BP: Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds (23 February 2015)

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1:08 Okay, is that better? Good. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:08 Highlight the passage at 1:08

1:18 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18

1:22 How is everybody? Report an error in the passage at 1:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22

1:26 Okay. Does anybody have anything you'd like to share? Anything that came up over the course of the week? Report an error in the passage at 1:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26

1:41 Monk with a camera. Yeah, I read the review about that. It looks very interesting, doesn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41

1:52 It was... Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:52 Highlight the passage at 1:52

2:16 There was a... A Western American monk who was, I think he was, was his mother, was an editor for Vogue magazine or something like that? Report an error in the passage at 2:16 Highlight the passage at 2:16

2:35 Yeah. And came from a very, I guess, plush background. Became a monk, but was very interested in photography and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 2:35 Highlight the passage at 2:35

2:48 And he's helping. Report an error in the passage at 2:48 Highlight the passage at 2:48

2:56 He made a documentary about his monastery in order to help raise funds for the monastery itself. So he's the monk with the camera and he's made this film. I don't know much else about it, but it looks good. Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

3:18 And it goes to a worthy cause. Report an error in the passage at 3:18 Highlight the passage at 3:18

3:25 Anything else? Report an error in the passage at 3:25 Highlight the passage at 3:25

3:33 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 3:33 Highlight the passage at 3:33

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5:04 Where was it? Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:08 Okay. And it was injured? Report an error in the passage at 5:08 Highlight the passage at 5:08

5:41 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 5:41 Highlight the passage at 5:41

6:08 Is that okay? Pardon? There's nothing. Yeah, okay. Report an error in the passage at 6:08 Highlight the passage at 6:08

6:22 So, I mean, it's a difficult question to answer, isn't it? I mean, we don't, yeah. So, Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

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8:38 is that better? Yeah, maybe that did it. Thank you, Claudia. So, I mean, the subtle workings of karma, I mean, that's one of the reasons that, you know, traditionally speaking, that one wants to become a Buddha in order to understand the subtle workings of karma. Having said that, I think, you know, I think compassion is always in order and do what you can to alleviate suffering. Report an error in the passage at 8:38 Highlight the passage at 8:38

9:12 We don't know that, you know, we can't foresee all the consequences of our actions. We don't know. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:35 I think maybe we can become overly complicated about, you know, considering all these subtle details. I mean, we try the best we can. Whatever we do, we're going to make mistakes. So we try to be as skillful as possible with knowing that it's not always the best. Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

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11:26 So use your best, use your good judgment. yeah, and, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 11:26 Highlight the passage at 11:26

11:39 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 11:39 Highlight the passage at 11:39

12:03 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:12 I mean the best person we can become for the sake of others. Report an error in the passage at 12:12 Highlight the passage at 12:12

12:21 So if you'd like to recite the verse of refuge together. Report an error in the passage at 12:21 Highlight the passage at 12:21

12:40 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. 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 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

13:08 I go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of any other practices, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the joy that is without sorrow. Report an error in the passage at 13:08 Highlight the passage at 13:08

13:35 May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 13:35 Highlight the passage at 13:35

13:50 So if you'd like to stand for a minute and then stretch, we're going to sit. Report an error in the passage at 13:50 Highlight the passage at 13:50

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14:56 So taking a comfortable, firm posture and Report an error in the passage at 14:56 Highlight the passage at 14:56

15:03 bringing your awareness to the crown of your head. We'll start by feeling. Imagining the wrinkles between your brow and your forehead smoothing out, Report an error in the passage at 15:03 Highlight the passage at 15:03

15:20 the pressure in and around your eyes diminishing, Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:31 the muscles of the face softening, relaxing, your Report an error in the passage at 15:31 Highlight the passage at 15:31

15:46 tongue is soft Report an error in the passage at 15:46 Highlight the passage at 15:46

15:50 and jaw relaxed, Report an error in the passage at 15:50 Highlight the passage at 15:50

16:01 bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and turning your head to each side a few times, very gently loosening, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck. Report an error in the passage at 16:01 Highlight the passage at 16:01

16:21 And bringing your awareness to your upper back and shoulders and drawing your shoulders up towards your ears, circling to the back and down in Report an error in the passage at 16:21 Highlight the passage at 16:21

16:40 your shoulders a few times. And Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

16:53 eventually returning your shoulders back up towards your ears and just allowing them to drop comfortably to the sides. And with that, the feeling of some kind of burden or weight that you may have unknowingly been carrying around on your back over the course of the day. Report an error in the passage at 16:53 Highlight the passage at 16:53

17:12 Moving down and through your body to the ground, a feeling of relief, as if some burden's been lifted from your shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 17:12 Highlight the passage at 17:12

17:30 And bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands. Your hands are soft and loose, Report an error in the passage at 17:30 Highlight the passage at 17:30

17:42 relaxing your lower arms Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

17:54 and your upper arms. Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:07 Your chest is at ease, Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:18 relaxing throughout the heart area, the central space of the chest, the Report an error in the passage at 18:18 Highlight the passage at 18:18

18:39 middle portion of the back, Report an error in the passage at 18:39 Highlight the passage at 18:39

18:55 and releasing. The tension we often hold in our stomach muscles, just allowing the belly to go soft, the Report an error in the passage at 18:55 Highlight the passage at 18:55

