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

0:01 Do you have anything that you all seem so far away to Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:17 share? Anything that came up over the week since we last saw each other? Report an error in the passage at 0:17 Highlight the passage at 0:17

0:26 Heaps. Report an error in the passage at 0:26 Highlight the passage at 0:26

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1:37 So what do you suppose people are saying when they say, Buddhists don't do that? Report an error in the passage at 1:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37

1:52 Why does that annoy you? That's Report an error in the passage at 1:52 Highlight the passage at 1:52

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2:31 what we're all waiting for. Report an error in the passage at 2:31 Highlight the passage at 2:31

2:36 I guess nobody likes to be judged, do they? Even as a – put in a category. Report an error in the passage at 2:36 Highlight the passage at 2:36

2:54 Not Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:11 feeling so good about yourself. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 3:11 Highlight the passage at 3:11

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4:53 Is it? A lot of pressure. Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

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5:44 Good on you. Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

5:52 I guess there's – I think we'll discuss this when we talk about not a bad DVD. Not a violent one. Oh, not a violent one. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 5:52 Highlight the passage at 5:52

6:06 We talk about the four opponent powers and the power of regret as opposed to guilt. You know, not judging ourselves as a person, but Report an error in the passage at 6:06 Highlight the passage at 6:06

6:26 so you didn't live up to some standard. Report an error in the passage at 6:26 Highlight the passage at 6:26

6:32 Yeah, I guess we have to kind of nuance that. I mean, what you're saying is a very healthy aspect to what you're saying, but then there's another that can become perverted, can't it? take him away. Right. Report an error in the passage at 6:32 Highlight the passage at 6:32

6:49 You can become pretty heavy-handed with yourself. I guess we have to find some, by balance, I mean we also have to look at what we're doing right and accentuate that, take in the good. Report an error in the passage at 6:49 Highlight the passage at 6:49

7:05 It's a difficult area, I think. Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

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7:55 Sometimes we add one and one to make three. We make a mistake. But it's no reflection upon ourselves as a worthwhile person. It's a hard one to make that distinction. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:16 Anyway, I think part of the path is involving ourselves in this very struggle to develop some kind of self-compassion and wisdom with regard to ourselves. How do we accept ourselves and at the same time change compassion Report an error in the passage at 8:16 Highlight the passage at 8:16

8:50 for ourselves but at the same time realize that we need some degree of discipline? we should that distinction. Report an error in the passage at 8:50 Highlight the passage at 8:50

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9:09 think it's, you know, you know. I don't think there's any particular formula or particular teaching that we can march out and it's going to resolve this dilemma. I think it's part of the path, wrestling with this. And I think it's quite inevitable. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:50 So, if we can recite the verse of Refuge together. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:09 I think it was Suzuki Roshi who said, we're not as bad as we think nor as wonderful as we imagine. So finding ourselves somewhere amongst that possibility. Report an error in the passage at 10:09 Highlight the passage at 10:09

10:32 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. Report an error in the passage at 10:32 Highlight the passage at 10:32

10:58 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. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 10:58 Highlight the passage at 10:58

11:25 May all sentient beings be inseparable from the joy that is without sorrow. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 11:25 Highlight the passage at 11:25

11:45 stretch, sit on a cushion, lie down, and meditate together. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

12:02 What I'd like to do toward the end of our meditation together is just to drop in a question that we might ponder, that we might consider. I think it's a difficult one, but I think it's worth considering. Many of you, most of you, are older students of Buddhism, but perhaps you've been involved in other types of practices, whether we call them spiritual practices, religious practices. Report an error in the passage at 12:02 Highlight the passage at 12:02

12:17 considering, you know, Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

12:33 Just methods of self-development. And to question what are some of the teachings or some of the practices or some of the methods, maybe just one, maybe two, that I've been given or received over the years that I've been involved in my endeavors. And that has been useful to me. What really worked? Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

13:04 And why? Why did it work? In what way did it work? In what way do I, why do I feel it worked? It was useful to myself. And then perhaps an even more difficult question that we might consider, and, you know, we don't have to be politically correct with ourselves, Report an error in the passage at 13:04 Highlight the passage at 13:04

13:22 is maybe some method or, you know, some expectation that you had, some particular teaching that you thought would be valuable or you put a lot of, maybe you attended a course which cost a lot of money. Anyway, there's an investment of time or energy or money or whatever, and it didn't live up. It didn't live up to your expectations in some way. Report an error in the passage at 13:22 Highlight the passage at 13:22

13:45 Why do you feel as if it didn't meet what you hoped to get out of it? Okay, so toward the end of our meditation, I'll just kind of drop that question in. Over the years that you've been receiving teachings and involving yourself in various practices, What have you found to be of actual use? Maybe just find one. And then in what way has it been useful for myself? How do I measure what's of use to myself? Report an error in the passage at 13:45 Highlight the passage at 13:45

14:22 And then the outburst of that. Amongst all the various teachings, perhaps that method which I had some kind of expectations about, and it put some energy in or whatever, and it didn't seem to deliver the goods. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:40 And in what way it didn't? Did it not deliver the goods? Why didn't it? Okay? So take in a comfortable, firm posture. Report an error in the passage at 14:40 Highlight the passage at 14:40

