BP: Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds (4 May 2015)

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0:39 How is everybody? Anybody else want to add some adventures? Maybe not as exotic. Report an error in the passage at 0:39 Highlight the passage at 0:39

1:02 Can I ask you what you bought? Vicki McKenzie. Vicki McKenzie. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02

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

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2:10 meet a lot of people and you actually develop quite a lot of rapport, you get to know people's names, you support, people supported me when I first started and then I was able to do the same. Report an error in the passage at 2:10 Highlight the passage at 2:10

2:25 Did Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:33 you have the impression that people were quite maybe more open than they normally might be? Report an error in the passage at 2:33 Highlight the passage at 2:33

3:11 Have you formed any thinking Report an error in the passage at 3:11 Highlight the passage at 3:11

3:18 around what was your takeaway from this journey that you've been on? Gratitude. Gratitude. Report an error in the passage at 3:18 Highlight the passage at 3:18

3:40 finished, and now it's finished, and I'm thinking, well, now what? But, yeah, so it's really time to sit and reflect about where I'm heading, what I'm wanting to do. Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

4:08 most of it's, most of it's Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

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4:46 It's hard to top that. All these adventures, these journeys that people have been on. Report an error in the passage at 4:46 Highlight the passage at 4:46

5:03 Oh yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:10 Would you like to... Report an error in the passage at 5:10 Highlight the passage at 5:10

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5:45 everybody told me, no, no, I don't have to talk. Report an error in the passage at 5:45 Highlight the passage at 5:45

5:56 She says, okay, well, we were meditating about death, trying to make it as cheerful as possible. Do you know when you open your mouth and you feel before you even say something, you feel like an idiot? It was exactly that sort of situation. And she just looks at me and I kind of call her questions and all that sort of thing. Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

6:20 I was kind of waiting for a reaction. Anything, no, asking questions, breaking out in tears, anything. I got nothing. I got nothing. It was awkward to say the least. It was really awkward. And I mean, of course, like early morning during a shower might not be the best time to, you know, talk about death and life and that sort of thing. Report an error in the passage at 6:20 Highlight the passage at 6:20

6:45 I understand it. It was just, you know, it was really awkward. So I was kind of doing my thing, and it was this long moment of nothing, and you know, to a point where I thought, I have to kind of lift her up a bit, so I told her that story. Do you remember when I was talking, I was almost drumming in a whirlwind in Croatia, and it was cold in the swirl and the bubbles, and I felt that scared of that, and this great calm came over me, and I kind of told her that, and I said, oh, you know, It was really good because, you know, it wasn't so bad. You know, dying didn't feel so bad. It felt actually really good. I have no idea why I told them that. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:25 I kind of lived in a book talk about this in a sort of uplifting way. And that was it. So I had no idea what she was, you know, thinking about the whole thing. She, you know, seen her since. She never said anything. So I don't know. I honestly don't know what effect that had on her. No idea. Well, you were just honest about, like if she normally asks you, what did you do? Well, what was it, you know, you just told her what it was, and it was just like I heard her respond as she, you know, she might or not. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:59 She just felt almost shell-shocked, you know, didn't you? How did you? Oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 7:59 Highlight the passage at 7:59

8:11 Pardon, Anne? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:16 Okay. Okay, yes. Report an error in the passage at 8:16 Highlight the passage at 8:16

8:23 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:29 And you felt, Karen, you felt awkward. Report an error in the passage at 8:29 Highlight the passage at 8:29

8:44 Yeah. it seems to be prepared for that, so, you know, you get I feel like, a double-edged moment, Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

9:01 really hard to sit with the silence about that, and we want to feel it in the It was a very long silence. I don't like the silence. Report an error in the passage at 9:01 Highlight the passage at 9:01

9:12 Your Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:21 heart was in the right place. Report an error in the passage at 9:21 Highlight the passage at 9:21

9:49 It sounded like Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:04 you did just fine. We don't know the impact of what we say and do sometimes. so. Report an error in the passage at 10:04 Highlight the passage at 10:04

10:22 she asked you and you thought, I'm not going to talk about this, that would be really different to your normal behaviour with her. You normally tell her what happens, so would you lie to her then or not say anything? Thank you. were present and you were treated good with respect to answering your questions. Report an error in the passage at 10:22 Highlight the passage at 10:22

11:05 Recite the verse of refuge together. This way of stop speeding, stop acting and pause and maybe get back in touch with some of our more deeply held values. Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:27 Maybe the direction that we would like to see our life go in our better moments that we get out of touch with. Report an error in the passage at 11:27 Highlight the passage at 11:27

11:42 I go for refuge until I'm awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha through the collections of merit and wisdom. Created out of generosity and the other practices, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am awakened to the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Through the collections of merit and wisdom created out of generosity and the other practices, may I become a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 11:42 Highlight the passage at 11:42

12:12 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 in 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 12:12 Highlight the passage at 12:12

12:40 May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for some and aversion toward others. Report an error in the passage at 12:40 Highlight the passage at 12:40

12:56 So if you'd like to stand for a moment and then we'll sit together, Report an error in the passage at 12:56 Highlight the passage at 12:56

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13:30 taking a comfortable but firm posture, Report an error in the passage at 13:30 Highlight the passage at 13:30

13:40 bringing your awareness to the crown of your head. And we begin by imagining or actually feeling the wrinkles between your brow and your forehead, smoothing out the Report an error in the passage at 13:40 Highlight the passage at 13:40

13:57 pressure in and around your eyes, diminishing, Report an error in the passage at 13:57 Highlight the passage at 13:57

14:09 the face softening, relaxing, Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

14:22 soft and Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:28 jaw relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 14:28 Highlight the passage at 14:28

14:34 Bringing your awareness to the back of your neck and turning your head to each side a few times. Very gently loosening, stretching the muscles of the back of the neck. Report an error in the passage at 14:34 Highlight the passage at 14:34

14:54 Bringing your awareness to your upper back and shoulders. Wind your shoulders up toward your ears and circling them to the back and down to the front. Just rotating your shoulders a few times. Report an error in the passage at 14:54 Highlight the passage at 14:54

15:24 Eventually returning your shoulders back up toward 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 back over the course of the day. Moving down through your body into the ground as if a burden has just been lifted from your shoulders. A feeling of relief. Report an error in the passage at 15:24 Highlight the passage at 15:24

16:07 And bringing your awareness all the way down to your hands. Your hands are soft and loose. And Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:25 your upper arms. Your Report an error in the passage at 16:25 Highlight the passage at 16:25

16:34 chest is at ease. Report an error in the passage at 16:34 Highlight the passage at 16:34

16:46 Area of the central space. The chest, Report an error in the passage at 16:46 Highlight the passage at 16:46

17:11 releasing the tension we often hold in our stomach muscles, just allowing the belly to go soft. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:26 And throughout the abdominal cavity, Report an error in the passage at 17:26 Highlight the passage at 17:26

17:37 keeping your trunk erect, relax your lower back muscles, Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

18:02 the pelvic region, Report an error in the passage at 18:02 Highlight the passage at 18:02