19:15 abdominal cavity. Report an error in the passage at 19:15 Highlight the passage at 19:15

19:22 Keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles and Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:52 throughout the pelvic region, Report an error in the passage at 19:52 Highlight the passage at 19:52

20:17 thighs, Report an error in the passage at 20:17 Highlight the passage at 20:17

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20:53 and finally your feet, soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:22 Scanning through the body once again, from the crown downward, moving through the body. And noticing any tensions and tightnesses, breathing into those areas, following that breath, and suffusing the areas of tightness and tension with the breath of awareness. And as if breathing out from those areas, and with that out-breath, imagining, feeling a release. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:56 Some of the tension is gone. The tightness loosens. Again and again, breathing in, again and again, breathing out from those areas of tightness. And tension in the body. Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

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22:43 With each out-breath, the body becoming relaxed, calm, comfortable. It's a nice place to be in the body, Report an error in the passage at 22:43 Highlight the passage at 22:43

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23:32 with your body for a while. Report an error in the passage at 23:32 Highlight the passage at 23:32

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24:23 And I invite you to become aware of the fact that you're breathing and to note what bodily sensation of the body indicated to you that you're breathing in, that you're breathing out quite naturally. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:44 And simply... Lightly rest your attention on that physical sensation. Just focus your awareness there. Don't try too hard. Report an error in the passage at 24:44 Highlight the passage at 24:44

24:57 It's a comfortable manner. And you can accompany the focusing on that sensation with the counting of the breaths, if you wish. Breathing in, breathing out, counting one, in, out, two, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 24:57 Highlight the passage at 24:57

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32:11 We're going to shift our attention to a sensation of the body other than that of the breath. Maybe the pressure of your buttocks. The chair on the cushion is in your lap, whatever is predominant. It's focusing your awareness on the sensation of the body other than that of the breath. Report an error in the passage at 32:11 Highlight the passage at 32:11

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33:44 And again, shifting our attention this time, we're going to listen to sound. Focusing your awareness on sound. What can you hear? And Report an error in the passage at 33:44 Highlight the passage at 33:44

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35:14 again, shifting our attention this time, turning our attention inward to the mind itself, the thoughts and words, images and pictures passing through our minds, but also The states of our mind, maybe our mind is restless, maybe it's sleepy, experiencing pleasure, displeasure, maybe it's upset, an emotion, all the objects and states of mind, watching the mind itself. Report an error in the passage at 35:14 Highlight the passage at 35:14

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36:43 And then just allowing the mind to become involved in any object that it naturally tends toward without trying to control it in any way, but in a relaxed and easy-going manner. Maintain a degree of awareness, watchfulness, observing, Report an error in the passage at 36:43 Highlight the passage at 36:43

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37:51 stay aware, Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

38:09 then bring your mind back to the breath, easy, gentle in and outflow of the natural breath. Report an error in the passage at 38:09 Highlight the passage at 38:09

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41:21 Stand up and stretch if you like. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

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42:01 So there's a discussion question too. I hope it's not too abstract or confusing. Report an error in the passage at 42:01 Highlight the passage at 42:01

42:16 Maybe we could break up into groups of threes. Three groups of three. And if you'd introduce yourselves and use the discussion question too as a basis. Report an error in the passage at 42:16 Highlight the passage at 42:16

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49:03 Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

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1:00:32 So take a couple more minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:32 Highlight the passage at 1:00:32

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1:01:28 So Report an error in the passage at 1:01:28 Highlight the passage at 1:01:28

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1:03:05 how did that go? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:05 Highlight the passage at 1:03:05

1:03:21 Presenting. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21 Highlight the passage at 1:03:21

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1:04:28 Okay, good. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:28 Highlight the passage at 1:04:28

1:04:34 So the efficiency of motivation is more or less keeping on the way things more or less are going. Yeah? Yeah. And the growth motivation is to – the growth motivation? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:34 Highlight the passage at 1:04:34

1:05:02 So the status quo is not good enough. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:02 Highlight the passage at 1:05:02

1:05:21 Okay. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:21 Highlight the passage at 1:05:21

1:05:29 And it's harder to – the motivation to change things is weaker than the motivation to keep things as they – to continue as they are. This Report an error in the passage at 1:05:29 Highlight the passage at 1:05:29

1:05:51 is ridiculous. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:51 Highlight the passage at 1:05:51

1:05:58 This is ridiculous, kind of light bulb goes off. Okay, good, that's great. Did your group have any? Did Ann cover that pretty well? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:58 Highlight the passage at 1:05:58

1:06:09 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:09 Highlight the passage at 1:06:09

1:06:28 So the fact of trying to do something else could be what? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:28 Highlight the passage at 1:06:28

1:06:45 Could you give me an example? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:45 Highlight the passage at 1:06:45

1:07:01 Why would you want to develop more compassion? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:01 Highlight the passage at 1:07:01

1:07:20 So the status quo isn't good enough and maybe compassion would make things better for you. So that would be a growth motivation. You'd be motivated. Why do you see that? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:20 Highlight the passage at 1:07:20

1:07:38 So you're Report an error in the passage at 1:07:38 Highlight the passage at 1:07:38

1:07:45 deficient in compassion. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:07:51 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:51 Highlight the passage at 1:07:51

1:08:12 Yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:12 Highlight the passage at 1:08:12