14:57 Sure, yeah. In Report an error in the passage at 14:57 Highlight the passage at 14:57

15:15 a comfortable, firm posture. Bringing your awareness to the crown of your head, your scalp. Report an error in the passage at 15:15 Highlight the passage at 15:15

15:26 And begin by imagining or actually feeling the wrinkles between your brow and your forehead, smoothing out the Report an error in the passage at 15:26 Highlight the passage at 15:26

15:44 pressure in and around your eyes, diminishing the Report an error in the passage at 15:44 Highlight the passage at 15:44

15:57 face, softening, relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 15:57 Highlight the passage at 15:57

16:12 Your tongue is soft and Report an error in the passage at 16:12 Highlight the passage at 16:12

16:22 bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and perhaps turning your head to each side a few times, loosening, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck. Bringing Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:41 your awareness to your upper back and shoulders and perhaps drawing your shoulders up towards your ears and circling them to the back and down to the front. Report an error in the passage at 16:41 Highlight the passage at 16:41

17:00 Just rotating your shoulders a few times. Report an error in the passage at 17:00 Highlight the passage at 17:00

17:13 Eventually returning your shoulders back up towards your ears and just allowing them to drop 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 shoulders over the course of the day, moving down through your body into the ground as if some burden has just been lifted from your back. Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:53 Bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands. Your hands are soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 17:53 Highlight the passage at 17:53

18:12 Relaxing your lower Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:23 and your upper arm. Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:32 The chest is at ease, Report an error in the passage at 18:32 Highlight the passage at 18:32

18:46 the heart area, the central space of the chest, the Report an error in the passage at 18:46 Highlight the passage at 18:46

19:03 portion of the back, Report an error in the passage at 19:03 Highlight the passage at 19:03

19:18 releasing the tension that we often hold in our stomach muscles, just allowing the belly to go soft, Report an error in the passage at 19:18 Highlight the passage at 19:18

19:48 being your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles, Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

20:08 the pelvic region, Report an error in the passage at 20:08 Highlight the passage at 20:08

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21:10 your feet soft, loose, Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

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21:54 loosens it, Report an error in the passage at 21:54 Highlight the passage at 21:54

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22:39 gives the overall impression with each out-breath. Report an error in the passage at 22:39 Highlight the passage at 22:39

22:45 The body is sinking deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation, of calmness, a feeling of physical well-being. It's a nice place to be in the body. Report an error in the passage at 22:45 Highlight the passage at 22:45

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25:06 I invite you to become aware of the fact that you're breathing. And just now when you became aware, what was the physical sensation in your body which indicates to you that you're breathing in, that you're breathing out? Where did you go to? And Report an error in the passage at 25:06 Highlight the passage at 25:06

25:29 just rest your attention on that physical sensation of the body. Focus your awareness there. A Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:50 gentle discipline, but not getting down on yourself or giving yourself a hard time. It's okay if the mind wanders occasionally. That's what it does. Report an error in the passage at 25:50 Highlight the passage at 25:50

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31:25 Shift your attention to a sensation of the body other than that of the breath. Maybe the pressure of your buttocks on the chair, on the cushion, maybe hands on your lap, whatever is predominant. Report an error in the passage at 31:25 Highlight the passage at 31:25

31:40 Focusing your awareness on that sensation, Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

31:46 noticing how it feels. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

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33:07 Feeding our attention this time to the sounds around us. Report an error in the passage at 33:07 Highlight the passage at 33:07

33:14 Be very quiet after listening. Very closely to sounds, far and near to Report an error in the passage at 33:14 Highlight the passage at 33:14

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34:26 sound. Report an error in the passage at 34:26 Highlight the passage at 34:26

34:52 Again, shifting our attention, turning our attention inward to the mind itself, words, the thoughts, pictures, images passing through our mind, but also the state of our mind. Report an error in the passage at 34:52 Highlight the passage at 34:52

35:09 Perhaps it's restless, sleepy, experiencing pleasure, displeasure, emotion, all the objects and states of mind, watching the mind itself, Report an error in the passage at 35:09 Highlight the passage at 35:09

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36:23 just allowing the mind. Become involved in any object that it naturally tends to. With Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:33 a gentle effort, maintain a degree of awareness, watchfulness, observing, Report an error in the passage at 36:33 Highlight the passage at 36:33

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37:26 and then bring the mind back to the breath, easy, and outflow the natural breath. Now Report an error in the passage at 37:26 Highlight the passage at 37:26

38:06 we're going to take a few minutes. First, reflect upon teaching or practice a method that you have received, that you've picked up in one way or another. Report an error in the passage at 38:06 Highlight the passage at 38:06

38:23 That you made use of and you found quite useful to yourself, that you found valuable. Report an error in the passage at 38:23 Highlight the passage at 38:23

38:32 And why was it valuable? In what way did you find it of use to yourself? Report an error in the passage at 38:32 Highlight the passage at 38:32

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40:16 Could there a verse of this teaching or a method, a practice which you received, picked up somewhere along the way that you made use of, but you didn't find it? Maybe you were disappointed or there was no payoff. You didn't feel like it did you very much good. Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

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41:53 And again, Report an error in the passage at 41:53 Highlight the passage at 41:53