18:17 the buttocks, the Report an error in the passage at 18:17 Highlight the passage at 18:17

18:36 upper legs, Report an error in the passage at 18:36 Highlight the passage at 18:36

18:58 finding your feet soft and loose. Report an error in the passage at 18:58 Highlight the passage at 18:58

19:16 So scanning through the body once again, from the crown downward through the central portion of the body. Paying particular attention to any tightnesses and tensions which might remain in the body. Breathing into those various areas, effusing the areas of tension and tightness with the breath of awareness and breathing out from those areas. Report an error in the passage at 19:16 Highlight the passage at 19:16

19:44 With that out-breath, imagining or actually feeling the tightness loosen, the tension diminish again and again, breathing out from those areas. Report an error in the passage at 19:44 Highlight the passage at 19:44

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20:23 Body sinking deeper and deeper into a state of calm. Ease, relaxation, comfort. Report an error in the passage at 20:23 Highlight the passage at 20:23

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21:06 So let's listen to the sound and your reaction to the sound. Report an error in the passage at 21:06 Highlight the passage at 21:06

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22:37 So I invite you to bring your awareness to your breath. Maybe your breath is a little harsh, a little Report an error in the passage at 22:37 Highlight the passage at 22:37

22:50 normal. Report an error in the passage at 22:50 Highlight the passage at 22:50

22:57 Notice as it settles down, it becomes a little more even, Report an error in the passage at 22:57 Highlight the passage at 22:57

23:06 more shallow. Report an error in the passage at 23:06 Highlight the passage at 23:06

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35:26 We're going to shift our attention to the sensation of the body other than the sensation of the breath. Maybe it's the pressure of your buttocks on the chair, on the cushion, your hands in your lap, whatever it might be, whatever it's pronounced, Report an error in the passage at 35:26 Highlight the passage at 35:26

35:45 focusing your awareness on that sensation. Report an error in the passage at 35:45 Highlight the passage at 35:45

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36:51 And again, shifting our attention, this time to the sounds around us, the near sounds and the faraway sounds. Listening to sound, what can you hear? It's very quiet. Listening very closely. Report an error in the passage at 36:51 Highlight the passage at 36:51

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38:14 Listening to sound. Report an error in the passage at 38:14 Highlight the passage at 38:14

38:41 Again, shifting our attention this time, we're going to turn our attention inward to the mind itself. The words, the pictures, images, thoughts passing through our mind, but also the state of our mind, whether it's restless, dull, sleepy, maybe there's a experience of happiness and sadness and emotion, Report an error in the passage at 38:41 Highlight the passage at 38:41

39:08 all the objects and states of mind, watching, observing, the mind itself. Report an error in the passage at 39:08 Highlight the passage at 39:08

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40:09 And then finally, Just allowing the mind to become involved in any object that it naturally tends toward. Report an error in the passage at 40:09 Highlight the passage at 40:09

40:22 In an easy going way, without too much effort, maintain the degree of awareness, the sense of watchfulness, Report an error in the passage at 40:22 Highlight the passage at 40:22

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41:08 staying aware. Report an error in the passage at 41:08 Highlight the passage at 41:08

41:27 And then we'll bring our minds back to the breath, the easy, gentle, in and out flow of the natural breath. We're Report an error in the passage at 41:27 Highlight the passage at 41:27

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44:21 looking at the fourth chapter, Shantideva's Bodhisattva's Deeds, and it's entitled Conscientiousness. So it's the other Report an error in the passage at 44:21 Highlight the passage at 44:21

44:39 words that we made use of were heedfulness, attention, carefulness. We can use conscientiousness with regard to just about everything we do. When you want to do something right, correctly, properly in some form. But here it's more like some kind of moral compass, if you like. It helps us keep on track. What it is that we're trying to keep on track is, In the third chapter we began to make a commitment to a particular way of life which is imbued with the notion of a kind heart and Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

45:29 a being of love and compassion and being a benefit to both ourselves and to others and making a commitment to that kind of way of life, bodhicitta's way of life. And so that's kind of the overall direction we'd like our lives to take in order to keep us on track. Requires a degree of conscientiousness. Report an error in the passage at 45:29 Highlight the passage at 45:29

45:57 We're going to look at Report an error in the passage at 45:57 Highlight the passage at 45:57

46:03 verses 12 through 36. There's three areas which are being pointed out in particular that we are to be conscientious. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:18 Taking care to abandon unskillful actions, taking care to cultivate skillful actions, and then finally taking care. Being conscientious around opposing negative emotions. You know, quite often people talk, you know, what does it mean to practice the Dharma? I guess there's a vast variety of possible ways we can answer that question. We can probably each answer what it means for ourselves, but also at different times in our journey along the path. Report an error in the passage at 46:18 Highlight the passage at 46:18

46:55 And I think one way can be summed up into... In actively opposing negative states of mind and cultivating positive states. I think that kind of simplifies it. It's something that we can, at least for myself, I can wrap my mind around. So here we're beginning to oppose some unskillful actions and the afflictive emotions or the negative emotions which motivate those unskillful actions. Report an error in the passage at 46:55 Highlight the passage at 46:55

47:34 And on the other hand, beginning to cultivate skillful action. And this is the way that we can keep ourselves on track. So beginning with the first of these three areas, he begins with verse 12. And this is on page 9 of chapter 4. Report an error in the passage at 47:34 Highlight the passage at 47:34

47:56 Therefore I should practice respectfully, respectfully according to my promise. If I do not strive starting from today, Then I will go from low to low. Report an error in the passage at 47:56 Highlight the passage at 47:56

48:14 From here up through about verse 20, we're considering ourselves, we're taking Shantideva's pointing out the necessity of abandoning negative actions. And then in verse 13 he says, Although innumerable Buddhas benefiting all sentient beings have passed due to my faults, I was not the object of their help. Report an error in the passage at 48:14 Highlight the passage at 48:14

48:37 So, you know, it's... I think Buddhism places a great deal of individual responsibility upon ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 48:37 Highlight the passage at 48:37

48:52 It's not that we can't be helped in many ways, but the way that we can be helped might not be as we might wish it at times to be. Report an error in the passage at 48:52 Highlight the passage at 48:52

49:07 There's a verse that I like to repeat. Report an error in the passage at 49:07 Highlight the passage at 49:07

49:13 That is to say, the Buddhas neither wash away sins with water, nor do they remove suffering with their hands, nor do they transfer their realization to the mind of others. They liberate by showing the truth, the actual nature of things. So amongst the three modes of our being, body, speech and mind, in terms of a Buddha, it is the speech which is most valuable for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:44 That is the teachings that they gave us. The Buddha was once asked upon, just before his passing, what will we do when you're gone? And he said, the Dharma will be your teacher. So it's the teachings, the truth of things, which we are trying to, we're studying and we're reflecting upon and we're trying to integrate. Report an error in the passage at 49:44 Highlight the passage at 49:44