1:08:17 Let's see what this group had to say. Any thoughts? They're Report an error in the passage at 1:08:17 Highlight the passage at 1:08:17

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1:09:32 kind of you. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:32 Highlight the passage at 1:09:32

1:09:40 Any other thoughts around that? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:40 Highlight the passage at 1:09:40

1:09:57 Okay. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:57 Highlight the passage at 1:09:57

1:10:16 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:16 Highlight the passage at 1:10:16

1:10:41 Why should you do that? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:41 Highlight the passage at 1:10:41

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1:11:33 That sounds good. It's not easy to do, is it? No. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:11:43 Any other thoughts from that group? Report an error in the passage at 1:11:43 Highlight the passage at 1:11:43

1:11:49 No. And then last but not least. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:49 Highlight the passage at 1:11:49

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1:13:02 Great. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:02 Highlight the passage at 1:13:02

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1:13:56 That's a good point. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:13:56 Highlight the passage at 1:13:56

1:14:14 pretty good. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:14 Highlight the passage at 1:14:14

1:14:19 It's very well thought out. Did you have anything to add to that? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:19 Highlight the passage at 1:14:19

1:14:30 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:14:35 Okay. Yeah. That's important, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:35 Highlight the passage at 1:14:35

1:14:49 Models. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:49 Highlight the passage at 1:14:49

1:15:09 That's true. I think in You know, the notion of just surviving. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:09 Highlight the passage at 1:15:09

1:15:22 You know, we have, we, our perspective is quite limited. We're just trying to get through, you know, get beyond the next problem and then the next problem. You know, it's like meeting one, going through a forest and seeing one tree at a time. And we don't have any real. surviving a disc. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:22 Highlight the passage at 1:15:22

1:15:44 Perspective on the shape of the forest, seeing where it is that we really want to go. So, you know, there's a, our focus becomes very short term. And, you know, trying to work through the immediate difficulty to get past what, and so we're just trying to, you know, there's an avoidance of difficulties. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:44 Highlight the passage at 1:15:44

1:16:13 Of want, of misery, just trying to get past, make correct deficiencies as we meet them, as we go through our life. The word status quo was mentioned, just trying to survive, stay above water. That's good enough. It's kind of a normality. We've worked out some kind of comfort zone for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:13 Highlight the passage at 1:16:13

1:16:43 For me, the notion of – and the problem is when things are going relatively well. Sometimes we're not always having problems, at least dramatic ones. Everybody's got some difficulties going – things could be better probably. But when things are going relatively well, we lose sight over the need for self-development. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:43 Highlight the passage at 1:16:43

1:17:16 There's no motivation to change ourselves. Only when we have some perspective on the nature of our problems do we, even perhaps in the good times, we still are willing to carry on a consistent practice of self-development. And that's what I mean by growth motivation. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:16 Highlight the passage at 1:17:16

1:17:42 When things are going relatively well, growth motivation gets demoted in our lives. it's very, it's, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:42 Highlight the passage at 1:17:42

1:17:48 A hierarchy of priorities gets way down. But when people quite often, I think the people here, I think you're quite exceptional in that way. Having been involved with centers for some years, the majority, the vast majority of people who come through the doors are undergoing some life crisis. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:48 Highlight the passage at 1:17:48

1:18:16 Life is unmanageable for them. It's difficult for them to have some great problems or difficulties at the present time. But even difficulties are impermanent. It's not always going to be like that. And maybe when those difficulties, either through applying some skillful means or just the fact of impermanence, when they're no longer there, there's no longer to come in through the door anymore. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:16 Highlight the passage at 1:18:16

1:18:48 Why bother? There are other things in life to do. So they go from crisis to crisis, more or less. And that's what I mean by deficiency of motivation. Whereas I think the growth motivation requires some perspective, a degree of wisdom, some seeing deeper into the nature of our problems, what it means to be a normal human being. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:48 Highlight the passage at 1:18:48

1:19:16 And therefore, even when... The times are relatively good. The carriers, you still have some consistent practice, some consistent emphasis on changing for the better. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:34 But that's not an easy proposition, isn't it? So I don't know. I hope that was some kind of meaningful discussion. Probably, as was mentioned, these terms are... probably won't see these terms very often, the efficiency motivation and growth motivation. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:34 Highlight the passage at 1:19:34

1:19:58 Okay, so I'd like to finish the So there are four. You know, I think the great, the theme or the emphasis of the entire text that we're looking at, the engaging in the Bodhisattva Dees by Shantideva, is there to help us to develop an awakened heart or a wisdom, love and compassion, most essentially. And the development of awakened heart, you know, what we're calling translation for bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:58 Highlight the passage at 1:19:58

1:20:56 The awakened heart or the awakened mind, the mind of enlightenment, lots of possibilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:56 Highlight the passage at 1:20:56

1:21:04 There are four preparations for developing an awakened heart. Firstly, we have to know the benefits of an awakened heart. So our minds will naturally incline to investigate. There will be some curiosity, some interest. We'll want to know more about it. If we begin to see that there's really some advantages, there's going to be some benefits. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:04 Highlight the passage at 1:21:04

1:21:28 Our own self-best interest to look into this. So looking at the benefits of the awakened heart. And then we have to create the conducive conditions. And these are accumulating merit and removing obstacles or negativities which hinder the development of awakened heart. And then finally we actually learn the method. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:28 Highlight the passage at 1:21:28

