BP: Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds (30 March 2015)

0:03 Do you agree Report an error in the passage at 0:03 Highlight the passage at 0:03

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1:26 with Report an error in the passage at 1:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26

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2:16 that? What do you think about that? So people, Report an error in the passage at 2:16 Highlight the passage at 2:16

2:27 it's useful for them to hang on to this identity. Do you agree with Report an error in the passage at 2:27 Highlight the passage at 2:27

2:34 Of a wounded individual because it helps them, gives them power over people. Yeah, what kind of power do you think it gives them? Report an error in the passage at 2:34 Highlight the passage at 2:34

3:07 Okay. holding myself back, not assuring work that I Report an error in the passage at 3:07 Highlight the passage at 3:07

3:10 I was wondering why I listened Okay. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:16 current work I get sort of of I enjoy doing that I get an immediate Report an error in the passage at 3:16 Highlight the passage at 3:16

3:38 Let Report an error in the passage at 3:38 Highlight the passage at 3:38

3:50 go of that. Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

3:56 What would it take for you to help you to let go if that's what you wish to do? And Report an error in the passage at 3:56 Highlight the passage at 3:56

4:27 the value of the change that you want to make, the benefits and so forth, the advantages. Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

4:35 Sounds like there's some good thinking going on. Report an error in the passage at 4:35 Highlight the passage at 4:35

4:43 I think we've talked about it. There is a degree of resistance around change. the The holding on to the familiar. And because of changes, we can't quite know all the details of how it's going to play out. And so I think change always involves some degree of fear of the unknown. So we need some kind of faith. Report an error in the passage at 4:43 Highlight the passage at 4:43

5:16 We talked about this in terms of what helps us to redirect ourselves or reorient ourselves toward other possible refuges. Report an error in the passage at 5:16 Highlight the passage at 5:16

5:27 I guess it's around any type of change in general. Having faith that on the other side of the change you're going to be a better person or you're going to lead a better life or you're going to have some advantages or some benefits, some values that perhaps are worth the risk. Report an error in the passage at 5:27 Highlight the passage at 5:27

5:53 So I think kind of you making that an object of your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 5:53 Highlight the passage at 5:53

6:04 What could I envision in terms of the outcomes of the kind of change that I want to make? What would that look like? Report an error in the passage at 6:04 Highlight the passage at 6:04

6:15 Having some kind of confidence in yourself and the outcomes of that change? Yeah, I think that if Report an error in the passage at 6:15 Highlight the passage at 6:15

6:26 you don't, Report an error in the passage at 6:26 Highlight the passage at 6:26

6:30 there's some kind of payoff at present? Report an error in the passage at 6:30 Highlight the passage at 6:30

6:51 No chaos? No? Oh, did I say that? Oh, Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:05 I see. I see. In terms of karma and so forth? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

7:13 And how did you relate that to what you were talking about? Report an error in the passage at 7:13 Highlight the passage at 7:13

7:27 I mean, yeah, chaos and order. One person's chaos might be another person's order. One person's order might be another person's chaos. It's just, I guess it's just a subjective impression that we have, that we impute. You know, we label this, oh, this is a mess. This is chaotic. It can't make any rhyme or reason. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

7:56 no reason, there's, whereas... Whereas another person might see order in that, that we can't see for ourselves. So I think there probably is, I think it probably is an order in the universe, but sometimes it feels chaotic. Report an error in the passage at 7:56 Highlight the passage at 7:56

8:19 The Report an error in the passage at 8:19 Highlight the passage at 8:19

8:25 fundamental principles of Buddhism is dependent arising, and within that the law of cause and effect, that things don't arise haphazardly. Report an error in the passage at 8:25 Highlight the passage at 8:25

8:39 Arise out of the appropriate causes and conditions. So I think, you know, I guess that's kind of a fundamental principle that we're working with in a way. If we create the proper causes, we should quite rightfully expect the corresponding effect. But we don't act that way to a large degree. Theoretically, it sounds... Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

9:07 know that sound Sounds right. Hopefully it sounds right or it might sound right. But in practice we often feel that we aren't willing to trust ourselves to the law of God in effect. It's like when you bake a cake and you have a recipe book and you put all the ingredients together in the right proportions. Report an error in the passage at 9:07 Highlight the passage at 9:07

9:36 There's much flour and there's much egg. Salt and some chocolate and baking powder and what else? Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

9:49 Good, good. Anyway, some milk and you mix it up. So you've done it, you've created all the cause and the conditions, you've brought them all together, you've preheated the oven, put them in a greased baking pan or baking paper. Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:08 I've done a few. And, you know. You put it in the oven and there's a sense that maybe that's not enough. I mean for most people we seem we have to oversee the law of cause and effect. Come on, rise, rise. We add this extra bit of effort to many of the things that we do as if we could will them into existence by our sheer Report an error in the passage at 10:08 Highlight the passage at 10:08

10:43 determination. that's... Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

10:49 If we've done, if we've created the cause and effect, if we've created the proper cause, we can relax. We can kind of, because the world is ordered in that way. We don't have to oversee the process. Even if you didn't want the cake to arise, it would probably arise quite properly in spite of you. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:16 So I think a lot of, one of the messages behind the law of cause and effect and the message of dependent arising is that Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:25 Is to apply our intelligence, to really investigate and come to understand what are the more subtle forces at work. If we can begin to, you know, we can't do anything we want. I'm sorry. I don't know if that resonates with anyone. Even no matter how sincere we are, it's not quite enough. Report an error in the passage at 11:25 Highlight the passage at 11:25

11:56 If it runs counter to the nature of things. So, you know, we have to study the nature. I think that, you know, the Buddha was a master at or a genius around. He saw a force which governs people's lives and which governs the nature of the universe, you know, the dependent arising, the law of cause and effect. Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:18 And if we're going to live our lives intelligently, we have to bring ourselves, try to understand what are the forces. How can I best the Report an error in the passage at 12:18 Highlight the passage at 12:18

12:36 conditions which are most favorable to the outcomes I'm looking for? And Report an error in the passage at 12:36 Highlight the passage at 12:36

12:44 if we keep putting our hand in a flame, we shouldn't be surprised that we're continually being burned. That's the nature of things. No matter how sincere or otherwise, how much we pray, may I not be burned. Report an error in the passage at 12:44 Highlight the passage at 12:44

13:03 Sadly enough, tragically enough, I guess, we'll still be burned. you know, like I think, I don't know, maybe I'm going off into some tangent here. It doesn't have much to do with Richard. Anyway, intuitive medicine. That sounds very intriguing. Report an error in the passage at 13:03 Highlight the passage at 13:03