50:13 It's the truth which will... Which will make us free, the way things are in their actual nature. If we don't make effort in that way, there's not much even the holiest of beings can do for us, or even the most skillful, or the most powerful. We have to, you know, it's very much our responsibility. It would be nice, you know, sometimes we're looking for a mommy or a daddy to make things better for us, to make the nasties of the world go away. Report an error in the passage at 50:13 Highlight the passage at 50:13

50:48 But... But that really doesn't help us all that much. It would be nice if it were otherwise, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Report an error in the passage at 50:48 Highlight the passage at 50:48

51:06 It is our minds which have created our suffering, and it is only our minds which can undo the causes of that suffering. In verse 14, if I continue to act like this, it will be the same again and again. I will experience sickness, bondage. Being cut and mutilated in the lower realm. Previously we looked at karma and one of the areas of karma was the four principal consequences or results of karma. Report an error in the passage at 51:06 Highlight the passage at 51:06

51:39 One of which is the results in keeping within action in terms of behavior. This is kind of a long-winded way of saying habits. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

51:53 The more we do something, the more... So, you know, we... Report an error in the passage at 51:53 Highlight the passage at 51:53

51:55 Easier it comes in the future. We tend to do it again and again. We repeat it. We have predispositions. We will naturally tend to repeat the same behavior over and over again. And therefore, we will experience the same results over and over again. Report an error in the passage at 51:55 Highlight the passage at 51:55

52:19 Here we're talking about how can we interrupt the pattern, the momentum of our past habits. Somehow we have to divert the energy from moving on these grooves that it's kind of created in our minds in a way. It's kind of a material metaphor. We have these tracks. Report an error in the passage at 52:19 Highlight the passage at 52:19

52:51 You know, this is in keeping with, I guess, the neurobiology of the brain. These pathways, these neural pathways, they get developed. and it's very difficult to dig too. For the energy to move into another pathway. It takes a great, you know, from the point of view of our psychology, it takes a great deal of motivation to make a difference, to change the mind. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:23 And I think here, Shantideva is both appealing to the fact that we're going to suffer again and again, but also he's appealing, I think, the overall theme of This text, the Bodhisattva Di, is that one of the greatest forces for interrupting these perpetual cycles of dissatisfaction is love. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:53 And I've often mentioned this particular definition. In general, love is simply the wish for happiness, whether it be directed toward yourself or another. there's Something of a definition which I like, I kind of paraphrase it by Scott Peck, an American psychologist, psychiatrist, I guess, where he says, and this is paraphrasing it slightly, changing the words a bit, the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nourishing one's own or another's well-being. Report an error in the passage at 53:53 Highlight the passage at 53:53

54:31 The will to extend oneself for the purpose of nourishing one's own, You know, extending oneself. That means you are stepping outside of your comfort zone a bit. That means you're willing to push the boundaries a bit. You're willing to do some work. You're extending yourself. It doesn't quite come naturally. You have to do something different than what you've done before. Report an error in the passage at 54:31 Highlight the passage at 54:31

55:04 You're extending yourself. And I think it is this which is really the transformative. That creates a Buddha. It is only that, that love and compassion. It's not that we can't find, you know, if we go back to the traditional teachings, you know, it's that one can be liberated from cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 55:04 Highlight the passage at 55:04

55:32 One achieves what's called a foe destroyer or an ahat purely by means of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:41 As far as the Mahāyāna, the universal vehicle, is not the fulfillment of our potential. And that is only found in Buddhahood, whatever we might sense around that. That is to say, we have both an affective potential, an emotional and feeling potential, but also cognitive. And so here Mahāyāna, I think, is really concerned with kind of a holistic approach to mental health. Report an error in the passage at 55:41 Highlight the passage at 55:41

56:11 Trying to build both our hearts and our minds equally. And they contribute one to the other. Report an error in the passage at 56:11 Highlight the passage at 56:11

56:22 So as we grow in love, we're willing to extend ourselves. And as we grow in wisdom, with that ability to nourish others, is developed more and more. We can actually have the skillful means to be able to benefit ourselves as well as others, motivated by that force of love, compassion. Report an error in the passage at 56:22 Highlight the passage at 56:22

56:47 So in verse 15, Report an error in the passage at 56:47 Highlight the passage at 56:47

56:54 you know, we're going through these verses. I know Lata was, Lata, she sent me an email. She's normally sitting here, if you remember. Report an error in the passage at 56:54 Highlight the passage at 56:54

57:09 She said that she got a promotion in her job and she won't be able to attend teachings, at least for a while, the talks for a while. But she said the one thing that she appreciated most about our saṅgha, our coming together, was that it made the text more alive through our discussions. Report an error in the passage at 57:09 Highlight the passage at 57:09

57:34 She said it was one thing to read the text, but it's another thing to actually discuss it and see how it's relevant. So by all means, as we go along, I'm just sharing some ideas. Report an error in the passage at 57:34 Highlight the passage at 57:34

57:50 I've been presented to me and maybe I've picked up along the way as we go through these verses. But by all means, I hope you'll share your own experiences and your own wisdom around some of what we're talking about so we can have a discussion. And I think it's a great value in that way. So you're welcome. I'm inviting you to jump in at any time, just about any time. Report an error in the passage at 57:50 Highlight the passage at 57:50

58:18 Verse 15. So here, it says, okay, we have this opportunity, we have this chance. We've looked at this before. This is one of the sources for this particular teaching. Here, let us say, we have, traditionally, in terms of the lamrim, the graduated path, it's spoken of as a precious human rebirth. Let us say, a life of freedoms and advantages and freedoms and endowments and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 58:18 Highlight the passage at 58:18

58:49 Here he speaks of it in terms of what are called four wheels. Four wheels are difficult to find. Shantideva doesn't say this. He mentions four wheels in his commentary. And these four wheels are found in verse 15, the coming of a Tathāgata. Tathāgata is just another epitaph for a Buddha. It means one that's gone. Faith in the attainment of a human body. Report an error in the passage at 58:49 Highlight the passage at 58:49

59:19 These making it possible to meditate on virtue. Since they are rare, when will they be attained? So, appreciating all that we have, counting our blessings. Report an error in the passage at 59:19 Highlight the passage at 59:19

59:36 Here it talks about four particular blessings, four particular wheels. The coming of a Buddha, faith in the teachings, or we could say some kind of trust or confidence. Yeah, there's something here. I kind of trust that things will work out well if I implement what's being taught. Report an error in the passage at 59:36 Highlight the passage at 59:36

1:00:01 The attainment of a human life, this potential that our human life presents us with. And then the fourth wheel here is the attitude for cultivating virtue, that we have an inclination. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:01 Highlight the passage at 1:00:01

1:00:16 I don't know whether we call it virtue. We want to do the right thing. We want to be something about wanting to be a good person in some way. Those are the four wheels. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:16 Highlight the passage at 1:00:16

1:00:32 In 16, a day like this without sickness, although there is food, although there is food and no harm, life is deceptive on a momentary basis. The body is a one-time loan. Okay, so Shantideva is asking us, Report an error in the passage at 1:00:32 Highlight the passage at 1:00:32