1:21:57 The meditative tradition for cultivating awakened heart. So in the first chapter, the main theme is looking at the benefits of the awakened heart. And then in the second chapter, we look at the way of removing some of the obstacles for its development. And then in the third, beginning to look at the way of accumulating merit and the various practices of a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:57 Highlight the passage at 1:21:57

1:22:25 And then in the eighth chapter, the actual meditative tradition for cultivating an awakened heart is presented. So here in the first chapter, beginning especially from chapter 10 onward, chapter 10, verse 10 onward, and that's on page 16, explaining the benefits of the awakened heart. So it's like a used car salesman. Shantideva would have been a good used car salesman, you know, telling you why you should buy the... Report an error in the passage at 1:22:25 Highlight the passage at 1:22:25

1:22:47 Amen. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:47 Highlight the passage at 1:22:47

1:22:55 Why you should buy this particular model. Why you should become interested. The benefits of developing your awakened heart. So in one of our handouts, it's called Charts for Meditation on the Bodhicary Abhattara on pages 1 and 2. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:55 Highlight the passage at 1:22:55

1:23:25 It's just a way of setting out in kind of a nice list form. What Shantideva is mentioned here. First in verses 10 through 14. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:25 Highlight the passage at 1:23:25

1:23:43 So the various analogies and the explanation of those analogies. And then in verse, for example, an analogy like the supreme gold making elixir. It describes how something inferior can be transformed into something superior. So this is using the standard. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:43 Highlight the passage at 1:23:43

1:24:09 Analogy of changing base metal into gold. That through the awakened heart, an ordinary being becomes an extraordinary being, becomes a bodhisattva. It's like transformative. So in a very kind of poetic fashion, trying to get across that idea using various metaphors and analogies. And then in verse 14 CD, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:09 Highlight the passage at 1:24:09

1:24:41 what I'm going to do is give you an overall... Sales pitch for the development of Awakened Heart. So I'm just going to go through what, just mention what Shantideva has and then I'm going to talk about the benefits of the Awakened Heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:41 Highlight the passage at 1:24:41

1:24:57 14 CD on page 18, it mentions a particular sūtra. And this, the Ray of Stalk Sūtra. And the 12 analogies describing the benefits of the awakened heart. So it's just mentioned in the verse here, but on this chart two, on page two, it actually, the 12 benefits are actually listed. It's like a seed. It's the seed of all the Buddhist teaching and so forth. So, you know, it's just extolling the benefits of the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:57 Highlight the passage at 1:24:57

1:25:36 And then finally, in another handout that you received. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:36 Highlight the passage at 1:25:36

1:25:43 The benefits, again, just simply the benefits of the awakened heart. And this, you know, listing from Lamrim Chemo, that's the great extensive explanation of the stages of the path by Tsongkhapa. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:43 Highlight the passage at 1:25:43

1:26:00 So, you know, you can kind of look at those on your own. What I like to do is just discuss the benefits of the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:00 Highlight the passage at 1:26:00

1:26:31 There's a verse by Chogyang Trungpa. Most of you are familiar with Chogyang Trungpa. He died a few years ago, but he was a great influence in America, especially in the transmission of the Buddha Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:31 Highlight the passage at 1:26:31

1:26:54 In order to overcome selfishness, it is necessary to be daring. It is though you were dressed in your swimsuit. Standing on the diving board with a pool in front of you, and you ask yourself, now what? The obvious answer is jump. That is daring. You might wonder if you will sink or hurt yourself if you jump. We are attracted to our cocoons, our selfishness, and we are afraid of selflessness, stepping beyond ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:54 Highlight the passage at 1:26:54

1:27:26 So in order to overcome our hesitation about giving up our privacy, in order to commit ourselves to others' welfare, Some kind of leap is necessary. This is very much in keeping with what we were just discussing in terms of deficiency in motivation and growth motivation. That is just getting by in life, just surviving. We've got to maintain the status quo on the one hand and going beyond what we've done and been in the past and going beyond ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:26 Highlight the passage at 1:27:26

1:28:02 Some degree of daring. I think spiritual growth is, as was mentioned a number of times, change is always frightening. We're moving into unknown territory. We don't quite know. We've never quite been here before. And I think it always will be to some degree. So we have to have some confidence in what we're about to engage in. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:02 Highlight the passage at 1:28:02

1:28:25 We have to think it's worthwhile to work through the challenges and to abide with maybe a... The fear, or the hesitation, or the anxiety, and maybe doing things a little bit differently. So, you know, this, I hear Char Young Trunk was talking about a leap. This leap is awakening our hearts to others. You know, the overcoming of our fear, of our giving up the cocoons of our comfort zone, of our, you know, our nice self-absorbed world. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

1:29:02 And committing ourselves to the welfare of others. A greater vision of the possibilities of what our life might be about and how we're going to lead our life. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:02 Highlight the passage at 1:29:02

1:29:13 To a large extent, and I think a greater extent than perhaps we normally take notice of, our mental health is a social phenomenon. We are social beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:13 Highlight the passage at 1:29:13

1:29:38 I think that in the West we suffer from isolation, from loneliness. We have the extreme of individualism where we are all very much concerned with promoting the welfare of this one single individual. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:38 Highlight the passage at 1:29:38