13:25 So sometimes intuition is the ability to see the subtle, very subtle forces at work that maybe aren't so obvious to a lot. We might not even be conscious of them in a way. But we're still picking up on them. And we're kind of making use of that information, processing it. Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:49 Acting accordingly, which is pretty smart. Report an error in the passage at 13:49 Highlight the passage at 13:49

13:56 So Report an error in the passage at 13:56 Highlight the passage at 13:56

14:07 when we go for, you know, the Buddha said he was asked upon his, when he was passing into what's called Paranirvana. Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:18 Paranirvana, beyond sorrow, not a body nirvāṇa. He was asked, who shall we turn to when you're gone? And he said, your teacher will be the Dharma. It's interesting, he didn't appoint. A successor, he said, to look to the Dharma. And at another time, he said, those who see the Dharma see the Buddha. And what is the Dharma? The Dharma is dependent arising. It's the way things, the nature of things, the way the universe is. Report an error in the passage at 14:18 Highlight the passage at 14:18

15:00 If you see that, you see the Dharma, you see the Buddha. And so that becomes like a refuge for ourselves. We, in a way, you know, I just use that analogy, that metaphor of baking a cake and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

15:16 Like, you know, this book, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by the Bodhisattva's Deeds, is like a recipe book, which we're trying to get all the ingredients right and all the conditions and preheat the oven of our minds and so forth so we can come up with something really delicious, something which, an enjoyable life, a happy life. Report an error in the passage at 15:16 Highlight the passage at 15:16

15:43 So that's a real refuge, I think. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

15:53 And then we share that with one another, the understandings and the mistakes that we make, the confusion, the chaos, but also the order amongst ourselves as a saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 15:53 Highlight the passage at 15:53

16:09 You know, the Buddha was, there's a sutta in the Pāli Canon, which the Ananda says, Ananda was one of the... The main disciples of the Buddha. He said, would it be correct to say that 50 % of the Dharma is, 50 % of practicing the Dharma is the Saṅgha. And the Buddha admonished him saying, no, no, don't say that in that. 100 % of practicing the Dharma is the Saṅgha. So he prized the Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:45 It was one of the three refuges. On a par with the Buddha and the Dharma. those who, you know, are... So in this sense, I think mental health is a social phenomenon. It's the way that we learn to be in this world with other people and we share. Report an error in the passage at 16:45 Highlight the passage at 16:45

17:12 I think we do to some extent, don't we? It's like a greenhouse, isn't it? We're experimenting. you know we create Report an error in the passage at 17:12 Highlight the passage at 17:12

17:22 With a new vision of possibilities for ourselves and how we could be and what we aspire to. These fragile shoots of new possibilities, they have some protective structure Report an error in the passage at 17:22 Highlight the passage at 17:22

17:44 in which to find nourishment and grow. So we talk about things, don't we? I think, hopefully. Things that aren't mentioned anywhere else, probably not. Of course, you may have your own. Saṅgha at home and friends and so forth. And that's quite fortunate. I think it's where you really get nourished when you have this sense of connectedness with others in these deeper ways when we're talking about these deeper issues of life, what life is all about. Report an error in the passage at 17:44 Highlight the passage at 17:44

18:28 It's very heart-moving, very heart-nourishing, I think. So I think these are very... it. Report an error in the passage at 18:28 Highlight the passage at 18:28

18:35 Real. You know, they aren't theoretic. They aren't merely museum pieces, artifacts left over from in ancient times. When they talk about the Buddha and Dharma and Saṅgha, I think somehow they can become real for us. Somehow we can make them valuable for ourselves, find some way to think about them. So that when we do think, well, I'm going for refuge to Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

18:59 You know, as Lama Yasha used to say, you know, oh, you Westerners, you guys are super believers. If you don't see Buddha, why do you go for refuge? If you don't see God, why do you believe in God? Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:13 So we have to find some way to make what is being communicated to us meaningful for ourselves. What is the message? What are the teachings trying to get across to us? Or is it just dried up words from some doctrine of the past? If it is, then it's best to move on. Report an error in the passage at 19:13 Highlight the passage at 19:13

19:38 Use the time for something more beneficial and useful for yourself. I don't think so, but we have to maybe validate that for each of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:16 Thanks, sir. Yeah, the possibility to share and to learn from one of you. Report an error in the passage at 20:16 Highlight the passage at 20:16

20:30 There you go. Report an error in the passage at 20:30 Highlight the passage at 20:30

20:41 One of all. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

20:52 Good, it shall be given. There you go. Report an error in the passage at 20:52 Highlight the passage at 20:52

21:02 That's true, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:11 Do you have a sheet? No. Good. Report an error in the passage at 21:11 Highlight the passage at 21:11

21:18 You've got it. Good. Report an error in the passage at 21:18 Highlight the passage at 21:18

21:22 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. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:46 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. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the joy that is without sorrow. Report an error in the passage at 21:46 Highlight the passage at 21:46

22:16 May all sentient beings abide in equanimity. Free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 22:16 Highlight the passage at 22:16

22:32 We'd like to stand up and then we'll sit together. Stand up and we'll sit together. Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 22:32 Highlight the passage at 22:32

22:59 Taking a comfortable but firm posture and Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:16 bringing your awareness to the crown of your head. Start by imagining or actually feeling the wrinkles between your brow and your forehead smoothing out the Report an error in the passage at 23:16 Highlight the passage at 23:16

23:30 pressure in and around your eyes, diminishing. Report an error in the passage at 23:30 Highlight the passage at 23:30

23:41 The muscles of the face softening, relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 23:41 Highlight the passage at 23:41

23:51 Tongue is soft, Report an error in the passage at 23:51 Highlight the passage at 23:51

23:56 jaw relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:01 And bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and turning your head to each side a few times, very gently reducing, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck and Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:24 bringing your awareness down to your upper back and shoulders and perhaps drawing your shoulders up toward your ears, circling them to the back and down. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:40 To the front, just rotating your shoulders a few times, just releasing some of the tension that we often hold in these areas. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

24:58 And eventually returning your shoulders back up toward your ears and just allowing your shoulders 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, moving down and through your body to the ground. Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:22 Burdens been lifted from your shoulders, a feeling of relief. Report an error in the passage at 25:22 Highlight the passage at 25:22

25:29 How does that feel? As if you were just relieved of some burden. Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:43 And bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands. Your hands are soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 25:43 Highlight the passage at 25:43

25:58 Relaxing your lower arms, Report an error in the passage at 25:58 Highlight the passage at 25:58

26:15 your chest is at ease. Report an error in the passage at 26:15 Highlight the passage at 26:15

26:28 Relaxing throughout the heart, in the heart area, the central space of the chest. Report an error in the passage at 26:28 Highlight the passage at 26:28

26:58 And releasing the tension that we often hold in our stomach muscles, allowing your belly to go soft. Report an error in the passage at 26:58 Highlight the passage at 26:58