1:00:54 If we do not take advantage of the opportunity that we all share in now, when are we going to? We've talked about this, especially in the lamrim, the graduated path, when we talked about this precious human life with its freedoms and advantages. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:54 Highlight the passage at 1:00:54

1:01:15 What could we do or how could we develop, how could we carry on a practice? How could we take the essence of this life? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:15 Highlight the passage at 1:01:15

1:01:36 If, for example, we were a beggar on the streets of Calcutta, or we were starving in Ethiopia, or we were living in fear and turmoil in a war zone, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:36 Highlight the passage at 1:01:36

1:01:54 if we lived in a third world country, if we lived in Nepal at the moment, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:54 Highlight the passage at 1:01:54

1:02:03 could we meet comfortably and quietly in the way that we are right now? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:03 Highlight the passage at 1:02:03

1:02:12 If we were seriously ill or if we were in chronic pain of some sort or another, if we were completely caught up with bigger, better, more, more money, more status, materialism and so forth. If we had intellectual impairment, if we were actively addicted to alcohol and drugs and so forth, living in a country where you're not allowed to meet and come together and discuss. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:12 Highlight the passage at 1:02:12

1:02:42 These kinds of issues and areas of concern. So we're free of all those obstacles. We generally have all these advantages. We sometimes refer to as leisures or endowments. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:03:08 Everyone in this room has a good mind. We're generally kind-hearted people. We are. Most of us. the end of the day, we all have. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08 Highlight the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:19 In general, we have relatively healthy bodies. And for sure, we all have our material needs easily met. And we live in a safe environment, an affluent country, where we have freedom to pursue almost any interests, whatever it might be, to gather together. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:19 Highlight the passage at 1:03:19

1:03:42 So there's a Report an error in the passage at 1:03:42 Highlight the passage at 1:03:42

1:03:49 close connection between focusing your attention and reflecting on some fact. And action, counting Report an error in the passage at 1:03:49 Highlight the passage at 1:03:49

1:04:06 your blessings. So this notion of counting our blessings, but in that sense, beginning to appreciate all that we have. And the more that you appreciate it, the more inclined you will have not to allow it to go to waste. It's valuable to begin to recognize its potential, what we can make of it. And out of that comes a motivation to act upon it, to make use of it. So this is, you know, through a number of succeeding verses, all the way up through, I think, verse 27, repeats the same notion. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:06 Highlight the passage at 1:04:06

1:04:57 And moreover, and moreover, we're going to die. As Shantideva says here, this body is one that's on loan. The cause of death is birth. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:57 Highlight the passage at 1:04:57

1:05:16 I don't know how far a physician would get, or a doctor would get, if he wrote out a death certificate and said, you know, the cause of death was birth. But anyway, it doesn't take any greater, more causes than that, the fact that we're born, all that is born, will someday die. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:16 Highlight the passage at 1:05:16

1:05:36 But we don't know when. But even over and above that, when we talk about death, there's a little death. There's a big death at the end of this life, but there's also the, you know, death is... I've heard termed, death is a radical change of lifestyle. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:36 Highlight the passage at 1:05:36

1:05:55 And we go through these radical, you know, there are many radical changes of lifestyle that we go through. You know, sometimes it's by choice. You go through a divorce and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:55 Highlight the passage at 1:05:55

1:06:07 You move to another country. But also sometimes it's by involuntary, a death of a loved one, a loss of your job and so forth. So these conditions that we have, these favorable conditions where he says, a day like this without sickness and there's no food, although there's no, every word is very strange, we have food and there's no harm. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:07 Highlight the passage at 1:06:07

1:06:37 These conditions are precarious. They're not static. They're always changing. And we won't necessarily always have these conditions, even though we don't die. At the end of this life, nonetheless, these conditions, these favorable conditions, these freedoms and advantages are fluctuating. They always aren't going to remain the same. Nothing remains the same. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:37 Highlight the passage at 1:06:37

1:07:13 And he tries to get across the rarity of these conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:13 Highlight the passage at 1:07:13

1:07:31 see, let's see how. It's beautiful, but it's just the inside of the mountain. One time, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:31 Highlight the passage at 1:07:31

1:07:59 I'm trying to, there's a difference in the numbering. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:59 Highlight the passage at 1:07:59

1:08:21 Health, daily sustenance and lack of adversity. Life is momentary and deceptive and the body is as if on loan. That's Alan Wallace's translation. does, but it just... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:21 Highlight the passage at 1:08:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:08:37 This is from the Sanskrit, and he has a Tibetan translation. Although on such a day as this I am free of illness, well-nourished and unafflicted, life is momentary and deceptive, and the body is as if on loan for an instant. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:37 Highlight the passage at 1:08:37

1:08:56 I'll loan you my body, but I'm going to ask for it back. The Lord of Death. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:56 Highlight the passage at 1:08:56

1:09:07 How does that strike you, on loan? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:07 Highlight the passage at 1:09:07

1:09:16 What's Report an error in the passage at 1:09:16 Highlight the passage at 1:09:16

1:09:25 that? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:25 Highlight the passage at 1:09:25

1:09:47 It's like playing an instrument which we learn as we play it. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:47 Highlight the passage at 1:09:47

1:10:02 Verse 23, if upon having found this freedom I do not meditate on virtue, then there is no greater deception, there is no greater ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:02 Highlight the passage at 1:10:02

1:10:13 You know, another possible word for ignorance is stupidity. It might be. Anyway. If we don't make some beneficial use of our human life, there is no greater self-deception. We've deceived ourselves and there's maybe no greater stupidity, I don't know. Normally, sadly enough, it's only when we've lost something that we come to appreciate it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:13 Highlight the passage at 1:10:13

1:10:47 I guess a lot of this is simply helping us to overcome our sense of... seems to be Report an error in the passage at 1:10:47 Highlight the passage at 1:10:47

1:10:54 Taking things for granted, this life that we have, the preciousness of this life. If you lost your eyes, and I've talked about that, it's not a very pleasant analogy. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:54 Highlight the passage at 1:10:54

1:11:07 If you were to lose your eyes, how much you would have valued the opportunity to make use of them while you still had them. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:07 Highlight the passage at 1:11:07

1:11:18 So recognizing the Report an error in the passage at 1:11:18 Highlight the passage at 1:11:18

1:11:23 fact that there are options open to us and that we have the ability to choose. There are options. And we have the ability, not everybody has the same degree of ability to make choices in their life, Report an error in the passage at 1:11:23 Highlight the passage at 1:11:23

1:11:42 you know, to value our human life. You know, in a way, as I've mentioned probably many times, Buddhism is an education in values. It's beginning to see love as a value and the preciousness of life as a value and something. I think maybe there's a shift to values. What we valued once maybe isn't all that great a value anymore. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:42 Highlight the passage at 1:11:42

1:12:07 Other values take their place and we live out our values and therefore our life changes accordingly. So not all that many people have this window of opportunity that we have in Australia, in Sydney, that we personally have. And no matter what our hardships or our handicaps. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:07 Highlight the passage at 1:12:07

1:12:43 It's important to appreciate the life that we have been given. We might not have a million dollars. We might not be in a position of great power and so forth to make world changes. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:43 Highlight the passage at 1:12:43