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42:58 divide up into it. Small groups. I think there's ten of us here. Report an error in the passage at 42:58 Highlight the passage at 42:58

43:07 Maybe three, three and four. So there were two parts to contemplation and reflection. One was in terms of some method or some teaching or practice that you work with. You found abuse. Why was it abuse? And then the other practice Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:29 that you maybe had some kind of expectations about and made use of in some way, but it didn't. Really bring you the results that you were looking for and why was that. Okay, so can we divide up into three groups? Report an error in the passage at 43:29 Highlight the passage at 43:29

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56:30 Take a few more minutes. Report an error in the passage at 56:30 Highlight the passage at 56:30

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1:00:16 Would you like to share anything that came up in your small groups with the larger group? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16 Highlight the passage at 1:00:16

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1:02:56 Sounds very good. No, you made a lot of sense. Thank you. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:56 Highlight the passage at 1:02:56

1:03:04 So you adopted, see how the law of cause and effect applies in your everyday life, your interaction with other people. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:04 Highlight the passage at 1:03:04

1:03:22 Working with the idea of impermanence and trying to develop. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

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1:04:30 I'm looking for, there's a quote which I'm looking for, which I might not have with me. It's by William Blake. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:30 Highlight the passage at 1:04:30

1:04:47 Anyway, I don't think, I think you should relish all the happiness that you get. I mean, you deserved it. In some way or another, whether we're aware of it or not, we've created the causes for it. So I don't see anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:47 Highlight the passage at 1:04:47

1:05:15 So it's not a matter of not enjoying the good times. It's just a matter of not trying to hang on to them. And clinging to happiness will only create the causes for your own suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:15 Highlight the passage at 1:05:15

1:05:31 But by all means, I think it would be kind of a perversion not to enjoy your happiness. I think so. But it works both ways. The bad times aren't going to stay as well. Everything's going to pass one way or another. So not to get lost in the bad times nor the good times, but just enjoy the good times. This verse by Blake, something like, Report an error in the passage at 1:05:31 Highlight the passage at 1:05:31

1:06:09 He who clings to the winged life. He who clings. Thus the winged life destroyed, but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:09 Highlight the passage at 1:06:09

1:06:25 So if you try to, it's like a delicate, Report an error in the passage at 1:06:25 Highlight the passage at 1:06:25

1:06:32 maybe like a dragonfly or something. It's very delicate. It's quite beautiful. And if you cling to, if you try to hold on to it tightly, you'll crush it and you destroy it. But if you just let it, just to enjoy it while it's there. Then when it's gone, let it fly. And Blake is saying that you live in eternity sunrise. You're not causing yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:32 Highlight the passage at 1:06:32

1:06:57 So it's not a matter of not enjoying happiness. It's just a matter of not clinging, trying to hold on to it. We don't have any control over that. So you're only creating causes for suffering. But you're being quite thoughtful, I think. That's quite good. Thank you for sharing that. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:57 Highlight the passage at 1:06:57

1:07:22 Any thoughts that you'd like to share? By all means, it's not obligatory. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:22 Highlight the passage at 1:07:22

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1:08:32 That's quite profound, I think. Whatever arises, we have a very narrow perspective on cause and effect. It's just linear. A causes B. In fact, A is just one contributing condition. It may be a necessary condition, but it's not all the cooperative causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:32 Highlight the passage at 1:08:32

1:08:59 So it's not just our efforts. It's a lot of conditions which may not be apparent to ourselves. We might not even be conscious of it, but we try. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:59 Highlight the passage at 1:08:59

1:09:23 Any other thoughts? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:23 Highlight the passage at 1:09:23

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1:09:55 Is that the way I sound? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:55 Highlight the passage at 1:09:55

1:10:18 What was that? Quack, quack, quack? So, yeah, I think that's it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:18 Highlight the passage at 1:10:18

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1:11:19 Sitting in the wrong chair. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:19 Highlight the passage at 1:11:19

1:11:51 Okay. Okay. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:51 Highlight the passage at 1:11:51

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1:14:04 I think you bring up a rather important point. I think we do have to have unrealistic expectations. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:04 Highlight the passage at 1:14:04

1:14:19 But on the other hand, I think we need to ask questions. We should question. It's a cooperative effort. So, as you said, I don't think we need to be spoon-fed, but I think we should be able to work together. And you can ask, say, well, you know, maybe can you communicate that in a manner which is, in some manner, which is I can, Report an error in the passage at 1:14:19 Highlight the passage at 1:14:19

1:14:54 at my level, I can take away something with abuse. So I think it's not all you. Lots of conditions and causes coming together. I think I have my little way that I talk. I have my responsibility as well. I try my... So you have a right to expect something from me. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:54 Highlight the passage at 1:14:54

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1:16:16 There's a Chinese saying that at one time... Report an error in the passage at 1:16:16 Highlight the passage at 1:16:16

1:16:25 A blade of grass is equal to, at one time a 16 foot golden statue of a Buddha is equal to a blade of grass. At another time a blade of grass is equal to a 16 foot high golden statue of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:25 Highlight the passage at 1:16:25

1:16:40 So it's not, yeah, there's some kind of communication that takes place. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:40 Highlight the passage at 1:16:40