27:18 And throughout the abdominal cavity and Report an error in the passage at 27:18 Highlight the passage at 27:18

27:26 keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles. Report an error in the passage at 27:26 Highlight the passage at 27:26

27:44 And throughout the pelvic region, the Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

28:14 upper legs, Report an error in the passage at 28:14 Highlight the passage at 28:14

28:30 your feet soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 28:30 Highlight the passage at 28:30

28:43 And scanning through your body once again from the crown downward through the central portion of your body. Just moving with your awareness downward. And paying particular attention to any tightnesses and tensions which may remain in the body. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:04 And when you come across an area where you feel some discomfort or tension or tightness, breathing in and following that breath to wherever the tightness is being held, suffusing that area with the breath of your awareness, and then as if breathing out from that same area. Report an error in the passage at 29:04 Highlight the passage at 29:04

29:21 And along with that out-breath, the feeling of release, Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:32 tightness loosens, the tension diminishes. Again and again, breathing in and breathing out from those areas. Report an error in the passage at 29:32 Highlight the passage at 29:32

30:01 Relaxation, ease of calm. It's a pleasant place to spend some time to be aware Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

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32:50 of the fact that you're breathing and just now when you became aware of your breath, where was the physical sensation that your mind naturally went to that indicates to you that you're breathing in, that you're breathing out, wherever that physical sensation is most clear and obvious to yourself. And just lightly rest your attention on that physical sensation associated with the natural breath. And it's helpful that you can accompany Report an error in the passage at 32:50 Highlight the passage at 32:50

33:27 The focusing of your awareness with counting the breaths, breathing in. Report an error in the passage at 33:27 Highlight the passage at 33:27

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39:06 We're going to shift attention to the sensation of the body other than the breath. Perhaps the pressure of your buttocks on the cushion, on the chair, your hands and your legs. Report an error in the passage at 39:06 Highlight the passage at 39:06

39:21 Focusing your awareness on the sensation of the body other than the breath. Report an error in the passage at 39:21 Highlight the passage at 39:21

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40:55 Again, we're going to shift our attention this time to the sounds around us. Both sounds near and far. It's very quiet. You have to listen very closely. Listening to sound. Report an error in the passage at 40:55 Highlight the passage at 40:55

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43:02 Your attention inward to the mind, pictures, images passing through our mind, states of mind. Are you sleepy? Maybe your mind's restless. Pleasure, displeasure, emotion. Report an error in the passage at 43:02 Highlight the passage at 43:02

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44:37 And then finally just allowing the mind to become involved in any object that it naturally tends to. Relax. Report an error in the passage at 44:37 Highlight the passage at 44:37

44:48 Maintaining a degree of awareness, a watchfulness, just observing. Report an error in the passage at 44:48 Highlight the passage at 44:48

44:56 As it moves from object to object, state to state. Report an error in the passage at 44:56 Highlight the passage at 44:56

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45:45 Staying awake, staying aware, just watchful. Report an error in the passage at 45:45 Highlight the passage at 45:45

46:15 Bring your mind back to the breath. Be easy, gentle, in and outflow of the natural breath. To Report an error in the passage at 46:15 Highlight the passage at 46:15

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50:43 continue, we're looking at the second chapter. And it's set out following the format of the Seven Limb Prayer, which extends through the second and third chapters. And the second chapter is mainly, so we're trying to create the, what do you say, the conducive conditions. Report an error in the passage at 50:43 Highlight the passage at 50:43

51:10 Ecology of mind, if you like, whereby the receptor to adopting or embracing the bodhisattva vows, developing that openness of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 51:10 Highlight the passage at 51:10

51:28 And we do this through the removing obstacles but also creating merit. And here, in the second chapter, we're going through some methods of creating merit. Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:49 Making offerings and so forth. And looking at the limb of purification or disclosure of negative actions. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:00 So the method that we're using is called the Four Powers. So I wrote this up in kind of an abbreviated Mickey Mouse fashion. It's about the best I can do. So I think it's really, you know, this is the way that we can... Really help ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:26 We actually have to create the causes. And so this is something, a practice that we can make use of. It's directly applicable. Put it into practice. So last week we began by looking at these four powers. We began with the first of four powers, which is the power of repudiation. So in his text, these four powers, as I mentioned, is covered in the latter part of the second chapter. Report an error in the passage at 52:26 Highlight the passage at 52:26

53:06 And repudiation particularly is covered in verses 27 through 46. So that's kind of what is being emphasized here. And we use the word repudiation to review just a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 53:06 Highlight the passage at 53:06

53:24 Because sometimes it's referred to as the power of regret. But repudiation is more of a literal translation, but it does involve regret. So the idea of repudiation is that we're repudiating, we're disavowing, we're trying to disidentify ourselves with a particular way of being or acting or behavior and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 53:24 Highlight the passage at 53:24

53:53 I don't want any more of that. Report an error in the passage at 53:53 Highlight the passage at 53:53

53:58 Enough is enough. Report an error in the passage at 53:58 Highlight the passage at 53:58

54:03 I don't want that way of acting to reflect my life. That's not what I'm about. That kind of attitude of mind. And we call that a sense of regret. Report an error in the passage at 54:03 Highlight the passage at 54:03

54:15 Here we're working with the law of cause and effect, aren't we? Dependent on what we were talking about before. Our minds are conditioned. Report an error in the passage at 54:15 Highlight the passage at 54:15

54:26 However, we want to, you know, I think it's a very difficult topic to talk about, something to talk about. We have to use metaphors in a way. Sometimes the metaphors, you know, we talk about planting karmic seeds and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:41 Our past ways of thinking and speaking and behaving, acting, condition our mind. Our minds aren't blank slates. They've been conditioned by these past actions, for better or worse. Here we're talking about for worse. Report an error in the passage at 54:41 Highlight the passage at 54:41

54:57 And, you know, the notion behind karma is there's no one meeting out reward or punishment. There's no one who's sitting in judgment on us. We are not made to suffer for our negative actions, but by our negative actions. There's a subtle shift of difference in that. There's no agent. We're not made happy for our positive actions. Report an error in the passage at 54:57 Highlight the passage at 54:57

55:32 but by our positive actions, very, the The positive actions are the very causes which create happiness, both immediately but also in long-term consequences. So by those actions, we create our own happiness. By our negative actions, we create our own suffering. So we have these conditioning factors within our mind. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:59 And we can, we... We don't have to allow them to remain. There is a possibility of working with them. And this is what the four powers is about. It doesn't defy the law of cause and effect. It works in accord with that nature of things. So this first power was the power of repudiation. And it's the most important of these four. And people do it quite naturally. But here we're trying to take what we might or might not do naturally. Report an error in the passage at 55:59 Highlight the passage at 55:59