1:30:05 Perhaps one of our basic problems in finding more of what we're looking for in our lives It's that we're so absorbed in our problems to the exclusion and oftentimes the expense of others. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:05 Highlight the passage at 1:30:05

1:30:22 I don't think we can find true happiness, a profound type of joy in this world for ourselves alone. I don't think that seems to be in the nature of things. Our growth is very much... An individual task. No one can do it for us. It occurs as an authentic response to not only to our own unique and limited needs, but also to the universal and unlimited needs of others. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:31:05 Opening up and responding to the needs of others is the way of overcoming our cowardice, our inertia. We're talking about maintaining the status quo, our being stuck. A lot of our lives aren't all that meaningful. They're not perhaps all that purposeful. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:05 Highlight the passage at 1:31:05

1:31:27 A way of kind of summing up the inner strength, the courage necessary to crawl out of our cocoons and fly. So in order to fly, we need wings. And this is again and again emphasized within, especially the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition. The two wings of wisdom on the one hand is a deeply understanding of the nature of reality. We need wisdom, how things work, and method. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:27 Highlight the passage at 1:31:27

1:32:01 So method is a code word simply meaning activities motivated by altruism or deep compassion, most technically correct, this awakened heart. So we need a wise heart and loving mind to actualize, you know, the actualization integration of the totality of who we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:01 Highlight the passage at 1:32:01

1:32:36 You know, the psychology of our misery, of our suffering. You know, it's interesting. I didn't know this until a couple of days ago. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:36 Highlight the passage at 1:32:36

1:32:52 The word dukkha, dukkha is a Sanskrit word, isn't it? It's dugnel, but in Sanskrit it's dukkha. And there's an etymology for this word. Dukha means, it usually translates as suffering, dissatisfactoriness. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:52 Highlight the passage at 1:32:52

1:33:11 Du means bad, negative. Nel means dukkha, ka. Ka, it means space. It means, and I've never heard this etymology before. By space, Space is a gap. Anytime there is a gap, if we can think of a situation and we can think, oh, this could be improved, there is discontentment. There is a gap, a negative gap. There will be craving, and with craving comes dissatisfaction, discontentment. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:11 Highlight the passage at 1:33:11

1:33:57 So in order to go beyond dukkha, We have to try to, I think, you know, I've talked about in the last couple weeks, I think, I really believe for all of us, there is a longing to go beyond our narrowness of vision, to actualize some, Report an error in the passage at 1:33:57 Highlight the passage at 1:33:57

1:34:29 to actualize love and compassion in our life, to find a way of connecting with others in this world, To actualize the social dimension of our being, to connect with the world of others. As long as there's that gap, there's always going to be a degree of discontentment, of suffering, of dissatisfactoriness. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:29 Highlight the passage at 1:34:29

1:34:57 So we have to, I think, there are essentially two dimensions to our... Why is it that we don't help each other? And this was actually touched on in your discussions. Why don't we have the time for each other? Why don't we have the time to help ourselves? I mean, to know ourselves, to understand ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:57 Highlight the passage at 1:34:57

1:35:30 There's a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh. Suppose we have a son who becomes an unbearable young man. It may be hard for us to love him. That is natural. In order to be loved, a person should be lovable. If our son has become difficult to love, we will be very unhappy. We wish we could love him, but the only way we can is to understand him, to understand his situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:30 Highlight the passage at 1:35:30

1:35:57 We have to take our son as the subject of our meditation. Instead of taking the concept of emptiness or some other subject, we can take our son as a concrete subject for our meditation. We don't blame our son. We just want to understand why he has become like that. Through this method of meditation, we find out all the causes near and far that have led to our son's present state of being. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:57 Highlight the passage at 1:35:57

1:36:23 The more we see, the more we understand. The more we understand, the easier it is for us to have compassion and love. Understanding is love itself. Understanding is another name for love. Love. Is another name for understanding. So there's an intimate relationship, an integration between love and compassion on the one hand and wisdom, understanding on the other. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:23 Highlight the passage at 1:36:23

1:36:52 The more that we understand, the greater will be our love. And the more that our love, the greater that we will understand. So accepting a willingness to embrace our own pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:52 Highlight the passage at 1:36:52

1:37:09 By embrace I mean to be willing to tolerate it, to be with it, to try to understand our pain rather than avoiding it, running away from it, distracting, numbing out, desensitizing in some way. We begin to understand it. And therefore we begin to understand ourselves. And in understanding ourselves, if we really understand the plight, the human dilemma in which each of us here is involved in, which permeates our life. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:09 Highlight the passage at 1:37:09

1:37:39 We would have a tremendous self-compassion. I think tears would come to our eyes if we saw the real predicament that we're all involved in. And if we extend that same understanding to others, then we're going to have compassion for them as well. We will truly love them. So real love. I mean, a love which is based upon the actual nature of the reality, the way things are, has a factor of wisdom, of understanding. Understanding the nature and the causes of our pain and loving ourselves, we determine to grow. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:39 Highlight the passage at 1:37:39

1:38:23 And we talked about growth motivation. Understanding the same of others' pain and loving them, we determine to help them to grow. And in determining to help them to grow, We determine to grow for them. And in determining to grow for others, we awaken our hearts in determining to be the best person I can become. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:23 Highlight the passage at 1:38:23