1:16:52 Yeah, what you're saying is quite relevant, quite pertinent. But I think I appreciate what you're saying. I'm an adult, kind of mature way to look at it. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:52 Highlight the passage at 1:16:52

1:17:17 You're happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:17 Highlight the passage at 1:17:17

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1:18:08 Quite remarkable. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:08 Highlight the passage at 1:18:08

1:18:38 So we're looking at you. Thank you. We're looking at Chapter 2. So we're going to do Chapter 2. So, you know, the second and third chapters. The second chapter is mainly, as it's titled, Purification of Negativities. remarkable Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

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1:18:57 It's mainly concerned with the removing obstacles for the development of the awakened heart. And the third chapter we're going to look at is adopting the awakened heart. It's modeled on or it follows a format of what we talked about last week, the seven-limb prayer. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:57 Highlight the passage at 1:18:57

1:19:14 In the second chapter, it follows the first three of the seven limbs. So it begins with a section on offerings, section on prostration. And then a section on disclosure of negativities. And there's also a verse on taking refuge. So we said that the book is mainly Report an error in the passage at 1:19:14 Highlight the passage at 1:19:14

1:19:49 the guide to a bodhisattva's way of life. How does one go about becoming a bodhisattva, this heroic individual with regard to awakening of his heart? And then having become a bodhisattva, having awakened one's heart, how do I go about, involve myself in the various practices, the six transcendent practices of generosity and ethics and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:49 Highlight the passage at 1:19:49

1:20:17 So in the first chapter we looked at the benefits, so inclining the mind, seeing why it would be of tremendous benefit to develop this attitude of wanting to be the best possible person we can be. For the welfare of all others, including ourselves. In the second chapter, then we want to remove obstacles to achieving that end. Then we want to accumulate the positive potential to be able to achieve that, the conducive conditions to achieve that end. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:17 Highlight the passage at 1:20:17

1:20:47 And then the actual meditative method that we cultivate to cultivate an awakening heart, which is dealt with in the eighth chapter. So here in the second chapter, it begins with... Making offerings. I don't know if I won't go into a great deal of detail. I couldn't go into a great deal of detail. So the first 22 verses, 21 through 22, are concerned with making offerings. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:21:19 So we're building up positive potential or merit. And I know merit can have resistance to the notion of merit. but just... Report an error in the passage at 1:21:19 Highlight the passage at 1:21:19

1:21:32 This effectiveness in our ability to achieve what it is that we're working toward. So the potency of our ability, thinking of it in those terms, that might be useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:32 Highlight the passage at 1:21:32

1:21:55 The very first verse, so I'm looking on page four of... The second chapter. So I realize the page numbering is a little bit difficult. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55

1:22:11 The very first verse is on page three. What's the purpose of making offerings? So here Shantideva is purposely making offerings as a means of developing the awakened heart. We could make offerings in order to get a better piece of chocolate cake. A bigger car, whatever. Here it's purposely being dedicated or created in order to develop the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:11 Highlight the passage at 1:22:11

1:22:42 And what is the object of our offering? The Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. So then it proceeds through three categories of offerings. There are what are called unowned offerings. And these are covered through verses 2 through 7. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:03 you know, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:03 Highlight the passage at 1:23:03

1:23:07 Whether something actually exists or we simply, you know, like amongst these various offerings are wish-fulfilling tree, uncultivated crop. You know, it's kind of, we can wish that I could offer this. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:07 Highlight the passage at 1:23:07

1:23:32 I wish there were such a thing that I could offer it to you. So this creates a certain potency of mind, just the strength of our wish. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:32 Highlight the passage at 1:23:32

1:24:00 Making offerings to the Buddha Dharma and Saṅgha is predominantly an activity of mind. So we can bring to mind anything that we find of value, anything that we find of beauty, anything that we find worthwhile, whether it exists or it's simply a product of our imagination. And we're giving it all away. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:00 Highlight the passage at 1:24:00

1:24:21 To not only creating merit or this potency of mind, but also overcoming our sense of holding on to, our sense of it works against our clinging or our greed. Rather than things becoming a source of an object towards which we develop greed, they become means of liberation. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:21 Highlight the passage at 1:24:21

1:24:44 But then Report an error in the passage at 1:24:44 Highlight the passage at 1:24:44

1:24:50 verses... Eight through nine are what are called one's own, we offer one's own body. So this is on page five. And here, you know, I think we can broaden our sense of what it means to offer one's body. And here, you know, we're offering, there's a certain contracted state, and we talked about this a little bit on Saturday, of I think self-centeredness, self-obsession. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:50 Highlight the passage at 1:24:50

1:25:23 Self-absorption is rather a painful state. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:23 Highlight the passage at 1:25:23

1:25:30 Here, when we talk about offering one's own body, we can sort of broaden the sense of what it means to say, well, I'm going to give up. We're loosening up, maybe giving up a bit of our privacy, maybe giving up a bit of our time doing some volunteer work, maybe a little bit of our energy. You know, it's something that, so, you know, I don't. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:30 Highlight the passage at 1:25:30