1:12:57 But we have all that we need to change our mind for the better that we do have. So from the point of view of Buddhism, the greatest use that we can make use of this life is to become a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:57 Highlight the passage at 1:12:57

1:13:19 That's the great potential that this type of life of ours has. Minimally, it would be said that we should try to ensure that at least we don't create future sufferings for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:19 Highlight the passage at 1:13:19

1:13:35 And moreover, to ensure that we create the causes that we have the same similar conditions in the future where we can be able to carry on our learning, carry on our practice, and to build on it. Building on what we already have done. It's accumulative. So it's like, I guess, a long-term vision of this journey that we're all on. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:35 Highlight the passage at 1:13:35

1:14:08 And he Report an error in the passage at 1:14:08 Highlight the passage at 1:14:08

1:14:14 begins to shift in verse, when he gets to 27 CD, that's on page 17. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:14 Highlight the passage at 1:14:14

1:14:27 It's kind of a... Report an error in the passage at 1:14:27 Highlight the passage at 1:14:27

1:14:33 Here it says, I do not know how I got so confused. What is lurking inside of me? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:33 Highlight the passage at 1:14:33

1:14:43 Here we're beginning to look at the kind of changes that we can make. I'd like to read Wallace's translation of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:43 Highlight the passage at 1:14:43

1:15:08 He says, I have no will in this matter, as if bewitched by a spell. know Report an error in the passage at 1:15:08 Highlight the passage at 1:15:08

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:15:14 I do not know by whom I am bewitched or who dwells inside of me. You know, when I read that, you know, that we're bewitched, as if bewitched. We do crazy things. And when I read that, I remembered a verse. It probably wasn't such a good idea to put it in print, but it's in the handout that you got. Note 7. It's by... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:14 Highlight the passage at 1:15:14

1:15:47 If I have it, Report an error in the passage at 1:15:47 Highlight the passage at 1:15:47

1:15:55 it's by Albert Ellis. Albert Ellis, strangely enough, he's not all that well known outside of the United States, but he was voted by the American Psychological Association as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:55 Highlight the passage at 1:15:55

1:16:19 He developed an area of psychology called... Rational Emotive Therapy. When I read that verse, this is what came to my mind, so I thought I'd share it. I think that practically the whole human race is out of its goddamn mind that could use therapy. All are biologically prone to think crookedly. All humans are somewhat nutty because they refuse pig-headedly to accept reality and therefore make themselves depressed, anxious and enraged. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:19 Highlight the passage at 1:16:19

1:16:56 Here it says, Shantideva says bewitched or confused. I think Albert Ellis would agree. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:56 Highlight the passage at 1:16:56

1:17:11 It is said that most all of our experiences are filtered through three basic misperceptions, what I call tragic misunderstandings. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:11 Highlight the passage at 1:17:11

1:17:31 And these three... agree. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:33 These are the origins of all of our suffering. We perceive that which is impermanent as permanent. We perceive pleasurable sensory experience as the ultimate satisfaction. And we perceive that which is without self or as having or being a self. So these are generally termed the three marks of conditioned existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:33 Highlight the passage at 1:17:33

1:18:04 Anicca, Dukkha. Anattā. You know, so it's as if, so, you know, what Shantideva is trying to get across to us is that the situation is workable once we begin to recognize the craziness of the basis of how we're relating with the world. You know, it's as if we believe the candle flame is not hot and we pig-headedly refuse to accept the reality that is going to burn us. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:04 Highlight the passage at 1:18:04

1:18:38 We shouldn't be surprised that we're continually being burnt again and again and again. There's a discrepancy between our rigid expectations and the actual reality of the object on the other. So there's a dissonance, isn't there, between our beliefs about the world, our views, our ideas, our strategies that we're working with in order to find happiness and satisfaction, fulfillment, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

1:19:08 That we're looking for in the way things actually are. And that dissonance, that discrepancy, that disparity, that gap is experienced as dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:08 Highlight the passage at 1:19:08

1:19:25 I was just thinking just now, the word gap. I've probably mentioned this a number of times. I find it quite interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:25 Highlight the passage at 1:19:25

1:19:34 The word dukkha. The Buddha used... In his skillfulness of communicating, he used the common terminology of his audience. But there was a kind of a subverting project which was going on. He was using these terms. Even though the audience was familiar with them, he was twisting their meaning slightly. And the word dukkha originally meant a wheel that grinds on its axle. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:34 Highlight the passage at 1:19:34

1:20:10 It kind of wears us down. It rubs us the wrong way. And he said, it's kind of the feeling tone of ordinary human existence. You could see these peasants, they knew what dukkha was. And he was using it in a way, as a metaphor. There was a gap. Anytime there's a gap, if the situation could be somehow improved, if it could be better, that gap is dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:10 Highlight the passage at 1:20:10

1:20:58 So Anicca is holding that which is impermanent as permanent. Dukkha, holding. This is worded differently in different contexts. But we could just say grasping at sensory experiences as being ultimately satisfying, that that's the best we can get. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:58 Highlight the passage at 1:20:58

1:21:24 And then, so that's Dukkha. And then Anattā, not-self or non-self or selflessness. That is to say, holding that which is without self as being a self or having a self. So we filter. And it's like we have these lenses out of which we're looking at the world. And they're distorted lenses. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:24 Highlight the passage at 1:21:24

1:21:52 And so we're not relating with the world as it actually is. We relate with the world in a distorted fashion, the way we view the world. Our ideas are like eyes out of which we see the world. Many of our ideas and beliefs and views are distorted, are wrong. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:52 Highlight the passage at 1:21:52

1:22:36 that the gap that you that the literal translation of Report an error in the passage at 1:22:36 Highlight the passage at 1:22:36

1:22:50 I'm speculating, okay? Dukkha. In Sanskrit, we probably do is bad. Ka is space. Bad space. A gap. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:50 Highlight the passage at 1:22:50

1:23:06 Yeah, there's some kind of gap. So it doesn't run smoothly. So there's some gap. There's always some gap between... Not always. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:06 Highlight the passage at 1:23:06

1:23:21 There is a notion that anytime... Maybe this is carried out. Too far, but it's worth thinking about. Anytime we could think that in some way that the situation could be better, there's a gap. And therefore there is some degree of dissatisfactoriness about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:21 Highlight the passage at 1:23:21

1:23:42 There are times when we know, it's a notion of, I have enough, I need no more. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:42 Highlight the passage at 1:23:42

1:23:52 I think that's almost, we've all experienced that at times. know, when you're at it. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:52 Highlight the passage at 1:23:52

1:23:58 It might be rare, very fleeting. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:58 Highlight the passage at 1:23:58

1:24:03 Every cell in our body is nourished and we feel complete and whole in that moment. It's like, this is enough. It doesn't last very long. But it's just a fleeting, I think, that enoughness. I almost think that's what nirvāṇa is. So there's no gap. You have enough. this is, not. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:03 Highlight the passage at 1:24:03