56:33 And bring it to conscious awareness and do it methodically, systematically. People do regret. So I hurt you. That's regret. That purifies some of the negativity involved. So it's not something unnatural to ourselves. But here we're trying to formulate it into a specific practice for ourselves. And the idea of regret, I just wanted to mention that we made this distinction. Report an error in the passage at 56:33 Highlight the passage at 56:33

57:03 And I don't know, maybe, and I hate to project my neurosis on you guys, but I emphasize the difference between guilt and regret. And for me, no matter the nature of the action and the consequences, we're not calling into question ourselves as worthwhile people. We're not looking at ourselves. We're looking at the behavior, the action itself. That's the aim of our... Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:32 There's a metaphor, analogy, that's quite often used to get across the sense of regret. Report an error in the passage at 57:32 Highlight the passage at 57:32

57:50 Along with two other people, you usually use the example of an Indian restaurant. I don't want to be politically incorrect. You know, the truth. Report an error in the passage at 57:50 Highlight the passage at 57:50

58:04 You walk into an Indian restaurant, generally quite often you share your food. You buy a dish, you buy some, what do you call it, brinjal eggplant and you buy some potato and peas and you buy some curry and rice and some chapatis. You've got all these great dishes all set up and you're sharing with two other people. You're more or less eating the same foods. Report an error in the passage at 58:04 Highlight the passage at 58:04

58:34 That is the idea behind it. And you've had this delicious meal and you go outside and immediately one person drops over dead. And the second person begins rolling around on the ground, writhing in pain, holding a stomach. And this idea dawns in your mind. I bet you it was that food. I bet you it was something that we just ate. Report an error in the passage at 58:34 Highlight the passage at 58:34

59:00 And eventually this huge sense of regret begins to arise in you. You're not in pain at all, but you see one person dead, the other person writhing in pain, and you know your time is coming because you all ate the same food. So you're not hurting, but nonetheless, you know you've created the causes, and it's just a matter of time until you undergo the same pain and illness and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 59:00 Highlight the passage at 59:00

59:31 So you develop this sense of regret. So that's the reason. I wish I hadn't ate that meal. I wish I hadn't done that. So it's nothing about you as a person. You're not a stupid person. You're not an evil person. You just did something that you regret. Report an error in the passage at 59:31 Highlight the passage at 59:31

59:52 Okay? So then we talked about the second of these two powers, and this is set out in the power of reliance. And this was set out in verses 47 through 53. Report an error in the passage at 59:52 Highlight the passage at 59:52

1:00:08 know, maybe I... This isn't something I've been taught. So this is my own speculation. So by all means, don't take it as you can leave it behind. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:08 Highlight the passage at 1:00:08

1:00:23 But you notice in the handout, it says, we said karma are actions which act as causes bringing about results. And they don't bring, a single karma doesn't bring about a single type of result. It has manifest, manifold types of results. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:00:55 There's what's called the fritional effect, which is, you know, this is on the, what is this, note four? Is it four or five? Five? Five. The second page, two. The fritional result. The main result of ripening of karmic seeds from past actions is the type of life in which we are born into from the lowest hill up to the hills of the highest realms. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:55 Highlight the passage at 1:00:55

1:01:26 So with regard to each of these four powers, they're diminishing the force of the karma in general. They're lessening the potency and they can actually destroy it. But they each have a particular area in which they Report an error in the passage at 1:01:26 Highlight the passage at 1:01:26

1:01:50 Most effective. And here the power of repudiation is most effective in reducing and eliminating this fritional effect of karma. That means the overall state. What happens is, and this is in connection with this particular karmic effect, is associated with the notion of rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:50 Highlight the passage at 1:01:50

1:02:18 At the time of our death, It requires two karmic conditions. One is the substantial cause, the karma which is ripening, which will throw us into a particular type of rebirth. But we also create, at the time of our death, a particular mental karma, which acts as a cooperative condition, which activates that particular karmic seed. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:18 Highlight the passage at 1:02:18

1:02:51 Acts as a necessary cooperative condition for a result to arise. The power of repudiation. I tried to get across the sense that I don't want anything to do with that. I don't want to identify with that. I disavow that. That particular pattern of thinking, that particular mentality, which could have served to activate that karmic seed, is diminished. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:51 Highlight the passage at 1:02:51

1:03:22 We're reducing the possibility of a particular mindset, a particular mentality, which will activate that particular karmic seed from arising at the time of death. Therefore, we're reducing the possibility of the fruitional effect. I don't know if I'm making sense. Just because we have a karmic seed in our mind doesn't mean it's going to ripen. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

1:03:47 It requires a secondary karma, which acts as a cooperative condition. And by repudiating that mentality, that pattern of mind, that way of thinking is less likely to arise as a cooperative condition at the time of our death and thereby ripen this particular karma. So the power of repudiation has an effect of... Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:20 As it says here, specifically effective in weakening, destroying the official effect of negative karma. Then last week we also began to talk about the second power, the power of reliance. And we said that we can create a negative action against two objects. One was buddhas and the second is sentient beings other than buddhas, everybody else. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:20 Highlight the passage at 1:04:20

1:04:40 Two big, two categories, buddhas and everybody else. So when we talked about creating negative, we talked about the fact of creating negativities to... It is in the context of making some kind of commitment, a vow, a precept, and acting in contradiction to that vow. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:40 Highlight the passage at 1:04:40

1:05:10 The basis of practice is ethics. Ethics, perhaps most fundamentally, is the way that a healthy know, I, you know, I... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:10 Highlight the passage at 1:05:10

1:05:27 Human being naturally acts. So we take as our model of mental health a Buddha. A Buddha doesn't need any vows. The natural way of being in the world is productive, is helpful. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:27 Highlight the passage at 1:05:27

1:05:49 So we are trying to, as it were, emulate that way of being. So it makes sense. I don't know about you guys, but we're not always operating. At our best, mentally, physically as well, in terms of our clarity, in terms of our wisdom, in terms of our compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:49 Highlight the passage at 1:05:49

1:06:17 Sometimes our afflictions, our neuroses, we're just overwhelmed and we do things that we would rather not in our better moments when we're thinking clearly. When we're thinking from a place of wisdom, when we're thinking from a place of compassion, this is the way I'd rather see my life enacted, reflected in my higher values. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:17 Highlight the passage at 1:06:17

1:06:44 So we take vows. That's the reason we take vows. It helps us through those times when our mindfulness, our clarity, our wisdom isn't operative. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:44 Highlight the passage at 1:06:44

1:06:55 I'd rather go fishing today, but I vowed I'm not going to kill. I took a vow I'm not going to kill intentionally, voluntarily. So even though I really like to go fishing today, I'm not going to go. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:55 Highlight the passage at 1:06:55