1:25:56 Offering our body is perhaps a little bit too literal, I think, at least for my mind to wrap my sense around for it to be meaningful. But to say, well, I'd rather not be giving up my time. I'd rather watch this television show, but maybe somebody needs me. So I'm offering that. I think that's it. Would be, I think, a proper, maybe more useful interpretation of what it means to offer one's body. And then finally, the verses 10 through 22 are mentally transformed offerings, or it says here offerings that are emanated. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:56 Highlight the passage at 1:25:56

1:26:43 And these are divided into two types. So offerings that are emanated or mentally transformed offerings are... So verses 10 through 21 are what are called ordinary or common types of emanated offerings. And then finally on verse 22 are inconceivable or extraordinary. So I think this is quite difficult to identify with, to be honest with you. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:43 Highlight the passage at 1:26:43

1:27:18 We shouldn't try to fit ourselves into a... Some kind of straitjacket. This is coming from a different culture. This was probably extremely meaningful for Shantideva. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:18 Highlight the passage at 1:27:18

1:27:31 I don't want to be politically incorrect, but we have to begin to adapt what was culturally relevant then to our particular culture. So offering a bathhouse and so forth might have been true. You know, I'm not, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:31 Highlight the passage at 1:27:31

1:27:52 These were royalty. If a king were to visit you, you'd make all these various fabulous types of offerings, even if in here we're inviting the Buddhas. So in their culture, this would be not only an acceptable offering, but really kind of a fabulous, fantastic way to welcome a guest. You'd offer them a bath, nice soft towels, so fragrant. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:52 Highlight the passage at 1:27:52

1:28:25 So we could use our imagination. What would that mean for our culture? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:29:22 I mean, it could be an offering. I mean, it could be a dedication or an offering. Yeah, it could be an offering. Sure, why not? Why not? I mean, it's something that you prize, that you value, that you really feel good about. And maybe it would help you not to. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:22 Highlight the passage at 1:29:22

1:29:47 Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:47 Highlight the passage at 1:29:47

1:29:53 So these are just imagined types of offerings? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:53 Highlight the passage at 1:29:53

1:30:04 Yeah, like this bathhouse and so forth. But by all means, yeah, that would be great. But, you know, I wouldn't be too afraid of Report an error in the passage at 1:30:04 Highlight the passage at 1:30:04

1:30:28 taking what you've just done in. And being with it in a healthy way congratulating yourself. That was really good. I really did some benefit. I think the word pride, it comes from maybe some people, they get a bit paranoid when they start feeling good and happy. I don't know, maybe it's the Puritan ethic you shouldn't. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:28 Highlight the passage at 1:30:28

1:31:02 you know. If you start, or maybe, what is it, you don't want to offend the gods. When you get too happy, there's somebody down there too happy, we've got to do something. I think we need to, in fact, I think we probably need to consciously take, as we meditated a couple weeks ago, take in the good and really let it saturate us. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:02 Highlight the passage at 1:31:02

1:31:38 I really feel it very deeply. So I don't think we should be afraid of feeling good about something good that we've done, that we're going to develop pride. Maybe you will, but I think there are worse things that could happen than that. With pride, pride comes from a word manas, which means measure. We've gone past the measure of who we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:38 Highlight the passage at 1:31:38

1:32:05 If you start thinking, well, I'm great, I'm this fantastic person, then that's beside the point. But if you just stay with that I've really done something worthwhile. And I think it would really be worthwhile to stay with it and take it in and to rejoice in your own good that you've created. And it doesn't have to be associated with pride. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:05 Highlight the passage at 1:32:05

1:32:35 And then, okay, then offer it, give it away. But don't, I don't know if I'm communicating. Am I communicating? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:35 Highlight the passage at 1:32:35

1:32:47 Am I? I don't want you to, Report an error in the passage at 1:32:47 Highlight the passage at 1:32:47

1:32:57 yeah, I better, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, you did something really good. Yeah, so rejoicing in something good that you've done, in something positive, something that was beneficial. Amen. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:57 Highlight the passage at 1:32:57

1:33:15 And taking that in as best you can. And then giving it, if you want to make an offering. This is mentally transformed. Transformed. So it just means imaginary. So there are two types. Verses 10 through 22 are something just simply imaginary. We can offer a mandala. Good one. Excellent. It's just imaginary. Whereas in verse 20. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:15 Highlight the passage at 1:33:15

1:33:49 Two, Report an error in the passage at 1:33:49 Highlight the passage at 1:33:49

1:33:53 this is called unequaled offering. So it is said, I'm just making an explanation of this verse. It is said that a bodhisattva is superior. So this is a bodhisattva. An individual has awakened their heart. A superior is someone who has a direct realization of emptiness, such as Manjushri. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:53 Highlight the passage at 1:33:53

1:34:21 What they imagine, they can actually emanate. They can imagine something and transform it into a physical reality and offer it. So this is what's meant by unequaled offerings or sublime offerings. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:21 Highlight the passage at 1:34:21

1:34:38 Okay? So the verses 10 through 22 are simply imaginary. Verse 22. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:38 Highlight the passage at 1:34:38