1:38:49 The more I am, the more I have to give. So the cognitive and emotional elements aren't separate. They're interacting with each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:49 Highlight the passage at 1:38:49

1:39:06 So, you know, taking responsibility. Responsibility for others is the most powerful method available to us to develop ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:06 Highlight the passage at 1:39:06

1:39:21 You know, what does it mean to take responsibility? Even the word responsibility, the ability to respond. You know, if it's to have any practical significance of taking responsibility, we have to be able to respond. And that we can ultimately only do through developing ourselves. Growing in wisdom, love, inner strength. The more that we are, the more that we have to give. And even in our general selfishness, there are times when other people act as catalysts for our drawing upon our capacities, our resources in such a way that we would never have done for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:21 Highlight the passage at 1:39:21

1:40:02 How many mothers would go beyond what they... And I see this because my... my grandchild how much I do The givingness of that mother for her child and the father for her child to an extent that they would never have. They have to be there for that child. That child is their responsibility and they want to be able to respond. They've chosen to respond. So they have to draw on some inner strength that perhaps I think many parents didn't even know they had. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:02 Highlight the passage at 1:40:02

1:40:40 Before they had their child. Or being there for someone in great need. Physically and emotionally and intellectually going beyond boundaries which we could not have surpassed for our own narrow needs. But when the need is great, somehow we find a way. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40:40

1:41:09 That's the blessing of the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:09 Highlight the passage at 1:41:09

1:41:17 When others elicit in us the capacity to reach toward a deeper and wider dimension of our beings by means of which we participate in the life of others, abolishing temporarily these self-imposed limitations that we conceive of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:17 Highlight the passage at 1:41:17

1:41:38 I'm only this much. You know, our only, we have, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:38 Highlight the passage at 1:41:38

1:41:41 I'm a six on a scale to ten. How could I be there? How could I be a Buddha? How could I help others? But if it becomes necessary, you'll find a way. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41:41

1:41:52 Necessity is the mother of invention, isn't it? You'll find the strength, the wisdom, what it takes. You'll develop it if you don't have it. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:52 Highlight the passage at 1:41:52

1:42:03 So the necessity of awakening our hearts is not based upon some kind of romantic sentimentality. It's grounded in rationality and pragmatism. Lama Yeshi, again, the third from the left of these six pictures, the founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahāyāna tradition. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:03 Highlight the passage at 1:42:03

1:42:29 So it's pragmatic. It's rational. It's just not a sentimentality or romantic notion. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:29 Highlight the passage at 1:42:29

1:42:38 We're talking about the best way we could possibly lead our lives in a very rational way. a you know if you want Report an error in the passage at 1:42:38 Highlight the passage at 1:42:38

1:42:47 As the Dalai Lama has said, if you are going to be selfish, at least be wisely selfish. What he means by this peculiar sounding advice is that in a way bodhicitta, the awakened heart, is like a huge selfish attitude. When you dedicate to others with loving kindness, you get back far more happiness than you could have ever experienced otherwise. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:47 Highlight the passage at 1:42:47

1:43:15 Ordinarily, we get so little happiness and it is easily lost. So if we want to be as happy as possible, the only thing to do is to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to the welfare of others. When some people first hear about bodhicitta, they confuse it with a sentimental, highly emotional state of mind. Oh, how I want people to be happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:15 Highlight the passage at 1:43:15

1:43:37 I can't stand to think of their suffering. They are so overwhelmed by the needs of others that their minds become depressed. But true bodhicitta is not like this. It has nothing to do with such an upset and paralyzed state of mind. Instead, it is clear and easygoing, possessing a calm wisdom as well as a deeply felt compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:37 Highlight the passage at 1:43:37

1:43:59 It is an attitude in opening our hearts completely and leaving it open as much as we can. And Lama Yeshe goes on to talk about describing the way Report an error in the passage at 1:43:59 Highlight the passage at 1:43:59

1:44:14 The necessity to awaken our hearts to others is also grounded within our own experience. So first he talks about the rational, in terms of our rationality, we're going to find more happiness in caring for others and developing this good heart than we would if we were completely wrapped up in ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:14 Highlight the passage at 1:44:14

1:44:34 Okay, that's a rational argument. But also we look in terms of our own experience. Lama Yeshi again. So often we make such a... A fuss of insignificant events in our life that we turn minor difficulties into major problems. As we develop the universal view of bodhicitta, however, these small concerns become unimportant and no longer bother us. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:34 Highlight the passage at 1:44:34

1:45:00 As this burden of self-concern drops from our shoulders, we experience a small taste of the complete freedom that comes from spiritual fulfillment. experiences like this are encouraging because They demonstrate so convincingly the practical day-to-day value of training and transforming our minds. So in terms of our rationality, we're going to get more happiness by opening our hearts to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:00 Highlight the passage at 1:45:00

1:45:31 In terms of our own experience, how we can turn insignificant minor irritations into huge dramas. Because we're so selfishly absorbed. And as we begin to look toward others, these little minor irritations, they don't take on the sense of overproportion that they normally would. But also, there's a sense of, you know, talking to, a sense of, there's an intuition. The inarticulate whisperings of our own hearts. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:31 Highlight the passage at 1:45:31