1:07:13 So we try to emulate, and that's the basis of ethics in terms of vows. So we have some, when we contradict a vow, it's as if... Maybe tell me if this has a meaning for you guys. I don't know if this resonates. It's like we have some nature as a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:13 Highlight the passage at 1:07:13

1:07:40 We're trying to align ourselves with our basic Buddha nature, with our basic sanity, with our wisdom and our caring. We would like to see our life a natural way of being in this world. And when we counter... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:40 Highlight the passage at 1:07:40

1:07:50 that's... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:50 Highlight the passage at 1:07:50

1:07:57 So we take vows and we make commitments and so forth as a way of taking what is merely an idea and putting a way of helping us to assist us to put it into practice in daily life. This is the way I want to act. This is the way I want to be. Even though my mind might not be working in harmony with that, I'm still going to channel my mind in certain ways by means of these vows and commitments. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:57 Highlight the passage at 1:07:57

1:08:23 When we contradict that, we are as if... Acting in contradiction to our own Buddha nature. Turning our back on our own Buddha, if you like. But also the Buddhas from whom we might have, in a formal ceremony or just maybe in our mind or imagination, we took the vows from. So the power of reliance, we recommit ourselves. We get back on track. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:23 Highlight the passage at 1:08:23

1:08:56 What's important to my life? One of the central, where do we go for refuge? There are different levels of refuge, but most fundamentally is our own self-development to grow. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:56 Highlight the passage at 1:08:56

1:09:16 We've lost sight of what is really most important and value to ourselves. So we get back on track. We go for refuge again. We go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṅgha. So we rely upon those very objects. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:16 Highlight the passage at 1:09:16

1:09:32 The other object toward whom we create negativity is sentient beings in general. That is all Report an error in the passage at 1:09:32 Highlight the passage at 1:09:32

1:09:43 beings other than Buddhists. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43 Highlight the passage at 1:09:43

1:10:02 I think the Dalai Lama has, I mentioned that the basis of practice is ethics. And the Dalai Lama has sort of summarized in two sentences Buddhist ethics. know, the, the, the, uh... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:02 Highlight the passage at 1:10:02

1:10:21 If you can help, help. If you can't, at least don't harm. So when we act unethically, we are harming. I mean, that's all we're talking about. We can abstract it and complicate it in various ways, but most simply, to act ethically is nonviolence, not harm. On top of that, if we can, to benefit. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:21 Highlight the passage at 1:10:21

1:10:59 What we're about is loving. When we are truly loving, there's one definition of, you know, that love generally is just simply the wish to be happy, whether it's directed toward ourselves or nothing. May you be happy? May I be happy? But I think another definition by an American teacher, I guess he called it, Christian, you know, Scott Peck. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:59 Highlight the passage at 1:10:59

1:11:35 Some of you might be familiar with his work. He wrote a book called The Road to... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:35 Highlight the passage at 1:11:35

1:11:50 I'm going to paraphrase, but he had a definition which I like very much, what love is. The will to extend oneself for the purpose of nourishing one's own or another's well-being. The will to extend oneself for the purpose of nourishing one's own or another's well-being. So the will means... I think that's what we're about. Whether we call it love or compassion is not so important. When we harm, we're not loving. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:50 Highlight the passage at 1:11:50

1:12:26 It's hard to say it. Overall, you love your partner or you love your parents or you love your children. But there's sometimes when you get angry, for example, when you wish them harm. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:26 Highlight the passage at 1:12:26

1:12:41 At that moment, you're not loving. You're not extending yourself. You're not growing. And I think if there's one, we very seldom talk about evil here, do we? But if there's one evil in the world, it is just that, to allow suffering, to create and allow suffering to last that much longer in the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:41 Highlight the passage at 1:12:41

1:13:10 That is to say, to prolong the unawakened state, to stop growing. To regress. So when we apply the power of reliance with regard to sentient beings, just people, okay, but could be animals as well, obviously, no matter what we may have, ways that we may have harmed them, we recommit ourselves to loving them as Report an error in the passage at 1:13:10 Highlight the passage at 1:13:10

1:13:46 best we can in spite of our imperfections, all our misgivings to the contrary. That's what we're about. I mean, you know, we don't really need any justification. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:46 Highlight the passage at 1:13:46

1:14:18 So we redirect ourselves, rededicate ourselves. I don't know, what do people, does that mean? I think that's the message of any authentic religion, I think, whether it be Christianity, probably Islam as well, Judaism, but very much so in Buddhism, Report an error in the passage at 1:14:18 Highlight the passage at 1:14:18

1:14:42 learning how to love. And I don't mean that in a romantic sense or a sentimental sense, but the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nourishing oneself on another's spiritual well-being, their growth, helping others out. I think that's what Buddhism is all about. I think when we talk about what is the essence of Buddhism, the Dharma, I think it's effective compassion. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:42 Highlight the passage at 1:14:42

1:15:16 We want compassion, sure, but to be effective. So it requires wisdom. That's true. No question. To be skillful. But nonetheless, it's about compassion and love. If we do that, everything else will follow. We can trust in that. We can take refuge in love and compassion. When we hurt people, when we act unethically, we're not loving. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:16 Highlight the passage at 1:15:16

1:15:48 We're not doing it. We're not fulfilling our real purpose, what we want to be about. If I can put this, I can project that on you. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:48 Highlight the passage at 1:15:48

1:16:01 So within the power of reliance, we go for refuge and we meditate on the awakened heart. So this constitutes the power of reliance. Its term reliance is why? Because... And there's different explanations of why it's the term reliance. There's different translations from the term, but I think this is a good one. It's just like when you fall down on the ground. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:01 Highlight the passage at 1:16:01

1:16:29 I've fallen down. I've fallen down on my inner nature as a Buddha and I've fallen down on what I want my life to be about, love. And so I've fallen down. And we use that same ground to pick ourselves back up. We rely upon that. That which we've fallen down upon to get back on track, to get back in the kind of person that we want to be in this world. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:29 Highlight the passage at 1:16:29

1:16:57 So we go for refuge. We commit ourselves to the Buddha Dharma and Saṅgha, our own basic sanity. We commit ourselves to loving as best we can. It's not particularly easy, is it? Pardon? No. If it was easy, we'd all be Buddhists by now. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:57 Highlight the passage at 1:16:57

1:17:20 they... The power of reliance is especially effective in eliminating the environmental result of negative karma. The environmental result of negative karma. The environmental result is the overall conditions we find ourselves in. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:20 Highlight the passage at 1:17:20

1:17:46 Stay with me for a moment. We're not talking about any magic. The more loving you are, You know, what, what, what, and, and... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:46 Highlight the passage at 1:17:46

