge. Here he's making a commitment to compose. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:00 Highlight the passage at 1:42:00

1:42:41 There's this notion, and again, it has some meaning. When you're really, in your mind, you make some commitment. You say, I'm going to do this. Many internal obstacles are averted. Through the sheer force of that commitment, providence sort of begins to support what it is that you've committed yourself to in a new world. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:43:11 So the notion was that in committing, any obstacles to bringing this, in this case, this text, composing this text to completion would be removed. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:11 Highlight the passage at 1:43:11

1:43:29 Certain inner obstacles of the mind, but also props. Even outer obstacles. So there was always a verse or a couple lines where the author would commit himself to composing the text. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:29 Highlight the passage at 1:43:29

1:43:46 And then in verse 2, he says, I do not express anything that did not exist earlier, and I also do not possess poetic proficiency. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:46 Highlight the passage at 1:43:46

1:44:00 So this was a verse of humility. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:00 Highlight the passage at 1:44:00

1:44:10 I guess, you know, I guess we could talk a lot about humility in a way. It's a wonderful quality, isn't it? You know, we have to make a difference between, you know, the humble person is able to, has the ability to unsolve. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:10 Highlight the passage at 1:44:10

1:44:32 You know, that there's less self-focus. They don't get in their own way. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:32 Highlight the passage at 1:44:32

1:44:43 As it were. And it doesn't mean modest. You know, modest just means that you have an impression of yourself that you're rather mediocre. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:43 Highlight the passage at 1:44:43

1:44:53 You can be tremendously self-centered and be modest. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:53 Highlight the passage at 1:44:53

1:45:01 It was Winston Churchill. I don't know why I'm saying this. Winston Churchill, he was quite witty. He once said of somebody in Parliament, one of the ministers of Parliament, he's a very modest person. Then again, he has a lot to be modest about. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:01 Highlight the passage at 1:45:01

1:45:22 So humility doesn't mean that you have a mediocre opinion of yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:22 Highlight the passage at 1:45:22

1:45:30 Maybe it's the opposite of narcissism, where there's Report an error in the passage at 1:45:30 Highlight the passage at 1:45:30

1:45:43 a person who's damaged in some way and has to continue to be shoring up themselves and their self-importance. So, is that your, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:43 Highlight the passage at 1:45:43

1:45:59 Anyway, there's the verse of humility. You know, how more person is intelligent, is clear, can admit mistakes and has the intelligence to notice their mistakes and correct them. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:59 Highlight the passage at 1:45:59

1:46:21 And they know, they see themselves in the context that there are others who know much more than I do. But that's not to demean their own qualities and what they do know. So it's a bigger mind. And then finally he says, therefore my intent was not for the purpose of others. I compose this to quaint my own mind. So there was some kind of confidence. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

1:46:56 I think Shantideva was saying that I think there are some other people out there, like-minded individuals. What I have to say will resonate with them. I think they'll understand what I'm trying to get at here. And it can be a benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:56 Highlight the passage at 1:46:56

1:47:20 You know, sometimes we, Report an error in the passage at 1:47:20 Highlight the passage at 1:47:20

1:47:28 especially maybe in the West, we have the extreme of, we have individualism, but the extreme of individualism. And moreover, there's a great deal of isolation. One from another amongst ourselves. And sometimes in the private domain of our minds, we can somehow think that we're alone in what we're about, in the nature of our thinking. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:28 Highlight the passage at 1:47:28

1:48:00 That there's no one quite as neurotic as I am. Or no one that there's something we Report an error in the passage at 1:48:00 Highlight the passage at 1:48:00

1:48:17 set abnormal. We set ourselves apart. So I think the Saṅgha, Or what I think what Shantideva is saying here, trying to get across, is that we're not so much different. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:17 Highlight the passage at 1:48:17

1:48:37 That there's a level, that there's a common shared experience of our humanity. And he's addressing that. That, you know, we are individuals. And that's to our credit. I mean, that's one of our beauties. But there is something, a thread which runs. That nature which runs through us all. And I think the ability to be humble and to be with that and share that is the authentic quality of Shantideva and communicating with us. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:37 Highlight the passage at 1:48:37

1:49:18 I think he's truly trying to help us. I have that sense. He wasn't a tremendously deep philosopher. This is brought out in the ninth chapter on wisdom. There's no question. And he was a great poet. But I think, above all, he was a bodhisattva, a caring, loving individual who was trying to help us as best he could. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:18 Highlight the passage at 1:49:18

1:49:52 I think this comes out in his text, and he was humble about that in trying to address that. Maybe what I have to say will resonate with like-minded individuals. And thereby, it will be of some benefit. He brings this out in page 8, where he says, Should others of equal fortune to myself see this, it will be meaningful for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:52 Highlight the passage at 1:49:52

1:50:20 You know, I don't think he's saying, there are some others who share Report an error in the passage at 1:50:20 Highlight the passage at 1:50:20

1:50:29 my aspiration, who share Report an error in the passage at 1:50:29 Highlight the passage at 1:50:29

1:50:42 fine fulfillment through awakening their heart. And maybe I have something. Which will be of use to them, to us, here, in tonight, at Rajari Institute. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:42 Highlight the passage at 1:50:42

1:51:03 So it's not, even though this is, what, 1,200 years old, 1,300, that doesn't matter. The spark, the life is still there, of what he was trying to say, I think. Okay, we're going to begin with, so if you'd please read. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:03 Highlight the passage at 1:51:03

1:51:46 If you please read up to verse 15. So that's up to page 20. I'm not saying we'll cover this next week, but I think it would be, if you can find the time, that would be excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:46 Highlight the passage at 1:51:46

1:52:05 We've got a couple minutes. I covered a lot of ground. Is there anything you'd like to question or any comments you'd like to make? Or Report an error in the passage at 1:52:05 Highlight the passage at 1:52:05