1:34:56 22. Ten through twenty-one are imaginary. Twenty-second is because of the realization of the individuals such as Manjushri and so forth, they are able to emanate, manifest some kind of physical reality, these imagined offerings. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:20 So offering, dedicating your virtue and so forth, the merit and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:32 Verse 23 through 25. So, prostrations. So, you know, here's the term that's being used, and it's a perfectly acceptable translation. In different contexts, it can be translated. The word chaksel in Tibetan can be translated differently. So we're getting across the idea of homage or showing respect or valuing, appreciating. So, in general, there are... Report an error in the passage at 1:35:32 Highlight the passage at 1:35:32

1:36:02 Three types of, three manners of showing respect or homage or three types of prostrations. A bodily prostration where there's a physical gesture, speech, reciting words of praise, or mind where we develop faith, devotion. So these three ways of showing. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:02 Highlight the passage at 1:36:02

1:36:32 Respect, valuing, or prostration and so forth. So prostration is said to be an antidote to pride. But here, again, I remember when I first, this was hundreds of years ago, when I first became involved in Dharma, in Dharamsala. And I went to the Tibetan Library of Works and Archives. And I attended classes there. They had classes every day, six days a week, for Westerners. They were translated from Tibetan into English. And I saw these Westerners prostrating. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:32 Highlight the passage at 1:36:32

1:37:09 I thought, oh my God, what are they doing? Don't they have any pride? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:09 Highlight the passage at 1:37:09

1:37:18 So I felt that my initial reaction was pretty negative. Don't they have that? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:18 Highlight the passage at 1:37:18

1:37:28 But it's because my mind was rather narrow and I think rather inflexible. So the notion is we're not putting ourselves down, but we are holding something up. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:28 Highlight the passage at 1:37:28

1:37:41 We are, you Report an error in the passage at 1:37:41 Highlight the passage at 1:37:41

1:37:53 know, we're appreciating or viewing with value. And we can do this through a body, speech, and mind. There are... Here there are two types of prostrations. There's the physical prostration and verbal prostration. The first one is verbal, just words of eulogy, just reciting verses of praise, and then there's physical homage or physical prostration. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:53 Highlight the passage at 1:37:53

1:38:27 For example, there are many forms of prostration. It was interesting. I remember when I spent almost a year in Thailand, I think in 1988, and the Thai people are extremely respectful toward the Saṅgha. I was a monk then. And I remember they would offer you food. And I'm sitting on this platform and the lay people would come and offer you food, put it in your alms bowl. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:27 Highlight the passage at 1:38:27

1:39:06 And they make prostration. I remember they said, no, no, don't prostrate. And after a while I realized, it took me a while, they weren't prostrating to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:06 Highlight the passage at 1:39:06

1:39:19 They could care less about me. It was what I represented. I was the Saṅgha, spiritual community. That's what they were prostrating, not me as a personality. That was just my pride. So prostration, It is an antidote to that kind of pride. There are many types of prostration in the Tibetan tradition. Generally, they place your thumbs inside your folded hands, and this is meant to symbolize a wish-fulfilling jewel. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:19 Highlight the passage at 1:39:19

1:40:00 It's like holding a wish-fulfilling jewel. And then you touch the crown of your head. So the Buddha... You know, it's said to possess 32 major marks and 80 minor marks. So these are expressions. They're all symbolic of various attainments, realizations, qualities, all these various excellences and so forth, you know, wheels on his hands. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:00 Highlight the passage at 1:40:00

1:40:29 And he also has a top knot. It's not a knot. It's a bump on the top of his head. this is what's called a crown. Crown protrusion, ushnisha in Sanskrit. So it is said that by touching the crown of your head, you're creating the causes to achieve that mark of a Buddha. And you touch between your eyebrows. And again, it's said that one of the marks of a Buddha is a curl here. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:29 Highlight the passage at 1:40:29

1:41:01 And that represents his realizations. And then you touch your throat to speech. mind, okay? So it is said by touching those four places, you're implanting the seeds to actually attain them. But the idea is that we're paying, you know, you're not paying, you know, a brass, a piece of brass is not worthy of my homage. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:01 Highlight the passage at 1:41:01

1:41:30 It is what it represents. this is, in, in, in, externally. Externally. It's a representation of what I am trying to achieve internally. Shantideva is paying homage to the three foundations of the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:30 Highlight the passage at 1:41:30

1:41:58 Everything is being directed toward the development of the awakened heart. What he makes offerings to, what he's prostrating to, they're all in some way. Creating conducive conditions to achieve this end of developing an awakened heart. So he prostrates to the Mahāyāna Dharma. So most essentially what this would represent is the teachings and the methods of developing the awakened heart and the teachings on the benefits of the awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:58 Highlight the passage at 1:41:58

1:42:37 As we've already talked about. So that for him is what he is valuing, what he is paying homage to. Then he also is paying homage to the spiritual master, but not just in general, but that individual teacher who is presenting the means of developing the awakened heart. He's giving the Dharma teachings on how to develop an awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:37 Highlight the passage at 1:42:37

1:43:06 And then also even, I'm talking about verse 25, where He's actually the place where one actually develops it, the awakened heart. And it's interesting, again, whether it's factual or not, I don't know, but it's not perhaps all that important. But the Shakyamuni Buddha, prior to his becoming a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:06 Highlight the passage at 1:43:06