1:24:31 But I'm just speculating. I'm just kind of being a bit poetic, I think. In Report an error in the passage at 1:24:31 Highlight the passage at 1:24:31

1:24:43 Buddhism, I mentioned that verse by the Buddha where he said the Buddhists did not wash away sins with water and so forth. They liberate from throwing the truth. The truth is therapeutic. We bring our minds into harmony with the way things actually are. And there's no gap. There's a seamless Report an error in the passage at 1:24:43 Highlight the passage at 1:24:43

1:25:14 Fit. I mentioned Scott Peck previously. I'd like just to read something, a quote by Scott Peck. Life is difficult. You know, again, you know, sometimes I might, you know, this isn't, you know, sometimes people, you Report an error in the passage at 1:25:14 Highlight the passage at 1:25:14

1:25:39 know, you talk about, especially if you talk about suffering, especially if it's a public audience. And, oh, you Buddhists, why don't you get a life? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:39 Highlight the passage at 1:25:39

1:25:52 So, you know, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:52 Highlight the passage at 1:25:52

1:25:56 Why don't you talk about nice things? There is good things in life. We should be skillful and we can't deny that. But that doesn't bring about the kinds of changes that we want to make. From the point of view, especially Mahāyāna, we should all be Buddhists right now. We should all be blissed out. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:56 Highlight the passage at 1:25:56

1:26:28 That is our birthright. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:28 Highlight the passage at 1:26:28

1:26:36 Scott Peck, life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. Most do not fully see this truth, that life is difficult. So this is an American psychiatrist. Most do not fully see this truth, that life is difficult. Instead, they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly. About the enormity of their problems, their burdens and their difficulties, as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:36 Highlight the passage at 1:26:36

1:27:12 They voiced their belief, noisily or subtly, that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be, and that has somehow been especially visited upon them, or else upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race. Or even their species and not upon others. What makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:12 Highlight the passage at 1:27:12

1:27:43 Problems, depending upon their nature, evoking us frustration or grief or sadness or loneliness or guilt or regret or anger or fear or anxiety or anguish or despair. These are uncomfortable feelings, often very uncomfortable, often as painful as any kind of physical pain, sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:43 Highlight the passage at 1:27:43

1:28:13 Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us that we call them problems. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:13 Highlight the passage at 1:28:13

1:28:34 That life is a problem, is our ordinary experience. It's not something which is being imposed upon being by Buddhism, by philosophy. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:34 Highlight the passage at 1:28:34

1:28:50 I was thinking today, looking at these notes, I don't know if I can justify it, but the first noble truth is the truth of problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:50 Highlight the passage at 1:28:50

1:29:06 There's this conflict. Between our expectations and the way the world seems to be, this conflict. As long as we live a life under the control of karma and afflictive emotions, life poses an endless series of problems and therefore is experienced as dissatisfaction, as frustration, as disappointment. In some way or another. And if we understand this, then we can see that our suffering is not inherent into life, but that we suffer needlessly. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:06 Highlight the passage at 1:29:06

1:29:56 So, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:56 Highlight the passage at 1:29:56

1:30:01 all our suffering arises independent upon three basic errors in the way that we perceive things. And these errors can be corrected. And most basically, most basically, it is the error of anattā. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:01 Highlight the passage at 1:30:01

1:30:19 Misconceiving the nature of the self. Perceiving, holding an independently existent self when no independent self exists at all. So this leads us into this, you know, this is our craziness. And it's interesting, when I read this, what is lurking inside of me? Where does it come from? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:19 Highlight the passage at 1:30:19

1:30:50 Sometimes people say, well, Buddhism is a science. I don't think it is a science. I think it's a different project. But once the Dalai Lama, he made this comment. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:50 Highlight the passage at 1:30:50

1:31:03 It was quite interesting that Buddhism is really not so concerned with the whys. Why are we ignorant? But the fact, for example, the fact that we are ignorant. It's interested in practices. Which are able to remove suffering, which help us to become healthy. It hasn't been so interested in why they work, just the fact that they do. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:03 Highlight the passage at 1:31:03

1:31:39 Now with the advent of Buddhism coming to the West, we're very much concerned with the scientific project of how does it work. So we're looking at all this neurobiology and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:39 Highlight the passage at 1:31:39

1:31:53 We're beginning to question, if you ask a geisha, why are we ignorant? He says, oh, it's beginning of this. It never had a beginning. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:53 Highlight the passage at 1:31:53

1:32:04 That really doesn't, that wouldn't satisfy a scientist very much. He'd say, well, why is it there? Anyway, there is this, here's Shantideva, how did I get this way? What's inside me? So I think he's questioning in a deeper way than normally he's involved. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:04 Highlight the passage at 1:32:04

1:32:34 In verses beginning with 27 CD, it is appropriate to contemplate the cause of ignorance. So here, this is from 27 up through verse 36. Shantideva is, in terms of conscientiousness, that we are to overcome. The afflictive emotions where we are to oppose the afflictive emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:34 Highlight the passage at 1:32:34

1:33:06 And so I Report an error in the passage at 1:33:06 Highlight the passage at 1:33:06

1:33:13 handed this out last year in the notes. I thought it might be useful to hand it out again in note 7, again on page 2. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:13 Highlight the passage at 1:33:13

1:33:31 Well, first I've listed all the various afflictive emotions. Not all of them. The principle of negative emotions. There are five non-views and five views. And then on page two, how all the various afflictive emotions evolve out of ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:31 Highlight the passage at 1:33:31

1:33:59 Actually, what Report an error in the passage at 1:33:59 Highlight the passage at 1:33:59

1:34:15 does it mean to say an afflictive emotion? We sort of almost take it for granted. know what what is How do we determine what is an effective emotion or not? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:15 Highlight the passage at 1:34:15

1:34:31 There's a difference in terms of the criteria which is popularly used in the West for determining the quality of our emotions and that used in Buddhism, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:31 Highlight the passage at 1:34:31

1:34:50 How do we distinguish between a positive emotion and a negative emotion? know, how does, what does, you Report an error in the passage at 1:34:50 Highlight the passage at 1:34:50

1:34:56 Essentially the question I'm asking. Any ideas? What would you say? How do we distinguish? I mean, we almost take it for granted, but maybe it's a good question. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:10 Pardon? It does harm. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:10 Highlight the passage at 1:35:10

1:35:16 So if you have the motivation to help and you really screw it up and you cause a lot of harm, was that a negative emotion? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:16 Highlight the passage at 1:35:16

1:35:34 Let's say you have an emotion of love, you wish to bring happiness. And this alcoholic says, okay, we won't talk about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:34 Highlight the passage at 1:35:34

1:35:56 If it brings harm, the intention to harm, how are we going to distinguish between a positive emotion and a negative emotion? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:56 Highlight the passage at 1:35:56

1:36:09 What criteria can we use? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:09 Highlight the passage at 1:36:09

1:36:22 So you're using in your definition what we're trying to define. You use the word delusion based upon a negative emotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:22 Highlight the passage at 1:36:22

1:36:34 So how are you going to determine what that delusion or negative emotion is? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:34 Highlight the passage at 1:36:34