1:52:22 are you just going to leave me hanging here? Bye-bye. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:22 Highlight the passage at 1:52:22

1:52:34 Yeah, yeah, he didn't actually, that's right. It's a, it's a, exactly, yeah, it's a device, yeah, just a literary device that the commentator, Galsop Jay, is making use of to bring out certain points. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:34 Highlight the passage at 1:52:34

1:52:57 Thoughts, questions, comments? Report an error in the passage at 1:52:57 Highlight the passage at 1:52:57

1:53:06 How are you finding what we've gone through thus far? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:06 Highlight the passage at 1:53:06

1:53:23 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:23 Highlight the passage at 1:53:23

1:53:29 So that, yeah, so everything but what is set off, In numbered, for example, where it says, to the Tathagatas possessing the Dharmakaya, and then it's a numbered verse, everything else is commentary, galsap jay. So, Report an error in the passage at 1:53:29 Highlight the passage at 1:53:29

1:53:56 no, this is all, this is, Report an error in the passage at 1:53:56 Highlight the passage at 1:53:56

1:54:03 I see, plenty of composition. There are some, there are a few things, yeah, as we go along, for example, on top of page five. In parentheses, the preparatory actions for explaining the stage of the Mayan path. So what is in parentheses is, I think that's been added by the translator. Everything else is the commentary itself. And then within the commentary is embedded the root text by Shantideva. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:03 Highlight the passage at 1:54:03

1:55:04 Glossed over that, in many texts, in that particular verse, it's translated as Sagata. So I don't know why this particular translator is, and this is the English translator we're talking about, he translated the word in the root verse as Tathāgata. But then when Kedip J is actually giving an explanation, he's giving an explanation as if it were Sagata. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:04 Highlight the passage at 1:55:04

1:55:34 Which is, again, an epitaph of the Buddha. And in the Tibetan, it's probably unclear as to which of these two words it is. But it's clear in the commentary. So I don't know why the translator chose to translate it. The English translator chose the word Tathāgata. For example, in Wallace's text, he translates it as Sugata. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:34 Highlight the passage at 1:55:34

1:56:04 And everywhere else I've seen it is translated sagata. So sagata means one going to bliss. Tathāgata means one going to dust. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:04 Highlight the passage at 1:56:04

1:56:22 Tathāgata, sagata means to go, having gone. And tatha means dust, like this. So generally it means one having gone to dust. Sometimes the word dust is dustness, which is emptiness. So having realized emptiness. us. Sagata. Sagata can mean one going to bliss. So that's the bliss of Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:22 Highlight the passage at 1:56:22

1:56:51 So these are just epitaphs or titles for, we could just as well say the Buddha, different words that are used. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:51 Highlight the passage at 1:56:51

1:57:17 Okay, yeah, I didn't even talk about the Dharmakaya. I'll talk about that next week. Yeah, okay, good, good question. So when one generates a spontaneous... Awakened heart, that means the awakened heart, the aspiration to achieve awakening for the sake of all sentient beings. When that arises spontaneously, without effort, one has generated the awakened bodhicitta, the awakened heart. One becomes a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:17 Highlight the passage at 1:57:17

1:57:52 That is the entranceway into the first of the five paths of the Mahāyāna vehicle. So you just... Entered into the path, the first of the five paths. When you complete those five paths, then you become a Buddha. So a bodhisattva is an individual who is training to become a Buddha. And not yet a Buddha. And the way that one becomes a bodhisattva is generating this spontaneous bodhicitta, the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:52 Highlight the passage at 1:57:52

1:58:36 You live in that way. Yeah, so you generate the awakened heart and then you involve oneself in the various trainings. The six perfections. And this is the way one actually actualizes the aspiration to become a Buddha for the sake of others. So by means of training in the six perfections. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:36 Highlight the passage at 1:58:36

1:59:26 The footnotes. For example, there is a list of footnotes on page 8 and 9. It's a bit cumbersome. Bottom of page 8 and then 9. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:26 Highlight the passage at 1:59:26

1:59:44 the Yeah, it's... It's just the way the text has been organized, I'm afraid. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:44 Highlight the passage at 1:59:44

1:59:56 Remind me, I'll talk a little bit about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:56 Highlight the passage at 1:59:56

2:00:02 We won't be able to go through every word of the text, but some of the terminology and some of the ideas I think would be useful to talk about. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:02 Highlight the passage at 2:00:02

2:00:16 Okay, so we can dedicate the positive energy we've created together. And this is one of the handout sheets, Prayers of Dedication. So this dedication prayer is actually taken from Shantideva's text. May all Report an error in the passage at 2:00:16 Highlight the passage at 2:00:16

2:00:51 beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, attain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil or fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and deaf hear sounds. May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:51 Highlight the passage at 2:00:51

2:01:16 May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drink. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:16 Highlight the passage at 2:01:16

2:01:44 Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think a benefit in each other. as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:44 Highlight the passage at 2:01:44

2:02:08 these skillful actions may I quickly become an awakened spiritual master. May the supreme jewel of the awakened heart that has not arisen arise and grow, and may that which has arisen never decline but increase more and more. In the land as so called by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Powerful Chen Rizi, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain to the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:08 Highlight the passage at 2:02:08

2:02:45 And if you could just reflect from time to time on the importance of maybe not the awakened heart, but loving compassion, maybe just being the quality of caring, Report an error in the passage at 2:02:45 Highlight the passage at 2:02:45

2:03:07 reflecting upon the importance of that. There'll be an exam next week. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:07 Highlight the passage at 2:03:07

· · · silence, 2 minutes

2:05:02 I can look at the photograph Report an error in the passage at 2:05:02 Highlight the passage at 2:05:02