1:17:48 in this sense. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:48 Highlight the passage at 1:17:48

1:17:58 The more I have a suspicion the world appears more and more to support our well-being. It's a benevolent universe. To love, people appear lovable, have to appear lovable to us. So the more loving you are, the more the environment appears to be benevolent, supportive, conducive to your well-being. Just think of the opposite, a paranoid. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:58 Highlight the passage at 1:17:58

1:18:28 Everything is a threat. They themselves are a threat to themselves. It's like recycling of hatred. So the opposite. Does that make any sense? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:28 Highlight the passage at 1:18:28

1:18:46 Romantically, when you see the movies when people are just falling in love. It's a beautiful world, isn't it? Everything. There's nothing. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, people are dancing in the streets. I have a solution. That's a fantasy, but maybe there's some truth element to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:46 Highlight the passage at 1:18:46

1:19:11 I'm not saying that bad things don't happen to Buddhas, but I think they view the world in a completely different way. So the world seems to be supported of them, the universe. Third power, the power of restraint. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:11 Highlight the passage at 1:19:11

1:19:31 And this is covered in verses 60 through 65. So this involves a turning away from and refraining from repeating the same past negative action, not to do it again in the future. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:31 Highlight the passage at 1:19:31

1:19:51 So this, you know, we have to, this isn't, it's not only a matter of willpower. Willpower can only serve, can only go so far. There has to be some intelligence applied, some discriminative awareness. We have to recognize the detriment, the detrimental effects of that action and resolve not to do it again. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:51 Highlight the passage at 1:19:51

1:20:19 And again, we have to be honest with ourselves and be realistic and assess our capabilities. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:19 Highlight the passage at 1:20:19

1:20:36 Our capabilities in refraining from repeating that action again in the future. To say, for example, I'm never going to lie again the rest of my life. It might be well-meaning, but it might be unrealistic. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:36 Highlight the passage at 1:20:36

1:20:58 If, on the other hand, if you were to say, for the next 24 hours, I'm not going to lie. And lying, we're not just talking about... We lie in lots of ways other than verbally, in our gestures, in our expressions, smiling when we aren't really happy, a certain pretense in order to deceive. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:24 It might not be done Report an error in the passage at 1:21:24 Highlight the passage at 1:21:24

1:21:32 consciously, and it might not be done with any terrible ulterior motives, but nonetheless, what does it mean to be authentic and to be what you see is what you get? That kind of way of being. For the next 24 hours, I'm not going to lie. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:32 Highlight the passage at 1:21:32

1:21:57 Making that kind of resolve would be a realistic challenge requiring mindfulness and determination that we could practically meet. What a practice. Something that you really are careful of and determine for the next two hours. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:57 Highlight the passage at 1:21:57

1:22:20 Whatever. Just before you go to bed, sleep, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:20 Highlight the passage at 1:22:20

1:22:26 to have that degree of mindfulness and that degree of determination, to be that conscientious, that attentive. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:26 Highlight the passage at 1:22:26

1:22:39 Again, there's a psychological mechanism that we're here. Through applying the power of restraint, we're gradually breaking the grip of the habits of negative actions. More than not, I think it was Henry James said, we are our habits. through. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:39 Highlight the passage at 1:22:39

1:22:55 To a large extent, that's true. So slowly over time, we realize that this way of acting doesn't necessarily have to be a part of our life. You know, it's the situation, it's like when you find out maybe like you're allergic to some kind of food. Maybe, you know, you can't eat gluten. And it's a hassle, you know. You have all those delicious foods you used to eat. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:55 Highlight the passage at 1:22:55

1:23:24 You find, well, I have to give them up. But after a while, you find alternatives. Restaurants and sweets and things that you can eat. And it becomes a way of life. You can find a way of life which works for you where you don't eat gluten, which is quite satisfying and happy. But initially... Alternatives, you know, restaurants. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:24 Highlight the passage at 1:23:24

1:23:50 At least it requires a great deal of mindfulness and determination to break a habit, to find a way of life apart from that. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:50 Highlight the passage at 1:23:50

1:24:03 So the power of restraint? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:03 Highlight the passage at 1:24:03

1:24:08 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:08 Highlight the passage at 1:24:08

1:24:15 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:15 Highlight the passage at 1:24:15

1:24:20 yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20 Highlight the passage at 1:24:20

1:24:31 If in a similar fashion to this life I have to give up friends and relatives and I have... Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:31 Highlight the passage at 1:24:31

1:24:37 To go alone, how suitable are all friends and non-friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:37 Highlight the passage at 1:24:37

1:24:45 This body I have while alive, so it's talking about, this is in the context of death. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:45 Highlight the passage at 1:24:45

1:24:59 This body I have while alive is without essence and leaving behind friends and relatives in a similar fashion. I have to go without certainty of the direction, without freedom. Regardless of whether they are friends or non-friends, they do not have the slightest benefit. It is unsuitable to have attachment for them. So, okay, Margaret, what's your thinking? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:59 Highlight the passage at 1:24:59

1:25:29 Let's look at a variation on the chance. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:29 Highlight the passage at 1:25:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:26:28 animal to those who they are to, and Report an error in the passage at 1:26:28 Highlight the passage at 1:26:28

1:26:37 Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:37 Highlight the passage at 1:26:37

1:26:44 What do you think, Margaret? Do you think it's saying that we shouldn't have friends? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:44 Highlight the passage at 1:26:44

1:27:11 Yeah, yeah, yeah. have, I mean we're called to have love and compassion for people, well... Report an error in the passage at 1:27:11 Highlight the passage at 1:27:11

1:27:20 I have to give up friends and relatives and I have to go alone. Our students are all friends and non-friends, and I can understand that not all friends people that we have acquaintances with are helpful to our lives, and it's more discerning about how you can connect with any of the people that we can connect with. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:20 Highlight the passage at 1:27:20

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:28:31 So I guess the toxic Report an error in the passage at 1:28:31 Highlight the passage at 1:28:31

1:28:39 friend. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:39 Highlight the passage at 1:28:39

1:28:51 You can't divorce your family, can you? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:51 Highlight the passage at 1:28:51

1:29:03 children, you know, you don't have children, you know, they will be a queen, where they need a queen. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:03 Highlight the passage at 1:29:03

1:29:17 them all happiness, say they can't do a separate life, and feel that's the right thing to do, and that's good, so maybe that's what they mean, that's what they mean, so you have Thank you. happy to tell you all of a sudden, you know, giving, but it's, you know, for whatever reason, that's fine, you know, problem, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:17 Highlight the passage at 1:29:17