1:36:43 Okay, maybe it's not. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:43 Highlight the passage at 1:36:43

1:36:50 ha, ha. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:50 Highlight the passage at 1:36:50

1:37:20 Positive emotion is that which helps in removing negative emotions that Report an error in the passage at 1:37:20 Highlight the passage at 1:37:20

1:37:32 we haven't defined. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:32 Highlight the passage at 1:37:32

1:37:58 Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:58 Highlight the passage at 1:37:58

1:38:02 So there's something, negative emotions, there's something faulty about them in the way they're viewing. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:02 Highlight the passage at 1:38:02

1:38:22 What's he saying? Oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:22 Highlight the passage at 1:38:22

1:38:35 Intention. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:35 Highlight the passage at 1:38:35

1:38:43 So emotions. Are motivating forces. Anger is a motivating force. Love is a motivating force. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:38:43 Highlight the passage at 1:38:43

1:39:05 okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:05 Highlight the passage at 1:39:05

1:39:16 Strengthens of those three misperceptions. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:16 Highlight the passage at 1:39:16

1:39:34 Yeah, let's look at the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:34 Highlight the passage at 1:39:34

1:39:48 Buddhists distinguish between two kinds of emotions. has Report an error in the passage at 1:39:48 Highlight the passage at 1:39:48

1:39:52 One type is without reason and just based on prejudice. Hatred is one of these. This sort of emotion will rely on superficial reasons, of course, such as, this person has hurt me terribly. But deep down, if you pursue that reason further, you find it does not go very far. Emotions without proper reason are what we call negative emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:52 Highlight the passage at 1:39:52

1:40:15 The other kind of emotion, which includes compassion and altruism, His emotion with reason, because through deep investigation you can prove it is good, necessary and useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:15 Highlight the passage at 1:40:15

1:40:31 So it's interesting in this definition, something of a definition, that the Dalai Lama doesn't make use of whether it feels good or not. That's not a part of the criteria. Whereas I think in the West, part of our criteria for determining Report an error in the passage at 1:40:31 Highlight the passage at 1:40:31

1:40:54 Positive and negative emotions, if it's associated with, if it feels good. Or if it feels bad. That would be a popular notion about positive and negative. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:54 Highlight the passage at 1:40:54

1:41:12 Maybe sadness and regret. They don't feel so good. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:12 Highlight the passage at 1:41:12

1:41:20 And they might be seen as negative emotions, but as we've talked about in terms of the four powers. if it, you know, uh, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:20 Highlight the passage at 1:41:20

1:41:26 The first of the four powers, the power of regret. From the point of view of bruising, even though it doesn't feel so good, it's a positive emotion. So we can't use the criteria of whether it feels associated with good feelings and so forth. But normally that's often the way that we might quite naturally invite emotion elements in our life. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:26 Highlight the passage at 1:41:26

1:41:54 In the Tibetan, the Sanskrit is Klesha and the Tibetan is Nyomong. I've talked about this before. It's a compound of two syllables, Nyomong. Nyomong means to afflict, disturb. Mong means to obscure. We translate it into English, this word Nyomong, which means afflicted, obscure. We translate it as afflictive emotions or negative emotions or something like that. So it not only disturbs the mind, but it obscures the mind from seeing the way the object actually exists. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:54 Highlight the passage at 1:41:54

1:42:47 The objects of our negative emotions do not exist the way they're appearing to ourselves. You know, the Buddha in his... Report an error in the passage at 1:42:47 Highlight the passage at 1:42:47

1:43:02 In one particular sūtra, he used the analogy of a bowl of water mixed with dye color in describing attachment. And a bowl of water being heated over a fire, that's boiling, as being an analogy of, in describing hatred. And when a person with good sight into either this bowl of dyed or this... Boiling pot of water. When they went to look at their facial reflection, what they would see would be a distortion. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:02 Highlight the passage at 1:43:02

1:43:42 So that's how he was describing the nature of glacial or afflictive emotion. It has a distorting quality. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:42 Highlight the passage at 1:43:42

1:43:55 It's either, for example, in terms of attachment. It focuses specifically on... know in terms Report an error in the passage at 1:43:55 Highlight the passage at 1:43:55

1:44:03 An attractive quality of the object and exaggerates it and excludes momentarily any drawbacks or disadvantages or unattractive aspects of the object. So the mind is out of balance. It's not seeing the object realistically in terms of its actual qualities. The opposite is true of hatred. The mind... Specifically focus upon a negative or unattractive quality. It excludes any positive qualities of the other and moreover exaggerates that negative aspect of that quality. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:03 Highlight the passage at 1:44:03

1:44:43 So we're dealing with a distorted world. And there's a gap between our view of the world and the way it actually is. And therefore our way of relating it is somehow we have to keep... Cleaning up the messes that we're continually making. Our way of relating is not quite exact, does not quite accord with the way things really are. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:43 Highlight the passage at 1:44:43

1:45:11 There's a degree of disparity. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:28 Equanimity. There are different uses of the word equanimity. There's a few different uses, but one of them. When Report an error in the passage at 1:45:28 Highlight the passage at 1:45:28

1:45:42 you think of the Pāli word for it, it Report an error in the passage at 1:45:42 Highlight the passage at 1:45:42

1:45:52 means It means it has the idea of, I mean the word, I'm trying to think of the Sanskrit word, it has the idea of being to seeing over. It's like seeing over from a high place, that you're able to see both, like you see both sides of the argument, or you see both sides. You're seeing, so you don't, so you haven't, that you have a certain perspective in which you're able to take in the good and the bad. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:52 Highlight the passage at 1:45:52

1:46:25 And what's going on and so forth. So you're really seeing it in a balanced way. So that's what, that's the meaning. In this context, that's what equanimity would mean. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:25 Highlight the passage at 1:46:25

1:46:36 In the four, it has different uses. Like in the four immeasurables, we talk about equanimity and not having, holding some close and others distant. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:36 Highlight the passage at 1:46:36

1:46:57 Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So it doesn't accord with the actual nature of the object. Whereas for, yeah, equanimity or just even like compassion. Compassion, you know, everyone wants to be free of suffering. So the wish that they be free of suffering accords with the nature of the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:57 Highlight the passage at 1:46:57

1:47:26 So, okay, we were talking about this Report an error in the passage at 1:47:26 Highlight the passage at 1:47:26

1:47:34 evolution of the various afflictive emotions. So, based upon, it's on page two of the handout, note seven. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:34 Highlight the passage at 1:47:34

1:47:49 The view of the transitory collection or ignorance. So according to the Madhyamika, the middle way school, these are the same. In Abhidharma, there's a distinction made between these two emotions and that's talked about above. Is the root of the other afflictions. Once we hold the aggregates to be an independently existent self or possess an independently existent self. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:49 Highlight the passage at 1:47:49

1:48:15 So what are the five aggregates? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:15 Highlight the passage at 1:48:15