1:43:35 He developed the awakened heart in hell, which I find rather remarkable. He was pushing some cart and they were whipping the fellow next to him. One of the guardians of the hell realms was whipping. And he said, may I take on the suffering of my fellow hell being. And he awakened his heart in that way. So even the place of developing the awakened heart is worthy of respect. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:35 Highlight the passage at 1:43:35

1:44:22 Where our treasure lies, so there too will be our hearts. If something is important, you will find that's where you're going to put your energies. That's where you're going to see significance in your everyday life. Finding ways that will help you to develop, that will facilitate what it is that you want, if it's important enough to you. So in this way, Shantideva is trying to extol, to place tremendous importance on this quality of developing an awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:22 Highlight the passage at 1:44:22

1:44:58 Then on verse 26, there's kind of a verse of going for refuge. So this is going for refuge. It's a big subject. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:58 Highlight the passage at 1:44:58

1:45:18 You know, we can talk about, well, what does it mean to go for refuge? What are the causes of going for refuge? What are the objects of refuge? What are the commitments of refuge? And so forth. And here it begins, you know, the meaning of refuge in Galsopje's commentary. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:18 Highlight the passage at 1:45:18

1:45:41 I think, you know, it's a... It's kind of a foreign word for us, isn't it? The actual term, refuge. We probably, except for the term refugees, the notion of going for refuge applied to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:41 Highlight the passage at 1:45:41

1:46:05 It sounds unusual to say the best. But if we try to develop a sense of what they're trying to get at. And get beyond the resistance maybe to the word itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:05 Highlight the passage at 1:46:05

1:46:27 The idea that there's someone or something that we can prevail upon, something we can do or we can make use of, that we can possess or be, that's going to protect us from suffering. That's going to help us to find happiness. That's why all the refugees are coming here, aren't they? Looking for refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:27 Highlight the passage at 1:46:27

1:46:48 Something to find protection from. know, that. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:48 Highlight the passage at 1:46:48

1:46:50 From the threat to their well-being, maybe their family. They're looking for happiness, for a good life, start anew. So our refuge is meant to serve as some kind of means whereby we can actualize the conceived possibilities of what is really fundamentally important to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:50 Highlight the passage at 1:46:50

1:47:14 So in this way, the idea of going for refuge is neither particularly Buddhist or it's not particularly Eastern. We are all refugees in some way. I don't mean to negate, to lessen the real tragedy of the millions of refugees who are in plight in the world today. I don't mean to belittle them in any way. But if we can have a sense that... Report an error in the passage at 1:47:14 Highlight the passage at 1:47:14

1:47:55 We're all seeking some kind of asylum from the human condition. And our refuge is supposed to be looking for a safe haven. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:55 Highlight the passage at 1:47:55

1:48:05 And at some level, we're all seeking that. For some, it's much more literal or much more in your face, if you like, or it's much more immediate and almost physical. It is physical. But we all are looking for refuges in different ways, at different levels. Some people go for refuge to their families. They go for refuge to money or they go for refuge to material things, to power, to fame. It's like the mantra of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:05 Highlight the passage at 1:48:05

1:48:45 For many people, bigger, better, more. If only I can have bigger, better, more, then that's going to solve my problems. That's going to help me to get the happiness that I'm looking for. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:45 Highlight the passage at 1:48:45

1:49:01 People go for refuge to romantic love. It's very alluring. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:01 Highlight the passage at 1:49:01

1:49:11 Maybe they go for refuge to their psychotherapist, psychotherapy in general, or to arts or sports, to politics, to hobbies, physical fitness, or sex, TV, drugs, rock and roll. you want me to do? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:11 Highlight the passage at 1:49:11

1:49:27 We're all using what we can and what way we can to help us to solve our problems, to find the happiness that we're all looking for. We're all searching, aren't we? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:27 Highlight the passage at 1:49:27

1:49:41 That's what we're most basically all about in some way or another. It takes different forms. That's why some people become vegetarians. Some people eat as much meat as they possibly can. Some people become celibate. Some people have as much sex as they can. Some people go to abortion clinics. Some people go to in-virtual fertilization clinics. It's amazing. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:41 Highlight the passage at 1:49:41

1:50:11 People become presidents or they become scientists or therapists or they become secretaries or accountants or laborers or artists or rock and roll stars. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:11 Highlight the passage at 1:50:11

1:50:26 So we're all trying our best in whatever way the strategies that we've worked out according to our particular conditions, our particular... The tools that we've developed along the way, haphazardly or formally in some way, to alleviate our problems, to find happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:26 Highlight the passage at 1:50:26

1:50:46 So that's fine. That's fine. There are many different levels of refuge. If you're hungry, the best thing you can do is eat. Get a good meal. Praying to the Buddha is probably the best means. So your refuge should be applicable to the problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:46 Highlight the passage at 1:50:46

1:51:10 It should be coordinated with what you see as the difficulty. It should be appropriate. But where do we go for refuge in terms of our most fundamental problems of the very human dilemma? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:10 Highlight the passage at 1:51:10

1:51:27 Where do we go to to solve that? A good meal is not going to solve that. Your partner is not going to solve that. Money is not going to solve that. People have tried the best they can. And it hasn't worked. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:27 Highlight the passage at 1:51:27