1:46:13 Asking us to be something more, a calling, if you like. And there's a verse by Shelley, the English poet, where he says, For when the power of imparting joy is equal to the will, the human soul requires no other heaven. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:13 Highlight the passage at 1:46:13

1:46:37 For when the power of imparting joy is equal to the will, The human soul requires no other heaven. So it's not asking us to give up our families or our job or all our various enjoyments. We don't have to be saints. We don't have to be superhumans. But we can begin to... You know, a bird only flies as high as its wings will support it. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:37 Highlight the passage at 1:46:37

1:47:09 We don't have to... Fake it. We don't have to pretend we're someone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:09 Highlight the passage at 1:47:09

1:47:17 To try to, in some small ways, to live the life of our finest waking dreams and our most deeply felt aspirations. You know, even to be happy in a very mundane sense, we have to respect ourselves, don't we? We have to have a sense that some part of our lives is being lived out of a very unique and personal part of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:17 Highlight the passage at 1:47:17

1:47:49 Otherwise, our lives are the life of a banker, accountant. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:49 Highlight the passage at 1:47:49

1:48:06 This is where I think the risk of moving into unknown territory of our own hearts. We may not comprehend completely why it is, what it is we're doing. know, we may not Report an error in the passage at 1:48:06 Highlight the passage at 1:48:06

1:48:25 We find fulfillment, meaning in what we're doing. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:25 Highlight the passage at 1:48:25

1:48:34 We know that we're in touch with something very deep within ourselves. And we feel something that when we're in touch with, we feel on oneness. We feel a sense of authenticity, of wholeness. The word wholeness is related to the word holy, sacred. know Report an error in the passage at 1:48:34 Highlight the passage at 1:48:34

1:48:56 Something sacred. There's a deep healing in this wholeness, the split inner being between how we normally be in this world and what is our deepest, most aspirations. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:56 Highlight the passage at 1:48:56

1:49:13 By Suzuki Roshi, Report an error in the passage at 1:49:13 Highlight the passage at 1:49:13

1:49:20 the result is not the point. It is the effort to improve ourselves that is valuable. There are four Buddhist vows. Suzuki Roshi was a... He wrote Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a really wonderful Zen master who spent the latter portion of his life in the United States and San Francisco. There are four Buddhist vows. These vows are, although sentient beings are innumerable, we vow to save them. Although our evil desires are limitless, we vow to be rid of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:20 Highlight the passage at 1:49:20

1:50:00 Although the teaching is limitless, we vow to learn it all. Although Buddhism is unattainable, we vow to attain it. If it is unattainable, how can we attain it? But we should. That is Buddhism. To think because it is possible we will do it is not Buddhism. Even though it is impossible, we have to do it because our true nature wants us to. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:00 Highlight the passage at 1:50:00

1:50:25 But actually, whether or not it is possible is not the point. If it is our innermost desire to get rid of our self-centered ideals, we have to do it. We have to make this effort. Our innermost desire is appeased and nirvāṇa is there. So we are a selfish people, but we can try to be wisely selfish in our trying to cherish others. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:25 Highlight the passage at 1:50:25

1:50:55 As Ryokin says, you know... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:55 Highlight the passage at 1:50:55

1:50:58 If you point your cart north when you want to go south, how will you ever arrive? All we're saying, you know, you don't have to, it's not a revolution, it's an evolution, is to begin to determine to point your cart in that direction, that's all. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:58 Highlight the passage at 1:50:58

1:51:18 You may never get there, but just point your cart in that direction. The way that you would like to see your life moved. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:18 Highlight the passage at 1:51:18

1:51:30 So it's not unrealistic, but even the compellingly practical, that we should develop a natural, rational, instinctively powerful altruism. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:30 Highlight the passage at 1:51:30

1:51:44 It's the most readily available remedy for our psychological ills. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:51:57 What we're talking about is not a complex philosophy or theory or some kind of flight into a manic. Fantasy of one kind or another. It's simply a pragmatic statement about the best way that we can lead our lives. What we could aspire to. We're talking about, it's our life. How many lives are we going to have to lead? Whether the past or future lives exist or not, this unique individual that you are now, this Jampa, whoever you may be, is not always going to be here. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:57 Highlight the passage at 1:51:57

1:52:31 Not always going to have this opportunity to live out their lives in the fullest possible fashion. So this awakening heart is like an internal revolution against the tyranny of normality of our society. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:31 Highlight the passage at 1:52:31

1:52:48 Are the people around us happy, happy, fulfilled, meaningful, authentic lives? One of my heroes, Thomas Merton, the Carthusian monk. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:48 Highlight the passage at 1:52:48

1:53:04 And so I ask myself, what is the meaning of a concept of sanity? That excludes love, considers it irrelevant and destroys our capacity to love other human beings, to respond to their needs and their sufferings, to recognize them also as persons, to apprehend their pain as one's own. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:04 Highlight the passage at 1:53:04

1:53:28 You know, I think most of us recognize that at bottom most we all want to be loved, don't we? And I think that's true. And there's a lot of meaning to that. But I think more than the Report an error in the passage at 1:53:28 Highlight the passage at 1:53:28

1:53:48 need to be loved is the need to feel love, Report an error in the passage at 1:53:48 Highlight the passage at 1:53:48