1:48:35 Composition. Compositional factors. Yeah. And then consciousness. Yeah. Good. Yeah. So, most essentially the body and the mind. Okay. We can just say body and mind. Once we hold the body and mind as an independently existent self or possessing an independently existent self, that misconception serves as the basis for self-centered attitudes that make the discrimination between self and other. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:35 Highlight the passage at 1:48:35

1:49:05 What are I and mine is seen as absolutely separate from everything else, what is other. So what is in fact simply a relative difference between self and other becomes absolutized. It's not a relative. It's not high and low, big and small. They only exist relative to one another. But if we absolutize them, then we could... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:05 Highlight the passage at 1:49:05

1:49:10 So there's a... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:10 Highlight the passage at 1:49:10

1:49:33 We could get rid of small and big would still exist. It's kind of unimaginable, but that's the way our minds work. So there's a self that doesn't exist relative to others. So the self is over here, and the big thick black line, and there's other over there. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:33 Highlight the passage at 1:49:33

1:49:58 Once we make this absolute distinction, we develop attachment and feel beneficially inclined toward everything that is on our side. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:58 Highlight the passage at 1:49:58

1:50:07 My family, my community and so forth. My religion, that's a good one. While anger emerges beneficially inclined, while anger emerges toward everything that's on the other side, pride is developed from grasping at the self and feeling that what is mine is superior and more worthy of support than what is other. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:07 Highlight the passage at 1:50:07

1:50:30 And then it goes through what I call the five views and so forth. But anyway, you can take a look at that. I just wanted to remind you of how all the various afflictive emotions, they are all dependent arising out of the basis of ignorance. And therefore, ignorance can be removed from the mind through wisdom. So all the various afflictive emotions can, in fact, be removed from the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:30 Highlight the passage at 1:50:30

1:51:07 They aren't in the very fabric of the mind. They're not in the nature of the mind itself. And this is kind of what Shantideva is trying to get across to ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:07 Highlight the passage at 1:51:07

1:51:26 Changing our attitudes and behavior is... Are we making sense so far? Report an error in the passage at 1:51:26 Highlight the passage at 1:51:26

1:51:51 Changing our attitudes and behaviors is a conflictual process. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:51 Highlight the passage at 1:51:51

1:51:58 When we want to bring about change, we're pulled in two different directions at once. There's a regressive tendency toward the past, maybe just habits. There's a tendency toward what we've been, what we've done. know, we're... Report an error in the passage at 1:51:58 Highlight the passage at 1:51:58

1:52:18 The ways that we've thought things, how we're related, all these habits or patterns of mind which are quite well entrenched. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:18 Highlight the passage at 1:52:18

1:52:29 And then there's the possibilities of the kinds of changes that we want to make in the future. So in adopting any new way of thinking or behaving, it's necessary to become aware of what's holding the old patterns in place. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:29 Highlight the passage at 1:52:29

1:52:50 For example, when Report an error in the passage at 1:52:50 Highlight the passage at 1:52:50

1:52:57 we looked at the graduated path, we talked about anger, for example. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:57 Highlight the passage at 1:52:57

1:53:07 We might feel very deeply and see for ourselves the destructive nature of anger in our own experience. We would probably rather not become angry, but we do. That's telling us something. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:07 Highlight the passage at 1:53:07

1:53:27 There's some kind of belief that what's holding that pattern, that tendency toward anger in place, such that we can't just change it and say, oh, it's gone, it's gone. There's some belief that there's some advantages in anger. There's some belief that it serves some kind of purpose. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:27 Highlight the passage at 1:53:27

1:53:54 It's adaptive. We've developed somehow. We have learned that there are some advantages to being angry. And we're holding that belief. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:54 Highlight the passage at 1:53:54

1:54:09 So going through really being honest with yourself and saying, well, in what ways do I see anger as an advantage? Where does it get me? And not being politically correct. I get what I want. That's the beginning. People give in. But then you begin, having brought it out in the open, the beliefs which have gone unnoticed, which are hidden from a view, once they're brought out in the open, then we can begin to refute them. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:09 Highlight the passage at 1:54:09

1:54:56 Do I really need anger to achieve that same end? Can I do it? Is there some other strategy? Can I be assertive without being aggressive? And so forth and so on. Once these beliefs which are holding these attitudes in place are made apparent, we can refute them. So these are the way that all the various afflictive motions have general antidotes or corrective measures. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:56 Highlight the passage at 1:54:56

1:55:32 And then each of the afflictive motions has particular antidotes, more specific to each of them. Anger. Attachment, pride, jealousy. So I'm just going to finish altogether here. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:32 Highlight the passage at 1:55:32

1:55:50 In the rest of the text, to the very end of the text, Shantideva is trying to get across, to emphasize and clarify for ourselves the need to Report an error in the passage at 1:55:50 Highlight the passage at 1:55:50

1:56:09 challenge our afflictive emotions. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:09 Highlight the passage at 1:56:09

1:56:16 To not allow them full sway. To offer some resistance. And he's trying to encourage us to take up the challenges of working with the afflictive emotions. For the most part, the world is filled with people who really don't know where they want to go, but are willing to go through hell to get there. You know, Report an error in the passage at 1:56:16 Highlight the passage at 1:56:16

1:56:49 So sooner or later, we have to ask ourselves, is my overall way of being, acting, kind of the directionality of my thinking and so forth, is it taking me where I really want to go? Report an error in the passage at 1:56:49 Highlight the passage at 1:56:49

1:57:14 In a bigger picture, is it taking me the type of person I want to be? Living in the kind of world I want to live in. You know, unless you change your direction, you'll likely end up where you're headed. And is it where we really want to go? Something like that. So Shantideva is asking us, encouraging us to begin to question in this way. Okay, great, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:14 Highlight the passage at 1:57:14

1:57:48 Can we look at the five, okay? Chapter 5 is introspective awareness. So Report an error in the passage at 1:57:48 Highlight the passage at 1:57:48

1:58:12 we can dedicate the positive energy that we've accumulated together. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:12 Highlight the passage at 1:58:12

1:58:29 I think these words of dedication are from the Buddhists, but they're Stephen Batchelor's translation, one of the earlier translations. Somehow I always have this kind of, maybe it's because of sentimentality, I don't know, nostalgia. I find that Report an error in the passage at 1:58:29 Highlight the passage at 1:58:29

1:59:02 words are much more powerful for me than a lot of the newer translations. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:02 Highlight the passage at 1:59:02

1:59:10 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. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:10 Highlight the passage at 1:59:10

1:59:33 May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drink. Find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:33 Highlight the passage at 1:59:33

2:00:07 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 2:00:07 Highlight the passage at 2:00:07

2:00:30 Through these skillful actions may I quickly become an awakened spiritual master and lead each and every living being to that awakened realm. May the supreme jewel of the awakened heart that has not arisen arise and grow. And may that which has arisen never decline but increase more and more. In the land of circumvised snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and well-being. Powerful January Z. Tenzin Gyatso, please remain to the end of cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:30 Highlight the passage at 2:00:30

2:01:03 Thank Report an error in the passage at 2:01:03 Highlight the passage at 2:01:03

2:01:14 you. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:14 Highlight the passage at 2:01:14