1:29:48 an A, you know, not, um... moving a lot to know, that's a lot of codependents, so it's attached to a relationship Report an error in the passage at 1:29:48 Highlight the passage at 1:29:48

1:30:05 Imposing. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:05 Highlight the passage at 1:30:05

1:30:27 times, I confident that Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:34 time for me to do two things to do with friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:34 Highlight the passage at 1:30:34

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:31:12 each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:12 Highlight the passage at 1:31:12

1:31:30 strength of this is about making those decisions. It's hard to Report an error in the passage at 1:31:30 Highlight the passage at 1:31:30

1:32:03 resist that, isn't it? You find yourself... not participating in Report an error in the passage at 1:32:03 Highlight the passage at 1:32:03

1:32:08 Especially in social situations and quite skillful. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:08 Highlight the passage at 1:32:08

1:32:24 So the power of restraint is Report an error in the passage at 1:32:24 Highlight the passage at 1:32:24

1:32:32 particularly effective in Report an error in the passage at 1:32:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32:32

1:32:47 eliminating the results corresponding to the action in terms of behavior. So this is quite, maybe not quite, but it's obvious, a little bit obvious. So, you know, there's the efficient result. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:47 Highlight the passage at 1:32:47

1:33:06 We just looked at the environmental result. There's also a type of result which corresponds to the cause. And this has two parts. One corresponds to the cause in terms of experience and the other is behavior. So here this by the power of restraint helps to eliminate The result corresponding to the action in terms of behavior. This simply means that it helps us to break habits. One of the results of karma, of actions, is we have a tendency to repeat the action. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:06 Highlight the passage at 1:33:06

1:33:52 They become habits. So here we're restraining ourselves, so we're breaking that habit. So this is effective in purifying that particular result of that karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:52 Highlight the passage at 1:33:52

1:34:08 fourth is the power of... Applying the remedy. So in the context of working with these four powers, we deliberately commit what you might call a countervailing action, some type of positive action, kind of as a counterbalance to the negative action that you've created, that you're developing, that you're working with and purifying. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:08 Highlight the passage at 1:34:08

1:34:41 There's a list, and this is mentioned in the handout, of traditional practices, which are like the countervailing positive actions. For example, there's the disclosure to the 35 Buddhas, the names of the 35 Buddhas who are associated with purification practice and prostrations and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:41 Highlight the passage at 1:34:41

1:35:13 Resultation of texts like the Transcendent Wisdom Sutras. Resultation of mantras. There's a hundred-syllable of mantra, Vajrasattva. Syllable of Abulakideshvara, Chanrizi, Omani Padmeyum. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:13 Highlight the passage at 1:35:13

1:35:35 Meditating on love, meditating on compassion, meditating on emptiness is a powerful method. Practice, meditating on the nature of mind. Making offerings, crafting clay tablets of various forms, making sacred images. But in fact, so these are the traditional listing, just some of the traditional lists of practices which are quite often done. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35:35

1:36:05 But in fact, any positive action which is specifically committed as a counterbalance to the previous negative action. It can act as the power of applying the remedy. This is probably some are more effective than others. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:05 Highlight the passage at 1:36:05

1:36:25 Maybe amongst this tradition of us especially, but we can go out of our way to do something positive, create some positive energy, keeping in mind this negative energy that we've created. And the power of applying the remedy. He is especially effective in eliminating the result corresponding to the action in terms of experience. So the result corresponding to the action in terms of experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:25 Highlight the passage at 1:36:25

1:36:56 This is like the Christian notion of as you sow, so shall you reap. In terms of experience, the result... The karmic consequence of killing, for example, is that oneself will have a shorter life or be killed and so forth. So stealing from others, you will have your own possessions stolen, you won't be able to trust others and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:56 Highlight the passage at 1:36:56

1:37:32 So we give back as much as we've given out, something like that. So this here we're creating by applying the power of remedy. We can eliminate that experience which accords with that karma we created. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:32 Highlight the passage at 1:37:32

1:37:52 So it is said that if we sincerely and diligently apply these four powers, that there's no negative action which cannot be diminished and completely eliminated. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:52 Highlight the passage at 1:37:52

1:38:11 That's kind of one of the positive notions, I think, or one of the optimistic. Aspects of Buddhism. There's no absolute sin. Our minds created the negativity and our minds can alleviate the negativity. It can purify that negativity. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:11 Highlight the passage at 1:38:11

1:38:33 Traditionally it's said that this can take different forms. A negativity which would have resulted in a bad rebirth can be a result. and it may be it Report an error in the passage at 1:38:33 Highlight the passage at 1:38:33

1:38:48 It can be eliminated altogether or maybe the time spent in that bad rebirth will be shortened and so forth. Or maybe it could even just a slight headache in this life could be the karmic consequence of that. That suffering could be the karmic consequence of that negative action created and that negativity is completely exhausted or maybe there is entirely no result whatsoever. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:48 Highlight the passage at 1:38:48

1:39:12 So depending upon the frequency, the sincerity, the intensity of the practice. There will be a corresponding purification or eliminating of these negative karmic seeds within our mind. So all of this is done in this particular context, removing obstacles. For what purpose? The thrust of this text is to develop an awakened heart, which comes up in the third chapter. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:12 Highlight the passage at 1:39:12

1:39:26 So this is the fourth. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:26 Highlight the passage at 1:39:26

1:39:48 We're purposely trying to purify or remove obstacles, those forces in our mind which inhibit the development of this awakened heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:48 Highlight the passage at 1:39:48

1:40:05 That's the main purpose as it's being presented here. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:05 Highlight the passage at 1:40:05

1:40:14 Okay. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:21 It's on that handout that you got today. Yeah. I've just listed a few. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:21 Highlight the passage at 1:40:21

1:40:32 So Report an error in the passage at 1:40:32 Highlight the passage at 1:40:32

1:40:43 I think it's on the second page. Under the power of the remedy, applying the remedy, it mentions these specific traditional practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:43 Highlight the passage at 1:40:43

1:41:04 where faith comes in that testing out. I just find it all. Okay, yeah. Let's start. very, you know, culturally... Report an error in the passage at 1:41:04 Highlight the passage at 1:41:04

1:41:24 Which particular part do you find? Does it sit? Oh, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:24 Highlight the passage at 1:41:24

1:41:34 okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:34 Highlight the passage at 1:41:34

1:42:00 Oh, okay. There you are. Oh. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:00 Highlight the passage at 1:42:00

1:41:42 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:42 Highlight the passage at 1:41:42

1:41:48 just getting engaged in all of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:48 Highlight the passage at 1:41:48

1:42:06 I don't know, but that's just my challenge about how much of that stuff, No, that's... Yeah. That's good to question. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:06 Highlight the passage at 1:42:06