1:53:55 just to feel love. You know, what we're talking about, it sounds like it's so far removed. You know, it's reserved for saints, you know, or holy people. You know, the Dalai Lamas and the Mother Teresas maybe. The Mahatma Gandhis of the world. We have a sense that the molecular makeup of their brains was very much different than ours. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:55 Highlight the passage at 1:53:55

1:54:32 They've got loving electrons and compassionate protons running around. They're different. They're like coming from another planet in a way, as if they had always been the person that they became, that they were. That they didn't experience discouragement, that they didn't experience failures and the dark nights of the soul in the course of awakening their hearts to others. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:32 Highlight the passage at 1:54:32

1:55:00 That's silly to think otherwise. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:00 Highlight the passage at 1:55:00

1:55:13 We may not be able to conceive of ourselves like the Dalai Lama or Lama Zopa or whomever. We might not be able to understand what's going through their mind, what they feel. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:13 Highlight the passage at 1:55:13

1:55:31 But just because we cannot presently conceive of what they feel and what they conceive of in their minds does not mean that we cannot develop such a mind. Just like the Dalai Lama or whomever, whoever these models are. We talked about models. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:31 Highlight the passage at 1:55:31

1:55:55 And we cannot consciously begin the difficult task, point our... Contrary Contrary Contrary Report an error in the passage at 1:55:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55:55

1:56:05 Our wagon, our cart in that direction. They take up the difficult task of opening our heart just as they did. The fundamental nature of the mind is clear and knowing. And this word clear and knowing has various interpretations and various ways of explanations. But one of the important ways of explaining the word clear is that Report an error in the passage at 1:56:05 Highlight the passage at 1:56:05

1:56:35 It means that the mind is dynamic. It's open-ended. That it's totally transformable. The term that they now use in modern neuroscience, plasticity. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:35 Highlight the passage at 1:56:35

1:56:55 The mind can be shaped. It doesn't have any inherent nature characteristic. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:55 Highlight the passage at 1:56:55

1:57:05 Our mind has changed, hasn't it? It's going to change. That's its nature. Our mind is different than it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago. It has different values, different attitudes, different ideas. So the mind changes naturally. If we're willing to make the effort, we can constantly direct that course of change rather than have it simply change haphazardly due to various conditions, unconscious and external. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:05 Highlight the passage at 1:57:05

1:57:41 Presently, we find it difficult to imagine ourselves to be... Very much different than we are now. But that's just a limiting factor of our imagination. That's not the reality of who we are and our possibilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:41 Highlight the passage at 1:57:41

1:57:56 If we're dedicating some small part of making a priority, some small part of our attention, our energies, our time, to implementing the methods to keep directing ourselves, pointing our cart in that way. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:56 Highlight the passage at 1:57:56

1:58:20 we're going to... Report an error in the passage at 1:58:20 Highlight the passage at 1:58:20

1:58:24 I'd just close. It's 9 o 'clock. Many of you are familiar with Robert Thurman. He's the chair of the Tsongkhapa. He holds the philosophic chair of Tsongkhapa at Columbia University and is head of the Tibet House in New York City. He's talking about The awakened heart of bodhicitta. The magnificent conception of this will to enlightenment is a central moment in the evolutionary career of a living being. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:24 Highlight the passage at 1:58:24

1:59:11 The moment in which a new spirit of love and compassion pervades its whole life and destiny and its further evolution becomes a purposive creative progress. From this moment a living being becomes a bodhisattva. Worthy of honor by gods as well as humans. Shantideva states that as soon as a being conceives the spirit of enlightenment, he or she becomes at once a son or daughter of sagatas, a Buddha child. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:11 Highlight the passage at 1:59:11

1:59:44 He or she should rejoice in the newfound fruitfulness of their existence. This spirit is a kind of spiritual gene, a DNA molecule of universal evolution, life after life. Once one possesses it by conceiving the will to attain Buddhahood, the perfection of wisdom and compassion for the sake of all living beings, the quality of one's experience and even one's biological continuum is marked forever onward. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:44 Highlight the passage at 1:59:44

2:00:15 So there's no more noble thought than this, nothing in which we might aspire to, no more powerful method to go beyond our own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:15 Highlight the passage at 2:00:15

2:00:29 In our own limitations and in the way of being able to be of greater benefit, greater service to others and to awaken our hearts to others, to develop bodhicitta, the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:29 Highlight the passage at 2:00:29

2:00:49 So trying to get across the positive benefits of undertaking the development of an awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:49 Highlight the passage at 2:00:49

2:01:00 so... We almost got through Chapter 1. If you begin to take a look at Chapter 2, okay? Report an error in the passage at 2:01:00 Highlight the passage at 2:01:00

2:01:13 We'll begin Chapter 2 next week as well. So we can dedicate the positive energy we've created together. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:13 Highlight the passage at 2:01:13

2:01:45 May all 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 2:01:45 Highlight the passage at 2:01:45

2:02:12 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 about from harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:12 Highlight the passage at 2:02:12

2:02:35 May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world may never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be freed. May the powerless find power and may people think of benefiting each other. For 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 2:02:35 Highlight the passage at 2:02:35

2:03:02 Through these skillful actions may I quickly become an awakened spiritual master and lead each and every living being to that awakened realm. 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 encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Please remain at the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:02 Highlight the passage at 2:03:02