1:51:44 So I think beginning to have some insight into what it means to be an ordinary human being with afflictions and under the control of karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:44 Highlight the passage at 1:51:44

1:52:03 And we need a refuge to address that particular level of the human dilemma. So there are many different, you know, we can't rule out other refuges. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:03 Highlight the passage at 1:52:03

1:52:19 If you're physically ill, go to a doctor. That makes sense. That's appropriate. But that doctor is not going to be able to solve the human dilemma for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:19 Highlight the passage at 1:52:19

1:52:33 They have only a certain ability and effectiveness in what they can do. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:33 Highlight the passage at 1:52:33

1:52:42 But we try in all our various ways. We find a new partner or a wife or a husband or a therapist or a guru. We go it alone for a while or we go to university and study or we change the course of our studies or we change our employer or we change our career or we take a break from working life altogether or we move to a bigger house or a smaller house or maybe an apartment or a flat. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:42 Highlight the passage at 1:52:42

1:53:18 Less expensive, we downsize or we increase or we upsize. In the suburbs, in the country. We redecorate our house. We build an addition. We move to another household together. We have another baby. We have another affair. We're beside ourselves trying to know what to have next. Figure out what to do next, at least for a while. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:18 Highlight the passage at 1:53:18

1:53:45 Always some kind of auspicious beginning. Another roadside attraction. Something just... it. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:45 Highlight the passage at 1:53:45

1:53:54 Just around the next bend, I'm going to find what I'm looking for, the solution to my basic problems, what I'm really seeking. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:54 Highlight the passage at 1:53:54

1:54:04 But in spite of all, eventually, it seems as many of the same problems keep coming back into our lives one way or another. The same feelings of maybe dissatisfaction, discontentment, boredom, a sense of passengerhood, a sense of, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:54:04 Highlight the passage at 1:54:04

1:54:26 Inauthenticity, what's it all about? Report an error in the passage at 1:54:26 Highlight the passage at 1:54:26

1:54:42 Like a flea on a hot griddle. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:42 Highlight the passage at 1:54:42

1:54:49 Inevitably, the flea must jump. And when it jumps, inevitably, it must fall. And the flea that falls must inevitably jump again. So we keep hopping from one thing to another. We're not quite sure what we're looking for, but we're looking. We're searching. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:49 Highlight the passage at 1:54:49

1:55:13 know, we have this. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:13 Highlight the passage at 1:55:13

1:55:17 I think I mentioned last week, the definition by Albert Einstein about insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:17 Highlight the passage at 1:55:17

1:55:37 we cling to our... Unexamined assumptions that the dominant themes and the reoccurring patterns in our present way of thinking and behaving can remain the same. Yet this time around, the story is going to be different. This time around, I'm going to find what it is I'm really looking for. Somebody or something is going to come along and give me what I want. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:37 Highlight the passage at 1:55:37

1:56:03 Maybe that sensitive man, that caring wife, that insightful therapist. Maybe they're going to come out with a new wonder drug or something. Maybe it's more money, a change of job or something or someone or something that's going to turn my life around for me. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:03 Highlight the passage at 1:56:03

1:56:29 So in a way we're all, in one way or another, we're all waiting for that letter in the mail, that knock on the door, the telephone call informing the life you've always wanted has arrived. Will you come down and pick it up or shall we deliver it? What is it that we're looking for, that we're waiting for? So the notion is, and I'm going to have to stop, I Report an error in the passage at 1:56:29 Highlight the passage at 1:56:29

1:57:05 never quite know what it is. It's like getting on with our life. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:05 Highlight the passage at 1:57:05

1:57:17 Coming to the understanding that if our life is going to change for the better, it is ourselves who are going to have to make that change. No one else nor anything outside of ourselves can do it for us. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:17 Highlight the passage at 1:57:17

1:57:34 We are what we have been waiting for. We are the knock on the door, the telephone call. So there's something where our refuge lies within ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:34 Highlight the passage at 1:57:34

1:57:51 So anyway, we'll continue with this notion a little more next week, okay? We got a little bit further. So we can dedicate. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:51 Highlight the passage at 1:57:51

1:58:13 I really admire and appreciate your thoughtfulness and reflection. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:13 Highlight the passage at 1:58:13

1:58:26 Maybe that you don't feel like you're doing enough, but that's okay. You're doing a lot. And I think you should congratulate yourself and rejoice in all that you do do. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:26 Highlight the passage at 1:58:26

1:58:40 I think it's quite wonderful. I thank you for that. So we can dedicate the positive energy that we're creating together. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:40 Highlight the passage at 1:58:40

1:58:55 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 creatures 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 1:58:55 Highlight the passage at 1:58:55

1:59:22 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 for fruit. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:22 Highlight the passage at 1:59:22

1:59:46 May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. 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 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 1:59:46 Highlight the passage at 1:59:46

2:00:14 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 increase but increase more and more. In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:14 Highlight the passage at 2:00:14

2:00:40 Powerful Chenrizi Tenzin Gyatso, please remain until the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:40 Highlight the passage at 2:00:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:01:15 Yes, you have to awaken your heart. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:15 Highlight the passage at 2:01:15