1:42:35 So you're not questioning, I mean, maybe you do question to some degree, but these four powers or the possibility of eliminating, but particularly these remedies. and trying it out yourself and having that experience of what the Lord said don't just Report an error in the passage at 1:42:35 Highlight the passage at 1:42:35

1:42:32 yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:32 Highlight the passage at 1:42:32

1:42:48 These prostrations and so forth. You're wondering how they actually work. Are they effective? What about just doing something positive in general? Going out of your way. Does that make any sense? Yeah, not going to divide Report an error in the passage at 1:42:48 Highlight the passage at 1:42:48

1:43:10 insulting somebody. I'm feeling bad about it. I might apologize or do something like that. It's a similar sort of thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:10 Highlight the passage at 1:43:10

1:43:45 how they all seem to be Report an error in the passage at 1:43:45 Highlight the passage at 1:43:45

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:44:32 was putting an effort think, in order Report an error in the passage at 1:44:32 Highlight the passage at 1:44:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:45:06 relevance to me and your attention. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:06 Highlight the passage at 1:45:06

1:45:27 What? Weight loss. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:27 Highlight the passage at 1:45:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:46:11 We all felt a lot. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:11 Highlight the passage at 1:46:11

1:46:21 If you can pay, I mean, one way to prove it is to believe that there may be some sense, so maybe you can do it as a result, maybe you can try for a month, you know, do every morning with frustrations, you know, that there's a film about Lama who does frustrations every morning. So, you know, so try it, and then the after month see whether it's good for you or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:21 Highlight the passage at 1:46:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:48:03 It's very much involved in tantric practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:03 Highlight the passage at 1:48:03

1:48:12 The Dalai Lama said that mantras have different vibrations, so that would have subtle effects on the way the energy is in the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:12 Highlight the passage at 1:48:12

1:48:44 Tantra is Report an error in the passage at 1:48:44 Highlight the passage at 1:48:44

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:49:19 quite Report an error in the passage at 1:49:19 Highlight the passage at 1:49:19

1:49:32 an important area of the subject working with. off kind of space. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:32 Highlight the passage at 1:49:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:49:37 the energy centers and the bodies. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:49:37 Highlight the passage at 1:49:37

1:49:48 they wouldn't do it as a, yeah, no, I mean, they would prostrate before a ceremony, they would prostrate three times. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:48 Highlight the passage at 1:49:48

1:50:11 hear everybody's posturing, but I haven't seen that in any moment. just interested to see it. No, yeah. We might not enjoy any particular ceremonies. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:11 Highlight the passage at 1:50:11

1:50:34 No, of course it would depend, but generally, I mean, if they went into a meditation hall and there was an image of a bodhicitta, they would probably prostrate. A Theravāda monk or a teacher said if they were going to receive a teaching, they would prostrate. I don't know that I know of, but they have a particular practice as, for example, the Tibetan tradition which would do 100,000 prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:34 Highlight the passage at 1:50:34

1:50:58 I don't know if they have such a practice as that, but they do prostrations. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:58 Highlight the passage at 1:50:58

1:51:23 You are terrible. Always safe That's what the Western Theravadans would say. But you go to Thailand, and if they open up a business, they invite the monks, and they're doing their rituals. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:23 Highlight the passage at 1:51:23

1:51:39 No, but you're right. In the Western practice of Vipassanā and Theravāda practices, So... Report an error in the passage at 1:51:39 Highlight the passage at 1:51:39

1:51:48 There's very little, almost no ritual. But if you go to, they're part of their culture, Thai culture, Sri Lankan culture in Burma. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:48 Highlight the passage at 1:51:48

1:52:02 But I think, you know, what's being said is quite, I think, absolutely really beneficial to reflect on it. It is, you know, the genuineness, genuineness, genuineness of what we do. You know, you can't fake your mind. It doesn't, you know. So, you know, to one prostration done with real respect and admiration, dedication, could suffice a hundred thousand prostrations done mechanically. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:02 Highlight the passage at 1:52:02

1:52:40 It's not to say, but there is, but I wouldn't be quite honest. There are... You know, subtleties of explanations of karma where they talk about the power of the object. And they would say, you know, there's a story. And I find it difficult, but anyway, I'll share it. The power of the object makes a difference. And the story that's usually told around this is that someone, a monk, there was a... Report an error in the passage at 1:52:40 Highlight the passage at 1:52:40

1:53:18 A young man who wanted to become a monk, but he wasn't very clever and so forth. And the Buddha's assistant said, no, he can't become a monk. He's not qualified. And the Buddha said, no, he is qualified. He created the karma to become a monk. And he said, many lifetimes previously, he was a fly on a piece of cow dung that during a flood revolved around the stupa. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:18 Highlight the passage at 1:53:18

1:53:43 And that created enough karma, positive karma, for him to become a monk. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:43 Highlight the passage at 1:53:43

1:53:51 Having said that, I can't really comment, but I can only talk from my limited point of view about the genuineness of what we do is very important. But there is the idea of the very power of the object has an influence on the karma as well. That's kind of beyond my conception. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:51 Highlight the passage at 1:53:51

1:54:21 I didn't have any intention. It was just a mechanic. It just went around the stupid. And it created good karma by the power of the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:21 Highlight the passage at 1:54:21

1:54:35 So who knows? I've learned, probably one thing I've learned, that the world is much more mysterious than I can ever imagine. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:35 Highlight the passage at 1:54:35

1:54:45 So it's not that I have to judge it. I can just go, okay, just put that on the shelf for now. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:45 Highlight the passage at 1:54:45

1:55:08 -boggling, doesn't it? Report an error in the passage at 1:55:08 Highlight the passage at 1:55:08

1:55:30 There's more going on than we can account for. But I don't want to become, I don't think we should become superstitious about it all or mysterious about it all. But I don't think we should be overly rational about it as well. We have to kind of keep an open mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:30 Highlight the passage at 1:55:30

1:55:54 anyway, that's the, that's Anyway, we'll look at the next week is Easter Monday. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:54 Highlight the passage at 1:55:54

1:56:07 We won't have class. No class next Monday. So we can dedicate the positive energy that we've created together. All this positive karma, like flies going around. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:07 Highlight the passage at 1:56:07

1:56:22 I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:56:22 Highlight the passage at 1:56:22

1:56:28 sure you guys are doing much better than that. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:28 Highlight the passage at 1:56:28

1:56:39 May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, attain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May the 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 1:56:39 Highlight the passage at 1:56:39

1:57:03 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 the timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:03 Highlight the passage at 1:57:03

1:57:29 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 1:57:29 Highlight the passage at 1:57:29

1:57:50 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, 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. For our full Chenrizi, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain to the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:50 Highlight the passage at 1:57:50